Davin watched through the rising mists that drifted up from the multiple waterfalls that ran around and below the small city at the edge of the world. City may be too strong of a word, but much of the walled-in area was wide open fields of grains, animals, and what looked to be parade grounds. Since the Rainbow Bastion was higher than anywhere else in the Afterlife, Davin could see to the edges of the enclave as they approached, seeing the walls that surrounded the city and its protected lands. Looking like a clichéd rural city high towers speckled the landscape inside the walls, seeming to be watchtowers of some form, Davin guessed that they were remnants of an older time based on how degraded the towers seemed to be. As the freighter approached the bustle that Davin would expect from a city were at the edges of hearing.
When the freighter came to a full stop was when the full wave of sound hit Davin, as if one stepped out of a soundproof room, clanging, calling, and other cacophonous noises washed over Davin, the nostalgic feeling of being in one of his worlds busy cities was heartwarming, all was a stark comparison to the relative calm that was inside the bastion. "I hate that moment right after the bubble breaks, could almost deafen you…" Hugh grumbled to Davin as he started pulling his cart towards the edge of the ship, lining up with others, Davin quickly followed.
"I actually forgot about the bubble," Davin said shyly as the feelings of nostalgia faded. "I almost cried, this is what the cities from my world sound like and it kind of overwhelmed me for a moment."
"I get that, my world was far more rural, so I'm still not used to it, one of the main reasons I tried to be a ranger in the first place, but I took far better to study than the wilds." Patting his book, "This place is a lot more active than the bastion and can be a bit overwhelming."
"I lived in the city in my world, not one of the largest ones, but big enough that it had its own rhythm and flow." Davin thought back on when he and his wife moved into the house they'd bought. "For me, getting to the rural places was a much longer trip than I'd like, but we'd go camping from time to time, just for a change of pace. "
"Camping for a change of pace? You make it sound like a recreational activity." The confusion was clear in Hugh's voice.
"Because it was, it was what we would do on vacation before the kids were born, I was looking forward to going camping again once the kids got older." Davin let out a sigh as he thought about his past.
"What's a vacation?" Hugh asked cautiously.
"A vacation? Uh, it's when you take time off from your work and do something fun for a few days or so to recharge your spirit to keep up the grind of life." Feeling that his description of a vacation was falling flat.
"Hmm, your world sounds like it has misplaced priorities. Ah well, it's not like all of that matters much here."
They made it to the front of the queue to get off the ship, their carts rolling easily down the gangplank, Hugh led the way, snaking through the crowds of people milling about, Davin staying close in constant fear of being lost amongst the crowds. The market that Hugh led them to was bustling, and pungent and pleasant smells filled the air, along with a mix of sounds, all of it felt overwhelming for Davin since he'd spent the last week and a half at the training hall. They shortly arrived at a warehouse that was just at the edge of the market, crossing the threshold into the building instantly dampened the cacophony that was flooding the outside.
Davin let out a sigh, "That's better." pulled his cart in further and sat down on top of it.
"Yeah, I felt the same on my first visit, it's like you're trying to swim through the noise." Hugh made a sour face as if smelling a bad smell.
"Especially compared to the rogues training hall, the pace is practically silent by comparison. Unless you set off one of the traps, then that is a vastly different story." Rubbing his ear in phantom pain.
"Traps? You're a Rogue?" Hugh asked happily.
"Oh, yeah, I guess I didn’t tell you, I'm aiming for a multiclass build for rogue and ranger," Davin responded in the same happy tone as Hugh.
"What's a build?" The term confused the wizard to be.
Davin laughed lightly. "Sorry, there are so many things that carried over from my world I keep forgetting that for a lot of you, this place isn't too different from your homes. A build is what classes and combinations that I want to aim for, based on some arbitrary information from my own world." Davin blushed as his description sounded stupid as he tried explaining it.
"Oh, I get it, it's because it is what you're building for, like how I'm building to join the order of scribes." Nodding along as he spoke.
"Scribes?" Davin said quizzically.
"They track the magic and events that happen here, but my aim is for magical research," Hugh said proudly.
Davin nodded in agreement, "I can get behind that, I'm excited to see what you can do."
"Many of the more experienced mages keep trying to discourage me since according to him, the afterlife is pretty static." A slight tone of disappointment in his voice creeped out.
"I heard that from people too, but it's all still new to me, so I might as well make the best of it, become an adventurer, see the world, and loot some treasure, this is weirdly a dream come true for me, so I aim to take advantage of it." Davin smiled widely.
Hugh's head snapped back as if he was hit, "I hadn't thought of it like that." A wide smile formed on his face as he locked eyes with Davin. "Do you want to form a party with me?"
The question stunned Davin for a moment, then he let the question catch up with him, and he nodded. "That sounds like a great idea, I was thinking about how I needed to find party members, I just wasn't expecting it to happen so soon, but yeah, I'm in." Davin held out his hand as if to shake on it.
Hugh quickly grabbed and started shaking Davin's hand. "This should be fun." His smile radiated energy. "We can get registered at the hall and then get some talking stones."
"Talking stones?" Davin got a little excited at that name.
"They're palm-sized stones that let you talk to a person who has a matching set with you, very handy for parties, they don’t have a long-range, usually just a few miles."
"Neat, we had something like that in my world, they were called walkie-talkies, they were handy, but not as handy as other devices."
The conversation was interrupted, "Oh Hugh! Are you here for the alchemy supplies? Oh, and we have a new visitor? How can I help you?" The voice was rapid fire, Davin had to take a moment to mentally catch up.
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"Yup!" Hugh sounded more jovial than he had most of their trip. "And this is Davin, he's got a swap for Big Green, how're things going out here?"
The small orange and black mottled lizard-like humanoid came from behind a pile of casks. "Oh, you know, nothing new, someone pissed off some water elementals earlier and almost flooded the fields, so that would have sucked, luckily it didn’t come to that." The creature nodded quickly.
Motioning his hand at the small creature, "This is Ezeirk Orange-tail, she handles most of the trade between Edges Rest and the bastion, any time you've got anything with that symbol on it." He pointed to the carts. "It comes here."
"Beer for Big Green, Wizards alchemy supplies. The wizard's order will take me some time to collect, but the beer is ready to go, still, a bit of time to kill before the next ship, so you two got see the sights, and will have it ready before you need to hop on the boat, go have fun." With that, she drug the carts off to the back where she'd come.
"Okay, you wanted to check out the rangers here still?" Hugh asked.
Davin nodded as he waited to see if the little creature popped back out. "is she a Kobold?"
"Ko what? No idea what that is, she's a lizard kin, think she said she's a newt? No idea though." Hugh shrugged.
The wall of sound as they went back out to the market wasn't as harsh as from the ship, but it was still far more intense than what Davin was prepared for. "Where to?" Davin asked.
"have to head out of the town proper, they have their training grounds on the north end, closer to the forest than the town, shouldn’t take us too long to get there." Hugh started to walk.
"Oh, figured they would be deeper out there?
"They have been, but it depends on how stubborn the elementals and monsters are in the area, had a few times that they were pushed back to town."
"Wow, so they see combat?"
"Sometimes, usually they pair with the other martial classes and do patrols just outside of the wall." Pointing and following the wall.
They quickly left the town, walking past several different types of farms, Davin only could identify a few of the herbs that he could see. Small streams flowed across the land, providing all the water the plants could need, crossing several bridges before making it to the wall. The Ranger enclave camp was small, but a lot was going on. Targets rang out thuds as they were struck, the clack of wooden swords and daggers countered it, multiple animals running about, and the smells of curing meats finished the scene. Davin stood and watched as all of this was going on, so unlike his mostly one on one training, there were several running between the multiple activities seeming to be in some kind of race. There were a few of the rangers that stood out, they seemed as though they were in a state of meditation, eyes closed and swaying to the unseen winds.
"This isn't like my training at all… what the hell?" The bitter tone in Davin's voice was clear. "I've been knocked unconscious at least 5 times in the last week alone and have been thrown across a room by a half-giant, heckled by a bunch of weirdos, and have been poisoned multiple times."
"I have never been happier to have chosen to be a wizard in my life, thank you, Davin." Hugh cackled. "The worst thing that’s happened to me was a papercut and some hay fever." the undertone of laughter made everything he said sound mocking. "I'm sure that there are some good points to rogue training?"
"That’s not the point Hugh…. I just feel like I picked the tough one…." Davin threw his arms up and let them drop to his sides, shrugging. "Grass is greener and all that other nonsense I guess." Davin laughed in a loud huff.
"See, having tried out being a ranger, I can tell you it’s a lot rougher than what you're seeing now, I doubt that will stop you though." Stifling a chuckle as he started to walk, "okay let's find the ranger master and get you introduced." With that, Hugh walked deeper into the camp.
They eventually came across an older-looking yet still handsome man, features that Davin couldn’t place, almost as if he was human, but not in an unsettling way. He spotted them easily as he was shooting at his own private target.
"Hugh? Is that you? What brings you to my side of the fence?" The man laughed at his own joke.
"Hey master Chand, this is Davin, he is looking to pick up ranger as his second class once he finishes his rogue training." He waved over towards Davin.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Davin panicked a little and ended up in a half-bow.
The man laughed loudly, "HAHA, so proper for a human, well that’s a new one for me."
"Human? What's a human?" Hugh sounded confused.
"He is." "I am." They say in unison.
"But what is a human?" Hugh started to sound frustrated.
"That is a difficult question to answer since they haven't been around in a millennium…" Chand looked at Davin, "Welcome back." Nodding in Davin's direction.
"Yeah, when I was talking to my patron, my world has been effectively blocking itself from coming here due to the weird religious revolution or some such garbage." Shrugging deeply. "And I'm the weirdo that made it back, so it should be fun…"
"And you want to pick up some ranger skills?" Chand asked seriously.
"I do, I'm wanting to be an adventurer and explore the world." Davin blushed lightly as he stated his hopes.
"Should be an interesting time, so come back when you finish your rogue training, and I'll help you get started." Chand held out his hand to shake.
Davin took it excitedly, "Should be soon, just a few things left, my trainers think it'll only be a few more days."
The walk back felt like it went by in the blink of an eye, Davin was full of excitement for everything that happened today so far, met a party member, met his next trainer, and even did a simple fetch quest, things were looking up. Davin and Hugh's carts were witting waiting for them when they got back to the warehouse, which they gladly took and made it back to the bastion without any incidents.
"Hey Big Green, I got your delivery!" Davin shouted as he went into The Hall, to which the customers all yelled a cheer, them all knowing exactly what the items were and what the delivery usually meant. The environment was jovial and pleasant as he was congratulated and thanked by a number of the clientele of the bar, the group surrounding and guiding Davin to the bar, to which Big Green took up the new casks and tapped them, handing Davin the first pour.
"Nice timing, I just finished off my last cask for the night, any troubles?" He asked jovially.
"Nope, and I met someone I want to form a party with, so what needs to happen with that?" Davin asked.
"Come back in the morning, when it’s a bit quieter in here and we can go over the whole process."