Knock! Knock! The sound made by an old man's hand on the outside of Izoke's room door.

“Sir, it is Morning,” Called out the elder knocking on the door.

Izoke groggily awoke to his voice. Stretching his body the young man arose from his slumber. He stretched but his body hurt all over from yesterday's exertions. Somethings it seems Fantasy collusion wants players to feel and soreness from intense battles seemed to be one such thing. It was already 9 am and Izoke was still tired from killing the Orc yesterday.

“I will come in a minute,” Izoke answered lazily.

“Ok sir, we will be waiting on you for breakfast,” Old man said respectfully.

A notification popped up!

100 gold coins received from quest completion of "Kill the Orc".

"Woah! She completed the quest already! This money will help a lot!"

After that, he put on his light leather armor which was located on the table in his room. Opening the door Izoke headed downstairs to the elder's dining room area. Izoke noticed the old man and Sumiko were already sitting at the dining table and breakfast was already on a plate for him. They were waiting for Izoke to come and eat together with them.

“Sorry, you guys must have been waiting for a while,” Izoke said scratching the back on his neck before sitting in his chair.

“No…No, it’s ok and it’s only been few minutes,” Sumiko said shaking her head left to right.

“Ok, let’s eat.” The old man said. Before eating he and Sumiko prayed to the goddess joining hands. “Oh, Mercyful lady, Thank you for the food.” Seeing this, Izoke also mimics a prayer even though he now has doubts about her existence.

After finishing their prayer, they started eating. There were scrambled buttery eggs, some course white bread, and rice balls. If someone from earth saw the food they would recognize the bread as resembling a type of french bread. The rice balls were very much like the Japanese variety and the eggs were just ordinary scrambled eggs.

“Hmm! It’s so tasty.” Izoke exclaimed while eating.

“Sumiko made this!” The old man said pridefully smiling at his granddaughter.

“Thank you for this delicious food, Sumiko,” Izoke said to Sumiko with a smile.

“Y... you're welcome,” she replied shyly with a flushed face.

They finished their breakfast soon after. Now, it was the time to head to their journey.

“I guess we should be heading out now,” Izoke suggested.

“Yes, you are right.”

All three of them went outside. Sumiko was wearing normal casual cloth and she was holding a small handbag where she kept some food packed for the trip. Izoke had plenty of provisions in his inventory as well.

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“Sumiko, Be safe and Izoke Sir, please protect my granddaughter,” Old man requested tearfully.

“Ok, I will protect her. You don’t have to worry so much,” Izoke replied with determination.

Sumiko hugged her grandpa one last time and said her farewells. The elder was sad but he understood that he can’t keep her in the house for her whole life. Izoke and Sumiko left the village on a small trail into the mountains. It was an old trail that was rarely traveled. Sumiko waved her hand at her grandpa from the distance one last time.

“Sumiko, which way are we heading first?” Izoke asked.

“First, we will pass through a town called “Bhaktapur”. It is a big town which is filled with lots of people and shops. After that, we will travel further up the mountains.”

“Ok then at that town we should buy some more supplies. It can get cold in the mountains and that dress doesn't do much for the cold,” Izoke pointed out. Sumiko flushed at Izoke pointing out how thin her dress was.

The weather was warm and sunny. It was a beautiful day with a blue sky overhead. The two of them were silent the whole hike after leaving the Elder. They only talked about their destination and other things related to travel like the weather. After walking for a few hours, they saw a gate. It was a large gate that was made with brick and mortar. There were some gargoyle-like decorations on the structure. They entered through the gate. A town appeared before them they had been unable to see from the outside. it was the entrance to the town of Bhaktapur. The town was filled with large houses and shops. There were many people moving about in a hurry like there some kind of festival about to start. Izoke and Sumiko walked through the town's center street glancing at the shops as they passed. After a few minutes, he saw a clothing shop and they went inside. Izoke wanted to buy comfortable warm clothes for Sumiko.

“Sir, what are you looking for?” The clerk asked Izoke.

“Can you show us some comfortable warm clothes for her?” He said to the shopkeeper pointing at Sumiko who was standing next to him.

“Ok, Please wait a moment.” Replied the shopkeeper who went to the back rustling through stacks of garments.

“Izoke I don’t need anything, I am ok. You can buy for yourself,” Sumiko said shyly.

“This journey will be long and hard. It will be cold and you could freeze to death. You should wear some warm clothes and we are teammates now. So, you don’t have to feel so awkward.”

“Ok, but you should also buy for yourself,” Sumiko blushed happy Izoke seemed to care so much about her.

The shopkeeper came back with a full set of women's winter clothing. He showed the outfit to Sumiko. It was a pair of thick trousers and a fluffy black hoodie. Sumiko took the clothing and went into the changing room.

“Do you have any small blankets?” Izoke asked.

“We do sir.”

“Then give me two of them,” Izoke requested.

The clerk brought a small bag with two folded blankets in it.

Sumiko came out of the room after changing. The outfit looked good on her. It was a proper fit and even though the clothes were thicker than her other ones it still seemed to accent her beauty.

“Does it look good?” She asked him.

“Yes… you look pretty.”

Sumiko blushed red as a tomato.

“So, How much for all of it?” Izoke asked the shopkeeper.

“The clothes are 2 Gold coins, two blankets cost 1 gold coin and the bag is also 1 gold coin. So it is 4 gold coins in total.” Shopkeeper answered.

“Isn’t it expensive? I think silver coins would be fair.” Izoke tried to bargain with the shopkeeper.

“But Sir…”

“I can only pay about 3 gold coins and a few silvers..”

“Izoke if you don’t have the money, then I don’t want this dress,” Sumiko said to him picking up her old clothes.

“No…No I have it. Don’t Worry.” Izoke picked out a small bag of gold coins that were sent from Haruki's party via quest completion. Using the small bag he paid to the Shopkeeper. ‘Silly girl, I was just bargaining.” He thought. Izoke learned the hard way that you can never haggle while your shopping for a girl and she is present at the time.

“Sumiko, give me the bag in your hand. I will put it in my inventory.” Izoke told her before tossing the small bag into his inventory.

Sumiko, "Wow, you have an inventory! That's a rare Skill!"

Izoke thought about it and it made sense most NPCs would not have this skill but some would.

They left the shop and stopped to buy some food and medicinal supplies. After shopping, they exited the town. There was a forest outside the gate and more of the mountain could be seen sharply rising into the sky ahead. It was a steep uphill climb ahead towards the top.

“This is the way, Huh?”

“Yes, After this, there will be no more towns or villages,” She replied.

They started hiking up the mountain once again headed for their destination fully prepared