Mark talked to the old man wanting to get more information but honestly, he was not in the mood since he still felt melancholy due to the fact that he was now in a different world unable to see his friends, but he knew that it was important to move forward.
“What’s your name, old man?”
“Didn’t I mention it? Sorry, my name is old Bert, and this here is my grandson, Ned. We’re going to the village to deliver these vegetables to the inn there.”
“Can you tell me all about your land old Bert? As you can see, I’m from a foreign place. My ship landed somewhere and I’m one of the guards for one of the caravans that was supposed to travel to a city for trade. Unfortunately, don’t know much since they don’t share too much with guards.”
“Yeah, you do look like one of those people from the east. I think they’re called Eltmorre or Elmorra or something. I’m impressed by how well-versed you are with our language, young man.”
“Actually, I’m not. It’s the result of a spell that our wizard cast on everyone before we landed. It would prevent trouble caused by misunderstanding.”
“Those wizards are damn powerful, aren’t they? They know different tricks that’s really helpful and you don’t want one getting angry with you.”
“I’ve never seen a wizard. Is it true that they can fly and summon balls of fire to hit their enemies? All I know about them are from stories and the stories say that they can cast balls of fire, fly, and even create food from nothing!” Ned, the teenager exclaimed.
Mark thought that the reply of the old man Bert and his grandson about what he said about the spell and the wizard, which was a gamble, confirmed the fact that he was in a world with magic and wizards and that they were rare enough that Ned said that he hadn’t seen one yet.
“Have you seen a wizard, Old Bert? Is there any nearby? I would like to talk to one so I can ask for help to reunite with my caravan. To tell you the truth, when we were traveling, I think someone cast a spell on us since the next thing I knew, I was in a forest alone. Good thing my bag was with me” Mark pointed at his leather bag.
“I’m sorry lad, you wouldn’t find any wizards nearby. The last one I saw was when I was younger and traveled to the city of Langford. I saw a man there who was pointed to me by my friend as a wizard, but I didn’t see him cast any magic or something. You would have to travel to the nearest city before you could, maybe, find one. The nearest city is about three weeks' travel from the village on horseback. The city is called Argent.”
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“Are there many wizards in that city?”
“Don’t know since I never stayed there long enough. When I was young, I joined a mercenary band, and we passed that city for one night. I went back home after one year with that mercenary band and never left the farm since. Got too tired and too scared fighting monsters and bandits for money. Regarding the wizards in the city, I assume you would find one there since it’s a fairly big city.”
“Once I turn twenty, I’m going to go there to join a mercenary band as well,” Ned said.
“What’s the name of your village old Ned?”
“Uhm, I think it’s called Runford. Yeah, Runford named after the Mayor’s grandfather.”
“Wow, Runford. Didn’t know that. I always knew it as the village.” Ned said while looking at the copper coins that Mark gave them.
“This coin is so shiny and it’s a bit bigger. It’s almost like a jewelry.
“Let me see that. “Old Bert took the two copper coins from Ned.
“It doesn’t have any writing on it or something and you’re right it’s so shiny. I’ll give this to the missus, I’ll bet she’d tie a string on it and wear it.”
“Yeah, you’re right Grandpa, grandma would like that. Can I have the other one? I’ll give it to my mum.” Old Bert gave one of the copper coins to Ned.
“Can you tell me the value of things? I don’t know much about your country.” Mark asked.
“Well, copper coins are a bit smaller than what you have, and it has the face of a king in it. Forgot whose. We have iron coins, copper, silver, gold, and then rose gold. I guess there’s also platinum, but I’ve never seen one. Those are for only the rich. One hundred Iron bits for one copper, one hundred copper for silver, and so on. One meal in a village can cost you up to 10 iron bits depending on what it is and of course, the cities charge more. A room in the village inn will cost you, I think, one copper coin a night.” Old Bert said while smiling not remotely remorseful of the fact that he received two copper coins from Mark.
“How long till we reach the village?”
“A couple more hours and we’ll be there. It’s about five hours travel from my farm to the village and we’re about halfway there.”
“Are there no dangerous animals nearby?”
“There are but not too dangerous. Some lone wolves or bears and some odd goblin or two. Our bow and staff are enough to fend them off.” Ned answered while showing his bow and staff to Mark.
“I’m very good with the bow and staff. I made those myself and I reckon that it would help a lot once I apply to join a mercenary band. I would really like to be an adventurer, fighting monsters and delving into dungeons for treasure but my grandpa said that a mercenary band is much safer since there are more members and you’ve got to have skills to become a part of an adventurer group.”
“I saw an adventurer group once. They have a warrior, a rogue, an archer, and a cleric. I overheard them say that they have a mage with them but went somewhere called a mage guild for more spells or something.” Old Ned added.
Mark was glad to hear that from the old man and the boy since it confirmed the fact that he really arrived at a world with magic, adventurers, and dungeons. He wondered what type of magic system the new world had.