Kor'Ak was fuming. He knew wizards were an eccentric lot, ranging from idiots who shot spells at random without having any self-control, to men that would sign a legal waiver everytime they cast a spell outof some odd belief that it meant that them roasting a group of bandits alive was a perfectly fine thing to do.
But in all of his travels, he had never seen a wizard so horrifically dressed.
Another heavy sigh from the adventurer.
"You're looking for an escort to Teneir, the capital, yes?"
"I sure am my man"
"Alright then, Mr. Sescenti, will we be travelling on foot? It's something like three weeks travel if we do that, I believe it would be best that you hire a wagon or carriage."
"Already got one all lined up, a wagon that is. 'orses seem pretty well aswell, rentals of course"
The spirited voice continued to grate on the man, seemed like a fool, he could atleast hope the wizard would be useful if they got into a fight. He could hope. "I understand that you may want rest, but I believe it is best we begin our travels immediately"
"Of course, of course, why, I was going to say the very same thing, I certainly was Mr..."
"Just... call me Kor'Ak" the adventurer pointed to his smaller companion "and this is Ma'Bizzle. He's not very high level, or an official adventurer, but I can personally vouch that he can hold his own in a fight."
"Kor'Ak it is then... an odd name it certainly is... ah, you must be from Djaal aren't you? You just have travelled a long way to get here, guess that means I can most certainly trust you on the roads, indeed I can be."
Kor'Ak was mentally cringing, this odd man spoke in such a strange way, it was horrible, Bruman Common wasn't even the Djaal's first language and he was certain that he could speak it far better than this top-hatted fool. "I trust that you can pay the fifty gold you offered in your request?"
"Of course, I certainly can..." A pause in his speech as Kelvin went to scratch the back of his head "... When we arrive in Teneir"
He couldn't pay upfront, a massive red flag that often came up when people attempted to trick adventurer's into doing difficult work for nothing. Kevlin was lucky that Kor'Ak cared more for the free trip to Teneir than the job. "And why can you only pay when we arrive in Teneir?"
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Well, like I said, the wagon and horses are rentals, they said I would get my deposit back when I showed up at the company's stables outside the city... I'm about ten gold short right now... hehe"
Kor'Ak nodded along, if he was lying, he'd just take everything the man owned at sword-point. The adventurer was no bandit or robber, but a man should pay what he owes. "And what about the seventy-five you were offering if we run into trouble?"
"I...I.. I was going to sell my belongings to make sure I could pay, I most certainly indeed was gonna"
Another heavy sign from Kor'Ak, thus man was going to be saying goodbye to even the clothes on his back in a few days if he didn't have a small fortunes worth of rare coins or some shit. "Let's get moving Mr Sescenti. We'll follow you to the wagon."
The walk to the edge of Veera was a dull one, their employer ranting about how he was an amazing wizard and needed to get to Teneir soon because he had been comissioned by a nobleman to help them design and test anti-magic intrustion and detection systems. The wizard repeatedly referred to himself as a 'white-hat magician' and continued to droll on and on about a bunch of technical, magical crap that Kor'Ak didn't care for. His manner of speaking was annoying enough without having to guess the meanings behind his jargon.
Steal seemed particularly interested in Kelvin, albeit, only because the spurs on his boots looked rather shiny.
The wagon was just outside Veera's walls, in the outer-town, where the stone walls stopped and the buildings were protected only by a hastily-constructed wooden palisade.
After a brief exchange of papers and words with a man standing besides the wagon, a pair of horses were brought forwards and connected up to the wagon. Kelvin smiled, giggled and spoke "You guys hop on in the wagon and I'll sit up front, I will.
Kor'Ak nodded, parting the tarp at the back of the wagon to look inside, it would appear that Kelvin's belongings had already been thrown in, with a number of black-leatered cases and bags tossed to one side, with a large trunk, that looked like it was made of metal resting ontop of all these bags.
The adventuer sighed, letting the tarp drape back and rest whilst he led Steal around the side, climbing ontop of the front of the carriage, taking the reins whilst Kelvin was still talking to the horsehandler. He'd made sure to lift Steal up first, who now sat besides him on the left edge of the bench.
The goblin yawned wide, a glint of teeth and green skin showing before he rested his massive head on Kor'Ak's lap.
He smiled, the little creature had been on his feet most of the day, perhaps he deserved a rest.
Kelvin turned to look at the two "I said you could get in the ba-"
"We'll take the reigns during the night, and rest in the day. It's safer that way, if we travel with just enough time for the horses to rest, we should be able to make our way to Teneir in just over a week."
"A-ah... okay, I think that sounds fine, I certainly do." The young wizard clambered up into the back of the wagon and called out "Alrighty gentlemen! We ride! Mush!"
Kor'Ak cracked the reigns lightly, and the horses began to trot forwards, pulling the wagon along down the well-maintained cobble roads, the icy wind still nipping at his skin.
The leftmost horse let out a long, wheezing stream of rancid air from it's ass.
This wasn't going to be a good day.