Zalia was still stewing in frustration as she night time arrived,

"She seemed so damn forthright, then sent a spy after me? This is exactly why I moved away from all of humankind in the first place," she thought.

She settled in for the night under the roots of a large tree sitting by itself on a hill. She hadn't slowed down that day at all, hoping to get away from any other people who might be following her, though she doubted she would see them if they were a higher rank stealth specialist. Either way, it meant she hadn't had time to slow down and inspect any of the new plants she saw around as she travelled. The next day, she would arrive in Alston fairly early if she went straight there so decided she could take some time to have a look around first.

Zalia awoke to a herd of strange animals looking down at her. They were much like cows except they grew long thick fur,

"I guess some cows in my world do that too," she thought

Really not wanting to scare the herd of large animals, she slowly packed up and started on her way.

She had jumped a few fences on her way to this point so it wasn't entirely surprising that she'd ended up in some farmer's field. As she travelled she found that some of the types of berries that grew up north were still growing here, in a more stretched out way with more space being available. That was good because while not needing to eat that much anymore she still did need to. With the plants she harvested being more potent in their use, the berries were enough to sustain her now with how common they were.

The area around Alston became more forested as she made her way towards the town. It seemed like the town might have originally been there to gather lumber for the kingdom and had grown into a bigger place. Since discovering she was in a new world with magic, she'd been looking forward to how most normal people lived and wasn't disappointed. With magic, it seemed that construction and the maintenance of towns was much more advanced in some ways. No longer were they limited to the shapes of materials as they grew or were made. Some pieces of wood on the fascia of the houses looked like they'd grown into place or had flowed and solidified like a river turned home.

As she approached two moderately armoured people came up to intercept her. She had found a rough dirt road leading towards the town and decided a direct approach to town was probably the best idea,

"Good morning," she called out.

"Morning miss, welcome to Alston. We must insist that we inspect what you're carrying with yourself there, we've heard word that there are some rebel warriors not too far out of town," one of the guards said as they came to a stop a few metres away.

"Not a problem," she replied.

She handed over her backpack but kept her coins in her coat's inner pocket. The two guards had well made steel breastplates, spears and side swords with each having a shield slung across their back as well. The slightly larger of the two was the woman who had asked to inspect her bag.

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"Any weapons?" The other guard asked.

The smaller of the two, the man seemed a little nervous while the woman remained calm but on guard.

"Indeed, I've got the bow I'm holding in my hands here, a dagger and a small hand axe I use to cut wood. Will that be a problem?" She asked.

"No," the woman said, looking at the other man.

"Where are you coming from?" She followed up.

"North," Zalia replied.

The woman frowned,

"Nothing north of here except farmland and we know all the farmers. Where north?" The woman asked, now intently focused on Zalia's face.

"Far north," she replied, "you know, murder rabbits, snow, giant six legged bears trying to murder you for no reason whatsoever?"

The man started to look a little apprehensive but the woman just laughed,

"Well alright then, I don't expect trouble from you and if I hear you're getting into fights you'll be kicked out, understood?" The woman asked, still smiling.

"Yes ma'am," Zalia answered, taking back her gear.

"Is there an armourer in town?" She asked.

"Yeah but a pretty bad one, I'd go to the next town out west. Tell him Eyla sent you and he'll probably help you," the woman, presumably Eyla, said.

"Sounds good to me," Zalia said as she walked past into Alston.

"You really need to stop acting so nervous if you ever want to find a woman," Eyla said to the other guard as Zalia walked off.

Zalia just snorted and covered her laugh by coughing a few times.

The first thing Zalia found in the town was a big board covered with notices of all sorts. Quite a few were declarations from the king about something or the other that she didn't bother reading. What caught her attention was the notices put up presumably by people who needed help. There were small rewards promised for anyone who could do as asked. There was one that caught her eye, a farmer out north west needed help with some sort of creature that was slaughtering their herds. The farmer was only offering a couple silver coins but what caught her eye was when the notice mentioned that it only started happening after they started growing a new type of herb in their small garden. She didn't really care for the money that much but a possible new tool she could use would be good. She noted the name of the farm and kept looking around the town.

She quickly found the armourer Eyla had mentioned but found she agreed with the woman's perspective, nothing was really worth the asking price. What she did find was a seamstress.

Zalia watched in awe as the woman used magic to adjust the entire outfit to her shape,

"Damn, that fits nicely," Zalia said.

She had decided to get a set of hardy travelling clothes and it turned out the woman was also an enchanter. The clothes would self clean and make minor repairs if needed. They were also designed such that light armour could easily be fit over the top, which was something she'd want later. She also got a mottled green cloak that had similar enchantments but an additional one that was some minor stealth magic. It simply helped her blend in with her surroundings better. She also managed to get the woman to put the repair enchantments on her boots, the runes glowing hovering over the surface before disappearing. The whole assortment of pieces cost her two and a half gold, but wholly worth it to her mind. It turned out each gold was a hundred silver and each silver was a hundred copper, a fairly expected exchange. This brought her total cash to nine gold, fifty silver. She soon realised she wasn't going to be able to hold on to this all and asked the woman,

"You don't happen to know anyone who would have magical, extra large bags would you?"