Nobina began her trek down the unknown path, full of optimism yet caution. This was a new world to her, so she had to be as careful as possible until she was in a safe place. She could only think back to the times when she had traveled into the unknown to offer her a memory of a somewhat similar situation.

Normally, she would plan things out as that was her nature, but there was one day when she was much younger that she wanted to see what was like to go on an adventure. She got into her car, drove to another town to explore, and experienced all sorts of new things. From foods she had never tried before to sights that made her happy. The experience was all worth it, but she never did anything like that again.

Why? Because she was far too busy with her schoolwork and life seemed to take over. Soon, the thought of having another adventure never occurred to her. At least until right now.

“An adventure huh… I wonder what my first encounter will be.”

She continued down the road, keeping track of her surroundings in case of any potential dangers. She was mainly looking out for monsters, but she was hoping to find someone. A road meant a place that was traveled on, so the odds of finding anyone were hopefully high. The road was large enough to fit a carriage, so that was a good sign.

The world around her was quite beautiful in her eyes. The forest and plains seemed greener, the tiny monsters in the distance seemed varied, which was nice. She didn’t want to be anywhere near them, but from a distance they made the fact that she was in a fantasy world even more real in her mind. It was one thing to write about these worlds but experiencing them was a whole other story.

Eventually, as she approached the end of the plains, she noticed a covered carriage pulled by two horses. Her excitement rose as she was happy with the thought of meeting actual people.

She approached them in a sort of sprint, wanting to meet them as soon as possible. Jumping out of the back was a man with a sword who held up his hand, forcing her to stop.

“Halt,” he said. His voice was rough, and now, getting a better picture of him, she could tell he was likely either a guard or an adventurer acting as a guard.

“Oh,” she said, halting. “So sorry. I haven’t met anyone yet, so I was so excited to meet someone new.”

Hearing the genuine excitement in her voice gave him pause before he lowered his guard a bit.

“Hm? Are you perhaps lost?”

“You can say that,” she replied, now catching her breath.

He gave a nod.

“Well, the kingdom is rather unknown in terms of geography to travelers, especially from the other two nations, so I can understand that.”

Nobina’s thoughts began processing what he was saying. He was implying she was from another nation, which wouldn’t exactly be inaccurate, to say the least. However, a worry entered her mind. She was from another world, and the idea of telling someone that was risky, to say the least. From the many stories she’d read, revealing such a secret was a risk. The worst case would be that people would take advantage of that and do horrible stuff to her. Not wanting to risk that, she began trying to act as if she was from another nation. Just one he wasn’t familiar with.

“Yeah,” she chuckled, perhaps a bit too suspiciously. “I’ve been trying to get help getting to the nearest town. Do you mind if I join you?”

He put his hand to his chin, thinking.

“Well… I’ll have to ask the boss first.”

At that point, another man, a bit younger than him at least, appeared from the carriage. He looked like a merchant with his outfit, so she had to guess this was a merchant carriage.

“Hello there,” said the other man. “Name Fitz Gerna. Independent merchant. What is your name?”

“Nobina,” she replied, giving a bow.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

As she raised her head, she noticed the expression of Fitz was a bit different. She wondered if bowing was a bad idea. If it wasn’t a normal thing to do anywhere, then she might have made them unnecessarily suspicious.

“Well then Nobina. I heard everything the two of you were talking about, so I’ll just say I don’t mind you joining. You don’t appear to have much besides an empty sack.”

Looking at her sack, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah. It’s a bit strange,” she said, calming herself down. “Anyways, thank you for the ride.”

With that, Nobina approached and entered the carriage. The adventurer had already lowered his guard and entered the back with her.

Inside the carriage were five boxes likely full of the merchants’ wares.

“So what are you selling?” Nobina asked as the merchant took the reins of the carriage.

“Nothing that great. Mostly some common goods from other nations. The town I’m going to needs more general supplies like metal cooking ware and paper-based supplies, so we are on our way back from the Nation of Arren.”

She gave a nod. Hearing about paper-based supplies made her a bit excited, but she managed to hold it in. After all, the less she had to reveal about her past the safer she was.

At that point, the carriage began moving, with the guard relaxing. As he seemed to relax even more, he spoke once more.

“Names Alfer,” he replied. “C-rank adventurer. Hired for a guard.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, holding out her hand for a handshake.

His confusion prompted her to slowly withdraw her hand in embarrassment.

So far everything was going fine, but she felt she had made a few mistakes. She hoped that this wasn’t the case, but she was being cautious just in case.

As the three of them continued their journey, Nobina found her curious nature, prompting her to ask questions. Mainly involving the world around them as she was a sucker for world-building.

“So, what’s your favorite place to visit Fitz?” Asked Nobina, more relaxed now that the three have ridden for a bit.

“Hm… That’d be the Magical Hills of Esar. At night, it gives that beautiful purple glow all over. The mixture of the plants that produce magical energy and the monsters there that all have that purple glow make that an amazing place to visit.”

Nobina gave a nod.

“Magic is truly a wonderful thing, isn’t it?”

“Indeed,” he nodded back.

The idea of magic was something everyone dreamed of. To be able to shoot fireballs out of your hand and do crazy or amazing stuff? Something that anyone would love to be able to do. At least, that’s what she thought. She began imagining herself firing off fireballs like a wizard, fighting a hoard of monsters and being a hero.

“So Nobina. What Path are you following?” asked Fitz, his focus on the road.

“Path? Well… I want to be a writer, so that path.”

He began laughing strongly, with Alfer joining him as well. Her curiosity peaked, but she found herself joining them. The laugh went on for a bit before they all calmed down.

“I mean what Path as in your destined Path. You know? The thing that we all aspire to follow?”

Her confusion was suddenly clear as he stopped the carriage and turned to her. Both of them suddenly realized she had no idea what a Path was, making them wonder more about her.

“Can you… refresh my mind on what a Path is.”

Fitz took a breath and began explaining.

“A Path is something everyone is given at birth. It’s how one gains abilities and becomes an elite in their field. For example, my path, the Path of a Merchant, allows me to gain merchant related abilities as long as I work hard at it.”

His expression turned sad as he continued to speak.

“I have the ability to confirm accuracy of any calculation I make. It’s limited to about ten uses an hour, so it’s not the greatest ability, but it helps. I really wish I had a more impactful merchant ability though…”

She saw his mood seem to drop even more.

“Imagine… working hard for ten years and getting… Only one ability. Sure, I’m not the greatest merchant in the world, but I want to believe that I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Of course you haven’t,” she said, looking at him.

His gaze noticed a sort of fire in her eyes as she continued to speak.

“You’ve worked hard towards your dream and made progress. Sure, it’s not as crazy as some other people, but progress is progress. Working hard to become something is something you should never be sad about. Even if things were bad, you can, at the very least say you tried.”

He could tell that she was speaking from her heart now rather than trying to be cautious. His expression softened, and he began calming down.

“Your right,” he nodded. “I’ve worked hard, and I wouldn’t be where I’m at today if I worked any less hard than I have. Thank you Nobina.”

“You’re welcome,” she responded, now calming down herself.

“You should speak more with your heart rather than being cautious all the time,” he chuckled. “You don’t succeed as a merchant if you can’t read people like I have been with you.”

She felt embarrassed, seeing her act was easily revealed.

“Sorry,” she said.

“No worries. We all have our situations, and this is merely one of them. Of course, I do recommend you get better at acting if you want to hide stuff. Else, be as honest as possible.”

She gave a nod.

“Thanks Fitz.”

“Happy to help a friend,” he smiled.

Despite him knowing she was hiding something, he seemed to be open with her, at least for now. Nobina knew she needed all the help she could get, as this was an unknown world that she was slowly gaining knowledge about. As Nobina looked out the window, it felt as if the gaze on her had flickered a bit. It was gone and back before she knew it. She didn’t know how to react to it, so she decided to ignore it for now as it continued to stare.

With that, they continued their journey towards the next town.