Theseus kept his eyes on the road from the horse-drawn cart he bought. It had been a week since he came back from his side quest from the human world or Earth as he called it. He took a look round his environment for any updates on his current location, of course he had noticed a sleeping Shin at the back without a care in the world.
‘Why does he have that stupid look on his face’ Theseus pondered with a hint of annoyance. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to be in Shin’s position. For the past week, he barely got anything more than three hours of sleep so he had every right to be jealous. ‘Thank the gods termnav exists or we’d be taking months to reach places’
Terminal Navigation or Termnav, courtesy of Hermes, was one of the quickest means of transport throughout heaven. Since heaven was much larger than earth, normal journeys on transport would take much longer. It worked just like the mediums on earth but used to travel across places.
Theseus shook his head as he turned his focus back to the path to their next destination, New Macedonia. He held onto the reins as he steered the horse a bit to the right. Theseus now felt it was time to budget the expenses now that they were few meters away.
‘Naturally we’ll need more food ingredients’ Theseus thought, though it would be easier just hunting wildlife and finding natural ingredients he had to consider his partner’s health. He continued ‘What about clothes, and a new weapon?’ he paused in his thoughts for a moment before shrugging ‘Too expensive, I’ll just wash and dry it’
-THUD
Theseus was suddenly cut off as the cart was bumped into by a pebble, causing it to shake vigorously for a few seconds before calming down. “What the hell?” Theseus halted the vehicle as he came down and examined for any damages. Luckily, there was none which made him sigh in relief. Although same couldn’t be said for Shin who was thrown off by the minor accident.
“Oww” Shin groaned as he laid flat on the ground
“You sleep too much” Theseus said blankly before climbing the driver’s seat of the cart
“Wouldn’t hurt to be concerned Freeloader” Shin muttered
“How long are you gonna keep calling me that?”
Shin sharply replied “As long as I want” before climbing the cart as the vehicle began moving. Shin now became anxious as he asked “Are we there yet?”
“You can always drive it yourself instead of bugging me” Theseus shot back with a glare but could notice Shin was unfazed, he turned back to the road “Almost”
“Hehe” Shin chuckled “So I still have more time to sleep”
“Nope, were here already” Theseus replied blankly
“THAT WAS FAST!” Shin commented in surprise at the sudden arrival
Theseus kept driving as they now entered the general market. Other places in Greece had their own market place but what distinguished New Macedonia from the rest was A) They had stuff from all over heaven, so it was a gold mine for adventurers and B) The prices being reasonable and to the point where bargains could be made. But the market had its pros and cons…
Stolen story; please report.
“Mind if I can help with anything?”
‘Tch’ Theseus looked down to find an old man with a shaved head standing right beside the cart, he now recalled one of the cons about the place he heard long ago.
Everyone is trying to make money from something, so don’t answer them.
‘What do I do’ Theseus thought how to avoid the man without being rude, sadly he needed someone to help navigate the place so he had to submit.
“Got anywhere where I can find these?” Theseus handed the old man a list he had made moments before he got there. The man took it and examined its contents while stroking his chin. He answered back with a smile “Sure but it’ll take a while”
“Eh? Well I don’t mind as long as we get what we came here for” Theseus stated calmly as he now whipped the reins of the horse, making it to move again.
“Hey wait!” the old man called them back making Theseus look back in annoyance
“What now?”
“You’ll have to find a parking space for your horse” the old man replied making Theseus groan
“Why?” Theseus questioned before the man pointed towards a sign on a wall which said
[WARNING]
[VEHICLES DO NOT PROCEED]
[BEASTS OF BURDEN INCLUDED]
[FINE: 40,000 STARS]
‘What?’ Theseus froze in shock before turning back to the old man “Fine then, where do I park?”
“Don’t worry leave it to me” The old man assured “You’ll just have to pay a thousand stars”
Theseus sighed in relief ‘What a kind soul’
“Per minute”
“YOU MIGHT AS WELL STRAIGHT UP ROB ME, DAMN GEEZER!” Theseus yelled at the man, he was now lost in his thoughts ‘Damn it, what do I do? And I can’t just go back outside cuz of the damn entry ticket’
He then came up with an idea as he turned to Shin who had been sleeping this whole time. He woke up his partner by using his water affinity and throwing a water orb at his face.
“What the hell?!” Shin yelled in confusion and anger
“Don’t mind that” Theseus shrugged it off as he looked him in the eye “Listen Shin, I need a favor from ya real quick”
“…” Shin looked back confusingly
“Just ride the cart round the parking lot” Theseus pleaded with the boy. Shin could see the desperation in his partner’s eyes before he decided to agree to Theseus’ request.
“Alright, alright you don’t have to do all that” Shin let out a smirk “Aren’t we partners?”
Theseus blinked before a smile formed on his lips “Yeah, thanks” before heading off with the old man.
Shin turned and headed towards the parking space, little did he know he was being watched by a group of thugs who were all smiling as they found their next prey.
~Scroll of the Dead~
Shin had taken his fifth lap round the parking space. He had been going round the parking lot as a method to avoid parking without being seen inside the market with his vehicle.
“This is getting boring” he groaned as he began his next lap round the lot ‘Need something to pass the time before I lose it’ Shin tried his best to think of how to pass the time, an idea popped up in his head
“Not done fighting” Shin began muttering the lyrics of Metro Boomin’s ‘Am I dreaming’ “I don’t feel I’ve lost… Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down” he quickly switched to Rick Ashley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’
Shin continued “Never gonna-”
-CLANK
“Hmm?” his attention was caught as a cylinder rolled over to the front of the cart. Shin took a closer look at it, it had dark blue body with a metallic cover on both sides. The contents seemed to be in a liquid state. Shin now noticed a weird circle with mysterious writings resembling Greek. This was a magic seal which could only mean one thing to the boy
“A magic item?” Shin asked as he stepped down from the cart and picked it up “Who dropped this?”
Suddenly, the seal let off a dark blue glow as gas came out from the cylinder confusing the human.
“KOFF KOFF” Shin let out a cough as he inhaled the strange gas, his vision became blurry and he felt very weak… Shin slowly closed his eyelids as he finally collapsed to the ground. A shadowy figure appeared over the boy’s unconscious body and stared at him in pity.