Elijah thanked him and hurried back to the inn where he took his mace, a cloak, and another set of clothes with him before he told Thyme that he would be gone for a few days and paid for a week in advance. He also made a short trip to the market where he bought a proper backpack made of leather for his belongings.
He also made another stop at the old man’s candy stand he had been to and bought sweets and a few fruits from another store for the way. His backpack rapidly filled with all kinds of delicious food Elijah couldn’t resist buying before he made his way to the East-side of the city with a weird fruit in hand, which tasted like a mix between a watermelon and an apple but looked like a banana.
This world is weird, Elijah thought as he took a bite.
Chapter Begin
The trip to the city wall was uneventful. Elijah arrived thirty minutes later at what seemed like a meeting point for everyone who wanted to travel to Ravenholm and a few other cities Elijah spotted on the map on his way here.
Dozens of merchants were loading up their wares, speaking or arguing with guards, and setting off toward other cities. It looked like a team of five guards was going around the merchants' carts and checking the content briefly before moving to the next. Not even five minutes after arriving, he even saw how they skipped two merchants. One of them, a short man with a protruding belly, was probably of higher social standing with his own guards standing next to the cart and his attire out of place among all these merchants. The other one, a black-haired man with a crooked nose, handed the guard who was about to check his cargo something which was probably a few credits. The guard slipped the money into a pocket while he checked if his colleagues had seen anything.
Elijah shook his head and smiled at the scene while he approached one of the nearby merchants, a small but burly man with a thick beard and bushy eyebrows. “Excuse me, are you by any chance going to Ravenholm?”
The man continued to hurl his crates on the cart as he threw a single look at Elijah. “Silverpine,” he said, “Need a ride? 300 credits.”
“Try to fool someone else,” Elijah muttered as he continued to the next merchant. Three others had different destinations but still tried to rip him off while four other merchants simply told him to ask someone else. One of them was traveling to Ravenholm but he had no place left on his cart for any passengers and pointed Elijah to another merchant who was also traveling to Ravenholm.
The next merchant was a young man, about 20 of age, and just began loading up his crates on the wagon when Elijah approached him. He noted that there were two horses instead of one but a closer looked told him that the two animals weren’t horses but some kind of derivation of a horse. Their snouts were shorter than a horse’s and their hooves were pitch black and ending in claws. Two curved horns protruded on the head and their small eyes and beards reminded Elijah of goats.
Elijah continued past the mounts and threw a look at the mounts of the other merchants. No one had horses. They all had the same mounts pulling their carts. How did I not notice that? He thought before he called out to the merchant. “Hey, are you going to Ravenholm?”
The young merchant stopped loading up and looked Elijah up and down before he answered with a nod, “If you need a ride, I always take a hundred credits.”
“Sounds good,” Elijah nodded before a grin spread on the man’s face.
“Great, call me Junip!” He pointed at the crates and asked, “Mind helping?”
Together, Elijah and Junip loaded up the wagon before the young merchant jumped on the coachman’s seat. He looked down at Elijah. “The guards already checked my wares, we can set off immediately. What was your name?” He patted next to him, inviting Elijah to join.
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Elijah jumped up and took a seat next to Junip before he answered, “Elijah, thanks for the ride.”
Junip waved his hand and said, “Don’t mind it. What brings you to Ravenholm?” He glanced at Elijah’s mace before he continued, “There’s only one thing Ravenholm could possibly offer.”
“The Tier 2 rift,” Elijah said, confirming Junip’s guess. With a jolt, the cart began moving and Elijah watched as the two animals started drawing the carriage through the collection of merchants. Junip showed a small badge to a guard Elijah hadn’t noticed before they left the city. A well-built, wide road showed them the way as the two animals, called Feyls as Junip had told him, slowly accelerated until they reached a fast pace.
“It will take us around four hours to reach Ravenholm at this pace,” Junip explained with a louder voice as he leaned back in his seat.
“How old are you?” Elijah asked him as he looked at the light beard Junip wore. The merchant was wearing a black leather jacket in addition to his black tank top and his dark grey pants despite the hot weather. In combination with his sandals, the outfit was quite odd.
“I’m turning 20 next Moondawn,” Junip answered as he stroke his short, black hair with one hand. “Do I look older?”
Elijah shook his head before he said, “I’m 23 next month.” It was April on Earth so I should turn 23 next month.
“So one month before me. A Sunwane child, huh? I would have guessed you were my age.” Juniper said as Elijah tried to memorize the order of the months. Sunwane, Moondawn. Got it.
“What do you do for a living? Delving?” Junip asked.
“Just started,” Elijah answered. “What about you? Is this your daily life?” Elijah gestured at the wares behind them with his thumb as he asked.
“Sadly,” Junip sighed as he continued. “I don’t like traveling from town to town, transporting wares but it makes a lot of money.” The merchant looks up at the sky, the two moons were slowly fading away, driven away by daylight. “One day I’m gonna be a wealthy merchant, but first I have to pay off the debts my parents left behind.”
Elijah followed Junip’s gaze as he said, “Paying off debts is the worst. I had been in your situation too. What’s the guy you owe the money to like?”
“Marvin, a Tier 4 who is well known for lending money and taking it back with interest. Most of my income goes toward paying him off.” Junip said before he looked at Elijah and made a fist. “But one day, I’m going to trade between planets. I even have a trait that will help me.”
“Interplanetary trade?” Elijah asked and continued as Junip nodded, “Sounds great. I also come from another planet, it’s far away, though. Have you ever heard of Earth?” While Elijah knew it was risky, he decided to take the risk and ask Junip if he had ever heard of Earth. He couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to ask about Earth in such a natural conversation.
“Earth? Never heard of it.” To Elijah’s disappointment, Junip shook his head. “What is it like?”
“I liked it there, but I’m not sure if there is anything I can go back to,” Elijah said.
“Sometimes it’s better to start anew,” Junip said before he let out a laugh. “Man, look at us, only grumbling during the trip. Topic change. What tier are you? Tier 2?”
Elijah joined Junip’s laugh before he nodded. “Reached it a few days ago.”
“I’m also Tier 2. Do you already have a Dao Seed?” Junip asked as he pulled gently on the reins, signaling the Feyls to slow down a bit. The road was in slightly worse condition as far as Elijah could see.
A dao seed? Tiers, skills, perks, traits, and now Dao Seeds? He groaned internally as he shook his head and asked, “Do you have one? I didn’t manage to form a Dao Seed yet.” He decided to pretend to know what a Dao Seed was. More lack of knowledge could draw even more attention to him. It was already conspicuous enough that he had no idea about skills. There was probably a limit to how many things could be explained by telling everyone that he came from far away.
“I don’t but I’m dead set on forming one and reaching Tier 4 if only to prove to myself that I’m better than Marvin,” Junip answered. At first, Elijah didn’t understand what forming a Dao Seed had to do with being better than Marvin, but considering the man was Tier 4, forming a Dao Seed could be one of the conditions to be able to enter that Tier.
Before Elijah could fish for more information, the Feyls came to an abrupt stop. A lone person had stepped onto the road several hundred meters ahead and before Elijah knew it, they were surrounded by a group of eight men.