I woke up to my parents waiting for me around the table. The last couple of days had been awkward, but they had come to terms with me leaving and it was time to say our goodbyes. I had my pack full of my clothes and personal items, since I couldn’t rightly leave my parents home with nothing in hand. I would have to keep my clothing outside of my inventory while on the convoy to not arouse suspicion.

I came over to my mother who had something folded up in front of her and she wrapped me up in a big hug.

“My silly, determined son,” she said, teary-eyed, pulling away and cupping my face in her hands. “I still wish you weren’t leaving.”

“I know,” I replied. “But I’m going to learn a lot and come back with plenty of gifts to show off my vast mercantile talents.”

She chuckled despite the sad look on her face. “Well then. You’ll need a sturdy cloak for your travels.” She unfolded the item in front of her and swept it over my back, clasping it at my neck. I lifted the cloth to get a better look at it in the pre-morning dark.

It was a thick, brown material with careful, high quality stitching. I appraised her and realized she advanced her needlework skill. She must have spent hours making this, enough time and energy to improve her skill to this level. The cloak was a bit oversized, clearly made with my future growth in mind, but a couple hidden clasps held the excess folds in place, and I saw that the bottom of the cloak had a hem I could let out at least twice as I gained my adult height.

It was a truly magnificent cloak. My relationship with my mother in this world had been peculiar, partly due to her often-singular focus on her magical research and partly because of the hands-off way parents raised children in this world. To me, coming from Earth, that felt distant and unloving, but both the emotions my mother had displayed at my decision to leave and the amount of work she must have put into this gift, probably even taking time away from her research, showed how much she cared.

She kissed me on my forehead and smiled. “An early apprenticeship birthday present,” she explained. I hadn’t received a gift from my parents since I turned five and got my pack. I surprised myself when I teared up a bit.

Then it was my father’s turn. Horg clapped me on the shoulder, and even through the cloak, raised an eyebrow. “Seems you’ve gotten stronger yet again,” he commented, feeling the new muscle in my arm. He nodded. “You’ll need that extra strength if you’re going to use this,” he said, and pulled out a sheathed sword.

I already had two swords and several other blades, but my father didn’t know that. He drew the blade from the sheath and handed it to me to look over. It was a sturdy but simple arming sword. It was longer than my baselard and even a bit longer than my xiphos, but not quite what might be considered a long sword. It looked old and used, but well cared for.

“This was my first sword,” my father told me, returning it to its simple but functional sheath. “It will serve you well on your journey, should you need it. Of course, I hope you don’t,” he laughed. “Let the convoy guards handle combat and keep you safe. Train with them, yes, but your place in the convoy is to learn from Marshan, so don’t take any excessive risks.” He handed me the sword and tousled my hair.

Despite having blades of my own, I was incredibly appreciative. It was the first time my father trusted me with a blade, and to give me his first sword meant a lot.

He didn’t need to know that I intended on seeking out plenty of combat in order to level up. I probably wouldn’t even end up using his sword, in case it got damaged in battle, as I would have to explain that to him when we next met.

In the meanwhile, I attached the sheath at my hip and beamed with pride at both my parents. I was the very image of a young traveler, with pack and cloak and sword.

“I hope the road is kind to you, my son,” Horg said, and paused. A complicated expression passed over his face. There was clearly something he wanted to say, but still wasn’t ready. His face settled into a slightly sad grimace. “Once you’ve seen a bit more of the world and have returned, there are things I must tell you. But for now, be safe, and enjoy your journey.”

Sharma put her hand on Horg’s arm, and smiled softly at him.

I paused. There were still things I didn’t know about my parents, things I didn’t understand about the world and their place in it. It was clear now that living in Mirut was particular and intentional for them, and that something in their past had led them here. That information could change things. I already knew the world was dangerous, having conquered dungeons and dragons of my own. Was there something bigger I was missing?

I put the thoughts aside. I had already decided. I had confidence in my skills and I had a curiosity that couldn’t be tamed just by hearing a story; I had to see things for myself. If I hesitated now, I might not be able to move forward at all.

So, after the final farewell from my parents, I left the only home I had known in this world and marched onward to the town gate to leave Mirut officially for the first time.

* * *

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I assigned a few skill points to my strength skill on the walk to meet up with the convoy, feeling my muscles swell slightly with each point. I had a cloak over me, which would help hide the bulk, but I would wait to fully advance the skill when I was all the way outside of town. The decision proved prudent when I encountered a sleepy-looking Timur at the gate.

“Well, don’t you seem all grown up,” the young man said to me, looking me over in my new travel attire.

I grinned. “You’re up early. Did you take a morning shift to see me off?”

Timur rolled his eyes, but didn’t deny it.

“You be safe out there, Pilus. Once you get far enough from town, the beasts can get pretty dangerous before you make it out of the jungle and into the grasslands, and who knows what you’ll encounter out there.”

I looked over my shoulder at the guards who were getting organized with the convoy. They were on foot, as were most of the merchants, but I finally laid eyes on my first oxalire, several of which were hitched up to the loaded wagons. The convoy had purchased huge amounts of dried and salted fish to ship back to Roko in trade.

“I’m sure these guards can protect us. They got here in the first place, yeah?”

Timur nodded. “Yeah, although the weather’s already turning cool. It’s not winter, yet, but the beasts are already migrating. Keep your eyes open.”

I clasped the young man’s arm and thanked him, and then gave him a sharp salute, which he returned.

I made my way to the front of the convoy to find Marshan, who was overseeing and managing the final arrangements to get the trip to Roko started. I paused to take a good look at the closest oxalire, recalling what Forn had told me about the beasts. They were slow but steady, able to plow huge amounts of land without rest. They would tirelessly haul the wagons along the road, and there were a few seats available so that the human participants could take sporadic rests on the journey. With so many goods to haul, the convoy was careful not to overburden the beasts with the extra weight of people who had perfectly good feet.

I greeted the tamer who was driving the oxalire, eager to talk with them when possible on the road. He was an older fellow, probably a retired farmer. There was money to be made in a convoy, although it wasn’t without risk. Once a farmer’s sons could take over the operation, a convoy was an opportunity to bring in a nice lump sum for the family from the outside world. It cost the men years away from their families and there was an ever-present danger, but this world wasn’t so kind that every person living in it could avoid discomfort in order to survive.

Marshan greeted me, then passed me off to someone else to make sure I was sorted while he focused on organizing the departure. By the time the light of the day was bright enough to enter the jungle, the convoy was ready to move out.

As I passed through the gate, I once again marveled at the size of the wall. It must have taken a huge number of earth mages months, if not years, of work to build the entire thing. Once I had passed through the full gate and had taken my first steps away, I looked back and up at the guards patrolling the top of the wall. I saw a number of guards wave, all familiar faces to me, and I waved back.

I had the tiniest moment of second thoughts, the realization that I was truly leaving everything I knew. All the safety and kindness. A life that could still be flashed before my eyes: apprenticeship at the wall, and gaining renown as a hunter; in adulthood, bringing in meat from the jungle to Bosh, all pretense dropped, selling it all and feeding the people of Mirut; officially learning magic from my mother and Master Vorel at the institute, and sharing my research with them. A happy, simple, peaceful life.

I swallowed a lump and shook away the mental image. It was a lovely dream, but it was just a dream. I wanted to build a life where I could live alongside my powerful tamed beasts without issue, where I could practice and spread the magic that was forbidden by the Church, where I could crack the mysteries of dungeons and uncover the other mysteries this world still kept hidden.

I turned away from Mirut, and did not look back.

* * *

Once we were sufficiently far from town, I walked up to Marshan’s side, and he nodded to me.

“What now?” he said, jovial but not entirely unconcerned.

“Yeah... I’m going to need your help with something else,” I said.

Marshan sighed wearily. “I’m starting to think this might not have been worth the gold,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s not a big deal. Just, uh, don’t freak out.”

I peeled away and headed into the jungle, and called my familiars to me. Mounting up with Treepo and Gregory in tow, we emerged back onto the road.

I saw a number of the nearby guards stiffen and reach for their swords, then freeze when they noticed me riding the large beast. Marshan raised an eyebrow as I rode up next to him, Buda grunting happily.

“You’re a tamer, too?” he asked.

I nodded. “Was hoping you could smooth that out with the guards, so they don’t attack my familiars here.”

He tilted his head at me, and fell back to the nearest guard to inform him of the change and to lead me to the rest so they could be updated. As I passed the old retired farmer, he glanced at me and Buda.

“That’s a funny looking oxalire,” he said after a moment.

I laughed. “I’ll tell you all about him after we’ve done our introductions with the guard.”

We did our rounds, and I was surprised at how engaged a number of them appeared to be with my familiars. Most of the guards were older men towards the end of their fighting career or young men, just recently turned adult, looking to start out with a bang. The younger guards hadn’t faced nearly as many beast attacks and were pretty open to the idea of being around the tamed beasts, as they were already adjusting to being around the oxalire pulling the wagons. A few asked how well Buda could fight, worried they would have an additional packbeast to defend, but were intrigued when I told them he could hold his own and would probably help rather than hinder. I suspected that, coming from a child just on the cusp of the age of apprenticeship, that my claims of his combat abilities seemed more credulous rather than less. How else could I be in control of a jungle beast, if it couldn’t defend itself?

I rode back up to the wagon-driving tamer, and Gregory leapt off my head and glided over to the seat next to the older man. He yawned, and curled up to sleep on the wagon.

“I can see the use of that one,” he said, nodding to Buda. “But I’m not sure what the point of this one is,” he said, looking down at Gregory.

“Yeah,” I said with a chuckle. “That’s fair.”