I woke up the next morning in an empty bed. Elle had a lot more packing to do than I did, and had gotten up early to get it done. Unlike Zevrack and me, she was simply paying her way onto the trip, having been given a small sum of gold by the town to finally start working as a seeker outside of the village. I myself had been given 20 gold pieces for doing my part for the town, as well as a few changes of too short clothes, five bidents, several days of food, cutlery, a whetstone, and a few other helpful odds and ends. Even with all these gifts however, my total belongings since I’d arrived in this world could still easily fit on my back.

I got out of bed, and caught myself before stretching so I didn’t hit my head on the ceiling. I wouldn’t miss that. After that I took a quick shower, got dressed, armed and armored, and walked out the front door. The town of Mykas was always busy in the morning, I assumed that came from being a town of farmers, but today things seemed particularly bustling. I gave my usual nods and hellos as I passed by the various townspeople on the way to the center. When I reached it, I saw a large number of dwarves and kobolds all hashing out last minute deals, and talking with one another. One enterprising merchant had set up a kind of drink cart that was filling the air with the warm fresh smell of tea.

I stopped over by his cart first and gave the merchant a gold piece which he handed me change for, then a mug. I took a sip and enjoyed the rich earthy flavor as its warmth filled me. I’d always been more of a coffee guy, but this was good, damn good. With a mug in hand I started making my way closer to the caravan. Now that I had a little gold to spend, I wanted to look over everyone’s wares a bit more closely.

As I’d noted earlier, the majority of the traders here were focused on more practical goods. I wasn’t terribly interested in the tools or iron ingots, but a table with various rolls of fabric caught my eye. There were a number of rich hues and textures represented. I wasn’t sure of exactly what the fabrics were made of, some felt like wool, others similar to cotton, but also slightly different in ways I couldn’t quite pinpoint. There were even several I couldn’t hope to identify. One particular roll caught my eye. It was a flat shade of black, with thin lines of a shinier black woven through it in a simple pattern. I touched it gingerly, and found it to be soft, but with a thickness to it that made it seem durable. I hadn’t exactly expected to be shopping for fabric, but I would need clothes that actually fit me eventually, and I assumed that individual tailoring was likely the norm in this world in the same way it had been throughout most of the history on Earth. Though that assumed that magic didn’t have an impact on manufacturing. I assumed I'd find some kind of tailor when I reached a human settlement. One who was able to better work with my proportions.

I waited until the merchant was done with another customer, and waved her down. I wound up buying a roll of the strange black fabric, as well as rolls of a cotton-like blue, a woolish brown, and a dark green. I was out 4 gold by the end of it, three of which went just to the black. It was probably more than I should’ve spent, but hey, who hasn’t spent their first paycheck a little frivolously.

After that I took my new bundle under my arm and looked around for Zevrack and Elle. I found them behind the centermost beetle, loading things into bags at its side and asking Geode questions about the journey and what to expect. I waved as I approached. “Good morning.”

“Good morning Cor. Load up your stuff with theirs and meet me at the head beetle. I’ll be marking your pay sheet for a half-silver for the day. I’ll pay you every full silver. Work for you?”

I nodded, and a prompt entered my vision.

A Job is a Job

Class Ability Quest

Escort the caravan safely to its destination

Reward: ½ silver per day, XP

Do you accept? Y/N

I hit yes. I’d forgotten that class ability, it would probably be a smart idea to start exploiting it every chance I get. I made my way over to Zevrack and Elle, and started loading my stuff into the pack on the side of the beetle, taking one final moment to wistfully rub the new fabric I’d bought between my fingers. No offense to the clothes the dwarves had been nice enough to provide me with, but mushroom fibers weren’t exactly the height of luxury.

“You guys ready to leave?” I asked.

Zevrack nodded, his tail was moving back and forth excitedly. “Yes. I have never been out of the caverns. This is very exciting.” He shifted from one foot to the other. “I must say my goodbyes to the clan--Excuse me.” He walked around the beetle and toward the group that was gathered in the makeshift market on the other side.

“How about you Elle? Excited?”

She smiled. “I don’t know if I’m really excited, so much as ready. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s hard being stuck in an in-between situation. I completely understand.” I did. My times as a temp had been just that, an odd state of flux.

She looked down. “I wanted to apologize for not choosing to be your companion.”

I blinked. “The system asked you too?”

She nodded. “I believe it asked me first. After I refused, it sent the request to Zevrack.”

“Oh, well that’s fine.” I shrugged. “I’m actually kind of grateful it doesn’t just force whoever it wants into the role. That would be incredibly awkward.”

She looked thoughtful. “I wonder what would happen if no one accepted the offer. Would the system create someone new? Or compensate you in some other way? Whatever problems there can be with it, it’s almost always fair.”

I watched the gears begin turning behind her eyes. “Can I ask why you said no?”

She shook her head, pushing her thoughts out of the way momentarily. “Well, I don’t really want to be tied down. I have a feeling you’re going to be traveling a lot, and while that’s a great way to learn I want the option to really focus on anything that catches my interest.”

I nodded. That made sense, but I still felt a bit disappointed. We’d spent a lot of time together since I’d arrived. She was the first friend I’d really made here. Still, I respected her decision.

“I’m gonna go check in with Geode and see where he wants me. Not all of us get to relax on this trip,” I said teasingly.

She smirked back and gave me a light push. I began walking over to Geode, but was stopped by Tinsel, who was smiling ear to ear, but also had the sunken eyes of a man that hadn’t slept. “Cor!”

“Tinsel! What can I do for you?”

“Nothing you haven’t already done. Those kobolds have almost run through my entire stock. If they hadn’t managed to refill it themselves with bartering, I’d have nothing to do for the rest of the trip.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d have some luck with them.”

He wiped his eyes. “My only complaint is that I needed an actual chart to figure out some of the trades. I thought I was skilled at barter, but they’re on a whole other level!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red vial which he presented to me.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“A healing potion. Consider it a finder's fee. I was saving it for myself, but since you’re going to be guarding the caravan, I’m hoping I won’t need it.”

I smiled and took it. I wasn’t about to refuse free stuff at this point.

Tinsel stretched and yawned. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get some rest.”

“Seems like you’ve earned it.”

He nodded and walked toward the rear beetle, which was already being loaded up.

I walked back to the front beetle, once again in awe of its massive size, and found Geode once again brushing the thick carapace of the creature.

“Where do you need me boss?” I asked.

He didn’t look up from his work. “Front beetle with me. I already told the kobold to keep to the rear one. There are four more guards we already had on with us, two to each beetle.”

“Why do you want me up front?” I asked.

He stopped his brushing and looked up at me with a slightly uncomfortable expression. “It was Tinsel’s idea. He thinks an elf on the front beetle may help drive up sales, or at least curiosity.”

I had hoped it would be something like my intimidating aura, but oh well. I would happily play mascot to get the hell out of these caverns. I gave a thumbs up, which he raised an eyebrow to. “Ah, a common human gesture. It means, ‘good’ or ‘okay’.”

Geode made the same gesture and held a thumbs up toward me, gesturing it upward.

“Yeah, that’s how you do it.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t doing that. I’m telling you to get on the beetle, it’s time to go.”

I smiled sheepishly and scrambled up to the top of the beetle. It looked as if the wagon on its back was somehow bolted down, with some seats at the top and an odd contraption that seemed to be driven through the creature's back, with several levers jutting from it. I took a seat, waited for Geode to saddle up and start making adjustments to those levers. After a few turns and pulls we were on our way. I looked back at Mykas, and watched it fade away before disappearing as we entered a large cave. I’d have to get used to that, I was probably going to be leaving a lot of places behind in this new world.