Chapter 15 The journey begins

  After saying our goodbyes, putting on our gear and with me putting on the tail ring we meet at the road the caravans take out. The elder had one final gift for us, a map of the kingdom we were a part of. We were currently in a war with one of our neighbors, though there had only been skirmishes for the last decade so no one had been conscripted as it wasn't a big deal. Our kingdom was named Pai, here all races were welcome and our laws were a bit laid back. The other kingdom that was fighting us was the smaller confederation of Liaz. A council of smaller countries, their councilors at odds with themselves as much as others, a good reason why the war had never escalated. Our destination was the closest town of Pinebrook, a mostly human settlement that might have some work, and afterwards our target was a trade city that was on the coast where there would surely be lots of work for young mercenaries.

  “Let's get moving, no point in wasting daylight, and with such good weather to boot.” We moved as a group, with me at the lead, the boys in back with the girls in the middle. We were waved off with the entire village wishing us various forms of staying well. Our parents were in a line in the back, simply waving us farewell. We had discussed it and we would be back yearly to welcome the new year and its traditions if we could. While we were walking on our first day we began small talk like we usually do.

  “So, what do you guys want from being mercenaries anyway?”

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  I ask as we walk on a long stretch of dirt road.

  “Ill go first, I want to see the world and to gain strength.”

  Jean goes next.

  “I want glory and money, enough to be like the elder, and to take care of a village one day!”

  Alice is next.

  “I also want to see the world, if we can, I'd like to take this opportunity to have a pilgrimage to all the major places of worship.”

  Sarah is next.

  “My reasons are the same as yours Xion, though I'm more interested in seeing some of the great magicians of our time to learn greater magic.”

  Derek is last.

  “...I want to start a business when I'm older… This is a good life experience for the future, my goal is riches and a cute wife at some point. This helps with both…”

  Jean nods along with Derek.

  “Yeah, you've got the right idea! We'll be surrounded by beautiful women once we've built our name Derek!”

  Jean freezes and looks around as all 3 women of our group glare at him with quiet fury.

  “What was that about beautiful women Jean?”

  Alice says, her voice cold.

  “I… uhm… I mean… more beautiful women?”

  We give Jean the cold shoulder for the rest of the day, with him volunteering for the first night watch to try to appease us.

  After everyone takes a few hours of watch me up last tonight, I'm awake a few hours before dawn, keeping an eye out. I absent mindedly work on my gravity magic, hovering a small pebble with a small amount of focus as the night gives way to dawn. Once I see the sun start to rise I wake the others. We eat a meal of water, hard tack and dried schmeep meat. Pack up our tent and get moving for the day. This simple cycle of occasional banter with simply putting some miles on the road, rest and repeat continued for 3 more days, halfway through our journey. That is until we came upon a felled tree blocking the road.