When we reached the shopping area, I told everyone, "Ken, Jared let's meet up here after an hour, at 10. Jackie and I will browse together." So we split up into two teams to look for clothes. Jackie went back to holding my arm and dragged me to an underwear shop where I bought 4 pairs of changes. I then brought three tees and three pairs of cargo pants for adventuring. I decided to get rid of what I was wearing right now. I also brought two more tees and two pairs of half pants. Four pairs of socks, two comfortable sports shoes and a pair of flip flops.

My hair reached my shoulder so I didn't feel the need for a haircut. But I brought two garter bands as well. I added a raincoat and gumboots and paid a total of 3 silvers for all of it. By this time Jackie was done and was waiting for me.

We then headed to the designated meeting place, hand in hand. We saw the boys and greeted them. All of us then went to the shop that sold camping gear. We bought a tent for two (as two of us would probably be up for sentry duty), four sleeping bags, four blankets, two pairs of flint stones, two pots and two pans with lids and twelve skewers for roasting meat. All costing a total of 4 silvers. Jared paid saying, "Whenever the rewards are an odd number I'll take it to make it up."

I added 3 skewers, a sleeping bag, a blanket and a pot with a lid to my item box. Jackie did the same but also added a flint. The boys got pans instead of pots. Ken got the flints and Jared the tent. We headed towards a bookshop and got four crude maps of the surrounding area. 

Then made our way towards the AG when I asked, "I guess if we are going to take an escort mission for tomorrow, we'll have to register it today itself… Because the people whom we are supposed to escort will have to get prepared right?"

Ken replied, "Oh. I didn't think of that, yeah I guess so. Wow are you actually smart, Megzie?" Pfft. While Jared and Jamie were stifling their laughter, I rolled my eyes, "Jeez. What you thought I was dumb? Well sorry to disappoint." Pfft. Came another round of stiffened laughter.

"No, I just… Aha-ha." Replied Ken while rubbing his hair. I gave a laugh, "Ya, ya, I know, I know. I'm just messing with you." I gave Ken a push. "Anyway," said Jared, "Megzie could you give me your card and consult with the receptionist about escorting quests?"

I said "sure"  gave him my card, as we had just entered the AG. I then went to the miscellaneous counter and asked Martha, "Hey, Martha. How's it going?" She replied to me with a smile, "It's going well, thanks. I'm going to get busy soon though I suppose, because of the arrival of newbies. Anyway, what do you need?"

I nodded and told her, "Oh I see. The next batch has arrived. Well I recently made a group party and we are thinking of leaving the village. So I was wondering if we had to take the quest today or tomorrow, if we wanted to leave tomorrow?"

"I see", said Martha, "Well for escort missions I suggest you take it a day earlier. I also suggest you hit level 12 before you leave." I replied to her, "Thanks. I'll be reaching it later today and my party members are of a higher level so it'll be okay. Then I'll go tell them this information. Thanks, Martha."

We both smiled at each other and I walked towards the party and relayed the information to them. Jared returned my card to me, "It's a good I accepted only 4 quests. Let's decide on which escort quest to accept." We looked over the escort quests…

[Escorting: Protect a merchant and their goods.

Destination: Andreas. Time limit: 2-4 days.

Proof: Safely reach the destination.

Reward: 15 silvers. Rank: D]

Others were similar, with the ones requiring 2-4 days giving 15 silvers and 3-5 days giving 20 silvers.

[Escorting: Protect a travelling couple.

Destination: Porthos. Time limit: 3-5 days.

Proof: Safely reach the destination.

Reward: 20 silvers. Rank: D]

We unanimously decided on taking up the first quest we looked at, escort to Andreas. We checked the map and Andreas was to the southeast of our location. Porthos was a port town, a few other places required going through the mountains and others were too far away.

After Jared accepted our quest we went back to the inn to have lunch. As we had had breakfast as well, this means we would be skipping the inn's dinner. We sat down ready to eat and met with a pleasant meal of spaghetti with meatballs.

We made our way to the horned wolves and easily took them down. We tried practicing our battle formations. Defense formation was the one where all of us would defend, with Ken in the center and only Jackie on the attack.

Back pincer attack formation was the one where Jared would make his way behind a creature, while Ken distracted it and then Jared and I would simultaneously attack it. Side pincer attack formation was the simplest as I would attack from the right, Jared from the left and Ken from the front.

In both the pincer attacks, Jackie would take advantage at any time to impale the creature with arrows. The divide and conquer two formation was when we had to attack two creatures. Jared and I would team up and Jackie and Ken would team up to attack both creatures simultaneously.

The final formation we decided on for now was the divide and attack three formation. Where Jared, Ken and I would each take on a creature and Jackie would assist whichever one of us was in the most advantageous position. Then we would gang up on the strongest creature and finally kill the remaining one.

The formations were my idea and were well received. So we had the back pincer, the side pincer, defense and two divide and conquer formations. All of us memorized these 5 formations thoroughly. After killing a total of eighteen wolves we were done for the day, all of us leveled up excluding Jackie.

We were dead tired when we made it back to the guild. Killing the horned wolves wasn't difficult but practicing the formations sort of was. After jumping from queue to queue, Jared was finally done and we headed towards the church. He gave us each 11 silvers because we completed 9 subjugations. We reached the church's vicinity and we were in luck, the doors were wide open. Since Ken had reached level 10 it was important for him to get his job and class.

After repeating the same process as what I had done the day before, Ken successfully got his job as a tanker and the class of a berserker along with +5 stamina and +3 in strength. We went to the only restaurant in town that was two buildings away from the church. All of us ordered steak and while we waited, we discussed our skills.

I said, “So, we get two skills at level 5 and one each in level 10 and 15. Since I am level 11, I have 3 skills so far: an area of effect skill (AoE - 10 MP), a crowd control skill (CC - 5 MP) and an evasion skill (evade - 20 MP). My total MP is a bit over 75 as is my HP. My base stats are: strength: 26, sta: 26, agi: 29, int: 26, luck: 25 and I have 3 free stats.” Next, Ken spoke up, “I also have 3 skills: shield smash (CC - 5 MP), slash (damage - 10 MP) and taunt (20 MP). Though my MP is barely 45 my HP is around 100. My base stats are: strength: 32, sta: 35, agi: 28, int: 15, luck: 15. And as you know, I’ve just reached level 10.”

Next was Jackie’s turn, “I am level 16 so I have 4 skills: AoE (10 MP), Fast Attack (burst - 10 MP), damage attack (damage - 10 MP) and detect (detection - 15 MP). 84 MP and 95 HP. My base stats are: strength: 35, sta: 30, agi: 38, int: 32, luck: 20.” Finally it was Jared’s turn, “Level 15 with four skills: slash (damage - 10 MP), poke (damage - 5 MP), sneak (sneak attack - 20 MP) and dash (blink - 10 MP). My HP is 95 and MP is 80. My base stats are: strength: 35, sta: 30, agi: 35, int: 30, luck: 20. I think our party is well balanced. We have 1 ranged and 3 melee players in the form of an archer and a  tank, assassin and damage dealer. Cheers to us.”

After Jared gave a toast, all of us focused on the steak that was a large chunk of pinkish brown meat with a delicious looking brown gravy spread over it and mashed potatoes as a side. Don’t get me wrong... Bread, pasta and rice are great but meat is meat. After having our last dinner in the town we headed back for an early sleep. As I headed to bed I caught the sight of 44 silvers in my item box before falling asleep.

We had decided to meet up at 7, but I woke up at 6:30, probably because the thought of a journey excited me. I decided to hang around the AG until 7, but when I came downstairs, I heard a familiar voice, “Good morning, Megzie.” It was Jared. I greeted him, “Good morning, you woke up before 7 too?” He replied to me, “Don’t laugh, but I guess I was kind of excited about the trip.” I gave him a wink, “Same as me then.” I giggled, “We’re a bit early for breakfast I guess. Do you want to walk around a bit? I’d like to say goodbye to Mary, from the gate.”

“Sounds like a plan.” agreed Jared. So we leisurely took a stroll around the village while heading to the north gate. Jared started a conversation, “I was wondering, if you don’t mind me asking… How old were you before you became a player?” I replied honestly, “The same age as I am right now, eighteen. Why?” Jared replied, “Well I was just wondering, because you adapted pretty fast and keep making correct and mature decisions.” “I see.”

We reached the gate and I asked around for Mary. Apparently if I could wait for a few minutes she’d come meet me. Waiting around with Jared, a silence that was comfortable descended. Mary showed up, “Hey, what’s up Megzie. Is anything troubling you?” I replied with a smile, “Morning, Mary. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be leaving for Andreas today. Thanks for taking care of me.”

Mary looked visibly shocked, “Leaving?! How can you leave with your level? Wait what is your level?” I tried to calm her down, “Relax Mary, I’m already level 12.” I lied, I was 11. But I had the stats of a level 12 so it’s fine I guess. Mary’s jaw opened wide, “What?! In three days you’ve reached level 12. Sigh. I can’t with you. Anyway since that’s your level you should be okay. I hope you are going with a party.”

I replied instantly, “Yes. A party of four and two are over level 15. He’s one of them. Jared, this is Margret. Margret, this is my party leader, Jared.” After a brief introduction and a few warnings from Mary, we headed back leisurely towards the inn. There were still a few minutes till 7 but when we entered the inn we spotted both Jackie and Ken. They waved at us and Ken asked loudly, “Where were you guys? Jackie woke up early and out of boredom woke me up. But you guys didn’t answer our calls so we were wondering what happened to both of you.” I apologized, “Sorry Jackie. I woke up too early and coincidentally met Jared so we went for a walk.” Jackie waved her hands, “No worries. Sit down. This will be our last meal here. The innkeeper asked us to return the keys to our room before leaving, by the way.”

Jared and I returned our keys and sat down to have sandwiches, today's breakfast. We made our way to the AG after breakfast. After asking the receptionist we were directed to a man with a slight pot belly, “Are you my escorts? I am Brent.” Jared nodded and introduced us, “We are a rank D party. I am the party leader, Jared. This is Jacqueline and we are both above level 14. These are my party members Megzie and Kennedy. Both are competent adventurers.”

Brent shook each of our hands, “I would like to set off immediately and arrive as soon as possible. If we reach by tomorrow night I am willing to give you 20 silvers instead. Follow me to the carriage.” We went towards the south west and found a half a dozen carriages and a dozen carts

A boy approached us and after talking with Brent he came back with two horses. He then tied them to a carriage. The boy spoke with us, “If you pull the reins towards you then the horses will stop. Pulling it towards the left or right will make the horses change their direction. To make them go faster, lift up the reins and in a swift motion, flick it and bring it downward.” After he demonstrated the controls to us, we got the basic idea.