I looked at the carriage. It looked like a regular carriage with a roof and a compartment that could be entered by a door to the either side of the carriage. What stuck out was that in addition to two seats in the front of the carriage. There were also two seats installed behind the carriage. So we would take turns holding the reign. Jackie wanted to go first so I sat down with her while Jared and Ken sat behind the carriage. Brent sat inside and we set off. Jackie got the hang of it quite fast. There was a small cylindrical wood installed a foot in front of us. This was probably where we could tie up the reins when the road is straight and peaceful. We could have done it now but Jackie was having too much fun.

Jackie and I made small talk for a while until we spotted a few goblins roaming around in the vicinity. I gave the boys a warning and without stopping the carriage, Ken got down and went on a killing spree. Apparently, after one hits level 10, the exp gets distributed according to contribution, even in party quests. Since my level was also low after Ken got tired I went off to clear them. We rested and rotated for a few hours until we decided to stop for lunch. But, Brent complained stating that the horses were not weak and didn’t need rest so we should just have lunch on the road.

After contemplating we all agreed so we took turns eating lunch, without stopping the carriage. Ken ate first, followed Jackie and then me. I still had 14 small bowls of rice, 14 small bowls of meat, 14 small vegetable bowls, 20 slices of bread, 7 small bowls of soup and 14 smaller bowls of soup. The rice, chicken, vegetables and smaller soup bowl would be for lunch and dinner while I had three slices of bread and the small soup bowl for breakfast. After deciding this I took out the bowl of rice and poured the soup on it. Then started eating it with alternating mouthfuls of vegetables and meat. After I was done it was Jared’s turn. I was sitting in the back with him so he just copied what I did.

While I was drinking water, Ken was running around after exp. After a while I relieved him and started to grind levels on my own. Jackie finally got bored of driving so Jared took over. Instead she climbed on the roof of the carriage and laid down on it over her blanket. After getting leveling up I allocated my stats:

It was starting to become dark. Nothing eventful happened. Since we all agreed that the horses needed rest and it would be dangerous at night, we decided to set up camp at around 8. After discussing with Brent it was decided that we would set off as soon as it became bright enough. While Jared and Ken went to collect wood to make a fire, Jackie and I started setting up the tent. It was decided that we’d stay up for five hour sentry shifts, with Jared and I taking the first shift. After the boys were done setting up the fire they fed the horses with food and water that Brent had provided.

Finally satisfied with our first ever tent, Jackie and Ken squeezed in their sleeping bags and all of us gathered around the campfire to have dinner. After dinner, Jackie and Ken went into the tent to catch some shut eye. Brent decided to sleep inside his carriage and Jared and I both sat on top of our folded sleeping bags and became alert for the sentry duty. A few hours passed by with a few words exchanged and the rest spent in comfortable silence. When it was 1 in the morning, we went to wake up Jackie and Ken. Then traded places with them with great difficulty, as both were quite difficult to wake up.

When I laid down on my sleeping bag in the tent, I heard Jared whisper, “This is an adventurous world. I’m experiencing many new things.” And then I drifted off to sleep. I was woken up with a shout, “Wakey wakey.” I grumbled. It was Ken. Jared was already on his way out and Ken was shaking me awake. “Okay, I’m up already, stop it! What time is it?” Ken grinned, “It’s 5:30, we’re leaving in half an hour, get out so that we can disassemble the tent and go have breakfast.” I put my sleeping bag in my item box, fixed my bed head and went out. It was still a little dark, but I could still see very clearly.

As we were inexperienced, it took quite a while to disassemble the tent. We quickly had our breakfast and started the journey yet again.

This time it was my turn to drive and I found that it was quite a novel experience. Jackie climbed the roof yet again and started chatting with me. Jared offered her his seat but she said this was more fun. Ken was clearing the monsters as usual. The only monsters in our way were hobgoblins, goblins, foxes and an occasional wolf. This was probably why it is considered a rank D quest. Jackie suddenly said, “Be careful I see something up ahead. Ken stay alert, I’m using detection.” After a few seconds, “It isn’t alive whatever I see. Let’s go. But carefully.”

We went forward with a slower pace. A little while later, I saw a silhouette that looked as large as a carriage. When we approached it, we confirmed that it was a carriage. One of the wheels was broken and it was tilted towards us, therefore we couldn't make out that it was a carriage.

I stopped our carriage and explained the situation to Brent. Jared got down to go examine it along with Ken, while Jackie aimed her arrow towards it just in case there was an ambush. Ken opened the door, "It's fine guys, it's empty. There are only a few crockery items laying about." We decided to split the items among the four of us, as Brent's item box was full.

'Brent must be carrying a lot of items. Because an item box has a capacity of 50 slots and allows stacking of 100 items.' I thought. After confirming that no one was around we set off again at our usual pace. We had lunch the same way as the previous day. At around 3, Ken and I switched places. Ken was on the verge of reaching level 12 and was slightly disappointed, “Aw, my turn is up already? No fun.” I snickered, “Now watch while I hit 13.” Ken harrumphed, “I’ll still reach 12 before you reach 13.”

I acted noble, “Well… To be honest we’ll be the same level in no time so until then be glad that you are only one level beneath me.” I laughed while dodging his playful punch and went on to grinding levels. I did some light stretches and then jogged to catch up to the carriage. Opponent spotted! My luck must have been good because I spotted a pair of wolves at the distance. My eyes glinted at the thought of 50 exp and I dashed towards them. Half a minute later, I was done with them. ‘Piece of cake’.

I spotted my next target, a group of foxes and thus started aimlessly hunting to level up. Around two hours later, I was a few dozen meters ahead of the carriage, and I spotted what looked like people. I quickly made my way back to the carriage, “Jackie!” Jackie, who was resting on the roof, as usual, looked down at me, “What’s up Megzie?”

I explained, “I think there are a few people up ahead, do you want to use detection?” Jackie stood up on the roof, “Oh, I see them! Okay… In a 200 meter radius, other than some small life forms, it’s just their party of 4.” Jared spoke up, “Let Megzie and I speak with them. Ken you continue driving and Jackie, keep an eye out.” “Roger” came her reply.

Jared hopped down beside me and we jogged over to the party ahead of us. When they noticed us, three of them took out their weapons and one of them shouted, “Stay where you are!” Jared shouted back, “We mean you no harm. We’re just an escort party heading to Andreas.” They put down their weapons but were still vigilant against us. A young boy peeped out from behind the, “Oh! Aren’t you guys also from the beginner’s village?”

I spoke up, “Yup! Aren’t you the salesperson in the blacksmith’s shop?” Now the party of the three men visibly relaxed. The leader spoke, “We are also on our way to Andreas, but on our way, the horse’s attachment to the carriage suddenly broke loose. So the carriage due to the weight, shifted, the wheel broke and the horses escaped. Before we could do anything they had already ridden off. Since we were a day’s worth of walking distance away from town we decided to continue the rest of the journey by foot.”

“Ah!” Exclaimed Jared, “So the carriage we saw in the middle of the road a few hours ago was yours. We stored the utensils and crockery in our item box. Do you want it?” One of them replied, “Those are ours. Because we were transporting weapons that do not stack, we had to take them out of my item boxes to make space for the weapons. We’ll be reaching Andreas by tomorrow. So could you give it to us then?”

Jared replied, “Of course. Then we’ll give it to you tomorrow at 8 in the evening?” Their party leader thanked us, “Thank you. We would appreciate that. And to thank you we’d like to treat you guys for dinner. How many of you are there in your party?” I replied, “It’s okay, not an issue, you don’t need to treat us for such a small favor. Besides they barely took 10-20 spaces, so it wasn’t an inconvenience.”

By now our carriage had already crossed us, and on their insistence we agreed. Jared and I ran back to our carriage and told Ken to pick up the pace. “What happened?” asked Ken. After explaining their situation, Jared said, “Anyway, so this means that Andreas must be close. So let’s pick up the pace, we might make it by sunset.” Just to be sure Jared asked Brent, who also replied that at the pace we were going, we would reach the latest by 8:30.

The rest of the journey went by smoothly, with me occasionally hunting down monsters in the vicinity. After two more hours like so, Ken and I again switched places. Around 7:30, we noticed the silhouette of a town in the distance. ‘Whew, we’re going to make it on time.’ I breathed a sigh of relief as the horses were starting to get tired and it was already getting dark. I increased the pace just a tad bit, so that we would reach faster and the horses could get their well deserved rest.

Andreas grew closer and closer, as I realized just how different it was from the beginner’s village. For one thing, the village didn’t even have a proper name, the walls were made of wood, the houses shaped like huts, the only three storied place was the inn, and there were barely 30-35 structures. But, Andreas, gave off the vibe of a town. Although, there was barely any traffic going through the gate, it was probably because of how late it was. The town was gleaming in the night sky, as it was dark everywhere else.

The amount of monsters had dwindled in the last hour and now there were none. After a few minutes it would be our turn to go into town, I was low key excited, I’m not going to lie.

We finally reached the town gate. Brent got off the carriage and showed the guard his card and explained that we were his escorts. Then the guard checked each of our guild cards one by one. After verifying with each of us he gave them back to us and finally let us enter.