When morning came, Elwen awoke. Varian was missing from his bed; he must have already woken up and gone downstairs. Elwen went to their shared bathroom to wash up, then got into her new traveling clothes. Today, they start travelling to the next city.

From what he had told her last night, they had one last stop in town before they would leave. Varian wanted to get some camping supplies: tents, pots and pans, fire-starting supplies and the like.

She left the room, quickly making sure neither she nor Varian had left anything behind, as they wouldn’t be returning.

She met Varian in the main lobby and they ate the inn’s breakfast. The dinner last night was really good, the local man’s words were not a hyperbole. They had decided to eat breakfast here, so they didn’t waste any time looking for a restaurant.

The breakfast was simple, they each had a hard-boiled egg, some small sausage links, and a piece of toast, buttered and with jelly on top. Varian had more sausage than her, due to his energy-consuming physique. Varian had already paid for her, so she didn’t have to worry about paying the innkeeper.

While they were eating, they overheard a conversation at a nearby table.

There were two men there, talking about recent monster attacks.

“I’m telling you Davis, it’s too dangerous! After the army stopped patrolling the roads, the number of monster attacks tripled!” The first man was emphatically gesturing to his companion. He was an orc, although Elwen couldn’t tell what kind. He was clearly very muscular, even through his somewhat worn, but nice, clothing.

“I hear you, but it’s not like we can afford not to take the trip, either. Our families are depending on us, if we don’t make this trip, we won’t able to provide for them.” The second one, apparently named Davis, appeared to be a human. It was a little hard to tell, because he was sitting down, but he appeared to be a little taller than average height. He was scrawny, not as well-toned as his companion, and his features were sharp.

“That won’t matter if we’re dead!”

“Look, we’ll just hire some adventures to guard the caravan, like we’ve always done. They can handle some monsters, even if there are more than usual.”

“What adventurers? The bloody guild shut down last week and all the adventurers left!”

Adventurer’s guild? Elwen didn’t know that such an organization existed. It certainly wasn’t in any of the manuals and forums they read before they came here. Maybe it’s a new thing? But there haven’t been any updates recently, at least that she has heard of. Maybe it’s a player organization?

“We’ll find someone… It’ll just take some time.”

“I doubt we’ll be able to just find someone who would be willing to guard us all the way to Ravensburg. It’s across the damn border! No one here is willing to risk it.”

Varian smirked at the orc’s words. Elwen sighed. He wanted to offer his services, didn’t he? The two men seemed to be merchants, and although they seem to have fallen on hard times, they weren’t down yet.

They were heading also heading in the same direction. If they could get paid to do so, it would be well worth it, in Varian’s mind. If they were travelling in wagons, it might even be possible that their journey could proceed faster. Although, it was also possible that taking on the task would slow them down, particularly if it was a large, slow-moving caravan.

Varian decided to at least ask. If the terms were unfavorable, they could always decline the job. He stood up and approach the men’s table in a manner that they could both see him. He didn’t want to catch them by surprise.

“You two gentlemen seem to be in a bind. Might I be able to assist you?”

The two men swivel towards him. They both scan him up and down, mirroring each other’s movements perfectly. After two passes, the two swivel back to each other, staring at each other with wide eyes. They give each other a light nod at the same time, before turning back to Varian.

“Erm…  Sir, might you be an adventurer? Or perhaps a mercenary?” The human man says.

“I’m not sure I would call myself one, no. But, I am willing to use my abilities for your benefit, for the right price.” Varian wasn’t sure if the terms ‘adventurer’ and ‘mercenary’ had legal definitions here, or if he had to join some guild to become one. So, he thought it best to simply present himself as a private contractor.

The two men look at each other again, seemingly engaging in some sort of wordless dialogue.

“I see… I am Davis, Davis Jones,” the man introduces himself, “and this is my colleague, Rax Baalson. We are merchants. We need to transport certain goods to the city of Ravensburg, and require an escort for that purpose. Would you be willing to help? We can pay five gold coins, should we reach the city safely.”

“I require more information before I can accept such terms,” Varian responded, “What sort of difficulties do you expect?”

“Well,” the orc answers this time, “monster attacks have been becoming more commonplace in area, especially on the Empire’s side of the border. Nothing too dangerous, mostly just wolves and bears, but not something that we merchants would be able to handle. That and there seem to be a small band of bandits operating in the area, too.”

“Why are monster attacks becoming more common?”

“That’s – Well, the empire’s army used to patrol the roads, generally keeping the monsters back. The local lords also commissioned the Adventurer’s Guild to hunt monsters, keeping the population low. However, the lords on both sides of the border had some falling out with the guild leaders, and the guild withdrew.  On top of that, the guards were also recalled from their patrols, although they won’t tell anyone why. The kingdom’s side of the border is still safer, but they will probably have to step up their patrols soon to deal with the growing population, and no one knows if they have the manpower to actually do that.”

“What are you transporting? And how much? I would be able to reliably protect a small caravan, but if there are too many carriages it won’t be possible.”

The human grimaced, “I can’t tell you exactly what we are transporting, it’s rather sensitive. Rest assured that it’s nothing dangerous or illegal.” He looks over at his compatriot for a moment. “We can make do with one wagon, if necessary. However, we would be able to travel faster with two wagons. We are on somewhat of a time crunch; We need to be in Ravensburg by the end of the month.”

Varian nodded.

“What is the route that you’re taking?”

“There really is only the one route. We head north to Krinsburg, then take the road northeast to Ravensburg.”

The route lined up perfectly with their own plan. He was somewhat disappointed. He hoped that the merchants would reveal some special route that they took that shaved a day off of travel time. Alas, the wagons would have to do.

He said they needed to be in Ravensburg by the end of the month, which is just over two weeks from now. From the tone of the man’s voice, it sounded like they weren’t exactly in a rush right now, but it would become tight if they waited much longer. Hopefully, this would actually be a faster method of reaching their destination, and they would be paid doing it.

“Very well. I think the only thing else we need to talk about is compensation. I think five gold is a little low. Since my companion and I are also heading in that direction, we would be willing to guard you for, say, ten gold coins.”

“We don’t exactly have that much money available to us right now. How about seven gold, and we throw in meals for the journey?”

Varian stroked his chin for a moment, pretending to consider the man’s proposal.

“Eight, and you have a deal.”

“Eight it is.” The man said, sticking out his hand.

Varian took it, giving him a firm handshake.

“When do we leave?”

“Meet us at the north gate at noon. We’ll have the carriages ready there.”

With that, the two parted.

Varian returned to the table Elwen was sitting at, giving her a wide grin.

“Looks like we have a job, and transportation.”

 

 

After they were finished with their breakfast, they left the inn, heading to a general store Varian had seen yesterday. On their way, Elwen spotted a bookstore.

“Varian… Can I go there? Maybe it will have one of the books we need…”

The book she needed was a book written in one of the ancient languages of the world. If she managed to read it, she would unlock an ability that would help her control her magic. This all hinged on the bookstore actually having a book written in that language, however. It was unlikely that she would find one so easily, but it was worth a try, especially because they wouldn’t lose anything in the attempt.

“… Alright, I will come get you when I’m done,” he responds, “But don’t leave the store.”

Elwen nodded, and the two parted ways.

Entering the bookstore, Elwen began to look for a section that had older books. It was unlikely that what she was looking for could be found in more recent books, but it was possible, particularly if it was a scholarly history book. She didn’t think she would find something like that here, so she opted to just look for old books. All she needed was a little bit of text, a Rosetta Stone, and she would be set.

One book did catch her eyes, an old tome bound in a maroon leather. She couldn’t read the title, it was too worn to be made out, but it looked to be one of the oldest books on the self.

Opening the book, her mouth formed a smile. The book wasn’t what she was looking for; She’s never been so disappointed to be able to read a book, normally it’s the other way around. However, this book contained something that was very interesting to her: Magic Circles. Real Magic Circles. These were used as representations of magical arrays, used to cast spells, primarily for the purpose of refining one’s magic. In her case, she could use the circles to learn new spells, although it would take some time.

She brought the book to the clerk and bought the book. It was expensive, but well worth it. The new magic that she could learn from it would be amazing. She imagined calling forth great fireballs to throw at her enemies, or summoning armies of phantom knights to do her bidding. She imagined herself in a priestess’ robe, casting massive healing spells healing entire cities, restoring the vivid green to a dead land, like she saw when she first came to this world.

Yes, she was happy that she found this book. It wasn’t what she was looking for, but it would speed up her ascent to a true sorceress. She was always fascinated with the idea of magic, which is why she chose to be a magician in this world, despite the difficulties it would bring in the beginning. She had Varian to help her, so she was able to fulfil her dream of using magic. Varian was always helping her, keeping her happy, even when they were kids. Maybe that was why she started to miss him when they were apart.

She decided to sit down on one of the chairs at the front of the store, waiting for Varian. In the meantime, she could start to look at the magic circles in the book. She started with the circle for [Lesser Heal], if she could figure out how it and [Lesser Shield] worked, she would be able to apply that knowledge to the other circles. The text on the page was rather faded, due to its age, but she could make out the larger text, like the title of the section and name of the spell.

The circles themselves, strangely, were not faded at all. Maybe there was some sort of magical protection on the circle itself? But then why not apply that same protection to the rest of the book? It didn’t make much sense to preserve just the circles, as they would be next to useless without an explanation and analysis, or prior knowledge of the circle. That’s what she was relying on, that her knowledge of the two spells she had would help her learn others.

She ran her finger along the rim of the circle as she absentmindedly looked at the circle for [Lesser Heal]. It was a strange thing, with an ink blob like shape in the center, with several rings surrounding it. There were veins between the rings, connecting them together and forming smaller patterns. On the outside of these rings was a circle of strange, tiny runes, surrounded by final, thicker ring.

The blob at the center reminded her of oak leaf, she had seen one presses into a page of one of her father’s old scrapbook from when he was a kid. She always wanted to see one for herself, but they lived far away from a nature reserve, and her father could never take the time of work to take her. It got worse after her brother got sick, and she had almost forgotten about it, concerning herself far more with his health than her desires.

The runes were also strange, they seemed to almost shift when she tried to read them, making it impossible for her to get a good look at them. After a while of looking at them, she noticed that they were slowly drifting clockwise around the ring.

‘So I was right about the magic…’ She thought, ‘… but why did the author write it like this? How am I supposed to be able to get anything from this?’

Maybe the rest of the text gave an explanation, but she couldn’t read it, so it didn’t matter.

Elwen heard the bell over the door ring and saw that Varian had entered the store. She stood up and joined him, handing him the book so he could put it in the bag of holding.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” He asked.

“No,” she responded, “but I did find a magic book. I’ve been trying to study the magic circles, so I can learn new magic from them. Did you get all the supplies we need?”

“Yes, we have everything we need now.” He said, “I even got enough preserved rations for a few days, so even if we can’t get fresh food, we will still have something to eat.”

The two left the store, heading toward the city gates to meet the merchants. They made sure to stop by the inn, to thank the innkeeper.