The wheels of the carriage rumbled against the dirt path, the trees outside a mere blur as the carriage raced towards its destination. Inside, Rowan sat nervously, looking out the window with his head tilted to the side in an effort to avoid glancing at the person beside him.

It had been a week since the end of the admission exams. Following the revelations in Lira Kess’ office, Rowan had completed the remaining steps of the admission process in a daze, signing his name and handing over money when needed. As a result, he had spent the last week shacked up in the House Draigwyn dormitory, recovering from the abuse he had put his body through in order to pass the exams.

Due to the removal of the seal from his mana pool, Rowan’s recovery had taken longer than normal, healing magic having been ineffective in treating the exhaustion that had plagued him for the past few days. Fortunately, the dormitory was quite nice, at least by Rowan’s standards. Although he would have to share it with four others, none of them had arrived at the academy yet, all having participated in earlier admission tests and thus headed home before the semester started, giving Rowan the entire room to himself, a much appreciated fact for one who had trouble trusting others not to murder him in his sleep.

Apart from recovering, Rowan had also done his best to train, engraving Tethis’ movements into his muscle memory before they faded from his real memory. While most of what she had taught him was fairly simple fare that he had no trouble reproducing, the final move she had shown him was proving difficult to execute. Even after a full week, he had not yet been able to perform it even once, a fact that he chalked up to his inexperience with swords.

As the carriage moved forward, Rowan spied walls in the distance, rising above the forest that surrounded them. He was headed to Northall, a small town an hour and a half south of Faebrook by carriage that served as a base for the many adventurers that visited the area.

Originally a minor outpost, Northall had grown to accommodate the many auxiliaries that supported adventurers in their craft. From blacksmiths to tailors to magic shops, Northall supposedly had it all, including the items he would need for classes at Faebrook.

Rowan frowned as he glanced at the list clutched in his hand. Attending Faebrook was not cheap. From the tuition fees to the cost of school supplies, everything seemed exorbitantly expensive to someone who had until recently made a living begging for scraps in the street.

Doing his best not to calculate how many apple pies his tuition could have bought him, Rowan silently thanked Tethis and Darm once more. Without their extremely generous gifts, there was no way he would be able to afford to attend Faebrook; even with the scholarships for poorer students that Egil had helped him to sign up for, it would have been far out of reach.

Staring at the list again, Rowan sighed. Out of reach or not, it was still going to hurt having to spend this much money on school supplies. At least most of it was stuff that would be useful outside of the school as well. The perks of attending an adventuring academy.

Outside, the carriage wheels came to a stop, the sounds of the town filling Rowan’s ears. Hastily opening the door, he jumped out before the girl beside him could voice her displeasure. Morgana had been glaring at him from afar all week, and he was eager to get away from her. Had this not been the only carriage to Northall of the morning, he would have gladly waited another hour or three just to avoid the awkwardness of a carriage ride beside her. Behind him, three other students also emerged, grinning and joking as they headed into town.

“Carriage leaves at two,” the carriage driver called out to them. “Be here on time or you’ll be waiting until nightfall for the next carriage back to Faebrook.”

“Got it.”

With that short reply, Rowan was off, his eyes bright as he glanced around the main square. Northall was bright in the midday sun, the streets wide and well-maintained. Shopfronts with glass windows seemed to beckon from every which direction, as stall owners hawked their wares to passers-by.

The overall atmosphere was peaceful, armour-clad adventurers moving to and fro as they prepared for new quests, while the townsfolk hurried about their day, scurrying through the square with packages held tightly in their arms.

Few urchins or beggars rested on the shady side of the square, the prosperity and small size of the town likely preventing the existence of the enormous slums that had existed in Taureen. Despite this, Rowan was still on guard, checking to make sure that his purse was safely secured within his clothes before setting off down the main street, in the opposite direction from the way he had seen Morgana take.

The main street was busy at this time of day, adventurers not being the sort to rise too early when they did not have to. Dodging to the side, Rowan avoided a man in heavy armour, the enormous shield on his back likely heavier than Rowan himself. Satisfied that there was no one else in imminent danger of running into him, Rowan took out the list, his eyes running across it as he glanced at the shops around him.

The majority of the shops nearby seemed to be focused on catering to adventurers. Gleaming blades sat in display cases, while books with runes inscribed on their covers seemed to glow from their places within windows, their obvious magical nature attracting glances from passers-by. Several shops sold armour, from lightweight cloth with enchantments sewn into the fabric, to full sets of platemail, polished to a mirror-like shine that was nearly blinding in the sun.

Spying the shop he needed, Rowan hastened towards it. The sign above bore the name Sloss’ Leathers, and it was here that he should be able to acquire the first set of gear he would need at Faebrook. Opening the door, a small chiming sound rang out, causing a man to appear at the far end of the shop.

“Give me a second!” the man called out, disappearing once more into the back.

Next to where the man had disappeared, an attractive female cashier stared interestedly at Rowan from behind the counter before returning her gaze to the woman in front of her, who was haggling over the price of a pair of boots.

“Alright, I’m back,” the man announced as he returned, dusting off his hands as he strode towards Rowan. “I’m the owner, Sloss. What can I get you?”

“I’m looking for a set of sparring leathers,” Rowan replied, checking his list quickly. “Oh, and a pair of sturdy boots for adventuring.”

“A Faebrook student?” Sloss inquired, causing Rowan to nod. “Excellent, I have plenty of stuff in stock. Follow me and we’ll get you fitted.”

Turning, Sloss led Rowan to the side of the shop. Grabbing a stool and a length of rope, he gestured for Rowan to stand upon the stool. With practiced movements, the rope was looped around Rowan’s waist and pulled tight, Sloss nodding to himself as he repositioned the rope around Rowan’s chest. Shoulders, biceps, hips, thighs, the man quickly obtained measurements from Rowan, who felt slightly self-conscious as his body was turned every which way.

With a satisfied look, Sloss nodded. “You’ve got a wiry build. Not much muscle, but Faebrook’ll change that quick enough. I’ll have to make some adjustments, but I’ve got a few sets of sparring leathers that will fit you. I’ll make the initial adjustments now, and then we can fit it properly to you once I’m done. That alright with you?”

“Yes,” Rowan replied.

“Good. Be back here in an hour and a half, and I’ll have them ready for you to try on. You can grab a pair of boots then too,” Sloss told him. “It shouldn’t be more than three gold Vlends for the lot. That acceptable?”

Doing his best to remember the prices of leather back in Taureen, Rowan nodded. From what he could tell, Sloss was giving him a fair price. “That’s fine.”

“Glad to hear it,” Sloss replied. “I’ll see you then.”

With that, Sloss was gone, disappearing into the back before Rowan had time to say another word. At the counter, the cashier was still haggling with the woman over the price of the boots, neither side seeming interested in a compromise. With a shrug, Rowan left. An hour and a half was plenty of time to grab more items on the list, and he didn’t intend to waste it.

Following the list, Rowan visited several more shops, haggling as best he could with the shopkeeps in an attempt to keep his spending down. As an urchin, he had never had much chance to practice haggling, the merchants of Taureen tolerating none of it from the street rats that plagued their businesses. Now that the opportunity had finally presented itself, Rowan found himself playing it safe, not wanting to get kicked out of the shops for his rudeness.

As a result, his purse was a bit lighter than it might have been had he been a more proficient bargainer, but still heavier than it would have been had he just accepted the stated prices outright.

With a happy smile, Rowan stored the items he had just purchased in his sack, waving goodbye to the cute cashier who had helped him ring it up as he left the shop. Looking at the sun, Rowan estimated that an hour and a half had nearly passed, which meant he needed to be making his way back to Sloss’ Leathers.

Hefting his sack, Rowan let out a small grunt of exertion. Nearly two hours of shopping had filled his bag with supplies, and quite a few of them were on the heavier side, such as the whetstone and oils he had just purchased, or the books on history that lay at the bottom of the bag. Deciding to treat it as exercise, Rowan set off, weaving through the traffic as he headed back to Sloss’ Leathers.

He did not have far to go. Haggling at each shop had eaten quite a bit of his time, and it was not long before the sign for the leatherworker’s shop came into view. With a small push and an accompanying chime, the door swung open, allowing Rowan inside.