Micky woke up in the morning prepared to leave. He had discussed things with his family earlier and decided it was time to go off and adventure. Usually, as the [First Child] he would be holding down the fort at home but he was a [Pink Mage] and now being run out of the village. So he would have to leave taking care of his parents in their old age to his next of kin.

*Thwap* “I’m not old!” said Micky’s mother, now showing her pregnancy with another sibling. “I didn’t say anything!” Micky said guiltily. “My [Mother Sense] is never wrong, now did you pack your [Toothpowder]? Your cleansing brush? Extra underpants in case of an emergency?” “It’s not like you’ve never been wrong” Micky whispered. *Thwap* “Answer me.” She said imperiously.

“Yes, yes, and why would I need extra underpants?” Said Micky. “In case you have an accident like you pee yourself or one of your wonderful morning dreams was too good or...” Said Micky’s mom. “Alright, alright! I’m all packed already!” Micky said interrupting his mother. He learned, again, never to ask a mother why they told you to pack extras, just do it or don’t. In this case he don’t.

“Take care of Pepperoni for me. And don’t get into an adventure without me here!” He yelled to all the family gathered. Susan and her family was gathered as well. And, Pinky and his. He gave hugs and occasionally got kisses, which he quickly whipped off. It was time to leave the [Village] his only home that he’s ever known. He really wanted to cry but he had to hold it in until he was out of sight.

They walked him to the grouping of the others that were traveling to the nearest town. From there he would join the local [Hunter’s Lodge] or [Adventurer’s Guild] for a time to make money until it was time for the new semester. From there he would make a name for himslelf and screw Jimmy. So what if he didn’t want to be his friend anymore. Micky was a [Man] now he could take care of himself.

His mother spit on her finger and took care of a particularly stubborn smudge. Susan spat on her hand and finger combed a particularly stubborn hair back into place. Pepperoni licked the other side of his face and made all of Susan’s work pointless.

This was as far as they would go with him. From here on he would be on his own. “I’m not going to turn around. I’ve said goodbye, and I will miss, and love all of you. I hope you have a pleasant harvest and good rains!” Micky sniffed. He was then summarily tackled into a hug from Susan, his mother, and Pepperoni.

He reached down and gave Pepperoni’s head a pat and a scritch. “Take care of them Pep. Don’t let anything happen to mom and dad, ok? And take care of yourself, don’t get too fat and lazy!” Pepperoni responded with a dissatisfied chuff, but rubbed into his hand anyway.

“You finally ready to go? I woulda thought you brought the whole village!” Interrupted Mathew.

“Yes sir I’m ready.” Micky said embarrassed.

“Ahh, don’t worry. They had the same thing too. Least the ones that didn’t bring their family long’ with em’.” Said Mathew, pointing at the group he was going to leave with.

“Yeah, I’ma stay here with ma’ Micky, safe travels and fair weather!” Pinky said.

“Don’t get into too much trouble. At least without me here.” Said Micky.

“Alright, alright enough soppy stuff time to go. Throw your junk in the trunk on the cart and it’s time to shove off.” said Mathew.

Micky walked along the cart, an old mule plodding along. There wasn’t enough space on the cart for anybody to sit in with all their stuff so they had to direct the mule while everybody walked along. Micky’s new buddy sat on his shoulder and cuddled his face. He still hadn’t thought up a name but at this rate it was going to be something stupid like Squishy.

At first he thought something like ‘Devourer of worlds’ or ‘The blue darkness of death!’ or maybe ‘The Ultimate death row killer blue ultra MMMMMMMMMDCCCCLXXXXIX’. But she didn’t seem to like those. Actually she didn’t even seem to like [Dead] in any form except food. She seemed to be very pragmatic.

While she wasn’t averse to carrion or killing, she didn’t seem to like the idea in general. Death was a necessity, nothing more, nothing less. And it should not be encouraged. Of course Micky agreed in principle, but that took care of all the names he could think of, and his friends would make fun of him if he named her cuddles… if he had friends.

Sigh, that train of thought just made him lonely. And it made his pet slime cuddled up to him reassuringly. He scratched the slippery surface absentmindedly. At least she was good for cuddling and squishing.

The party moved on there were less then twenty members, so the party was just a [Party] even if a little ragtag with its members. There was only Mathew to tank for one, and though there were several frontliners the backliners and mages were rare. Plus, there were no healers and only [Medic]s trained in side [Profession]s to fill the gap. This left healing herbs and pultices, things that the [Party] picked up on the side of the road, to fill the gap.

However, this was still not really enough if the [Party] was injured. The [Party] was then separated into the left wing and the right wing. This was an even bigger disparity since the right wing which included Micky and Mathew only had a total of 4 members. The other group had 7 members made up from the families that were leaving. Of course the left wings had asked why their group hadn’t included Mathew and it was then pointed out that the right wing had only 4 members, and 3 of them were kids that hadn’t gone through their first specialization yet.

Of course this still got grumbles but all of their arguments after that seemed weak and mute.

And so, they trudged on. With the sun beating down on them, and the endless sea of trees before them. In order to make it to the nearest town they had to cut through an edge of the ‘Forbidden Forest’. Or well A forbidden forest. It was once again one of many named as such. Not that Micky knew it’s full name.

There was still quite a bit of road before the road to and from the village met with other roads or a trade road. This would likely not have any bandits on it, and any [Monster]s would be low level. After all bandits only raided the popular villages, why would they raid this village in the middle of nowhere?

The [Hendrikson’s Estate] was closest to one of the sister [City]s of its mother [City]. And, furthest from it’s mother [City] than any of the other nearby [City]s. The closest town was actually blocked off from the village by the ‘Forbidden Forest’ and some mountains. This meant that the town that the estate reported to, The [Baron]’s, was some distance away. However it was the [Town] that the group was heading too.

The first day passed uneventfully. The only thing of any import was a dear that was chased off by the left wing’s hunting attempt. Mathew however, berated them since even if they did catch it this is all the king’s lands and they weren’t allowed to hunt. They would need to register at the [Trapper’s Guild] to hunt anything non-[Monster]. Of course this only pissed them off more. But it was also reasonable. Another reasonable point was that Mathew was no longer a guard anymore and didn’t need to act like one.

This stunned Mathew for a minute and the left winger’s thought they got one in on him. Only to find him have even more steam since that would mean they were implicating him in it as well.

Dinner was a thin vegetable and jerky stew that had been scrounged up from the road. From there everyone set up camp, or at least their own bedroll and hit the hay. Or at least the adults did. The kids were forced to learn how to properly set up camp by a zealous Mathew. Micky took to it like nobody’s business. Though all of these kids were country folk so even the least inclined picked up on it pretty quick, even if they weren’t so inclined to perform the actions every time. But that all depended on if they could escape the purview of Mathew. Here’s a hint: they could not.