Mel stepped off the beaten path through the forest. It would take a good bit longer to go this route, but honesty that was the goal. More time to be moving, looking at stuff. The trees around here were a shorter, thinner, type than the ones near Carston. His dad had told him an old story about how this used to be nothing but overgrowth until a Druid fixed it up. Druids were an interesting class. Plenty of adventure there, Mel thought at least. Wandering around, helping nature. It didn’t feel right for him though. Mel didn’t want to be bound to nature, he wanted to go wherever he wanted to. Maybe there wasn’t a class for that though. It was hard to believe, but then again Mel had never heard of a class that didn’t have a point. They all seemed to have some sort of driving force or goal behind them.

He ducked under a low hanging branch, his train of thought interrupted by the sheer number of obstacles. But it was exactly what he wanted out of life. A class that would let him keep moving around and seeing new things constantly. It would be perfect. Maybe something like a Nomad. That was a really old class, one that wasn’t seen very often nowadays. Plus, Nomads traveled along routes looking for food. That wasn’t really the idea he was going for. Peddler would work, but then he was constrained by trade routes and profitability. Mel stopped once more to check his compass. It wouldn’t do to get lost because he was distracting himself.

Hmm. He was on the right path, but it would be another hour before he reached the creek at this rate. After that he would need to head two more hours North in order to get to the Atlas trees. He wouldn’t be back till sundown at the earliest. He could expect a bit of anger from his parents, but that was guaranteed whether he was early or late. The forest was full of sound, so he just listened to that instead of worrying about punishments. He was basically an adult anyways, despite his lack of a class. Ugh, that just got him worrying about the fact that he was the latest bloomer in Carston. Having a class would just make everything so much easier. No more worrying about what he was going to do with his life.

What was he going to do with his life? Mel couldn’t take all the thinking. It was making him anxious and that was the opposite of what he wanted when he set out. He focused on the trip. He had all day to just wander around and do whatever came to mind. That mindset took over, and he let some of his worries go. He picked up random sticks and stones, before throwing them back into the depths of the woods. Anything that caught his eye would find him investigating it. Nothing mattered, he was moving and he was loving it. He could wander around like this all day every day. Sure he had a destination to get to, but that was part of the fun too. Making sure he kept roughly on the way there kept him occupied when he ran out of things to do.

He took the first step out of the woods and took in the sight of his destination just as the sun passed its zenith. Between him and the Atlas trees was his favorite part of the journey. A massive field of flowers and other sorts of colorful plants stretched between the two forests. He picked some as he went, carefully choosing the ones with the longest stems and the brightest colors. He wove them together into the ultimate form of the flower crown. Instead of one chain of flowers decorating his head, he made a helmet of the pigmented plants. He giggled at how ridiculous he would look if he could see his reflection.

Legions, if anyone from his town could see him now he would die of embarrassment. Or maybe he wouldn’t. Why should he care what they thought about him and his admittedly girly flower helmet? It wasn’t like it was some sort of mark of shame. Besides, being noticeable even if it’s due to being dressed like a fool is preferable to being obscure. Mel would happily play the part of the jester to be part of the royal court. Metaphorically at least. He kept gathering the flowers for a much less childish reason. They would make pigments that would sell for a good bit at the market. Not enough that anyone would think it profitable to haul wagons out and pluck the flowers for themselves though.

Eventually Mel got to the Atlas trees, having left enough room for all the fruit he was going to need. He looked up at the first row of trees. The bark was thick and segmented in a way that always reminded Mel of scale armor. It served a similar enough purpose he supposed. Then at the crown of the mighty trees, the namesake of their species, was a massive series of branches that formed a perfect barrier against the sunlight. The effect of just one tree was not too impressive, but when combined with the fact that all the trees linked up at the top, they left the center of the forest in perpetual darkness. Mel knew enough to shy away from that part of the forest. The trees choked out the life of anything that tried to grow under them, but sometimes strange things nested in its center.

Mel removed his rope from around his waist and looped it around the wide tree trunk. Once he got it to the point it was tight enough to support him he began ascending the oversized trees. Shuffling up the tree was a mildly painful affair. He had to rub up against the same bark that looked so protective from below, the entire way. It was just smooth enough to be dangerous for him to give his rope slack, but still rough enough to leave him covered in scraps when he finally got to the top. He sat down on the tightly knotted wood at the crown of the tree.

He could see his little town to the South, nestled in a small patch of plains carved out of the surrounding forests. Mel gave it a small wave. His trips to the Atlas trees always made him feel so small. He had walked almost all day to get here but it looked like a short hop from up here. Mel considered just leaning back into the branches and leaves and going to sleep. It was so comfortable up here, and he could tie himself down for safety. Stuff like this was exactly what he wanted. Going to amazing places and just… Being there. He didn’t need or want to do anything else. Well that wasn’t true either. He didn’t want to have to do anything if he didn’t want to.

He wanted to be a free soul, wandering around and doing whatever called to him. But right now he was just an overgrown child being sent on an errand. Mel got up and started crawling through the tops of the trees looking for the fruits. The orbs that served as seeds for these massive trees seemed so small in comparison, but each one was nearly the size of his head. He shoved them into his bag, taking only a moment to wrap them with cushioning. The fruits were typically firm but Mel didn’t want them to mess up his bag. It was nicely woven and paid for out of his own money. The Weaver he had bought it from had a bunch of skills that made it significantly more resilient and helped take the strain off of his back.

Mel climbed down the tree and started walking back home. If he could do anything in life, be anything in life, he would be something like a Wander but more guided, or like an Explorer who didn’t always go to strange places or forgotten ruins. Maybe-

Class Gained: Traveler

Skill Gained: Traveler's Cloak

Oh. That worked quite well. Pft hahahaha. That worked perfectly. Mel smiled as he started walking home. He knew exactly who he was now. He was Mel, the Traveler.