"It was horrible!" I said outraged. "First he insulted me, then he made his way down to mock my looks, my posture, why even the way I speak."

Nidle, who was sitting next to me, shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes, "I'm sure he didn't mean it and you can always re-apply later."

"Yeah," I said cheerfully but then slumped down again, "but where am I going to get the money to buy a weapon?"

He looked at me and hesitantly said, "I might have an idea."

"Really?" I asked curiously while drawing out the word, "go on then."

He tried to take back what he said, "no, that would be too dangerous. You should just work an honest man's job for a month. Or just stop trying to be one altogether," he suggested.

I fell to my knees and cried out in an overdramatic fashion, "oh please Master Nidle! Just tell me. Being an Adventurer is what I have always longed for."

"Fine, fine," he really didn't show much resistance. "If you are going to be one of them then this shouldn't be that much of a risk anyway."

"Outside, two hours or so on foot, on the east side of the city there are woods," I nodded many times in excitement, "and they are untamed. You must know that people generally avoid such places, there you could earn some money."

"How's that?"

"Herbs, spices, everything plant-related. If you can find some nice bunches you could get some good money. You won't get as much as you need in one day but going multiple times you could get enough I guess. At least enough to buy an old spear and a helmet."

"And how would I recognize those plants?"

"I could describe them," he said but stood up with a flash of brilliance in his face. "I have a better idea, wait here," he ran into another building that was almost next to the church, it almost looked like one too, just worse.

It must have been the monastery or was it an abbey? I didn't know what the difference was.

As he came running back he was holding something, "this will help us out immensely."

It was a red book whose title I couldn't read, "sorry to disappoint but I can't read."

"That IS disappointing to hear but you won't need to," he flipped it open. There were drawings of plants in it. "It's a book about floriculture and herbology. I'll just point out which ones are worth something and you can try to collect them."

"Genius," I said, "I can't wait to start collecting."

While flipping through the book Nidle pointed at colorful plants, saying weird names I would just forget again, and commented on them with, "this one is good against swells... This one is good against infections... This one doesn't really do anything but smells nice, mostly used for perfumes."

After boring me some with the details of some of his favorite plants he closed the book, "got it?"

"Of course I did. I soaked up everything. I'm like a wet rag."

Looking doubtful he said, "just find flowers that look like very thick daisies and purple weed, okay?"

"Don't worry so much, and, uh, can you lend me a sack or some sort of container?"

He sighed, "of course I can. Wait here."

After waiting for him again he came back with a large brown sack. Handing it over to me, I declared, "thanks, next time you're going to see me I'm gonna be a richer man.”

Looking at the empty sack I imagined it being full, not with plants and herbs but with gold coins, "where are we going to sell them anyway?"

"There’s a herbalist in town and I happen to know them, do you think the idea of collecting them just came to me at random?"

I left but then turned around and asked, "where is east again?"

He pointed the way with his finger then put his palm to his forehead.

"By the gods. It's okay, you do this for your fellow man," he mumbled under his breath then loudly said while waving, "be careful."

I had to walk for a long time, again. I passed a few fields where I saw some farmers work. But this time I had a clearer goal, money, the blood of countries, and some of it is going to be mine! I can't wait, maybe if I get a whole sack full of rare herbs I can buy a sword and a full suit of armor, then I would be a true knight or at least look like one. That wasn't even my goal, the people I saw outside of the Adventurers Guild had armor too but nothing I would want. I don't want chains or leather. I want full metal plates covering my whole body, I'd feel invincible wearing something like that.

Later, the forest was finally in my sight. I had to go off the road to reach it, following an unmarked path that was overgrown with weed and grass. Two hours seemed like nothing when daydreaming. The second I set foot in the forest I lay down low on all fours like a dog and searched the ground intensely. In no time I found plants I thought I recognized from the book Nidle showed me. A bush full of blue leaves that looked like little arrowheads. I took and stared at it, was this the one that smelled nice, or was it tasted nice?

I licked it just to make sure, it tasted strange like dirt and something I couldn't identify.

"Flowers are kind of gross," I thought while savoring the flavor.

I think I remember only the leaves having some worth. I ripped out every single one and put it in the sack.

I found a weird bush with leaves with a lot of points and when I tried to touch it, it stung me.

"Ouch," I said aloud, looking at my fingers I saw that they had turned red and that tiny needles were in them. The plant had clearly stung me, like a hornet would. I removed them carefully, they were almost invisible and reminded me somewhat of hair. The skin of my hand began itching, I put up with it. My father told me that when something causes your skin to get itchy you shouldn't scratch it.

The most interesting plant I found, in my opinion, were little green red ones in a bundle. At first, it didn't look like anything special at all but taking a closer look they resembled mouths with very pointy teeth.

When I touched one, it clamped its jaws shut.

It tried eating my finger.

But it was just a plant, it couldn't even muster enough strength to pierce my skin with one of its little teeth.

But so was the circle of life, if you're not strong enough you will get killed, I ripped the bundle straight from the ground with the roots and threw them into the sack with its kind.

For hours I walked around collecting plants. My hand swelled up a bit in the meantime, maybe when I get back I should ask Nidle for some help.

I found the blue weed and thick daisies that Nidle talked about, not as much as I'd like to.

I didn't have to worry about thirst because fortunately, I found a small stream, a very small one that was gushing out of a crevice out of rocks. And during my search I found edible berries, the same ones as in the other forest. I wondered, were they native to forests in this region? Of course they are, nobody plants wild berries in two different forests.

Carelessly I stayed for too long while searching, it was already turning dark, I had to return to the city. But I wasn't sure which way to go. I picked a direction and started to walk.

"If I walk in a straight line, I will have to get out at some point," I thought.

But after walking for a time I heard a horrible cry, it was almost a human one, like the mix of a creaking door and a crying baby. I dived into a nearby bush as one would into water and surveyed the area, whatever it was meant trouble. I had enough trouble the past few days and with everything I'm carrying I can't afford to have more.

Because of the darkness, it was hard to make out anything. Again something cried, now I was sure from which direction. I looked carefully and saw a shape, an animal? A wolf maybe?

No, it was way too big, a deer then but not a moose. Well, if it was just an animal it wouldn't matter, I'd just try escaping.

I tried to sneak away but once more there was a cry and then the irregular beats of hoofs started. Looking again the deer galloped towards me. I ran away sprinting, I couldn't fight one barehanded and if it thought that I was a threat it would beat the crap out of me.

It was faster than me but not fast enough to catch up to me in time. I climbed a tall tree that was nearby. I secured the sack in between some branches and tried to get a good look at what was pursuing me.

I was amazed. I had already seen some deer in my life but never like that, I wasn't even sure if it was one. It was taller than average with giant antlers that twisted around, growing out of its head that reminded me of roots. And I clearly saw it having seven legs, three on one side and four on the other, like a deformed spider. I wasn't scared of its appearance but of what it would do if it got ahold of me, good thing it couldn't reach me up here.

It was pacing around the tree while crying out some more. I noticed that it was struggling with walking, was it not accustomed to walking around with more than four legs?

It didn't relent and was kind of limping around the tree for hours. I was upset, I could have already gotten my first payment and had a good night's rest to do it all over again tomorrow.

I snapped off a twig and threw it at the deer and shouted, "can you fuck off already." It didn't like that, letting out a mad scream.

It rammed the tree and little pieces of its gigantic horns broke off.

I waited and waited and with nothing to do for so long, I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up, I fell out of the tree flat on my stomach. I abruptly stood up to check my surroundings, no signs of anything, but something was trickling down my face. It was blood that was coming out of my nose, maybe I broke it because of the fall. This wasn't the first time I had broken it. I laughed, something similar happened once before. A friend of mine once pushed me out of a tree, and the fall broke my nose. I wasn't angry at him, and he apologized and swore it was an accident, things like that happen.

I wiped the blood off my nose and took the sack from the tree and made my way back to the city. It was already morning, and I must have slept through the whole night.

I searched around for some breakfast, some nuts or berries would be great. I'm surprised that I wasn't hungrier after not eating that much the previous day.