Comes a new day, and so are their eyes attracted to many weapons and armour displayed in front of them, Nahshon in awe as they both wander inside a blacksmith’s shop, his head bumping to the music of rock, as the smell of oil and gunpowder fastens against their noses, pinning the owner as their suspect of these scents. After what Nahshon had experienced on his first quest, which he feels very embarrassed about, a series of scenes from one of his favourite animes had begun to stick themselves in his head, chaining him to the store with a cringing feeling until he buys sensible gear.

"Hey Mister, how much?" He asks the blacksmith, pointing to a vest made of chainmail.

"55 jackals, my dear customer," The blacksmith grins. “Would you like it?”

"Hmm, yes, sir," Nahshon nods, then pointing to another item. "I'll have these boots as well"

“Alright then!”

With exchanging his money for a receipt at the counter, he then moves to hide within the changing area. Slowly he opens his shirt to not rip off any of his buttons, sliding the vest of chainmail over his head and onto his body, checking himself in the mirror to see if it fits properly.

"Wait...why didn't I check to see if fits before buying?" He questions himself, okay with what he’s bought nonetheless.

"Are you good, lad??" The blacksmith asks, hearing the rummaging within there.

"Yes, sir!" Nahshon answers, coming out with his new attire.

He then rubs his new leather boots against the smooth ground, checking the quality of their grip as he believes they will help in dense environments. He looks over to Ezek after, watching him take guns off their displays, spinning them with checking his drawing speed.

"...You need something?" Ezek senses his eyes, turning to Nahshon who is folding his lips.

"Well...I was thinking they might have taken your guns away. I can help you get a new one...if you want," Nahshon invites.

"Huh...thanks, but you don't have to," Ezek answers, then summoning a revolver out of thin air.

"Huh-" Nahshon mouth opens.

"What do you mean 'huh'?" Ezek challenges. "Do you not know how I did that?"

"I...did not think magic like that existed...remember how I told you I'm from another world?" Nahshon reminds him.

"Y-You're from what now?!" The blacksmith chokes on his beer, butting into their conversation in disbelief.

"You're still on about that crap, huh?" Ezek shakes his head. "Alright...I guess people like you can't accept their crazy...this is what I call gunslinger magic; I can summon guns I possess, and also reload with my mana"

"So...you can just take up any gun here and possess it without buying it?" Nahshon intrigues.

"Yeah...but that would be stealing," Ezek shakes his head. "Hey, I may look like an outlaw, but I'm not a thief...tch"

"Hmm..." Nahshon simply nods, backing off as he senses Ezek’s irritation. "Thank you, sir!"

"Y-Yeah...Good luck out there, you boys," The blacksmith sends them off with.

Their next destination continues at a potion store, into the place filled with plants, washing their colours into the beams of light. Inside they see potions of all different kinds of colours stacked among shelves, like dazzling objects to interact with within a video game in Nahshon's eyes.

"Good morning!" The hipster-looking woman excitedly says to the two.

"Good morning, how much for these bottles?" Nahshon asks.

"20 for the small, 40 for the mid, and 80 for the large," She waves her hands around.

With that Nahshon buys a bottle of each size for mana and health, stuffing just enough as his compact bag can handle. Many different stores and areas he visits after, his soul barely containing the sheer thrill of being in another world, going to every site of interest that Appleton can offer.

"Alright...alright...now, I'm feeling prepared, and now I can get back the money I've spent doing quests...oh my god, man. I can't believe I'm actually going to be adventuring now. Like, do you understand what is happening right now? No way...woo," Nahshon quietly sounds, creeping out Ezek who's tagging behind him as he watches this boy talk to himself.

And back to Mr.Briggs’ hotel, they arrive, to a bit of customer presence in their midsts, and just like usual, Anne and other waiters are busy with their serving of orders.

"If you're looking to get better jobs, you're gonna have to make your way to Norton," Briggs explains. "But these ain't your typical 'feed my horses' or ‘scare away these crows' type of jobs, you'll be taking on trickier messes...like beasts or monsters"

"Monsters, hmm," Nahshon sounds, reminded of an anime about the wicked creatures called goblins, inhaling the smell of alcohol that scents the hotel.

"This the Elf you got in trouble?" Briggs hails Ezek, both showing respect to one another.

"Y-yeah...technically," Nahshon scratches his head. "Do you have any tips that I could use before I go?"

"I don't know much about them monsters, son," He replies. "Ask the guild when you reach"

"Guild? I see, alright then," Nahshon answers, not surprised at this point. "Alright, goodbye for now"

"You got knocked out trying to save a single girl, and now you wanna try your luck with monsters??" Ezek stops him, laughing at Nahshon.

"Ah...dude, it’s best you come with. Just follow what the king ordered. He seemed pretty serious with his words," Nahshon counters, not giving into Ezek’s antics to lower his self-esteem any lower than it already is. "Maybe I'll just get help from someone else, and you can just watch, it's your choice"

"Tch...whatever, man," Ezek exhales.

With Ezek losing his chance of underrating Nahshon even more, they catch a train to Norton after. Seated across in their seats, they test not to even face each other, both quietly setting their gazes on to the grassy lands passing them by, with Nahshon who decides on checking his new, short sword. Wrapped around his small fingers, he slightly unsheathes the gift rewarded from the king himself, feeling in his palms the slight heaviness pressing down on his fingers as he mentally geeks at having his own cool weapon. And upon reaching this newly discovered town of Nahshon, they enter into the tavern where he sees many other adventurers; swordsmen, sorcerers, and many more of different classes, all basking in the glorious time of sharing a drink or simply chatting, some who have already cleared their quests, as others are preparing to do the same, sparking in the boy the hope of one day also having awesome memories.

"Welcome!" The receptionist at the counter greets. "Hmm? I haven't seen your faces before. Rookie adventurers, I presume?"

“Yes, ma’am. I wou-”

Burst open are the doors that cut off Nahshon’s words, and swiftly they all turn to what has tumbled their way in, eyes like a traumatized soul as he glances around at everybody he sees.

"P-Please, help me!" The young man grabs Nahshon's shoulders. "M-My Dad...and my sister were taken! I beg of you!"

Frozen in place and skin gone cold like ice, Nahshon slowly looks down, to the sight of red that colours this man’s attire. The blood he also smells, feeling at his shoulders the grip of this man’s terror, his mind tearing at the thought of what this horrified person had gone through for him to look like this, sensing the fear that seeps out his body, as he is met with eyes that stare deep into his soul with shivering terror. But only could he remain quiet towards this horrified soul, his lips shut tight, sowed by the heavy burden of ever taking on such a quest.

"Calm down, boy,” A large adventurer comes forward, slightly calming the terrified boy with a hand on his shoulder. “Now tell me, what exactly had happened?"

"We were travelling down to one of the southern villages...w-when we were attacked...by goblins! It was goblins!!" The young man grabs his hair in frustration, reminded of the horrifying carnage he had seen.

And with this reveal, has Nahshon’s fear of weakness begin to torment him, afraid as he predicts the outcomes to be another failure like his first quest. And there he’s reminded of Ezek's words that begin to feel like they were right, scraping at his pride, provoking him with every second that passes.

"It's alright, no need to say anymore," The adventurer rubs his shoulders.

"How many of them were they?" Ezek charges.

"I don’t know, about five...six of them…I-I’m not sure," the young man struggles.

"Listen to me...we'll be the ones taking this quest...but just know, we might not come back with anything you'd like to hear. So, be prepared," Ezek warns him, with eyes that drown the man in more worry.

Heart bitten by these words, Nahshon looks at the mentally broken man, afraid he may have lost his family, afraid they’ll fail him. And as forty minutes have passed, there they reach onto the scene. Like ice running down his back, Nahshon’s spine shivers to the sight of the chaos that has just passed. In front of them is something of a painting that ruins their appetites, a view of a destroyed carriage, and blood scattered by the beaten horses with their whole bodies caved in.

"By the gods," The carrier begins to pray. "You boys better be careful now"

He leaves the scene in a hurry, not wanting anything to do with this, Nahshon blowing down while his feet carry him ahead as to not accept his emotion of fear, as Ezek is slowly trailing behind on the path of gore, keeping his distance as he hears Nahshon mumbling to himself again within the dense forestry.

"I...I didn't think it would come to this...what if they really are dead? What are we gonna even tell him? Shit, I honestly thought coming here wouldn't be this hectic. Calm down, dude...calm down. If I don’t ease my mind, then I’ll probably end up the same way. But if I end up fighting these goblins, how am I going to win? Shut up...this isn’t an anime, you idiot. Come on, think, think...think," Nahshon breathes, furiously as he resists from running away.

His senses going blank with what seems like a million thoughts rushing through his head, breathing heavily, his feet begin to drag him even more, blind to his actions, eyes flashing to what pulls him.

"Fucking Idiot!!" Ezek yells, fiercely grabbing Nahshon's shoulder. "What are you doing walking so fast for, huh??!"

"W-What...?" Nahshon sounds, snapping out of his self trance.

"Do you even know if this is a trap or not??"

"...I-I think so...now that you mention it," Nahshon breaks a smile, looking around the area.

"Shit! Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

"Calm down, Ezek...we aren't dead yet...I think we're safe," Nahshon walks off, Ezek grabbing his shirt.

"Calm down?? Idiot, you could have set off a possible trap if you kept that up, did you know that??"

"I-I'm sorry...alright, calm down"

Tempted to punch Nahshon across the face, instead, he pushes him to the ground as he goes in front. And tired black eyes he stirs, slowly turning to a manifestation of silent rage he has awoken.

"Look…” Nahshon breathes. “If you have a problem being my companion...go talk to the king. I'm sure he didn't require you being by my side 24/7. Don’t blame any of your friends’ fuckery on the same person who tried to help you, alright? You try enduring this...or give up your partners for them to rot in prison...your choice"

Like nemesis, within their eyes are hatred that boils in their scorn for each other, but Ezek calms down, not wanting to have his family be put in jeopardy.

"Fuck...well, I can't have that..." Ezek exhales, averting his eyes.

"....Now, let's look around, they might be clues here," Nahshon suggests.

Together they begin to search within the bushes around them, and in a couple of minutes, Ezek finds a loaf of bread hidden within the grass.

"Tch...they went straight for the prize," Ezek picks up the item, showing it Nahshon. "This group must be a small one, not so smart either...they’re probably up ahead"

And so Ezek leads on the continued trail of blood, both gone quiet from their fight. His reflexes fastened, swiftly he suddenly ducks into cover, alarming Nahshon into doing the same. There they catch the frightening sounds of screaming, as they crawl the rest of the way. Bitter their stomachs begin to run, in the sight of what they finally catch up to, and twelve of them they actually count, most of them snickering in the joy of stealing food. And beside them, the boys glance over to what quenches their hearts in anger, to an infestation of the creatures that swarm the man’s sister, as they’re fighting for who gets to rip off the rest of her clothes, as she desperately struggles with their nasty nails that claw at her skin, watching as the others also joke around with another victim that has had his head cleaved off by these savages, the corpse of her father as they portray him feeling for his genitals, only to realize it has been torn off.

"What...the fuck?" Ezek eyes shake, stopped by Nahshon before he aims his gun to shoot. "Why are you stopping me?? Look at what their doing"

"Listen, they might be more of them, don't act rash," Nahshon quietly explains to him, gripping on to his shoulder. "How many explosives do you have?"

"How ca-" Ezek stops, feeling on his shoulder Nahshon's hand trembling, promptly taking out a good amount of dynamite, and a lighter to match with them.

"We need to get them into chaos first," Nahshon suggests. "Light them, you’re gonna throw them into where the group near the food is, alright?"

Seeing that the father’s body is near, Ezek grits his teeth, thinking of no other choice but to follow along with Nahshon's plan. And so he lights them, bringing about sparks that he waits on to get closer to the stick, and within the food, he quickly throws them. Before the goblins could react, bursting is a blast of fire that blows them away with the corpse getting caught as well. And confused by what had just happened, the other goblins stop playing around, frozen by their shock. Adrenaline pumping through his heart, the feeling of mana rushing through his body, time seems to slow down as he draws his sword into his left hand, and swiftly Nahshon zaps to his first kill, his strike slicing its way into their backs. With the built-up momentum, he cuts his way through the others that pin the woman, in a fast matter with hands that glue roughly to his sword.

Ezek also appears with his own skills, gunning down the others with precise accuracy, his eyes expressing to them no mercy with every bullet they take. And now, what seemed timeless, is the battle that ends without much fight, fading to a silent battleground. Ezek hurries to the woman as his first objective after, giving to her his own shirt with wrapping it around her bruised and almost naked body, leaving himself in his under-shirt.

"Hey! Give me one of those potions in your bag, quickly," He instructs Nahshon. "Hey!!"

Nahshon snaps from his daydream, quickly handing a potion to Ezek, with his hand shaking out of the clashing thoughts of having killed something so close to being like another human. Ezek grabs the potion, ordering for the sister to have some as Nahshon looks around the area. And a red aura covers her, healing the scars that marked her body. Animated is a terrifying screech that shakes their hearts, with sprinting to Nahshon, a goblin who rises back from close death, angered by the slash on it’s back. The boy quickly reacts with his mana fueling into his hand, stopping his attacker with a chain of lightning that strikes the disgusting creature with a hundred lashes. Bellowing where it stands, it screams in agonizing pain, it’s green skin becoming darker and its eyes swelling out of their sockets, dropping to the ground, lifeless as a log. Another thought to be dead springs onto Nahshon, sending them both to the ground as it tries to send a dagger through the boy's throat.

And there he whiffs for dear life, his arms going numb with straining his small muscles as they’ve passed their limits. Ezek summons his gun in seeing this chaos, clobbered in the head from behind by another wounded. He quickly kicks it off before the creature tries to go for another attack, dropping its weapon from its hand, proceeding with aiming, getting stopped by the goblin who forces his hand away, losing his gun. The goblin hands grips in strangling Ezek with all its rage, digging its fingers into his throat. And so Ezek turns and turns, trying to budge the goblin's grip, coming a loud sound that hovers over its head, seeing as the shaking sister continuously clobbers its head until her wooden weapon breaks, leaving a twitching body to its death. He quickly gasps for air, then swiftly gets his gun to save Nahshon, seeing to his surprise that his companion has conquered his battle. Being on top of the goblin, its dagger this time in his hand, the savage creature begins to beg for mercy through an unknown language, scratching at Nahshon's hands.

"D...Don't ask me for mercy... Nahshon pants, and slowly he runs the dagger deep into the goblin's throat.

There the goblin begins tearing up, as it gargles blood that rushes up into its mouth, legs flailing around. And so Nahshon gets up the victorious one, gazing up into the clear sunny sky, gasping for fresh air from the stench that is the goblins.

"C' mon...we're getting outta here," Ezek says to the both of them, looking at the father’s lifeless burnt body.

Along with the sister, Ezek carries her while walking through the bushes, as Nahshon is slowly trailing behind, Ezek looking behind at the boy’s bloody attire, his soul looking like it has been shattered by this quest. Finally, they leave the forest, and they are lucky to see that the driver has come back for them, with his carriage also mounted by guards. In their uniforms, the soldiers step towards the boys and the sister, shocked by their bodies drenched in blood.

"You two?" The female soldier sounds. "Did you kill all of the goblins??"

"Uh-huh," Ezek nods, handing over the sister to them.

"Well...what y’all be doing? Hurry up and get in the back, we're leaving now," The driver orders.

Some of the soldiers remain to go investigate while some accompany the survivors back to Norton. There the boys arrive along with the sister, coming off while she makes her way to another destination. Turning to Nahshon, Ezek hisses without knowing what words to say. And Nahshon, having a slight smile on his face as he clenches his fists to hide that he is still shaken, his eyes meet with his.

"Well...I'm gonna need some new clothes," Nahshon slowly nods. "Let's meet back at the guild, and we’ll collect the money then go back to the hotel..."

He walks off without another word, leaving as Ezek watches how the town's people react to their bloody attire.