Linden woke up a little less refreshed than usual. The main reasons for that were of course the night temperature, and sleeping on the ground. It got cold just before dawn, especially when campfire burned out.

In order to warm up, Ed started exercising. His handstand pushups were getting really good, better than in his previous body, as He finally found the right balance. Before getting younger, he would need to support himself with a wall if he wanted to push his upper chest, back and delts to their limits, but no longer. Same things with one legged squats, or various pull up variations.

Between sets, Edward chomped down on more otter meat, and started looking around. He saw some trees with leaves instead of needles, and immediately got worried. They weren’t as green as he would like. It wasn’t of course as much about his aesthetic choices, as it was about approaching autumn.

Or whatever colder seasons this place had.

Well, there is nothing wrong with autumn in itself. What was worrying Linden was obviously winter that comes after it. New world seemed very similar to the good ol’ Earth, so there was no reason to think winter won’t freeze ass.

From the other hand, autumn always means fruit. And Ed needed some. You can’t live on just meat and fish.

It was decided Ed would go search the general vicinity for fruit right when his gear would dry out. So like a patient man he was, he sat down, and started watching drying paint bedroll.

………………………….

Mr. Wolfgang of Explorers’ Guilds’ training department was in a pickle.

There was a very promising candidate this time. He was resourceful, smart, had appropriate thirst for knowledge and survival instinct. If given the right start, the lad could achieve a lot. But there was a single problem. It was just him. There were simply no candidates for a partner

First few months of work were designed to teach the newbies common sense and teamwork. They had to learn how to complement each other, work in small groups, and most of all, they had to realize what they were lacking themselves through studying each other’s differences.

But if his first partner was just dragging him down, He might come to wrong conclusions. The kind of wrong conclusions that got many explorers killed on the job.

Wolfgang could just pair the boy up with an older kid, but that could go sideways as well. Kids twelve years of age thought themselves vastly more mature than ten year olds, and often rejected a younger partner.

In the end, He simply hoped there would be another great talent signing up before winter.

…………………………

Linden was happy to pick up and pack his now dry equipment. With a pack on his back, he wiped out signs of campfire, and quickly decided He will be walking down the river. He also wanted to stay near the wall, as it seemed like another excellent landmark. Fortunately, for now, both river and the wall were going the same way.

Ed was pretty happy to be on the road again. (though without a road) So happy in fact, that he started skipping forward. No, it wasn’t childish, as far as he was concerned, it was a mature way to express his joy.

And joyful day it was, as in the middle of a jump, Ed spotted some red dots in the distance. On closer inspection they turned out to be fruits of a rosehip, appearing to be ripe enough to get picked off.

Ed was going to make sure they aren’t actually poisonous berries only pretending to be friends of jam making, but that could come later. For now, he was travelling.

It was an interesting thing to see the ground vanish before his feet. He could’ve sworn a kid can’t be this fast even without the backpack on. And if Ed didn’t get exhausted during his first few days in a , He might’ve thought getting tired wasn’t a thing here.

It was honestly pretty monotonous.

Ed was walking entire days, with few stops for taking care of natures’ call, washing himself in the river, or foraging. Every time he would smell a scent of an animal, he would try walking around it.

There were no dangerous encounters, Every animal he had met ran away, no doubt thanks to his backpack that made him appear bigger.

Every time it was getting dark, He would light a fire, boil new water, roast more meat, and go to sleep. And so on it went until Ed noticed something new. The wall was getting away from the river. Or maybe it was the other way around, hard to say. And it’s not like it mattered.

Linden decided that the best way would be to continue walking along the river for as long as he could see the wall.

And so when after another day it started fading from view, he thought he will have to get wet again. Or build a better raft.

But a bit more walking revealed another way. Right across the river, there was a bridge. It was made of rope and planks, but was surprisingly neat. A good, honest bridge. Whoever built that wasn’t a savage, as much as the materials could imply they were.

That left him with little choice. Linden would sneak near a bridge, scout the surroundings for threats, and if he spotted humans, He would have to be adequately paranoid cautious.

Fortunately, or not, he found no humans.

After quickly crossing the river, Linden searched the river bank he found himself on, and this time discovered wheel pattern, and signs of hooves that looked like they belonged to an equestrian of not –very-significant size. It was either fantasy world with centaurs, or those were carriages. Multiple, because there were at last three different hoof sizes.

“They must’ve passed there not too long ago” Ed muttered to himself, expertly judging the freshness of horse shit. ”And they are heading the same way I am.”

It was perfect. Ed could approach them, not risking anything, and if they appeared hostile, just run between bushes and hills before they can even turn around.

He adjusted the straps of his backpack and skipped forward, humming with joy.

………………………….

Dalton was a bit worried. He was a merchant for some time, but only a beginner when it came to trade with the frontier. He needed to come personally this time, in hope of forging connections. He knew his caravan was a bit smallish, but it was not easy to buy and hire more, unless he risked much more than he was willing.

He hoped they wouldn’t need to use those blunderbusses he bought from that pawn shop for some of his coachmen. They were good enough to scare off thugs and protect themselves with, but Dalton was a merchant, not a warrior, and he would always appreciate a boring journey.

But worries of such events potentially happening were left in the past, as his caravan had just been received by two explorers with keys hanging off their necks. One green, and one yellow.

To send them this far…

Dalton supposed the Town of Promise wanted his wares as much as he wanted their payment.

After a greeting and a brief conversation, he was informed that normally they would wait at the entrance to wandering rocks, but they had time and didn’t want to sit around for several days more.

True, Dalton was a bit late. He handed them the fee, and his caravan resumed its travel. During conversation, they told him their names and that they are brothers, the yellow key being the older one. They were working together to try and raise Mels’ (the green ones’) rank to Yellow. Mark, the Yellow Key, apparently figured, that before trying to venture further in order to become a red key, it would be wiser to make his younger brother actual, money earning explorer. Actively working to increase your rank never came without risks, and their mother had to have someone taking care of her in case Mark got unlucky.

Dalton wasn’t sure if they talked this much thanks to his trained expertise in pulling peoples’ tongues, or if were just naturally talkative.

Around the evening, when the caravan was supposed to stop for rest, Mel leaned over to his brother, and whispered something. Marks answered aloud.

“Yeah, I noticed. Whoever is following us didn’t care enough to actually hide.” “He will most likely approach soon”

“who will?” Dalton asked.

“person behind us.” Replied Bark.

“They will probably want to greet us when we stop for the night.” Added Mark.

“ Do you think we shouldn’t stop?” Asked one of Daltons companions, carriage driver Mando.

“Nah, they don’t look like they are hostile. More like curious. Or stupid, not sure which.” Replied one of the explorers.

“maybe we should shout out to him, let him know we won’t attack him” Added another, the green one.

Marks eyed his siblig. “you know what?” “that is actually a pretty decent idea.” And shouted in the direction they just came from. “Hey, want to join us? We won’t bite!”

Nothing happened for around three seconds, and then, a child appeared on the road behind them.

It was a bright haired boy, with big backpack but without any clothes on him besides pants and a leather belt. On the belt, there hanged a sheathed knife, and his long hair were braided into some kind of messy bun. With piece of meat in hand, the kid shouted back “Yo, can I?” and skipped towards the caravan.

Dalton often saw kids skipping and jumping, but never this fast and high. The boy stopped right next to the wagons, and greeted them in a bit… unusual manner. He looked at Daltons’ blunderbuss with the kind of judging eye clients often look at stuff they are knowledgeable about.

This kid was a little strange.

“Hello, where are you heading?” asked the child in an accent previously unheard by anyone present.

“To the only place this road leads, obviously.” Replied Dalton

“I’m not exactly from around here.”

‘Yeah, we figured’ was what everyone was thinking. “the Town of Promise.”

“Sounds… promising” hesitated the kid. “My name is Linden, can I join you?”

“My name is Dalton, and you are gonna have to ask our escort here”

Mark didn’t wait for the Linden kid to repeat the question, and nodded with approval. “Yes, you can.” “I’m not gonna leave a lost child on the road in the middle of nowhere.”

Their numbers increased again, as they were joined by Linden.