After several hours of skipping, Edward Linden finally realized He was getting close to the group of horse pulled wagons He was following. It was obvious they were near, judging by warm, steaming horse dung left behind. He stopped skipping, and started walking on the side of the road. If they started shooting or something, He would be able to instantaneously take cover between rocks and trees.

But His worries turned out to be unfounded. When close to evening he got a bit close to the caravan, He got spotted, and called out to.

Them spotting Ed wasn’t surprising. He didn’t hide or sneak around, figuring He should probably proceed in a non-threatening manner.

He was invited to travel with the wagon-riding group, and took them upon that offer. They were getting ready to stop for the night, and Ed had nothing against camping near other people. Especially now that it looked like it was going to rain. He would have to get himself a tarp.

Those people were using a language that seemed to have roots in ‘southern language’, but was visibly influenced by English. The end result was something that was like Czech language to Polish.

Two people, one of them Polish, another Czech, can somewhat communicate, but they have to be careful to not misunderstand each other. It gets really awkward sometimes.

He was welcomed by several pieces of information. First, that guns existed in this world. Second, that not everyone carried them. Third thing was their relatively low technology level.

Several members of the caravan carried caplock blunderbusses, their barrels made of brass. The butt plates were made out of the same material and carried a significant amount of patina.

Yup, those weren’t shouldered too often. On one hand that’s good, it meant those people weren’t seeing action all the time, and the journey will probably be uneventful.

Linden didn’t want to get into a gunfight with a knife and a slingshot. Or at all.

On the other, If a fight actually did happen, those people wouldn’t be reliable companions. Having a panicked ally with a blunderbuss behind your back would be worse than having no allies at all.

But it was a bit weird. They shouldn’t be anywhere near ocean, but these guys had weapons tailored for marine use, unrusting brass and all. Come to think of it, Ed didn’t see anywhere near the amount of steel as he should.

Not on wagons, not on horses or mules, (or whatever those were. Imagine a horse of a primitive breed, except with fluffier, bigger ears).

As for people, two guys escorting the caravan had a steel knife each, or at least so it seemed. One of them had a long gun, the other, a single shot pistol. Both looked like some kind of poaching tools from a third world country, with especially the pistol looking like a gunsmiths’ fever dream. Both were mostly made of brass. Or bronze.

Hard to tell just by looking actually.

Was steel not easily available here? Or was there something in the air that induced corrosion? Maybe salt water reservoir nearby?

Ed would need to take extra precautions to not get his own knife rusted or stolen.

Well, then there was a name of a town, but it didn’t really tell him nearly as much as weapons or horses(?) did. Hopefully he would get more answers before arriving.

But then again, staying quiet and hoping for the best was an inefficient way to gather information. Ed had personal experience on the matter, as much as it pained him to admit it. But no longer was he a shy boy. He would begin questioning in the morning. The caravan stopped for the night, and everyone started preparing a camp. To not be useless, Ed got to fetching sticks.

Once they were prepared for the night, horses tied down where they could eat grass, Linden came up with an ingenious idea of sleeping under the wagons. He was still reluctant to get into the same tent as people he just met.

The night was uneventful. Nothing attacked them, and once morning came they packed everything, and hit the road.

Linden had some troubles striking a conversation, but he would have to make these people talk a lot to learn the language better.

“Mr. Mark, what can you tell me about the town we are heading to?” He asked the older guide.

“It’s a place made by explorers, for explorers. A perfect place if you want to join.” Answered the man. “I take it you aren’t an explorer already?”

“No, I’m not.” Replied Ed. “What’s that?”

He got a really weird look. Either he said a wrong word, or he should know what explorers were.

“Explorer is someone who explores.” Mark began talking, with an expression similar to the one you get when explaining obvious concepts to a preschool kid.

“There are lands too dangerous to simply colonize. They are called uncharted lands, difficult lands, and many more names. There are a lot of things laying or growing there, that anyone will pay great sums for. In uncharted lands there are medicines, poisons, relics, and other things explorers retrieve, and then get paid for it.”

“Can I join elsewhere?” Linden asked the obvious.

“Yes, but you would be under one of the countries. Town of Promise is the only one with independent guild.”

“What’s the difference?”

“In guilds founded by countries, it’s mandatory to hand over relics. Sure, they’ll pay, but not always a satisfactory amount. In Independent Guild you can keep whatever you find.”

Okay, that’s enough to convince anyone, innit? Fuck government that wants to take our relics. Whatever those are. “What are the requirements?”

“Ten years of age, ten bri registration fee.” Mark answered quickly. “Also, forty for basic gear set, but you aren’t required to buy it.” “If I were you, I would just buy boots, clothes and such separately, It will cost more for specific items, but you will pay less overall, and you already have a backpack and such.” The guide advised.

“ Well, I’m in a little trouble in a money department. I’m completely broke.”

“Well, that would be a bit of a problem if you weren’t going to join.” Explorer seemed to already decide that Linden would be registering. “But no worries, if you are getting gear from the guild, they will give you an option of paying after becoming an Explorer. Once you are a green key, you can just fulfill some tasks to pay off your debt.”

“Is my debt bigger than money I would normally pay?” There was no way Linden wouldn’t ask that. “does it increase with time?”

“Yeah, it’s 5bri more for registration, and 2bri for every 10bri your guild-purchased gear was worth at the time of registration. And it won’t increase in time, unless you sit on it for more than a decade”

“You seem… well informed.” This guy sounded like a salesman.

“Well, duh. More than half of the people borrow.” “And most of them don’t regret it.”

“Reasonable enough, I guess” Ed made a face that was supposed to convey him getting convinced. He would have to think this through, but for now, that seemed like the best idea.

“what about freedom of movement once I become an explorer?”

“Infinite. Being an explorer is about freedom of movement.” Came the reply. “Sure, most chose to stay near Promise, but explorers are supposed to venture into uncharted lands, so it’s not like anyone has any right to tell you where to go, or what to do. Unless you are under guild employment.”

“Is that different from being registered?” Ed asked.

“Yes, under employment you get a salary, whether there are tasks or not. But if there are, you have an obligation to go fulfill your assignment.” “For example, every archivista in the vaults is employed.” “But if you aren’t, then you are free to do whatever”.

“It seems like an incomplete deal. What’s the difference between unregistered explorer and a registered one?”

Mark smiled.

“What, you think it would be better to go unregistered? Think again” He said “Registered Explorer will find jobs quicker, whatever they find can be sold legally and for better pay compared to back alley merchants, and then there are the vaults.”

“Vaults”

Mel, the younger brother (?) decided to take part in the conversation.“What kind of boonies are you from, Linden? The Vaults are places where knowledge and relics are stored. You can’t go into one unless you have the key.”

“I take it ‘keys’ are those things on your necks?”

“You bet it. The keys are pretty much ranks. Your first will be green, like this one. Then you’ve got yellow, red, blue, and purple. Each gives you clearance to go into better vaults. Oh, and then there are custom keys, but I don’t know much about them except that they are great and famous”

‘Wow, this guy (?) gets pretty enthusiastic about talking.’ Ed decided to press further.

“How do you get better keys?”

“Contributions” said Mark before Mel could open his mouth. “apparently, Vaults originated from traditional open stashes early explorers were making.” “the idea was to take what you need, and leave what you had excess of, for the next guy that came through.” “That’s why when you get recognized as a better explorer, they give you a key.” “You know, as a sign that you are believed to be able to not only take from a Vault, but also contribute to its contents in a meaningful way”

“Or so they told us in the guild” Added Mel.

‘ Okay, they are both enthusiastic about talking.’ Thought Ed. He would have to cross examine them, they sounded a little like door to door salesmen.

“And what’s in the vaults?”

“No idea about higher level ones, but Yellow contain mostly maps, notes about useful stuff and some tips equipment. Green are the same way, just with less accurate maps, more outdated gear, and so on.” “Oh, and you have to deposit money if you want to borrow something.”

The caravan passed a landmark, and when they climbed on one of the hills, on the horizon a wall could be seen. Mel smiled.

“Oh, we are getting closer”

“Obviously” Mark added in a way that indicated he wanted to call Mel a moron for pointing out the obvious.

Me retaliated with a gesture that could only be interpreted as this worlds version of flipping a bird.

Mark ignored it, visibly showing that he was an adult, and such weak provocations were below him.

Ed took a mental note of a new way to insult someone without saying a word.

‘Okay, they definitely are siblings’ He thought.

They continued to travel, and once evening came, they were already walking and riding into an entrance to the wall.

This one was nothing like a tight, underwater passage Linden used to get out of the mountains. It looked like an otherwise perfectly fine, gigantic wall cracked from the top, down to the ground level. The crack was a few meters wide, and looked like a green and grey gate. Some water was flowing down the bottom, courtesy of the rain, Ed supposed.

Both explorers Immediately shifted into something of a work mode. The older one announced.

“Okay, we will be going into Wandering Rocks now. Everyone, please pay attention to your surroundings, try not to get too far from us two. It’s easy to get lost around here, so we will be frequently checking if no one got left behind, but nobody’s perfect, so do put in your own effort.”

“We will be following landmarks and checking them with a map. If you have any questions, ask them later.” Added younger sibling, looking at Ed.

Okay, fair enough.

The caravan resumed its journey, this time through a dangerous place.