It'd been a few hours since they'd left Tralken. And Nickel was bored.
And irritated.
He and the other three pick-ups were riding in a wagon being driven by Jacob.
While riding with them, he'd learned about his fellow adventurers. More than he'd have preferred, in the case of one of them.
Two of them, Klein and Sabine, were siblings, traveling back to their hometown. The caravan was going to stop there after Ashbert.
Coincidentally, that was one of the towns that Nickel was travelling to, in order to clear it's dungeon.
Klein, the older of the siblings, had an aspect that increased his speed. Sabine's Aspect was centered around plant life.
That was all Nickel knew. And admittedly, all that he needed to know, as far as both he and the Guild's guidelines were concerned.
It was considered improper to ask for an in depth explanation of another person's Aspects. Most people didn't want others to know too deeply about how their Aspects worked.
Caution was just as important to the adventurer as preparedness.
The siblings mostly kept to themselves, though. It was the third pick-up, Shalen, that kept talking. And talking.
The girl was an elf, and apparently wasn't much older than Nickel, given that she hadn't completed her First Circle.
She also didn't seem to understand that he wanted her to stop talking.
"Hey, Nick, what does your Aspect do?" Shalen asked with sparkling eyes.
Nickel sighed internally for what felt like the thousandth time.
"It lets me negate and disperse mana." Nickel deadpanned,
Now, that was technically a lie. But it was a close enough approximation of how he planned to use it. He'd prefer that no one figured out he was a Silver. Not this early into his trip.
"Wow… that sounds really useful!" Shalen responded cheerfully.
Nickel sighed to himself for the thousand and first time. She had been asking questions for over an hour. Not just to him, either.
Initially, Klein and Sabine were also peppered with questions. Eventually, they just stopped responding.
And as much as Nickel also desired to tune out the little elf, he was reminded too much of Selika to do so. Right down to how irritated he was by her.
It was almost endearing.
Almost.
Motioning to Shalen to give him a moment, Nickel leaned out of the cover of the wagon to inquire about something from Jacob.
"Jacob?"
The man looked over his shoulder.
"You need something, Nick?" he asked.
"Yeah. How long 'til we reach Ashbert?"
Jacob gave a wry smile. He wanted to get there just as much as the kid.
While he wasn't a target of Shalen endless barrage of questions, he still had to hear them.
"... should be another couple of days. Unless Brady chooses to rush it, we should arrive the morning of the second day."
Nickel nodded his thanks and settled back into his seat.
'What I wouldn't give to be on patrol duty…' he thought glumly.
The pick-ups had been placed in a wagon in the middle of the column, and were being babysat— Guided, Nickel corrected himself, by Jacob.
The other members of Thomas' party, Malcolm, Anna, and Gabriel, were spaced out among the other wagons.
Thomas and Seren, an elven woman and Thomas' wife, each rode a horse at the front of the column, alongside Brady.
And so, Nickel was stuck answering the questions of an overly enthusiastic elf.
—
In a clearing just off the road, the caravan stopped to make camp for the night.
The wagons were arranged in a semi circle around the groups' campsite, a cooking fire set in the middle. Thomas had managed to hunt a few rabbits, and was making stew, the rest of the adventurers gathered around him.
"Alright, now that we have some time," Thomas said, looking over the stew. "Why don't the four of you tell us about how you fight, so we're all prepared?"
"I'm a swordsman," Klein responded immediately. "My Aspect gives me a moderate boost to speed."
Sabine spoke up next.
"I'm a mage." She said lazily. " I specialize in water and earth magic. And my aspect lets me control plants."
"Very good." Thomas said. He looked over at Nickel and Shalen. The girl was about to bounce out of her seat. "You next, Miss Shalen."
"Ok, so, I'm also a mage," Shalen said rapidly. "My aspect increases the size of any magical explosion I cause. OH! And I mainly use fire magic."
Thomas blinked.
"That's… great, Miss Shalen. Very good." he let out a small sigh, and turned to Nickel. "And you, Nick?"
"My Aspect negates and disperses mana." Nickel made sure he gave the same answer he gave Shalen earlier.
Thomas nodded.
"Do you have any other weapons, Nick?"
The question came from Seren.
Using his elbow to push his cloak back, Nickel unsheathed his dagger halfway.
Seren nodded, slightly surprised. It wasn't what she'd expected. She had thought the quiet young man would be a mage, given how much mana he radiated.
"Alright," Thomas clapped his hands. "Stew's done. Everybody come get some, and I'll explain our battle plan."
As each of them came up to the pot, Thomas explained while he spooned them out the stew.
"Our strategy is pretty simple. If we get attacked by monsters, you just take whatever's closest and keep them away from the wagons."
The elf's normally kind face darkened slightly. "If we get ambushed by more… intelligent attackers—"
Malcolm interrupted Thomas with a huff. "Just call 'em Bandits. Just cause they're young doesn't mean they don't know what bandits are."
Thomas let out a sad sigh as he continued.
"As Malcolm so eloquently corrected me, Bandits. If we get attacked by Bandits, we'll surround the wagons to keep them off. For Shalen and Nick," he addressed them, "You two are the only ones that aren't First Circle yet, so your goal is to stay alive long enough for one of us to come and assist you.
Don't be reckless. Just wait and hold them off. Alright?"