Chapter Thirty Setting Out, and Getting to Know New Friends (Patreon)

Amy and Thomas made their way down the street. She had already done her errands for the day. Collecting the items she ordered from the Tailor, and informing Kei where they would be meeting. She had even spoken with a trade caravan heading to a village in Stormwind. It was about a week’s march south of where they actually needed to go, but it was heading in the right direction. Better yet the pay was good. So it was overall a good secondary quest to pick up. They weren’t the only adventurers tagging along for the ride either. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem.

Of course there was nothing to do but wait and see there. If things went well, it would be an uneventful escorting of a Caravan with an easy payout. After that, they will visit the local guild, and register. That would be important, her own membership was with a guild here in Rosewood, she had no such registration in Stormwind. Every town or Village of sufficient size had their own guild and affiliation with any other guild within a kingdom. This meant if you were registered with a guild in Rosewood that same membership gave you guild benefits with any affiliated guild in Rosewood. However when you cross borders that membership no longer applies. Well mostly anyway, it still serves as an identification which means fewer coins spent at the gate to enter a town or village. Still highly recommended to register as soon as you can upon entering a kingdom you aren’t registered in.

Amy rounded a corner, and the town gate came into view. Being a smaller town on the border the walls were not that impressive. Nothing more than a thick wooden fence meant to repel monster attacks. On either side of the gate were a pair of watchtowers built into the walls, with an open rooftop. She could see a massive ballista glinting in the sunlight on the top of each tower. This town had a total of six such ballista, two for each gate, and were typically used to repel larger monsters. It also wasn’t unheard of for a Wyvern to fly out this way. Wyverns were a lesser cousin of dragons, fairly powerful, but they were not sentient. That didn’t mean they were stupid but compared to their cousins they were rather dull minded. Wyverns were also noted for being fairly aggressive and territorial.

Those weapons on the watchtower were supposedly quite effective against the armored hides of Wyverns, but she had the feeling that they would be utterly useless against a real dragon. She blinked and set aside the thought. Instead looking over the square for her new party members. It only took her a moment to pick out Kei’s familiar face. Who thankfully enough seemed to be with Mara. That was good, it seemed the two of them had met. She hoped they liked each other.

Amy dragged Thomas along, ignoring an outburst from her brother and made for the pair. She smiled, “Kei! Mara! Glad to see you two have met!”

Mara looked up, “Hey, Amy. Kei here is quite interesting.”

“I know right! We have a few minutes before we have to meet the caravan, so we should get to know each other.” she glanced at Kei, “I’d like you to meet my brother, Thomas.”

Kei looked him over, smiled, “Hello there, I’m Kei of the Bloodclaw clan. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I do hope we can get along.”

Thomas smiled, “Thomas Drake, pleased to meet you.”

As those two got to know each other, Amy turned to Mara. Her expression shifted as she thought of yesterday, “So, um Mara, how are you doing?”

“Well enough I guess. A bit of adventure might be a refreshing change of pace. I still can’t believe I trusted that asshole.”

“I’m just glad his charm wasn’t strong enough to get you to actually drop your panties.”

Mara sighed, “Yeah that would have sucked. Thanks again for dealing with him.”

Amy gave her a smile, but said nothing. There wasn’t anything worth saying. After a moment, “So what kind of caravan did you sign us on with?”

“I found us one run by a pleasant beastkin woman, and heading in the right direction. Her destination isn’t quite the same as ours, but close enough. Better yet, it’s some nice easy coin for us. If all goes well, we will have a nice relaxing ride, but I won’t bet on it being uneventful.”

Mara nodded, “Yeah we might run into some goblins or something.”

Amy shrugged, “I figured we would spend the time learning to work together. Now that we are a party, we need to work each other into our battle plan. Now you’re a foot Knight, so I figure you and Thomas would be up front. I’ll be in the rear with my bow. Kei is our scout, but she has some interesting skills with a knife.”

Mara gave a wry grin, “Yeah she was telling me about some of them.” Mara shuddered, “For some reason I feel sorry for any male that faces her.”

Amy giggled, “Maybe a little, but that scum certainly would have deserved it.”

Mara gave a very different kind of grin, “Yeah, next time I see him, I’ll sic Kei on him. I think a little jewel slicing is just the thing for that guy.”

Amy concurred, “exactly my thoughts.”

“So who is this scum, you two are talking about?”

Amy glanced at Kei noting the look on her face, and was about to answer, but Mara was faster, “Amy saved me from a piece of scum with a mind charm. He’d charmed me, made me follow him all the way out here like some lost puppy.”

Kei’s face darkened, “What scum!”

“Yeah, I don’t like men like that. The jerk even tried to charm my sister and to think I thought he was okay dude.”

Kei blinked, “he tried what?”

“Tried to charm my sis, right in front of me too. I gave him a piece of my mind. By now I think he should be nursing two black eyes, and a bruised jaw.”

“He deserved it, but did you go for his jewels?”

Thomas frowned, “um, no.”

Kei gave him a look, “Next time you stop a jerk like that, go for the jewels. They really deserve it and it will make 'em think twice about it later. Especially if they had to spend coin on healing an injured penis, know what I mean?”

Thomas took a step back, “um, okay.”

She giggled, “I can teach you some handy knife tricks that will make 'em really think twice. Nothing quite like watching scum squeal and squirm as you slice their jewels.”

Amy let out a breath, “On a different note, it’s about time for us to go meet that caravan leader.”

Kei shifted lazily, “Oh yes, who did we sign on with?”

“A nice wolfkin lady, the coin was good, and she is heading in the right direction. There was another caravan also heading the right way, but I didn’t like the man leading it.”

Mara replied, “Sounds like a good choice then, let’s go meet our employer.”

They found the caravan leader supervising the loading of a wagon with crates. Amy didn’t know what was in them, but she didn’t really care what the caravan was transporting. The wooden crates seemed fairly light though, and the worker on the ground easily hauled them up into the wagon. Where a second worker took the crate and carefully stacked it with other crates on the wagon.

As she drew closer, the wolfkin noticed her coming, “AH! Amy, glad to see you made it on time. I take it these are your party members.”

“Yes, Lady Greyhound this is...”

“Please don’t call me lady, I’m a merchant not a noble.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Greyhound.”

“Better.” she gestured to the young wolfkin girl next to her, “I’d like you to meet my daughter Eri. She joined me recently seeking to help me out. I was hoping you four would keep an eye on her, keep her out of trouble. That sort of thing!”

Amy glanced at the wolfkin in question, she was a bit on the petite side for a wolfkin, perhaps a hundred and forty centimeters tall, if you counted the ears. Wait, those boots were adding a bit more height. Maybe it was closer to a hundred and thirty. Her build was also rather slim and her breasts seemed non-existent. But the full body leather armor she was wearing did much to obscure her figure. Her face however was quite visible, she had sharp features that made her look quite exotic especially in combination with her black and silver hair which she kept in a braid. Two cute little ears twitched on her head, as she visibly pouted which just made her look like a cute little girl.

“MOM! I don’t need a babysitter and certainly not four!”

“Well if you want to be an adventurer you will need a party. Just give them a chance, Amy is a sweet young girl and seems to have some experience. She can show you the ropes at least.”

Eri stomped her foot, “I can pick my own team, Mom. I don’t need you helping.”

“And I can pay my own debts, but I’m mature enough to accept help when offered. Especially when it is family. Now give these girls a chance and maybe you will like them.”

Amy giggled and gave Thomas a playful jab, “Hear that Thomas? you’re one of us!”

Thomas shrank a little, and sighed, “Great...”

Behind her, she could hear Mara and Kei giggle, “I guess with a little make up and a wig he would look like a girl. Hmm, yeah that might be an idea.”

Mara replied, “Hmm? What are you thinking?”

Kei leaned in and whispered, while in front of them Eri and her mother continued to fight. From the sound of things, Eri was losing the fight.

A moment later confirmed that opinion, her shoulders drooping and her tail between her legs, “Um, Amy was it? I’ll, um, be in your care.”

Amy gave her a smile she hoped was reassuring, “It’s nice to meet you Eri. I’ll teach you the ropes like your mother wants. Care to share your skill set?”

Eri shifted nervously, and after a moment shared her status screen.

Name: Eri Greyhound

Gender: Female

Race: Beastkin (Wolf)

Level: 12

Age: 13

Health: 100% (Perfect Health)

Class: Beast Warrior

Shields: 0/0

Subclass:

Mana: 120/120

Titles:

Skills:

Apprentice Claw Arts Grade A

Novice Rapid Claw Style Grade A

Novice Natural Armor Grade B

Novice Stampede Tackle Grade D

Novice Reckless Assault Grade C

Traits:
Racial:
Natural Weapons

Enhanced Constitution

Agile

Superior Strength

Inherent:
Natural Hunter

Superior Boobs

Permanent Lactation

Sharp Claws

Magical Talent

Natural Born Loli

Acquired:
Battle-Junkie

Who Needs Weapons?

Fragile Armor (Equipment)

Natural Beta

Amy thought to herself. Her party was pretty heavy on frontline fighters, and here they had gained another one. What joys! It was easy to see why Eri’s mother was concerned for her child though. Especially given those acquired traits. Battle-Junkie and Fragile Armor were terrible traits. The second one was far worse, as that drastically lowered the durability of worn equipment. Already she was thinking about traits to steer Eri towards that would help her. Nature’s Embrace would be perfect for her, but she wasn’t sure that was the right thing to do. In the meantime she focused on welcoming her to the team. As they got ready to set out on their adventure.