14 Chapter 9

I woke up in the same way always with the sunshine on myself.

I grabbed the quest information on my desk; reviewed it got dressed and went down to the Inns dining room.

I ordered some soup and bread.

Wasn't good nor bad; it was just fine.

I paid and left; I headed for the market to grab the needed supplies.

The supply list included

|Supply List|

45 Days worth of military sized rations

1 personal water canteen

One personal weapon

Camping gear

Proper marching shoes

...

I headed to the largest market in the city.

The market had a lot of shop fronts compared to the smaller market which consisted of tent shops.

I headed to the local butcher to buy the needed amount of rations.

It was a simple little shop but the man behind the counter was a man of the stature of about 190cm darkened skin with a large knife.

I greeted him and asked if he could supply me with 45 military-grade rations.

He responded and said he could and told me the set price for each ration was 15 Concs.

I was only set back 650 instead of 675 as you could buy 50 in a bundle at a lower price instead of spending 675 on 45.

I asked the butcher where I could find a blacksmith and he pointed to me the center of the market to the shop with a black front and 2 dragon carvings on the door.

I thanked him and left for the shop.

It was only about a 1km walk to the blacksmith.

I entered the shop and was greeted by a small man of stature maybe 150cms.

He told him if I was looking for bows it was on the right, shortswords to the left, swords/large swords were in the center. Gauntlets, spears, and pikes were to the back end.

I headed to the backend to find a pair of gauntlets to match with my martial art skills.

There were no pairs that could adjust to my hand's size.

I went to the blacksmith to ask and see if he had any other ones.

He asked me if I had never used a pair of gauntlets before because they were adjustable as long as you injected a bit of magic into them.

I went back to the corner to check out all the gauntlets again and came across a pair that weighed 12 pounds each.

I took them up to the blacksmith and asked for the price; he informed me they stood at 1750 concs.

I asked him he accepted Kalibs; he informed me he did.

I asked him how much Kalibs it would cost and he said for the gauntlets there its 15000 Kalibs.

I grabbed the proper amount from my bag and paid him in 1 10000 Kalib coin and one 5000 Kalib coin.

He took the coins and informed me to stay and look around if I wished.

But I declined and left.

I went into an alleyway and went into my store to find my old hunting canteen and it took me a bit over 30 minutes but I found it covered in the dust behind a couple of old boxes.

I sat down in the center of my store with all the proper gear required for the journey.

I grabbed a rucksack off the wall in the shop and prepared and properly fitted all the necessities for the trip.

I popped back out in the alleyway and headed back to the Inn as I spent the better part of the day wandering the streets.

I came back to the Inn; had a steak dinner; went back to my room and slept.

I woke up in the same boring manner with the sun shining on me.

I grabbed the gear out of my store placed it on my bed's end; dressed swung the bag on my back.

I headed downstairs to the lobby to checkout.

I checked out and left the Inn and walked to the Nobility's center ring gate.

It was about 5 klicks to the north.

I walked in the blazing sun finally making it to the gate only to be met with a line of men with the same intent as me; to meet at the Marquis of Kent's courtyard for the gathering of men.

After about an hour of waiting in the line I came to the gate; I showed my ids and quest papers and was told to follow the rest of the crowd to the Marquis courtyard.

I made it to the Marquis mansion and was told to write down my name, age, and next of kin.

I wrote out my name and age but left next kin of blank.

They properly put next of kin there to determine who they didn't have to pay if they died.

I was greeted with a loud screams of "SHOULDER TO SHOULDER".

The people in the courtyard of the Marquis stood shoulder to shoulder and were inspected to see who they had for this conquest.

About 2 hours later they came to a total of 2500 Mercernarys who took up the quest and 5000 of the Marquis private soldiers for the siege and take over of the castle.

We where all assigned a number engraved necklace to remember so you could be identified if you died.

We marched out of the Noblitys inner walls to the outer walls then to outside the city where we tented up camp so we could rest and prepare for the upcoming march to the Baron of Hishe.

The camp was separated into 3 layers; The Marquis's War Cabinet was in the center as the first layer; The second layer consisted of the stronger and well know members of the Marquis's private army, the third layer consisted of the Volunteers and weaker members of the knights.

Campfires rose in sectors of 25 men each; this was able to better coordinator officer's commands to the troops about night watch and when to wake.

I set my tent not far nor to close to the fire.

People in my sector wondered where I got my tent as they never have seen one that developed with "zippers".

I informed them I got them in my home country.

They all wondered where I came from; I informed them I came from the United States Of America.

Many of the people in my sector where adventures and somewhere shocked because they have never heard of a country called America.

Some of the older gentlemen of the sector asked me questions about my homeland.

One asked how good where the harvests there.

I informed them that they were great and bountiful.

Another asked me who the ruler was.

I told them about how we had a President and how every 4 years we would re-elect them or elect another with them only being allowed to serve 2 terms.

Somewhere shocked a country granted the commoners the right to vote for their country's leaders.

I told them about how many years ago we broke away from our King who lived far away and formed our own country through war and how we have been fighting for our country's whole present life span.

It was getting late so I told them we could finish this another time; said my goodbyes and headed off to bed.

I got in my tent and put my rucksack in my store; and prepared my sleeping bag and pillow for the night.

It didn't get too cold that night but I was luckier than most because I had a sleeping bag and a fur blanket to keep me warm.