Heading to Midarna City

 "I assume you will be heading to Midarna City, then?" Mr. Grul asked.

 "Yes, it sound perfect for us," 'not to mention I might be able to learn alchemy as well,' was what he not said out loud.

 "Good, in that case, I knew a merchant that will head there soon," Mr. Grul told them.

 "Do we need to pay them?" Ana asked.

 "Normally yes, but if we say we are Bronze-Rank Adventurers, I assume he will let use travel with him for free. As long as we agree to protect him from any threats along the way," Ian said.

 "Yes indeed. He will definitely want a protection of 5 Bronze Rank Adventurers, especially one that the weakest member is at the middle of the Bronze Rank itself," Mr. Grul confirmed it.

 "In that case, should I go met the merchant with you?" Ian asked the older man.

 "Sure, he might believe you if you showcase your skills as well," Mr. Grul agreed.

 "In that case, I should go as well," Kell said, "After all, I am the best melee combatant we have," the others nodded.

-x-

 Meeting with the merchant went surprisingly smoothly. While the man himself sceptical due to how young they are, he changed his mind when he heard they are the one responsible to make exterminating the goblins commission suffer less casualty than should be possible.

 A showcase of Kell's true strengths which he beat up one of the strongest guard without trying sealed the deal. Though the merchant did told them he will not be the one to provide them with food and as such.

 It is something Ian have predicted. After all, they did not pay the man to obtain the right to use the man's caravans to head to Midarna City.

-x-

 "Do you think this will be enough?" Lisa asked Fiona, who is in charge of the provisions. Kell had asked Ian for suggestion and he had suggested they split up, with three people in charge of buying (and haggling) for food item.

 As for the other two people, they will try to learn any new information regarding Midarna City, as well as buying equipment for long distance travels, from simple things like a hatchet, to more expensive items like sleeping bags for all of them.

 "The journey will take us two week if there is nothing blocking our path. If that happen, then it could extend to possible a month, at worst," Fiona told the other girls.

 "So, we want a lot of food item that will last a month or so. There should be some forests and plains, so we can hunt games. There should also be river to resupply our water and catch some fish. But having extra in case of emergencies is also necessary,"

 Fiona then threw the food item Lisa gave her, a small sack of onions and threw it at the large pile, which is on Kell's arms.

 He could only sigh, "At least I get some exercise out of this," he comforted himself.

-x-

 "So, have you heard about what happened in Midarna City. Well..." as another person told the tale of what happened in Midarna City, Ana sighed in boredom.

 "Why are we here again?" she asked Ian.

 "We are here to gain any information regarding Midarna City current situation. Maybe it is fine. Maybe there is uprising. I prefer if everything is normal, then we will not get involve with whatever trouble happened there," Ian explained before continue to listen to the man's tale.

 "Do you think he exaggerating?" Ana asked after hearing how the man's told tale of how he met with a dragon.

 "Definitely, but there should be some sliver of truth. Considering we only hear three people telling stories about Midarna City, I don't mind if I have to hear fairy tales," he replied before listening once more.

 Ana sighed. She is going to stuck here for a long time, isn't she?

-x-

 "So, how much food did you procure?" Ian asked.

 "We should have enough potatoes, radishes and carrots to last us an entire month. There are also some jerkies, enough for 2 weeks, along with the seasoning required," Fiona reported.

 "And how about you, Ian? Learn anything about Midarna City?" Kell asked.

 "Aside from the things we learned from Mr. Grul, plus the books from the library, then there is nothing important, which I think is a good thing. At least it means Midarna City is not involve with anything dangerous," Ian answered.

 "Looks like our trip should be sage. But don't put your guard down. There might be bandits or monsters blocking our way. So, make sure our weapons and the replacement weapons are ready for tomorrow," Kell ordered.

-x-

 The 2 weeks travel turned out to be uneventful, with the exception of some bandits attacks. In fact, the regular mercenaries that the merchant hire is more than enough to handle the rabble, not to mention them, who all are Bronze-Rank adventurers.

-x-

 "Give all of your money and we will spa-"

 "Argh!"

 "Run away!"

 "Please, I will give all of my money, just let me go!"

 "Does all bandit attacks this repetitive?" Kell asked. The first few times, it is a novel thing, though it is hard as none of them ever killed another person before.

 However, as the two weeks went by, they are more or less, used to it. It them shift from being troublesome to just annoying. 

 In fact, it get so boring that Ian and Kell did a contest of who can knock out the most bandits without killing them. 

 Ian win to no surprise, as his magic allowed him to defeat them easily. Kell still grumbled about magic being cheating.

 "I hope there is something that will spice up this trip," Kell prayed. Less then 10 seconds later, a group of orcs blocked their path.

 "Satisfied?" Ian asked in a deadpan voice.

 "Very," they all watched as Kell proceeded to decimate the entire orcs' tribe in 5 minutes.

-x-

 "We are here!" the merchant yelled woke up both Ian and Fiona, who were tired from night watch yesterday.

 The two crawled out of the wagon, as their half-lid eyes soon opened up to a spectacular view.

 "Welcome, to Midarna City,"