The Best Laid Plans

Before we could go out on our very first quest there was something important that I needed to take care of first. 

We'd already discovered that my stupid trainers and modern 21st-century clothing weren't appropriate attire for living in the world that I had found myself in. After all, if it weren't for my shoes I wouldn't have slipped on the mud in the woods and then I would have managed to escape the Pendak without being swiped in the side. 

Maybe then I wouldn't have broken my leg, and I wouldn't have found myself indebted to the Adventurer's Guild in the first place. 

Well, I wasn't going to let that happen again. 

"Do you know where I could get some actual clothes that are more suitable for this world?" I asked Kysella as we made our way back up to the main floor of the Guild. 

She glanced at me, looking at my clothes once again, and sighed. 

"Yeah, you definitely need something more protective than what you've got on at the moment," Kysella agreed. "The issue is, adventuring gear costs coin and you don't have any." 

That revelation was like a punch to the gut, even if it did make complete and total sense. 

Most of the people who found themselves becoming an adventurer wouldn't have the same issues as me. They would have grown up in this world, they'd have the right clothes and maybe even a weapon or two as the default. 

In other words, most people in this world would start from a secure base that would have been earned just by growing up here. I didn't have that luxury. 

"So… what should I do, then?" I asked. I felt uncomfortable asking Kysella to buy the things I needed for me, but the implication was clear in my tone. 

"You're just going to have to make do as best as you can," Kysella shrugged, shooting down my implications. "I don't have the coin to outfit you either, fresh sets of armour and weapons can be expensive even for beginners. I can lend you my dagger, but that's about it." 

She stooped down to slip the blade out of the back of her boot, but I didn't even have anywhere to store such a weapon. 

"I'll pass," I grumbled, "I'd only end up stabbing myself, I don't even have anywhere to put the thing." 

She shrugged and put the blade back into the holster that was built into her shoe. 

If we did end up getting into any conflict then I'd just have to rely on the telekinesis spell that I'd already learnt. It really wasn't much, but as long as I continued to use it in innovative ways like how I'd used the ability against Kysella in our training spar then I was sure I'd be able to keep myself alive at the very least. 

"Alright, if I don't get to have any equipment, then what is the plan going forward?" I asked. "Is the place we're going far away? Will we need supplies at all?" 

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you," Kysella sighed.

"Well yeah, of course I do. I've never been camping before, let alone gone on a potentially dangerous quest that could get me killed!" I retorted. 

Kysella was taking things far too lightly for my liking, even if that was likely just because she had done hundreds of quests already and she knew exactly what was needed. 

"I don't know what camping is, but this quest will not be dangerous," Kysella tried to reassure me. "We will travel for the better part of a day along the main road between Shyle and where the magical researcher lives. We shouldn't need to sleep under the stars, I know the researcher and they have space for guests." 

That made me feel a little bit less anxious about the whole thing. If we were sticking to the main path then that probably meant that we'd be safe from things like a Pendak attack. 

If I could go my whole life without seeing another one of those things I still wouldn't be happy because I'd had to see one in the first place. 

"We will still need to get some food, though," Kysella said. "It's always wide to travel with a hearty supply of food and water, just in case we get stopped along the way." 

That made sense to me. The last thing you would want is to get delayed and then have to go without eating for a night, only to continue on your journey by foot again in the morning. 

It wasn't like there were gas stations filled with cheap and tasty snacks along the side of the road in this world, your only hope would be some kind of travelling merchant who could charge you just about anything since they would be your only hope. 

"Before any of that, though, we're going to have to register that we want to do the quest in the main guild hall, that'll stop anyone else from being able to claim the quest while we have it on our active roster," Kysella went on. "So, in answer to your question of 'what are we doing next', we're registering the quest, grabbing some food, and then getting on our way. Satisfied?" 

"Yeah, thanks for such a granular breakdown," I rolled my eyes at her snarkiness. 

Kysella was a good person, that much was clear, or else she wouldn't have decided to continue helping me trying to find a way home. She had an attitude, though, and it was going to take some serious work to not let that rankle me as we travelled. 

I took a breath as we reached the top of the stairs and re-entered the main area of the guild hall. 

This was the beginning of a new chapter of my life. I had to accept that, or things could get real dangerous real fast. 

The life I'd had back on Earth was over, at least for now. 

I was an adventurer. I knew magic. I had quests to do… and if I did them, maybe just maybe, I'd manage to find my way home in the end.