Adventure?

A week passed since Zaban was out as he continued through the forest, still in awe but his stomach is still growling.

"Huh... Let's see if there are pancakes around this forest!" Zaban said, before looking around for pancakes to eat. After hours of stumbling around completely nowhere, he would eventually come across a town.

The small town has plenty of houses, outside shops serving food and goodies, restaurants, taverns, and a lot of people just going through their normal lives. Zaban gasps, placing his hands behind his head and looking around the town. "No way... Where's the military barracks?!" Zaban said, stepping foot onto the town, and looking around, everything feel alien to him. "Oh my... What is that?!" Zaban says, pointing to an unearthly green weird-shaped food.

The street seller lifts an eyebrow at Zaban, "Sir. That's... A pear," the street seller says in a nervous tone. Zaban continues to investigate the unusual fruit, picking it up by the stem and looking over at it, smelling it even.

"Something's wrong here, why does it look like that?" Zaban asked, giving the street seller an unintentionally intimidating glare.

The street seller just stands there completely bewildered and even lends back from the glare. "You're not from around here, aren't you?" the street seller says, a bit shaken from Zaban not even blinking and holding intense eye contact.

"No. I'm from Riversia Village and I want to become an adventurer," he says before taking his attention back to the pear, poking it lightly. "Why is it green... Is a pear just a new name for a sour apple?" he asked the street seller, tossing it in the air and catching it.

"No. It is not an apple sir. It is a unique fruit."

"It's own fruit?... Woah!" Zaban says, opening his mouth to try to take a bite.

"STOP?" the street seller says, pausing Zaban. "You... Have to pay for it, sir. It's only free for small children," he says, nervously trying to take the pear away from him but Zaban just shrugged and tosses it to him as the street seller struggles to try not to make it fall to the ground.

"Usually it's free to get food for soldiers in my village..." Zaban says, "So... How do I pay for it? 10,000 pushups?"

The street seller scratches his head, giving a weirded-out expression to Zaban.

"10 pushups?"

"I know what I said. 10,000 for the pears."

The street seller snickers, shaking his head. "Yeah right, if you can do even HALF of that. I'll give you a pear, maybe the last two pears," he laughs out before Zaban immediately gets down to the floor and easily does 20,000 pushups in under 5 minutes as the street seller has his jaw opened down reaching down to the table.

"I overdid it. Did double, does that mean I can get 3 pears? Wait..." Zaban says, standing up and counting with his fingers. "Carry the two... Does that mean I get 2 pears since I did double?" Zaban corrects himself.

The street seller fixes his jaw back in place and just blinks profusely. "You did 20,000 push-ups... Aren't your shoulders burning?!" the street seller asks as Zaban looks at his shoulders and starts to stretch them.

"Nah, I think they're fine," he responded, taking the two pears and eating one. "Woah..." Zaban said, taking a bite to the other pear, Zuban's eyes sparkle. "Woah!" he says, before going back and forth taking a bite at both pears while the street seller gives Zaban a dumbfounded look, blinking slowly.

"Huh... You're... Quite special, you said you were from Rain-Sia Village?"

"Riversia Village. Heavily militarized village, no one can come in and no one can come out. I used to be a soldier."

"Riversia, right. Well, how did you come out?"

"...Uhh," Zaban starts to look to the side and sweat, Zaban beginning to stutter, "I-I asked very politely and they said yes!" Zaban then awkwardly laughs and has a nervous smile on his face.

"Jeez... Whatever training they're doing to their men, we need some of that and we don't have to worry about evil mages, dragons, ghouls, and all those other weird creatures."

Zaban stops eating his pear and looks around the street seller, "Dragons? Where at?" Zaban said as the street seller paused and laugh. "Boy, I was just- Nevermind..." The street seller said with a snort, Zaban shrugged and goes back to eating his pear. "So... Why did you decide to come all the way here in Haverstale Town?" the street seller said.

"I want to be an adventurer. Fight dragons and all that fun stuff I dreamed about," Zaban said. The street seller gives Zaban a warm smile, shaking his head.

"An adventurer... A dangerous career seems fun and exciting, wanted to do it when I was young but I'm not brave or young enough anymore to do all that. I'm comfortable with where I'm at."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why did want to do it and not go do it?"

"Because I've passed my prime."

"So?"

The street seller just gives Zaban a dazed look. "So what?"

"So? Adventure is an adventure, you wanted to do it but decided not to because you were scared? Why do that to yourself? You set up a goal and didn't go through, kinda lame if you ask me."

The street seller just remains silent, surprised by his words. "Lame to you but I value my life over a mindless journey. Sides, I found a new goal I love, selling food."

"If you say so. We only have one life, so why not live it to the fullest? I guess Riversia is the same way... Guess it's not so different after all," Zaban says, finishing his pear and putting it back on the table.

"Thank you for your weird-shaped apples, sir," Zahan says before walking off.

"They're pears... PEARS! Ugh... And he ate the last two!" he yells out, grumbling to himself about how Zaban just leaves his eaten pears on the table without throwing them away. As he does, two huge built men approach the street seller with a small lanky guy with a monocle on his right eye in the middle.

"Oh? More customers? No, you can't do push-ups, he was an exception," the street seller says as he turns around. "You have to pay-..." the street seller says but pauses as soon as he sees them.

The other shops start to run and hide away from the three as the street seller and the three men is the only ones outside in the town.

"...Mol Stamiv?"

"Old man, might I ask, where are my pears? I must hurry, I am running late."

"L-late for what?"

"Abusing my power of being the nephew of the infamous Mafia Boss, Fandous Stamiv!" Mol Stamiv said while laughing manically.

The street seller just scratches the back of his head. "Do you... Say that every time someone asks you that?" the street seller says, irritating Mol Stamiv.

"Men," Mol says, as one of the large henchmen grins and picks up the street seller by his collar, causing the old man to panic.

"Now listen, I have no time for your attitude. Just give me the pear and will be out your way, ok?" Mol says, with a smile on his face while going through his pouch to get out gold pieces.

The street seller starts to sweat and shake nervously. "I'm sorry to tell you... But... There's no more..."

Mol stops what he is doing and looks at the street seller. "No more?" he says, "What do you mean there's no more?"

"No more p-pears... I got apples..."

"Apples? Fucking apples?" he says stepping up to the street seller, "You think I want to eat a poor fruit like an apple?! I asked for a pear!"

"We got no more! They were eaten!"

Mol Stamiv starts to pop a vein before snapping his fingers as the large henchman pins the street seller into the wall, lifting him off the ground.

"Who?"

"I-I don't know his name?"

"What did he look like?! How tall?! Skin color?! WHO ATE MY PEARS!"

"I did," Zaban said, standing in the middle of the street and seeing the whole thing play out.

Mol Stamiv gazes at Zaban and snickers, "And you are?"

"Zaban Sodsa from Riversia Village. I ate the pears, your business is with me. Let the old man go, he has nothing to do with this," Zaban said.

Mol Stamiv stares at his henchmen and all three begin to laugh while Zaban rubs the back of his head.

"River-what? Ha! What the hell is that?! Whatever! Well, I'll make an example out of you then!" Mol says, snapping his fingers. As the henchmen drop the street seller and both start to approach Zaban.

"Let this be a lesson to never eat my pears... Guards!"

One of the henchmen would raise his fist, "Sorry little man," he says before attempting to ram his fist to Zaban's face but Zaban easily slips past the punch then immediately uppercuts him clean under the jaw, having the henchmen's body get stiff and knocking him out cold instantly.

Mol Stamiv, the other henchmen, and the street seller all watch in shock after seeing Zaban taking down a larger opponent in just one hit.

"Are we done here? I can tell they weren't probably trained to throw a punch, kinda just extended his arm back and held it there too long... Sorta easy to counter..." Zaban said as Mol Stamiv starts to clench his teeth.

"Well! Go in there and fight him! You heard him, he gave him time to dodge! Make sure you don't do the same!" Mol says as the henchmen nod and run in, immediately going for a punch to his gut but Zaban jumps over his fist. The henchman tries to swat Zaban off his arm but Zaban would flip off his arm and lands on his feet then runs straight at him to slam his knee directly at the side of his waist, hitting the liver, instantly getting the henchman to the ground, groaning in pain before Zaban just punched him one good time in the jaw to knock him out.

Mol stands there completely bewildered, stepping back as Zaban stands and turns to glance at Mol. "Aren't you next?" he says as Mol clenches his fist and shakes his head.

"You... What are you?!" Mol said, fear being heard through his words.

"I am Zaban Sodsa. From Riversia Village and ranked #4 in the military. I want to be an adventurer, that means even protecting people who are too weak to defend themselves because that's what an adventurer does, right?" Zaban asks as the street seller just nods slowly, still in utter shock.

"Zaban Sodsa... Lightskin... Weird tattoo on your arm... Golden-colored eyes... About 5 feet and 9-ish inches... Black hair... I'll remember you! I will make sure my uncle will deal with you and you'll learn to never embarrass me again! This isn't the last you've seen me, Mol Stamiv! I will get my pear!" he says before immediately running away.

The street seller sees him run away as Zaban picks up both guards and puts them in front of them. "Put them in the hospital, I made sure to hold back so they wouldn't die. Nothing got injured, just got put to sleep," he orders the street seller as he nods.

"Also, are you ok? Is there a place I can stay, sir?" Zaban asked politely to the street seller. The street seller just nods and points to a building, not even looking at it, just looking at the unconscious henchmen. "I'm... Ok, I think and... A motel... The first night is free..." he says, still shocked.

"Cool. Thank you!" Zaban says while walking off.

"Wait! Zuban right?!"

"Mhm! Zuban Sodsa from Riversia Village! And I am an adventurer!"

"You're... An adventurer? What... What race are you? Are you even human? What class are you to?"

Zaban thinks to himself. "Not really a barbarian... Think I'm human... Uhh... What's a class actually ," Zaban says, putting a finger under his chin before shrugging and turning back to the motel. As Zaban walked towards it, the street seller just stares and smiles and looks down at the henchmen.

"Well, that's what you get for trying to hurt your elders!" he says.