Chapter 10 - Bad Lands

"You know, Phegolan sounds kinda familiar."

Peter, Maya and the Elf trudged on through the Phegolan lands, which currently consisted of plain hills and valleys with a few trees scattered around. The bright summer sky beat down on them; the cloaks became necessary to shield them, even if wearing them increased the heat a bit.

"Similar? In what way?" Maya asked.

Just before he opened his mouth, he realized that his companions knew nothing about his otherworldly teleportation. If they learned, they'd ask how he ended up in Holdenville instead of Jauston, and that would most likely lead to the realization that a god outside the main pantheon brought him in. The Elf wouldn't care - in fact, she'd probably accept that as logical, given that blood mages as a whole were wiped out - but Maya? She'd probably freak out. He didn't know what kind of thoughts she had on the matter, but if the historical reaction to anything Fermigan related was anything to go by, she'd probably react pretty terribly.

So in the end, he decided on a quick "Nevermind."

The Elf merely grunted, while Maya looked at him in curiosity for twenty more seconds.

Things seemed normal for a couple of days, except that now the deer were replaced by wild pigs. But as they continued, a concern of Maya's came up: she was running out of bullets and black powder, both of which were needed for continual operation of her rifle. Since the Elf adamantly refused to be spotted in any town, a compromise was made: the Elf would stay in a discreet location, while Maya and Peter went into town for supplies. It did mean that progress would slow down tremendously, since they'd have to take detours around town, but they had no choice. After all, the Elf was the leader, the one who knew the way to the Tarlands, and without her, who knew if they could go all the way back home?

As they entered town, the two were shocked at how much more technologically advanced the town was compared to Holdenville. The building materials were relatively the same, but the tech used and sold in every building made it seem like they stepped from the Middle Ages straight into the Victorian Era. Steam powered toys and trinkets lined the windows, as well as canned food and drinks. It seemed that no stalls existed in this town; all the supplies that could be bought existed all in the buildings.

They continued marveling at the wonders of the town until Maya spotted a shop: the Courier's Weapon Shoppe. Spotting a variety of cartridges and bullets in the window, she tapped on Peter's shoulder to get his attention.

"This is the shop. I'm going in."

With nothing else to do, he nodded and went inside with her. It was exactly as he expected; guns lined the walls, ranging from single-shot rifles to revolvers to, presumably, bolt-actions that could hold multiple rounds in their magazines. He couldn't tell which one was which, but it didn't matter, because he couldn't afford any of it. On the bottom lay glass door cabinets, which held a variety of black powder and bullets.

The cashier behind the counter waved at them. "Welcome, strangers! How can I help you?"

Maya froze up a bit, before managing to utter "I'm looking for bullets and powder."

"Well then, you've come to the right place. What's the gun you have on your back?"

Timidly, she approached the cashier and unslung her gun. The cashier gave it a good stare, and gestured for her to give it to him. She did, and as he inspected the gun, a look of curiosity spread across his face.

"I'll be honest, I haven't seen flintlocks in these places for quite a while! You come from Hylokans?"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "How'd you guess that?"

"Hylokans is one of the two kingdoms that hasn't made the transition to black powder cartridges yet. They've been able to get away with it since they rely on magic so damn much, but eventually they're gonna have to start moving quick. There's only so much a wizard casting fireball can do against tons of riflemen, you know what I mean?"

The most he could do was nod.

"To get back to the point, this looks like a standard Hylokans flintlock. You'll be wanting .70 for those. As a salesman, I'd be hard-pressed to try and not sell you a different rifle, but it looks like you've been hunting with this for a long time. Am I right, young lady?"

Maya nodded.

"If so, it may be best to keep ya guns the way it is. No point getting a better gun if you can't use it as well, you know? Just a word of advice: Phegolan's a town with quite the number of bandits. It might benefit you to have a secondary on you, just in case you can't reload in time."

Peter stayed quiet, letting Maya answer. She looked in her purse, counting up all the coins she had on her. Finally, she looked up at the cashier. "What would you recommend?"

"Well, judging from your purse, you don't have a lot on you. In that case, I'd recommend a cheaper revolver, such as this one." He fetched a box from under the counter and placed it on top. He opened it, revealing a percussion cap revolver, a spare cylinder, and a manual. "This is one of the cheaper revolvers we have in shop. Forty-four caliber, enough to catch anything you shoot it at. It comes with a spare cylinder, so you can switch it out if trouble really gets bad. And, to help facilitate that, it's got a much easier time removing said cylinder. You can read it all in the manual. How about giving it a whirl?"

He handed the revolver over to her. She took it gingerly, inspecting all the various parts of it, before aiming it at the wall, testing how the handle fit in her grip.

"How about you try cocking the hammer?" He suggested.

Using her other hand, she cocked the hammer, still aiming down the sight. When she was satisfied, she handed it back to the cashier, who decocked it for her.

"I would recommend learning how to cock it with one hand - it just makes things faster - but you'll learn in time. If you're interested in it, this piece is selling for about five hundred silver."

Her eyes widened at the sound of the price, but Peter patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll chip in for you."

"You sure?" She asked. 

He nodded, patting his coin bag. "I've got quite the savings on me."

She looked back at the revolver, the nodded. "I'll take it."

"Wonderful news! But since you don't seem to have much of a sack on you, how about a holster too? Gotta have a handy way of carrying your new revolver around, don't you? It's a shoulder one, so it should hide your gun quite nicely. It's thirty silver, and if you buy it, I'll throw in your ammunition for free."

In the end, the Courier's Weapon Shoppe got the better of them, and he ended up paying for most of it. Despite this, he didn't feel bad about it one bit.

. . .

"Seriously? A new gun?" The Elf stared at him as Maya studied her new revolver through her manual.

"Why? Do they track purchases in Phegolan?"

"It's not that. I'm just surprised you spent so much. Could've used that spare change for an emergency." She simply shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well. There's worse ways to spend money than a revolver, especially in these parts. That guy wasn't lying when he said there's quite a lot of bandits here."

"How so?"

"Well, in a country like Phegolan, any money is good money. And some folks will do whatever it takes to save and make money." She put on her knapsack again. "Let's keep going. We don't want to get caught up in a fight before she learns how to use her gun."

He nodded, and the trio continued on their journey, not only refilled on ammunition, but their firepower upgraded too.