The Slow Journey Begins

…

Sleeping in, he was awoken by Tokko, who entered his room since they needed to leave soon. Stretching and wiping the crust from his eyes, he stumbled downstairs and let the tiredness drip away.

The others were already busy, talking with various guild members. Since Joseph had spent his time leveling, the had rest stayed back to train their techniques: Tokko with Duranta—since no one else used a spear—Han with Clive, Logan with Brolin, and Che with both Mello and Thalia.

The Guild Master had insisted they all be taught something useful before the competition, and since their performance affected the guild as a whole, the senior members did their best despite the limited time.

Joseph wasn’t bothered. He’d managed to squeeze in another two levels over the forty hours of hunting he’d put in before and after the competition announcement. Besides, nobody except Duranta even touched a bow, and it wasn’t their main skill.

More importantly, Duranta didn’t understand the fighting style Joseph was going for. And, honestly, there wasn’t much to “master” about the bow. It was point and shoot—with magic to handle the aiming.

While he waited for the others, Clive approached with a small pouch of jingling metal.

“Here,” he said. “The Guild Master told me to handle those beast materials you brought back.”

Nodding, as Clive had been the middle man for him selling beast parts, Joseph peeked inside the pouch and found a small pile of copper and bronze coins.

He didn’t know if that was a lot, but he wasn’t about to risk getting pickpocketed. With some leather strips he secured the pouch tightly against his inner thigh, along with a smaller pouch with only a little change in a pocket.

Twenty minutes later, Han and the rest were ready. So were the Guild Master, Clive, Mello, and Thalia. The others had either gone out on missions or, like Duranta, stayed behind to watch over the guild, well so he claims, but in reality, it was to mostly play with Joseph’s tames.

Joseph was surprised to see Clive coming along, since the man seemed like him in one respect: hating extra work. But it soon became clear Clive was extremely respectful to the Guild Master.

Once everyone was assembled, they passed through the same gate they had used on their first day. It spat them out into the rundown town where Gavin waited with horses and a carriage.

The setup was crude: no suspension, rough wood, guaranteed bumps the entire way. With a two-day journey ahead of them—barely stopping for sleep or a quick break—Joseph’s ass was already dreading the trip.

Resources were tight, so the singular carriage became quite full. Inside, the Guild Master sat with Mello, Che, Logan and Tokko, while Thalia handled the reins. Han, Clive and Joseph walked besides the cart to save weight since their stats could handle it.

The first day, they travelled sixteen hours before stopping in pitch black. Camp went up, and Mello cast a protective barrier. After dinner, everyone bedded down—except Joseph, who stayed awake, determined as he set out into the forest.

His scan revealed a dense forest full of creatures. He soon found a shallow cave with a slab of fur blocking the end. A Stonemaw bear. Strong, but manageable.

Joseph scouted a rat-like rabbit, tamed it, and sent it into the cave as bait. It clawed and bit at the Stonemaw, drawing a drip of blood before retreating.

The bear awoke with a roar, the ground trembling as it manipulated earth. Rocks shot up, forming spikes around the poor rabbit. One stomp reduced it to pulp.

Annoyed, the bear charged out, following the glowing, spirit filled sticks that Joseph had set nearby. But the distraction cost it.

From high above, an arrow fell like a lightning bolt, piercing straight through its skull and detonating with only a very slight concussive force.

The Stonemaw collapsed dead with only a small hole through its head, brain destroyed.

‘Perfect.’

Climbing down he summoned its shadow, commanding it to possess its own corpse, as they headed back to camp. While he could have tamed it—the last time he attempted to tame an adult, he nearly passed out.

Since then, he wasn’t keen to risk another failure given the danger that comes with it.

With a while left until sunrise, Joseph got to work. Gathering wood, using the bear as labour, and shaping a ridiculous amount of concrete, the cart soon took shape.

By morning it looked much the same—concrete and wood, blocky and crude—but now with a leaf-covered roof, a floor thickly layered with moss and softer debris, and a harness at the front to strap to the bear.

To make the ride less miserable, he laid thinner planks across the frame so they flexed under weight, stuffed gaps with bundles of reeds to take the worst of the jolts, and padded the floor until it felt more like a springy mattress than stone.

And with a little extra hunting, he laid some hides down for that bit of extra cushioning. It wasn’t real suspension, but it dulled the bumps enough that sitting inside wouldn’t shake him apart, and was just about big enough for both him and Tokko to relax comfortably, plus a little storage.

…
The next day, when everyone woke up and saw Joseph’s upgraded cart, the reactions were varied, laughter, amazement and confusion the main ones.

Afterall, it looked terrible—dirty and uncomfortable—but Joseph smirked. He knew that compared to their stiff carriage, his would, in theory, absorb a lot of the micro-bumps and with a few more days be even beter.

After breakfast with the others, he fell asleep in his cart with Tokko beside him. The bear, strictly ordered to follow the cart ahead, kept them moving smoothly as they set off again. His cart actually working, the ride a lot more stable even if the occasional bump still came through, he could sleep in relative peace.

Seeing them so comfortable, Mello finally cracked. “Umm, hey Tokko… any chance I could join you…?”

Looking nervous she lightly shrugged. “Uhh… I don’t think I can decide that.” Her eyes trailed off to Joseph, indicating he’s the one to ask.

“But if I wake him up, there’s no way he’ll say yes. Come on, Tokko, surely you can convince him… Please! It hurts so much being on that piece of crap, every bump is ten times worse for me, and there’s no way I’m flying the whole trip!” Mello fumed, her wings flapping faster with annoyance.

“Stop it, Mello! The Guild Master paid for that carriage—don’t just call it a piece of crap. Be a big girl and deal with it,” Clive cut in, his tone sharp as he defended the Guild Master’s purchase.

Mello’s face fumed slightly before crossing her arms and smirking. “Come on, Clive, I know you’re the Guild Master’s little dog, but you don’t need to defend everything. A shitty carriage is a shitty carriage. You try being the size of a fairy, see how you feel when you go flying at the slightest bump.”

Clive’s eyes twitched. “Why you little—”

“Clive… please stop.” The Guild Master’s calm voice ended it. “Mello is correct. I only managed to purchase a low-quality carriage. She has every right to complain.

Mello, you also shouldn’t be too pushy. Joseph made that cart with his own two hands. It’s his choice who rides it—don’t try to force Tokko to speak on your behalf.”

Clive grunted and went quiet. Mello fluttered over to Tokko anyway, pleading until Tokko caved, unable to handle her energy.

She tapped Joseph on the shoulder. He was dead asleep; that didn’t budge him. With more encouragement from Mello, Tokko finally shook him awake.

“Yawn. What’s wrong, Tokko? Something break?”

“Uhh, no… Umm… can… Mello join us on the cart?”

“Mello?” Joseph propped himself up, eyes cloudy and half-lidded, and spotted the fairy hovering beside Tokko with pleading eyes.

He yawned again, flopped back, and closed his eyes. “If she pays, sure. Tokko, ask Han what a reasonable price would be and hold the money if she decides to pay.”

Despite getting permission, Mello was peeved about the fee—until she thought about the other carriage. “Well, Tokko, go ask Han… and please try to get me a good deal. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“I’ll try.”

Tokko called to Han. He named a price: three copper per day. Thirteen days of travel made it 39 copper total. Mello winced. Like most of the guild, she didn’t have much coin—potions, equipment, travel, and a dozen other costs bled them dry—but she agreed.

Thalia’s ears twitched. “Mr. young and talented genius, Joseph,” she called sweetly. “May I also pay to join you?”

“Sure. Just don’t be loud. If either of you wake me, I’ll kick you both off.”

“Thanks, Mr. handsome genius. Clive! You’re on the reins.” With a leap she flew up into the air and silently landed on his cart, crossing her legs in comfort as the vibrations were drastically soothed.

Joseph cringed at that, but drifted back to sleep anyway—despite the bickering that erupted when Thalia abandoned the driver’s bench. With Mello and Thalia both migrated, someone had to drive the cart. In the end, Han took the driver’s seat while the two freeloaders-turned-paying-passengers settled down for a smoother ride.

Che couldn’t help calling them out internally. ‘Guild seniors, folding over a few bumps? Pathetic.’

Two days later, she could barely sit without wincing through tears, while Joseph, Tokko, Thalia, and Mello were fine and comfy, for the most part. Especially as it improved each night as he worked on it.

Pride—and a tight grip on her wallet—kept Che from asking to switch. She’d already blown most earnings on new clothes, unlike Joseph and Tokko, who still wore their original, tattered clothes. Han and Logan had upgraded their outfits too.

That night, before sleep, Han bargained with Joseph—Che’s passage in exchange for a bit of information. Joseph was not in the mood but expanded the already-cramped cart. Han and Logan were sore as well, but they could tough it out; Che… not so much.