Chapter 43 - The Start Of A Journey (1)

"Where are you kids heading?" asked one of the guards as Arya and Teressa approached the town gates. "We're going out to collect some wild berries, our mother sent us." lied Arya as if it was second nature to him. "Hurry on and come back quickly, it isn't safe outside. Your mother shouldn't even be sending someone as young as you outside the town gates." said the guard as he opened the gates for the two.

"Wow, you're really good at lying." said Teressa as she looked back at the city gate to see if the guards had somehow figured out their bluff and decided to go after them. "That's going to be one of our most essential weapons if we want to survive out here." said Arya as he continued walking east of the town.

Immediately outside the town of Calburg was a meadow filled with different types of flowers that reminded Arya of the spring time back on Earth. The grass surrounding the city was about ankle length but those further out towards the distance were as high as Arya's shoulder.

There was a wide path that cut through the meadow along which was a line of horse-drawn carriages and wagons. It seemed many merchants were waiting to get into the town however they seemed to be hauled up due to paperwork. The guards refused to let any merchants enter before they produced identity documents and proof of registration with the merchant association.

As Arya passed by some of the wagons his interest was piqued by the items he got a glimpse of. He saw different types of swords and armor made of materials he had never seen before and clothing so fine they were fit to be worn by a royal family.

It didn't stop there, Arya's stomach began to grumble as he smelled the different exotic spices coming from the carriages, and the strong smell of alcohol that exuded from some of the wagons. Arya would sometimes pass by an open carriage with groups of merchants either reading something or talking to each other about things he couldn't quite understand.

The merchants dressed in an odd manner that reminded Arya of the merchants from an isekai anime he had watched before. "Must be what's fashionable in this world." thought Arya as a strong scent made him step back a little, the perfumes the merchants wore, although good-smelling were too strong for him.

The more Arya saw the more interested he became, it got to the point that he started running so he could see what was in the next carriage or wagon as soon as possible, however as he passed by an old brown wagon his interest was replaced by shock.

Arya fell to the ground as he was unable to properly comprehend what was going on. As he looked up at the wagon he saw a group of poorly dressed, malnourished people covered in dirt and locked inside cages barely big enough for them to be able to stretch their arms.

"You're pretty fast for a scrawny shorty. Hmm? Why did you stop?" asked Teressa as she caught up to Arya, she paused and looked up, realizing what was going on. She kind of felt pity for Arya as he was younger than her and presumable had never seen any of the horrors of the world before last night. "Oh you're pretty young so you don't know about this do you." said Teressa with a cold voice as her eyes went dark.

"Kingdoms sometimes fight wars, and the losers usually lose their right to life, they become less than living. I heard that it's abolished in some regions but for most of the kingdom the slave trade is common practice." said Teressa as she stared at the slaves and her eyes became glazed.

"Are you kids lost? Where's your mother?" asked a fat merchant with a gold tooth as he looked down at the kids from atop of his horse. "We were just heading to her right now. My little brother was just sight seeing." said Teressa as she looked away and pulled Arya's arm for him to stand up.

"Well better get going, there might be some really bad people lurking around here." said the merchant with wide smile that showed a row of pearly white teeth and a gold tooth at the top left canine. The merchant gave both Arya and Teressa a creepy vibe but they ignored it and thanked the merchant before scurrying off.

The two quickly walked past the fat merchant, but as they past by more wagons they realized that most of the other wagons were filled with slaves as well. Arya didn't feel like walking along the line anymore. As he was about to walk off the path into the grass he saw a small boy about the same size as him with fluffy dog ears and a tail in one of the carriages. "What's that?" asked Arya pointing at the boy in the carriage that seemed to be in a trance.

"I've never seen someone like that before. Maybe it's a beast person, though I'm not sure." said Teressa answering Arya's question. "It might've been a good idea to bring her along. For someone so young she seems well informed." thought Arya to himself as he walked off the path into the fields.

The two didn't get far before both hunger and exhaustion caught up to them. "I'm hungry." complained Teressa as she sat under a nearby tree. "You're always hungry." snarled Arya, he usually didn't care to eat, but after using the ice spell earlier he needed something to replenish his strength.

As Teressa continued complaining about being hungry, Arya began looking around hoping to find something to munch on. The area they were in was filled with bright green trees, most of them were about 7m tall and 2m broad, big enough for someone to sleep on if the need ever arose.

In the distance were a few bright red berries hanging of a tall tree which made Arya's stomach grumble even loader. "If you make a platform with ice I'm sure you can reach them, better yet just climb the tree brother." said a voice in Arya's head. "If you cast one more spell that will be the end of you. And what's this about climbing, you can barely stand plus those berries are probably poisonous anyways. We shouldn't have left the orphanage, this decision was poorly thought out. I bet that we all perish before the days end." said another voice in Arya's head.

The voices in Arya's head were usually a hindrance, thinning the line between reality and whatever was going on in Arya's mind. He first heard the voices when he arrived at the orphanage, at first he thought the other kids were playing pranks on him but after a while he realized they were coming from his head.

After two years with them he grew accustomed to them, so much so that he sometimes took their advice. Arya's mind was far more developed than his brain so he quickly came to the conclusion that it must've been some sort of coping mechanism his brain created subconsciously.

His idea was that one voice was a manifestation of his want to be a stronger person, while the other was a manifestation of his new pessimistic view to life, although at times they felt too real to be mere voices.. But Arya theorized that to a crazy person the voices and hallucinations must seem real as well.