Amongst All Other Worlds, Why Did It Choose Such A Clichéd Setting?

Once inside, I had a quick detour to make first before reaching the adventurer’s guild.

Drogan.

He was probably still helping at his dad’s shop “Wicks Smithing & Armor”. They were a decently popular provider in the city for all adventurers alike. Drogan’s dad produced some high-quality plate mail at a reasonable price. His motto was “All adventurers should have access to dependable, affordable equipment!”. With this philosophy, he was gradually able to grow the shop into what it was now. Although I could tell he was a bit disappointed in Drogan not wanting to continue the family business, he still was supportive in Drogan’s decision to form an adventuring party with me!

Obviously, I promised to spread the word about how our equipment came from his shop once we were famous as a type of courtesy, but he didn’t seem to care too much for my “bragging and arrogant attitude”, whatever that meant. I was just trying to do you a favour, you know?

Anyways, it wasn’t too difficult to reach their store. After traveling down the main cobblestone city street and taking a left at the first major water fountain, nestled off to the side beside some food kart vendors and eateries, was their store, “Wicks Smithing & Armor”. The wooden sign hung above the door, rustling, and squeaking as a gentle breeze pushed it back and forth.

Not wanting to waste a moment longer, I approached the old oak doors and pushed them open with all my might! Then, gathering my voice, I shouted into store.

“Drogan! Are you ready??”

Just like that, all the chatter and sparsely spread-out customers stopped to stare at me, and while I was expecting Drogan to be at the counter, I was instead greeted by a somewhat glaring eye from a Mr. Wicks in his place. Not unusual, as he was always like this when I was around.

“Oi, Geez Jake, don’t you know that’s no way to enter a store? You’re disturbing my customers. Quiet down and head to the back. Drogan’s there making some final adjustments to a project he’s working on.”

“Thanks Mr. Wicks!”

I made my way inside and towards the back of the shop. Along the way, I made sure to examine some of the armor and weapons on display. While often rude and blunt, Mr. Wicks was a true master of his craft. The shelves were lined with many kinds of armor, ranging all the way from leather helmets, to reinforced steel plate bodies. On the inside of each piece, in simple embroidery, were the initials “T.W.” followed by the shop’s anvil shaped stamp. Most of my equipment, such as my leather knee pads, gloves, and chest piece had come from Mr. Wicks’s store. Granted they were second hand items to keep the cost down, but the quality was still great. I even as a bonus learned how to make simple repairs and maintain the equipment under Mr. Wick’s guidance.

Although the teaching was probably meant more for Drogan who I happened to be with at the time, it still didn’t change the fact I had helped them out every now and then when I had the time in between my swordsmanship and magic training. Approaching the back of the store and ignoring some of the rude glares from several customers along my way there, I opened the second door to the workshop area.

As expected, sitting at one of the benches was my short, bulky friend, Drogan. I could hear the sounds of a hammer hitting metal, and deep breaths in-between each strike. I called out to him, but there was no response. I knew he could get very absorbed in his work when he found what he called a “rhythm”, but seriously, your friend is here and wants to get started on his adventure damn it!

Trying to get his attention, I walked around in front to where he was working. I waved me hands, jumped around, and even made silly faces on the other side of the work bench. Despite all this, my presence continued to go unnoticed by the intently fixated craftsman. Deciding enough was enough, I had made up my mind on how to get Drogan’s attention. Seizing the opportunity for a small prank, I crept up behind him and shouted into his ear with the force of a hundred cannons firing their payload into his unsuspecting ear cannels.

“DROGAN!!!!”

Success! What followed was something not even I could have imagined. Drogan, startled by the sudden noise near his ear, leapt out of his stool, several feet into the air, tossing the hammer that was once firmly held in his hand. The hammer, seemingly shocked at its new found freedom and desire to continue smashing things, took the initiative and collided with such force into the wooden beam overhead; it had become a part of the buildings structure itself! A beautiful harmony of metal and wooden splinters. Likewise, Drogan also made an acquaintance with the hard stone flooring, although in less spectacular fashion, and more anticlimactic with a loud “Thud”. Seemingly annoyed at my antics, he gave me a rather annoyed reply.

“Jake, what the hell man! Couldn’t you see I was busy? Also, why did you have to yell in my ear so loud? You know I scare easy man.”

“Haha, sorry Drogan, but I couldn’t resist the perfect opportunity to give you a scare like that! You were so focused in your work; you didn’t even notice my earlier attempts to get your attention!”

“That’s because I was trying to put the finishing touches on my armor you dumbass. How can I be the front line if I don’t have sturdy armor to match my twin shields, Iron and Wall!”

“Geez man, did you seriously name your shields? And what was that? Iron and Wall? What stupid names! You should totally name them “Babe” and “Smasher”. You know, something we’ll be doing once we become famous adventurers!”

Yep, that’s right, one of our “ulterior motives” for becoming famous adventurers was gaining the ultimate ability to score all the hot, beautiful woman wherever we went! I could already picture the sight of women throwing themselves before me, Jake, the best hero in all of Solara! I would walk down the main city highway to babes swooning over me at just the mere sight of my presence! Every tavern I visited would be filled with busty ladies, fighting over the privilege to be hanging off my arms! Ahh, what a wonderful future!

What? A guys gotta have dreams, right? I’m not ashamed about what I want! I intend to utilize every benefit of being a famous adventurer of the kingdom! Plus, if I had to say, who wouldn’t want a piece of “Jake Valkin”?

“Jake, you’re an idiot. I named them that because these shields will be protecting me. They deserve fitting names for their role, and not some immature nonsense!”

“Fine, whatever Drogan, see if I help you with the ladies once we’re famous anymore. Anyways, do you have everything ready to go? We’re suppose to be at the adventurer’s guild shortly.”

Ignoring my important comments on wingmanship, Drogan slowly regained his balance and stood up, grabbing the armor from the workbench and burlap sack nearby.

“Ya, I got everything all here. Few days rations, camp supplies, and my equipment!”

I hated to admit it, but I was rather jealous of my friend. Drogan had in his possession a magic item called a “Spatial Storage Bag”. These handy things could store any item inside a seemingly bottomless pit, while reducing the overall weight burden for the holder. While not truly bottomless, the phrase “It’s bigger on the inside” summarized them well. Most of these bags had a storage space roughly equivalent to that of a small shed, perfect for the average adventurer to store their bulky camping supplies and gear. His burlap sack was one of such items.

However, with great convenience, came great cost. These bags weren’t cheap by any means and could cost upwards of 20 silver Solara coins. Considering most farmers and unskilled labour earned a measly 1 bronze Solara coin a day, and with 10 bronze Solara equaling 1 silver Solara, one could see how saving for their own Spatial Storage Bag became a goal in and of itself. Once you started factoring in daily living expenses, most novice adventurers quickly gave up hopes on ever acquiring one and instead choose to carry their own equipment instead. In fact, one could say owning one of these magic bags was considered the first milestone for many new adventurers starting their journey!

Drogan, likewise, had managed to achieve this feat purely from his own skill and effort! Under the guidance of his father, he managed to produce several high-quality items that sold in the shop, so Mr. Wicks was more than glad to share some of the profit with him. Over the course of 2 years, Drogan managed to ammas 15 silver Solara and purchased the bag from the local general goods store.

Regardless, having one of these in our party was a major bonus and would make our initial quests that much easier!

I asked Drogan if I could store my bags with him. After agreeing, he opened the top of the sack to reveal a swirling, empty void of darkness. Without worry, I shoved my own backpack filled with camping supplies and rations into the endless sea of blackness and watched it disappear with a satisfying “swoosh” sound. If we needed them later, all we had to do was picture the items we wanted from the bag when we reached in, and pull them out.

“Thanks Drogan, now let’s get going! Kael and Lyra are probably already waiting for us at the guild.”

Giving my friend a soft punch on the shoulder, we both made our way out the back entrance of the workshop and onto the main city streets again. Our next stop, the adventurer’s guild!