Before Sam knew it the next three days had flown by, and he was packed and ready to go to the capital. That was if the transport the letter mentioned turned up tomorrow morning, which he thought was quite possible that it didn’t as this was all some elaborate prank to fool him considering how out of nowhere and absurd the whole thing was. He had packed a few things in his backpack, but there wasn’t really much space in it. That was when his father had dug out his old bag he took with him during the war. It was a brown leather bag about the length of his torso with a handle as well as a large strap that went across the shoulder. Sam was able to pack a lot more clothes as well as a few utensils into the bag. He had also packed his knives and multi-tool into the bag as well. He had to leave his bow and arrow behind in the village as he couldn’t find a good way to carry them with him and didn’t want to have to lug them around on his back for four weeks straight. He could wear his sword on his belt while he was walking around, and he could sit it next to him in the cart when it arrived. The alternative was to unsling the bow but having to do it every time would be a pain he didn’t need. Sam had decided that he would buy himself another bow when he got to the capital with the allowance given to him as part of the scholarship. This was a lot of money considering the bow he had gotten from James would have cost around 3 small silver coins new so he should be able to get a really nice one after just a couple of weeks.

  Sam didn’t get any chance to practice any of his skills over the past three days as he had been too busy making the necessary preparations to leave the village. His mother and father both fussed over him making sure he had everything he could ever need as well as spending as much time as they could with him. He understood why they were so worried about him as the capital was a long way away and he likely wouldn’t see them again until the mid-year break, assuming he got one of those when at the Royal Academy. The information he was sent along with the letter didn’t exactly say when breaks throughout the school year were. Although he supposed he might not see them until end of the year considering the round trip was about 6 weeks. He was sad to know he might not see his family for a while after tomorrow morning, however, the excitement of not only the Royal Academy itself but the journey to get there vastly outweighs the somber emotions of having to leave his family.

  Sam thought back to what his father had told him about how to get to the Royal Capital within 3 weeks. He said that it would likely take the journey up the river from Rimour to Pexicon before taking a ship up to one of the other dutchies before a final cart ride through to the capital. He had been on a river boat before during his time in the junior academy in Rimour but that was only big enough to fit 8 people cramped together and was mainly used for fishing in the river. The boat he would get on in Pexicon was apparently a lot larger according to his father. This was one of the main reasons he was so excited for the journey. There was so much to see and learn even before he got to the academy where he would see and learn so much more than he ever could have imagined himself being able to learn. With the constant excitement gleaming in his eyes, anyone could tell that he was ready for the adventure ahead.

  Sam and his family were sitting around the dinner table eating a final dinner together for what could be nearly a year. His mother had prepared even more food than he had had on his birthday, which was already more than they could eat in one sitting. The entire table was heaped with enough food to feed all four of them for a whole week. They ate mostly in silence as they stuffed their mouths full of food. It wasn’t until after they had eaten that his mother spoke “Sam, please make sure you take care of yourself okay. It’s a long journey to the capital and very dangerous. There are bandits on the roads and pirates in the sea. You must stay aware of your surrounding at all times” she said to him. “I will mum, I promise” Sam replied to her. “I also want you to make sure you send a letter once a week once you arrive in the capital. I want to know everything you’re up to”. “I will try my best but can’t guarantee every week. I will at least do one a month” Sam offered. “I suppose once a week might be a bit difficult if you’re busy with schoolwork” his mother said as she accepted the compromise.

  Sam went to bed early that night wanting to be sure he was fully rested for the beginning of the long trip in the morning. He spent more than an hour going through his bags and confirming he had everything he needed, double and triple checking each of the bags. He also made sure his letter, signed parental consent form and the rules and procedures booklet were properly stored away in the bags. He had gone over the rules and procedures a couple of times in the last few days but was going to do most of his memorizing when travelling as he was sure he would have free time to do so. It wasn’t long after his final back check before he had gotten changed and tucked himself into his bed for the last time for a while. Sam struggled to fall asleep due to the excitement he held for the days ahead. But when he did eventually fall asleep he fell into a deep undisturbed slumber.

  Sam awoke early in the morning around the time he normally got up when helping his father in the fields. This morning, however, he wasn’t going to be working in the fields but rather journeying to the Royal Academy located in the Keivanian Royal Capital Galadia. This was finally it, his final morning in Kait before he would leave for what could be more than a year. He was both nervous and excited, he had never been away from home for more than two weeks before and had always been less than a day’s walk from home. Now he was going to be travelling for 3 weeks to get to his destination. He was the first person up that morning and brought his bags to the from door ready for when he needed to leave. He once again checked to make sure he had everything he needed, his work knife and multi-tool stored in his bags and his dagger and sword sat next to the door ready to go with him.

  Sam sat at the dining table and waited for his family to wake up and join him for a final time. When they eventually joined him they ate breakfast in silence as a somber mood settled over them. When a knock finally sounded on the door Sam got up to answer it. Sam opened the door to find that there was a man in a brown buttoned vest and brown trousers waiting on the door step. “Good morning, would you perchance be Mr. Samuel Holdridge?” the Man questioned. “I am” Sam replied to him. “Excellent, my name is Harry and I’m here to pick you up for your Journey to Galadia” he said. “Nice to meet you Harry” Sam replied as his mother and father came up behind him at the door.

  Harry took Sam’s bag to the horse and cart that had been left at the bottom of the hill as he said goodbye to his family. His mum and sister both gave him a dug while his dad gave him a slap on the should “Take care of yourself son” he said. His mother and sister were both crying as he finally walked away from the house down to the cart waiting on the road. He climbed into the back of the cart and sat on some straw cushions before he placed his sword down in front of him. Harry mounted the driver’s seat of the cart “Are you ready?” he asked Sam. Sam took a final look over to his family who were waving at him. “Yes, let go” Sam replied as he waved back to them wiping the pooling tears from his eyes. Sam continued waving to his family right up until the house faded from view.

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  It took two and a half hours before they arrived in Rimour. Sam was greeted by Jeremy who was on duty today when they passed through the gate house. “Sam back so soon? I didn’t think the Academy was starting for a few more weeks” he questioned. “Yeah, I was supposed to be going to the local academy however I somehow got a scholarship to the Royal Academy in Galadia so I had to leave a few weeks earlier to get there before the start of the school year” Sam replied. “The Royal Academy, wow congratulations. I wish you luck” Jeremy said as he ushered them through the gate. “Guess I will see you in a year then?” he questioned. “Yeah, it will be around a year, see you Jeremy” Sam replied as he waved him goodbye.

  Harry stopped the cart at the entrance to the docks. “Alright, this is where we part ways. Take this card here, this is a travel card which was sent from the Royal Academy and will need to be shown to the clerk at the office over there as well as at your accommodation along the way” he said as he pointed to a two-story building just before the dock pier. “You can also see the details of the trip if you put a bit of mana into it”. Sam took the card and poured a little bit of mana into it. A system screen popped up displaying information about his journey. Listed was expected departure and arrival times for each leg of the Journey. It appeared he would take a river boat from Rimour down to Highhill the capital of the Barony, today. He would then stay overnight at an inn called The Rivers Bend. Sam assumed the Inn was called that as Highhill was located within a bend in the river. From Highhill he would board the same boat again which would continue down the river to Pexicon the capital of the Baxton Dutchy, where he would spend three nights before boarding a big ship called Maidens Grace. He would then spend five to six days on the ship before arriving in the port city of Vahlitice. From Vahlitice he would travel the final leg by carriage to the Royal Capital. The journey was estimated to take 22 to 30 days. He hoped it wasn’t any longer than that since as by that estimate he would arrive between 15/09/12076 and 23/09/12076 which should give him a minimum of 7 days before the first day of school. “I see, that’s very useful” Sam finally said after he read through the details of his journey. “Well, let’s get your luggage unloaded” Harry said as he began unloading the cart. Once Sam’s luggage was unloaded and sat in front of the reception office Harry bid Sam a farewell before leaving.

  Sam picked up his bags slinging one over his shoulder and carrying the other in his left hand. He opened the wooden door to the dock reception office and walked inside examining the room as he did. The décor for the room was as you would expect for the dock reception building. There were some rough paintings of boats hung on the walls as well as some ropes tied in different shapes. Sam noticed there was no one standing at the counter or rather anywhere in the room. He walked over to the counter and placed his bags down next to him. He waited for a few moments, but no one came out to greet him. He saw a bell sitting on the far end of the counter and walked over and rang it. A few seconds later Sam heard footsteps coming from above him. A portly lady came running out from behind an outcropping behind the counter. She stopped behind the counter leaning on it as she was breathing heavily before she finally caught her breath and greeted Sam.

  “Welcome to the Rimour Dock office, how may I help you?” the woman said. “Good morning, I’m supposed to be taking a boat down to Highhill” Sam replied as he passed the woman the card he had been given by Harry. She took the card and placed it on a metal plate that was built into the surface of the counter. She waited a few moments before picking it back up and handing it back to him. “I see, the boat you will be talking is called the Flying Trout and is moored at pier 4 on the right side of the docks. They are due to set off in about 45 minutes so there is no rush in heading over there” she said. “Pier 4 okay got it” Sam replied. “You will want to look for Dan the captain. He wears a blue bandanna around his head so you can’t miss him” she advised. “Thank you for your help” Sam said to her before collecting his bags and heading for the door. “Have a safe trip” the lady said as he exited the building.

  Sam walked onto the docks and took a right towards pier 4. The piers appeared to have the number carved into the poles holding up the docks. Sam headed down to the end of the docks where pier 4 was located. Tied to the Pier was a boat about fourteen metres long. The boat had a small cabin at the back with stairs leading up above it where there was a big wheel likely for steering the boat. There were 4 rows of benches on either side of a central aisle covered by cloth sheets mounted on poles likely for shelter from the rain. He also noticed that there were oars tied along the sides of the boat. He guessed that this was for when the river current was going against them or they needed more control of the boat during a storm or something along those lines.

  He walked up towards the gangplank and called out for the captain “Hello, I’m looking for Dan the captain of The Flying Trout” Sam called out. He waited a few moments before a man wearing a blue bandanna appeared from the cabin. “Aye, that is me” Dan said as he approached Sam. “I was told that I would be travelling to Highhill and then onto Pexicon aboard your boat. Am I able to board?” Sam asked the man. “Your Name” Dan replied. “Sam Holdridge” he replied immediately. “Alright hop aboard” Dan told him. Sam carefully walked up the narrow gangplank and onto the deck of the boat. “Patrick come up here and show our passenger where he can store his luggage” Dan shouted out towards the cabin. A couple of seconds later a boy that looked like he was around the same age as Sam appeared from the doorway to the cabin. “Good morning, I’m Patrick. I will show you where you can put your luggage” Patrick said to Sam as he greeted him. Sam followed Patrick into the cabin where a set of stairs led down into the hull of the boat. There were a few cots with yellowed pillows lined up along the right-hand side. Patrick led Sam past the cots and through a door at the end of the room. “You can have number one as you’re the first passenger on board today. Put your stuff in there and then lock it with the key” Patrick said as he pointed over to a large wooden locker with the number one painted on the front. Sam opened up the locker and put his luggage away keeping his sword and dagger on him. He closed the door to the locker and turned the key before removing it from the lock and putting it into his pocket. “So where do I sit” Sam asked. “Either out on the deck or you can lay down on one of the cots in the other room. Since we’re only going down to Highhill today you should be fine with staying up on the deck” Patrick said. Sam followed Patrick back up onto the deck and sat down on one of the covered benches. “We’ll be heading off in about 20 minutes, so I best be off back to my duties” Patrick said before he headed back toward the cabin.

  Sam watched as a few more people boarded the boat. There were a couple of women dressed like nuns along with a Man who looked a bit like a merchant. Before long Dan reappeared from the cabin and headed up the stairs to the steering wheel. Patick came up behind him along with another boy a couple years older who he hadn’t seen yet. The two boys then left the raise platform where they were standing and went down the gangplank before lifting it off the ground and pushing it back onto the boat. Sam watched as they each untied a rope at either end of the boat releasing it from the pier before they ran and jumped back onboard. They both tied their ropes to the boats railing before Patrick went and closed a gate where the gangplank had been to seal off the gap in the railing around the edge of the boat. Both boys then sat on seats on either end of the boat and pushed off from the pier the with oars. A faint light shone from the steering wheel atop the cabin and the boat began to move forward. He assumed the light must be some kind of magic item that was used to propel the boat forward. Sam sat there in silent excitement as nervousness coursed through him. He watched as they departed Rimour and he set off on his journey beyond everything he had ever known.