Merrick awoke feeling even groggier than he had before his nap, wearily blinking the blurry filter away from his eyes as he spent several seconds trying to gather his bearing.

  The scholar, whose name he’d ended up learning was Jasmine, had taken him up on his proposition, though not without an annoying number of miscommunications popping up first.

  ‘No, I’m offering you a proposition, not propositioning you.’

  ‘No, I’m not trying to sleep with you, I just want to sleep in your cabin. If you happen to be sleeping in there, that’s fine with me.’

  ‘No, seriously I understand I’m not your type. I just want somewhere to rest my heavy belongings and heavy head while we travel.’

  On and on it went. Merrick wasn’t sure if the woman was vain or just messing with him but he ended up getting what he wanted in the end so he wasn’t bothered regardless.

  Merrick had managed to carve out a small corner in the carriage by stacking some of the crates of books a bit higher than necessarily safe and placing his chair in their place.

  He was proud to announce that the chair had been just as comfortable to sleep in as he’d first assumed it would. It didn’t even give him back pains or anything.

  Looking around the cramped interior of Jasmine’s carriage Merrick realized he was alone, which was to be expected since one of the terms of his corner occupation was that he wasn’t to be sleeping in the carriage at the same time as the scholar.

  That meant he was basically signed up for the night-watch every night, since he’d be sleeping during the day while they traveled. He’d always been a bit of a night owl anyways and was almost dead on his feet at that point, the arrangement was perfect for him.

  He still wasn’t sure what exactly had snapped him out of his sleep, he obviously wasn’t rested enough yet. He realized he was even more tired than he realized and wondered if maybe his body was having a hard time recovering from the two teleports, he’d taken that day, the dungeon exit and the Teleportation Nexus Framework Portal had both been new experiences for him.

  Belatedly, he realized that he shouldn’t actually be alone in the carriage. Assuming it was still day time, Jasmine would be traveling inside the cramped room. Probably reading more of that questionable fiction she’d packed, rather than studying her numbers until she got a proper arithmetic skill like she should.

  It was then that he realized what had likely woken him up, the carriage wasn’t moving at all.

  By the time that he’d finished moving boxes and settling his chair, the caravan had been relayed the route instructions that Merrick had helped Jasmine calculate and began mobilization.

  Either they’d gotten to the first merge zone, where they intended to meet up with two other caravans that set off from other strongholds, or they’d run into an issue in the road.

  The first option meant that it was nearing sunset and he’d likely been sleeping for six hours already and would be expected to vacate the cabin for the young scholar to tuck in for the night soon.

  The second option meant there was trouble and he’d probably be woken up by an escalation of whatever situation halted them or the sudden movement of the caravan moving again.

  Regardless, he needed to get up.

  “Mew,” a sand-paper like tongue licked the back of Merrick’s neck as he started stretching in preparation for his exit, reminding him that he had a passenger still stowed away in his hood.

  Merrick stood up and was grateful that he’d managed to secure a corner to shed many of his cumbersome layers, namely his newly replaced travelers pack, cauldron and chair. He still carried his mail bag under his cloak. After a moment of hesitation, he elected not to re-sheath the two brambleblades that had adorned his back and let them rest next to the chair where he’d set them before his rest.

  He’d need to merge them with the one on his waist eventually but was worried someone might inquire after their location. Better to have them stashed away until people got used to him carrying only a single sword and not tip his hand about his innate skill. His experiences in the Mulberry Grove dungeon had taught him that discretion was a vital skillset.

  Another moment’s hesitation ended with him lowering his hood and allowing his little cat beast fresh air for the first time since they’d exited the dungeon.

  Realistically, the creatures was significantly smaller than the bramblekin in the dungeon and shared very little visual similarities outside of its horn, which lightly glowed unlike any bramblekin in recorded history. There was virtually no chance that any of the fellow caravanners from Steelhearth would recognize it for what it was, let alone the other groups they were merging with, and the longer he tried to hide it the harder it would be to explain to his future neighbors when he inevitably slipped up.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Wake up routine complete, Merrick tossed open the door to the carriage and was both disappointed and pleased when he saw the dusky sky embracing the earth in the distance.

  On one hand, the caravan hadn’t run into any issues following the course he’d charted for Jasmine, a fact reinforced by the numerous new carts, carriages, and faces that were plainly visible around the cooking fires.

  On the other hand, it was actually night-time and that meant his rest was over.

  “One more long night then we can sleep for twelve hours straight tomorrow, buddy,” Merrick mumbled to the cat who was now perched on his shoulder while he scratched its ears.

  His eyes darted around until he located Jasmine and he set off toward her for no particular reason apart from the fact that she was one of the few vaguely familiar faces.

  “-that I mark that down in the ledgers for reimbursement when we get there. Did the scouts get dispatched to try and locate wild game to supplement the travel larder? Okay, good. Huh, yes?” Merrick approached another man wearing the Scholar’s Guild emblem around a copper chain on his neck.

  “I just wanted to let you know I was out and about, so you’re good to retire for the night whenever,” Merrick said, confused by the confused look on her face.

  Jasmine’s head cocked sideways a bit as a look of revelation overwrote her facial reaction, her lips puffed into a small ‘o’ shape.

  “Huh. I genuinely didn’t realize that was you, you look way different with the hood down and your eclectic assortment of personal belongings put away,” She squint her eyes a bit and looked around shiftily before refocusing on him, “Just goes to show you, I guess. You’re much less rugged looking under the hood than I’d assumed. Your face looks so soft, like you don’t get much sunlight.”

  “I did tell you I was an alchemist by trade, did I not?” Merrick asked rhetorically. He had mentioned it several times as she insisted he must be logistician.

  She waved away his comment with a gloved hand.

  “Men say all sorts of things when they’re trying to pursue a pretty woman,” her eyebrow twitched at the blank stare adorning Merrick’s face, “Anyways, you’ll be pleased to know that you don’t snore and I don’t have any problems continuing to let you borrow my corner during the day. And maybe even at night…”

  “What was that?”

  “I said that your cat has a light. On its forehead, that is. What’s up with that?”

  Merrick squinted at Jasmine for a moment, hoping that the story he’d decided to tell would pass muster with a scholar. If anyone would be able to figure out that he was lying, it’d be her.

  “They’re my pet, a gift from my late father. He found it as an egg when he was working on an extermination mission outside the walls and paid a handsome sum to have a Blessed Tamer use their innate skill and bond it to me before it hatched.”

  “Well, it’s absolutely adorable and I’m sure it makes for a great night light. What’s its name?”

  “Uh…”

  “You’re kidding? Is it a boy or a girl?”

  “About that…”

  “What do you feed it?”

  Merrick stared blankly at her.

  “You’re so lucky I like them mysterious…”

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Meow,” his feline friend somehow managed to express exasperation itself.

  “Right. Well, you work on all of that okay? I need to go check in with the Grandlotus caravan’s scholar and make sure they packed enough insect repellant for the wetlands,” Jasmine shot him one last suspicious look before shuffling off toward a different campfire.

  Merrick knew a dismissal when he saw one but wasn’t exactly sure where he should go now. With little else to do, he figured he should try and figure out who was organizing the night watch rotation as well as the scouts to see if he could offer his services.

  If he was going to be awake anyways, he may as well find something to occupy himself.

  Walking around for a bit didn’t instantly reveal the location of the people he was seeking so he decided to solve a different problem first.

  He walked away from the camp, toward the tree line but still within sight of the campfires before he Merrick scooped his feline friend off of his shoulder and held it in front of him, turning it from side to side.

  “Are you a boy or a girl?” Merrick asked.

  “Meow,” the cat looked at him like he was stupid.

  “Right, I suppose you wouldn’t have a gender if you’re a form of bramblekin. Dissection never showed any sign of reproductive organs, which makes sense since you’re a dungeon spawned floranid.”

  “Mew.”

  “Right, not dungeon spawned. Your horn originated from my skill and you somehow grew out of it. Still, it stands to reason that you would share some similarities to the bramblekin all things considered.”

  The cat didn’t deign to respond to him verbally that time, merely grooming its shoulder as it danged in the air in front of Merrick, suspended by his hands under its front arms.

  “You know, you remind me of my little sister. She always liked to act like she was apathetic and too cool to care, kind of like you. I also remember when we were younger, she used to barge into my room and wake me up sort of like what you did for me back in the dungeon. I think I’m going to refer to you as a girl cat, if that’s okay.”

  The bramblekin cat turned its head sideways so that it could properly side-eye Merrick, attempting to display derision. Its game was given away, however, from the deep rumbling Merrick could feel in the palm of his hands as it failed to suppress its purring.

  “Right, well I’m not going to name you after her so let me figure out an answer to that question too. I’ll try to come up with an alibi as to why I didn’t answer Jasmine right away if she asks again later.

  “Let’s see… If my story is that my dad gave me to you when I was young, I’d have to pick a slightly childish name. Probably something based off your appearance.”

  Merrick squinted at the cat in the sparse lighting of the setting sun, amused by its attempts to seem uninterested in its pending name bestowal.

  “I’ve got it. I’ll start your name with a syllable reflecting your coat and smell, both of which strongly resemble conifer trees. Sort of like how a kid might name his pet ‘Goldie or ‘Blackie’ depending on its coloration and patterns. Most names for pets end up being around two syllables though, so I think I’ll end the name with a reference to your luminous horn which glows like a little miniature sun.”

  Merrick and the cat locked eyes as he could feel her get frustrated at his refusal to put the name together for her out loud.

  Eventually, she started squirming and trying to bite his hand, tired of being held aloft and held in suspense.

  “Relax, relax. I’m just messing with you, Pinesol.”

  Merrick placed the once-again purring cat back onto his shoulder before setting off toward another familiar face, the guard who’d been standing beside him when he stepped through the portal.