《The City of the Gods》


 The Caravan

    "Ivis! Wake up honey, you''re going to be late!"


    What was his mother talking about? It was six in the morning, late for what?


    "Honey, the caravan leaves in 15 minutes!"


    Right, the caravan... SHIT THE CARAVAN.


    Today was supposed to be his first day as a guard on a local caravan guild. He was used to sleeping in and not needing to do anything, but his mother threatened to kick him out if he didn''t do anything with his life.


    Throwing on some fresh clothes, he ran downstairs and found his father and his mother sitting at the dining table. He was 16, fresh out of school, and ready to weave baskets for the rest of his life... not. Of course, he didn''t want to do that, so he refused.


    His mother was furious, but his father understood that he wasn''t ready to spend the rest of his life in a small little town on the edge of nowhere.


    Eventually after hours of arguing with his mother, his father gave him an idea. Traveling the world with some caravans, he could experience life without being watched by his parents constantly.


    "But what if he gets hurt? Or gets hungry?" His mother argued.


    "Honey, he can''t stay here. Look at him, no girl in their right mind would marry him. Let him adventure out, and get a couple of scars. That''s what made you fall for me."


    "Oh you, but you were a guard for the mayor. He will be outside the walls, afraid of bandits and magics, I won''t let him-"


    "Honey, he is going to go no matter what, it''s better to support him and stand beside him than to abandon him." His mother had huffed and puffed all day, trying to have his father change his mind, but he was right, he was going whether they allowed him to or not.


    Finally, the day had arrived, and he was leaving with the caravan. He had gotten an axe from the blacksmith as a going-away present, his father had said it was free but he doubted him. Either way, he was thankful.


    "Good bye mom, bye dad." He hugged his parents, ready to change his life.


    "Goodbye son, and don''t you die on us now, your mother will blame me forever."


    "Haha, see you in a couple of months. I''ll send you guys letters whenever I get to a town updating you guys."


    They said their goodbyes, his mother cried not wanting to let him go, but his dad held her close. With that, he slung his axe on his back and walked out into the world.


    Their town wasn''t the smallest, but it was still called the small city. They didn''t really have a name for it, it was a pretty new town.


    The emperor who ruled this land, Borus, had just succeeded the throne from his father, or so Ivis had heard. It was hard to get newer information from so far away. They didn''t have the magic to communicate with the outside yet.


    Magic was interesting, to Ivis it didn''t feel like anything. His parents on the other hand had access to some basic magic usage.


    His mother was a stone mage, she helped build the city. His father used a spear and used his fire magic to manipulate the spearhead. He was lethal in a fight among mortals.


    His father had somewhat trained him in the way of the spear, but he preferred to use an axe instead. It was easier to chop than to stab.


    He wasn''t alone in being able to not feel magic, or rather the mana that fueled magic. People usually unlock their magic through events in their life. His father has said that when he was fighting the strongest person he''d ever fought, on the verge of life or death, he felt something. Something burning inside the back of his mind.


    His father used to be a soldier of the empire, hacking and stabbing through the enemy. Through the trial of fire, he had gained the ability to manipulate it. He didn''t know how his mother had gained her magic.


    The first stop on his list was the general store. He had packed some extra clothes and such in his backpack but he didn''t have any winter or water-resistant clothing. But he had to get there fast, he barely had ten minutes before he had to get onto that caravan.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "Mornin'' Mike, got any winter coats or gloves I can buy."


    "Good morning to you too speedy, yeah I got some things. You in a hurry or something?"


    "I know my dad told you about this, I''m leaving for the caravan today and I have eight minutes! Anything is good, the warmer the better."


    "Alright, if you say so."


    The merchant laid multiple coats out, taking his time as he enjoyed watching the boy stress out about these things. There were a couple fur coats, some gloves that looked good, and a face mask that would keep his nose warm in the snow.


    "Thanks, Mike," The boy threw down a couple of pieces of copper that would cover the cost and a bit of a tip. Not realizing that he spent extra money, the shopkeeper didn''t mind the tip at all.


    "Salutations young one,"


    Ivis only had five minutes, he ran through the yard of the mayor''s house and into the gate of the traveling merchant''s caravan. In front of him he could see the caravan leader, as well as his father for some reason.


    "I''m so sorry I''m late. I just ran to the store to pick up some warmer clothing. What do you need me to do?" The boy rambled on and on until the caravan leader held out his hand, signaling him to stop.


    "You''re an hour early, I like the commitment kid, but no one is even awake yet."


    Ivis paused. He looked around and could see that the caravan was loaded up, but no one else was here yet. He looked around and realized that none of the other shops were open for business either.


    "But... I... you... what?"


    His father and the caravan merchant burst out laughing. It was clear that he had been pranked, on his first day even.


    "Ah jeez, that was a good one. You raised a smart one Markus."


    "Smarter than you, at least, Pallius. You''ve been pranked, boy. We figured since it''s the last time we''ll see you for a while, we''d make it memorable."


    Ivis finally put the pieces together, well they said it out loud. He got pranked.


    "Damn it, Dad, so I could have been sleeping for a whole other hour before I had to do all of this?"


    "Yes... but also no. Something you should get used to now, your day starts before the crack of dawn and it ends when you reach your next destination. No more sleeping in, especially as a guard."


    In his usual fashion, his father said what he wanted to say and left, patting him on the shoulder and telling him good luck.


    Now he was stuck with a man who was giving him his paycheck, this was never not nerve-wracking.


    "So, have you got yourself a map and some coins?"


    "No sir, I have some coin but I didn''t have time to pick up a map, well, I didn''t think I had time to go get one. Do you have a spare I could use?" Gods, he was already using a ''customer service voice''. This was going to be exhausting.


    "Hmm, well you probably won''t need one. Just manage without one, for now, it will be easier for you to just use one of ours. You will be provided food but if you want more than the basic necessities then you need to buy it. You will ride on a horse while we travel, have you rode a horse before?"


    "No, I''ve never even seen a horse. Do you want me to try and learn how to ride?"


    The older man nodded and brought him over to the stables. Inside were a variety of creatures, ranging from horses to giant crabs. The mystical creatures were in charge of pulling the carts and carrying everyone.


    He was assigned a regular horse that had barely been touched by mana, it was an interesting change compared to walking around.


    "I''ll give you a choice, pick the horse you want. There are three other new guards joining us today so you each get a new horse."


    There were three horses a fully black one, a brown and white horse, and a horse that looked pale compared to the others. They were each just as strong looking as the other but the pale horse looked ghost-like almost.


    "Hmm, I''ll take ghoul over there."


    "Haha, ghoul? You mean the pale horse sitting over there? Sure, I''ll make sure you get him. Better yet, take him out for a spin. Make sure he likes you before we go. Don''t want you getting left behind on account that your horse won''t let you ride on her back."


    Ivis walked over to the three horses, walking slowly but naturally. He didn''t want to spook them.


    He walked straight to the paler horse, they already put saddles on them so he didn''t have to worry about that.


    The horse snorted at him, warning him not to get much closer. He held out his hand and slowed down, almost to a standstill.


    Now they were staring at each other. The horse ready to run and the boy ready to fail. Neither could have expected what happened next.


    Ivis stepped one last step forward and slipped in a spot of mud... or horse poop... hopefully mud. He hit his head on the ground hard and fell down, luckily in the dirt.


    "Uugh, damn it."


    The horses neighed at him, not running like he had expected them to. Were they mocking him?


    "Damn horses,"


    He started walking towards the pale horse, this time looking where he stepped. Once he was about five feet away from the horse, he reached out slowly... and slipped.


    "Hey kid, I''ll give you a hint. They may only have a small amount of mana touching their spirits, but that doesn''t mean that they''re normal horses. Your best bet is to let them come to you."


    Right, these weren''t normal horses. His best bet was as the man said.


    "Hey, what''s your name again?"


    He had decided to try distracting the horses with talk.


    "Pallius Chambers. Traveling merchant and gun enthusiast. Your father and I were old comrades as soldiers in the empire,"


    "You should tell me some stories sometime. I don''t remember my father mentioning anyone by name, just ''comrades''."


    Finally, he was six feet away from the horses. He just stopped and waited, staring at the pale horse. It stared at him for a second and then took a step forward.


    Eventually, it was just a foot away from him. He could reach out and touch it if he wanted to, but he didn''t want to ruin all of the effort he had gone through.


    It pushed its head against his palm, finally, he had reached over and pet it.


    "Hey there Ghoul, oh my, your fur is so cold. Like ice almost."


    He pulled himself onto Ghoul and tried to get used to riding a horse, they had a long road ahead of themselves.

 The Three Amigos

    It had only been four minutes for something to go wrong. Rather, it was surprising that nothing else had gone wrong before then.


    Ghoul was one of three horses, but they traveled as a group. The caravan leader, Pallius, had said something about them being grown together, but Ivis didn¡¯t pay much attention to the crazy guy.


    As he tried to lead Ghoul through the small pasture the other two horses followed close by.


    After four minutes Ghoul kicked him off and trotted back to the other two. He just had to try again.


    His second and third tries were similarly unsuccessful. But on his fourth try, he had a bit of luck getting her to not kick him off. Instead, she just sat on the ground.


    ¡°Oh come on now, we will have to travel together from now on. Unless you would rather swap with one of those giant crabs and pull the wagon. That would be pretty cool.¡±


    But no persuading could make her get up. Finally, he gave up and sat down right next to her. If he couldn¡¯t ride a horse then at least he could make sure he was ready to go.


    ¡°Ahh, good morning. Do you know where I can find the caravan master?¡± A new voice echoed through the caravan yard gate. It was five-thirty. Had the others started to show up?


    ¡°He¡¯s straight through that door, inside the first wagon. Is there anything I can help you with?¡±


    ¡°Just checking in, first day as a guard.¡±


    ¡°No shit, really? Me too. What''s your name?¡±


    "Most people just call me Shig. Shipton Grace is what my parents decided to name me."


    The two greeted each other and walked over to the wagon together.


    "Pallius, there is another new guard here," Ivis yelled through the door, knocking as well to make sure he was heard.


    They heard a couple of crashes and things being dropped. Soon enough the door opened and they could see their leader, well, he stuck his head out the door.


    "Morning boys, I''ll summarize it for you. We leave in 45 minutes, the last new guard should be here in about 15 minutes. Ivis, show him the horses and have him pick one."


    The caravan leader quickly shut the door. A couple of bangs and crashes later the wagon fell silent again.


    "Ok... that was super weird. Anyways, right back where I was sitting in defeat is the horse stable. Pallius told me to get used to riding a horse, I was trying to convince Ghoul, the pale horse, to let me practice riding but she kept on kicking me off. "


    "Haha, what affinity does your horse have?"


    Ivis didn''t know. He could easily find out but he didn''t have the tools or the wonder to figure it out. Then again, it would be useful to know what information. Ivis was currently without a mana or an affinity. If he could obtain one from connecting with this horse or something similar then that would be amazing.


    More on mana, it was more accurate to call it another source of energy rather than the thing that drives life and everything. Things could exist without mana, such as certain animals and stones.


    Things like plants and more chaotic forms have easier access to mana, however, that doesn''t mean that everything chaotic has a mana affinity.


    The most important part about gaining an affinity is controlling that affinity. The more control the more absolute one can be with that power. His father and mother for example. His father''s fire focuses on amplifying the damage it''s dealing already.


    Thoughts like sharpness, heat, control, and that burning feeling inside the back of his mind mix into his skills with spears. It creates mana unique to his father that only he can use to the maximum efficiency.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    His mother on the other hand had parts of sturdiness, metallic, hardness, and efficiency mixed into her mana. It makes her a great defender and an even better builder.


    Everyone has a space to control and use mana, usually stored in a space called a spiritual body, representing the total amount of mana they have available. They also have mana veins to help control the mana inside their bodies.


    Everyone also has their mediums for power which is their body, their spiritual body, and their mind space. Ivis couldn''t understand his mothers teaching about the mind space, it just seemed so strange to think about without being able to feel it for himself.


    "So Ivis, do you want to find out what affinity your horse has?"


    "Sure, it''s the pale one eating grass over there. Don''t be fooled, all three of those horses are menaces in their own right."


    "Yeah yeah. I''ll make sure to be careful."


    However, as soon as he stepped five feet from the three horses he slipped and fell to the ground.


    "Ah, damn. One of those horses must have an affinity to mud or water or something. Damn it that hurts." Shig stood up and brushed the mud off of himself.


    The horses stood up and trotted around the boy, the pale horse walked up to Ivis and sat down beside him.


    "Here Ivis, catch. Just hold it up to them and it should glow and tell you the mana affinity."


    Ivis held the strange scanner and lightly touched it against his horse''s fur coat. It glowed a white glow but said nothing about the specific mana affinity. He thought it was broken and tried it again, but again, nothing.


    "It''s not saying anything. It''s just glowing white-ish gray."


    "That''s weird. Did you try it a second time?"


    "Yeah, still nothing,"


    Was his horse defective?


    "Did you try sensing the mana inside the device? Sometimes you have to restart the thing."


    "I can''t sense mana."


    ...


    The two looked at each other dumbfounded.


    "What do you mean you can''t sense mana, you mean you don''t have an affinity yet?"


    "Nope, why can''t I read it?"


    "Well you need mana in order to be able to read mana, without it, it''s like a blind guy trying to read a sign without his glasses. It''s blurry but you can''t see it any better."


    The two stared at each other again. Still perplexed by the whole situation.


    "Well then get over here and read the damn rock already smartass."


    "Are you kidding me? I''m going to fall on my ass again. How did you even get them to like you in the first place?"


    Eventually, by guiding him through how he did it, Ivis had shown the boy how to get the horses to like him... or at least to not trip him with magic.


    He took the mana-sensing rock and held it up to the first horse. The fully black horse had a small affinity to curses, the brown and white horse had a mixed affinity to both water and earth, and finally, the pale horse had a decent affinity to spirits and ice. It was strange, usually many people had to die around you to get a spirit affinity, either many weak people or a couple of strong people.


    After that, Shig had decided to try and befriend the horse with the watery/earthen affinity. He had an affinity with the earth and water so it was a perfect match.


    If two beings with similar affinities fought together or used magic together, then that effect would be strengthened. Such as the builders in the city, they used their magic together to construct strong walls capable of defending the town from beasts from the wilderness.


    Ivis had tried riding on Ghoul and was slightly successful, Shig on the other hand had no luck whatsoever. The brown and white horse was too playful, constantly running around and tripping him.


    They were so busy that they didn''t notice that people started arriving to set up the caravan. Some loaded up last-minute supplies, others connected the reigns of the wagons to the beasts that were going to pull them. Others who were less busy stood and watched the young boys struggle to ride the horses, getting a couple of chuckles from the crowd.


    There was someone else though who looked like he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He was asking around and finally gathered the courage to ask the two young men what they were doing.


    "Um, excuse me. What are you guys-"


    But before he could finish his sentence the other young boy on the brown horse was flung off and landed in some mud that wasn''t there a second ago.


    He landed face-first into the mud, swearing and cursing at his horse.


    The other boy laughed at his failure. It wasn''t that funny.


    "Oh sorry, how can I help?"


    The boy on the pale horse finally realized that someone had approached them.


    "I need to find the caravan leader. I''m starting as a new guard and I need to be assigned to my new post."


    "Ah, same as us. If you would like to head over to the large wagon, you can find the caravan leader. He will just tell you to try to befriend the horses with us. My name is Ivis, nice to meet you Mr. ?"


    "Haleth Santyr, at your service. The black horse is the last one left then?"


    The young boy walked confidently to the dark horse. It stared at him and he stared back, unflinching. He reached out his hand and pet it''s fur.


    The boy lifted himself onto the horse and began riding the horse like he had done it 1,000 times before.


    "Are you kidding me, how did you do that? How did he do that?"


    Shig was flabbergasted by what he just watched. How did he manage that? His horse kicked him off every couple of minutes.


    Pallius walked out of his wagon soon after the boy arrived.


    "Alright, everyone gather around! Let''s start dividing up jobs and tasks."


    The three boys walked over to the caravan master, there were close to 50 people in the group. Many of them operated the caravan when they were stopped, but 20 members of that group were guards including the three boys.


    "Alright, this is going to be just like it usually is. Every non-fighter will be inside the five wagons, each wagon will have a magician-focused fighter driving, the guards will ride three per wagon. Since we have three new boys here each one will be assigned to a wagon so that they can learn, and boys, if we get into a fight I want you to stay near the back and only help when the raiders or beasts are weak."


    "Ok! Let''s move out."


    Finally, it was time to go out on the road.

 First Blood

    It had been a whole week since they started traveling. Ivis and the other two younger boys had started off strong, their horses were mostly behaved, except for Shig''s horse, but he was just playful.


    Ivis had tried talking to the other boy as well during the time when they took breaks from traveling. Haleth Santyr... it was definitely a strange name. He asked him about it and apparently, he was a half-elf. He had never met an elf before so it was interesting to meet him.


    The three boys talked about their homes and what their families were like. Shig was from a noble family a town over, while Haleth was left behind by his parents while they were traveling. Shig was hoping to become stronger and create a home like his parents had, apparently it was a family tradition to run away at 18.


    Haleth was just doing this for the money for now. He hoped to meet up with his parents eventually but he knew that was a longshot after 25 years of abandonment. The two thought that 25 was super old for someone, but he explained that it was normal for elves to be considered teenagers until around 40.


    The three were learning what it meant to be guardsmen. Waking up early, killing a couple animals nearby for breakfast, and making sure nothing could touch the caravan that didn''t need to touch it.


    Ivis had also started learning his co-workers'' names, Taul was the head guard, he had a fire affinity like his father but he used a mace and shield instead of a spear.


    There was also Kanah, one of Pallius''s traders. She was kind and talked a lot, but Taul warned him that she was greedier than anyone else he''d ever met.


    At the beginning of the week, the three boys were doing great, but after seven days there were clear signs that they were exhausted. Their eyes drooped and their attitudes were less enthusiastic. They were three days away from the next city though, heading towards the royal capital rather than away from it.


    They were months away from the capital though, there was no way they would get to see it soon.


    The first of the three final days were uneventful, but everyone seemed to be on guard more than the rest of the trip.


    "Hey Taul, what''s wrong?"


    Ivis wanted to know what to expect. He didn''t like surprises anymore.


    "We''ve entered bandit land. Specifically the Rat King''s territory. He is idiotic but has a huge amount of control through these woods. It''s better to be on guard prepared for an attack."


    "The Rat King? What type of name is that?"


    The guard captain slowed his horse to a trot beside Ivis and Ghoul. Ghoul wasn''t tired but she didn''t have the same amount of energy she did before the trip.


    "In total, there are five bandit kings. The weakest is the Rat King. As you move further towards the capital and the wealthier towns you will find other bandit kings and their minions. Right now the Rat King is the smallest but things were different in the past. We''re just taking a precaution going as safe as we can through here."


    The two started speeding back up to their posts, they couldn''t let a gap in the caravan invite someone to attack them.


    "So who are the other-"


    "BANDITS! Southwest!"


    Someone shouted, startling everyone awake. They were surrounded.


    The caravans stopped and immediately chaos broke out. There were close to 15 men... no 20 now.


    They were coming through the trees and bushes. The magicians and the close combat fighters engaged while holding the perimeter. Ivis took out his axe and dismounted Ghoul, he didn''t want her to get hurt.


    He focused on what he could handle, two men were charging him. He held his ground.


    The first one, an ugly berserker, swung a larger axe at his head. He moved to the side and swung his own axe at his stomach. Soon enough the man was split into two.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The second one took the chance to slash down a sword on his shoulder.


    ''Shit!''


    He was going to get injured, maybe he should have stayed home...


    "Neeigh!" A giant white figure appeared and struck the swordsman before he could hit him. Kicking him away.


    "Thanks, Ghoul,"


    Ivis looked around again, his hands shaking. He had killed a person.


    ''Not now, I can think about that later.''


    He saw Shig holding his own, he had a sword in hand cutting at a bandit. Most of the other guards were handling themselves alright. Pallius was using some type of gun to shoot enemies that got too lucky in their attacks. But out of the corner of his eye he saw Haleth struggling against two bandits. His horse was being attacked by another one.


    Ivis charged at the closest bandit attacking Haleth. He had a scar across his bare chest, he was about to have another one as well.


    The bandit didn''t hear Ivis charging at him, and suffered the consequences. He swung his axe at the mans right shoulder. He missed and made a large wound on the guys back.


    "Shit!"


    The bandit looked at Ivis, terror in his eyes. Why was he afraid? Did he expect to not be wounded in a fight that they started?


    But that look of terror was enough to cause Ivis to hesitate. Why should he deserve who lives and who dies?


    Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his shoulder. It burned, it hurt, and he dropped his axe from his right hand. There behind him was the man who was attacking Haleth''s horse. He must have had a fire affinity or something.


    ''Right, it doesn''t matter who lives or who dies right now... I just need to live!''


    The pain woke Ivis up. He grabbed the axe from the ground with his left hand and swung at the man who attacked him.


    The man parried it and backed off. Immediate, with all of the fury in his body, Ivis threw his axe at the man. He wouldn''t live to see tomorrow.


    The axe made a thunking noise as it cut through the man''s flesh. Ivis walked to the body that flopped down and tore the axe free from it''s chest.


    The battle wasn''t over yet.


    He charged another bandit, ready to live.


    ...


    The battle lasted 15 minutes. Everyone on the caravan survived the battle, though a few were hurt pretty bad. Ivis was harmed the worst, the wound that the man with the fire affinity just wouldn''t heal.


    The caravan leader, no, here he was just Pallius. Pallius walked up to him with a bottle of a red liquid.


    "Damn, that was some first battle. Have you killed before?"


    Ivis shook his head no. He had only hunted wild animals before, never humans.


    "Well, you did a hell of a job out there. Take this potion, it will heal the harm that the mana has caused you."


    He downed the bottle and immediately felt a nausiating feeling come up from his stomach.


    "Woah woah, just sit down and relax for a little while. You saved your friend kid, thats all that matters. If you are worrying about killing them don''t think about it. If you let them live then they would have done more unspeakable things to people."


    Ivis nodded but he couldn''t hear him. His mind was far off thinking about other things, unimportant things.


    He focused on his shoulder, it would be annoying waiting for this to heal.


    "Hey, earth to Ivis? Are you there?"


    Pallius was getting tired of him not answering, so he slapped him on the back of the head.


    "Oww, damn what was that for?"


    "For not talking back. Now, how do you feel?"


    He looked himself over, it was probably the worst pain that he has ever felt before. His shoulder was on fire, well it felt like it.


    "I feel like shit,"


    "Well you look like shit too. Can you feel everything move? If you cant feel it even after that potion then we have a problem."


    "Yeah, everything feels like it''s on fire. What did you call that drink again? A potion?"


    Pallius looked confused for a second before a hint of realization came on his face.


    "Right, you''ve never drank a potion before. Some people who have access to mana are able to create whats known as a potion. This particular one is known for healing, your shoulder should be all healed up in a couple of hours."


    "Are you serious? Thats insane. Wouldn''t that cost a huge amount of money? You can''t take that out of my wages, I didn''t ask for it."


    The caravan leader laughed and wiped a tear away.


    "Don''t worry boy, there is a whole religion whose main goal is healing the world. These are expensive sure but not so much that I can''t spare one or five."


    Ivis nodded, he had moved with his parents and had never lived in a large city before so he didn''t understand the costs of a couple things.


    Something took his focus away from the conversation, a small chill ran through the back of his mind. It felt... unnatural, but not at the same time. He looked at Ghoul who was sitting nearby, was she playing a trick on him?


    Ivis stood up and got back onto Ghoul, her cold fur becoming comfortable.


    "I''m going to ride around for a bit, calm Ghoul down and relax. I''ll make sure to stay within sight of the caravan."


    "Sounds good. Next time just tell Taul or one of the other guards. I may be your boss but I don''t want to know every time you have to piss behind a tree."


    Ivis nodded and led Ghoul to walk around the caravan. He was the only one who had gotten a serious injury it seems.


    He saw Haleth and Shig talking to Taul. He wandered over there to join them.


    "Holy shit, he lives. How are you feeling Ivis?"


    Taul was the first to notice him. His friends nodded.


    "Not good not bad. I could totally be worse though."


    Shig started off questioning him, "How many did you kill? Where did you learn to fight like that man? You need to teach me some moves. Did you say any cool lines like ''this is your end, scum.''?"


    "I don''t know exactly. I think it was around five people. My father trained me somewhat how to fight." Ivis said in reply.


    "Thank you for the assist, Ivis. I don''t think I could have handled two of them." Haleth said. His bow wasn''t any good up close fighting.


    The four started talking about the fight, not thinking about when they would have to move out again. The next city was only two days away now.