The pair of Elane and Rohan soon made their way out of the stone platform and luckily found an information board placed specifically for newcomers like them to understand their situation. Others had thought of the inconvenience of being new and not knowing anything and had already taken care of that problem for future generations!
"It says this city is called Erenhot and is a tier 2 city near the eastern border of the human domain. If I recall correctly, the eastern side has a more humid, jungle-like climate, right?" Rohan asked.
"That's right. My father told me that of the four cardinal directions, the East is actually the best for newcomers to gain experience and build up their strength. It seems we're rather lucky with our spawn location!"
Elane smiled gleefully, happy that she could finally return the helping favour to Rohan with her knowledge.
"Have you heard of Erenhot before?"
"No, I only know of the three major tier 1 cities, and a few bigger tier 2 cities. Up until I was summoned to this place I was convinced I'd spend the rest of my life as a normal person, so learning any more about the Origin Realm didn't seem that important to me."
Rohan nodded, that was a fair assumption to make.
Thankfully, the information board had more to offer to them.
"F rank beasts occupy the territories closest to the city, and the farther you go out, the stronger the beasts become. It's recommended for newcomers to face off against the F rank Firestone ants to the north, as they are the weakest in the area."
Understanding their situation better, Rohan and Elane both felt some unreleased tension leave their bodies. Entering the Origin Realm was always a stressful endeavour for every newcomer, and they were just glad that they at least knew their situation now.
"We only have a week in here before we're kicked out; or less if we end up dying early. So we should make the best use of our time. What do you think?" Rohan asked.
"Un. But I should probably deal with my situation first." Elane nodded, then awkwardly pointed at herself.
'Right, she has no equipment or even a weapon… We can't just go out fighting beasts with her like that, this is going to be a problem.'
Luckily, Elane seemed to have figured that out herself.
"There are lots of places to buy and sell equipment in every city, this one should be no different."
Rohan looked at her blankly for a moment.
"Right. But how are we supposed to buy you some equipment with no money?"
"Who said I had no money?"
She pulled out a stack of bills from her back pocket, all $1000 bills… The look on Rohan's face gave her the ultimate satisfaction.
"I didn't take you for a rich kid…" Rohan was speechless.
***
By the time they finally stepped out of the bustling market district of Erenhot city, Rohan felt like his soul had aged several years.
He let out a long breath and stretched his shoulders, eyes drifting to the two stuffed bags Elane carried with far too much satisfaction on her face.
'I'm exhausted… I don't think fighting that Yellow Spotted Leopard left me this fatigued.'
He glanced over at Elane. She looked as fresh as a blooming flower.
Never did he think that his first trip to the Origin Realm would start off like this…
'Girls are terrifying…'
Not even his ex, Joanna, was this intense.
At first, Rohan assumed that they would just stop at the nearest decent looking store and buy Elane the bare minimum needed, then leave. After all, that's exactly what he did when he went shopping for his own equipment.
That assumption died down painfully fast.
She dragged him through stall after stall, testing everything personally until she was satisfied enough to make a purchase.
The strangest part was that she actually knew what she was doing.
They eventually settled on a set of light brown leather armour for her, reinforced at the torso and forearms without being bulky enough to hinder movement.
It fit close to her body and clearly prioritised flexibility over protection, which made sense to Rohan once she revealed her weapon choices.
A bow as her primary, and a dagger as a secondary precaution should she ever have to drop her bow for any reason.
Rohan glanced sideways at her current gear again.
'It's better quality than mine…'
The bow was slung nearly across her back now, looking elegant and slightly curved — a lot better than the cheap beginner weapons Rohan had been considering for himself. A quiver filled to the brim with arrows rested beneath it, while a short dagger sat sheathed at her waist.
Honestly, the setup suited her.
Rohan hadn't taken much notice before, but Elane was quite the beauty when you took the time to glance her over. Not that he'd suddenly grown interested; that lesson had been learned thanks to his experiences with Joanna.
"Ughh…"
Just the thought of Joanna gave him shivers.
"A bow and dagger, huh. I didn't expect that."
Elane looked over at him proudly, as they made their way over to the north gate.
"My father always said that if you're going to fight, then fight in a way that suits your temperament. I'm not stupid enough to try and brawl head-on with beasts bigger than myself."
Rohan couldn't help but flinch at her last comment.
Even though it wasn't directed at him, he still felt strangely targeted by her words.
However, despite what he thought about it, he was just as happy with her choice as she was.
Before, he just offered to team up with her out of sympathy for her situation — not expecting it to be a long lasting thing. But now that he looked at the two of them side by side, they did make quite a good pairing.
He had a spear, which naturally gave him control in close and mid-range. While Elane could attack from range with her bow, and if anything slipped past him or got too close to her, she had her dagger for emergency defence.
It was a good combination.
It took over an hour for the duo to make their way to the north gate of the city. Meanwhile, Rohan spent the whole journey lost in thought, wondering where on Earth she kept on pulling those $1000 bills from.
He was the one with a Genetic Armament and $100,000 in his bank account not too long ago, yet he felt poor in front of this mysterious girl.
'I could swear her pockets were barely even bulging…'