The first day was nothing too special. What roads existed were mostly clear, and being able to buy a cart and some horses were great for moving larger distances... When they got to forests the cart would normally be an issue, but Rina apparently was a one woman lumber mill in terms of keeping a path ahead clear. She had enough weapons that didn't dull easily and the [skills] for it apparently. Add in that the goal of the quest was simple and this was mostly a quest in terms of surveying the wilderness and building a working relationship... or see if the new guys didn't mesh. Considering the old guard was Rina and Joseph, and if Rick didn't work out Rina was also out... Joseph was hoping that Rick would work out and hopefully the new guy would also work out... It was a pain finding a decent mage for their level of missions...
During the first break Joseph caught Rick tending to the horses with a [Cure Wounds]... and then saw him frown. Joseph snuck up and asked "What's wrong? Skill not work on an animal?"
Rick sighed and said "No... it's that it did work. I wasn't sure if they could join a flock, but it feels like they just... automatically joined when I healed them..."
"Are they going to turn into birds or something?" Joseph asked
"No... in this context my flock are... my followers of sorts. Rina is part of the flock, several of the townspeople are as well... and now the horses are..."
"Is that a problem?"
"Free will, I don't have a problem with people joining my flock it's just... I want it to be a real choice. I'm not sure these horses really understand... I hope they don't get frisky on the trip though..."
"What can you make them fuck?"
"[Enhance Virility] and [Natural healing] applies to all in my flock... I'm a [Fertile priest of Lust and Healing] apparently... and I was blackout drunk when I gained most of my levels..."
"I swear... you outworlders are messing with the balance of this world..."
"I'm just wondering if that god of mine is pressing more weight on that balance... why I want to get more out of my [survivalist] class"
Joseph just took a good look at Rick and said "That's not going to make me trust you."
"Great, I don't want to be surrounded by people who trust me... Rina's enough."
"And she should be enough unless all that priest stuff messed with her THAT much." Joseph could share a quip or two with Rick, there wasn't much trust from Joseph to Rick but there was enough that they wouldn't try to kill one another. Meanwhile the newbie [mage] of some sort had their head in their spellbook almost the whole time only occasionally taking it out to cast a minor spell to help make things go faster. Rina however was in her armor during drills for most of the trip so far.
"...I think she's concerned her form's changed enough that it'll mess her up... She's even doing tricks she normally has a hard time doing..." Joseph mentioned to Rick. Rick had a hard time following Rina's movements though... and he could see that she constantly was using that skill of hers [Equipment swap] a decent amount of get different weapons in her hands. Letting her swing with a greatsword into piercing at weak points with a rapier, to getting some distance from a theoretical enemy to shoot with a bow and some arrows.
Rick mentioned "If I didn't know better I'd think she could destroy a city with a rock."
"You don't know better" Joseph stated "Most cities don't have people high level enough to stop someone like Rina regularly. Only reason she isn't hunted like a cataclysm is that she's got a long track record and not a lot that could make her go ballistic... Least till recently."
"Sorry if I became a tactical liability, but is there harm in giving someone something they actually want to protect..." Rick humbled himself a bit and said "...I'm not here to debate philosophy... I'm here... to survive..." Rick wanted to be a [survivalist] here not a [priest]. When making camp Rick tried doing as much as he could or pay attention to how the experts of camping did things... and even refused rations as he had found enough... grasses and plants that his [edibility intuition] told him were edible... especially with his [robust stomach]... They didn't sit well with him, but...
Level up [Survivalist]: Level 5
Skill obtained: [Beast's digestion] obtained
...perhaps it sat with him a little bit easier.