James had accepted death. He was surrounded by goblins. There was no way he could survive. He was one against five. Goblins may be weak monsters but an untrained soldier came across a group of them he could barely survive.

 James was praying to the gods. His prayers were specifically for the God of History, Storyteller.

 “Oh dear God, please give me a miracle and let me see another day. In return, I shall live an interesting life for you. Please grant my prayers.” He prayed. The God of History was known to like humans with interesting lives, may they be adventurers, soldiers, or loyalty.

 A miracle was what he prayed for…

 And in his most desperate moment, the God granted his prayer.

 The five goblins that surrounded him fell to the ground, lifeless. There were arrows stuck on their heads.

 James was confused but grateful.

 A figure jumped down from a nearby tree.

 It was a young man, who seemed in his early twenties.

 His body seemed fragile and weak. He had brown hair and green eyes.

"Are you hurt?" the man asked.

"I am well thanks to you." James said. He got up from the ground and saw another man approaching. 

 He was a man who looked like an ogre. His body was muscular yet slim. He had black hair and brown eyes. His skin was unnaturally pale.

"What's your name?" the muscular man asked.

"My name is James. Thank you for saving me." James said.

"My name is Kyle and that's Ronald..." he pointed to the fragile-looking man"... it was no big deal."

"Do you need help?" Ronald said.

"I was going to the village of Hope. But I got lost." James said.

"Would you like to come wi-" Ronald said but he was interrupted by Kyle who pinched his arm.

"Why were you traveling to Hope?" Kyle asked.

"I was looking for a place to start a new life." James answered.

"Then we can help you ge-" Ronald tried to speak again but was interrupted by Kyle again.

 Kyle unsheathed his sword.

"One does not go looking for a new life if he had a good one. So say, why did you abandon your old life?"

Ronald looked quite shocked by what Kyle said. It was clear that their thoughts were completely different about James.

"I was kicked out of my house." James said.

Kyle looked relax for a moment.

"And why is that?" Kyle asked.

"My brother didn't want to share the farmlands." James said.

Kyle sheathed his sword. He looked understanding but James could feel that Kyle still didn't trust him fully.

"Do you need a ride?" Kyle asked.

"I would greatly appreciate it." James answered.

"You can travel with our cart,  we were also traveling for Hope." Ronald finally was able to finish a sentence.

"Your cart?" James asked. They didn't look like the type to travel by carts.

"We are merchants. Our cart is waiting for us a few meters away." Ronald said.

"I didn't think Hope had any value for merchants." James said while following right behind Ronald. Kyle was walking behind James to make sure he didn't try to do anything suspicious.

"Yes, that's true but that isn't why we are traveling there. I was going to visit my parents."

"Oh, so you are from Hope." James said. "Could you show me around when we get there?"

"Sure." Ron said.

They arrived at the merchant cart. It was a fairly small cart. It had a tent and barely could fit two people. Kyle got in the tent and Ronald sat on the front seat with James. They traveled for two days. James enjoyed Ronald's company and got along with him. The same couldn't be said for Kyle though. He warmed up to James as well but didn't trust him yet.

James thanked the Storyteller every night for giving him two miracles when he asked for one. Miracle of life and miracle of friendship.