《A Soldier's Life》 Chapter 1: Wrong Place, Wrong Time Chapter 1: Wrong ce, Wrong Time Chapter 1 I sat in the cold stone prison cell. The walls were worn, and the door was aged wood with heavy iron bands. I was literally wearing a potato sack. A dark wooden bowl of potato soup had steam rising from it near a stone b that was my bed. I was not hungry, though. It was my second day of residence. How did I get here? My nephew decided to have a shotgun wedding in South Dakota¡­in January. His high school girlfriend was pregnant, and her father was insisting on it. I decided to drive out from North Carolina for the wedding. While I was driving across the state of South Dakota, it started snowing¡­white-out conditions snowing¡­my phone was not getting any signal, so my GPS was not working. It had gotten so bad that visibility was nil, and the snow was umting fast on the highway with no plows in sight. I decided I had to get off the road. If you have ever driven through South Dakota, you know there is nothing in South Dakota. I took what I thought was an exit off the highway and drove down a road looking for a hotel, restaurant, or at least a gas station to wait out the storm. Well, there were none of these things as I drove a short way down the narrow road off the highway. I tried to turn around but, of course, got my little Toyota RAV4 stuck. I sat in the car for about an hour, watching my gas gauge go down. I started turning the car on and off, heating the car when it got too cold. I got out every time I restarted the car to ensure the exhaust was clear and then eagerly warmed my cold body and hands for a few minutes. Soon, it was sunset, and my gas was getting close to empty. It was around 1:00 a.m. when I finally ran out of gas. Fortunately, it was barely snowing now. I noticed a light in the distance. I was fairly certain it was not a streetmp, so I bundled up and approached it. I had to break through the 3-foot-deep snow to reach the light. It was tough, but when I finally arrived, I found it was arge barn. I walked around the building looking for the associated farmhouse but didn¡¯t see anything in the minimal light. I then decided to break into the barn, and I was able to pry the old door open just enough to squeeze in. I used the light on my phone to examine the interior. Eventually, I found what appeared to be some old horse nkets. At least they smelled like horses. Being cold and exhausted, I bundled the horse nkets into a makeshift nest and curled up to get some sleep. I could see my breath, and my fingers and toes were numb from the cold. I woke up to some light bleeding through the barn door. I looked for my phone and couldn¡¯t find it, and to my shock, I was also naked. I didn¡¯t remember stripping, but I had been cold, exhausted, and disoriented. I began crawling on the floor, looking for my clothes. I noticed it wasn¡¯t that cold. The barn door swung open as I was searching on my hands and knees. A middle-aged woman stood there, and we stared momentarily at each other. Weirdly, the first thing I noticed after the woman was that there was no snow outside. Had I just pulled a Rip Van Winkle? Well, she screamed and ran to the right. I tried to get her to calm down, running after her and yelling that I was not going to hurt her, but I forgot I was naked. I ran out of the barn to find myself standing butt-naked in the middle of a farm. There was an open stable to the left with some horses, a handful of chickens running around, and arge central farmhouse that had three young men running from it. I tried to talk to the angry boys, but they didn¡¯t seem to speak English and were yelling at me. Eventually, an older man came out with a small ancient crossbow. I knelt and immediately put my hands behind my head to appear as non-threatening as possible. It worked as I wasn¡¯t shot, and eventually, the younger boys tied me up, talking rapidly with their parents. After talking amongst themselves, they seemed to decide I needed to be brought to the police. They put me in a wooden wagon, still naked, and hooked up some horses. I then spent the next six hours bouncing around, watching fields of wheat and rye pass by. My captors didn¡¯t respond to any of my efforts tomunicate. Eventually, we entered a walled city that would fit any medieval setting. I was quickly escorted into a stone building and into my current cell. I was given arge, coarse bup sack with holes for my head and arms. No one couldmunicate with me. But after two days, finally, a man entered my cell. He wore rich yellow robes with a pristine white shirt and ck pants. He had an impassive face as he stood over me and looked at the half-eaten bowl of potato soup. The Magistrate introduced himself by activating a medallion that tranted for us. ¡°This device will allow us to talk openly with each other foreigner.¡± I processed that. So, this world had some type of technology¡ªor magic? ¡°I am Magistrate Advocate Persius. Your crimes have been logged. Do you wish your name to be associated with the writ, or should we leave it nk?¡± ¡°Crimes?¡± I questioned, standing. He stepped back but did not seem afraid of me. I did not look all that threatening in a sack. He straightened himself, ¡°You have been convicted of four separate charges. Trespassing, assault, attempted rape, and theft,¡± he said, reading from the parchment. ¡°Each crime has a penalty of ten silver.¡± My mouth hung, unable to work. I stuttered, ¡°What? I had no trial.¡± The Magistrate sighed, ¡°The truthseeker already confirmed the crimes by questioning Hydran and his family. The verdict has been stamped and logged, and the court has paid the fines to him. You must now return the funds to the court.¡± ¡°Can I talk to the truthseeker to clear my crimes?¡± I asked hopefully. ¡°No, he has already returned to the city. We only received this trantion amulet on loan to exin things to you since you seem to be a foreigner in the Empire,¡± he said with almost pity in his voice. Besides trespassing, everything seemed to be concocted by the farmers for as much wealth as possible. I wanted to be angry but didn¡¯t think that would benefit me at the moment. The Magistrate sighed at my silence, ¡°If you can not pay, you can be bored out¡¯ by the court. It should take two years to pay the funds back to the court.¡± My disbelief was evident, and I think he smirked, ¡°Or you can join the standing army. Foreigners are wee, and you will pick up our tongue quickly. You will be trained, fed, and sheltered. The pay for a soldier is one silver and eight copper per week after you finish the seven-week training¡ªthree times the remuneration of aborer.¡± He expounded on the army, ¡°You look a little bby but have excellent size. Whatever your profession prior to your crimes,¡± he scrutinized my tall, overweight frame, ¡°the army will teach you discipline and help you limate to the Empire. After your debt is paid, you will draw a bi-monthly wage. Enough to return to your homnd,¡± he smiled reassuringly. I hesitated as it seemed he was more a recruitment director than a magistrate, and I could guess why my trial had not included my presence. I was assuming I was not on Earth or Earth¡¯s past or future. My anxiety was holding silence as my mind raced. I was alone and uncertain how they would treat someone from another world. ¡°I will join the army,¡± I said hesitantly. My decision was for a few reasons¡ªfirst, the protection of being in an organization. Second, I had nothing, so being fed and clothed was an incentive. The third reason was that I had no idea how to defend myself in this new world, and I felt my best chance of living was learning how to fight. The Magistrate smiled like it had been a foregone conclusion. He was nice enough to answer my questions patiently, as he thought I was from a distant kingdom. I was interested in the currency system to find out how in debt I actually was. The mary system followed: one hundred copper coins equal one silver coin. One hundred silver coins equal one gold coin. He showed me a silver coin, and it was about the size of a nickel. Arge coin was the size of a half dor and was worth ten coins. The Magistrate produced arge stone tablet with silvery writing on it, ¡°You are fortunate that I was here testing some youth. This is an assessment tablet. Do you have them where youe from?¡± ¡°No. What does it do?¡± I asked, looking at the well-worn stone. He smiled tightly, ¡°It will check your potential and ability. The army has minimum standards, but with your size, I think this is a formality.¡± I was just shy of 6¡¯1¡± and somewhere between 210 and 220 pounds. He instructed me to hold the tablet. I held the tablet for a moment, and the Magistrate activated it with his magic¡ªdefinitely magic and not technology. It glowed, and the silvery script appeared. The letters looked vaguely familiar, but I could not read the words. The Magistrate told me what each line revealed, knowing that I could not read it if I did not speak thenguage. The Magistrate pointed to each line and read it to me, exining each as he read it.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength 21/79 Intellect 25/54 Aether Pool 7/21
Power 22/82 Reasoning 33/59 Channeling 2/55
Quickness 16/49 Perception 44/60 Aether Shaping 0/8
Dexterity 14/55 Insight 18/48 Aether Tolerance 19/50
Endurance 30/87 Resilience 40/71 Aether Resistance 3/19
Constitution 19/65 Empathy 9/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination 10/60 Fortitude 24/87 Minor Aether Affinity Time
His voice sounded schrly as he spoke, ¡°This is a very old tablet and may not be precisely calibrated, but it should be close. The first number is your current score, and the second is your human potential. Now, a normal person typically has a current score between 10 and 25 with a potential between 30 and 60. The upper limit for a human is 100. The seven physical stats are very important for your new career as a soldier. Strength basically details how much weight you can move with your muscles.¡± He looked at me dubiously. Not that the Magistrate looked fit himself. ¡°Your power is how fast you can move the weight. Quickness is how fast you can move and react. Dexterity reflects the manual control of your hands. Endurance reflects how long you can perform physical-rted tasks. Constitution is your ability to ignore the pain and recover from injury. Coordination is your control over your entire body.¡± He shifted in his stance and continued, ¡°Now, the requirements to join the general army are to have a potential of at least 40 in strength and endurance. So you qualify, congrattions.¡± He sounded slightly mocking. ¡°There is also a more advanced unit, the Legion of the Lion, you have probably heard of our famed legionnaires. They require you to have a minimum potential of 40 in all physical attributes and also 60 potential in Strength and Power. I will tell you only about one out of every threeplete the training, which is quite rigorous.¡± ¡°What does the rest of the tablet say?¡± I asked. He looked down at it, ¡°Not important for your new career, but I will exin. The next column is your mental traits. Your intellect shows your intelligence, how well you can recall knowledge. Your reasoning is your ability to understand¡­¡± he stopped before tranting the numbers further. Running his finger down the second and then the third column. ¡°Ah, you have excellent mental attributes and potential. Unfortunately, your magic traits are weak; otherwise, you might have been able to enroll in one of the magical colleges with a sponsor. Your affinities are both extremely rare as well.¡± He thought to himself for a long moment, ¡°Ah well, sorry to get sidetracked. Let¡¯s see¡­your reasoning is your ability to utilize information. Your perception is your awareness of the physical world. Your insight is your ability to decipher knowledge and make leaps of understanding. Resilience is your ability to resist mental attacks. Empathy is your ability to interpret other people¡¯s disposition. Finally, fortitude is your ability to function under mental fatigue and duress.¡± He paused to stretch his back from holding the stone, ¡°Now the final column just represents your magic ability. Your Aether Pool reflects how much magic aether your body can hold. Channeling reflects how fast you can use aether and replenish aether. Shaping is the ability to mold aether into a usable construct or spell form. Your Aether Tolerance is how much aether you can channel before sustaining damage to your body over the course of a day. Your aether resistance is your ability to resist magic and aether bacsh. All things you do not need to worry about as you will never be a mage.¡± He smiled congenially, ¡°Now, the final two lines are your affinities. There are 21 affinities in magic. Sevenmon, seven umon, and seven rare. Your two affinities are rare, but the rest of your magical stats are not impressive. If you were to attend a magic college, you would be evaluated for all 21 magic affinities as each ranks between 0 and 100 as well. This simple old tablet I have lists only your two highest affinities.¡± He paused and let me ask questions, ¡°What would be my term of service in the army and Legion of Lion?¡± He couldn¡¯t hide his grin like he had hooked a fish, ¡°Just five years. All your expenses will be paid by the Empire. The Lion is an elite unit and will also take ounders. But do not get your hopes up; even though your stats qualify you based on your potential, only one in three finish the training. If you fail, though, the only punishment is to be relegated to the regr army.¡± He added, ¡°The Legion are the elites. They get higher pay, better food, and are trained more thoroughly. As a legionnaire, your pay is five silver and forty copper per week. Five times a soldier.¡± ¡°What does the legion do that is different from the army?¡± I questioned. ¡°They serve as the elite troops of the kingdom, guarding mages, serving as royal guards, and elite troops in battle. The training is seven months, much longer than the seven weeks for a soldier,¡± he borated. I considered it and decided to apply to the Legion of the Lion. I thought seven months of training would be much better for my survivability than the seven weeks I would get as a soldier. I said, somewhat confidently, ¡°The Legion of the Lion.¡± The Magistrate smiled and said, ¡°Great! I will take care of the paperwork.¡± Iter found out the Magistrate got bonuses of 1 silver for each soldier he recruited and a quarter gold for each legionnaire he recruited. Maybe the crafty Magistrate had led me to make my decision for me. For the next meal, my potato soup had meat added to it and a half loaf of buttered bread. I felt like I was a pig being fattened for ughter now that I knew my fate. After two days, I was off in a wagon. I had a sealed letter that had a copy of my statistics. Some city soldiers escorted me as they brought me to the training camp. It was a six-day trip, and the caravan stopped in small towns every night, adding more potential soldiers each time. I couldn¡¯tmunicate, so I just observed and listened. Some words sounded familiar if I slowed down the speech and filtered the ent. I needed to learn thenguage as quickly as possible. We had seven guards and four open wagons. My guards and fellow recruits did not want to take the time to help me with mynguage barrier. So, I did my best to pick up words. When I learned water was called aqua I realized thenguage was based on Latin, or maybe it was Latin. I only took three years of Spanish in high school and only remembered how to say was ¡®my name is Eryk.¡¯ By the time we arrived at the camp, there were 24 recruits, including me. The main camp was for training soldiers. It looked like there were roughly 1000 soldiers in training here in groups of 25 as they marched in five-by-five blocks. I didn¡¯t have much time to watch as 21 recruits from my caravan got out here. Two otherrger recruits and myself were brought to a smaller camp, the training camp for the Legion of the Lion, which had arge manor nearby. My twopanions from the trip and I were brought inside a wooden barracks. About three-fourths of beds were upied. We took three of the open bunks. I immediately went to sleep, mentally and physically exhausted from my ordeal so far. ? The author holds all rights to the content Chapter 2: Training Chapter 2: Training Chapter 2 At breakfast, the food they fed us was copious but nd. I had trouble eating as my new reality was sinking in. I listened intently to others speaking and heard familiarity in their speech but did not ce it. Some words almost made sense, but the heavy ent and rapid speech made it difficult. We had no guards when I walked around the buildings. That surprised me, but I remained close to my assigned building and watched the older sses training. They worked on conditioning, fighting with various weapons, and coordinated marches and small formations of sixteen to twenty men. My stomach roiled as the muscr and fit men prepared. My stomach ponch was evident, and I was worried about what I had gotten myself into. We waited two more days before all bunks were filled. I was given a trantion amulet charged at breakfast by one of the magicians who healed injuries. His name was Damian, and I made efforts to befriend him. I thought it wise to be on friendly terms with the man who literally held your life in his hands. With the amulet, it was great to talk to others freely finally. Most of the men in our 100-person barracks were here because they, like me, had opted to be soldiers rather thanborers to pay off their crimes. Most of the crimes were not as petty as mine, though, with lots of murderers and assault cases. The amulet only worked when it was around my neck, so I was able to take it off and start to parse thenguage. I spent most of my free time connecting the words and developing a vocabry. I think thenguage was rted to English, so I rapidly added it to my mental dictionary. I was unsure if it was because I was a foreigner, my demeanor, or that I just did not speak thenguage without the amulet, but I had difficulty making friends. After two days of rtive freedom, our barrack was filled, and our training began. We had seven trainers who also served as wardens. One of our group tried to escape the second night, and he was promptly put on trial and executed. The follow-up speech by Ss, the Legionmander in charge, was not pleasant: ¡°You leave thepound without permission of an instructor, and you will be executed. Know that you can not run. Our mages,¡± he indicated seven men in a row, ¡°will track you in minutes. You choose to be here to atone for your crimes.¡± He made a hand motion, and one of the trainers grimly slid a long, pointed dagger under the chin and up into the brain of the vitor. The defiant look on his face turned to horror as he died. I promptly vomited and was not the only one. The scene made me have second thoughts about my choice to join and erased all thoughts of escaping myself. Ten months of hardbor was probably a better alternative. The dead man¡¯s bed was promptly filled with another recruit. There were seven barracks. Each with 100 bunks. When a barracks was full, the 7-month training began, usually on the first of the month. Each barracks had seven trainers, and arge estate building housed all themand staff. I wasn¡¯t sure how manymand staff there were, but Damian, who lived there, said it was over 100, not including attendants. There were also more than the seven mages who had been on disy at the execution, but Damian said their number fluctuated between ten and fifteen. On the first morning, we ran with weights before breakfast. Then ate arge meal. Then, we had a lecture that sounded mostly like propaganda to me. Our seven instructors schooled us in hand-to-handbat after the lecture. We were told if you lose a tooth, save it, and the magician can heal it back in ce, but that they would not waste aether in regrowing it. After handbat, we had another meal. Then, we were schooled in sword forms. We had to learn seven sword forms, each with seven segments. We practiced with weighted swords, striving for perfect movements. If we were good, they would give us a heavier sword. After a few hours with the sword, we spent time with one of the instructors. Each one taught another weapon, dagger, axe, crossbow, short sword, two-handed sword, spear, and polearm. They told us our goal was not to master another weapon but to learn enough to know how to fight effectively against someone with these weapons. So, we rotated every day between instructors in groups of 15. After the cross-weapon training, we did some more fitness training till sunset. Then we had a shower fed by an aqueduct, received healing if needed, and more food. We had two hours to ourselves before the sun set and darkness filled the barracks. The first few days, I had trouble moving. My body just stopped responding to the intense fatigue. The instructors did not scream and yell at me like in the movies. Instead, they offered calmly worded threats that I would be sent to the regr army if I could not keep going. That seemed to motivate the other men, so I also forced myself to continue. Convicted men in the army were usually sent to the front lines and used as fodder. At least, that was what the instructors told us. I pushed to keep myself from that fate.Most of us slept for our free two hours. I, however, noticed one of the only two women in our barracks of 100 practicing with a staff. Her name was Helena. I befriended her after some effort. The other woman in our group usually moved from bed to bed at night, whoring herself out for favors. Helena trusted me after a few days, and I spent my evenings gaining proficiency with the staff. Getting my abused body to do the extra training was not easy, but I was finding a mental resilience to the pain. At night, before going to sleep, I always tried my damnedest to charge the medallion myself. If there was magic in this world and I had a wisp of it, then I could make it work for me eventually. After two weeks of this, I think I was starting to feel the aether, but I was unsure. My body was broken repeatedly during training¡ªliterally. We had good healers to repair our injuries. Torn ligaments, broken bones, concussions, cuts, internal bleeding¡ªall of it was repairable with magic if they got to you in time. I got healing just about every day and found myself starting to be numb to the pain¡ªwhich one of the instructors told me was the point. It was a hallmark of a Legionarie, fighting on when his body was broken. At least now, I was able to function rtively normally with a broken arm. After three weeks, we were tested on the tablet again. Fourteen of our 100 washed out after the test and were sent to the regr army training camp. Some of us were surprised, but after I talked with Damian, I found out the amount of resources needed to train members of the Legion of Lion was ten times that of the regr army. This meant Commander Ss liked to cull the groups early. He exined this allowed our instructors to focus on the more promising soldiers. Damian, one of the dozen magicians administering the test, let me peruse my results on the tablet after my reading. Most of the other soldiers just had their results copied and sent away. Making friends with the man had been a boon for me.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+10/+0) 31/79 Intellect (+0/+0) 25/54 Aether Pool (+0/+0) 7/21
Power (+7/+0) 29/82 Reasoning (+2/+0) 35/59 Channeling (+1/+0) 3/55
Quickness (+2/+0) 18/49 Perception (+1/+0) 45/60 Aether Shaping (+1/+0) 1/8
Dexterity (+3/+0) 17/55 Insight (+1/+0) 19/48 Aether Tolerance (+0/+0) 19/50
Endurance (+11/+0) 41/87 Resilience (+0/+0) 40/71 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 3/19
Constitution (+3/+0) 22/65 Empathy (+0/+0) 9/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+7/+0) 17/60 Fortitude (+6/+0) 30/87 Minor Aether Affinity Time
My physical stats had made good progress. I was more curious to see my magic skills, which had barely moved, but still, they had moved! So the hour I had spent every night in bed trying to charge my amulet had done something. It gave me the motivation to continue the effort. After the tablet reading, we had arge round ofbats over three days to rank the remaining 86 members of the squad. I ced 48th in handbat, 37th in swordbat, 77th with daggers, and 29th with sword and shield. It had been the first time we had been given a shield, so I thought I did well. Then, in a sort of awards ceremony, the top three cers in eachbat got a minor essence of strength or power for a reward. The small marble-sized balls that were dark purple or orange, which the winners eagerly consumed. What is an essence? From Damian, I found out there are two effects of essences. One that could raise your potential in stat and one that could raise your attribute without having to bust your ass in training. The bottom three performers were sent to the army camp, reducing our barracks number to 83 after just three weeks of training. Talking to Damian, I found each minor essence costs between 1 and 20 gold coins depending on which stat. Physical stats were the cheapest, while magical stats were the most costly, and mental ones fell in between. Generally, it took between 10 and 30 minor essences to raise force a stat up one point without training. Unfortunately, minor essences usually have no effect once a stat reaches half of a person¡¯s potential unless the individual also trained. There were also major essences that were about an inch in diameter. These could help raise stats to about 80% of your potential without having to train. They were also ten times as effective at raising stats over minor essences, meaning you only needed to use 1 to 3 for an increase. ording to Damian, major essences cost between 50 to 500 gold. Finally, there were apex essences. They were the size of a golf ball but were very difficult to harvest, cost hundreds of gold, and could raise someone past 80% of their potential without training. More importantly, though, apex essences were the only thing that could raise your potential, the ceiling limitation of your stat. These essences were rare, expensive, and reserved for nobility. Using them on yourself was a crime unless you had permission from a noble. I began the next three weeks of training extremely focused on improving mybat skills. The instructors noticed and gave me more attention in practice sessions. I didn¡¯t want to fall below the imaginary line that would have me sent to the regr army. If I was going to survive in this world, I needed this training. I found my body limating to its new reality, and most of my body fat was gone after just six weeks. The next tablet test, three weekster, yielded good results for me.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+6/+0) 37/79 Intellect (+0/+0) 25/54 Aether Pool (+1/+0) 8/21
Power (+7/+0) 36/82 Reasoning (+0/+0) 35/59 Channeling (+0/+0) 3/55
Quickness (+3/+0) 21/49 Perception (+3/+0) 48/60 Aether Shaping (+0/+0) 1/8
Dexterity (+1/+0) 18/55 Insight (+1/+0) 20/48 Aether Tolerance (+0/+0) 19/50
Endurance (+6/+0) 47/87 Resilience (+1/+0) 41/71 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 3/19
Constitution (+2/+0) 24/65 Empathy (+0/+0) 9/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+12/+0) 29/60 Fortitude (+7/+1) 37/88 Minor Aether Affinity Time
The tester only recorded my physical and mental stats, ignoring the magic column again. I had substantial gains in my physical stats. I was benefiting from all the weapon practices. My mental fortitude potential had increased from 87 to 88. I asked the tablet testing mage about it. It wasn¡¯t Damian this time, but my goodwill among the mages seemed to have spread. He checked the records, ¡°A single point in potential increase is not unheard of. The tablet¡¯s calibration could be off, or you could have just been on the cusp between values. You shouldn¡¯t worry about it. Don¡¯t be surprised if it is 87 on your next reading.¡± I had waited to best in line so I could review my scores, and the three mages administering the test packed up the three tablets they were using carefully and left. Six people were expelled from our barracks after the tablet testing, bringing our number to 77. Rumor spread among us that the goal was to finish with 30 Legionnaires. The top 6 in our ss would be sent to the capital to join the Royal Legion, and the remaining 24 would form a toon under themand of a mage and be sent on missions across the Telhian Empire. Combat testing was fairly intense this round as everyone realized they might not make it and have to go to the regr army. The army was considered fodder to hold the borders. Life expectancy was not very high. I finished 19th in sword ranking, 24th in sword and shield, 29th in dagger, and 9th in hand-to-hand. We were also tested on our marksmanship with the crossbow, and I finished 18th. Once again, prize essences were handed out to the top three for each event, and three more soldiers were cut¡ª74 of us remained. We, shockingly, were given a day off with our first in 6 weeks of intensive training finished. Chapter 3: Beaten but Not Broken Chapter 3: Beaten but Not Broken Chapter 3 Announcement rewritten 7/23, working on chapt 4,5 and 6 soon (adding dialogue). rest of the story should be mostly good On my day off, I spent my morning swimming in theke that fed the showers at camp by a small aqueduct. I had made sure it was eptable before I headed up to theke, and one of my trainers confirmed it. There was a watchtower up there, and the two guards said I should just remain on the banks under it, and I would be fine. Thest thing I wanted was to be executed for trying to escape. I was sitting on the bank, admiring my fit body, and one of the mages came down to the bank with a fishing pole. Looking up, I noticed it was Damian. He had healed me many times and was usually the one who charged my trantion amulet. We started talking while he fished. ¡°Damian, what is the difference between a spell form and actual magic?¡± I asked while he cast over and over, something akin to fly fishing. He was very patient with me as he exined, ¡°In order to cast a spell, a mage has to channel aether into a construct. A construct can be a physical device, a spell form imprinted on their aether core, or created in the air using their aether maniption and manual dexterity. Thest way is what defines a mage. Their control over their aether and being able to create temporary spell forms that they can channel aether into to generate a spell effect. Give me your trantion amulet, Eryk.¡± I removed the device and handed it to him while he put down his fishing pole. He proceeded to disassemble the device, showing six stacked discs inside. Each disc wasplex runes. He assembled the device, orienting the discs on a tab, charged it, and handed it back to me. He continued, ¡°You can see how difficult it would be to write out all six sets of runes, maintain their forms, and then channel aether to cast theprehension spell.¡± ¡°Yes. I could maybe write one from memory if I studied it for a while, but all six?¡± I responded with a new appreciation of mages. ¡°There are some simpler spells with only threeyers, but it is not just writing them with aether in the air. You have to do it fast enough that they do not dissipate and keep them all oriented correctly. Even if someone had a strong affinity, only one in a thousand of those people can control their aether and truly cast spells. Mages are highly valued throughout the world,¡± he sighed. ¡°I am not a true mage. All my spells are spell forms permanently imprinted on my aether core.¡± ¡°Can anyone add spell form on their core to cast spells?¡± I inquired hopefully.¡°Yes and no. It is actually not too difficult as it is mostly intent and will. But you do need to have a strong enough affinity with the magic. Generally, a score of at least 10 in the affinity to sessfully imprint a spell form on your aether core. Less than that, it is extremely umon, Eryk.¡± He picked up his pole and continued to fish. After a while, I asked, ¡°So people generally don¡¯t have affinities over 10?¡± He looked over at me curiously, ¡°Generally, everyone is tested when they are fifteen. Do they not do that where you are from?¡± I remained calm and responded, ¡°No, it is reserved just for the nobility.¡± He nodded in understanding. ¡°A waste. You never know where the next great mage mighte from. But everyone always has some affinity for one of the magics. It is usually small, between five and six is normal. Secondary affinities are usually half of their primary.¡± He considered for a moment, ¡°If you have never been tested, maybe your primary affinity is strong enough to create a spell form on your core. If you wish, I can try and obtain an affinity assessment stone when it passes through. They are expensive and usually only found inrge cities.¡± ¡°I would appreciate that, Damian,¡± I replied with a hopeful smile. He nodded and cast again, ¡°I am actually quite well versed in the process. I can not create spell forms in the air but have seven different ones.¡± He held up his finger to demonstrate, and a steady me appeared on it. ¡°This is my fire affinity spell form. I only have an affinity of eight, so this was all I could manifest. Still, it is useful in lighting fires,¡± he smiled triumphantly. His smile fell. ¡°Your affinities were space and time?¡± I nodded. ¡°Do not get your hopes up. They are rare magics, which usually means lower strength of the attribute.¡± ¡°How strong is your healing affinity?¡± I asked. He smiled at my curiosity, ¡°Generally, asking is impolite a person their affinity strength.¡± He grinned, ¡°My healing affinity is 54. It is my second strongest affinity. My spell form can heal another person¡¯s flesh, organs, and bones.¡± Damian was one of the best healers in the camp, and I had been administered by him many a time. I pressed hopefully, ¡°Can you teach me some basic aether shaping exercises? I have a potential of eight and would like to improve.¡± Damian frowned, ¡°I thought it was something like that. In order to create spell form and cast spells like a true mage, it is considered a requirement to have a minimum score of forty in aether shaping. My own score is twenty-seven, and my potential is only slightly higher. I spent years trying to learn spells and failed.¡± Seeing my downcast expression, he tried to cheer me up, ¡°You still might be able to create a spell form, Eryk. I will see about borrowing a tablet if it passes through. And I will teach you the two basic exercises for aether shaping as well.¡± We spent the next two hours as a teacher and student. The two exercises were focused on visualization and meditation. Once you could feel the aether, you could manipte it with your mind. It waste in the day when we finished, and I thanked him and returned for dinner since I had missed lunch while I was out swimming. I nned to double up on my calories. I kept my routine over the next three weeks and could finally manifest the feeling of my aether in my core with the exercises Damian had imparted. It was difficult and mentally taxing. My control was crude, like kneading a dough ball in my core. My mental exhaustion didn¡¯t help me during morning fitness training the following day, so I needed to temper my efforts. The next wave of testing was upon us, and I was very curious to see my results.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+3/+0) 40/79 Intellect (+1/+0) 26/54 Aether Pool (+1/+0) 9/21
Power (+2/+0) 38/82 Reasoning (+3/+0) 38/59 Channeling (+2/+0) 5/55
Quickness (+2/+0) 23/49 Perception (+1/+0) 49/60 Aether Shaping (+3/+0) 4/8
Dexterity (+2/+0) 20/55 Insight (+6/+0) 26/49 Aether Tolerance (+1/+0) 20/50
Endurance (+3/+0) 50/87 Resilience (+2/+0) 43/71 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 3/19
Constitution (+4/+0) 28/65 Empathy (+0/+0) 9/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+2/+0) 31/61 Fortitude (+1/+0) 38/88 Minor Aether Affinity Time
The tester raised his eyebrows while writing down my new stats in the log. I again sneaked a peak at my magic stats and saw a great improvement. My next goal was to be able to charge my amulet by myself. I could nowmunicate in themon tongue without the amulet, but my vocabry was still limited. It appeared thenguage was derived from Latin, but I was not a linguist. I found out the amulet cost 20 gold, and when I graduated, it would not be going with me, so I needed a good grasp of thenguage before then. Six more were cut after the tablet readings, bringing our number to 68. Testing did not go as well as I had hoped. I finished 23rd in sword ranking, 30th in sword and shield, 25th in dagger, and 7th in hand-to-hand. We were also tested on spearmanship for the first time, and I finished 3rd. All of the practice with the staff and Helena had greatly helped. Helena was the only woman left in the barracks, and she was constantly harassed now. She was not in threat of getting raped because if she was, the man would have been executed the next day. She just had to deal with constant ¡®requests.¡¯ I would have helped her, but I was outnumbered and didn¡¯t want attention on me. Some men had taken to sharing in each other¡¯spany at night without a willing woman present. That was not my preference, and I hoped maybe after I graduated, I could find a woman. I used the intense training to keep myself distracted. For finishing 3rd in the spearpetition, I was awarded an essence! The awards were announced after three more men were dismissed, bringing our number to 65. I was worried as I was called to choose my essence. In the office of the high captain, I was asked which physical attribute I wanted a minor essence for. I thought about my shorings inbat. My lower speed and agility are what cost me the most during practice. So I needed to choose quickness, dexterity, or coordination. Mygging stat was dexterity, so I decided on that to increase my uracy with my de. The essence was a faintly glowing yellow pearl¡ªmaybe it was closer to the size of a marble. The high captain, seeing my confusion, said all I needed to do was swallow it. I went outside and examined the ball for a long time. I imagined what kind of power was contained within and how much potential was stored in the small item. I needed this reward to make a difference in mybat skills. I swallowed and focused intently on it as it dissolved and entered my stomach. I focused on the electric shocks in my veins and nerves that caused my muscles to twitch for a few minutes. When it ended, I did not feel any different. I do not know if I should have expected more. We had a day off again, and I hoped to meet the mage Damian again at theke shore, but he never came to fish. I spent the next three weeks backing off of my magic training and getting more rest to focus on my weapon skills. I couldn¡¯t afford to slide down in the rankings and get cut. The threat of being sent to the regr army hanging over me kept me motivated. After being at the camp for 12 weeks, I went confidently to the tablet testing for the first time. I knew I had made ground on some of the others and was looking forward to weapon testing after the tablet.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+2/+0) 42/79 Intellect (+0/+0) 26/54 Aether Pool (+1/+0) 9/22
Power (+1/+0) 39/82 Reasoning (+0/+0) 38/59 Channeling (+2/+0) 7/55
Quickness (+1/+0) 24/49 Perception (+0/+0) 49/60 Aether Shaping (+0/+0) 4/8
Dexterity (+4/+1) 24/56 Insight (+1/+0) 27/49 Aether Tolerance (+0/+0) 20/50
Endurance (+1/+0) 51/87 Resilience (+0/+0) 43/71 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 3/19
Constitution (+2/+0) 30/65 Empathy (+0/+0) 9/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+3/+0) 34/61 Fortitude (+2/+0) 40/89 Minor Aether Affinity Time
I was happy to see my dexterity improve by 4 points. My dexterity potential even increased by one point. The tester recording my data seemed to pause when he got to my dexterity. He went and looked at my past reading and today¡¯s reading a few times before continuing to copy my stats to my records. My physical attributes had improved significantly, so I looked forward to the rankingbat. I wasn¡¯t surprised my magic barely improved. I usually just yed with mana while I was taking a shit now, having given up on my hopes of bing a mage. Also, the nightly sessions caused fatigue the next day affected my training. Today, I didn¡¯t pay attention to people being pulled out but noticed only 58 beds in the barracks were filled when we returned and were preparing for the sword ranking portion of the testing. With our numbers reduced, the testing was only going to take two days this time. I finished 15th in sword ranking, 19th in sword and shield, 22nd in the dagger, and 5th in hand-to-hand. It was mostly thanks to my improved uracy. Having trained with the same people for so long, I caught them off guard. We were also tested in the polearm for the first time, and I finished 11th. After getting noticeable results I wished I would have earned another essence, but I didn¡¯t. If we had tested on the spear, I would have had a shot, but there were just too many guys ahead of me in the hierarchy of the other weapons. Only the bottom two soldiers were cut after weapons testing this time, leaving 56 of us. So after 12 weeks of the 29-week training cycle, almost half of our number had been eliminated. Helena hadn¡¯t been cut but was near the bottom of the results. I talked to her about it, and she wasn¡¯t concerned. She let me know female legionnaires were rare and that if she made it this far, she was probably going to make it and get assigned to special duty guarding a minor female noble rted to the ruling family. We had another off day, and I ran into Damian fishing. I initiated a conversation, ¡°Damian, do you know how we are eliminated based on our results?¡± He considered what to say, ¡°Themander decides based on the tablet testing. Sometimes it is the lowest summed physical attriubtes but not always. He talks with the trainers and removes men he feels will not be good legionaries. If you are not working hard, then you are at risk,¡± he advised. ¡°How am I performing?¡± I asked hesitantly. Damian thought for a moment, ¡°You work hard, but of the men, you are 25th or 26th in the summed physical stat pool rankings. At least three weeks ago, I think that was where you ranked.¡± My heart thudded. If only thirty men graduated, I was close to the body in my physical performance. Damian added, ¡°Themander leans heavily on the weapons testing, Eryk. If you are in the top twenty for sword and shield, you will be safe from the tablet cuts the following tablet testing. The men sent to the capital to join the Royal Legion patrol the city and fight primarily with the sword and shield, so I think that is why he stresses it.¡± That alleviated some of my concerns as I had decent skill with a sword now and just finished 19th in the sword and shield ranking. Damian added, ¡°The instructor andmander were actually discussing you the other day, Eryk. You made a sizable jump in your skill since thest testing.¡± I nodded as I realized a lot of the had to do with the essence I consumed. It had given me better control of my de. I could see why they were so valuable. Damian returned to his fishing, thinking I was done asking questions. He caught two decent-sized fish while I rxed in the cool air under the shade of a tree. I came up with some more questions. I rarely had this opportunity, and my fellow soldiers were mostly ignorant. They were also assholes for the most part. It wasn¡¯t like a normal army where camaraderie was the goal. This legion training seemed to be about improving and outdoing your fellow soldiers. I asked Damian, ¡°What are typical gains between readings for people?¡± He looked contemtive and said, ¡°Between 10 and 14 is normal after the first three weeks, then 6 to 10 each of the following testing periods.¡± I considered I was doing ok then. I might have even moved up faster than most of the others. I thought I had improved by 13 or 14 points in thisst period. Damian caught a third fish and started packing up. He said, ¡°I heard they n to send your cohort on a little adventure. There have been some red goblin attacks at a vige a hundred miles from here, and themander decided you all could use the change of scenery. You are going out on a little training patrol.¡± With that, he smiled, turned, and went to cook his fish. Chapter 4: Magic Affinities Chapter 4: Magic Affinities Chapter 4 Announcement rewrite on 7/27 still need to do 5 and 6 Well, the following day, we learned we were just taking our training on the road. It was 100 miles from where we were going. My squad had two woodsmen, two instructors, and two mages assigned to us. But they all rode horses while we spent our time at the fast march with heavy backpacks, leather armor, spear, sword, and shield. When we stopped, we were either eating or weapons training. Sleeping outside was not fun either, as the temperature dropped overnight, and our packed bedrolls were only thin wool. We even had to spend 4 hours on night watch duty. The woodsman and instructors schooled us in those duties. I spent my free hours with the woodsmen as well. Helena was in the other squad, traveling a separate route, so I could not get additional staff practice. The woodsmen showed me basic camping skills and some foraging skills. There were six nts I came to identify as edible, filling, and nutritious. Two were roots that had bulbs that could be found year-round, but you needed to pell and then boil them. Two were nuts from trees, a little umon, very bitter, and made your urine very pungent. Using the pungent urine to pee around your campsite at night would keep most wild animals from your camp. Thest two edibles were sap from shrubs; both were very sugary. You had to be careful just to drink the sap from the hollow stem on one and not eat the stem, which would give you massive diarrhea. We didn¡¯t see any wild game on our outings, but he did show me how to identify game trails and animal passing. It took five days to reach a farm that had been attacked. The mages and instructors rode out to question the farms nearby. We got a chance to rest, but I walked the nearby woods with the woodsman who had been instructing me. We found trails with humanoid prints. We were lucky as it hadn¡¯t rained and washed away the evidence. The woodsman guessed the farm had been attacked by 6 to 8 of the red goblins. We identified the direction they had left in by the trial of chicken feathers and footprints. Soon, the mages returned with the instructors. The family that lived at the farm had moved to a neighboring farm for protection. We headed out with the two woodsmen leading the way. The going was fairly slow, and I was put on the left nk, 10 yards out, since I was slightly better at moving quietly. Another soldier walked the right nk. The two woodsmen and two of our best soldiers were in the arrowhead. The main body of the force trailed 50 yards back with the horses, mages, and our trainers ready to support. One of the woodsmen hand-signed a trap to the lead element. We all stopped and waited. It was only two heartbeatster that all hell broke loose. Two goblins I didn¡¯t notice broke from my left less than 8 feet away. My first thought was that they looked more brown than red, then I got my wits about me. I interposed my sword and got ready to react. I deflected the wooden spear aimed at me and put the goblin attacking me between the other goblin. This would give me one foe for a short time. I tried to bash the close goblin with my shield, but it had already backed away. The other goblin began to circle, and sounds ofbat erupted from our center and right nk. I figured I would need to hold out for 15 to 20 seconds for our main force to close in. The two goblins I faced were 120 degrees apart and attacked in a coordinated lunge. Using my shield, I cleared the spear on my right. The sword in my left hand mostly deflected the other spear. It cut my armor near my ribs but did not reach my flesh. But I was able to move forward past the spears. Now, between the goblins, I swung my sword in a short, powerful arc, clipping the head of the goblin on the right in the head and taking a chunk of the skull with the hit.Using the swing¡¯s momentum, I came around quickly to face the other goblin with my shield. I saw anger and fear mixed in its human-like eyes. It hesitated, so I pushed forward, deflecting the spearhead down with a shield and using my sword to hack at its arms. I took off one of its hands, surprising both of us. As the goblin froze in shock, a quick sh to its neck ended its life. This all took less than eight heartbeats. I scanned the left nk, looking for other threats. Seeing nothing, I turned to help the center. One of the woodsmen was on the ground with the two soldiers and the other woodsman protecting him. At least eight goblins had them half surrounded, with more goblinsing to assist. The main force was still about 30 yards back. My training was to fall in and support the center, but looking at the circling goblins, I rushed the nk. I started a heavy run and used my shield to barrel into one goblin, driving it into another. Unfortunately, my feet got tangled, and I went down in a mess on smelly goblin limbs. I felt a pain in my ass and assumed I had just gotten a spear in my left ass cheek. As I rolled away, I was able to m the hilt of my sword into the eye of a goblin on the ground, crushing its orbital cavity. I had to release my shield or risk getting stuck on the ground in the tangle. Standing, I backed toward mypanions. The odds were better now: six goblins and four of us. The goblins had noticed our main force. The goblinsing to reinforce suddenly screamed, ¡°Flee,¡± and turned to run. I only understood the goblin speech because of my amulet. The six goblins turned and started to run. I jumped to pursue and cut down one immediately with a diagonal sh across its back. I took down a second slower goblin that had a limp and then paused, realizing I was alone. I had forgotten my training and pursued the goblins due to my surging adrenaline. I backed up and returned to the main force. The mages came and healed the injured woodsman and our minor injuries. I had a puncture in my ass cheek and had bled a fair amount, soaking my pants with blood. My pain tolerance was high from the training, but getting the healing from Damian and drinking some fluid recement was still a relief. Looking at the goblin bodies, I felt mildly ill. I had killed a sapient being. I did not have to dwell as the instructors had us moving. We soon formed a double deep line and moved forward. Ten minutester, we came to the goblin camp. Twenty or so goblins were packing up what they could. Seeing us approaching, they fled. We charged when ordered. I killed two more in the chaos, but they were both females. The wizards shot lightning at a few goblins that had gotten too far away for us to engage in melee. In all, maybe three goblins managed to escape. Then, one of the wizards took out arge magic runic shield and tried to suck essence out of the goblins. One out of five gave a minor essence. In total, he collected five essences from 27 goblins. I was quickly assigned to assist two woodsmen in tracking and killing the escaped goblins. Two other soldiers came with us. After six hours of pursuit, we managed to get only one goblin. The woodsman had us return in the moonlit night. The moon on this world was muchrger than Earth, and its strong blue light made it feel like constant twilight. We had been gone for over 10 hours, and I was exhausted and had bruises and numerous chafe marks on my flesh. However, I had no time to rest and was debriefed by the instructors upon returning. I got yelled at for my reckless and undisciplined attacks in the initial contact. After being told of all my errors multiple times, I was able to retire and quickly fell asleep after some cold stew. I was able to sleep till mid-morning, mostly because the woodsman had asked not to be woken before then, which meant the three soldiers who apanied them got the same treatment. I ate three breakfast portions. While I ate, I was next to one of the magicians. We got into a conversation. He told me about the loot they collected, ¡°The big haul was four minor dexterity and one minor strength essence. The goblins had about sixty copper coins and some iron tools.¡± He indicated the pile that had been assembled while I was hunting the goblins yesterday. Damian added, ¡°The coins and tools will be given to the farmer so he can rece some of his livestock.¡± ¡°Is that the only way to make essences,¡± I asked him, indicating the runic shield by the other mage. The mage tapped the shield, ¡°Yes, condensing life force from living beings or recent corpses. The collectors are expensive to artifice.¡± ¡°Could it be used on a human as well,¡± I asked, with my curiosity getting the better of me. Damian and the other mage gave me a strange look. Damian did answer, ¡°Yes. Some cultures believe consuming the essence of your defeated foe is your right. Others believe it should be passed onto their children, and others think they need the strength to seed in the afterlife in Pluto¡¯s realm.¡± ¡°You said it could be used on live beings,¡± I asked the first mage. He seemed ufortable with the question, ¡°Do they not have collectors in yournds? Or you just from some mudhole in the wild!¡± He stood and walked away, taking the collector with him. After he was a distance away, Damian answered my question, ¡°It can be used on live creatures and has a much higher probability of forming an essence. It was ouwed in the Telhian Empire and is now only used to execute criminals.¡± He pointed at the mage, ¡°He used to work in the big cities doing the executing. He has probably killed dozens of men with that collector in thest decade. Ripping a man¡¯s life force from people changes you.¡± I nodded in understanding. I had not quitee to grips with killing the goblins. It helped that they looked more monstrous than human. But as a soldier, I was going to have to eventually kill another man. I was not looking forward to that day. I turned the topic to magic, ¡°Can you tell me more about the magic affinities?¡± Damian smiled and went into teaching mode, ¡°There are three rarities of magic,mon, umon, and rare. Each one has seven affinities for a total of twenty-one known magical affinities. Eryk, both of your affinities fall into the rare rank.¡± ¡°What are the rare affinities?¡± I leaned in close to listen Damian smiled as he listed them: ¡°The seven rare affinities were space, time, discement, materialism, void, worlds, and convergence.¡± He shifted to face me, ¡°Space is primarily the ability to create pocket dimensions. Time is limited control over time, usually speeding up or slowing time around the mage. Discement is the ability to teleport. Discement mages are extremely rare and valuable in the Empire. They operate the portals in therger cities.¡± Damian paused to take a drink. He still had my attention when he continued, ¡°Materialism is summoning objects from nothing, but it breaking the second covenant of magic that objects can not be created from nothing. There is a lot of debate that the objects are summoned and not created. Void magic is eliminating something from existence. It is extremely rare magic, and anyone with its affinity is sent to the Mage College in the capital for study. Now, world magic is the ability to move between nes. Traveling the cosmos like a great adventurer!¡± He dwelled for a moment on the idea of traveling between the stars. ¡°Finally, convergence is the rarest of all the rare magics. It allows a mage to draw mana from the environment, specifically at ley line convergences. Essentially, the mage could have an infinite well of aether under the correct circumstances and wield tremendous power!¡± Damian finished with a re of his hands. Damian stood and was about to leave, ¡°Eryk, I know your strongest affinity is space. I do not want to get your hopes up, but if you sessfullyplete the legionnaire training, themander is considering testing you to see if you can learn the dimensional pocket. Since you have a low potential in aether shaping, you would have to imprint the spell form on your aether core to learn it.¡± ¡°What exactly is a dimensional pocket?¡± I asked. Damian nodded and continued, ¡°It creates a private space from which a mage can put and pull items. They are usually small, but even a legionnaire with a small space could be enlisted as a royal messenger. But do not get your hopes up. When I can get a tablet, we can see if your affinity for space magic is at least ten.¡± Damian reiterated, ¡°Most people have affinity ratings under five in their primary affinity. It is one of the reasons they have not checked you. They assumed you would have been evaluated in your homnd and, if you had any potential, would have utilized it. I have not told anyone you have never been tested.¡± I was twenty-five, and it wasmon for people to have all their affinities checked when they turned fifteen in the capital or arge city in the Telhian Empire. Damian was called away to attend to an injury. I was gaining a lot of benefits from my friendship with the mage. That he was willing to keep my secrets was a massive boon to go with the preferential healing he gave me. Unlike most of the other men, I had no scars from all the healing I had received while training. It was a few more days before we packed up and returned to the training camp. We had no luck in locating more goblins. The instructors said they probably crawled down a hole to breed for the winter, and he would have toe back again next year. We learned the other squad had killed 48 goblins and lost three of their members. After returning, we had two days off and were tested again on the tablet.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+2/+0) 44/79 Intellect (+0/+0) 26/54 Aether Pool (+1/+0) 10/22
Power (+1/+0) 40/82 Reasoning (+2/+0) 40/59 Channeling (+0/+0) 7/55
Quickness (+2/+0) 26/49 Perception (+3/+0) 52/60 Aether Shaping (+0/+0) 4/8
Dexterity (+1/+0) 25/56 Insight (+1/+0) 28/49 Aether Tolerance (+0/+0) 20/50
Endurance (+5/+0) 56/87 Resilience (+1/+0) 44/71 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 3/19
Constitution (+4/+0) 34/65 Empathy (+1/+0) 10/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+1/+0) 35/61 Fortitude (+4/+0) 44/89 Minor Aether Affinity Time
I made modest gains for myself, but Damian said I was doing well, and as long as I didn¡¯t get myself killed, I would graduate. For weapons testing, I finished 11th in sword ranking, 18th in sword and shield, 22nd in the dagger, and 7th in hand-to-hand. I realized that two of the men killed had been ahead of me in the rankings. I learned they had done something foolish like myself, rushing alone intobat with multiple foes. We were also tested in dual-wield sword skill, which none of us had familiarity with. I fished 11th. I liked this style because I could use my quickness to alter which hand was defending and which was attacking and surprise my opponent. I also found from all the training I was slightly ambidextrous. One of the trainers said I had the mentality for a two-weapon style, but they only taught it here, so we would be familiar with it if we faced an opponent wielding two weapons. Three had been dropped after ability testing, and another five were cut after weapons testing. This left 46 of us remaining. The strange thing is we actually started forming bonds. Putting our unit against amon foe had broken down the walls ofpetition against each other. I don¡¯t know if that had been nned, but it made life in the barracks more bearable for me. We had light training as our instructors had to travel to the army camp. We were not told the reason. Forty-two of the forty-nine instructors left for two days. Only forty returned, and even Damian was in the dark why. During the lighter training days, I had an opportunity. Damian excitedly said the estate had a magic affinity tablet. They were expensive, and this one was only going to be here for two days as it was on its way back to the Mage College in the capital. He conspired to bring it to theke so I could check my ability in the space affinity privately. His offer almost sounded like a trap, but I agreed. Damian brought the tablet and said, ¡°I have configured it to disy rankings of all the rare affinity magics. The tablet can only disy themon, umon, or rare magics one at a time.¡± He showed me how it was set to do so. ¡°Are you going to see my scores?¡± I asked as he carefully handed me the tablet. He seemed to consider and, maybe judging by my anxiety, said, ¡°No. You can keep the information to yourself.¡± ¡°Then why are you helping me?¡± I said with confusion. He seemed ufortable, ¡°I am a bit of a loner. You are the first soldier in my time here who actually made an effort to befriend me. You are a decent person, unlike most of the men and women whoe here to be a legionnaire as well.¡± Well, score one for me for not wanting to die. I looked at the tablet. It was much fancier than the general ability tablet. ¡°Just like charging the amulet, push your aether into this section,¡± Damian indicated. I did as instructed and looked at my scores. It took me time as I barely had learned the writtennguage. It was simr to Latin, but it took me time to trante in my head. I think Damian thought my concentration was due to disappointment. I looked up and asked, ¡°What do the scores mean?¡± Damian pursed his lips like he was about to break the bad news to me, ¡°True mages usually have 3-4 affinities over 60, usually all in the same rarity category. The average person only has one affinity, around five. The higher the number in an affinity, the more power exponentially. Ten being base noted for as the recognized minimum to demonstrate power.¡± ¡°So any magic affinity under ten is essentially useless?¡± I asked, looking at the tablet again. Damian nodded, ¡°A score of twenty is twice as strong as a score of ten. From there, the real power starts. A score of thirty is four times the rtive power of ten. Forty is eight times. Fifty is sixteen times. Sixity is thirty-two times as strong.¡± I interrupted to finish for him, ¡°Seventy is sixty-four times as strong. A score of eighty is one hundred twenty-eight as strong.¡± Damian held up his hand to stop me, ¡°Correct! But maybe only one in 25,000 people had any affinity over eighty. Scores of ny are unheard of and are two hundred fifty-six as powerful. Maybe 1 in a million would have an affinity at 90 or higher!¡± ¡°How do I clear my scores?¡± I asked. He showed me and I did so and handed him back the tablet. ¡°Why was this tablet here?¡± ¡°A peasant girl was found with powerful elemental affinities. She was flying over the forest! Can you believe that! I heard she had fire, air, water, and earth all at 72! Can you imagine how powerful that girl is going to be one day!¡± Damian said excitedly. He asked the question solemnly, ¡°So can you? Is your space affinity over ten?¡± I nodded, and his eyes brightened, ¡°Excellent! We can start working on learning the dimensional spell if you want. I can show you all the tricks I learned in my time imprinting spell forms.¡± He was extremely excited about the opportunity to pass on his knowledge. After Damian left, I recalled my scores. He had never asked me what they were. The numbers were burned into my memory.
Space 98
Time 90
Discement 61
Materialism 9
Worlds 88
Void 22
Convergence 74
Chapter 5: Secret Space Chapter 5: Secret Space Chapter 5 I met with Damian almost every evening as he guided me on the principles of learning a spell. He really thought I would not learn the dimensional pocket spell but instead utilize my innate ability to create a simple spell formation to create the pocket space. He assured me that as long as my affinity score was over 10, I could eventually create a spell form. Very few people with aether could actually learn the intricacies of memorizing and casting spells. It was also going to be a few weeks before a copy of the spell could be transported from the mage academy to him. He assured me he had sent the request. As my training progressed with Damian, I missed spending my evenings with Helena and getting in some staff practice. Helena was very rough around the edges, but as I felt more and morefortable in my new world, my human desires started to rise. The scarred and muscr woman that was Helena was looking better and better to me as she was the only woman I got to see on a regr basis. Her bed in the barracks was right next to mine as well. Damian was a patient teacher. I think he was also very bored in his assignment as a healer to the training legion. His assistance was invaluable as, at my next testing, I had substantial gains in my magical development. My gains were so significant that the fort¡¯smander was informed and called me before him.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+1/+0) 45/79 Intellect (+2/+0) 28/54 Aether Pool (+2/+0) 12/22
Power (+2/+0) 42/82 Reasoning (+2/+0) 42/59 Channeling (+2/+0) 9/55
Quickness (+1/+0) 27/49 Perception (+0/+0) 52/60 Aether Shaping (+6/+0) 6/8
Dexterity (+2/+0) 27/56 Insight (+2/+0) 30/49 Aether Tolerance (+1/+0) 21/50
Endurance (+0/+0) 56/87 Resilience (+1/+0) 45/71 Aether Resistance (+1/+0) 4/19
Constitution (+2/+0) 36/65 Empathy (+0/+0) 10/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+2/+0) 37/61 Fortitude (+1/+0) 45/89 Minor Aether Affinity Time
He looked over the transcribed numbers on a piece of paper while I stood at attention. Then he spoke, ¡°Soldier, how did you make such significant gains in three weeks?¡± His icy blue eyes focused on me from the sheet. ¡°During our free time after dinner, the healing mage had been helping me, sir.¡± Themander was a veryrge man and shifted in his chair and pulled some more paperwork to him and read it. ¡°Do you think you can learn to create a dimensional space soldier before you graduate?¡± He asked sternly. I had absolutely no idea. I didn¡¯t even know if I was close. I was hoping my ridiculous score in space magic would have helped by now. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± I said with confidence, even though it was faked. He nodded and looked at some more papers. ¡°Ok, you can work with the healing mage. Is it Damian?¡± I nodded. ¡°Work with him in the morning as well as the evening. You can have the second daily conditioning phase off. There are three requests for a soldier with a dimensional storage ability or spell. One is from the first prince himself.¡± He looked at me again and focused on my amulet. ¡°I no longer require the amulet, sir. I have a basic understanding of thenguage.¡± I answered his question before it was asked. It would have been embarrassing for him to send someone who couldn¡¯tmunicate with hismander. ¡°You are dismissed. Damian will keep me updated on your progress.¡± I left the intimidating gaze of the man. I didn¡¯t see Damian for the two days of testing. I did much better than I anticipated. I finished 12th in sword ranking, 15th in sword and shield, 20th in the dagger, 9th in hand-to-hand, 4th in the spear. Although my rankings didn¡¯t improve much, I thought my level of ability had closed the gap with those I had previously deemed far superior to me. I also had a feeling that themander had tested us in the spear to reward me since it was my best weapon. I still missed out on an essence reward, though. Damian still had not shown and I asked one of the other mages about it. He said Damian had been sent by themander to retrieve a spell. He should be back soon. I immediately guessed it was my dimensional space spell. As training resumed, there were only 43 of us left. I had been preupied with my own problems that I didn¡¯t notice the cuts from the tablet testing and thebat rankings. We were quickly zeroing in on the desired 30 graduates. Getting the second half of conditioning off did not endear me to my fellow legionnaires. The special treatment actually meant I had to deal with more aggression from multiple directions duringbat training. In the four days before Damian returned I suffered just as many broken bones andcerations as I had in the previous nine weeks. Damian appeared after dinner one night while I was working on my exercises by theke. It was quiet up here and the other soldiers rarely came up here. He waived a pamphlet as he approached. ¡°I got the spell and a more recent copy at that!¡± He said excitedly. We spent the evening going over the spell, and Damian exined things as best he could. The best way to describe a spell was math. The aether wrote out the form, and when you funneled your aether stores into it, you got the result. It meant magic had a massive range based on changing a few variables. During the rest of the interim testing, we worked on the spell, and I was actually starting to get an understanding of magic. It was an obscure understanding, but at least that was something. My progression was not good when the testing rolled aroundpared to my prior efforts.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+1/+0) 46/79 Intellect (+0/+0) 28/54 Aether Pool (+0/+0) 12/22
Power (+1/+0) 43/82 Reasoning (+2/+0) 44/59 Channeling (+1/+0) 10/55
Quickness (+2/+0) 29/49 Perception (+0/+0) 52/60 Aether Shaping (+0/+0) 6/8
Dexterity (+0/+0) 27/56 Insight (+1/+0) 31/49 Aether Tolerance (+0/+0) 21/50
Endurance (+0/+0) 56/87 Resilience (+0/+0) 45/71 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 4/19
Constitution (+1/+0) 37/65 Empathy (+0/+0) 10/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+1/+0) 38/61 Fortitude (+1/+0) 46/89 Minor Aether Affinity Time
At our next tutoring session, Damian revealed my scores put me at 28th in my training group. He told me I had dropped four positions from three weeks ago. The good news was themander was very interested in seeing me learn a storage space spell. He would be in line for a reward if he produced such a soldier. The weapons ranking went terribly. I was essentially gained up upon as my barracks shared information about my habits and weaknesses. I finished 22nd in sword ranking, 25th in sword and shield, 34th in the dagger, 14th in hand-to-hand, and 11th in dual wield. They made no secret of sharing my deficiencies among themselves, so much for building camaraderie. Between the two tests, we only lost three, bringing us down to 37. If it was true only 30 could graduate, then it was going to be fairly brutal to avoid being one of thest seven cuts. I actually wished I had made an effort to make friends. The problem I had was everyone was kind of an asshole. They were here because they had eithermitted brutal crimes or wanted to be at the top of the food chain. Even Helena had her own air of superiority to her. Fortunately, things finally worked out for me a week after we dropped our numbers down to 37. My space spell form initiated. I had obtained my dimensional space, and it was far more powerful than I could have imagined. A translucent cube would appear visible only to me and oriented to my person. Inside the cube, there was no gravity and no passage of time. If I choose to, I could cancel the space, and anything caught on the edge would be sheared off. Even if the space was active, I could actively allow objects to pass through so they wouldn¡¯t be aware of the space. There were negatives. Keeping the space open cost two aether every thirty seconds, and that was the minimum I needed to spend on using the ability. So my pathetic aether pool of 12 made it somewhat limiting. When I ran out of aether the space closed no matter what. I excitedly found Damian, ¡°It works. I got my pocket space!¡± Damian¡¯s face showed surprise, followed by joy. ¡°Howrge is the space?¡± He asked. My space wasrge, about a 10 foot cube. I knew he would be impressed. ¡°How big do you think it is? What is a good size?¡± I prompted a response. ¡°A cubic foot would be exceptional! But six cubic inches should be enough to get you a messenger position.¡± He said anxiously awaiting my response. I paused. The spell created a space of about a cubic foot so my space was about 1000 times that volume. I guessed it had to do with my 98 space magic stat. If I revealed this would I end up married to some princess? Or would I end up being enved to a king transporting illicit items for him. I decided to go for the middle ground. ¡°It is just over a cubic foot maybe one and half to a side.¡± I said. ¡°We should go to themander immediately! He will want to hear this! And he will probably test you to confirm what you are saying is true.¡± Damian was bouncing all the way to the manor and kept telling me to hurry up. In front of themander, it was as he said. I was tested to confirm that I did in fact, have a space the size I mentioned. His smile grew as everything was confirmed. I also found out that I was even more fortunate. Because the space was formed as a spell form ability and not a spell, it was permanent. If I had used a spell, then my link to the space could be broken and the contents lost. Now, the only way to destroy the items in my space was to kill me. Themander spoke, ¡°The prince¡¯s request has already been fulfilled. The other two requests in the kingdom are still open. I will send word of your potential and wait to hear back.¡± He seemed giddy as he started writing the letters. I imagined he was in line for a sizable bonus. ¡°There is great news for you. Once your assignment is approved, you will be promoted to full legionnaire under the Lion¡¯s banner. You will start receiving payments. Of course, we should get you fitted for your legionnaire¡¯s gear. You were probably not told, but your sry will be withheld to pay for the gear. Seventeen gold in total.¡± My jaw dropped. The was astronomicalpared to the 20 silver I owed the farmers. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You are gifted a full set of gear on your 5th anniversary. So if your gear is intact, you will get the coin back. You will probably earn more than 5 silver, 40 copper as you will be a specialist as well.¡± I did the rough math in my head. That 17 gold was over 310 weeks of pay! I didn¡¯t know if I should be angry or not. As we left, themander and Damian tried to soothe me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You are allowed to take loans out against future pay up to 5 silver a week. The equipment payment is just to let you know that it is owned by the kingdom and not yours until youplete five years of service.¡± That did make me feel slightly better. ¡°So keep it in good order and don¡¯t borrow too heavily. The interest rate is small over five years it does add up.¡± He finished. Great, I was in a kingdom that was aware of how to usepounding interest against you! The next day, during training, themander came out and watched. It was the first time he did, and everyone was trying hard to impress him. When my opponent got a head strike on me, causing a bleed and conclusion, the instructor rushed and reprimanded him. This left our group stunned. This had never happened before. I was now valuable to themander. Damaging his little piggy bank was off-limits. Four dayster, Damian found me after breakfast. ¡°Word just came down. You are going to be assigned to Master Mage Castille.¡± He didn¡¯t seem too enthused by this. ¡°So what is the problem?¡± I asked, sounding worried. ¡°She is a bit of a problem solver. She takes on the most difficult assignments. Her legionnaires are top tier, but their mortality is somewhat high due to the dangers of the missions they undertake.¡± He finished. God fucking damn it! I was assigned to the suicide squad! Chapter 6: The Long Road Chapter 6: The Long Road Chapter 6 I was sized for my legion armor. The tailor was a bit handsy, but it fit perfectly when I got the armor three dayster. Themander pulled me from training, and Damian spent time with me in the morning going over my duties for mage Castile. I was to be a porter for potions and the unit funds. Since dimensional spaces did not have time progression, I would be carrying an array of various potions for the mage. I would still be expected to fight, but only at the mage¡¯s side. The only good news he could find is the unit allowed each soldier to use their preferred weapon. Most mages in charge of a unit had everyone wield the same weapon, so they looked uniform, but Castile wanted her unit as effective as possible. The rest of the news was not good. Mage Castile typically replenished 6-8 legionnaires a month¡ªa fairly high fatality rate. My orders came, and I was to make the best speed to the Agorian front to connect with my unit. I would be traveling with part of a regr army detachment headed to the front. I would be the only legionnaire in the group. I was marching alongside 124 men down a dusty road two dayster. I was wearing my new leather armor, and soon the rubbed shininess was covered in dust, and my sweat and body odor muted the fresh leather smell. The captain of the army unit moved to walk beside me, and we talked most of the first day of the march. He informed me we had about a week of marching before reaching our destination. He also freely shared what he knew. The Agorian front was the border of our kingdom and the trollnds. It wasn¡¯t the trolls that required constant subduing though, it was the marsh goblins and troglodytes. The trolls bred slowly while the other two races bred prolifically, and surging poptions attacked the border every few months. When I asked why we didn¡¯t eradicate the source, he said thend was mostly swamps and useless to humans. Also, there were so many underground marsh settlements. Eliminating them would be dangerous, and they would miss some and breed back to a nuisance over time anyway. My legionnaire kit had a small personal tent, a cook set, rations, and a bedroll. All the equipment in the backpack weighed over fifty pounds. Walking in the new leather and carrying the backpack had me achieve new pains and chaff marks in ces I cared not to discuss. We camped outside of towns at the end of a day¡¯s march. I wanted to fill up my dimensional space with my kit but thought it best not to advertise my ability. I was able to eat from the soldier¡¯s meal cart and conserve my hard rations. Due to this, after setting up my tent the first night, I moved the ten pounds of rations into my dimensional storage, lightening my pack nicely for tomorrow¡¯s thirty-mile march. The food wasn¡¯t too bad. Some type of sweet cabbage with potatoes and celery. Minimal salt seasoning, but it still was filling. I was up and packed at first light, well before the soldiers. Even though they were not carrying backpacks, they were in much rougher shape than me. Comints flew freely when the officers were out of earshot. I just kept to myself, not wanting to put in the effort to make friends I would never see again. The captain chose to walk with me again the second day, and I made an effort for a conversation by asking him about himself. Captain Lucian was the third son of a career army officer. His fathermanded a garrison in one of therge cities. He was young, and this was his firstmand. He was going tomand the overnight watch at one of the forts along Agorian swamps. It was an easy assignment, ording to Lucian. After one year and he would be recalled. I asked Lucian what was a hard assignment then. He told me about the active war fronts. The constant skirmishes with the other human, elven, and orc kingdoms. Defending and expanding those borders was a constant sink of soldiers.I asked him if women were allowed in the army like the legion. His response was calcted. It had been tried but always failed eventually. The legion had more discipline and did a much better job of policing themselves. That was all he said on the subject. The days on the road started to blur. I spent my nights alone in my tent and, oiled my armor, sharpened my two spears and short sword. I practiced what Damian had taught me. I wished I had another spell to work on. I did have high affinities that I could try to manifest a new ability. My discement affinity was at 61. Discement was essentially teleportation. The problem was Damian had told me teleportation magic took a lot of aether to use, and aether was one thing I did not have. On the third evening, I started practicing with the spear. It was best not to get too rusty. Captain Lucian came over and practiced with me. He was good from ten years of experience. I was still able to hold my own. When we switched to des, he far outssed me. Thankfully the captain was open to teaching me, which I appreciated. The soldiers watched us as we practiced, but if they were not ordered to train, they would just rest from the long day¡¯s march. Six days and nearly two hundred miles, the sprawling fields and woonds transformed into dead wood and foul-smelling stagnant pools. We had reached the edge of the Agorian Swamp. We reached a square wooden fort on the morning of the seventh day, but the fort the soldiers were going to was arger central fort another tent miles down the road. That was where my orders had ordered me to report as well. The pace picked up as the destination after long days of march was close. The end meant rest to the men. The central fort was massive when we approached it. It had forty-foot-high stone walls. Stone walls in a swamp indicated there had been a lot of expense in building this fortification. It was massive inside as well. The baily was filled with two-story buildings that were civilian businesses. Captain Lucian described the lower part of the fort as having enough variety to keep a thousand soldiers happy and collect their free coin. Captain Lucian pointed out a stone building near the citadel on the far side of the bailey. ¡°That is your destination. The legion offices for the fort. Every military fortification has a legion office, but this region rarely sees members of the legion, so I am not sure what is inside.¡± I walked the shops slowly before heading up the incline to the Legion building. Two brothels, a general store, three taverns, and one inn. The businesses were active with off-duty soldiers. I had no coin, so I moved to meet my newmander. The symbol of the Legion of the Lion was on the door. When I entered, a middle-aged woman was inmoner clothes behind a long bar. A few tables were in the room, and only one table had two men in worn and aged leather armor. One graying man pointed at me, ¡°Are you the raw trainee porter?¡± He asked gruffly. I nodded slowly, as I figured out that described me pretty well. The other man stood, knocking his chair to the floor with a thud. He drained his tankard, ¡°About time. Magus Castile left two days ago for Formica, arge mining town nestled north of here in the Ironspine mountains. I will get the horses ready. We will leave shortly.¡± Still a little in shock at the informality, I was silent. The first man to speak was looking at me, evaluating me. He finally said, ¡°ina can bring you back to the storage room. Resupply your pack and take anything else you want. Castile is not someone to be kept waiting, so be quick about it.¡± I did not tell them that I did not know how to ride a horse. I figured I could figure it out on the way. I had gone on a trail ride or two as a kid. The woman motioned me to the back room, unlocked a heavy door, and then left me. I went inside and found two rows of deep shelves stocked with everything a soldier could possibly want. I turned back, and she was gone. Could I just take anything I wanted? Would I be charged for the items like my armor? Was there some type of registry? I slowly closed the door and started walking the aisles. One aisle had foodstuff, and the other aisle had clothing, gear, and weapons. I didn¡¯t have much time, and I was told to resupply. That seemed like an open-ended order¡­. Chapter 7: Welcome to the Legion Chapter 7: Wee to the Legion Chapter 7 I looked at the door a few times before deciding to go for it. The forty-foot-long corridor had two wide aisles and deep shelves packed with gear. A lot of the gear had ayer of dust. I grabbed tworge Legionnaire backpacks and went to the provision aisle first. My dimensional space was immune to the passage of time, but all these items already had a long shelf life. The shelves were neat and orderly as I started filling the two packs. One 5 lb sack of peppercorns, three 5 lb bags of sea salt, five jars of berry preserves, six 5 lb sacks of flour, tworge bags of dried mushrooms, tworge bags of potatoes, a bag of onions, two massive blocks of hard cheese, a dozen thick links of hard smi asrge as my forearm, two 10 lb bags of sugar, four sealed jars that I was fairly certain were yeast After checking the door, I moved both of the stuffed and extremely heavy food backpacks to the dimensional space. Then I grabbed two more backpacks and went to the clothing aisles. Two heavy ck oiled cloaks used as rain gear, Two heavy ck wool cloaks with soft linen linens used for warmth, two heavy wool nkets for horses, six underwear, one dozen pairs of wool socks, six light undershirts, four linen pants, six leather belts, two pairs of boots that were already broken in The clothes were bulky and filled the two backpacks, so I sent them to my dimensional storage after rechecking the door. At the end of the aisle, wererge twenty-gallon casks. Most were marked as water, but a few were marked as rum or whiskey. I looked at the doorway again. It was still closed. I shifted one rum and one whiskey cask into my dimensional storage and then two water barrels. I only had enough remaining mana to open my dimensional space one more time. I thought it best to conserve it even though I wanted a lot more in this warehouse. I suppose I should actually carry something out as well. I grabbed a satchel and a few more things, a ck leather bound book with lined sheets to use as a ledger, small vials of ink and quills, a bag of apples, and arge bag of candied nuts to snack on. I walked down the weapon aisle, adding some knives for cooking and two nice short swords, when the soldier poked his head in, ¡°You ready? The horses are out front.¡± I nodded and hustled to him. ¡°Do I need to show what I took?¡± I asked, indicating the room.¡°Nah, not out at a crappy outpost like this. Most of the shit in here is spoils of war. The legion patrols the trade routes north of here, and stuff just finds its way here. In therger cities, you need to be more careful. Marta just lets us take whatever when wee through here.¡± ¡°I thought her name was ina,¡± I asked, walking out with him. ¡°ina and Marta both run this outpost for the Legion. Marta is a retired legionnaire. ina is her daughter,¡± he informed me. I followed him outside, and the other legionnaire was already mounted. The man who hade to get me mounted a horse, leaving me arge red mare. Tworge empty saddle bags were draped across the rump. The two soldiers startedughing as I tried to mount the horse, still wearing my backpack, and satchel, and holding my spears. Finally, the older of the two said, ¡°Wylie, help him, or we will never leave.¡± The younger man came off his horse and helped me fill the saddlebags and secure my spears, and three short swords so I could mount the horse. Wylie said, ¡°This is a fine mount, well trained. I sense you are not familiar with riding. Firth will not have the patience to wait, so I will do the best I can to teach you as we go.¡± I was soon ufortably in the saddle and trotting out the fortification. I asked Wylie, ¡°I didn¡¯t know the legion rode horses.¡± ¡°Most don¡¯t,¡± he replied. ¡°You need to move with the horse, be one with it. Otherwise, you are going to have a miserable ride.¡± He spent the next hour teaching me on the ride how to handle the reins, move with the horse, and guide it with my heels. The horse was definitely well-trained. He picked up the earlier conversation when he thought I looked somewhat capable on the horse. ¡°The legions are not real fighting units. We are more guards for the royalty and mages. Our charge is Master Mage Castille,¡± Wylie paused, considering what to say, ¡°She has a bit of a chip on her shoulder. She takes on the dirty missions and gets things done.¡± I decided to broach a concern, ¡°I heard that the fatality rate among her legionaries is high.¡± Wylie winced, ¡°Yeah, you could say that. There are twenty-six of us. The veterans have been around for a while, but the raw recruits tend to get themselves killed or severely injured. You don¡¯t need to worry, though. With your ability, Castille will keep you out of the most intensebat¡ªmaybe.¡± I shifted in my saddle, starting to get ufortable and finding no way to alleviate it. Firth turned to us and had a grin I didn¡¯t like, ¡°Let¡¯s teach the boy a light canter.¡± He spurred his horse forward, and Wylie shook his head and followed. When I got my own horse moving, I was bouncing around like crazy. I could not find the new rhythm. The weapons, although secured, were swinging slightly and tapping my back. When Firth mercifully stopped, my inner thighs were burning and cramping. He motioned for us to get off and walk. I copsed to the ground, unable to hold myself up as my legs cramped uncontrobly. Firth chuckled, and Wylie smirked slightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You will get used to it. Firth isn¡¯t the bad sort. That was just over an hour. He will let you walk it out and do it again.¡± And we did. I fed my mare an apple from my satchel every time we went walking. I named her Ginger after her reddish-brown coat. She was definitely well-trained and seemed to like the name. The swamps began to fade into scrub ins, and mountains appeared in the distance. Firth turned and said, ¡°Sorry, recruit. We are going to push to Formica to get there before dark.¡± The town was a sprawl of buildings with no wall surrounding it. Arge pen of horses were on the edge of town. That was where we went. Firthmanded, ¡°Show the recruit how to care for the mounts.¡± He then turned and left for one of therger buildings. Wylie showed me had to unsaddle and groom the horses. Also, where to look for chafe marks to treat with a salve. It took almost an hour to do the three mounts. I gave Ginger an apple which caused all the horses to line up requesting one as well. I had to cut the apples into quarters to get all of them, and I only had three apples left when I was done. Wylie had left me after he had trained me. It waste in the evening, and I guessed I should head for therge building that Firth and Wylie went to. Entering it, I found argemon room. Legion soldiers werezing about and drinking. I did not see either of my roadpanions, so I asked the nearest legionnaire where I could find mage Castille. He looked me over and pointed to a door in the back. I knocked on the door, and a harsh female voice said, ¡°Enter!¡± I opened the door to find a middle-aged woman hunched over a map on the table with two legionnaires nking her. She gave me a hard stare, ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Legionnaire Eryk Marko reporting,¡± I said somewhat uncertainly. As my training had been cut short, I had never gone through the protocols or etiquette for someone in the legion. ¡°About time. Adrian, go get thepany¡¯s potions.¡± One of the men left the room and the mage paged through some sheets on the table. She finally stopped at one. Looked at me and said, ¡°Fourteen inches?¡± I assumed she was referring to the size of the space. That sounded about right. I nodded. She continued, ¡°Good. Your most important job is to hold the potions for the unit. They will not lose their efficacy in dimensional storage. Also, you will hold the unit¡¯s funds and ounting logbook for unit pay and expenses.¡± The man she had called Adrian returned. He had a small ck wooden chest and ced it on the counter. He opened the chest and pulled out wooden slotted trays. The potion vials were round with arge cap. On the cap was a lot of script. I didn¡¯t have time to examine it before I was ordered to ce the two trays with 25 potions each into my space. I did so, and after they disappeared Mage Castille smiled, erasing the age lines on her face, ¡°Excellent. Adrian, get the unit¡¯s ledger and chest.¡± The man left once more and returned with a much heavier chest. ¡°Eryk add these,¡± she ordered. Much like the potions, the coins were seated in trays, like poker chips. One tray was full ofrge gold coins, and the remaining five trays were small silver coins. I did my best to estimate how much a 16-inch cube could hold and not get over that amount. The thin ledger wasst, and Castille watched me hawkishly as I added the book. With everything in my space as a tight-fitting cube, I looked up at the smiling mage. ¡°Excellent, now retrieve one of the blue-green potions,¡± she ordered. She held up her hand, ¡°Just the one potion.¡± I thought about it, and she gave me a hint, ¡°Search your dimensional storage with your mind. Choose just the item you want to bring out¡ªhighlight it if you will. I can tell you are opening your entire dimensional space every time you put an item in. That is a massive waste of your stored aether.¡± I was getting a lesson in magic. I only had about 12 aether and had used two aether every time I essed my space. I did as she asked and focused on the tray of potions and then just the single potion. I reached out and willed that one object out of the dimensional space. It appeared in my hands. I smiled brightly, realizing I had done it and used only a fragment of the aether, much less than before. Before, it was like I was opening a closet and routing around it. This was closer to just reaching it and taking the object off a shelf. Much more efficient. Mage Castille smiled as well, ¡°Good work. Practice removing and cing potions. In battle, you should not hesitate in pulling the correct potion.¡± Her face went serious, ¡°Adrian, here is our logistics officer. If anything is missing from the unit funds or potions, then you will be ountable.¡± ¡°Come, kid,¡± Adrian said. ¡°I will get you settled.¡± I was almost twenty-five, so I would not say I was a kid, but I did not argue. He introduced me as the unit¡¯s new porter in thergemon room. A lot of eyes studied me. I had the unit¡¯s money and healing potions, so I was definitely a person of interest. We went upstairs and into one of the rooms. Two bunks were in here, ¡°The army usually uses this building, but Castille kicked them out. Get some rest; we leave at first light.¡± ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked. ¡°We are looking for a Baron¡¯s son in the mountains. His little adventuring group was hunting for a griffon nest. Wanted to give his father a griffon egg for his birthday. Instead, we are probably looking for his remains,¡± Adrian told me truthfully. He smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, only one nesting pair was spotted in this region. It¡¯s not like we will have to deal with a flock of the buggers.¡± He left, and I went and picked up my backpack and got my bedroll. The bunks were just nks, no mattresses. I rolled it out and undressed. My thighs were raw from the ride, and the muscles knotted. I tried to rub them out, and two fellows entered the room. Their things were already on bunks. ¡°Damn, mate, if you need some time alone, we will be back in half an hour,¡± one of the men said. The other guyughed, ¡°Half an hour, Felix? I bet this one just needs five minutes.¡± ¡°I am just trying to loosen my muscles. It was my first time riding. Name is Eryk,¡± I tried to end the banter. ¡°Just joking. I am Mateo, and this is Felix. We are to keep an eye on you and help you settle in. Adrian said you were raw and even pulled before you finished training?¡± He sat on the hard bunk. ¡°Yes, I was shipped off as soon as I got my dimensional space,¡± I continued to stretch while talking. Felix spoke next, ¡°Well, you got into a fine unit. It has a bad rep due to our high mortality rate, but that is mostly the new recruits,¡± he put his hand over his mouth like he was saying something secret. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Eryk. We will keep you safe and sound.¡± They set up their own beds and were soon lying down. I took out the candied nuts and started eating. It waste, and no one offered me a meal. My two roommates took liberties, and soon the nuts were gone. We talked about the unit; the best part was that Mage Castille had her own siphoning shield for the essence. She kept all the magical essences for herself but rewarded the men of the legion with all the physical ones and some of the mental ones. The men were also paid six silver a week instead of the normal five silver and forty copper. Although, Felix seemed to think that was mostly due to Adrian wanting to make his bookkeeping job easier. I ate an apple before falling asleep and wondering what tomorrow would bring. Chapter 8: Bulette for the Win Chapter 8: Bulette for the Win Chapter 8 Felix woke me, and I tried to stand. My legs would not cooperate, and I copsed to the floor and used my arms to pull myself up. Mateo chuckled at my difort. I slowly got my legs working and could feel every raw area of skin from yesterday¡¯s ride. Felix offered some advice, ¡°Use the horse salve on your chaff marks. It smells mighty pungent but works just as well on you as your horse.¡± I started packing up, but Felix stopped me, ¡°No need. We are just going along the range to the south and looking for signs of the griffons. If we are lucky, someone will spot one flying around, and we can trace it to its nest.¡± I shambled outside and saddled my horse Ginger with some help. Setting the girth straps took some skill. Too tight, and the horse would get chaffed. Too loose, and you were not going to remain in your saddle. Breakfast was a meaty mashed potato porage. Only fifteen men rode out with mage Castille. Mateo exined, ¡°The others will also ride in the other direction looking for signs. This is our second day searching. The griffons werest seen about nine days ago taking a sheep from a farmer.¡± I wanted to cry when mage Castille took our column to a heavy gallop. My body was being pounded day after day and had not had time to heal. I wished I had a healing spell instead of a stupid dimensional space spell. Thankfully after about six miles, the road ended, and Castille slowed her horse to a walk as we remained parallel with the mountains. Now at a walk, Felix could talk to me again. ¡°Damn, Eryk. If I didn¡¯t know better, I would say an ogre was making you his bitch by the look on your face,¡± he chuckled as a few others heard andughed at his joke. I responded in a clear voice, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know you were an expert on the subject.¡± After the men processed, theughs started raining in, and mage Castille turned around to see what was so funny. It was Adrian who spoke nearby, ¡°The raw recruit just gave Felix the verbal beating of his sad life.¡± She just nodded and focused forward again. It was a good amount of time before things calmed down. We were all looking to the mountains for signs of the griffon. Another soldier spotted a carcass that we rode toward and dismounted. Five legionaries moved to make a perimeter. I wasn¡¯t sure what to do, so I followed the mage and four legionnaires to the carcass. One of the legionnaires knelt close, and I got just close enough to get a whiff. Visually I could handle the sight, but my olfactory senses were unprepared, and I quickly vomited my breakfast. Apparently, losing my breakfast was not unexpected. The others looked green but held it down. The kneeling man spoke, ¡°Four days old¡­good chance it was one of our griffons. It ate the organs and chewed off a haunch. Probably to bring it to the nest.¡±I got enough of my faculties back to move upwind and asked, ¡°What the hell was that?¡± I was talking to myself, but the tracker stood and answered me. ¡°It was a stone bear. Fairlymon around here. Maybe 1200 pounds. Most likely killed by a strike through the spinal cord at the base of the next from above,¡± he spoke, and I moved close, and he spent time exining what details led him to his deductions. Everyone else had wandered back to their horses, and Castille looked to be considering what direction to head. We were riding a short timeter on the same path, and I ate myst two apples and gave the cores to Ginger. It was mid-day when our troupe stopped for lunch. Everyone had packed a small lunch except for me. My roommates had told me to leave my gear behind, but I was supposed to pick up a prepared meal from the unit¡¯s cook¡ªI didn¡¯t. At least I had my satchel and had some apples earlier. Mateo took me to stand sentry while everyone rxed, and the horses drank water at a streaming down from the mountains. Seeing my predicament, Mateo gave me some slices of sausage and cheese from his own lunch. I took a few drafts from his canteen as well. ¡°So, how long will we search for griffons?¡± I asked as he exined how to maintain the watch and which direction I should be focused on based on the other sentries¡¯ positions. ¡°Castille doesn¡¯t give up. She is probably using divination magic every few hours. She will l find either the griffons or the body of the baron¡¯s son,¡± he said. He suddenly stood and focused on something in the distance. I looked where he was looking. The ground was surging into a mound about a quarter mile away. ¡°What is that?¡± I asked softly. Mateo blew a whistle around his neck. I guess I needed a whistle. Everyone looked where Mateo pointed. The mound started moving toward us. A few secondster, we were rushing to our mounts. Mage Castille was screaming, ¡°Bulette! Get on your horses and spread out. Make for Formica!¡± I mounted a nervous Ginger and started galloping back the way we came. What the hell was a bulette? If it was scarring the mage, then it had to be bad. I didn¡¯t have anyone to talk to as our group was spread wide apart as per orders. I looked back, and the damn thing was getting closer. Many of mypanions were pulling away¡­all of them were. I was deadst, I urged Ginger to a run, and sheplied, sensing the dangering at us. I tried desperately to find a different riding rhythm at a faster pace. At least my surging adrenalinepletely muted the pain. My growing fear made it hard to focus, and I started bouncing out of synch with my mount. Ginger leaped expertly over arge shrubbery. When shended, I went forward, not ready for the jarringnding. I do not know exactly what happened next other than I was on the ground rolling, and Ginger continued to race away, now free of her passenger. My first thought was I had given her all those damn apples, I thought we were friends. I stumbled to my feet. I was alone. Everyone was at least a quarter mile away or more. I turned to face the mound of earth moving toward me. Something that resembled a shark fin emerged in the center. Was this an elemental earth shark? I pulled out my only weapon, a short curved dagger in my belt. All my other weapons were secured to Ginger. The ground erupted in a shower of earth and stone, and a massive creature was flying through the air and nning to crush me. Time seemed to slow as my death was clearly before me, my muscles paralyazed at the sight. An armored quadruped that looked a mix between a rhinoceros with a massive head of a snapping turtle soon blotted out the sun. I met my fate by opening my ten-foot dimensional cube, waiting as long as I could, and then shifting as much of the bulette¡¯s underside into my dimensional space. The earth thudded around me, everything went dark, and I was covered in fluids and knocked to the ground by the force of impact. I was alive and inside the cavity of the beast. The beast seemed uncertain about what had just happened. Its mass twitched around me, and it tried to move. I had gutted it, though. I was trapped in its hollowed chest cavity, but the beast no longer had essential organs¡ªlike a heart. My dimensional storage would not activate as the cost of pulling in so much bulette flesh had drained my aether. The fact that either mass or a creature resisted being forcibly pulled into my storage was good to know¡ªalbeit after almost being crushed. After a short time, I started digging in the earth with my dagger to tunnel my way out. Thankfully the fluids softened the earth and made it feasible to quickly gain my freedom before suffocating. I squeezed out under the hard shell and looked at the armored beast. It was a lot bigger than I remembered. The beast had an armored hide, short stubby legs, and massive ck digging ws. It reminded me more of a tank than anything else. I could see why the mage had decided to retreat. I oriented myself to the mountains and started walking back to Formica. When I had recovered enough aether, I dumped the 10x10x5 section of the bulette on the ground, spreading out like a squelching deting balloon. I did not think bulette blood was considered a good topical agent for all my raw and bleeding chaff marks. I came to a wide stream and decided to wash up. I remained vignt as I stripped naked and began the process of cleaning everything. I focused on my leather armor as I had plenty of clean clothes to charge into. I managed to scrub almost everything out of the material. It appeared our uniform was treated with something that made cleaning blood out of it easy. This got me thinking about a lot of the clothes I had taken at the fort. They all were well-worn, so I guessed they hade off of dead legionnaires. As long as they were clean now, I could handle the thought of wearing a dead man¡¯s clothes. When I finished, I dressed in my damp clothes and armor. The bulette stomach had upied the top half of my dimensional storage and had not disturbed all the other things I had ced in my dimensional storage. It was getting close to sundown as I sat on a rock, wet, tired, bruised, abused, and¡ªalive. I took out a ration bar and munched on it, getting prepared to leave when Ginger came trotting up to me and drank unconcerned at the stream next to me. I shook my head, ¡°Oh, now you show up! Well, I am out of apples.¡± Chapter 9: Riding Lessons Chapter 9: Riding Lessons Chapter 9 As I rode back to the mining town, my clothes and armor dried off. The blood acted as a great detergent, and my clothes smelled nice and earthy¡ªalthough I presumed not all the fluids that had soaked me were blood. Ginger seemed to be expecting an apple to return to me, but the only thing I had that she might enjoy was a jar of berry preserves. When we paused, I fed her the jam, and her long tongue cleaned the heavy jar clean. It was about two quarts of jam, and my horse definitely had a sweet tooth. I did not see anyone from my legion as I walked Ginger back to town. When the town came into view, a rider came out to meet me. It was Mateo, ¡°Damn, Eryk. You are alive?¡± I fished for a response, ¡°Yeah, got thrown from my horse and made my way into a river. The ground shark-turtle thing did not seem able to swim. It eventually left me alone, and my trusty mount returned to me.¡± I patted Ginger¡¯s neck. Mateo was speechless. He just looked me over and finally said, ¡°Mage Castille has called in an earth mage to help. For now, we are fortifying the town. You can rub down your mount, get something to eat, and see Adrian for your defense position.¡± He rode back to the town next to me and continued, ¡°The other detachment found the griffons. They are nesting about 20 miles north into the mountains. No sign of the baron son¡¯s party yet. We can not make a move until the bulette is sorted out. Those things are a menace, and it is surprising that this one is so close to the mountains. They usually hunt in the ins or along the border of dessert since the earth is softer, or so Castille says.¡± He admitted, ¡°I do not think she has actually fought one before, though. They are quite rare.¡± I remained silent as we got closer to the scent of cooking meat got my stomach rumbling. Mateo pointed out where the townsfolk were setting up and the building where Adrian was organizing the defenses. I rubbed down Ginger and grabbed something I would describe as a thick pita filled with roasted veggies and thinly sliced meat. I ate as I walked to talk with Adrian. It almost felt like I was a veteran after just one day. Adrian quickly brought me down to earth, ¡°Eryk, you fell off your horse? Castille would have found your corpse and killed you again for that. Since you are alive, you will not be joining the defense. Instead, go see horse master Lucien. He will train you nonstop until he is satisfied you will not fall off a horse again.¡± The pita stopped halfway to my mouth. He turned and walked smugly to a fortification. I walked the defenses and knew all this preparation was worthless as the bulette was dead. Not something I was going to tell everyone and reveal my secret. I grimaced at the thought of endless riding when I was already walking bull-legged, and my inner things burned like a merciless fire. I took the advice of using the horse salve on my raw and partially scabbed skin. It felt like putting alcohol on an open wound, and I was sure it would leave a scar. Lucian was not a kind man. Every second of daylight, I was learning to care for Ginger or riding her. My body was never going to heal at this rate. What irked me the most was that Ginger loved all the attention even though I was suffering. I even found some apples in town to give her; as Lucien said, a happy horse was an ally. I was starting to gain some semnce of skill at grooming, riding, and farriering. After three days of horse torture, the earth mage finally arrived with his apprentice. The man looked like a typical wise wizard with a long white bread and and heavy robes. I was currently learning how to jump while mounted under Lucien¡¯s strict guidance when he arrived and was told to take a break. I watched as the wizard rode in on a white stallion, and his young female hooded apprentice had a small ck mare. They went right in to see Castille. Lucian muttered, ¡°Guess we will be leaving in the morning. Rub her down and get some rest.¡± I gratefully rested in my bunk alone and napped for the remainder of the day. The unit was assembled in the morning, and Castille said, ¡°We are leaving on a dangerous mission. Bulette are a scourge. None of you have fought one before, but they are faster and stronger than should be possible for their size. They can jump forty feet in the air and crush you in an instant. Their jaws can cut you and your horse in half in a moment.¡± She let her diatribe sink in. ¡°These two earth mages are going to turn the earth to stone and trap the beast. We will not have much time to get spears forced under the armor tes before it breaks free. Be decisive and attack when ordered. I will attempt to blind the monster with darkness and fire. That is the n. Mount up!¡± Castille swung up to her horse and led the way. She certainly emanated confidence. The earth mages were right behind her. I was ordered forward to ride in the lead element. All the soldiers around me were extremely tense, so I tried to match their nervousness. As we walked, Castille spoke, ¡°This is Legionnaire Eryk. He escaped the bulette by going into a river. He said the bulette would not follow him in.¡± The white-haired mage¡¯s eyes went up, ¡°True, the beasts don¡¯t swim but do not fear water. Like rock turtles, they just walk on the bottom due to their density.¡± Had I just been caught in a lie? I tried to roll with it while not telling a lie, as I knew mages had such spells from when I first arrived in this world. ¡°I can just tell you from my experience. The beast emerged from underground, and before I realized it, I was soaked. It left me alone after that.¡± The old mage seemed to contemte my words and just nodded slowly. Mage Castille made introductions, ¡°This is High Mage Dacian. He is one of the Empire¡¯s most powerful earth mages, if not the most powerful. He was just telling me this was his sixth bulette hunt.¡± Great, I had an expert on bulettes dissecting my story. I bowed my head slightly toward him but did not change my story. Lucien came up from behind, saving me from further scrutiny, ¡°Eryk, I want you to practice sprints with your mount over the uneven terrain.¡± I gave the middle-aged man an exasperated look but turned to do so. I think he took pleasure in administering drills that hurt my body¡ªalthough today, I did not feel quite so beaten as my body was recovering quicker. The procession made a steady walk with everyone tense and on the lookout for the bulette. At this pace, I was not even sure if we would reach where I left the carcass. After Ginger built a lightther, Lucien had me stop my sprinting practice. Adrian came up next to me, ¡°Eryk, Horsemaster Lucien said you are doing a fine job. Mage Castille has decided you are to remain under his tutge for the foreseeable future.¡± I let out an audible groan. Lucien reached over and patted my back, ¡°Do not worry. Once Lucien has trained your horsemanship to a suitable level, you will just be helping him take care of the mounts.¡± ¡°Do I at least get an increase in pay?¡± I asked, but it was just banter. This legion unit seemed much more informal than I was expecting, more like a group of mercenaries. ¡°Sure, if Lucien dies and you take over the role of horse master for the unit. You make as much as a second already,¡± Adrian stated. A second was like a lieutenant, directly under mage Castille in themand structure. Adrian and Delmar were the two unit¡¯s seconds. ¡°How much does a second make?¡± I asked, having never actually been told how much my pay was. ¡°Castille pays her men six silver a week. If you have been with her for five years, it is eight silver. Delmar and I earn ten silver. Thepany¡¯s magical porter earns ten as well. The horse master, arms master, and armor master make an additional one silver a week.¡± Adrian spoke conversationally. He then added, ¡°Castille is generous, Eryk. You will have the opportunity to be rewarded essence for exceptional service.¡± He rode away. My roomate¡¯s had already told me about the essence bonus. As it was getting close to dusk, we finally spotted the corpse of the bulette. We all spread out at half a mile, but soon mage Dacian ended the prep and rode forward. The unit followed. Basketball-sized beetles were swarming the bulette. Mage Dacian swore, ¡°Pig-fucking marrow beetles. They will have ruined the carapace. It also looks days dead, no chance of an essence.¡± He looked pointedly at mage Castille. Castille asked the older mage, ¡°What could have killed it?¡± She ignored the high mage¡¯s anger and scanned the skies. ¡°Definitely not a griffon. Dragon, maybe?¡± Dacian calmed quickly, realizing perhaps another apex predator was around. He said, ¡°The dragons should all be in the southern reaches as it is mating season. No, whatever killed this bulette probably surprised it. Besides the bite marks in the shell from the beetles, I don¡¯t see any damage.¡± He walked around the corpse, sending earth spikes through the beetles, clearing the outer shell of them. After two circles, he spoke again, ¡°At least the ws will be salvageable.¡± Castille dismounted, ¡°I apologize for dragging you out here for nothing High Mage.¡± He waved her off, ¡°It happens. It wasn¡¯t a false rm either.¡± Castille offered, ¡°Since you were unable to get an essence from the bulette, maybe you want to join the griffon hunt?¡± The old mage looked up perplexed, ¡°No, I don¡¯t think an old earth mage would be of much help.¡± He looked at his apprentice, ¡°Apprentice Renna. Go with mage Castille. Try to learn something about running a detachment of soldiers.¡± All eyes turned to the cloaked young woman. She pulled down her hood to show shoulder-length red hair and crystal clue blue eyes. She might have been attractive except for the scowl and her paleness. She did not protest, ¡°Yes, Master Dacian.¡± I had shes of his padawan talking to her Jedi master. Dacian turned to Castille, ¡°I am traveling back to Varvao. Send her there when you are done with the griffons. She has potential, so make sure nothing happens to her. Once she is trained, the Emperor has ns for her. She has strong affinities for all four of the elements.¡± Dacian mounted and road away just like that. I remembered the story of the peasant girl with high affinities in all the elements. I guessed this might be the girl as she looked in her mid-teens. But that had been a few months ago. How much could she have learned in such a short time? She did not look happy being left behind. Castille turned to the unit and eyed all of us. She pointed, ¡°Felix. Mateo. The girl is your responsibility.¡± Felix rolled his eyes and surprisingly talked back to mage Castille, ¡°I thought we were watching the raw recruit?¡± Castille¡¯s eyes narrowed, ¡°You can watch both pups. Do a better job that one almost got himself killed,¡± she pointed at me. It seemed discipline was rtivelyx in thepany. We spent four hours freeing the ws to be sent to High Mage Dacien in Varvao City. Then we all returned to the Formica. A very perturbed red-haired young woman now upied the open bunk in our room. Chapter 10: Renna Chapter 10: Renna Chapter 10 When we got to the bunk room, Mateo asked Renna, ¡°Top or bottom, your mageness?¡± The young woman did not appreciate his humor, ignored him, and took the free bunk above mine. She opened her satchel and pulled out tworge tomes. Although I had gotten a lot of experience speaking thenguage, I only recognized some basic words. The alphabet was somewhat simr to what I was used to. Most of the letters were written strangely, but it was close enough for me to read, albeit extremely slowly. On examining one title, it was a book about learning how to learn spells, and the other text focused on manifesting innate spell forms for your affinities. Renna was focused on the second, so I asked, ¡°What affinity are you trying to develop an ability for?¡± She looked at me with some surprise. ¡°Earth. That is why I am traveling with master mage Dacian. I already tapped my air ability. Once I gain my earth affinity ability, I will be assigned to fire mage next.¡± I asked, ¡°Were you the young woman with all those elemental affinities over seventy for the four elements?¡± Renna smiled shyly, ¡°I can not believe I am famous enough for even a legionnaire to know who I am.¡± ¡°I did not know your name, just that there were a number of people excited about your potential.¡± I tried to keep the conversation going as Renna seemed to back away, ¡°What ability do you have with your air affinity?¡± She had a bright smile, ¡°Flight!¡± My roommates were quickly interested in the conversation, asking her dozens of questions and overwhelming her. She admitted her ability gave her flight as fast as a horse, but her aether stores only allowed about 20 minutes of flight.¡°That is still amazing. All I can do is store items in a dimensional space,¡± I responded. ¡°You are a porter? That is rare!¡± She looked dubious suddenly. ¡°Show me. Make something appear out of thin air.¡± I pulled a tray of coins out, watched her eyes bug out, and put them back. My roommates also had magic envy¡ªor maybe the tray ofrge silver coins was a lot of money for them. ¡°How big is your space? Do you have any other abilities?¡± She asked, sitting next to me on the lower bunk, now interested in me. She was sitting really close to me, so that our hips touched. My face felt hot, and I thought Mateo was going to say something, but I gave him a hard re, and he kept quiet. I answered her, ¡°A man never reveals his size on the first date. And I don¡¯t have any way to learn a new ability. I had the help of a spell book for the dimensional space.¡± ¡°I was given a tuning stone,¡± she reached into her satchel. ¡°Just channel your aether into it, and the stones will light up if you have an affinity over 15. That is considered the requirement to manifest an ability.¡± I remember that Damian had said the cut-off was 10 to learn an ability but did not challenge her knowledge. Renna reached into her bag and produced a circr disc. Three circles were inscribed on it, and each circle had seven gems. I wanted to use it but not in front of everyone. I asked, ¡°What do the gems represent? I mean affinity-wise.¡± She pointed at each one as she exined, ¡°The inner circle is the rare affinities, the middle circle is umon, and the outer circle ismon. This book lists them all, and these are the associated stones.¡± She went through and identified all the stones.
Shaping Magic (Rare)
Space
Time
Discement
Materialism
Worlds
Void
Convergence
Unaffiliated (Umon)
Charm (Mind)
Illusion
irvoyance
Protection (Guardian)
Necromancy
Celestial
Abyssal
Elemental Magic (Common)
Fire
Air
Water
Earth
Lightning (Energy)
Spirit (Healing)
Nature (nt)
Renna smirked and took the device, and I felt the aether leave her into the device. It was the first time I had felt someone else¡¯s aether, and I think that was because our bare arms were touching. The gems that lit up for her were Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and Nature. Five of the elemental magics. The air stone also pulsed over and over again, almost like it was blinking. Renna pointed at it, ¡°That pulsing means I have already developed an ability with my affinity. Flying around the woods does get you noticed,¡± She mussed. She handed me back the disc. My roommates also seemed extremely interested in my effort and craned their heads. I made a sad face, ¡°I am still learning how to channel my aether. I can not activate devices yet,¡± I lied. Renna put the device on my pillow, ¡°You can practice tonight. The disc is quite durable, so don¡¯t worry about breaking it. Do not lose it; I have to bring it back to Master Dacien.¡± A loud knock at the door came. Delmar, Castille¡¯s other lieutenant, entered. ¡°Now that the bulette crisis is past, we are back to the normal routine.¡± My roommates groaned, and I was not looking forward to the next. ¡°Weapons training will be done two hours before dinner. Eryk, you are still raw; no weapon specialty was noted on your paperwork. What do you prefer to fight with?¡± I hesitated momentarily, ¡°Dual wielding short swords against humanoids and a spear against monsters.¡± Delmar¡¯s brow creased, but he nodded as a smile formed. Felix pped his forehead like I was an idiot. Delmar said, ¡°Not a dumb one then, eh? Fine. Three hours of practice for you, Eryk split time between the two. Firth can teach you the spear, and Konstantin can work with you on your dual wield.¡± Mateo winced like he had been punched. After Delmar left, Mateo said, ¡°Firth is an ok sort. Konstantin is a real piece of work. One of the best fighters in our toon. He does not talk much and hates working with others. Hisst sparring partner died in the Cyclops campaign. He volunteers for solo scouting missions, and we are all grateful for it.¡± A short whileter, I geared up and went outside with two short swords and two spears. As I entered the training yard, the toon was training with their weapons in an orderly fashion. I was surprised as everything we had done so far seemed to be done nonchntly. This was serious practice. I was directed to a man matching my height and whose biceps matched his thighs. ¡°You are the raw recruit? Let¡¯s see if you can learn enough not to get yourself killed then,¡± the gruff man intoned. He was not a bad teacher. He was extremely strict and did not like to repeat himself. I learned more in 90 minutes from him than I learned in three weeks at the training camp. I had bruises and shallow cuts to mark every time I did not follow his instruction in detail. I was told to see thepany medic before my spear training. We actually had two medics, Linus and Malcolm. Malcolm was more of an assistant. He gave me some of the horse salves for the bruises andrge leaves for the cuts. They smelled like peppermint and acted like an antiseptic for infection, held in ce by a wrap after they were soaked in hot water. Unfortunately, they would not prevent scarring. I really wished we had a healing mage in ourpany. Firlth had me work my spear on a makeshift training dummy. He went over themon tactics for attacking beasts and defending myself. He was not as good an instructor as Konstantin, as he believed in repetition. My hands were already callused but still ached and bled slightly after a few hundred parries and thrusts. I took arge bowl of mostly meat stew to my room to eat lying down as standing was painful. The room was empty, and I quickly used the tablet. I channeled my aether, and it glowed brightly. As expected, the inner circle had six gems glowing. The only one absent was materialism. The middle circle had a single gem lit. It was the protection (guardian) rune. That meant I had over a 15 affinity in that magic sphere. The outer ring also had one gem glowing, and it was the most joyous sight I had ever seen. It was the spirit (healing). I could manifest an ability to heal. My eyes quickly returned to the center ring. The space gem was shing, which was expected because I had manifested my dimensional storage space. A second gem was also shing, indicating I had manifested another ability or spell-like effect. It was the convergence gem that was shing. Convergence was the magic affinity that dealt with drawing power from ley lines¡ªat least, that is what I was told. I heard steps in the hallway and stopped channeling aether to the device. My convergence affinity was 74, so that meant I should have a powerful ability but what was it? Chapter 11: Knowledge is Power Chapter 11: Knowledge is Power Chapter 11 Announcement This story is on my Patreon, currently 3 chapters ahead. Two more chapters are due by Wednesday to put it five chapters ahead. It is bundled with one of my other active stories: The First World Sphere, which has 30+ advanced chapters and gets 2 chapters a week. Mateo wasing back from dinner with Felix. They were loud as they hit their own bunks, discussing some card game they were ying during the meal. ¡°Where is the mage?¡± I asked. ¡°Still eating. She is down in themon room,¡± Mateo said. He then advised as I rolled painfully to my feet, ¡°Do not get too close. Mages, even pretty ones, are look, but don¡¯t touch, Eryk.¡± ¡°It¡¯s cool. I just wanted to ask her some magic-rted questions. You know, between mages,¡± I said with a knowing smile as I stiffly walked out of the room, wincing with each step. The stairs were hard, and I almost fell. Fucking Konstantin had targeted my right hip flexor to teach me how to cripple an opponent. The muscle was all knotted, and I rubbed it to get it working when I reached the stairs¡¯ bottom. Themon room was mostly empty because it waste, and we had an early start. Renna was studying one of her books at a table by herself, and I sat across from her. She was young. Late teens, I would guess. She looked up at me, making eye contact, but did not speak. ¡°I wanted to ask some questions about the book you are reading. And here is your disc back. I got it to work, and it was as I expected,¡± I said, sliding the artifact across the table. She put it in her satchel. ¡°What questions do you have?¡± she closed the book and gave me her attention. ¡°What is in the book? Does it detail themon spell forms you can make from each affinity?¡± I asked, knowing the title was about all twenty-one magic affinities. ¡°Yes, it does. Having the associated spellbook does greatly aid in the process.¡± She pulled out a thin spellbook that I did not catch the title of, ¡°I am trying to learn one of the more difficult spell forms for the earth affinity. It is called hardened rock. Extremely useful in construction. Also paired with the High Mage¡¯s earth-to-stone, it makes trapping burrowing creatures easy.¡± Renna exined.¡°What about the othermon spell forms? Like fire?¡± I asked, slowly getting to the information I wanted to know. ¡°It depends on your affinity strength. With my high affinity, I will probably be asked to form my fire into wave of me or ming meteor. Both are very difficult to learn,¡± Renna said with a tired voice. ¡°I will not know until I am assigned to a High Mage specializing in fire.¡± I felt sorrow for her. Even though she was powerful, she did not control what she was learning. ¡°I am sure you will do it. You have the talent and affinity for it! I mean, you can fly!¡± I praised her. ¡°What about healing? What are the typical spell forms for that sphere of magic?¡± I asked. Was I being too obvious with my interest? I needed to know, though. There was a risk of manifesting an ability much weaker than your affinity could manage, so I wanted to reach for the limit. Although, I didn¡¯t know my affinity in healing magic, other than it was over 15. She opened the book and paged to a specific page. I looked at the writing and was frustrated. I could read it, but my brain was still very slow in tranting the script. I would have to puzzle out each word one at a time and then read the sentence like a first grade. Thankfully I had someone to read for me, ¡°The are three tiers. The lowest tier has three options listed here. Mend bone, knit flesh, and diagnose. This lowest tier is for those with affinities under 20.¡± She read for a while, then said, ¡°The next range is for those with the affinity between 20 and 50. It has three possible aspirations for manifesting a spell form. A cure wounds that also affects organs and all flesh but does not do well with broken bones. A purify, which is weird. ording to this, it can remove poison, disease, and even cleanse your bowels. The third one is calcify; it repairs and hardens bones. The highest tier is for affinities between 50 and 70. The first is a powerful heal. It heals everything, flesh, bone, and disease. The only other only ability is called rejuvenate. It turns back the aging clock slightly.¡± She looked up from her book. ¡°Not all spell forms are listed in here.¡± She turned over the book in her hands, ¡°This is just what the mage college suggests as being the most useful.¡± I nodded, ¡°Sometimes it is fun to wonder what it would be like if I had high affinities for other magic spheres,¡± I exined my interest. I asked about celestial affinity next, listening intently as she read and exined. Then I went to my true goal, the affinity for convergence. ¡°Convergence? That is extremely rare. Not even sure if there is anything in here.¡± She flipped to the correct page. ¡°The lowest tier is just helping recover aether from the environment. At ley line nexus, the mage essentially has infinite aether. As long as they don¡¯t burn out their aether channels.¡± ¡°Anything for higher tiers, for a stronger higher affinity?¡± I tried to hold back my excitement. ¡°Uh, let me read. Give me a moment,¡± She was having fun and liked our interaction. I guess I was kind of flirting with her. ¡°The mid-tier for convergence suggested here is some type of aether sight.¡± That is definitely not something I had gained. She continued, ¡°Wow, the highest tier is called assimtion. It allows the mage to maximize their benefit for consuming essences. It makes absorbed essences ten times more effective¡ªmaybe even more! Now that would be useful!¡± Yes, it would, I thought. Is that why the only essence I had absorbed had been so effective? I had gained four quickness and even raised my potential in quickness by one in three weeks after consuming the essence. But the lesser essence was only supposed to give a rtive effect boost of one-twentieth of a point. Did this have to do with my affinity being so high at 74? I asked about charm affinities next but was only half paying attention to Renna when she looked it up. After she reviewed them, we went to the room to get some sleep. Iy there thinking and heard her shifting all night in the bunk below me. I had given her the lower bunk to make it easier for her but regretted it as the entire bunk shook when she moved. She probably was notfortable sleeping without a mattress. I took my heavy nket and passed it to her below. She hesitated before taking it and gettingfortable. It was cool but not cold. It was pitch ck, and I removed one of the horse nkets from my dimensional storage. Iy there wide awake staring at the ceiling. I needed to get more essence. Mage Castille had an essence array¡ªthe artifact shield used to extract the essence from recently killed creatures. Her legionaries were rewarded for outstanding performance, so maybe I could get some. But I also needed an ability tablet to see my growth to test it out. Shit, if I didn¡¯t know they could track me, I might desert. For now, I was trapped for five years of service. At least as long as all my debt was paid off, I would be free after that. I fell asleep dreaming about my two unknown affinity ratings. How high were my healing and guardian affinities? They seemed too perfect for my career as a soldier. I needed to get ess to a magic affinity tablet again. I also needed to practice reading to get familiar with the different characters. Reading like a seven-year-old, deciphering each word one at a time, was frustrating. It felt like I had just closed my eyes when a hand pped my bed, ¡°Wake up, you two. Breakfast will be served shortly, and Castille likes to leave at dawn.¡± It was Mateo who was smiling brightly at my difort. ¡°You should not take Lucien¡¯s nkets for the horses, Eryk. He does not like that.¡± I gingerly climbed down from the top bunk. Moving was painful. I packed my things and stumbled down the stairs after Felix and Mateo, sending the nket to my space when I knew I was not being looked at. Renna was slightly slower than me. Themon room was crowded, and everyone was packing saddle bags and forcing down food. I went to the meal table and got arge pocket pita again filled with meat and melty cheese. I was also given another sandwich wrapped in a waxy substance. I was told it was my mid-day meal. I drank heavily from the water barrel and filled my canteen as well. Outside, the sky was just starting to break with pink hues. I quickly saddled Ginger and was one of the first ones ready to leave. Just as therge sun appeared in the distance, we moved out. I was directed to ride behind Castille and her two lieutenants, Adrian and Delmar. Renna increased her pace to ride next to me. I talked to Renna about magic but focused my attention on her, asking her about her life before bing a mage. With Mage Castille being in earshot, I did not want to give any hints of my specific interests. Renna grew up in a small vige. Her father was a sheep herder, and her mother made wool yarn. She described the long process from shearing to cleaning to sorting to carding to spinning. I pretended to be enthralled with her descriptions and asked in-depth questions about the process. A few hourster, we were at the base of the mountains, where the team indicated they noticed the griffons returning with a kill. I asked, ¡°If they are already returning with a kill, doesn¡¯t that mean they are feeding their young?¡± It was Konstantin who answered my question from the back, ¡°No. Too early in the season. The mated pair take turns hunting while the other guards the clutch of eggs. Justin may be an idiot, but his pathfinder Marius is one of the best. They came early in the season. It should be another two months before they hatch.¡± Castille nodded to Konstantin for the information and then addressed thepany, ¡°We are leaving the horses here.¡± A wave of groans came. I was also dreading the climb. ¡°Lucien, Donte, and Benito will stay with the horses.¡± The horses would also have trouble in the steep climbs and make too much noise. Donte and Benito nodded and dismounted. I was a little upset as I had been training to be a horse master, but I guess since I carried thepany¡¯s potions, I needed to be with the lead element. Mateo helped me pack my backpack for two days as we just wanted the essentials to keep the pack as light as possible. When we started the climb, I had trouble keeping up, not because I was out of shape but because I was so bruised. Renna was in worse shape than me. She was sucking wind and slowing our ascent up the game trails. On difficult sections, she would use short bursts of her flight ability. It got everyone asking jokingly for a ride. Castille eventually had everyone end thements as they were starting to border on lewdness. When we reached a summit, Castille let us eat our lunch. I copsed hard and devoured my meal. Renna sat with me, but we didn¡¯t talk. We just ate. Orson, one of the scouts, pointed in the distance. A few miles away, a griffon was circling another peak further into the mountains. Damn, that looked so far away. We descended into a narrow valley, and Orson found a maybe a month-old campsite. I asked him how he determined that. He showed me the fire pit, the dposition of the shit in the woods, and the regrowth from where the adventurers cleared for space their camp. We didn¡¯t pause long before heading to the far side of the wooded valley. Konstantin was next to me, and I asked, ¡°Why haven¡¯t creatures attacked us?¡± ¡°Our party is too big. They are scattering before us. They are out there. Do not wander off alone,¡± he lectured me. I nodded as the valley ended, and we started to make another ascent. Chapter 12: Griffin Chapter 12: Griffin Chapter 12 As we made our way up the next mountain, Renna paused to pee out of sight of thepany. I was tasked with keeping close to her by Delmar. So I stood sentry while the embarrassed young woman did her business. When she emerged, I switched with her, and she was embarrassed with having me around the corner. I choose a different rock to hide my business behind. I decided to try experimenting with my dimensional space while I relieved myself. I tried to remove just a five-foot cylinder of the stone that I was painting in front of me. It took time for me to get the visualization, and then... I stumbled back, dizzy, and idently urinating on myself a little. I looked up, and a five-foot round opening extended ten feet into the mountain. My aether was drained, though. The same thing happened when I killed the bulette. I guessed the aether investment depended on the mass of the object. Since I didn¡¯t have enough aether, it just cut off the object where it was. The edge of the round hole was extremely sharp. I also had arge stone cylinder in my dimensional space. Would it take all my aether to remove it? Or was the drain mostly from removing the object? I had no aether to test right now, so I finished, cleaned up as best I could, and joined Renna, who was bright red and avoided eye contact. Three men had waited for us, and we caught up to the main group. As the sun set muchter in the day, we set up camp on the rocky ground under an overhang to hide us from above. I had night duty guard rotation with Mateo and Felix. We had the worst shift¡ªright in the middle of the night, breaking up our continuous sleep. We heard some rocks tumble down from far above, but nothing disturbed our camp during the night. In the morning, Mage Castille addressed us as a group. ¡°The nest is about three miles toward the rising sun. When we get close, be on alert. The griffons will attack when they feel they are threatened. We will handle them one at a time. I will ground them with magic, and we will attack them together. Beware of the powerful lunge on the ground. Even with their wings restrained, they will be quick.¡± She followed her short speech by giving the order to march. I was ced in the middle of thepany with Renna for protection. The morning was cold, and my aches and pains were subsiding as my body was adapting. Renna was quiet as we walked in silence. The forward unit found arge game trail that appeared to head in the direction we wanted. We stayed on the trail, and the summit where the nest was located was in sight. Thepany stopped at a cave, and Konstantin was talking animatedly to Castille. I am assuming he had already scouted the cave, and I moved closer to listen. Castille queried Konstantin, ¡°Do you think he descended?¡± Konstantin shrugged, ¡°They definitely camped at the entrance and could have gone to the griffins or into the dungeon.¡±Delmar swore, ¡°What the fuck is a dungeon doing out here anyway? How is there even enough aether to feed it?¡± Mage Castille did not seem irritated at all. She answered calmly, ¡°The ley lines run deep and sometimes bled out in unusual ces. The question is, where did the baron¡¯s son go?¡± Adrian spat on the ground, ¡°The dungeon would have been suicide. I could see that idiot Justin trying it. I say we return and tell his father he died in a wild dungeon.¡± Castille arched her eyebrow at her lieutenant. He threw up his hands in defeat, ¡°Fuck. We are all going to die.¡± Mage Castille spoke withmand, ¡°We will camp outside the dungeon entrance, and we will do as nned. We will kill the griffons, search the nest, and collect the eggs.¡± She looked at her two lieutenants. ¡°If we don¡¯t find the remains of the baron¡¯s party, I will consider entering the dungeon to look there.¡± Delmar nodded, and Adrian grunted unhappily. Orders were sent down the line to enter the cave. As we entered, touches were lit, and we filed in. About seventy feet into the cave, it stopped with a ck oily t surface. The area before the chamber had an abandoned campsite. Seven single-person tents, arge fire ring, and bedrolls were left inside the tents with some backpacks. Adrian swore again and said in a low grunt, ¡°Those fuckers definitely went into the dungeon.¡± The tents wererge and nicer than ours¡ªso were all the bedrolls. Some legionnaires started iming better equipment. I moved to a tent near the ck wall and tossed my pack inside. Mateo was close and smirked, ¡°You can definitely take it, Eryk, as long as the original owners don¡¯t show up. Just realize that tent and bedroll weigh twice as much as your legionnaire-issued gear.¡± Renna set up her tent next to mine and seemed kind of shy about it. My new tent was definitely big enough for two and had ps for privacy. But maybe I was being too optimistic. As everyone settled in, I asked, ¡°So, what do you know about that.¡± I pointed at the oil-slick-looking wall in front of Renna. She paused, unpacking her gear, ¡°Just what I read. I grew up in a small vige, and my education so far has focused on learning spell forms and how to cast spells.¡± Renna sat on a stone. ¡°Dungeons are concentrated aetheric essence given sapience. The ley lines that run under the earth carry vast amounts of aether. The aether bleeds out and permeates the world. When it builds up in an area, the aether mutates creatures and creates passages and rooms. The monsters changed are very strong. But they always produce an essence when a collector is used on them. This,¡± she pointed to the ck wall, ¡°Is how they attract the adventurous type.¡± ¡°So the dungeons are alive?¡± I asked Renna. ¡°Should we be camping so close to that? Is that the entrance?¡± Adrian joined us, sitting next to Renna, ¡°Yes, that is the entrance, Eryk. Dungeons are alive, but the creatures that enter are killed, absorbed, and then repurposed. Dungeons only appear at ley line nexus points. This one appears to be an anomaly.¡± Castille joined us as well, ¡°The lines run deep, and not all have been mapped, Adrian. There could be a nexus beneath us.¡± I pulled out some food and started eating, content to just listen. Adrian focused on Castille and added, ¡°The monsters inside are strong. Only idiots travel into the dungeons seeking a big payday.¡± Castille seemed annoyed with Adrian¡¯s reluctance to explore the dungeon. ¡°Do not worry, Adrian. If we go in, you can remain outside and guard the camp.¡± That made Adrian wince as it was a backhanded reprimand. Castille turned to me, ¡°Dungeons are blessings and curses,¡± Adrian was nodding in agreement. ¡°They can stretch for miles into the earth, always going down. Whatever being controls them, they try to entice adventurers to explore them. All the creatures give essence, and the dungeon leaves prizes. Usually precious metals or recreating objects they have absorbed in the past.¡± This all sounded very familiar. Maybe not ideal video game mechanics, but the general idea was there. I swallowed some salty jerky and cheese and asked, ¡°What benefit does a dungeon get from drawing in adventurers? Can you kill a dungeon? Stop it from working?¡± Castille answered, ¡°Yes. Destroying the solidified aether core is possible. Usually, the adventurers guild would evaluate a dungeon¡¯s usefulness before going to that step.¡± Castille stood, ¡°When someone dies in a dungeon, the dungeon benefits but absorbs the gear and the corpse. It helps them get stronger and expand. If the dungeon is smart, it will bnce the lure and guillotine. Finish your food. We have enough daylight to move on the griffin nest.¡± Orders were given, and six men stayed behind. That meant mages Castille and Renna were going with seventeen legionaries. It was great to drop the heavy gear. I carried a spear and had my two short swords tied to my back. I wanted them out of the way in case I needed to run. We moved out down the game trail, and after an hour, Konstantin screamed, ¡°On the sun, it¡¯s diving!¡± We all turned and focused upward. It was difficult to see, but something was definitely gettingrger. I took cover behind a rock and angled my spear up. The griffin was big with a thirty-foot wingspan. It was targeting Mateo, and I thought he was a goner as massive talons extended out. Castille cast some wispy ck lines that zipped toward the creature and wrapped its body and wings. The creature screeched in anger as it suddenly had trouble pping its wings. The creature crashed into the ground and mmed into someone I couldn¡¯t identify. Orders were suddenly being shouted. ¡°Attack!¡± ¡°Blue-potion!¡± ¡°Encircle it!¡± ¡°Keep an eye out for the other one!¡± Oh, the potion request was for me! I grabbed the potion from storage and ran to the downed man. My only focus was getting the potion into his mouth. The violent sounds ofbat rang nearby, but I did my job. The man¡¯s bones started moving into the correct ce. Castille kneeled next to me a minuteter, and I looked up. The griffin was bloody and in its death throes. It was calling for its mate. Castille said, ¡°Give him a second one.¡± She stood and ended her spell as she scanned the skies. Someone pointed in the sky. It was the other griffin. Orders were shouted as we prepared. Everyone was much more confident now. The griffin didn¡¯te. Instead, itnded in its nest. Soon it was flying away with two eggs clutched in its legs. Delmar cursed, ¡°Stupid birds are smarter than they should be. There goes the mission¡¯s bonus.¡± Castille didn¡¯t seem concerned and just took out her device to harvest essence. She used it on the corpse, and the essence pearl that formed was much better than anything I had seen prior. Castille said, ¡°Greater constitution essence. Delmar, this is for you,¡± she tossed it to him. I thought that was interesting. Delmar supported Castille, and Adrian argued with her in regard to the dungeon. ¡°There could be more eggs. Eryk. Empty your space and go check the nest. Konstantin, go with him.¡± It made some sense as my space was the best way to get the egg safely. Still, why me? What if the griffin returned? I would be on my own. Konstantin put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me forward. I emptied the legion¡¯s property and made my way to climb up the frigging mountain. The dead griffin was being harvested as I walked past it. The climb was not fun, and Konstantin didn¡¯t help as he made me go first. I assumed it was best for the new guy to get attacked first. The griffins had chosen a steep peak to nest on. I was learning how to free climb on the fly. Going up was not that bad¡ªI was more worried when I would have to go down. I reached the nest first, and there were two eggs and a lot of bones in the nest. I immediately moved one of the eggs into my storage space, leaving one egg. A few secondster, Konstantin was up behind me, ¡°Looks like we got lucky. Hopefully, the griffin didn¡¯t abandon a dead embryo. Can you get it into your space?¡± I nodded and did so. Konstantin was examining everything in the nest. Tossing things over the edge as he sorted through everything. When he was done, he shook his head, ¡°No human remains. A few horses but no humans. Also, they tend to tear off the clothes of humanoids before consuming the flesh. This pair has not killed any humans. Ok, I will see you back at the cave.¡± He swung over the edge and confidently descended the steep mountainside we had just spent hours climbing. I rested in the nest¡ªpulling out some food and water from my dimensional space before following him down the mountain. I was much slower than Konstantin. Thankfully the other griffin never returned. When I reached the dead griffin hourster, it was picked clean from the legion¡¯s harvesting efforts. Konstantin was waiting for me. He had probably been watching me descend for hours, so he had notpletely abandoned me. ¡°Looks like griffin steaks tonight. Come, boy, they should have at least saved us the choicest cuts for doing all the work.¡± We made our way to the cave, and even before we got there, I smelled the unmistakable scent of BBQ. Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Three legionaries guarded the entrance of the cave. Inside, the men were all working to process the griffin. One man was sorting feathers, another cleaned the talons and teeth, and another cut meat into thin strips to smoke them into jerky. As I looked around, a feather pillow hit me in the face, and I caught it before it hit the floor. ¡°He is back!¡± yelled my attacker. It was Lucien, the horse master. The soldiers parted to let me reach Castille and one of her lieutenants. The expectant soldiers watched as I approached. I took the pillow and ced it on the ground, and materialized the egg on top. Cheers erupted. I felt like the hero returning from the war. Lucien was behind me and whispered, ¡°The pillow was for you, dolt. Griffin down feathers. Already boiled and dried by Mage Castille.¡± Mage Castille picked up the egg and held it to her ear, listening. A momentter, she announced, ¡°It is alive!¡± more cheers. Lucien mumbled, ¡°Would have made a good omelet, though.¡± Delmar snapped at him, ¡°Expensive omelet, horse master. That egg is good for at least 2500 gold on the open market to a griffon tamer.¡± ¡°Good mounts should remain on the ground,¡± the horse master retorted. Delmar gave him a hard stare and then said, ¡°Agreed!¡± they bothughed. Castille looked at me, ¡°You did well, Eryk. Go see Adrian for a bonus.¡± She waived to the corner of the cave. ¡°Take the pillow. Another reward the men granted you,¡± she smiled suspiciously. I approached Adrian at a stone table with the potion racks and coin trays in front of him. He had the ledger open and looked up, ¡°Eryk...you have a bonus here from Mage Castille. Tworge silver.¡± he took tworge pieces of silver and handed them to me. I was a little stunned. The egg was so valuable, and I got 20 silver. Seeing my disbelief, he smiled, ¡°Once the griffin parts are sold, you will get another bonus.¡± he checked the ledger, ¡°Probably three gold. Don¡¯t look surprised. The empire only lets Mage Castille keep 10% of the harvest. She will give half of what she gets to the legion members. That is after she resupplies the potions. Most mages give nothing to their soldiers, so be happy. That pillow you are holding,¡± he pointed. ¡°That is a griffin feather down pillow. Worth a gold on its own.¡± I felt the pillow and it was soft, and the case was silky smooth. As I felt it up, Adrian chuckled, ¡°The men voted to give you the pillow because they said you moan and groan all the time. Although they gifted it to you as a joke, I suggest you hang on to it and sell it when we reach arger city. Quilters prize the down feathers.¡± I flushed in mild embarrassment, but I would lug the three-pound pillow with me if it was worth one gold coin. That was why I guessed no one wanted it. Three pounds was a lot of weight to carry out of the mountains. ¡°Go get something to eat,¡± Adrian said, smiling ruefully. ¡°You are going to need it. Mage Castille wants you in the dungeon party. Put the potions and these trays back into your storage.¡± My thoughts jolted. Dungeon party? Why me? I walked to someone cooking skewered chunks of griffin flesh over coals. He handed me two of them, and I started eating. The meat was amazing and took my mind off the dungeon problem. It was salty-sweet and melted in my mouth. The cook smiled, ¡°We had some Kraken salt left and some spices. It is an instant marinade.¡± ¡°Kraken salt?¡± I asked while devouring the meat. I hoped to get more. Heughed, ¡°Yeah, it is distilled from Kraken¡¯s blood. A byproduct of alchemists. One of Mage Castille¡¯s vanities. She breaks it out when we celebrate,¡± he paused and switched his tone. ¡°Or sometimes when we are about to do something that might get some of us killed.¡± He looked at me seriously, ¡°A kind ofst meal.¡± I reached for another skewer, and he pped my hand, ¡°Two each.¡± Then he reconsidered and handed me a third skewer. I numbly walked to my tent and found Renna studying her book using some type of light stone. Renna looked up as I sat. ¡°Sorry to hear you are going into the dungeon in the morning. Mage Castille announced the six going before you got back.¡± ¡°Just six of us?¡± I asked, suddenly more concerned. ¡°They tested the dungeon entrance. It only epts a fixed number of people at a time. After the number has entered, the doorway prevents others,¡± I sat next to her with my anxiety rising. ¡°Why are we evening going in? I thought the dungeon absorbed corpses after people were killed. If the baron¡¯s son is dead, we will not find any evidence anyway. And it has been a month. He must be dead already,¡± I grumbled while finishing my griffin meat. Renna had a sympathetic look, ¡°Mage Castille is strong, and she is taking her best fighters. Well, her best fighters, not including you,¡± she giggled, trying to break my sour mood. ¡°Delmar has been into dungeons before, and he is going. He said the dungeon has safe areas in it where the creatures will not attack you. I think the n is to search the safe areas for the baron¡¯s son.¡± ¡°So you are noting then?¡± I asked. ¡°No. I have not learned any spells; my only spell form is flight,¡± she replied softly. I finished my meat, rxed against the stone wall, and Renna moved beside me. The cold stone on my back felt good. The looming oily wall nearby put a damper on my mood. Renna¡¯s knees were touching, and I knew her closeness to me was a good sign. Maybe tonight she would visit my tent. I was not foolish enough to try and visit hers. My fantasies were ended when Castille announced the dungeon team had four hours to rest up. A brief period of silence before I asked if Renna could read to me again. She took out the book, and I asked about affinities unrted to me before asking about the time affinity. Renna turned to the page, ¡°Time¡­only one is listed for each range.¡± I waited expectantly while she read. The three ranges were affinity range up 20, 20-50, and 50 to 70. ¡°The easiest to learn is something called time sense. It lets you always know what time it is. That is probably useful in dungeons. Did your affinity with time gem light up on the disc?¡± ¡°No, I am just curious. I like hearing listening to your voice. What are the other two?¡± She blushed at my words. ¡°The mid-tier time suggestion is called stasis. It allows you to halt the aging of an object or person. It fades over time. Wow, that would be amazing. Too bad the time affinity is so rare. I would guess the Emperor has a mage casting this on him all the time. He has been the Emperor for what, three hundred years?¡± She turned to me. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I replied. I knew absolutely nothing about the Emperor. ¡°Yeah, I think his three hundredth birthday celebration was three or four years ago,¡± Renna said, thinking. ¡°I have never seen him in person,¡± she softened her voice. ¡°I am meeting his eleventh son after I form all five of my spell abilities. We are to be married.¡± The air was suddenly very thick. I did not know what to say. I wanted her to read on, but I also felt I should console her. She was probably going to live in luxury, so should I feel sorry for her? I finally said, ¡°Three hundred years old and only eleven sons? If you are so important to Emperor, why did High Mage Dacien leave you.¡± She huffed, ¡°The Emperor has seventeen sons still alive. I do not know how many have died over the years. As to High Mage Dacien, he only cares about growing his own power. We came out here to get the apex earth essence from the bulette. It is the only way he can grow his earth affinity now, with apex earth essences.¡± She shifted ufortably. ¡°The high mage is probably one of the five most powerful mages in the empire. He can pretty much do what he wants. As long as he answers the Emperor¡¯s call to war.¡± She stared off into space, ¡°I am sure if I die, they will just find another wife for the Emperor¡¯s son anyway.¡± She had a morbid view of her plight. ¡°How old are you anyway?¡± I figured an Empire year was pretty close to what I considered an Earth year from my time here. ¡°Neen this December,¡± she replied. She looked younger, but I took her word. There were ten months in the calendar. Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December. It was another clue as I remembered that there were originally ten months in the Roman calendar. I was pretty sure the alphabet was Latin. I thought I was transported to an alternate reality where the Roman Empire thrived in a world with magic. I nodded at Renna and smiled, which she returned. ¡°What else does it say about the time affinity?¡± I tried to return her attention to the book and killed the moment. So reluctantly read the next passage and summarized, ¡°The highest affinities can do something called time stop. It appears it creates a bubble of slow time around the mage, where the mage moves at normal speed. Anyone entering the bubble will be affected by the slow time. It takes a lot of aether to maintain the bubble, though.¡± My affinity was 90 in the time affinity. Was there another suggestion that was even more powerful than these suggestions in the book? I nodded, ¡°I think I should get some rest.¡± I left her, crawled into my tent, and got my new pillow underneath my bed. It smelled like the outdoors. I really did miss pillows. It did not take long to fall asleep. It was too soon before I was woken up. It was Mateo, and he was gently shaking me, ¡°Eryk. They are getting ready. I was told to wake you.¡± He was being too polite, and it seemed he felt bad for my fate. He left, and I moved the pillow into my dimensional space. If there was a chance it would be my end, then I was taking the pillow with me. The other five people entering were Mage Castille, Delmar, Konstantin, Linus, and Firth. I felt out of ce in the group of experienced older legionaries. They looked determined and not at all nervous. Mage Castille addressed me, ¡°Stay near Linus and do whatever he tells you.¡± She walked into the ck oily wall, and it seemed to stretch around her, and then she vanished, and the wall was smooth again. Everyone else moved through, leaving me standing there. Adrian yelled, ¡°Hurry up, legionnaire. They will think you are running away if you don¡¯t show up soon.¡± I turned to rush into the wall, and it stretched around me. It felt like I was falling into a pool of warm jello. And then I fell face-first onto a stone floor. ¡°Watch out, raw recruit. The first step is always disorienting. Pick yourself up, put your pants back on,¡± Delmar said with some humor. I stood, and my pants were on as I checked them, so I was confused. Konstantinughed, ¡°Boy, he was just referring to the fact this was your first time getting fucked by a dungeon.¡± I was not too fond of the attempt at humor. Chapter 14: I Decided I Do Not Like Dungeons Chapter 14: I Decided I Do Not Like Dungeons Chapter 14 Announcement Happy Fourth! Chapters 21 and 22 will be on Patreon tomorrow night I checked my gear. I had brought one short and one spear. My pack had just water and food. I had two knives on my waist as well. Castille was inspecting the walls with some script on them, but it was not Latin. Konstantin moved next to me, ¡°You always enter the dungeon at walking speed. Even if you run into the entrance, it takes some getting used to.¡± He indicated the walls, ¡°We read the script yesterday. It says the dungeon allows seven to enter. So there might actually be someone alive in here.¡± He continued, ¡°We think all the monsters are insects. Spiders, centipedes, beetles, and roaches. At least that is what the ones who came before noted on the wall there.¡± ¡°Thanks, Konstantin.¡± At least someone was telling me what was going on. As Mage Castille was still studying the writing, I wondered, ¡°Whatnguage is that?¡± Konstantin harumphed, ¡°Orc. And an old orc dialect as well. This dungeon had not been explored in a long time before that nitwit entered. And yes, the baron¡¯s son was here. The length of time this dungeon has been alone means the critters inside are going to be nasty.¡± He spoke softly, ¡°If it all goes to shit and you are thest one standing, run as fast as you can to the entrance,¡± he whispered seriously. I had a million questions, like why was Konstantin being so nice suddenly, but Mage Castille waved us forward. Konstantin and Delmar walked at the front as we descended a rough rock-hewn corridor. The corridor suddenly opened up. It looked like we were entering the outside as stars could be seen above us, and the night sky was all around us with very bright stars. ¡°Everyone be quiet,¡± Delmar whispered. ¡°We are in a massive chamber. Those are not stars. They are fire beetles. Not overly dangerous, but dungeon ecology usually means something preys on them.¡± Suddenly a buzzing sound started, and the stars grew brighter and brighter as the beetles pped their wings. The massive chamber began to light up, showing a rough rock-strewn floor and a ceiling covered in stctites. Everyone was on watch, looking for an enemy. I felt the ground tremble, and I was not the only one. Everyone¡¯s eyes were searching the ground. Castille swore, ¡°The fire beetles were an rm for something. It ising. Spread out!¡± I stood there dumbly while everyone else moved apart. Someone pointed, and I saw the rocky soil copse on itself and then erupt upward thirty feet away. A massive crawfish-looking monster emerged. Someone yelled, ¡°Ankheg!¡± which meant absolutely nothing to me. I held my spear at a ready position but did not think my twig would have much effect on something sorge. Castille cast her wisps of ck ropes at the beast. The monstrosity turned on her and sted a rain of glowing green water at her. The fluid washed over her, hitting an invisible shield and sshing everywhere. Konstantin was already nking the restrained monster. The green water was steaming where it hit the ground. I guessed it must be some type of acid and noted to myself not to get in front of the creature. I got my senses and rushed to the nk of the monstrosity as well. It is not every day you get to fight a twenty-foot-tall burrowing crawfish. Maybe it was more ant-like. It has some nasty mandibles, so getting behind the creature seemed wise to me. Everything was happening so fast. The straining beast was slowly snapping the ck tendrils of smoke cast by Castille. The ng of metal on chitin rang through the air as everyone tried to prate the shell. I angled my spear between two tes and leaned in with my body weight. The tip of my spear entered, and the spear sunk a foot deep. My victory was short-lived as the beast broke the ck restraints, and one of the body-sized ws snapped toward me. I fell backward, letting go of my spear but keeping my head as the wed arm snapped the air where my head had just been. Ok, I decided I definitely did not like dungeons. Someone yelled, ¡°Seconding from behind!¡± What was going on? My vision was blocked as I tried to figure things out. Another voice yelled, ¡°Watch the acid spray!¡± I drew my short sword and one of my knives and rushed toward the injured one. It was oozing from a dozen puncture wounds and struggling to remain upright. I thought we needed to put it down before engaging the second. I ran up its carapace because I had the great idea of getting close to the head and stabbing it from behind¡ªand it could not attack while I was on its back. I realized in the back of my mind how I had been conditioned to fight even under circumstances that seemed dire. I did not fear injury, and my goal was to end the threat before I was killed. I ran up the shiny carapace, gaining confidence with each step. I needed to get my de between the chitin tes behind the head. Just two more steps...my boot slipped on the angled, shiny shell, causing me to fall quickly to the left. My knee mmed hard into the shell, and I dropped my short sword in favor of using my two hands on the dagger to aim it at a gap in the armor. I seeded in lodging it in the shell. This saved me from falling underneath the beast that started thrashing to get me off. I hung on to the handle as the motion of the beast¡¯s death throws started to whip my body with it. My focus had been on this one beast, and I had not been aware enough to understand everything else that was going on around me. Now as I was being thrown about, I could see Mage Castille and two legionnaires fighting the other ankheg. One of my fellow soldiers was slumped over in obvious pain. My ride slowed as the goo that made up the ankheg¡¯s blood stopped flowing from its wounds. I pushed off hard andnded into a roll to gain distance. My shoulder was in pain, and I had definitely strained the shoulder socket and was lucky I had not dislocated the shoulder as well. I stood and moved to help with the other ankheg. Konstantin spoke, ¡°Stay back. It is handled. Brave, but stupid boy. The beast was finished if you just gave it time. There was no need for a killing blow,¡± he walked past me to watch the end of the other battle. Castille seeing I was free, yelled, ¡°Fool! Eryk, get a healing potion to Linus!¡± I shed to the injured soldier and rushed to him. It wasn¡¯t my fault. I was ordered to follow Linus¡¯ orders. In the absence of orders, I helped fight as best I could. I knelt and pulled the potion from my space, and helped the man drink it. He had a relieved look on his face as his injury healed and the pain faded, ¡°Got caught in a w. Got a wee bit crushed.¡± He coughed up some congealed blood, the potion doing its work. The second beast was now in its death throws as well. We had won, and everyone was alive. Linus was going to take some time for the potion to do its work but other than that; everyone was in one piece. Mage Castille removed her collector shield and ced it over the ankleg. It activated smoothly, and an essence ball formed in the center. Castille announced, ¡°Major essence of constitution.¡± She moved to the other beast and repeated the process, ¡°Major essence of constitution again.¡± Everyone looked on as Mage Castille looked at everyone present. ¡°Linus and Firth,¡± she finally said, handing the essence to the eager men. Delmar announced, ¡°Not much worth harvesting that wouldn¡¯t take a long time. I say we let the dungeon reim them as is. It will make the respawn process quicker, but I hope to be out before then.¡± Linus spoke with a rasp as his lungs were still healing, ¡°We are not going to do that again?¡± Mage Castille considered, ¡°No. We will delve as deep as we can and then retreat. If we don¡¯t find the person, we will call for an experienced delve team. Our team is not bnced enough for this dungeon, and we are a person short of the party limit.¡± Delmar had a sour look, and Castille mollified him, ¡°Rx, Delmar. I know you did this for a living, but we are not equipped for it and will run out of potions before long. I want someone to capture a fire beetle and everyone else to search thisrge chamber. I see the one exit opposite where we entered. There should be a prize in here somewhere as well for defeating the two monsters.¡± Everyone spread out, and I remained in the center with Delmar and Castille. I listened to them talk. Delmar stated, ¡°Tough first room for a dungeon, and those ankheg were stronger than the norm. I don¡¯t see how they got past them. Maybe their party was killed, and the sole survivor just ran to the exit and will be in the next safe room.¡± Castille gave him a withering look, ¡°Delmar, those were respawns. The carapace was too shiny for them to be ancient. I have been in my fair share of dungeons too. You are smarter than that.¡± Delmar flushed in embarrassment. Konstantin came with one of the fire beetles. He held it by the wings as in red its light in defiance. She took the collector shield and used it on the beetle as it was alive. An essence formed, and the three of them were surprised. Mage Castille looked up. There were hundreds of fire beetles. ¡°It is a minor perception essence. If only one in ten of those beetles yields one, this could be quite the harvest.¡± Konstantin swayed her thoughts, ¡°They are only on the ceiling. Got lucky catching this one. I do not think getting them down will be easy.¡± She nodded reluctantly, ¡°Ok,¡± she tossed Konstantin the essence. ¡°We would need to use the collector on the live ones in order to get a chance at an essence as well. Delmar, start making preparations for the next room.¡± Firth came up a short timeter with a small stone chest. He had a huge grin on his face. Delmar scolded him, ¡°Fool. It could have been trapped.¡± ¡°But it wasn¡¯t,¡± he retorted. ¡°Seven gold are inside.¡± Delmar eyes went up in obvious surprise. Castille took the coins with slyness, ¡°That is one for the Empire and one for each of us. No word leaves your lips about this.¡± She looked pointedly at me. I nodded. As we rested at the passage further into the dungeon, Konstantin sat next to me, ¡°She chose this group because she trusts us. You are an unknown, Eryk. Follow our lead, and this delve could be profitable for you.¡± He mulled next to me in silence, and when I did not say anything, he stood and walked away. My impression from their surprise was that seven gold was a lot for a first room in a dungeon. An hourter, after Linus said he was good to go, we all stood and made our way to the tunnel. It opened into anotherrge chamber with fire beetles. Everyone swore as the beetles lit up therge room. We were at a bridge and had to cross to the other side. But there were dozens of other bridges crisscrossing the chamber. Konstantin swore, ¡°Fuck, I hate spiders.¡± I looked again; those were not bridges but webs. Imagining what size spider needed to be to create those, I decided again that I did not like dungeons. Chapter 15: First Apex Essence Chapter 15: First Apex Essence Chapter 15 Announcement bonus chapter because this story is doing well on RoyalRoad The crisscrossing bridges looked different now that I knew they were part of a spider¡¯swork. As the chamber lit up from the low buzzing fire beetles, I didn¡¯t see any spiders. I looked over the edge of the bridge. Below were shadows and more crisscrossing bridges, ¡°How deep does it go?¡± I asked quietly. Konstantin looked as well, ¡°I don¡¯t want to find out.¡± I think it was an attempt at humor, but it was lost due to the situation we found ourselves in. Delmar got everyone¡¯s attention, ¡°We do not know what type of spiders we are facing. Most likely, their fangs will inject a paralytic poison. So do not get bit. Strike the eyes. They have tworge eyes and six smaller eyes. Damaging the eyes will usually stun them momentarily.¡± And that was all the prep we got. My spear had broken in the ankheg, and I was gripping my short sword tightly and on high alert. Mage Castille was scanning the ceiling and considering her options. ¡°Eryk, give the potions to Linus. There are three cure poison potions in the racks. I want them in his hands. I believe the spiders are underneath us, under this very bridge. They are probably waiting for us to start to cross. I am going to check now.¡± Everyone suddenly got nervous and backed away from the edges. Mage Castille closed her eyes briefly, then said, ¡°Fiverge spiders are under the bridge.¡± Knowing how many spiders made it worse, and the tension rose. ¡°What is the n?¡± Delmar asked the mage, his normal iming and confident presence not evident. ¡°Someone is going to sprint across the bridge. It will be a decoy to draw them up. If the person gets caught by the spiders, they will most likely just be paralyzed. We should be able to reach them before they are wrapped in webbing and hauled away,¡± Castille said without any emotion. I had a bad feeling. I was the least skilled fighter and probably going to be selected. Konstantin stepped forward, ¡°I will do it.¡± My heart soared in relief. ¡°No, it will be Eryk,¡± Castille ordered. I tensed, not quite believing what I had heard.Castille then exined the attack n, ¡°There are five spiders and five of us. The bridge is almost forty feet wide, so drawing them all out at once is best. We will each engage one inbat as theye around to attack Eryk. When someone finishes theirs, they can help someone else.¡± Everyone seemed so confident I capitted. I started stretching. My knee was very sore from the fall off of the ankheg, and my shoulder still ached from thest battle. The good news was the bridge was wide and the chamber well-lit by the hundreds of fire beetles. I lined up in front of everyone. I realized I had been sweating profusely and took a long drink of water. Delmar and Konstantin were right behind me. I was thinking of two things. The first was that my surging adrenaline had made all my aches disappear, and the second was secrecy be damned. If I needed to use my dimensional space to kill a spider, I would not hesitate. Delmar finally instructed, ¡°Walk until you see the first one, and then run as fast as you can.¡± I nodded and walked. The bridge quickly got sticky under my boots, like I was walking on dried soda in a movie theater. I surmised it was old webbing on the surface that was causing the sound. The stone bridge started vibrating...the spiders were moving underneath us, preparing. I heard a clicking sound and saw the first spider legsing from my right. Legs as thick as my arms moved to bring the giant hairy spider into view. Spiders did not need to be this size. I ran as instructed, my heart already pumping. I heard Konstantin yell, ¡°Got this one.¡± I sprinted across the bridge, maybe 250 feet, and with relief, entered the opening on the far side of the chamber. I spun quickly and took in the site. In the middle of the bridge, everyone was engaged with a spider. Had the n worked? I counted five spiders...well, four, as Castille¡¯s spider was wrapped in ck whispy chains and pulled over the edge. She then produced a wand and began to fire arrows of blue light at the spider Firth was fighting. I had not liked being the bait, but the n had worked. I decided to rush in and help. Delmar was engaged to the spider closest to me, and I hacked the leg with my short sword. The leg cracked like a lobster shell and was severed. The spider swung around on me and tried to lunge. Instead, Delmar got his long de into the abdomen and jerked hard. Yellow mucus flowed out of the wound, the spider twitched in pain, and the legs curled in on themselves, dropping the spider where it was. Delmar did not wait and turned to help the others. The battle was over in less than a minute, and I didn¡¯t even reach anyone else to help. Castille was already applying her collector shield to a spider. The quicker you did the extraction, the better chance you had at getting an essence. There were only four spiders as the Castille had tossed hers over the edge. Everyone gave an essence. Castille had extracted one apex essence of dexterity and three major essences of dexterity. Everyone huddled around on alert, waiting for the loot to be assigned. Castille took thergest essence and put it in my hand. I was so shocked I did not see who got the other essences. It was muchrger than the minor essence I had consumed back in training. I put the ball into my mouth and felt it dissolve as goosebumps spread across my body in reaction to it. I had to keep swallowing to get the aftertaste out of my mouth and the sticky feeling in my throat. Delmar started cracking open the abdomen of a spider. It was a gooey mess and smelled horrific from where I was. I watched in fascination as he removed a ser ball-sized object. He looked over at me, ¡°Spider spinneret. They are worth a good three gold each. Castille said I could have them all if I carried them out myself.¡± Firth had found the stone prize box again. Inside were three potions. All cure poison and no coins. They were generic cure poisons, but being dungeon made, they were quite valuable as their shelf life was generally centuriespared to alchemist potions that were only good for a few months. I was once again asked to hold all the potions in my dimensional space, the new potions included. Linus was teasing the fangs and mumbling about not bringing any empty containers for the venom. He finally reported to Castille the type of venom the spiders contained. I heard him say a generic poison, no paralyticpounds detected. When Delmar had his spinnerets, we started to move out. I drank the rest of my canteen while everyone else moved to the far side of the bridge. I hastened my steps to catch up to them. Konstantin pped my back, ¡°You did well. You got lucky they did not try and block your path. She was impressed with your effort,¡± he indicated the apex essence. ¡°Just try to keep yourself alive long enough to make use of it.¡± I nodded, falling into step beside my¡ªmentor? I was still curious why Konstantin had softened on me. Did it have to do with the griffin nest somehow? Also, I had just consumed an apex essence. They were used to increase a person¡¯s affinity. If my manifested convergence ability did let me milk essences for all they were worth, what type of benefit would I get from it? My nerves and skin were still tingly, so something was happening. It also was not lost on me that I had been told apex essences cost fifty gold or more. And Castille had casually handed it to me like a snack. I quietly asked Konstantin, ¡°Does she hand out apex essences often?¡± He looked at me seriously, ¡°No. That was only the ninth one she had given to a legionnaire in my eight years with her. We got lucky this dungeon has been neglected for so long. I am guessing that is why the baron¡¯s son risked it. This dungeon is probably bursting with aether, and the first few runs will yield powerful essences. Even the respawns.¡± We were a good distance away from the others, and he whispered, ¡°She is trying to buy your loyalty. Do not look surprised. She has bought the loyalty of most of us. You should be happy she thought you were worth the investment.¡± Delmar, up ahead, shouted, ¡°It is a safe room!¡± We all crowded into the small room that was twenty feet round. More orc writing dominated the wall, and a stream of water descended from the ceiling into the floor. Castille tested the water and said, ¡°Konstantin, scout ahead. Still no sign of the seventh?¡± Delmar was searching the room and shook his head no. We all sat down while Konstantin headed into the next corridor. We had only two short battles, but everyone looked exhausted from the life-and-death encounters. Delmar dropped his smelly spinneret backpack next to me, ¡°Carry it for me, and I will give you a gold coin?¡± He had told me the four spinnerets were worth twelve gold, and he was just offering me one gold. I wanted to stay on his good side, though. ¡°Payment up front,¡± I said cheekily. He frowned but produced the coin he had received from the ankheg. I pocketed the coin and sent the gold coin to my dimensional space with the other one. I was bing wealthy¡ªtwo gold coins and tworge silver! The spinnerets were heavy, but I figured it would just be till we returned to the horses. I would be paid a gold for a days worth of heavybor. It was a good half hourter before Konstantin returned, and we all huddled around Castille as he reported, ¡°The next dungeon room is anotherrge chamber. It is down a long descending corridor,¡± he broke into a massive grin. ¡°And I found the baron¡¯s son. He is alive.¡± Chapter 16: The Baron’s Son Chapter 16: The Baron¡¯s Son Chapter 16 Konstantin wore a grin as he continued. ¡°The little boy got himself trapped on an ind in the center of the chamber. There is ake and ind essible by stepping stones. Some type of luminescent fish lights up the water, which lights up the chamber and water. The water is also home to giant aquatic centipedes. They can not reach more than five feet out of the water, ording to the idiot on the ind.¡± Castille asked sternly, ¡°So you talked with Justin Cicero? How is his health?¡± Konstantin grinned, ¡°He tried to order me to save him. He said he had amander¡¯s rank in the army and had the right tomand me. He has been catching and cooking the glowing fish with his fire magic.¡± Delmar asked, ¡°How did he get trapped? What happened to his adventuring party?¡± Konstantin frowned, ¡°He lost one man to the spiders. It was his healing mage. A spider came from under the bridge and got him from behind. The water centipedes have a strong paralytic cloud attack. His two heavy fighters inhaled it, fell into the water, and drowned while they were crossing the stepping stones.¡± Firth asked, ¡°What happened to Marius, the pathfinder?¡± Konstantin shook his head, ¡°He did not say. But if the dungeon only allows seven people to enter and we number six, then it is safe to assume Marius is also dead.¡± ¡°What information do you have on the water creatures?¡± Castille asked.Konstantin grunted, ¡°The glowing fish light chamber and water, like the fire beetles did in the prior chambers. The six centipedes are all about ten feet long and easily seen moving in the water. But instead of legs, they have one hundred fins. They are really fast, and that is why I think Justin¡¯s team was surprised when crossing.¡± Mage Castille frowned, ¡°My shadow chains do not work underwater. Will they attack along the shoreline or just when crossing the stepping stones?¡± Konstantin shook his head, ¡°There is no shoreline. The chamber opens right to the stepping stones. The ind in the middle has a shoreline¡ª about thirty feet circr.¡± ¡°What is the likely hood of getting all of us to the ind with the baron¡¯s son?¡± Castille asked. Konstantin was shaking his head no. Delmar suggested, ¡°As long as we don¡¯t breathe in the paralytic gas can we sprint to the ind?¡± ¡°No,¡± Konstantin said. ¡°The stepping stones are about five feet across, and it is about five feet between the stones. If you stop on the stones, then you will likely get quickly swarmed.¡± Castille heaved a sigh, ¡°We have one instant ice potion. It will freeze all water in a fifteen-foot radius. If we can catch enough of them in the ice, we should be able to eliminate all of the water threats. It will take the dungeon at least two days to respawn them if we do not exit.¡± Dmar asked, ¡°Who is going to hop on the stones, draw them all in, and freeze them?¡± No one moved to volunteer. A long heavy silence ensued. Castille finally tried to entice someone, ¡°Two essences of their choice to the volunteer we harvest from the water creatures.¡± Still, no one volunteered. But I was thinking what everyone else was thinking. You can not use the essence if you are dead. Mage Castille upped the offer, ¡°Three and whatever is in the reward chest for the room.¡± Firth started to fidget. Delmar cocked his eyebrow, thinking Firth was going to cave and volunteer. ¡°I will do it.¡± All eyes turned to me. ¡°I already got some experience with the spiders being the bait, and you all will have my back,¡± I said confidently. Or at least I thought I sounded confident. I slowly removed the potions from my dimensional space, and Mage Castille pulled the aqua-colored potion out. ¡°We got this as a gift from a merchant for rescuing him from a gnoll war party. Keep the lid off, and throw it in the water when all six creatures are within range.¡± Delmar and Konstantin had something akin to ice spikes that they applied to their boots so they would not slip on the ice. We all walked down the long tunnel. As we approached the end, a blue light highlighted the room. When we reached the end, it was actually quite beautiful. The water glowed a soft blue, and the stepping stones were round and dark gray, heading out to an ind in the center. A young man stood on the ind studying us. ¡°You back, soldier?¡± He yelled excitedly. ¡°At least you brought help. Ready to get me off this ind?¡± I didn¡¯t like him from the second I heard his voice. To make matters worse, I was about risk my life for him. Konstantin walked up to me, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about catching them all. Get to the second stone and toss it when the first one attacks. When they emerge, hold your breath as long as you can. We will be right behind you.¡± He patted my back reassuringly. I nodded but was questioning my self-preservation thought process. It was a good ten minutes of preparation with the man on the ind screaming the entire time for us to hurry up. Castille told me to avoid falling into the water after I dropped the potion. She jokingly said they wouldn¡¯t have time to chip me out of the ice before I died. I could see the snake-looking creatures in the water. The glowing fish scattered from in front of them as they swam. I took a breath and leaped to the first stepping stone. I had expected it to be stable and nearly fell when it wobbled underneath me. Ripples of water spread from the stone, calling the creatures to me. I got my feet quickly under me. The creatures raced toward me incredibly fast. Two were trailing far behind, back near the ind. I waited, a short sword in one hand and the potion in the other for them to get close. Konstantin yelled, ¡°Get to the next tform!¡± I had forgotten the n to get to the second tform when I stumbled. I needed to give everyone room to fight. I ran and leaped. The wobble of the tform had me not get a great push-off, and I came up short a little short. My bad knee mmed hard, and I heard a crack in my knee as my lower body sshed into the water. Water filled my boots as I scrambled to get on the tform. Somehow I didn¡¯t spill the potion, but the knuckles on my sword hand were smashed and bleeding as I rolled onto the floating stone. An insectoid head appeared above water. I swung my sword as the centipede spewed a foul mist into my face. My de cut its face rubbery face. I swung twice more, hacking away. The exertion meant I couldn¡¯t hold my breath much longer. I tossed the potion into the water, unaware if all the swimming beasts were close enough yet. I watched in fascination as the water crystalized and the ice started spreading rapidly. Konstantinnded behind me, and I inhaled in relief as I needed the air. The foul mist had not fully dissipated, and I felt the paralytic taking hold. It was hard to move and breathe, but my fellow soldiers were around me and hacking away as the centipedes were trapped in the ice. Then my feet felt cold, but it was not the paralyzing mist. My boots and pants froze, and then I was a statue. My frozen clothes from the waist down held up my paralyzed body. I watched as five of the six centipedes were hacked to death, trapped in the ice. Thest one lunged up onto the ice, and its long body slid toward me. Delmar intercepted it and hacked into the body, stopping it. Firth walked into my line of sight. ¡°Damn, if I knew it was going to be this easy, I would have volunteered myself.¡± He tapped my forehead. ¡°Hey, Linus, how long before he moves again?¡± ¡°About a minute, I believe,¡± I heard from behind me. He was correct as I felt my movement slowly return. I slowly and painfully sucked in the precious air. If I had known the paralysis would have extended to my lungs, I would not have volunteered. I gasped and went down on one knee and tried to remove my boots, as I was now worried about frostbite. As I wrestled with the boots, the baron¡¯s son came to us across the stones and reeked something fierce. ¡°About time. Give me some food, and you can hand me my essences from those creatures, mage.¡± I had only gotten one boot off so far but looked up to see the Mage Castille staring at the man who was in his twenties with weeks of haggard grow on his gaunt face. Delmar stepped between the mage and the baron¡¯s son, ¡°Over here, First Citizen Justin. We can get you some rations.¡± Delmar escorted Justin back up to the safe room before the confrontation with Mage Castille erupted into something. Mage Castille stood over me as I rubbed my bare feet, trying to get the feeling back. I was still on the ice-covered second stepping stone. ¡°Nice work Eryk.¡± She leaned down and ced three essences into my palm. ¡°Three apex endurance affinities. All six were apex endurance essences. The baron¡¯s son took the reward chest as it materialized on the ind,¡± she said regrettably. ¡°He can just take the chest? He didn¡¯t do a damn thing! What about his im on the essences?¡± I asked, annoyed, starting to feel some life in my bare feet. Castille pursed her lips, ¡°He is a First Citizen.¡± My confused look had her add, ¡°They fall under differentws.¡± ¡°As a mage, are you not a First Citizen as well?¡± I asked. Castille harumphed, ¡°No. You can only be born into first citizenship. You need to be a descendent of a member of the First Legion.¡± I had more questions but did not want to show my ignorance, ¡°So what is going to happen with Mr. Personality?¡± I asked Mage Castille. She huffed in a shortugh at my nickname. ¡°I will give him these three essences and tell him that was all we collected. He didn¡¯t see me collect them all as he was too busy opening the chest on the ind and securing whatever was in it. He will probably doubt me, so consume those quickly. You may get some indigestion as you are only supposed to take one essence a day, but if you don¡¯t take them all now, that nitwit will confiscate them. Stay down here and take one every hour. I will see you in two hours.¡± Castille nodded at me, then she turned away and started walking back to the safe room. Konstantin was the only one left at the passage heading up. He spoke, ¡°Since the reward chest appeared in this room, there will be no other threats. When you feel up to it, walk down to the next chamber and take an ounting of it. If Justin asks, we will tell him we left you behind to scout. Do not enter the room, though, just note what you see from the passageway so you have something to tell Justin if he asks. The dungeon¡¯s ecology will prevent the creatures from leaving their designated room.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t we just kill the monsters from the passageway then?¡± I asked, trying to find a loophole. Konstantin shook his head in disappointment, ¡°I thought you were smarter than that, Eryk.¡± Instead of borating, he turned and left. I was left barefoot and alone on the floating stone with three essences in my hand. I looked around and put the first essence into my mouth, thinking about what he meant. Then it struck me. The ankhegs were underground. The spiders were under the bridge. And the centipede fish were in the water and only came close after I leaped onto the first stone. All of the monsters had only attacked after we entered the room. I surmised dungeons protected their creations from making killing them too easy. I confirmed I was alone. I sent my wet, cold socks to my dimensional storage and brought out dry socks. I put on the icy, frost-covered boots. I had a lot of time, so I decided to check out the ind in the center of the chamber. I hopped to it and almost copsed every time Inded. My knee was in serious pain, and I think I cracked the pate. On the ind, I found the mess the baron¡¯s son left¡ªpiles of shit, fish bones, dirty clothes. The smell was horrendous. I looked at the far side of the cavern. I still had a lot of time before I needed to return to the safe room. I knew curiosity killed the cat, but it couldn¡¯t hurt to take a peak. As Konstantin said, I just needed to remain in the passageway. Chapter 17: Sisyphus’ Rock Chapter 17: Sisyphus¡¯ Rock Chapter 17 I reached the far side of the chamber on the floating stepping stones. I wished I still had the healing potions in my dimensional space. I would have dly taken some punishment for using one. But I had not been asked to store them after the fight. My knee was swelling, and I hobbled into the tunnel and looked back at the stones. Maybe this was not a great idea. I winced at the thought of hopping back across the stones. Perhaps I would hobble down to the next room ande back. I had a strong limp as my right knee got so stiff it was difficult to bend. As the light faded behind me, a new light at the end of the tunnel appeared in front of me. I was close, maybe 60 feet from the next room. I continued to the opening into the next chamber. Standing in the passage, I looked into the room. It was a smooth conical stone dome. Lines of greenish light, like veins, lit up the dome. The lines seemed to pulse in a rhythm. I stuck my head inside to look at the wall around the door. Huh, the lines were made by fist-sized snails trailing a glowing goo behind them. These were the first non-insects I had seen in the dungeon. I didn¡¯t know what it implied. The floor of the domed room was t and consisted of brown dirt with some mounds near the center. I guessed they hid whatever creature guarded the room. The curious thing was I did not see an exit around the room anywhere. Was this the final room in this dungeon? Maybe the snails were the monster? Would they all fly together to giant snail¡­ok that was a stupid thought. The first chamber had burrowers, so this chamber probably had burrowers, and the mounds in the center hid the creature. I stared for forty minutes and then took out my second apex essence and ate it. Castille had said to wait at least an hour between. Shit. Castille was not joking about indigestion. I started making short belching sounds apanied by an attack of mini hups. My stomach roiled, and I broke out into a cold sweat, and I sat down against the wall and theny down till the feeling passed. I kept an eye on the room, waiting for my stomach and pulse rate to return to normal. I was definitely going to save thatst apex essence for muchter. I pulled out some water and drank heavily before putting it back in my storage. I stayed seated until, and in my estimation, it was getting close to the end of the two hours Castille gave me. I decided it was time to go. Besides the snails making slow progress along the dome, I observed no movement in the chamber. Taking onest look at the room, I wondered if maybe there was a doorway to the right or left that I couldn¡¯t quite see. I decided to take a quick check. That way, I could say I scouted the next room if the baron¡¯s son questioned me. I leaned in further, on alert, ready to run, remembering the ankheg had spit acid. I didn¡¯t see anything and cautiously got a little further in. I looked up, searching the wall of the dome. Nothing. I moved to go the half step back and felt for the passageway. What¡­it was a solid wall. My heart started racing as I felt the wall. I had barely entered the room¡ªif even at all. Maybe it was invisible¡­some type of illusion. I slid left a few feet and then right on the wall feeling the wall for the passage. I felt a tremor under my feet and swore. Why didn¡¯t anyone fucking tell me a dungeon could lock you in a room? Now, I was going to die to whatever horrendous insect swarm came after me. I drew my short sword, pulled a shield from my dimensional space, and turned to face whatever spawn crawled from under the earth. The ground in the center of the chamber was rippling, and a body of a massive ck scorpion erupted. The stinger swayed fifteen feet in the air, and each of its two ws was as big as a person. I waited with a racing heart. I could win by sending part of its body to my dimensional cube as I had done with the bulette if it was just one Schwarzenegger-sized scorpion. Nothing else came, and I started moving along the wall. The scorpion located me and turned to follow my movements. It seemed cautious. Maybe it was stunned that only one person hade to challenge it. It tested its ws with reverberating snaps in the air. The hovering stinger did a hypnotic dance in the air as its eight legs brought it slowly forward. I prepared my dimensional space¡­fuck! I still had the stone pir stored in there! New n. Drop a big rock on a big bug. I increased my pace along the wall, and it finally charged me. I did my best to time the stone. The edge of the stone materialized at the end of my sword arm from the storage, extending ten feet forward, looming over the confused bug. The stone hung in the air for a moment before falling. One of the ws extended and reached for me. I rolled away, but it was not necessary. The cylinder crushed the body of the scorpion, and internal fluids sttered in every direction. I was covered in metallic-smelling bug juice. I focused on my aether and swore. The mass of pulling the object had drained all my aether in one go. I scanned the room, thinking my bad luck would have a second scorpion show up. The stinger started to fall like a felled tree toward me. I tumbled out of the way as it pierced the ground¡­It would have missed me by a few feet but better safe than sorry. The slimy fluids covering me were now coated with dirt from my roll. I spit something fowl from my mouth. I slowly walked around the chamber and found a shoebox-sized stone chest in the center of the room. I breathed, relieved. Konstantin had said if the reward chest appeared then all threats had been handled. I put down my shield to inspect the box. The box was simr to the others we found when defeating the previous monsters. I moved cautiously past the scorpion, wishing I had an essence collector to use on it. I was about to open the chest when I remembered someone mentioned traps. I used my sword tip instead to flip the lip open. Huh, twenty shiny gold coins and what looked like a pendant. A silvery chain was connected to a hexagonal brass coin. The coin has an array of fine lines and small blue gems embedded at intersections on both sides. It was simr to the patterns that made up the discs on the trantion amulet I had during training but much finer and more intricate work. I picked up the obvious magic item. It felt light in my hand, more like the density of stic than metal. I thought about wearing it and channeling aether into it, but since I did not know what it did, I decided to store it away with the gold coins. I walked to the dead scorpion and wondered what kind of essence the beast would have yielded. I touched the carapace, thinking I could possibly pull the essence to myself with my ability. I focused and tried for a few minutes before giving up. I couldn¡¯t feel anything happening and felt silly for trying. I thought better at leaving the empty chest and stone cylinder. If they came down here to check this room, I figured to erase as much evidence as possible. Although the giant crushed scorpion still oozing fluids was a dead giveaway. Unfortunately, my aether didn¡¯t recover enough to put anything in my space. I buried the chest as that was the best I could do. I hobbled back to the water chamber. Hoping across the stones this time was not fun, and I fell on eachnding as my knee would not bend properly. When I got to the far side, I quickly stripped and began to wash my clothes and armor in the water. All the tales of glory inbat never mentioned the after-battle cleanup. Cleaning up the mess after a fight was never pretty, and this was the second time for me, the messy bulette being the first. The glowing fish seemed attracted to the gore being washed into the crystal-clear water. They were not carnivorous and just seemed like fat trout with glowing scales. I wondered how they might taste and wished I had a fishing rod. I was in my undergarments with everythingid out to dry when Konstantin came down the tunnel to check on me. ¡°It has been four hours, Eryk. Are you down here bathing?¡± Humorced his voice. ¡°Castille was getting worried. And I have some bad news.¡± He was staring at my swollen and red knee and knelt to inspect it. ¡°Well, don¡¯t keep me in suspense. Is the cave the home of a dragon?¡± I asked while I started putting on my wet clothes. ¡°No, much worse. Castille is sending you to escort Justin Cicero back to his father,¡± Konstantin admitted. ¡°She is giving him the griffin egg, and you are to store it in your space so it gets there safely. She is doing it so she can get the leech away from herpany. Report to the Legion headquarters when you reach Varvao. They will tell you where to find ourpany.¡± ¡°How far is Varvao?¡± I asked, concerned. ¡°Three hundred and fifty miles. Give or take. But there is good news. Your little mage friend is going with you,¡± Konstantin chuckled. ¡°Renna ising with me? Is that a good thing with the First Citizen being with me?¡± I asked, thinking of her safety. ¡°Most likely, he will not touch her. Rumor is she is promised to one of the Emperor¡¯s sons,¡± but he didn¡¯t sound confident. He pointed at my knee, ¡°Let Linus know, and he will give you a potion to heal up.¡± I had finished dressing and was working on my armor. ¡°Why are you being so nice to me, Konstantin? You do not have the best reputation among the others.¡± Konstantin spat into the water. ¡°I am tired of seeing young men like you die. I can not tell why I thought you were different and deserved my mentoring. Maybe one of the gods is pushing me to keep you alive. I do not know. Just ept it.¡± He turned and walked up the passage. I packed my things up and hobbled up the passage. When I reached the safe room, there was no one there. I hobbled all the way back to the entrance to the dungeon and passed through at a walk this time. Delmar yelled, ¡°About time, Eryk. Get some food and pack up your gear. We will be heading out shortly.¡± I looked around the chamber, and the tents were all rolled up. Justin was arguing with mage Castille, and I decided I did not need to be involved. I got some food and went to eat it next to Renna. Renna saw meing and had a sad face. ¡°Sorry, Eryk. Your fancy new tent is over there, but you are going to be carrying it for him.¡± Renna shook her head. Well, at least I had my old tarp tent. Now I got to be a pack mule. At least I had wormed out of carrying the spinnerets. Maybe I would have to return the gold coin. ¡°It is what it is,¡± I said to Renna. Linus came to me and handed me a healing potion. Konstantin must have already talked with him. I sat on the ground next to Renna and drank the potion. It was like a warm feeling spreading through my body and numbing me. The heat increased around my knee. I could feel the aether of the potion working and the swelling going down. It was a few minutes, and I could bend my knee easily again. I had had magical healing before by mages. This was different as the mage¡¯s healing was focused, while this potion was more like a swarm covering my body and then focusing on the injury. I chatted with Renna for a while, telling her about the dungeon. Mage Castille finally approached with Justin Cicero, Firth, and Wylie. Castille said, ¡°When we get back to the horses, you three will escort First Citizen Cicero and Mage Renna to the city.¡± I had a lot of questions, but Castille spun and left clearly not in a good mood. Justin held out the griffin egg, ¡°Put this in your space, legionnaire.¡± After I put the egg in my space, he just walked away. I could see the other members of thepany eyeing us. Justin had seized the prize, and the malice was palpable. I would have to ask more about how the First Citizens fit into the Empire I now served. What was the First Legion? Wylie and Firth, approached me. The older soldier, Firth, spoke, ¡°Looks like we will be babysitting you again. At least you get to ride. Benito will have to ride pillion with someone when we leave until we get to a farm to get him a new mount.¡± Soon we were all headed out of the mountains and back to the horses. Chapter 18: Getting Answers Chapter 18: Getting Answers Chapter 18 As we walked through the mountains to reach the horses, my pack weight had doubled. The good news was the healing potion had done more than just heal my knee. All my aches, pains, and scabs were gone. Delmar told me a simple healing potion I had taken cost about five gold and could heal soft tissue injuries and mend bones. A full healing potion, ran about fifty gold but could bring someone back from the brink of death and align and repair broken bones. Ourpany had eight simple healing potions and nine full healing potions. He was knowledgeable on the subject and said potion¡¯s ingredients only cost about 20% of their value, but the alchemists needed to be exceptionally skilled. That was why magic porters were in such high demand since the valuable potions wouldn¡¯t expire in my dimensional space. Doing the math, a single full healing potion was worth what I would make in ten years as a soldier! I nervously asked if I would be charged for the simple healing potion. Adrianughed, ¡°Only if you drink one without permission.¡± I rxed slightly, and he continued, ¡°Castille does everything she can to keep us alive. A lot of magepanymanders have a healing spell. Castille does not, so she spends quite a sum on potions. We may take all the shit missions, but we also get more in return.¡± It was definitely something for me to think about. The First Citizen was carrying nothing but his sword and belt pouch. Firth and Wylie shared the load with me, but Justin Cicero still had four times as much gear as a normal legionnaire. The other men were weighed down with griffin meat, so we were not the only ones suffering. I stayed close to Firth as we traveled to ask questions. I asked Firth, ¡°So what is First Citizen?¡± He turned back to see the man walking in the midst of thepany with a cockiness that irritated everyone around him. Firth said quietly, ¡°They can trace their lineage back to the First Legion. The First Legion was some four thousand men that arrived from another world and carved out the Telhian Empire. Only about three hundred survived the Founding Wars, but their descendants are the only ones who can ownnd in the Empire. They control all the seventeen provinces of the Empire with an iron fist.¡± He checked on Justin Cicero again before continuing, ¡°Even being a descendent of a member of the First Legion does not grant you the right to be considered a First Citizen. There is a substantial tithe required to the Emperor. Some of the nobles only elevate the inheriting son to the status of a First Citizen. Others, like the Cicero¡¯s have enough coin to elevate their entire brood.¡± He looked at Justin and said quietly, ¡°They even do so knowing their child is an idiot.¡± I processed Firth¡¯s words. It made sense with the blended terminology of Rome and Medieval Europe if travelers came from all eras. Was the direction one way? Maybe there was a way back to Earth. ¡°Did any of the First Legion ever return back to their own world?¡±¡°Dragon¡¯s piss, Eryk. What do I look like a schstic? I have no idea what happened some two millennia ago,¡± Firth rasped with good humor. Later in the hike, I asked, ¡°Have there been other arrivals from other worlds?¡± Firth shrugged, ¡°Is your homnd so small you don¡¯t have myths about them? They appear and are brought before the Emperor and are never heard from again. I do not think there has been one in the Telhian Empire in three hundred years. But you should talk to a mage or schstic, not me.¡± I nodded and figured three hundred years someone brought the idea of noble ranks; barons, dukes, ect. Maybe even earlier than three hundred years, as Firth¡¯s grasp on Telhian history was pretty weak. I was silent for a long time. On a long slow climb, I inquired, ¡°Why can a First Citizenmand so much power? He just took the griffin egg from Mage Castille. He didn¡¯t do anything to help get it. And the essences from the dungeon as well.¡± I asked, hoping to clear some things up. Heughed, ¡°That is because the First Citizens can requisition anything they want. As long as we are not fighting or in danger, that is.¡± He looked back, checking on Justin again, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Mage Castille will log what he took from us at the Legion office. Justin will at least have to pay fair market value to the Legion for what he took from us. We may even see a small bonus if they are feeling generous,¡± he winked. ¡°What about the dungeon room chest from the water room?¡± I asked, remembering the contents had been part of my deal for being the bait and freezing the monsters. Firth pursed his lips, ¡°We never saw what was in the prize chest. We can not make false ims under the spell of a Truthseeker, and as a First Citizen, he does not need to submit to a Truthseeker, so he got away with that one. I am sure Castille will make it up to you when we reunite with thepany.¡± He leaned in close, ¡°Castille and thepany are going to race to Vartadria to register the new dungeon. We just have to make sure Justin Cicero takes at least seven days to reach Varvao.¡± This was a lot of subterfuge going on. ¡°What do we get for registering a new dungeon?¡± I asked quietly. ¡°Thepany should receive a five thousand gold reward from the Adventurers Guild once it is confirmed,¡± he grinned madly. ¡°It falls outside of Legion business, so we should see the whole reward. If Mage Castille keeps to her regr pattern, then half the reward will be divided amongst the twenty-six of us after replenishing our potions.¡± He patted me back while cracking a wide grin. Firth ensured no one could hear him before adding, ¡°I heard Justin order Mage Castille not to report the dungeon, but she is going to do it anyway. She is extremely angry about this whole situation. We save his fucking life, and he has the gall to take our prizes. This Justin Cicero is one of the worst First Citizens I have ever dealt with. Most at least havemon sense and courtesy.¡± ¡°If I did get the gold, could I buy my way out of the Legion? Gain my freedom?¡± I asked while we waited for the others at the bottom of a steep descent. I figured 2,500 gold was almost 100 gold for each man in thepany. ¡°No, you are locked in for your five-year contract. With your ability, they may pull some tricks to keep you locked in, so be careful. I have seen it before. The best thing to do is not draw attention to yourself,¡± Firth admitted. ¡°How long have you been in the Legion of the Lion?¡± I asked as we started walking with the group again. ¡°Sixteen years next November. Don¡¯t look surprised. It gives my wife and five children a steady stream of coin. And I get to use the brothels across the Empire without getting hassled,¡± he said good-naturedly. I didn¡¯t understand what would make someone enroll over and over again to risk their life. Was it the adrenaline rush? The path got easier as we began our final descent and could see the horses. Renna joined us as the trail was now wide enough for more people. She told us of her flying excursions around her vige and how they had found and conscripted her. She talked a lot about flying and what it was like. The freedom to go in any direction¡ªto do what you wanted. I could tell she felt constrained in her current position. The horses and legionaries were all there when we arrived. They had fought off a half dozen wolves one night, and one of the horses had to be put down, making us two mounts short. Castille talked briefly with Justin before heading off Northeast, two men riding pillion. Justin came to our small group, irate and swearing. He ordered, ¡°We make for Formica to resupply. Then we will make the best speed to Varvao.¡± Firth and Wylie took their time getting their mounts ready and did not speed up, no matter how much Justion swore at them. It was only a ten-mile ride to Formica, but we did not get there till evening. I followed Firth¡¯s lead and dragged my feet as much as possible. We stayed in the same room with Renna that night, and in the morning, we took time purchasing supplies, eating breakfast, and saddling the mounts. Justin was not stupid enough to travel alone through thends, and I was also keeping his griffin egg safe in my dimensional space. Maybe when we reached one of the major roads in two hundred miles, he would take the egg and sprint, but Firth nned to take him on an arcing route, avoiding the main road as long as possible. On the first day, we made only twenty miles of the three hundred, and I was sure Justin was now suspicious of our intentions. He approached me after dinner that evening, ¡°Legionnaire. I want you and me to ride on alone. My father¡¯s birthday is soon, and I want to make sure I make it in time.¡± I went to piss after and consumed myst apex endurance essence. Thankfully, no indigestion. Firth had schooled me in response, ¡°Sorry, but I have been ordered to protect the Mage Renna. I can not leave her.¡± Her face turned red as I stated it. He definitely knew we were stalling. We had a 300-mile trip, while Castille needed to go nearly 500 miles through more dangerous and rough terrain. Wylie was sure she would find an outlying farm to get horses for the men without. On our second day of riding, Wylie scouted out some roving swamp rats he wanted to avoid, so we took a four-hour detour. This was how each day proceeded. We rode cautiously in roughly the right direction but avoided all possible conflict and spent an hour in the evening to find a defensible position. Thankfully it was early in the season, and most of the more dangerous monsters had not migrated with their prey north, ording to Firth. During the days, I did get a lot of experience with my horsemanship skills. Camp life did suck on the journey as the night watch was divided between Firth, Wylie, and myself. Some nights Renna would sit and talk with me quietly. Justinined something fierce every evening about our slow progress. On the fourth day, we ended up fleeing a troglodyte war party of five. Firth made sure we galloped in the wrong direction. On the fifth night, we were attacked by lesser shadows and had to get the fire burning bright for the entire night to keep them away. On the sixth day, we circled wide of a diseased trent. A trent was a massive living tree, and this one had no leaves and visible rot. It took us eight days to reach the walls of Varvao, fleeing every possible creature. Justin appeared to be a coward, unwilling to fight any monsters. Since he was a First Citizen, we would have been forced to defend him if he did fight, but he was willing to flee every time. Renna paused at the gates before leaning into me and whispering, ¡°I hope our paths cross again. Remain safe in your travels.¡± She then rode to reunite with High Mage Dacian. Justin¡¯s parting words were not as pleasant, ¡°Give me the fucking griffin egg so I can take a portal to Olheus.¡± I gave him the egg, and he stormed off, leaving us the mount he had borrowed and all his gear. ¡°Are we done with him?¡± I asked Firth. Firth shook his head, ¡°For now. I doubt he will be too happy after he finds out that Castille beat him to report the dungeon. But I already suspect he knows.¡± ¡°How much power does a baron¡¯s son have beyond being a First Citizen?¡± I asked as we rode through the gates ourselves. Firth was leading us to the Legion office and barracks. ¡°Well, there are seventeen provinces and sixteen Dukes to run all the provinces besides the Emperor¡¯s personal province. Each Duke has a Count in charge of each city and five to ten Barons that manage regions of their province. I am guessing there are maybe one hundred barons in all of the Telhian Empire. Some are more powerful than others. Baron Cicero supplies all the horses to the standing army and the Legion. That is nearly two thousand new riding mounts and an additional one thousand war mounts yearly,¡± Firth exined. Wylie added, ¡°A lot of us knew Justin¡¯s pathfinder, Marius. He used to be in the Legion and was a good man. I think part of all this was Castille getting some payback for us for his death.¡± Firth was nodding in agreement. ¡°It would have been easier just to leave him in the dungeon,¡± I said seriously. ¡°Mage Castille doesn¡¯t like to fail. She sees everything to the end. You will learn that soon enough,¡± Firth replied. ¡°So what do we do?¡± I asked. ¡°We report in, and there should be a message from Castille on where we are to go to meet up with them,¡± Firth said as he dismounted in front of the Legion office in the city. Chapter 19: Self Assessment Chapter 19: Self Assessment Chapter 19 The Legion office was more of a tavern than a formal building. A dozen men in legionnaire armor ate at the tables. Another dozen men and women in civilian clothing were eating food and drinking. I could tell most were legion by their well-muscled bodies in the morefortable clothing. This city was muchrger than any city I had been to date, so the two dozen legionaries inside should not have been a surprise. I followed my mates to the bar, and Firth ordered four ales and paid for them. He handed us each one and took two for himself as we went and sat at a table. We got a few looks, but no one talked to us. I asked Firth, ¡°So what do we do now?¡± ¡°After we finish these,¡± he held up his two mugs, ¡°I will go shower, hit the local brothel, and then I will check for messages from Castille.¡± He sipped on his ale, and I was a bit speechless. It seemed like we should have checked for messages first. I asked, ¡°Can I head out and check out the city?¡± Wylie said, ¡°No problem. Be back here in four hours. You might want to shower first. You do not realize how much you reek. You smell like shit, horses, and sweat.¡± He pointed down a hallway, ¡°Showers are that way. They will wash your clothes and treat your leather armor.¡± Firth said seriously, ¡°Don¡¯t run off, Eryk. It will not take long for the Legion Hounds to track you down. The punishment is always a public death.¡± With that wonderful news, Firth was off to the showers. I followed slowly and stripped in front of a boy who put all my things in a box with the number forty-four on it. He bowed, ¡°Your items will be ready in two hours, legionnaire. You didn¡¯t take your coin pouch,¡± he pointed at it. It was empty, but I unclipped it anyway and carried it with me. I guessed he did not want anyone questioning missing coins. There was a cold shower to scrub the dirt off to start, then a hot soaking pool, and then you finished with a scented oil rub. I didn¡¯t spend much time in the hot soak even though it felt good because I was anxious to get into the city. I also found it odd to sit in a pool with half a dozen other naked men. They were all familiar with each other and in a deep conversation about methods to fight a hill giant. After the soak, I dried, and there were three scented oils to choose fromvender, honeysuckle, and coconut. I went with the honeysuckle. I had not seen Firth, so he must have raced through to baths to get to the brothel. My clothes were not ready, and I only had ess to a linen robe while I waited.I went into a closet, pulled out my simple clothes from my space, filled my coin pouch with my gold and silver, and went out the back door. I walked to the streets, and after two questions, I was headed toward the trade district. My pouch bulged under my pants, and I always kept my hand near it, mindful of thieves. The city reminded me of something akin to an open market with rows of tents selling everything under the sun. What I really wanted was an essence collector or a stat assessment tablet. I asked and was directed to a small borate fountain in a cul de sac. The cul de sac didn¡¯t have tents but actual shops, magic shops. The security was higher, and maybe a dozen city guards milled around the fountain. I had only seen sporadic pairs of city guards in the general market, so the fourteen here showed how important the cul de sac was. I entered the bookstore first. A few patrons were browsing the shelves, and a middle-aged woman with a distracting mole on her chin asked me, ¡°Can I help you?¡± It was hard not to focus on the hairy mole, but I met her dull-brown eyes and asked, ¡°I am looking for a book to teach my niece to read. She just started and needs something intermediate.¡± She beamed at me, thinking I was helping a young girl. ¡°I have a few things, although you might want to try one of the general stands in the market as well,¡± she said as she motioned me to follow. She pulled out three books she thought were reasonably straightforward to teach a person to read. I negotiated the price to ten silver from thirteen as all the books were old and worn. One book was the history of the Telhian Empire for kids. The second was children¡¯s stories of brave men and women of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild fighting the orc hordes. The third book was an actual dictionary. I just needed to practice my reading of Latin. I thanked the woman and moved back to the fountain. I would have purchased a book on magic, but that would have cost too much gold. I tried asking one of the guards if anyone sold essence collectors. He curtly responded, ¡°You can only buy them from the Empire shops. Their sale is highly regted.¡± I apologized as I backed away, not realizing a collector was that difficult to obtain. I suppose if you could use one on a live person to collect essence, then the restrictions made sense. I considered getting my dungeon amulet appraised, but I might draw attention to myself if it was exceptionally valuable. Instead, I was able to find a tablet reader to rent in private. I could go into a room, activate the tablet myself, and see how much I had developed. I was more interested in getting my magic affinities assessed. Tablet readers were apparently expensive to purchase and even to just rent. I paid an entire gold to ess a stat and magic affinity tablet. I did both so as to not be too suspicious. My physical, mental, and magical stat reading went incredibly well.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+2/+0) 48/79 Intellect (+3/+0) 31/54 Aether Pool (+2/+0) 14/22
Power (+2/+0) 45/82 Reasoning (+4/+0) 46/59 Channeling (+4/+0) 14/55
Quickness (+3/+0) 32/49 Perception (+2/+0) 54/60 Aether Shaping (+2/+0) 8/8
Dexterity (+5/+3) 35/59 Insight (+3/+0) 34/49 Aether Tolerance (+1/+0) 22/50
Endurance (+10/+8) 66/95 Resilience (+1/+0) 46/71 Aether Resistance (+1/+0) 5/19
Constitution (+4/+0) 41/65 Empathy (+1/+0) 11/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+2/+0) 40/61 Fortitude (+4/+0) 50/89 Minor Aether Affinity Time
I remembered myst reading over six weeks ago. Since then, I have consumed a major essence for Dexterity and three apex essences for Endurance. Although my magical values had improved, my aether went from 12 to 14, and channeling went from 11 to 14. My aether shaping had maxed out. This was why I would never be able to cast spells, ording to Damian. In order to write spell forms with my aether, I would need at least 30 in my aether shaping statistic. I could tell how poor my ability to control my aether was now that it had been some time. I just did not have the potential to be a true mage. On a more positive note, my physical stats greatly improved. Strength (+2), Power (+2), Quickness (+3), Dexterity (+5), Endurance (+10), Constitution (+4), Coordination (+2). I think my potential for endurance also increased from 87 to 95. That confirmed in my mind that my spell form for the convergence affinity was locked into maximizing what benefits I received from consuming an essence. It should have taken dozens of apex essences to raise my endurance potential by just one point. It still felt like my gains were maybe too much since I was not training twelve hours a day as I had been at legionarie training. Was I missing something? Did my time in the dungeon y a role? I was told the closer my ratings got to my potential, the harder it would be to increase them. I had been pushing my body harder but for much shorter amounts of time. A knock at the door said my time was almost up. I set up the magic affinity tablet for the rare magics first and channeled my aether. The tablet disyed everything I had expected.
Rare Magics
Space 98
Time 90
Discement 61
Materialism 9
Worlds 88
Void 22
Convergence 74
There was no change to any of my affinities that I remembered. I quickly burned the numbers into my memory. I reset and switched the tablet to elemental affinities and channeled my aether into the tablet.
Elemental Magics (Common)
Fire 0
Air 0
Water 0
Earth 0
Lightning (Energy) 8
Spirit (Healing) 19
Nature (nt) 0
My heart dropped a little. My healing affinity was just 19. I should be able to learn a spell form to help with my healing, but it would not be exceptional. Still, any healing spell form would be greatly weed. The knock at the door came again, and I rushed to thest reading, the umon magics.
Unaffiliated Magics (Umon)
Charm (Mind) 5
Illusion 0
irvoyance 0
Protection (Guardian) 30
Necromancy 0
Celestial 0
Abyssal 0
I reset the tablet and stood. Nothing earth-shattering, but I still had my massive affinities in the rare magics. I wished I had a book to figure out what possible spell forms I could get for my protection affinity. I also knew there were apex essences out there that could increase my magic affinities. Renna had said High Mage Dacian was questing for the apex earth affinity essence. I wondered if my convergence ability to maximize essence also extended to magic affinities. It had to. Could my convergence spell form maximizing gains from essence force my potentials past 100? From what Damian had told me, 100 was the limit for humans. The door opened, and the proctor motioned me out of the room. Another person had paid and was waiting. I thanked him and walked out into the street. I spent a silver coin at various food carts as I walked the magical market in the cul de sac. I still had twenty gold from the dungeon chest, but I was not sure if I should spend it. My knowledge was just toocking. I would probably overpay or get something I did not need. It was also close to four hours, so I decided to return to the Legion Hall. I figured I would have more time tomorrow to browse the markets. When I entered the hall, it was evening, the number of Legionaries had tripled, and the tables were full. Wylie waved me over to a table with Firth and someone I did not recognize¡ªa blonde man in leather armor. Firth spoke, ¡°We were just about to scour the city for you, Eryk. This is Prefect Bhus. He runs the message dispatch. He just gave us our orders.¡± Wylie interrupted with an angry spat, ¡°We are being sent to the Western Front. The City of Macha. Fucking Justin Cicero must have pulled some strings to fuck over Castille.¡± Prefect Bhus eyebrows went up in surprise. The Captain looked like he had a rod shoved up his ass. I asked, ¡°What does this mean? The western front is the Kingdom of Bartiradia, right?¡± I had looked at some maps but was no expert. Prefect Bhus turned the sheet in his hands, ¡°It is fifteen hundred miles from here. The borders are constantly shifting. Mage Castille has been asked to reinforce the city, not fight on the battlefront.¡± Firth leaned back in his chair, annoyed, ¡°We heard that before. Pegasus Campaign, Defense of Amatalhos, Emperorer¡¯s Diplomacy Mission to the Heptarchy. They always say this mission is a chance to rx, just like taking eggs from a hen. Then that fucking hen has five-inch ws and a five-foot tongue that can strangle you.¡± ¡°True story,¡± Wylie interrupted but thenughed to himself and took a long pull of his ale. Prefect Bhus stood and nodded to the three of us, obviously ufortable with the informality. He said, ¡°The portal will be open to Macha just after the mid-day bell. Do not miss the opening.¡± After he left, Firth swore, ¡°Fucking rich sons of the favored,¡± referring to Bhus. ¡°That ass has never seen and will never see battle in his entire enlistment and will make ten times the coin what we do.¡± After spouting off some more obscenities, Firth calmed down, but I had a weird feeling it was more of an act than being truly angry with Prefect Bhus. Personally, I did not see the difference between risking our lives against monsters or another Kingdom. I wisely kept my mouth closed. Firth looked at me and said, ¡°No horses on the front. We are not calvary. Before you get to the bunks tonight, get our gear from the horses, Eryk. Wylie,plete three packs of provisions for us before youy down.¡± Firth took a long pull, ¡°I am going to kick the rumor mill tonight and see if anything useful falls out. He looked around the room, stood, and made his way to join a table of intoxicated legionaries still in armor.¡± I went to get a meal and at it at the counter. I was still a bit famished. The barkeep slid me another ale, and he asked, ¡°You are with Castille¡¯spany?¡± I nodded while stripping a chicken leg with my teeth. He seemed to consider, ¡°Is Linus still with them?¡± I nodded again as Linus was our medic. He smiled, ¡°He saved my life. Give him this when you see him. Tell him Nn is still alive and kicking.¡± He produced a bottle of amber liquid from under the bar. I took the bottle and nodded in understanding. After the meal, I went to the bath and found bin forty-four. My clothes and gear were clean. I carried it to the stables and found our packs neatly arranged on shelves. I pulled an apple I had brought with me and walked to Ginger, my horse. ¡°Sorry,dy, this is the end of the line for us. We had some really good times. You are a good horse.¡± I rubbed her down onest time. I spent the next two hours going through the bags and packing our gear into three backpacks. When no one was around, I moved the books, luxury tent, and bedroll into my dimensional space. Each of the three backpacks weighed about sixty pounds when I finished. I lugged them inside to themon room, and a drunk and conversing Firth told me to bring them to bunk room seven. The bunk room was empty and had four beds, all floor-level. I dropped a pack on each bed and took the fourth open one for myself. The mattress was canvas stuffed with some type of soft straw and smelled like sweat from thest user. I almost preferred sleeping on the ground. I still fell asleep in short order. Wylie woke me when he entered and tossed three heavy packages on the ground, rolling a pack to the floor and then quickly falling asleep. Firth didn¡¯t show up till muchter in the evening, clearly drunk. He slept next to the backpack I had prepared rather than tossing it on the floor. I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. Chapter 20: Displacement Mage Chapter 20: Discement Mage Chapter 20 I slept heavily even with the noises my roommates made in the night. Wylie woke us in the morning. Firth told us not to leave the Legion office building. I went to the baths and soaked in the hot tub for an hour as I was the only one there. I hade to get my clothes washed for free and changed into my Legion gear. The box I was given this time was numbered thirty-six and was much smaller. After my long soak, I waited for my clean clothes to be returned. When I took the box, I paused as this wooden box was a perfect size. It closely matched what I had revealed to be the size of the dimensional space. I moved the box into my space, appropriating it for the greater good. From now on, I would no longer have to guess if I was exceeding my storage limitations¡ªat least, what I told everyone it was. I would use the box for Legion business. I did not know how I did not think of this earlier. Rather proud of myself, I went to themon room. Wylie gave me a hard time about spending two hours in the baths. On the table, we all repacked our gear. We were trying to squeeze in the food Wylie procured. ¡°Eryk, we are going to the war front. You always want to make sure you take as much food as possible,¡± Firth advised. ¡°As much good food as possible,¡± Wylie added. ¡°A legionnaire marches on his stomach, Eryk. We are going to be working in the army camps, and their food is terrible. Horde what non-perishables you can, when you can. If you can squeeze any spices into your little magic space, do it now. They are worth their weight in gold in a siege,¡± Firth said. ¡°Seige? What are you talking about?¡± I asked, suddenly unsteady. ¡°The rumorsst night are the Kingdom ns to push deep into Empirends and surround Macha. The Emperor is going to allow it to draw as many enemies into thend surrounding the city as possible before wiping them out with a secret attack. At least, that is what I garnered from the twenty men I drank withst night. Then again, we are practically on the other side of the Empire, and what these drunkards know might be dragon shit,¡± Firth said calmly. After our packs were set, Wylie led me to the Legion goods warehouse. It waspletely different thanst time when I took what I wanted without supervision. Now Wylie filled out a requisition sheet. He waited for it to be reviewed and then answered a dozen questions about why he needed pepper kes, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, dried rosemary, and paprika. Wylie eventually receivedrge ss containers filled with spices. I asked about Kraken salt, and Wylieughed, ¡°These spices are a gold or two each. Kraken salt in one of these containers, maybe 100 gold. Alchemists make it, and you can not find it in a Legion supply room.¡±The attendant who was putting therge ss jars with our spices on the counter added, ¡°Kraken salt is about a gold an ounce, quite literally worth its weight in gold. Thest Kraken to be in was some four years ago.¡± Wylie quipped, ¡°I know. I was there. Can you squeeze all these into your space? Our cook will be happy to get them, and you will be a taste bud hero. Since theye in the ss containers, we can not pack them.¡± I was able to fit all six containers in the crate in my dimensional storage. We added small leather bags of sea salt until the crate was filled, and I told Wylie I could not store any more. As we walked to find Firth, I asked, ¡°So, are there not any supplies out in the city of Macha?¡± ¡°Luxury goods are rare on the front. The problem is the time it takes to reach the city. There is only one Discement Mage in each city, as the affinity is quite rare and the spell is difficult to learn. They have limits on how much they can transport. Also, once the siege begins, the enemy with set up an array around the city, preventing the use of the portals,¡± Wylie said conversationally. Firth waved us over, and we put on the packs, each one weighing over seventy pounds now. That did not include our leather armor and des. I had two short swords and two short curved des. I was not carrying a spear but nned to add a few in my dimensional space. We followed Firth to the street and toward the upper city. Firth said, ¡°If you see Vincent Cicero, keep your mouth shut.¡± Firth was talking to Wylie and not me, but I got the message. The clothing of the people started to get more and more opulent as we followed Firth the portal. The square where the portal was had a fullpany of legionaries guarding it. That told me it was too important to leave to city guards or the army. It was arge stone archway situated on light gray stone. The gray stone had ck runic markings on it. The archway itself was a in ck stone. In front of the portal were a number of people loaded down with gear. Most looked like merchants, but there were a few soldiers. Firth went to one of the legionaries guarding the portal and handed him our orders. The man inspected them carefully and then waved us forward. Firth said, ¡°When the portal is activated, move quickly into it. It is like a dungeon gate in that you will be slightly disoriented after you pass through. Try not to fall on your face this time,¡± He grinned at me. We did not have to wait long. I was talking to a merchant from the Kingdom of Nausis, far to the south, when a loud bell chimed twice, and everyone faced the portal. There were maybe forty of us in total. A mage in bright yellow robes went to a small monolith under the guard of a pair of legionaries. Firth chuckled at my intense focus, ¡°Never seen a portal opening before? You must be from a backwater kingdom.¡± The mage ced both hands on the pir, and the air started buzzing with electricity. I watched as the ck stone around the portal started to glow blue, and the runes underneath us matched the blue light. The archway shimmered into an image that looked blurry or like a heat haze. Two bells sounded, and everyone moved forward. I was pulled with everyone else and walked into the arch. It was the same as walking into and out of a dungeon. On the other side, the air was heavy with moisture, and the buildings were much more drab, favoring a grayish wood. I did not have time to study the buildings as Firth was already walking toward a tall citadel made of blue-gray stone. I followed him, and dozens of soldiers from the regr army were inside the bailey. Some were drilling, and some were resting. They did not look war-weary to me as I followed Firth into the fortified building. He turned left into the first room, and I noticed the first legionaries I had seen to date. I recognized Orson, Mateo, and Felix. I went and sat with them, dropping my pack. ¡°Eryk, you survived the First Citizen!¡± Felix said with a smile. ¡°Did everyone in thepany make your trip safely?¡± I asked, sitting on a bench. Orson chuckled, ¡°Donte lost a finger to giant snapper, and ns broke his leg falling off his horse when we battled some centaurs. Other than that, it was an easy ride.¡± Mateo choked, ¡°Easy ride!? Fifteen hours a day at a steady pace? I can barely walk.¡± I snickered a little remembering how much grief I had taken from the men with my own soreness. They even gave me an expensive pillow as a joke. ¡°So, what is the news on this mission posting?¡± Wylie asked. Orson looked perturbed, ¡°Three legionpanies are in the citadel. We are to rotate foot patrols northeast and southeast. The soldiers will cover the road due east toward the Empire, where any skirmishes are likely to happen. There is mostly woods northeast, but there have been a number of sprites causing mischief. The route southeast is boggy. Just giant frogs but a few days ago, a bullywug was spotted.¡± ¡°What is¡­¡± I started to say. Orson, one of thepany scouts, answered before I finished asking my question, ¡°Sprites are small faires that can go invisible. Bullwugs are frog men. Both are a pain in the arse in their natural habitat.¡± ¡°So, what direction are we patrolling?¡± I asked. ¡°Southeast,¡± Delmar said, joining the group. ¡°Mateo, Eryk will be bunking with you. Show him where.¡± Mateo gingerly stood and indicated I should pick up my pack. I started following him but noticed Lirkin, thepany cook. I paused to unload the ss jars of spices and leather bags of salt from my dimensional storage, ¡°Damn it, boy!¡± he started, ¡°Your talents are wasted carrying around those life-saving potions. Whenever you want a double portion, just ask!¡± He said jokingly as he checked the jars. I would have to thank Wylie for this boon. I still had the bottle of amber liquid for Linus but had not seen him yet. It was also in my dimensional space. We walked out into the city, and it was mostly soldiers. A lot of the shop fronts looked abandoned. Mateo answered, ¡°This city has been handed back and forth for the past three hundred years. The regr people have an instinct when it is about to happen again.¡± Mateo went into a store that was clearly a bakery. Arge, cold oven dominated half the back wall. Mateo exined, ¡°Not enough room in the Legion Hall in the citadel for everyone. At least not if you want to sleep peacefully.¡± He pointed up the stairs, ¡°Three rooms up there, each has two beds. Felix and I have one room. Konstantin is in one room, and the third is currently empty, but the beds are children sized.¡± He left me, and I climbed the stairs and found the kid¡¯s room. The beds were small, but I pushed them together, and if I slept diagonally, I would fit. I dropped my gear with a loud thud and got to work moving the beds. Konstantin appeared in the doorway, ¡°If you are going to make all that noise, then you have the energy to practice. Grab your two des. There is a small yard in the back.¡± Great. My ns for a nap were crushed; instead, I was about to get a sound beating under the guise of training again for apparently waking up Konstantin. Chapter 21: Obstruction in the Road Chapter 21: Obstruction in the Road Chapter 21 Announcement this story in 8 chapters ahead on patreon Konstantin was easier on me than I expected. We focused on the two-weapon style to take on two opponents at once¡ªtwo human opponents. Konstantin noted he only fought with two des against a single opponent or monster. You needed to be ambidextrous and also be able to control the des independently. It was not easy, but Konstantin thought I had the capacity to learn. We focused on using the off hand-weapon as the parrying and defensive weapon. When we finished, I was covered in dirt and sweat and greedily drinking from a waterskin. He told me, ¡°If things y out as expected, the Bartiradians will invade in force and attempt to capture this city. They are mostly human, but you can expect elves and dwarves to be in their number. The elves are agile gits, and the dwarves hit like a horse.¡± He took a long pull of a waterskin. ¡°And do not be swayed by the beauty of their women. I almost lost my head staring into the mesmerizing eyes of one once.¡± ¡°Damn, I didn¡¯t know you preferred dwarven women,¡± I joked with the older scout. Konstantin backhanded my chest with his canteen softly, but the practiced motion caused a gout of water to ssh into my face, ¡°The elves, boy. The elves. But I did have a dwarf once. The women are as hairy down below as above.¡± He stood and walked away. I walked through the city of Macha, but there was not much left. Most of the shops were abandoned and mostly empty. The regr army left the boarded shops alone but openly walked into the open shops looking for abandoned goods to appropriate. I made it to the gates and walked out in the humid air. One of the soldiers at the gates looked at my legion leather armor and then ignored me. Thend around the walls had dozens of small houses, most with overturned fields of quickly harvested crops, probably too early in the season. The road east toward the enemy looked to be concrete and well-maintained. I gazed down the road at nothing before returning to get some sleep in the sticky hot air. The two small beds I pushed together smelled like ammonia. I closed the door and pulled out a heavy nket toy across the mattresses and my griffin feather pillow. The sun was setting but did not take the humidity with it. I could not getfortable, so I lit themp in the room and pulled out the book on the history of the legion. It took a lot of work to re-wire my brain to read the Latin words. At least I used the spokennguage daily and had a decent grasp of vocabry. I spent the entire night, till sunrise, working on the text. I managed about twenty pages.I learned that the First Legion had arrived from another world¡ªI assumed Earth, about two thousand years ago. The book talked about the heroes of the First Legion who conquered thends and made them safe. They were apt fighters and powerful mages. Thatst part did not make sense until I tranted what their powers were. The members of the legion had strong affinities with space, time, convergence, and discement! This meant I was not magically gifted or some prodigy as I thought. Instead, whatever forces brought me here affected me in the same way. A knock sounded loudly at the door, ¡°Wake up and gear up. We need to be at the gate in half an hour for the patrol.¡± It was Konstantin, and he moved to the next door to wake the others. I moved the pillow and book to my storage but just left the heavy nket on the bed. I had sweat a puddle during the night and wouldn¡¯t mind leaving the damp nket out, hopefully to dry. I hung it near the window. I gathered my gear and strapped on a pair of short swords. I thought about requisitioning a spear from the army but decided against wanting to carry it on patrol. Mateo and Felix walked with me to the gate as Konstantin had already gone ahead. The legion was assembled minus Adrian, Castille, Lucien, and Kolm. Kolm was our pseudo-cksmith. They were working to secure supplies in the city for ourpany, and the rumor was they were trying to secure better sleeping amodations. Personally, that was the first time I had slept in privacy since I had arrived in the world, and I did not mind staying there. Delmar stood in front of the remaining number of us, ¡°We have a twenty-mile loop to do today, men. Make sure your canteens are full. The insects are bad the further we travel along the wend, so even though it is hot, I suggest you use neck and head wraps. We will encounter horse-sized frogs. The biggest danger is if they grapple you with their tongue and pull you under the water. If arade is grabbed,¡± he looked over the men, ¡°attack the tongue¡ªthey will be more likely to release the victim. Then focus your attack on the body.¡± Everyone nodded and moved their daggers on their belts for easier ess. Delmar seemed to think before adding, ¡°A bullywug was seen a few days back. If we spot one, we will form up and retreat back to the city. They travel inrge hunting groups and may have nested deep in the bog.¡± Konstantin handed me a clean wrap and showed me how to wrap it to protect my neck and head. He did the same for two others in thepany that did not have one. We started walking, and our two scouts, Orson and Konstantin, moved forward. Firth walked next to me. After twenty minutes on the road, we all spread out in twos and threes. Firth talked to me, ¡°It is true. The army is amassing at the border and will push to Macha in a few day¡¯s time. We are going to be stuck in a fucking siege.¡± Firth was not at all happy. ¡°So Justin screwed us over?¡± I asked. He harrumphed, ¡°Nope, one of Castille¡¯s other enemies in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, I think. They are probably hoping she dies out here in the attack, and they can pocket the finder¡¯s fee for the dungeon.¡± ¡°How many enemies does mage Castille have?¡± I asked as I sucked on my canteen. It was already half empty, and we had not been gone for three hours. I think I was going to have to try and pull water into it from the barrels in my storage when we stopped for a rest. Firthughed, ¡°About five that I know about. Probably that number again of ones I do not know about. Most are not enemies, just people who really do not like her.¡± Firth adjusted his small pack, ¡°Mage Castille was at the top of her ss at the Mage War College. That didn¡¯t sit well with the sons and daughters of the First Citizens there. It all snowballed after that. I joined her about three years after she was assigned apany of legionaries.¡± He looked back at the people walking, ¡°About half of us are still here. Castille has done right by us.¡± He leaned in and whispered, ¡°I have received over two hundred essences from her in my service.¡± I guessed that was impressive for a soldier, and it was a massive fortune when you added up the value. I could see how Castille bought the loyalty of her men. Three hourster, we stopped to rest at a series of boulders along the roadside. The road looked like it had been made by pouring tons of rocky soil and packing it down. There was now a swamp or bog to our right and left. I wet my scarf from my canteen and rewrapped it around my neck and head. It must have been too hot for the insects toe out today, as I had not seen any, but the wrap helped with the heat. Delmar sat on the rock next to me, ¡°You should not waste your water like that, Eryk. If we get in a fight, that water will be like the elixir of gods after it is over.¡± I nodded at his wisdom. I moved into the shadow of a boulder. I focused on the water in my space and the canteen in my hand. I needed to stick my finger into the canteen but grinned madly as it filled. Not only did it fill, but it was also cold water! No one saw me, and I took three long pulls to get the canteen to half empty in case someone asked for a drink from it. We continued our patrol and came to a T-intersection. I read the signs. The city of Oliscalmape was down one road, which was part of the Telhian Empire. The direction we were headed was to the city of Guiracas, in the Kingdom of Bartiradia. I figured out the numbers and distance¡­it was 98 miles to the enemy city, so there was not much to worried about just yet. Oliscalmape was 75 miles away. I was slightly disappointed we had not seen any giant frogs yet. I just wanted to see what they looked like up close. Delmar had us resume, and we started circling back to Macha down a different road. After mid-day, Konstantin and Olson came down the road jogging. They reported to Delmar, who looked down the road and then back the way we came. He called everyone together, and the scouts kept a lookout. ¡°The scouts find an obstacle in front of us. An ogre is about half a mile down the road hunting the giant frogs.¡± He looked over everyone who had started to tighten armor straps and pulled weapons. ¡°It may have moved off by the time we get there, but if not, we will form a shield wall and fire at it with range.¡± Five men with bows nodded and cycled to the back of the formation. ¡°Ogres are not bright but hit with deadly force. Eryk, stay in the middle of the formation and be prepared to treat wounded with Linus.¡± Delmar pulled his shield off his back and moved to the front with five others withrge shields. It was like magic how thepany suddenly marched in step with each other and formed a square as we approached the encounter. The ogre was still there and saw us approach. It had tworge corpses of frogs it had been feeding on in the road. The wind had shifted and was blowing right at us. It smelled like bile mixed with the shittest-smelling fart ever. The ogre stood, and my jaw fell. It was easily over ten feet tall and had to weigh more than a horse. Its yellow-brown skin was covered in patches of hair and dirt. Someone said, ¡°Fuck me.¡± Another person quipped, ¡°You do not want that thing ramming you.¡± He was indicating the ogre¡¯s penis, as the monster had no clothes. I had not noticed it yet because the height of the brute was so imposing. Weirdly I was not afraid at all. The dungeon had beaten the fear out of me. We also had over twenty men to just one ogre. The ogre reached into one of its kills, pulled out an organ, and shoved it into a massive maw. That was a maw¡ªnot a mouth. The gore as it chewed sttered everywhere. Then with bloody teeth, it roared red spittle into the air. Wylie was to my right and muttered, ¡°I hope he was not calling friends.¡± Delmar gave the hand signal, and we walked forward as a unit to engage. Chapter 22: Other Worlders Chapter 22: Other Worlders Chapter 22 Delmar advanced at a steady pace while the ogre finished his scream. My thought was the ogre was either challenging us or trying to scare us away from his kill. The ogre grabbed a massive rusty sword from the ground. ¡°Fuck, he has a weapon, and it is not a club,¡± someone noted the obvious. Linus, the medic, asked for a healing potion in preparation, and I grabbed one and handed it to him. Delmar called out, ¡°Scrap the shield wall. I will distract it and gets its back to you. Cut the Achilles or hamstring tendon!¡± Delmar went into a jog and easily deflected the ogre¡¯s overhead swing into the dirt. As he did so, he tried to move behind the beast as arrows peppered its chest from the front. Now that we were only 50 feet away, the smell had gotten insanely irritating, so much so that my eyes watered. I was in the center of our formation and the second line of attack if the men in front were injured or killed. Delmar had cut the ogre¡¯s thigh and gotten behind it. The ogre spun on Delmar, putting its back to us. The forward line rushed forward, and a series of arrows impacted the ogre¡¯s back, but I could see they barely prated. The ogre roared and swung wildly at Delmar. A spear pierced the hamstring of the ogre, and both calf muscles had multiple cuts, but it had a thick hide and steel-like hamstring. The ogre was bleeding freely. The ogre suddenly charged Delmar, who nimbly sidestepped the ogre but was caught off guard when the ogre flung the massive sword into his chest as he passed. The weight of the de crashed into Delmar, throwing him off the road and into swampy waters. The men abandoned the cautious attack and threw themselves at the ogre before the ogre could get to the downed Delmar. A dozen men swarmed the ogre. I saw one man, Mateo, jump on the back and stab the ogre in the shoulder des with a long dagger. Surprisingly, the ogre agilely reached back, grabbed Mateo¡¯s arm, scrapped him off, and threw him thirty feet into the bog. That was thest surge of the ogre¡¯s strength as it dropped to its knees. Spears and des rang down, focusing on the ogre¡¯s head, and it whimpered like a child and tried futilely to block the heavy rain of strikes on its head. It copsed, but I was already running into the bog to check on Mateo. Linus was seeing to Delmar already giving him the healing potion. Mateo was groaning when I reached him. ¡°Anything broken?¡± I asked, kneeling in the dark soupy water. Mateo sat up, and I smelled a wall of stench. It was like the ogre had skunked him. ¡°No¡­well, maybe a rib. The shoulder is a bit messed up but not a broken bone.¡± He stood, and I backed away, holding my nose after I made sure he could walk. He smiled victoriously, ¡°Thending was pretty soft¡­¡± he started sniffing the air and then looked at his armor. The mud that had coated the ogre¡¯s back was now pasted across his leather armor, pants and face. ¡°Ah, shit.¡± I said, ¡°Exactly! Stay downwind of everyone.¡± I moved away to see how Linus was doing with Delmar. Linus had Delmar on his feet. The potion bottle was empty, and Delmar had blood on his face. ¡°Do you need a second potion?¡±Delmar smiled, blood-outlined teeth, ¡°Would be a waste of a potion. I am good to get back and see a healer. Sword just clipped me. I can walk.¡± Linus was with him, and I was a little upset as my boots were now waterlogged from checking on Mateo. The conversation turned to the dead ogre and frogs. It would have given a nice strength essence if we had a collector. The ogre had a few harvestable parts. The teeth only sold for a few dozen silver, not worth the effort as we would not have an alchemist to sell them to in Macha. Ogre fat could be made into good insect-repellent candles, and we joked that we already had Mateo for that. The stomach could be made into an excellent and durable sack with a good tanner. No one was in the mood to cut it out, so we left the ogre unmolested in its death pose. The frogs were useless besides the meat, and no one was going to trust the meat after the ogre had torn into them. The walk back took longer as Mateo and Delmar were moving slightly slower. We encountered three giant frogs through the stretch. We killed one with arrows, and the other two fled after receiving some injuries. We were not equipped to chase them into the bog. I was missing Ginger, my horse. The walking had not been too bad until my boots got filled with muddy swamp water. I had dumped the water out, but Delmar had us moving again, and I did not have time to sneak away and change to dry socks. After seven miles, I could feel the calluses on my feet peeling off. When we got back to the city, there was no fanfare for our return. Delmar dismissed us and went to report to Castille. We returned to our makeshift sleeping arrangements at the abandoned bakery. I peeled off my boots and socks, taking a fair amount of skin with them. The flesh was raw and bleeding. I was sitting on my bed, and Konstantin walked by. ¡°Eryk, next time that happens, wring your socks out. Better yet, bring extra socks and switch your socks with a dry pair.¡± He inspected my feet, ¡°I will have Felix bring you a meal. We are only on the walls tomorrow from sunrise to sunset, no patrol.¡± ¡°Is the regr army doing the patrol?¡± I asked, rubbing my feet with the horse salve from my pack. ¡°No, another legion unit is handling it. We go out the day after, swamp patrol again,¡± he sounded happy about it. ¡°Tell you what, Eryk, no training tonight.¡± Heughed as he left at the annoyed look on my face. I thought about drinking one of the healing potions I carried for thepany but just sighed andy on my bed after stripping down to my underwear. The humidity was still making me sweat, so I drank cold water from my canteen. I wished I could take a shower, but after a twenty-mile patrol, half in muddy soaked boots, I was just exhausted. I pulled the history book out of my space and started reading again. Felix arrived with my food and asked about the book, but I had already prepared an answer. I told him I found it in the children¡¯s room. The food he handed me was simple, small boiled potatoes and ham steak. The portion was very generous. Felix sat and ate with me, ¡°Mateo is on the roof. He took a shower and still stinks a fair bit, so he is not sleeping in the room with me. Linus is getting him something to clean his armor. Most likely, he going to get out of wall watch tomorrow because no one wants to smell him,¡± Felix was chuckling. After he finished his meal, I turned on the oilmp and continued reading. After the First Legion arrived and carved out its Empire, the First Legion continued to expand its borders. The expansion slowed as the legionaries did not pass down the powerful mastery of their magic affinities to their children. Still, many legionaries were long-lived and set up their families to control the Empire and protect its people. The children¡¯s book started to go into the propaganda of all the good the Legion did with their knowledge and magic. Roads, aqueducts, improved non-magic construction methods, and structuredw. I passed out readingte into the night, unable to spend two consecutive nights without sleep. Konstantin woke us again by banging on the doors. He took a lot of pleasure in the loud morning call. We gotrge cheese loaves filled with thick beef gravy. It was like a massive Hot Pocket. I learned that as legionaries, we received better andrger portions of food than the regr army. Felix told me not to gloat about it, or it would likely result in a brawl. Besides, he joked that we were outnumbered seven thousand to one hundred in the city. It wouldn¡¯t be a fair fight for the regrs. The wall duty watch had a purpose. Adrain exined that this was the one-hundred-yard stretch we would be expected to defend if the city was attacked. The stretch of wall was from the gate tower to an archer tower. The soldiers got to do their watch up in the towers, shielded from the sun, while we sat on the wall in the heat. There were just twenty-one of us for the wall duty. A lot of our legion members were being tasked to help elsewhere in the city. Since we did not have any skills of note, we got to sit on the wall. We split it into three shifts of seven, with Delmar, Adrian, or Konstantin serving asmanding officer for each shift. I took the first shift to get the rest of the day off. I nned to try and finish the book this afternoon and get some sleep, but Konstantin found me as I left the wall, ¡°Eryk, you are with me. We are going on a patrol. Do not worry, it is short.¡± I followed him outside the gates, and he said, ¡°We are going to walk the perimeter of the wall. It will give you some familiarity with the city.¡± As we walked the wall, Konstantin talked about likely attack routes against the walls. The strongest defensive points and the weakest. If I had not been so exhausted, I would have asked questions, but as it was, my energy level only permitted me to listen. It took two hours to walk the outer city wall, and I was slightly fearful we were going to follow it with dual-sword practice. Instead, we went to the same cart where we got our breakfast, and Konstantin left with histe lunch in hand. It was arge loaf again but stuffed with diced sausage and vegetables this time. I wondered if Konstantin took everyone on a personal walk of the city. I had the afternoon to read to finish the book. The end of the History of the First Legion was slightly chilling and gave me pause ever to reveal myself as a traveler from Earth. A few members of the First Legion had lived for almost a thousand years. Whenever a stranger arrived from another world, they were brought to the Emperor for a reward. The storybook I read was maybe a hundred years old, and most of the story read akin to a myth rather than actual history. In my time here, I had not heard anyone mention the practice of finding and hauling travelers before the Emperor for judgment. It made sense, though. Travelers, if they had the same massive affinities that I had, then they would be a danger to the rule of the Emperor. Had I managed to slip through the cracks? I went to get dinner at the cart before the sunset. I found Linus and handed him his bottle of brandy from Nn. ¡°Nn is still alive?¡± I nodded, and he popped the bottle, and sniffed. ¡°Want to have a drink with me?¡± ¡°Definitely!¡± I followed him into a tailor¡¯s shop where he was staying. We started drinking in themon room. His bed was in the back. We quickly whittled the bottle down, and I kept enough of my faculties about me to ask Linus about travelers. He scoffed, ¡°Don¡¯t think there has been a recorded person from the First Legion¡¯s world in two hundred years. Then again, it is a massive! Where did you say you were from?¡± ¡°Duchy of Tsingia. Came up with a lumber trade caravan. Did some stupid shit, and bam! I am a legionnaire!¡± I barked out,ughing. My research had told me the Duchy was a small human kingdom 1500 miles to the south. All I really knew was where it was on a map and that its primary export was lumber. ¡°True that!¡± He toasted. ¡°I was working as an animal physician. Killed the Baron¡¯s prized bullplete ident. And bam, ten years in the Legion to pay him back!¡± I stumbled back to my room. I was half afraid Mateo would have taken my bed, but thankfully it was empty, and I copsed hard. I had learned a little. Linus was amoner and did not know if you had to report other worlders to Magistrates. He assumed yes but had not heard of a reward for doing so. I was woken too soon by a pounding on my door that echoed in my head. Great, my first hangover since arriving was not a small one. ¡°Move it, Eryk,¡± Konstantin yelled through the door, ¡°Entirepany is on patrol today.¡± I pulled the feathered pillow over my head for a moment to drown him out, and then I sent it to my dimensional space and started moving. Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Announcement 9 chapters ahead on patreon My mouth was dry and cotton-like, and my head pounded. You would think in a world of magic and alchemy; they could make alcohol that did not have a hangover. This was by far the worst hangover I ever had as well. Give me two six-packs instead of half a bottle of brandy any day. I managed to get ready and get to the gate in time. Castille was dressed in legion garb instead of mage garb at the gate for the patrol. Her leather chest piece was shaped to her curves, and she even carried a short saber. I was hurting too much, and the sun was too bright to ask anyone questions why. I located Linus, and he seemed perfectly fine and greeted me with an annoying smile, ¡°Mornin Eryk. Take this, crush the stem, and suck out the syrup. You will feel better shortly.¡± It looked like a dandelion, but the stem was as thick as my finger. I did as advised and crushed and then sucked. The taste reminded me of aloe and cinnamon. Linus was right. The pressure on my head faded first, and then my eyesight normalized. The dryness in my mouth remained, and it added a bitter, sticky aftertaste, but that was a small price for regaining functionality. I learned the flower was called Morning Glory and was grown by skilled nature mages because it required aether to thrive. A single stem cost sixrge silver but had multiple doses. It just needed to be consumed shortly after picking. I would be adding a few to my dimensional space in the future as the stasis effect should keep them viable. As we formed up, there were only two missing people for the patrol, Mateo and Delmar. The ogre had injured both, and I had not seen either of them at the wall yesterday. Castille led us out of the gates, and I ended up walking next to Firth. Heined about theck of quality in the brothels in the city. He looked to be in his early 40s, and I wondered if he was actually upset with brothels as he imed or just liked to hear himself talk. We walked in pairs, spaced about ten feet apart. My feet had healed enough to not cause an issue. I had pulled two spare sets of socks out of my dimensional storage for the patrol just in case I needed them. As we proceeded, the road and surroundings gave me Deja Vu from the previous patrol. Castille was at the front with Adrian, her lieutenant at her side. I was too far back to hear what they talked about, and I tuned out Firth as we walked. It was the same as yesterday¡ªno encounters until we reached the spot where we had killed the ogre two days ago. The body had been pulled into the swamp, and insects the size of my fist swarmed over the corpse. Mage Castille pulled out a scroll and used it to cast a me spell to burn the insects and the body. The ogre fat caught, and a blue-ck smoke started to get thicker and thicker into the air. The smoke smelled terrible, so our short column rushed past to continue our patrol. Firthmented, ¡°Norge predators or scavengers in the area. Otherwise, the corpse would have been gone by now.¡± I joked, ¡°Maybe they couldn¡¯t stand the smell either.¡± Firthughed and then went into a long story about how some of his brothel partners smelled. The only thing his story did was reinforce my reluctance to partake in the brothels. Arge frog hopped into the road, and Castille bound it with her shadow chains. It was quickly killed with spears and rolled off the road after Castille failed to get an essence from it. This patrol was so much easier with a mage with us. ¡°Why didn¡¯t Castillee with us on the first patrol?¡± I asked Firth. Firthmented, ¡°She was probably in a meeting with the other two Legionpanymander mages. Mages operate outside the normal armymand, only Legion officers canmand them, and none are currently in the city. I actually think she requested for us to patrol the southern road. Rumor is the local baron¡¯s advisor thinks the bullywug spotted recently was part of a dungeon release.¡± ¡°Dungeon release?¡± I questioned. ¡°It sometimes happens, fairly umon. It only happens when the dungeon ecology is so screwed up that the dungeon has to release some of its monsters. It is probably just the fancy of the baron¡¯s advisor, though. Delmar thinks the bullywug was either a solo hunter or an exile, not a dungeon release. If there was an unbnced dungeon out here the Emperor would send the Praetorian to destroy it. Either way, we are trying to find a frog man in a swamp full of giant frogs,¡± heughed. ¡°Praetorian?¡± I asked. I had heard them mentioned before, but I just thought they were the Emperor¡¯s personal guard. ¡°You really do not know much about the Empire. The Praetorians are the Emperor¡¯s elite mages and warriors.¡± He paused and added, ¡°And assassins.¡± I realized it was another piece of the Roman culture as the Praetorian Guard was considered the Royal guard in my remembered history. This Praetorian had evolved into something else in a world of magic. ¡°Are the Praetorian First Citizens?¡± I asked after walking for a while, staring in thought at ominous dark clouds over the swamp. Firth paused and said a little too harshly, ¡°No, they are not. They are usually selected from the Lion Legion, from what I know. No First Citizens serve in the Lion Legion,¡± Firth said. Lightning shed from the dark clouds deep into the swamp. Castille had the column stop while she studied the odd lightning in the distance. I overheard conversations from the others. Castille was trying to determine if the storm was natural or magical in nature. We waited for minutes, and two giant frogs came bounding toward us from the direction of the storm. They were fleeing and did not look to be attacking us. We formed up into shielded groups to face them. One unit speared and hacked one of the frogs to pieces. The other frog passed over the road in arge leap and kept going, clearly afraid. Castille announced, ¡°Mark the road with the direction of the storm! Then we will make haste back to Macha.¡± The men went to work cutting rotting trees to stand into the road. It was just two poles, but they would line up in the direction of the heart of the storm. As we worked, we had to deal with sporadic life from the swamp, a half dozen frogs, and one massive snake thirty-foot-long snake. The frogs went down quickly, but the snake had tough scales, and Castille¡¯s shadow chains could not hold it. When the snake broke her chains, it swallowed Donte. Castille took out her wand and targeted the missiles on the head while we all hacked at the body. After it was killed, it was a rush to cut Donte out. He came out sputtering, swearing, and spitting¡ªand then vomiting. Castille looked at the storm and talked with Adrian as she readied her essence collector for the snake. Adiran yelled, ¡°Skin it! Fangs are not poisonous, and we are taking those as well. You have thirty minutes to finish if you want a bonus!¡± Seven men stood guard as the rest of us attacked the snake. The hide was almost two inches thick, and I asked no one in particr, ¡°What is this good for anyway?¡± ¡°Mostly saddles,¡± Wylie responded, covered in blood. ¡°Ie from a family of leather workers, and this will make some durable and fancy saddles. We will cut it into strips the width and length of a person. Each strip should fetch two or three gold¡ªbut maybe not in Macha with all the skilled craftsman having fled.¡± We all worked hard, and each of us had a strip of flesh to carry back. We rolled them up and attached them to our backpacks. I guessed the weight was around 40 pounds, so the awkward bundle was not going to be fun to carry. I shed back to carrying the spider spinnerets in the dungeon. Adrian took the fangs and no snakeskin. ¡°Cut open the rest of the digestive tract,¡± Castille ordered before we left. She wanted to see what the snake had been eating. The storm appeared to be gettingrger, but we worked fast and found three partially digested giant frogs and one humanoid. ording to Konstantin, the humanoid was a bullywug, not that I could tell, as the flesh was mostly gone from digestion. That was all we found, and Castille, Konstantin, and Adrian examined the bullywug in detail. At least the train of fleeing animals had finally stopped. They finally ordered a quick march back to the city. When we marched, it was like a game of telephone, getting the words from our leaders at the front. The rumor passed down the column that the bullywug was not from a dungeon, looked like a runt, and had probably been exiled from its n. Therger rumor was that Castille thought the storm cloud was not natural. The seven miles to the city were not pleasant for any of us. The snakeskin¡¯s added weight and awkward weight distribution made it get painful on our backs. When we reached the gates, Castille reported to the guard captain for a few minutes. Before we were allowed to enter, three carts guarded by ten mounted men left the gates down the road. Konstantin was standing next to me, ¡°They will take the rest of the skin and probably as much flesh as they can for the siege. Pitty, we will not see a copper of it.¡± We got a lot of looks from the remaining citizens and regr soldiers as we followed Castille to the tanners on the far side of the slums. The smell of the tannery told me why it was ced all the way over here. Adrian talked to the grizzled tanner. Castille was already leaving, heading back to her residence in the city. ording to Firth, she only came to show her face to the tanner to get a better deal for us. Mages were respected¡ªand feared. Still, Adiran did not seem happy with the final result. We were ordered to stack the bundles of snakeskin outside the tanner and were free to go. I found out we would all be getting 55 silver each for hauling the forty pounds of skin seven miles. I thought it was a good deal for the amount of work involved¡ªmy back would heal in a day or two. Wylie said it was terrible since a saddle made from the skin would sell for over twenty gold to a noble. A few of the legionaries were headed to the upper city to use the baths there. They cost an outrageous silver coin, but we were all filthy, and the water was cleaner than the baths in the lower city. The four of us, Wylie, Donte, Felix, and I, decided a silver coin after our small windfall was worth it. We would celebrate surviving another day. Chapter 24: Book Shopping Chapter 24: Book Shopping Chapter 24 We returned to our assigned residence to drop our gear and armor before heading to the baths. I found Mateo in my bed sleeping. The smell from the ogre was faint but still hung in the room. He rolled over drowsy, ¡°Sorry, Eryk, I was sleeping on the roof, and it was just too bloody hot today. I will be out by evening as I have night watch at the north gate.¡± I sniffed the air again, ¡°No, problem. You can keep the room.¡± I grabbed my backpack and loose gear. The heavy nket I left on the bed, considering it lost to the scent of ogre. I went to the bakery¡¯s first floor, pushed two tables together, and unloaded my gear. There was an old woman across the street that had advertised doingundry for soldiers for a copper. I found some clean light linen pants and a shirt abandoned by the baker, stripped down, and changed. Felix was alreadying back down the stairs, ready for the baths. Felixughed, ¡°Mateo slept in your bed while we were gone? Just too cruel.¡± ¡°I will just set up to sleep on these tables tonight. Adrian thinks we will be moved soon to a vi of the local baron who fled,¡± I said, rying the rumor I had overheard. ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Delmar said, walking into the bakery. ¡°The baron¡¯s advisor is preparing it for us to move into. Probably making sure he is taking everything valuable out to sayter it was stolen.¡± He turned to me, ¡°Eryk, I have this for you from Castille. It is to make up for your loss in the dungeon.¡± He handed me a pouch, and I took it, expecting it to be heavy with coin. It was light, and inside was an essence. Delmar smiled, ¡°The gargantuan constrictor essence. An apex essence of constitution.¡± He patted me on my shoulder, and Felix muttered, ¡°Lucky bastard.¡± I pulled the golf ball-sized essence and let it dissolve in my mouth while I put together my dirty clothes in a bundle to carry across the street. I could feel a now familiar run of aether surging through my body, enhancing my body. I shuddered from the cold electricity for a moment and gathered myself. The feeling was bing euphoric and dopamine-inducing, knowing I was getting stronger. With Felix, I went and visited the washerwoman and talked for a few minutes. She was old and frail and lived with her daughter, who had four pre-teen kids. The father was killed a few years back. The woman offered to wash a set of clothing for a single copper. Maybe it was because I felt bad for her situation, but I paid five copper for two sets of dirty clothes I had but asked they be washed twice and in clean water. She eagerly epted, and the kids went to draw the fresh water. Felix said as we went to get Wylie and Donte down the street at their amodations, ¡°That woman will be forcing her daughter on you when you go to pick those clothes up.¡± I jested, ¡°Sorry you didn¡¯t think to do it?¡±¡°They will wash my clothes at the bath with scented soap,¡± he indicated his sweat and gore-stained clothes. He pointed over his shoulder at the old woman, ¡°If that family isn¡¯t fleeing, then they have nowhere to go. Or maybe the old woman can¡¯t handle the trip.¡± He paused, ¡°You did a good thing. I will let the others know to give her some work.¡± We met up and walked to the upper city, which was even more abandoned than the lower city. Most of the abandoned buildings were boarded up. NThe bathhouse was open and fed from an aqueduct. The attendants inside were all young women and not delighted to see mypanion¡¯s clothes. These were the washerwomen who would take our clothes. They collected our silver coins, and then we stripped in front of them to give them our clothes. I tried not to show any shyness as I handed my linens to one of the young women. She handed me back an abrasive sponge and a cube of soap. ¡°See any you like?¡± Donte chided no one in particr. ¡°The brothel is down the street, you dolt,¡± Delmar said, walking in with Adrian and Konstantin. ¡°If you cause trouble here, Castille will mount your arse on a spear.¡± We all moved into the showers to scrub as the three new arrivals were attended to. The showers were just a light stream of cold water, but I took the opportunity to use the abrasive and soap, thoroughly cleaning myself and ignoring the others. My body had transformed in the months I had been here. I was lean and muscr. I briefly wondered what it would have been like in my past life if my body had looked like this. Once clean, we moved to sit in the heated baths. Wylie jumped in, causing a ssh and waves followed by curses from the men already in the recessed pool. Not many nobles remained in the city, and from the look of ourpany, I guessed they were mostly soldiers or other legionaries. Once the water settled with the curses at Wylie, conversation resumed. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the heated water. Ourmanders and Konstantin joined the pool, and the conversation turned to Legion business. We were moving into an estate near the baron¡¯s orchards and personal gardens inside the north walls. If the baron ran the city, then where the hell was he? I asked that question, and Delmar replied, ¡°Normally, a count runs a city, but thest count was assassinated, and the Emperor appointed no new count. Baron Hephestus is just a temporary appointee. He is currently with the Emperor¡¯s army about four hundred miles from here. Ready and waiting toe to the rescue of his besieged city.¡± Mockeryced his voice. Firth, who was also here from ourpany, asked, ¡°What is with the storm we saw?¡± Konstantin answered, ¡°Probably nothing good. It was definitely not natural. Castille and the otherpanymanders are deciding if they want to investigate. Has to be over ten miles of travel through the swamp¡ªno road.¡± Wylie barked, ¡°I hope she doesn¡¯t volunteer us. Swamp water is not good for my skin.¡± He got a few chuckles, and a few men not from ourpany left the hot pool. Konstantin stood and cracked his back, ¡°Eryk, I will see you in the yard in a hour for practice. Best not to get too rusty.¡± My jaw would not work as he left, and everyoneughed, so maybe Konstantin was joking. Soon Adrian and Delmar started giving orders to everyone for either weapon practice tonight or to help with preparations for the move to the vi. I asked about my practice with the spear as I was supposed to be training in both. Delmar noted Konstantin was proficient in the spear as well. Great. I exited the bath and went to the next chamber to find middle-aged women rubbing oil on the men. There was nothing sensual about it as the men did their own front and the women did their backs. I stood by a basin, started, and finished before a woman could do my back. I found my clean clothes and sandals and left. I took a wrong turn and found myself in the trader¡¯s district of the upper city. Half the shops were empty, but a few still had life. Surprisingly a bookstore was still open as the sun was just setting. I wandered in, and the man reading a book looked up. ¡°I am surprised you are still here with the enemy likely to attack the city,¡± I said conversationally. He inspected me, ¡°Guessing you are a soldier by the square shoulders. It is all the same to me, Telhians or Bartiradians. It would cost too much to pack up and move and I am getting too old for it. Are you here to look or purchase, young man?¡± ¡°Do you have a book on spell forms, on how to learn them?¡± I asked. ¡°I do. Which affinity are you looking for?¡± He stood thinking I might be a customer. ¡°Healing if you have it. How much would it cost?¡± I asked, hopeful. He looked me up and down and sighed, ¡°Normally ten gold, but under the current circumstances,¡± he mussed, ¡°I will go as low as five gold. Not a copper lower,¡± he smiled, but he did not look like he thought I was capable of the coin. ¡°Do you have the protection affinity as well?¡± I asked, reaching into my pouch and getting the coins from my dimensional space. ¡°Eleven gold for that book. It is an umon affinity, and the copies are harder toe by,¡± he noted as he went to the shelves and found both books. ¡°These both are basic low-affinity spell forms for these affinities. They are old, and there are other versions for different manifestations, but this is all I have currently.¡± I looked both books over. They were both old and worn. They detailed a few basic spell forms for the affinity but did not seem to have the spell forms suitable for any affinity over forty. As he noted, they were just the basic spell forms. Renna¡¯s book was much more detailed and covered all the affinities but did not have notes for the learning spell forms, just descriptors for choosing a spell form. Her book probably referenced textbooks for learning the specific spell forms. The book was designed to learn without actually using an actual spell. It simplified the process significantlypared to learning from a spell, but the advantage of learning from a spell was minimal chance of making a mistake. I had Damian to guide me when I learned my dimensional pocket ability from the actual spell, but I would be on my own for this. Hopefully, I had learned enough from my time with him. I confirmed the healing affinity first. It had three basic options, self-healing, body cleansing, and boundless endurance. I nodded and put it on the counter. The protection affinity book also had three spell forms detailed. Protection from the elements, wind barrier, and aetheric armor. I put the book on the counter. ¡°I will take them both,¡± I said, producing the sixteen gold. Surprised, His eyes went up, ¡°And he doesn¡¯t even haggle. Your ent gives you away as a foreigner, but I suggest you save some coin next time and y the game of the merchant.¡± He took my coin anyway. I had just five gold coins remaining. I could not purchase rare affinity books if the umon book was already eleven gold. I had already spent what amounted to a fortune that my Legion mates knew I did not have. I left the shop and turned into the first shop that sold food. The books went into my space, and I purchased tworge meat pies in fired y dishes for an entire silver. I should have gone to thepany kitchen or bought food in the lower city as it would have been much cheaper, but I was in a good mood. I awkwardly carried the warm pies all the way back to the bakery I was staying in. When I got closer, I found Mateo heading to his night shift at the gate, and he helped himself to one of the pies. They were family-sized, and I probably could not have eaten two anyway, even if my stomach was telling me I could. I got to the bakery, and the old woman called me over to take my clean clothes. They were all clean and just damp. My guilt at their family¡¯s predicament had me handing them the other meat pie. It made me feel good, and as predicted by Felix, the woman wanted to introduce her daughter to me. I escaped by going to get my dinner at the inn serving the Legion food down the street. I was famished, after all. Chapter 25: Choices Chapter 25: Choices Chapter 25 I returned to the bakery after I had my fill of cold chicken and spiced apples for dinner. Konstantin was waiting impatiently in the yard. I realized it had been over two hours since he had left the bath before me. I joked, ¡°I thought you had been joking since we had just had a bath.¡± ¡°Joking? You are the least skilledbatant in thepany Eryk. Maybe the entire Legion. If you want to live through a battle, you need to focus. You have chosen the most difficult path for a primary. Dual wielding requires ambidexterity¡ªand the ability to split your thought process. Defend with one weapon while attacking with the other. And then surprising your opponent by switching which weapon is doing which,¡± he lectured harshly. He tossed my two training short swords. ¡°We will continue to work with two short des until you have gainedpetency. Then, we will work with a de and a parrying dagger. From there, we will work with you on strengthing your ability to split your mind and independently wield any ded weapon in either hand.¡± Even though I had beente and he was upset with me, Konstantin was surprisingly patient as we practiced. In the middle of practice, I disarmed my right sword, forcing me to fight with just one sword in my left. I was left-handed and decided to make light of the situation by quoting The Princess Bride. ¡°I have something to tell you, I am not left-handed!¡± I switched my sword to my right andunched an attack I thought would surprise him. He used both des to lock my sword down and away and elbowed me in the chin. I bit my tongue and tasted blood. ¡°What are you talking about, you dolt? You are definitely left-handed. But we are working on correcting it,¡± Konstantin snickered as I spit blood. ¡°That would have worked better or at least been funny if you had seen the¡ªy,¡± I continued to spit blood to find out the damage to my tongue. ¡°If you had not been talking, you would not have bitten your tongue when I struck your jaw,¡± hemented while going for water. ¡°Only goude your opponent if you know you are better than them. For now, assume everyone is better than you.¡± We worked on my ambidexterity. Konstantin admitted he only dual-wielded weapons when facing a monster or a single opponent. When faced with multiple weapon-wielding opponents, he preferred a small shield. However, he did not carry a shield when he scouted for thepany due to its added weight.Sweating and exhausted, Konstantin moved on to the spear. I was just using a staff as Konstantin had me review the basics and make slight corrections. I thought he would have made an excellent instructor at the legion training camp, but I was not going to stoke his ego right now. It was time to learn what I could from him. I was filthy and exhausted when he released me. He definitely worked me into the dark because I had beente. I spent some time setting up my bed on the tables, more than a little peeved of having my room skunked out by Mateo. I went and grabbed the oilmp in the room and also confirmed the ogre scent lingered. I thought about sleeping in the other room with Felix, but he snored, and even exhausted, I wanted to study anyway. If anyone caught me with the spell form book, I would profess to finding the book in the bakery. I had learned spell forms in two different ways so far. The first was the natural way my body innately made it. This happened when I utilized my convergence affinity to squeeze as much out of my first dexterity essence. From my understanding, I grew my attributes substantially from every essence I consumed. Minor and major essences were not supposed to affect potential, but for me, with my spell form, they did. It would be a huge boon as long as I could consume more essences in the future. The second time I learned a spell form was from the spell book for dimensional storage. The spellbook was very simr to a spell form, just moreplex than it needed to be. I also had Damian guide me on the process. Damian mentioned what a true wizard was able to do. When a mage cast a true spell, they constructed the temporary spell forms in the air with their aether control and maniption. Each spell required between three and sixyers, and then you activated the spell construct with more aether. Damian had told me it was extremely difficult to learn to cast true spells, and few people had the intellect, dexterity, and perception to cast them. Even the trantion amulet I had worn was actually six spell runic discs stacked on one another. I could not imagine creating all of those constructs with my mind. The two books I purchased supposedly simplified spell forms to make learning and imprinting easier. The easiest way to describe the process was tattooing the spell form permanently on my aether core¡ªeach affinity could only take one tattoo, and the size of the tattoo was rtive to the magnitude of my affinity. There was just not enough space for affinities under ten to imprint a spell form easily. It was possible, but the effect was usually minor. I reviewed the protection affinity options in the first book. The three spell forms in the book were protection from the elements, aetheric armor, and wind barrier. I started to examine the descriptions of each to see if one was good enough to choose as my spell form. I realized there were more options beyond these. That was because the healing book I purchased and Renna¡¯s book had different options. Protection from the elements was the simplest of the three. It kept the air around your body at afortable 70 degrees. Well, it did not say 70 degrees specifically. It just saidfortable, like a dry spring morning, so I filled in the nks. The description included walking on a cier or in a desert inpletefort. The spell even drew a tiny one aether per hour, well, for me that was a lot. The next spell form was aetheric armor, and it required you to have an affinity over 25 due to theplexity of the spell form if you wished to learn it. This spell form created an invisible skin on the mage that absorbed hits, draining the aether at a rate of two per strike. At least, roughly two per strike. My trantion was a bit fuzzy when it came to the math. Thest one sounded useful as I read it. Wind barrier actually hardened the air in a disc shape. It only cost a single aether to cast, and the barrier dissipated if it was strongly deformed. But it could still stop an arrow before breaking. The issue was the barrier took about two heartbeats to form (two seconds) and was fixed in ce. It would lose cohesion after about ten seconds as well. So, should I try to learn one of these as my one spell form for protection affinity? I wish I knew what all my other options were. Aetheric armor sounded useful as a soldier. Life-saving even. The protection from the elements was a great utility spell for a soldier and possibly life-saving. It had cool notes like keeping the rain off you as you walked and drying your clothes if you did get wet. Wind barrier had some cool notes that you could cast multiple wind barriers and make steps to climb walls as long as you didn¡¯t run out of aether. Felix came down to use the privy on the first floor, ¡°Crap, Eryk, get some sleep and stop reading about the First Legion.¡± He did his business, and I switched the books in case he checked on his way back up. He went back upstairs, never checking what I was actually reading. I decided if I had to choose one of these, it would be aetheric armor. I wanted to see if another mid-tier protection spell form was better for me beforemitting. From my experience, it would take me four to six weeks to learn it, and I was not sure if I would have the time or privacy to do so. I switched to books to look at the healing affinity spell forms. This book offered three; self-healing, body cleansing, and boundless endurance. These were different from Renna¡¯s book. Boundless endurance was the easiest to learn. The spell form utilized fat stores in the body to quickly replenish the muscles. This would be a terrible choice for me. Not only did I have little body fat now, but I had also consumed three apex essences of endurance. The body cleanse was very tempting. It removed foreign objects from the castor, including poisons, disease, and cleaning your bowels. This was basically a chance to never get sick. I remembered you needed to have symbiotic bacteria in your gut for healthy digestion. The text did not address if these bacteria were unaffected by the spell effect. The problem was that the spell form suggested having at least an affinity 35 in healing to learn it. My affinity was only 19. Thest choice, self-healing, suggested a minimum affinity of 20. The healing was limited to the mage and could not affect others. Damian¡¯s healing ability could heal other people but only soft tissue. But it looked like this version could heal soft tissue and bone. It was exactly what I wanted for my healing affinity. Maybe it was selfish to not seek an ability capable of healing others, but I didn¡¯t care. The extent of the healing determined how much aether was needed. Mateo stumbled into the bakery, back from his watch, and I swore at my idiocy. It was almost morning, and I had spent the entire night tranting and reading. I was caught in the excitement of possibilities. Mateo ignored me and climbed the stairs. I put the book away and gotfortable for my thirty-minute nap. Konstantin came stomping down the stairs with Felix and woke me. I rolled to a standing position and started to dress. Konstantin said, ¡°Breakfast first and then to the wall. You have the first shift and the rest of the day off.¡± Breakfast was cold rice and beans with a sweet got sauce. It was the same food as the regr army as our kitchen was being moved to the estate this morning. Although the other men in mypanyined, I joked the food was not too bad. It had nice contrasting textures, the rice was a little gooey, and the beans a little crunchy, but at least the thick sweet sauce covered it up. When we reached the wall, Konstantin was in charge on the wall for the eight of us. I was shocked to find two of ourpany¡¯s archers, Pavel and Regis, were holding apetition. They had set up three dummies out away from the wall. Each of us would get twelve shots. The loser of each round would have to go and retrieve the arrows. Konstantin was the best archer among us but was not participating. Was there any weapon Konstantin was not good with? The contest started with a lesson on the short bow, how to properly string the bow, and care for theposite short bow made from gluedyers of horn, wood, and sinew. Pavel showed us what made a good bow and how to inspect arrows for damage and then gave us a ten-minute lesson on shooting. Everything was too well rehearsed for this to be an impromptu session. I guessed right when Konstantin announced, ¡°There are seven of you, and we have six extra bows in the Legion. The six of you with the best shot will carry a bow while stationed on the wall; the remaining man will be the runner for arrows.¡± This was not a great incentive, so he added, ¡°And the best shot today will be given a pouch of the seasoned griffin jerky.¡± I had not sampled it but heard it was excellent, and by everyone¡¯s sudden focus, the game was on. Each round, we would shoot ten arrows each. And there were going to be twelve rounds total. An arrow in a straw dummy was one point. An arrow in its centerline was two points. The centerline was a red stripe painted from head to groin. The dummies were fifty yards out and spaced about ten feet apart. Felix went first, earning seven points. Pavel was second, earning eleven points. Whether or not it was fair to have the archer participate in the contest was not up for debate. I was third. My first shot hit the dummy in the center of the head, and everyone whopped in praise. Then I missed my next nine shots. I gripped that I was left-handed and forced to use a right-handed bow but did not receive any sympathy as twenty minutester, I was trudging out in the sun to collect eighty four arrows. As the second round began, I noticed Konstantin and Regis giving advice. This was not some light-heartedpetition. They were finding the most proficient members of thepany to be archers on the wall. My turn came, and I scored five points, still the worst among everyone. My draw fingers were also slightly numb, and I wished I had one of the special gloves the archers were using. I improved in the next rounds, scoring 6, 6, 8, 7, 8, 7, 7, 9, 10, 8, and 8 points. Only when I scored ten points points by getting two arrows on the centerline did I mercifully not have to go and retrieve the arrows as I tied with someone else and was given a reprieve. We then spent time as a group inspecting each arrow for damage before packing them for the next watch. They were going to have the samepetition to find the mostpetent archers. I was not selected to be one of the bowmen, but Pascal won, and he shared his griffin jerky. I headed back to the bakery. My clothes were soaked with sweat and dust from all the work I did collecting 924 arrows. Granted, most were in the dummies, but my hands were raw and full of splinters from pulling them out of the straw. My left shoulder de ached from pulling the short bow one hundred and forty-four times, and the calluses on my fingertips were peeling off from new blisters forming underneath. Maybe it was a good thing I was not selected to be an archer for the wall. Mateo had been to the baths in the morning and was coated in perfume. We still joked we could smell ogre ass on him, but we decided to let hime with us for a drink with some of the other men in thepany. Konstantin said we would be moving into the vite tonight, so it was going to be an early dinner in the tavern rather than eat the army food. I gave the old woman five coppers and my two dirty clothes on my way to meet the others. I was dressed in clean linens. I only wore a belt with a dagger and my coin purse. In my purse were twenty-seven copper and three silver. More than enough to enough the evening. If the pattern held, tomorrow would be a long march to patrol the swamps. As we headed to the tavern, mypanions were Firth, Mateo, Felix, Wylie, and Kolm. Chapter 26: Firth’s Idea of Dessert Chapter 26: Firth¡¯s Idea of Dessert Chapter 26 Announcement Patreon will be 10 chapters ahead in the next day The mid-afternoon sun was blocked by ranging clouds as we walked. The n was to escape the humidity in the tavern, which was a massive stone cer. Firth had heard of it from a local. Probably one of his women at the brothel. It was in the lower city. The streets were fairly lean of people as we walked. More and more fled west every day, squeezing the city of regr people. Wylie asked, ¡°Any news on the reward for reporting the new dungeon?¡± The older Firth, always informed, ¡°Nope. They probably hoped we would all die out here so they don¡¯t have to pay out.¡± Mateo interjected, ¡°It is the Adventurer¡¯s Guild that pays. It will take them a week to travel there. A week to explore it. A week to return. And then ten months to review their notes before they pay out.¡± That got a lot of chuckles, but I was unsure if it was directed at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild or bureaucracy in general. Felix sounded appalled, ¡°So we are not going to see the gold for a year then?¡± Firth told him directly, ¡°Just worry about staying alive. When it gets paid out, Adrian said each man is looking at between 50 to 80 gold. It will happen, just be patient.¡± Kolm, ourpany pseudo-cksmith, said, ¡°I am going to get some enchanted boots so my damn feet never hurt again.¡± This started everyone on their wish list for what they would buy. Surprisingly, Firth said he was going to send it all back to his family and not spend it in a brothel. It would set them up for life and get the kids a good education. Wylie asked, ¡°What about you, Eryk? What are you going to do with your peasant fortune?¡±I hesitated, then said, ¡°I think I will get on the road and head back to my own country after my term is done and spend it there.¡± Firth smirked, ¡°The Telhians are not so bad. A little more racist than most Kingdoms, but you are human.¡± He paused and pretended to look at me seriously, ¡°You are human, Eryk? Did anyone check?¡± He said in mock seriousness. Felix, ¡°I don¡¯t know. His cock looked a littlerge in showersst night. Maybe he is half-orc.¡± Wylie joined in on the fun banter, defending me, ¡°It only lookedrge because youpared it to your own, Felix. It waspletely normal.¡± The good-natured jarring went back and forth until we arrived and descended stone steps into arge basement under what appeared to be a lumbar warehouse. Therge room was well-lit, with dozens of tables and many men sitting...not many women I could see. The servers were middle-aged women moving among the tables serving city guards, locals, and a few men of the army. Firth pointed at an empty table, and we headed over as he said, ¡°I was told to order the house stew with goat¡¯s milk bread. They have a soft ale and thick stout ale for options.¡± As we sat, one of the servers took our order. The house stew was a massive bowl of vegetables and various meats. It was enough to feed a family of four. As I ate, I figured the stew was just whatever they had left over from the previous day¡¯s meal in the kitchen. I got the pale ale and was not a fan. It was extremely bitter. The goat milk bread had a thick crust and dense texture, but it soaked up the stew juices and became amazing on the taste buds. I ordered a second serving with the stout, somehow finding a way to pack it all in. The stout was heavy but not as bitter. My two stews, two loaves, and two ales ran me 14 copper. I tipped four copper coins. Tipping was not a normal practice, but it was understood and appreciated by the middle-aged woman serving us. When we finished the meal, the cards came out. I just observed while the others yed. It seemed almost like UNO. The first yer to get all the cards out of his hand, won. The cards were marked with Roman numerals, which was strange since the magic tablets used Arabic base ten numbers. The numbers were only written slightly differently, and I had already gotten ustomed to them. Wylie and Felix were trash-talkers the entire game. I thought a lot of effort was invested in a game with no coin at stake. I guessed the cool, dry underground stone room was maybe half full, 120 patrons or so. It was just after mid-day, so maybe it got busier at night. A woman in skimpy clothing came out and set up on a small stage. She had arge harp and strummed it before singing. She had a beautiful voice, and I focused on her for the entire song with my eyes closed. The words were not Latin but flowed marvelously together. When she stopped, I asked, ¡°Whatnguage was that?¡± ¡°Probably elvish. I wasn¡¯t paying too close of attention,¡± Firth said, his eyes and focus across the room. Then, there was a loud crash a few tables away, drawing everyone¡¯s attention. A local had spilled his ale on an army regr. The curses started flying freely. And then fists. I asked, ¡°Are we leaving?¡± Firth chuckled, ¡°No. We will wait for the city guard to ask for our help and then join in the fun.¡± I didn¡¯t understand until the fight started spreading, and a man in a city guard uniform came to our table, ¡°If you are Legion, then we could stand for some help.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for an answer as he waded in. Firthughed and said, ¡°This was what she said would be dessert. Come on. Focus on the regrs.¡± I think that meant the regr army. Soon, half the room was in a brawl. I followed my friends and got an elbow to the stomach to start. I promptly showed him what I had eaten for lunch. As he backed up, covered in vomit, I grabbed the man¡¯s hair and drove his forehead into my knee. My knee hurt, but the adrenaline was flowing, and I had just lost most of a very good meal so I was a bit angry. I stayed toward the rear, cleaning up the perimeter as I watched mypany wade through the other men. It was like they were adults dolling out discipline to children. Firth, who looked to be in his forties, was doing the most damage. He would incapacitate a man with two quick jabs before spinning the dazed man over to the town guards. I had learned a lot in legion training but was rusty with my hand-to-hand skills. It took me a few strikes to my body before I got angry and let loose, the instincts drilled into me from months of training. When it was over, I had a bloody lip and some bruises on my body, Wylie had a swollen ck eye, and Mateo got a knife stabbed in his shoulder. It was a small knife for cutting fruit. We had not really won as we were more like the enforcers during the fight. By my estimate, fifty town guards hauled away about thirty regr soldiers and ten locals. Firth was talking to a guard captain whileplimentary ale was brought to the rest of us. I needed to wash the acid vomit taste from my mouth, so it was appreciated. Watching Firth talk and remembering how he fought, I asked, ¡°Does this happen a lot when Firth takes you out?¡± Felixmented, ¡°More often than not. But he is always expecting it and gives us a heads up before it starts.¡± I thought about Firth. He spent a lot of time away from thepany inrger cities, supposedly visiting the brothels, and maybe he was. But he was always the most well-informed legionnaire, just as much as Castille, Adrian, and Delmar. But he didn¡¯t talk with them like Konstantin did, so where was his informationing from? He was also older than Adrian and Delmar, so why was he not one of Castille¡¯s lieutenants? He was just as good of a fighter as them. It all seemed very fishy to me. I thought about asking him but instead nned to ask Konstantin. I trusted him enough to see if he knew anything, and Konstantin was probably the most observant man in ourpany. I drank the entire mug in a long pull and stood, ¡°I am going to check the shops. Try to find some good deals in the ¡®city is about to be attacked clearance section.¡¯¡± Mateo got the joke first andughed as I waved goodbye and left. Instead of going directly back to the bakery, I went to the upper city to the bookstore. I wanted to see if there were other books on spell forms for the protection affinity. The owner was happy to see me but only helped marginally. There were other books, but he did not have any of them for protection. He did have a higher affinity healing book, but that would not help me anyway. I was happy with the self-healing spell form and was not even sure I could learn it. My affinity was 19, and the minimum suggested was 20. I would still try. I was going to leave, but he stopped me, ¡°I don¡¯t have the other spell form books, but I do have a spell reference book. It describes the lower affinity spells for protection.¡± ¡°I can not afford to purchase it, but can I look at it for a few minutes?¡± I asked hopefully. He considered and nodded. I think any spell could be imprinted as a spell form on a core. They created the books on spell forms for the most useful spells to make imprinting them for people with high enough affinities as easy as possible. I took the spell list book, sat in a chair, and carefully paged through. It had a fancy script, making it hard for me to read. At least it had an index. There were two branches, the protection branch and the guardian branch. The protection spells focused on the self, while the guardian focused on others. I ignored the guardian side of the index. I quickly found the arcane armor spell. The spells were listed in the rank of difficulty, so all the spells above in the index should be avable to me with a 30 affinity. Protection from Scrying Immunity to Non-magical mes Faithful Spectral Hound Ward of Concealment Ward Against Undead I went to the ward of concealment first, but it was not for a person. It concealed an object in an invisible field. The ward against undead was stationary too. Used to prevent the undead from entering doorways. Spectral hound sounded promising, but it was more of a guard dog while you slept and couldn¡¯t attack. Protection from mes, I discounted immediately. Thest one was a possibility. Protection from scrying would prevent people from tracking me. I could leave the legion before my five years, and they would not be able to find me. Two problems with the choice. I had no spell forms to guide me to imprint the spell, and it would probably take a long time to get the spell forms and learn them. I would probably be better off just finishing my five-year term. I thanked the owner of the bookstore with a ten silver tip. I went to the same meat pie shop and got two pies again. When I picked up my clothes, I gave one of the pies to the old woman¡¯s family. I also exined that I was relocating to the upper city and would not require her services again. She was disappointed and said I was a nice young man and hoped I lived a long and fulfilling life. I thanked her for her blessing and went to find Konstantin. He was not in the room he was using on the second floor. As I came down the stairs, Olson, the other scout, entered, ¡°Have you seen Konstantin?¡± he asked. ¡°No, I just checked his room. I do not know where he went,¡± I replied. Olson grunted, ¡°Well, pack up your gear. Konstantin and I are to track everyone down and get everyone up the estate. Dinner will be ready there in two hours. Castille wants to address everyone, then. The directions are simple. Just follow the main thoroughfare to the castle. Then keep the outer wall to your right. You will pass through a guard checkpoint into the inner courtyard orchards. The estate is on the far side of the trees. If you get lost, just ask for directions to the orchards from the city guard.¡± ¡°Head there now?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes, Eryk. If you get there first, you might be able to get one of the few private rooms,¡± he said, a little irritated he had not found the other scout. I started packing as quickly as possible. I moved the still-hot meat pie into my storage when he left. Private room? Hell yeah. I could talk to Konstantinter. Chapter 27: I Call Dibbs Chapter 27: I Call Dibbs Chapter 27 Announcement Patreon is 10 chapters ahead As I made my way down the main thoroughfare lugging a sixty-pound pack, I decided to take a quick stop in the Legion Hall. The other twopanies and half of ourpany were stationed here. I wanted to see about requisitioning some gear, mainly a new spear. After training with a stickst night, I was anxious to get a real spear back in my hands. I noticed Linus in themon room, and he waved me over, ¡°Eryk, how are you doing? Heard about your little scuffle when Mateo came in to get his wound looked at.¡± A three-inch knife had stabbed Mateo in the shoulder in the fight. ¡°How is he doing?¡± I asked. ¡°Fine, we closed it up. Has Castille talked to you yet?¡± Linus asked, his face slightly creased in concern. ¡°No, I was headed up to the estate to pick a bed. Olson said we were moving up there, and dinner was in two hours,¡± I slowly said, thinking that maybe something was wrong. Linus¡¯ eyes went wide, ¡°Bastard! He said he would tell me first. There are only three private rooms after Castille, Delmar, and Adrian take therger rooms.¡± He was about to leave but paused, ¡°Castille will tell you tonight, I am sure. But I heard you are going out with Mage Durandus¡¯pany tomorrow. They do not have a porter. I was sorting potions you were going to be taking with you a few minutes ago.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I ask, confused. ¡°I will let Castille exin it. It should just be for the day,¡± he had a guilty look as he rushed off to pack his gear. I went to the armory and was told I could grab what I needed, and it would be recorded in the log as I left. I walked by the unstrung bows and paused. There were a dozen, and a few of them were worn and had blood stains on them. Would they really let me check out a short bow? I had learned a little this morning, could pick the best of the bunch, and knew each was worth a good amount of gold from Regis. I strung one of the thicker ones, tested the draw weight, and nodded. I could feel my sore muscles, but it was a good pull weight for me. I unstrung it and grabbed four spare bow strings from a box and a quiver with seventeen arrows. Quivers, I learned we were either small orrge, 17 or 34 arrows full. The small quiver was for mobility, and therge was for extended battles. But Regis mentioned when they pack the quivers; they put the better arrows in the small quivers. The arrow lengths were the same since the Legion only used short bows. I would have checked each arrow, but I didn¡¯t have time. I was racing against Linus for a private room. At the rack of spears, I quickly selected two regr spears. The pilum were the throwing spears used by the regr army. The pilum was only for piercing. A regr spear had a more durable shaft and a spearhead that could pierce and sh and was shaped like a leaf. I would have toe back for a shield tomorrow. It only took a moment for me to check out, and they didn¡¯t evenment on the bow. He even helped me bundle everything together with twine to make it easier to carry. Loaded down with all the gear, I made my way to the upper city. I thought more than a few times about putting the heavy gear into my storage space rather than carrying it, but I suffered through it in case I was spotted. I think I beat Linus out of the Legion Hall, but I rushed down the street toward the orchards since I couldn¡¯t be sure. I probably looked a fool, but I would hopefully be a fool in my own room. The main road ran about a mile before meeting up with the inner city wall. I kept this wall to my right and soon found the gate, trees easily seen beyond. The city guards here had special tabards on. When I approached with my gear, they did not even question me as I passed. I turned and asked, ¡°Am I the first one?¡± I realized I probably sounded like a little kid hoping to be the first in line for ice cream. The older guard nodded with a grin, ¡°Castille¡¯spany by the armor? We were told you wereing. Yes, you are the first one through this gate. There is another gate toward the Count¡¯s castle, though.¡± I was surprised they were so friendly, and I would have been polite and chatted, but I could see Linus fast walking toward us with his own massive pack. I turned and walked the stone paths across the orchard. I noticed the trees were not apples but peaches or maybe nectarines. I was not going to pause to find out. The path led straight to the estate. The estate was a stone two-story building. It was not huge and surrounded by flowering trees. If I remember correctly, I think it was a guest house for visiting dignitaries. I made it to therge door and barged inside. I paused to find Delmar in the foyer. I was sweating and burdened. He cocked an eyebrow questionably. ¡°I was told there were a few private rooms?¡± I exined, ¡°It is firste, first choice, correct?¡± He chuckled, ¡°Yes, the ballroom that way had fifteen beds dragged in. Most of the servant rooms on this floor have three beds but...¡± he caused for dramatic effect. The maid¡¯s room off the kitchen has one bed and...¡± he did not finish as I moved toward the kitchen to the right. I could smell the food being prepared and moved through the doors. The door was narrow, and I struggled, probablyically, with my weapons and gear. I must have looked the fool. I burst into the kitchen to find a shocked Lirkin, ourpany cook, working by himself. ¡°Eryk? I take it you are not here to help. I think what you are looking for in the hallway there,¡± he said with a knowing smirk, pointing with his knife. I went to the hallway, dropping my pack so I could fit in the passage. I found a narrow stair to the left going up and a door to the right. I opened the door, and it was a closet-sized room. A bed took the entire left side, and a small desk and armoire to the right. Maybe three feet were between the bed and desk, but I had arge window shaded by a massive tree on the tiny wall. I tested the mattress, and it was the mostfortable mattress I had felt in all my time in this new world. I got all my gear inside and copsed into the mattress. I sighed as it formed around my body. A floral fragrance wafted up from the mattress, probably the perfume the maid had used. The room was not nearly as humid as outside, and I would keep the window and door shut during the heat of the day. I started to unpack my things, iming the small space for my own. The armoire was full of woman¡¯s dresses and a change of bed sheets. The dresses were all identical and probably her uniform as a maid. The bottom was full of woman¡¯s small clothes. I guessed whoever she was; she was not important enough to be given time to pack her things. I found her perfume and personal possessions in the desk drawers. Besides using a puff of perfume to check the scent, I stored everything of hers respectfully away in the bottom of the armoire. I learned my weapons against the closed armoire; two short swords, two spears, the bow, and quiver. I would use the desk and bed, and that would be it. I put my heavy pack on the small desk and nned to use the bed until dinner was ready. Instead, Lirkin called, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I would appreciate your help Eryk.¡± I sighed and went to the kitchen after removing my armor. I heard Linus talking with Delmar and then heard him rushing up the stairs. I was d I was not the only one acting childlike. Then again, these would most likely be our sleeping assignments for the next few weeks. I was actually helping Lirkin prep for breakfast. He had dinner under control. Roastedmb with an apricot-cinnamon ze. A couscous with diced tomatoes and roasted garlic on the side. My mouth was watering as I peeled potatoes and then kneaded dough for him. I was happy to see all the jars of spices I had liberated from Varvao were in the kitchen. The best part of helping prepare the food was sampling it. I soon heard others entering and Delmar directing them. Lirkin noted, ¡°Therder is down those stairs there,¡± he pointed. ¡°It wasn¡¯tpletely stripped, and if you want to cool off, it is very cool and dry down there. Just don¡¯t be getting drunk from the casks of ale and wine,¡± he smiled knowingly. I finished thest potato. I still had to rinse the skins next, and then it would be marinated with vegetables and spices for a portable lunch tomorrow. The potatoes would be diced and fried with eggs and peppers for breakfast. I asked, ¡°Lirkin, why didn¡¯t you take the room off the kitchen?¡± He grinned madly, ¡°I took a child¡¯s room on the second floor. The bed is like a cloud.¡± I admit that made me jealous. My bed was soft, but it was for a servant. The good thing was I was isted from thepany and would have privacy to study and quiet to sleep. Adrian came in an hourter and called for dinner, and we brought it out to the men in a fancy dining room. Everyone was crammed at the table, made to seat 12. I got jeered because I got the maid¡¯s room, and I was covered in flour. As tes were filled and people ate, I noticed Castille was the only one not here. When we finished eating, a cask of weak ale was brought out, andrge mugs were filled. Then Castille made her appearance with everyone satiated and happy. ¡°I hope everyone is settled in and happy with your inn amodations,¡± she said to cheers. She smirked, ¡°Well if the otherpanies want to hog the Legion Hall, they can have it! We will live in luxury on the hill!¡± More cheers. She got serious, ¡°The Dungeon discovery is confirmed.¡± Silence and then cheers. Every name of my role has been submitted. You can collect your share at the Adventurer¡¯s Hall in the capital under a Truthseeker.¡± Mild cheers. She broke into a massive grin, ¡°Everyone is due 75 gold and 68 silver.¡± The ce got extremely loud at the pronouncement. ¡°Now to business. Tomorrow will be ourst patrol south. We will eventually switch to work with the city guard on overnight patrols. During the day, we will keep our rotation on our section of the wall,¡± she paused to let it sink in. ¡°Our new amodations also will require us to patrol the orchards at night. We will rotate which four men stay here and which sixteen go to the city to help the city guard every night,¡± she exined. The math meant six people got the night off. Well, probably four because I doubted Adrian and Delmar would do patrol work, but maybe I was wrong. Not so much cheering. Delmar stepped forward. ¡°Since you will all be well rested, we will pick up our standard conditioning and weapon training.¡± This got a chorus of boos. ¡°I will post the times in the foyer!¡± He yelled over the cacophony of heckling. ¡°Dismissed!¡± Castille caught me, ¡°Eryk, you are with me for a moment.¡± Castille took me into a study where all the books had been stripped off the shelves. She smiled weakly, ¡°You have done well so far under strenuous circumstances. I have an assignment for you. Mage Durandus¡¯pany will explore the storm tomorrow, and I am loaning you out to him. He does not have a porter, and we have pooled potions for him to take.¡± This sounded terrible. Trudging through the swamp infested with giant frogs¡­what is we got surprised by one of those massive snakes. I asked weakly, ¡°What is the storm?¡± Castille frowned, ¡°We do not know. It has not dissipated and could be a number of things. An aether geyser from a ley line. A summoning. A new dungeon forming. A powerful being ying with magic. Whatever it is, we need to ensure it is not dangerous to the Empire.¡± I just nodded and was told to be at the Legion Hall at first light. Chapter 28: The Storm in the Distance Chapter 28: The Storm in the Distance Chapter 28 Announcement Patreon is 10 Chapters ahead (38 just posted) I took an oilmp back to my room in a haze of thought. I was being passed off to anotherpany like a tradedmodity. That storm was also miles into the swamp with no easy ess. It would not be a one-day trip unless the mage had some magic to make it so. I was happy to find my room locked from the inside. The window did not have a lock, so I jammed a dagger in the seam and leaned my weapons against it just in case before pulling the blinds. I stripped to my underclothes andy on the soft mattress with a groan of satisfaction. I ced themp on the small shelf over the bed. I pulled out my griffin pillow and my one clean nket. I gotfortable and then took out the spell form book for healing. All nice andfortable, I started to study. The spell forms were to help guide the process. The true process was about intent and what I wanted the permanent presentation of my affinity to be. The critical factor was not to manifest the wrong spell form. Once it was done, it could not be undone, and I would have to live with it. I studied the book intently, losing track of time. I woke in a start. Delmar was banging on my door, saying I needed to get moving. I had studied well into the night and had not gotten a lot of sleep. I sent everything to my space and unlocked the door. An impatient Delmar was waiting, ¡°Come on, Eryk, I am to be your escort to the Legion Hall.¡± He looked around, ¡°Did you not packst night?¡± ¡°I was told it was just a day trip,¡± I said defensively, even though I knew it was not. ¡°Dragon¡¯s balls,¡± he pushed into the small room and started packing for me. He set up my pack with the necessities and said, ¡°Get three days of hard rations at the Legion Hall. Make sure they are all wrapped and sealed in wax leaf. Thest thing you want is to get sick out there in the swamp. Take two canteens, onerge and one small.¡± He held up my small all-metal canteen. ¡°Use this small one to boil your water for five minutes before drinking or have Durandus purify your water. Otherwise, your arse will be spewing for days.¡± He looked at my array of weapons, and I looked guilty when he noticed the bow. He inspected the bow, and I offered weakly, ¡°Thought I would have time to practice. This bow has a left-handed grip, so I thought it might help my aim.¡± That was actually true, but most bows could be used by either hand. I found this one had grooves for a lefty. Maybe it was the custom, or thest owner had altered it. ¡°Konstantin said you were a terrible shot. You had trouble hitting stationary targets and would be hard-pressed to hit a moving one. It is a nice bow, but leave it behind. Your strings will probably get too wet to use it anyway. Leave your two short swords as well. They will weigh you down, especially if you have to swim.¡± He handed me my leather chest piece, ¡°Leave the rest of your armor here.¡± He finished packing and gave me the now much lighter pack. He hadpleted everything in five minutes. I had a bed roll, one spare set of clothes wrapped in my oiled legionnaire cloak, my tarp for a tent, three pairs of socks, the two canteens, and flint and tinder.As we walked in the dark to the Legion Hall, Delmar talked, ¡°Durandus likes order. He expects his men to march in time and maintain silence on the move. Do your best not to anger him.¡± ¡°What type of magic does he wield? And why was he sent here?¡± I asked, preparing mentally. ¡°Excellent questions. Durandus was once a soldier in the army. Under duress inbat, he developed a powerful air magic spell form that shielded him inside a bubble, making him invincible for a time. After that, he was assessed and sent to the Mage College. He came out a powerful water and air mage and was given themand of apany. He is here because he made an enemy of a duke. That usually happens when you tell a First Citizen no.¡± Delmar did not borate and just walked. We made it before first light, and in themon room, a number of legionaries were in full gear with half packs, waiting. Delmar dragged me to therder and ordered, ¡°Six ration bars sealed in wax leaf, three bags of dried fruit and nuts, and that sausage.¡± He pointed at arge link. The civilian behind the counter sensed the urgency and got everything together. Everything was on the counter, and Delmar helped me pack it. ¡°The sausage is your breakfast, the bags of fruit and nuts; eat between meals to keep your energy up. And Eryk, try ande back alive. Getting a good porter reced takes months,¡± he joked, smiling and pping me on my shoulder. I went out to themon room and found Durandus¡¯ four lieutenants getting everyone assembled for the march. Delmar had not been kidding when he said we would march in ranks and silence. I realized how spoiled I had been in Castille¡¯spany. Ourpany was more like a family, and this seemed like a formal job, but maybe the other men would lighten up when we took a break. Durandus approached me, and I studied him and him me. He was tall, maybe 6¡¯2¡±, and he had immacte clothes and a meticulously trimmed beard and stash. That was only notable because all of his men were clean-shaven. It made me self-conscious about the face nest that I trimmed infrequently with a knife. ¡°Store these,¡± he tapped four racks of potions. I quickly looked at them. Ten lesser healing, ten cleanse poison, ten greater healing and ten stamina recovery. It was a fortune¡¯s worth of potions, and they all had expiration dates on their wax seals. I now knew this meant they were made by an alchemist and not from a dungeon. Dungeon potions never expired. I moved the potions into my storage, and everyone moved outside. I guess they had been waiting on me. As we started moving, I munched on the sausage. The first thing I noticed was thispany had forty men. I thought a mage detachment from the Legion of the Lion had around twenty-three to start. To me, this seemed like argepany. I inspected theposition; ten archers, ten men with full-body shields, ten men with round shields and swords, and ten men with spears. Everyone carried a short de. I was made to walk at the rear of the formation so I didn¡¯t mess with their practiced organization. Durandus walked in the front and set the pace. I was kind of the tail of the formation and wondered why Durandus didn¡¯t send out any scouts. That became obvious three hours into our march. The mage ordered the shield wall forward and the spear men at the ready. A single giant frog was two hundred yards down the road. It moved into the road and look intently at us approaching. Durandus ordered a flight of spears, and as they struck, he fired a bolt of lightning at the frog. Two swordsmen with shields went forward to confirm it was dead. The encounter took less than five seconds. As we marched past, the spearmen collected their weapons. The frog was left smoldering on the side of the road. I deduced the mage had some type of scrying of far-sight spell or spell form. I was impressed with the coordination and speed of thepany. Where ourpany was filled with experienced individuals that worked well as a team, Durandus¡¯pany was a fighting unit. Durandus knew healing spells, so I suspected the men were not skittish about getting injured. We reached the two poles in the ground that lined up the storm¡¯s location. They were not needed as the dark clouds and asional lightning remained. I checked the alignment anyway, and it looked like it had not moved in the two days since I had been here. We were allowed to rest, and I gratefully sat and pulled up my ration. The wax leaf was wrapped around the block. The block¡¯s exterior was a dry baked cracker which covering a dried mixture of fruit, meat, and grains. It took a lot of water to wash down the dry dense ration. I remembered the meat pie in my storage, it should still be warm, but I would save it. I also ate a bag of the trail mix since Durandus was still studying the swamp and the storm in the distance. No one talked to me as I ate, and they just whispered amongst themselves so as not to disturb the mage. I felt on an ind. I was just the extra guy they needed to carry their luggage. Suddenly, Durandus came to a decision. He was leaving the six men at the road to guard gear. The rest of the men would be heading into the swamp. I waited, smirking a little as Delmar had already cut my gear down to the minimum needed. We started our trek with four spearmen leading thepany through the waters. The water was not deep where Durandus directed the men to walk, and I asked him, ¡°Can you see how deep the water is with magic?¡± I had forgotten to keep quiet, but he replied, ¡°Yes, I have a water sense and sense life ability. We will not be surprised and will take the easiest route.¡± I almost asked if his life sense ability worked on undead, but with his stern and somewhat condescending tone, I ended the conversation without asking. The swamp water was lukewarm, and I thought it odd that I didn¡¯t see any fish or smaller frogs. Just an endless wave of insects. But I found the insects left me alone if I was within fifteen feet of the mage, so I made an effort to stay close to him. Even wading through the water in armor, the men attempted to maintain their disciplined formation. I also figured out that Durandus¡¯pany was selected for this mission because his spell skill set was the best for the environment. I just hoped he realized water conducted lightning and didn¡¯t fry all of us by mistake. It was slow progress, and after hours of trudging, we were maybe halfway. The evening sky wasing behind us, and the dark storm was in front. Being closer, I was certain the storm clouds were expelling rain as well as the asional lightning strike. The roil of thunder was still muted but progressively louder the closer we came. At least the storm appeared to have scared away all the monsters, as we had not seen a single one. We climbed onto a small ind maybe fifty feet across, and the mage-ordered defenses set for the night. At least I could just sit in the middle of the ind and eat. Durandus studied the storm near me, and I asked, ¡°Do you know what it is yet?¡± He looked at me, ¡°Unfortunately, I do. A storm giant is raising a mountain from the swamp. Probably to form air.¡± Announcement Special thanks to my patrons for supporting my writing on Patreon. You keep the words flowing and give excellent feedback. Seraphim Tier: Kingpin09, Rd Zg, Kompass Long Term Supporters: Silver Beard, Dustin, Brad Anderson, d, Martin Lange, Lucas Rodger, Paul Panzer, Mark Mollegaard, Cody Landis, Exchao, MKL, White Watcher, Adam Sawyer, Jeffrey Iverson, Cody, David Zimmerle and ck_Knight Chapter 29: Making a Friend Chapter 29: Making a Friend Chapter 29 I paused as Mage Durandus was still gazing at the storm. I asked tentatively, ¡°So we are done? We scouted. Found the reason for the storm. Are we going to head back now that we know what is causing it?¡± He did not respond for a long moment. Then Mage Durandus said slowly, ¡°No. I think we will investigate further. There appears to be only one giant.¡± He turned and left, moving to his tent, which his men had erected for him. He was definitely not a conversationalist. I was left there wondering, what is a storm giant? It did not sound good. A giant that could call lightning and raise a mountain in a swamp did not sound like someone I wanted to meet. I went and set up my tent in the middle of the ind. One of the shieldmen was doing the same, ¡°Leonidus,¡± he said, holding out his hand. ¡°Eryk,¡± I responded, grasping wrists with him. ¡°So why does everyone have a stick shoved up their ass?¡± He scrunched his face as my analogy didn¡¯t quite trante. ¡°You mean, why is no one talking to you?¡± I nodded. ¡°It takes a while for them to warm up. If Durandus was not around, we might be more prone to conversation. I overheard you talking with Durandus and that he wants to keep going.¡± ¡°What is a storm giant anyway?¡± I asked, finishing my tent setup andying my oiled cloak on the damp ground to protect my sleeping bedroll. I was nning to change into my dry clothes so I could sleepfortably, but Leonidus motioned me to wait. ¡°Give the mage a moment to think. He will dry everyone¡¯s clothes before we sleep.¡± My eyebrows went up. He finished his tent and said, ¡°Never heard of a storm giant before. We have fought hill giants on two asions. One grabbed my shield mate and ripped him in half,¡± he ufortably shuddered at his memory. We didn¡¯t talk for a while as we prepared our respective sleeping areas. Delmar had been right on what I needed to pack. I started gathering twigs and dead wood for a fire. Leonidus stopped me, ¡°No fire. Not out in the wild. Draws the creatures in, and we hate fighting in the night.¡± He took a small ck pouch out and tossed it to me. I opened it to find a glowing oval rock inside. I looked up, curious. He answered my unspoken question, ¡°It is a glowstone.¡± My face was still nk. ¡°It has stored aether in it. Gives enough light at night to take a piss without tripping over every damn thing. Durandus got everyone one, so night marching was easier. You can borrow mine for the night in case you need to piss.¡±¡°Thanks. How long does itst?¡± I asked, putting it back in the bag. ¡°Itsts a few days. Durandus recharges them. Kyle, one of our bowmen, can do it too, but he is usually a pain about it and tries to get something in return,¡± he replied. Since Leonidus was talking, I asked, ¡°After the giant frog was killed, I didn¡¯t see him give the essence to anyone.¡± Leonidus sighed, ¡°Yeah, we heard Mage Castille hands out the essence. What Durandus doesn¡¯t consume himself, he sells. He has arge estate near the capital. He wants to marry a First Citizen.¡± He leaned in close and spoke, ¡°About two months ago, a duke offered him his daughter if he paid the tithe on her behalf for her to gain the status of First Citizenship. He refused, saying if he was going to give away half his estate for a woman, she better not look like a pig.¡± Leonidus checked to make sure the mage wasn¡¯ting to smite him, then said, ¡°At least that is how we heard it happened.¡± He had some soft jerky and cheese as I ate my dry ration. As we got morefortable with each other, he offered, ¡°I am guessing that is why he wants this storm giant.¡± He exined his thoughts, ¡°The essence it would yield probably had a magic affinity to it. He wants to improve his power over the aether affinity for lightning.¡± I nodded, remembering High Mage Dacian was hunting the bulette for the same reason. The powerful just wanted more power. I noticed one of the other legionaries had a metal fishing line and a small spell form that sent a blue shock down the metal wire to stun the fish. Leonidis noted that it was Kyle who could also charge the stones. Kyle worked with a partner who had a, and they quickly had six fish for themselves. The fish were t and ck and swam on the bottom of the muddy swamp so that was why I have not noticed them during our travel in the muck. Contrary to Leonidus¡¯ advice, they started a fire, cooked their fish, and then extinguished the fire. They did not offer any to anyone else. Leonidus did say Kyle was a bit of an asshole. I drank half a gallon of water to get my dry ration bar down. Leonidis showed me a trick for the wax leaf. You cut it up into four sections and then rub the wax off. It left a soft fibrous sheet good for wiping your arse. He admitted that some legionaries got the ration bars just to make toilet paper and tossed them away, not eating them. As the sun set, it was as predicted, Durandus came by and dried everyone¡¯s clothes. The water was not evaporated but pushed toward the ground, causing a puddle underneath you. The smaller bugs of the swamp seemed to wake up as the light disappeared. The humidity lessened slightly, but I was still sweating non-stop. I folded my sleeping roll around me. I pulled out the glowstone, refilled my canteen from my storage space, and then pulled out the healing affinity book to study. I risked it because I felt some urgency. Locking in a spell form was more likely to happen in a stressful situation, and there was no more stressful situation than fighting for your life against a giant. I still managed to get a fair amount of sleep as I did not have to participate in the watch rotation. The cold water in my canteen was a godsend as I sweat through the early night. I had just put my book away to sleep when a shout came from the sentries. We all scrambled to put on armor and move to aid the ten men on watch on the perimeter. A massive ind was moving toward us in the moonlight. Durandus stood ready, and one of the archers announced, ¡°It is a giant tortoise. Hold positions, and it should pass without attacking.¡± We were all tense as the ind loomed closer and finally veered away. Getting back to sleep did not take long for me, knowing we had good sentries on watch. The camp noise woke me, and I dressed. One man was handing out salve for bug bites. The men who were on watch took more than a few. Now that the sun was rising, the small bugs were fleeing, and therge fist-sized insects buzzed. I was one of the first to pack up and unwrapped my breakfast ration bar. I was already sick of them, but a few men had gotten their own rations wet on the walk through the swampy water. I ate half of it before switching to the trail mix. My canteens were empty by the time I was done eating. We soon moved on toward the shes and low thunder. I guessed it was just over three miles remaining. We trudged through the water, following the mage¡¯s direction. The air turned misty and then to rain. The closer we approached, the heavier the rain became. I did not think approaching something that could control Mother Nature like this was wise. The ground switched from swamp to mud, and we started to climb a mud-slick hill. The rain was heavy at the top of the mud hill, but it gave us a view down into what I would describe as a caldera. This was not a volcano, but that was the shape. No rain fell inside, and we all stood dumbfounded as a giant of a man, easily over twenty-five feet in height, called down and directed lightning into the expanding earthworks. The lightning stuck, and the earth surged and rolled away like a wave. The mage seemed to consider our next action. I was just d the monstrous giant had not spotted us. Finally, the mage said to no one in particr, ¡°He is not building air. No, he is digging for something.¡± Our heads barely peeked over, but he signaled everyone back. He called his four lieutenants to him for a strategy session. I was not privy to the words exchanged. Orders were given. We were to wait on the mud-soaked lip of the crater. When the storm giant was resting, we would attack. It was terrible because we ended up in the heaviest rain on the lip of the crater, and I took out my cloak, but that just meant all my dry clothes were not going to be protected from the heavy water. I huddled in my cloak, hoping that whatever the attack n happened to be, it would go well. The storm giant seemed tireless, and I could feel the muddy earth surge underneath me every few minutes as he moved it. If the mage was correct and he was searching for something, I wondered what it might be. It started getting dark, and a whisper came down the line, ¡°He is resting. Shield Wall Ready!¡± No one had told me what my role in the fight would be. Staying at the back and handling the wounded sounded like a good n to me. I even pulled two of the full healing potions and one of the lesser to my hand from the dimensional space. The shield wall headed straight toward the giant with the spearmen behind them. Mage Durandus followed this group at a distance. To the right, the swordsmen lead the way with the archers behind. It was clearly a nking maneuver by Durandus. I moved behind the archers. The giant noticed us and stood and watched, unconcerned, as we made our way down the muddy slope. Keeping their ranks in the rocky mud was difficult, but they did an admirable job. The sky roiled above us and grew thicker. A lightning bolt shed down toward the shield wall, but the man it struck glowed, and the bolt raced into the ground, not affecting anyone. So the mage did have a n. If the giant¡¯s lightning ability did not work and we closed to the range, we could possibly take down the towering man. I could tell the failed attack had emboldened the shield wall as they drew short swords. The giant seemed to consider and then picked his own weapon off the ground. A weapon was an understatement. It was as thick as a man and nearly nine feet long. The giant twirled it easily, and you could hear it whistle in the air, even in the storm conditions. A second lightning strike urred amongst the archers. Once again, it had no effect, going into the ground, but I noticed Durandus stumble slightly. Was the spell drawing aether? That could be bad if it drained him before we engaged. The shield unit reached the bottom of the crater, and the spears were thrown onmand from the ranks behind them, and only two prated the giant¡¯s thigh and chest. He roared in anger and charged the shield wall. The giant built speed, and instead of swinging his sword, he went into a feet-first slide. His massive frame bowled through the shield wall and even past the spearmen. He had taken a few shes but quickly stood. The mage was now directly in front of the giant, a malicious grin on his face. He roared as he swung the massive sword, and Mage Durandus stood confident. A ball of energy red around him before the sword connected. Then that ball of energy, and the mage in the center, was sailing through the air two hundred feet to my right. Far away from everyone. The giant pointed at the archers, and a lightning strike came down again. This time the man it struck exploded and tossed the men who had been around him to the ground. My ears were ringing, and I had some gore on me from the exploded archer. I was halfway down the mud-soaked crater. The shield wall was quickly forming again to face the giant, with the spearmen rotating to the back for another volley. I needed to decide if I should get the potions to the archers or go and try to get Mage Durandus back on his feet. If I lived through this, I decided I never wanted to fight a giant again. Chapter 30: Losing a Friend Chapter 30: Losing a Friend Chapter 30 Announcement Patreon 10 chapters ahead Our mage was out ofmission, and it looked like the storm giant was unhappy with our interruption of his rest from digging. I hustled down the slope and slid on the mud to the downed archers. With the three potions in hand, I quickly administered them to three different men who appeared alive on a quick inspection. I was too focused to be affected by the gore and strewn body parts as I worked. The metallic smell of blood filled my nostrils but that was because I had pieces of flesh on my face and armor. Getting more archers back in action, in my mind, was important. I wanted to move away from the congestion of soldiers in case the storm giant decided to explode someone else with a bolt of lightning, so I worked quickly and then separated myself from them as they recovered. The archers were already organizing and started firing arrows again. I quickly looked and noticed the storm giant attack with an overhead swing. The blow from his sword crumpled the soldier with the tower shield, driving the legionnaire into the ground with a sickening thud and crunch. I imagined it as a foot crushing an aluminum soda can. Shit. There was no way I was going to risk getting close to the giant to use my dimensional space with that sword¡¯s reach. I started running away from the battle. The mud made it difficult to sprint, but I built up some speed. I just hoped the freaking mage was still alive when I reached him. With the screams of men and the sh of battle at my back, I ran. I pulled out two full healing potions out of my space. I tried to mimic the storm giant¡¯s slide as I reached the mage. The ground may have been muddy, but it also had many rocks. My canvas pants tore, and the rocks dug into my flesh, but at least I stopped in the perfect position to administer the potions. Fuck! He was bleeding from his mouth and eyes. His arm was at thepletely wrong angle, too. I would be wasting two potions on him if he was already dead. It looked like blood was still flowing, so maybe his heart was still beating¡ªfuck it. I popped both seals on the vials and poured them into his throat. He gurgled, and then he started coughing. Before the healing got too far, I wrenched his arm back into the mostly correct position. He grunted in pain but didn¡¯t wake. I could not wait for him, and I was off running again. I thought about running up the muddy crater and into the swamp but decided maybe we could win if the mage got back on his feet. Also, with the giant¡¯s long legs, it would be very easy for him to catch me in the swamp. As I ran, a flying head nearly hit me on my sprint back to the archers. I recognized the head as it flew by. That was Leonidus with a shocked expression on his face. I looked at the mainbat; only three shieldmen remained and six spearmen. Nope, one of the shieldmen was missing the top of his shield and his head. The body crumpled with no brain to give it direction. Rest in pieces, Leonidus, my friend.The storm giant had dozens of arrows in him and half a dozen spears. He looked like he was speeding up and not slowing down. His rich red blood flowed from his wounds, but when you are twenty-five feet tall, you have a lot of blood to spill. Two archers I had not tended to were dead when I reached them. Another groaning archer took a healing potion as I forced it down his throat. The swordsman unit was still intact but had not advanced on the storm giant. I couldn¡¯t me them; their smaller round shields were useless against a telephone pole-sized sword. Even the body shields of the shield wall were useless. They could have hampered the nks of the giant and helped theirpanions but had remained here. I guessed it was because Durandus was not here to give orders. Finally, everyone was attended to that was alive. I figured out that the archer who had exploded was the archer unit¡¯s leader, one of the four lieutenants. The storm giant had chosen the optimal target. Since it had this much intellect, I was reconsidering staying. I watched as the giant executed thest shield and spear men, and slowly turned toward us, bloody and angry. I had dropped my own spear long ago when I had been knocked to the ground by the lightning bolt. Well, maybe not that long ago, Iughed somewhat wildly uncontrolled in my head. It had been what, maybe two minutes? Fuck, I was losing it as I did not think I was going to live through this. Then the ground under the giant heaved, and tendrils of muddy ice started to work their way up the giant¡¯s legs. Durandus was back on his feet. Well, mostly on his feet. He looked unsteady as he directed his magic. The giant called another lightning strike down on the mage, and it dissipated into the ground, not affecting him. He took a step toward Durandus, and I thought there was no way ice was going to hold the storm giant. That was not the mage¡¯s n. Durandus had made massive mud ice cubes on the giant¡¯s bare feet. The giant stumbled at the awkward footwear. Durandus screamed at us, ¡°Advance, you fools! This will only hold him till I run out of aether!¡± They hesitated for only a moment before obeying. The remaining archers were building up a steady rhythm of arrow strikes, even if the arrows barely prated. I was a spectator and moved up the slope of the crater to get some weapons from the fallen archers, as close-rangebat was not on my mind. If the giant reached the mage, running would be my only choice. Hopefully, the giant would be too injured to pursue. Duramdus had not used any lightning attacks on the giant, which was probably smart. If it could call lightning itself, it probably made sense it was immune. The giant was struggling but was getting closer to the mage, who was not remotely healed yet. His arm was still hanging loosely, and he was swaying on his feet. The giant paused a heartbeat, considering the advancing swordsmen, the mage, and the pesky archers. He made a decision that surprised everyone. He flung his massive sword helicopter-style at the tight formation of swordsmen. I heard the whoosh, whoosh as it spun, and two men were hit squarely. One man was cut in half, his intestines spraying the field, and the other was struck by the handle and thrown away in a crumpled mess. The de did not slow as it continued into the row of archers. The de had rotated, so it struck t-side into the concentrated archers. Men screamed as they were flung aside like rag dolls. I was in shock and paralyzed as the hope of victory seemed snatched from us. The mud-ice prison was creeping up the giant, who was now on his knees. The remaining swordsmen were close to the giant, and we had four archers still upright. ¡°He is immobilized and unarmed!¡± Durandus yelled weakly. ¡°Finish him!¡± I was spurred to make a decision. I grabbed a bow, and two quivers moved to help the archers. When I reached the downed men, I pulled out more potions to heal who I could. Now that the sword was gone from the giant, I could get close to the monstrosity and kill it with my dimensional space if the opportunity presented itself. Thest six swordsmen engaged just out of its reach, and the archers fired steadily. One arrow pierced an eye, and the giant lunged in anger to grab a man, uncaring about the sword des stabbing his massive hand. The giant fist squeezed, and the man popped and oozed out of his armor like crushing a grape. The dead soldier was also now a projectile. The giant looked at the mage quickly before throwing the body at the closest swordsman, who had no chance to dodge. The throw¡¯s speed told me he would not live through the impact. Both bodies rolled thirty feet before skidding to a stop in the mud. The giant made the hand motion for lighting again, but what he called was tinypared to before. The swordsman struck had no defenses, though. Mage Durandus was too focused on encasing the giant to shield him from the lightning. The swordsman did not explode, just crumpled to the ground, charred and smoking. I gave an injured archer a potion. We had three swordsmen and five archers remaining. Mage Durandus was focused on the giant who was waist-deep in frozen mud. The giant looked pitiful in his rage and started mming his fists into the icy mud. But it was like concrete, and he only took small chunks off with his bloody fists. If he did free himself, we were all fucked. I looked at the mage; he looked pale and no longer had energy to scream orders. I took my bow and quiver and joined the fight. At thirty yards, I missed my first five shots. I was rushing and not aiming as my heart beat crazily in my chest. The other archers were searching for arrows in theirpanions¡¯ quivers. Each archer had two small quivers, a total of 34 arrows, to start, and now they had run out. I finally hit on my sixth shot. It was a shoulder strike that barely prated. I was useless as an archer. I dropped my bow and moved toward a spear nearby. With the creature immobilized, I moved to its nk, looking for an opportunity. It was not needed as the giant slowed, leaking from dozens of wounds. It was all about making sure it bled out now. The archers continued ranged attacks until we ran out of arrows. It wasn¡¯t pretty what we did to the creature. But it eventually stopped moving. Durandus ordered a man to stab his uninjured eye. He moved cautiously, and the sword sank in without resistance or movement. We had won the fight. I looked around the battlefield and promptly vomited. It was not from the gore but a pent-up emotional release of being alive after running on adrenaline for endless minutes. Thendscape had body parts, and innards were everywhere. The mud was red with the giant¡¯s blood, which had apparently run out. The shieldmen and spearmen bodies had been brutalized. It was a literal meat grinder. My canteen was up at the lip of the crater, so I just spit to get the taste of vomit out. Durandus hobbled forward eagerly with his essence collector in his hand. His device was only the size of a dinner te, smaller and more intricate than the one Castille used. He ced it on the chest of the giant. The device worked, drawing in a blue etherally smoke from the body. The mage murmured in delight, even though only seven of his men remained alive. I knew by its size that it was an apex essence, and I guessed by its strong glow it had a magic affinity. It disappeared in the mage¡¯s mouth as soon as it had fully formed on the collector. His broken body savored the essence as it was consumed. I sat down heavily. I may have yed the role of support, but we would have all been dead if I hadn¡¯t gotten the mage back on his feet. We would have all been dead if the giant hadn¡¯t also been near aether exhaustion when weunched the initial attack. I couldn¡¯t fathom why the mage risked the lives of forty men for an essence. After the essence was consumed, Durandus started giving orders. ¡°Give me the rest of the healing drafts,¡± was the first. He consumed half of them before giving the rest to the injured men. Durandus then moved among his dead men and used the collector on them. I could tell the men found this slightly off-putting. We all just worked on stripping the bodies of their gear and getting ready to bury the men. Durandus pocketed every essence he was able to collect. I looked forward to going back to the city. We were not returning, though. Now healed and functional, Durandus addressed everyone still alive. We had one spearman, who had lived through the massacres, five archers, and three swordsmen. ¡°Well fought today against imposing odds. That was a creature of immense power, and our teamwork brought it to its knees and ended its life. Now, for the good of the Empire, we will spend a day trying to figure out what the giant was digging for. If we do not find anything in a day, we will return to Macha.¡± I think I was learning to appreciate being in Mage Castille¡¯spany. Chapter 31: Aftermath Chapter 31: Aftermath Chapter 31 Announcement Patreon is getting chapter 41 and 42 today The mood was somber as we grabbed our packs from up on the muddy ridge while Mage Durandus searched the storm giant and where he had been focusing his digging efforts with magic. The stormy sky slowly cleared, and the sun started sporadically showing through the clouds. The men left back at the road would know we had seeded when there were no more storm clouds. Exhausted from the fight, it took a lot of energy to climb the muddy slope multiple times to get all the packs down. As Durandus recovered his aether, he healed himself and the most severely wounded men. After setting the camp up, the grizzly job of digging the graves started. Durandus told us to bury them on the far side of the crater, well away from the dig site. The soft, muddy ground made it feasible with our terrible tool set. We made crude shovels from destroyed shields and spears. The dead men were stripped of their legionnaire gear, ced in shallow graves, and then covered. The ten of us were exhausted as the night rolled on us with no warning since we were essentially in a massive hole. We lost daylight earlier and faster than expected. Durandus was still studying the dig site well into the night and got irritated when disturbed. I did not even bother setting up my tarp tent. I justid out my oiled cloak and bed roll. Others did the same, and the night watch was going to be a single person at a time, a one-hour shift each. I was even woken to take my turn. Not that you could see anything other than Durandus with glow stones mounted on spears driven into the ground at the dig site. The morning came, and my hip and thigh throbbed. The rocky slide that had torn up my canvas pants and the damaged flesh was probably infected. As the camp stirred, a legionnaire noticed and said, ¡°Have Durandus heal that. His aether should have recovered by now.¡± I nodded and took out a meal bar, unwrapping it and nibbling on the cracker outside. It was like a dam of hunger had burst, and I consumed the bar rapidly with a canteen of water. It was one of the best meals I had ever eaten, but I knew it was just my body telling me I was starving for calories. After the meal, I limped over to the mage and asked him, ¡°Mage Durandus, can you heal my leg? I think it is infected.¡± I waited patiently while he continued to stare at the ground. Finally, he spoke with some excitement, but not looking at me, ¡°There is an entire city covered under the swamp. A city built for giants!¡± He knelt in the mud, pressed his hand to the earth, and whispered to himself, ¡°What was it searching for?¡± I asked again, ¡°Can you help with my leg? I think it is infected.¡± He looked up, irritated at the interruption. He put his hand on my thigh, and I felt the familiar feel of aetheric healing. I focused on it as the warmth spread and dirt and tiny stones were pushed out of the flesh. I thought I had cleaned the wound well, but I was wrong by the amount of material being extruded. Next time, I would save a potion for myself. When he was finished, he returned to studying the ground with whatever magic he was using. I returned to the others who were setting up their tents and going through all the gear from therades. Laying out weapons, personal items, and bulky gear in three piles. The two men looked up, their faces ck with dirt. My own face could not look much better. One man said, ¡°Besides the coin purses, you can take what you want. We will get the coin to their families through the Legion Hall.¡± I walked over and picked up the best spear of the bunch and the spear I had brought with me and dropped when I had been thrown back when the archer exploded in front of me.The other manmented, ¡°You did well. We would all be dead if not for your actions yesterday.¡± ¡°I am d someone thinks so,¡± I looked quickly at the mage to indicate who I was talking about. A grunt of agreement, and then he said, ¡°We never experienced a defeat like this before.¡± I would not contradict him, arguing that it was a victory since the giant was in. It certainly felt like we had lost. ¡°We have sustained heavy injuries before, but Durandus usually heals us right after the fighting.¡± The other man added, ¡°And he has never been injured that badly in battle.¡± He picked up some small ck bags in a pile. He whispered to me, ¡°Want some glow stones? If you pawn them, they are worth over a gold piece, and we will not take them all.¡± I still had the one from Leonidus but bent down and scooped up seven. The stones were the size of a small chicken egg and maybe four ounces each. He smirked and nodded as I brought them to my pack. I felt like he was offering me a reward for my efforts in the fighting. Two pounds of glow stones was a fair amount of weight, so they would be added to my dimensional storageter. I returned and sat with them. ¡°Do you think we will be heading back tomorrow?¡± someone asked another man. I was happy that they were talking around me. Surviving the near-death experience had brought me into their trusted circle. ¡°Probably. He might have spells to see deep into that muddy earth, but he doesn¡¯t have a single one to dig,¡± his fellow said with some malice directed at the mage. I asked, ¡°Does he always loot the legionaries for essence when they die?¡± They looked at each other and then back at me. One shook his head, ¡°No. Well. Usually, a dozen monster corpses keep him busy, and we rarely lose anyone. I have been with him for almost four years. Although we rotate the men in ourpany, I think only nine,¡± he paused thinking, ¡°no ten have died in all that time. Most of our missions are escorting some baron or baroness between cities. We typically just see a wandering monster or a few bandits.¡± I nodded. ¡°I am filthy. I am going to bathe in the swamp,¡± Iughed at the absurdity of it¡ªgoing into murky water to get clean. ¡°Can youe and guard me for a short while?¡± Both men struggled to their feet, and a few men joined us. We stripped and bathed in pairs while the five others remained on watch. Four men remained to watch over the engrossed mage. The filth was real, and even bathing in murky water, I was thrilled to get cleaner. I pulled some things out of my hair that I cared not to identify and just flung them away. I thought about taking one of the dead man¡¯s pants or even pulling one from my storage. We had only stripped the bodies of armor and possessions, not clothes. We buried them with their clothes. The man I washed with tried to start a conversation, ¡°This water is not bad. I remember passing a swamp as a child with leeches as big as my fist!¡± I noticed one of the ck bottom-feeding fish scurry away from my feet, and I swore and kicked at it. Stumbling back, my foot caught on a root, and I fell in. The manughed, but I did not appreciate his humor. He was one of the archers I saved with a healing potion. He continued to talk, obviously trying to make me ufortable, ¡°You know, now that the storm and lightning have cleared, I bet the giant frogs will return with the other predators. Yourpany killed a big snake? Wonder if there are any more in the swamp?¡± I yed his game and acted nonchnt. ¡°Yeah, took all twenty of us to bring it down, and it swallowed two men during the fight. They barely survived. With any fewer men, and without our mage, they would have drowned in the snake¡¯s gut.¡± It worked as he suddenly became more observant of the surrounding water. I finished cleaning as best I could and returned to my tent. I pulled all eight of the glow stones into my dimensional space. I was not going to carry the extra two pounds out of the swamp. Around mid-day, with nothing left to do, I milled about the piles of equipment since everyone had now picked it over. Each of the dead men had their prized possessions whittled down to a small sack for their families. At least I would not have to help carry them out. Well, so far, I did not think I would have to. I probably would if asked. It felt too much like robbing the dead to me. This was not a fantasy game where looted people. Still, I searched for something more edible to eat. I had one bag of trail mix left and the ration bars. One canteen smelled like wine, but I was not in the mood. I found some wrapped sausage, which I munched on while I ate. I also found the heavy metal fishing line with the hook the soldier used. I pocketed it. The soldiers had packed fairly light, so there was not much of interest. I added a small sewing kit; just a wallet of needles and heavy thread, a small jar of horse rub for chafing, and a small, wonderfully crafted wooden flute wrapped in an oiled cloth. I couldn¡¯t y a lick, but maybe I would find the time, and it was a beautiful instrument. It would have been a shame to leave the flute behind weather in the elements. As I returned to my tent to rest, the mage finally broke his gaze and returned to our camp. He seemed to be seeing it for the first time, his daze broken. He waspletely healed and only looked slightly pale fromck of sleep and aether usage. ¡°We will be returning in an hour. You can pack everything up.¡± He looked over at the pile of gear I was standing at. ¡°Take what you can carry.¡± With those words, he went to hisrger tent that had been set up by the men and started to eat his own rations. He deeply thought about whatever he had found and ignored everyone as we picked up the camp. An hourter, Durandrus packed up his tent and carried his backpack out of the swamp. The rest of the men were too burdened with gear to help him. We were going to have to stay the night on one of the small inds. The mage was distracted as we made our way through, and twice, the men in the lead fell into deeper waters. Both times, Durandus had to save them with his magic from drowning with their heavy packs. When the sun set, Durandus chose an ind, and we began to set up camp. As we did so, one of the giant frogs found us. A man had been shitting on the ind¡¯s far side, and the frog grabbed him and pulled him in and under with its rope-like tongue. Durandus scrambled from his position, but the frog was already in deep waters with its prize. Durandus fumed, ¡°You are all getting sloppy! In dangerous terrain, it is three! Three men at all times together!¡± He continued yelling at the legionnaires, but they were numb to the verbal assault. When he was done with his tirade, they returned to camp duties, mourning the loss of theirpanion in silence. I realized the man taken was the one I had bathed with in the swamp water. Well, he was right about one thing. The predators of the swamp were returning to their territory now that the storm had been dispersed. Chapter 32: Swamp Things Chapter 32: Swamp Things Chapter 32 Announcement Patreon has up to Chapter 42 The loss of another legionnaire hung heavy on thepany. The remaining men were splitting the night watch, and we were all bundling our tents toward the center of the ind. I was asked to participate in the second watch and agreed without hesitation. I was going to share it with four other men. The air remained humid, but the temperature had dropped significantly. Mage Durandus had only dried himself before going to sleep. He informed the men that he was still recovering his using his aether healing men in the morning. We would have to sleep in wet clothes tonight. I slept heavily, even soaking wet. I was roused in the middle of the night and felt yesterday¡¯s aches. Durandus had only healed the skin and cleared the infection on my leg. My muscles were still sore. Since there was a chill, I wrapped my bed roll around me while I went to serve on watch. We sat, and the watch was exined in a whisper, ¡°We will each cover an arc of a quarter ind¡¯s shore. Your arc is here,¡± he pointed out in the moonlight the range of my focus. ¡°The water is still, and the moonlight is strong. Focus on the shoreline and look for ripples in the waters. If you see anything just tap me and point it out. I will decide if the rm needs to be raised.¡± We positioned ourselves on a rotting log on one side of the camp. The other three men took the other side of the camp. It was about fifteen minutes before my partner whispered, ¡°Eryk, right?¡± I nodded in the moonlight. ¡°I am Brutus.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Brutus,¡± I whispered back. ¡°How long have you been with Durandus?¡± ¡°About two years,¡± he whispered back and was quiet for a period. ¡°I always thought having apany mage with healing would be good. It did not help that the giant was sttering us with one swing.¡± I recalled Brutus was the lone survivor of the spearmen. He had received a massive blow to his skull and been knocked out and revived after the fighting. ¡°We should just be happy we survived and get back to the city,¡± I whispered back. Two loud clicks from the other side of the camp had Brutus turn his head quickly. ¡°Hold up a minute. That is a signal for a possible attack,¡± he remained still, and we both listened hard. After five minutes, a single click came, and he rxed, ¡°It happens two or there times in the night. We have a strong moon tonight, but the dark still ys tricks on the eyes.¡± I looked up at the moon and studied it. Unlike the moon I was ustomed to, this moon was twice the size and had deep blue coloring. Maybe it was covered in water because it had a glossy look. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t stare at it,¡± Brutus said. ¡°It will ruin your night sight for a few minutes because it is brighter than the surroundings.¡±¡°Is the moon covered in water?¡± I asked as he was proved correct. Everything looked much darker as my pupils reset. ¡°I think so. It is called Neptune¡¯s Tear. Neptune controls the tides and storms,¡± he said, tensing, shifting, and pulling a dagger, ¡°Quiet!¡± he rasped as he focused. I saw it too. There were ripples in the water on the shore. He stood and produced his glow stone bag. I pulled one from my dimensional space. I had charged all of them, so I knew it was ready. He moved to the right, ¡°If I see something, I will throw the glowstone at it so we can fight with more light.¡± ¡°I am ready as well,¡± I whispered back. Brutus tapped twice on his spear with his dagger, signaling the others on the watch for a possible enemy. I gripped my own spear tightly, trying to see movement in the blue-gray-lit swamp. I started to get an uneasy feeling rising in me. ¡°Do you?¡± I questioned. ¡°Yes.¡± he tapped twice more on his spear. ¡°The smell is getting stronger.¡± I inhaled deeply, and the stench of the swamp was stronger. I hadn¡¯t noticed. ¡°It might be the giant tortoise again stirring up the swamp waters nearby,¡± Brutus said hopefully. ¡°Should we wake everyone?¡± I asked, trying to find movement. Brutus started to say, ¡°Yes,¡± then the rm went up on the other side of the camp. Metal banging together. ¡°Go help them. I will watch this side of the ind so we don¡¯t get attacked from behind.¡± I hesitated for a moment before running through the camp to the other sentry position. The tents were stirring as I passed them. A scream of pain from where I was running to, ¡°It has got me! Cut it!¡± I hurried, thinking it was a giant frog tongue pulling a man to a watery grave again. I took my light stone and threw it toward the screams for help. What I saw did not make sense to my eyes. A mound of vegetation had wrapped wrist-thick vines around a man¡¯s legs and was pulling the man toward itself. He had lost his bow and was stabbing the vines with a dagger. To my left, the other pair of sentries was hacking away with short swords at a simr mound of nt mass. The swamp thing was attacking us like in a bad horror movie from Earth. I ran and stabbed the body of the one pulling the archer in. He screamed at me, ¡°Cut the fucking vines!¡± He was only a few feet from the body of the monster. The tents were lit with glowstones, and the other men would be here soon to help. I started stabbing the vines pulling him, but it did not break them. His foot reached the mound, and the vegetation moved aside for his foot to be pulled inside. Glow stones were tossed around the fight, and two men appeared next to me and began to hack the vines with swords. Chunks of gooey nt parts started flying off the creature from the assault. We were making progress. A vineshed out from the creature and mmed down into a swordsman¡¯s shoulder with an audible crack. His knees buckled, and he dropped his short sword and struggled to pull a dagger with his other arm. Finally, Mage Durandus arrived and moved to cast a spell at our creature. A lightning bolt red in front of me, blinding me and forcing me back a step with a minor p of thunder. ¡°No lightning,¡± rang across from a soldier in the other fight. ¡°It is a shambler. Lightning only heals it!¡± I was blinded but heard the mage swear, ¡°Damn it, shambling mounds, should have known.¡± I stepped away as I attempted to find my sight by blinking rapidly and listening to the struggle. The loudest sound was the scream of the archer being pulled in, and I could hear his bones breaking. I blinked my sight back to see the man inside the mound, his body crushed in the mass. His screams mercifully ended when a vine forced its way into his mouth, filling his throat. I could see the frost on the ground as the mage started to freeze the creature as he had done with the storm giant. The creature tried tosh out at the remaining swordsman, with the archer¡¯s life now ended in its body. Brutus yelled from the other side of the clearing, ¡°Got another one over here!¡± With my spear ineffectual, I grabbed the short sword from the legionary who dropped his when the vine whip had broken his shoulder. The mage had frozen the creature and was out of his range, so I rushed to help Brutus. On the other side of the camp, the creature was dripping with swamp water as it moved ontond. Brutus¡¯ light stone shadowed the mound to make it look even more menacing. Brutus was backing up toward the camp, not engaging. He looked at me, ¡°How is it on the other side?¡± I told him, ¡°Mage Durandus has one captured in ice, and the others are hacking the other one.¡± ¡°I do not know much about these things,¡± he admitted. Our scout was the one that knew lightning healed them. ¡°What do you say we keep backing up until we reach the others for help?¡± ¡°That sounds like a bloody brilliant n,¡± I remarked at the smartest thing I had heard in a while. Another man was grappled and pulled inside one of the creatures. They couldn¡¯t kill it fast enough, and the mage was upied freezing the other one. His panicked cries and then screams ended in under a minute. We backed halfway to the others when the fighting started to die. A call that it was dead reached us. Mage Durandus yelled his creature was contained and for everyone to finish off the one in camp. Mage Durandus came to our aid first, and the ground frosted over as he began his spell. Soon, we all surrounded the creature and waited for the limbs of vine-like limbs to freeze before hacking them off. I joined in, and soon, the mound was nothing but a big pile of green vines and sap. We were all sweaty and covered in the sticky goo. Another victory in defeat¡ªtwo men lost to gruesome deaths. The scout said, ¡°The frozen one is still alive. We should hack it to pieces.¡± Durandus countered the order, ¡°No, it is more likely to give an essence if it is alive.¡± He took out his te-sized essence collector and ced it over the pile of goo. It red for a moment, but nothing formed. He frowned. He moved to the other mound, and our group of seven moved with him. This hacked mound also gave nothing but a sh. ¡°Damn it. It should have given something!¡± Durandus voiced angrily. I think because the soldier was trapped in the remains, he thought either the shambling mound or the dead soldier would have yielded something. Hisst hope was the living mound, frozen in ce with a body trapped inside. The scout advised, ¡°Durandus, we should just hack it to pieces before you attempt your harvest.¡± He waved him aside, ¡°It is contained. If the ice casing cracks, you all can move in and sh it to death.¡± We all moved in close, and I was facing the trapped man whose face was twisted in pain and agony with a vine shoved into his throat. That could have been me. Durandus ced held the disc out and began the process. Apparently, it took longer on living creatures because it was still glowing after a few seconds. The mage¡¯s face was expectant and smiling. That was when the ice coating shattered, and a heavy vine instantly mmed into his body and threw him out into the swamp. A heartbeatter, we were hacking away at the not-so-frozen creature. The scout yelled, ¡°Brutus, go get the mage. Eryk, use a potion on him! Go!!¡± I didn¡¯t tell him all I had were ten cure poison and two stamina potions remaining. I just moved with Brutus into the water. I hoped there were no more of these creatures. I still had my dimensional trick, at least. ¡°How far did he fly?¡± I asked. ¡°Don¡¯t know, space out about ten feet, and we will walk away to look. Walk slow and stay alert.¡± I took out a glow stone and held it high as we walked in waist-deep water. We were almost thirty feet from shore, and the safety of being in a group. My anxiety grew, and a silvery reflection at my feet startled me. It was the essence collector. I oriented my dimensional space to the area and moved it into my space without bending and going into the water to pick it up. A minuteter and almost seventy feet from shore, we found Mage Durandus floating face down. Brutus hesitated and then waded toward him and flipped him over. ¡°He is dead. Must have been knocked unconscious and drowned. Terrible fate for a water mage, to drown.¡± He did not sound too disappointed. I thought the mage¡¯s death was karmic. Shambling Mound /monsters/17011-shambling-mound Chapter 33: Collecting the Collector Chapter 33: Collecting the Collector Chapter 33 Watery blood filled Durandrus¡¯ mouth as he floated between us. ¡°Do we bring him to shore?¡± I asked Brutus. Brutus considered and searched him. He found the mage¡¯s pouch with essences he had umted and a small coin pouch. He considered for a long moment before saying, ¡°Shit. Damn, Truthseekers would talk the theft out of us if we took anything. Let¡¯s bring him to shore and see what vius wants to do.¡± We floated the body to shore, and men came and helped us drag him up to the center of the small ind. They had already buried theirpanion¡¯s two bodies in the ind¡¯s soft soil. vius was the archer-trained scout who was takingmand of the remaining men. He looked at the body and just rasped angrily, ¡°Greedy bastard. It finally bit him in the ass.¡± He looked up and addressed everyone, ¡°Ok, we are going to haul the body back to the road.¡± He picked up the mage¡¯s pouches. The essences will be divided among us, and the coin will be sent to his estate. Did you find the collector?¡± He asked Brutus and I. Brutus answered, ¡°No, could have gone anywhere. Eryk was holding the glowstone aloft the entire time we searched, and we didn¡¯t see anything.¡± I kept a straight face, and vius grunted. ¡°Ok, we will search for the collector in the morning. If we don¡¯t find it by mid-day we will head to the road,¡± vius announced. He pulled the string on the essence sack. ¡°Since essences collected on campaigns are administered at the discretion of themanding officer in the Legion, I will be handing these out!¡± There was a chorus of affirmations as the seven of us circled around him. vius took his cloak and ced it on the ground. He slowly dumped the marble-like essences onto the cloak. There were thirty-seven smaller marble-sized essences, three golf ball-sized essences, and seven more in between those sizes. ¡°For those of you who have never consumed an essence before, the small ones are minor essences, the middle-sized ones are major essences, and the threerge balls are apex essences. Each one is ten times more valuable than the prior. Now these,¡± he took the three apex essences, ¡°are required to be turned into the Empire.¡± He moved them back into the pouch. Someone asked why, and vius replied, ¡°First Citizen privilege. They buy them all to use amongst themselves. You don¡¯t want a Truthseeker asking you if you consumed one. Although working for Durandus thesest few months, thews are pretty loose.¡± There were murmurs of agreement among everyone. He had taken the apex essence of the storm giant and consumed it right away, and that must have been his pattern in the past. ¡°Now the question is most of these minor essences are from ourrades. Do we want to consume them or return them to their families?¡± vius asked us. An argument ensued. Two men really wanted to consume them, and two wanted to return them to their families, not that we could tell which essence belonged to whom. In the end, we added one minor essence to each of bag of personal possessions¡ªleaving nine small essences and seven medium.vius continued, ¡°The color of the essence determines which aspect of self it is rted to. The darker colors are all physical traits. The lighter colors are the mental aspects.¡± vius slowly went through the colors from memory:
Strength Dark Purple Intellect Light Purple
Power Dark Orange Reasoning Light Orange
Quickness Dark Green Perception Light Green
Dexterity Dark Yellow Insight Light Yellow
Endurance Dark Blue Resilience Light Blue
Constitution Dark Red Empathy Light Pink
Coordination Dark Pink Fortitude Light Red
(note to readers I will go back and make sure earlier chapters are consistent with this) Of the nine small essences, four were dark purple strength, two dark red constitution, and three dark orange power. The sevenrger, major essences were five dark purple strength, one pink empathy, and one dark pink coordination. Curious, ¡°I asked what about magic-rted statistics?¡± vius thought for a moment. He slowly spoke, ¡°I think aether essences are a milky pearl-like. Channeling I have seen before. They are glossy ck. The others,¡± he focused and shook his head. ¡°I read it too long ago to remember. I just remember one was clear like ss.¡± ¡°What was the one Durandus consumed from the storm giant?¡± Another legionnaire asked. ¡°Probably themon lightning affinity. I did not see it. All the magic affinities have some glow and animation to them. These physical and mental,¡± he indicated the ones on the cloak, ¡°Only glow softly in the dark.¡± Everyone looked anxious. vius said, ¡°We will pull chips for the order of selection. Once for the lesser and once for the major. The two extra lesser extra will be determined by the lowest two chips on the third pull.¡± The chips ended up being a deck of cards with the Roman numerals on them from a pack. One through seven was pulled. I pulled six for the lesser essence. On my turn, I took the dark orange essence for power. The next draw was for the lowest number. I got one, but it did not matter; only strength essence remained, so I took one. The final draw was for the major essence, and this was the big one. I wanted the pink coordination essence, but I drew the number five. Brutus got a two on the draw, and when his turn came, I offered, ¡°Brutus, I will trade my two minor essences and my fifth selection for your turn?¡± Everyone listened as Brutus asked, ¡°Which one are you nning to select?¡± With all eyes on me, I said, ¡°The pink coordination.¡± vius¡¯ eyes betrayed him, and he had also nned to select that. I did not get a read on the others. Brutus nodded slowly and handed me his card, and I gave him my card and the two essences. I selected the pink essence and put it into my mouth immediately. As it dissolved, it had a salty taste to it, but it may have just been the dried sweat from the hands of the people handling it. The familiar cold, tingly lighting washed through my body. Others started putting their own essence into their mouth, and I almost warned them about taking multiple ones. I think some people nned to sell them, or maybe they worried about consuming the essence of a fallenrade. When the selection ended, vious announced, ¡°It is a half-day trip to the road. It is going to be much more difficult without Durandus to guide us. Get six hours of rest, and then we will pack quickly and search for the collector in the light. Eryk and Brutus, you are on watch for the first two hours.¡± I was about to say something but then remembered while everyone had been fighting, we had been back peddling and drawing the third shambling mound toward the others. We did the least amount of fighting of everyone here. As I stood in the morning¡¯s light, standing back to back with Brutus, I asked, ¡°Are essences important? Are they the soul of the being you take them from?¡± Brutus answered slowly, ¡°Some people think so. The orcs in the west in the Boutan Caliphate, for one. They consider it a great honor to consume the essence of their conquered enemy. The teachings of the Telhian Empire are that a person¡¯s essence is sacred before they die. Once they die, the essence is for their family to do with what they will. Usually, it is used to strengthen the children if it is collected.¡± A few men started snoring, and we could see therger insects going to feast on the corpses of the monsters. I asked, ¡°Why was everyone so upset when Durandus harvested the bodies of the men?¡± ¡°Because he would have sold it and not given them to the families,¡± Brutus said steelily. ¡°In the Empire, it is also notmon practice to harvest your own men, even in times of war. Outside of Legion Mages and Mages of the College, only the Temple of Minerva has priests with collectors within the Empire.¡± ¡°How do Legion Mages get away with harvesting people and consuming apex essences?¡± I asked, trying to understand, and listening keenly. ¡°The mages of the Legion and the Mage College are the true power of the Empire. Anyone that can learn true spell casting is revered,¡± Brutus said, surprised. ¡°How is it in your home country?¡± I panicked because I didn¡¯t know how they treated mages in the Duchy of Tsingia. I could only find the country on a map and knew they exported lumber. I had not told anyone in thispany where I was from, so maybe I could just make something up. ¡°The same. The mages are a ss above themon folk in Tsingia.¡± ¡°Tsingia? You are a long way from home. What brought you up here? There are a lot of foreign men in the army, but they are umon in the Legion ranks,¡± Brutus said, and I could hear the curiosity in his voice. ¡°Bad luck. How about you? Why are you in the Legion?¡± I tried to focus the conversation on him. ¡°Me?¡± Heughed, ¡°I am the bastard son of a bastard son of a Baron who owns nothing but barley and hops fields. I was taught to fight, and rather than join the Baron¡¯s guard, I joined the Legion. It pays better, and I will get my pension after twenty years.¡± ¡°Pension?¡± I asked, turning to face him. ¡°Yes. You continue to draw your weekly sry bi-annually. Did you not know? Are you a conscript, then? I think you are still eligible. When I retire, I will find a wife and raise Tegairosian goats.¡± He smacked his lips, ¡°Their milk makes the most divine cheese.¡± I told him the truth, ¡°I was railroaded into a guilty verdict and forced to join or work as aborer.¡± ¡°Railroaded?¡± Brutus asked, unfamiliar with the term. I huffed, ¡°It means I was given no other viable choice.¡± ¡°Eryk, my friend, that describes most of the army and half the Legion,¡± heughed. ¡°So you must have trained at western Legion camp then if you were conscripted?¡± ¡°I guess. No one told me what the camp was, and I was too focused on not getting sent to the army. How many camps are there to train legionnaires?¡± I inquired of my new friend. ¡°Just two. The western camps and the camp in the capital for the volunteers,¡± Brutus informed me. We were silent till we were relieved. When we were called off watch, and two men took our ce. I packed up my things rather than get four hours of sleep in the hot, sticky weather. The sun was out today, and it was going to be a miserable walk through the swamp to the road. The others who had not been on watch wrapped the mage tightly with his personal possessions. They made small floats from empty canteens to tie to the body. I retrieved some glow stones that were abandoned due to their weight to bring the total in my dimension space to eleven. vius asked if I could take some of the dead men¡¯s personal possessions into my space since they were small but heavy bags, and I agreed. viud dered the sun was high enough to search for the essence collector, and we walked a grid pattern with everyone in the area where the body was found. I asked vius, ¡°Why is this so important? Doesn¡¯t the Empire have dozens of these things?¡± vius clucked irritated, ¡°That was not a normal collecter. It was a dungeon-created one. Smaller, lighter, and supposedly more efficient than most. Like all dungeon artifacts, its value is hard to measure. It was Durandus¡¯ most prized possession as well. His brother is going to want it back as well.¡± I looked questioningly at him, and he rified the misunderstanding, ¡°Durandus¡¯ brother is a mage in charge of anotherpany. I only met him once, and he has the most foul temper. While Durandus was self-serving, he was not cruel. His brother is.¡± We searched till mid-day like vius promised. Then we marked the ind, and the direction the body was found in case someone wanted to try their luck in the future. vius thought the Legion might send a mage to search or even Durandus¡¯ brother woulde himself. We moved in a diamond formation through the swamp. Floating the body in the center with three men ready to respond in any direction. It was a painfully slow process as we were weighed down with too much gear to swim, so we had to find paths no deeper than the chest. Even with the man in the lead having a spear to check the depth, he sometimes stumbled and fell into deep water. It was a rush to save him from drowning every time. After the first incident, we tied a ten-foot rope to the lead man to help with the rescue. I was lucky, as I was never asked to be the lead man in the diamond formation with a spear checking the depth. We got lucky and only encountered one giant frog and that was when we were resting on an ind. A man was grabbed but resisted being pulled inside the maw of the frog. We swarmed the frog and slew it. I twitched slightly since I had an essence collector now and could have used it on the frog. From the collector¡¯s noted value, I decided to keep my possession of it secret. The sun was already setting when we reached the road, and our wet and sore bodies copsed into the rocky dirt. It had taken much longer than we thought it would, and we all had twice as much gear as when we started. vius said we had arrived but hade out on the road too far south. We didn¡¯t rest long before vius had us moving again north toward afortable bed. A half mileter, we approached an area of charred bodies in the dark. They were all frogs, and this was where we had left the men to guard the discarded gear. The gear and the men that Durandus left behind were not there. ¡°They must have returned to Macha,¡± vius announced. ¡°A bath and bed are close men. Just a few more hours.¡± Our spirits rose even though we knew we still had miles to go. Chapter 34: Spa Day Chapter 34: Spa Day Chapter 34 Our soaked and filth-covered bodies walked down the road. Four men carried the mage in a litter made from two spears. We rotated carrying him as night set in, and the watery Blue Moon bathed us in its light. Every man had a glowstone ready to be released to illuminate a foe if one showed itself. vius had us moving quickly, and the city walls came into view after a time. Relief flooded my own body at the sight. I had turned over a lot of thoughts in my mind on the sojourn back. Should I have revealed myself and risked myself to kill the storm giant with my dimensional space? Men would have lived, and Durandus would probably be alive. The horror of the speed at which the storm giant killed almost twenty shield and spear men shed through my mind. Experienced men. No, I would have most likely died if I had tried to get close enough. The storm giant was twenty-five feet tall. I could not have disced enough of his body to win the fight in a single blow. We reached the gate, breaking my thoughts, and vius yelled up to the tower, ¡°Durandus¡¯pany is returning!¡± ¡°Gates do not open for anyone until first light. Order of the general!¡± came a return shout. vius swore, ¡°Dragon¡¯s Breath! Seven men with the body of a mage. Open the gates, or I will rip them off their hinges and beat you senseless with it!¡± There was a lot of movement in the tower, and then a different soldier weakly said, ¡°They went to wake and check with the general. Just a few moments, legionnaire.¡± It was closer to fifteen minutes before the gatehouse door swung open, and a man strode out half-dressed, ¡°What is this? Durandus is dead?¡± his voice was coated with disbelief, anger, and worry. vius said, ¡°I will report to the Legionmand. May we enter, general?¡± It was not a question, as we just started walking past. The general swore and cursed his men for not letting us in right away, but it appeared more of an act to appease us.I had a long walk all the way to the other side of the city to reach the vi in the inner orchard. As I passed the upper city baths, I checked to see if they were open. The door was not locked, but there was no one around. I helped myself to soap and a scrubber as I went into the shower and scrubbed the filth off. The water heading to the drain remained murky with dirt for long periods. I located dozens of bug bites I never remembered receiving. Whenever I thought the water was clear, I would find another patch or crevasse of dirt. My hair was terrible, a greasy, dirty mess that had gotten too long. The members of Dureandus¡¯ legion had all been clean-shaven when we started. I was the misfit with the poorly trimmed beard. I had seen numerous barbers, so maybe I could do that in the morning. Finally, sure I was clean, I moved to the baths. They were not heated, having cooled to a lukewarm temperature overnight. I rxed into the water, not caring, and promptly fell asleep. I was awakened by a trio of young women whispering and staring at me. I remembered that they were the group of women that took my clothes and washed themst time. The water had cooled even further. I spoke clearly, ¡°My clothes can be burned, but my armor needs washing.¡± I ced seven silver coins on the lip of thergemunal tub. ¡°Turn the heat on for the water, wash my armor, and get me a new set of clothes. Do a good job, and there is a silver tip for each of you.¡± One of the braver women came forward and took the silver. ¡°We will turn on the heater runes, legionnaire.¡± She was young, in herte teens, with dirty blonde hair and soft freckles, pretty in an average way. It had been too long since I had been with a woman, and my desire rose, and I embarrassingly hid it. I felt guilty of the impropriety of it. ¡°Bring me a double breakfast and see if a barber will service me while I soak,¡± I asked another young woman. She nodded, ¡°We just prepare and clean the baths up in the morning. The mistress should be here shortly, legionnaire.¡± I groaned inwardly as I was expecting a verbal fight with the woman for breaking into the baths in the middle of the night. My skin was pruned, but I promptly fell asleep again as the water heated up from whatever magic did it. I was awoken as two of the young women came in carrying trays of food and drink, and a much older woman followed, showing signs of gray. She had a tight and unhappy face. Hopefully, coin would solve whatever blunder I had made. She said, ¡°You entered my baths past the curfew, legionnaire. Care to exin yourself?¡± No, not really, I thought. I inhaled and spoke slowly, ¡°I was filthy after almost dying a half dozen times in thest two days.¡± It was closer to a dozen times in thest week. ¡°I needed a bath, and your doors were open. I have paid for my time in the water and will pay that again if I leave here happy.¡± ¡°He paid seven silver, mistress,¡± one of the younger women said, trying to help. The mistress softened. She still did not look pleased but consented to my presence, ¡°Very good then. Your barber will be sent for,¡± she hesitated. ¡°You will pay him from your own pocket.¡± She left, and I dug into the food and drink. Warm wine, fruit, somewhat stale bread, herb-infused butter, and something that appeared to be fresh hummus. I did not taste it as I consumed everything. I suddenly realized something. After the man had been caught by the frog while shitting, I unconsciously held it in on the return through the swamp. I rushed out of the water to the privy as I urgently needed to make room for the massive quantity of food and wine I had just consumed. A voice echoed outside the privy, ¡°Your barber is here.¡± It was one of the young women who was giggling at the embarrassing noises I was making. I finished up, and a middle-aged man smiled as he spoke, ¡°My services are yours.¡± ¡°Clean shave, hair cut and...¡± I almost added an eyebrow sculpt, but that was a vanity from a different life. The shave was done with a foamy mixture that smelled of sandalwood. He used a straight razor, and he shaved my neck first. Having another man go across your throat with a de is a different experience. He probably sensed my unease as he started talking about his family. The shave was finished, and he applied a balm. The scent was beeswax and cocoa butter. I asked, ¡°What is in this?¡± ¡°Aloe, jojoba oil, shea butter, and honey bee wax dissolved in chamomile extract,¡± he replied as hebed and cut my hair. I rxed, feeling months of growth being removed. Most legionpanies were clean-shaven and well-groomed when I saw them in the few cities I had been to. Castille seemed to let us do whatever we pleased. It was like we were the ck sheep of the Mage Legions. When he finished, he used a mirror to show me, which I liked. My off-ck hair was finger-length and styled. I asked, ¡°How much for the shave and your entire kit?¡± He looked confused, as he put his tools away in arge leather satchel. ¡°You have another set at your business, I assume?¡± I added. ¡°Yes, but these are my traveling set,¡± he said worriedly. ¡°How much to rece them?¡± I asked, not relenting. He looked in his bag slowly and added up the value. ¡°Seventy silver,¡± He looked at me. I pulled a gold coin from nowhere and handed it to him, ¡°This should be enough then?¡± He still did not look happy at losing his profession¡¯s tool set. He said, ¡°I forgot the perfume. It is worth half a gold on its own, and I only use it on my female clients.¡± Rather than argue, I said, ¡°You can keep the perfume.¡± He finally nodded, somewhat happier as he pulled it out and took the gold coin. He walked out in kind of a daze, like he lost something precious to him. I was alone in the room, and the leather satchel went into my dimensional space. Personal grooming was in my future. I realized I was epting my new life. I had not realized up till the bath, but the shock and changes had greatly diminished my desires. Now, they seemed to be returning. There was still no way I was visiting a brothel. I walked to the open dressing room to find my armor clean and oiled and a set of new linen clothes folded neatly next to it. They were not as heavy as the canvas ones that were normal Legion wear but would work for now. I dressed and found the older woman in charge. I had to change a gold coin for silver since I only had one silver left. I gave her ten silver, seven as agreed, and one silver for each of the three young women as promised. After nearly dying, spending what wealth you had was easy. Enjoy it while you can¡ªI think I was developing a soldier¡¯s mentality. The sun was mid-morning when I reached the orchard. I was whistling the Star Wars theme song as I entered the vi. No one was in the entry hall, so maybe they had gone off patrol or wall duty? I had no idea what day it was. I went into therge ballroom where most of the beds were set up and found five men resting. One sat up, and it was Felix. ¡°What the fuck? Have youe back to frigging haunt us?¡± ¡°No. I just got a shave and haircut,¡± I said, trying to sound offended. Felix shook his head in disbelief. ¡°They said Durandus¡¯pany was decimated, and they returned in the middle of the night. That was like ten hours ago. Castille, Delmar, and Adrian went to question the survivors. Since you didn¡¯t return here and we didn¡¯t get a runner, we all thought you were dead.¡± ¡°The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated,¡± I quipped. Firth came out from the kitchen, ¡°You better get your arse to the Legion Hall in the city. Castille is going to rip you a new one for noting directly to her when you returned.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± I dropped my armor, spears and gear and took off running. Chapter 35: Tribunal and Judgement Chapter 35: Tribunal and Judgement Chapter 35 As I made my way back at a steady run through the city to the Legion Hall, I nned to tell Castille I returnedte and didn¡¯t want to wake her. Or maybe I should just go with the truth and tell her I fell asleep. I had nned to tell Delmar or Adrian when I returned to the vi, but now I was up shit¡¯s creek without a paddle. Two legion men stood guard as I entered and slowed to a walk. At least I had built up a significant sweat in the morning humid weather, so it looked like I had rushed here. In themon room, I found everyone. vius and the five men were seated at a long, dark oak table. Across from them, Adrian and Delmar stood behind Castille, and two men I didn¡¯t recognize sat with her. One of them was definitely themander of the other magepany, as he had the same rank symbols as Castille. I slowed and realized I was not even breathing heavily from the sprint of nearly a mile, so I faked some heavy breathing. All eyes were on me, and I guiltily noted all the men I had returned with still wore filthy clothes and were caked in mud. I could even smell their unwashed bodies from twenty feet away as it filled the room. Mage Castille did not look angry, but maybe she did look amused at my entrance and appearance. It was the man who I couldn¡¯t ce who spoke, ¡°Are you legionnaire Eryk?¡± ¡°I am.¡± I came to what was attention for being in a Legion formation. The other mage who I did not recognize, said, ¡°Since we do not have a Truthseeker here, let us confirm their story with him and close the matter. The defensive ns for the city are in turmoil without Durandus and his men. We need to start nning and make a request for another mage from the Legatus Legonis.¡± Castille didn¡¯t seem to care at his words and studied me. The first man spoke irritably, ¡°He has repeatedly denied my requests for a fourth magepany. I do not think he will send anyone, Gregor.¡± The mage, who I assumed was named Gregor, replied, ¡°We must ask. Durandus was the center of our defense nning. Neither I nor mage Castille can handle the load on the defense.¡± Castille stopped them both with a p of the table. She focused on me, ¡°Tell us about the storm giant attack Eryk. In your own words. And be brief.¡± Her eyes told me she did not have patience today. I rxed slightly as it appeared my magemander was not directing anger at me. ¡°Durandus got us there, and we found the storm giant digging. He waited until the giant was resting. Maybe he thought the giant was out of aether. I don¡¯t know. He sent the shield wall supported by the spearmen to attack it and distract it while our swordsmen and archers nked it. The storm giant called down lightning, and it had no effect. The giant charged the shieldmen when Durandus tried to encase him in ice. The giant plowed through the spearman, casting them aside to get to Durandus. I think Durandus thought his shield spell would protect him from any attack.¡± I took a moment to remember. ¡°It did, but the giant¡¯s swordunched the mage 150 feet, his protective ball intact. I don¡¯t know when it failed, but he hit the ground and was knocked out. The giant blew apart the archer formation with a lightning bolt. And proceeded to kill all the shield and spear men.¡± Mage Gregor asked with narrowed eyes, ¡°And what were you doing during all this?¡± ¡°I used some potions on the archers and then rushed to give Durandus some healing potions. It got him up again, and he was able to immobilize the giant, and we were eventually victorious. Durandus collected the essence of the giant and consumed it immediately,¡± I ended the bloody tale quickly. Mage Gregor asked, ¡°And where is the essence collector, legionnaire?¡± I was not sure if this was a trap or not. So, I choose my words carefully. ¡°We fought something called a shambling mound on the return trip. The mage thought he had immobilized thest creature and was going to take its essence. It surprised him and threw him into the swamp with the device. We think he was knocked unconscious and drowned. The next day we all,¡± I indicated the six men, ¡°spent hours searching for it. During the search, we couldn¡¯t find a trace of it in the swamp.¡± This was true since I had put it in my space when Brutus and I found Durandus¡¯ body. Gregor seemed agitated, his eyes narrowed and brightened slightly, ¡°I want his dimensional pocket searched!¡± Mage Castille got angry, ¡°He is under mymand authority and does not have to submit to a search from you.¡± ¡°I want him searched as well,¡± the other man added. I was confused. Was he a mage too? Castille looked at him and was not happy. Gregor had a smug look on his face from this victory. This must be some type of power struggle now that Durandus was dead. The man continued, ¡°Castille, you called the mage tribunal. That is two votes to one.¡± I guessed then that he was also a mage but did notmand a legionpany. Well, if they could force open my dimensional space, I was fucked. I had a few hundred pounds of supplies in there¡ªand the collector. Castille looked hard at me, no sympathy but maybe regret. ¡°Eryk empty your space on the table. You bring the wetted sand,¡± she pointed to a legionnaire by the door. Confused, I walked towards the table of tribunal members and put the four potion trays on the table. Only the ten of the cure poison remained. I looked at Adrian and Delmar who had impassive faces but made eye contact with me. Their eyes seemed curious. I decided to add all my coins as well. Three gold, ny-one silver, and twenty-eight copper. A wheelbarrow of wet sand was rolled in. Castille said, ¡°Fill your dimensional space with the sand, Eryk.¡± This was the test? Thankfully, I had taken the box in the Varvao baths. I moved to the wheelbarrow, outlined the section of sand I wanted, and moved it inside the box in the dimensional space. Castille nodded regretfully, ¡°Good. Put the contents of your space again on the table¡ªeverything. And then move back,¡± Castille ordered. A block of wet sand appeared, and it maintained its shape. I moved to stand behind the Durandus¡¯ men again. A giddy Gregor started carefully cutting through the sand in slices with a long, thin dagger. After he had finished, the third mage asked, ¡°Any voids in the sand?¡± Gregor threw a handful of sand across the table in frustration. Castille seemed shocked nothing was found as well. Did she already think I was hiding something? Well, I was hiding a lot of somethings. Castille rxed and smirked, ¡°I will note that Eryk does not have the collector then. And Gregor, even if the collector was here, Durandus¡¯ brother has a im to it.¡± I felt a chill because it appeared the collector was valuable enough to be wanted by a lot of people. I do not know why I asked, but I did, ¡°Why is it so valuable?¡± The three mages turned toward me, and Delmar grinned at my idiocy for interrupting and asking. Castille answered without drawing out the drama. ¡°It always yields an essence in a dungeon from any creature. Durandus¡¯ made most of his wealth from it.¡± I yed stupid, ¡°Should we have spent longer looking?¡± vius, who was sitting with his back to me, twitched. ¡°Yes. You should have!¡± Gregor barked. My thought was mages are all kind of bitchy. Even though mypany was known to lose a fair amount of men, at least Castille seemed reasonable. The questioning of me turned to the fight with the shambling mounds, and I answered two dozen questions consistent with what I remembered of the attack and Durandus¡¯ death. I even told them about thepany dividing up the essences, minus the three apex ones. Finally, Castille announced, ¡°It is ruled Durandus died by his own stupidity.¡± Gregor reluctantly seconded, and the other man confirmed. Castille scribbled out the verdict on a parchment and rolled it up. I assumed it to be an official record of how the mage died. Castille stood, ¡°You six will be divided among the twopanies. Eryk, see Adrian before heading to get some sleep.¡± Castille walked out. The other two mages went their separate ways as well. Delmar scooped up my coin and walked to me with Adrian. He grinned as he approached, ¡°Damn, Eryk. We sent word to the vi that you were dead. We didn¡¯t know until the trial started you still lived from the men under questioning.¡± He pped me on my back. ¡°Yeah, I stopped at the baths and fell asleep in the water,¡± I said, and Delmar just shook his head in disbelief. ¡°There is fifty-five silver in your room at the vi from the snake hide. You may have to kick someone out of the room when you get back¡ªafter all, they thought you were dead,¡± he chuckled. ¡°I actually was up there, and they told me toe down here,¡± I admitted. ¡°Well, since you are all prettied up, I am assuming you n to go make a dalliance or two,¡± Delmar handed me my coin slowly. ¡°But you did not pack my spinnerets out of the mountains. He took one gold coin from my stash,¡± smiling as he did so and leaving me with Adrian. Damn, I was hoping he had forgotten about that. He paid me a gold coin to pack his monster parts out of the mountains, but I had been tasked to carry the First Citizen¡¯s gear instead. Adrian stood in front of me and asked, ¡°Castille wanted me to ask you about the remaining men from Durandus¡¯pany. Any good legionaries among them?¡± I nodded, thinking, ¡°vius. He was one of the archers but also a trained scout. He was the only one who knew about the shambling mounds. He told Durandus that lightning healed them after he attacked. Brutus is the only other one I talked to at any length. He is a good fighter and has some smarts. When the mounds attacked one side of the camp, he remained on watch on the other side, and a third one did show itself, so he prevented us from being attacked from behind.¡± I added, watching the men mill about in the Legionmon room awaiting their fate, ¡°They generally were not too weing to outsiders. The six men that we left on the road with our gear¡ªI did not talk with any of them.¡± Adiran heaved a breath, ¡°Durandus¡¯pany was made of volunteers, not conscripts. They chose the life in the Legion. They trained at the Legion Camp just outside of the capital. When theyplete their training and are assigned a Mage or duty, all the missions would be within the confines of the interior of the Empire and not on the borders.¡± He considered my words for a moment longer, ¡°So, just the two? No others?¡± I nodded; he turned and left to talk to the filthy men. He yelled to me as I was almost to the door, ¡°Be careful, where you spend your coin, Eryk. ording to the Firth, there is an epidemic of crotch crickets in the city.¡± Crotch crickets? I didn¡¯t ask. I was exhausted and needed some sleep. I made my way to the vi and found my gear where I had dropped it. In my tiny room, I found the fifty-five silver on the desk, and my things looked to be in the exact same ce as I left them. I locked the door, barred the window, pulled my griffin feather pillow out of my storage, and copsed on my bed. I was asleep in seconds. Chapter 36 Chapter 36 When I woke, I was disoriented. I opened the blinds, and it was still light outside. Was it the same day? Had I slept through the night, and it was the following day? I sent the pillow back to storage and left to go to the privy. Lirkin was in the kitchen baking and preparing food. ¡°Ah, pretty boy! Did youe to help with dinner?¡± I figured I was going to get thesements about my shave and haircut for a while. Although I already had a five o¡¯clock shadow. ¡°No. Is it the same day then that I returned?¡± ¡°Yes. Konstantin said to let you sleep the day away now that you are groomed like a First Citizen,¡± he chuckled and tossed me a bun fresh out of the oven. I bit into the sweet bun stuffed with spinach, cheese, and egg. I burned my mouth a little, so I chewed slowly and took small bites. I just stood and ate as Lirkin cooked. ¡°Can you get one of the twenty-gallon casks in therder and bring it up for dinner? Castille said we are celebrating our first un-dead legionnaire in thepany.¡± I frowned at the joke. I had learned there was real undead in this world. Animated skeletons, wraiths, liches, ghouls. Things that went bump in the night did go bump in the night and wanted to kill you. Undead usually resided in dungeons, but I heard an ind was supposedly full of the creatures in one of the great oceans. I went down to the cer and picked up the two-hundred-pound cask. I was a little unsteady climbing the stairs as it was freaking heavy. At the top of the step, I rolled it on the floor. ¡°Was the sled-cart broken?¡± Seeing me, Lirkin asked curiously. Of course, there was a cart. It was arge two-wheel dolly that I had walked right past at the bottom of the stairs. ¡°No. I felt like testing my strength,¡± I said, and Lirkin smirked. ¡°Where is Konstantin? I am surprised he has not woken me himself for training.¡± ¡°Out in the gardens. Not toward the orchards, the other side of the house. He was training out there. I heard we were done with swamp patrols but were going to start doing night patrols in the city. Adrian has the duty assignments.¡± Lirkin said and tossed me another bun as I left, and I deftly caught it one-handed and tossed it lightly while it cooled. The ballroom had a few men resting in it, and I got some whistles and catcalls. Well, screw them all! See if I would offer them a chance to use my barber¡¯s kit. Konstantin was in the gardens and was training with Brutus and vius. I walked over to them, eating the bun. The two men from the Durandus¡¯ had cleaned up, they were even clean-shaven. It looked like Konstantin was testing Brutus¡¯ spear skill and vius¡¯ sword skill. They paused to drink as I asked, ¡°Are these the only two we took from the remains of the Durandus¡¯pany?¡± Konstantin barked, ¡°These were the only two you rmended to Adrian.¡± They trusted my opinion that much?Brutus responded, ¡°You are the reason we got stuck in this fiery abyss, Eryk? I don¡¯t know if I can ever forgive you. Soft beds? Noble¡¯s wine? Fresh meat every meal? I think we are no longer friends!¡± We sped wrists. vius shook my wrist next. Konstatin tossed me a wrapped spear. ¡°Since you are all chummy, let us see you fight each other.¡± It was spear and shield practice against Brustus¡¯ shield and spear. I was outssed. Brutus was an excellent spearman and used the shield well. Then, I was paired against vius¡¯ sword and shield. I fared much better, and it was about even for killing blows. Of course, vius¡¯ specialization was the bow, not the sword. Konstantin joined in, and we did some two versus two rotating partners. Konstantin sometimes wielded a short sword and a parrying dagger or a short sword and shield. The parrying dagger was deadly as it could catch the spearhead and prevent you from pulling it back, giving Konstantin an opening. Brutus fell victim just once, while I fell multiple times. We were called to dinner like kids from the yground when the sun was setting. I had my fair share of bruises and a slight limp, but the pain no longer bothered me. It was a constant part of my world now. Brutus and vius went ahead, and I had a chance to talk with Konstantin. He started, ¡°d you survived that mess. Heard about it from Delmar. Just know Castile didn¡¯t think Durandus was that much of a fool. She sent you with him to evaluate thepany for her, not almost get killed.¡± I was a little taken aback by his defense of Castile. I didn¡¯t argue the point. Instead, I asked a burning question, ¡°Firth seems to know a lot about everything. Howe he is not one of the lieutenants?¡± We continued to pick up weapons in the za and store them, and Konstantin did not respond for a while. Finally, he said, ¡°That is because he is a spy. As am I.¡± I stepped back, and Konstantin chuckled. ¡°Not an enemy spy, you durd. He works for one of the Praetorian Guard. I do not know which one. I work for one as well.¡± ¡°So, you two are spying on Castile?¡± I asked uneasily. ¡°Partly. We just make sure the magemanders have the Empire¡¯s best interest in their actions. Castille knows what we are, and so does most of thepany. I think vius works for a Praetorian too, but I¡¯m not sure who he works for.¡± We finished with the weapons. ¡°You would have found out eventually. Anyway, I am thinking of recruiting you. The issue is you are a foreigner. I am not sure the woman I report to would ept you into her service,¡± Konstantin admitted. It was a lot to take in. It made sense that the Empire wanted to keep track of its most powerful assets. I was confused, but at least Konstantin was talking. ¡°Who are the Praetorian Guard?¡± ¡°The Emperor¡¯s most loyal servants and followers. Mages, warriors, merchants, nobles, and even somemoners,¡± Konstantin said. I sensed he was seeing if I was interested in bing a spy, agent, or asset¡ªor whatever he was. He continued, ¡°The armies keep the borders secure. We keep everything within the borders secure.¡± A lot of things did not make sense. The apex essences that Castille handed out for one. I was hesitant to ask but needed to know, ¡°I thought apex essences were reserved for First Citizens. That is what everyone keeps saying. Yet Castille and Durandus¡­¡± ¡°True. You can only sell an apex essence to a First Citizen ording to thew as it is written. It does not say anything about giving it away, though. It is why many in the Empire leave to join the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. That way, they can return to hunt for and ship essences to other Guild Halls outside of Desia to sell,¡± Konstantin informed me. I had only heard of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and had never actually seen adventurers or one of their buildings. I guessed the Empire preferred to use its Legionpanies in ce of allowing adventurers within their borders. ¡°So Castille was not breaking thew when she gave me the apex essences in the dungeon?¡± I returned to my primary confusion. Konstantin shrugged, ¡°Mages have a lot of free rein. The Emperor needs to keep them happy. The magepanies of the Legion are the glue of the Empire,¡± he admitted. ¡°How many magepanies are there?¡± I asked, extremely interested. ¡°You are awfully inquisitive this evening. Are you sure you are not a spy from a foreignnd?¡± He asked seriously before pping me on my back andughing. But he still didn¡¯t answer my question before we entered the dining hall to join everyone for dinner. The food and wine were copious, and I got saluted too many times to count about returning from the dead. They weed our two new members as well. The wine flowed freely, and the cask was emptied quickly. Adrian came up to give orders and got a lot of boos for spoiling the mood. Being on night watch in the upper city was not going to be fun. Sleeping during the day and then walking the streets at night was going to be the new norm for the next few weeks. The baron¡¯s advisor in charge of the city was moving more of his men to the lower city as break-ins were on the rise, so we were covering the upper city for him. To maximize coverage, we would be working in teams of four. My team, unsurprisingly, was Konstantin, Felix, and Mateo. I had frequently been bunked with Felix and Mateo. And Konstantin had taken a healthy interest in me, and now I knew the true reason why. Adrian finished announcing the patrols but added, ¡°Eryk, Brutus, and vius have tonight off!¡± which was met by mock boos. ¡°They need their beauty rest and the time to see a barber.¡± Some loud jeering erupted from the room. ¡°Since it looks like we will be saving the city in the dark, start to get your sleep during the day. We will be adding ck-out curtains to the ballroom.¡± I doubted the wisdom of sending soldiers out after consuming alcohol. It was a little suspect from my viewpoint. They were dismissed with the call ¡®to gear up and sober up.¡¯ Patroling started in two hours. I was already well rested, and I barricaded myself in my room. I had the glowstones, so I would no longer need the oilmp for light. With my griffin pillow supporting my head, I got serious about working on the spell form for healing myself. It had a lot to do with intent when you imprinted a spell form. I did not want a lesser form of the ability that only healed flesh. I wanted the healing spell form to be able to repair my organs and bones if needed. I trod carefully in my attempts to create the spell form for healing until I smelled breakfast. I packed up and went to the kitchen and helped Lirkin by cooking a lot of bacon. Squads came in from patrol, blurry-eyed and hungry. Sometimes, they grabbed food and left. Sometimes, they told us about their night. Chasing burrs, escorting drunk nobles home, searching abandoned buildings, and primarily being visible to the people. That was the big reason we were patrolling. They wanted people to know that Legion men were on the job, the elite warriors of the Empire. As they shuffled off, I helped Lirkin stage lunch and then went to get in on the ¡®sleep-during-day, walk-around-in-the-dark schedule.¡¯ Special thanks to my patrons for supporting my writing on Patreon. You keep the words flowing and give excellent feedback. Seraphim Tier: Kingpin09, Rd Zg, Kompass, Christian Mordal Andersen, SubJef Long Term Supporters: Silver Beard, Dustin, Brad Anderson, d, Martin Lange, Lucas Rodger, Paul Panzer, Mark Mollegaard, Cody Landis, Exchao, MKL, White Watcher, Adam Sawyer, Jeffrey Iverson, Cody, David Zimmerle, ck_Knight, Shade, Gideon Stern, Louis Leco, Jostein Andersen, Jordan, Jared Ference, S, MrX, Brandon, Dom, BlodWedd, CJ, Asibo, Yeraiha, Timothy Felkar, Isaac Wheeler Chapter 37: Midnight Patrol Chapter 37: Midnight Patrol Chapter 37 Forcing yourself to sleep in the morning, even in a dark room, is difficult. I had one of the best rooms in the vi temperature-wise, but I still could not getfortable. I knew what the problem was¡ªthe stupid healing spell form. I wanted to learn it sooner rather thanter. Even with what I had learned from Damian, I was having trouble feeling my way through the process. I considered if the resistance was just because I did not have enough space to add the spell form. It felt like squeezing a grapefruit through a hole meant for an orange. Maybe that was a terrible analogy because now I was wondering if oranges were avable on Desia. Perhaps if I counted oranges, I could fall asleep... A loud knock woke me, and Konstantin¡¯s too-joyful voice was on the other side, ¡°Dinner is in fifteen. We leave for patrol fifteen after. Gear up!¡± I sat up and was confused. Had I slept the entire day? I had been exhausted. I checked my curtain, and it waste evening outside. After cleaning, I started to strap on the armor. I decided to carry a short sword and dagger on my belt. As I walked into the foyer, Konstantin was stretching, ¡°Good weapons choice. If we do have to chase anyone down tonight, draw the entire scabbard, not the de. Thest thing you want is to die by tripping and falling on your own sword.¡± I worked to adjust the belt so I could pull the sheathed short sword out easily. Mateo and Felix showed up all smiles, having obviously slept well. Konstantin nodded and walked, and we followed. ¡°We are on patrol in fours, so if we divide up, we can remain in pairs. Never go anywhere alone, always in pairs.¡± ¡°Got it, never leave your wingman,¡± I quipped. Konstantin gave me a hard look, trying to figure out the meaning of my words. ¡°Eryk, you will be my wingman,¡± Konstantin said with a smirk before continuing. ¡°We will patrol in a diamond formation. The point will scan forward, the right and left will scan their side, and the man in the rear will check behind them every minute.¡± The exnation was for my benefit, as Mateo and Felix looked bored. I had already learned this in training but paid rapt attention anyway. As we walked out into the city, I was the point on the diamond, Mateo to my left, Felix to my right, and Konstantin behind me. Konstantin talked the entire time, and the other two were bored as they probably heard everything he was sayingst night. Konstantin taught his scouting and observation skills as we walked.He was an endless stream of knowledge. He talked about the structures, noting everything from the construction methods of buildings to what each shop sign indicated they sold inside. I assumed it was for my benefit since I was not from the Empire. Whenever we met a civilian, we talked to them briefly and told them they were past curfew and to get home. After the interaction, Konstantin quizzed us on the encounter. What they were wearing, their story, why they were out, their bodynguage, and what we thought their true reason was for being out past curfew. It was information overload but extremely useful. All the mental exercises were taxing, and I was d when we finally returned to the vi at first light. Lirkin had breakfast for us, and after eating a few servings and listening to others returning from patrols, I was ready for a long sleep. Of course, Konstatin noted that I was to be at weapon practice after the mid-day meal. I secured my room, and instead of studying, I slept. The following eight days proceeded the same. We patrolled at night and returned for breakfast and sleep. After lunch, we did weapons training and calisthenics, and then I retreated to my room to study the healing spell form book. We started to have an informal dinner as apany just before the four-person teams went on patrol. Never again with any wine, but always with a weak ale. I think I remember weak ale had enough alcohol to kill bacteria, which is why it was so prevalent at meals. But I was uncertain if I remembered this fact correctly from my history of Earth. Konstantin never talked about his side profession as a spy for one of the Praetorian Guard. I was curious to ask how the Praetorian and Empire treated out worlders these days. My best guess was it had been a few generations since an outworlder arrival was public knowledge. A few hundred years had seemed to push it more into myth than fact. Talking with Linus at dinner, I learned of the possibility of how I managed to remain unnoticed. Linus knew a few tales of arrivals, andrge groups were always arriving all at once. The First Legion was thergest arrival in recorded history, but there were others where dozens of people arrived at once. I do not know what made my transportation to the World of Desia so unique, but I felt that keeping to myself was still my best course of action. I wondered how arriving in and full of violent orcs might have gone for a group in the past¡ªor appearing on the ind of the undead. I had gotten extremely lucky¡ªor something had guided my arrival. But why? I was nothing special¡ªdefinitely not hero material. ¡°What do you think of that?¡± Konstantin interrupted my internal thoughts. I looked left at a boarded-up shop, he indicated. I did not see anything at first. Then, I noticed the bottom half of the panel had been moved, as evidenced by a small line of differential weathering on the door. ¡°Someone recently removed the board covering the bottom of the door and didn¡¯t ce it back exactly the same,¡± Imented first. Mateo asked Konstantin, ¡°Do we enter?¡± ¡°Yes. We only enter if we suspect something is amiss. That is enough evidence. Mateo and Felix, go to the back of the building and wait there in case someone runs. Eryk, use your heavy dagger to pry the panel,¡± Konstantin gave his orders. I tried to be quiet as I worked. It was not difficult; I could have removed it with my fingers. I surmised it had been pried off many times prior. This was only the bottom half of the covering for the door. I could reach the handle, tested it, and the door was still locked. Konstantin pushed me aside, and after just a few seconds, it clicked and swung inward. I whispered, ¡°You have to show me how you did that.¡± He did not respond but indicated I should use my glowstone and go first into the shop. I ducked below the higher board with my shortsword drawn and the glowstone in the other hand. My stone illuminated the shop in shadows and appeared to be a clothing shop for women. It was a high-end shop by its location in the upper district. Konstantin followed me inside and motioned for me to be quiet as he scanned the room. After a moment, he indicated faint tracks in the dust on the floor. They all led to the same doorway. Konstantin whispered, ¡°Basement. We will listen for sound at the door. Walk slowly, and do not make the floorboards creak.¡± He had already continued into the shop, deathly silent. I tried my best not to make any noise, but for some reason¡ªwhere Konstantin seemed to weigh nothing and passed over the boards without a sound¡ªevery step I took had the floor give a squeak or groan. Konstantin did not say anything and reached the door. We listened for minutes as the stuffiness and lingering day¡¯s humidity made my sweat bead and drip from my face. Then we heard it¡ªvery faint voices. They sounded far away. Konstantin seemed to understand what was being said, and I just remained frozen, waiting for an order and trying to listen. I figured we were dealing with looters or squatters. After a good ten minutes, Konstantin leaned in close and said, ¡°I will go first.¡± He tapped my dagger, ¡°Draw it; you will need it. I picked out at least four voices.¡± I wanted to ask how he could have heard anything, but he reached for the door and opened it very slowly. There was sufficient lighting through the door to see the stairs clearly. With it three inches ajar, he paused, drew his own dagger, and carefully cut a string I had failed to notice. I guessed it was a trip wire for an rm. He opened the door the rest of the way, and the voices were now much clearer to my ears. ¡°How many men are in the lower city?¡± A husky feminine voice asked. ¡°We have twenty in the lower city and another thirty in the upper city,¡± a male voice responded. ¡°Have Oliver and his men arrived yet?¡± The husky voice asked another question. Konstantin took a step onto the stairs and started to descend. ¡°No, he might arrive tonight along the aqueduct route under invisibility,¡± the same male replied. ¡°Damn it! The march starts in the morning, and they will lock down the city when they hear,¡± the woman said angrily. ¡°I need those fifteen men.¡± Konstantin was almost at the bottom of the steps, and I took my first step onto the stairs. I realized I was holding my breath and exhaled slowly as I took the next step. My third step caused the wooden stairs to whine softly under my weight. All talking stopped, and Konstantin rushed hisst two steps and turned left at the bottom of the stairs toward the voices. I sped down as well and was going to follow him, but a man came from the right chasing Konstantin. Konstantin was already fighting, so I assumed we had enemies here. I lunged the rest of the way, plunged my dagger into his neck, and pushed him back the way he hade. I swore as I looked in the direction I had pushed the dying man. A half dozen bedrolls were on the floor, and people were rising. I counted three. I figured to tell Konstantin why I was not at his back, ¡°I have four to the right!¡± I only had three opponents left, but it sounded better as Konstantin¡¯s side increased the fighting intensity. I waded into the room and stabbed a man in the throat, who was reaching for a sword. It was more of a lucky strike as I had aimed for his chest. I wrenched the sword lose, causing blood to spray. I briefly stared into the man¡¯s wide eyes as he grasped his throat and rolled away. By the spurts of blood, I had severed at least one of the carotid arteries. If he didn¡¯t have magical healing, then he was dead. The other two men were armed with long swords and eyeing their shields, leaning at the base of the wall. I wished we had gone and got Mateo and Felix beforeing down here. I was matched against two skilled men with much longer reach des than myself. My advantage was that I was wearing armor, and they had linens on. I decided not to risk fighting them. I tried to outline two small fist-sized blocks where both their hearts were. I could pull their hearts into my dimensional space and kill them since they were within ten feet. I quickly got frustrated as I could only establish one region at a time. I focused my effort on the most confident appearing swordsman. He was within ten feet, and I moved his heart to my storage. I got slight vertigo, letting me know my aether had just bottomed out from moving the small object. He screamed, clutched his chest, and copsed in a smooth motion. Even though I was confused that I was out of aether from such a small object, I could not hesitate andunched myself at thest man. His shock at seeing hispanion fall without a blow quickly disappeared. His long sword cut the air as he turned his body into a fencing pose and edged toward the wall to retrieve his shield. I moved to cut off his route, and that was what he had expected. I was fooled as he moved quickly in the other direction in a lunge. I parried the thrust, but it nced off my leather chest piece slightly, leaving a gash in the leather. He was already retreating by the time my short sword came at the opening. I only nicked his forearm, but a steady flow of blood started. He flexed his sword arm and winced. I had gotten some muscle on the cut. He considered his shield again but then switched the long de to his left hand instead. I could tell it was awkward and unpracticed in his other hand. Iunched into my attack, and he defended while retreating. It gave me a chance to take the shield for myself. I knew this fight was now over. Konstantin was still fighting, so I needed to help him by ending my fight quickly. I pressed with the shield. He tried to use his superior reach to score on my legs, but my speed allowed me to strike his chest before he retreated on a failed swing. My strike had parted the outeryer of the pectoral muscle, and he was wincing, just trying to hold his de. I thought he would surrender, but he rushed me again. The sword attack was weak on my shield, and I hacked his neck on the side, certain it was a killing blow by the depth of my de. I left him to bleed out. I stabbed the man whose heart I had taken in the throat on the way by to conceal how he died. On the other side of the cer was a stalemate between Konstantin and a short woman. She had a buckler and a shortsword. She had one wound, a gash on her upper shield arm. Two dead men were on the floor. One had distinctly pointed ears, meaning he was the first elf I hadid my eyes on. The other dead man was human. ¡°Any others?¡± I asked as I joined Konstantin¡¯s side. He looked at me, and I think he was surprised I was not wounded¡ªor maybe that I was alive at all. ¡°Not in the cer. We need this one alive. I believe she is themander,¡± he said, and her eyes narrowed at Konstantin. She looked resigned to her fate, but rather than surrender,unched herself forward, tossing aside the buckler in an effort to distract Konstantin. I only meant to parry her de, but she impaled herself on my sword. I awkwardly rushed my shield to protect my head from her final blow. Konstantin aided me by hacking her swinging arm, killing the momentum of the blow to just cutting lightly into my pauldrons. My de pieced near enough to her heart to kill her. ¡°Shit,¡± Konstantin swore. The dwarf woman was dead. He started searching her body and, not finding what he wanted, started on the rest of the basement. ¡°Eryk, see if there is any ess to the sewers from this basement. They mentioned something about the sewers earlier.¡± I walked the outer walls and checked the floor. The dead men¡¯s eyes seemed to follow me as I went and gave me the chills. I felt nothing for taking their lives, which surprised me. Maybe having been close to death a few times myself was numbing me to it. I returned to Konstantin and reported, ¡°Nothing on the walls or floors that seems to grant ess.¡± ¡°Troll shit! She said nearly fifty of them were in the city, but nothing to tell us where!¡± He made a decision. ¡°Keep searching. I will post Mateo and Felix upstairs and get more men here. I have to tell Castile there are at least 43 men in the city and more traveling along the aqueduct tonight under a spell.¡± He quickly grabbed his weapons and swore as he stomped up the stairs, ¡°The Bartiradians are already in the city!¡± I was left alone with seven corpses of the Bartiradian army infiltrators. Chapter 38: Essence Thief Chapter 38: Essence Thief Chapter 38 I was left in the basement as Konstantin rushed up the stairs. I heard him yell for Mateo and Felix. It was not long before the two men came down the stairs. Mateo looked at the carnage and said, ¡°Centaur shit, Konstantin is a bloody monster.¡± He addressed me, ¡°We are to get the front doorpletely open and wait in the street. Konstantin said you should continue to look for clues on the whereabouts of the others in the city.¡± They did a quick walk-through of the basement before heading back upstairs. I could have told them that I had killed five of the seven, but I don¡¯t think they would have believed me. It was quiet and a bit spooky with the dead eyes of the soldiers in the basement. I had killed actual people. That should have shaken me, or at least how easily I had done it without any hesitation. This brutality was my new reality. I counted the bedrolls, and there were seven to match with the seven dead. Then I searched the bedrolls, finding nothing in them. I covered the bodies with them because it seemed like the right thing to do. I tried pulling the essence collector from my storage, but my aether was insufficient and was still recovering. I searched as ordered, but all they had down here were supplies and weapons. It looked like mostly food and casks of water. Strangely, there were no supplies that I would equate to being tailor¡¯s goods for sale upstairs. Maybe the owners did not use it for the business? I stopped thinking about it as I was no detective. But I did need to find out why my aether bottomed out when I took the man¡¯s heart. As I was thinking about it, I pulled the shields and weapons into a pile. I guessed they would be sent to the Legion Hall¡¯s armory as they were good quality. Maybe I should search the bodies again? Konstantin had done it quickly. I started with the elf, uncovering him. The ears were not too pronounced but were pointed. Maybe a half-elf? His face was angr, and he looked on the thinner side. I searched his body and found two secreted knives, but his muscture looked somewhat frail. Were all elves weak? Maybe he was a scout and not a fighter. I found a coin pouch, but that seemed odd to have on you when you invaded a city. Inside were fiverge coins: one gold, two silver, and two copper. Large coins were ten times the value of small coins, so this was a sizable sum. They were all stamped with a five-headed hydra on one side and writing that was not Latin on the other side. I could not read it. I don¡¯t know how I felt about robbing the dead. I tucked the pouch into my pocket for now. He had jewelry on as well, two rings and one earring. I checked for runes but did not see any, so I assumed they were not magical. It reminded me I still had my magical pendant from the dungeon in my dimensional space that needed to be identified. I stood and looked at the dwarf woman next. She had tried to sacrifice herself to kill me. I checked again and had just enough aether to pull the essence collector from my dimensional storage. I debated the risk. What if others came, and I did not have enough aether to return it, and it was discovered? Was I even okay with harvesting dead people for essence? And how much aether did it take to activate the device? Was there even an essence to take? It had been almost twenty minutes since they had been killed. How long did you have to harvest a corpse after killing it?Fuck it. I took the device out of my dimensional space and inspected it closely for the first time. Iughed aloud as it looked closer to a sterling silver te the women won at Wimbledon. The runes were magical, and I could sense they had a purpose, even just holding the metal disc. I ced it on the chest of the dwarf woman and channeled my aether. It did not take much, just a kiss of aether to activate. A light blue mist quickly pulled into the te from the body, and arge orange orb formed. Damn, and apex essence of reasoning if I remember correctly! The dwarf woman had been all corded muscle, and she gave a mental essence, not a physical one. I only hesitated for a moment before popping it into my mouth. I got a brain freeze and felt dizzy. Vertigo caused me to trip on the body and fall. The floor felt like the safer ce for the next minute as I bathed in the euphoric changes. Next time I consumed a mental essence, I would ensure I was sitting down. I guessed that maybe it was ten times more intense for me than others since I was able to milk the essences I consumed for more power. I covered the body and turned to the elf. I ced the collector on him and activated it. The same effect urred, and a golf ball-sized sphere formed on the te. The only problem was the ball was rich brown with swirls of gray and ck. I had to be a magical apex affinity essence, but I did not know which affinity. I could not consume a second essence so soon. Castille said to wait an hour between, but maybe, with my spell form enhancing my gains, I should wait longer. Maybe an entire day. I pocketed the essence and moved a little excited onto the human male between the elf and the dwarf. I ced the collector again; this time, arge marble formed from the blue smoke. It was dark purple, meaning it was a major essence of strength. One of the mostmon essences. I nned to go to the other side and collect more essence. But clear thuds of footsteps walked across the floor above me. My heart thudded, and I tried to send the collector back to my space. I didn¡¯t have enough essence to transfer it. Should I hide it in the room? Someone was on the stairs descending. I forced the te inside my chest armor. Damn it. The hard leather was formed to my body. I sucked in my gut and stood as rxed as I could as Adrian, Linus, ns, and Brutus moved into the room. Adrian looked on both sides of the stairs and asked, ¡°Why are the bodies covered?¡± I spoke softly while holding in my gut, ¡°Because I found their eyes staring at me creepy.¡± Adrian snorted and shook his head, ¡°It gets easier. Did you find anything?¡± I reached into my pocket and pulled out the coin pouch, ¡°I only searched the elf and the dwarf. Just some coin,¡± I tossed him the pouch. He caught it and tested the weight. Then, he tossed it back to me, ¡°Keep it. Castille will be here soon. You can stand guard in the street till she arrives and then go and get some rest. Konstantin said you fought well.¡± He chuckled, ¡°He actually said you fought better than expected, which probably means you impressed him.¡± They started searching the bodies and the room again, and I went upstairs and into the street. It was still a long time till dawn. The oil streetmps gave the city a dull light. Mateo and Felix were nking the entrance and at attention. I stood to one side. Mateo asked with interest, ¡°Did you really take down five by yourself? That was what Adrian said.¡± The collector was making me slightly ufortable, but it was manageable. I shifted slightly, ¡°It was all luck. I got one at the bottom of the stairs, and another was just waking up. The fifth one actually impaled herself on my de rather than be captured.¡± Felix whistled, ¡°Five kills in one evening. We need toe up with a nickname for you.¡± I then had to listen to the two toss nickname suggestions back and forth between them. When I tried to give my own input, they told me a person could not help choose their nickname. It had to be bestowed on them by another. Silent Sheep, Madien¡¯s Thief, Pocket Puncher, Ghoul, Night Prince, Graceful Fork, Foreign Spear, Thundering Demon¡­ The names went on and on. I was confused as no one else in thepany had a nickname I knew. Mercifully, Castille returned with Konstantin just momentster. She paused to address me, ¡°Good work, Eryk. You can go get some rest.¡± Mateo and Felix started to move with me, and Konstantin rasped, ¡°Just Eryk. You two remain here on guard.¡± They entered the clothing shop, and I walked away, leaving two very disappointed legionaries. There was still about four hours left before dawn. As I walked, I finally had enough aether to move the collector back with the essences and could rx. I probably would not take such a risk again. At the vi, I found a swearing Lirkin in the kitchen. ¡°Eryk, there are rats in the cer. The anti-vermin wards must have expired. I need help eliminating them.¡± My jaw didn¡¯t work as I thought I was going to get some time to rest and study. ¡°Come on, Eryk, the bastards are eating the tubers and grains.¡± I nodded reluctantly. ¡°Do you want me to cut the tails off after I kill them and present them to you as proof so you can grant me a reward?¡± I said, trying to sound cheerful about the quest offering. ¡°Why the fuck would I want rat tails? Do they eat rat tails where you are from?¡± Lirkin sounded slightly mocking. ¡°Just kill them and see where they are getting into the basementrder. I saw a mortar mixture in one of the outbuildings. Your reward will be not having to eat meat chewed on by a rat.¡± He went to get the mortar, and I went into the basement with a glowstone from my pocket. I heard them immediately, but they hid from my light. I searched the perimeter wall and found two holes in the base of the walls. I moved the casks out of the way to get easier ess to both of them. How was I supposed to catch a rat? I walked through the room and started to see them as their tails disappeared. They were definitely in here. Lirkin returned with a bucket of gravely and powdery mixture. He inspected the two holes in the walls, ¡°This one we can plug with mortar. This one is the drain. The grate is missing. With anti-vermin wards, no one probably thought to patch this hole and rece the grate.¡± He considered. ¡°I will let Kolm know. He can bang out a recement grate at the forge in the citadel. Let us block it with a crate for now.¡± We mixed the mortar with water and filled the other hole. ¡°I have to start on breakfast. I am sure you have the rat problem well in hand,¡± he patted my back and went up the stairs before I could respond. I spent hours chasing rats in the basement, crushing three, but I could still hear more of them. It was driving me insane. I got an idea and put a small pile of grain, cheese, and meat in the corner lit by a glowstone. I backed away to the extent of my dimensional space, ten feet, and waited. I had regained enough aether to try this. Ten minutester, the first cautious rat moved to the pile, and then, a second, I queued up the space to send the rats to my dimensional space together. Both rats popped out of existence, and I felt intense bacsh as my aether bottomed out. It was even more intense than when I took the man¡¯s heart five hours ago. I sat with a migraine, trying to figure things out. Anything alive appeared to have resistance to being put into my dimensional space. Maybe that resistance didn¡¯t matter since my space affinity was so high. I always won the contest of wills. Was there a rted mental attribute that yed a role in resisting? Maybe resilience? Maybe it is the magical trait of aether resistance? Questions that I would need to answer. I listened for a long time and did not hear anything. I walked up the stairs triumphantly with the three dead rats. Men were already getting breakfast from the kitchen as they returned from patrol. I was mocked as some demonic yer of the Bartiradian Army. The name that Felix and Mateo settled on was [taking suggestions readers, this will be a nickname he usester in the story when he has to do ¡®dirty jobs¡¯, so give me something good LINK TO VOTE AND COMMENT]. Lirkin consoled me and said it would only stick for a few days before everyone forgot about it. I ate my fill of a porridge topped with honied nuts and fruit. We also had thick bacon on the side. Not the usual strong effort from our cook, but he was busy with rats most of the morning. I ended up in my room after filling myself on the breakfast offering. I had one more thing I wanted to test. I waited anxiously for hours, and when my aether was half full, I opened the window and expelled the rats from my dimensional space. They fell five feet, were briefly stunned by the fall, but then scurried off. Well, that was very interesting. It barely took any aether to bring them out, and the rats lived. They were unharmed from their stay in my dimensional space. Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Announcement Patreon is 13 chapters ahead As I watched the disoriented rats scurry away, I should have realized that the griffin egg I collected had allowed me to bring live objects into my storage. Castille had confirmed it was viable after I removed it, and then I transported it for the First Citizen. The only difference was it did not bottom out my aether when the egg went into my dimensional space. Still, it was good to see live rats scurry away and know the other griffin egg in my storage was probably viable. It opened the possibility of possibly moving an entire person or monster to the dimensional space and knowing they would be alive when I retrieved them. The bell rang for lunch, and I had not gotten any sleep. I joined the line in the kitchen for sliced roast beef in a thick gravy with a side of candied carrots. I took my te, filled to overflowing, to the gardens where we would have weapons practice directly afterward. For thest week, Brutus had been helping me with my spear, and Konstantin was helping me with duel-wielding. I think Konstantin was nning to have me with the short sword in my right and and the parrying dagger in my left today. He kept changing the weapons that each hand wielded to work on my ambidexterity. As thepany ate, Adrian and Delmar came into the gardens. Delmar led, ¡°No weapons practice after the mid-day meal.¡± The pronouncement was met with cheers. Even though everyone knew it probably meant we had other dutiesing. ¡°Instead, we are going to search every boarded-up house in the upper city,¡± the cheers went silent. ¡°The other Legionpany is handling the lower city.¡± Someone barked, ¡°What are thezy regrs doing?¡± ¡°Keeping an eye on the remaining citizens and guarding the wall. The Bartiradians have started their match from the city of Guiracas,¡± Adrian snapped. ¡°They will arrive at the walls in three days.¡± I realized that confirmed what the dwarf woman had saidst night. She said the march was going to start today. Everyone was suddenly silent. The reality of our situation was settling in. Everyone in thepany knew the n was to hold up in the city. When the Bartirdians fortified for a siege, our noble rescuers woulde and wipe them out. It all seemed good on paper unless you were the ones holding back the tide of enemies and waiting to be saved. Delmar got everyone settled down and announced three teams of eight to do the searches. My group was adding Firth, Wylie, Pavel, and Regis. We only had an hour before starting, and Imented not sleeping this morning and would be running on adrenaline for the evening and into the overnight patrol. I had been too anxious waiting for my aether to recharge to test on releasing the rats. Linus stopped me, ¡°Eryk, run down to the city. In the Legion Hall, there should have been a shipment of potions from the portal opening by the Discement Mage this morning. Go retrieve them. We are going to divide them among the three groups. There should be seventeen simple healing and three full healing. Also,¡± he thought for a moment, ¡°One rack of healing salve, one rack of stamina potions, and four water purification potions. Castille paid for all of this, so do not let them short you. Hurry!¡± I rushed to put my armor back on and ran down to the lower city and the Legion Hall. I was not even winded entering the building and heading to the back where the Legion warehouse was located. Unlike picking up weapons, the potions¡ªand now also the foodstuffs were tightly monitored. Two civilian males were behind the desk. ¡°I am here for Castille¡¯s shipment of potions.¡± One of the men went and got the racks and brought them out. One small rack had the water purification, all four potions. The next was theplete rack of ten stamina potions. The third rack was full of ten of the minor healing potions. The healing salve was next and had all ten. When we got to the fifth rack, I inhaled sharply. It only had five of the lesser healing potions. I was missing three of the major healing and two of the minor healing potions. The man slid me the log book to sign off on receiving the potions. The logbook noted the potion order as beingplete. I stated, ¡°There are some potions missing. I need two more simple and three more full healing potions.¡± The man spun the ledger around to read it and carefully counted the potions he had brought. He turned to his partner, ¡°Marx, do you know anything about this? We are missing two lesser and three greater healing.¡± The man, Marx, took the ledger, counted the potion racks, andpared them to the ledger. I could tell it was an act, but how deliberate and orchestrated his actions were. Finally, he said, ¡°No.¡± He looked at me, ¡°Check with the otherpanymander. He was in the here when the shipment arrived and took everything he ordered.¡± I was calling bullshit. I looked at the ledger again. ¡°Are these your signatures by the ledger saying the potions arrived? You logged them into the store room, yes? Then get me my potions. I need to get back to the upper city soon.¡± I let my irritation grow as I continued. Marx did not look happy, ¡°You should talk with Mage Gregor. I believe I noticed him taking the potions from the shipment.¡± I growled in irritation, ¡°Where is the mage?¡± The first man, whose name I did not have, spoke, ¡°He is staying at the Cock and Hen down the street. It is the nicest inn in the area.¡± He looked apologetic. Should I have been afraid of confronting a mage¡ªmaybe. I stacked the remaining potions and moved them into my space in one action. I left and did not sign the ledger book to their protests. The Cock and Hen was easy to find. The sign had a proud rooster standing over a pair of chickens. I thought the sign indicated the name should be Cock and Hens but did not dwell on it. I entered to find a few familiar faces in themon room. Men from Durandus¡¯pany who were now assigned to Gregor. I saw Gregor at a table with books spread before him and some maps. I approached, and he slowly looked up, waiting for me to speak. ¡°The men at the warehouse said you mistakenly took Castille¡¯s potions,¡± I stated loudly and clearly. Gregor appraised me, ¡°No, there was no mistake. I just took back the potions I had supplied to Durandus¡¯ failed mission. Since he is not alive to reimburse me for their use, Castille, who suggested the exploration, can reimburse me.¡± He said it calmly, like it made sense. Our confrontation was getting the attention of the legionaries in the room. Damn it. Did Linus know this was going to happen? Was this why he sent me? I looked around the room at the fifteen or so legionaries. They all appeared curious as to the oue of the confrontation. I backed down as I did not want an esction, ¡°I will ry your reasoning to Mage Castille.¡± He twitched slightly as I turned and left. I fast walked to the vi and found Castille, Adrian, Delmar, and Konstantin talking. Adrian, Delmar, and Konstantin were each leading one of the eight-man search teams. ¡°Do you have the potions, Eryk?¡± Delmar asked. ¡°Most.¡± I faced Castille, ¡°Mage Gregor said you owed him potions and took them before I arrived. He took two simple and all three full healing potions,¡± I answered. Anger clouded Castille¡¯s visage, and thin ck tendrils of smokey shadow appeared around her. She said steelily, ¡°I will handle this. Start the searches. Adrian, I will join your team on Fortuna Street.¡± Castille left with a determined walk. Konstantin muttered, ¡°Hope neither ends up dead.¡± He addressed me, ¡°Eryk, let¡¯s divide the potions you did get and move out.¡± It took just a few minutes for Adrian and Delmar to take what they needed, and then I went to get my weapons and shield. I took a medium-round shield with me. House-to-house searches sounded slightly dangerous, and I had been exceedingly lucky in my first fight. When we left, I walked next to Konstantin. ¡°Did anyone get the enemy they said were using the aqueduct to enter the cityst night?¡± He shook his head, ¡°The upper city guard sits on the route, and there is a gate across it. They assured us no one came through. We searched two other businessesst night and found nothing. They were talking about a sewer route, but all the entrances are gated and guarded. The city guard will search the sewers tomorrow.¡± ¡°Do you think they heard us enter and were trying toy a false trail?¡± I asked, and Konstantinughed. ¡°If they heard us, then we wouldn¡¯t have surprised them, and both of us would be dead. The elf was a mage, and Castille thought he was decent at that by the equipment he had on him. You were not the only one luckyst night. Things could have gone much worse if I hadn¡¯t killed the mage first. The dwarf was amander; she had a tattoo on her forearm indicating so. I think she was in charge of this secret assault. Adrian thinks they meant to sabotage one of the gates,¡± Konstantin added doubtfully. ¡°What do you think was their objective?¡± I asked the veteran. He thought for just a moment, ¡°They probably nned to target someone specific. One of our mages or a general. The sewers run under the whole city, so maybe they nned to use them to reach their target.¡± He reached inside his armor and pulled out a small bag. ¡°The soldiers didn¡¯t yield much in terms of essence. They must have been dead too long, but it was unusual the mage did not yield something. I have two power and one dexterity from Castille. All minor essences. You killed the majority of them, which two do you want?¡± I looked at the two dark purple and one dark yellow marble-sized spheres in his hand. I took the yellow sphere and one dark purple. I realized that Konstantin would expect me to consume one immediately, but I was fairly certain I would get negative feedback as it was too soon since I consumed the apex reasoning essence. I put the dexterity essence in my pocket. I made a show of consuming the power essence but actually sent it to my storage. I added the dexterity essence to storage as we moved out. Konstantin popped his own essence into his mouth. ¡°I would have preferred the dexterity,¡± he muttered and mockingly continued, ¡°But you definitely needed it more than me.¡± We searched our first shop, prying the boards off and going through the house. I handed out glowstones to everyone to make the process quicker. I was unsure if I would get them back after mentioning they were from Durandus. Firth¡¯s argument was they should have been sent to the Legion Hall warehouse and avable to everyone. So, he argued that I had saved them the trip of heading to the lower city to get one. Everyone agreed with his argument, and Konstantin looked to be sympathetic but smirked and kept the one I lent him as well. Glowstones were a bit of a luxury item at a little over a gold coin each. I now had four remaining. We searched two residences, a cobbler shop, a butcher, and a furniture maker. We did not find anything. It was near darkness, and Konstantin announced, ¡°We will head to the vi and get dinner before continuing.¡± Some good-natured groans erupted, knowing we were not finished for the day. As we walked through the orchards, a town guard came rushing up behind us, ¡°Legionaries! Come quick! The Discement Mage has been attacked and killed!¡± I looked at Konstantin, who had the ¡®I told you so¡¯ look. This was terrible news, as a Discement Mage was needed to operate the portal stones on both ends of the connection. Most cities had just one since they were rare¡ªand I believed that was the case for Macha. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Guess they couldn¡¯t wait to set up an array around the city to cut us off from the rest of the Empire,¡± Konstantin roared and jogged after the anxious city guard, leading us to the scene. Chapter 40: Massacre Chapter 40: Massacre Chapter 40 We ran at the hustling guard¡¯s pace to the upper city¡¯s far side. For some reason, everyone formed up into ranks as we jogged. Wylie loudly asked a question for everyone to hear: ¡°Where were his legionnaire guards?¡± Firth grunted, ¡°He should have had at least a dozen. My guess is they are all dead as well.¡± Konstantin, leading us, shouted back, ¡°He had fifteen. I checked this morning and warned them of the enemy in the city.¡± We turned to a wide street with opulent buildings of white marble highlighted with ck granite. We had not patrolled this part of the city, and the polished stone made for an impressive site. Even the road was made from textured gray granite. Regis muttered, ¡°Damn. In my next life, I want to be a Portal Mage.¡± ¡°If Janus bestows you that blessing for the life of debauchery you have lived, I might as well not try to be so pious any longer!¡± Pavel grunted. ¡°Who is Janus?¡± I asked no one in particr. Firth responded, ¡°You don¡¯t have gods in yournds, Eryk? Janus is our god of Rebirth. The god of endings and new beginnings.¡± I had heard some old Roman gods worshiped and even passed by a few temples in the cities, but I had never heard people worshiping them openly before. Maybe in a world of magic, their miracles were less important. Even though the guard leading us was sucking wind, we could all talk easily at his slow pace. I asked, ¡°How many gods do you worship in Telhian?¡±Firth barked with mirth, ¡°You do not worship the gods. You respect them and ask for favors.¡± Wylie added to my knowledge, ¡°There are maybe thirty faces of divinity the First Legion brought with them. But the only true god you will ever see is an ancient dragon delivering its vengeance on a city.¡± There were murmurs of agreement. We slowed to a walk as we could see a number of our legionpany milling outside one of the residences. There did not appear to be any current threat, as they were just guarding the building and keeping people away. Konstantin went inside, and we talked to the other members. ¡°It is a blood bath in there. They broke through the wall in the basement,¡± Lucien said to us. Orson added, ¡°Foul magic, just ripped the men apart.¡± Firth asked seriously, ¡°How many of ours dead?¡± ¡°The mage and all of his men, maybe twenty in total when you include his family. But there are so many body parts around it is hard to count,¡± Orson added. ¡°Did they kill any of the Bartirdians?¡± Wylie asked. Olson nodded. ¡°Eighteen, I think, maybe neen. They retreated back into the sewers after they killed the mage.¡± Konstantin came outside, ¡°Eryk, you are needed inside.¡± I started walking, confused, ¡°Which potion?¡± Konstantin shook his head no, and said, ¡°Castille is going into the sewers. Go see her.¡± I swore in my mind. Every time there was a dangerous mission, I was involved. I would have been better off lugging rocks in a quarry to pay back the farmers. I might have ended up crippled, but at least I would have been alive. I entered the house and passed the entryway; blood and gore made the floor slick and slippery. I paused at the carnage that covered the once gorgeous polished stone walls and floors. They were not kidding. Bodies were ripped apart at the torso. The site didn¡¯t faze me as much as it would have just a month ago. I was immune to the metallic smell of blood. The dead eyes of the men still gave me the chills, and I avoided making eye contact. I was waved into the basement and found Adrian, Delmar, and Castille talking by an opening in the wall, emitting a foul odor. Large stones from the wall were strewn on the floor. By the rancid smell, it was definitely an ess to the sewers. Castille looked up, and I dreaded what she was going to say. ¡°Eryk, I need you to harvest the essence from the men here, just the enemies. I do not have time to do it myself. Here,¡± she handed me her essence collector, and I was confused. Happy would be a better word, as I was not going into the sewers. I turned over the disc that was twice the diameter of mine in my hands. Castille snapped, ¡°Do you not know how to use it?¡± Panic welled up. Was this a test? Did she suspect I had taken the essence from the others? I yed stupid, ¡°No, I have never used this,¡± I indicated the device I held. ¡°The only magical item I have ever used was the trantion amulet in training.¡± Castille studied me for just a moment, eyes narrowing slightly. ¡°Were you able to charge the amulet?¡± I nodded. ¡°It is the same. Just keep the center of the collector between the heart and head, rest it on the body, but keep it level. If you don¡¯t, the formed essence will roll off the disc.¡± She did not give any more of an exnation as she went into the opening, followed by Delmar, Adrian, Konstantin, and two members of the city guard. There were three bodies in the basement, and I moved to the first one. He had been wearing fine chain mail, but it had not saved him from a spear to the heart. Not that using a spear inside the confines of a house would have been my first choice. Iid the disc and was interrupted as Firth came down the stairs, ¡°Did they already head in?¡± ¡°Castille was leading them into the sewers,¡± I pointed at the destroyed wall. ¡°I will not let them have any fun without me,¡± Firth grumbled as he made his way to the opening. If Firth thought trudging through other people¡¯s shit was fun, I needed new friends. The other men started moving the bodies of the dead legionnaires and the mage and his family outside. I used the collector on the enemies and ended with one apex strength essence. Three major essences, one each of power, endurance, and quickness. And ten lesser essences that were a mix of strength, constitution, and endurance. I put all of them into a bag. Fourteen of eighteen bodies had given an essence. I started helping move the bodies. Outside, there was a cart to take them away. Wylie noted dead bodies in a city during a siege spread disease, so we needed to get them buried outside the city before the enemy arrived and surrounded the walls. I noticed Mage Gregor walking toward us on the road with nine of his men at his back, walking in a three-by-three square. Orson, ourpany¡¯s other scout, went to talk with him since all our leadership was kneedeep in shit. They were too far away to overhear, and I continued back into the residence to remove more bodies. I asked Wylie, ¡°Do we have to clean up the blood too?¡± ¡°No, when Castille returns, she will hire some citizens to do it. The Empire owns this building. The Discement Mage just gets to live here as part of his extensivepensation,¡± Wylie said while we carried the top and bottom half of a body outside on a bed sheet. The residence was extremelyvish from what I had seen in my time so far in the Telhian Empire. The furniture was exotic wood, the library was filled with leather-bound books, every room had a woven rug, and the bedrooms looked almost modern to my eye. Of course, everything was marred by blood and body parts. When we got outside on this trip, Mage Gregor was getting animated, and from the wisps of the conversation, he did not sound happy that Mage Castille had traveled into the sewers to search for the assassins. I think he was mostly worried about being the only mage left to defend the city from the approaching army. On the next trip, we went upstairs and grabbed thest body. I recognized the man, and it was the third judge in the Tribunal I attended when I returned with the remains of Durandus¡¯ men. ¡°It looked like he was killed defending his family,¡± Wylie muttered. I noticed the blood stains of bodies already removed by others. We loaded him onto a bed sheet and carried him outside with the others. Four of Gregor¡¯s legionaries went into the basement as we brought the mage¡¯s body to the cart. Gregor left with the rest of his men. I still had Castille¡¯s essence collector on my back and was curious to know what the mage would yield. But it seemed Castille¡¯s policy was only to harvest the enemy, not our own. I asked Orson, who was cursing up a storm after Mage Gregor left, ¡°Orson, should I harvest all the bodies for essence? Castille only told me to collect the enemy.¡± A highly irritated Orson replied, ¡°Castille believes if you take the essence from a person, they are weaker when they are reborn into their next life. If you want to give your essence to your family when you die, just let her know. She will arrange it if she can,¡± Orson replied hastily before going into the residence and following Gregor¡¯s men. Twelve men of thepany stood covered in blood while civilians took the carts away. There was some uncertainty, so I offered, ¡°How about six of us remain here, and the rest go to the vi to eat and clean up? When you are fed and clean,e back and relieve us.¡± I picked the men I knew to return first. Brutus, Mateo, Felix, Pavel, Regis, and Wylie. It felt awkward being the least experienced person in the group to give an order¡ªor maybe it was a suggestion. They followed it, and we were left. I told three men, Donte, Benito, and Linus to go to the basement and stand guard over the passage. I remained outside with two legionaries I had not talked much with, ze and Caius. ze was the best archer in thepany, and Caius was not too far behind. Caius was also deadly urate with a pilum out to fifty paces. We stood in the sun while brushing away flies, trying tond andy eggs on our blood-soaked uniforms. Caius asked, ¡°Did you actually kill five men to Konstantin¡¯s two?¡± There was a note of disbelief in his voice. I had learned that Konstantin was probably the best raw fighter in thepany. ¡°No, just four. Thest one killed herself,¡± I replied, trying to sound modest. ze injected, ¡°She was so dazzled by your skill, she just jumped on your de? Maybe we should put you at the front of an army, and you can conquer the world for the Empire, the great Satis Galdio!¡± He said in good-natured teasing, using the nickname I had been saddled with. I countered, ¡°She was thest one standing and did not want to be captured,¡± I said softly, reflecting that I did not think I would be brave enough to sacrifice myself in such a manner. I had to respect the dwarf woman. Silence reigned for a while until Mateo and Felix came strolling down the road. I released ze and Caius to return to the vi. I guess I was somehow in charge. Brutus, Pavel, and Regis returned next, and I sent them to the basement. Wylie came a half hourter, eating arge bun sold on carts in the city. He handed me one from inside his armor with a big smile. I gave him a curt thank you as I left to be thest one to return to the vi. It waste evening, and I thought I deserved to take a side trip to the baths. I had only walked maybe fifty yards when a shout came from behind me, ¡°Castille¡¯s back.¡± I froze mid-step and slowly returned. As they emerged from below, we all kept our distance as the smell was horrendous. ¡°Where is everyone?¡± Castille asked. I answered from a safe distance, ¡°I sent half the men back to wash and eat. When they returned, the others went. I was thest one.¡± I pulled the pouch and held my breath as I approached and handed her the essences and her collector before backing away. I then continued, ¡°Fourteen essences from the eighteen dead men.¡± Castille nodded, ¡°Fourteen of eighteen. A good ratio for how long they were dead. We were very unfortunate only to yield three of seven from yesterday.¡± She held my eyes, and I sensed her evaluating me. She broke the stare and announced to the men who did not travel with her, ¡°They copsed part of the sewer, so we could not pursue. They have a very strong air mage with them. We will need to continue searching the city till we find them. We have three days before the enemy surrounds the city. We can not have that air mage inside our walls waiting to strike.¡± She turned and walked down the road with her chin high like her shit didn¡¯t stink. The other urine and feces-soaked members followed, and I was d that I had my own room at the vi. I took a different path, not wanting to walk in their wake. I headed toward the lower city baths just in case our leaders thought to stop in the upper city baths. Chapter 41: Discipline Chapter 41: Discipline Chapter 41 The lower city baths had a number of regrs and civilians. As I entered, they eyed me in curiosity in my bloody legionnaire armor and clothes. There was only argemunal shower here¡ªno hot soaking tubs. The young boy attendant approached me. ¡°Three copper for a rinse and seven to wash your armor and clothes,¡± he informed me. ¡°Do you have any soaking tubs?¡± I asked looking quickly over the array of naked me showering. ¡°Sorry, legionnaire. We only have two private tubs, and both are in use. Everyone is here because the water rationing will start soon,¡± the young boy said. I nodded and stripped down. I handed him tworge coppers, ¡°Please make a double effort on the cleaning. Do you have an oil for the leather?¡± ¡°Yes, legionnaire! I will take care of it,¡± he snatched the coins and bundled my gear and clothes together. I went to reach for one of the scrubbers and used soaps, but the boy said, ¡°Wait! I will get you a new scrubber and block.¡± The boy moved my things to a back room and returned with an abrasive brush and a new block of hard soap. The brush was not new, just clean. The ones on themunal shelf I had been about to grab had small growths of ck mold. I gratefully took the clean abrasive brush and a new bar of soap. This bar was free of prior users¡¯ hair embedded in it. The next time I used themon baths, I was bringing my own soap. I moved to an open shower. I was taller than most men. The average height of men in the Empire was around 5¡¯7¡±, and at almost 6¡¯1¡±, I was tallpared to the men around me. My shoulders were square from my training, and they moved aside as I walked to an open spigot. The soldiers around me were muscled but lean as I stood between the two of them in the cold trickle of water as I began to scrub. A regr with short ck hair to my right asked, ¡°We heard the portal mage was killed. Is it true legionnaire?¡± ¡°It is. This blood I am cleaning off of me is from the cleanup. We got about half the infiltrators, but some remain in the city,¡± I replied without thinking. I realized I should have restrained myself from giving too much information. The Discement Mage had been under the protection of Legion men, so it was a failure on our part to protect him.The guard on my other side grunted hoarsely, ¡°They will begin rationing at the next meal, trust me.¡± ¡°So soon? I heard the Bartirdians are still a week away. We can still get shipments along the road,¡± the guard on the other side added. ¡°Unlikely. The men in the east tower at the Tarder¡¯s Gate say their griffin riders scouts can already be seen,¡± the gruff guard replied. I knew we expected the army in about three days, but I remained silent and listened to the soldier¡¯s banter. ¡°The west gate is packed with those with enough sense to flee,¡± another soldier offered. ¡°We have been searching the wagons and confiscating half their food.¡± A guard on the other side questioned, ¡°The general is allowing that?¡± ¡°He is paying them a few silver, but he ordered it done. I am more concerned that the entire staff at the Summer¡¯s Flowers has left. Best brothel in the city,¡± another man griped. ¡°You mean the only one you can afford!¡± barked another man who had to dodge a scrub brush. The conversation devolved into what constituted a good brothel. I finished scrubbing. My clothes were not finished, so I went and sat in another room with cold stone benches to air dry. The young boy who washed my clothes handed me a towel and apologized, ¡°We are no longer burning wood to heat this room and the water. Give me another hour to finish cleaning your clothes and armor.¡± He rushed away, and I waited. I heard the echo of conversation from the showers but ignored it. When my clothes and gear were brought, I tipped the boy anotherrge copper for his effort. He had wrung out my clothes, but they were still damp. I made my way to the vi, and the city seemed to ept its inevitable fate. Several civilians were leaving toward the west gate withrge packs on their backs. Without the portal mage, resupplying the soldiers was going to be impossible. Konstantin had said when they surrounded the city, they would have set up a magic array that would have prevented the portal stones from working, but I guessed they couldn¡¯t wait. By the tension and thickening fear in the city, the Bartiradian assassination of the Discement Mage had done more than just cut us off from the Empire. The city guards at the entrance to the upper city had been doubled. I reached the vi to find a flurry of activity. Thepany was hauling in casks of water and food from the citadel nearby. I approached and asked, ¡°What is happening?¡± Mateo answered, wheeling a cask into the vi, ¡°The Citadel guard is being moved to the upper city by order of the Baron¡¯s Advisor to protect the residences of the nobility from inevitable looting. They abandoned their barracks in the Citadel, and Lirkin told us to grab everything we could before they realized they needed it.¡± Heughed, wheeling the wine cask inside. Was this an every person for themselves siege? I did not think we wouldst too long if it turned out that way. I went to my room to drop my gear and started helping everyone. Our vi was in the orchards and gardens adjacent to the Citadel. The Citadel was the central fortification of the city. It was also the residence of the count who ruled the city and where he housed his royal guards. Thest count was dead, and now an interim baron was running the city. It was my understanding that the baron left the city to join the army that was going to rescue the city and wipe out all the Bartiradians sieging it. It all sounded extremelyplicated and may make a great tragic y, but I would have preferred not to live through it. I dropped my gear in my room, stripped my armor, and went to help. The citadel was only a hundred yards from our vi, and I went into a heavy oak door in the fortification. I followed everyone else down into their storage room. It was massive, easily a hundred feet long and forty feet wide. The stone sheveling was polished, and hundreds of crates, bags, and casks lined the series of shelving. Large glow stones in the ceiling lighted the space. Wylie elbowed me softly, ¡°Come on, Eryk. We need to grab as much before they realize it.¡± I picked up a sixty-pound sackbeled as flour and walked back to the vi. The line of men carrying and pushing foodstuffs had stopped outside the vi. Castile and thepany leaders had returned from the baths and were staring at us. Delmar spoke for the group, ¡°Just what the in a demon¡¯s asshole do you think you are all doing!¡± His voice started soft but gradually increased into a scream. We were a bunch of kids with their hands in the cookie jar. Regis was at the front of the line and spoke, ¡°Lirkin said to grab what we could.¡± It did not sound very convincing. Castile looked over the line, made eye contact with each person, and then went inside the vi, not saying anything. A quick conference between Delmar and Adrian, and then Delmar spoke, ¡°Bring it inside. BUT NO MORE TRIPS unless ordered.¡± I walked into the kitchen to bring the flour down to therder. Castile was talking with Lirkin in the corner of the kitchen. I didn¡¯t linger to overhear and went and deposited the flour and then retreated to my room. I secured the room and tried to study my healing spell form book, but fatigue overtook me, and I fell asleep with the book in myp. A loud banging on the door woke me, ¡°Eryk, food. Dress for patrol.¡± The voice belonged to Konstantin. I suited up and met everyone in therge dining room as we did the nightly ritual. The food was a dense bread with a thick stew. The stew was mostly meat with a few purple potatoes. As we ate, Castile climbed up on the table, surprising all of us as she paced its length, obviously unhappy. I had never seen her angry, so maybe she was angry. After walking two lengths, she spoke, ¡°We are in Jupiter¡¯s shit storm. The heart of it! You know I appreciate the initiative, as stupidity can get everyone killed. The actions today were idiocy beyondpare. The lower city is as tight as a witches¡¯ arse, and the looting will begin tonight. Keeping order is going to be a full-time upation for the city guards and army. THEN I COME HERE AND FIND MY OWN MEN LOOTING THE CITADEL FOR FOOD!¡± Ok, she was definitely angry by her tone, and I was not the only one shocked. She paused in theplete silence and calmed, ¡°Not only did I already secure enough food for us to make it the month, but the citadel guards could have attacked and killed one of you and had just cause!¡± She paced the table, ¡°Lirkin, you are relieved of cooking duties. Lysander will take over.¡± The whole table groaned, and I knew that was because I had often been informed that Lirkin was the only decent cook among our number. He had cooked for a baron¡¯s son before joining the legion. Castile stopped the groans with a look and continued, ¡°The regrs will be on guard at the sewer entrances. We are not going into the sewers to find the Bartiradians.¡± No one cheered because there was a feeling there was going to be a ¡®but.¡¯ ¡°We will be continuing our night patrol of the upper city, and until the armyes to siege the city, you will each also be patrolling the lower city for five hours during the day.¡± She began pacing again and announced, ¡°No one leaves the vi without permission, and no one travels alone in the city starting now. We believe maybe twenty Bartiradians survived the attack on the Discement Mage. Some were injured, but the signs we found in the sewer indicate they have a healer and powerful air mage amongst them. Those who witnessed the carnage saw what the air mage could do to a body. We believe,¡± she spun slowly to look everyone in the eye, ¡°they will try to kill the other two Legion mages in the city.¡± She was referring to herself and Gregor. She continued, ¡°Konstantin believes they are smart and will work to thin ourpany before attacking me directly.¡± She let that sink in before she stepped gracefully off the table onto a chair and then the floor and walked away. Adrian announced patrol groups and their routes through the city. ¡°Eryk, Brutus, Mateo, and Wylie. You have Veritas Street from the main road to the west gate.¡± My confusion could not be hidden. I interrupted Adrian, ¡°I do not understand. Who is in charge of our group?¡± Adrian smirked and looked me in the eye. His dark brown eyes showed mirth, ¡°You are. When a group is announced, the leader is the first person mentioned. We think you can handle it.¡± Damn it. This was because I took charge outside the residence of Discement Mage after the cleanup. I looked at the three men around me¡ªI guess under mymand. Brutus and Wylie had huge grins on. Mateo looked bored. I processed and then ordered, ¡°I want everyone equipped with a short sword, buckler, dagger, and spear. Bring a small canteen of water only.¡± I pointed at Mateo, knowing he liked to mix a little alcohol in to give his water vor. ¡°Be back here in fifteen minutes.¡± After three weeks in thepany, I was already being given responsibility beyond carrying around potions. Chapter 42: Growing Pains Chapter 42: Growing Pains Chapter 42 While my squad went to gear up, Konstantin walked over to me. He was surelying to give me some wisdom, but instead, I pleaded, ¡°Why me?¡± He arched his eyebrows in amusement. ¡°Eryk, you showed yourself to be capable multiple times. In the dungeon, surviving Durandus, in the basement against Bartiradians, and then directing the men to a rotation while we explored the sewers.¡± ¡°I have only been with Castile for a few weeks. Everyone has logged more time than me,¡± I argued. ¡°Eryk, you are in charge of just three men doing our safest patrol route. We are giving you the easiest, most docile pony to ride. If you fall off, then Castile can minimize her losses,¡± Konstantin exined. ¡°Now you can keep two healing salves and two minor potions in your space. Everything else ising out. When you get back from patrol, see Delmar, and you can store them again.¡± I removed the potion racks, took the four potions out, and put them back into my space. Konstantin then gave me the expected wisdom, ¡°Eryk, keep to the main street and never split the group. Keep all four of you together at all times. Most of the buildings in the area you are exploring are abandoned and empty. The regrs should have swept them all during the day, so do not expect much action. If you find anyone past curfew, just question them, and angrily order them home. A legionnaire yelling at them is usually enough to set fire to their pants.¡± Konstantin muttered as he walked away, ¡°Although you did fall off your first horse.¡± Mateo and Wylie arrived together, followed by Brutus. We headed down through the orchards and past the checkpoints. The city guardsmen were tense as this would be the first night the city was aware the Bartiradian army was marching. On the main thoroughfare, I ordered, ¡°Brutus to the front. You are best with the spear. Mateo, to the left because you are right-handed. Wylie, you are on the right because you think you always are. I will be in the back, diamond formation, spear¡¯s length apart.¡± Wylie retorted, ¡°If you can name one time I was wrong, you can have thest of my griffin jerky, Eryk.¡±Mateoughed loudly, ¡°Oh, let me count the times!¡± ¡°Mateo! Come on; we are friends! No, helping the new pack leader here,¡± Wylie pleaded jokingly. ¡°Give me the jerky, and I won¡¯t help him,¡± Mateoughed, but Wylie pulled a wrapped bundle from under his chest piece, took a piece for himself, and tossed it to Mateo. The bag was circled around the four of us until it was empty. The griffin jerky was one of the best things I had eaten since arriving in the world of Desia. We reached Veritas Street, and the sun was setting. There was not much daylight left, ¡°Let us head down and stay in the middle of the street.¡± The curfew required everyone to be inside after sunset. As we walked, civilians hurried home, most carrying bundles with them. The oil streetmps had been lit, but only every other one. It was a way to ration the oil in lieu of the siege. At sunset, we started stopping people and questioning them. I found myself doing the same thing Konstantin had done when he trained me. After each encounter, I would ask the men questions. I found it was a good way to discover something I may have missed. We walked up and down the our patrol route. At the west gate, seven city guardsmen were stationed at the barred city entry point. The guardsmen could also see us walking the entire route, so if we got into trouble, they could help us. I really was on the kiddie patrol route. And I had no trouble with that at all. I remained in the back all night but cycled the other three. After a while, checking behind me every thirty steps became a habit. Sometimes, I checked in between as well to make it appear random. That was one thing Konstantin had repeatedly said, ¡®on patrol, do not be predictable.¡¯ To go along with that, we did not walk the length of the road back and forth but sometimes turned around and headed back. On one such quick turn, we caught a man rushing across the street. Wylie sprinted after him and caught him before he reached an alley since he was burdened with a heavy load. It appeared he had a bag heavy with silver cutlery, candlesticks, and two medium mirrors. The mirrors shattered when Wylie tackled him. He was definitely a thief, and we dragged him to the guards at the tower to handle him. That was our only real excitement for my first night as a patrol leader. As the crack of dawn appeared above the city walls, we headed back to the vi. We had slightly burnt bread and watery oatmeal filled with candied fruit in the kitchen. The wholepany was suffering. Wylie chirped, ¡°I hope not all the cart vendors fled the city. If they did, I am going to starve.¡± He still forced down the food,thering the bread in a quarter inch of butter. It wasn¡¯t Lysander¡¯s fault. The only thing he knew how to do well was boil and mash potatoes. I admit it was an apt punishment for looting the stores of the citadel. Adrian gave me all the potions to store in my space to extend their shelf life. I would have to pull them again before the squads went on night patrol. Adrian said Castile¡¯s squad found two of the Bartaridans hiding in an attic. Both were killed by Castille and the men with her, but if they had all split up into pairs, it was going to make finding them all extremely difficult. It was obvious Castille wanted the threat of the air mage to be dealt with soon by her efforts. The lower city patrol was another part of our punishment, but it was not as bad as it sounded. Each unit had to make a zig-zag trip through the lower city, about a four-mile route. After being on our feet all night, it would not be too much fun, but it would only take about two hours. I volunteered my squad for the first route. Mateo grumbled discontentment, but it would allow us to get continuous sleep and edible food in the city for the rest of the day. The patrol went quickly, and we got mystery meat pies from a vendor. Brutus was sure it was horse meat, but Mateo argued it was a rat. Since the chunks of meat were sorge, I ruled in favor of Brutus. It was still better than what Lysander was preparing for lunch. I actually think it was a conspiracy, as there was no way someone could be that bad at cooking. Mateo warned me not toin, or I would end up helping Lysander do the cooking. When we got back, I reported to Delmar so he could send the next squad out. I retreated to my room and secured the door. I gotfortable on my bed and pulled out my four essences. It had been long enough that I could assimte another one. They felt solid in my hands as I rolled them. I had therge one, which was an affinity for one of the magics. The dark purple major essence of strength and two minor essences, one dark yellow dexterity and one dark orange one of power. I knew I was going to try the magic affinity essence even before I pulled them all out. I sent the other three back and held the ball. ck and gray swirls flowed around the surface of the brown ball. It gave the ball life while it emitted a strong glow. Holding it, I could feel the power within, yearning to be consumed. I dropped it into my mouth and felt a warmth spread from the ball throughout my body. At first, it was euphoric, but then my muscles spasmed. I rolled in the fetal position and shoved my griffin feather pillow into my face as I started screaming in real pain. It felt like I was being pulled apart. No, something was trying to fill me, and there was no room¡ªso it was making room. I started swearing violently into the pillow as my body started sweating uncontrobly. My muscles clenched, and it was too painful to move significantly. I was helpless as I tried to ride out whatever was happening. I thought about screaming for help but kept the pillow over my face. I was starting to feel fairly certain my heart would explode as I could hear it pounding in my ears at a tempo well beyond a safe limit. My dder released without me being able to hold back. I managed to keep my bowels contained, at least. Minutes passed, and I finally started to feel the pressure alleviating. I rolled out of bed and dragged the bedding to the floor to try and save the mattress from the urine. My clothes were drenched in sweat. It looked like I had saved the mattress¡ªno wet spots. The cold stone floor also felt very nice on my heated body. I curled into a ball and passed out. I wokete in the day with a thirst I had never experienced before. I drank therge canteen, filled it from my space, and drank it again before my thirst satiated. I stripped and put on clean, dry clothes, then bundled the filthy urine-stench clothes and nket into a roll. I would be slightly embarrassed having them washed, but it needed to be done. I also smelled beyond ripe. I almost could not stand my own smell. It almost matched Castile and the others emerging from the sewers. I sat at the desk as I pondered my life choices. I think I understood what had happened. It had been simple when I thought about it. The magic affinity, whatever it had been, was one I had not had. I had an effectual zero in the attribute. So, the essence had made a space for itself on my aether core. Even now, I could feel the change when I used my limited aether maniption skills. The expansion of my core still felt raw, and my aether core was healing itself with the new addition. I really wanted to know what I had gained by racing to a tablet, but we could only travel in groups when we left the vi, and it would get back to Castile that I had used a tablet. I would have to wait. I definitely needed to get to the baths. I opened the door and eventually found Lucian, Linus, and Benito would go to the upper city baths with me. After they caught a whiff of me, they kept their distance from me as we walked. I was looking forward to getting clean once again. Chapter 43: Enemy at the Gates Chapter 43: Enemy at the Gates Chapter 43 As we walked to the baths, Linus asked from a safe-smelling distance, ¡°How was your first night in charge, Eryk? Did you have to chase someone into the sewer?¡± I was walking behind the group so they didn¡¯t have to smell me, ¡°Something like that. I mistook a bedpan for a clothes-washing basin,¡± I fabricated a tale simr to something I heard Firth tell about one of his trips to a brothel. They startedughing and thankfully dropped the subject. I listened to their tales of their overnight patrol. Nothing too exceptional happened, they stopped three break-ins and turned the criminals over to the city guard. The holding cells were over capacity in the city, so the prisoners were tasked with constructing barricades to be used in the city. We arrived at the baths, and I embarrassedly asked for my clothes bundled in a nket to be washed. The young woman recognized me from when I broke in over a week ago after returning from my swamp excursion. I pulled her aside to exin why my clothes were filthy, ¡°I am sorry about this, but my legion mates tossed my clothes and nket in the pig pen. I could not get them clean. An entire silver bonus if you get the smellpletely out,¡± I said pleadingly. Her eyes brightened at the incentive, and I noticed she was the only one working. ¡°Where is everyone? Were there not three of youst time I was here?¡± She nodded, ¡°They left with their families yesterday afternoon. About half the city is gone now. My parents died two winters back, and my only other family is in Bartiradiannds.¡± ¡°So you are alone in the city?¡± I asked the young woman with a mildly suggestive tone. She was in-looking but not unattractive. I guessed her age to be close to Renna, about 19. ¡°I live with my older brother, who is a guard in the lower city,¡± she said, blushing slightly. She focused on my clothes, scrunching her nose, ¡°I can boil the bundle with lye, white ash, and oil scents. It worked on thest group you hade through here smelling this foul.¡±¡°Great! Can you wash what I am wearing separately as well?¡± I said while removing my clothes. She seemed uncertain as she was the only one working and had a lot of piles ofundry to do. I produced two silver coins, one for the bath, one for her bonus, and onerge copper as an additional bonus, ¡°Please?¡± I asked, handing her the coins. She nodded, and I did catch her eyes look down for a moment. I still was not ustomed to the fact that nudity was not a taboo in the Empire. She handed me a new bar of soap and a clean scrubber. Unlike the baths in the lower city, everyone got new soap and a clean scrubber in these baths. ¡°Thank you. What is your name?¡± It actually seemed a little absurd to ask her name in my state. ¡°Carina,¡± she said shyly, tossing my clothes in a woven basket, trying not to touch the foul-smelling ones. ¡°Thank you, Carina,¡± I said with a reassuring smile and moved to the showers. Mypanions had already cleaned in the showers and moved into themunal hot tub. I spent a much longer time scrubbing my skin raw to remove the scent of whatever the apex magic essence did to me. I settled into the heated pool with the others. I think I had been sessful in removing the odor from my body. My skin was raw from the scrubbing and a bit sensitive to the hot water, but the heat was divine on my sore muscles. The training did not get me sore any longer, but my spasming muscles from consuming the magic affinity essence had done a number on me. My body felt like the first day in the legion training barracks. I was quite good at hiding my soreness but settling into the water, I let out an audible sigh. ¡°You should just visit the brothels, Eryk. Too much work in pursuing the young bath girls. And then, half the time, you have to deal with their irate lovers,¡± Lucian advised with a smirk. Lucian was the horse master for thepany and taught me to ride. Benito remarked with mirth, ¡°Yeah, you rubbed yourself red, and I doubt that she wants to deal with a tomato of your bulk. She probably prefers a smaller and more handsome package,¡± he indicated himself. Benito was the shortest man in ourpany at about 5¡¯5¡±. He preferred a body shield and a short sword inbat to serve in the shield wall. Linus, ourpany medic, said, ¡°Our young friend has more sense than the both of you. Benito, you spent nearly half your silver from the snake at the brothel! And the other half getting cleansed of the crotch crickets!¡± ¡°It was still worth it!¡± Benito pouted, ¡°For Mars¡¯ de, we might not see the end of the week. I prefer my coin spent and my urges satisfied.¡± Benito¡¯s reminder of our dire circumstances killed the verbal jousting. Mypanions left and informed me they were headed two buildings down for food. I could meet them there, and they wished me luck with the young woman. It was not Carina who came and told me my clothes were ready but the older woman who ran the bathhouse. She scolded me, ¡°My girls can do better than a muscled brute. I would prefer if you and your Legion men avoided my baths altogether! I suppose the enemy is going to sabotage the aqueduct when they arrive, and my baths will be shut down. Until then, legionnaire, I suggest the lower city baths!¡± She dropped my two wickerundry baskets at my feet to emphasize the point I was not wee. I take she did not like soldiers for some reason. I dressed and noted that my clothes and nket now had a strong floral scent. Carina did an excellent job. I decided, the Mistress of the baths be damned, if I wanted to take a bath in fancy upper city baths, I would. I met the others at a small caf¨¦ style restaurant. They were eating something akin to a thick taco, and I joined them. I mentioned, ¡°Life seems too normal for a city that is about to be attacked.¡± Lucian spoke as he ate, ¡°The civilians don¡¯t care. This city has been passed back and forth a dozen times in thest hundred years. When the fighting starts, they will hide in their basements,e out when it is all over, and resume their lives no matter who controls the city.¡± It made sense now why that bookstore vendor did not care to flee. I asked, ¡°So, they will not loot the city if they conquer it?¡± Lucian was shaking his head in the negative, ¡°If they did, then it would be hard to find civilians who wanted to settle in the city so close to the border. It is just the soldiers that pay the price in the border expansion wars with the Bartiradians. You could almost call it a war with civility!¡± Heughed at his joke. ¡°Now, when we fight the orcs of Boutan Caliphate, that is a bloody war of attrition,¡± Linus added to the conversation. Benito contributed his knowledge, ¡°We haven¡¯t fought the Boutan orcs on the northern penins in a century. If we leave them alone, they will keep to their own.¡± Lucian disagreed, ¡°Their Supreme Cleric has been pushing his people to settle the ins across the ocean to the west of the Telhian Empire. Even though the swamps separate ournds there, trust me, there will be war soon.¡± Benitoughed, ¡°When have we ever not been at war? The Emperors have been trying to conquer all of Desia for two thousand years. Besides, the Esenhem Elves block thend passage to the penins.¡± ¡°You are daft, Benito. Have you ever heard of a boat? How do you think they settled the western ins?¡± Lucian spoke in disbelief. I had not talked too much with Benito, but he dide off as a bit of an idiot. Linus focused on me with a knowing smile and asked, ¡°So, Eryk. No luck with the young bath attendant?¡± I rolled my eyes at the question, ¡°The Mistress of the baths warned me off.¡± The entire group startedughing. Lucian so hard his face turned red. Linus consoled me, ¡°Well, this is the upper city, Eryk. She probably only works in the baths tond herself a wealthy patron. We are just men who swing big swords.¡± Lucienughed, stood, and pped me on my back, ¡°Some bigger than others. Let us get back to the vi before Castile sends out a search party.¡± We had eaten enough to avoid Lysander¡¯s dinner tonight. My overnight patrol remained the same, and the night got interesting as a fire was set in one of the warehouses on our street not long into our patrol. The first story of every building in the city was made from stone and mortar. The second and sometimes third floors were wood. The warehouse that was burning could not be saved, and the fire brigade was focused on just containing it and preventing it from spreading to other buildings. As the fire brigade arrived, I ordered my men, ¡°Let us keep an eye out in case this was set as a distraction. Keep in the center of the road, and do not watch the fire burn.¡± Maybe I was being paranoid, but something felt off. I moved us toward the city¡¯s outer walls so we wouldn¡¯t be in the path of the smoke. Brutus felt it, too, ¡°Seems awfully convenient to have the warehouse burn down,¡± as the mes started to reach higher and higher, and would easily be seen from anywhere in the city. Two loud, shrill whistles rang out from a few streets away. That was the signal the Legion used to alert others that the enemy was near. Faint sounds ofbat could be heard even with the fire and men trying to contain it nearby. Everyone looked to me for direction. ¡°Form up tight behind me. Fast jog,¡± I ordered as I broke into a jog, heading toward the sounds ofbat. We ran to the main thoroughfare and toward the upper city. It was just three streets down when we ran into the fighting. It was one of our patrols. The legionnaires were engaged with a dozen men. ¡°Full Run!¡± I screamed as I bolted forward, ignoring the formation. My scream was to draw the attention of the attackers to give our men some relief. On quick inspection, one of our men was already down, and two looked severely injured. The legion men had their backs to building, protecting the downed man. A spear shed from over my shoulder, and then two more. Two of the three spears connected with the assants. One was a chest strike, and the other a hip strike. Both targets copsed and screeched in pain. With a spear in them they were effectively out ofbat. The odds were much better, seven of us versus eleven of them. I had miscounted, there were actually thirteen enemies. I didn¡¯t throw my own spear. Instead, I preferred to charge with it. My target was one of the attackers closer to our defending men. He was distracted, and I took him through the side, losing my spear two feet into his oblique and exiting out his belly. I released the spear, unable to retrieve it, and pulled my short sword, deflecting a sh from another man. My men reached us, and in the dim light of the oil streetmps, the carnage of battle waged. My focus was not to let any of the enemy behind me. I was able to identify the four men we were trying to rescue. Orson, Lirkin, ze and Caius. ze was the man who was down. He was trying to hold his neck while blood oozed from the wound. I didn¡¯t think as I yelled, ¡°Form a wall around ze! Give me time to get to him.¡± As if by magic, the six legionnaires pushed the attackers back, and I was able to kneel by ze and get him both the lesser potions from my storage space into his mouth. The blood was slowing, but I didn¡¯t have time to help further, as the effort to create space for me had gotten Brutus injured. It looked like Lirkin had a serious thigh wound, and Orson was fighting one-handed. I joined the fray, and it turned into an exchange of des. Another squad of men was running toward us, led by Firth. I could hear not what he was screaming, but the remaining attackers ran. I returned to ze and checked on him. He was unconscious but breathing, and the neck wound lookedpletely closed. Thepany medic, Linus, knelt with me, ¡°I already used all our potions. What do you have left?¡± ¡°Just the two healing salves. Only good for closing surface wounds,¡± I produced them and handed them to him. It wasn¡¯t long before Firth came back from his chase. Firth addressed Orson, ¡°How many attacked you?¡± Orson responded immediately, ¡°Thirteen.¡± Firth did a mental count, then spoke, ¡°Five got away then.¡± Firth started inspecting each of the men as I helped Linus with our wounded. When he was done, he sounded irritated, ¡°Only five of the eight were Bartiradian soldiers by their clothing and callused hands. The rest were men that were probably insurgents assisting them from inside the city,¡± he concluded. Orson ordered the enemy to be moved together in a pile, and then we returned to the vi. The news was not good. Another squad had been attacked, and ns was killed. The number of injuries also put a huge dent in our potion stock. Castile, Delmar, Konstantin, and Adrian had not returned yet either. They had tasked themselves with hunting down the air mage. Toward morning, our leaders returned. They returned and had obviously battled with the state of their equipment¡ªblood, cuts, and filth covered their clothes. As one of the squad leaders, I was called to report on the events of the night. No one was happy with losing ns. Castile did not me anyone, though. We were almost out of potions, which was extremely bad. Durandus had been the only healing mage in the city. Adrian told us about their night, ¡°We found the air mage. He got away and copsed the aqueduct just outside the city. We managed to kill the seven soldiers with him, but he fled into the country outside the walls. If no one else fled the city, our best guess is that around ten Bartiradians infiltrators are left in the city now. Hopefully, the air mage does not return.¡± Castile made some rapid decisions, ¡°We willbine patrols for the night watch. Day patrols are canceled. Lirkin can resume his duties. I want rotations to the city wall, Adrian. The enemy should be arriving soon, and I was to know when. Send a message to Gregor and let him know I want to meet him here at the vi. Linus, take Eryk and see if any apothecaries are still functioning in the city, and get what supplies you can. Get all the potions to Eryk¡¯s storage before you leave, and send me an ountingter.¡± Castile left to talk with Delmar and Adrian. I went with Linus, and we scoped out the city¡¯s apothecaries, but all had fled the impending siege of the city. Linus broke into one shop and was disappointed with what he found. All he found was some red aloe that could be used as a topical disinfectant. We returned to the vi. I dly went to my room to rest. There was some relief to see Lirkin cooking merrily and whistling to himself. I secured my room and stripped off my armor. In the fighting hours ago, I was shocked to find that I had taken a shallow cut to my bicep. The blood was dried, but I did not remember receiving it during the fight. I closed my eyes and tried to rey the fight in my head. There! In an exchange, I remembered that I had deflected a swing with my buckler and felt a sting, but I did not think the de reached flesh then. I felt better remembering how I received the injury and thought about how I could avoid the same mistake in the future. I cleaned the injury and used the red aloe we had just procured. It was going to leave a nice scar. I did not study the healing spell form, instead deciding to get as much sleep as possible. A knock woke me for dinner, and I dly went to eat with everyone else. Even with the improved fare, the mood was still somber with the loss of nsst night. The mood got darker when a city guardsman rushed into the vi to alert us that the lead elements of the Bartiradian army were visible from the walls. Chapter 44: Firth’s Brilliant Plan Chapter 44: Firth¡¯s Brilliant n Chapter 44 I was seated between Brutus and Wylie when the city guard announced the enemy had arrived. Brutus murmured, ¡°Damn, they must have run here to arrive so quickly.¡± Wylie gave his opinion, ¡°No, it is probably just the lead elements. Two days and mounted men could have easily made a hundred miles on the road.¡± Brutus jested, ¡°While as long as the horses can¡¯t fly, it won¡¯t matter. The regrs can hold the walls. It will alle down to how many mages they brought with them. Eryk, you were not here when Castile and Gregor were arguing over the city¡¯s defense. Durandus may have been a greedy fool, but he was a powerful wizard. From the shouts raining down the stairs, I guess things are not pretty.¡± Wylie added, ¡°Do not worry, Brutus. I am sure Castile has a n to keep most of us alive,¡± he added jovially, while shoveling food into his face. I disliked that Wylie said, ¡®most of us.¡¯ During the meal, Castile left with Adrian for the lower city to further strategize with Gregor and the Army¡¯s General at the Legion Hall. After dinner, my patrol was merged with Firth¡¯s patrol to give us eight legionaries. Firth took the lead, so I was removed from having to think too much. We did not talk much as we walked. I was slightly caught off guard when Firth did not lead us to our assigned patrol route of Venus Street and Vesta Street. Instead, we went into the lower city, and Firth guided us into an alley. He talked softly to the seven of us, ¡°I know where some Bartirdian coborators are. I know you all want to get some revenge for ns¡¯ death.¡± Murmurs of agreement answered him. ¡°Good. Now we will go in and search the house for the unounted-for Bartiadian soldiers.¡± Nods of agreement and excitement swelled among our number. Firth added, ¡°Hold your de unless attacked. No killing unless necessary.¡± We left our spears in the alley, and Firth¡¯s n was simple. Four of us would rush to the second floor, and four of us would search the first floor and then the basement. I was part of the second group with Brutus, Mateo, and Wylie. We walked out into the street, leaving our spears in the alley as they would be difficult to use in a house. Firth walked four houses down and indicated a door. The houses in this section of the city were well maintained but not opulent like our patrol routes in the upper city. Brutus and Mateo rushed the door together and shouldered it open, storming into the dark house. Those of us who had glow stones held them for light. Footsteps and curses could be heard on the second floor. Brutus went right, and Mateo left as they started their search of the first floor. I found the basement door while Firth and the others thundered up the stairs. The basement was locked, and as I shouldered it, I could hear harsh whispering below. Just great, we had struck gold. I was at the forefront again. I heard fighting on the second floor as I struggled with my own door. Mateo arrived and heaved to no sess. He pulled a hand axe on his belt and began hacking around the hinges, taking chunks of the door with each swing. Wylie and Brutus arrived as well, the first-floor searchplete. I whispered loudly, ¡°Definitely some people down there. Last time, there were seven, and we took them unaware. They know we areing.¡± I looked at our small bucklers and wished we had taken the medium shields for the patrol. There was no time. The two hinges were free of the frame, and we removed the door from the other side. A quarrel bolt thudded into Wylie¡¯s stomach as the door cleared the opening. Brutus did not hesitate to go first, tossing his glow stone and racing down the stairs after the man who shot Wylie. Mateo was behind him, and I quickly kneeled next to Wylie. It looked like a straight gut shot. ¡°Don¡¯t move Wylie. Justy down; you don¡¯t want the head shifting around inside of you. After the fighting, we can get thest healing potion from Linus and get you patched up.¡± He nodded and moved to getfortable. I focused on the fight. I hurried down into the basement. A man with a crossbow was dead at the bottom, with a sh from shoulder to hip, and a stab wound in his heart. The wall was to my left, so the entire basement was open to my right. Brutus was cutting down another man, and Mateo was engaged with two more. A fourth man on the far side desperately tried to load a crossbow but didn¡¯t seem to know how. I rushed the crossbowman, and one of Mateo¡¯s opponents broke to stop me. It cost the man a sh from Mateo on his shoulder, but that was all the help he could give as his other opponent pressed him. The man blocked my path, and his shoulder wound was not serious. I needed to get to the crossbowman quickly, or one of us was going to take a bolt. Two exchanges with the man blocking me told me I was not getting by. I bull-rushed him, taking him by surprise as I drove his sword up and drove my shield into his face. I had assumed he would fall back and give me a path to the ranged threat, but the asshole grabbed my clothes and pulled me to the ground with him. I released my short sword and went to my belt for my knife. He had the same thought, and we tried to hold each other at bay with one hand while trying to stab the other with a dagger. I was stronger and had the body position. The fear in his wide brown eyes as my de pressed into his throat shook me a little. I was killing without hesitation. A man doesn¡¯t die when you cut his throat. He bleeds and drowns in his own blood. I had to hold him down or risk his vengeance with the de. I held him at bay as he choked on his blood and sprayed it into my face as he fought till his end. During my struggle, Brutus had finished his man and stabbed the crossbowman in the chest. Brutus hit a lung, and the crossbowman was foaming at the mouth as he struggled to breathe and desperately held the wound closed to prevent blood loss. Mateo¡¯s opponent was injured and now outnumbered. My own foe was dead, and I stood, and all three of us faced thest man who slowly backed toward the stairs. A twang of a crossbow and then a thud to my back spun me around hard. Mateo swore, ¡°Fuck, he must have had a healing potion.¡± I went down hard on my knees, a bolt tip protruding from my chest a few inches. It had struck my right shoulder and passed partway through me. I quickly got my senses, though. I told myself I had endured pain this intense before. My right arm was useless since the bolt had ripped through the muscles in its path through my body. Mateo had returned and was ending the man who had shot me, and Brutus was handling the man close to the stairs. We won¡ªI could rest. I reached and touched the tip of the bolt protruding from me in slight disbelief and shock. My first thought was it was sharp. My second thought was, why did he have to shoot me? There were two other targets. In a daze, I turned to ask him, but Mateo had killed him with a de under his chin, and into his brain. Mateo saw me approach and exined, ¡°I am looking to see if he has any more healing potions on him, Eryk. He has to.¡± He frantically searched the man¡¯s pockets and was getting frustrated. I knew I was in mild shock, but my mind was crystal clear, ¡°He doesn¡¯t have any potions on him, Mateo. He was a healing mage. There are no vials around his body. He didn¡¯t take a potion to heal himself, he used magic.¡± Mateo swore and stood, seeing the truth of my words. Brutus joined us and was inspecting the bolt through my body. I ordered him, ¡°Go and find Linus in the city. Wylie needs that healing potion. He should also have a healing salve. We can pull this out and close my wounds with it on both ends.¡± He hesitated, but I said angrily, ¡°Go, Brutus!¡± He nodded, turned, and ran up the stairs. ¡°Mateo, go upstairs and help Firth and the others, it sounds like there is still fighting up there. I will be fine down here.¡± I sat on a stool next to the dead healing mage to prove my point. He rushed up the stairs a few heartbeatster. My only thought was¡ªhealing mage? I only heard muted sounds from two floors up. I pulled my collector out of my space, painfully bent over, and ced the disc on his body. He was slumped against the wall, so the disc was angled as I activated it. The familiar blue mist left his body and coalesced into a sphere. I marveled at the white misty pearl with swirls of gold and silver. It was beautiful. Then, it rolled off the collector and across the room. Shit, Castile had told me that would happen. I was too injured to get the body prone, though. My luck was terrible as the sphere rolled right between two crates filled with coal. I walked cautiously and stiffly, as too much range of motion really fucking hurt. The shock from the injury and my training had killed the pain momentarily, but it was slowly magnifying with time. I found a broom and used the handle to tease the ball out from between the crates. I held it in front of me and admired it, getting lost in its soft glow and the movement of the metallic swirls. The allure of the power it contained was muted slightly by how I had obtained it. The wooden stairs shook as someone descended, and I sent the apex essence and the collector to my space. I could have gotten more from the warriors if I had not dawdled. It was Firthing down the stairs, and he voiced his anger on seeing my injury, ¡°Bloody harpies tits, three injured. Castile is going to be pissed.¡± ¡°I sent Brutus to find Linus,¡± I said with effort. ¡°Good man,¡± he looked around the room. ¡°Well, that makes eight total. This might have been thest of them in the city, so there is that. Didn¡¯t expect to find them here, though. I just hoped to get information on where they were hiding from the coborators.¡± He shook his head, ¡°Let us get you upstairs with Wylie and Lysander. Lysander got stabbed in the thigh, all the way to the bone. He can not walk.¡± I hobbled up the stairs carefully to find Wylie lying on the kitchen table, still with a bolt sticking out of his stomach, and Lysander sitting with a bloody wrap around his leg. Wylie chuckled, ¡°Come to join the infirmary?¡± I gingerly pulled a stool and sat carefully. ¡°Yep, looks like no one died. Should we wrestle for thest healing potion?¡± Lysander scoffed, and Wylie clucked with mirth, ¡°The way our night has gone, it was probably already used on someone else.¡± Linus came rushing in a few minutester and assessed all of us before dealing with Wylie first. He cut the shaft, pulled it through, and then administered thest healing potion to him. He came to me next, ¡°Eryk, that was a broadhead quarrel. It missed the bone, but your muscles are cut to shit, and the bleeding might drain into the chest cavity. If you have trouble breathing, let someone know immediately. You need a full healing potion for the extent of the damage. If we used a lesser potion, then the muscles might not knit themselves back together properly.¡± He turned to Lysander, ¡°You will not be doing any cooking on that leg,¡± he smiled at the terrible cook. ¡°One of the lesser potions should heal you up as just one muscle was sliced. Castille keeps one on her person; if not, we will find one in the city.¡± It was almost two hours before Castile, Adrian, Delmar, and Konstantin arrived. They had been hunting for the very men we found. Castile was beyond angry at Firth. She knew the healing mage was still in the city and nned to capture and use him during the siege to heal our men. Now, he was dead. I did learn that two hours was too long to wait to harvest essence, as Castile did not even try. After Castile yelled at Firth in a lengthy tirade, she said to everyone present, ¡°I am going to go beat some potions out of Gregor. Get these two to the vi in a cart.¡± As dawn broke, I was seated in a wagon being pulled by a mule. Lysander was sleeping in the wagon bed and somehow snoring, even with the bumpy ride and his wound, he was still able to sleep. I watched the civilians braving the morning streets to stare in awe at me while sitting on the tail of the wagon. I still had a frigging arrow through my shoulder. Chapter 45 Chapter 45 When we got to the vi, Konstantin had a fine saw to slowly cut the rear of the bolt off. I was extremely ufortable waiting for the return of Castile. My breathing started to get strained, and the wound tightened, making any movement painful. I understood they wanted to wait to remove the bolt until they had a healing potion, but it wasn¡¯t very pleasant, and being stoic was taking a lot of mental energy. I awaited Castile, but it was Linus who returned with the healing potions. Lysander was treated first. It was a quick rub into the open wound, and then he drank the remainder. I was a bit more of a project. Linus looked at the bolt. It had been cut off in the back, ¡°We are just going to pull it the rest of the way through Eryk. The blood has coagted a lot in the three hours, so it is going to be painful. Take this and drink itter,¡± he handed me one of the cure poison potions. ¡°Was the bolt poisoned?¡± I asked with the potion in my hand. ¡°The healing potion is going to focus on the tissue and correct the damaged muscle. Normally, it would also handle any infection, but that bolt has been inside you for hours. So, after I pull it, we will pour the potion into the wound rather than have you drink the sure poison potion. The cure potion is just insurance as the healing potion may not have enough aether left to cleanse your blood after it heals the wound.¡± He exined, ¡°A potion works its way out from where it is administered until it expends its aetheric stores. Usually, drinking it is fine if the wound is not too severe, or you could take two potions. We only have one,¡± he held it up. He didn¡¯t wait any longer and just reached out and pulled. My body held the shaft for a moment before it pulled out. I grunted, holding in a scream as that was what a stoic man should do. If I had been alone in private, I would have definitely screamed. Linus worked quickly, getting my armor off and clothes as my wound oozed dark blood. He quickly cleaned the area with water and then red aloe. He then carefully opened the hole wider with tongs to make sure no potion was lost. That hurt more than anything so far, and I let out a cathartic scream¡ªforgetting all about being manly. He carefully poured the entire vial into the wound, and I felt the warmth spread and the muscles heat as the magic worked to repair them. After a few minutes, Linus inspected the work, ¡°You look good. Three inches lower, and you would have been in trouble. Let¡¯s check mobility.¡± I went through ranges of motion, and the shoulder was tight, but I had no issues. Linus reminded me to drink the potion of cure poison in an hour or so and left.I locked my door again. I was lying on my bed with the griffin pillow under my head. I was rolling what I thought was an apex healing essence in my hand. I was only hesitant to consume it because of the nasty surprise thest apex essence had given me. What if my theory was wrong and the pain was not from a new magic affinity establishing itself on my core? Could I go through that again? Also, I was not even sure this was a healing essence. It just came from a mage that could heal. A knock at my door disturbed me, and I sent the pillow and essence to my storage. I opened the door, and Firth was there, ¡°You know, Eryk, if you keep locking yourself in here, people are going to create rumors about what you are doing in here alone.¡± I shrugged, ¡°Sleeping without having to listen to a symphony of snoring is worth it.¡± Firth got serious, ¡°Just wanted to apologize for the patrol. I was not expecting the Bartiradians to be there.¡± He handed me a satchel, ¡°some food, and you have off from tonight¡¯s patrols. You are on the wall at first light, though. Get some rest.¡± He turned and left. I realized it was midday, and Firth had brought me lunch. There was even a pouch of griffin jerky in there. We had been told it was all gone. I resumed my previous position with the essence in my hand and munched on the jerky. When the jerky was gone, I popped the essence in next,mitting to it. I braced myself for another unpleasant experience. Instead, as the essence dissolved in my mouth, my skin cooled, and I got goosebumps. The coolness spread to my breath, and I shivered. The feeling slowly disappeared, and that was it¡ªmuch more manageable than myst affinity essence. I was fairly certain that had been a healing essence. I couldn¡¯t differentiate the affinities on my core, but it definitely added to something already there. That also confirmed that I had awoken a new essence with the brown apex essence. I immediately pulled the healing spell form book out of my storage with a glow stone. The light from the covered windows was not enough to see clearly. I had studied this book for almost two weeks and had been frustrated. As I reread and studied the forms in the book, I felt it was possible. I put the book down and reviewed everything in my mind that Damian had taught me when I imprinted my dimensional space. Then, I returned to the reading. Making sure I was being careful about my intent and picturing the simplified spell forms from the book. A knock and Mateo¡¯s voice came from the door, ¡°Eryk, dinner is served.¡± I heard him walk away and was grateful he had alerted me. I had been studying for hours, and my eyes were dry and aching from the effort. I cleaned the room and joined everyone. Felix blurted, ¡°Look, he is absolutely glowing!¡± Panic welled up¡ªmaybe my change was noticeable. Instead, it was just a joke about myrge amount of alone time in my room. Mateo added as I sat beside him, ¡°He does smell funny. Does he smell funny to you, Pavel?¡± Pavel was on my other side and took a big sniff. Pavel considered his words, ¡°I do detect a faint scent of perfume.¡± Everyone startedughing, but Pavel had a good nose. The perfume from my bed¡¯s prior upant tended to linger for a while on my clothes. That was the end of the joking as Adrian started to assign the night patrols. As Firth had told me, I had the night off. No one seemed upset about it. I returned to my room after visiting the privy as they geared up. Securing myself once again, I resumed my studies. It waste into the night, and I kept weighing whether or not I should get some sleep; then it happened. I was blurry-eyed and exhausted, but my need to learn to heal after being shot in the back was too much. It felt like all the pressure I had been trying to force into me had just been released; the dam had broken, and I was now satisfactorily filled. I knew I had a new spell form, and it felt like I had correctly imprinted what I wanted on my aether core. I took out a knife and cut a thin line on my forearm. I focused on the wound and my aether core together and pushed my aether into it. The thin line of red remained, but the flesh underneath pulled together. I wiped the blood away and found just smooth skin. Well, hairy skin but no cut¡ªno scar. I became a little masochistic as I cut and burned myself a few times to getfortable with the healing ability. Closing a minor cut took less than a rtive point of aether, a deep cut, maybe an entire point of aether. I was not stupid enough to damage muscle tissue or organs during my impromptu testing. When I finally fell asleep, I felt much better about my chances of surviving my legion tenure. At first light, Konstantin banged on my door, ¡°Eryk, you have slept enough. Wall duty after breakfast!¡± I scrambled to clean up and felt like an idiot for not storing the bookst night. I had gotten so caught up in my testing that it had remained on the bed. I sent it with the pillow to my space and dressed. I took a short sword and the bow I had requisitioned with me as I made my way to breakfast. I did not need to carry the arrows as there were bins of arrows on the wall. Everyone was tired from the patrol and was mechanically eating. It was not long before five of us headed to the wall. Konstantin leading with Pavel, Regis, Malcolm, and myself. I walked next to Konstantin and asked, ¡°How were the patrolsst night?¡± ¡°The upper city was fairly tame. The city guard had a number of issues in the lower city,¡± he said calmly as we walked. There were a lot of citizens about¡ªmuch more than normal. I asked, ¡°Why is everyone so active so early today? Is that a sign of trouble toe?¡± Konstantin nodded, ¡°Nice observation, but no. There is a curfew from mid-day to sunrise. Everyone needs to get everything done in the morning. Especially get water. There are only four wells in the city. Be d we are not tasked with guarding them as the civilians draw water. The wells can barely support the poption.¡± We reached the wall and climbed the stairs to our section. I asked another question of Konstantin, ¡°Why only five of us today?¡± Konstantin smirked, ¡°Eryk, this is what happens when you spend all day in your room. We are only on the wall for show and to give the regrs a spell during the heat of the day. Five men are enough to do that. If there is an attack, we will group at the Legion Hall with Gregor¡¯s men. From there, we listen to the mages on where to go.¡± Fortunately, today was cloudy as we reached the top of the wall, and the morning had a cool, humid air to it. I was astounded at what I witnessed in the distance. Beyond the abandoned farms and buildings outside the walls below us, a pair of mounted griffins flew over an army. ¡°Shit,¡± was all I managed to say. Hundreds of Bartiradians were setting up a sprawling camp. The othersughed, and Konstantin gave his feedback. The griffins are not the true threat if that is what you are thinking, Eryk. Any flying mount is useless on the ground, and almost any strike on their wings brings them to the ground like rain in a storm. They are used as scouts and to ry messages when magic arrays prevent magic sending.¡± ¡°Still, it would be amazing to ride one,¡± I said, watching them glide in the skies just over a mile away. Konstantin grunted in what sounded like a disappointment at my fascination. Pavel said, ¡°You are too fat! All those riders are women and weigh less than half your beefy frame.¡± Konstantin affirmed the fact, ¡°It is true. Griffins may berge but tire quickly with a heavy rider. Those riders are most likely slender elves and most likely women. That has been my experience anyway.¡± ¡°Is it the same for the Empire? Do only women ride griffins here?¡± I inquired. Konstantin seemed in a talkative mood. ¡°Griffins are kept as pets for hunting. Some people do fly them. The Emperor doesn¡¯t like them. He has a cohort of drakes ridden by the Draconic Legion.¡± ¡°How do you get selected for that job as a legionnaire,¡± I asked jokingly. Konstantin grunted, ¡°They are more for show thanbat. Fancy-suited legionaries to fly over parades or march in them. Taming a drake isn¡¯t as hard as a true dragon, but half the men in training die to their own mounts.¡± ¡°That is not true,¡± Regis voiced loudly. Konstantin shrugged, and Regis continued, ¡°I was almost selected for training. I had the attribute requirements on the tablet reading. I was just afraid of heights back then.¡± ¡°You still are!¡± Pavel teased his fellow bowman. ¡°What are the stat requirements to train as a member of the Draconic Legion?¡± I moved closer to the tower for shade as the clouds evaporated. ¡°Besides the normal potentials, they look for forty-seventy in quickness, dexterity, and coordination. They also want a high empathy score as it helps in dealing with animals. My empathy is thirty-seven, and its potential is even higher,¡± Regis boasted. I thought this might be a good time to get answers on what attribute scores were good. ¡°What does it even mean? I never saw a tablet reader beforeing to the Empire. Why is it based on one hundred, for instance? Can you pass one hundred in potential?¡± Konstantin stood, ¡°Damn Errk, what kind of backward vige did youe from?¡± I didn¡¯t answer. He scoffed, ¡°I can forgive your ignorance, I guess. All Empire tablets are calibrated for humans. The epitome of human ability is determined at birth. If you are perfect in an attribute, they say your potential in that attribute will show as one hundred on the tablet¡¯s potential. Never seen it all my years, though.¡± Pavel butted in, ¡°They say the Emporer has attributes over one hundred from consuming apex essences.¡± Konstantin looked annoyed, ¡°With how many essences he consumes, it is not surprising.¡± He looked at me. ¡°The other races, if they use a tablet calibrated for a human, can have potentials over one hundred. I have seen a male elf evaluated with 122 in aether shaping and and a female orc with endurance and constitution over 110.¡± Pavel, Regis, and Malcolm were also listening intently. I asked, ¡°So what is average for a human? In terms of the attribute and potential?¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°There is too much variation to say definitive values. I would guess that most men¡¯s physical values are in the twenties, with potential in the forties and fifties. But if you stop training, they are just as likely to go down unless you fortify them with an essence.¡± I was not the only one with a confused look on his face. Konstantinughed, ¡°Ah, one of the great secrets of the wealthy and First Citizens! No harm in telling you. Maybe an example is best. Pavel, let¡¯s say your strength is 30, and you have a potential of 70. You train for months and raise your strength to 50. If you take any strength essence, you will keep that 50 in your strength for years without putting in much effort. Without taking an essence and ending your training, your strength score will fall back to 30, maybe even lower if you arezy.¡± All of us were silent. Konstantin had a massive smile as something shed in Regis¡¯ eyes, he started to speak, but Konstantin cut him off, ¡°Exactly, Regis. That is why Castile divides up the essences the way she does after talking with Adrian and Delmar. She tries to spread the attributes around to fortify thepany¡¯s scores.¡± His smile grew, ¡°It is why we are one of the strongest of all the Mage Companies in the Legion.¡± There was a long pause of disbelief before Pavel asked, ¡°Why is this notmon knowledge?¡± Konstantinughed, ¡°It is to those who can afford essences! Also, the more people know, the more valuable essences be. I am sure in somends, it might bemon knowledge; in othernds, they like to keep people ignorant.¡± He looked pointedly at me. As we walked back to the vi, I found I had a lot more respect for Castile and ourmanders after we were relieved. Chapter 46: Castile’s Plan Chapter 46: Castile¡¯s n Chapter 46 After we returned from the wall, everyone removed the gear and went to sleep in the ballroom where their cots were. They had been on an eight-hour night patrol and then five hours on the wall watch, so they were exhausted, unlike me, who was excited as I had just imprinted the healing spell form. I wanted to confirm that I could repair bones but was not dumb enough to break one to test my ability. I changed out of my armor and helped Lirkin in the kitchen adjacent to my room for a time. I was thinly slicing a cold roast so it could go in a pita-like bread for lunch with marinated vegetables. As I was helping Lirkin, Delmar found me, ¡°Eryk, we do not need you to hold the potions. We do not have any more healing potions, and the remaining stamina and cure poison have been distributed.¡± I nodded in understanding. ¡°You can ask Lirkin here what perishables to store for now.¡± Delmar left, and Lirkin was already thinking. ¡°Never been on the inside in a siege,¡± he was in deep thought. ¡°Something that will spoil and will not be avable during the siege,¡± he continued to think. ¡°I know! Butter! It goes rancid in the damn bloody humid heat. You all consume five bricks at every meal, and most of the milk cows in the city will be ughtered for meat. I will get you some freshly churned butter from the Citadel.¡± He was excited, ¡°Keep it a secret from the men; otherwise, they might nag you. How much space do we have to work with?¡± I showed him on the counter, gesturing with my hands. A brick of butter was about three by three inches and six inches long. The box in my space was a fifteen-inch cube, so we estimated seventy blocks of butter. That was going to be a lot of calories. After lunch, I took a nap and, as promised, was awoken to add a lot of butter to my storage. Lirkin brought two hundred blocks from the Citadel, and I could fit the seventy expected blocks in the crate I reserved for legion goods in my dimensional space. The rest of the butter would be used in the next week for cooking. I went to train in the gardens rather than remain in my room. Now that the city was under siege, Konstantin spent all his free time in the city kicking for rumors like Firth did. Everyone was training on their own, as our leaders were preparing defenses and meeting with the general and city guard captains. I reviewed the seven movements of the seven sword forms. Then I stretched for a good hour to cool down. I finished with some bow practice. We had some straw dummies set up, and I was shooting from thirty yards. ¡°Who gave you a bow?¡± Regis asked, watching me score a hit half the time. Regis was one of ourpany archers and had helped everyone during the archerypetition on the wall to see who would wield a bow during an attack. I actually had three bows now. Two in my storage space salvaged from Durandus¡¯ men, and this one I got in the Legion Hall armory. ¡°I figured it couldn¡¯t hurt to practice. We only trained with a crossbow in training.¡± ¡°Eh, a crossbow doesn¡¯t take much skill. Bows are superior because they are not as heavy, have a better rate of fire, and are not as bulky as the crossbow. Do you want some help?¡± Regis offered.¡°Definitely,¡± I replied. Regis was very helpful with helping with my pull and release. I tended to hold the arrow too long to aim. For the heavy pull weight of thepound short bow, I needed to draw, aim, and release in a single heartbeat. Regis advised for smaller targets, I could aim, but for people-sized targets, you just aimed and released as the rate of fire was just as important as hitting in a battle. At first, I got worse, but then I rapidly improved. There was some growing familiarity with the bow, but I was also getting a feel for aiming. I practiced till my fingers started bleeding. Regis offered, ¡°I have an old arm guard if you want it. I only have right-handed gloves for drawing. All ourpany archers are right-handed, but you can probably find an old glove in the regr army archers if you ask.¡± ¡°Thanks for the help, Regis,¡± we sped wrists. Regis advised, ¡°If you want to be trained to be a real expert in marksmanship, talk to ze. He can hit a moving target at a hundred paces!¡± We both went to dinner prior to the night patrol. Adrian read the duty assignments for the evening, ¡°Eryk, Brutus, Felix, and Mateo. You four are on guard duty at the gate to the orchards. The guard captain there will tell you what needs to be done.¡± ¡°I thought we were in teams of eight?¡± I asked before he could continue. ¡°Just one patrol tonight now. We are mostly guarding inner city gates to give the city guard some sleep after the increased activity. The days in the lower and upper city are getting busy for them,¡± Adiran answered as he read off the other groups. Konstantine led the group of eight. By the look on his face, I guessed, like Firth, he had other ns tonight than doing his assigned patrol route. I considered Konstantine¡¯s offer to join the Praetorian Guard. Konstantin and Firth always seemed better informed. That would be a huge benefit. My hesitation was rooted in the fact of revealing my affinities. From collecting essence from two dead mages, I learned that collectors seemed to form an essence based on a mage¡¯s strongest affinity. If they knew I had a 98 affinity in space, would the Emperor or a First Citizen think the essence I could give them was more valuable than what I contributed as a soldier? Supposedly, the forming of an essence from a living person was ouwed in the Telhian Empire. I was skeptical that the Emperor followed his ownws. I focused on my duties. With my squad being in charge of guarding a gate, I had them takerger round shields over the bucklers. We were stationary so that the weight wouldn¡¯t matter. After a short walk through the orchards, we reached the small gatehouse at the inner city wall. We passed through this very gate every time we left the vi, and the guards were familiar with us. Two guards in the uniform of the Count¡¯s Citadel were stationed here. I approached and said, ¡°We are here to take over your duties for the night.¡± With a few days¡¯ growth and haggard eyes, the older man gave a curt nod, ¡°Thank you, legionnaire.¡± He banged on a door inside the wall, and two of his men stumbled out. They had definitely been napping. ¡°Let me show you how to close and bar the gate,¡± he said, gesturing me inside the room. The guard room had a table and six chairs. The older guard said, ¡°The cask over there is lemon water. Always keep two men on watch. We have been seeing more looters in the upper city in thest few days, but do not pursue them. Your job is to protect this gate since it gives ess to the Citadel through the orchards.¡± He brought me over to the gate mechanicals. The mechanism was a simple winch that lowered an iron gate inside the archway. There was a quick-release lever that would drop the gate instantly. A heavy block could also slide over the lip, making raising the gate by force impossible. A rope was also attached to a bell mounted high on the wall. Sounding it, would mobilize the city guard barracks in the upper city if we rang it. After the city guard left, I announced, ¡°Brutus and I will start on watch, and Felix and Mateo can get a nap in.¡± Felix advised me otherwise, ¡°Everyone is going to be passing through this gate from thepany, Eryk. I don¡¯t want Adrian or Castile to see us neglecting our duty.¡± I was confused, ¡°The gate captain just told us we only needed two men on watch.¡± Felix and Mateoughed. Felix said, ¡°Adrian does the duty assignments and expects us all on duty. You have not been with us long enough to see thepany discipline. When Lirkin screwed up, Lysander being made thepany cook was a mild punishment.¡± Mateo added, ¡°Once Ma fell asleep on watch in the wild. The entirepany stayed with him the next six nights to ensure he did not fall asleep.¡± ¡°That was in the Dragon Spine mountains. We were hunting down a legionnaire on the run. Why anyone would try to pass over the Dragon Spine is beyond me. It was freaking freezing every night. Worst week of my life,¡± Felix added. Brutus joined the conversation, ¡°Durandus was the same way. He expected orders to be followed immediately and unflinchingly. Though it appears the discipline isx in ourpany, it is not.¡± Felix and Mateo nodded, taking it as apliment. And Felix pointed down the road. Some people in dark clothes moved under the gas streetmps further down the street. ¡°Probably looters he muttered. I think we are going to see a lot of traffic.¡± As if prophetic, five city guards came after them in pursuit. Brutus muttered, ¡°Not long before the city descends into chaos. At least between the regrs and city guard, they almost outnumber the civilians.¡± We watched the activity from a distance. Around midnight, Castile, Adrian, Delmar, and Orson returned. Konstantin was leading the eight-person patrol and not with them. They just nodded as they passed and returned to the vi. I guess if you were in charge, you could work half the night. Felix and Mateo were talking quietly about what they nned to do with the gold they would receive from the dungeon discovery. Brutus and I were on the on the other side of the arch. I broached the curious subject, asking softly, ¡°Brutus, what do you know about the Praetorian Guard?¡± He looked at me and said, ¡°I am not one of them or an agent of one if that is what you are asking.¡± I nodded, believing him, but asked, ¡°How are they viewed in the Empire?¡± Brutus seemed to think about how to respond, ¡°They are considered loyalists. The Emperor¡¯s secret force of powerful intellects, mages, and warriors.¡± ¡°Would you join the Praetorian Guard if asked?¡± I asked my friend. He had a shocked look, ¡°Firth asked you? He seems like a loner. I thought he just worked as a Praetorian agent and was not one himself. But then again, you never know.¡± As to my question of joining, Brutus said indecisively, ¡°Probably not. I just want toplete my twenty years and get my pension. Praetorian servants serve for the long term. It is also the closest you can be to being a First Citizen. So there is that.¡± I thought about it and said, ¡°It was Konstantin who approached me.¡± Brutus eyes went wide, ¡°Really? Two agents of the Praetorium in one magepany? Usually, there is just one in case the mage goes rogue.¡± I was interested, ¡°Who was it in Durandus¡¯pany?¡± My curiosity focused on why he had not stopped the mage earlier. ¡°Why did he not stop the attack on the storm giant?¡± Brutus huffed at the memory, ¡°Tauro. He led the archers and was the one the storm giant exploded with the lightning strike.¡± He continued after a pause, ¡°I don¡¯t think the Praetorian agents interfere with a mage unless they intend to kill him. I think they are only there to kill the mage if they betray the Emperor or Empire.¡± That was something I might be really good at¡ªkilling mages. I joined the Legion for protection and to learn how to defend myself in my new world. It got me thinking that maybe I should join the Praetorian for the same reason. It seemed sensible if I could avoid having my affinities read when I joined. Perhaps before I do that, I should read up on the Duchy of Tsinga, where I professed to be from. I was sure they would ask me questions about my homnd. There was also the fact that Konstantin said foreigners were usually not allowed into the Praetorian Guard or as agents. So maybe any desire I had to join would be moot. Just as the sun started to light the sky, our relief came. It was the same older city guard fromst night. I guessed he had to work the post from sunrise to sunset since the Citadel Guard was stretched so thin with helping the upper city guard maintain order. Delmar told everyone to remain after breakfast when we arrived at the vi. Castile was going to address thepany. It took an hour for everyone to get back. A few people had minor injuries, the worst being Kolm, who broke his ankle jumping off a roof. One thing Linus did have was painkillers. Linus just nned to wrap the ankle tight and have Kolm take the painkillers if he needed to fight. Otherwise, he would get to remain in the vi to heal and rest. Others were already joking that they nned to jump off a roof in pursuit of a street urchin as well to get off duty. With everyone present and attentive, Castile addressed us, ¡°I wanted everyone to know my n on how we are going to get out of this.¡± Chapter 47 Chapter 47 We all listened intently as Castile was going to voice our salvation. Thepany had a lot of faith that she would have a n up to this point. Castile paced slowly, ¡°We will be stationed at the Trader¡¯s Gate if the enemy marches on the city.¡± Some men groaned at this announcement. The Trader¡¯s Gate faced the assembling Bartiradian army. It would be in the path of the attack. Castile silenced everyone with a wave of her hand, ¡°Mage Gregor and myself will be in the gate¡¯s tower. We are going to be countering the Bartirdian mages. Thepany¡¯s archers will be with me; everyone else will be stationed inside the tower on the ground floor. If it looks like the walls might fall, we will retreat to the inner city wall. We will move to defend the orchard gate with the upper city and citadel guards.¡± This got some grunts of approval. Not having to sacrifice ourselves at the Trader¡¯s gate. ¡°If the inner city wall is in jeopardy of falling,¡± she continued, ¡°we will retreat to the Citadel. If the Citadel is going to fall, we will jump to the aqueduct and use it to vacate the city. Last night, we hauled up nks to bridge the section of the aqueduct that was copsed by the Bartiradian mage,¡± she finished. No one seemed upset with the n, even though it sounded like many things could go wrong. Our primary objective as men of thepany was keeping Castile alive. If she died, we would be under themand of the nearest mage. That would be Gregor if he was still alive at that point. That would probably be a bad thing. Castile let her words sink in before continuing with some scorn in her voice. ¡°Duke Tiberius ns to ride at the head of his army from the City of Caranhagan and rescue us. He will march when the Bartiradiansunch their first attack on the walls of Macha or in seven days¡¯ time from today.¡± Everyone present had already heard the n but not the details. Adrian stepped forward, ¡°When you report to the wall today, I will give you a tour of the gate tower so you can be familiar with it. I will also go over the retreat route to the inner city walls. Same groupings as yesterday.¡± I groaned as I volunteered for the first watch yesterday. It was not long before I was walking with Adrian, Konstantin, Pavel, Regis, and Malcolm. I fell in beside Konstantin and asked, ¡°How was the patrol? No one mentioned anything at breakfast.¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°We searched a few houses. Didn¡¯t find what I was looking for.¡±I was silent, waiting for him to tell me what he was searching for. When he did not borate, I asked, ¡°And what were you searching for?¡± ¡°Missing people. There is something in the city taking them and probably killing them. We were investigating the houses of the missing people. It is probably a shapechanger of some type. With fewer people in the city, the disappearances are more noticeable.¡± Konstantin walked on unconcerned. ¡°What did you find in the homes?¡± I inquired. ¡°Nothing. They were all abducted in the streets. Usually sneaking around in the evening. The city guard lost the two men investigating two nights ago, so Castile was asked to help. She sent me. I think the child that Kolm was chasing on the rooftops might have been the monster. It moved too fast to be human.¡± Konstantin borated. ¡°There is a monster in the city?¡± I sounded kind of shocked. Konstantin huffed, ¡°When isn¡¯t there a monster in a city? We don¡¯t have the Truthseekers or the Legion Hounds to investigate, so it is up to me.¡± ¡°Legion Hounds?¡± I asked. ¡°The trackers of the Legion. It is usually a squad of four to six legionaries that specialize in tracking beasts, runaway soldiers, and missing legionaries,¡± Konstantin exined. ¡°I was a Hound for a while before joining Castile¡¯spany as a scout.¡± ¡°What about the Truthseekers? I have never met one,¡± I asked, trying to learn a little more. ¡°They have mastered a spell form in the irvoyance magic affinity. It lets them discern when someone is telling the truth. Some mages also learn the spell, but the best Truthseekers always imprinted the spell form on their aether core.¡± Konstantin patiently exined to me. ¡°Do you have any spell forms?¡± I asked the warrior. ¡°You don¡¯t ask a man that, Eryk. But I do have two. You need at least one to be a Hound, and no, I am not going to tell you what they are.¡± Konstantin said lightheartedly. ¡°I do not see how that is fair. You know mine already,¡± I joked back, trying to tease it out of him. ¡°Do I?¡± Konstantin had a serious tone. ¡°I know you have a magic box, but is that all you have, Eryk? You don¡¯t offer up secrets if you do not have to. Telling you I had two spell forms could have been a lie. But now you think I have a secret or two up my sleeve,¡± he smiled. We walked for a while, and I decided to guess at one of his spell forms, ¡°I already know one of your spell forms, Konstantin,¡± I said casually. ¡°You can move objects.¡± Konstantin skipped a step and was silent as we walked, not responding. As the wall came into sight, he asked, ¡°It was the door I opened? I think that is the only time I used my spell form in view of anyone in years. Damn, Eryk. Sometimes, you surprise me for being a country boy.¡± We reached the base of the tower, and instead of climbing up to the wall, we went inside. Castile and Adrian were inside the tower talking quietly. They must havee here while we were gearing up after breakfast. Adrian noticed us, and Castile climbed the stairs in the tower. Adrian began his lecture, ¡°The crates over there are the arrow bundles. If you are not on the wall, you are runners for our archers. Our legion archers only!¡± Adrian spent a few minutes at the crates, ¡°These arrows on the left are the junk arrows. The arrows are imperfect, and we will use them for trash attacks. These on the right are the best arrows we have and are with a ck and white stripe near the notch,¡± he pointed out the paint markings. He moved to the other side, ¡°These casks are sugar lemon water. You will fill the canteens of the archer in the tower from them. We still have to source our food from the Legion Hall. Either Delmar or I will send runners.¡± There was a heavy table with seating for sixteen people; that was the only furnishings in the tower room. Before he headed upstairs, Adrian told us about the retreat route, ¡°If the wall is going to be taken, we will escort Castile to the Legion Hall first and grab prepared supplies there and then retreat to the inner city walls.¡± Pavel asked, ¡°Do we really have time to stop for supplies?¡± Adrian smiled at the man, ¡°Never been in a city being overrun? Once the walls are breached, forming their army inside the city will take time. The regrs also have dozens of barricades nned and prepared to slow their advance through the streets. We will have time, and only a few of the invader¡¯s forerunners will reach us while we stop.¡± Pavel said, ¡°That sounds like you n to have the enemy within the walls.¡± Konstantin answered for Adrian, ¡°If they want to breach the city, there is not much we can do to stop them. At least, now that we lost Durandus. Our job is to hold out long for the Duke to arrive.¡± I muttered, ¡°That sounds like a terrible n.¡± Adrian mimicked me, ¡°Agreed. But we will work with what we are given and do our service to the Empire.¡± We climbed the stairs to the tower and found Castile staring out across the deserted buildings toward the army in the distance. Adrian asked her, ¡°Anything new?¡± ¡°No, still just five mages, but there has to be more in their camp. They are blocking me from getting closer,¡± Castile sounded annoyed. Adrian turned his attention to us, ¡°So here are our fourteen archer positions and the barrels where you refill their arrows. Castile will be in this tower, and Gregor will be in the tower on the other side of the gate.¡± Pavel and Regis in our group checked out the field of view, and I walked to the parapet and looked out on the field. I was surprised as the army looked twice the size as yesterday, and I counted six¡ªno seven griffons in the air over their camp. I missed some of what Adrian was saying and didn¡¯t realize it when Castile suddenly stood beside me and said, ¡°It is impressive. The might of an army of men. But one mage with enough power could bury that army in a heartbeat.¡± ¡°Great, so we are not going to have to fight then,¡± I said hopefully, but I knew she was not indicating herself. ¡°No, there will be a fight. The Emperor himself is the only mage in the Empire who could end that army. His mastery over void magic is the most frightening thing I have ever seen,¡± Castile murmured as she continued to study the enemy. I boldly asked, ¡°Why did you let ourpany get trapped in this city?¡± Castile didn¡¯t respond immediately, and I thought I had offended and angered her. Adrian was leaving, and my squad was heading out onto the wall for their watch. When everyone was gone, Castile answered my question, ¡°Mages are not as free as you believe us to be. We can not deny an order by the Emperor or any Duke. That is why I take the most desperate missions¡ªat least that way, I can somewhat control my fate.¡± ¡°It does not seem like fighting here in an unwinnable battle is controlling your fate,¡± I offered in return and was expecting a harsh rebuke. Castile tensed slightly. ¡°No battle is unwinnable,¡± she said softly, and I do not think she was referring to the army gathering outside. She turned, and we made eye contact. ¡°It is all how you go about fighting the battle. Perhaps one day you will understand that, other worlder.¡± Castile turned and walked down the tower¡¯s steps, not saying another word. I was too stunned to say anything. Regaining myself, I spun to make sure no one had overheard her call me an other worlder. No one had been close, and she had said it softly. When did she learn? Did Adrian and Delmar know too? Konstantin had not figured it out, or he would have turned me into his Praetorian Guard master. I wanted to follow Castile and ask her questions, but Konstantin was already calling for me toe and enjoy the hot sun. I joined them on the wall. I needed to find some time to talk to Castile alone in the future. I looked out over the wall¡ªhopefully before the Bartiradians killed me. Chapter 48: Rats Again? Chapter 48: Rats Again? Chapter 48 After the wall watch, I tried to find Castile to talk with her, but she was not at the vi. The other men thought she was with Delmar in the city, making more preparations. After lunch, I took a nap in my room as I needed the rest, even with my anxiety about Castile¡¯s knowledge¡ªor maybe guess she was guessing I was an other worlder? My dreams were filled with nightmares. Konstantin presented me bound and gagged before an ancient-looking woman who was the Praetorian Guard he served. Delmar ordered me to attack the invading army by myself whilepletely naked, with just a bow and no arrows. Adrian sent me into the sewers to look for thest two Bartiradian soldiers we suspected of being in the city. Castile immobilized me with her shadow chains and then used her collector on me to harvest an essence. I woke in a hot sweat in my bed. My sheets were soaked, and I drank an entire canteen of water to rece the water. My sweat was not just from the dreams, though. I walked out to the kitchen, and it was stifling, and none of the ovens were being used. It was still a few hours to dinner, and Lirkin was not around. I went out back to find a few men sitting in the shade and joined them, ¡°Is it just me, or is it extra stifling hot out today?¡± I said, sitting with Brutus and Felix under a cherry tree. Felix piped up, ¡°Nope, it is not just you. Castile left an hour ago with Adrian and Delmar. She thinks the Bartiradian have set up a weather array around the city. Guess they n to cook us alive.¡± ¡°What? I thought they were not going to hurt the civilians?¡± I wiped the salt stinging my eyes away. ¡°Most have left the city already. Most likely, they can only get it so hot in here. It is probably just a scare tactic,¡± Brutus contributed. Felix spat a filmy mass of something he had been chewing on, ¡°Well, I am already scared, so it is working.¡± Brutus said, ¡°Heard Konstantin talking to Lirkin in the kitchen. He is nning to go into the sewers tonight to look for the monster in the city. He thinks it is a lycanthrope.¡± I realized one of my nightmares may have been from overhearing the conversation while I was sleeping.¡°Lycanthrope? You mean a werewolf?¡± Felix asked. ¡°No, Konstantin thinks it is smaller than a werewolf. He thinks maybe a wererat or werebadger. He found two spots it was heading in and out the sewers today,¡± Brutus borated. Felix drank deeply from his canteen to clean his mouth, ¡°Does Konstantin ever sleep?¡± ¡°He is napping right now. ns to put together his sewer squad at dinner,¡± Brutus took the canteen from Felix and drank. I joked, ¡°So if we skip dinner, we won¡¯t be selected? Guess I am not feeling hungry.¡± We allughed and went inside. I invited them to the basementrder to cool off, and we found Lirkin down there doing his prep work for dinner. The heat had not prated here yet. We all helped him prepare the food. Cold sandwiches and vegetables marinated in vinegar and olive oil. Olive oil was a luxury item as the only orchards existed around the capital, ording to Lirkin. He only found one small cask liberated from the Citadel stores and nned to use it all. We helped carry up dinner to the dining room, and everyone had a sheen of sweat and looked miserable. Konstantin was talking with Delmar, and I did not see Adrian or Castile. The mood was subdued as we ate. Castile and Adrian entered and took some food as well. Castile spoke before Adrian announced the deployment for the night. ¡°This is the magical weather of the Bartiradians. They are trying to soften us up a bit. I suspect they will try to freeze us when the sun sets.¡± Some groans echoed among us, including me. ¡°Bring your thermals with you on gate duty and patrol,¡± she continued. ¡°Adrian and I will be moving to the Legion Hall after tonight to be closer to Trader¡¯s Gate to respond faster in the event of an attack.¡± Everyone was silent as we assumed our days in thefortable vi were numbered. Adrian stepped forward. ¡°We will continue to keep you quartered here.¡± Some sighs of relief, ¡°Tonight we have four inner city gates to watch, and Konstantin is taking five with him into the sewers,¡± a panic rippled through the men, and some swore softly. ¡°It is not that bad, men. The city has half as many people, and the damaged aqueduct flow has been flooding the sewers, cleaning it out some.¡± Wylie chirped, ¡°So you are volunteering?¡± Adrian held up his parchment and made a show of crossing off a name and writing a new one. He announced, ¡°Konstantin¡¯s squad is Wylie,¡± the menughed as Wylie¡¯s mouth had gotten him in trouble. ¡°Brutus, Mateo, Felix and Eryk.¡± Really, frigging selected again? I did the only thing I could and asked a stupid question, ¡°With the aqueduct damaged, how are we going to get clean when we get out?¡± Apparently, it was not as stupid a question as I thought it was, as there were murmurs of agreement. Adrian looked to Castile, who went contemtive for a moment. Castile smiled thinly and said, ¡°The Citadel has its own reservoir for its baths. I will arrange for you to use the Count¡¯s baths when you return.¡± That got murmurs of appreciation. It looked like I would not be able to talk with Castile, and instead, I would be wading through shit and piss tonight. Konstantin brought the unfortunate ones who were following him off to the side. ¡°We are looking for a wererat in the sewers. It has killed at least four within the city in thest week. Most likely, it is feeding a brood, so it is imperative we find the nest.¡± Thankfully, Brutus asked the question I was thinking, ¡°Should we be worrying about this during the siege?¡± Konstantin¡¯s re made me d I had not asked the question. ¡°Wererats can be a gue in no time. One can be a dozen in a month. Now to the hunt. We are going to stop in the Citadel. We will be coating our des in silver. In case you were not aware. Normal steel can cut, but it heals rapidly as do all lycanthrope species.¡± Mateo focused a question on the hunt, ¡°Is there going to be more than one? Are they hard to kill?¡± Konstantin nodded at the sensible question, ¡°As long as they are struck with silver, they will die like any other creature. Silver is a strong poison to them. Now, I selected this group because you all have glowstones. Make sure Eryk tops off their charge.¡± Stones started to be held in my direction, and Konstantin continued, ¡°Although only one has been seen in the city, I suspect there are more. Not many, but more. My best guess is whatever their food source was, it has dried up since many of the citizens have left, so it was forced to take people from the streets to feed its young.¡± Konstantin then advised us, ¡°Leave your lower body armor and get some wraps for the top of your boots. You don¡¯t want them filling up with sewer water.¡± We all suited up and went to the Citadel. The silver coating of the des was simpler than I had thought. The smith had a boiling vat of thin adhesive. Our des were dipped and then quickly had silver dust added to the de. It was set on oiled stones to dry for a few minutes. When I got my short sword and dagger back they looked like they had been coated in fine glitter. The smith advised us, ¡°The glue will deteriorate in about a week. But even before then, the silver will be deposited in wounds made with the de. It is much more effective than dipping a de in molten silver to coat it.¡± Konstantin added with mirth, ¡°And it takes a lot less silver, so the lords can save a little coin.¡± As we stepped outside the Citadel, it was as Castile had predicted. The temperature had plummeted. It was close to freezing, and the city was bathed in a rising fog. Konstantin paused at seeing it, ¡°Ogre¡¯s piss.¡± He signaled for us to be silent, and we all listened intently in the night air. After a minute, he voiced his concern, ¡°The Bartiradians are going to attack tomorrow. Should have realized all the aether they were burning to cook us was for a reason. One more cycle of a hot, humid day and cold night will make the fog too thick to see twenty feet in front of you. If they were attacking tonight, then it would have already started.¡± Wylie added his thoughts, ¡°I vote we give them the city and let them take care of the rat problem.¡± Weughed, but Konstantin¡¯s hard eyes made us stop. It looked like we were going into the sewers whether we wanted to or not. The ess we were entering the sewers had a barred iron gate. Two city guards stood near it, and one nodded to Konstantin, ¡°We were told to expect you. Thank you for taking care of this legionnaire. Virgil was a good friend of mine, and I want him avenged. His wife thanks you as well.¡± Konstantin just nodded and went through the gate, and we followed. With glowstones out, we moved into the sewers. The sewers were about six feet wide, with a two-foot channel of murky water flowing in the center. The smell was rancid and reminded me of urine mixed with acidic vomit. We stopped at the first intersection, and Konstantin used a scarf to cover his mouth and nose. He handed us each one as well. It was coated in something; all I could smell was a strong, minty scent. We now looked like a bunch of bandits trying to rob the sewer. Konstantin went into teaching mode, ¡°Notice the flow of the sludge. You can follow that to the refuse chamber. There will be four or five city guards there guarding that entrance. If you get separated, head there to get out. Most of the entrances are barred, with no guards to let you out. The only other threat I know down here is the green slimes. They usually stay in the channels and are harmless unless you touch them. They can dissolve your skin after a few minutes. Just leave them alone, and they will not bother you.¡± With those words of wisdom, we followed Konstantin into the winding tunnels. This did not seem so bad. I had thought we were going to walk through sewer waste. ¡°Look, a slime,¡± Wylie pointed out with his glow stone. An amorphous, murky green blob was crawling along the filthy channel. Brutus was ready to swing his de, and Konstantin barked, ¡°Hold, legionnaire! You do not want to lose the silver coating on your de. Slimes are important to the city as well. They helppost the waste, kill rats, and contain disease. Leave it be.¡± We continued to follow the flow of the waste and spotted a few more slimes. We came to another intersection. This one is blocked by a gate. On the other side of the grate, the sewer no longer had a channel down the middle. Konstantin produced a key, yed with the lock, and the gate swung open. I was not sure he actually used the key as he had shielded us from its use. I guessed it was just for show, as he used his spell form. He turned to us, ¡°We are going into the lower city sewers. There are a lot of side rooms from basements of the old city before they built the sewers. They should have all been sealed off, but many of the walls have copsed over time. I believe the wererat is nesting in one of these. Look for small passages, loose bricks, and anything odd.¡± Konstantin stepped into the passage, and he was ankle-deep in green-brown muck. He started walking, and we all followed reluctantly. Mateo stepped on a submerged slime and slipped backward into the waste. We would have all beenughing at him but were instead spitting and cursing from getting sshed. I had been two men back and was fortunate not to get any on my face. Others were not as lucky. Konstantin just shook his head, ¡°Slid-step as you go. There are slimes in the sludge and probably a few deep voids in the floor as well.¡± Mateo cursed that the advice was offered a littlete. After a number of turns at intersections, I was thoroughly lost and happy that I knew all I had to do was follow the flow if I got lost. We started encountering the side chambers like Konstantin had mentioned. The first one had cots set up in it, and there was mold growing everywhere. Konstantin spoke, ¡°This has not been used in years. Probably a refuge from thest time the city was taken.¡± We searched the room anyway and only found some cracked pottery. The next entrance was just a few bricks missing at the bottom of the sealed room. Mateo, already filthy from his fall, was volunteered to check it out. He got a slight scare from a slime on the other side but no other threats. It was a small room on the other side with shelving covered in dust. A few rusted tools, and that was it. These side rooms only flooded during torrential rains, but the slimes cleaned them well. Konstantin seemed sure his quarry was in this part of the sewers, so we continued to search. We searched over a dozen alcoves, old sealed-off basements, storage rooms, and overflow chambers. We were covered in things I care not to talk about. Even though the muck level never passed my knees, the sshing and wicking action had my pants soaked. The wetness seeped into my underwear as well, and I was ready to be done with this. We turned at a Y-intersection, and Konstantin rasped, ¡°Found you, you little devil.¡± He turned to us, ¡°Just caught sight of it. It ducked into the side archway ahead!¡± Even the prospect of aing fight was wee as long as we could get out of the nastiness of the sewers and hours of trudging through other people¡¯s shit. Chapter 49: Death Dog Chapter 49: Death Dog Chapter 49 Konstantin quicklyid out a n, ¡°I will go first. Keep silent until I shout and then rush behind me for support.¡± Okay, maybe that was not much of a n. Konstantin slid forward through the murky brown water toward the arch. It was obvious the creature knew we wereing because of our glowstones casting light and shadow. The archway looked to beposed of a wall that copsed inward. Large stones littered the floor as Konstantin stepped up in the entry. At least we would not be fighting in the sewage water. He moved on high alert, scanning the shadows in the room beyond. I could see wet marks on the stones that definitely did not look human, more likerge animal tracks. Konstantin entered, followed by Brutus and then myself. Behind me was Wylie and Mateo. It was another sealed-up basement in the lower city. I watched Konstantin¡¯s sight line follow the wet footprints to the far wall. He made no move to follow them and instead gave us the signal to go right while he started left. There was a lot of debris on our side: broken wood, broken ss, moldy sacks, and cracked ceramic jars. I was looking for a trap as I moved but did not see one. Wylie and Mateo were moving behind Konstantin on the other side, and behind me was Felix. We circled and met Konstantin on the fall wall. Konstantin quickly found arge panel of wood painted to match the stone wall. We all stood ready as Konstantin and Brutus gripped the edge and pulled hard. Therge nk crashed down, stirring up a blinding dust. Brutus tossed his glowstone inside immediately. The passage looked like it ran for a while into the distance. Konstantin swore, ¡°Subus¡¯ tits.¡± He turned to me, ¡°Eryk, go and check the pit trap in the center of the room. I smell something foul from it. Do not fall in.¡± I noticed Konstantin no longer had his bandana covering his lower face. I turned and confusedly looked for a pit trap. It appeared our wererat was an artist. There was a canvas painted like the floor and covered over. I pulled it aside and shed light into the pit. The drop was about ten feet, with a dozen rusty spear shafts facing up. A handful of slimes were working on two corpses that I could now smell even through my cloth mask. I informed everyone, ¡°Konstantin, two dead. They have city guard uniforms on. The slimes are working on them. Not much left.¡± I turned to him, ¡°How did you know about the trap?¡± Konstantin was still looking down the corridor. ¡°The footprints. They were not as wet in the light as the ones from the entry. I assumed they were painted on something. Also, the ratman let me see him. He assumed I would race after him. I assumed it was a pit trap.¡±Everyone was impressed, including me. I guessed the two dead men had pursued in haste on spotting the wererat, falling for the trap. Konstantin had not and approached cautiously, even with his prey in sight. Brutus asked, ¡°Seems awfully smart for a monster. Are we to expect more traps?¡± Konstantin stood and looked at everyone, ¡°Remove your masks and pocket them for now. You are going to need all your senses as we go in further. I think this passage connects to another old basement. Our quarry will be there. I have not seen signs of a second ratman.¡± He looked again, ¡°That confuses me for the number of bodies it has taken in thest few days.¡± That was all he said as he moved in. Was he insinuating there were more creatures or that the threat wasrger than anticipated? Somehow, I ended up behind Konstantin as the others had taken a quick look into the pit trap. Without my mask, my nose twitched. Konstantin smelled foul, but so did this passageway¡ªlike rotting meat. He held his hand up and activated a trap with his telekic skill. A bear trap-like device covered in sand went off. The cloud of sand it created made me close my eyes and cover my mouth. I got the wrap to my mouth to breathe through it. Konstantin was frozen in front of me. He slowly exhaled as he had held his breath. He started moving forward again and pausing multiple times before continuing. I think he was using his ability to move objects to check for traps. The corridor opened up, and Konstantin paused at the entrance to arger room. I could see movement in the room through the shadows. The creature had been crafty so far. Were there more surprises for us? Konstantine gave the hand signals for two left, and two right. I passed them back, meaning whoever wasst in line should go forward as Konstantin was right now. On entering the room, piles of cracked bones were in one corner. Moldy sacks, crates, and bottles were scattered throughout the room. Konstantin was moving toward a hunched-over body. It suddenly stood and hissed, red beady eyes graced a scarred rat face on the body of a man. It was cornered, and it knew it. I continued left as ordered to nk it. A mound of clothes erupted, and a beast leaped at me. My eyes crossed momentarily as it was a massive ck wolf with two heads. The monster closed quickly, and Konstantin yelled, ¡°Do not get bitten, Eryk!¡± Foamy red saliva jaws came at me, and I did the only thing I could think of to save my life. I took a chunk out of its chest, and blocked one head with my shield and the other with my short sword. The wolf¡¯s head crunched my de, breaking a few teeth, but its momentum pushed me onto my back. Blood erupted from both mouths as they tried to reach me. I heard the whacks of mypanions hitting the beast on top of me, but I knew it was dead already. Konstantin was yelling, ¡°Get it off him!¡± The weight was removed, and I got to my feet, ready to fight. The wererat had been decapitated, and I did not see anything else moving. Konstantin was next to me, ¡°Did it bite you!? Eryk! Look at me!¡± He forced eye contact, ¡°DID. IT. BITE. YOU?¡± I was covered in the blood that had leaked from its mouth, but it had not bitten me. I was slightly dazed from my aether bottoming out, getting crushed by a massive wolf, and the adrenaline ofbat. Felix talked to Konstantin, ¡°It looks like it was already injured. Missing a chunk of its nk that has scabbed over.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it bit me. One head was blocked by the shield, and the other caught my sword. The blood is from its mouths. It must have had internal injuries,¡± I said, wiping the smeared blood off my face and spitting the taste out of my mouth. Konstantin looked worried and told the others, ¡°See if you can find any ess to the old stairs up to the surface. Look for any water. Eryk needs to wash that blood off.¡± His voice was a little panicky, which made me panic. Konstantin never panicked. ¡°What?¡± I asked as Konstatin handed me a small sk to wash with. ¡°That is a death dog. It is not called that because it has two heads but because they are diseased beasts. One bite, and your flesh will rot in days. The cure poison potions we have will not work on it. We will have to get a cure disease potion from Gregor. If he has one¡­¡± His voice trailed off. I got lightheaded. I realized the foamy blood from the mouths would have washed the saliva onto me and into my eyes, nose, and mouth. I removed my armor to wash better, but I knew it was pointless. Mateo found a barrel that appeared to be water washed down from the streets, and I used the murky water to wash as best as possible. Konstantin was agitated and voiced his assessment, ¡°The beast must have wandered into the sewers somehow, and the wererat befriended it. It was feeding it the humans it was killing in the streets.¡± He indicated the chewed bones. Wylie voiced, ¡°Found it. It was bricked over, but it is here.¡± Konstantin rushed over and swore. ¡°They used a cement. No time to tarry. You all carry Eryk¡¯s gear. Eryk, follow me.¡± I was naked from the waist up as I followed a fast-moving Konstantin out of the sewers. He was clearly worried. As my aether recovered, I focused my healing as we sloshed through the muck. He was right¡ªI could feel a wrongness in my throat when my healing probes touched it. My healing would not eliminate the disease. I could heal the injured tissue it infected. So, all I needed to do was keep healing until the disease exhausted itself. That was a relief! I tripped on a rock or slime and fell into the muck. Konstantin looked back, ¡°Come on, Eryk, no time to rest!¡± The next time I was volunteered to go with Konstantin on any mission, I was going to protest. I got up and caught up. The others were falling behind. We got to the gate, and Konstantin waited for the others and ordered them to find and bring Castile to the Legion Hall. I raced after Konstantin through the fog-shrouded city. We entered the Legion Hall minutester, and a few of Gregor¡¯s men told us to get out and wash up before returning. Konstantin just barked, ¡°Get Gregor now!¡± A sleepy, bleary-eyed Gregor appeared minutester. Konstantin did not waste time, ¡°Mage Gregor, if you have any cure disease potions on you, we require one.¡± He put his hand to his nose, ¡°Did you bring the entire sewer in here, legionnaire? Castile already owes me more for the additional healing potions. I am not giving up my only cure disease potion,¡± he growled as he sat down, and someone brought him a hot drink. Konstantin¡¯s forearms flexed over and over as he balled his fists. He held himself in check as we waited for Castile. It was about fifteen minutes before she came into Hall. She walked up to me and looked at me for a long moment, ¡°Fuck, he is infected. Gregor, give me the cure disease potion,¡± she said impatiently. ¡°Castile, we divided the potions equally, and I already gave you more of the healing potions. I may need it for myself,¡± Gregor said, unconcerned about my fate. ¡°It was a bloody death dog, Gregor!¡± He looked sharply at me, eyes going wider. ¡°It got into his eyes. He has very little time before he is permanently blinded! Give me the fucking potion!¡± While they were having a shouting match, I started to focus, slowly pushing healing aether into my eyes. Gregor did not budge, and Castile pulled her wand. It was the one that cast blue missiles in the dungeon. She threw it at him. It hit his chest and ttered to the floor. ¡°That is worth twenty potions. Give me the potion!¡± Gregor bent over and retrieved the wand from the floor. ¡°I will be back with it.¡± He did not hurry as he left. Castile turned to the legionaries in the room, ¡°Prepare him multiple baths in the horse troughs. He will scrub himself clean in each one. Then, he will consume the potion. Hurry!¡± She ordered, and the half dozen men raced to it. The three water troughs were barely big enough for me, but I made use of the impromptu bathtubs. The cold water scrub was wee. The first tub ended a murky brown. The second was a light milky white from all the soap I had used. The third was going to be a rinse. I had just settled into the third and final tub when Castile walked out. It was very early morning, and the cold air was turning to humid air as the Bartiradians switched their weather array. We were the only two people in the stable area as there were no horses. She sat on the edge of the tub and looked into the water briefly before handing me the potion. I drank it immediately. With my healing sense, I could feel the redness aura of the disease getting washed away. It was a relief as my healing ability was not able to counter the disease. Castile did not leave, though, and just sat there. I broke the silence and asked, ¡°Why do you think I am an other worlder?¡± Chapter 50: And All is Laid Bare Chapter 50: And All is Laid Bare Chapter 50 Castile¡¯s dark gray duster cloak was draped behind as she focused on the far side of the stable yard. I was in thergest trough but suddenly felt confined and trapped as my question hung unanswered. Finally, Castile said, ¡°I am going to tell you a story. I do not wish it repeated.¡± Still staring straight ahead, her hand graced the top of the water in the tub. Her hand skated across the surface, and I tensed as it passed over my lower body, but she never looked down, just straight ahead. I nodded, as that was what she was waiting for. She started her tale with a quiet whisper only I could hear, ¡°When I was a little girl, my mother told me of my grandfather. He was from a ce called Madridspain. He came into his magicte in life. But he was powerful. He could teleport almost an entire mile. He could draw aether directly from the ley lines and travel along the ley lines with amazing haste bybing both abilities.¡± She shifted her weight, and I found myself staring up at her stoic profile just above me. She heaved a sigh, ¡°I never met him, but my mother talked about him and his amazing magic. His most impressive magic was an obliterate spell. He could banish people out of existence. It was from the void sphere of magic, his strongest sphere of magic.¡± She paused and looked down into my eyes, ¡°He was called to the Emperor¡¯s service. He was to be made a court mage and wed to a duchess, a First Citizen, and my grandmother¡¯s marriage to him was to be annulled. He told my grandmother he would go to the Emperor and reject his offer.¡± Her eyes returned to looking in the distance. ¡°My grandmother got a letter a monthter saying my grandfather had died fighting the enemies of the Empire.¡± Her tone wasced with doubt. She sighed, ¡°When I was tested on mying-of-age at a tablet I and was found strong enough to attend the Mage Academy, I did so. My mother warned me never to show my true strength, or I might end up like my grandfather. I followed her advice but also spent long nights in the library reading everything I could about other worlders. I never found notes on another one from Madridspain, which surprised me.¡± My heart started beating rapidly in my chest. At this moment, I could move Castile¡¯s heart into my space and end her. Instead, I tried to remain calm, shifted in the water, and asked, ¡°What else did you learn?¡± Still looking forward, I saw her smile, it looked odd on her normally impassive face. ¡°I learned other worlders always arrive in groups ording to the Empire records. They always have ess to multiple affinities of the rare magics. And that the Emperor always calls any other worlder with void magic as his strongest affinity to his service.¡± She looked at me, ¡°Do you know what happens when you use an essence collector on a mage with a primary magic affinity over fifty?¡± ¡°No. What happens?¡± I asked as innocently as I could.¡°An essence is always formed in rtion to that affinity¡ªalways formed,¡± she stressed. ¡°The Emperor is the most powerful void magic user ever recorded. My grandfather was not the only void mage sent to serve the Emperor who met an unfortunate fate. The public records are stricken and hard to find, but even then, I found over twenty in thest three hundred years of his rule.¡± Castile stood, removing herself from the edge of my tub. ¡°You never answered my question,¡± I asked stupidly. ¡°Why do you think I am an other worlder?¡± She smiled coyly, ¡°You should talk more with your legion mates, Eryk. They would have told you I am famous for three spells. Shadow chains, dispel aether and the all-seeing eye. You have seen me use my shadow chains. My dispel aether is powerful as it allows me to dispel another mage¡¯s aether as they try to form a spell. You have also seen me use my all-seeing eye a few times. I summon an invisible aetheric ball that I can send anywhere to scout. My eyes see through it. It can pass through walls and can be sent hundreds of feet away from me. I was using that spell on the wall yesterday,¡± she smiled at the panic in my eyes. ¡°And what have you seen with your all-seeing-eye that makes you think I am an out-worlder?¡± I asked weakly. She snuck a peak in the water again, and I felt myself flushing red for some reason. Her small frame gazed down at me like a colossus, ¡°You did not get the single room by ident, Eryk. I figured you would feel safe inside it to reveal your secrets and asked Linus to tell you first about the move to the vi.¡± ¡°What? Why would you do that?¡± I asked as I thought about taking Castile¡¯s heart again. ¡°It was the dungeon. I sent my eye to check on you and found you bathing in the waters furiously, trying to clean yourself and your armor. I assumed you went into the next chamber and fought another monster. I immediately ordered everyone out of the dungeon as I did not want the First Citizen to take whatever prize you may have recovered from the final monster in the dungeon.¡± ¡°So you want that prize for yourself,¡± I asked a little frostily. I did not even know what the pendant did. ¡°So you did recover something? Interesting.¡± Her eyebrows arched in thought, ¡°No, you can keep whatever coin and prize you obtained from the dungeon.¡± ¡°Then what do you want?¡± I asked, thinking there was maybe a way out of this. ¡°Are you going to turn me over to the Emperor?¡± Sheughed harshly, ¡°Why would I do that? It would gain me nothing but a pat on the back. I want you to know we are on the same side.¡± She started to leave, and I asked, ¡°What else did you see with your all-seeing-eye?¡± She smiled knowingly, ¡°I know you like the griffin pillow the men gave you. They think you sold it, so keep it hidden. I also know you studied a healing spell form and can now heal yourself of flesh wounds.¡± My mind raced to all the things I had done in the privacy of my tiny room, with the door locked and the window blocked. She could not have been watching me all the time? Not in the middle of the night, when I¡­ ¡°Did you get an essence from the elf mage?¡± She interrupted my thoughts. ¡°What? The elf from the Bartiradians?¡± I asked numbly. Castile¡¯s eyes were hard, her smile gone, and stared through me. ¡°Yes,¡± I admitted. ¡°It was brown with swirls in it.¡± Her eyes sparkled at my admission, ¡°Do you still have it, what size was it?¡± ¡°No, I consumed it. It was an apex essence,¡± I admitted. ¡°Pity, High Mage Dacian would have given a fortune for an apex earth essence¡ªan opportunity lost. Know, Eryk, powerful mages always give an essence. The chance of an essence coalescing rapidly decreases after thirty minutes. Before that tipping point in time, I got to that mage, and no essence formed, so I strongly suspected you had Durandus¡¯collector. I admit I was confused at the Tribunal Trial. Your control over your dimensional space is exceptional to have brought out that perfect cube of sand.¡± She smirked, ¡°It was after the failed essence from the mage that I started to watch you even more closely.¡± She sized me up in the tub again, ¡°If we escape this city, we can talk again about your other affinities.¡± She turned and left me in the cold water. I was stunned. I had been found out¡ªI think. Castile knew about myrger dimensional space. I never confirmed I was an other worlder for her, though. I dunked my head under to feel the cold water onest time. I dressed and drank the cure disease potion before returning to the vi. I used the potion even though my healing spell form worked, as I did not want to take any chances of having my eyes rot out of my skull. The potion was extremely bitter and reminded me of sour grapes without any sweetness. It worked, though, and I could feel remnants of the disease with my healing aether disappear as the potion eliminated all traces. Walking the streets back to the vi, the hot, humid weather was oppressive, easily past 100 degrees (Fahrenheit). The Bartiradian mages had turned up the temperature again today, so I suspected the fog was going to be much denser tonight, and Konstantin was sure they nned to attack. I entered the vi just before the mid-day meal, and everyone was just waking up from their nap after patrol and getting lunch in the kitchen. vius spotted me first, ¡°Crap, Eryk, Pluto must hate you to keep turning you away from his domain!¡± Everyone crowded in on me to hear my tale of battle, death, and being revived once again by Castile after trading one of her prized magic artifacts for my cure poison potion. As I wove my tale, I made sure to stress Castile¡¯s sacrifice in front of the men. She deserved that much. Benito praised, ¡°Just like a story of myth, except in yours, it is the woman that saves the man!¡± This got a whole bunch of jabs at how unmanly it was for a woman to sacrifice so much to save a in legionnaire like me. I just wanted to get some sleep in my not-so-private room. Castile was at the Legion Hall¡ªso maybe she could not spy on me from so far away¡­ Adrian broke up lunch, ¡°Everyone, get some sleep. We are all headed to the Trader¡¯s Gate before sunset. It is likely there will be an attack tonight.¡± A few men on punishment details spent their afternoon fortifying the vi under Konstantin¡¯s direction. We were not nning on defending the vi but actually retreating to the Citadel if the inner city wall fell. The three men were being punished for going into the city alone. I found myself in my tiny room. I decided to send all my possessions into my dimensional space. No one was paying much attention to me, and Castile and Delmar were at the Legion Hall, and Adrian probably was headed there as well. No one would notice my room was clean. Also, Castile already knew my space wasrger. I slept restlessly with dreams that everyone in thepany was watching me as I slept. Mateo woke me with loud, continuous banging on my door. ¡°Come on, Eryk. It is time to go and stop the entire Bartiradian army while the regrs watch and sip ale.¡± I geared up in my full armor, and sliding on the metal helm felt oddlyforting. I carried a short sword and dagger on my belt and a medium round shield. If I wanted to throw a spear, there would be pilums on the wall. All three of my bows were in my dimensional space as I was tasked with ferrying arrows to the real archers. I looked over my small room for thest two weeks and felt I might not see it again. I left the room nice and tidy. Brutus, Mateo, and Felix waited for me. Everyone else had left. Brutus handed me a satchel, ¡°Lirkin prepared everyone two days¡¯ rations and two canteens of lemon water.¡± I checked to find two canteens and seven bundles wrapped with string, ¡°One is your dinner. If we don¡¯t hurry, Adrian will send the Legion Hounds after us.¡± We made our way to Trader¡¯s Gate in the oppressive heat of thete day. To distract ourselves, we talked about our favorite foods. Mateo liked something that sounded like pulled chicken smoothed in a spicy, sweet sauce. Felix liked something akin to a corn torti with carmelized cheese on it. Brutus was happy with a dessert made from heavy cream and spirits. It needed to be made cold and served cold as the cream was whipped into a thick consistency. My favorite food, sadly enough, was fried chicken¡ªwith all 11 herbs and spices. Adrian eagerly sent all four of usters to the wall to take watch. My friends med me for having to spend thest two hours in the miserable heat of the day. As the sun set, it was like a switch had been flicked, and the air conditioning had been started. Almost immediately, wisps of fog began to rise from the fields separating the wall and the enemy encampment. As the temperature plummeted, the enemy was soon obscured by a thickening fog. Adrian walked over to us, ¡°Get down in the tower. The regrs areing up now to man the walls. Do not get toofortable. I have a feeling they are going to test us tonight.¡± We could hear muted horns in the distant army as if Adrian were prophetic. Chapter 51: The Outer Wall Chapter 51: The Outer Wall Chapter 51 I remained on the wall as the cool night air helped the sweat evaporate from my skin. The coldness caused goosebumps to appear on my exposed skin, and I shivered slightly. I studied the field of fog and could see lights appearing in the enemy¡¯s camp through the rising haze. The activity was increasing and soon waspletely obscured by the thickness of the fog. Konstantin barked, ¡°Eryk, get below in the tower.¡± I looked around me, and a dozen of the regrs were on the wall; eight had simple longbows. These were not the expensiveposite short bows the legion used. As I walked by the regrs, I could sense their tension. Most of these men would be dead if the outer wall fell tonight. I descended the steps on the wall, and the city looked eerie as the buildings were fading away in the fog. I entered the tower to find everyone spread out in the room, catching some nap time. Konstantin threw me a heavy nket from a crate with a mirthful smile, ¡°I think it is going to be an exciting night. Get some rest.¡± I moved to a wall and used the nket as a pillow. My head missed theforting embrace of my griffin-down pillow. Brutus sat next to me and did the same with his balled-up nket. Konstantin sat on my other side, but he had brought his bedroll. With my eyes closed, I asked the air, ¡°So how bad is it going to get?¡± I knew it was Konstantin who was going to answer and waited. He did speak after a moment. ¡°We are outnumbered three to one. If they breach in their assault tonight, they will run rampant through the city.¡± I nodded. I decided to consume a minor dexterity essence. I pulled the dark yellow ball from my space and popped it into my mouth. It should have been long enough since I consumed the apex healing essence not to have any essence indigestion. Konstantin rasped, ¡°You are just taking that now?¡±I came up with an excuse, ¡°I was thinking of selling it.¡± My nerves in my hands and feet started tingling with electricity. ¡°But with theing battle, I thought it best to use it now,¡± I added but never opened my eyes. Konstantin decided to give me advice, ¡°I told you earlier about fortifying attributes. I do not know if you have consumed a dexterity before, but you are young and fit right now. Try and get at least one essence for each physical attribute before you get toozy.¡± His voice wasced with wisdom and mirth at the same time. Brutus asked, ¡°How long does an essence fortify an attribute?¡± Konstantin answered on my other side, ¡°Years¡ªat least a decade from my experience. Castile¡¯sst lieutenant, Donte, who retired, saved a dozen minor essences of the constitution in his time. He thought he could hold off old age if he took one every six years.¡± Brutus had some disbelief in his voice, ¡°Would that actually work, stay young forever with essences?¡± Konstantinughed, ¡°No, but it does help you fight off disease and illness. You still age normally, but Donte thought otherwise.¡± The conversation continued between Brutus and Konstantin but focused on spear tactics. It was an information exchange about techniques employed when fighting multiple foes. I tried to pay attention, but my eyes had been shut, and I fell asleep. The tower rocked and woke me to dust drifting down. ¡°Catapult!¡± was sounded from above. A shout came down the stairs, ¡°Ten bundles of waste arrows!¡± It was Delmar¡¯s voice, and I jumped up to grab two of the imperfect arrow bundles. Six of us responded, and we brought twelve bundles up the stone stairs. In the tower, ourpany archers were blindly firing into the fog. The tower rocked again as I went to fill Regis and Pavel¡¯s arrow barrels. Castile was standing and focused out into the fog. I was heading back down the stairs when Gregor¡¯s voice from the neighboring tower bellowed, ¡°Now, Castile!¡± Castile looked agitated at the order but pulled a scroll from her duster. I was behind her, and the scroll wasyered with spell forms in silver metallic ink. It was way tooplex for me to even begin to fathom. Castile channeled her aether into the scroll, and a stiff breeze formed from behind us. It began to increase to a massive gale as Castile¡¯s hair whipped around her. The archers¡¯ hair under their helmets also blew in a mess, but they did not stop firing. I looked, and the fog was rolling back toward the army camp like a wave of white. Thend below us was being revealed, with the strong light of the blue moon now visible in the sky. There were dozens of enemies with scalingdders revealed. Delmar yelled down the stairs, ¡°Switch arrows, bring up the good stock!¡± I heard activity and waited for the men to rush up with the better arrows before descending. Our archers started targeting men one hundred and fifty yards from the wall. ze, our best archer, was just pulling and releasing. Although I lost the arrows in the low light, I could see the lead men carryingdders stumble and break their stride. Adrian hissed, ¡°We used our trick too early.¡± A sweating Castile rasped back, ¡°I know, Gregor is a fool. Get what kills we can before the fog returns.¡± Castile was focused on something else with her magic, but I could not tell what it was. The tower shook, and Dmr announced, ¡°No need to fear the stoneworks is reinforced with aether. But if you see one of those rocksing at you, duck!¡± This got some chuckles from the archers. Adrian was directing his best archers at certain targets to slow the advance. In the other tower, Gregor yelled again, ¡°I have a mage! Straight away from the gate, Castile.¡± ¡°I can not help; I have two mages sneaking up on my left with thedders!¡± Castile barked back, irritated at her mage partner¡¯s whiny tone. ¡°Griffin, a shout rang from the right,¡± and all eyes scanned the sky. I could see it, a milky ck shape flying high above, out of arrow range. Now, it was diving on us, approaching quickly. ze yelled, ¡°Castile! Give me a boost. It will be within range soon.¡± Castile paused her actions to cast her wispy ck tendrils around an arrow ze was notching. A ball of fire appeared, highlighting the griffin and the rider as it dove toward the tower. Castile quickly waved her hands and pped them, the light vanished. ¡°I dispelled the fireball. Now ze!¡± He aimed for a pair of heartbeats, following the griffin that was trying to escape after its failed attack. He unleashed the arrow, and therge dark shape let out a piercing cry and began to plummet rapidly. ¡°It is going to crash into the city,¡± ze announced and returned to firing out onto the advancing scalingdders. Delmar swung around and noticed me standing there watching the action. I thought I was going to get yelled at. Instead, I received orders. ¡°Eryk, take two others and make sure the griffin and rider are finished,¡± he barked, returning his attention to the approaching army. I turned to obey, and just before I descended the stairs, a three-foot boulder mmed into Regis, crushing him and continuing into the city with him stered on it. A lightning bolt struck Gregor¡¯s tower, causing everyone to be blinded momentarily. I blinked and followed the griffin as it spiraled into the city. Getting an idea of where it wasnding, then I rushed down the stairs. I quickly looked and picked two men with spears next to them, ¡°Brutus and Felix! With me! We have to confirm a griffin and its rider are dead.¡± I rushed out the door, and the two made to catch up with me. Exiting the tower, I oriented myself and waited for the two. I moved at a light jog, figuring the quicker we got there, the more disoriented the beast and rider would be from the hardnding. Felix was next to me, ¡°If itnded on a roof, it would be a pain to get up there!¡± Brutus got next to me on the other side, ¡°Did ze shoot it down?¡± ¡°Why are you asking? What does it matter?¡± I asked with my eyes focused ahead, figuring out where to go. The streets were empty, butrge wooden barriers in alleys were ready to be deployed, which hindered us from taking shortcuts. ¡°We have arge silver waged on whether or not he would shoot one down,¡± Brutus admitted. ¡°You owe him the silver. There!¡± I pointed. Arge creature struggled in the dark shadows of a narrow side street. ¡°Glowstones out!¡± I said, racing forward. The griffin was trying to stand, but its wing bent downward, and a bone protruded from its front right leg as well. ¡°I do not see the rider,¡± Felixmented as we approached swiftly. The beak of the griffin snapped at us as we approached. Brutus and Felix nked the creature with spears in hand. I noticed a figure in the alley behind the griffin. The figure was wrapped in a dark cloak and was using the wall of the building to stand. ¡°I see the rider. The griffin is blocking the alley to protect it. See if you can distract it long enough for me to get past.¡± Brutus lunged at myment, and I moved in the opposite direction. Felix added in his own spear work, and they slowly pulled the griffin away from the alley opening into the street. The rider, seeing this, started hobbling away down the alley. I moved to take advantage of the gap and raced forward. The griffin lunged at me, wing with its talons and snapping with its beak. I managed to get past it because the beast could not move well with the broken leg. Brutus drove his spear into the beast¡¯s neck. It went deep, and Brutus yelled, ¡°We got it! Get the rider!¡± I sprinted into the alley to catch up with the rider. The smell of urine was prevalent. I thought, for being injured, the rider was moving decently fast. I caught up to the rider and hacked into their back with my short sword. Just before my sword connected, she spun, parried my de with a dagger, and rolled away into a crouch. My glowstone was out, and I could see her features now with her cloak in disarray. They were right; the riders of the griffins were small, elven women. The elf woman was maybe 5¡¯8¡± but with a small frame outlined with tight ck clothing under her dark cloak. Konstantin was right about their beauty as well. Large emerald eyes were on a heart-shaped face. Golden-brown hair graced her head, and it was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her fierce and determined visage marred her beauty on seeing me. ¡°I will kill you, legionnaire!¡± She spat threateningly. Some blood trickled from her lips after her threat, and I wondered how badly she was injured from her crash. My training told me all her weight was on her right leg as her left was injured. Large booms sounded toward the outer wall, and she smiled wickedly at me, ¡°Your city will return to us, and the duke¡¯s army will not save you!¡± She taunted me and slid a step back in retreat. I was finding it hard to attack her. She looked like a female teenager, albeit with pointy ears. My past life instincts told me this was just a girl. I rxed slightly and stood. Maybe she would be okay with being taken prisoner? ¡°Can you just¡­¡± She dropped her dagger and pressed her hands together. Arge ball of fire formed between her hands. Fuck. I stepped forward to get her within the ten-foot range of my dimensional space. I had to angle the cube down to get her into an open portion of the cube. My mind churned what to do¡ªremove her head? Her heart? In an instant, I had outlined a box around where her heart was. I saw her as a young woman, not an enemy, and it felt wrong, so I erged the box to her entire body and sent her into storage. There was a brief tug-of-war moment as she resisted going into the space, but she vanished. As expected, my aether bottomed out, and I got slightly lightheaded from emptying all my aether. Well, it worked, but what was I going to do with an elf girl trapped in my dimensional space? I turned and returned to Brutus and Felix, who were stabbing the griffin. It was almost dead, barely moving and bleeding out. ¡°I got her! Let¡¯s get back to the tower. Those explosions do not sound good.¡± Injured men were already retreating from the outer wall as we entered the main thoroughfare from the Trader¡¯s Gate. We went against the crowd but quickly found ourpany carrying Castile away from the tower. Konstantin spotted us, ¡°Back to the Legion Hall. The enemy has too many mages!¡± We fell in with ourpany, but I noticed we were three men short as we ran from the outer wall. AUTHOR¡¯S NOTE: This is not or will ever be a harem tale. The MC will have rtionships (most likely not with this elf). That being said, I was debating back and forth on the elf. Kill her and take the fire essence? Keep here in his dimensional space with no one knowing, and somewhere down the line, release her to some utility¡­.she casts her formed fireball at an enemy. Her brother is threatening to kill the MC¡­ ¡°Oh? Did we kill your sister? You mean this one?¡± Or even just release her eventually and let her go. I don¡¯t know¡­.lots of options. He mainly imprisoned her because of his reluctance to kill a young woman. Let me know in thements if an edit is needed (this is the third edit so far on this chapter). I mean, the MC has a griffin egg¡­a dungeon essence collector¡­a magical pendant from a dungeon¡­he basically likes to collect things. Sorry, I am rambling. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter 52: Bad News Chapter 52: Bad News Chapter 52 I quickly found out Castile was being carried, not because she was injured, but because she was exhausted. The only glimpse I got of her was of sunken eyes that were a struggle for her to keep open. I tried to figure out who was missing as we moved to the Legion Hall. I went through the archers in my head and did not see Caius, one of the archer specialists in ourpany. That made sense since he was on the wall. The other person was¡­Lysander, our backup cook. Was it wrong that my first thought was joy that I would never have to eat his cooking again? The Legion Hall was lit with oilmps as we all rushed inside. Delmar ordered, ¡°Those packs and weapons there,¡± he pointed at one wall stacked with dozens of packs and weapons. I moved with others to shoulder one of the burdens. It was a pack full of quivers and packets of rations. I assumed they had been stored here in case we needed them on the outer wall. Now that it had fallen, we would use them at the inner city wall. Castile was ced on the table as Adrian added, ¡°Everyone eats and drinks. We move on in fifteen minutes.¡± I moved to sit next to Pavel, one of the archers. ¡°What happened in the tower?¡± I said while eating some thick, salty, sweet crackers on one of the tables. Pavel was dripping with sweat. He sounded tired as he repeatedly flexed his forearm, probably exhausted after firing dozens of arrows. ¡°We managed to halt the flood of scalingdders. As the fog started to return, ze shot down one of the griffin riders.¡± Pavel took a long pull from his canteen in a pause. ¡°Regis and Caius were hit with attacks. Killed on impact,¡± Pavel¡¯s voice sounded hollow as he had been paired with Regis. They bunked together and shared a lot of patrols together. After giving him some time, I asked, ¡°So, how did the outer wall fall?¡±He brought out one of the wrapped meals Lirkin had made us. I left my satchel in the tower when I went to find the griffin. He handed his meal to me, and I unwrapped it. Thick-cut zed bacon chunks were between a dense bread smothered in butter and thin strips of red marinated bell pepper strips. I ate it while he started to open another one for himself. ¡°After the griffin went down in the city, the Bartirdians pressed forward with all their men. The fog enveloped them as they advanced, and we started firing blindly into the fog. I guess our mages did not have any more spells to push away the fog. Their archers got in range, and Castile and Gregor screened us from their arrows for a while, but Gregor¡¯s aether ran out first,¡± he shook his head. ¡°When the enemy realized it, they attacked his tower with explosive magic.¡± Adrian sat down on the other side of me, and picked up the tale, ¡°The tower that Gregor was in was quickly overwhelmed by the attacking mages. Castile did her best to thwart their casting, but there were too many for her to defend our tower and dispel their magic.¡± I guessed, ¡°And she probably could not see well in the fog either.¡± Adrian smiled tightly, ¡°No, Castile had no trouble seeing in fog. There were just too many spells being cast at us. She exhausted herself trying to protect Gregor before his tower copsed.¡± While chewing on something, he continued, ¡°When Castile was swaying on her feet, Delmar and I picked her up and carried her away. The fog was thick enough that the regrs did not see us pull out of the tower. We really had no choice with the state Castile was in.¡± Pavel put his food down, ¡°How many mages do the Bartiradians have?¡± ¡°At least nine assaulted the walls at our position,¡± Adrian said, standing and finishing his food. Lysander barged into themon room. I was happy to see him¡ªas long as he never cooked for me again. He shouted, ¡°They have formed beyond the gate already and attacked the first barricade.¡± Adrian swore softly, ¡°They are moving too fast!¡± Delmar had gotten a stretcher to carry Castile, but she sat up and waived him off. She swung her legs down and stood unsteadily. She spoke withmand, ¡°They are moving recklessly into the city. The regrs will inflict heavy losses on them. We will spend our time getting ready for them on the inner wall with the city guard.¡± Delmar looked across the room, ¡°Eryk and Brutus! nk Castile and make sure she makes it to the vi!¡± I shrugged on the heavy pack and moved to Castile, ¡°I can walk!¡± she rasped as she moved outside into the foggy streets. The fog was clearing, though, and I was not the only one to notice. ¡°They stopped fucking with the weather,¡± someone shouted. Adrian shouted, ¡°Do not tarry! Move to the inner city! Once that fog clears, the rest of their griffin riders will see us from above the city.¡± We shuffled off, and even though Castile did not want the help, we still crutch-carried her to speed up her progress. Castile weighed almost nothing between us. Castile started talking to herself as we moved, her anger ring. ¡°Defend an entire city with three mages! Duke Octavian is going pay for this ridiculous assignment.¡± I decided to tell her what the rider said, ¡°Castile, the griffin rider I took care of¡ªshe said the Duke was not going to save us. They know what the n was.¡± Castile barked at me angrily, ¡°Of course they do! It was a stupid n!¡± I sensed her anger and thought it better than to add any more input from me. We hustled through the misty streets lit dimly by the blue moon and oilmps. I noticed a few groups of soldiers and city guards starting to pull out more barricades. Brutus noticed as well, ¡°Well, that is a good sign.¡± Castile looked up, ¡°No, the outer wall fell too quickly. The city guards were to have all the barricades in ce for the regrs to retreat through the city while bleeding the Bartiriadian¡¯s advance. If too many regrs fall on the outer wall, their retreat will fast through the city.¡± We reached the familiar inner gate with the orchards beyond, and Delmar ordered us to take Castile to the vi and guard her. I dropped my pack, and Brutus did likewise. The orchards seemed eerily quiet as we practically dragged Castile between us. My back ached a bit when we finally reached the door, ¡°Not upstairs. Put me on a cot in the ballroom,¡± Castile ordered. The legionnaire cots were still set up, and most were messy. Castile selected the nearest one and copsed onto it, asleep in moments. I motioned Brutus to therge entryway into the room. I closed the door, and we both stood on one side so we could whisper to each other while Castile slept. ¡°How long will it take her to recover her aether?¡± Brutus asked me. ¡°I am not sure. It takes me more than half a day, but I am guessing my aether pool is much smaller than hers,¡± I whispered while using the wall for support. We watched Castile sleep and waited in silence. I felt the need to get some rest myself and hoped we would be relieved soon. Konstantin and Orson, our twopany scouts, came after about six hours. Konstantin informed us, ¡°The enemy has secured the lower city, and they are pushing through the streets rapidly. Delmar expects them to reach us in less than a day.¡± ¡°Do we head back to the gate?¡± I asked. ¡°No, you can get a few hours of sleep. Lirkin in preparing meals. I will wake you two, and you can bring the meals to the gate,¡± Konstantin said. I started to head toward my small room, and Konstantin grabbed my arm, ¡°Sleep in here, Eryk. I don¡¯t want to be yelling for you if I need you.¡± I found one of the cots with some seemingly clean bedding. It even had a pillow, unlike most of the others. I started to remove my armor, and Brutus tapped my shoulder and shook his head, no. I guess we were sleeping in armor. The pad was thin and smelled like grass mixed with wet socks. I put my head at the other end, and it was only mildly better smelling. I missed my soft mattress with its faint floral perfume smell, and griffin-down pillow. I thought about dragging the mattress from the small room out here, but instead, I tried to getfortable on the tiny cot, but the looming threat of the Bartiradians tearing through the city made it difficult. Tossing and turning, I tried to find something to think about to distract my mind from the threat. My mind kept turning to the body in my dimensional storage. The elf woman I had ced there because I was reluctant to kill her. How was I going to remove her from the space? She would tell other people what I did to her¡ªbut then again, she was in stasis. She was also forming a fire spell in her hands when I ced her there. Would that spell still be forming when I removed her from the space? Then there was also the possibility that if I killed her and then used the collector on her, I could get another essence with a magic affinity¡ªpossibly fire. Castile had told me I had consumed an earth essence. I had zero affinity before consuming the essence, and the pain of adding the new affinity to my core was unpleasant and painful. Consuming another affinity essence that I had an attribute of zero in was not something I was ready to do again at the moment. I do not know when I fell asleep, but it was not enough for how long I slept. Orson shook me awake, ¡°Help Lirkin bring meals out to the men at the gate. Send back four me to get some rest.¡± Lirkin had baskets filled with meals. Each basket had two straps, making them an ad-hoc backpack. Lirkin noted, ¡°There are about forty meals. Give the extra to the city guards at the gates. The hard apples should be saved forter.¡± That was all he said as he kept preparing food. He was using the cooking to distract himself from the impending fight. We walked through the orchards, and the clear morning sky had trickles of smoke from the lower city. I was expecting more destruction andmented, ¡°There is not much smoke; maybe the enemy is not pressing.¡± Brutus shrugged, ¡°Their mages are probably keeping any fires under control. They want to capture the city as intact as possible. The less damage they do, the happier the civilians will be when they assert their rule.¡± That made sense. We brought the food into the tiny gatehouse room. A half dozen of ourpany were sleeping in here. Our entry woke them, and they decided fresh, cooked food was more important than their sleep. As the men took the food, I went to the gate. Two barricades were in front of the gate, and most of our men were behind the second one. Looking up to the top of the wall, the parapets on the inner city wall were narrow, just a few feet wide, and four of our archers were up there. Adrian was nearby, so I informed him, ¡°Orson said to send four men in to rest. Castile is still sleeping.¡± He nodded and sent Mateo, Felix, Kolm, and Lysander to the vi. ¡°Where do you want me and Brutus?¡± I asked, looking out into the quiet city streets. A barricade was about 200 yards down the main street, with men in city guard uniforms standing behind it. ¡°Second barricade here is fine. Once the Bartiradians reach this position, we will hold the gate to let the regrs and city guard retreat into the orchards. We will fall back to the Citadel ourselves. I do not think we are going to be able to use the aqueduct to escape,¡± he said with heavy words. ¡°Why?¡± My voice cracked a little from being dry and surprised. He pointed up, and I saw five griffins circling high above. ¡°They probably only have scouts on the route, but as soon as the griffins see us, they will send their cavalry to intercept us.¡± ¡°Can we not leave in the cover of darkness?¡± I asked hopefully. ¡°Most likely, one or two of those riders has an artifact or spell to see in darkness. The word from the regr army general is they are scouring the city for the downed griffin rider you killed. Where did you leave the body? I am surprised they have not found it,¡± Adrian asked with interest. ¡°Huh,¡± I said heavily. ¡°Why was the elf someone important?¡± ¡°One of their general¡¯s sisters. Or at least that is what the cryptic message from the regr soldier indicated when he reported a few hours ago. Don¡¯t worry; once they find the body, they will calm down a bit before pressing forward. Hopefully, the Duke¡¯s army gets here quickly.¡± Of course, the elf I had trapped in my dimensional storage was the sister of the general scouring the city to find her and seek vengeance against the soldier who killed her. Chapter 53: The General Chapter 53: The General Chapter 53 A tall, muscled elf walked through the partially destroyed Trader¡¯s Gate. A mithril helm of his ancestors framed his stern face. General lyn vien paused and watched his men search the lower city¡¯s houses. A mixture of men, elves, and dwarf soldiers entered each house and pulled out any upants. After questioning them, they were allowed to return inside and bar the door. His men were checking the civilian¡¯s hands for calluses and confirmed they were not soldiers. They would be brought to the camp outside the walls if there was doubt. It was imperfect but much quicker than bringing in a Truthseeker for each suspect. Macha City was going to be secured long before the Talhian Duke arrived. lyn¡¯s mages were already fortifying the outer walls to wee the Duke when he arrived with his army. He walked further into the city, smelling the faint odor of smoke and ozoneced heavily with the dampness. His three personal guards trailed behind him, alert for any threats. A human male soldier raced to the General, causing his guards to tense. He gave them a hand sign to rx as he knew the soldier, ¡°General vien. The downed griffin is not far. If you follow me, I will bring you to it.¡± His heart ached, and he ignored the sweat that had been sitting in his eyes and followed. The walk was short as promised, and he quickly came to the corpse of the griffin called Moonw by his sister. He knelt and petted the soft feathers along the neck of the beast as he had done a hundred times before when he visited his sister in the rookery for the griffins. Moonw had been the runt of the clutch but had grown into an impressive mount for his sister. He had been incredibly docile for his species, easily the friendliest griffin he had ever known. The guards and soldier let him pet the flying mount and waited for him to grieve. His elven n, the vien, had left the Elven Kingdom of Esenhem almost a thousand years ago. The Esenhem elves did not see the threat of the Telhians. His father did, and the Telhians were prejudiced against all non-human races. So his father migrated to the Bartiradian Kingdom, and his descendants have served in the military ever since, fighting the Telhians. For those with the vien name, it was considered a right of passage to fight the expansionist Telhians. He objected to his younger sister joining the Skyriders. Raelia should have served as a minor mage or assisted at the war college. The front lines were not for her. But Raelia wanted to fly, follow her brother, and contribute to the Neverending War. She had amazing empathy and some small skill with magic; air, and fire being her strongest attributes. ¡°lyn?¡± One of his guards, who had been inspecting the scene, broke his focus on petting the dead creature. General lyn vien stood sternly, ¡°Have they found her body yet?¡± His guard, an old elf and friend named Alhar, shook his head no, ¡°Her blood trial went into this ally and further up the street and just disappeared.¡± ¡°So there is still a chance?¡± The general let his voice crack slightly, liked his lips and swallowed.Alhar gave an indecisive look, ¡°The legionnaire we captured told us they were without a healing mage, and we cut off their ess to resupply before more healing potions could be sent.¡± He inhaled, ¡°The griffin clipped that building there,¡± he pointed. ¡°And crashed hard into the street. The hardnding would have seriously wounded her. She carried some healing potions,¡± he offered hopefully. lyn finished, ¡°If they took her prisoner, they would have seized her potions, and then she probably would notst long and would be in serious pain based on the blood trail.¡± One of the griffins scouting abovended not far away, and the rider dismounted and moved to the General, ¡°The fog has cleared, and it is going to be a difficult path through the city with the barricades. No signs of your sister, but the remaining legionnaires are at the inner city wall.¡± The General nodded sharply, ¡°So there is only one mage remaining?¡± ¡°For the legion, yes. We have seven nonbatant mages from the civilians rounded up already,¡± Alhar answered next to him. The griffin rider added, ¡°The weather mages have inconvenienced the Duke, and we surprised them with how quickly we took the city. They should be able to slow the Duke¡¯s army and give you at least two days to secure the city for its defense.¡± The rider waited for an order. lyn nodded, still distracted, ¡°After your mount is rested, pass word, keep an eye out for the remaining mage. That is ourst true threat in the city. She managed to frustrate our contingent of spell-slingers during the assault.¡± He gave it a brief thought, ¡°I prefer to see her captured for public execution, but if she endangers our mages, end her.¡± The griffin rider nodded and returned to her mount. ¡°Alhar, show me where the trail stopped.¡± Alhar nodded and led the General, trailed by the other two personal guards, to the small street. ¡°It was here,¡± the guard, who was a master tracker, said. ¡°I searched the area, and not a trace of blood anywhere past this point. Mage Finnius has been summoned, General.¡± Mage Finnius? The illusionist could rey whatever happened here. Did he really want to see his sister¡¯s fate yed out before him? He had lost two brothers to the Neverending War. He nodded slowly and waited for the mage. He began to inspect the likely ce where his sister had been killed. He noticed squads of his soldiers protecting his position by stationing themselves at the intersections. Mage Finnius arrived. He was a balding middle-aged human with a slight stutter, but he also had excellent illusionist skills and some irvoyant affinity. Whenbined, he could rey scenes that happened in a particr area less than three days past. Alhar instructed him, ¡°Set the area of your spell here to here.¡± Finnius began his work of chaulking out the boundaries of the spell with the silvery chaulk. Therger the area, the more aether the mage would take to cast his spell of viewing the past. It was a good hour of setting up the containment area. When he finished, he addressed the General, ¡°C-lyn. I have enough a-aether for about f-five minutes. I can adjust the s-speed and rey the image as you d-direct within that time.¡± The mage was sweating from his work and was still tired from the assaultst night. ¡°Proceed,¡± lyn directed. The spell forms on the ground glowed in the blue aetheric light, and Finnius sped through the images till a sh of movement urred. lyn had sorted the images even at high speed and already knew what had happened; his throat tightened, and his skin went cold. The mage rewound till the start of the action and yed it at normal speed. Raelia was fleeing down the street. Her leg was broken, and she was bleeding from a head wound and her mouth. She either had bitten her tongue or had internal bleeding. Alhar offered unhelpfully, ¡°She must have bit her tongue on thending.¡± A look silenced his friend as the General no longer needed his input. The fate of his sister was known to him. Finnius slowed the y of the image and watched as a legionnaire entered the area and attempted to sh Raelia in the back. Raelia spun and defended herself masterfully. She had one of the bestbat senses of any soldier he had ever seen and smiled. Raelia stood and began speaking to the legionnaire who had pursued her. Finnius¡¯ magic did not give sound, just images. But lyn smiled, knowing the vehemence his sister would have yelled at the legionnaire. Even with her dying breath, she would oppose the Telhian Empire. The images were clear and life-like, ¡°Freeze it, mage!¡± lyn ordered. He moved into the spell¡¯s area, carefully stepping over the silver chalk lines, and studied his sister¡¯s face, frozen in time. Rage on her face directed at the legionnaire and probably from losing Moonw. She loved that griffin more than anything else in this world. She had been reckless as the fog cleared was cleared by the enemy mages. Griffin riders were never to engage the enemy, only scout and deliver messages when magic sending was not avable. She had flown too low to the Gate Tower to give reconnaissance against orders or maybe to attack. Foolish Raelia, always trying to prove herself. He studied her face¡ªremembering every detail as it was probably thest time he would have the chance. ¡°y it slowly,¡± he ordered, and the illusion moved in front of him. Raelia was fighting the pain and cupped her hands to create a spell form for a fireball. lyn smiled, remembering how proud she had been when she cast that spell for the first time. And then she was gone. He spun on the mage about to ask him to rewind the spell, but the legionnaire was still there with a pained look on his face. Finnius paused the spell again so the General could study the image of his sister¡¯s executioner. He stepped in front of the legionnaire, a tall human with sweaty ck hair peeking out of his steel legion helm. He had brown eyes, a square jawline, and a look of disbelief on his face. ¡°Rewind and rey again, mage,¡± he ordered Finnius. The mage obeyed, and lyn studied the legionnaire as his sister repeatedly disappeared behind him. Reying the actions of the killer in front of him. Finally, the spell expired, Finnius exhausted of aether. He turned to Alhar and his other two personal guards, ¡°We have a very dangerous enemy. A Legion soldier with a spell form from the void magic affinity.¡± His voice was hard. Void magic had erased his sister from existence, and he would have his vengeance. Alhar understood as he had also watched the legionnaire not create a true spell to vanish Raelia. He turned and announced to the dozen captains around the General, ¡°His range should be limited, so when your men find him, do not get within twenty feet.¡± The other two bodyguards nodded as did the captains of the other units nearby. Alhar asked the General, ¡°Do you want me to handle this?¡± lyn considered the request. Alhar had been a Ranger, assassin, and scout for nearly three hundred years. He could havemanded his own forces, but instead chose to serve and protect the son of Alliston vien, lyn¡¯s father. Alhar could be sent and seek vengeance for Raelia. Alhar had also trained Raelia and been like a father figure to her. He assumed the stern Alhar was probably eager to do just that. ¡°No, I want to see the look in his eyes when he joins my sister in oblivion.¡± He murmured. Chapter 54: Escape Chapter 54: Escape Chapter 54 My eyes kept wandering to the sky and the griffins. After five hours of studying the flyers, I think there were nine total. They patrolled in a team of five and then in a team of four, switching every two hours. I assumed the team of four was missing one member. Did I feel guilt at being responsible in part for the missing griffin? No, we were at war and fighting for our lives. The fact that I could not kill the young-looking elf-woman weighed on me. I knew elves were much older than they appeared, but I still rted her to a young woman from my past life, and my instinct was to protect her. A few hours into my post, Konstantin was standing next to me at the barricade. Brutus and Felix were at the other end of our barricade. Konstantin asked, ¡°Eryk, do you remember when I took you around the city when we arrived?¡± He was talking quietly, so only I could hear. ¡°Yes, you showed me the weaknesses of the city¡¯s defense,¡± I replied in a whisper, wondering where he was going with this. ¡°If you had to leave the city by one of those weak points, which would it be?¡± Konstantin questioned me. It was his typical teaching moment question. I gave it some hard thought; the perimeter of the outer city wall was miles long. The south and east had the invading army. The aqueduct to the northwest headed into the rocky hills was probably my choice as the ground in that area was covered inrge scattered and quarried stones, making it difficult terrain. Calvary could not move, and many of the stones wererge enough to hide among. The original escape n was to walk along the aqueduct into the hills. The aqueduct was about forty feet above the rocky terrain below and about ten feet wide, meaning the griffins would easily spot us. It was not the best route since we were concerned with the flyers spotting us. ¡°Still the aqueduct. Drop from it and move under it to escape into the hills,¡± was my answer. Konstantin nodded, ¡°Not bad. They will have scouts on the ground, but probably only a few, as their efforts will be focused on securing the city.¡± Konstantin was silent for a while before asking, ¡°What do you think about the washout from the sewer?¡± ¡°You never showed that to me, and you said it was full of slimes,¡± I noted. Also, the idea of trudging through shit and piss again was not my first choice. But I would do it if it was a guarantee to save our lives. ¡°It actually empties about two miles south into the swamp, but you would have to submerge and swim under the water for almost a hundred yards from what I have been told. The army encampment is also close to the exit. There will be scouts on the ground near the aqueduct, but I agree the aqueduct is still our best option.¡± Konstantin seemed to be thinking, and somemotion behind me had me turn.Castile was in full legionnaire garb and walking among the men. Her face was slightly more gaunt, but her stoicism had returned after a long recovery sleep. The metal legion helmet looked odd on her, and Konstantin exined, ¡°She does not want to be targeted by the enemy, so she is blending in.¡± As if in response to Castile¡¯s appearance, a griffin flew lower, and some archers responded on the wall above to chase it away. The arrows fell well short of the griffin, but it gained altitude anyway. Castile, Adrian, and Delmar moved to the first barricade to look down the street and into the city beyond. Adrian exined the situation to Castile, ¡°The enemy has paused their advance. They will attack the barricades again in force tonight.¡± Castile asked, ¡°Why are they waiting? The regrs and city guard are outnumbered.¡± Delmar answered, ¡°They are slowed down because they are searching every house as they go. I think they found the body of the griffin rider they were searching for because they stopped pressing through the city. They did take heavy losses in their haste to get past the barricades. I believe they will attack at night because their elves and dwarves have excellent low-light vision, giving them an advantage. The messengers say the humans in the Bartiradian ranks are just harassing the barricades to wear out the defenders while the elves and dwarves are resting.¡± Castile nodded and went into a focused state I now understood was her sending out her all-seeing-eye. We all waited for her to return from her scouting. She was sweating a little bit, and it was not from the sun. Using her aether seemed to stress her. From Damian, I knew a mage was limited in how much aether they could use in a day based on their aether tolerance. Castile seemed to be close to her limit. She suddenly blinked like she had something in her eye and breathed heavily, ¡°They are still bringing their army into the city. They are fortifying the outer wall as well and rebuilding the Trader¡¯s Gate with their mages. We can not get trapped in the city with them. We will leave tonight; we have already failed the assignment.¡± Adrian seemed shocked, ¡°Are you sure, Castile? You might be named a coward if we leave before the inner city walls fall. Duke Octavian will use that against you.¡± ¡°As soon as Durandus got himself killed, this assignment was doomed to fail,¡± Castile said sharply. ¡°What are our options for leaving the city tonight?¡± Castile asked the men present. Adrian called for Orson, the other scout, to join them at the barricade. Brutus, Felix, and I were in the background while Castile, Adrian, Delmar, Konstantin, and Orson discussed thepany¡¯s options but were close enough to overhear. Orson offered the first suggestion, ¡°We could go over the north wall and head northeast and then circle north to west. The woods are thick, and it looks like the enemy has avoided them due to the pixies. Also, their griffin spotters would be useless to find us in the trees.¡± Delmar disagreed, ¡°It would take us too close to their outriders. They would surely spot us and send cavalry to pursue us. I do not want to be running on foot through those woods at night. The pixies are bad enough, but running on foot from men on horseback would make it a terrible flight.¡± Konstantin offered, ¡°I think the best n is still the aqueduct. Eryk suggested we get outside the city wall and then make our way through the boulder field under the aqueduct as cover.¡± Castile briefly turned to look at me. ¡°It would be much slower movement, but we would have some cover from the griffins.¡± Adrian added his thoughts, ¡°Maybe during the height of their attack on the barricades tonight, the griffins will be too distracted to notice us. How many scouts do you think they have in the boulder fields and on the aqueduct?¡± Orson answered, ¡°None on the aqueduct unless they are invisible. We can see out to maybe two miles from the Citadel¡¯s tallest tower. Among the boulders? Maybe as many as a dozen. But best guess, half that.¡± Konstantin offered another option, ¡°We could hide in the sewers and hope the Duke retakes the city. At least it will be defensible.¡± Castile had a sour look, and no one else looked thrilled at the prospect either. Whether that was because we would be in the sewers, being essentially cornered, or relying on the Duke to rescue us was not voiced. I couldn¡¯t hold my tongue any longer and asked, ¡°What about the regrs and the city guard? Are we just leaving them to defend themselves?¡± A half dozen upper city guards were at the gates behind us, mixed with ourpany but out of earshot. The group all turned hard eyes on me. I guess my input was not wee. Castille exined it to me, ¡°The regrs will be taken prisoner and sent back to work camps in the Bartiradian Kingdom. City guards will be made to work in the city doing repairs but will eventually earn their freedom after a few years. That has been the Bartiradian policy.¡± Castile stepped close to me and looked up into my eyes with a hard stare, ¡°The captured legionnaires and legion mages of the Empire will be executed publicly.¡± Castile let that sink in before adding, ¡°We are a symbol of the Telhian Emperor and need to be made an example of by showing our defeat publicly.¡± ¡°That was not something they mentioned in the brochure when I signed up,¡± I griped softly. I had thought the absolute worst-case scenario would be we would surrender and be prisoners of war. Castile ignored myment and asked the others, ¡°How many of Gregor¡¯s men reached us?¡± Adrian pulled out a slip of paper, ¡°Eleven, sevenbat capable and two in rough shape. They are all in the Citadel now recovering.¡± Castile nodded. ¡°Leave them there for now. If we use the aqueduct escape route, we will collect them then. Can the two injured men move?¡± ¡°No,¡± Delmar answered, ¡°One has a shattered leg, and the other has some head trauma. They brought a few of the simple healing salves with them but used all their healing potions. We would need stretchers to get them out.¡± Castille pursed her lips at the news. She seemed to be considering her options, looking down the street. ¡°The aqueduct it is. At the peak of the fighting tonight, we will move to the Citadel and climb down to it. I can screen us for a few minutes from the griffin riders while we descend to the boulders. Make sure the men are well rested.¡± Castile turned and went into the orchards, with Delmar following her. Adrian ordered Brutus, Felix, and I to the tiny room in the gatehouse. Inside, we found nine men trying to sleep. I found my way to an open spot on the floor with some nkets and tried to get some rest. The small room was a mix of sweat, body odor, and mildew. The smells did not bother me. The heavy breathing, loud snoring, and whispered conversations made it difficult to fall asleep. I closed my eyes, but all I could think about was getting captured and hung for being a legionnaire. Somehow, I drifted off. It felt like I had just shut my eyes when I was woken to eat and take my next watch. The meal was bread, hard sausage, and cheese. All washed down with lemon water. Brutus sat next to me as we ate. ¡°She is just like Durandus.¡± I asked, ¡°Who, Castile? Why do you say that?¡± He chewed while he talked, ¡°All mages are alike, I guess. She is nning to leave the regrs and the city guard to defend the city themselves,¡± he answered. I defended Castile, ¡°What can thirty legionnaires and one mage do against an army? Besides, I think Durandus, Gregar, and Castile were sent here to die anyway. Living through this clusterfuck would be an aplishment.¡± ¡°Clusterfuck¡­¡± He tested the word. ¡°You have some unique sayings in Tsingia.¡± We ate our food in silence for a while before Brutus added, ¡°I changed my mind. Castile is not like Durandus. He would have been only concerned with getting himself out of this clusterfuck. Castile seems to want to get her entirepany out with her.¡± Adrian called for us toe to gate duty. As I exited the small room, a steady stream of injured regrs passed through the gate into the orchard. Delmar was talking with a city guard captain not far away. The look of concern on his face told me something was up. The sun was starting to set, and it looked like the Bartiradians were increasing their activity in the lower city. We were positioned at the gate, behind the first of the two barricades, and Delmar was now talking with Adrian, and they both started to talk with legionnaires. When Adrian reached us, I could tell the news was not good. He talked to us quietly, ¡°Word has reached us that the regr army ns to surrender tonight if the Duke has not arrived by sunset. The general knows he can not hold the city against so many enemy mages. The Bartiradians control the entire lower city and will quickly run through the upper city if the army capittes. At first dark, we are moving to the Citadel.¡± He looked at the disappearing sun, ¡°About thirty minutes from now.¡± Adrian left us to talk to Felix and Mateo on the other end of our barricade. Brutus whispered, ¡°Okay, maybe Castile saw thising.¡± He turned around and looked into the orchard where dozens of wounded soldiersy. He looked back at the city, ¡°The Bartiradian mages will have recovered their aether as well. I do not me them for surrendering.¡± He was forgiving the regr soldiers. As twilight faded, shes of light and thunder roiled from within the city below us. Adrian turned and studied the shes in the waning light. They were much closer than I expected, less than half a mile away. Thunderous booms echoed with the shes. Adrian motioned some city guards forward to rece Felix and Mateo, and they left to head back into the orchards. He did the same for us. I could also see our archers on top of the wall heading down as well, with no one recing them. Konstantin waved us inside the gates, ¡°Move to the Citadel. We are regrouping there with Castile.¡± Brutus and I walked past the soldiers in the orchards who gave us spiteful looks. It was obvious we were retreating, giving up on the city. I felt guilty about it myself. But knowing the army was likely to surrender soon, I let the guilt wash off. These men would be taken prisoner, ording to Castile. If I was captured, I would be hung publicly. We entered the Citadel and followed others up the stairs into therge audience chamber. A raised throne dominated one end of the room. Massive glow stones lit the chamber in silver sconces. Castile was walking slowly around the chamber with Delmar on her hip. The remainder of Gregor¡¯s men were stirring from their bedrolls, getting ready to leave. I recognized a few faces from Durandus¡¯ men who had joined them. Castile moved to check on two men who had not risen. She gave the one with a bloody headwrap a potion from her robes. Even from this distance, I knew it was a lesser healing potion. She must have been saving it for herself. Everyone was assembled after thirty minutes. Men were bringing in our packs and setting them against the far wall. As the legionnaire to whom Castile had given the potion stood, Castile turned to everyone. ¡°We are going to move to the aqueduct and make our way out of the city. I will be able to screen us from above for a few minutes. The goal will be to move to the damaged section of the aqueduct outside the walls and descend the ropes. We will follow the aqueduct to the reservoir and then make haste to connect with the Duke¡¯s army.¡± Delmar stepped forward, ¡°We expect the army to surrender shortly, which means the city guard will follow shortly after. Haste is important. Strip Artorius of his legion gear and bring him to one of the chambers. We can not carry him. He will have to tell the Bartiradians he is a baron¡¯s son,¡± he indicated to the man with the shattered leg. One of the men quipped, ¡°See Artorious. You have a tower fall on you, and before you know it, you are a First Citizen and telling us what to do!¡± A few of the men chuckled to make him feel better, but we were leaving him behind, and it would not take much for the enemy to figure out he was legion. It was a death sentence. I managed to find my pack in the jumble on the wall and shouldered it. Adrian and Delmar were giving orders to the new men. We were soon moving through the Citadel in pairs, Brutus being mine. We entered a dimly lit ballroom and went to a balcony overlooking the aqueduct going into the city. The blue moon lit the expanse before us. The rocky, difficult-to-pass hillside ran miles into the distance, the aqueduct looking like a narrow raised road cutting through the hills in the quickly fading light. The northern forest was to the right, and I could see a number of lights on the edge of the massive trees. The Bartiradians clearly had a number of men at the edge of the forest, and I was d we had not chosen that route. We were expecting some scouts in the rocky terrain, but hopefully not too many. It was a good thirty-foot drop to reach the aqueduct from the balcony, and Konstantin was already directing men down ropes. From my understanding, this was the easiest ess point to the aqueduct. If we took to the aqueduct further into the city, then the griffins would spot us more easily. Castile was on the balcony scanning the skies for griffins as we made our way down. We were shielded from them for now, but they would easily spot us as soon as we moved away from the Citadel. After I descended myself, I was directed to remain close to the Citadel wall by Adrian. Soon, all thirty-five of us were on the aqueduct under the balcony. The night air was humid and hot and added to the sweat from our anxiety. Castile seemed indecisive and spent a brief moment using her all-seeing-eye spell. She was whispering with Delmar and Adrian about what she saw. Adrian passed the message to my group, ¡°The sky is clear. We will move tightly under Castile¡¯s shadows. Ten pce guards guard the aqueduct gate. Be wary, as they may be the enemy in disguise.¡± Castile nodded, and her shadow smoke oozed from her body, forming arge disc above us. The blue-lit moon was blocked out of our sight, and we all moved around the mage and moved with haste along the ten-foot wide channel in the aqueduct toward the outer wall. The aqueduct was like a raised road that brought water from a reservoir high in the hills. Arge gate was over the aqueduct at the outer wall. Only five guards were at the gate, not the ten we expected. Konstantin moved forward cautiously and talked to them, and they opened the gates for us to pass. Adrian was at my side and said, ¡°We followed the Bartiradian mage here. He killed all the guards and escaped along the aqueduct.¡± As I passed the pce guards at the gate, they nodded to us in respect. It was confusing to me because we were abandoning the city. I thought we would get the same hard stares that the regr army gave us when we passed through the orchards. It was not far as we moved past the gate to the copsed section. There wererge nks here to bridge the twenty-foot gap and a steady stream of water falling on the rocks below. The original n was to cross the gap and move quickly along the aqueduct. Now, we were dropping ropes and moving down to the ground to avoid being spotted by the griffins. Orson was asking Castile how much longer we had for her screen as I passed. I did not catch her response before I was repelling. A heavy mist was in the air at the bottom of the sshing waterfall of the damaged aqueduct. We moved away quickly so our clothes did not get too damp from the spray. Castile was thest one down, and I heard Konstantin talking to her, ¡°vius, Orson, and I will scout ahead. They must have scouts among the rocks, hopefully not many.¡± The three scouts moved forward into the darkness. We followed shortly after. Spirits were high as we moved under the cover of the aqueduct, as it seemed we had not been spotted so far. Our feet crunched on stone, and we weaved betweenrge boulders in the moonlight. The ground was uneven withrge chunks of stone, and many men stumbled in the low light. Konstantin¡¯s clear voice cut the night from the far left, ¡°Enemy scouts!¡± Arrows started flying among us. A few men were hit as we moved for cover. Grunts of pain, but no screams came from the men who were hit. Our archers started to respond, but I could not see anyone in the distance among the boulders. Then I remembered the enemy had elves and dwarves with excellent low-light vision. We were at a huge disadvantage. Konstantin came rushing back to us and took cover with us. ¡°There are at least four.¡± vius arrived shortly after as well, ¡°Orson is hit. He is twenty yards out.¡± Adrian barked loudly at everyone, ¡°We can not stay here. They will get reinforcements. We have to move!¡± As if in response to the urgency, a bright white pyrotechnic burst in the night sky above our position under the aqueduct. This was a clear signal to the Bartiradians in the city of our position. Brutus rasped, ¡°I hope they are too busy in the city to give a clusterfuck about us.¡± I did not take time to correct his usage of the new word I had taught him. We had other things to worry about. Chapter 55: Desperation Chapter 55: Desperation Chapter 55 The sh in the sky was definitely a signal. It made it bright enough for me to see we had three men with arrows in their torsos. Delmar was pulling everyone together with Konstantin tounch an attack to break through, ¡°We need to rush the archer¡¯s position. Everyone with a shield will lead the charge, followed by spearmen. ze, try and pick them off as we advance.¡± ze was our best archer and looked eager for the challenge. We were hiding behind one of the arch supports for the aqueduct. Konstantin added a new element to the n, ¡°I will take Eryk, Firth, and Wylie wide right to nk them.¡± We only spent moments dropping our packs to ready ourselves, and I asked Konstantin, ¡°Why do you want me?¡± ¡°You are one of the fastest runners in thepany, Eryk,¡± he said quickly, but I did not think that was the case. I was among the tallest, but I did not think that made me one of the fastest. As we prepared, Linus, thepany medic, was using the healing salve he must have gotten from Gregor¡¯s men to close arrow wounds after extracting the arrow from the wounded. It would not heal internal damage but would at least prevent them from bleeding out. The main force with shields moved out as I disappeared around the corner of the aqueduct support with Konstantin and the other men. As we heard arrows hitting shields, signaling our main force charge, Konstantin picked up into a run. In the moonlight, I noticed Orson in the open, his body at an awkward angle. I moved away from our group and paused to check on him, letting the other three get ahead. Orson had three arrows in him, two to the chest and one to the neck. He was definitely dead; anotherrade lost. I raced to catch Konstantin as the direction of the fight was easy to discern. An arrow whizzed by my face from the right. I took cover behind a rock. Even with the blue moon¡¯s brightness, I could not see further than fifty feet. I waited and listened behind the boulder. Our men had reached the archers, and the sounds of swords contacting armor and flesh could be heard fifty yards away. A twang of a bow told me the archer that attacked me had fired an arrow toward the scrum. I had a general idea of the location of the archer now and sprinted right to circle behind him. A steady cadence of arrows came from the archer, so I located him quickly. He was on top of a waist-high boulder and focused on the fight a good distance away. I rushed over the rocky terrain and up onto the rock in an impressive leap. He sensed my approach and pivoted to fire his next arrow at me, but I closed on him too fast.My de pressed into his stomach and out his back as I used my momentum to pierce his leather armor. He shouted in pain and surprise as I drove him off the rock and onto the ground below. Inded on top of the archer with my full body weight, stunning him and giving me time to draw a dagger and press it up, under his chin, and into his brain. I was breathing heavily from the effort and adrenaline. I stood and swore. My left hand on the short sword was sprained badly, maybe broken, from thending. I flexed it and started to heal the injury. As I calmed, my senses were suddenly flooded with the sound of battle, the smell of the elf, and the taste of salt from my sweat. In the low light, I bent over and identified it as a male elf. I stood over him for moments, healing my wrist. The dead, ssy eyes of the elf were barely visible in the moonlight but still creeped me out. I considered taking his essence, but I didn¡¯t have time. The fighting had already ended, and Konstantin was already yelling for me. I made a decision: I moved the entire body, with all of his gear, to storage. I was happy to note my aether did not bottom out. If he yielded an essence when I removed the body, it would be a good way to preserve a body in the future. I focused and pulled the sword embedded in the archer back into my hand from his body and rushed to join thepany. Adrian asked, ¡°Did you get the other archer, Eryk?¡± I nodded and then voiced, ¡°Yes. And Orson is dead; he took three arrows.¡± Castile swore, ¡°Damn, five more injured. Delmar, do you think we should leave behind a screen?¡± There was silence as Castile was asking if we should leave men behind to slow pursuit. Konstantin answered for Delmar, ¡°Not yet, Castile. Even though the sh told them where we were, they might be too busy in the city to send pursuit. Most likely, the five we killed were all the men they had in the area. If there are more, we should not give them time to form together for an ambush ahead of us.¡± Adrian picked up the call, and I noticed in the moonlight he was holding his arm in a sling with a broken-off arrow in his forearm, ¡°Let us move out now!¡± He rallied everyone. Castile added, ¡°A griffin has already spotted us. I agree. They may not bother sending pursuit if we can get far enough away from the city. ze, stay close to me. If a flyer gets close, I may have just enough aether to infuse one arrow.¡± Someone handed me my pack, and I shouldered it. We were soon jogging parallel to the aqueduct, weaving again among the boulders. Someone tripped and fell hard every few minutes as the terrain was unforgiving, with sharp, pointed rocks difficult to see in the darkness. I fell once, banging my knee and cutting my palm. I healed both injuries as we proceeded forward away from the city. ¡°Now, ze!¡± Castile shouted. ze drew an arrow ahead of me and aimed it toward the sky. An unhappy squawk and a shadowy shape sailing away told us ze hit the griffin but did not down it. ze receivedpliments on his shot as we moved on. Hopefully, that was the only griffin following us. Our route was obvious, though, as we were following the aqueduct overhead. As our run in the night progressed, a lot of men were starting to g. Delmar called, ¡°Short rest! Scouts to check out our trail behind!¡± vius and Konstantin moved away from the group to check behind us. I sat heavily on a rock, took my canteen from my pack, and drained it. Firth scolded me, ¡°Eryk, you should have saved some of that. We have hours of running left.¡± I nodded but knew I had plenty of water in my dimensional space. Castile, Adrian, and Delmar discussed whether we should take time to climb the aqueduct. The stone was generally smooth, but two of our men carried a rope with them. While I rested, I looked into the sky. ¡°They are up there,¡± Firth said, watching with me. I could see a shadow blocking the stars, barely lit by the waning moon high above. Then, a second shape. ¡°Yeah, they are not letting us go. Most likely, if the griffins are tracking us, they sent a sizable force after us,¡± Firth added heavily. Konstantin returned first and went to talk with Castile and Delmar. Adrian was in difort but listened in. I was too far away to hear or see their faces clearly. Castile abruptly announced after their conversation, ¡°Rest is over! We are moving now!¡± vius caught up with us as we moved out, and I asked, ¡°What did you see behind us?¡± ¡°shes of metal in the moonlight over a mile behind us. A hundred men, all on foot by Konstantin¡¯s estimation,¡± vius said as he moved past me. No rest was called for the next three hours, and I got a turn helping to carry Lirkin¡¯s stretcher. There were four of us, and it was painful work as you were forced on a path through the stone field because you were tied to the other three men. My body took the abuse, stubbed toes, partial stumbles, and the uneven load caused severe spinal pain. No oneined, though. Lirkin had gotten an arrow in his hip and could not walk. There had been no discussion about leaving him behind. We rotated our carrying positions every fifteen minutes, giving me a full hour on the task. I was not tired, but other men, especially those who only had their wounds closed and not healed, were starting to fail. Wylie was first. He stopped and kneeled and spit thick flem. He had taken an arrow in the shoulder and could not use his left arm. As Wylie knelt, so did Mateo to check in on him. Konstantin was in the back and called, ¡°Halt and rest! Castile, I will check on our pursuers.¡± I looked up and could no longer find the griffin shadows above us. I had not noticed the moon¡¯s blue light leaving us as the night progressed, and we only had starlight now. Sitting, I studied arge boulder. Maybe I could hollow it out with my ability and hide inside? I could make a tiny ess at the bottom. It would bottom out my aether and leave me corned if found. But I also did not want to abandon myrades. My ponderings stopped as Konstantin returned, and I made sure I was close enough to overhear the conversation, ¡°¡­are trying to run us ragged. When we reach the reservoir, they will probably close in to finish us off. We should slow down and rest while they give us a chance.¡± Adrian grimaced, holding his arm, as he asked, ¡°Do you think they have men already ahead of us?¡± Konstantin did not answer for a moment, thinking. ¡°Unlikely but possible. The terrain is the same throughout these hills. I do not see how they could have gotten ahead of us at our pace.¡± ¡°Could the griffins have ferried men ahead of us?¡± Delmar asked. ¡°I have never seen a griffin carry two riders before,¡± Castile noted. ¡°But it is a possibility. If I am quick, I have enough aether to scout behind and ahead of us.¡± Delmar grunted heavily, ¡°Castile, it would be nice to know if we can hold positions and stand a chance of fighting them.¡± Castile nodded, and we waited for her to return from using her spell. I looked at the men around me; maybe twenty were uninjured and fully capable of fighting. And those twenty were tired. Fifteen minutester, Castile returned from her scouting, ¡°There is an elven general and thirty men in light armor about half a mile back with him. They are resting like we are and leading the pursuit. There are another hundred or so men in heavy armor and at least two mages another two miles behind them but moving slowly. I managed to check the reservoir as well. No Bartiradians are waiting for us, but there is a long, narrow climb to the stone caldera.¡± ¡°They must really want us badly to pull so many from the city. Is that the general who was searching for his sister, the griffin rider? Maybe they know ze shot her down,¡± Delmar pieced together. ¡°Maybe the regrs and city guard already surrendered, allowing the general to pursue us,¡± Castile added bitterly. ¡°If he wants vengeance, he will not stop chasing us until he has it.¡± I mulled over this information. Would the general let us go if I gave him back his sister? It seemed like a farfetched idea. Maybe I could just fall back and release her from my space, and the confusion of finding her would give us more time to get away. It was probably a stupid n. I missed the conversation as I debated what to do. Castile announced to everyone, ¡°We are almost to the reservoir! There is a narrow set of carved stone stairs that can be easily defended. There is a difficult path around the reservoir, but our best chance will be to use the aqueduct to give us the high ground. We will make our stand there.¡± I think thepany was happy that an end was in sight. ¡°The quicker we get there, the more rest we will get before the fun begins!¡± An energetic Konstantin yelled before moving off first. His bravado motivating everyone to pick up the pace. We reached the narrow stone stair, and Castile had not been kidding. It was extremely steep, and the steps were narrow, no wider than a foot. ¡°Is this the only ess to the reservoir?¡± Delmar asked. Konstantin replied, ¡°There used to be a wooden tower here, but it copsed centuries ago.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± Delmar asked, perplexed. ¡°I like history,¡± Konstantin replied. ¡°Did you know this reservoir was formed when Constantine of the First Legion destroyed the stone mountain that once stood here? The rocks we have been navigating are the debris from that explosion. They were used to build the city and the aqueduct.¡± Castile was exasperated, ¡°We can talk historyter, but it was Titus, not Constantine of the First Legion, who destroyed the stone mountain,¡± she schooled Konstantin. Konstantin smiled at Castile¡¯s retort, and the mood lightened slightly. Adrian barked, ¡°Injured up the steps first!¡± Lirkin was first, using his arms and forcing himself up quickly. He paused and addressed the group below him, ¡°These steps are treacherous. Eryk, do you still have the butter?¡± Castile put it together quickly, ¡°That is a good n. You can be thest one up and grease the steps.¡± Delmar turned to Brutus. ¡°Eryk is going to grease the steps. Hang back with him and let him know if you see anyoneing while he works.¡± Still in pain, Adrain announced, ¡°Archers, get to the aqueduct to help cover Eryk while he works!¡± Somehow, I had just been made rear guard. Brutus voiced his displeasure as everyone climbed the narrow, smooth steps, saying, ¡°Be quick, Eryk. The steps are fairly exposed, and enemy archers will have an easy time of targeting us.¡± I dumped the contents of my backpack on the ground and filled it with the butter from my dimensional space while cursing Lirkin for remembering I had butter in my dimensional space. I knew it would work as the steps were smooth with time, but I did not appreciate being the one who had to do it. ¡°Brutus, stay a dozen steps ahead of me, and let me know if you see the enemy approaching.¡± ¡°Clusterfuck, Eryk. I can barely see fifty feet in the starlight,¡± Brutus replied. I waved him up the steps as everyone had climbed, not bothering to correct his use of the term. The quicker I buttered the steps, the quicker I could climb. This was definitely a clusterfuck, though. I scooped the butter and started with the fourth step up, quickly spreading the soft mixture at both ends of the narrow step. I proceeded to the next step, and Brutus called down, ¡°How are you going to climb yourself?¡± ¡°I am leaving the very center of the step clear as I go,¡± I muttered, quickly covering my hand with filthy, oily butter again. I was making quick progress and could still see the tail of thepany climbing ahead. Brutus remained a few steps ahead of me and kept on the lookout. I was halfway up the hundred-foot climb when Brutus warned me, ¡°I can see someone. Forget about it, just climb, he has a line of sight on you, Eryk!¡± An arrow prated my thigh, and I tried to stabilize myself with my free hand¡­which was coated in butter. An arrow shattered between Brutus¡¯ legs, but I could not concern myself with him. My hand slipped, and my foot in the center of the stairs moved to left, connecting with the patch of butter I hadid. I lost my footing and fell down the steps. The arrow in my thigh was painfully twisted around as my body banged down the steep steps. I tried to arrest my momentum but failed and lost a few fingernails in the effort. I had done too good a job of coating the steps. Brutus was swearing as I reached the bottom of the stone stairs in a messy heap. My body was bruised, but I managed to avoid breaking any bones. I grabbed the arrow and yanked it out. It had done a lot of damage, twisting in my thigh during the fall. I hobbled to a boulder for cover and focused my healing on closing the wound. At the top of the steps, I could hear voices, and thepany archers were firing arrows into the dark, but I doubted they could see my assant. Sitting with my back to the boulder, I focused on healing as I watched Brutus scramble up the steps and out of sight around a bend. The pain in my leg was slowly ebbing away, and I realized my healing would require more aether than I had. I stopped the healing with less than half my aether remaining. I could hear thepany far above preparing. I tested my leg, and I could move it, albeit stiffly. Now, this was truly a clusterfuck of epic proportions. The only good news was I could hear Konstantin¡¯s voice from the aqueduct, ¡°There is only one advance scout, Eryk. Take him out and climb the steps!¡± It was more bravado and false hope on his part. I drew my sword, and I was facing the cliff with the stairs and trying to listen, but my heart was beating too loudly in my ears in adrenaline overdrive. The cliff was twenty feet away, and in shadow, a figure emerged from the shadow with an arrow notched. I swore as he was shielded from mypanion¡¯s line of sight. I needed him to lure him within ten feet of me to kill him with my dimensional space. I had no ranged weapons essible. The shadow spoke, surprised in heavily ented Latin, ¡°You are the void mage.¡± I was confused with his pronouncement, ¡°I am not a mage.¡± The shadow spoke again, ¡°I think General vien is going to want to finish you himself for killing his sister. Just wait patiently, legionnaire. He will be here soon.¡± ¡°I am sorry, but I actually have somewhere to be,¡± I joked, and I think the shadow smiled. I focused my effort on the one possible ranged weapon I had. I did something I had never done before and moved an object in my dimensional space, turning the elf girl around to face away from me. It took a small amount of aether to manipte her position in the space. I now knew I could rearrange items without removing them. I rasped like I was still injured and asked, ¡°Was the general¡¯s sister the griffin rider?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± the elf shadow said as I materialized her right in front of him. The light of the fireball she had been forming lit the area brightly. The elf girl released the fireball she had made and exploded between the two elves. The elf scout was thrown into the cliff face and the elf girl toward me. The elf girl was dead or unconscious at my feet. Her face was badly burned, and her hair was smoldering. Not so innocent-looking now. I could stay here and try to use the elf as a hostage or climb the greased stairs and join mypanions. I stood and hobbled to the stairs and began to climb carefully. Chapter 56: You Got Some Explaining to Do Chapter 56: You Got Some Exining to Do Chapter 56 My climb up the steps was not easy. I used my hands liberally to brace myself as I climbed. I think most of the butter ended up stered on my pants, sleeves, and armor. When I cleared the buttered section of steps, I increased my pace, almost falling twice as the bottom of my boots still had significant butter residue. The hundred-foot climb felt like a thousand feet. My knuckles were bleeding, and pebbles were embedded into cuts on my hands. When I reached the top step, my heart was pounding, and I was breathing heavily. vius had his bow aimed at me, and Brutus and Mateo had spears leveled at me. I put my hands up, ¡°I surrender!¡± Brutus asked with shock on his face, ¡°How did you? I mean, you were bouncing down those steps after getting hit by the arrow¡­¡± Konstantin came from my right, ¡°Castile wants to see you, Eryk. Now!¡± He emphasized urgency. ¡°She is on the aqueduct,¡± he said, pointing past the sluice controlling the flow of water from theke. I left the six men guarding the top of the stairs and went to the aqueduct. My mind was spinning with ideas on how to exin my escape. I stepped onto the aqueduct. It was twelve feet wide with a one-foot curb on the edge to channel the water. The water was only an inch deep, and the flow was not too strong. I walked in the water, not wanting to risk walking on the lip. I moved out to the aqueduct to join the rest of the legion. Castile, Adrian, and Delmar were near the lip but standing in the flow of water. They were staring out onto the rocky terrain below. I was able to look down at the stairs as I approached. I could see the top half of the stairs, but rocks and curvature obscured the bottom half. The bodies of the two elves were not in sight, and I wondered if they lived. Themanders eyed me appraisingly. Castile spoke first, ¡°You continue to surprise, Eryk. We thought we lost you. You can thank ze that we did not put an arrow in your back during your climb.¡± Since my jaw didn¡¯t work, Delmar exined, ¡°We could not see who was climbing the steps in the low light. ze was certain the person was wearing legion armor, so we held fire.¡±I looked at the archers further down and said, ¡°Thanks for not shooting me in the back.¡± ze¡¯s voice came back in, but I could not identify who was speaking as they were all facing away from me, ¡°You owe me, Eryk. I will let you know when you can repay me.¡± Adrian looked me up and down, and I noticed that the sky was starting to get lighter. The sun wasing. Adrian said, ¡°Brutus said an arrow struck you and then fell down the steps? Yet you look rtively unharmed.¡± As I thought about what to say, Castile answered for me, ¡°I gave Eryk a lesser healing potion. He was to heal me if I became incapacitated.¡± She was covering for me and had obviously not revealed to Adrian or Delmar that I could heal myself. She focused on what had happened below, ¡°What was the sh and explosion? Are their mages already below?¡± ¡°Mages?¡± I asked, ¡°Yes, there was a mage.¡± I started to tell the events in order to give me time to think. ¡°I fell down the steps after getting shot. Well, I guess bounced and slid is a better way to describe my inglorious descent,¡± I tried to smile, but their serious faces had me end my attempt at humor. I paused, getting my thoughts together as they waited. ¡°At the bottom, I got to cover to hide from the archer. I was sitting against a rock and¡­healed myself.¡± I was unsure why Castile was helping me keep my healing spell form secret, but I appreciated it. Delmar asked, a little impatient, ¡°What was the sh of light and explosion?¡± I nodded, continuing, ¡°The archer approached me from the shadows. He must have circled around while I was falling. I think he nned to take me prisoner. Then the mage appeared and was casting a fireball spell, I think... I surprised her with a vial ofmp oil I took from the vi. I was just trying to stop her from casting the fireball. It was the only thing I thought might help in my dimensional space. The vial exploded, and it tossed both of them away from me. They were not moving, so I hobbled up the steps to rejoin thepany,¡± I finished triumphantly. Delmar looked skeptical, and Castile was hiding a smirk. I hoped she had been out of aether and did not have her all-seeing-eye watching me. Adrian was still nursing his arm, and there was more difort at his injury on his face than interest in how I escaped. Castile asked, ¡°So you did make sure they were dead? The mage and the archer?¡± ¡°I¡­I¡­I did not. The healing potion was still doing its work, and I was not sure how much time I had before more advanced scouts arrived,¡± I exined, but I thought that would have been a good idea. If the griffin rider lived, she might figure out what happened to her. But then again, she was on the other side of this battle, so I should be fine. ¡°Can you swing a sword?¡± Delmar asked, and I nodded sharply. ¡°Good, go reinforce the six men at the top of the stairs.¡± I heard them whispering behind me as I walked away, sshing lightly in the water. As I walked back to the stairs, I realized my boot¡¯s waterproofing was starting to fail. The warm water had prated my sock. My left foot was making a squelching sound as I walked. The six men were there, and I sat on a stone twenty feet from the top of the stairs to rest near the pile of backpacks. My own backpack, half full of butter, was at the bottom of the stairs. I picked up a random canteen and, finding it empty, turned my sight to the reservoir. There was enough light to see now. It was arge circrke surrounded by rocky, cragily, cliffs. The ss surface would have been picturesque if not for the fact that it looked like we were trapped up here. It would be difficult to circumnavigate theke. Lirkin hobbled over to me. He had received an arrow in his hip and could barely walk but seemed intent on doing his duty aspany cook. He handed me a wrapped meal, ¡°Thanks for helping carry me, Eryk.¡± He hobbled away, dragging his left leg. ¡°I am going to fill the canteen,¡± I announced, holding up the empty canteen. Mateo responded, ¡°Fill all them, Eryk.¡± I gathered up seven empty canteens and walked the short distance to the water. I took off my left boot to wring out my sock. I left it off to let my wet foot air dry while filling the canteens. The water was clear and cool. I drained the first canteen I had filled before filling all seven. I remained seated on the rock on the shore, just watching the sunrise. I was ready to respond if I heard the sound ofbat, but I felt I needed a moment. Felix came to the water with his empty canteen. He looked at my barefoot, ¡°Eryk, you are not seriously thinking about taking a bath at this moment?¡± He looked at me in the early day¡¯s light, ¡°Although you could use it. You are a mess of grease, blood, and dirt.¡± I looked at my hand and all the scraps, cuts, dirt, two missing fingernails, and dried blood. I shook my head, ¡°No, my boot is no longer waterproof.¡± I kicked it lightly to emphasize it. Felix picked it up and inspected it. The sole hade detached near the toe. He was able to wiggle his finger into it. ¡°Kolm can fix this. He is not just a good cksmith.¡± He handed me the boot. I sighed and put on the damp sock and boot. Felix asked, ¡°So what was the sh of light?¡± I kept with my story, ¡°Elf mage. I surprised her casting and managed to get away from her and the archer.¡± Felix shook his head in disbelief, ¡°You have to be the luckiest legionnaire in the Empire. You have escaped a bulette, survived a bite of a death dog, and now escaped a Bartiradian mage. Satis dio is not a fitting nickname. Maybe felicem (lucky man) or infelicis (unlucky).¡± He smiled, ¡°Because you have to be unlucky to get yourself into all these situations.¡± I grunted in response because I definitely felt unlucky. Felix looked up, and I followed his gave. One of the griffins was overhead, well out of range of the bow. It circled our position and then theke. Itnded about half a mile away on the shore, and the griffin was taking a drink while the rider dismounted and stared at us from a distance. A second griffinnded next to the first. They were taunting us, letting us know death wasing. Felix grunted, ¡°Not long now. We should get back to the steps.¡± He picked up all the canteens I had filled and hauled them back. I knelt by the edge of the water and washed my hands and arms. The filth in the water was quickly diluted as I washed. I kept an eye on the resting griffins as I moved to wash my face. I realized I had lost my helmet in my fall. I also found a glob of butter in my hair. I made a point to wash my hair and face, scrubbing out the dirt. Finished, I stood and looked at my abused hands. I did not have much aether but used my healing spell form anyway. The missing nails grew back in slowly, ck dirt and tiny pebbles pushed out of the wounds as they closed. I only healed my hands so it would be easier to swing a sword. I was also now out of aether. A shriek from another griffin in the skies was a call to the two resting griffin riders. They mounted and took to the air. The three griffins were soon circling high above like vultures over a carcass. I heard the twang of bows from the aqueduct and left to join mypanions to guard the stairs. The enemy forces had arrived. Chapter 57: Battle at the Aqueduct Chapter 57: Battle at the Aqueduct Chapter 57 The morning air quickly became humid as I walked over to the stairs. I only had one canteen as Felix had taken the rest. I sipped it and sat near the backpacks, just a few feet from the others. I was not worried about the fighting anytime soon as I knew how narrow and treacherous the steps were. I was only twenty feet away and could quickly support the others guarding the top of the ascent. My seat also gave me a view of the aqueduct where most of ourpany was positioned. I looked up into the sky, and four griffins circled well outside of bow shot range. The clear, pale blue morning sky gave them a nice backdrop. The morning was too picturesque. Besides the twang of the single bow on the aqueduct, it did not feel like we were going to be fighting for our lives. A second archer joined the first on the aqueduct. My guess was Delmar was conserving arrows until the men had better targets. vius fired a single arrow from the top of the stairs. He was the only legionnaire at our position with a bow. I had three bows in my dimensional space, well, four if you included the elf bow. But that was a long bowpared to the legionposite short bow. All eyes were turned away from me, so I produced the quiver with seventeen arrows and the minor essence of power from my dimensional space. My aether had barely recovered, and it took nearly all my aether to bring out the two objects. It was a risk as they may have counted all the arrows when they got up here. It had been dark then, so it could be said someone overlooked a single quiver. They were going to be more useful to the archers than to me. I should have stockpiled arrows in my dimensional space. Next opportunity, I would do a better job. I put the essence into my mouth, savoring the euphoria of the minor power essence. Strength was the only physical trait I had not taken an essence for now. I had a major essence for strength in my dimensional space but figured the minor essence was all I could handle so soon after the dexterity essence. Just some minor indigestion followed in the few minutes after. A third Bowman on the aqueduct was now firing, and a few return arrows were starting to appear from below. The aqueduct was almost 90 feet off the ground where they were positioned. The fifteen archers of thepany were patient, standing and firing, and then kneeling out of visual range of the Bartiradians below. Behind the row of archers were men in the center of the aqueduct waiting with our leaders for orders. On the other side of the aqueduct were two archers and three spotters looking for enemy movement. Brutus stepped back to talk with me, ¡°Once they see the men climbing the stairs, they will send others to reinforce our position.¡± He paused, inhaled, and continued, ¡°Eryk, I am sorry for leaving you. I did not know how many scouts they sent forward. After your fall, I thought it would be suicide toe to you, especially after you greased the steps.¡± I looked Brutus in his eyes, ¡°There was nothing you could have done to help me after I fell. In your situation, I would have done the same thing.¡± I looked at the archers firing and asked, ¡°How many arrows do they have?¡±¡°Not many. I think they counted three hundred and fifty-something before they went out there. Twenty arrows each, I think they said. vius has another thirty,¡± Brutus said gloomily. As we watched, one of the men took an arrow in the eye and tumbled forward off the structure. ¡°That was Cathius from my oldpany. He had three children,¡± Brutus announced softly. I could hear echoes of metal from below. That meant the heavier armored men had reached our position. Delmar had the men sliding before standing and quickly firing now. An archer took an arrow in the chest, and two men pulled him back from the edge to help him. One of the archers on the other side fired an arrow below and turned and said something to Castile. ¡°Bastards,¡± Brutus muttered and pointed in the distance. Maybe half a mile down the aqueduct, the enemy was climbing up ropes, like little ants trying to swarm a pic table. ¡°If the general is smart, he will form up men there and rush the aqueduct and stairs simultaneously.¡± Adrian was not going to let this happen. Even with only one good arm, he drew a sword and pulled five men to him, all from Gregor¡¯spany, I think, and they sshed down the aqueduct with shields forward to stop the climbing Bartiradians. They might have a chance if he could cut the ropes quickly enough. The enemy arrows suddenly picked up, causing everyone to crouch low for cover. A griffin swooped down and lifted one of the men running with Durandus. It only carried him far enough to drop him to the rocks. Two of our archers fired arrows, and one struck the griffin on the wing at two hundred yards. The griffin pped its wings in pain and did not rise. It glided to the ground. ¡°At least they shouldn¡¯t try that again,¡± I muttered. I picked up a spear from the gear pile and sheathed my sword. I moved behind the other men on the stairs as the shouts from below were increasing in intensity. Maybe they found the general¡¯s sister and would withdraw to figure out how she got there. I hoped she had not died after I left her. Not because I cared for her life, but if she lived, the general might be less hell-bent on our decimation. Adrian had reached the climbing Bartiradians, and it was too far to see clearly what was happening. The rope that two men were climbing suddenly let go, and they fell to the ground. My group cheered as the second and third ropes were cut. Still, Adrian and the men were slightly outnumbered. As the battle a half mile away raged in the water of the aqueduct, the arrows from below suddenly increased. vius turned to us, ¡°They are going to being soon at the stair soon.¡± He moved to the right, and I stood behind our two men with round shields with my spear ready. We could hold this position easily with the seven men we had, with the stairs being so narrow. vius seemed a little unsure. ¡°They should be here by now¡­¡± The racket of metal and a foreign tongue below was extreme, and Brutus startedughing. ¡°Do you know what they are saying?¡± I asked him gripping my spear tightly. ¡°Your butter trick seemed to work. They think the steps are spelled with a grease spell. They are calling for a mage to burn it away,¡± he continuedughing, and everyone joined with him. It was a very small victory. vius looked around and ordered, ¡°Brutus and Eryk, gather some rocks. About the size of a head. You will need to go to the water to get them, but we can roll them down the steps to slow them.¡± I looked around with Brutus, and all the close stones were massive. Along the shoreline, there were numerous stones. I leaned my spear against a rock, grabbed the first stone, and rushed back. On my return trip, I could see Adrian and just two men returning with him. All three were struggling to get back, obviously injured. It also looked like our archers had also thinned some, but I did not know if they were injured or dead. On my third trip with a stone, an intense heat washed up the steps. Causing everyone to step back. Their mage was burning the butter away. ¡°Eryk and Brutus get your spears ready.¡± My spear was by the water, and I raced to grab it. It only took seconds, but as I returned, arrows were flying everywhere from below. The Bartiradians were firing blindly as they could not see us. The men on the aqueduct and the men at the top of the stairs were seeking cover from the barrage. This was the Bartiradian push. A lucky arrow took vius in the chest as he stood and returned fire. It did not look bad as he continued to draw and shoot with the arrow in him. Lirkin, on his knees, was rolling the six rocks we had gathered down the steps. To my ears, it sounded like there were a thousand men below from the cacophony of sounds. I could not find fear, though, just¡ªanticipation. As the arrows paused on our position, the aqueduct men were not as lucky. I saw another archer fall off the aqueduct from an arrow strike. The heavy storm of arrows continued to pin them down. The first Bartiradian came up the steps with a shield in front of him. Spears pushed him and hacked at him. He did notst long before Brutus speared his groin, and Mateo shed his neck. I was focused on the steps but noticed mening back from the aqueduct. Konstantin reached us first. He had lost his helm and was bleeding from a long gash on the side of his scalp, ¡°We are out of arrows! But a few men are climbing the bloody cliffs to nk us! We need to get ready; they are over halfway up!¡± ¡°There is a quiver by the packs, and vius¡¯ quiver is still half full,¡± I told Konstantin, who paused, grabbed both quivers, and tossed them to ze, who had arrived. ze was soaked but uninjured as he smirked at more ammunition. vius was now sitting as he was attending to his arrow wound. Adrian appeared and sat heavily among the packs, bleeding from numerous wounds. I gave him a canteen and started to help the others arriving. From the our left, Konstantin yelled, ¡°I am going to need help over here.¡± Delmar, who was uninjured, looked around, ¡°Felix, Kolm, Eryk, and Antonio; go help, Konstantin.¡± I scrambled up the rocks with the others who were all free of serious injury. Kolm was bleeding from his knee, but that was from falling and not an enemy. Antonio was from Gregor¡¯s men, and he had a thigh wound from an arrow but still moved fairly well. We scrambled up the rocks together for higher ground and to join Konstantin. Konstantin nodded as we came. ¡°They were almost up in this area; maybe a dozen were brave enough to attempt the climb.¡± The cliff was steep and not a climb I would have tried myself. ¡°How do our chances look?¡± I asked Konstantin, knowing he would tell me the truth. ¡°As long as they do not have more mening from the city, we can hold. Adrian thinks they used all their grapples in their first attempt to climb the aqueduct. A griffin can get them more in an hour or two if they think of it, but we should be able to hold.¡± Konstantin said reassuringly. Felix offered with a smile, ¡°The archers took down maybe fifty men and Adrian¡¯s squad another dozen. Besides, Firth took an arrow in the ass. We have to survive this just so we can mock him about it.¡± The first Bartiradion scrambled up over the edge of the cliff, and Antonio went to engage him near the edge. As he approached, a dozen arrows came at him from below, all fired blindly, four connecting. One went through his throat, and he fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. Without healing potions, there was nothing we could do for Antonio. Konstantin voiced the obvious, ¡°Stay away from the edge. We will engage them here. They will be tired from the climb and onlye at us in pairs at most. Work together, and this will be easy.¡± The Bartiradians signaled when a climber was about to reach the top by sending a flight of arrows to cover thest part of his climb. We were out of the path and not endangered at all. The next hour was a bloodbath for the climbers. We killed fifteen on our side, and another group killed eight on the other. The attack slowed, and we waited. A griffin high above shrieked, and we all looked up. ¡°Look!¡± Konstantin pointed over theke. A single flyer was streaking toward us. It was not a griffin but the silhouette of drake. Konstantin whispered, ¡°That is fire drake.¡± We watched as the griffin tried to flee, but the drake was like an arrow and closed too fast. Glinting in the sun, the metallic red scales passed high above us as a small ball of me belched from its mouth. It struck the panicked griffin in a re of fire. The griffin and rider were both smoking and had mes trailing their burning bodies as they quickly fell from the skies. The drake circled, looking for other prey, but the other two griffins had already retreated toward the city. The drake circled above our position, and Konstantin announced, ¡°Let¡¯s go join the others. I think the Duke¡¯s army is close.¡± The massive reptilended near theke, and a tall man dismounted and let the drake drink its fill while he walked toward our group. Castile stood to meet him. The drake rider wore ck and red leathers and had a ck cape with the markings of a mage. Castile greeted him, ¡°Master Mage Sebastian, thank you for your timely arrival.¡± Castile¡¯s voice sounded relieved but cautious. ¡°The forces below are retreating, Mage Castile, but do not thank me yet. Duke Tiberius is still a day away, and Duke Octavian is with him,¡± Sebastian stated coldly. Castile jerked like she had been pped, and I knew Duke Ocatavian had sent her to defend the city of Macha on this apparent suicide assignment. ¡°I am only here to hear what happened to my brother, Durandus.¡± His words were icy and angry. It did not feel like we were being saved. Chapter 58: False Salvation Chapter 58: False Salvation Chapter 58 It was obvious that Master Mage Sebastian and Mage Castile were not friends. As our woundedpany watched the interaction, Sebastian was in charge and talking down to Castile. Sebastian turned to face theke and lowered his tone. Their conversation turned private as they faced theke and talked too low for anyone to hear. Delmar looked at everyone and started giving orders. ¡°Eryk and ze go to the aqueduct to maintain a watch. Benito, Wylie, and Felix. I want you to help Linus get all the wounded together for treatment. Bring them near theke. Konstantin¡­¡± I was out of earshot as he continued to give orders. ze and I walked out on the aqueduct, and I was quickly reminded that my sole was bing detached as my sock was soaked again. ze looked to havee out rtively unscathed in the battle. ¡°That was pretty close. How did you manage on the aqueduct?¡± ze started to get animated with words and hand gestures, ¡°Craziest fight I have ever been in,¡± he indicated the aqueduct. ¡°Shoot, duck. Shoot, duck. Lay t in the water while protecting the bowstring. Get up, shoot.¡± As we reached the position, there were five dead men, their blood still turning the water flow red. I recognized two men from ourpany, Malcolm and Fidel. I did not know Fidel at all, and I do not ever remember hearing him talk to anyone. The other three men were from Gregor¡¯spany. ze was doing a better job than me at not being affected by the death. He immediately kneeled in the water at the edge, and scanned the rocks below. I joined him and looked down on the carnage below. Dozens of bodies were scattered among the rocks. ze must have caught movement because he drew an arrow and fired. A Bartiradian who had been sitting in the shadow of a boulder groaned as he now had an arrow in his heart. zemented without remorse, ¡°I was just speeding him on his way. He was in a lot of pain.¡± A few minutester, Brutus walked down the aqueduct with Pavel. Pavel had a serious limp but carried his bow. Brutus announced, ¡°I have to drag the bodies back. Pavel is here to help watch for the enemy.¡± Brutus tied a rope to the first body and started to drag it through the water.Pavel kneeled painfully next to ze. I had remained standing, not wanting to get my pants wet. Pavel said, ¡°You will want to kneel. If enemy archers are still out there, you are a bigger target standing.¡± I did as advised and knelt between them, quickly soaking my linen pants. I asked, ¡°Why does Duke Octavian have it out for ourpany?¡± ze and Pavel looked at each and ze answered, ¡°Duke Octavian is one of the sons of the Emperor. He controls the Sacegoes Province. After the Telha Imperial Province of the Emperor, it is the most profitable region in the Empire.¡± Pavel picked up the exnation, ¡°There are six cities in his province. Castile grew up in one of them. We do not know which one. When she was tested and was found strong enough to go to the Mage College, Duke Octavian sponsored her. When she graduated, she did the only thing she could to forgo her debt to Duke Octavian. She joined the Legion of the Lion in service of the Emperor.¡± ¡°I thought all mages joined the Legion after they graduated?¡± I asked the pair of archers. ze smirked, ¡°You are asking the wrong people, Eryk. But as I understand it, only those who can not pay for the schooling at the college have to serve in the Legion. That is why you do not see First Citizens or wealthy merchant mages leadingpanies.¡± ¡°So, instead of paying off her debt to Octavian, she is working for the Emperor? For how long?¡± I asked, curious as to Castile¡¯s motivation. ¡°Twenty years is the term for mages. I think Castile is seventeen or eighteen years in. Duke Octavian is getting desperate for his revenge on her before she leaves the Legion,¡± ze noted. Pavel added, ¡°And that is not her only enemy among the First Citizens. There is Baron¡­¡± ze stopped Pavel from talking by pping him with his bow. ze said seriously, ¡°The less you know, Eryk, the better you can sleep at night. I have been with Castile for almost six years. I hold her in higher esteem than any First Citizen.¡± His statement quieted the young Pavel, who was still anxious to reveal Castile¡¯s other enemies. Brutus returned for a second body and said, ¡°Master Mage Sebastian is leaving soon. I think we are going to make our way around theke soon. Castile purchased a few simple healing potions from the mage for the more heavily wounded men.¡± Brutus tied a rope and hauled another body away. Donte and Lysander walked past us. They were headed to drop the bodies off the aqueduct where Adrian had fought. ze noted, ¡°Even though we do not control the city, Castile does not want the water fouled for the citizens. The Bartiradians will repair the aqueduct if they keep the city.¡± Brutus had finished with the bodies and came to sit with us. ¡°vius is going with Sebastian to look for the collector.¡± ¡°What? Out in the swamps?¡± I asked louder than I had wanted. ¡°Yeah, he is going to direct him to the ind where Durandus lost it. After they find it, they will probably fly back to the Duke¡¯s army. We are going to have to walk around theke.¡± Brutus said while studying the dead bodies below. ¡°What if they do not find the collector?¡± I asked conversationally. ¡°Oh, Sebastion is a powerful mage. He specializes in dominating the minds of creatures. He will probably dominate a fish, frog or something to find it for him,¡± Brutus replied before kneeling with us, having finished his inspection of the dead Bartiradians below. ¡°He can do that?¡± Pavel asked in disbelief. Brutus frowned as his pants got wet. Then he responded, ¡°Yes. He has dozens of creatures on his estate.¡± He heaved a heavy sigh, ¡°Once, Durandus and Sebastian were tasked with killing a Baron. Sebastian brought ten dire wolves to attack the baron and his family¡¯s carriage in the countryside. I have never seen anything so brutal in my time as a legionnaire. The entire time the wolves were tearing the family apart, the high mage was just smiling at his pet¡¯s ferocity.¡± Brutus shivered at the memory. A small roar from theke had us all turn to see the red drake take to the sky with two passengers. I watched them speed south, and I think I had just condemned Falvius to death. If Sebastian did not find the essence collector, he would kill vius in anger. While watching the drake, Pavel asked, ¡°Does hemand any legionaries?¡± Brutus shook his head clear of his thoughts, ¡°What? Yes. He has two dozen or so. They take care of his pets. He actually breeds the drakes for the Dragon Legion on his estate. The brothers were close. I do not think he is going to take kindly to his death. My guess is we will not see vius again. If that does satiate his revenge, he will track me down.¡± ze offered unhelpfully, ¡°Eryk was there too.¡± ¡°Yes, but he was not assigned to protect him.¡± Brutus looked at the reservoirke where ourpany was getting ready to move out, ¡°I think just vius, Quentin, and myself are left. And Quentin was left at the road to guard the gear and was not on the ind when Durdandus got himself killed.¡± Konstantin came trotting out to us, ¡°We are moving out. Once we get to the other side of theke, it should just be a few miles to meet up with the Duke¡¯s army.¡± We abandoned our post on the aqueduct and went to the backpacks. There were twelve backpacks left for me to choose from¡ªtwelve men did not survive the assault. My gear was scattered at the bottom of the stairs, and my backpack was also full of melted butter from the heat of the day. Brutus pointed, ¡°You should take vius¡¯ pack.¡± I nodded, picked it up, and checked the contents. It had the standard legion traveling gear with six wrapped meals. I shouldered the pack and looked at the bodies all lined up, eyes closed, and their hands crossed on their chest. Delmar stood over the men, and we circled around them. Delmar spoke loud and clear, ¡°Oh mighty Pluto, we beseech you on this solemn day to remember the fallen warriors who have valiantly fought for justice in the Empire. Their courage and sacrifice will forever be etched in our hearts and minds. Grant them peace and rest in your realm. May their spirits find sce and tranquility in the celestialnds. Guide them to eternal glory as they join the ranks of heroes who have gone before them. We humbly ask their next life be better than this one.¡± It was a warrior¡¯s prayer, and we all turned and left. Normally, the bodies would have been burned, but wecked a way to start a fire. Whoever cleaned up the bodies below would have to take care of it. We waded into the waters on the shore and started to move around theke. Everyone was capable of walking, though a number of men still had upper body wounds. I was sure that Linus had stretched the potions that Castile had paid for from Sebastion. When the water got too deep, we had to scramble over therge rocks on the shore. It was easy to see why we had not tried to flee this route. Progress was painfully slow¡ªliterally for our wounded. The enemy would have rolled up behind us while we were trapped and exposed. It took hours to make our way around theke. Then we climbed to the lip of the crater and had to make a treacherous climb down to the woonds below. It looked like when the mountain had exploded, the st was directional toward where Macha was built. The forest below only had a few boulders near the edge that must have fallen from the cliff we were currently descending. Adrian fell fifteen feet on the descent and broke his ankle. This fall was due to still only having the use of one arm. Other than that, we all made it to the forest floor. Konstantin was our only remaining scout. If he was correct, the road was about five miles north through the woonds. Konstantin warned everyone, ¡°The next five miles will be difficult. These are wild, untamed woods. There could be any number of possible deadly and horrific creatures and nts inside.¡± A man walked out of the woods, ¡°Now, Konstantin, do not try and scare the children.¡± Konstantin¡¯s eyes went wide in disbelief. He moved and shook his wrists with the man, ¡°Cornelius! How did you ever find your way all the way out here from your stacks of books?¡± Cornelius looked fit but old with snow-white hair. ¡°I still like to travel now and then. Especially in an emergency.¡± He turned to address Castile, ¡°By order of the Emperor Maximus Augustus. Mage Castile, you are hereby remanded to my custody for the failure to hold the city of Macha from the Bartiradian barbarians. You are toe with me to sit judgment before a Tribunal of Dukes.¡± Everyone in thepany tensed, and a number put hands to their hilts. The forest stirred, and a dozen men showed themselves. Castile had a hard look but did not look surprised and announced, ¡°Stand down! It is the Emperor¡¯s order. We will go willingly.¡± I heard a number of men cursing under their breath, and Konstantin was arguing with Cornelius. All of it mattered little as soon ourpany was being escorted through the woods to the waiting Duke¡¯s Army. END OF BOOK ONE Chapter 59: Politics of the Empire Chapter 59: Politics of the Empire Chapter 59 Cornelius¡¯ men moved out to serve as a screen as we moved into the woonds. I moved close enough to overhear Cornelius and Konstantin talking at the rear. ¡°¡­can not seriously think this failure is the fault of Castile. The Duke¡¯s army was to attack as soon as the Bartiradians set up camp outside the gates.¡± Cornelius had a softer voice than Konstantin, and I strained to hear, ¡°That is why I was sent, as a favor, Konstantin. My three best squads of Legion Hounds are here, and Duchess Veronica has called a Ducal Tribunal so Octavian can not hand out punishment to Castile on the spot.¡± Konstantin argued, ¡°That makes no sense! The city only fell a day ago! How could a Tribunal have been called and your Legion Hounds be here already¡­¡± His voice had started loudly and faded at the end. Cornelius confirmed Konstantin¡¯s thoughts, ¡°The Duke¡¯s army was never going to reach Macha until it fell into Bartiradian hands. That is why Baron Hephestus abandoned the city to join the army. He is in Duke Tiberious¡¯s pocket and was aware of the n.¡± ¡°And Gregor and Durandus?¡± Konstantin asked softly, seeing the bigger picture. ¡°Gregor is not well-liked but was apparently just a disposable piece on the board. When Durandus insulted Duke Santino by not marrying his daughter and paying for her First Citizenship, he sealed his fate. Before we learned Durandus was killed, Duchess Veronica thought I would also be rescuing him as well.¡± Cornelius walked past me as he moved toward the front of the formation. I moved back, nning to talk with Konstantin, but Cornelius spun and talked loudly as he walked, ¡°We dispersed a gnoll camp on our trek through the woods. They should not bother ourrge group but be on alert. These woods also used to be the home to a herd of centaurs. No sightings in thest two years, but that means very little.¡± With his warning done, he moved off to join the screen. For an old man, he moved with surprising grace. I was not the only one seeking exnations from Konstantin. Castile and Delmar had fallen back to walk with him. I ended up in front of the trio. Konstantin started with, ¡°That is Cornelius. He trains the Legion Hounds for the eastern part of the Empire. I was trained by and worked for him as a Hound.¡±Castile stated, ¡°Why did he not have me killed immediately?¡± It was a moment before Konstantin spoke, ¡°He is here at the direction of Duchess Veronica. I think she is a new duchess, one of the Emperor¡¯s many great-granddaughters.¡± It was quiet for a few minutes, and as much as I wanted to ask a question, I remained silent. Delmar asked, ¡°The Ducal Tribunal?¡± Castile answered him, ¡°I am assuming the Hounds are here to protect me from Duke Octavian and Duke Tiberius until a formal Tribunal of Dukes.¡± Konstantin answered, ¡°Cornelious did not say where or when the Tribunal will be held. If I know him, though, he has a n to exclude Octavian from the Tribunal. I¡¯m not sure what favors this Duchess Veronica has given for his help. Cornelious¡¯ help is never given freely.¡± Castile hissed, ¡°If he can manage to exclude Octavian from the Tribunal, I will give him my firstborn.¡± Delmar asked quietly, ¡°So we are just going to go along with this?¡± Konstantin answered in a casual tone, ¡°If we attack the Legion Hounds, the Emperor will send ten times this number after us. It is best to follow politely. Besides, almost everyone is injured.¡± Adrian was meandering back to the group now. He was also in obvious pain, his arm still in a sling and walking on a broken ankle. We were not moving slowly, so you had to admire his pain tolerance. Castile sounded angry, ¡°They could have given us a few simple healing potions, at least.¡± Konstantin barked a loudugh that had a few heads turn. He said conversationally, ¡°I was a Hound at one point in my service to the Emperor. You never make your quarry stronger. Rest assured, they will get us to our destination even if they need to put their lives on the line.¡± Castile moved past me with Delmar. Adrian hobbled behind them. It gave me a chance to walk with Konstantin. He opened the conversation, ¡°You look to be in fair condition, Eryk.¡± I went with Castile¡¯s exnation for my healing, ¡°Castile gave me a simple healing potion to hold for her. I was supposed to use it on her if she was incapacitated.¡± ¡°Did she now? And you used it on yourself?¡± Konstantin remarked with some skepticism in his voice. ¡°Yes, after my tumble down the stairs,¡± I responded smoothly. I tried to turn the conversation, ¡°What is a Ducal Tribunal?¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°There are sixteen Dukes who control the sixteen provinces outside of the Imperial Province, which is the Emperor¡¯s Seat. The Dukes are the higherw, and three of them can sit in judgment of any mage or First Citizen. The three members of a Ducal Tribunal are assigned by the Emperor himself. Whatever game Duchess Veronica is ying at, it is dangerous. She is in charge of the Sobral Province. The newest and smallest province in the Empire. If I remember correctly, it has a modest city on a river, and that is it.¡± ¡°Is the Duchess an ally of Castile?¡± I asked. ¡°Not that I am aware of. But if she is opposing Octavian, then there will be a reprisal for her action,¡± Konstantin mulled. He then looked at me, ¡°The politics of the Empire are more deadly than the Bartiradian Army. My advice to you is to stay as far away as possible.¡± We walked for a while. I asked, ¡°Why does Castile not flee the Empire?¡± Konstantin grunted and pointed at the men making their way around us in the woods, ¡°The Hounds will always find you.¡± ¡°How did you be a Hound?¡± I asked, watching the men flitter among the trees. ¡°Interested are we?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Well, two things are needed. You need toplete legionary training, and you have to have a useful spell form.¡± ¡°So I qualify?¡± I asked him. We were approaching a clearing ahead, and Konstantin¡¯s eyes were on it. ¡°I suppose you do,¡± he said, distracted. ¡°It is not as plush as you think it is. The Hounds track down beasts, mages, men, and sometimes children. They are the attack dogs of the Emperor. This,¡± he motioned to our escort, ¡°is out of character for them, and I am curious how Duchess Veronica sent the best of them to secure Castile.¡± We entered the clearing, and it looked like a campsite. There were two small shelters, and inside, foul-smelling bodies covered in fur and blood. I walked with Konstantin for a closer look. ¡°These are gnolls. Do you have them in Tsinga?¡± ¡°We do, but I have never seen one before,¡± I replied, inspecting the dead creatures. They had arrow wounds, throats were slit, bellies were cut open, and entrails pulled out. They were vaguely humanoid but definitely most beast-like, hyena men. Konstantin looked into the other shelter and grunted before walking on. I looked inside as well. Puppies¡­no, baby gnolls all ruthlessly ughtered. I moved to catch up with Konstantin. He waved his hand back, ¡°That is what the Legion Hounds do best. I am sure if they were not tasked with bringing in Castile, they would have tracked down the rest of the pack. Gnolls are a scourge.¡± ¡°Is that what you did? Hunted monsters?¡± I asked him. Brutus had moved beside us to listen. ¡°No, I was the monster. I hunted mostly soldiers for deserting their posts. Some legionaries for failing to do their duty. And a few regr men as well. Highwaymen and other criminals. If a Hound ising for you, the trial is already over,¡± he said hollowly. Brutus asked, ¡°Why did you leave?¡± Konstantin smirked, ¡°I didn¡¯t. I was recruited into the service of someone else. There are not many ways to leave the Hounds.¡± He pointed at Cornelious far ahead, ¡°To leave, you need to be reassigned by yourmander orplete your tenured service. Someone negotiated with Cornelious on my behalf.¡± The sound of bow shots from deep to the right sounded, and everyone paused to listen. Konstantin unshouldered his bow and went into the woods. We all waited for ten minutes before Konstantin returned. Our group was moving again, but Konstantin was at the front talking with Castile. Word was passed back that the Hounds had encountered a giant spider and dispatched it. Mateo joined Brutus and I. We broke out some wrapped rations. Mateo had gotten all of his soaked when he tripped in the reservoir. I gave him one of my meals from vius¡¯ pack. As we finished the meal, we reached another clearing. This time, it was a wide, packed dirt road bisecting the forest. Cornelius was talking with Castile, and soon, we were walking down the road. The pace had increased, and Adrian was grunting with every step to keep pace. The forest finally faded into open fields of wheat. It waste evening, and a dozen men came charging toward us on the road, their horses raising a cloud of dust behind them. We had remained at our group¡¯s rear and could not hear the exchange with the riders wearing the army¡¯s regr uniform. It did not matter as the riders rode away back in the direction they came from after a quick exchange. Delmar turned to us, ¡°Legionnaires! Form ranks four abreast at the front!¡± We scrambled to obey, and in a few heartbeats, we had a four-by-five block of men. Castile, Delmar, and Adrian walked into the front as we began a march. I was in thest row, and soon, all twenty of us had synched our steps as we continued down the road. We passed by a few fields, and a neatly arranged tent city appeared over a small hill. Mounted sentries were on top of the surrounding hills. The tent city was still being formed as they must have recently stopped here for the quickly approaching night. The tent city had ttened a farmer¡¯s wheat field, but I doubted the farmer hadined. We held our chins high and walked through the soldiers, getting people to pause and stare. A fewrger tents were flying a mage g above them and surrounded by other men in legion armor. Our Legion Hound escort evaporated into the tent city, leaving us to march alone, their duty to deliver us over. The rows of tents seemed to go on forever as we marched deeper into the encampment. We finally reached the center of the camp. Arge white tent was erected here. Delmar ordered us to halt and wait at attention. I had not expected to wait long. I was wrong. The sun had set, and we remained at attention in the humid early night. I wanted to ask a question or even just get a drink but was too afraid to be the first person to do so. And that was how we remained throughout the night, statues outside themand tent as the Duke¡¯s army continued their business. The rich blue moon lit the camp, and we soon fought to keep our eyes open. I felt pity for the injured men, especially Adrian, who shifted ever so slowly at the front of our block on his broken ankle. We were all still standing when the hint of dawn crested the sky. Some of us had swayed during the night, somehow finding the ability to sleep while standing for short periods. But none of us fell. Themand tent p suddenly flew back, and a man in a General¡¯s dress exited the tent. He walked past us, not saying a word. Shortly after, another man exited the tent. He was tall with sharp features in the low light and hard jet-ck hair. He had on legionnaire armor, only it was not leather but steel. He looked at all of us heavy on our feet, smiled ruefully, and announced, ¡°Castile, so good to see you again. You look well. Why don¡¯t youe in so we can talk.¡± I immediately did not like the man; he just had that air about him. Castile stumbled on her first step before gaining her bnce. She told Delmar, ¡°Get everyone to the legion healers.¡± And then she was gone inside to confront Duke Octavian. Chapter 60: Recovery Chapter 60: Recovery Chapter 60 My legs were unsteady for a few steps, and my boots were still damp from wearing them through the reservoir. All I wanted to do was sleep, but as the army and small encampments of legionpanies waking and packing. I feared I would not have that opportunity to rest. If it was possible, our marching block was more haggard than when we entered the camp, but we still followed Delmar and a severely limping Adrian to our destination. Delmar seemed to be scanning the gs of the legionpanies, looking for something. I asked Brutus, ¡°Are all these gs for different magepanies? Do we have a g?¡± Brutus looked up and studied a few gs, ¡°Most are magepanies. You can tell if a g has a solid background. If there is a horizontal stripe in the background, it is a duke¡¯s legionarepany with no mage. Dukes can notmand mages, and they need to pay the Emperor a tax for legionaries under theirmand. Legion units without a duke or mage in charge do not have gs. I assume Castile has a g, but I do not know what it is.¡± Felix was in the back row of the marching block and answered tiredly, ¡°Castile has a ck g with an orange bull on it. I do not know if she chose it or inherited it. I have not seen the g since we marched in the New Year parade in the capital a few years back.¡± Delmar found what he was seeking and increased his pace to a gray g with a red serpent on it. Outside the tent entrance, he announced himself to two legionaries in pristine leather armor. ¡°Mage Larita, Mage Castile¡¯spany seeks your healing skills. Please grant us your favor!¡± His tone was very respectful, and an older woman with mostly gray hair in blue robes exited the tent with a steaming cup in her hand. She looked over our group and sighed, ¡°Very well. Strip to your undergarments before entering my tent.¡± She turned to one of her legion guards, ¡°Do we have orders for moving out yet?¡± He responded sharply, ¡°No orders yet. The army will advance after the midday meal. I expect us to follow.¡± The old mage turned to Delmar, ¡°We have time then, Delmar. You may enter and send in your men in threes. No armor or filthy clothes.¡± She wrinkled her nose, turned, and went inside the tent. Delmar rxed visibly.He turned to us and spoke loudly, ¡°We are fortunate! The best healer in the legion is going to see to our ailments. Everyone strip and keep as much of your body stink out of her tent as possible!¡± We all stripped, and as I took off my boots, some of my calloused skin went with it. My heels were bleeding freely, and I did not feel the sting until the air hit the exposed flesh. My feet were not the only ones in dire need of attention. Everyone had gotten their feet wet getting through the reservoir, and the hard-earned callouses were puckered with water and peeling away from everyone. The first few men were stripping to just their boxers, so I copied them. Adrian had protested being one of the first men in, but Delmar yelled at him, and he went in with the first group. Looking around at our remainingpany, we were filthy, and about half had unhealed upper body wounds. Brutus fell on the grass andid back. Delmar snapped, ¡°You fall asleep, Brutus, and we will not wake you when your turnes.¡± I sat cross-legged next to him to wait. Brutus had his eyes closed as he spoke, ¡°This is thergest benefit to being in the legion, Eryk¡ªthe healing. The regr army might see a magic healer in their infirmary who was looking to practice their craft, but that would be it. As a legionnaire, you can walk into anyrge city and find magical healing without paying for it.¡± I nodded, and it made sense why people would volunteer or fight to be in the legion over the army. I looked down the row of tents, ¡°If all the solid background gs were mages, howe we were defending Macha with just three? There must be been twenty magepany gs in the camp,¡± I asked. Brutus responded sleepily, ¡°More. Probably close to thirty in the entire camp. Do not ask me why. They never asked for my advice.¡± He chuckled at the absurdity of a Duke asking his advice. Adrian came out walking stiffly and testing his healed ankle. Lysander was behind him. Delmar turned, ¡°Lysander, you are with me. Let us find a legion supply wagon and get new underclothes and socks for everyone.¡± Lysander did not look thrilled but nodded and followed him. Brutus was snoring in the grass. I let him sleep until we were thest two remaining and kicked him awake to enter. The tent had three tables in the center, afy bed along one side, and a modest dining table. An array of fruits, breads, and sliced meats was on the table. The legionnaire inside seemed to be preparing another teapot for the Mage Larita. I bowed and thanked her, ¡°Mage Larita, thank you for healing us and uspany. It is an honor to be healed by the best mage in the legion.¡± The older woman chuckled softly, ¡°Best mage! I am as close to the best healer as I am to being a virgin. Delmar was just buttering me up to do my best. No fear, boy, I may not be the best, but I am better than most. Up on the table andy down so I can assess you.¡± Brutus stood while Iy on the table. Larita moved to my head and ced her hands on my ears. I felt a pressure in my head that suddenly cleared. I felt lightheaded but not nearly as tired. ¡°Some minor trauma there. You should wear your helmet more, boy.¡± ¡°I lost it falling down forty feet of stone steps,¡± I replied irritably and defensively. ¡°I am sure there were plenty of men in no longer need of theirs close by,¡± she replied cleverly. She moved to my left arm, and I felt a warmth spread throughout. When she let go, my arm felt cold, and I got goosebumps. She repeated this with my other arm and then my legs. She mentioned, ¡°Your knee has been healed several times somewhat sloppily, probably by healing potions of a bad healer.¡± I nodded but did not have time to speak as she had moved to my torso. She focused on where the crossbow bolt had prated, and I felt a sting. I reflexively reached for it, and she pped my hand away, ¡°Just some small fragments I am extracting. You probably used a healing potion. They close the wound too quickly to get all the debris out.¡± She felt all across my chest, working her way down. Sometimes, I felt some warmth spreading from her hands, sometimes not. I remained still as she reached my groin, cupped it, and squeezed a little harder than I thought necessary. ¡°Healthy, unlike some of your fellows,¡± was all she said. ¡°You are thest one?¡± she asked Brutus. The sleepy Brutus nodded and took my ce on the table. Mage Lartia quickly started to repeat the process. I asked cautiously, ¡°When the healing mages healed us during training, they never touched us¡­all over.¡± Larita paused on Brutus and looked at me, ¡°They were not healing mages, boy. They were using spell forms. Very inefficient. I use a diagnostic spell form with a very focused range. Then, I heal just what needs to be healed. It conserves aether and is much better healing than a potion or spell form. I fixed a dozen issues you did not even know about.¡± ¡°Thank you, mage, for your insight and thorough healing,¡± I bowed slightly and stepped back. She continued her work, and I think Brutus had fallen asleep again. Larita addressed me, ¡°Delmar used to be one of my legionaries. He did a good job for me,¡± she smirked slightly. She looked me up and down, ¡°I could use arge boy like yourself. If Castile survives this mess, I might ask for you as a favor.¡± I noticed she did not grab Brutus¡¯ groin as she had mine before finishing with his torso. The old mage smiled with perfect teeth as I woke Brutus and pulled him out. I felt a little like prey under Mage Larita¡¯s gaze. ¡°Thank you,¡± I yelled as I went to our gear and began dressing. My feet werepletely healed with new pink skin, and I could not find a single ache in my entire body. Brutus mumbled, ¡°I think she knocked me out when she started. I was not nning to fall asleep.¡± ¡°Huh, do not worry, you did not miss anything,¡± I said, dressing quickly. Felix was waiting for us. While we were dressing, he said, ¡°We are headed to a farmer¡¯s house. They have a pond in the back to bathe and wash our clothes. We started walking, following Felix. The army was packing up their tents, and some units were eating from meal carts. The farmer¡¯s house was outside the camp¡¯s perimeter, and no sentries stopped us. Firth and Konstantin were already clean and headed back toward the camp. Konstantin paused to talk with Brutus and me, ¡°We are going to see what is churning in the rumor mill among the legionpanies. Brutus, do you know a few legionaries in otherpanies? You trained at the Legion facility outside the capital?¡± Brutus nodded, ¡°Yes, I trained with the legion volunteers at the Perfectus Legonis.¡± ¡°Good, you can head back to the camp after you clean yourself,¡± Konstantin said as he continued on his way. When we got to the pond by the farmhouse, a dozen ducks were swimming in it, and most of the men had already bathed and were putting on clean underclothes. It was a little surreal as just a few hours ago, we could all barely stand, and now we were healed. Lirkin rushed up to us with some bundles of food, ¡°The healing will have drained your body¡¯s stores. Eat all you can for the next two days.¡± He rushed away to continue preparing food from a cart he apparently appropriated. Mateo motioned at the cart, ¡°He stole it. Best not to ask too many questions.¡± The pond was a good acre in size, and I think the farmer used it to water his livestock and horses. My bath was quick, and I was d to put on clean underclothes. I rinsed the dirt and sweat from my canvas clothes and hung them to dry in a tree. I then worked on oiling my armor. Then, I sharpened and oiled my des. vius¡¯ pack was well equipped, and I even found a gold and eight silver wrapped at the bottom. I hoped he returned from his adventure with Master Mage Sebastian to reim it. The air was actually dry and not humid for once. The sun was clear, and thepany was lounging bare-chested on the grass, happy to be out of armor. The farmer dide out once to talk with Adrian, who looked like he handed him a few coins. Lirkin handed out food as fast as he could prepare it on the meal wagon. It was jarring how fast our fortunes had changed. I soon fell asleep in the grass. Konstantin kicked me awake well into the afternoon. My pale chest had burned slightly from the sun. ¡°Get up, get dressed; Adrian and Delmar are talking to thepany.¡± My clothes had mostly dried, and I put on some new socks. The boots were still damp but drier than before. As everyone circled around Delmar and Adrian, we were anxious to hear the fate of Castile and ourselves. Adrian looked gaunt in his face but waspletely healed. He had been in too rough of shape to do much leading, but now he looked revitalized. He spoke clearly to our small group, ¡°Castile is going to be transported to Caranhagan. From there, she is going to be portaled back to the capital, Telha. Duchess Veronica has called for a Ducal Tribunal into her actions.¡± Everyone was quiet. Delmar joined, ¡°We are going with her. Duke Octavian is as well with his fifty legionaries to guard the prisoner. We need to make sure Castile does not meet with an ident under the Duke¡¯s care.¡± Lucien, our horse master, asked, ¡°What happens when we reach the capital?¡± Adrian answered, ¡°We will wait in the Legion Hall. The Emperor will name the other two Dukes to sit with Duchess Veronica in the Tribunal. Some of us may be called a witness before a Truthseeker.¡± ¡°You know Duke Octavian is going to get himself on the Tribunal. Who will be the third?¡± asked Kolm. Adrian made a pained face, ¡°I guess we will see if the Emperor favors his son or a peasant mage.¡± Delmar added, ¡°Get some rest. Octavian¡¯spany is mounted, and I do not expect them to wait on us. It is eighty miles to Caranhagan. It would not surprise me if they outpaced us and did not wait at the portal for our arrival.¡± ¡°Are we going to have to do an eighty-mile jog?¡± Wylie announced, exasperated. Adrian snapped, ¡°If I told you to do an eight-hundred-mile run, you would do it with a smile on your face!¡± Delmar calmed things, ¡°Lirkin is working with the farmer to get us water and food for the long march. That road,¡± he pointed behind us, ¡°is the road they will travel past. As soon as we see their horses, we will fall in.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we start now?¡± ze asked. Konstantin barked, ¡°Because Duke Octavian would probably have us executed for desertion. He can not do anything about us following our magemander.¡± We all strapped our armor on so we could mobilize quickly. This time, I settled under the shade of a small tree and healed my sunburn under my armor. I rested my head on my pack and drifted off. It waste evening when Brutus woke me, ¡°News from camp. Duke Octavian is breaking camp. We are to assemble near the road.¡± We were soon formed into ranks and waiting. It was nearly dark when a mounted unit came from the mostly dismantled army camp. The fifty legionaries riding all had metal legion armor instead of the leather we wore. At the front of the group was the ck-haired man who met Castile. I assumed that was Octavian. He looked fairly young to be the Emperor¡¯s son. The Emperor was hundreds of years old. Guess with magic, aging was not a concern. Castile was riding in the middle of the group like she was a danger to escape. The Duke sneered at us as he pranced by, and Castile couldn¡¯t hide a small smirk at seeing us. We fell in behind the calvary. This was going to be a long march. Chapter 61: Loyalty Chapter 61: Loyalty Chapter 61 Announcement Patreon is 21 chapters ahead We fell in behind the horses. I thought they would try to lose us by increasing their pace, but the horses only moved steadily, causing us to move at regr march to keep up. I was happy Kolm had repaired the sole of my boot. I was in the back row of our marching block with Brutus to my left and Firth to my right. Firth, the old veteran muttered, ¡°This is going to be a miserable night march. Good thing we have those glow stones. You will need to charge mine.¡± He passed it to me, and soon, I had a cycle of glowstonesing at me. They were the glowstones they had ¡®requisitioned¡¯ from me. I kept the remaining four stones in my dimensional space, fearing they would also be ¡®requisitioned.¡¯ As I finished charging the glowstones, more riders came racing up behind us. Firth barked, ¡°Shields to the rear! Spears and archers at the ready!¡± Four men who had acquired body shields in the army camp cycled to form the wall, and two men with round shields took the ends of the shield line. Four spearmen were behind the six shieldmen, and four archers were behind them. Adrian and Delmar stood in the rear, and I was with them. Konstantin and a few others darted off the road into the brush to nk the possible attackers. All this was well practiced and happened in heartbeats. Delmar yelled, ¡°Hold! Break and reform ranks! It is just the Hounds.¡± Nine riders led by Cornelius came up on us and settled into a walk with their mounts. Cornelius smiled in the waning light. ¡°Konstantin, I am surprised you did not steal horses for yourpany.¡± Konstantinughed, ¡°I am sure Octavian was waiting for me to try so he could shackle all of us!¡± Corneliusughed with him, ¡°Probably. He sent us off to track down two regrs in the woods who thought better of rushing the walls of Macha. No need to worry, Konstantin. We will make sure your mage gets to the capital in one piece. Since you are walking in that direction, I am sure you will see to the capital¡ªeventually.¡± Heughed at our predicament. Konstantin asked seriously, ¡°What is the pulse of her chances before a Tribunal?¡± Cornelius frowned while his men rode forward at a hand signal from him. He frowned, ¡°Octavian will worm himself onto the Tribunal with Duchess Veronica. The Emperor will appoint the third based on the highest bidder for the judgment seat. Unfortunately, I do not think he is invested at all in Mage Castile¡¯s fate.¡±Firth asked Cornelius, ¡°Isn¡¯t Octavian the Emperor¡¯s son? Doesn¡¯t that mean he will get his way?¡± ¡°The Emperor doesn¡¯t favor any of his children. Quite the opposite. He is always on guard against them. I doubt it will work in Castile¡¯s favor, though.¡± He spurred his horse forward to catch up to his men, leaving us. We kept our formation and kept the riders in sight. They were kicking up a significant amount of road dust. The dust soon coated everyone. As the sun set, the glowstones appeared on the men on the outside of the block as we marched. Larita had done an amazing job healing everyone. My only issue was that my feet had no calluses, just pink new skin. I could feel the blisters forming already just a few miles into the march. As the night set in, the blue moon was hidden by heavy clouds, causing a heavy darkness. Our men on the edge of our formation had fixed the glow stones to their shields. The shifting shadows the glowstones generated from the trees and shrubs created a spooky and eerie feeling. Especially since I knew my new world had dozens of horrors that could rush out of the darkness. The contingent of mounted legionaries in front of us brought their own light. Heavy directional beams of light bounced around far in front of us as they served as the vanguard. It made me think I could do the same with my glowstone. Make a simple shlight with a polished metal funnel. As the night wore on, the horses kept opening distance on us. The bouncing lights got further and further away. Delmar and Adrian paced us at the front. They knew our best speed in the dark on the dirt road to not wear us out. At least with the open distance, we did not have to deal with the horses¡¯ heavy dust cloud any longer. Hours into the March, Brutus spoke, ¡°Well, this is not all bad. At least we are not being sent to assault the walls of Macha to retake the city.¡± Firth said, ¡°There is that, but from what I heard, they do not n to assault the city. They have some powerful earth mages with them and n to tear down the outer walls. Probably take half the lower city as well.¡± Wylie turned, ¡°What about the citizens that remained?¡± ¡°They should have fled. I talked with an acquaintance in Master Mage Dacian¡¯spany. Dacian is tasked with bringing down the western wall and then rebuilding it after the city is taken,¡± Firth said calmly. ¡°So they are just going to destroy the city and then rebuild it?¡± I asked incredulously. ¡°It will take a few months, but yes,¡± Firth said. ¡°It was the n all along. They needed the Bartiradians inside the city.¡± ¡°Then why is Castile going to a Tribunal?¡± Wylie asked from the row in front of us. ¡°Her orders were to hold the city until Duke Tiberius arrived,¡± Firth replied. I was dumbstruck. In other words, Castile, Gregor, and Durandus were going to fail no matter what. The only way they could have survived the Bartiradians and seeded in the n would have been to hold the inner city walls until the Duke¡¯s army felt like showing up. Everyone was too tired to talk after that as Adrian ordered a slight increase in pace, just short of a jog. It seemed ridiculous that we could keep up with horses. At least Cornelius said he would make sure Castile would reach the capital. We passed through three towns throughout the night, and when we could no longer see the lights of Octavian horses. We reached a small bridge, and Delmar called, ¡°Thirty minutes for water and food!¡± Konstantin barked, ¡°No one removes their boots! I know your feet hurt like your first march in training, but it will only be worse if you take them off. We have about fifty-five miles to Caranhagan. Fill your canteens by the spring and saturate your bellies!¡± Damn, hours of marching, and we were only a third of the way there. Men rushed to drink, eat, shit and piss. Lucien, ourpany horse master, tried to cheer everyone up, ¡°Most likely, they will have to rest their horses twice before they reach the city. Maybe we will pass them while they are watering them.¡± I was with Brutus, Felix, and Mateo, shoveling down food. I noted, ¡°I can not believe how dry and cool the air is. It was humid daily in Macha, and we are not far from the city.¡± ¡°One of therger ley lines runs under this road. It ys with the weather above it,¡± Brutus answered. Felix asked, ¡°Don¡¯t they have ley lines in Tsinga?¡± I replied slowly, ¡°We do, but I didn¡¯t grow up near one, and my education wascking.¡± ¡°Rest is over!¡± came a shout from Adrian, saving me from having to exin further. I needed to be careful when referencing Tsinga. With my recent luck, we would have another legionnaire from the distant Kingdom join ourpany. I sent some healing aether to my feet to keep them in good condition. I was one of the few men moving without wincing or grunting. It did not take long for everyone¡¯s training to kick in and ignore the foot pain. We were going to do 80 miles in heavy boots with over sixty pounds of armor and gear. Some men who had geared up in camp with shields, spears, and arrows probably regretted their decision. We entered into a fast walk, and silence rained among the scuffing of boots on the dirt road. When the sun began to rise, it was not salvation, though. Down in a valley, a river cut into a town. Octavian¡¯s legionaries¡¯ silver armor sparkled on the new day¡¯s light. We had caught up to them. We kept on the road and continued our march instead of turning off into the town below. The mood brightened some as Castile was down there somewhere, and it looked like we were going to reach Carahagan and make the portal. By midmorning, we passed a sign that indicated we were forty-one miles from Caranhagan. I was surprised that Octavian¡¯s men had not ridden up behind us yet. Just before the sun reached its midday zenith, we were called to halt again. Not even Konstantin looked great after fifty miles of forced marching. I worked my stiff and sore shoulders out with a touch of healing. It almost felt like I was cheating. Men copsed to the ground, trying to find the energy to consume food, but many preferred a quick nap. I drank and ate from my pack as well. The more I consumed, the lighter it would be. With thepany spread on the side of the road, Octavian¡¯s column rode up behind us. As they passed, they increased to a light gallop. Their faces were smug as there was no way we could cover thest thirty miles before them. Castile was still stoic and riding in the center of their formation. After they passed, Firth nearby swore, ¡°Harpies tits. If the Duke orders the Discement Mage to send him as soon as they get there, we might have to wait two or three days before the next portal opening to the capital.¡± Adrian snapped, frustrated, ¡°What do you suggest we do, Firth? We have no stamina potions, and I am pushing the pace as much as is safe. If we are denied healing in Caranhagan or Telha, we will beid up for a week of healing!¡± I had never seen our leader¡¯s nerves so frayed before. And Adrian had pushed through serious injuries just a day ago to escape the city. ¡°Send men on. There are a few of us who can push harder. If the Dukes rush the Tribunal, Castile will have no witnesses to defend her. She deserves a few of us to try, at least,¡± Firth muttered aggressively. I had not known he cared enough to defend Castile, especially since he worked for one of the Praetorian Guard. ¡°Who is willing to jog thirty miles to the city? My best guess is you need to make it in about five hours to catch the portal opening?¡± Adrian asked almost as a plea. Konstantin dropped his pack and pulled his canteen, ¡°Fill my canteen, and I will go. Benito, Linus, Pavel, and Eryk are the only other ones who look like they can make it.¡± Benito nodded and dropped his pack. Pavel did as well, albeit reluctantly. Linus looked like he was not happy being volunteered but slowly dropped his pack. Well, shit. Getting volunteered again, ¡°Give me more full canteens. I can squeeze five in my dimensional box,¡± I offered. Everyone quickly shuffled in their packs, and I shoved the canteens and some food into the box in my space, filling it. The five of us left our packs to lighten our load. The only weapon we each took was our short swords and belt knives. We jogged after Konstantin in a line. The five of us were mismatched body types. Konstantin was squat and barrel-chested, Benito was short and thick, Pavel was almost as tall as me and wiry, and Linus was the only person in ourpany who did not look like he wasyered in muscle. Then there was me; I was both tall and thick with muscles. As we started our jog, Konstantin paced us from the front. It was a light run, and maybe we were making ten-minute miles. Konstantin had selected our group well. Only Pavel was struggling visibly when we reached a road sign at a town noting eleven miles to Caranhagan. Pavel had a limp that was growing more pronounced with every mile. Konstantin noticed, ¡°Come on, Pavel. You have all that gold waiting for you in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild! You just have to earn it with a little pain!¡± Konstantin was referring to the gold we were promised for discovering the lost dungeon. That was over seventy gold. It motivated Pavel as he did not waver until the city walls of Caranhagan came into sight. Konstantin swore, ¡°Thought we would have caught sight of them before the walls.¡± The tall stone walls of the city did not have a sprawl of farms or buildings outside of it as Macha did. Thest mile of the road became paved with stone as we approached. It waste evening, but there was still plenty of light. The city guards at the gate stopped us, and Konstantin rasped, ¡°How long ago did the Duke ride through?¡± The gate captain spent a moment looking us over. We were covered in dirty sweat and general filth, and Pavel had trouble standing on his right leg. ¡°The Duke passed just under an hour ago.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Konstantin tried to move past. The guard blocked him. ¡°Legionnaire, you must enter your men in the Registry,¡± the guard said seriously, pointing to the guard house. ¡°Did the Duke register hispany?¡± Konstantin snapped. The guard looked ufortable, ¡°No, he flew his g, and we counted his men as they rode through.¡± ¡°Good, add five more to that count,¡± Konstantin said, pushing past. The guard was sputtering, but I did not hear as I followed Konstantin. I did not have time to admire the city as Konstantin moved quickly through the streets, dragging us along. The citizens gave us a wide berth, probably due to both our state of filth and disyed urgency. We arrived at arge courtyard with a familiar stone arch, and the Duke¡¯s horses and men were waiting. Castile was dismounted in the center of the group and talking with Cornelius. Cornelius spotted us and pointed to a small stone building. Konstantin barked, ¡°Frigging paperwork. Wait here. If the Discement Mage arrives and opens the portal, go through, do not wait for me. Do not let anyone stop you. I will go register our travel with the clerk.¡± Konstantin stomped away, finding energy in his anger. Pavel found a barrel to sit on and peeled off his boot on his right leg. As he removed his blood-soaked sock, it was apparent the flesh on his heel had split, and the heel bone was showing. Linus and Benito were not as bad. They still had bloody socks but just from blood blisters. I left my boots on as I had kept my feet in good shape with touches of my healing ability. Cornelius approached us as we checked ourselves and waited on Konstantin, who was getting vocal inside the clerk¡¯s building. ¡°Impressive feat, getting here on foot. I could use men like you in the Hounds. Do any of you have a spell form?¡± I knew a spell form was required to join the Hounds, but none of us answered him. After a pause, he asked, ¡°Is this all that made it?¡± Cornelius indicated our group. Pavel answered nonmitantly while delicately inspecting his heel, ¡°They should be here soon.¡± Konstantin joined us, his face red from yelling. He barked at us, ¡°We are fine to enter the portal to the capital.¡± Cornelius eyed him, ¡°You were always a tough bastard, Konstantin. Good thing, too. Octavian sent a message to have a Truthseeker lined up to expedite the Tribunal. If you had not made it, they would have proceeded without your testimony.¡± My limbs suddenly got very cold. We were going to be questioned by Truthseekers? A procession of legionaries in metal armor approached. They were escorting the Discement Mage. Fifteen minutester, the portal opened, and the Duke¡¯s procession started entering. ¡°Do not bother putting your boots on; just move through,¡± Konstantin barked, and we all shuffled to the portal to follow. I had a thought about falling to the back and missing the portal by ident, but Konstantin was behind me and pushing me forward. I entered the portal and emerged in the capital of the Telhian Empire. Chapter 62: Telha, the Capital of the Telhian Empire Chapter 62: Telha, the Capital of the Telhian Empire Chapter 62 I walked out of the portal prepared, not stumbling, and quickly took in my surroundings. The Duke¡¯s horses were being led away in an opening in a wall to the right. We were in a box-shaped stone pit about forty feet across. On each side of the thirty-foot stone wall were six archers and a person in mage robes. The archers had steel legion armor reflecting in the sun. The Discement Mage was behind us by the portal arc we had exited in the pit and had a dozen legionaries around him. Konstantin broke my gawking, ¡°You four get to the East Legion Hall. Find a healer. I am going to the Magistrates Hall. Do not leave the Legion Hall no matter what. I will find you thereter.¡± Konstantin hurried off, not exining any further. ¡°Does anyone know how to get to the lower East Legion Hall?¡± I asked. Mypanions had boots in their arms and bloody bare feet or bloodied socks. Linus spoke, wincing as he put on his socks, ¡°The city was designed to be easy to navigate. I have been there before.¡± Paval groaned, ¡°I know where it is, too. Probably almost a mile walk from here.¡± He did not want to wear his socks and boots again but started doing so. Benito noted, ¡°It is the smallest of the three Legion Halls in the Telha. The Imperial Legion Hall houses the Emperor¡¯s personal guard. It is actually close by,¡± he indicated the passage the horses were led into. ¡°The Western Legion Hall is outside of the western walls and near the Perfectus Legionis. That is where they train the men who volunteer for the Legion.¡± ¡°Brutus mentioned that. He trained there,¡± I added as we began to walk. I was the only one not struggling with each step. We did over eighty miles in about 18 hours. It probably would not have been as bad for them if Mage Larita had not healed their feet. The newly healed skin could not take the abuse of the march. I had learned on the march how to heal my feet and not lose the calluses as they built up again. ¡°That is where the loyalist legionaries train,¡± Linus muttered. ¡°They get paid as soon as they start and spend twice as long training as us conscripts.¡±¡°Not twice as long, just a full year, but better training, too,¡± Paval painfully grunted out between steps. ¡°I think Adrian was a volunteer, but I don¡¯t know how he got assigned to ourpany.¡± We reached the top of the ramp, and the city spread before us. The roads were made from immacterge granite pavers. The buildings all looked uniform and neatly arranged along the road. Everything was made from a white stone with highlights using ck marble. Arches and columns were used heavily in the construction. It was beautiful. The most impressive feat was the height of the stone buildings. Some had ten floors when I counted the windows. The windows were also massive, easily ten feet tall and half that in width. The men and women walking the road wore thin, colorful fabrics in dozens of styles. We reached an intersection, and I paused. The road we entered was the main thoroughfare for the capital. I could tell because to our left was a massive structure, easily five hundred feet in height, a shining white and silver beacon in thete afternoon sun. ¡°Never seen the Emperor¡¯s Pce, Eryk? It boggles the mind. Something so big for just one man to live in,¡± Linus said. Paval looked and noted, ¡°There are probably a thousand men of the Legion inside and another thousand in the building to the right. It is the Imperial Legion Hall, and the Emperor has what? A hundred consorts and hundreds of servants? I am sure the pce is full.¡± His tone was indifferent. ¡°How many consorts?¡± I asked, imagining a massive harem. ¡°Does he have hundreds of children as well?¡± I added. ¡°It is seven consorts,¡± Linus scoffed at Paval¡¯s misinformation. ¡°And he can only name seven of his children First Citizens byw. The rest he marries off of sending them abroad.¡± Paval gripped quietly, ¡°I doubt he limits himself to his seven wives. He is known for taking what he wants.¡± We turned away from the pce and started walking in the opposite direction. The wide road was busy as evening was approaching. Pairs of legionaries patrolled in metal armor. It felt like we were the scrubs with just auroch leather armor. But I guess leather armor was lighter, cheaper to make, and easier to maintain. I would hate to have to spend every evening polishing my metal chest piece. My helmet took enough effort to keep the rust at bay. We finally encountered food carts, and I bought everyone skewered meat. The vendor called it pork, but it tasted like spicy chicken to me. The pause in our walk was short, and we were on the move. Everyone was eager to get the healing. We tossed the skewers into a trash barrel on a corner. The city was extremely clean, and sanitation was much higher here than in my previous stays. The civilians got thicker and thicker on the street as we went further and further from the pce. Some intersections hadrge fountains with mural mosaics tiled in the bottoms of the pools. We did not stop to look, but it looked like legionaries battling various beasts. My head snapped around, and my jaw fell open. A leopard man was being led by a cable with a cor around his neck. ¡°That is a Tabaxi, one of the catfolk.¡± Linus seemed confused, ¡°I thought they weremon in the jungles near Tsinga?¡± I scrambled to think of a response, ¡°It was not the catfolk but the fact it was cored like a pet.¡± He nodded sadly, ¡°The beast races are not allowed freedom in the Empire. They are a rare sight and usually too feral to tame.¡± I watched as the catfolk disappeared on its leash in the crowd. ¡°What are the beast races?¡± I asked, looking for more in the crowd of humans. Linus was willing to answer, ¡°There is a zoo in the upper city. I went once. Let me see¡­minotaurs are the bullmen. Tabaxi are the catfolk. Satyrs are the goatmen. Centaurs are the horse men. Aarakocra are the birdmen. Yuan-ti are the snake men¡­.there was one more,¡± he said, trying to think of it. ¡°The lizardfolk,¡± Paval supplied. ¡°But all the beast races are about as wee in the Telhian Empire as elves and dwarves.¡± ¡°Where do the orcs fit in?¡± I asked. Linus answered, ¡°They group them with the goblinoid races, but do not ever call them a goblinoid if you meet an orc. They are as intelligent as you are me. Well, maybe not Benito.¡± Linus waited for Benito to remark on the jab, but he walked on oblivious. Linus continued, smirking at Benito, ¡°The goblinoids are the bugbears, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, gnolls, ogres, and trolls.¡± Paval grunted as he stepped, ¡°I am no schr, but that is a very general ssification. I have never met an orc before, but if you call him a goblin, I would not be surprised if he swore a blood oath to kill you for it on the spot.¡± We took a left turn, and the city buildings off the main road were not as opulent. They were still stone constructions, but instead of being homogeneous, it became a mixture of various stones. Also, the buildings were only three stories tall now. We were within sight of the outer wall, at least I think it was the outer wall, as it was twice the height of the buildings when Linus said, ¡°We are here.¡± Linus was walking down a side street thatcked a heavy flow of people. A small park with trees was at the end of the road, and arge ck stone building was beyond. Therge entrance had a pair of legion guards on either side in leather armor. The building looked like an imposing structure with a singlerge statue on top. Paval sighed in relief at having arrived. Linus said, ¡°We are in the old city. This building was built by and used by the First Legion. Now, it is not as impressive as the Imperial Legion Hall or the Western Legion Hall, but it is the nicest Legion Hall you are likely to see in your service as a volunteer.¡± The ck archway entrance was guarded by two men in leather legionnaire armor and led to a courtyard with an open sky above. Legionaries in the courtyard were in and out of leather armor, milled about on stone benches. They looked up at us as we entered. We were still a mess. Linus stepped forward, ¡°Is there a Healing Mage on duty?¡± One of the men in leather armor stood and approached, ¡°You four look like you just came out of the arse of an ogre.¡± He introduced himself, ¡°I am Severus, the baths are over there,¡± he pointed to an archway to our left, ¡°I will go and bring a healer. We use the healer from the clinic down the street. The onlypany Healing Mage we had is off to the assault on Macha.¡± We gratefully made our way into the baths. The stone inside was the same onyx ck as the building, but the space was well-lit with glowstones. Four boys came and took our clothes and armor as we stripped. We entered the showers with brushes and fresh soap. As we washed, Paval noted, ¡°Damn, Eryk, your feet do not look bad at all.¡± ¡°Yeah, Larita did not heal them. I still had my calluses, and my socks dried in the sun,¡± I responded calmly. He just huffed and didment again. I was in the heated bath first. This bath was actually a lot nicer than the upper baths in Macha. The seating under the water formed to your ass, and the water was hotter. I waited almost half an hour for the others. They had waited for the healer to arrive before joining me in the soaking pool. Linus asked, ¡°Do you want the healer, Eryk?¡± I shook my head no, and he waved off the man in the other room. He settled into the pool, ¡°He only had a spell form, but he was good. Paval is digging through his pack to tip him some coin.¡± Benito came and just jumped into the pool like a kid, causing a ssh and waves of water. The center of the pool was much deeper, and he appeared to know that in advance. When he came up, heughed, ¡°Damn, this almost makes me forget thest three days.¡± He joined us, and then a happy Paval joined us as well. His feet were pink with new skin, but the bone was no longer exposed. We soaked in silence, and Benito started snoring. It was an hour before a naked and clean Konstantin joined us in the pool. He sighed as he entered and kicked Benito awake. With all our attention, he started, ¡°The Tribunal starts tomorrow. We were lucky we made it before the Discement Mage opened the portal. It is going to be at least a week before it will open again.¡± Linus asked, ¡°So what do you need us to do?¡± Konstantin nodded, ¡°I was at the Magistrate¡¯s Hall where the Tribunal will be held. Tonight, we will all head back and give statements to the Truthseekers. They will use the transcript for the trial in the morning in defense of Castile. We will wait outside and may be called to rify our statements.¡± ¡°Did Castile get a good Advocate?¡± Paval asked. Konstantin shrugged, ¡°I do not know who is counseling her. The Tribunal is Duchess Veronica, Duke Octavian, and Duke Vito. I do not know Vito other than he was visiting the Emperor from his province. The only good news is the Emperor did not appoint the Duke that Octavian had wanted as the third.¡± Konstantin stood, having only been in the pool for ten minutes, ¡°We will go and get fresh clothes and sandals from the Legion Hall quartermaster while our clothes are being cleaned. The sooner we talk to the Truthseekers, the better.¡± I was left in no position to object. I noted a little sourly the cost of the linens and sandals was being added to my legion debt. Even Benito was smart enough to see we were being charged twice what they were worth. We soon walked in the fading sun and followed Konstantin to the Magistrate¡¯s Hall. Konstantin had us leave our weapons behind. I was extremely nervous as I had no idea what this encounter with the Truthseekers would entail, but I had no other choice. Chapter 63: Truthseeker Chapter 63: Truthseeker Chapter 63 Konstantin led us back toward the upper city where the portal stone was located. Paval said, ¡°They may have been expensive, but they arefortable.¡± He was fingering his new linen shirt. ¡°It is also new. Most of the clothes we requisition at other legion halls may be free, but they are also used. Sometimes, with a hole in it that you need to sew shut.¡± Konstantin got us focused, ¡°When you are questioned, you need to answer questions truthfully and use as few words as possible. They will ask you for an opening statement. Say that Castile could not prevent the fall of Macha. Remember the facts. Master Mage Durandus got himself killed, so he was not avable to anchor the defense. The Discement Mage was assassinated days before the Bartiradians arrived. The army surrendered after the lower city fell, which was why we fled.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about thest one, Konstantin. We left the city before they surrendered. We only heard they were going to surrender,¡± I said after considering what I remembered. I did not want a Truthseeker to call me on a lie. Konstantin grunted, ¡°Fine. Just tell them the Bartiradians were cutting through the barricades quickly and were going to reach the inner city walls less than a day after breaching the outer walls.¡± Linus asked thoughtfully, ¡°Will they just question us about the siege?¡± Konstantin walked a little slower, ¡°They are the Imperial Truthseekers, not the lowly ones you find in a town or city. They can ask about anything. Most likely, they will only ask questions about Castile as that is who you are giving a statement for. Her Tribunal starts soon, so we need to do this now so copies can be distributed to each Duke on the Tribunal.¡± I was extremely nervous now. ¡°Can we refuse to answer questions?¡± I asked. ¡°If you do, they will just dig deeper,¡± Konstantin responded with a re. I felt trapped but made an effort to keep my mind sharp. I knew bodynguage was important from watching cop shows. I needed to look calm and respond calmly. I focused on getting into that state of mind for the rest of the walk.We reached a building with two beautiful giant marble statues of a woman holding scales and a man holding a sword nking the entrance. ¡°Who are they?¡± I asked, marveling at the artistry of the statues. The detail was amazing, and I thought they coulde alive at any moment. ¡°They represent Justica and Ultio, the gods of justice and vengeance,¡± Konstantin said, pushing the doors open and not looking at the statues. Maybe he had seen them before. A man in white robes came rushing forward, ¡°All business will be handed on the morrow.¡± ¡°We are here to give statements for the Ducal Tribunal starting in the morning concerning Mage Castile. I already talked with Magistrate Aurelia. She approved statements to be given to a Truthseeker.¡± Konstantin said with annoyance. The man stuttered for a moment in thought, ¡°Magistrate Aurelia¡­I-I c-can do that. There are two Truthseekers still in the north wing. I will set up the rooms. Please wait here.¡± We were standing in the lobby. Above us, on the ceiling, was a massive mural. The painting showed legionaries fighting back what appeared to be a giant ck demon. ¡°What is that depicting,¡± I asked, pointing up. Konstantin and the others looked up. Konstantin took in the whole scale of the mural, ¡°It is the arrival of the First Legion during the Abyssal War. They managed to turn the tide and banish the demons. It is probably more myth than truth. To my knowledge, no greater demon has ever been seen outside a dungeon. The mural is more likely showing the First Legion battling the demon in a dungeon.¡± The man in white robes returned, ¡°The rooms are ready. The Truthseekers are being pulled from their studies. Which two of you will go first?¡± Konstantin gave me a slight push in the back. Shit, I would have preferred to gost. I was soon walking down the hall with Konstantin and following the man who was walking with long, hurried strides. We proceeded through the maze-like building. Many of the walls and ceilings had massive murals of creatures and battles. They seemed out of ce in a building that was the court ofw in the Empire. We reached a series of doors made from a bright blue wood. Two men in white and gold robes approached us. One was a graying man with haggard eyes, and the other was a young man, no older than fifteen, with ck hair and a bowl cut. Our guide introduced the two, ¡°Truthseeker Nico,¡± he indicated to the older man. ¡°And the newest Imperial Truthseeker, Yanis,¡± he pointed at the younger man. Konstantin looked at both and pointed to the older man, ¡°Truthseeker Nico can take my statement. Eryk, you can have the boy.¡± Yanis pursed his lips in distaste at being called a boy. I did not appreciate Konstatin angering someone who would be questioning me. The young Truthseeker opened a blue door and motioned me inside. The room was not what I expected. Twofortable-looking plush chairs faced each other in the center of the room. The walls were painted an off-orange, and the floor was light yellow stone. ¡°You can take either chair,¡± Yanis said while retrieving a notebook from a small shelf. ¡°Forgive me, but what is this statement concerning? I was summoned from studies just minutes ago.¡± This was a relief. Maybe I could keep everything focused on Castile. ¡°Ourpany magemander is being used of abandoning her mission to defend the city of Macha.¡± I tried to make idle conversation, ¡°The blue wood is interesting. Is it stained, or is that its natural color?¡± He looked at the blue door, ¡°That is Tace wood from Tsinga. It absorbs sounds so people outside the door can not listen in.¡± Damn it. I hope he didn¡¯t learn I was from Tsinga, otherwise my question would be suspicious. I decided not to try for further idle talk. He seated himself across from me and wrote for a few minutes before looking up. He focused on me, ¡°The crime is quite serious.¡± He turned the page and concentrated, ¡°Please limit your next answers to yes or no. Are you nning to do harm to the Empire or Emperor?¡± My jaw would not work for a second, ¡°I thought I was giving a statement for Mage Castile?¡± ¡°Yes. Well, I just finished my training, and we are always supposed to ask three questions whenever we do a reading. Not all Turthseekers do it, but like I said, I just began my training and was told it is standard practice. My teachers would be upset if I did not follow protocol.¡± He impatiently asked, ¡°Now, Are you nning to harm the Empire or Emperor?¡± ¡°No,¡± he scribbled something quickly. I did not feel anything, so I was not sure how his truth ability worked. He asked his next question, ¡°Have you done harm to the Empire or Emperor in the past?¡± ¡°No,¡± I answered calmly, and he wrote again in his book. ¡°And the final opening question. Do you have magics on your person to deceive a Truthseeker?¡± he was turning a small ck ball in his hands, waiting for me to answer. ¡°No,¡± I said more slowly than I probably should have, focused on the ball. He scribbled, and the young Truthseeker looked up after disappearing the ball into his pocket. ¡°Excellent; please give your statement slowly so I can record it. I will ask questions if relevant.¡± He looked up, waiting, appearing patient. I tried to remain as rxed as possible. ¡°Ourpany was to defend Macha until the Bartiradians arrived and surrounded the city. Then, the Duke was supposed toe and kill the Bartiradians outside the walls. Instead, one of the three mages sent to defend the city was killed, making the defense impossible. Then the Discement Mage was assassinated with all his legionnaire guards.¡± I waited while he wrote. Then, I continued, ¡°Without the portal, we had no resupply. The outer walls fell in the first assault, even though Castile put in a valiant effort to defend the Trader¡¯s Gate. The inner walls were about to fall, and we were told the army was going to surrender. We escaped on the aqueduct and lost a third of ourpany, and another third were seriously injured during our evacuation.¡± He finished writing and waited for me. When I did not add more, he read what he wrote about five times before asking a question. ¡°What was the name of the mage, and how did he die? Did the Bartiradians kill him?¡± I used his title, ¡°Master Mage Durandus. A shambling mound monster in the swamp killed him. The Bartiradians were not responsible.¡± He studied me as I spoke and then wrote in his book. ¡°I thought he was sent to defend a city. Why was he in a swamp?¡± he looked up, waiting for my answer to clear up his confusion. ¡°We were helping with patrols outside the city. A storm giant was digging in the swamp.¡± I paused, ordering my thoughts carefully, ¡°But we didn¡¯t know it was a storm giant at the time. Durandus went to explore to see if it was a threat, and I was sent with hispany to help. When we found out it was a storm giant and Durandus attacked it.¡± I stopped there. He wrote furiously, ¡°And the shambling mound was under the control of the storm giant?¡± ¡°Um, no. We killed the storm giant. But most of Durandus¡¯pany was killed in the effort. On the way back to the city, the shambling mound killed him.¡± I replied. He tapped his writing implement, thinking, ¡°Did you or any of hispany y a role in Master Mage Durandus¡¯ death?¡± he asked, studying me too intently for my liking. I answered carefully, ¡°No, Mage Durdandus was collecting essence from a frozen shambling mound. It broke free and threw him into the swamp. When we found him, he was dead.¡± He paused before writing. He spent a long time considering his next question. ¡°Why did Durandus attack the storm giant? They are formidable foes. Was it threatening the city?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me, but I am fairly certain he wanted the giant¡¯s essence. He consumed it as soon as he collected it. He was also interested in what the giant was digging for. But I think he ordered the attack for the essence,¡± I replied truthfully. Yanis wrote slowly, thinking on another question. I guessed by his fatigue that each answer took his aether to verify. ¡°What was the storm giant digging for?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Durandus said there was a city for the giants buried under the swamp.¡± I replied. ¡°There was a what?¡± Yanis replied quickly. I realized this bit of information had only been told to me. Castile has not been interested in this detail. ¡°A city where the giants used to live, buried with time. Durandus seemed obsessed with trying to find out what the storm giant was digging for. He couldn¡¯t delve deep enough with his senses, so we were returning to the Macha when he was killed.¡± The young Truthseeker scribbled furiously. ¡°And do you know where this dig site is?¡± he looked up and asked. ¡°Sure. It is not difficult to spot. There is a massive crater where he was digging in the swamp south of Macha.¡± The Truthseeker finished his writing, he reviewed everything he had written, and it was a good thirty minutes before he focused on me. The giant city seemed important to him, so I was expecting more questions concerning it. He was distracted when he asked, ¡°Um, yes. You said the Discement Mage was assassinated with his guards. How did this happen?¡± returning to my statement and the purpose of this session. I spent the next hour telling how we found the first Bartiradian infiltrators and knew others were in the city. Konstantin had warned the Discement Mage, but they attacked him through the sewer wall in his basement, taking him by surprise. He asked about Mage Castile¡¯s pursuit of the air mage that had killed the Discement Mage and how he escaped the city and destroyed the aqueduct. Unfortunately, my knowledge was limited in this part of the story. Then he started to ask questions about our flight from the city. My heart was pounding, just waiting for him to get a sniff of my abilities. I was lucky as the Truthseeker was distracted as he asked questions, and I gave short answers. I assumed he was still thinking about the giant city under the swamp. I didn¡¯t know why, though, he was so young. Why would he be interested in an ancient city that was inessible? It looked like he was getting fatigued as well from the aether expenditure. ¡°I think we are done.¡± he finally said. It had been almost three hours. ¡°Your statement and all relevant information will be transcribed for the Ducal Tribual in the morning. Where can you be reached if the Dukes seek to question you further?¡± ¡°I will be waiting outside the chamber. At least that is what I was told I would be doing.¡± I answered. He nodded, tapping his stylus on the pad. Somehow, I had never had to reveal that I had a dimensional space or anything else about myself. He thought I was just a regr legionnaire. I walked into the hallway and found Konstantin, Paval, and Benito. ¡°Who is next?¡± I asked. Konstantin, ¡°Next? We finished two hours ago. All of us!¡± He motioned all of us to walk away. After a good distance, ¡°What did the young Truthseeker ask? I gave him to you because he looked green. All you had to do was offer a statement he could verify.¡± ¡°He asked a lot of questions about Durandus¡¯ death and the Discement Mage¡¯s assassination. A lot of questions. Then he focused on our escape from the city,¡± I said, throwing up my hands. Konstantin studied me, ¡°Did you insinuate Castile was responsible for either of the deaths?¡± Konstantin was calm but looked concerned. ¡°No!¡± I chirped at the usatoryment. ¡°He was more interested in Durandus¡¯ fight with the storm giant and Castile¡¯s pursuit of the air mage who destroyed the aqueduct.¡± ¡°Was he trying to tie the air mage to Castile? That they might be working together?¡± Konstantin said insistently. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I wasn¡¯t there, so I could not give him any information. I think he was just trying to confirm Castile didn¡¯t let him go on purpose,¡± I said hastily. Konstantin seemed to think. ¡°Okay, we are heading back for just a few hours of sleep, and then we wille and camp outside the Tribunal chamber. We need to make sure the Advocate received our statements. They can make sure the Dukes read them.¡± Konstantin took off, and we followed. Special thanks to my patrons for supporting my writing on Patreon. You keep the words flowing and give excellent feedback. Seraphim Tier: Kingpin09, Rd Zg, Kompass, Christian Mordal Andersen, SubJef, TechMagic Long Term Supporters (Alphabetical, Updated 10/9/23): Adam Sawyer, Alexander Saridis, Asibo, Avery Duval, ck_knigght, BlodWedd, Borindak, Brandon, Brandon Anderson, Christian Mordal, CJ, Cody, Cody Landis, Curdin, DANTE, David Zimmerle, Dom, Dustin, Dylzoprenia D robinson, Erin, Exchao, Gideon Stern, Isaac Wheeler, jacob Hixson, jared ference, Jeffrey Iverson, Jim Hall, John DeWarr, Jordan, Jostein Andersen, kingpin09, Kompass, Logan Petersen, Louis Leco, lucas rodger, M K L, Marconjecture, mark m??llegaard, Martin Lange, Michael Masters, MrX, NaughtyPaws, Paul Panzer, Pizzaranger, Premium_Marzen, Rd Zg, Recursive, Robert Magdaleno, S, Sean Otto, Shade, Silver Beard, Stefan Strindin, SubJef, Thomas Dey, Timothy Felker, d, WhiteWatcher, Xerias, Xultanis, Yeraiha Chapter 64: Raelia the Griffin Rider-flashback (POV Chapter voted on by Patreon readers) Chapter 64: Raelia the Griffin Rider-shback (POV Chapter voted on by Patreon readers) Chapter 64 Raelia walked the camp, looking for the meal tent for the riders. She had seen it from up in the air before shended, and it should be near this abandoned farmhouse. There, she spotted it. The tent ps were green and not ck this time. She walked inside to the smell of food being cooked. The cook ted her some food with a smile, and she took the te to a table to sit opposite Zy, hermander. The tall, lean elf woman smiled, ¡°Raelia, the food is good tonight. A sweet pepper sauce over brown rice and shredded venison.¡± ¡°You took down the deer, didn¡¯t you,¡± Raelia smiled back. ¡°You are always telling us never to riskbat from our mounts, yet you do it every flight!¡± Zy smirked, ¡°Well, I answer to your brother. You answer to me.¡± ¡°I am sure you answer to him a lot in his tent¡ªprivately,¡± Raelia retorted and quickly received a kick to her shin from hermander. ¡°Not when we are on a campaign,¡± she scolded Raelia. However, it was not a well-kept secret. ¡°The other generals on the campaign would frown on me distracting him.¡± Raelia tasted the food, ¡°Ugh, too sweet. They must have added honey again.¡± Hermander tried to hide a smile, ¡°It was you? You asked for it.¡± ¡°When you are the one who brings in a three-hundred-pound fresh game animal for the table, the cooks tend to honor your requests,¡± Zy said, shoveling the food into her mouth with a smile.After they both finished the meal, Raelia asked, ¡°What are my orders?¡± Zy rolled her eyes, ¡°The postings are twenty feet away on the tent wall. Fine! Youzy elf. You are circling the city from two miles above with Nessa, nor, Daena, and Yavanna. We are attacking tonight as nned. I will fly out and ensure the Duke¡¯s army has been dyed.¡± ¡°By yourself?¡± Raelia asked, knowing that doctrine did not allow Riders to operate alone. ¡°Rina ising with me. And no, I am not taking you! You would probably try to fly too low and count the Duke¡¯s army or something else foolish,¡± Zy said seriously. ¡°We have thirty minutes before we exchange flights.¡± They left the tent together and went to where the griffins were stabled. The attendants had fed them raw horse meat while they had been getting their own dinner. Moonw saw his rider approaching and nipped two other griffons, Monsoon and Sunre, out of his way to get to Raelia. The griffin¡¯s head nuzzled her chest, lifting her off the ground with its powerful neck. ¡°Moonw, be nicer to the others,¡± Raelia scolded weakly. He continued nudging her until she rubbed the feathers around his ear holes. He started clicking his tongue in appreciation. Finished with the affectionate beast, she started to prepare. Raelia checked the harness twice, inspecting it for wear and fit. When griffins were used in rapid rotation like this siege, they would lose weight rapidly, and you needed to adjust the straps constantly. It was for your own safety and thefort of the griffin. Nessa, nor, Daena, and Yavanna were already in their saddles. Raelia swung her small frame up into the saddle. She scanned the skies, waiting. A few minutester, a griffin started tond. Raelia and her patrol took to the air one at a time, blowing dead leaves into small cyclones from the force of taking off. The wind sted through her face and hair before she activated her air spell form to shield the rush of wind in her face. She circled the camp once to inspect the army. Thousands of men were below her like little ants scurrying about. She was d she was a Rider. She soared high into the sky before starting her dull circle patrol. She pulled her spyss and watched the defenders of Macha prepare for the inevitable. She had nothing against the people of the city. Their Emperor and his hatred of non-humans was the rot of the Telhians. They had killed many Bartiradians on Bartiradian soil in thest two years. This assault was their own fault. The Telhian n was also painfully obvious. They would put up a token resistance and let the Bartiradians take the city. Then, they would trap the Bartiradians in the city. Her brother and the other generals were smarter than that, though. They had killed the Discement Mage in Macha, and they nned to reinforce the city themselves through the portal after taking control of the city tonight. Then, they would let the Telhians waste their men and legionaries trying to retake the city. Her brother, General yln vien, would ensure the Telhians were much weaker after this battle. Returning Macha to Bartiradian hands was sure to be a bloody endeavor. Three flight rotationster, Moonw was exhausted as he pped his wings and glided over the night battle below. It was dark, and the fog had allowed the army to reach the walls and gates. It would not be long now before they broke the defenders on the wall. Then, a huge gust of wind ripped from the city. Raelia had to let the wind take Moonw and her away. She saw the battlefield revealed below, the fog eliminated. The Bartiradian attackers were suddenly exposed. Arrows pelted them from the walls, and men were falling by the scores. Raelia felt helpless. She was not supposed to do anything but observe and report. Maybe she could help, though. The defenders were focused on her brother¡¯s army. She could possibly prepare a fireball, swoop down, and release it before they tracked her. She started to guide Moonw with her legs, guiding him with the stirrups and squeezes of her thighs. He was sensitive to her body movements and understood what she wanted. The important thing she needed to do was shield the fireball as she formed it. Otherwise, it would be like a beacon in the sky to the defenders. She mentally worked the weave of her aether into the spell forms. Layering the aether in a well-practiced action. She would have to dive to get into range to release the ball of fire, though. She needed to remain unseen. The glowing ball of destructive heat twisted between her cupped hands as she squeezed her knees and dug her heels in. Moonw dove at the unspokenmand. The range of her magic fire was one hundred and twenty feet. She needed to get about a hundred feet away and release on the dive. Moonw knew this as well and would rise after the fireball was released. She was focused on the tower on the left. There was definitely a mage there. She revealed the light of her prepared spell and was about to throw it when the spell forms dissolved in her hand. She grabbed the reigns and pulled hard. The mage in the tower had seen her and disrupted her spell form. She needed to¡­ Moonw shrieked in pain as an arrow protruded from his wing, with wispy ck tendrils wrapping his wing. He could not p to turn away from the city. There was no time as she tried to get him tond on a rooftop in the city. Moonw came up short and crashed hard into the building. As they fell between two buildings, the griffin did his best to spare his chosen rider. The ground came fast, and she never had time to activate her featherfall device. It would have minimized her own body mass and made the crash less impactful. Instead, Moonw bounced on the ground, and the impact tossed Raelia out of her saddle and into a building, breaking ribs and wrenching her knee. She must have hit her head because she was dazed as well. When she got senses, and back to her feet, Moonw was protecting the alley from a squad of legionaries. Moonw was injured and overmatched. She tried to form a fireball, but her head hurt too much, and she could not focus. Moonw shrieked in pain. She couldn¡¯t help him. She cried as she limped away into the alley, looking for a ce to hide. Moonw, her friend that she had raised from an egg, would buy her time. She wiped the tears and focused on escape. She took a simple healing potion on her belt. As its effects spread, her mind started to clear as she hobbled away. The potion was not enough to heal her ribs or knee, but it did give her back enough sense of mind to cast magic. A shifting light came up behind her. The legionaries were already on her. Fucking legionaries! Anger welled in her as they killed her mount and friend. It was not the first friend she had lost to the Telhian legionnaires either. She timed the approaching light, spun with her daggers drawn, parried the sword strike, went into a roll, and came up in a crouch, grimacing from partially healed injuries. The legionnaire looked surprised she had evaded his attack. He was just staring at her like an idiot. ¡°I will kill you, legionnaire.¡± She rasped in his own tongue. Blood trickled from her lips as she spoke. At least her ribs felt slightly better from the potion, but she probably had a damaged lung, as breathing was difficult. As she waited for the legionnaire to attack, loud booms came from the outer wall. She smirked, knowing her brother was probably sending all three assault elements at the wall in an attempt to save his stupid sister, who had crashed into the city. She just needed to hide until he got his forces inside the city. She thought Zylia would scream at her for this, and her brother would probably have her exiled from the Riders. First, she needed to survive long enough. Therge booms had the young human legionnaire nervous. His long ck hair was matted with sweat under his metal legionarie helm. He held his short sword with skill but seemed reluctant to attack. She needed to stall him while her mind worked the spell forms for a fireball, ¡°Your city will return to us, and the duke¡¯s army will not save you!¡± She said with as wicked a smile as she could conjure through the pain. He rxed in his defensive stance, underestimating her. He started to talk, ¡°Can you just¡­¡± She finished her spell form and ignited her fireball¡­ Chapter 65: Tribunal Chapter 65: Tribunal Chapter 65 I woke in the middle of the night, not being able to sleep. I wandered around the building. Most rooms were lit softly by a single glowstone embedded in the stone. I found a small, empty, private bathroom with running water and a mirror. It must be for a magemander, but it was currently barren of personal possessions. Looking in the mirror, my beard had grown in. I decided to ess my barber¡¯s kit and clean up. The straight-edge razor was new to me, but I could quickly heal the skin even if I nicked myself. Experimenting, I found the key was finding the right angle and using light, short strokes. I applied the face balm and looked much better in the mirror. I put the kit away and continued my wandering of the Eastern Legion Hall. Theplex was huge. There were ssrooms, offices, private bedrooms, dining rooms, and a veryrge kitchen. ¡°Can we get you something?¡± A pudgy cook who was preparing the morning meals asked. Since I was here¡­¡°Ham steak and scrambled eggs?¡± I asked hopefully. The cook motioned for another of the kitchen staff to fill my request as she appeared to be in charge and focused on the dough she was kneading. I asked, ¡°Is this building always so quiet at night?¡± ¡°No! This is the quietest it has been since thest Duke¡¯s coronation. Back then, the Emperor sent two thousand legionaries to his province¡¯s Citadel to show his support,¡± the cook continued to roll the dough with her well-muscled forearms and hands. I sat across from the woman on a stool and waited for my food. The cook cracked five eggs and added a milk, pepper, and salt ssh before whisking them. A hand-sized ham steak was ced in a separate pan with bacon fat. It was not long before a te of heaping scrambled eggs covering a thick ham steak was put in front of me. As I ate, the head cook asked, ¡°You are one of the men from Castile¡¯spany?¡± ¡°I am, but I have only been with them for a month,¡± I replied after swallowing a mouthful. This was just my fifth week which seemed impossible after all the shit I had been through. ¡°How many magepanies are in the city?¡± I asked before shoveling another forkful of eggs in. ¡°Normally, we have twenty or so mages and five hundred legionaries in Eastern Legion Hall. Tomorrow morning, we are only cooking for three mages and a hundred or so legionaries,¡± the cook said while cutting the bread into small chunks to bake the rolls. ¡°The Imperial Legion Hall has over two thousand legionaries and gods knows how many mages. The Mage War College is not far from the Imperial Legion Hall.¡±¡°And the Western Legion Hall?¡± I asked, finishing my te. The cook who made it took it away and left a steaming cup of tea in its ce. The head cook pped each piece of dough hard on a tray to get the shape she wanted and then slid it into the oven. She then answered my question, ¡°The Western Hall has maybe two thousand legionaries as well, but a portion of those are in training and not true legionaries yet.¡± I did not have time to talk further as Konstantin walked into the kitchen. ¡°Figures you found your way to a meal,¡± he said with a light tone. ¡°Eryk, we are leaving soon. Gear up. Smart move getting breakfast. We may not have time to eat all day,¡± Konstantin advised. The middle-aged cook addressed the scout, ¡°Konstantin, you old goat. There is a basket of hot meat buns warming in the oven.¡± I had never seen Konstantin get flustered before as the cook addressed him. But he was shaken as he looked at the cook and processed her words. ¡°Gilda?¡± Konstantin showed familiarity with the cook. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°You know why I am here. Take the buns,¡± the cook said with a slight smile and a wave of her hand. Konstantin¡¯s eyes hardened slightly at his acquaintance and ordered, ¡°Eryk, get the buns into your space and get your armor on.¡± He spun and left, shaking his head. I added a basket of twelve meat buns to my space and returned to our room. I dressed in my clean armor while the others waited in me. We left in the dark, and I had a chance to ask Konstantin, ¡°Old lover?¡± ¡°Gilda? Gods mercy, never,¡± Konstantin rasped. ¡°No, we both work for the same woman,¡± he talked low enough so the others did not hear. ¡°If Gilda is here, someone is not long for this world.¡± Realizing he said that a little too loud, he gruffly walked ahead of me. So, the cook was an agent of the Praetorian Guard that Konstantin worked for. She was probably an assassin, by his words. The pudgy woman did not look like a fighter. Knowing the agents could be anywhere was good as I never would have suspected the cook. We returned to the Magistrate building before the sun had broken the sky. The door between the statues had two legionaries in metal armor. Konstantin noted, ¡°They have the insignia of Duke Octavian. He must already be inside.¡± We entered the building, and there were a number of men and women in the white robes of the magistrate walking the halls. The ce was much busier than in the middle of the night. Konstantin stopped and asked questions while we waited. When he returned, he told us what he had learned, ¡°The Ducal Tribunal will be in the Venus Room. I have directions. They are still waiting on Duke Vito, so have not started.¡± We followed Konstantin to a corridor with arge double-blue door. There was a mural painting taking up the entire opposite wall. The painting was lifelike and had a woman exiting the ocean¡¯s surf. She was naked with long, flowing dark blonde hair and mesmerizing sky-blue eyes that seemed to follow you. I was not the only one staring. ¡°Why is this painting in the magistrates building?¡± Benito asked. Konstantin studied the image longer than he needed to, ¡°This building was not always the building for the Imperial Magistrates and for training the Truthseekers. It served some other purpose in the past.¡± A man in white robes overheard our conversation and informed us, ¡°That is right, legionnaire. This used to be the vi for Duke Latrell when he stayed in the capital. He challenged the Emperor and was beheaded, and all his property seized. This building became the Magistrate¡¯s office. All of the amazing artwork has been preserved.¡± He focused on Konstantin, ¡°Are you here for the Ducal Tribunal of Mage Castile?¡± Konstantin nodded, ¡°We gave statementsst night to Truthseekers. We are here in case our statements are questioned, or further exnation is required.¡± The man in white robes nodded in understanding. ¡°Only the used, her Advocate, the Imperial Truthseeker, and the Tribunal are allowed in the room. If witnesses are requested, they will be summoned.¡± Konstantin ground his teeth. He was obviously frustrated at being helpless. A man in purple and gold robes walked down the center of the corridor. He was overweight and had an air of self-importance. The white-robed magistrate met him, ¡°Duke Vito. This way, please.¡± He opened the blue double door, and immediately, arguing voices spilled out of the room. The doors absorbed sound as the corridor had been silent before they opened. I only got a brief glimpse into the room. Castile was standing next to a man in yellow robes. Her back was to us, and she was facing a table with three seats. Two seats were filled with Duke Octavian and a young woman who I assumed was Duchess Veronica. The argument that was interrupted was between Octavian and the yellow-robed man. I assumed that was Castile¡¯s Advocate. Nico, the old Truthseeker fromst night, walked from a door inside the courtroom to join the proceedings. Duke Vito went to join the other two dukes. The white-robed man shut the blue doors behind Duke Vito, and we were cut off from the scene and all sound. The white-robed man then stood in front of the door like a guard. Konstantin pulled us to the side. Benito asked, ¡°What is the n?¡± Konstantin said, ¡°We wait.¡± he leaned against the painting of Venus. The white-robed man frowned, and Konstantin stood away from the painting. It was almost an hour before Paval asked, ¡°What is going on inside?¡± Konstantin started to answer, but the white-robed man surprisingly answered for him, happy to help, ¡°The charges will be read. Each charge will be dealt with one at a time. Each of the Tribunal members will have a turn to ask questions of the used. The Truthseeker will verify the answers of the defendant. Then, the Advocate has a chance to ask the final questions. Then each Tribunal member votes on the charge.¡± ¡°What about our statements?¡± Benito asked. The white-robed man nodded, ¡°They were copied and given to the Dukesst night. Duke Octavian was questioning their addition to the formal records when the doors opened.¡± The man had a slight smile, ¡°Do not worry, legionaries. Justice is always based on the evidence presented.¡± ¡°What about the evidence not presented,¡± I muttered. The white-robed man focused on me, ¡°You would make a good magistrate legionarie. Yes, missing evidence or questions not asked can lead to verdicts that are undeserved. Have no worries. Your Mage has one of the best Advocates in the Hall. Duchess Veronica personally requested him.¡± Another hour passed, and the blue doors did not open. ¡°It seems to be taking a long time,¡± Bentio stated to his rumbling stomach. ¡°Hand out the buns,¡± Konstantin muttered to me. I produced the basket of buns, and we each took one. I offered one to the white-robed man, and he reluctantly epted. Benito took possession of the basket, and slowly, the buns were consumed. Hours passed, and even the Magistrate guarding the door seemed to get fidgety. A man in blue robes, followed by two legionaries in metal armor, came down the corridor to our room. The man was slightly out of breath and addressed everyone, ¡°This is the Tribunal for Mage Castile?¡± The white-robed man guarding the door answered, ¡°It is. They are still in deliberation, Chancellor.¡± He looked at us, ¡°And you are her legionaries?¡± Konstantin moved to stand before the blue-robed man, ¡°We are. What does the Collegium Schrium want with the Tribunal?¡± Konstantin was both confused and hopeful. ¡°Truthseeker Yanis came to us this morning with a copy of a testimony. We wish to interview any legionaries who were part of the storm giant ying,¡± he said, and all my fellow legion mates turned their eyes to me. The man, who I assumed was a Chancellor, instantly said, ¡°Ah, you must be Eryk. The legionnaire who gave the original statement. Who else was with you when the mighty storm giant was defeated?¡± I looked to Konstantin, who nodded. I was slightly nervous and answered truthfully, ¡°Legionaries Brutus and vius are the only two others who have survived. Master Mage Sebastian took vius. Brutus¡ªis in Carahagan. He missed the portal to the capital.¡± Konstantin stepped forward, intervening, ¡°What does the College of Schrs want with the legionaries?¡± ¡°Just to question them. Nothing nefarious. We will take this one,¡± he pointed at me, ¡°And you can send the others when they arrive.¡± The man handed Konstantin a wrapped scroll. Konstantin unrolled it and looked up surprised, ¡°The Emperor¡¯s seal?¡± The blue-robed man bowed, ¡°I am Marcel, Counsel to the Emperor and Chancellor of the Collegium Schrium. Truthseeker Yanis is my nephew. My time is precious to me, and I have already been to Eastern Legion Hall and back today.¡± He wiped his forehead of sweat. ¡°Go with him, Eryk. When they finish with you, check here for us first and then the Legion Hall. I will want to talk with you as well,¡± Konstantin said with a note of curiosity. It did not feel like this was voluntary. The two legionaries in steel armor nked me, and we all followed an excited Marcel out of the Magistrate¡¯s Hall. The Chancellor was a little too excited, in my opinion. Chapter 66: Verdict Chapter 66: Verdict Chapter 66 I walked behind Marcel, who had a fast pace for a librarian. He smelled of sweet perfume as he pranced before us, and the crowded streets parted before him and his escort. We entered the main road that led to the Imperial Pce. The imposing pce approached rapidly as we followed the confident Chancellor. We reached a gate to the Imperial Grounds. There were four legionaries here with shiny steel armor with gold highlights. I assumed these were the Imperial Legionaries that served the Emperor directly. Chancellor Marcel did not pause and walked between the guards into the grounds. The legionaries saluted him with their right palm t on their left corbone. This was the Emperor¡¯s salute. Maybe it was because he was counsel to the Emperor. I was not going to ask. The fewer questions I asked of the man responsible for the College of Schrs, the better. Instead of heading to the pce, we took a blue-veined marble paved path to the right through expansive and diverse flowering gardens. The kaleidoscope of colors passed rapidly as we got deeper into the Imperial district. I was starting to get nervous but maintained pace. There was a ss of nine young children in the gardens. A bald man in blue robes was giving an exnation of one of the flowering trees. He was telling them where the tree normally grew on the continent, and that was all I caught as we were past the ss. We reached a series of modest homes on the other side of the vast gardens. Each home was made of in gray granite and had a small personal garden out front. Short, white marble stones marked off the garden. Marcel walked up the steps, and I followed. The two legionnaire escorts turned and walked away. I paused to watch them. Marcel also stopped and exined, ¡°I only have an escort when I leave the grounds. If they thought you were a threat, they would have remained. Come inside; my wife should have lunch ready.¡± Inside the stone dwelling,rge windows dominated the walls, giving it lots of natural light. The spacious room was both a kitchen and dining room. A woman who appeared much older than Marcel smiled, ¡°Ah, I see you found the boy you were looking for.¡± ¡°Damn near had to be Mercury zipping all across the city,¡± Marcel griped to the woman as he sat heavily at the table. ¡°You need to get out more anyway, Marcel. Sit, and we can eat. I am Sofia. I assume you are legionnaire Eryk.¡± She smiled as she ced a pot on the table. A tray of t oval bread was soon added to the table. ¡°Help yourself, Eryk. Consider my cooking payment for your knowledge.¡±¡°Don¡¯t be bought so cheaply, Eryk. Knowledge is more valuable than gold. Although, Sofia¡¯s cooking is as well.¡± Marcel said, smiling at his wife. He took a piece of bread and then scooped a healthy portion of thick sauce with cubed meat and vegetables. I followed his example. Sofia poured wine for everyone and then joined us. The whole friendly atmosphere was a little surprising. Marcel asked as he ate, ¡°I read the report Yanis submitted for the trial. What do you remember about the storm giant?¡± I chewed and swallowed and made a satisfied groan at the taste to earn a smile from Sofia¡¯s. ¡°He was big, maybe the height of five men. Much quicker than you would expect,¡± I answered. ¡°No. What was he wearing? What did he say?¡± Marcel asked with interest, studying me. ¡°I do not think he said anything. Mage Durandus just attacked him,¡± I replied and continued taking bites, waiting for questions. Marcel frowned, ¡°That is unfortunate. Storm giants are one of the few reasonable giants. How old was he?¡± ¡°I am sorry you are asking things I have no knowledge of. He had a beard that was light brown, if that helps,¡± I answered and tried the wine. It was vorful but slightly acidic. ¡°I am sorry. I will try and direct my questions based on your background. Your ent, are you from Linshania?¡± He did not wait for an answer before adding, ¡°The length of their beard usually determines a storm giant¡¯s age. They would have certain color beads in it for their life¡¯s aplishments.¡± ¡°I am not from Linshania,¡± I said carefully. I was slightly worried Marcel may have the Truthseeker ability, so I nned not to offer any information. ¡°The giant¡¯s beard came to his waist,¡± I remembered. ¡°He did have beads in his beard¡­but I can not recall the details. We left the body in the crater. I am sure the beads are still there.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± He nodded. ¡°Waist¡­at least a few centuries old then.¡± He sucked on his teeth, considering. ¡°We are considering an expedition, but with the Bartiradians so close, it will take time to pull it together. Now, what about the city below the swamp?¡± ¡°We did not see it. Just Durandus¡¯ saw it with his magic. He told me it was a city for the giants, but his power was not strong enough to explore it.¡± I replied and started eating again, hoping he had forgotten his line of questioning about where I was from. Marcel went into another room and came back with a long rolled-up parchment. Sofia rolled her eyes at his excitement but cleared the table as he unrolled the map. He unrolled the map, and it looked like the Telhian Empire. Marcel eagerly said, ¡°Now, where was the giant digging.¡± It took me time to find Macha and the roads we patrolled. I guessed on a spot off the road, ¡°Here. Or about here.¡± They both looked at it, and it was Sofia who spoke. ¡°It could be the city was submerged and silt built up over time. Look, mountains surround the swamp, making it a perfect bowl,¡± Sofiamented. Marcel grumbled that he had not noticed first, ¡°Never marry anyone smarter than you, Eryk. Not only will she always point out your mistakes, but she solves riddles before you.¡± He studied the map. ¡°That does fit with the myth of the City of the Titans, Antium, being buried by a great flood.¡± ¡°Titans?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°The giants.¡± Marcel answered distractedly, studying the map, ¡°Before elves, dwarves, humans, and orcs, the giants ruled all of Desia. They had one great city that was lost when they challenged the gods.¡± Sofia chuckled, ¡°He tries to romanticize it. The giant races ruled over all the others. It was not the gods but a great war among the storm, frost, fire, and cloud giants decimated their poptions. They are just like us smaller folk but only bigger,¡± she chuckled. Marcel griped, ¡°That is simplifying the histories, Sofia.¡± He turned to me, ¡°The giants destroyed all their cities in the war. Only the capital, the greatest city in all of Desia, Antium, remained. The myth goes all the other giant ns banded together against the storm giants. Having lost the war, the storm giants were exiled from the capital city. In retribution, the remaining storm giants summoned a massive and fierce storm that drowned all the other giant races in Antium.¡± Sofia added, ¡°Marcel believes powerful artificed items were buried with the city. He has been searching for it his entire life. He told all the children he has ever educated in the Schrium the tale, hoping one day one of them will help find it for him.¡± ¡°Well, it worked! Yanis found him.¡± He pointed at me, not taking his eyes off the map. Sophia shook her head and sipped her wine. Marcel kept trying to dig details out of me, but I had very little to offer him, but I answered honestly. After patiently answering all his questions for two hours and through two more helpings of stew and four sses of wine, I eventually got bold enough to ask, ¡°Chancellor Marcel, is there anything you can do to help Mage Castile with the Ducal Tribunal?¡± ¡°Ducal Tribunals are always political. And I do not be involved in politics,¡± Sofia nodded at Marcel¡¯s statement. I decided not to press further and answered his questions as he ferreted everything he could from my memory. He finally stood, ¡°Legionnaire Eryk, thank you for your time. You enjoyed the wine, so Sophia, why do you not give him a bottle?¡± As he walked me out, he exined, ¡°At the bottom of the steps, wait for an Imperial Legionaire to escort you off the grounds. They do not take kindly to strangers wandering the grounds.¡± He sped his wrists to mine in a handshake and handed me the bottle of wine. ¡°Is that ent from Gongshuia?¡± I had hoped he had forgotten about my ent. I did not get the feeling he had the Truthseeker ability during the questioning. I supplied to ease his curiosity, ¡°I am from a tiny vige in Tsinga. I joined a caravan transporting Tace wood. Made the mistake of sleeping in the wrong ce and found myself conscripted.¡± He nodded, ¡°Ah yes, I can hear it in the undertones. Must be the eastern provinces of Tsinga,¡± he deduced. I nodded, agreeing with him. ¡°Well, if we have a chance to talk again, I would love to hear your impressions of how the Telhian Empire is perceived further afield. My primary service to the Empire is researching the political climate in all of Desia and advising the Emperor.¡± I almost told Marcel I was just an uneducated viger but held back and nodded, ¡°Thank your wife for the wonderful meal.¡± I turned, and two Imperial Legionaries were waiting for me at the end of the walkway. I was a little spooked as they had not been close a few seconds ago. Instead of walking me through the gardens, they walked me to a closer ess point to the Imperial Grounds. Four Imperial Legionaries guarded this small door in the wall. I was pushed out into the streets, and the door was barred behind me. It kind of felt like I was the trash being thrown out. I was in the upper city on a side street. I followed the Imperial Compound wall back to the main street. From there, I was able to get myself back to the Magistrate¡¯s Hall. Out of sight of anyone, I moved the bottle of wine into my storage as I walked the halls to the Venus Room. When I arrived, the double-blue doors were open. The hallway and room were empty. I was stunned for a moment before finding a white-robed magistrate, ¡°Is the Tribunal finished in the Venus Room?¡± He nodded immediately, ¡°About an hour ago, the dukes left the building.¡± He was going to keep going, but I stopped him, holding his arm. He looked at me, waiting patiently, ¡°What was the decision?¡± He looked confused, ¡°I believe the mage was found guilty.¡± He sized up my appearance and clean-cut face, ¡°I can bring you to records if you want to know the specifics?¡± ¡°Please do,¡± I nodded with a pit in my stomach. I was sure Konstantin would have the details as well. I followed the Magistrate through the building and into the basement, where a sprawling library was located. Dozens of white and yellow robes individuals weaved through the shelves of books and scrolls. My guide stopped a white-robed young man, and he rushed off. ¡°I will leave you here. Magistrate Marcus went to retrieve the records. He will help you, legionnaire.¡± He bowed and left. The young Marcus returned a short whileter with a scroll. He handed it to me, ¡°Please be careful with it. It has not yet been transcribed into the histories.¡± I unfurled the scroll and read it. Ducal Tribunal of Mage Castile Duval Sitting Dukes: Duke Vito of Camalmia Province, Duchess Victoria of Sobra Province, Duke Octavian of Sacegoes Province Charge One brought by Duke Octavian: Retreating from the field of battle. Vote: Guilty 3-0, punishment: ten years of additional service without annual wage from the Emperor Charge Two brought by Duke Octavian: Willful neglect of Empire Resources. Vote: Not Guilty 2-1 Charge Three brought by Duke Octavian: Conspiracy to the death of Mage Gregor. Vote: Not Guilty 2-1 Charge Four brought by Duchess Victoria: Conspiracy to the death of Master Mage Durandus. Vote: Not Guilty 3-0 Charge Five brought by Duke Ocativan: Conspicacy to the death of Discement Mage Santino. Vote: Not Guilty 2-1 Charge Six brought by Duchess Victoria: Improperly holding a Tribunal of Mage Durandus¡¯ Death. Vote: Not Guilty 3-0 I read the document twice, and Marcus asked, ¡°This is the summary. I can gather the rted documents if you wish, legionnaire.¡± ¡°No,¡± I rolled up the scroll with the Imperial Seal on it. ¡°Where is Mage Castile then?¡± I had actually thought when I heard she was guilty, she would be executed. Marcus turned and found someone I recognized as having stood guard on the door. He went and asked him and then returned. Marcus informed me, ¡°Mage Castile left with her legionaries at the Tribunal¡¯s conclusion.¡± ¡°Thank you, Marcus.¡± I turned and found my way out of the maze-like building. I was soon in the streets and heading toward the Eastern Legion Hall. Chapter 67 Chapter 67 Chapter 67 Announcement if you like the story please like the chapters and follow. it helps increase visibility and motivate me The capital city of Telha was easy to navigate from the main road. I started the long walk back to the Legion Hall. It waste afternoon, and the streets were packed. Someone bumped me and searched inside my hardened leather chest armor for a coin purse. The hand was gone before I could grab it, and I had no idea who the hand belonged to in the dense crowd. It did not matter; all my possessions were in my dimensional storage, and my short sword and dagger were at Legion Hall. My stomach was stuffed, and I wasing down from the minor buzz of the wine. I slowed as I thought about finding the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. There was a lot of gold waiting for me there. I decided against it. If Konstantin found out I went before checking in, he would probablyy into me. I paused as I passed a tailor. I was halfway to the Legion Hall, so I was far away from the more expensive shops near the pce and upper city. There were only a few patrons inside when I walked in. It looked like the shop catered only to men. I entered, and no one came to help me, so I walked among the shelves browsing. They sold a mixture of new and used garments in a massive array of designs and colors. I found cotton clothes for the first time. Everything I had seen so far had been wool, linen, or a heavy linen that was called canvas. This material was definitely cotton. One of the men in the store approached me, ¡°Legionnaire, Can I help you?¡± He was middle-aged and balding and wore a fake salesman smile. ¡°Is this cotton?¡± He replied with the Latin word for cotton and then went into a salesman diatribe about where it was produced and imported from. All I got from his lengthy exnation was that cotton was not grown in the Empire and would cost me a lot. I understood without industrialization, clothing was much morebor-intensive to produce. ¡°I am newly assigned to the capital. Can you help me put together two sets of clothing for wearing in the upper city? I do not want to feel or look out of ce,¡± I asked politely. The man looked me up and down in an assessment. ¡°You are¡­quiterge. Come into the back room and remove your armor so we can try a few things. Do you want new apparel, or is used manageable?¡± I guessed he was judging my ability to pay. I did not want toe off as wealthy, even though I had arge amount of gold and silver. ¡°Probably used, but just bring me whatever you think may fit my frame.¡± He showed me to the back room, which was not private. A short middle-aged man with a pot belly was trying on clothes. A father was working with his preteen son to find clothes as well. I removed my armor and my top, revealing my muscled torso. My tailor arrived with a load of used shirts to start. I noticed the pot-bellied manparing my physique to his, clearly envious. The shirts were mostly too tight. I soon found a deep blue wool shirt that had been mended many times that fit well and smelled clean. ¡°The is merino wool, legionnaire. The finest hairs from a Tegairosian sheep. As you can see, this piece has been mended a few times. You seem to like it. Two silver?¡±I felt the long-sleeved shirt again. It was nice, and if I wore a jacket over, it would cover the repairs. ¡°One and a half?¡± He looked a little upset but nodded. I bought three new snug ck cotton shirts for five silver each, which made him quite happy. I learned unlike used clothes, new clothes prices were not negotiable. The cotton material was thick, and they were all long-sleeved. The next piece to purchase was the pants. He had some thicker cotton pants, something close to denim. They fit like sweatpants with no pockets, slightly loose and requiring a belt. The problem was the colors were atrocious. Purple, red, and orange seemed to be in fashion for the wealthy. I found one ck pair, but my muscled thighs were too tight in the pair. It was a shame we had to move to new pairs because the older pairs had already been broken in and were softer. But at least I had a color choice. In my size, my color choices were red, dark brown, or an undyed off-white. I got the two pairs of dark brown pants for 25 silver each, which was cheaper than the brighter dyed pants. Socks were easy as they came in three sizes, and I was thergest size. I got ten pairs of wool socks, five dyed ck and five dark blue. I had ten pairs of Legionarie wool socks in my dimensional space, but I wanted to disassociate myself from wearing Legion markers when I explored the city. All legion stockings were off-white and may be noticeable to those with a keen eye. Plus, you could never have too many socks. Belts were just a silver each, but I had a number already in my space, and some were not legion belts. I still bought two dark brown belts. The jacket was next, and it took some time for him to bring out his selection of inventory. He had arge number of used jackets. I wanted something used and found something close to my Legion oversized oiled canvas duster made to over my armor. The used jacket was mostly ck leather with a dark green cotton lining. It had a few interior pockets as well, and one looked to be for a knife. It was broken in but still in excellent condition, and he wanted two gold for it. I talked him down to 180 silver. Thest piece in the ensemble was boots. My legion boots were broken in already but easily recognizable. He did not have much in stock as he was not a cobbler. I found some dark brown riding boots in his meager offerings that fit a little loose. But they were broken in and only 50 silver because he had them for so long. Just not a lot of men with my size feet. Good boots were normally very expensive. My total invoice was just over three gold. That was over half a year¡¯s legion pay for me, but I still had thirteen gold coins from the dungeon. For the quality of the clothing, I thought it was worth it. It wasfortable, and I should be able to blend in with the myriad of fashions I had seen on the streets of the capital. It alsocked any bright colors the wealthier people seemed to like, as I did not want to draw attention to myself. I paid the happy man, and he bundled everything together. After I left the tailor, I turned into an alley to be unseen and moved the package to my dimensional space. I hoped to have time to explore the city as a well-off civilian and not as a legionnaire. As I approached the Legion Hall, I thought maybe I should get Castile something. Congrattions, you are not going to be executed gift. I stopped at a bakery and pastry shop and got a basket of various doughy sweets for a silver. That was a lot of coin for a nine pastries, so I assumed they were good. When I returned, the Eastern Legion Hall was not very active in the evening. A few men practiced in the central courtyard, but fewer men lounged about like yesterday. I went to the bunk room where we sleptst night and found Pavel and Benito lying in the beds. ¡°Guess it went alright?¡± I said, entering. Pavel sat up, ¡°Castile is in the private room at the end of the hall. She is sleeping but said to send you in if you returned. Konstantin and Linus are checking to see when the next portal to Caranhagan will be opened.¡± He remembered where I went, ¡°How was the Chancellor? Did you meet the Emperor?¡± ¡°We just went and ate lunch at his house with his wife. He asked questions about ruins, and I answered him as best I could,¡± I made the mistake of putting the basket down. Benito snatched and took a sticky bun inside. I should have noticed him eyeing it as the smell of the warm pastries filled the room. ¡°I actually got those for Castile, Benito.¡± He ignored me and handed the basket to Pavel. Pavel said, ¡°Well, we all rushed here to save her, so I am sure she would want us to have one¡­or two¡­or three.¡± I just shrugged, ¡°Fine, save some for Konstantin and Linus then.¡± Benito was already on his second, and I doubted any would be left when Konstantin returned. I turned away and went to look for Castile. From my exploration, I knew where the private mage rooms were located. I knocked on a few, and no one answered. Finally, Castile opened her door. It was two back, so she must have gotten up slowly. She looked haggard and tired. Her hair was a mess. She recognized me, ¡°Eryk? Is Konstantin back?¡± ¡°No, Pavel and Benito said you wanted to see me when I returned,¡± I said. She studied me, ¡°You look well for having raced across the Empire. You even shaved?¡± She tried to make it soundplimentary. ¡°Come in, and we can discuss things.¡± Castile smelled a little ripe. She had not bathed and still had on the same clothes from when we fled Macha. She sat on the bed while I remained standing. She was quiet, so I opened, ¡°I am d you escaped the Tribunal.¡± She barked a harshugh, ¡°Escaped? From one spider web to another. Duchess Veronica may have saved me from Octavian¡¯s nned fate, but now I owe her favors.¡± ¡°Better than being dead and you were only found guilty on one count,¡± I offered, trying to be positive. She grunted, ¡°Yes, the duchess could not worm me out of that one. She did manage to reduce the penalty from life of servitude to just ten years.¡± She looked me in the eyes and exined, ¡°The Magistrates review all judgments. They can send it to the Emperor for review if they find something not in line with the evidence the Truthseekers gave. The duchess could not challenge the facts on that charge, but the evidence confirmed by the Truthseekers also allowed her to manage the facts for Duke Vito on the other charges. I would not be surprised if she owes Duke Vito a few favors for his votes. Octavian was definitely livid at how Vito voted.¡± I was not sure if I was overstepping by asking, but I did, ¡°Why did the duchess take such an interest in you?¡± Castile looked like she had aged in thest few days, ¡°Duchess Veronica is one of the Emperor¡¯s granddaughters. I do not know the lineage, two or three generations, I am guessing. When she was educated in the pce, the Emperor favored her as a child and carved out a province for her to rule when her father named her a First Citizen and paid her tithe. It is a tiny province with one small city. I guess she has higher aspirations than ruling the smallest and weakest province in the Empire.¡± ¡°So Octavian is her uncle?¡± I asked. ¡°All of the dukes are rted in some manner,¡± Castile stood off the bed. ¡°Enough of my fate, Eryk. Now you.¡± She eyed me, ¡°I do not know if you are an outworlder. If you are, never tell me. Better yet, give me a false narrative, so if a powerful Truthseeker questions me, I will not have the answers they seek.¡± I nodded, relieved. ¡°I am from Tsinga.¡± ¡°Really? How did you get here? Why were you naked in the farmer¡¯s barn? Why would youe to the Telhian Empire and not speak thenguage? I read your transfer card from Commander Ss, Eryk when you were assigned to me. It reads like you fell out of the sky.¡± Seeing the worry on my face, she smiled, ¡°Do not worry, Eryk. The only things sent to Imperial Legion Hall were your tablet scores and a few pieces of fabric with your blood. Your background information only came to me. Commander Ss is an idiot and only cared about what bonus you earned him for imprinting your spell form.¡± ¡°Blood? Why would they need my blood?¡± I said, but I already had an idea. I remember the first weeks of training; the trainers had taken our bloody and torn shirts and given us new ones. After that, we were shown how to repair our clothes. ¡°It is for magical tracking. Only those who graduate into the Legion of Lion are registered in the capital in case of betrayal. After two thousand years, the Empire learned to be prepared to respond and hunt down traitors. It is why all the children of the nobility are educated at the pce under the Emperor¡¯s teachers.¡± Castile paused and let me realize the scope and my own predicament. ¡°If they think I am dead, would they destroy the bloody clothes?¡± I asked. ¡°Ha, if they were only that organized. The Legion Hounds maintain the archive in the capital. They probably have tens of thousands of samples from thest thousand years. Not just legionaries but every mage as well. We have it worse than you, though. There are backup archives for just mages and nobles hidden elsewhere in the Empire. We are truly bound to the Empire,¡± Castile exined. I was angry and felt a little helpless. ¡°We are you telling me this?¡± I finally asked. Castile let a smile creep onto her face, ¡°Because I think we can help each other.¡± Chapter 68: First Magic Lesson Chapter 68: First Magic Lesson Chapter 68 Castile smile faded, ¡°It is about survival, Eryk. In that way, I lost the Tribunal. Ten more years without being able to draw recements over thepany minimum? As a magemander, I have built a loyal following and developedpetent men.¡± I was confused, ¡°I thought you were just not being paid.¡± Castileughed without holding back, ¡°No. I am being cut off from all resources. No replenishing my ranks beyond the minimum size for apany. No annual payout for service and my existing ounts have been seized. No purchasing of potions from the Imperial Alchemists at the discounted magepany rate. I am sure my new benefactor, Duchess Veronica, has a n that will bind me to her.¡± Castile pointed to a sealed letter on the desk, ¡°I will find out her n for me when I open that.¡± I looked at the letter and then back to Castile, ¡°So what do you want from me?¡± I asked. ¡°I want you to be invested in everyone¡¯s survival,¡± she said levelly. Before I could protest, she continued, ¡°I do not need to know your secrets. In fact, it is better that I do not. Being around me is dangerous. I doubt Duke Octavian is finished with me, but he should be content that I am trapped for another ten years, giving him time to exact revenge.¡± I thought about it, ¡°Is the blood tracking real? Can we not just leave the Empire? Seek sanctuary in another kingdom?¡± Castile sighed and huffed resignedly, ¡°The Hounds always find you.¡± She looked me in the eyes, ¡°A legionnaire like you could probably flee. They would not pursue you far outside the borders. I could not say for sure. Maybe they would send a phantasm to hunt you or try to track you with agents in other kingdoms. Myself? They would track me no matter where I went to make an example of me.¡± Castile noticed me processing, ¡°Yes, you could flee. But if you are an outworlder, like I believe, you are not prepared. I can help prepare you. If your tablet reading is correct, you can not learn true magic. Your shaping attribute is too abysmal. But maybe you have other spell forms beyond healing and space you need help imprinting? I will help you with that.¡±I was thinking, and Castile decided to wait for me to process. Castile picked up the letter and started to open it. As she read with her eyes focused on the parchment, she spoke to me, ¡°If you imprinted self-healing, then I am assuming your second most powerful affinity of time can receive a spell form. Do you want help with that?¡± I was silent and considering her offer as she read the letter, and a look of distaste formed on her visage as if she had bitten into something sour. ¡°Why is my poor shaping preventing me from learning true magic?¡± I asked after she put down the letter. Damian had exined it, but I wanted further rification from a true mage. Castile was distracted for a moment but decided to demonstrate. She put her hands about twelve inches apart, and a blue light started to trace out what I recognized as a spell form. It was slow and deliberate. ¡°This is the speed someone with a ten in shaping can mold their aether into runic script.¡± She spent about five minutes tracing the lines in the air between her hands. ¡°You also need to keep aether running through it at the same time as it will dissipate if not,¡± she exined. The spell form finished, she dropped it, and the entire thing quickly vanished. ¡°So I could cast spells then, and it would just take a long time?¡± I asked. She smirked like I had fallen for the punch line in a joke, ¡°That was one of four spell forms for a spell. Now watch as I cast the spell with all four forms and a sixty-six attribute in aether shaping.¡± Light red between her hands in a blink, and the smokey tendrils I was familiar with oozed from her fingers. She looked at me, ¡°All magic affinities and traits are exponential; each step of ten is twice as powerful as thest. Twenty is twice as strong as ten, and thirty is four times as strong as ten.¡± For the readers:
Magic Affinity Rtive Power
10 1
20 2
30 4
40 8
50 16
60 32
70 64
80 128
90 256
100 512
I stopped her, ¡°I am already aware of this. I did not know it also extended to the five magic attributes on the tablet, though.¡± The small woman stood and walked to get water from a pitcher. ¡°Remind me of your magic attributes.¡± ¡°Aether pool fourteen, channeling fourteen, shaping eight, tolerance twenty-two, resistance five,¡± I said from memory. ¡°Do you have a tablet in your space? That is higher than I remember, closer to your potentials,¡± she asked curiously. I shook my head no, ¡°I got a reading in a city after we escorted the First Citizen.¡± She nodded at my exnation. She took out a quill and paper, ¡°Write them out for me with your potentials then, it will make things go quicker.¡±
Aether Pool 14/22
Channeling 14/55
Aether Shaping 8/8
Aether Tolerance 22/50
Aether Resistance 5/19
I wrote them out, and she reviewed the sheet before continuing her teaching. ¡°So your aether pool is small. Usually, anyone with any of the magic affinities is going to have a potential of at least ten. If you continue using your aether and maximize your pool to twenty-two, your avable aether should more than double going from fourteen to twenty-two.¡± ¡°What does the potential of fifty-five in channeling and fifty in tolerance mean?¡± I asked Castile. ¡°Channeling is how fast you can replenish the aether in your core. There are exercises to help you train that, but it also happens naturally,¡± Castile said to my nods. Damian had given me a very simple meditation technique. ¡°We can work on those in the future.¡± She tapped aether tolerance on the paper. ¡°Your aether tolerance is how much aether you can channel in a day. Your maximum potential is actually quite impressive. If you reached fifty in the attribute, it means you can channel sixteen times your total aether core in a day without burning your channels,¡± Castile exined. ¡°When we fled along the aqueduct, I was pushing the extreme limit of my thirty-three in aether tolerance. If you exceed your tolerance, you can reduce your aether pool permanently; when that happens, channeling any aether bes painful. Mages who do this are referred to as ¡®burnt.¡¯¡± ¡°Is there a way to know if I am getting close to my limit?¡± ¡°You just know. It feels like your blood is boiling, and your head is about to explode. It is your body¡¯s way of telling you to stop,¡± Castile educated me. ¡°And aether resistance?¡± I asked about thest attribute. ¡°It is a person¡¯s natural resistance to magical influences and bacsh. For instance, when a mage tries to use a charm spell on you. They need to have an illusion affinity about thirty points higher than the target¡¯s aether resistance to seed,¡± she noted. ¡°A normal person¡¯s potential is between ten and thirty. But most people never train their aether resistance, and it is less than five.¡± She asked, ¡°Have you tried to move a living creature into your dimensional storage?¡± I nodded but did not offer that I had seeded. Castile exined, ¡°Then you already know about bacsh. When a creature resists an imprinted spell form, it reflects back on your aether core. Bacsh does not happen when you use a true spell, as it is not anchored on your core. You were probably slightly ill or lightheaded for a few hours from the bacsh.¡± I thought carefully and said, ¡°I have moved a live rat into my dimensional space before. But two rats...¡± I let the question hang. ¡°So you must have a space affinity in the sixties to be able to move a small creature with a small aether resistance. That is actually quite impressive and makes me wonder how big you are,¡± she smirked before continuing. ¡°But yes, two creatures at once is exponentially more difficult as their resistance is multiplicative.¡± Curious, she looked at me, ¡°I would ask your space affinity, but it is better that I do not know.¡± I could see the burning desire to know in her eyes, though. I was still thinking, and Castile asked, ¡°So, do you want help learning a spell form for the time affinity?¡± ¡°No,¡± I started. Castile looked surprised and a little hurt. ¡°I actually want to learn a spell form for protection first. I pulled the spell form reference book from my dimensional space.¡± Her eyebrows arched, but she did not seem surprised. She took the book from me and noted, ¡°Volume two¡­¡± She paged through it and then looked up, ¡°And what spell form did you decide on?¡± ¡°My protection affinity is thirty,¡± Castile¡¯s eyebrows went up, but she did not offer ament. I had just revealed that my time affinity was at least thirty. I decided to be funny. ¡°I think I want to imprint the protection from the elements. If I choose either of the other two, then my magemander will send me into more dangerous situations.¡± Castile read them quickly and then smiled at my joke. I added, ¡°I really want to know if there are other options for me to imprint.¡± Castile was patient as she reread the text, ¡°Aetheric armor is amon magic item used by mages. They are expensive but extremely useful.¡± She reached into her shirt from the top and produced a fist-sized amulet. ¡°This is a simr artifact. It can repel three or four strikes before being drained. The problem is it takes a lot of aether and some time to recharge.¡± She paged through the book again, ¡°These are definitely the spell forms to maximize your protection affinity of thirty. Wind barrier has the most utility in and out ofbat utility, but the strength of the barrier is rted to your protection affinity.¡± ¡°So it is like my dimensional pocket? My higher affinity made it arger pocket?¡± I asked, as Castile already knew my space wasrger than advertised. ¡°Exactly. Wind barrier can be used as a shield inbat, a way to block a passage inbat, or even a tform to stand on momentarily. Even though the barrier is not strong you could cast many of them asyers until you ran out of aether. Aetheric armor would drain your aether directly, and you could run out rapidly,¡± Castile exined. ¡°The wind barrier also onlysts about ten heartbeats, ording to the text. So, do you think protection from the elements is not the correct choice?¡± I asked for her honest opinion. ¡°It is not a bad choice. But you realize that if you use the ability openly, you are disying your spell form for all to see. With protection from the elements, rain will never touch your body, and you will not sweat in extreme heat. Even your hair would not be tussled in the wind. Aetheric armor is the same as blue sparks would sh when you are struck. Only wind barrier would leave no trace and be invisible,¡± she said, offering her educated opinion. ¡°And, if I was not concerned about showing my spell form? Which of these three would you choose?¡± I asked again. ¡°If I was not in the Legion, definitely protection from the elements. In the Legion, wind barrier. With aether shield, I would be too worried about having my aether drained involuntarily by repeated attacks. I would get an amulet instead. Also, if you are a battlefield and shing blue sparks, you quickly be a target of the enemy as well,¡± she exined her reasoning. I considered her reasoning, and it made sense. Only if I was not going to be fighting, then the protection from the elements made sense. I considered showing Castile my amulet but thought I might be able to get it identified in the city on my own. Complete trust was going to be baby steps. ¡°Okay, I would like help with wind barrier.¡± Castile smiled since I took her advice. She started by showing me a few exercises to work on improving my channeling. Castile had more knowledge and better understanding than Damian. She fine-tuned my visualization for meditation and showed me how to cycle aether in my core to draw in aether faster. Then, she gave me a few hints on imprinting the wind barrier spell form. We spent nearly three hours together in her room. ¡°I need to bathe, eat, and sleep,¡± Castile said as the sun had set. Tell Konstantin I will talk to him in the morning about when the rest of thepany will arrive. ¡°Thank you, Castile. Even though I can not cast a true spell, maybe you can show me how to write out the spell forms in the air?¡± I asked hopefully. Castile studied me, ¡°If we have time. It would take you years to learn with your attribute, Eryk. It is much harder than I have shown it to be.¡± She sighed, ¡°But yes, I can teach you.¡± I felt good about my situation as I returned to the bunk room. As I entered, Konstantin, Pavel, Bentio, and Linus looked at me. Konstantin started to get up, and I said, ¡°Castile said she would talk with you tomorrow. She is going to bathe and rest up as she is exhausted.¡± They all looked at each other. Benito blurted, ¡°Told you! You all owe me a silver!¡± I was confused. What did they think happened? Chapter 69: The Price of Freedom Chapter 69: The Price of Freedom Chapter 69 Benito had bet the others that Castile and I had an intimate evening together. Konstantin had not been part of the bet, but by the look on his face, I needed to give him an exnation. Since they would see my wind barriers eventually, I went with that, ¡°Castile was helping me to learn a new spell form. She was also showing me how to replenish my aether faster as well.¡± Benito¡¯s mouth hung open, looking at me like I had betrayed him. He slowly handed a silver coin to Pavel and then to Benito. Now that the awkwardness had passed, Konstantin took charge of the situation, ¡°Get some sleep. We will go and get our gold from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild in the morning.¡± Iy down and quickly fell asleep. My dreams were marred by nightmares of having to defend the walls of Maca from an army of storm giants and then being enved by them to dig out their lost city in the swamps. I tossed and turned most of the night, waking numerous times, but the dream remained the same. In the morning, Konstantin, who had long been up, directed us all to suit up and wait in a small private dining room. Castile joined us, cleaned and looking healthier. Konstantin brought up breakfast from the kitchens. They were simr to the stuffed rolls we had yesterday but had different spices today. We had a chilled berry wine with almost no alcohol in it. We consumed the food in silence. After we finished, everyone was waiting for either Konstantin or Castile to speak. Benito, the idiot he was, asked, ¡°Mage Castile, are you teaching Eryk a new spell?¡± Castile¡¯s eyebrows arched, and she looked at me. Benito was still sore at losing two silver. Castile offered a tight smile, ¡°He is working a new spell form, not a new spell. Only mages can cast spells.¡± Benito deted as Castile confirmed my story, and his silver was lost. Konstantin spoke, ¡°The others will be here from Caranhagan in two days. We are all going to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild this morning to collect our coin.¡± He looked at us, ¡°I suggest you get your coin and transfer it to your family or deposit it in the Imperial Reserve. You do not want to walk around the city with that much gold.¡±Castile tapped her finger softly on the table, thinking before she spoke, ¡°I have received our next assignment. We are going to be guarding a team surveying the Duchess Victoria¡¯snds in the Sobral province. It is a six-month assignment.¡± Konstantin paused his drink to his lips. His eyes looked like he expected this, but his voice had confusion in it, ¡°The province is less than one thousand square miles. Why so long?¡± Castile shook her head, ¡°The Duchess¡¯s province is new, and she wants to make sure the borders are clearly marked. A white marble stone will be anchored every one hundred yards along her border.¡± Benito pipped up, ¡°Well, that sounds like a great assignment. We just need to guard a bunch of wagons full of stones?¡± Konstantin looked at Castile, who did not look happy. ¡°I am guessing we are going to be the ones digging the holes,¡± Konstantin noted to Castile¡¯s dismayed nods. Castile exined, ¡°From what I understand, the Duchess¡¯ province is mostly useless. She has just one city on the Aganterao River, a few dozen farms, and some small lumber camps. Most of hernds are wild. I do not know the threat level of the creatures, but the main concern will be from the other Dukes not liking where the markers are being ced.¡± Konstantin nodded, finished his cup, and said seriously, ¡°Land disputes are never fun, especially at the ducal level. Do we at least have an Imperial surveyor with us?¡± Castile thought for a moment and then pulled the letter from inside her cloak and read it, ¡°It just says to meet the surveyor in Sobral city. My guess is there will be no Imperial Surveyor.¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°I suggest we double up on supplies then.¡± Castile grimaced, ¡°My Imperial Reserve ounts have been seized to cover the Empire¡¯s losses in Macha from our early retreat. Also, I can no longer draw reinforcements for thepany for ten years unless I fall below the minimumpany strength of twelve.¡± Konstantin barked, ¡°Well, that is dragon shit. We are not a Discement Mage Company! Do we need to buy our own recement gear?¡± His anger was rising, and veins stood out on his neck. Castile nodded slowly, ¡°Old gear can be exchanged at no cost, but new gear will be charged to your legionnaire debt.¡± She exhaled slowly, ¡°Do not worry, I still have the gold from the dungeon discovery and will cover new gear. And I can purchase healing potions from the Guild.¡± Benito asked, ¡°I thought the Adventurer¡¯s Guild does not operate in the Empire?¡± Castile shrugged, ¡°They have a few Halls in therger cities or near dungeons, but generally, the Empire will send out the Hounds or a Mage Company for monster threats. Still, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild is the expert on dungeons. The Emperor allows them, for that reason, to siphon off essences and artifacts from their efforts in a dungeon rather than risk his forces inside dungeons.¡± Konstantin added, ¡°There is also the Guild War. About a thousand years ago, the Empire tried to throw the Adventurer¡¯s Guild out of the Telhian Empire. The adventurers banded together and joined the Empire¡¯s enemies. Only after losing half of its territory did the Emperor agree to allow the Adventurer¡¯s Guild back with the stiption they never attacked the Empire again. The Empire had to concede the monitoring and management of dungeons within its territory to the Guild as part of the treaty.¡± Castile added, ¡°The Empire does keep tight control of the essences and artifactsing out of dungeons. The only ce to sell them is in an Adventurer¡¯s Hall. Then the Empire will usually swoop in and purchase them.¡± Castile stood, ¡°Enough discussion. We need to prepare for thepany¡¯s arrival and a river voyage to the Sobral province.¡± We followed Castile to the street and formed a protective box around her as Konstantin led us to the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. The civilians moved out of our way, just not as enthusiastically as they had when I walked with the Chancellor yesterday. The Adventurer¡¯s Hall was a single-story building in the lower city near the southern gate, about as far from the pce as you could get and still be within the city walls. When we entered the room, it reminded me of a Legion Hall, minus the legionaries. A number of men and a few women sat eating and drinking or ying table games. They did not look happy to see us. Castile stepped forward and went to the counter, ¡°Mage Commander Castile here to collect the discovery reward for a dungeon.¡± The man behind the desk was grizzled with massive forearms and made a show of slowly pulling arge book and slowly paging through it. He looked up at Castile, ¡°Seventeen hundred and five gold and eighty-eight silver and fourteen copper.¡± He motioned for a man sitting in themon room. The man left his drink to join us. The man was clean-shaven and introduced himself, ¡°I am Guildmaster Icarus. I have the truth spell. If you will confirm that you are, in fact, Mage Commander Castile Duval.¡± ¡°I am,¡± Castile said sharply. After her experience with the Imperial Truthseekers, I guessed she had no love for any of their ilk. The grizzled man received a nod from the Gulidmaster, ¡°It will take a moment to create your voucher.¡± The man left the counter, and another man took his ce. Konstantin went forward to repeat the process, and instead of creating a voucher, the guild master counted out sevenrge gold, five small gold, and sixty-eight silver coins for Konstantin. The smaller amount was more manageable to pay out directly. I was next in line and confirmed my name as Eryk Marco. I received the same amount of coin as Konstantin. I put it into a pouch, then under my armor, and then moved it into my dimensional storage. Konstantin noticed, and I think he thought about giving me his coin but held it. The men and women in the Hall were taking too much interest in the exchange at the counter. When everyone had their coin, the man came out of the back with a stamped bar. Castile took and led us out of the Hall. On exiting the Hall, Duke Octavian and four of his legionaries were waiting for us. He had a smile on his face, ¡°Mage Castile! So interesting to see you in the lower city and at the Adventurer¡¯s Hall no less! I heard this amazing tale from First Citizen Justin Cicero just the other day. You had discovered a new dungeon? That is remarkable! I hope you are not nning to hold onto the reward gold. Your release was contingent on all funds being seized.¡± Even behind Castile, I could feel the fury oozing off her. The Duke motioned one of his men forward, and they took the stamped bar from her hand. They handed the bar to the Duke, and he inspected it and frowned, ¡°Where is the rest of it?¡± A voice from behind us had the Duke look up, ¡°That is all the coin she received after your Empire taxes, Duke Octavian.¡± It was the Guildmaster Icarus. The Duke narrowed his eyes at the Guildmaster. He then looked at each of us, and realization spread that Castile had divided the spoils among her men. We remained next to Castile in support as the Duke fumed. The Duke turned abruptly and left with his legionaries. Konstantin muttered, ¡°What a pixie prick.¡± Benito asked, ¡°So, does this mean we will not receive our weekly pay?¡± Castile snapped, ¡°You can collect it in the Legion Hall, Benito. That is where I will be.¡± She walked off alone. Konstantin looked at Benito, ¡°You need to learn when to keep that thing shut. It is only good for eating and pleasuring your woman. Castile paid you extra coin on top of your Legion pay from her own pockets. You will get your five silver, forty coppers weekly.¡± Benito looked a bit flustered and eventually moved off with Pavel and Linus to care for his coin. I was left with Konstantin. ¡°Eryk, I am headed to the Merhcant¡¯s Hall to send these funds to family. You are wee to join me,¡± Konstantin waited on me. ¡°Do they have tablet readers in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild,¡± I asked, looking back at the building. Konstantin looked at me, ¡°Probably. Never been in one for more than a moment before. You would probably have to join the Guild, though.¡± ¡°I can do that? Even being a legionnaire?¡± I asked Konstantin. ¡°There is now against it. A number of legionaries join after they finish their term.¡± Konstantin studied me as I thought. I slowly turned and walked back into the building. Chapter 70: Adventurer’s Guild Chapter 70: Adventurer¡¯s Guild Chapter 70 When I entered the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, I was the focus of attention again. There was a pause in conversation as distrustful eyes focused on the lone legionnaire. Guildmaster Icarus stood and approached me, ¡°Legionnaire, is there something else I can help you with?¡± ¡°I was wondering if you have a tablet reader I can rent? In private?¡± I asked, hopefully. The man considered my request by looking me up and down, judging me. ¡°We do have a tablet, but only members can use it. The cost is a silver for attributes and ten silver for affinities. But you need to be a guild member to rent them,¡± he answered. That was much less than the gold I had paid in the city of Varvao. ¡°Are they private?¡± I asked again. ¡°Yes, the room is spelled to avoid scrying,¡± he said, nodding, and I could tell his patience was wearing thin. ¡°Excellent. I would like to get a membership then and rent both tablets,¡± I replied. His eyebrows showed surprise. Icarus considered me again before calling to a table behind him, ¡°Desdemona,e help this young legionnaire register with the guild.¡± A short woman who had been ying something that looked like Go stood and came over. She was close to my age but had a weathered face and dark tan from long hours outside. ¡°This way, legionnaire. We can use my father¡¯s office.¡± I followed her down a hallway; her sun-bleached hair smelled like the sea. We entered an orderly office except for the desk with a dozen folders and papers everywhere. She just shuffled everything off to the side and found a parchment sheet she was looking for in the pile.She sat heavily in the desk chair. ¡°Name?¡± she said with some impatience. ¡°Eryk Marko,¡± I said, sitting across from her. ¡°Have you ever registered with the Guild under a different name?¡± was her next question. ¡°No, this is my first time,¡± I said. ¡°Okay, the next ten questions are optional, but¡­¡± she started to ask. ¡°I will just skip them then. I just want to use the tablets,¡± I admitted. She looked at me, annoyed. She put down the quill and eyed me hard. ¡°Fine. Twenty-five silver to register with the Guild and eleven more silver for both the tablets.¡± She muttered, annoyed having to deal with me. I reached inside my chest piece, pulled a gold coin into my hand, and ced it on the table. She stood up, swept the coin, and took the paper that just had my name on it. ¡°Wait here legionnaire.¡± She left in a huff. She either did not like me, men, or legionaries in general. It was a good hour before she returned with a circr brass medallion. My name was clearly stamped on one side, and on the back was the symbol of the Guild, a globe with a tree in the center of it with numerous branches and detailed leaves. Desdemona tapped it while cing a stack of silver on the desk for my change, ¡°That is your guild emblem. It has your name and number.¡± I turned it over and noted my number, 13-393919, below my name. I grabbed the sixty-four coins on the desk. I assumed she gave me 64 single coins instead of sixrge and four small to try and be a nuisance because she did not like me. I noted a hole in the token, ¡°There is a hole in the top. Do I wear it around my neck?¡± I asked. Desdemona tossed me a leather strip from the desk to make a ne, ¡°Follow me, and I can activate your tablets for you.¡± Before standing and leaving the office, I slowly tied the leather cord to the medallion to irritate. I then asked, ¡°Is there any significance to the number 13-393919?¡± The impatient woman barked, ¡°The first number is the Guild Hall you joined in. This is Guild Hall thirteen,¡± she paused, ¡°The original Guild Hall was on the banks of the river, but we relocated here. The second number indicates what your membership number is at this hall. But we only started tracking membership about a thousand years ago.¡± I followed the short woman out, and she was maybe five-foot-two with a muscled hourss figure. I was a little upset by her attitude. I removed my helm and followed her to a small closet. The tablet was the size of a desk, dominating the tiny room. It was not the handheld one I was ustomed to, and it looked weathered and ancient. Desdemona sat on the other side of the table. I asked, ¡°I thought this was a private reading?¡± ¡°Do you have aether and the control to activate the tablet?¡± her eyebrows challenged. She was way too smug to be likable. ¡°I do,¡± I said, trying to figure out the tablet. It had everything on this one tablet, all attributes and all affinities. I figured it out after a few moments of studying it. It made sense that I needed to channel my aether while pressing both my hands into the indentations resembling hands. Desdemona had not left yet. I asked, ¡°Where is the reset so I can erase my results?¡± She stood and started walking toward the door. She tapped the corner of the tablet as she passed, ¡°Channel aether here, legionnaire. It will reset and nk the tablet.¡± When the door closed, I locked it from the inside. I stood before the tablet and produced the strength essence from my dimensional space. I would get a reading. Reset the tablet and get a reading again. I ced my hands and channeled my aether. My scores appeared on the tablet, and I consumed the strength essence. Before resetting the tablet, I studied my improvements with the essence worked on my body.
Strength (+2/+0) 50/79 Intellect (+0/+0) 31/54 Aether Pool (+2/+0) 16/22
Power (+3/+1) 48/83 Reasoning (+3/+2) 49/61 Channeling (+1/+0) 15/55
Quickness (+3/+0) 35/49 Perception (+0/+0) 54/60 Aether Shaping (+0/+0) 8/8
Dexterity (+4/+1) 39/60 Insight (+1/+0) 35/49 Aether Tolerance (+2/+0) 24/50
Endurance (+1/+0) 67/95 Resilience (+1/+0) 47/71 Aether Resistance (+2/+0) 7/19
Constitution (+9/+3) 50/68 Empathy (+1/+0) 12/21 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+6/+2) 46/63 Fortitude (+3/+0) 53/89 Minor Aether Affinity Time
Elemental Magics (Common) Unaffiliated Magics (Umon) Rare Magics
Fire 0 Charm (Mind) 5 Space 98
Air 0 Illusion 0 Time 90
Water 0 irvoyance 0 Discement 61
Earth 6 Protection (Guardian) 30 Materialism 9
Lightning (Energy) 8 Necromancy 0 Worlds 88
Spirit (Healing) 23 Celestial 0 Void 22
Nature (nt) 0 Abyssal 0 Convergence 74
My eyes immediately went to the affinities, and I now had an earth affinity of six. That seemed a little bit of an extreme gain from zero with one apex essence. Next, I confirmed my healing affinity had also increased, up to twenty-three. This improvement was what allowed me to imprint the self-healing spell form. My physical, mental, and magical attributes had gained as well over thest two weeks. I had consumed a fair amount of essences and even now felt the strength essence doing its work. Hopefully, the strength essence would settle before I was disturbed. Thest time I did a tablet reading in a city, I was rushed out. When I felt the essence had settled after about ten minutes, I reset the tablet and activated it again.
Strength (+2/+1) 52/80
My actual strength had increased by two points and my potential by another point. This was amazing for a major essence. I confirmed that was the only change and reset the tablet and reset it again. I only felt mildly stronger, but the changes were still ongoing, with my muscles feeling hot and emitting heat like I had a fever. Soon, the essence was spent, though, that I was sure of. My goal for the rest of the day was to find somewhere to get the amulet identified anonymously. I unbarred the door to find Desdemona in the hallway waiting. ¡°Wait,¡± she ordered as she went inside to make sure I did not steal or damage anything. She was being awful thorough, checking the tablet and under the table like she did not trust me. As she confirmed the tablet still worked, I asked, ¡°What else do I get for my membership?¡± Desdemona paused and thought about being abrasive but exhaled and talked cordially, ¡°You can rent a room or bunk in any Adventurer¡¯s Hall. You have ess to the job posting boards in the Halls, and you also can enter the dungeons we monitor.¡± She finished her inspection, ¡°Also, you get discounts on services like equipment, food, drink, and use the tablets.¡± She studied me like I was not the enemy now. ¡°Nice tan,¡± I offered apliment that was usually well received in my past life. She gave me a hard look, and then chortled augh, ¡°Windburn and cooked is more like it from days spent on deck.¡± ¡°Deck? Like a ship?¡± I asked. ¡°What else has a deck, legionnaire,¡± she said, mocking me but with a slight smile. Maybe she was warming up to me. I ignored the retort. With a good-natured smile, I replied, ¡°Where can I purchase artificed items and potions in the city?¡± She gave me a strange look, ¡°Here, legionarie. The Imperial Alchemists also have a shop near the pce, but our prices are half theirs, and the product is probably better. Most artificed objects need to be ordered and shipped in. It takes about a month. The Telhians purchase anything we stock besides potions.¡± She guessed at my intentions, ¡°You got some gold and thought you would spend it?¡± She had seen me get my reward for finding the dungeon. ¡°Exactly! Where is your potion shop?¡± She waved me to follow, and I did. We were soon in a side room that reminded me of the Legion Hall equipment rooms. Except this one smelled strongly of worked leather and weapon oil. A short man was behind the counter, and I blurted, ¡°Are you a dwarf?¡± He huffed, ¡°Halfling legionnaire. Dwarves are not wee in the Telhian Empire. Halflings are tolerated.¡± He ignored me and looked at Desdemona, ¡°Why is the Legion Boy here?¡± ¡°He joined the Guild, paid, and given his bronze,¡± Desdemona smirked, and the halfling looked resigned to help. ¡°Name is Tarvon Fogbough. I run the Guild warehouse in Telha,¡± he held out his small hand, and my hand engulfed his forearm as we shook wrists. At least the man was polite now that he know a was a member. ¡°Eryk Marko. Please to meet you, Tarvon. I am looking for some potions to help me sleep without dreaming,¡± I asked. Tarvon looked at Desdemona, who rolled her eyes and left us to do business in private. ¡°I have a honey-slumber drought.¡± He pulled a blue liquid vial from under the counter. ¡°This does not remove dreams but makes them pleasant. Ten silver a dose. Then I have oblivion pills.¡± He pulled a jar of red marbles out, ¡°These will knock you out for about six hours, no dreaming, just peaceful rest.¡± ¡°How much are the pills?¡± I asked as the jar had dozens of marble-sized pills. ¡°Guild rate is a silver a piece,¡± Tarvon said, tapping the jar. ¡°How do they work? I mean, can I wake up if there is danger?¡± I asked. ¡°It is just a deep sleep. Someone could wake you, but most likely, you are not going to wake on your own. If you took two pills, you would be out for a good eight hours, and no one is going to wake you without some magical help. Three pills could kill you, and it would definitely kill me.¡± He was very patient, exining. I pulled out a gold coin and ced it on the counter, ¡°I will take one hundred.¡± As Tarvon counted out the pills, he said, ¡°If you are having this much trouble with nightmares, you might want an artificed dreamcatcher nightcap to do the same thing or see a Guild Mage to purge whatever memories are causing them.¡± ¡°I will try this first,¡± I said, taking the ss jar. ¡°I advise against using them out in the wild, legionnaire. Thest thing you want is to have to take time toe to your senses when a gnoll hunting party finds yourpany¡¯s camp at night,¡± Tarvon advised. I nodded at the wisdom but had been thinking the same thing. ¡°Do you want any healing potions? Stamina potions?¡± ¡°How much are they? And maybe a cure disease if you have it,¡± I asked the halfling. He stepped off his tform and went in the back to retrieve a few racks of potions. ¡°I have six cure diseases here. I want to note they do not work on magical diseases,¡± he made eye contact to confirm I heard him. ¡°They are ten gold each, which is a great deal as the Imperials charge twenty-five for theirs. Except these two on the end are a week from expiration. Just a gold each for those.¡± He shuffled the racks, ¡°For healing¡­Desdemona just brought in a fresh shipment of potions. I have a healing ointment, lesser healing, and greater healing. The ointment will close wounds, the lesser potions can heal soft tissue and mend bone, and the greater healing can align and mend bones and generally heal just about anything except poison and disease.¡± He motioned to the cure disease potions I was interested in. ¡°Do you have any of the healing ointments or potions near expiration at a discount?¡± I asked interested. Tarvon started reading the dates and moved the potions about in the racks, ¡°Six ointments, half off, as they just have a few days left. Fifty silver each. Fresh vials are one gold, the same as the Imperial alchemists. But the lesser healing potions are four gold, one gold less than the Imperials,¡± he beamed a white smile at me. ¡°I do not have any lesser or greater healing potions getting close to expiration. Greater healing is forty gold,¡± he held up his hand to stop me, ¡°Imperials sell them for fifty, so it is a great deal.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you store them in a dimensional space?¡± I asked the halfling. ¡°If only we had someone at the Guild Hall with one! Most of the adventurers avoid the Telhian Empire like a gue. They do not treat us well no matter what the treaty states,¡± Tarvon said, and his tone told me I was getting him upset since I was a legionnaire. ¡°I will take all the expiring stock. The two cure disease and six ointments. Also, four lesser healing,¡± I ced twenty-one gold coins on the counter. He put the vials in one rack and pushed it toward me. After the death dog scare, I was happy to have the cure disease potions. The healing ointment was good to have if I was close to running out of aether or needed to close apanion¡¯s wounds. Sixteen gold for the four lesser healing potions was insurance if I was out of aether or had apanion in need. I felt I had established a good rapport with Tarvon, so I asked, ¡°Do you know where they identify dungeon artifacts in the city?¡± ¡°I can do it here. Just a gold, and it is private,¡± he eyed me curiously. I had overlooked that the Adventurer¡¯s Guild monitored the dungeons, so it made sense they could identify dungeon objects. I debated, but this seemed like my best chance to find out what the amulet did without experimenting on it myself, ¡°Okay, I have something I wish to have identified.¡± Tarvon¡¯s eyes went up in happy surprise, and I slid him a gold. He took it and said, ¡°Follow me,¡± he hopped off his tform behind the counter and went to a door. With his back turned and no one else around, I sent my jar of oblivion pills and the potion rack I had purchased into my dimensional space. The small man¡¯s office was half orderly and half a mess, ¡°Forgive the smell. I have to send all the expired potions and broken vials we do not sell back to the central Guild Hall.¡± It was not an unpleasant smell. Like rotting vegetables with a strong hint of cloves. He closed the door and sat on his desk chair. ¡°Let me see it then.¡± I reached into my armor, pulled the amulet into my hand, and handed it to him. He turned it in his hand, ¡°Definitely a dungeon artificed device. I think I may know what it is, but you paid for the full service.¡± He pulled out a parchment with the runic script and ced the amulet on it in front of him. The runic script started to glow a blue-white light that was aether working through the runes. Travon¡¯s eyes reflected the blue light as he studied the scroll as it worked. When the light faded, he looked up smiling, ¡°Well, Eryk, this is quite the intriguing artifact you have here.¡± Chapter 71: The Amulet Chapter 71: The Amulet Chapter 71 Tarvon turned the amulet in his hands. ¡°The spell scroll analyzed the runes and told me the purpose of this device. It is a Dreamscape Amulet. I do not think you will need your oblivion pills with this,¡± he grinned at me. The dreamscape amulet sounded pretty remarkable. I asked, ¡°So, what does the amulet do then? Or do I need to pay more gold to find out?¡± I asked jokingly. The halfling grunted at my attempt at humor, ¡°They are exceptionally rare for starters, only found in dungeons. There is some variance on how they function but not much.¡± ¡°And they are valuable?¡± I piped in. ¡°And they are valuable,¡± he confirmed. ¡°From what I remember from my readings, you wear it against the flesh and channel aether into it, and it pushes you into a dream state. This artifact creates a dream-world environment where you can do anything you want. It allows you to fight, practice skills, and train your mind while you sleep. And you get a full night¡¯s rest as well.¡± He handed it back to me, ¡°I can order you a book from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild on how to use the artifact?¡± he offered. ¡°It will detail how best to make use of the artifact.¡± ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°And, just to confirm, you will not tell anyone I have this?¡± ¡°The item reading ispletely confidential,¡± Tarvon confirmed. ¡°My reputation is at stake.¡± I nodded and figured it would be less so if Tarvon suddenly ordered a book on the specific artifact. ¡°Is the dream different than a normal dream? How do you wake up from it?¡± I asked as I slid the amulet under my chest armor and into my dimensional space.The halfling shook his head. ¡°I have told all I can discern from the scroll and my memory. If you want to sell, I can connect with buyers outside the Telhian Empire. You will get twice as much as if you sold it here in the capital to the Telhians.¡± His tone was neutral, but his offer indicated he did not like the Telhians. ¡°I think I will hold onto it for a while. Out of curiosity, how much would this be worth?¡± I asked indifferently. Tarvon grinned a trader¡¯s smile, ¡°Dungeon artifacts like this are rare. My best guess, five to six thousand outside the Empire. If at auction, it could be more. But the Guild does not host dungeon auctions inside the Empire¡¯s borders,¡± he added pointedly. ¡°Thank you, Tarvon.¡± I stood and left the halfling. I returned to the Eastern Legion Hall and did not find anyone in our bunk room. My guess is they were all out shopping with their new gold. I removed my own armor and dressed in the clothes I had procured yesterday. If anyone asks, I will profess to have bought them today. As I was leaving the Hall, a female voice called from behind, ¡°Looking awfully sharp this afternoon, legionnaire.¡± I spun to Hilda with her apron covered in flouring out of the kitchen. ¡°Hilda, thank you for the wonderful breakfast. I was just heading out for a¡­¡± I was going to say meal but thought that might insult her, ¡°drink.¡± She nodded thoughtfully, ¡°Down by the river docks is a tavern called The Boastful Bard. Tell them I sent you; they will charge only a copper for your first. Large copper after that.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± I said, leaving the Hall. Since Hilda worked for a Praetorian Guard, I was not likely to use her name there as it might be some secret code to keep an eye on me. I might have to stop there on the way back to say I got a drink at her rmended ce, though. I was looking for the trade district. My goal was to buy another book on spell forms in non-legion clothes. I was not going to buy any books for the rare magics. That might draw attention to me. But I did have affinities of five in charm, eight in energy, and the newly added six in earth. All of these were too small to imprint a spell form, but if I found another magic affinity essence in one of these three, it might be strong enough. So my intention was to see what minor spell forms they offered. I blended into the crowd as I moved toward the pce. The crowd was dense at the intersections, and it was hard to avoid the bustle of people. Someone tried to pick my pocket again. Since I had been on high alert, I noticed a street urchin boy, maybe six or seven, sliding away into the crowd empty-handed. He had searched one of my cloak¡¯s interior pockets and found nothing. The brazen boy came back and attempted my cloak¡¯s other side. I snagged his wrist as he reached inside, lifting him off the ground with his arm. The crowd parted around us, not wanting to get involved. He squirmed and kicked, trying to free himself. He smelled off, like dried urine. ¡°Stop your struggles, or I will snap your wrist,¡± I warned him. He calmed down but had a fierce look of defiance in his eyes. I asked, ¡°Where is a good bookstore?¡± The thin boy did not seem to understand, ¡°Point me in the direction of a good, respectable bookseller, and I will feed you.¡± He softened only slightly but finally answered, ¡°Tell Another Tale.¡± I looked impatiently at him. ¡°Two streets up and two buildings left,¡± he muttered. ¡°Let me go!¡± ¡°You lead,¡± I said, expecting him to run off. But he moved quickly and waited for me to bring him to the storefront. He turned his back to me, ¡°That cart there has good food.¡± The food cart vendor eyed the boy suspiciously as we approached. It looked like open-face sandwiches. ¡°How much?¡± I asked the man. ¡°Five copper for a scoop on a slice,¡± he replied, still watching the boy. I handed him tworge copper, ¡°Four servings for the boy.¡± He looked surprised, and the boy was drooling as I spoke and wide-eyed at my generosity. I left the cart and the boy to feast. I entered the bookstore. It had the familiar library scent of aged paper and leather bindings. It was an orderly shop, but only six long double-sided shelves were in the center. An old woman approached me, ¡°Young man, what are you looking for today?¡± I smiled at the woman, ¡°My twin nieces just had their tableting-of-age assessment. One had an energy affinity of eleven, and the other had an earth affinity of twelve! I hoped to get each of them the most basic book guiding them to a spell form for their affinity.¡± The woman¡¯s smile had yellowing teeth and one missing incisor. ¡°Congrattions! Twins are more likely to have a high enough affinity for forming a spell form.¡± She waved me forward to follow her, ¡°I just received a trantion to Telhiam from the Esenhem elves for the energy affinity.¡± She pulled one of six identical thin books from the shelf. The book had a white leather cover and looked in pristine condition. I paged through it under her watchful eye. The paper was thicker and a much brighter white than my other books. The script was neat, and the entire book was transcribed by hand, as were my others. I had not seen evidence of printing presses in the Empire. It had seven spell forms inside: three for someone with a ten affinity, two for someone with a twenty affinity, and two for someone with a thirty affinity. ¡°How much?¡± I asked the old woman. ¡°Seven gold,¡± she said, and I winced. ¡°If you purchase an earth reference book, we can discuss a discount.¡± The earth book was not as impressive, and it was well used. It only had help for three spell forms inside. One for each step of affinity: ten, twenty, and thirty. The elves obviously had better magical knowledge. Still, these were what I was looking for. I nodded after paging through, and the woman offered, ¡°Nine gold for both.¡± That was less than I had paid in Macha, but I had no concept of the books¡¯ value. I nned to buy them but tried to get a little more, ¡°Can you throw in some storybooks? One for each girl?¡± I only wanted more material to help practice my reading. ¡°I wish I had an uncle like you growing up,¡± the old woman gave her gap tooth smile. ¡°I have just the two tales for the young women. Persephone is a tale of the love of a mortal and the God of the underworld.¡± She pulled out a thin red book. ¡°And, The Trojan War. A war fought for the right to marry a beautiful woman.¡± I nodded and realized the First Legion had brought the mythic stories of Earth here. ¡°Agreed,¡± and I pretended to reach inside my cloak and pulled the nine gold coins into my hand. She smiled and checked each coin before stacking the books together, wrapping them in cloth, and trying the cloth with bands so it was easier to carry. I left the small bookshop and found the urchin across the street, his belly bloated. The boy was maybe fifty pounds, and each serving must have been a pound in my estimation. He made to move but looked like he might vomit and wisely settled back down against the stone wall of the business. I moved quickly away, heading back to the Legion Hall, not wanting to be followed by the young pickpocket. Pavel and Benito were in the room when I returned. My satchel of books had been secreted away when I was certain I had no eyes in me. Both legionaries reminded me of the boy, having over-eaten, and they were now paying for it. They moaned on their beds, their armor off. I let them be and went to Castile¡¯s room and knocked. I hoped we could continue the training, but she did not answer. When I returned to the room, Konstantin was there, ¡°Eryk, good you are back. Change out of your pretty clothes, and let us head to the yard for some training. There are a number of weapon masters stationed here. We can hone your skills some.¡± He looked at the two on the bed and turned away from them. I thought Konstantin would force them to practice till they vomited, but we left them to their misery in the room. I did not feel special. I walked with Konstantin to the practice yard. A dozen men were in melee training with various weapons, and two men were practicing archery. I asked, ¡°Where is Castile? Should someone not be with her?¡± Konstantin tossed me a practice short sword, and I caught it easily. ¡°She is at the Legatus Legionis¡¯ office. She is recording the deaths of the legion men so she can obtain the death certificates for the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. That way the funds can be transferred to their families.¡± I was slightly surprised, ¡°Wow. That was not what I expected.¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°Normally, Adrian would have handled it, but Castile is doing it to confirm the transfer of Brutus, vius, Quentin, and Remus to ourpany. If we do not get them, then ourpany strength would be just neen.¡± ¡°I was referring to her getting the funds for our deadpanions sent to their families,¡± I rified. Konstantin nodded, ¡°She could have attempted to keep the coin, but that is not who Castile is. Even though she is broke, she promised the men the coin. When you go for lessons with her this evening, tread cautiously. She is not going to be in a good mood. Duke Octavian seized her collector on behalf of the Empire. That was thest thing she had of value that was hers.¡± ¡°What? I thought she owned it,¡± I paused, surprised, in our exchange, and Konstantin whacked me in the ribs for letting my guard down. ¡°It is almost impossible for a single person to pay for the ounted losses of a city, Eryk. All her assets have been seized, but she can start earning extra coin from assignments again. Duke Octavian made her destitute, but she will rise again,¡± Konstantin attacked in a series, and I defended well. He paused, ¡°You have improved your physicality.¡± I just nodded and attacked. As I made a good counter and scored a ncing strike, I asked, ¡°How does weakening Castile help the Empire?¡± Konstantin did not answer as we each added a parrying dagger. After we had worked up ather and were resting, Konstantin answered my question, ¡°The Emperor needs to maintain a fine bnce. He keeps the Dukes happy by looking the other way during their petty grievances. Castile would have more value if she was a purely offensive mage. Instead, she falls in as a utility mage. Something like this would not have been done to Master Mage Durandus.¡± ¡°But still Durandus is dead?¡± I said as we rehydrated from a small fountain in the courtyard. ¡°I am guessing his brother was supposed to swoop in and take him to freedom when things got out of hand,¡± Konstantin postted. Konstantin stood, ¡°Enough rest. Let us see how you do against an unfamiliar opponent.¡± I groaned as I stood. Two hourster, I was nursing my bruises in the hot soaking baths of the Legion Hall. The men I had practiced with were just as good, if not better, than Konstantin. I had paid for the lessons in welt and bruises. There was no point in healing my purple bruises in the baths. I would have to deal with them as I did not want Konstantin to know about my healing ability. One, because he would tell his Praetorian master, and two because there was a fear in the back of my mind, he would go harder on me in practice. I exited the baths and went to our room. Benito and Pavel had left, and Konstantin had remained in the baths in a deep discussion with the other weapon masters. I had given him two marks today but had paid with twenty-fold on myself. Castile entered the room and looked around as I was folding my new clothes. I could not put them back into my space now, as everyone had seen them. Castile scanned the room slowly with hard and angry eyes, ¡°We can work on your spell form if you wish, Eryk.¡± Losing her collector was a major blow. ¡°I would appreciate that,¡± I said, following her to her private room. I was looking forward to her lessons. They would be a lot less painful than Konstantin¡¯s. Chapter 72: The Dreamscape Chapter 72: The Dreamscape Chapter 72 I sat with Castile at a desk while she produced three books from a leather pouch, ¡°These are basics of aether shaping from the introduction ss at the Mage College. You can store them in your space when you are not studying them.¡± ¡°I thought you had no funds?¡± I asked as I paged through them. ¡°These are old texts, and I still have a few friends at the college. These books have been collecting dust for a hundred years and will not be missed. They take you through the three stages of spell shaping: aether awareness, manifestation, and maniption.¡± She had obviously gone to some lengths to procure these for me. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said with genuine appreciation. ¡°Well, I still think you are wasting your time,¡± she bristled but had been obviously waiting for the praise. ¡°You can study them on your own and ask questions of me in private. All mages in the Empire are to be trained at the Mage College. Since you are technically not qualified to be a mage, I think we are safely outside of thew.¡± I studied her face, and it was obvious she was going to some lengths to show me that she was doing a lot to help me. I knew it was to gain my loyalty. ¡°How did your time at the Legatus Legionis go?¡± I inquired, closing the books and sending them to my storage. ¡°You have been talking to Konstantin? Where is that old man?¡± Castile asked with a small smirk. I would not consider Konstantin old. He did have some grays in his beard. ¡°He abused me in the training yards this afternoon with the other weapon masters. They are rxing in the hot baths now, talking about the best way to parry an overhead axe swing of an orc warrior,¡± I informed Castile.Castile eyes hardened slightly. She asked suspiciously, ¡°Training with weapon¡¯s masters? Has he asked you to serve his Praetorian Guard master?¡± I decided to trust the Castile with the truth, ¡°Not since Macha. He said they usually do not ept foreigners into their service.¡± I reached for information with a question, ¡°Do you know who he serves?¡± Castile eyes told me she was thinking about revealing it. She was working hard to cement my loyalty, and her bodynguage told me she was worried Konstantin was going to swoop in and take me away. She finally said, ¡°I believe he serves Antonia Segreto. She is a merchant of considerable wealth and influence. One of the few allowed to trade with the Esenhem elves. Rumor has it she has numerous agents outside the Empire as well. I do not know how Konstantin became involved with her or why he is in mypany. My best guess is that I travel the Empire more than most magepanies, and he reports interesting news to her.¡± I digested all that information. ¡°And Firth?¡± I asked about the other Praetorian servant I knew in ourpany. Castile gruntedically like she had eaten something sour, ¡°He is my watchdog. He reports directly to the office of the Legatus Legionis. His job is to make sure I do not betray the Empire or make a move against the Emperor. I do not know who in the office holds his lease, though.¡± She sounded less enthused and trusting about Firth. I guess knowing someone was ready to stab you in the back the moment you crossed a line would do that to you. It also now made sense how she seemed to send Firth away on short assignments more than others in thepany. We started working on the spell form for the air shield, and after three hours, we ended the session to go and eat. We gathered the others from the bunk room and went to the small private dining room. Konstantin went down to collect the food and drink with Paval from the kitchen. Benito rubbed his stomach, saying, ¡°I do not know if I can eat anymore today.¡± When they returned with the food, Benito ignored his earlier promation, filled his te to bursting, and started eating. As we ate, Konstantin asked Castile, ¡°Were the transfers approved for the four legionaries?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Castile replied while eating a thick potato soup, the only thing she took. ¡°Company strength is confirmed at twenty-one even though vius is with Master Mage Sebastian. He will be not reced if he does not return when we leave for the Sobral Province.¡± Benito spoke while he chewed, ¡°Are we limited in what assignments we can take then if we are not at full strength?¡± Castile nodded, ¡°Yes. Benito that is surprisingly insightful of you. Ourpany size limits us to certain assignments. But we would need to fall to thepany minimum of twelve legionnaires, and then we would be limited to only escort and guard duties.¡± Benito took thepliment by shoving another piece of steak into his mouth and smiling while he chewed. Konstantin reminded everyone, ¡°The rest of thepany should arrivete tomorrow evening. We will meet them and get into the bunk rooms. I have reserved a barge to transport us upriver in the morning.¡± ¡°Excellent. I wanted to leave as soon as possible and not wait for the portal rotation.¡± Castile stood. ¡°Konstantin, if you have a moment, I would like to chat before you all get some sleep.¡± Konstantin finished his cup and then followed Castile. In the bunk room, Benito asked, ¡°Did you spend money on those fancy clothes? You know that is just added weight in your pack.¡± Pavalughed, ¡°Benito, he can probably squeeze them into his space now that we are no longer getting any potions.¡± To emphasize Paval¡¯s point, I tightly rolled all my new clothes and moved them into my legion box in my space. Benitoughed, ¡°I never get tired of seeing magic. I would appreciate it if you would carry my pack sometime, Eryk.¡± ¡°Coins are heavy. I would be happy to transport those for you,¡± I said thoughtfully but was joking. Benito still dug around enthusiastically in his pack and was about to toss the pouch to me but paused, thinking through his action. We allughed as he put the coins back, rethinking my offer. Benito said through theughter, ¡°It is not that I don¡¯t trust you, Eryk; I just don¡¯t want to have to go to you every time I need a copper.¡± By the time I settled on my bed, Konstantin had not returned. The dreamscape amulet was hidden under my shirt as I closed my eyes and channeled aether into it. I found myself standing in a familiar room, the entry room of the dungeon we had discovered. The dungeon entry was perfectly clean, missing the orc writing on the wall. The dungeon¡¯s exit was behind me, but it was a prismatic rainbow of colors instead of an oily ck surface. I guessed the exit from the dreamscape amulet was through that archway. I somehow knew my consciousness was now contained inside the amulet. The realization made it feel a little confining and ustrophobic. I calmed myself. The halfling said I would be able to control this dreamscape. I imagined myself in full kit, and the armor formed around me. I drew the short sword and tested the edge. The edge felt as if it had just been sharpened. I walked around the entry room. Everything felt so real as I ran my fingers along the stone wall. I tried to change the wall to a t granite stone, but it refused my efforts. I tried to change the floor, and again, nothing. It appeared the environment was fixed. Next, I tried to create something alive. I remembered my dog from when I was a child, Oscar, a tri-colored Aussie. He appeared and ran up to me, wagging his cropped tail energetically. He felt like a real dog, with soft fur and a wet nose, and acted like I remembered. I spent time creating sticks and balls and ying with Oscar. I was reluctant to vanish him from the dreamscape, so I took him to the next room. The familiar fire beetles dotted the dome and moved about, lighting the chamber. I thought about eliminating half of them, and they started to wink out rapidly. Then I tried doubling their number, and the chamber quickly lit up to a day¡¯s brightness. The soft earth in the chamber probably concealed the two ankhegs. Could I see them without them erupting from the soft earth? Yes. I knew where they were if I focused. Could I reduce it to just one? Yes, the earth rippled, sunk, and one was gone. What about creating a monster we didn¡¯t find in the dungeon? Maybe a griffin? It took a little more effort as I felt the amulet was drawing on my knowledge to create the creature. I surmised the more I knew and experienced something, the better the manifestation. The griffin looked real but acted somewhat aggressive. I banished the creature when it tried to bite Oscar with its beak. What about Konstantin? The familiar legionnaire appeared and immediately addressed me, ¡°Are you going toz about all evening?¡± The stern legionnaire barked at me. ¡°Draw your de, and we can proceed through all the sword forms with a single weapon, two weapons, and then a sword and shield.¡± ¡°Not today,¡± I smirked, and I willed the ankheg to attack Konstantin, and it burst forth from the ground. Konstantin rolled expertly away as he began to fight the monstrous creature. Oscar looked up at me as we watched the battle unfold. I had not thought Konstantin stood a chance fighting it alone, but he was holding his own. He circled the beast and hacked when he had a chance, chipping away at the chitin shell. Oscar watched cocking his head, fascinated, as did I. I had thought to get some therapeutic revenge against Konstantin, but he was actually winning. The ankheg then sprayed acid and missed him. It, however, created arge area he could not move into while it soaked into the dirt, limiting Konstantin¡¯s movement. This gave the ankheg a chance, and my dreamscape Konstantin was soon caught and crushed in a w. I dismissed the body and creature, feeling somewhat guilty watching Konstantin fight alone. The spider bridge was the same as I remembered. I froze the spiders with a thought before they even appeared and went to the next chamber. The familiar ind with the floating stepping stones was here. I was able to freeze the jumping stones so they did not wobble. I moved to the final chamber with the giant scorpion. The snails trailing the viscous glowing liquid were also here. So, this amulet recreated the entire dungeon as a dreamscape. I could control everything inside and even create things I was familiar with. Was the amulet¡¯s purpose to practice the dungeon before actually entering? Did time pass normally? What would happen if I died inside fighting? How urate were my creations? Did the amulet learn from me or me from it? If someone else used the amulet, would my creations remain? I had a lot of questions, and I admitted it was an extremely useful device, even if the environment was limited to the dungeon geography. I begrudgingly admitted I needed the book that Tarvon Fogbough had mentioned. I went back to the ankheg chamber and practiced fighting with Konstantin. He fought just like the man but spoke a lot more, constantly berating my poor skills. The best part about the dreamscape was I did not tire. Oscar sat and watched the entire time, patiently waiting for his chance to y again. I decided it was time to leave, but I checked one thing before I left. I created the spell form book for protection magic. I paged through it numerous times and confirmed the book was replicated entirely here. This meant I could study my magic while I was in here. I gave Oscar a pat before walking out of the dungeon entrance. I woke in my bed with some dampness from sweat and a pressing migraine. It was warm but not hot in the bunk room, so I was confused by the sweat. It was still dark out the only window in the room. I could hear the others breathing in their sleep and Bentio¡¯s intermittent snoring. I moved the amulet to storage and would keep it there whenever I was not using it. As Iy there, I thought about my experience inside the dreamscape. Time was apparently the same. It was the middle of the night. So five hours had passed in both realms. I was curious what kind of gains I could gain. My body felt well-rested, but my mind was taxed. Thergest disadvantage was when I was in the dreamscape, I was unaware of anything happening to my body. I would need to be careful when I used the artifact. It was not long before Konstantin barked to wake us all up, ¡°Get suited for the yard. The vacation is over. Eryk, you and I will see Castile before heading down. She wants to know more about your time with Chancellor Marcel. And so do I.¡± Chapter 73: Reunited Chapter 73: Reunited Chapter 73 The three of us sat in a small meeting room. My head ached a little bit, almost like a hangover from using the dreamscape amulet. Castile opened the conversation, ¡°Konstantin informed mest night the Collegium Schrium is preparing for a sizable expedition. Konstantin thinks you are responsible.¡± I looked at Konstantin and then at Castile. Konstantin had never questioned me about my interview and apparently took things into his own hands to investigate, ¡°I only answered the questions of Chancellor Marcel. He was looking for the titan¡¯s city of Antium and thought Durandus found it buried deep in the swamp.¡± Konstantin was not surprised, but Castile arched her eyebrow slightly. She looked to be grinding her teeth slightly. ¡°Why did you not tell me about this city when you returned?¡± I did not have a good answer, ¡°You never asked. I did not think an ancient city buried under hundreds of feet of silt was important.¡± Castile looked over at Konstantin and then back to me, ¡°It is important. The Emperor is involved. He is sending five hundred of the Imperial Legion with the expedition. Ten magepanies and three units of regrs from the western forts are being recalled to protect the site.¡± That did sound like arge investment. ¡°What does it mean for us?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Konstantin muttered. ¡°If the discovery is as important as it seems, the Chancellor will be given credit for it, not ourpany.¡± I now understood why they were upset. The knowledge of the buried ruins might have helped Castile during the Tribunal. ¡°The Chancellor wanted to talk with Brutus and vius when they arrived,¡± I offered. Castile held up a note with the Chancellor¡¯s seal. I had forgotten to inform them and winced. I had been focused on myself.Castile shook her head, ¡°What¡¯s done is done. Konstantin, with Orson dead and vius with Master Mage Sebastian, I want Eryk trained as a scout.¡± ¡°What?¡± we both responded at the same time. ¡°My dimensional pocket¡­¡± ¡°It is not as valuable if we have no perishables for you to store,¡± Castile finished. ¡°Konstantin, train the men. Eryk, let¡¯s review the spell forms before you join them.¡± Konstantin left the room, giving me a sidelong nce on his way out. ¡°Why are you pushing me toward Konstantin?¡± I asked when we were alone. ¡°I am doing you a favor, Eryk. He will think I am punishing you for not having told me about the ruins. Konstantin knows more about survival than most Hounds. Learn from him. You may need the knowledge one day,¡± she said pointedly. I was confused but nodded. Was she trying to earn my loyalty or give me the tools to escape the Empire? We quickly reviewed the spell forms before Castile sent me away to train. I found the others in the yard. Paval was getting abused by a sword master I had faced yesterday. Benito and Linus worked with a shield and spear against a training dummy. Konstantin called to me, ¡°Get two practice des, Eryk. We will work under those trees.¡± I picked two wrapped short shorts and went to the area he had indicated. As we stretched, Konstantin asked, ¡°So, what spell form are you working on with Castile?¡± I paused in my stretching and looked at him. He had asked so casually. ¡°You told me it was never a good idea to reveal secrets if you did not need to. Unless you are going to tell me about yours?¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°Well, at least you listen. Maybe you will be trainable as a scout. After sparing practice, we will go to the Emperor¡¯s olive orchards. Maybe I can teach something to prevent you from getting killed the first time you are sent ahead.¡± He did not sound too enthused about training me. I learned a little from the trackers when we hunted goblins and picked up a few things here and there, but I would not consider myself skilled. Konstantin was not gentle today. I was going to have to use some healing tonight if I was going to be able to sleep. We switched to sword and shield. Frustrated with the abuse, I used a series of attacks I had worked on in the dreamscapest night. I was shocked, as was Konstantin when the de clipped the back of his knee. He limped back and paused the session. I thought he was going to return the injury tenfold, but instead, he said, ¡°Nice strike. You left your left side open, and you would be dead if you had been fighting two opponents.¡± He winced, ¡°I need to see the healing mage. We will meet here in one hour.¡± Konstantin hobbled off. I was stunned, as was Linus, who had been watching. I realized the muscle memory of the attack sequence I practiced in the dreamscape transitioned to the real world. Linus drew my attention, ¡°That was impressive, Eryk. Do you want to practice spear and shield?¡± He was due to work with one of the spear masters and wanted a way out. I shook my head no, leaving him to his fate. I walked away so I would not get pulled in and healed the worst of my contusions and bruised muscles. I wished I had a book on how the amulet worked to get the most out of it. I was guessing it somehow pulled knowledge from me and incorporated it into my creations. ¡°I am just going to watch for a while,¡± I indicated to two of the more skilled men practicing with shield and sword. I got a canteen of water, sat in the shade, and intensely focused on their fighting style. There were the elements of the basic sword forms we learned, and other unfamiliar aspects blended together to create a blinding offense and defense. What I saw was too fast to discern clearly, but maybe my subconscious could sort it. I was still watching them when Konstantin returned, his limp healed. He waved me over, and we left the Legion Hall. I walked by Konstantin¡¯s side as we exited the massive city gates. Outside the city was another city of endless buildings, but these were made of wood, and the people¡¯s dress quality had dropped off significantly. Konstantin said seriously, ¡°I just heard the news that Macha has been retaken. The Duke tore down half the outer city with earthquakes. The Bartiradian army was decimated, and remnants fled across the border.¡± I offered my opinion, ¡°That seems awfully brutal. What about the citizens that remained?¡± ¡°It is brutal. We can expect there to be a reprisal. The Duke barely lost any men and is now riding for the border. With the expedition to the swamps by Collegium Schrium, the Empire is nning to send more men to support Duke Tiberius¡¯ attack,¡± Konstantin informed me. ¡°There has not been such a push in my lifetime.¡± ¡°Are we going back then?¡± I focused and kicked a pebble on the paved road. ¡°No, we have our assignment. Keep your eyes on your surroundings, Eryk. A scout needs to be alert in the city as well as the wild, not kicking stones,¡± Konstantin reprimanded me. ¡°Tell me about the three people we just passed on our left. Do not turn around.¡± I was familiar with this teaching tactic from our time patrolling Macha. I thought hard on thest few seconds, ¡°Two men and one woman carrying a basket. The basket hadundry. Probably clean since it was wet,¡± I said confidently. Konstantin grunted, probably because I remembered so much. ¡°The two men were behind her, thickly muscled and close enough to grab her in case she ran. She had a dead-eye stare, resigned to her fate. Probably a new prostitute in the Sprawl.¡± The Sprawl was the city that surrounded the capital. I turned now but did not see the three in question, ¡°Should we go save her?¡± Konstantin gave me the harsh reality, ¡°You can not save everyone, Eryk. Even being a legionnaire, the criminal enterprise those two worked for would kill you if you interfered in their business.¡± The education continued for the next mile as we reached a walled orchard guarded by legionaries. We entered the orchard after Konstantin talked with them. ¡°This is one of the Emperor¡¯s Olive Orchards. He is the only one allowed to grow and produce oil from and ferment olives. We are going to practice moving quietly and unseen. There should be pickers in amongst the trees. We are going to sneak up on them.¡± The next four hours were not as fun as I had hoped. Konstantin spent an hour showing, and then I had to put it into practice. The biggest key was seeing the target before they saw you. Then, using the terrain to remain unseen. I learned a lot and but thought I had done horribly. The pickers had learned what we were doing and made my life hell. I also swear Konstantin was rewarding them with coppers when they spotted me, so they were on high alert. As we walked back to the city, Konstantin said, ¡°Not terrible. It takes a lot of practice. Your biggest problem is yourck of patience. Now tell me about the two boys ying with wooden swords¡­¡± Being so focused on everything around you all the time was extremely mentally taxing. When we reached the Eastern Legion Hall, my head was splitting from all the thinking I had been doing that day. I was famished and happy to sit down and eat with my smallpany family. The meal was a sd with peppers, corn, zhini, and tomato in a vinegar and oil dressing. We did not have meat tonight, but plenty of hard-boiled eggs with salt and pepper. I was not the only one hungry, and we quickly finished all the food. After everyone was satiated, Castile addressed us, ¡°The portal to Caranhagan will open two hours after sunset. We will meet the rest of thepany at the portal.¡± I was left to study my spell form on my own as Castile was too busy. Three hourster, we escorted Castile in the center of our box formation. The Discement Mage opened the portal. Dozens of people, soldiers, and legionaries streamed out quickly for the short duration the mages could hold the portal open. I recognized Delmar first and then Lirkin. Ourpany peeled from the exiting crowd and joined us on the za. Delmar had everyone form up and salute Castile. It was touching, and Castile might have shed a tear, but I could not tell as I was behind her. Everyone was present except for vius. Castile ordered, ¡°Brutus, you need to report to the Collegium Schrium for questioning. Ask for the Chancellor,¡± she handed him the letter. ¡°Everyone else, form a block, we are headed to the Eastern Legion Hall.¡± Adrian and Delmar nked Castile at the front, and the rest of us formed up behind, and we marched through the city. When we arrived at the Hall, we got the news from the men. They had to wait for the next portal cycle to the capital. Benito and Linus were happy to ry our heroic run and the questioning by the Truthseekers. We upied a second bunk room, and everyone removed their gear and armor. The room quickly took on the smell of a locker room, and I think my choice to sleep near the window was a mistake. The airflow was pulling all the odors past me. Soon, everyone was asleep. The heavy breathing and snoring kept me awake. I thought about using the amulet but knew we were headed to the docks at first light to take a barge upriver to the Duchess¡¯ estate. Brutus returned before dawn and found a free bunk in the dark. Adrian¡¯s voice cut sharply in the bunk room, and it felt like I had not gotten any rest, ¡°Gear up! Breakfast down in themons, and then we are moving to catch our ride.¡± The Legion Hall was active pre-dawn as otherpanies were also moving to their day¡¯s assignments. Themon room was a cafeteria, and the servers gave everyone the same te of food. The meal was a thick oatmeal with raisins and dates. I never liked oatmeal in my life, but I forced it down anyway. We marched out into the streets and made our way to the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. I was surprised that the transactions went a lot quicker for everyone in thepany. Guild Master Icarus was expecting us. Most just paid a small fee to have their prize coin transferred to their family, only taking a few gold themselves. The men were in a good mood, and I think it would soften the blow when they found out their wages were being cut in half. It was mid-morning when we finally made our way to the docks, Firth being the most vocal about not being able to spend his coin at the local brothels. I thought perhaps Castile just did not want him making a report to his Praetorian Guard handler. The city of Telhian was on a tributary to the ocean, and therger docks for sea-faring vessels were in a small bay. The smaller estuary docks had small barges for trade going up and down the wide river. Our barge was forty feet long and fifteen feet wide. We all piled in, and I was d we were not walking to the Duchess¡¯ estate. The barge was one long, wide, shallow bathtub. It had a single mast and a sail in the center. It was crewed by three men. One worked the tiller, one the sail, and the third created the wind with his spell form. I moved to the bow of the barge and set up my pack to get some sleep on the boat ride. Delmar barked, ¡°Eryk, it is a new day. No time to sleep. Pair off with Mateo for some practice. Whoever gets knocks the other in the water can take a nap!¡± This was more of a game than actual training. We were using staves that Adrian had brought on board. I had a lot of training with the weapon when I trained with Helena in training. Bets were being ced, and I was on the losing end as Mateo was heavily favored. I smirked as we stripped out of our armor, and Mateo was wet before he knew it. He was pulled back aboard to jeers. Instead of falling asleep for my earned nap, I positioned myself in the bow to watch everyone else train. I studied everyone intently, gaining knowledge for the next time I used the dreamscape amulet as we made our way up the river. Chapter 74: River Cruise Chapter 74: River Cruise Chapter 74 The barge floated down the calm river, and the dunking game turned into an interesting contest. Everyone was given a staff and fought without armor. Pulling the defeated man back on board was a rush before he floated past the stern. Sometimes, it was required for ze to toss him a rope before he passed. The losers stripped their clothes to dry in the sun. I was asked a few times if I wanted another go, but I declined. We did learn that Kolm could not swim, and Firth jumped in first to save him from drowning. Kolm was vomiting up water while Firth swore at him breathing heavily from the effort, ¡°Damn it, Kolm, you are heavier than a fat merwoman.¡± The contest was more to distract us as Castile, Adrian, and Delmar had a serious discussion in the stern and only watched briefly. I wondered what they were talking about concerning our fate. As the men were drying, I could see Adrian and Delmar going around and talking with each person. Since they skipped Konstantin, myself, and the other three who ran ahead, I was assuming they were letting them know the results of the Tribunal, Castile¡¯s fate, and how it affected them. I rxed and watched the mage summon and manipte his wind into the single sail. He must have a huge aether pool to keep the continuous heavy breeze and ovee the current. The mast even groaned under the stress. After the staff battles had finished, and I got bored watching the sail, I focused on the passing shoreline. The river was wide, over half a mile across. There were numerous small towns and farms along the western shore as we traveled. I assumed the man at the tiller was keeping the box-like barge in the river area with the least current. When we veered close to the eastern shore, ze suddenly stood and released an arrow. A squeal of pain erupted from among the trees. ze announced while scanning the trees, ¡°Gnoll. Everyone be prepared for an attack.¡± We mobilized quickly, shields came up, and the barge angled away from the shore. Adrian and Castile were talking, and I overheard small pieces of the conversation. We were only fifteen miles from the capital, and it was unusual to have gnolls this close. They were on the far shore, but still, it seemed to unsettle myrades. Gnolls appeared to be a hyena-humanoid in their appearance. After a few miles of river, everyone rxed, and we stayed away from the eastern shore. Konstantin came and sat with me. ¡°What do you know about gnolls?¡± I was about to get some more scout information.¡°Just what they look like,¡± I responded, having seen a few dead ones fleeing Macha. ¡°Gnolls are a gue because one pregnant gnoll gives birth to five or more in just three months. The young grow to maturity in just over a year. Two of those birthed will likely be female, and then you have fifteen or more pups on the way. In just two years, they will start sending out hunting packs. They are carnivores and will eat any flesh.¡± Brutus sat on my other side, adding, ¡°I was always told they gue us because we killed off their natural enemies,rger creatures, and the like. Now they are able to breed unmolested.¡± Konstantinughed with mirth, ¡°That and the wood elves have left thends. Before the First Legion arrived, dozens of small elven viges were within the borders of the Empire. The wood elves hated and hunted gnolls with a passion.¡± Brutus defended the Empire, ¡°The elves were banished from the Empire because they would not join the army or pay a tithe to support it.¡± Konstantin huffed a short chuckle, ¡°That is what the history books say. But the history books are written by the Empire. I am sure if you asked the Bartiradian elves or the elves of Esenhem, they would have a different retelling of the histories.¡± I soon tuned out Konstantin and Brutus debating the histories and policies of the Empire. I closed my eyes, listening to the water rushing under my head in the bow, and finally got some sleep. ¡°Wake up,¡± Brutus shook me. ¡°We are makingndfall to set up camp for the night.¡± I stirred and found it waste in the evening. ¡°Why are we not traveling throughout the night?¡± ¡°He is out of aether,¡± he indicated the man who had been filling the sail. ¡°We are going to beach the barge at that town,¡± he pointed at a small vige with a row of fishing boats moored appearing ahead. Adrian spoke to everyone, ¡°I have been told there are only eight rooms at the inn in the vige. Castile will stay there, and everyone else on the barge. Unless you want to pay the coin for your own room,¡± he added. Brutus murmured to himself, ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t rain, it should be fine.¡± I forgot Brutus did not receive a share of the dungeon discovery reward. Firth was the first one off the barge when it hit the sand bar. He turned to everyone, ¡°If this armpit of a vige has a tavern, then the first drink is on me!¡± That call got everyone to mobilize off the barge. I remained and watched the bargemen drive stakes into the shore to anchor the craft. The three bargemen then went to the tavern. I was left on the barge with Lirkin and Mateo, who were sorting through the supplies that had been packed on the barge before we left. Most of it was provisions for the six-month assignment. I approached the two, ¡°Do you need help?¡± Lirkin looked up, ¡°No, just confirming everything on the inventory Delmar gave me. Konstantin ordered it, and Delmar wants it confirmed. At least dinner will be at the tavern, and I will not have to cook tonight. I would have prepared a meal on the river, but I get a little sick from the motion.¡± I sat on a crate, ¡°What did Adrian and Delmar tell you this morning?¡± Mateo answered, ¡°Mostly to take better care of our packs and gear. Castile no longer has an ount at Legion Halls, so we must pay from our weekly pay to rece our gear. Still can be housed and fed at the Halls.¡± Lirkin added unhappily, ¡°We can still exchange worn-out gear, though. Also, our weekly sry needs to be drawn when we are in cities. And at half the rate we have been receiving,¡± he grunted. ¡°Adrian said she would make it up from the sale of loot eventually, though. The real kicker is the healing potions. Adrian told us not to get hurt,¡± Mateoughed harshly. ¡°Castile is a mage. Why can¡¯t she just learn to cast a healing spell?¡± said Lirkin as he rolled up the ledger, having finished. ¡°I am sure Castile would if she could,¡± I replied defending Castile. Lirkin grunted and noted, ¡°Missing one crate of potatoes, not bad considering how rushed the order was.¡± Lirkin and Mateo remained to guard the supplies, and I went to get dinner. They were going to be relieved by ze and Firthter. As I walked, I also nned to check if any more rooms were left at the small inn. The noise in the tiny town led me to the tavern, where everyone else was drinking and eating. The local food was a spinach pie cooked with bacon fat and chunks of roasted garlic and onion. The crust was buttery, dense, and filling. I listened to the conversations at my table. Most of the legionaries were angry with how Castile was being treated and how it had a trickle-down effect on them. I finished a second serving of the spinach pie and asked the barkeep where the inn was located. It was directly across the street but did not have a sign on it. There was a single room left for one silver for the night. I dly paid and went and knocked on Castile¡¯s door after checking out the small room. Adrian opened the door, and it was obvious they had been eating dinner and discussingpany business in her room. Castile motioned me in, ¡°Eryk, we are almost done. We can spend some time working on your spell form in a few minutes.¡± Delmar continued speaking, ignoring my presence, ¡°If the ledger is correct, we have just under six weeks of food. If the Duchess does not supply consumables, there are two farms near her city where we can requisition some. The barge was stocked well, and Konstantin did a good job. I would still like ten more small bundles of arrows and two bows. Lirkin and Felix are our two next-best bowmen.¡± Adrian added heavily, ¡°We did lose most of our skilled archers. We should probably do some more formation practice since we have so many holes in thepany.¡± ¡°And it is likely to get worse with every man we lose,¡± the straight-backed Castile huffed. ¡°Fine, we will work on formations in the evening. Get Lirkin and Felix some practice with the short bows. Any other concerns?¡± ¡°We can talk on the barge tomorrow,¡± Adrian said, eyeing me, leaving with Delmar following him out. I produced the book and sat on the bed next to Castile, ¡°Do they know you are helping me work on a spell form?¡± ¡°Yes, Eryk. I made them aware. They do not think you are bending me over the bed if that is what you are worried about,¡± Castile chastised me. She sounded slightly offended, so I avoided a response. After we studied for a bit, I asked, ¡°Why have you not learned any healing spells? You can cast spells, so why no healing spells.¡± ¡°Sometimes I forget youck the basics taught in the first year of the Mage College. You need to create the spell form and use the aether of the specific affinity. If you studied the books I gave you, it would detail how to identify your different affinities on your core. You need to give the aether that affinity when casting the spell. Otherwise, the spell form created with the aether just copses,¡± she paused. Then she admitted, ¡°I have almost no affinity for healing magic. If I created the healing spell form, it would be so weak it could only heal a wound from a splinter.¡± ¡°So, how strong does a mage¡¯s affinity need to be to create an effective healing spell?¡± I questioned Castile. ¡°Thirty is the low end for healing and most spells. The purity of the aether you create from your core empowers the spell further. Someone with an affinity of seventy will produce a much stronger spell than someone with thirty in the associated affinity,¡± I nodded at Castile¡¯s exnation. It exined so much and answered Lirkin¡¯s question. We spent just over an hour reviewing the spell forms, and I think I was getting close. Castile had taken a multi-faceted approach to helping me. She had learned a dozen tricks in her time at the mage college. The mages who attended were expected to imprint all their spell forms in the first year. Most mages had between two and six affinities over ten. Renna, the peasant girl I met while hunting the griffins, was learning her spell forms from High Mages before she even went to the Mage College. When I asked why, Castile had an answer, ¡°Renna was being groomed. She was not only expected to learn the spell forms, but she was also going to be schooled in etiquette. The Mage College is a tough environment for plebians. My guess is they were just trying to prepare her so she would not buckle under the pressure.¡± I left Castile and locked myself in my private room. It was not quiet, as an energetic couple could easily be heard through the thin wooden wall. The thuds and grunts bleeding through the wall would not matter as I produced and donned the amulet under my shirt. I probably should have brought my armor to my room from the barge but decided against making a return trip to the barge. Laying down, I channeled aether into the amulet. I was stunned to find an excited and barking Oscar, happy to see me in the entry room. I walked into the next chamber, and the disturbed soil and blood from Konstantin was still there. This was unexpected as the amulet did not reset when I left. I gave Oscar a pat and then watched as I had an ogre and ankheg battle. The ankheg won after a very graphic and smelly fight. I needed to decide how best to use my time in the dreamscape. If the amulet remembered everything I did when I wasst here, would those things be here if someone else used the amulet? Could the amulet learn from other people as well? Every question led to another question. I needed to know more about its capabilities to get the most use out of it. I considered asking Castile. She seemed genuine in her efforts to help me. I materialized a shelf and afortable ck leather reclining reading chair in the entry room. I took the protection spell form book and continued studying from the evening. The quicker I learned the wind shield, the safer I would be. Oscar was in myp, and I had absentmindedly rubbed his head while I studied the book. I spent about six hours in the dreamscape before returning through the prismatic dungeon entrance. My head ached again on the bed in my room when I returned. I returned the amulet and slept a few hours before an irritated Konstantin banged on my door, ¡°Eryk! If you are in there, we are leaving soon. Get your arse in gear if you don¡¯t want to be swimming to catch up. Next time, let someone know where you are sleeping!¡± I put on my boots and rushed down to the barge. I caught up to Konstantin, who had a gleeful smile on his face as it looked like thepany was just starting to eat breakfast on the barge. He had me rush for no reason. ¡°Grab some food, and we can walk the woods around the town. The barge leaves in a few hours. If you are going to be a scout, it is all about practice, and we have time to practice.¡± At least my headache was gone from using the amulet. Chapter 75: When it Rains, it Pours Chapter 75: When it Rains, it Pours Chapter 75 Konstantin waited while I retrieved my armor and suited up. Delmarid into me, ¡°Eryk, we found your armor here this morning and just assumed you drowned. You sleep this far again from your armor, and you will wish you had drowned!¡± I did not argue but figured it was unimportant since we were in a town. I had my short sword and my own tricks if something hade up. Brutus elbowed me, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Bentio lost his helm to the riverst night, and Lysander left his armor on the barge as well. He spent the night warming the bed of the old server woman at the tavern. The fat one,¡± heughed at Lysander¡¯s desperation and others listening joined in. Konstantin yelled, ¡°Hurry it up, legionnaire. If there was an enemy in the woods, they would have taken their morning shit and be eating second breakfast by now.¡± I was not so sure I wanted this scout training. No, I did want it; I just would have preferred it was someone other than Konstantin teaching me. I finished buckling the armor and walked toward Konstantin, who was already walking away. I did not run after him; I just increased my pace slightly. As we walked into the woods, hemented, ¡°In the wild, you should sleep in your cuirass. It is ufortable as all Hades, but trying to wake and buckle it on is difficult when the battle rages around you. You can take off the baltea, vambraces, and greaves. But keep the helmet close by and put it in the same spot every night so it is instinctual to grab it and put it on at the first sign of trouble.¡± I chuckled, ¡°At least you are not asking me to sleep in the helm.¡± He replied seriously, ¡°I have found I hear better not wearing it to sleep. It affects your ability to hear things clearly around you as the metal helm rubs.¡± I just nodded at his wisdom. We entered the woods, and I was inundated with a lecture of endless information. I just focused on remembering as much as I could. The poisonous nts that made you break into a rash. How to identify signs of a person or beast passing. How to use the environment to conceal myself as I moved. Always identify the quickest, safest path of retreat. He mentioned some edibles as well but did not say how they tasted. The reconisence was a long, wide arc around the vige, and I had numerous scratches from brambles while Konstantin had managed to somehow escape with none.As soon as we boarded the barge, all the men helped push off. Konstantin reported to Castile, and I stood next to him, ¡°No sign of gnolls in the surrounding woods.¡± Adrian replied, ¡°The gnoll was miles back and on the other side of the river. Do you think its pack followed us?¡± Everyone looked at Konstantin, who spoke from experience, ¡°There is easier prey in the woods on their side of the river to feed them. But they are already bold being so close to the capital.¡± Konstantin asked indifferently, ¡°Do you want me to scout to the opposite shore?¡± Castile shook her head no, ¡°We already warned the vige to be on alert, and they will spread the word of the gnoll sighting. I only noticed a few gnolls following our progress on the river with my sight. If we knew howrge the pack was, it could help.¡± Konstantin made a supposition, ¡°I think Duke Tiberous pulled too many magepanies to him from the capital. Due to his war preparation, they probably have had limited patrols for months out away from the cities andrge towns.¡± Adrian seemed impatient, ¡°We should reach the city of Parvas at midday. If they are going to attack us, it would be before then. We should keep shields and archers at a ready.¡± Delmar grunted, ¡°We were going to do that anyway. The bargemen said Parvas has the only bridge across the Aganterao River before Sobral.¡± The meeting of the minds was finished, and I was allowed to take my reclining seat in the bow. The barge made its way to the center of the river, and the bargeman, with the wind spell, started to move the barge into the choppy water. Delmar had crates shifted and shield men and bowmen ready to respond. Adrian gave everyone the day off from training as a number of men had already sacrificed their breakfast to the river. The water was much rougher today, and therge barge rocked in the waves. I, however, did not get the afternoon off. Konstantin questioned me endlessly about what he told me this morning. It was like he expected me to remember everything after just one telling. Lirkin attempted to cook but failed miserably as he had motion sickness. We ended up beached on a sandbar intentionally to stabilize the barge so he could prepare a lunch of sliced ham wrapped in pickled cabbage leaves. It also gave the bargeman who was creating the wind a break. While we ate, a small water funnel moved down the river away from us. One of the bargemen shouted, ¡°It is just a minor water elemental. They are harmless as long as you do not bother them.¡± Castile also took time to send out her all-seeing-eye to scout the far shore. I overheard her tell her lieutenants that she did not see any signs of a gnoll war party following us on the opposite shore. After lunch, I was one of the unlucky men who had to unbeach the barge. We sunk into the wet sand up to our knees to push the boat back into the current. We were going to make Parvas before nightfall, and then it would just be one more full day on the river to Sobral. It soon to rain, and the wind started to turn gusty. Fortunately, we had the gusts at our backs, but waves still washed over the low barge rails. We all scrambled to protect the cargo. I was close enough to hear Castile talking to the man on the tiller, ¡°It might be magical weather. It does not feel like a natural storm blowing through. We should probably make for shore and wait it out.¡± The waves were gettingrger, and he nodded and yelled in the whipping wind, ¡°We are thirty miles from Parvas. If wend, we will not make it before nightfall.¡± Castile looked to Adrian and Delmar, who both nodded. Castile acknowledged, ¡°Land the barge!¡± As soon the barge hit a muddy bank, Delmar ordered all the crates of supplies to be brought to shore, and we would make camp in the trees, high up the riverbank. The shore was a soft mud with a constant wash of waves. Before we knew it, we were covered from the waist down in the ck mud, dragging the supplies up the twenty-foot-high bank. Castile had made the correct call as the storm intensified, and the rain started to turn into a heavy thick haze with no signs of slowing. It took hours for everything to be brought up and covered, and the bargemen anchored their raft, but the heavy winds pushed it further and further into the mud as the river rose. Even I could see what was going to happen. The river would fall, and the barge would be stuck in the mud. Even though the bargemen knew it as well, they had no choice as the chop on the river was intense. Delmar was screaming to be heard as we set up camp in the evergreen trees off the bank. He was trying to direct us where to set up tents and get sentries set. Our packs were thest thing we had brought up from the barge, and mine had been sitting in water for over an hour. Donte¡¯s pack had washed overboard, and he had lost fifteen gold. He was not the only one with the bad luck. Half of our legion armor lost pieces of armor, mostly vambraces and greaves, washing overboard. We had not worn our full kit in case we fell into the water, it would have been more difficult to swim in them. I was fortunate to have saved all my armor, although the padding in my helmet was soaked. We all fought to set up our tarp tents where Delmar wanted them. I staked my corners and hacked thin green trees to create ribs inside. It was very crude, but I had at least gotten myself on a bed of pine needles and would not be sleeping in the mud. The rain continued to fall in sheets outside. My tent was open at one end, and I could see others struggling. Adrian popped his head into my tent, looking at my dry space, ¡°Nice work, Eryk. You have the first watch.¡± He pointed out into the trees, ¡°Ten paces that way. Dinner is your packed ration bar. Felix will join you on sentry.¡± He walked away before I could reply. I pulled out the wrapped bar, quickly consumed it, and then washed it with a canteen of water. I rubbed the wax off the leaf and pocketed it for when I had to shitter. I pulled one of my oiled heavy rain cloaks out of my storage space. It was a Legion-issue cloak, so its appearance would go unnoticed. As I stood up in the rain, I was mostly worried I would find someone in my tent when I returned after being relieved. My tent could squeeze two but wasfortable for one. I moved to the trees to find a shivering Donte. I felt terrible for him since he lost a small fortune when his pack went into the water. At least he had sent most of his reward to his parents before we left Telha. ¡°They said to give this to you,¡± I handed him the other oiled cloak from my dimensional space, pretending to produce it from inside my own cloak. Donte nodded gratefully and put it on before going back to camp. I leaned against arge evergreen trunk and stared out into the woods. The heavy rain stirred the scent of fresh pine, and the gray sky was slowly dimming. Felix appeared next to me and leaned into the massive trunk as well. We were one of three pairs of sentries. The tree gave us a little shelter from the rain, but it still came down hard. ¡°I do not think I have ever been this wet,¡± Felix muttered, miserable. I could barely hear him in the heavy rain. ¡°Is camp set up?¡± I asked. ¡°Mostly, they are trying to get the crates off the ground before letting people sleep,¡± he voiced loudly. As the sun set, the rain got colder and colder and did not lessen one bit. I tapped Felix and walked to check the river before it got too dark. The barge was still tied to trees, but the river had also risen halfway up the banks. It had been raining for hours. I returned to my post and told Felix. He said Castile and Adrian were aware of the possibility of the river cresting. We stood in silence until we were finally relieved by ze and Kolm. I had my glowstone out when I got to my tent, and no one was there, but someone had slept there as another backpack was present. It was probably someone who had just gone on sentry duty. I did as Konstantin lectured me. I left on my cuirass armor on and took everything else off. Then I ced my helm close with my glowstone inside of it. The stone was in a small ck bag but quickly essible. I had my sleeping roll under me and used my oiled cloak as a nket. I had only closed my eyes for a few hours when two sharp whistles rang out. Then a voice cut the heavy thuds of rain, ¡°We are moving camp! The river is going to crest soon!¡± It was Adrian yelling for all to hear. Glowstones appeared in the dark camp as everyone scrambled to pack their gear. I put on my armor and helm, stuffed my backpack with the wet bedroll, and took down my tarp tent. Brutus came and took his pack from my tent. His own tarp had been used to cover the supplies. Delmar was calling those who finished to carry crates further into the forest. I shouldered my pack and was given a crate of onions to carry. The sentries were pulled in and given time as well to pack. The bargemen were staying in hopes their vessel could be salvaged after the storm. Konstantin made a report in the rain, and Castile and Adrian gave the hand signs for marching two abreast. We were headed for a tower on a hill that Konstantin had spotted from the river. Before moving out, we could see the riverpping at the bank¡¯s top. We were leaving behind almost half our supplies. We could not carry everything. Konstantin led us a few miles in the dark night up a modest hill to an old crumbling watch tower on top. The floors above had copsed, but it was sheltered from the wind. There was a brief discussion about whether to try and return for more supplies, but Castile decided not to return. The inside of the tower was square and twenty-five feet across. Some stone steps in the wall led to the top. It had only one entrance, so at least fewer sentries would be needed for the rest of the night. Our soaked bodies unloaded our supplies, and not a single man did not have a sore back from carrying the heavy crates two miles. I sat against the wall and with others as the rain continued to fall through the missing roof. Konstantin sat next to me, ¡°What do you think this tower was for, Eryk?¡± I did not want to be tested, but I studied the structure anyway. It was maybe fifty feet to the top, and we were still close to the river. ¡°Maybe it is to keep an eye on the river?¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± Konstantin eximed excitedly. ¡°Before the Telhian Empire, thesends had dozens of small kingdoms. This watch tower belongs to a ruined elven city a few miles ind. The elven city of Caelora.¡± I knew Konstantin studied history, so his knowledge did not surprise me. He continued, ¡°If the barge is not useable when the rain stops, we must make our way on foot to Sobral. We should take the old roads and pass near the haunted ruins!¡± I humored him, ¡°Sounds like fun,¡± I said, drifting off for some much-needed sleep. Chapter 76: The Elven Ruins of Caelora Chapter 76: The Elven Ruins of Caelora Chapter 76 Two men took the watch at the only entrance to the ruined tower instead of the six sentries we had on the banks of the river. Drifting off, I briefly wondered if the three bargemen would be okay waiting out the storm. The banks were clearly going to overflow, and their safety was in question. They should have abandoned the barge ande with us for protection. I guess if that was their livelihood, I could see why they stayed, though. The hollowed-out tower we were in was not that terrible. Lirkin was even trying to get a fire going under the shelter of the stone stairs that wrapped around the inner wall. He even seeded, and a handful of men who did not have an oiled legion cloak rushed to make use of the fire. Lirkin started cooking dinner for everyone. It was just a soup broth with chunks of vegetables and salted meat. The heat of the soup was more wee than the sustenance. I was woken in the morning by a soft kick, and even before I opened my eyes, I knew it was Konstantin, ¡°Come, Eryk. We are being sent to check on the bargemen.¡± Konstantin had his bow in hand and short sword in his hip. I stood and noticed the sun was not up, but the skies were overcast and light gray. The rain had puttered out to just a drizzle. ¡°Can¡¯t Castile just use her magic to check?¡± I questioned while getting ready. Konstantin muttered, ¡°She is sleeping and shouldn¡¯t need to waste aether on it. You need practice anyway.¡± I followed Konstantin out of the tower and down the hill. The muddy hill gave way, and I managed to surf the mudslide to the bottom. Konstantin justmented, ¡°Nice bnce, but avoid the obvious water runoff next time.¡± As we moved into the woods, he whispered instructions to me the entire time. It forced me to walk quietly and pay attention as we moved. He stopped us a few times to point out tracks in the mud. Squirrel, rabbit, frog, and even a skunk. Reaching the banks where we had originally camped was just thirty minutes of walking without the heavy rain, but my legs were heavy with thick wet mud. Our old camp was under a foot of water, and a few crates of supplies floated nearby, but most had washed away. Konstantin was searching the crates and moving slowly as we checked the river. I whispered, ¡°I do not see the barge. Do you think they took it?¡± Konstantin went to a tree and found a snapped line that had moored the barge. ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°I am guessing it broke free, and they are most likely traveling downriver in an attempt to find it.¡± We gathered what we could into two crates to carry back. A few times, Komstantin abruptly stopped and then had me scan the trees for something he saw. It was usually the movement of a small animal or bird. This led me to point out movement before he had to tell me.Thepany was packing up and eating a hot breakfast when we returned. Delmar was counting food and figured we had about a week¡¯s worth. Plenty to make it to Sobral city overnd. I took a bowl of the mush, and Lirkin exined, ¡°I cooked everything that got too wet and would not keep. Not my greatest creation, but it will fill your belly.¡± I didn¡¯tin as I ate and even had a second serving. Adrian addressed thepany when we were ready to leave, ¡°We decided the ferry ride was making you all soft. We are headed through the wild country to reach Sobral. This area is known for packs of dire wolves. Konstantin tells me we are also going to pass near some elven ruins.¡± ¡°Haunted ruins,¡± Konstantin added with a smug smile. Adrian looked a little perturbed by the interruption, ¡°Yes, haunted. Just a few specters, but they are tied to the city.¡± ze asked, ¡°What is a specter?¡± interrupting again. Castile walked forward, ¡°Specters are incorporeal spirits, weaker than true ghosts. Your de can not harm them. Their touch will drain your life force and make your soul into one of them. Stay out of the ruins. They cannot leave the walls.¡± Her tone did not leave any debate. Konstantin patted my shoulder, ¡°It is time to learn the skills of a pathfinder.¡± When we walked ahead of thepany, Konstantin was constantly scanning ahead and above as we walked. ¡°Today, we are going to talk about finding the best path and avoiding obvious ambushes.¡± The entire morning, Konstantin pointed out terrain features and tracks in the mud from various animals. Thergest was a bear. We finally reached an overgrown road. The old paved stones had grass and bushes growing between them. Large trees above shaded the ancient road. We waited for the others to catch up. Konstantin gave a brief report to leadership, ¡°Just one bear, too small to bother us. There were no signs of the dire wolves, but the rains washed all signs of older tracks. This is the road that leads south to the elven ruins and onto Sobral.¡± Adrian asked, ¡°Will the city be easy to get around?¡± Konstantin shrugged, ¡°I have only read about it. I studied a lot of old maps and histories. The second Emperor ughtered everyone in the city after they refused to submit to his rule. The ughter was horrific and created the specters. There are still many treasures within, but the deeper you travel into the city, the more voluminous the specters.¡± Castile confirmed, ¡°We will follow the road. I do not want to go east to Parvas. The specters can not move far from where they were killed. Even if the terrain is difficult, we will go around the city.¡± Delmar justmented, ¡°Parvas has a Legion Hall, and we could resupply there.¡± Castile shook her head like they had already been over this argument a few times. We were going to head south. We had lunch, and then we moved down the overgrown road ahead of the group. Konstantin noted, ¡°The Empire maintained the road till about a hundred years ago. Much of the trade goes on the river or through the portals now. Some traders will still risk it asionally.¡± ¡°How much of the Empire is wild like this?¡± I asked as we continued. ¡°Most of the Empire is wild. The cities have patrols, and Mage Companies deal with wandering monsters that threaten the citizens. But nature moves fast to reim what belongs to her,¡± Konstantin said quietly and held up his hand. We moved off the road, and he showed me the tracks he had spotted. They looked the same size as the bear from earlier. ¡°Dire wolf. See, it has just four toes. Bears have five. Shit, and there are at least two of them. Notice these two sets are different sizes.¡± Castile and thepany caught up to us as we had paused. Castile looked at the prints, already figuring it out, ¡°Dire wolves? And recent?¡± Konstantin nodded, ¡°Probably two hours ago at the most. The mud around print has not dried out yet, and the rain stopped about then.¡± Delmar asked, ¡°Are they stalking us, or did they just cross our path?¡± Konstantin walked into the woods for a hundred feet, and I went with him. The tracks remained perpendicr to the road. He returned to report, ¡°By the looks of it, five dire wolves, and they just crossed here. They were not stalking us. But we should find a defensible ce to make camp tonight.¡± Castile narrowed her eyes, ¡°We are not camping in the ruins, Konstantin.¡± ¡°Specters are easier to deal with than dire wolves,¡± Konstantin advised with a straight face. Konstantin obviously wanted to explore the city. ¡°Only you and me have runic weapons,¡± Adrian chastised Konstantin. ¡°Everyone else would be unable to defend themselves from the specters.¡± ¡°It was a thought. We should increase our pace then. If the dire wolves circle back, they will pick up our scent,¡± Konstantin counseled. We changed our formation and increased to a quick march. The ruins of the elven city were not far down the road. Massive trees grew inside a crumbling stone wall. The road naturally diverted around the walls. We passed the city, and it smelled stale and had a cold, dry airing from it that gave me goosebumps. The walls looked even worse than the tower we stayed inst night. One massive tree in the center of the ruins had a massive green canopy covering most of the city in shadow and did not look inviting. Konstantin was to my left, ¡°Elves keep curated gardens of special trees in their cities. Those trees are now more than fifteen hundred years old of uncontrolled growth. That was when the city fell to the second Telhian Emperor.¡± I looked up and guessed them to be at least four hundred feet in height. Movement in the upper branches caught my eye. ¡°I saw it too. Castile,¡± Konstantin turned. ¡°A giant eagle nest in the city. They must be nesting safely out of range of the specters.¡± Word was passed, and ze was responsible for keeping an eye out for the eagles. He was the best archer and also had the best vision of anyone in thepany. The dreadful ruins were soon behind us, but we did not slow. I was more than happy to open some distance from the specters. The clouds had finally cleared, and the sun was out, allowing us to dry our drenched gear. We did not stop our march until close to sunset. Konstantin directed thepany to a defensible hill. We all hacked away brush for an hour to give us sight lines down the hill before setting up our tarp tents. I was d for the evening meal, even if it was nd. Konstantin had mee to the leadership meeting since I was now a scout. Konstantin informed everyone, ¡°We made about thirty miles today. This road will take us all the way to Sobral, another eighty miles or so. Two days if we do not run into problems.¡± Adrian said, ¡°We should lighten our packs. Drop the extra food and lean on the baroness when we arrive.¡± Delmar, who was responsible for logistics, disagreed, ¡°We already lost most of the supplies. Half the men are missing a piece of their armor. We are not going to be able to rece anything in Sobral City. There is no Legion Hall there. I still think we should have headed for Parvas.¡± Castile agreed, ¡°We carry everything. Lirkin said some of the men¡¯s chafe marks were getting bloody. We are going to struggle to keep up this pace.¡± ¡°We have done it before,¡± Adrian intoned stoically. He was referring to our run to get the capital for her Tribunal. The sun was almost gone, and a massive howl broke the evening air. We all turned and listened as the cry was answered. Konstantin spoke, ¡°The dire wolves. They are hunting, but not us. It is too far away.¡± Adrian said, ¡°I am still going to increase sentries to nine for the evening.¡± Konstantin elbowed me, which I guess meant our presence was no longer required. As we walked away, he said, ¡°One of the benefits of being a scout is you do not have to stand sentry at night. You can still volunteer, but you will not be called on. But before the light of day ispletely gone, let¡¯s see how much you remember...¡± Konstantin questioned me on nts around the hilltop until it was too dark to see. I gratefully climbed into my tent¡ªboth mentally and physically exhausted. I thought about the amulet but did not want to be inside it if we were attacked, so I abandoned the idea. I needed the rest, but the dire wolves were on the hunt a few miles away. I imagined how fearful it would be for the animal they were chasing. I doubted it was a human as they would not have to chase a human. I guessed an elk or deer. Snarling, barking, and cackling erupted from the woods to the north. I immediately left my tent. I was not the only one now listening intently and watching the dark. ze was standing next to me, ¡°Gnolls. The dire wolves are fighting gnolls.¡± Konstantin agreed, ¡°Yes, definitely gnolls by the sounds. I am curious if they are the same group from outside the capital. It does not make sense unless the lone one you killed was the alpha¡¯s mate.¡± ze shifted ufortably. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, ze. The dire wolves are taking care of them.¡± It sounded like a violent fight and continued for minutes just a few miles away. Then, the dire wolves howled in unison, indicating their victory. Konstantin assured our camp the wolves would be feeding the rest of the night, and we could sleep. I took an oblivion pill because if I didn¡¯t, I knew I would be having nightmares of wolves the size of horses tearing me apart. Chapter 77: A Sense of Foreboding Chapter 77: A Sense of Foreboding Chapter 77 The oblivion pill worked. I woke early, and it was probably my best sleep since arriving in this world. I was even up before Konstantin for once. I quietly packed up my things with my glow stone for light. I moved to a fire with some coals. I stirred them and added some dry wood to get a little fire going in the chilly pre-dawn air. I was surprised when Delmar came out of his tent, sat next to me, and added some wood of his own. ¡°How is your training with Konstantin progressing?¡± He asked as the wood started to burn into a healthy fire. ¡°I am learning a lot. He is quite knowledgeable,¡± I replied. Maybe my tone was t, or it was how I said it, but Delmarughed, ¡°That well, huh? I argued against it. Even though we do not have potions for you to carry, we should be using your space for something. Hell, every man here is now carrying an extra twenty pounds of food.¡± His statement made me feel guilty because I could easily carry every backpack in thepany. It was quiet for a moment, and then I asked, ¡°You said only you and Konstantin had des that could injure the specters?¡± In response, Delmar drew his long de. He was one of the few men in thepany who carried a de over thirty inches. My own preferred short sword des were around twenty-eight inches. He handed me the de, and the de alone was just short of three feet, maybe thirty-five inches. It was also much lighter than it appeared. The steel looked polished, and the de was well cared for. ¡°That is a dungeon de. You can not see the runic work unless you heat the de in a forge, but trust me, it is a magical de,¡± Delmar said fondly. ¡°Back when I was delving into dungeons, it was given to me. It only has one enchantment on it: durability. The de never dulls or tarnishes. Makes cleaning a breeze,¡± he chuckled, and I returned it to him. ¡°Any type of runic de is magical and will strike creatures that exist ethereally, like the specters.¡± ¡°How do I get one?¡± I asked, and our quiet conversation got a short, loud chuckle from Delmar. ¡°There are no master arcane weaponsmiths in the Empire capable of making a runic de. Thest one was Master Bhus, but he died before I was born.¡± Delmar put the de into the sheath. He thought for a moment and looked at me seriously, ¡°There are three ways to get a runic de, Eryk. Kill someone who wields one and take it. Delve a dungeon and earn one from a dungeon reward. Or travel outside the Telhian Empire and find a master weapon smith who can forge one and pay him a small fortune.¡± ¡°So they are valuable then? How much would one cost?¡± I asked, hoping to get someparison to my amulet that was valued upwards of six thousand gold. ¡°Very valuable. I am not a trader, and too many factors equate to a de¡¯s worth, but most end up in the hands of the First Citizens or their personal legionnaire guards. A simple runic dagger might cost you a hundred gold. A de,¡± he tapped his sheath, ¡°a thousand.¡± My jaw hung open because that was the reaction I knew he wanted. ¡°Is Konstantin¡¯s de the same as yours? A durability enchantment?¡± I asked Delmar since he seemed so talkative. ¡°No,¡± came a gruff voice from behind me. I jumped at the sound. It was Konstantin, and he sat at the fire with us. ¡°My runic de was forged by an elven smith a millennia ago. It is designed to ovee the defenses of the undead.¡± I was disappointed he did not draw it to let me look at it as Delmar had. He usually used a practice de or wrapped his de when we practiced. Konstantin put some ham on a stick and began heating near the coals. There was an awkward silence, and then Delmar asked, ¡°You never told me how you came by your de, Konstantin.¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°The first option. Killed an elven Ranger when I was with the Hounds. Took her de. Had it appraised in the city, and it had a maker¡¯s mark for the elven smith. Guess he was famous or something. It is a good de,¡± he finished with a grunt. The grunt was a signal he did not want to talk further about the origins of the de. ¡°Is that why you wanted to go into the ruined elven city? To test the de against undead ghosts?¡± I asked, piecing some things together. Konstantin had warned me about being fooled by the beauty of elves, and he just admitted to killing one. Maybe there was a story there. Konstantin took the smoking ham and ate it. He then answered my question, ¡°Some magic des thirst for what they were forged to do. Mine is like an itch that needs scratching.¡± He abruptly stood, ¡°Since you are up early, Eryk. We can walk the perimeter together.¡± Konstantin obviously did not want to discuss it further. I positioned my pack against a tree so I would remember where it was. Once the wholepany woke, I did not want my pack mixed with another by mistake. I followed Konstantin, and he started to descend the hill. ¡°Konstantin, should we be heading out there? Just the two of us with the dire wolves so close?¡± He didn¡¯t stop but said, ¡°The wind is blowing this way,¡± he indicated with his hand. ¡°We will smell them long before we see them. Besides, we are just circling the base of the hill to look for tracks.¡± I did not know where his confidence came from about not being attacked, but I followed his lead. As we circled, I noticed we never left the sight line of our sentries on the hill. Konstantin pointed out a lot of small animal tracks, but it appeared nothingrge approached the hill we camped on. We returned to the top of the hill after circling the base twice. Once for Konstantin to point everything out and once for me to do the same. Thepany was ready to move, and Castile addressed everyone, ¡°We should be at the edge of the dire wolf territory. Our goal is to make forty miles today so we can make forty miles tomorrow and rest in Duchess Victoria¡¯s Castle tomorrow night.¡± She got some cheers from the motivational pre-march speech. Konstantin motioned me to him, ¡°Eryk, you are out front, just like yesterday. Do not get more than fifty paces ahead and retreat if you sense or see danger. I am going to serve as the rear sweeper. We may be moving out of the dire wolf hunting grounds, but something still does not feel right.¡± He looked back down the road toward the ruins of the elven city of Caelora. We separated, and I was on my own after only three days of training. Yes, we were on a level paved road that ran fairly straight. But I was out front and would be the first to encounter a threat. I knew there were worse things in this world than dire wolves and gnolls. A few hours into the walk, I spotted some old wagons in the woods just off the road. I waited for everyone to catch up. Konstantin arrived, and we both moved into the woods to explore the wagons in a clearing off the road. There were three wagons, all weathered and damaged. Konstantin moved slowly, found a few small bones in the leaves, and looked into the wagons. There were some sealed pottery jars and rotting linens. Castile, Delmar, and Adrian joined us. Konstantin grunted, ¡°Not dire wolves, or there would have been more damage to the wagons. Not bandits, or they would have taken everything. I am guessing whatever happened here, it was about two winters ago.¡± ¡°So, an old merchant caravan?¡± Castile asked while looking into the decrepit wagons. ¡°Most likely. They circled the wagons for the night. Whatever took them, it was in the night. At least six horses¡ªmaybe as many as twenty men by the bones and rusted weapons in the area. Scavengers dismembered the bodies. Even though the site is old, I suggest we get far away from here before making camp,¡± Konstantin advised. He looked uneasy at the mystery. Adrian suggested, ¡°Maybe it is time to drop supplies to move faster?¡± Delmar countered, ¡°No, we are arge enough group that we are scaring off most threats. The supplies are needed; we can give double rations today to help lighten the men.¡± ¡°Do it. And have some men search the wagons. If they didn¡¯t take the trade goods, maybe there is a lock box somewhere,¡± Castile ordered. Firth and Wylie joined Konstantin and I as we searched the wagons. Everyone else was on the road eating. I found a in gold ring on the ground, still around a finger bone. I sent it to my dimensional space without telling anyone. Firth found the lockbox under some rotted boards in a wagon. We brought it to Castile and forced it open. Water had damaged the documents, making them mush. But there was a fair amount of coin. ¡°The fates must be smiling on us,¡± Castile murmured. The chest contained twenty-sixrge gold and a huge assortment of smaller coins in gold, silver, and copper. She fished out some jewelry and four essences from the moldy mass of paper. I recognized them as two minor strength essences, a major fortitude essence, and a major constitution essence. Adrian said softly to Castile, ¡°The two strength essences should go to the new legionaries, Quentin and Remus.¡± Castile nodded and handed them to Adrian, who went to deliver them. Castile handed the major essence of the constitution to Delmar, ¡°Although I hate to reward bad luck, give this to Mateo.¡± Mateo had a small fortune of coins left when his backpack washed overboard from the barge. ¡°It should take the sting out of his loss,¡± Delmar turned and left on his delivery mission. Castile held the essence of fortitude in her hand for a few moments, considering. Then she ced it in her mouth. Castile turned to me, ¡°Seems I have use of your dimensional space. You can store the lockbox there until we reach Sobral.¡± She closed it and handed it to me. I nodded and sent the box to my space. We returned to the road, and Castile addressed thepany, ¡°Fortunas has smiled on us. I will be able to meet your enhanced pay and rece your lost legion gear.¡± Grunts of appreciation came from the men. I could see Wylie exining what she meant to Quentin and Remus by increased pay¡ªa way to buy their loyalty. I could already tell the essence gifts were well received. They had both fought hard on the aqueduct and deserved the reward. Brutus looked on enviously, but his time woulde. Brutus and the missing vius were the only other new members of ourpany. Castile would have some work to do to earn their loyalty. As we scouted ahead, Konstantin walked next to me, and I asked, ¡°How were the wagons undiscovered for so long?¡± Konstantin had obviously been thinking about it and had a response, ¡°This old trade road is probably only used by the desperate merchants. The elven ruins and dire wolves are probably not the only threats. Most merchants will hire a barge or head west, then north, to reach the capital if they can not afford to use the portals.¡± He paused, ¡°still, it is perplexing that those wagons were rtively undisturbed and just weathered for years.¡± I noticed Konstantin¡¯s pace had increased, pulling the legion into a faster march behind us. It must be his way of showing some fear of the unknown. We walkedte until sunset, and Konstantin directed everyone to a clearing far off the road. He had everyone walk single file and focus, stepping on stones. Konstantin¡¯s own tension did not help thepany as they set up camp. ¡°Come, Eryk, I will show you how to obscure our tracks from the road,¡± Konstantin took me back to the road. That meant I was going to have to set up my tarp in the dark. The lesson was like reverse tracking. Konstantin pointed out things that showed our passing and how best to hide it. ¡°It will not fool an experienced tracker, but hiding the trail will help you learn how to move unseen yourself. This,¡± he held up a jar of powder, ¡°is spores from a myconid. It is a fungal monster. If you breathe them in, your nose will re up, and you cannot smell anything for days. Your nose will also run like a river.¡± He handed it to me. ¡°Go back from the direction we came andy a trail across the road. Use about half the jar, and do not breathe it in.¡± ¡°Is this for the dire wolves?¡± I asked. ¡°No, we made over forty miles today and are likely out of their hunting territory. But any creature that tracks by scent will be foiled by this. Hurry before darknesses,¡± Konstantin went into the bushes to rejoin the others, and I was left on the road. I jogged two hundred yards down the road,id a thin line across the road, and then returned. I almost missed where we turned off but carefully made my way back to thepany. There were already eight men on sentry duty. Lirkin did not even start a fire and handed me a ration bar. Brutus came over and helped me set up my tent in the dark as I ate. ¡°Everyone is on edge,¡± Brutus said softly. ¡°Fear of the unknown, or maybe they know what it is and do not want to scare us,¡± I suggested of Konstantin and the leadership. Brutus looked around at the settling darkness, ¡°Whatever it is, I do not like these woods. It feels like something is watching us.¡± We finished getting my tarp up, and he returned to his own just a few steps away. I settled onto my wet bedroll. I kept on my cuirass and put my helm nearby with the glowstone inside. I had to remove my boots and socks to let them air out. I healed my blisters and one ckened toenail. I decided to forgo the oblivion pill tonight. After Brutus had said it, it did feel like something was watching us. Chapter 78: City of Sobral Chapter 78: City of Sobral Chapter 78 Iy there as the night insects opened their chorus, and the whispers of the sentries drifted to me. If I was not so exhausted, I would have forced myself to stay awake, knowing that tomorrow we would reach Sobral and I could rest in the city. I drifted in and out of sleep as the nightmares I was imagining were oveing my need to sleep. I heard the sentries switchte in the night and was about to fade again to sleep when Konstantin¡¯s voice cracked the air. ¡°Everyone to the center of camp! Ites!¡± He yelled. I slipped on my boots and helm and moved out to the center of camp with my sword and glowstone. The camp crowded together, shields out. When I joined the others, Castile asked, ¡°What is it Konstantin?¡± ¡°A powerful undead, my sword is warm to the touch in anticipation. The weapon has never been this hot before,¡± Konstantin said, unsure of the threat. ¡°How many,¡± Adrian asked as the rest of thepany made arge circle around Castile. ¡°I think just one. Much stronger than a specter. Stronger than a ghost I fought a long time ago. I do not know what it is. But it ising from that direction,¡± he pointed his de off into the woods. Delmar asked, ¡°Do you think it is pursuing the lockbox?¡± Castile disputed that, ¡°Undead have no use for possessions. And it is in Eryk¡¯s space, so it would not be able to track it anyway,¡± she paused. ¡°Unless it is bound to an object in the lockbox, then maybe,¡± she sounded uncertain about her knowledge. Adrian barked, ¡°It does not matter; it is here.¡± The wall of light that our glow stones made into the thick trees began to waiver as whisps of darkness formed into a creature ck as the night with glowing red malevolent eyes. It was humanoid and had elven features. It looked over thepany and then focused on Konstantin¡ªor, more specifically, his de. It outstretched a hand pointing or maybe requesting the de. Everyone was fearful as it felt like death incarnate looking at us, but Castile found her voice, ¡°It is a wraith. They are weaker in daylight, so it must have been stalking us. It can not be harmed with normal weapons, but I think I can bind it with my shadow chains.¡± Konstantin spoke, ¡°It wants my de. I can feel the pull to it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give it the de!¡± Delmar barked, ¡°It is one of two weapons we have that can harm it!¡± Konstantin yelled back, ¡°I was not nning to. I just wanted you to know why it was following us. It has some link to the de, I can feel it. Maybe¡ªit wielded it in the past of forged it.¡± ¡°If anyone has a silvered de, it can also damage the creature,¡± Castile said. I looked at my own de, and only a few sparkles of silver dust remained from Telha City. Castile started working her spell, and her own wisps of shadow chains moved toward the wraith. One chain wrapped around its wrist, and it pulled its arm to its face, ¡°My chains are not strong enough to hold it! Kill it quickly!¡± Castile screamed, some desperation in her voice. The wraith howled in rage and lunged forward. The piercing scream made it hard to hear the others. Castile added three more shadow chains and slowed the creature. Delmar broke the shield wall and swung his runic long sword to meet the creature. The dense ck shadow shrieked in anger and attacked Delmar as he danced away. Constantine was at the creature¡¯s back and shed with his own weapon. Hundreds of tiny white sparks flew off the creature, briefly creating a gap in its ckness before it reformed. I felt helpless as I watched. The creature spun, breaking Castile¡¯s bonds, and swiped Konstantin¡¯s arm that was holding his sword. He grunted and switched the de to his other hand. Arrows were piecing the ck wraith at a steady pace, but each one just passed through and did not elicit any reaction from the horror. Firth and Mateo bravely joined Konstantin and Delmar to serve as another distraction with their spears. Castile kept summoning more chains to slow the creature. Delmar was attacking the back of the creature, while Konstantin struggled with its undivided attention. If it had not been bound and slowed by Castile, I think Konstantin would have been in real trouble. Konstantin relied on reading an opponent inbat, and this ck mass had nothing to read; it just attacked. A backhanded swing stuck Mateo, he screamed and moved away, holding his face. Brutus moved in to take his ce. His spear wiped through the ck ghost, trying to distract it. The wraith was getting smaller as Delmor and Konstantin slowly whittled away at it. Hundreds of white sparks always apanied Konstantin¡¯s strikes. The creature of darkness howled, splitting our ears. Castile¡¯s chains faltered for a moment, and Konstantin took a blow to his chest and lost his sword. Konstantin rolled away, but before the apparition could reach the sword, Adrian retrieved it and pressed the frustrated creature again. As the creature shrank in size, Castile¡¯s chains became more effective. I felt useless, just waiting for my turn to fight the creature. I considered moving the entire creature to my dimensional space, but that seemed ludicrous. And it would have to remain there forever as I could never release it. We were winning, and soon, the creature turned translucent and disappeared. Everyone paused, not quite believing we had won against the nightmare. Linus was looking at Konstantin; his left arm and chest werepletely ckened. The side of Mateo¡¯s face was ck well. Delmar had taken a light blow on his hand, and his thumb was ck. Castile ordered, ¡°Set the perimeter. I will see to the wounded.¡± I moved with her, having felt ineffective in the fight like almost everyone in thepany. Linus looked up from a shallow breathing Konstantin, ¡°I do not know what this is or how to treat him.¡± Castile knelt, ¡°It is necrotic damage. I have only read about it.¡± Konstantin rasped, ¡°Got to my lungs. There is a greater healing potion in my bag.¡± Linus rushed to get it and was soon back. We watched as he drank it, and the ckness faded to a yellow-blue bruise. He was also breathing easier. ¡°Necrotic damage kills the tissue. A strong enough healing potion or a healing mage can counter the effects and restore the dead tissue,¡± Castile exined. Mateo¡¯s right jaw waspletely ck. He tried to talk, but all that came out was nonsense. Benito offered, ¡°I have a minor healing potion. Will that work?¡± When everyone looked at him, he shrugged, ¡°Got it at the Imperial Alchemists in Macha.¡± Castile considered, ¡°It will help a little. Should be enough for him to heal on his own after the potion.¡± Castile sounded more like she was guessing than she actually knew. Mateo¡¯s jaw turned yellow-blue, and his speech was slightly slurred, but he looked like he would be fine. Thepany started a fire a short whileter as it was the middle of the night. I somehow ended up in Castile, Delmar, and Adrian¡¯s meeting. Konstantin was lying by the fire, exposing his upper body and enjoying the heat as he shivered. The potion worked mostly on his chest before running out of energy. His arm was still very ck, but he could move his fingers. Delmar started the midnight meeting, saying, ¡°We should have gone to Parvas.¡± Castile looked angry, ¡°I told you no. I know the Count who rules the city is Octavian¡¯s eldest son. If we arrived without the barge, I did not want to risk a confrontation.¡± Adrian tried to calm them both down, ¡°Konstantin can walk, and we can make it to Sobral tomorrow.¡± I was just a spectator as they discussed possible ns. Delmar regainedposure, ¡°We can leave at first light. We will drop all but two days of food.¡± Castile¡¯s eyebrows went up. Delmar exined, ¡°Now that we have excess coin,¡± he pointed at me, ¡°we can be more frivolous with supplies.¡± Adrian added, ¡°Agreed. We can get the men who lost armor recements as well. We were lucky we did not lose anyone and will be there in a long day¡¯s march tomorrow.¡± He changed his tone a little, ¡°With Konstantin down till he receives more healing, should we promote someone else to temporary scout? Firth or Wylie?¡± Castile considered, then shook her head, ¡°Just Eryk is fine for a single day. I am sure Konstantin will insist he maintain his duties anyway, even if he wheezes like a boy with lung rot.¡± I was dismissed to tell everyone to drop whatever food they could not eat in a single day¡¯s march. It was the best news they had gotten on this ill-fated trip. Everyone had over twenty pounds of food in their pack and eagerly started trading for the best bits for the march. The food they thought was worthless was mostly the ration bars wrapped in wax leaf. Over one hundred of them hit the ground near the fire. Thepany was given orders as soon as the sun rose and headed back to the road. Konstantin assigned me rear guard, and I lingered just long enough to move the pile of ration bars to my space. Even if I did not want to eat them, I could always use the wax leaf for soft ass wipes. I was rear guard, as Konstantin had insisted on being out front. ording to Konstantin, I was to stay about 50 paces back and walk through the woods off the road. My job was scanning the woods to our left, right, and behind. If I saw troubleing, I was to blow my whistle twice to alert thepany. The idea was to give them an extra ten seconds to prepare for a threat. Walking alone in the morning away from thepany was a bit nerve-racking, especially afterst night. I kept the rear of the formation in sight and the whistle Konstantin loaned in my hand. At midday, thepany stopped, and I caught up to them for lunch. Almost everyone was eating some type of salted meat and candied nuts. I sipped my water and munched on spicy jerky that was meant to be hydrated in a soup. It was extremely salty but had a nice kick. Konstantin found me and spent the entire thirty minutes asking me questions. Apparently, I had failed to see four signs of passage in the woods that he left for me¡ªa snapped branch, an overturned rock, a copper coin, and a bit of ck fabric. I did not argue and just told him I would be more observant in the future. We reached a road marker, and Castile announced we were in the Sobrol province, just fifteen miles from the city. Delmar brought me forward, no longer feeling the need for a rear guard. We started seeing farms just five milester, and the road turned into dirt. I was walking next to Firth, and he exined, ¡°The plebians probably pulled the paving stones to build their homes in this area after the road went into disuse.¡± We got a lot of looks from the farmers in the fields. We were a battered legionpany with a number of men missing pieces of armor. The road intersected another road along the river. A road marker indicated that the city of Lignum was forty miles to the northeast, and the city of Loule was twenty miles along the southwest. The city of Sobral¡ªif it could be called a city was just a mile along the road following the river. As we approached the Sobral, it did not have the fancy Roman arches or columns found in the capital. All the buildings surrounding the central Citadel were mostly aging wood. The stone that could be found was coarse-cut and not polished. There was no city wall, just a wall surrounding the Citadel on the far side of the city sprawl. The roads were not straight, and we had to weave our way to the gates of the Citadel. ¡°Harpy¡¯s tits,¡± Firth swore, ¡°That has to be the worst-looking brothel I have ever seen.¡± He was indicating a one-story wooden structure with dark blue paint. Its sign read The Nasty Nymph, and the image on the sign left no doubt what they offered within. We found only two guards at therge gate. The mortar on the wall surrounding the Citadel was crumbling. Castile announced herself, and we were allowed to pass. At least the Citadel itself looked to be in good repair. And there were a lot of ss windows on the towering structure. In a wheezing voice, Konstantin was at my right and told me, ¡°The Count who ruled this city before it was made into a duchy for Victoria was a mage who specialized in making ss. Shipped it all over the Empire.¡± Konstantin caught his breath, ¡°When he died ten years ago, the Emperor sent a baron to run things. He did a terrible job, and the poption shrunk. He gave it to his favorite granddaughter to see how good she could rule and if she could bring it back to prosperity.¡± The young Duchess came down to greet us as we entered the courtyard. She had two men, both soldiers nking her, and a young maid on her hip. The Duchess had on a bright white dress with blue highlights. She smiled as she addressed us, ¡°Mage Castile, thank you for taking my assignment request. You and your men will be quartered in the Citadel while youplete the assigned task.¡± That statement got happy murmurs from everyone. We followed the Duchess into arge entry hallway with stained ss windows showing scenes of legionaries fighting various monsters. Our dirty boots and foul odor made it feel like we should not be walking on the polished marble floor. The Duchess turned twice down hallways, and we entered a massive dining room with a long table. There were plenty of ce settings for everyone. The Duchess went to sit at the head of the table. ¡°Castile, if you and your leaders could sit close, we will discuss things as dinner is prepared and served.¡± Adrian was brave enough to ask, ¡°Do you not want us to clean up first?¡± The maid behind her answered, ¡°Baths are being drawn in the guest quarters. We were expecting you by barge and had a rider upriver waiting. He would have given us some warning, but your arrival by road surprised us.¡± The young woman sounded slightly upset. The Duchess just smiled and waited while we sat. I was a little surprised when Castile had me seated to her left. Delmar and Adrian were across from us. The Duchess sat at the head of the table. Castile smiled and addressed the Duchess, ¡°Now, can you tell me why you really wanted us here?¡± The young Duchess smiled, ¡°In good time! Try the wine from the Esenhem elves.¡± Chapter 79: The Duchess’ Plans Chapter 79: The Duchess¡¯ ns Chapter 79 The young Duchess dyed the conversation. She waited for the first dinner course to be brought before talking with Castile. Arge bowl of split pea soup was ced in front of everyone. ¡°Looks like vomit,¡±mented Mateo from down the table. Brutus pped the back of his head. Mateo added quickly, ¡°But I bet it tastes good.¡± I was not sure of formal protocols with a First Citizen or a Duchess, so I waited for Castile. Castile waited till the Duchess took her spoon before doing likewise. I took my spoon and tasted the soup. It was cold but definitely pea soup. A little salty but good. It was so good that an eruption of slurping started down the table. Most of thepany were conscripts and never had any etiquette training. Felix even picked up his bowl and used it as a cup. He finished his bowl, turned around, and asked a young servant boy for seconds. The boy ran to the kitchens and returned with a full bowl to the happy Felix. Across from me, Delmar and Adrian ate methodically with just the spoon. I mirrored them, showing manners. Castile took a few spoonfuls and put down the spoon. ¡°Duchess, why are we here?¡± She asked patiently again. The young First Citizen Duchess nodded, ¡°I do need you toplete the survey markers for mynds. I have a white marble quarry on mynds and have contracted two thousand stones to be quarried from it to serve as the markers. I expect you to be upied on mynds for the next five or six months.¡± Castile frowned, ¡°Will there be an Imperial Surveyor with us?¡± Duchess Veronica pushed away her barely touched soup, and a servant rushed forward to remove it from the table. ¡°There will be an agent from the Imperial Surveyor¡¯s office, an apprentice. He will mark and record each stone as you bury the white marble marker every hundred twenty yards.¡± She took her wine in hand and asked casually, ¡°Did you travel down the old road?¡± Castile shifted in her seat at the question, ¡°We did. Torrential rains forced our barge ashore. It broke loose overnight. We were forced toe on foot and did take the old road,¡± Castile admitted. Duchess smiled, ¡°You have been traveling, so you are unaware, but the weather has been askew thest few days everywhere. The Bartiradian weather mages have cast major disruption across the Empire by releasing greater elementals across the realm. A blizzard in the capital, tornadoes across the ins, heavy rains ttening crop fields, and tsunamis along the coast.¡± The whole table was suddenly quiet at the pronouncement of the natural disasters.Adrian broke the silence, ¡°Why?¡± The Duchess smirked, ¡°Revenge for Macha. Duke Tiberius tore down the city walls around their army. They had heavy losses, and only a few hundred made it out alive. Now the Emperor hasmitted another ten thousand men to Duke Tiberius to push into the Bartiradian Kingdomnds.¡± The Duchess sipped some wine, hiding a small smile, ¡°Although this is mainly to cover for the expedition to excavate Antium. But you already know about that.¡± Castile looked at me, and I pretended to enjoy my soup. Delmar asked hotly, ¡°What damage has been dealt to the Empire from the elementals?¡± The Duchess waved it off, ¡°Not much. From what I heard from message sendings, all the cities are fine as mages sessfully held off the most intense weather. The most significant damage was to crops. It will affect market prices for the next year or two, and we will have to import more from the south, possibly open trade with Bouton orcs.¡± The table got loud as men talked to each other about the implications until Castile silenced them by looking at Adiran, who barked an order for quiet. Castile asked, ¡°Why do you need a magepany to do your survey work? It is allowed since it is an Imperial Survey, but why?¡± The Duchess ate a blue cracker daintily while exining, ¡°The survey will serve two purposes. One is to cement the borders of my new province. The second is to keep you and yourpany upied for five months so Duke Octavian can cool down. I asked if you took the road because it had not been used for five years. Every merchant risking it has disappeared, to my knowledge.¡± Castile took her wine and sampled it for the first time. We were waiting for Castile to answer the Duchess and reveal what she wanted of our adventures. I was unsure what game was being yed and was happy to enjoy my soup. ¡°We encountered dire wolves and a wraith,¡± Castile admitted to the Duchess. Further down the table, Konstantin added, ¡°And a gnoll war party.¡± Castile nodded at the addition. The Duchess frowned, ¡°You escaped a wraith? And dire wolves? I had hoped for you to subdue thends along the road.¡± She folded her hands in front of her, ¡°Thends north are part of the Imperial Province. The Emperor was willing to transfer them to me if I sessfully reopened the trade road.¡± She rapidly tapped her index finger on her arm in an apparent habit. Delmar barked augh, ¡°You want ourpany to clear the wilds and patrol the most dangerous road in the Empire?¡± Castile admonished Delmar, ¡°I can handle this negotiation, Delmar.¡± Delmar looked irate as he pushed his soup away to show his anger. Of course, the bowl was already empty. Veronica nodded, ¡°Not the most dangerous road, but definitely dangerous. Was the wraith from the ruins of Caelora?¡± ¡°No, we were dozens of miles past the elven ruins¡ªbut it might have pursued us from the city. Wraiths are not tied to a single ce like specters,¡± Castile said uncertainly. I looked down at Konstantin, who was focused on using half a loaf of bread to clean his soup bowl. The young Duchess considered, ¡°I know there are wraiths and specters within the ruined city walls. But was not aware they ever left the city.¡± Castile had a quick response, ¡°We are not certain the wraith was from the city, but it did have elven features¡ªso was an elf in life. But either way, I am not interested in epting a mission to kill dire wolves and specters for you. If you want the wolves handled, request the Hounds. If you want the city cleared of undead, petition the Emperor, but I know such missions have failed prior. I took the survey request as a thank you for your help at the Tribunal.¡± Delmar nodded, satisfied with Castile¡¯s rebuke of the Duchess¡¯ expectations of us. The Duchess¡¯ finger increased in tempo on her arm,ing up with a response. She finally said, ¡°Let me get to the point. I would like to take your legionaries into my service. I have two hundred guards and ten thousand citizens across mynds. I rule this city and tworge towns. I am tasked with bringing prosperity back to this city.¡± She made a wide gesture. ¡°I have unhappy citizens and no exportable trade goods.¡± ¡°What about your marble quarry?¡± Delmar asked. tes with a thick steak with potato wedges underneath were brought out. The men followed the tes hungrily while Castile locked eyes with the Duchess. The Duchess gestured emphatically, ¡°There are twenty quarries in the Empire. Most have higher-quality marble and easier ess to transportation. Thest Count of this Citadel produced ss from sand. I cannot replicate that feat. After he died, the Emperor assigned Baron Jakob to Sobral City, who milked the people for every copper to line his own pockets. I need to restore order and gain the confidence of the people.¡± Duchess Veronica was passionate in her speech, but Castile did not seem swayed. Neither did Delmar or Adrian. Most of thepany was too busy eating to be paying close attention now, the tter of knives and forks covering the conversation at our end of the table. I was slowly cutting my meat but listening intently. ¡°You are trying to lure my legionaries away from me?¡± Castile asked with some hostility. ¡°Not really. I just ask that you take every request I send to the capital and work for me,¡± the Duchess smiled with a grin. Adrian swallowed a bit, ¡°Company mages only work for the Emperor. You can only contract a mage after they finish their service. And you had Castile¡¯s service extended by ten years.¡± Castile answered for the Duchess, ¡°Duchess Veronicacks the funds to hire a mage. Instead, she wants me to work all her petitions to the Emperor that require a magepany.¡± I looked at the faces around me, and it felt like they were ying poker. I only vaguely understood the process. Assignments for magepanies were generated through the Legatus Legionis office. These assignments were generated by processing requests from First Citizens and other bureaucratic branches of the Empire. The mages in charge of thepanies could then cherry-pick assignments. If a magepany was not busy, then it could have an assignment issued to them by the Legatus Legonis Office. Castile was never idle, always going from one job to the next. The Legatus Legonis had forced her to take the assignment to defend Macha through the machinations of Duke Octavius. The young Duchess was calm, ¡°With your funds being cut off, you need a sponsor Castile, or your legionaries will umte debt recing equipment. I will support them,¡± she offered magnanimously. I probably should not have intervened in the negotiations, but I asked anyway, ¡°How does Duke Octavian have his own legionaries? Are they part of a magepany, or did they finish their service and were hired by him?¡± All eyes turned to me, and Adrian answered, ¡°Only First Citizens can maintain their own force of legionaries. They are required to pay for their equipment and pay twice their sry to the Empire. The Empire then pays their regr sry to them. Just another way for the Empire to fill its coffers.¡± ¡°So not only does the Empire not have to maintain them, but the Empire is paid their annual sry? Like a rental fee?¡± I confirmed. Duchess Veronica interjected, ¡°Yes. The legionnaire must voluntarily enter the service of First Citizen. For me, a legionnaire would be twenty gold a year paid to the Empire. They receive one gold a month from the Legion Hall.¡± ze, who was two seats, gasped, ¡°Ten gold a year? That is twice what Castile pays us.¡± Veronica smiled as it was clear she had intentionally spoken loud enough to be heard over the silverware. ¡°So this was all a setup to steal my men?¡± Castile said coldly. ¡°I want you to think of this as a partnership, Castile. I can not afford to steal your legionaries from you. My finances are such that just maintaining this Citadel takes all my resources. The two hundred soldiers on mynd are poorly trained and poorly equipped. I need you just as much as you need me,¡± the Duchess smiled catingly. Castile considered for a long moment and cut and ate a piece of her steak. She moved the steak aside and went for the potatoes, which appeared grilled. She seemed to like the potatoes and ate them one after another, thinking. She finally asked, ¡°How will you make certain that your requests are epted, and I can choose them?¡± The Duchess smiled, seeing her fish almost caught, ¡°I have a friend in the receiving office. When a message sending is received from me, she will expedite the request, generate an assignment, and attach yourpany to it at posting. All dukal-level requests that are made are always converted into assignments. I am not the only Duke who has used this loophole.¡± ¡°What if the Emperor calls for war? Then all magepanies need to report for wartime assignments,¡± Adrian asked, his te empty. ¡°With Macha and the weather elemental assault, things are escting.¡± ¡°I can not see into the future¡ªAdrian,¡± she apparently had done some research to know his name. I wondered if she knew mine. The Duchess continued, ¡°But a Pronouncement of War is unlikely. Even if we invaded the Esenhem Kingdom of the elves, the Emperor would not formally dere war. The political ripples would be too much, and there are not enough citizens to draft without affecting production.¡± ¡°Can you keep Duke Octavian from interfering in your scheme?¡± Castile queried seriously. I could sense Castile was weighing her options. ¡°Nothing is ever certain. But I believe my agent to be trustworthy,¡± the Duchess was having trouble holding back her smile. It was obvious that Castile was strongly considering her offer. Delmar broke into the discussion, ¡°What kind of support are you offering? Potions?¡± The Duchess shook her head no, ¡°I can not afford potions. But I do have a healing mage in my city. An old man with a powerful healing spell form, just very little aether. He is contracted to me and will do all your healing withoutpensation required.¡± Castile seemed to consider, ¡°Not good enough. You will need to hire an alchemist. We need at least lower-tier potions when we are out on assignment. I can not cast healing spells.¡± The Duchess winced, ¡°Finding an alchemist toe here and set him up would cost hundreds of gold.¡± Seeing this was a sticking point, the Duchess nodded, ¡°A first-order alchemist then. Give me a month to procure his services, though. I will find the coin.¡± ¡°I think we cane to an agreement then,¡± Castile nodded as the next course¡ªsome type of fish¡ªwas brought out to the delight of the men. The two women began to cement their new partnership. Chapter 80 Chapter 80 The next course was thinly sliced sugar beets, baked on top of dense pasta in a cheesy but oily sauce. It added a sweetness and crunch to the Roman mac¡¯n¡¯cheese. It was also going to turn my pee redter on. The pasta was heavy, but it was the best thing served tonight. A few men further down the table were getting louder, drunk on the wine, but no one at the head of the table held them in check. As the rest of dinner proceeded, I had a front-row seat to final negotiations with Castile and Dunchess Veronica. The biggest hurdle seemed to be what requests the Duchess would submit to the Legitus Legonis that Castile¡¯spany would then ept. I listened as I ate, and certain requirements needed to be met. It had to be Empire business, a monster subjugation, a benefit to a First Citizen, or a defense against a foreign power in order to be legitimate. Linking a request for a duke was very loosely regted. When an assignment was epted, the magepany had a certain number of days toplete it. The assignment could bepleted quicker, freeing the magepany. Our current assignment was ted for a maximum of six months due to the distance and work involved. A duke could only have one preferred request active at a time. They would be assessed the Emperor¡¯s tax if they exceeded the one request. Since Duchess Veronica was so tight on coin, she could only make one request at a time. The tax was also applied if a request required more than one magepany toplete it. The discussions basically ended with Castile being able to review the request before it was sent magically to the capital by the message sending spell. There was no dessert, just an alcoholic heavy cream drink. I could smell the alcoholing off it as I brought it to my mouth. I had barely touched my wine but quickly drank the creamy alcoholic milk but did not feel the expected buzz. I guess I would need to work harder in the future to ovee my enhanced constitution. The Duchess stood, pped her hands, and twenty-four servants, all dressed in her dark green house colors, arrived. ¡°The servants will take you to your rooms. You should all have baths waiting for you!¡± There was a scramble as a few of the servants were young women. Castile barked, ¡°Hold legionaries!¡± And the men stumbled as many were drunk. She turned to Adrian, ¡°Adrian assign each man to a servant, and if I hear of any impropriety or abuse, I will handle the discipline myself.¡± Castile left with the first middle-aged man in the row. The waiting servants had also all clearly heard Castile¡¯s pronouncement. Adrian started pointing at the servants one at a time, and they stepped forward, and he would call a name. The first servant he pointed at was a graying older man, and Firth was assigned to him. There were snickers from the men as everyone knew his propensity to visit brothels. I still believe he mostly visited brothels in his capacity to work for the Praetorian Guard. Firth grunted nonmittedly as he followed his man out. That was how it went. One after the other, and I waited and waited. Finally, it was just me, Konstantin, Adrian, and Delmar. The four remaining servants were all young women. That sneaky bastard! Delmar spoke, ¡°Konstantin, after you clean up, I want you and Eryk to scout the city and surrounding terrain.¡± My jaw hung open. I guessed, as a scout, I was going to have to get used to getting less rest than the others. ¡°You two,¡± Adrian pointed, ¡°Take these men to adjacent rooms if possible.¡± We followed the two women in green dresses out of the hall. As we walked, I noticed that although the Citadel had lots of ss, there were not many decorations. Some walls looked like they had square fading, so maybe a picture had once been there. Missing furniture in the wide hallways was marked on the floor by their outlines in the floor where they once stood. We ascended wide white marble steps following our two guides. Both had light brown hair held back in a bun. The green uniform dresses were baggy, so you could not tell their figure from behind. We climbed to the third floor and were brought down a wing, ¡°This is the guest wing. Each apartment is fully furnished, and we will be avable to call on at any time.¡± She paused at arge, deep blue door that I recognized as tace wood from Tsinga. ¡°Ah, tace wood from Tsinga,¡± I said aloud, stroking the door. I was doing this for Konstantin¡¯s benefit as well as to show off my knowledge to our escorts. Konstantin was unimpressed, ¡°You can have this room, Eryk.¡± Konstantin moved to the next door with the other servant woman. The servant opened the wide door and waited for me to enter. The room was massive, and the walls and floor were the white marble that I assumed was quarried nearby. ¡°This is my chamber,¡± the woman motioned to a door to the right. ¡°It is where you can find me if you need anything. If you follow me, I can show you to the bath.¡± I paused to take in the room before following. A massive bed dominated the wall to the left, and a single nightstand was adjacent. A floor-to-ceiling window nearly ten feet wide dominated the far wall. We were on the backside of the Citadel as the windows looked down onto gardens and a forest beyond. A bar ran in the ceiling over the window, but the curtains were apparently missing. I stepped to catch up with the servant. ¡°Thank you, what is your name?¡± I said as she walked around the corner. The young woman turned, ¡°Lareen, legionnaire.¡± She paused, ¡°May I have yours as well?¡± ¡°Eryk, Konstantin mentioned it in the hallway,¡± I said, disappointed she did not remember. She smiled at my disappointment, ¡°I was unsure if it was your name or a term of derision based on his countenance.¡± I think she just talked down to me, but I was not sure. I guess I was supposed to be the brutish, uneducated legionnaire. She paused at a narrow door, ¡°This is thetrine. Once you use it, call for me, and I will empty it.¡± I nodded but nned to shit in the woods when I went out scouting with Konstantin. The next room was the private bath. A tub was recessed into the floor. A long wooden table ran along one wall, and a high window gave the chamber light. It was big enough for two¡ªor three people. ¡°I thought you did not have an aqueduct? They carried all this water up here?¡± Lareen looked at me, ¡°Ten boys haul buckets up to the top of the Citadel all day. There is a cistern up there.¡± She walked to a spigot near the tub. ¡°A servant heats the first pipeing off the cistern and gives us the hot water. Your water will just be warm as we had so many tubs to fill.¡± ¡°I will clean your clothes for you, Eryk, while you bathe.¡± Lareen waited patiently, and I stripped off all my gear and clothes. She started sorting the items. I settled into the tub, and it was barely even warm. Well, it was water, and I had an assortment of scrubbing devices on the floor near the tub. I took the soap and an abrasive sponge. I washed my hair first and then worked my way down. I thought Lareen would have left as I was ignoring her per Castile¡¯s orders. She was still working and always turned away quickly when I looked at her. I sat down in the tub and scrubbed away the four days of road dirt. The soap had a floral scent I could not ce. Loreen had ced my pack and all my gear on a table in therge bathing room and finally left. The only problem was there were no towels or clothes to change into. I rinsed off and stood. The bathroom door had a lock on it, and I closed andtched it. I pulled out my clothes and dressed in my nicer clothes. I knew Loreen was going to take at least an hour to wash those clothes. I was in a private space and was not going to be disturbed. I decided to take out the dead elf scout from when we escaped Macha. I would use the collector on him and see if it preserved him for using the device. I was nervous as I did so, and the body appeared on the floor. The elf looked so young, like a teenager. I removed his bow and quiver with eleven arrows. His bow wasyers of wood and much longer than the legion short bows. The arrows were longer, too, so I was not sure about using them interchangeably with a legion bow. I ced the collector on his chest and activated it, waiting anxiously. The blue wisps were drawn into the collector, and an essence was formed! It actually had worked. The elf was eigth or nine days dead, and he still gave an essence. It was a pearly pink and the size of a major essence. It took me a moment to remember light pink was for the empathy attribute. That was my lowest attribute. I did not hesitate and dropped it in my mouth. The dissolving ball seemed to have a lemony taste that traveled into my brain. Can you even taste lemon in your brain? Before I could dwell on it, the sour sensation faded. After assimting the essence of empathy, I felt slightly off, like I was not quite myself. I was kneeling on the floor and noticed a blood trailing from the elf¡¯s body. Shit. Of course, I had stabbed him in the chest to kill him, and he had been preserved fresh. I would have time to clean up the blood after I stripped the body and ced it back in my space. The body was still warm but pushed past my difort. I pulled off his small satchel. It was like a small backpack and had numerous items inside. There was a pouch with steel arrowheads and fine wire wrap. I guessed he repaired or even made his own arrows. There was a bag of tightly wrapped food. A roll of thinting. Maybe it was to catch birds to take their feathers for arrows? A small kit of knives with a sharpening stone. A few blood stains on the kit made me think this was for dressing a game animal. So, this elf was a hunter. A pouch of salt. A white shirt rolled tight. The final item was a fire starter kit. I put everything back in the satchel and ced it with the bow in my dimensional space. I took his belt off, and it had a knife and a long sword. I checked the des, and there did not appear to be any markings, making them runic weapons. The craftsmanship looked average to my untrained eye. I searched his jacket and found a pocket on the inside. A bag with some powder¡ªthe color and consistency looked like the mycoid powder Konstantin had given me. There were no healing potions at all on him. He had an old, tarnished silver chain around his neck. It was intricate, and I was not certain if I should take it. In the end, I did and ced it with the other items in storage. The elf looked to be more of a hunter than an army scout. Maybe a civilian recruit to the Bartiradian army or a volunteer woodsman. I moved the elf back to. I removed my clothes, not wanting them to get dirty. Then, I began to clean up the congealing blood with the spare shirt from the elf¡¯s satchel. I drained the bath as it was a simple plug in the bottom and then used the water from the spigot to clean. I even wiped down the tub, as it had ayer of dirty soap scum on it. With the tub cleaned, I quickly used the cold water to rinse my body again before dressing. I guessed whoever heated the water pipe was off duty now. I checked the cleaned bath and nodded. I unbarred the door and went to the only mirror in the room. I looked a little ragged with a few days of facial growth. I crashed on the bed and waited for either Konstantin to drag me out or for Lareen to return with my cleaned clothes. The bed sucked me as it was too fluffy for my taste. I could smell the feathers inside the mattress. I preferred the smell of my griffin-down pillow, so I removed it from my space, ced it under my head, and quickly fell asleep. Chapter 81: Willpower Chapter 81: Willpower Chapter 81 ¡°He looks like he is having a good dream,¡± a familiar voice broke my light sleep. ¡°I was till you came in my room without knocking,¡± I grumbled and opened my eyes to see Konstantin standing over my bed, his young servant at his side. He tossed some clothes at me, and theynded heavily on my stomach. ¡°Put those on. We will go and explore inmoner garb. Your fancy clothes will bring too much attention to us,¡± Komstantin advised. He addressed his servant, who had a pained look I know is all too familiar. ¡°You can go. I will return to my room in a few hours.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t have any other clothes,¡± I said while rolling out of bed with the bundle of clothes in my hands. ¡°While you have been napping, Eryk, I have walked this Citadel. It is one of the oldest I have ever seen. Dozens of additions over the centuries. It was probably a capital of some relic Empire before the First Legion,¡± Konstantin sounded a little excited. He then looked me seriously in the eye, ¡°You should always familiarize yourself with your environment before you rest. What if the ce burned down? Where should you go?¡± ¡°A fire escape n? But isn¡¯t this entire building stone? Seems unlikely,¡± Imented while changing. ¡°The First Emperor was killed when an entire wing of the pce was turned into molten rock by a massive ritual, Eryk,¡± Konstantin said while walking through my room,doing an inspection. He even ducked into therge firece, expecting there might be something hidden up there. When he came out, he had a ck soot mark on his cheek and forehead. I just hoped he didn¡¯t use the mirror and walked around with it. He went to the massive window and looked out in the gardens. The sun was setting, and I realized we might be caught in the woods tonight. ¡°What are we looking for on our trip around the area? Is this like the time you made me walk around the city of Macha?¡± I asked, pulling on my boots.¡°Exactly!¡± He had seen his reflection in the window and was rubbing the soot out; so much for embarrassing him. ¡°As a scout for thepany, our job is to know the best ways to retreat from danger. This ce,¡± he spun, indicating the Citadel, ¡°is a trophy castle. It looks beautiful, but,¡± he tapped the ss behind him, ¡°is terribly indefensible. I would bet arge gold that each addition to this pce added a few secret passages.¡± So that was what Konstantin had been looking for in the firece, a secret passage. Konstantin walked to the door, and I followed him. We took a narrow stair at the end of the hallway. A servant stair brought us to a storage room outside the kitchen. Some cooks looked mildly interested as we passed through their work area. Konstantin grabbed a loaf of bread, and I did likewise, as it was warm. When we were out of sight, my bread went to my storage for ater snack. We exited into a courtyard, and Konstantin moved quickly to the wall. Far across this back courtyard were the stables¡ªhorses mixed with milk cows and, I think, a few goats. I did not have time to determine if the Duchess maintained any heavy horses for a cavalry. With only two hundred soldiers under hermand, it seemed unlikely. At the wall was a passage guarded by two men in the Duchess¡¯s dark green livery. One was young, a teenager with greasy ck hair, and the other was much older, with almostpletely white hair and a pot belly. They did not stop us as we exited through the passage they guarded in the wall. On the other side were two more of the duchess¡¯ guards, both middle-aged men. One yawned as we passed, and the other looked us up and down before looking out into the city. As we entered the streets, Konstantin asked, ¡°Impressions?¡± I had been waiting for his question, ¡°They do not bathe regrly.¡± Konstantin gave a sour expression at my joke. ¡°Fine, the guards on the outer wall were the morepetent. Or at least look morepetent. The inner wall was azy veteran and a new recruit. No one questioned us or asked about our business. We could be assassins leaving after a mission and getting away freely.¡± ¡°Good. I knew you were not a lost cause. What was the dominant hand of the old guard?¡± Konstantin asked. I searched my memory. He had a spear, and his short sword was on his right hip, ¡°Left-handed, his de was on his right.¡± I said after thinking for two steps on the road. ¡°Excellent,¡± Konstantin smiled brightly. It looked wrong on his face. ¡°But you should have also noted the boy was right-handed, and they should have been on opposite sides of the passage.¡± I wanted to chirp that he had not asked me that question, but I held my tongue and nodded. We moved among the wooden structures, ¡°Now we are going to walk through town and see how well they are patrolling the streets. Crime is rampant in the city, cutting the Duchess¡¯ taxes.¡± We walked the streets and found patrols taking food from vendors without paying. Responding slowly to requests for help. Taking long breaks in alleys¡ªsometimes napping. A few guards were even in iplete uniforms. When it waspletely dark, Konstantin had me follow him outside the city to circle the Citadel¡¯s walls. I asked, ¡°It would only take a hundred trained men to take this city. Why has it not happened?¡± Konstantin looked behind us, ¡°It is on a main road in the center of the Empire. There are probablypanies of regrs that pass through weekly. Also, if the city was threatened, the Emperor would send a dozen magepanies and two thousand regrs through a portal in a nearby city. It would only take half a day for them to arrive. The Duchess, however, is responsible for keeping her city in order and has not been doing a great job.¡± The blue moon seemedrger tonight, and I looked up at it and quickly looked away before Konstantin could berate me for ruining my night vision. We moved through the woods, and Konstantin stopped constantly to examine nts on the ground. After the twentieth time, I asked, ¡°What are we looking for?¡± ¡°Common alchemy ingredients for healing ointments and simple healing potions,¡± Konstantin informed me while kneeling on the ground. ¡°You are an alchemist!?¡± I eximed, extremely surprised. ¡°Gods, mercy, no. I would never have the patience to spend an entire day purifying ingredients,bining them in exact proportions, and then activating them with a touch of aether. However, I do know the basic ingredients, and Delmar asked me to look. When it is light out, I will show you them and how to harvest them. We need to make more use of your dimensional space. Most ingredients need to be fresh, so you are an asset for that.¡± Konstantin studied some red-brown grass before getting up. ¡°So everything an alchemist needs will be out here?¡± I looked into the graying woods. ¡°Maybe for the healing ointment. It only needs a base and two aetheric binding agents that aremon. The simple healing potion requires honey from specific flowers that giant bees harvest. That will have to be imported from the south. Finding a trader should not be difficult.¡± We circled wide into the woods, and Konstantin found numerous well-trodden paths in the blue-lit woods. He did not want to use the glow stones because the moon was bright enough. He guessed the paths were from hunters from the city or woodsmen living in the wilds bringing their game in for sale in the city. I made sure to relieve myself in the woods so Lareen would not have to clean the chamber pot. Even with looking down all the time, Konstantin still pointed out numerous animals as we moved. We returned to the city and the Citadel well past midnight. The two guards outside the passage entry halted us. Konstantin patiently exined who we were and our purpose outside the gate. One of the inner passageway guards was summoned and ran to confirm with their captain. At least this seemed more secure. The runner returned, and we were allowed in. I could tell Konstantin was not happy the captain did note to see for himself. At the kitchen entrance, Konstantin turned to a hallway on the first floor and left me without a word. Was this another test? I was heading to my apartment and getting some sleep. He could report our findings on his own. Besides, he had done very little talking after we left the city. The stairs were dark, so I used my glowstone and found the correct door to my room shortly after. I opened the door and found a small fire in the massive firece. On the massive bed were all my clothes, cleaned and dry. My armor was neatly ced on the floor, with my pack at the foot of the bed. I kicked off my clothes, stripping to just my my trousers, and fell into the bed face down, pulling my griffin pillow to me. The sound of a door click had me roll over. I was expecting it was Konstantining to say I did something wrong. It was Lareening out of her small room. I pulled the glowstone to see her, and she had on just a long shirt¡ªa nightgown. She spoke, ¡°Your clothes are clean.¡± She walked forward to point at the arrangement on the bed. Her oversized green dress gone, I could see her more clearly. She had her light brown hair down and looked more attractive than I had expected. It was hard to tell someone¡¯s age because everyone was so much shorter than I was ustomed to. Lareen was barely five foot three. I nned to follow Castile¡¯s orders anyway and shook my head, clearing my impure thoughts. ¡°Thank you, I would like to get some sleep,¡± I muttered and rolled over. I was sure if Konstantin was here, he would yell at me for turning my back to a potential assant. Her soft voice came back, ¡°Do you need anything to drink or eat, Eryk?¡± I rolled back over to look at her. She had taken a step forward. ¡°I am fine; just wake me for breakfast.¡± I waited, and she stood there and didn¡¯t move. She looked expectantly at me. I came up with a dozen excuses to ignore her, the chief being I did not want to anger Castile. ¡°Anything else?¡± I asked, ready to reject her. She bit her lower lip, ¡°Did you clean the tub? I mean, I know you did, but why?¡± ¡°Oh, that. Yeah, I took the bath, so it made sense that I was the one to clean up,¡± I immediately regretted saying that, as I did not want to have to clean up after myself. I added, ¡°I am not used to having a servant. I will make sure to leave my mess behind from now on so you have something to do.¡± She smiled a little at my remarks. ¡°Well, you only did an adequate job anyway. I had to clean it again,¡± she said, grinning and taking another step toward the bed. Her features became clearer, and her nearness roused me. I did not want to show her my body was betraying me, so I said, ¡°Thank you. Sleep well tonight, and wake me for breakfast.¡± I rolled away from her and had to wait five minutes before I heard her door shut. If she had pressed further, I might have caved like a sand castle to a wave. It seemed inevitable if she was going to be persistent every night, and we were staying here for months. I needed to focus on something else. I pulled out my amulet and wore it. I needed some sleep, but I think I was close to my spell form. I entered the dreamscape and was immediately greeted by an excited Oscar. I shoulde here just for puppy therapy. The chair was still present, and I rxed with the spell-form book and started studying. About four hourster, I felt it lock into ce. I rushed out of the dungeon entrance, exiting the dreamscape, to go and try out my new spell form. Chapter 82: A Walk in the Woods Chapter 82: A Walk in the Woods Chapter 82 My room was still dark and quiet when I opened my eyes, and I brought out my glow stone. I quietly moved into the bathing room and barred the door. A strong, lemony scent was hanging in the room from Lareen¡¯s cleaning. Was the Empire aware of disinfectants? With magic, they probably knew about bacteria, maybe even viruses. I took out two more glowstones for added light. I held out my hand and searched for the new spell form on my aether core. It took a moment, and I found it and pushed aether through it. A low pop sound, like someone clicking their tongue with their mouth closed, rang softly in the room. A disc of blurry blue air appeared in front of me. I guess Castile was wrong about it being invisible. The disc was a yard across and a hand width in thickness. That was all the measurements I could take before the disc ofpressed air vanished without a sound. I created the next disc and oriented it parallel to the ground. I counted this time and waited. It was roughly twelve seconds before whatever held the disc together lost cohesion. I tested this twice more and rotated the disc each time as I pushed aether through the spell form. The time the disc remained the same size each time. I was casting the disc through my hand and could ce it in any orientation from my hand with a thought. I could not change the disc shape at all, though. I then tried casting two discs at once. There were no issues, as it was anchored and independent once the disc was cast. One thing I could not do was dismiss the disc after it was cast. I had to wait for it to expire. In my estimation, each disc was taking a little over a unit of aether to cast, draining my small aether pool, but I needed to figure out the utility of thepressed air barrier. I pulled out a short sword and attacked the disc. Hitting the disc was like striking dense rubber. The sword stopped and rebounded very slightly. It took three full-force swings to break the disc before the twelve seconds expired. With less enthusiastic swings, it took five or even six hacks to break the disc. Next, I tried a spear. I took a running start with a spear and tried to pierce it. The disc held, and I was impressed. The tip had stopped abruptly, and it was a little jarring, and I had to heal a sprain to my wrist. Two rushing attacks using my body weight did manage to break the spell form, as my second attack was only slowed momentarily. All my experiments had drained my aether, so I sat and waited, thinking of other tests I could do. My next test was for an arrow. The arrow actually stuck into the wind barrier, looking like it was suspended in the air. I fired four more arrows quickly before the time psed, and the fifth broke the disc, and they all ttered to the floor. The disc could take a certain amount of disruption before failing. I waited again for enough aether to cast a disc a foot off the ground. Then I stepped up onto it. It held my weight andsted the entire twelve seconds. This would look amazing if someone did not know I was using magic. After another long wait, I tried to cast the disc from my foot instead of my hand. It was disorienting, like trying to write words upside down, but it worked. I had been worried about wearing boots, but the disc still manifested. I assumed it meant I could wear gloves as well and still create the wind barrier. This spell form had a lot of utility, and although it was not quite as Castile had advertised, I was quite happy with my choice. I opened the bathroom door to find Lareen standing there in her nightgown. I was only wearing my trousers and boots. There was an awkward pause that I filled, ¡°I was doing my morning training.¡± I had been grunting and making a fair amount of noise in the bathroom. Her eyes narrowed slightly in skepticism, but she nodded and went about her duties, checking thetrine first, which was empty. I still had an aversion to someone cleaning up my shit for me. ¡°Breakfast will be in one hour,¡± she announced. ¡°If you will allow me, I wish to change for the day.¡± ¡°Dismissed,¡± I said uncertainly, and she nodded and left. I dressed myself as well. I was eager to tell Castile of my sess with the spell form. Lareen came out in the same bulky dark green dress, hiding her figure. I followed her to the dining room. About half thepany was already here trying to eat as much as possible. I took the same seat I held at dinnerst night and found Lareen bringing me a ss and a te of food. The te had a portion of oatmeal blended with chunks of dried fruit and nuts. The rest of the te had something like French toast with no sweetness to it. Just eggs soaked into bread and then baked down the table, ording to Kolm, exining the crunchy bread. My ss was a very weak ale, probably watered down. Lareen asked me three times if there was anything else I wanted from the kitchen. I asked for bacon but just got fried ham steaks. Maybe they did not cure and smoke bacon. I did not know the process, but it could not be too difficult. Castile, Delmar, and Adrian arrived as I was eating my third ham steak. The Duchess was not at breakfast. Castile sat beside me, and I leaned into her, ¡°I imprinted the spell formst night.¡± Castile nodded but did not show the excitement I had expected or the praise I was hoping for. I retreated back to my te and ate the rest of my ham steak. It was not long before the entirepany was eating. The Duchess did not show up to breakfast, and Adrian and Delmar had their own private conversation across the table. Castile ate the oatmeal and cut up some apples for her breakfast, ignoring the egg-baked bread. Adrian spoke to Castile, ¡°I think we are ready.¡± Castile nodded, and Adrian stood. The table went silent as Adrian usually gave assignments. ¡°Well, it appears the Duchess is spoiling you men. Personal servants, anything you want for breakfast, individual rooms. We can not have you getting soft. We are going to be here for months,¡± cheers broke Adrian¡¯s nned speech, and he waited for it to die down. ¡°We have numerous tasks to getpleted, including digging and cing eighty miles of markers.¡± Everyone was silent. ¡°We are also going to be training the province soldiers up to our standards,¡± some boos rang down, and Adrian grinned. Legionnaires thought themselves superior to the regr army, city guard, and provincial soldiers. Adrian waited for everyone to calm down, ¡°Delmar, Brutus, Kolm, ze, and I will be staying in the Citadel to work with the soldiers.¡± Boos echoed in the dining room as our two leaders took a job in this castle¡¯sfort. He held up his hand, ¡°Just to teach them discipline how to do their jobs. You will eventually be training them with the spear and,ter, the sword so they don¡¯t identally stab themselves. We will rotate men to supervise the training.¡± ¡°Konstantin and Eryk are going to scout thends around the Sobral city for the next two weeks,¡± I audibly groaned. And some men chuckled at my misfortune. Konstantin was wearing a grin. ¡°Castile and Felix will be working with the Duchess.¡± A surprised Felix spit a little of his beer. ¡°Everyone else will start on the markers by the road east of here. Two men from the Duchess and one agent from the Imperial Surveyors will supervise you.¡± Wyliemented, ¡°Why not just have the plebians dig the holes? We can guard them while they do it.¡± Castile stood, ¡°We could have them do it and finish in a month. Or we can do the work ourselves and finish in five months.¡± Benito asked, confusion in his voice, ¡°So, isn¡¯t one month better?¡± ¡°Idiot!¡± Firth muttered, understanding the implications. ¡°We get to make use of the Duchess¡¯ hospitality for that much longer.¡± Benito¡¯s eyes went wide, ¡°I don¡¯t mind digging a few holes if we get to eat like this at every meal.¡± Everyoneughed, but one or two of the others had been thinking the same as Benito. Adrian finished, ¡°You all will be leaving in an hour. Kolm to me.¡± The men shoveled food into their mouths before leaving. Kolm was called over and sent out on a mission to find a leather worker to rece the missing pieces of armor among thepany men. I sipped my ale and stared down the table at Konstantin, who stared back with a grin. Castile stood and ordered, ¡°Tell Konstantin of your new spell form, Eryk. He will help make it viable inbat.¡± Then she was gone with a perplexed Felix in tow. Konstantin soon stood over me, saying, ¡°Let us go Eryk and get some camping gear. Make sure your storage space is empty. I will want to fill it with flora for the future alchemist.¡± I went to my room to pack my backpack with the standard legion gear. Lareen was standing by, waiting to assist, but I did not have anything for her to do. ¡°Will you be gone long?¡± she asked as I finished. ¡°As long as Konstantin wants, I guess. I was told two weeks,¡± I told the young servant. She seemed disappointed as I left and met Konstantin in the courtyard. We circled out to the woonds, and I asked, ¡°Konstantin, is this safe? Just the two of us?¡± ¡°We will not go more than five miles from Sobral. Take the opportunity to learn as much as you can and getfortable in the woonds on your own. I will teach you to spot the serious dangers that should be avoided,¡± he said confidently. ¡°And what if we don¡¯t avoid them?¡± I asked skeptically. ¡°We see which of us is the faster runner,¡± heughed aloud at his joke. That did not make me feel any better about this training¡ªor the fact Konstantinughed, he neverughed. We walked for a time before I revealed my secret, ¡°Castile told me to let you know I have a new spell form.¡± ¡°Perfect! She told me you were working on something. What is it?¡± he asked, looking at me as we walked. I created a barrier directly in front of him and had the satisfaction of him walking into it and falling t on his ass. I just kept walking, smiling as I heard him scramble quickly to his feet. He spent time inspecting the air shield behind me. I had to slow my steps and wait for him to catch up. I was thinking what horrible things he would do to me, but I decided it had been worth it. ¡°Well, that is useful! Have you tested it?¡± Konstantin asked, intrigued and not angry. I nodded, ¡°Well. I am certain I cane up with some things you have not tried yet.¡± I suddenly got the feeling the testing was not going to be pleasant. The mission was just as Konstantin had said. We were out to get her flora. I was taught how to harvest a number of ingredients. Blood grass needed to be taken out slowly by the root. Blood grass was verymon. Mandrake was not as easy. It needed to be dug up and was like a hairy carrot. Borage was a bush with red fruiting berries. The berries were the easiest thing we collected all day. The fresher they were, the more potent they would be for an alchemist. Draffe was a pink flower and hard to find. Fireleaves was another pink flower that we found. Unfortunately, it was eaten by bugs. Konstantin said it was not used in healing brews but extremely valuable on its own since it was hard to find, and bugs consumed it almost immediately after bloom. One of these small flowering nts was worth almost an entire gold to the right alchemist. Konstantin did not know everything either. I would ask him about a nt here and there, and half the time, his response was, ¡°Don¡¯t know. I suggest you don¡¯t touch it, or put it in your mouth.¡± It was like he was talking down to me like a child. I could tell we were zig-zagging as we moved away from Sobral. As we stopped for lunch, I asked, ¡°How long are we going to be out here?¡± ¡°Until you fill up your space, Eryk,¡± Konstantin muttered through chewing on a sugar weed. ¡°Castile wants you ready to impress whatever alchemist the Duchess can find. The Duchess was right; any decent alchemist is not going to want toe to this backwater city.¡± We spent the rest of the day working on developing my herbalism talent. We were focused on seven nts that Konstantin knew could be used for making curatives. He also had us collect a few that he knew were rare but was not certain of their uses. My arms were scratched, and my nails clogged with dirt from the day¡¯s work, but the knowledge was rewarding. The box I kept for legion goods in my storage was already more than half full. It would not take long tomorrow to fill it. The night was setting in, and we had ventured far from the worn paths. Konstantin had us stop, ¡°We will not train tonight. There is no one to guard us. We are going to sleep in that tree,¡± he pointed at an old gnarled tree with a massive dark green canopy. I was happy when he pulled out a rope and looped it over a branch twenty feet up. ¡°Sleeping in a tree means you can not run, but if you are alone and in a dangerous country, it is the best way to get sleep on the run.¡± We climbed the tree and secured ourselves with rope at ny degrees to each other on different branches. Konstantin smirked, ¡°This will be the worst night of rest you have ever gotten. Every time an animal passes underneath us, I want you to tap my shoulder and point it out.¡± ¡°How am I supposed to get any sleep?¡± I asked as night was settling. ¡°You are not,¡± he heaved a chuckle. He was chewing on his ration bar and sprinkling some of the mycoid powder below to mask our scent. I was a little upset with his training, so I pulled out the loaf of warm bread I had taken from the kitchen yesterday and began eating. Konstantin was immediately aware of the delectable smell, and I chuckled, ¡°You did tell me to empty my dimensional space.¡± I ate the entire loaf slowly and happily. I was certain I would pay for not sharing tomorrow¡ªbut it was worth it. Chapter 83: The Sisters Chapter 83: The Sisters Chapter 83 I was miserable most of the night. My back ached, and my legs kept falling asleep on the thick branch. The rope also dug into my ribs when I drifted off and did not maintain my bnce. The nocturnal animals that passed under us were a constant parade. I pointed them out, roon, a pair of foxes, a giant beetle, and four giant weasels. The weasels had Konstantin on edge and had us remain still until they passed well out of sight. Their long,nky bodies were seven to ten feet long. After being sure they had passed, he said, ¡°Giant weasels are not to be taken lightly. They must have a den around here and are probably the apex hunters in the area. I am guessing that was two parents and two young ones. If they caught you alone, they would each grab you and tear your body apart.¡± As if prophetic a pitiful cry of an elk or deer could be heard a distance away. It was quickly silenced. Konstantin listened and waited for a while before continuing in a whisper, ¡°Their coats are extremely valuable to the right buyer, and they generally do not attack humans but are a menace to livestock. Their saliva is also deadly as it prevents blood from clotting.¡± He finished his lecture, and the rest of the night was quiet. Konstantin assumed the weasels¡¯ scent trail had scared everything else away. As the sun rose, we waited till mid-morning before descending, just in case the weasels werete getting back to their den. I was surprised the weasels had unnerved Konstantin. He admitted, ¡°If I was in a group, I would not be so cautious. But alone against those four fast hunters? No, it would not have gone well.¡± He then hedged his own statement, ¡°Now, if it was just two of the critters. I could have handled that.¡± He put on a crafty smile. We started gathering nts and some mushrooms that sprouted overnight. He pointed out a purple berry, ¡°Winterberry. It¡¯s very sweet, and they keep all winter, hence the name. If you want to have some with your breakfast, just make sure you chew them well and spit out the seeds.¡± I picked a few of the berries, which were hard. I squeezed one too hard, and it burst, covering my hand in a brilliant blue. I tried to wipe it off, but it was like ink and stained my hand. Konstantin looked both amused and disappointed. ¡°I guess this would have stained my teeth,¡± I noted, weary of Konstantin. ¡°And your lips,¡± he smiled. ¡°A little payback for the bread and the introduction of your air barrier. They are nutritious but also make a great dye. Oh, do not look so sour, Eryk! The stain fades after a week or so. Or a simple alchemist solvent would work as well.¡±I grunted, showing my displeasure. We continued on task, but I took careful note of any possible shenanigans from Konstantin. Just before noon, I informed Konstantin, ¡°My dimensional space is full. Should we head back?¡± He arched his eyebrow, seemingly surprised, and nodded. As we walked back, he asked me questions about what I learned about my air shield. When I told him everything I had learned, he responded, ¡°I admit that is one of the more impressive spell forms I have heard of, especially for a legionnaire. The fact it is a spell form means it takes you no time to cast it, unlike a true spell. It will serve as a barrier against most mage-ranged spells and infantry weapons. And you can ovep them! If it didn¡¯t have such a short duration, you would be unstoppable inbat. Show it to me again.¡± We paused in our walking, and I set the shield at eye level. Konstantin felt the air and moved slowly around it. ¡°Remarkable. And you can stand on it?¡± I cast another one two feet off the ground and hopped up. I jumped up and down like a kid on a bed. There was a very small spring effect. Konstantin asked, ¡°How do you know where to stand?¡± ¡°The air is blurry blue. Wait, you don¡¯t see it?¡± I asked, perplexed. ¡°No, I can feel it and get the shape with my hands, but I see nothing. It is not unusual for mages to be able to cast spells only they can see,¡± Konstsntin motioned for me to cast it again. I did, and he quickly felt it out its shape and climbed on it. He jumped like I did until it ended andnded smoothly on the ground. ¡°Well, we can practice with it. But I also suggest you find out how many in a row you can cast when your aether is full.¡± He drew his short sword. I sensed this was not going to be fun. In the end, it was a lesson filled with many suggestions. Konstantin thought the shield was defensive, offensive, and a great way to confuse an opponent¡¯s movements since only I could see it. Tactics like casting one eye level parallel to the ground tobat rushing opponents. Creating tripping hazards low to the ground. And his favorite was creating a box if I circled an opponent and had the aether to spare. We were sweating heavily, and I was out of aether when Konstantin halted the practice. ¡°You need a lot more practice, but I think you could join the Hounds if you wish.¡± His statement hung in the air. It sounded like a probing question, and I replied after a long pause, ¡°I am fine in Castile¡¯spany. As long as we are not sent to die in a siege again.¡± Konstantin gave a horseugh, ¡°That was a tight one, agreed.¡± He did not mention the Hounds again, ¡°Now, as we head back to the city, I want you to give me three more ways you can use your new air disc outside ofbat.¡± I came up with barring a door, keeping the rain off of me, and using it as a tform to jump higher. Konstantin considered each, ¡°The door is a good idea. I hadn¡¯t thought of that one. The rain shield, not so much, Eryk. It onlysts a dozen heartbeats. It is a waste of your small aether pool. The jumping tform is good, though. Scaling a wall or descending out a window. Keep thinking and experimenting. The best warriors have solutions before the problems present themselves.¡± We entered the city of Sobral, and Konstantin led us to a herbalist shop. ¡°I am going to leave you here to sell your harvest.¡± ¡°I thought we were gathering them for the alchemist the Duchess was hiring?¡± I asked confused. ¡°Oh, you are¡ªjust not this batch. Once you sell them, give the coin to Castile or Adrian for thepany coffers,¡± Konstantin said, waving a hand in the air as he walked away. ¡°How do I know what a fair price is?¡± I barked at his retreating back. ¡°Figure it out,¡± he yelled back and was gone to do his own business. I entered the shop to find two older women at the back, crushing dry herds in a mortar and pestle. I approached them, and they gave my legion armor, a narrow appraisal with their eyes, ¡°What brings you here, legion boy?¡± The other woman eyed me up and down and suggestively said, ¡°Need an ointment for the crotch crickets?¡± The pair were not being malicious; they were just old women talking yfully to the younger generation. ¡°I am here to sell.¡± They had skeptical looks in regard to my appearance¡ªeither from my age or armor. I moved to an open table and dumped the contents on the table from my space. They were suddenly more interested and began sorting through the pile of fungi and flora, mumbling about magic being wasted on the youth. I wandered the shop as they worked, and there were a number of jars of ointments and tinctures and bags of powders. ¡°Are you two young women alchemists?¡± I asked, picking up somethingbeled red aloe and mint oil. The one on the left chortled, ¡°No boy. We might know as much as an alchemist about herbs, but we bothck any control over our aether cores to infuse potions to activate the ingredients. All of our concoctions are non-magical in nature.¡± The other woman added, ¡°But sometimes our products are just as good as an alchemist.¡± They nodded together, and I could see the resemnce. ¡°Are you sisters?¡± I asked, trying to be friendly. ¡°We are, L and my sister Ria, at your service, boy.¡± They nodded in unison. ¡°I am Eryk,¡± I bowed, and the old women giggled at my formality. Ria took over the conversation, ¡°We are willing to purchase these,¡± she indicated half the table. ¡°For twelve silver and 40 copper. These are either too damaged or just not useful to us. These she pointed, and two yellow bundles of flowers and a stack of winterberries have value but not to us.¡± I did not know if their offer was fair, so I tried to haggle, ¡°Twenty, and you tell me what I did wrong in harvesting the damaged ones.¡± L narrowed her eyes, sizing me up, ¡°Sixteen, and we will charge you four silver for an education.¡± Iughed as she had offered me less, ¡°I guess you are not interested.¡± I moved to gather up my harvest. Ria took hold of my wrist softly to stop me, ¡°Sixteen silver, and we will take an hour to talk with you and answer your questions.¡± The next two hours were extremely informative as the two older women liked to talk¡ªand flirt with me. I learned about all the flora and fungi I had harvested, their uses, and their preparation for preservation. They exined what I did wrong in my harvesting, and I now had some ammunition to correct Konstantin. I moved the valuable yellow flowers and berries into my space. I had a list of what the older woman would want in the local woods and what they thought an alchemist would want as well. They had been extremely helpful, and I think they enjoyed talking with me. I left the herbalist with sixteen small silver coins. It was not a bad haul for two days¡¯ work. It was three times what a normal legionnaire would make in a week. I made my way happily back to the Citadel to find Castile. Castile was in the dining room with the Duchess and Felix. Felix was taking notes, and I walked behind him. He had incredible penmanship and was drafting letters for the two women. Castile looked up, waiting. ¡°I made thepany sixteen silver, harvesting in the woods.¡± I ced the coins proudly on the table. She looked up at me and then at the coin, ¡°You can give the coin to Delmar. Did your training with Konstantin go well?¡± ¡°I made significant progress,¡± I replied and rxed as it appeared I was seeking her approval and praise for my efforts and would not get it. ¡°Good. We are sending out letters to alchemists registered with the Empire. Continue to practice your gathering skills. When we get a bite, I will likely send you and Adrian to convince them to relocate to Sobral.¡± Castile exined her n. So that was what Felix was writing. I swept up the small amount of coin and retreated to my room. I had just stripped off my armor when Delmar knocked. He entered, said I had done good work, took the sixteen silver, and left. I turned on the tub water to find it was cold. I knocked on Lareen¡¯s door, but she did not answer. I filled the tub with cold water and took a cold bath. Once clean, I fell asleep on the bed in my trousers. Konstantin had kept me up allst night, and sleeping came easy. Chapter 84: Castile’s Immodesty Chapter 84: Castile¡¯s Immodesty Chapter 84 My dreams started pleasant enough but did not end that way. I was riding a giant weasel into battle. The soft fur and rhythmic ripples on its body beneath me as it ran across the field were powerful, invigorating, and mesmerizing. As we ran through the woods, I saw Konstantin hanging from a tree tangled in rope and trying to extract himself. Iughed at him as I raced past. After seeing Konstantin, things quickly went downhill. I soon found myself fighting a dozen elven archers underneath the aqueduct in Macha. My weasel mount was mewing and squeaked in pain as it was incapacitated with a dozen arrows. I desperately tried erecting an air shield to hold off their assault and cursing as I had not practiced enough and kept cing it in the wrong spot. The archers kept yelling in theirnguage that they wanted theirrade back. Not the elf rider, but the woodsman scout still in my dimensional closet. Then Konstantin was on the aqueduct above me, not to help but to give me directions on how I should be fighting when outnumbered. I tried to run while swearing at Konstantin and took an arrow to the back. I woke in a sweat. Lareen was standing over me at my bedside in her nightshirt. I jerked back in surprise, ¡°Eryk, are you well? Should I get a healer?¡± I cleared my head and wiped the sweat from my face on the sheets, ¡°I am fine.¡± I regained myself quickly, not liking I had been found so vulnerable. The concern on her face was wee, and I suddenly longed to be able to talk with my parents about my problems. I brushed it off and stood on the bed¡¯s other side, away from Lareen. ¡°When is breakfast?¡± ¡°Sunrise is not for three hours. Do you wish for me to bring you something from the kitchens?¡± She asked conciliatoryly. ¡°Please. Can you have them make me an omelet with sharp cheese, diced sausage, and green onion?¡± I asked, yearning for somefort food. Growing up, we had chickens, and my mother made the best omelets. ¡°What is an omelet?¡± She asked, confused. ¡°It is something from my homnd,¡± I replied and then told her how it was made. I dressed and locked myself in the bathroom. I then practiced my sword forms, incorporating my air shields until I ran out of aether. I exited the bathroom expecting to find Lareen with my breakfast, but she had not returned from the kitchens. I started doing some static stretches to rx. I had dated a yoga fanatic and health nut for a short time, and to cate her, I had joined her in the mornings. Back then, I was going through the motions to ensure she would stay the night, and now, it was rxing. Maybe it was more rxing that she was not here constantly correcting me. I was fitter now, and stretching my aching muscles felt good rather than healing them with aether. Lareen entered with a te and pitcher while I was in the cobra pose. She looked at me strangely, then exined herteness. ¡°I am sorry they burned their first attempt, and I made them cook it again.¡± She looked around the room. ¡°Do you want me to bring a table and chair into your room? Will you be taking meals here often?¡± I looked around at the spartan room. ¡°Yes, two chairs and a small table. I will take some meals here, and when I do, I would like you to join me.¡± She smirked a smile briefly and then hid it and nodded happily. I sat on the bed and ate my overcooked omelet. ¡°Next time, tell the cooks to add a cream ssh and whip the eggs together. They cooked this too long, and it is too dry and crunchy.¡± Lareen looked a little upset and blurted, ¡°The first one was burnt¡­I told them to cook it again.¡± I held up my fork, ¡°It is fine. I have had worse.¡± I continued eating while she just stood there. She filled a ss from the pitcher and handed it to to me, taking the empty te. The pitcher had a very weak wine, which I guess could be called grape juice. I started dressing, and Lareen rushed into her room to change into her dress. I was done well before her and was already walking down the hallway. Maybe I could wake Konstantin like he liked to wake me? I paused at two doors across from each other and realized I did not know which was his. Both doors were blue tace wood, so I could not hear anything on the other side. I guessed he would have chosen the room facing the gardens and tried the door handle. It figures that it was locked. Lareen was fixing her hair back as she caught me in the corridor, ¡°Is this Konstantin¡¯s room?¡± She nodded, finishing her hair. ¡°Do you have the key?¡± ¡°No, only the Citadel steward and Marie, the servant assigned to him, do,¡± she said regretfully since she was not able to help. ¡°What about Castile¡¯s room? Can you show me where it is?¡± I asked. ¡°It is in the Duchess¡¯ wing of the Citadel. I can show you,¡± she smiled at being able to help. I followed her down some stairs and into another wing. The hallway had more furnishings, but it was still fairly sparse. She stopped and indicated the door, and I was about to knock when the door swung open. A middle-aged male servant with messy ck hair was standing there. I was not sure who was more shocked, me or him. When he opened the door, the distinct smell of sex hit me as warm air rushed out of the room. Castile was on the bed inside the room, her lower body under covers but naked from the waist up. A modest fire was burning in her firece. There was dead silence as no one moved or spoke. Then Castile, who made no effort to cover her chest, said, ¡°Breakfast, Alder?¡± The servant ran off to the kitchen at the reminder. Castile stood, still naked, and I was too shocked to do anything but stare. Nudity was not a taboo in the Telhian Empire, but it felt wrong. I averted my eyes as soon as she started dressing, ¡°Yes, Eryk. You are here quite early. Sunrise is not for another hour.¡± Her tone held a tinge of mirth at my embarrassment. I think she was showing off her body intentionally. ¡°Sorry. I just¡­I wasn¡¯t sure what I should do today.¡± It soundedme to visit her before dawn just to get orders, so I added, ¡°And thought we could start working on another spell form for me.¡± Castile stopped dressing, still somewhat exposed, and she was hiding a smile at my shyness. Lareen stirred behind me, and I suddenly felt like a child. I looked up and met Castile¡¯s eyes. I just focused on her eyes, nothing else. After a pause and a small smirk, Castile pulled over a blue shirt to cover herselfpletely before speaking, ¡°Not something to be discussed in presentpany. Leave us,¡± she said firmly at Lareen. Lareen scurried away, shutting the door behind her. I was sure the Duchess was going to know I was learning a new spell form before too long and kicked myself for mentioning it. Spell forms were not umon, and Castile was smart not to let the servant know what I was specifically working on. I moved to sit by arge window. The view had the gardens below, and at least Castile had curtains in her room that could be drawn for privacy. A table, covered in stacks of papers, was here. Castile sat across from me and moved the papers, ¡°We are trying to develop revenue streams for the Duchess. Her province does not have much. The only thing we came up with was opening the trade road,¡± she frowned at the idea or ourpany clearing the dire wolves and other dangers. ¡°It would add Sobral as a merchant stop but still not turn the tide of her financial destitution.¡± I sat there quietly, still uneasy about seeing her naked. Castile seemed content to ignore my intrusion and, seeing her naked, and moved the conversation forward, ¡°Eryk, how has your training with your new spell forme?¡± I eagerly created a disc above the table to change the focus and put a stack of papers on it. Castile felt the edges out, and the disc popped before the twelve seconds. My mouth hung open in surprise. Castile smirked, ¡°Counterspell, remember? I just disrupted the aetheric weave holding the air together. It is a good spell form. Can it support your weight?¡± I nodded confidently, ¡°Yes. I can stand on it, and I have been practicing using it inbat with Konstantin¡¯s help.¡± ¡°Good! Find out how much weight it can support. It should be around five hundred pounds, but it depends on the strength of your protection affinity. Are you ready for a time spell form?¡± Castile asked seriously. ¡°Yes, what are my options?¡± I asked, rxing in my chair. Castile smirked and stood with purpose. She went and retrieved a tome from a chest that was locked. She walked the book to me and said, ¡°There are three standard volumes for each spell form for each affinity at the Telhian Mage College. The Duchess has a remarkable library, and all three time affinities are bound into this one rare tome. She is unaware I am borrowing this one, so keep it hidden in your space when not studying.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I pulled the book closer and opened it to an index. My Latin was much improved, and I quickly read off the spell forms.
Time Affinity Lesser Spell Forms Hasten Mind Seize Momentum Echo in Time Compress Sleep Time Affinity Major Spell Forms Hasten Self Slow Aging Age Target Probable Future Time Apex Major Spell Forms Slow Bubble shback Ageless Stasis
Castile exined, ¡°There are more time spell forms out there, but these were the most utilized a hundred years ago when the book was copied. Time is a very rare affinity to have and you are lucky thispendium was in the library. The lesser spell forms are for affinities between ten and twenty-five. The majors are for twenty-five to forty. And the apex forms are from forty to seventy.¡± She did not ask which range I fell into. Based on my protection spell form, she was smart enough deduce that I could at least add a major spell form for the time affinity. There might be something stronger out there for my ny affinity in time, but I could not ess it with this reference book. I paged through for a few moments, and Castile announced, ¡°Learn this on your own, and do not share it with anyone. You should store it before Alder returns with my breakfast.¡± I nodded in understanding, closed the book, and moved it to my dimensional space. There was a brief silence before I intoned, ¡°Thank you for preparing me for¡ªlife after the legion,¡± I hedged. Castile gave a curt nod, but I sensed maybe something else there as well. Maybe she was nning on fleeing the Empire, and I was going to be her escort. I turned the conversation away from the topic of the Empire, ¡°What does Konstantin suspect of me?¡± Castileughed, almost musically, ¡°A young man with too much potential to waste it. He talks about you like you are his own son. He believes you are from some backwater vige on the edge of the Duchy of Tsinga and awed at city life. You are lucky he knows very little of the Duchy. He used to teach the history of the Telhian Empire. Did you know that?¡± ¡°No, he never told me,¡± I said, interested in learning more about the man. ¡°He knows more about the emergence and formation of the Telhian Empire than anyone. He taught a truth that a duke didn¡¯t like about his ancestor and ended up in a cell. He was acquitted at trial, but no one would hire him as a teacher after that. He eventually chose to serve as a legionnaire,¡± Castile exined Konstantin¡¯s fate in three sentences. ¡°Which duke?¡± I asked, thinking it was Octavian, and that was why he supported Castile. Castile was holding back a smile, ¡°Duke Soren. Duke Soren had an ident a few years into Konstantin¡¯s service while he was with the Hounds.¡± I wanted to ask but didn¡¯t need to, as Castile continued. ¡°He passed questioning by the Imperial Truthseekers.¡± Castile¡¯s slight smile told me it did not give her much assurance that Konstantin was not involved somehow. I already knew Konstantin was dangerous, but if he could orchestrate a Dukes¡¯s death, doubly so. A knock came at the door, and Castile allowed her male servant to enter. Alder cleared the table and served Castile a breakfast of sliced fruit with a small side of boiled oats covered in ck syrup. Maybe chocte? He also had a pot of hot mushroom tea. As Castile ate, she gave me orders, ¡°You are to continue gathering herbs outside the city. Konstantin is going to join the men digging the markers. I need him to scout the woods as they move deeper into the forest. Sell what you can in the city, and let me know when the market is saturated. There is some demand, so it should be weeks.¡± ¡°So, I am on my own? No supervision?¡± I also wanted to say there would be no partner if I was attacked. She nodded, and maybe being with Konstantin was not so bad. He was a formidable warrior, and I felt safe under his care. Maybe Castile was seeing if I would try to run. I was given the opportunity, and it was at the forefront of my thoughts at this moment. ¡°Do not travel too far from the city and return before sunset,¡± Castile added, sipping her hot tea with satisfaction. I stood, ¡°Do you want me to give the coin I make to Delmar?¡± Castile arched an eyebrow and thought for a moment. She picked up a sheet that clearly had notes on what I earned from my harvest, ¡°Thirty silver a week. Anything earned beyond that you can keep, Eryk.¡± She held up the sheet, ¡°Your week started yesterday, and the sixteen silver coin counts. Ask the sisters where else you can sell the bounty of the woods in the city.¡± ¡°How did you know about the sisters?¡± I asked, and Castile smirked. I just shook my head and figured she had been checking in on me with her all-seeing-eye. She probably wanted to be sure I was being honest when I turned in the coin. I left Castile¡¯s room and headed back to my room. As I passed Konstantin¡¯s door, he stepped into the hallway. ¡°Eryk, I am only going to be with you for the morning. After, I will be heading to help with the survey markers.¡± ¡°I just talked with Castile, and she told me,¡± Konstantin looked slightly surprised and amused, realizing what time it was. I decided to sway his suspicions, ¡°She was upied with her servant but spent some time talking with me.¡± He immediately understood. ¡°Good, she needed some stress relief. You should do the same.¡± You have to be the tightest-wound legionnaire in thepany. ¡°But Castile said¡­¡± I started to say. Konstantin shook his head, disappointed, ¡°You need to listen to orders more carefully. She said not to force or abuse the servants. If they are willing¡­¡± He paused before continuing, ¡°If you are too bashful or your servant is unwilling, join Firth at the Nasty Nymph. I will be ready after breakfast, and we can review everything I taught in hopes you do not do anything stupid to get yourself killed. It would not please me after all the effort I have gone through in training you.¡± Konstantin walked arrogantly down the hallway, leaving me with a lot to think about. Chapter 85: Goliath Chapter 85: Goliath Chapter 85 Konstantin spent the morning walking with me through the northern woods. ¡°The onlyrge predator tracks were the giant weasels. You should be fine if you stay in my prescribed area.¡± He set some boundaries he thought I should not go past, about four miles from the northern walls of the Citadel. Then he left me. I thought it was a ruse, so I was constantly on high alert, thinking Konstantin may be shadowing me. I started gathering some of the easy-to-find red mushrooms first. They were in season, and the sisters said they bloomed overnight and needed to be harvested within two days. If the gills underneath were ck, they had already released their spores, making them useless. The mushrooms served as the base for the simple healing salve that was used to close wounds. Next, I focused on the blood grass. Not only did I need to make sure to get the roots, but I also needed to not damage the leaves at all, or they were useless. ording to the sisters, they oozed a runny red sap if the leaves were damaged. This sap was stored in the roots and needed to be fresh for the alchemist. Not damaging the roots was tricky, and storing the dirt with the nt was easier. I continued digging, cutting, and harvesting well into the afternoon. I was near one of the well-trodden paths when thergest man I had ever seen was walking toward me with a deer on his shoulders. I stood up from behind a berry bush, and he paused. ¡°Legionnaire,¡± he eventually said in a neutral greeting with a small nod. His voice was deep to go with his massive frame. He stood over seven feet easily, and his gray skin told me he was likely not human. He slowly scanned the woods around him, looking for others. He did not pose as threatening. I cautiously nodded in greeting, ¡°My name is Eryk, and I am out here harvesting herbs and shrooms.¡± His eyebrow arched, while his crystal green eyes quickly observed that I had nothing to carry them in. I reached down behind a bush, and he tensed. I pulled the entire crate from my dimensional space, revealed it, and tilted it toward him to show the contents. He nodded slowly and dropped the deer on the ground with a thud. He wore mostly medium-brown leather clothing. He had a stained club at his waist and a quiver with six thick arrows. Arge unstrung bow was on his back. ¡°I mean no harm, legionnaire, unless you intend harm to me. I am retrieving my writ to hunt and trade.¡± His deep voice echoed in the woods. I watched him carefully as he went to one of his pouches and retrieved a half sheet of worn parchment. He extended his arm, expecting me to take it. I carefully took the paper and stepped back. I read it while keeping my vision trained on him. The paper said the goliath, known as Maveith, was permitted to hunt and trade within the Sobral city woonds. It had an official wax stamp that was now cracked and chipping. I noticed the date was fifteen years ago. I looked up at the man, who lookedrger every second, ¡°This is over fifteen years old.¡±In his deep voice, he responded, ¡°It has no date of termination.¡± I nodded and asked, ¡°I thought the Telhians did not allow other races to live in the Empire?¡± He cocked his bald head like a dog, ¡°Is that so, legionarie. Your odd ent tells me you were not raised within the Empire.¡± ¡°A forced conscript,¡± I admitted. ¡°But my magepany will be working the woonds for the next six months.¡± I felt it prudent to let him know I worked for a mage. I carefully handed the parchment back to him. ¡°He cocked his head again, ¡°I served the mage that lived in the Citadel for a time. We had an agreement before his passing,¡± he held up the parchment for a moment before returning it to his pouch. ¡°All the wardens have the same agreement.¡± ¡°There are more of you?¡± I asked a little loudly, looking deep into the woods. The giant gray-skinned man bellowed a massiveugh, ¡°No legionnaire, there is only one Maveith. The other three men are humans like yourself.¡± ¡°Does the new Duchess know you are out here?¡± I asked the giant man. ¡°New Duchess? In Sobral City? I heard rumors from the city folk I trade with, but I can not confirm she knows of me. After the unpleasantness with the prior Baron, I prefer not to make myself known. Though, now it appears I have no other choice.¡± He heaved a heavy sigh. I rxed slightly, ¡°What happened with the Baron?¡± His gray-skin face hardened some, ¡°He demanded half of all I hunted and foraged. Also, I was prohibited from selling or trading to any city folk.¡± ¡°I heard the Baron was a prick. What is a goliath?¡± I asked the man, indicating his race on his writ. He was confused. ¡°Prick? Like thorn? Yes, he could be described as a thorn.¡± The man was not stupid as he puzzled out my ng quickly. His voice got deeper as he continued, ¡°Goliaths are from Stone Mountain Ind. We live there and rarely travel. And you will ask, why am I here? Because I have chosen to be here, legionnaire.¡± His tone told me he did not want me to ask further questions on the topic. ¡°I will have to report your presence to mymander and the Duchess,¡± I added, ready to react if he became agitated. I could remove his heart in less than a breath. The giant man cocked his head, considering, ¡°Perhaps it is best that I return with you, and you make introductions for me if it must be done?¡± His face soured slightly, and he turned to the deer. ¡°I can make this kill as an offering to the Duchess and see if she will honor my writ as it is written.¡± I looked down at my crate and then at the goliath. He misunderstood, ¡°I can carry your load, legionnaire. That way, I can not surprise you with an attack. Caution is wise around strangers.¡± There was humor in his deep tone as if he did not consider me a threat. ¡°Fine, you can lead the way,¡± I responded. He bnced the deer on his shoulders and picked up the crate that was small in his hands. After we walked for a while, I asked, ¡°What are the dangers in these woods?¡± The goliath replied immediately, ¡°There are two giant weasel dens in the northeast. They mostly hunt at night. An ogre might wander into the region every year or so, and the wardens will band together to remove it.¡± He thought for a moment, ¡°Ten years ago, there was an active and aggressive treant. It has since gone into hibernation and is best left undisturbed.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t the wardens taken care of the weasels?¡± I asked. ¡°Bnce legionnaire. The weasels hunt the weak, sickly animals and keep the predators in check by defending their territory. If their poption expands to over a dozen, we may meet and decide to eliminate a pair in the next breeding season.¡± The goliath patiently exined. The walls of the rear of the Citadel came into view. I waved at the only spotter in the rear tower. He must be familiar with the goliath as he did not sound an rm. ¡°Do you frequently travel to the city?¡± ¡°I usually trade with locals over there. Just one day a week,¡± he pointed to a tree clearing with an old crumbling stone structure. The area was visible from the Citadel¡¯s archer¡¯s perch in the tower, so they had probably seen the goliath trade every week. So why wasn¡¯t the Duchess already aware? When we reached the gate, the two guards were in clean uniforms and standing at attention. ¡°Halt legionnaire. The half-giant is not allowed inside the Citadel grounds.¡± The man gripped his spear tightly and moved to a readiness footing. ¡°I see you are being trained. Maveith here,¡± I inclined my head to the goliath, ¡°Is a goliath and not half-giant. He is here to speak with the Duchess.¡± The guard looked at hispanion and seemed unsure. He pulled out his whistle and blew two times in low key. The two guards from the inner bailey came out, followed by Adrian. Adrian¡¯s face on seeing the goliath was priceless. Shock, curiosity, and apprehension were ying on it. I spoke as no one else seemed able to for the moment, ¡°Adrian, this is Maveith. He served as a warden in the woods for the mage that used to govern from the Citadel. He hopes to renew his writ with the Duchess.¡± Maveith intoned deeply with agitation, ¡°My writ has no expiration, legionnaire.¡± ¡°This is Adrian, one of the leaders of my magepany. I am sure he can handle your request,¡± I smiled at Adrian. Maveith put down the crate with my harvest. Adrian rolled his eyes, ¡°You two,¡± he pointed at two guards with spears. ¡°nk the guest and follow me.¡± He looked at me, a slight twinkle in his eye, ¡°On your own for a single day and already bringing home strays, Eryk.¡± He looked at my harvest, ¡°Take care of that, and then find me in the Citadel. I will bring Maveith to Castile and the Duchess to review his writ.¡± I picked up my crate and went to visit the sisters. I only got three silver for half a day¡¯s work, but it was something. The sisters also told me of the other ces in the city that would purchase certain things from the woods. I walked slowly back to the Citadel, stopping for a quick meal at a tavern. I got many looks from being in legion armor, and no one talked to me beyond ordering the food. I returned to the Citadel, and finding the group did not take long. They were in the dining hall with Maveith seated on a bench since a chair was too small. Castile, Adrian, and Duchess Veronica were in chairs. ¡°Is this your scout that brought the goliath to my Citadel?¡± The Duchess asked. Castile responded, ¡°Yes, this is my porter and scout, Eryk.¡± The Duchess took me in twice before returning her gaze to the others. I wondered if Lareen had already told her about me learning a new spell form. The Duchess was considering something, and they waited while she thought, ¡°I agree that the terms are fair. I will want the other wardens to swear to me.¡± Maveith intoned something in a strangenguage, and the Duchess nodded. She stood and left the table. Castile had a small smirk after therge doors were shut, ¡°Maveith, you and your fellow wardens will be reporting to Konstantin and Eryk here. Your writ remains valid, and your coin will be three silver a week.¡± The goliath rxed, and the bench groaned under his weight. She looked at me, ¡°Eryk, this warden, and the others are in the employ of the Duchess now. They will only be reporting what happens in the woods north of the Citadel and are not expected to fight. Go with Maveith, and he will introduce you to the other wardens. Make sure they understand their obligations.¡± Maveith stood and intoned, ¡°Come, legionnaire, I will host you tonight in my cabin.¡± ¡°My name is Eryk,¡± I replied to therge gray-skinned. ¡°Or do you prefer I call you Goliath?¡± ¡°Call me what you will,¡± he said, unconcerned. ¡°I still have my daily chores to finish before nightfall and do not wish to linger in your human city.¡± I was a little worried about being sent away with an unknown¡ªmonstrosity. I looked at Castile a little pleadingly, ¡°What if the goliath decides he is hungry and eats me in my sleep?¡± Maveith chuckled at my words, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, legionnaire, human flesh tastes bitter to me.¡± Castile ended the humorous argument, ¡°Goliaths are known to be an honorable people, Eryk. I doubt he has ever even tried the flesh of a human.¡± Maveith grumbled a deepugh, ¡°Never assume something, mage.¡± I think he was joking and just saying that to needle me. Adrian finally spoke, hiding his own grin, ¡°We will avenge you if you fall, Eryk.¡± But he was smiling, too, at my difort. I guess I missed the conversation they had before I arrived, where the trust had been established. ¡°Eryk, take Maveith to the storeroom. He is allowed to take what he can carry as part of his bonus.¡± ¡°I am assuming he can carry a lot?¡± I said, looking at the massive humanoid. ¡°And where is the storeroom?¡± They called a servant to bring us there. I was a little surprised to be sent off with a strange goliath. I wished I had had some time to ask why to Adrian or Castile. As we walked to the storeroom, ¡°Do not worry, legionnaire. I will keep you from harm in the scary woods.¡± ¡°Who is going to protect you from me?¡± I replied off-handidly. He justughed, scaring the servant with his baritone. ¡°I like you, legionnaire. We are going to have fun,¡± he said as we descended stone steps. He barely cleared the doorway. The storeroom was full of just foodstuffs. Maveith took a small cask of cooking oil, tworge bags of flour, four racks of salted ribs, and arge bag of dried peppercorns. He seemed satisfied even though he could carry more. ¡°Did you trade the deer for these supplies?¡± I asked as we left. ¡°Mostly. That and the promise to help serve as the forerunner for yourpany cing the markers. I also have to convince the other wardens to help, and that is why you areing.¡± Therge man said as we left the Citadel gates. We walked in silence for a time as the goliath tried to get his awkward burdenfortable. I could have carried it all for him, but presently, I thought it wise to continue to let him underestimate me. After an hour, we finally did start talking¡­. Chapter 86: The Wardens Chapter 86: The Wardens Chapter 86 As we walked, Maveith asked, ¡°Are you any good with your pokers, legionnaire?¡± The goliath pointed at my spear and sword while a club the size of my leg swung on his hip. Dried blood was evident on it. I downyed my skill, ¡°Decent enough. I have only been learning for thest six months.¡± ¡°Well, do not worry. I will protect you out here. You can be my junior. That is like Kid Brother among my people. We protect those of our people who can not protect themselves,¡± he replied with sincerity or maybe humor. It was hard to tell because of his deep voice. I nodded, not taking the bait to argue with him. I queried his skills, ¡°Are you familiar with the local flora and fungi?¡± Therge man¡¯s deep voice intoned, ¡°Just the edible ones and some of the ones that prevent infection.¡± We spent the next hour talking about and pointing out different flora and fungi, making slow progress toward his home. I learned a little about the local edibles, and he learned some of the more valuable ones he could sell in the city. That was something new for Maveith. He was going to be allowed to enter the city and freely trade with the people. It was not so much a concession but a request by Castile and the Duchess. The Duchess wanted it known that the goliath was under her rule. I assumed it was for the intimidation factor. We finally reached the goliath¡¯s home. A small clearing held a herb garden, and tanning hides of two elk and a deer were stretched on a rack. A small shack made of stone was in the back, and he pointed to it, ¡°That is my smoker shack for preserving meat. I just finished a batch of elk meat.¡± He pointed at his unique cabin. ¡°That is home.¡± It looked like he had built a ten-foot-wide cabin between two massive boulders. It was not very tall either, the wood shingle roof onlying up to my chin and extending back about fifteen feet. The entire structure was just ten by fifteen. Maveith was waiting for my reaction, so I gave him one, ¡°Impressive.¡± He startedughing in deep, belching chuckles.He walked to the doorway and opened it. It showed stairs going down into arge, well-lit room. I followed him down. A dozen fist-sized glow stones were embedded in the stone walls. But the walls were further back than expected. The room was toorge. He waited again for my reaction. ¡°Did you carve your cabin into the boulders?¡± I asked, figuring out the size was maybe thirty by thirty feet. ¡°With my own two hands over the course of two years. Besides the other wardens, you are only the third person I have invited in, legionnaire,¡± he said congenially. ¡°Thank you for your hospitality and the honor, goliath.¡± I took in therge room. Half the room had stone tables and chairs, which appeared to be his work area. The other half was his kitchen andrder with drying herbs and meats. Two archways in the back were dark, and I assumed they went to other rooms. The dwelling was dry and smelled earthy. Mavaith went to the kitchen area to unload his burden. ¡°I will begin the meal. Those buckets over there need to be filled by the stream we passeding in. Filling the tub over the stove should only take you three trips.¡± I thought it was an invitation to do his chores for him, but I didn¡¯t protest. Each bucket was maybe six gallons, and there was even a yoke to carry them on my shoulders. I made the first trip to the wide stream, which had a number of small fish visible from the shore. When I returned, Maveith was cooking wild onions and potatoes with one of therge bs of bacon he had taken. ¡°Are you going to cook that entire b tonight?¡± I asked, curious as it was easily twenty pounds. ¡°Diner and breakfast, yes. Giant boar is hard to find locally, and this belly meat will be a treat,¡± his deep voice intoned as he was focused on the meal preparation. I finished filling his basin by the stove, which he used firewood to heat. A draft hole in the stone took the steam and cooking smoke away from the room, but soon, the room heated up, and I was sweating. He cut the bacon into square chunks, seared them, stored the fat in a container, and then added the crispy chunks to a thick onion and potato soup. He presented me with a bowl of the meal. The bowl was asrge as my head, and we sat at one of the stone tables. Maveith hunched over his stone bowl while he shoveled the meal into his mouth, moaning in delight with each spoonful. I tried the soup, but he had been a little too generous with the ground peppercorns he had just acquired. The bacon chunks were still crunchy. The bowl I was eating from was polished stone, as was the spoon. I looked around the room; everything was made from stone except a small part of the ceiling and the wall with the door entry. The walls were smooth, not rough like they had been mined. Maveith finished his bowl and let out a long, contented belch. He went and retrieved a second bowl and sat down eating more slowly this time. Curious, I asked, ¡°Can you shape stone?¡± I held up my spoon as evidence. He nodded and finished swallowing. ¡°I can, just with my hands and not for long. I do not have very much aether.¡± He pointed at the glow stones in the ceiling, ¡°I made those from a single glowstone. I only need to charge them once a week.¡± Everything I saw now made some sense. He had literally carved his home out of the rocks with his bare hands. I finished my bowl, swallowing the peppery soup, and he finished his second. I asked, ¡°So, where am I going to sleep?¡± ¡°You are going to share my bed, legionnaire,¡± he said so confidently that I thought he was serious. He broke into a bellowingughter a momentter. I was sure I had made a face of unease. ¡°Come, I will show you the guest room,¡± he intoned, stillughing. I followed him into the passage on the right, and he took one of the glow stones from the ceiling as he passed. The short corridor ended in a rectangr room lined with shelves. Most contained rolled-up leather hides, but several sealed stone jars were marked in strange letters. There was an alcove about two feet off the floor with tworge weasel hides. ¡°I don¡¯t have many guests, but you should befortable. My sleeping room is adjacent, and if you get scared, legionnaire, you can crawl in with me,¡± he chuckled, thinking he was being funny. ¡°Rest as I still have a number of things to finish this evening.¡± I waved my hand to dismiss him, and he walked out. I stripped off my legion armor but kept my helmet close by. There was no door to my room for privacy, but that did not matter. The pelt of the weasel was incredibly soft. It has a silky smoothness, and I glided easily on them as I slid between them. I could not believe I was here tonight instead of at the Citadel in my room being attended to by Lareen. Did anyone even tell her where I had gone? I took out my griffin down pillow and gotfortable. I took out the time affinity book and carefully reviewed each page. Then I took my amulet and went into the dreamscape. I recreated the book while Oscar was begging for attention. It looked correct. Now, I could return the book to the Duchess¡¯ library and still be able to study the spell form once I decided on one. I filled the shelf in the entry room with all the books I owned since I had paged through them all at one point in time. And I tried to add a book from Earth as an experiment. Iughed as The Hobbit was added to my collection. I took the book and paged through it. Even though I had read the book twice in my life, I doubted I remembered everything I had read, but it lookedplete and even had the same paper smell and feel I remembered. I put it on the shelf. I decided I needed some practice fighting monsters. I spent some time fighting the ankhegs with my new air barrier spell form. The acid spray they had could be diverted with two stacked shields. I just needed to be careful not to step in the puddles until after the acid lost its potency. I froze the entire room whenever I was about to take an injury. I was still uncertain how death worked in the amulet. Maybe the Duchess¡¯ library had a reference book for the dungeon artifact. I lost three times and reset the entire encounter each time, starting from the beginning. My biggest asset was the air shield. I could cast it and prevent the giant bug from turning, giving me time to damage its nks. Oscar watched me try different tactics, patiently wagging his cropped tail, waiting for his turn to y with me. The fourth encounter was my first serious injury. My leg had been crushed before I paused time, but it did not hurt until I wanted it to. The pain was intense, but with just a thought, my leg was healed, and the pain was gone. I controlled everything in the dreamscape. I yed a few minutes with Oscar before leaving and told him I would be back. I had been inside for maybe four hours. On leaving, the intense headache hit me, and I moaned into the fur. I didn¡¯t understand. Thest time I used the amulet to learn the air barrier spell form, I had not felt anything when I left the dreamscape. What was different? I had created items that were not part of the dreamscape¡ªall the new books. Maybe the amulet pulled the knowledge from my head, and that caused this pressing migraine. It was an interesting observation, and I would experiment to confirm it. Would I get the same migraine if I only fought and reset the monsters? What about the Konstantin construct I created and dismissed? Would he still cause mental fatigue if I summoned him, or would the amulet remember him? The weasel pelt had made me sweat, so I removed a canteen of water and drank it. I could hear Maveith snoring loudly in the other room. It was muted by the stone but still annoying. My headache made sleeping hard, so I took an oblivion pill and drifted off. ¡°Wake up, legionnaire! We have a long day ahead,¡± Maveith said in a deep voice, breaking a rather nice dreamless sleep. My head was still splitting from the amulet. ¡°Damn, goliath. You and Konstantin would get along splendidly.¡± I moaned, getting up. ¡°I look forward to meeting him,¡± he said cheerfully. Leave your armor as it will make too much noise, and we have a good distance to travel. Also, Trek is not fond of legionnaires. Best not to advertise what you are.¡± He sounded too chipper this morning, and I was d to notice at least my headache from the amulet was quickly waning. ¡°I already ate, so get what you want, and we can head to Trek¡¯s treehouse.¡± He had left me some of the soup, and it was already heated. The bacon was no longer crunchy, but it was still good. I felt naked without my hardened leather armor and steel helm. We left at a fast walk, and Maveith stated, ¡°It is about twelve miles north. We will pass close to one of the weasel dens, so making as little noise as possible was best.¡± I followed Maveith, and he moved extremely quietly for such an enormous being. ¡°How are you so quiet?¡± I asked after an hour. ¡°Habit mostly. It is hard to sneak on an elk when you are stomping the ground. I am not sure if I can exin legionnaire, but I will try,¡± he said with seriousness. The next few hours, I walked in front, and he taught me his self-learned skills of moving silently. It had to do with body movement, where you were stepping, how you were stepping, and getting a feel for it. When I made a noticeable noise, he had me pause and figure out what I did wrong. It was more of a learn-by-mistake education, as a lot of Maveith¡¯s movements were more instinctive than learned. He had to think about just as much as I did. When we arrived at Trek¡¯s Treehouse, it was high in a thick oak tree. It was made from logs, and hauling them up there must have been an impressive feat. Maveith looked around from a distance before announcing loudly, ¡°I do not think he is home.¡± He walked into the clearing under the tree and looked around. He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was hoping to catch him before he left to hunt today.¡± It appeared to be a poor act on Maveith¡¯s part, announcing his arrival. ¡°Were you now?¡± A voice came from far to our right. A thin, blonde man with an impressive beard entered the clearing to join us. He had two hand axes on his belt. His clothing, like Maveith¡¯s, was all medium brown colored hides. ¡°Youing to see if I am still alive, Maveith.¡± ¡°No, a job offer from the new Duchess,¡± Maveith intoned, and Trek immediately went sour. ¡°Do not worry, you can remain in your treehouse. She is not going to force you into the city. She is marking hernds, and you just need to keep on the lookout for critters when her men areying the markers in this area. This is my new kid brother, and he represents the Duchess.¡± ¡°Kid brother? What? Did you shit him out? I doubt any woman wouldy with you.¡± He looked me up and down with some curiosity. I grimaced at being the butt of their jokes, but endured it. ¡°There is even three silver a week pay for your efforts,¡± I added, trying to finish the introduction, ¡°I am Eryk.¡± I held out my hand, but he ignored it. He swayed his head in consideration of the offer. Maveith added, ¡°I will spend it for you in the city and bring you what you want.¡± Maveith addressed me, ¡°Trek does not like being around a lot of people. I am surprised he didn¡¯t bolt for the hills with the two of us here.¡± Trek spat and grinned, ¡°I would have, but I count you more animal than man, Maveith, so I just counted your new boy here. I can handle talking to one person.¡± It was obvious the two had a good rtionship. They just liked trading verbal jabs. ¡°So it is a deal? I will collect your writ from the Duchess and bring it to you with your first ten weeks¡¯ wages. If you want anything, I can bring it back from the city for you.¡± Maveith said patiently. Trek seemed undecided before nodding. He just walked away and didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°Not a social butterfly, is he?¡± I said softly. Maveith looked at me and tried to puzzle out my words, ¡°No, he flies on his own winds. He probably just spoke more words in thest few minutes than in thest six months. Our next stop is Lyonis. He will not be so easy to convince.¡± We continued through the northern woods, moving northwest. It waste afternoon when we reached our destination. Maveith was impressed that I had been able to keep up with him and still practice my silent movement. Without my armor, it felt like I had limitless endurance. Lyonis¡¯ cabin was more conventional. A small log cabin nestled in the woods. As we approached, a short man exited the cabin. He had one arm in a sling, reddish brown hair, and a massive beard. Maveith called from a distance, ¡°Lyonis! Can we approach?¡± The man located us and waved us to him. As we got closer, it was not just his arm but also his head that had a wound of dry blood. ¡°What chewed you up?¡± Asked Maveith with concern when we were close enough. The man was pale under the filth covering him and had probably lost a fair amount of blood. He looked relieved to see Maveith and had not even given me a second nce. He must have had a concussion because his eyes were unfocused. Maveith asked again, ¡°What creature did you fight? Did you win, or is it still out there?¡± He put effort into focusing on Maveith, ¡°Klinton called me to help with a monster problem. A few days back, the heavy rains to the north have forced a few toward us. He didn¡¯t know what it was, but we tracked it some thirty miles from here. It was a Manticore. It surprised us and got Klinton. I barely escaped. That was¡­two days ago? I think.¡± Maveith was on alert. ¡°It might have tracked you after it consumed Klinton. You should have called Lyonis and me to help. This is why only four of us are left¡­now three of us,¡± he said seriously. ¡°Let us get inside and lock the door and deal with your wounds for now.¡± Maveith and I scanned the surrounding woods as we made our way into Lyonis¡¯ cabin. I seemed to have terrible luck. My armor was at Maveith¡¯s house, and I was possibly facing another dangerous creature from this world. Chapter 87: Manticores Chapter 87: Manticores Chapter 87 We entered Lyonis¡¯ small cabin. It was not as orderly or as well constructed as Maveith¡¯s. It also had a strong smell of ammonia, like dried urine. He had a single table and a small bed in his cabin as his only furnishings. Maveith sighed deeply at the mess and smell, ¡°Tell me what happened from the beginning.¡± Lyonis sat on his bed, cradling his arm. ¡°Klinton said he found several mauled deer with their guts eaten. He thought a dire wolf had moved south after that torrential rain. We tracked the creature to the rocky hills. It was sunning itself on a rock, and we were not sure what it was. We didn¡¯t see the second oneing from above. Klinton took a tail whip to the chest, and the barbs pierced his heart. He died quickly.¡± Klinton was shaking slightly at the memory. Hepartmentalized the trauma and continued, ¡°I got my spear into its hindquarters and ran into the trees. The beast and I fought among the trees. I was only saved as the one that had been resting started to eat Klinton. The one I was fighting wasrger and returned to im its kill, I think. I ran as fast as I could here.¡± It was quiet for a time. ¡°Manticores are all over Stone Mountain Ind, where I am from,¡± Maveith said heavily. ¡°They are rare in this part of the world. I know some things about their nature.¡± Lyonis nodded, ¡°The only time I had seen one before this was at the New Year¡¯s Games in the capital when I was a child. It took seven men in the arena to take it down, and not all of them lived. I looked back and forth between the two wardens, ¡°I have never seen one. What do they look like?¡± I asked. The gray-skinned man sighed, ¡°Manticores are as malicious as they are ugly. Their body is asrge as a horse but akin to a lion.¡± He looked at Lyonis, ¡°That is why you confused the prints, Lyonis. A wolf¡¯s and a lion¡¯s prints are very simr.¡± The goliath folded his legs under him and sat so he would no longer have to duck the low ceiling, ¡°A manticore¡¯s head is a grotesque thing, though. It looks like an ogre¡¯s head with a wide maw full of sharp triangr teeth made for cutting flesh and covered in a mane of foul-smelling hair. They can also attack with their ws and a barbed tail. They fly as well, with thin, leathery wings made more for gliding than flying. If they are mature enough, those tail spikes on the tail can be flung like arrows and contain a corrosive poison. Small amounts of the poison are not fatal but target your muscle tissue, weakening you and creating excruciating pain.¡± ¡°Have you ever hunted manticores?¡± I asked Maveith. ¡°No,¡± he grunted, ¡°Climbing the mountain to find a nest was for warriors only. I was too young to hunt one before I left my people,¡± some sadness crept into his voice. ¡°On the bright side,¡± he cheered up a little and talked about harvesting a manticore, ¡°The tail barbs of a full-grown adult make excellent arrows. Their hide can make excellent armor. And the wings make prized cloaks and pouches.¡± Maveith shifted on the floor and removed a pouch from his belt, and he had a familiar vial of myconid powder. ¡°I think we will head to Trek¡¯s house tomorrow, and then we will all go to the city and seek the aid of your magemander.¡± Lyonis immediately perked up, agitated, ¡°You want to bring a useless legionpany out here!¡± He was angry but, in his depleted state,cked real energy to show it. ¡°Cool yourself, Lyonis. We can not handle a pair of manticores ourselves. The new Duchess is prepared to give you a free writ to live here,¡± Mavieth growled at the man. Lyonis rxed some. Maveith looked at me with seriousness, ¡°Lyonis does not like legion mages. They were responsible for the deaths of his family.¡± ¡°Cursed legion mages were more concerned about protecting the Imperial buildings than saving the lowly citizens of my town. My family was burned alive by the mes of a rogue fire drake training to be part of the Dragon Legion.¡± His veins were bulging, and his anger had risen again at the telling. Even I knew there were no right words to say. Maveith calmed him, ¡°Lyonis, rx. His magemander was not one of them. I already asked.¡± Maveith had already tested the waters in preparation for recruiting the other wardens into the Duchess¡¯ service. ¡°We will sleep tonight and make our way tomorrow. I will spread the powder and return shortly. Which direction did youe from?¡± Lyonis pointed in a direction, and Maveith nodded. Maveith left the cabin, and I was alone with Lyonis. ¡°I am sorry for the loss of your friend.¡± I finally said. He grunted and tried to study me, but his eyes wouldn¡¯t focus. He must have a concussion. I thought about offering him one of my lesser healing potions but hesitated. The man finally said, ¡°Klinton wasn¡¯t the best man, but he didn¡¯t deserve to die like that. The nasty weather has stirred all kinds of ill tidings. Probably some mage was ying with power beyond his control.¡± ¡°It was the Bartiriaden mages. They were angry at losing Macha to the Duke¡¯s army,¡± I informed him. I decided not to tell him that the Telhian mages had torn down the city and likely killed dozens, if not hundreds, of the civilians. ¡°The torrential rains were not the only incident. Numerous foul weather erupted across the Empire. They say a lot of the crops will be lost this year.¡± ¡°And the people will suffer¡ªnot the First Citizens or the nobles. Just the people that keep this Empire afloat!¡± His anger had risen, and his pale face was turning red again. ¡°Ipletely agree,¡± I replied, trying to calm him down. It seemed to work as the warden eventuallyy prone on his bed and fell asleep; his anger had consumed his remaining energy. Maveith returned an hour after leaving and did not look happy. Lyonis was asleep, so he spoke to me softly. ¡°I caught sight of one of the beasts, maybe four miles north of here in the twilight sky. It was circling, and I am assuming its partner had taken down prey. It was probably waiting its turn to feed.¡± ¡°What does it mean? Are they tracking Lyonis here?¡± I stirred uneasily. ¡°Yes, but they are not the best trackers. They mostly spot their prey from the air and swoop down on it. They will fire a barrage of barbs and then barrel into their prey. My guess is that since they wounded Lyonis, they think he will be an easy kill. They are not the smartest of creatures.¡± Maveith seemed ufortable at the prospect of fighting. ¡°Should we leave tonight, then? Before they find us?¡± I asked, ready to grab my pack and leave. ¡°No, clouds are moving in. It will be too dark to make our way without a glowstone. And a glowstone would be a beacon. Hopefully, the neutralizing scent powder I spread will prevent them from locating us.¡± He did not sound too optimistic. We were only twenty miles from the city, but I could not think of a way to safely reach it. The weasels were also going to be out, so it made sense to remain where we were. ¡°Get some rest, and I will keep watch.¡± He moved to one of the windows with a chair. When he sat, the chair strongly protested his weight. I would have liked to use my amulet, but if someone dide tonight, then I wanted to be able to respond. I removed arge hot meat pie from Maca. At this point, there was no point in hiding my space from Maveith. Maybe Castile had already told him anyway. His surprised look said he was unaware, though. The scent in the room was such that Lyonis drooled in his sleep, and Maveith kept giving me side nces. I ate half of it before giving it to a confused Maveith. I exined, ¡°I have a small spell form for a dimensional space. The size of the herb crate I had when you found me.¡± His eyes narrowed some, ¡°And you made me carry the crate all the way back to the city for you, legionnaire?¡± I shrugged, ¡°You looked capable enough, goliath.¡± I returned with a smile. He grunted but hid a small grin at being dupped. At least now he had a chance to enjoy a good meal. He quickly finished the meat pie. ¡°That was amazing. Do you have any wine to wash it down?¡± He had a joking tone, not thinking I did. I had the bottle of wine from my interview with the Chancellor. I produced it, and his eyes went wide. He quickly dumped the water from his canteen and emptied half the bottle into it. Returning the half-full bottle to me. He sipped on the wine and smiled. ¡°It is excellent.¡± I drank from the bottle, still not appreciating the wine. After Maveith finished his wine, he softened a little. He admitted, ¡°We will have to fight them tomorrow. Come to the window and listen.¡± I did as he instructed. ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything,¡± I said after straining for minutes to hear. ¡°Exactly. The insects, night birds, and creatures know a true predator is in the area. If it were just the weasels, the insects and night birds would be active. No, the manticores are close. I do not think they will assault the cabin. They prefer to attack from range with quills before moving in for the kill.¡± Maveith looked at the other warden. Lyonis was drooling but sleeping soundly. I handed Maveith a lesser healing potion. He turned it in his hands, reading it. ¡°For him?¡± I nodded. ¡°It will cure his head wound and bring his senses back but not heal his broken arm. Are you sure?¡± ¡°If you are right, we need everyone as capable as possible,¡± I confirmed. He moved, woke him, and administered the potion. Lyonis fell asleep again. ¡°Thank you, Eryk. I do not have many friends, but I count Lyonis among them.¡± He faced me, ¡°Tomorrow, at first light, I will rush into the woods to draw them out. I will circle back to the cabin, and maybe we can fight one of them together. Lyonis should be able to swing a de. If we can disable therger one, we may scare the smaller one into fleeing.¡± I did not sleep at all that night as I waited for dawn with Maveith. We woke Lyonis, and he went into his root cer to feed us. He was much better and talking clearly. ¡°I should be the one to run out there, Maveith, and circle around to draw them out. I can not use a bow, and you can.¡± ¡°You are too weak. The healing potion drained your frail body already,¡± he let out a soft chuckle to indicate he was teasing the man. It was not long before Maveith opened the door. The fresh air outside rushed in with the morning light. We didn¡¯t see anything suspicious. He pointed, ¡°I will enter the woods there and circle around ande back from the right. I will take a position there behind that rock and use my bow. When ites into club range with me, rush out and attack it.¡± He sounded more confident than I think he was. He took a deep breath and sprinted across the small clearing into the trees, and I could see hisrge body moving among the thick trunks. Amotion in the woods came from the left as he moved right. Arge creature pursued him, but it only looked like one. Where was the second creature? Maveith ran his circle, came out from the right as nned, and slid on the wet grass to take shelter under a tree and behind a rock, pulling his bow. The creature that followed him out was as grotesque-looking as he had described. The mashed, semi-human-looking face was covered in a tangled mane of dark brown, shaggy hair. Dried bits of flesh and blood hung from the mane. The first arrow Maveith firednded solidly in the shoulder, and the creature wailed. In response to the wail to responding, screams of anger came from over the cabin. Maveith turned and looked. Even at almost thirty yards away, I could see the color drain from his face. ¡°Two more above the cabin!¡± He fired an arrow above us, and a wail erupted, and then a storm of quillsnded around Maveith. Three ended in his upper torso and one in his calf. He immediately began pulling them out. The two new manticoresnded between us and Maveith, their backs to us. They were muchrger than the one that had chased Maveith through the woods. From behind, I could tell one was clearly male, and one was female. Maveith was in big trouble. The smaller one struggled to move with the arrow in its shoulder, but these two parents were unhappy. ¡°Come on, legionnaire, they are not going to kill themselves!¡± Lyonis moved, and I moved with him. The female turned her head, and I really wished I had my armor on as she raised her tail and whipped it at us, releasing a half-dozen two-foot-long barbs. I activated my air barrier, and all four barbs were halted in the air disc. The female turned to face us, and I noticed it was not as messy an eater as its child. Its mane was clear of debris. Lyonis had stumbled with two quills in his body. He was incapacitated with pain. I had no choice but to take one creature down immediately. I pulled a pilum into my hands and pocketed a lesser healing potion before using my dimensional ability. The female looked too confident at my approach. That was until a good portion of her chest was moved into my dimensional space. The creature strongly resisted my removal of her organs, and I knew she had much stronger aether resistance than a human. I still was able to ovee her aether resistance. Her expression became shocked as she stumbled, then copsed. The familiar bottoming out of my aether happened, but I barely stumbled, expecting the slight dizziness. I was already rushing to take the male from behind. The pilum is an interesting spear. The tip is basically a two-foot metal rod made for piercing shields. I threw the pilum from fifteen feet away with all my strength. Even I could not miss this close, and I did not want to get any closer with the threatening tail barbs. My aim was a little off, but it had the effect I wanted. The creature reared and howled as the pilum entered three feet into it from behind. It spun and bit the wooden shaft, shattering it but not removing the true cause of its pain lodged deep. I moved left to see Maveith struggling with his bow, but he fired another arrow and hit the male in the chest, joining his first arrow. It was unphased and focused on something else. The male was trying to reach the remainder of the spear, spinning in ce like a dog chasing its tail. It would have beenical, except we were still in extreme danger. Lyonis was on the ground, in pain from the manticore poison, and not going to contribute. My only remaining weapon now was my short sword. I circled to join Mavieth, who was leaning on the rock for support and trying to get another arrow strung. I reached Maveith and handed him the potion with the stopper off. While he drank, I watched the angry male give up and turn his focus on me. The female was dead, and their child had Maveith¡¯s arrow lodged deep in its shoulder and was crying for its parents, having difficulty walking. Maveith rasped, ¡°Give me a moment, and I should be able to draw my bow again.¡± The manticore then did the unexpected. It spoke. Chapter 88: Battered and Bruised Chapter 88: Battered and Bruised Chapter 88 The manticore¡¯s voice was guttural, as I would expect from its t ogre-shaped face. He was not talking to me, but Maveith was speaking in anguage I could not understand. It was a few harsh phrases before Maveith responded in the samenguage. Two exchanged words, and my grip got sweaty on my hilt. The smaller manticore was lying down in misery, and I think Maveith¡¯s first arrow did more damage than I thought. His arrows were as thick as my thumb and longer than my arm. It must have prated the chest cavity, and the arrowhead had done serious damage. On the other hand, the arrow he had shot into the adult male had barely prated six inches and was already ripped out by its maw. My pilum had entered through a much softer part of the hide. Standing next to the goliath, I asked, ¡°What are you two so chatty about?¡± Maveith said another phrase in the harshnguage and then addressed me, ¡°It speaks thenguage of the stone giants, not very well, but it has some grasp on the speech. They were a mated pair from Stone Mountain Ind. A half dozen of their kind were summoned by a mage and released north of here to cause havoc. It recognizes my race and is trying to bargain for it¡¯s life, knowing we honor our word. It is offering its treasure if you heal it and its child.¡± Lyonis was moaning near his cabin door, trying to pull himself inside and unable to fight. A manticore quill was in his shoulder and another one in his hip. The manticore ground its sharp, angr teeth in impatience and difort. I could tell movement was difficult for it with the long pilum piercing it. Maybe it couldn¡¯t fly. Its body would ungte in flight, and, like its suffering offspring, the long rod of the pilum was just too painful. The beast looked at its mate and spoke again. When it finished, Mavieth asked, ¡°It thinks you poisoned its mate and is worried you poisoned it as well.¡± I exhaled, ¡°Yeah, let us go with that.¡± Maveith looked at me sidelong, not taking his eyes off the creature twenty feet away. Maveith spoke slowly, ¡°How did you kill the female?¡± ¡°I gave her indigestion,¡± I quipped. The female was on her side, leaking a steady flow of blood from her mouth. I asked seriously, ¡°Are you going to be able to kill the male? I am all out of aces.¡± There was silence, and I figured Maveith was trying to puzzle out what I meant by aces. He slowly spoke, ¡°The potion gave me my movement, but I think the manticore could reach us before I pulled my bow again.¡± ¡°Stall for time then. Keep asking him about his treasure. What is in it? Where is it? How long to reach it,¡± I instructed Maveith. It would take me about two hours to umte enough aether to open my dimensional storage again. When I could do that, then I could kill the monstrosity. As it stood now, therge adult manticore could rush and maybe kill both of us. Maveith had recovered slightly with the lesser potion but was still hindered, ¡°I will see what I can do.¡± He began an extensive back-and-forth with the beast while Lyonis got himself inside his cabin and closed the door. I doubted Lyonis was going to be saving us. The young manticore was frothing blood now, and I guessed the lungs were filling with blood. With time, the blood should drown him. The manticore, seeing its offspring struggling, started to get impatient. I do not know what triggered it, but the manticore charged. Maveith was ready and barely got an arrow off, but it was a leg strike, not the chest. I swung my own de. I targeted the head but misjudged the speed of the lunge. I hit the shoulder, and I was flung backward as it plowed into both of us. The manticore was focused on Maveith but did have the presence to whip its tail at me as I tumbled away. I was fortunate only to take a single quill in my shoulder. As I tumbled, the quill worked its way free, but not before tearing muscle and flesh and dosing me with its poison. It felt like a horse had kicked me, and the burning in my shoulder spread, making it difficult to move my right arm. I gained my feet and rushed to help the Maveith. Maveith was trapped under the creature, which was raking him with his ws. Maveith was stabbing with a small skinning knife, causing the beast to bleed freely down onto him. Maveith grunted, and the manticore growled and roared in ferociousbat. The rage and fury of the beast did not allow it to see meing again at it. I targeted the back of the neck with as powerful a swing as I could with my good arm. I cut the hide and connected it solidly with bone, but it was not strong enough to break the bone to reach the spinal cord. My second swing was met with a paw swipe that tore the de from my hand and broke my wrist. The distraction of my attack gave Maveith room to jam one of his arrows under the jaw and up into the brain. The thick arrow did not snap as it disappeared into the head. Mavieth twisted and grabbed a second to repeat the action. The manticore was alive but could not focus as Maveith added a third arrow to the collection. He pulled himself away from the creature that was swooning on its feet. Its ugly face showed confusion. Maveith took his club and, with a two-handed overhead swing, brought it down on the beast¡¯s neck. Arge crack told me the goliath had shattered the spine and killed it. Both heaving for air we watched as the creature slowly toppled. The ground thudded from its impact as it was easily over a thousand pounds. Maveith was heaving deep breaths and had multiple w marks bleeding freely on his chest. When the manticore¡¯s chest stopped inting, he looked over at me. ¡°Well, Eryk. Looks like we won.¡± He fell to his knees. I went to him, one of my arms was painful to use from the poison, and the other had a broken wrist. ¡°Help me inside. I need to lie down briefly, and we should check on Lyonis.¡± I assisted Maveith, and he leaned on me a little heavily. He had to weigh more than three hundred pounds. The door was barred shut, and it took Lyonis a few minutes to open it, ¡°We won?¡± He asked in disbelief. ¡°Maveith crushed the beast¡¯s spine. It is dead. I will go make sure after we get Maveith on the table to rest,¡± I exined. Maveith wasid out, and Lyonis used red aloe on the wounds to prevent infection. It looked like he was going to live. ¡°I am going to make sure they are all dead,¡± I told the two, but Mavieth was already off in dreand, and Lyonis was having difficulty standing. I reached the male manticore and watched it intently, making sure it was still. I didn¡¯t have to open my dimensional space to retrieve itemspletely. However, I had to wait ten more minutes before I had enough aether to produce the essence collecter. I ced it on the creature and had to wait another minute for some aether to activate it. The familiar blue wisps formed and congealed into a major glossy ck sphere of essence. If I was not mistaken, the channeling attribute. It determined how fast aether was restored to an aether core. I eagerly did the female next after, getting a second major glossy ck essence. I approached the young manticore, but it was still breathing foamy red blood. I moved and sat on a log to watch it and wait for it to expire. I was in no rush. I would have preferred to put it out of its misery, but one wrist was broken, and my other shoulder burned in pain. I also wanted to conserve my aether, so there was no healing for the moment. I popped one of therge ck pearls into my mouth. A chilly feeling extended from my stomach and kept going past my body, into my surroundings. I felt like I was momentarily experiencing an out-of-body experience, and then my senses snapped back. I realized I was feeling the aether in the environment, just briefly. I did not feel any different after the sensation passed, and continued my death watch on the young manticore. The beast finally expired as the sun was setting. It had held on for hours, forcing itself to breathe. I stood, walked over the creature, and stabbed it in the ribs with my sword. There was no reaction as the de slipped between the ribs. I set the collecter and activated it. The blue wisps seemed thinner and uncertain as they collected in the center of the collector. A minor essence eventually formed, but it was not ck. It was azure blue with white swirls. It was a magic affinity. I smiled as I moved both essences to my dimensional space forter consideration. With thest creature confirmed dead, I could start using my aether to heal. I focused on my shoulder first. The poison had damaged my muscles, and I needed to repair them first. I had recovered a fair amount of aether in waiting for the manticore to die. I closed the wound, the scab king off and showing new skin, and then repaired the muscles. I did as Larita told me and just focused on what needed healing. After I was done, I tested the arm and was happy with my healing. Next was the wrist. It was swollen so much that my hand looked like a club. I felt out the bone with my healing senses, and it took a lot more aether than I thought it would to set and meld the bone together. I tested and then reinforced the healing again, using all my aether. The swelling was already diminishing, but it was going to take time. I returned to the cabin to find both wardens sleeping, Maveith on the table and Lyonis in his bed. I set a chair by the window to listen to the night insects and owls. I, too, soon fell asleep. Chapter 89: Harvest Chapter 89: Harvest Chapter 89 Announcement sorry I posted chapter 120 by mistake. that is what chapter patreon is currently on. here is wednesday¡¯s chapter I had not meant to fall asleep. But after staying up all night and the fight with the manticores, my exhaustion overtook me. My dreams were filled with talking manticores flying all over the kingdom and spreading the word of my abilities to all who would listen in the coarsenguage of the stone giants. Soon, all the Hounds in the Empire were pursuing me to be dragged before the Emperor. I woke when I fell off my chair and scrambled to my feet. The early dawn light was just showing¡ªor maybe I had only slept a few minutes, and it was evening. I still felt exhausted and stiff, so hours had passed. Maveith and Lyonis were still sleeping¡ªand still breathing. I removed a massive piece of hard smi from my space and started to cut chunks off to eat. I filled my canteen with water as well. As I ate, I looked at my wrist. Most of the swelling was gone, and I worked to tighten the loose skin with some aether. Soon, it looked like the wrist had never been broken. Maveith stirred and coughed. I stood to check him out. His chest looked a mess with over a dozen w marks. Globs of red aloe were smeared on each one, but most had not closed yet. ¡°Your staring is making me ufortable, Eryk. I am sure it is not as bad as it looks,¡± Maveith said softly. But he tried moving and decided the table was morefortable. ¡°I was staring at the table. I was amazed it could hold your weight,¡± I joked. ¡°I have some salve to close your wounds,¡± I handed him the vial. He reached up and took it gratefully. He sniffed the air and noticed the hard smi. It had been almost a five-pound link, and I had eaten nearly a quarter of it. ¡°Fine, you can have that as well, Maveith,¡± he grunted as he reached, stretched his chest wounds, grabbed it off the bench next to the table, took a massive bite, and chewed. ¡°A bit salty. Do you have any more wine,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°My storage space is limited. You will have to make do with water. Do you want help with the salve?¡± I asked, stretching my stiffness away.¡°I can manage he said while chewing. Lyonis is in worse shape than me. He is not going to be able to move for days. If you have any more¡­¡± he gestured at the potion. ¡°No, I used up my healing potions already,¡± I held up my wrist to indicate I was already healed. ¡°We should harvest the manticores this morning. I doubt any predators touched the carcasses, but it will not be long before they brave the clearing to do so,¡± he said with a grunt as he got himself seated in a chair. ¡°Also, I should tell you what the creature told me before it attacked.¡± I perked up, ¡°There really was a treasure?¡± Maveithughed and immediately regretted it, ¡°Maybe. It said it had killed some other humans, and itsir was twenty-five miles northwest of here. I¡¯m not sure if that is true or even the direction or distance. The beast¡¯s grasp of the giant tongue was not impressive. But he did tell me more about the mages that portaled them here.¡± Maveith paused and started treating the wounds on his chest, wiping the aloe off and applying a thin line of salve to close the wounds. He appeared to be doing the deepest cuts first as he worked. I waited, and he started talking again, ¡°There were five manticores pulled through the summoning gate. The elf mage bound them to obey, and he ordered them to cause chaos. The other two went north while these three came south.¡± ¡°Elf mage? A Bartiradian? Who did they kill?¡± I asked and realized I was thinking more about the idea of treasure they might have hoarded than actually concerned about the manticore¡¯s rampage. ¡°It sounded like a merchant caravan. But there are no trade roads this far north. My guess is that the creature was lying,¡± Maveith said, and he had somehow eaten the rest of the smi while administering it to his wounds. He stood and inspected the repairs to his chest. He then closed two punctures from the quills and hobbled over to Lyonis. He used the remaining salve to close the other warden¡¯s wounds. When the small vial was empty, I was amazed at how far he had stretched it. He did not heal his shallower wounds, so they oozed a little as the scabs cracked when he stretched. Maveith gave me a hard pat on the back, ¡°You are a good friend to have, Eryk.¡± His ¡®pat¡¯ left a stinging sensation on my shoulder. He started dressing, ¡°Come, and we can harvest the manticores together. We will let Lyonis rest.¡± Maveith was not moving well as we exited the cabin to the fresh air. Lyonis cabin smelled terrible, and the fresh air reminded me of that fact. The manticores were all where I had left themst evening. Maveith scanned the area before moving to the male specimen. ¡°He isrge even for a male,¡± he noted while kneeling at the tail. There were still a half dozen of the two-foot quill spikes and new ones that were partially growing out the end. Maveith tested the tail and sighed, ¡°The poison sack is drained,¡± he lifted the tail and pointed to a rubbery sack below the spikes. ¡°When the beast releases its quills, the sack will spurt the poison on them. It is worth excellent coin to an alchemist, hunter, or assassin.¡± ¡°You know a lot of assassins, do you?¡± I quipped, trying to be funny. Maveith was focused and responded off-handidly, ¡°Just a few.¡± I could not tell if he was joking. ¡°The quills make excellent arrowheads; each mature quill can make maybe four arrowheads with a skilled fletcher.¡± Maveith was pulling the remaining quills out carefully and stacking them. I went and gathered the quills that had missed us in the fight. They were t and stiff and looked more metallic than bone. ¡°Are these metal?¡± I asked, dropping them in the pile. ¡°Yes, mostly. These creatures rely heavily on aether to survive. They need the flesh of beasts for sustenance and iron to replenish themselves. They have even been known to chew on metal when hungry. It also makes their flesh inedible, but we can obtain many other valuable things from the body,¡± Maveith replied as he finished with the female¡¯s barbs. ¡°I thought you never hunted a manticore before? How do you know how to harvest one?¡± I asked as he started to cut open the beast¡¯s stomach. ¡°My father was the tanner in my vige. I worked with him growing up. He taught me my skills. We were tasked a few times with harvesting manticores brought in by the hunters. But this is the biggest boy I have ever seen.¡± He had reached the testicles and carefully removed the scrotum. ¡°This will make a fine pouch once it is treated and worked. It is also a status symbol among my people to wear it. I will prepare it and make you a nice coin purse out of it that you can wear with pride.¡± ¡°Uh, thank you,¡± I said, unsure how to feel about the offer. ¡°It is not a problem. I will make you a fine cloak from these wings. Usually, during the fighting, the beasts are grounded, and the wings are mostly destroyed in the process. Come and help, and I will show you, Eryk,¡± Maveith insisted. He had been using my name instead of legionnaire for a while, so I assumed I had gained his trust. I knelt as he exined what he would normally do for such a kill. Remove the organs to keep the meat safe from spoiling. This creature had no useful meat, so that step was not required. Removing the hide was not that difficult, with Maveith¡¯s strong hands tearing it away from the fascia. Maveith joyfully said he would make new pants from the male hide as he worked. The wings were next, and they felt like soft-worked leather as I helped the goliath remove the skeleton. It took us three hours to harvest the male and another two hours to harvest the female. The young one Maveith decided was not worth the effort. It had been a messy eater, and it smelled like rotting meat. At least the adults groomed themselves a little, but they also smelled foul. When we finished, we were both covered in gore. Dried and congealed blood was everywhere. Maveith had smiled most of the time; probably, this brought back fond memories of working with this father. We were resting and drinking water, and I asked, ¡°So why did you leave Stone Mountain Ind?¡± The goliath winced at the question. He considered his answer and told me his tale. ¡°My father was the tanner in our vige, and he was well respected. I never knew my mother, but I also had an older sister. Her name was Zorana. She was pretty, I am told, even by your ridiculous human standards. The ind is a hostile ce,¡± he pointed at the manticore, ¡°those creatures are just one of the dangers. I was out with Zorana and a friend of hers, Myra, who I fancied. We were harvesting ms by the rocky shore. We were surprised by an orc raiding party. I was further back on the beach trailing them.¡± He swallowed hard. ¡°My sister was killed, and Myra was taken.¡± He paused, and I waited to hear what happened to him. ¡°I ran,¡± he finally admitted. ¡°I was initially paralyzed with fear and did not think they spotted me. And I ran after Myra wasted, and Zorana took a head wound defending her.¡± He looked at me with shame in his eyes. He sighed, ¡°I couldn¡¯t face my father for my cowardice. I walked to the nearest port city and took the first ship I could. I was young, a little bigger than you are now, but much stronger.¡± I did not know what to say. Coward is not how I would describe Maveith. I asked, ¡°And you never talked to father? To tell him you were okay? He might have thought you were taken like Myra.¡± After some awkward silence, I added, ¡°Maybe your sister lived from the head wound and was taken as well?¡± I probably was not helping his conscience. ¡°I think about that every day. I rey the scene in my head, desperation on her face, seeing her club batted aside and the orc de connecting with her head as she stood over Myra, entangled in the behind her. I doubted they wasted a healing potion on her. She would not have been worth the cost of it,¡± Maveith said heavily. I was going to suggest maybe one of the orcs was a healer, but I did not think it would help the man. ¡°No, I never sent word to my father. I could not lie to him and embarrass him with the truth,¡± Maveith stood. ¡°We should wash up. And these carcasses need to be dragged at least a half mile from Lyonis¡¯ cabin.¡± Maveith was in no shape to be dragging a thousand-pound manticore into the woods, but he made a rope harness and proceeded to do just that. It was like his story reminded him of his penance and reason for exiling himself. I checked on Lyonis, who was still sleeping, and then pulled the smallest manticore into the woods, with Maveith pulling the female on his second trip. The ropes bit into me, but my four-hundred-pound beast was half the size of the mother. Even then, Maveith easily outpaced me with his long strides. His lesser wounds opened, and he strained in the effort, but I was fairly certain that he would have declined even if I offered him a potion. He walked away, not looking back after untying his ropes. I took a moment to do some cleaning and dropped the manticore innards, a human heart from the Bartiradian soldier, out of my space. I still had the dead elf in my storage and nned to dispose of him soon. I followed Mavieth to a smallke near the cabin. We waited on the shore for a few moments, studying the environment for danger before entering the water to bathe. We cleaned ourselves and our clothes as best as possible before air drying until the sun started to set. We talked about skinning animals and the process of curing and drying hides for various purposes. I was d to take Maveith¡¯s mind off his sister by asking questions. Maveith indicated we should head back to the cabin, ¡°Tomorrow morning, you should return to the city. I will stay with Lyonis. It will be a week before he can take care of himself. Tell the Duchess I will return then.¡± ¡°If I head straight south, I will find Sobral?¡± I asked, trying to picture the map. Maveith responded in his deep voice, ¡°No, we moved further west. But you will encounter the road and river. Just take the road north, and you will reach the city.¡± That night, I took an oblivion pill to get a good night¡¯s rest. Maveith was still limping in the morning, and Lyonis was finally awake and eating. I headed out alone after sharing a meal with them. Chapter 90: Announcement Chapter 90: Announcement I proceeded through the woods using the sun and a blue moss to guide my direction of travel. The blue moss, Konstantin told me, only grows on the north side of rocks and trees because it needs the light of the blue moon, Poseidon¡¯s Tear, to grow. I did not understand how the moon could only appear in the north sky at night, but I took him for his word as it seemed to work as a navigation tool. Mid-morning, I took a few moments to bury the Bartiradian elf woodsman. I removed a section of earth, ced him in the grave, and then added the earth back on top of him. I was not sure of his customs, but I hoped my efforts would at least end one of my disturbing dreams. I tried to practice my skill at moving silently in the woods, but the effort and the slower pace made it frustrating, so I focused sporadically. With my armor left in Maveith¡¯s stone abode, I tried to head in its direction. It was not like anything at all looked familiar as I walked. I did pause to harvest mushrooms. They were quick and easy and did not slow me down much. I ate one of the ration bars and used the leaf wrapping afterward. It waste afternoon when I thought I was close to Maveith¡¯s home by the distance I had traveled. At least I found some areas where blood grass had been harvested. It might not have been me who gathered this particr grass, but it tickled my memory. Every tree looked the same, but it felt like I was close. I soon found a heavily trodden path made by arge man. It did not take me long to follow it to Maveith¡¯s small, hidden home. I was quite proud of myself for finding it. Lifting the bar on his door took some effort, but I managed. I entered his home, looking forward to a night¡¯s rest in the silky weasel pelts. I could reach the city in a few hours in the morning. My armor was still in the spare room; next time, I would just store it and not leave it behind. It might have prevented my shoulder from being injured by the manticore¡¯s quill. I ate from Maveith stores. I used the bacon fat to fry onions, potatoes, and salted meat. I was sure he wouldn¡¯t mind. I ate well and cleaned up after. It was night outside, and I went into the guest room after ensuring the front door was secure. Iy in bed and opened the time affinity book for spell forms. I finally had time to review my options so I could work on a new spell form.
Time Affinity Lesser Spell Forms (10-25) Compress Sleep (10) Hasten Mind (10)Seize Momentum (20) Echo in Time (25) Time Affinity Major Spell Forms (25-40) Hasten Self (30) Slow Aging (40) Age Target (40) Probable Future (40) Time Apex Major Spell Forms (40-70) Slow Bubble (50) shback (60) Ageless (70) Stasis (70)
I read the descriptions of the lesser spell forms first. The first mostmonly selected spell form was hasten sleep. This allowed you to rest while using your aether to recover your mental state. It did not affect your body, only your mind. Each aether invested gave you about four hours of rest in a single hour. So you could get aplete rest and mental recovery in just two hours. It also doubled your aether recovery while you slept, getting four hours of aether recovery for two hours of sleep. Hasten mind was very interesting as it allowed me to think faster. It did not make me smarter, time just passed much faster in my head. At the lowest affinity of ten, you would get to think about five times faster. The text noted that every ten points in affinity that time doubled. So, with my ninty affinity, I could get ten minutes for every second in real-time. The problem was it only affected my thinking and not my body. It would make reading books a breeze. Seize momentum was even more intriguing. This required you to touch an object and steal all its inertia. So, if you timed it right, you could stop a sword before it cut you. Then again, you could lose some fingers if you were even a half a breath toote. The amount of aether depended on the size of the object affected. The only interesting thing about this spell was that the object would be frozen momentarily based on a person¡¯s affinity. The only reference I had was someone with an affinity of thirty in time could hold an object just over a heartbeat after stealing its momentum. Did that mean the object would remain in ce for a minute with my ny affinity? The final lesser spell form was echo in time. This spell form allowed the castor to focus on an area and rey what happened in the past. How far back they could view depended on the person¡¯s affinity. At a twenty-five affinity, they could look back as far as a month. They had an entire reference book for using this specific spell form. It was also amon spell irvoyance castor¡¯s learned. The time version was slightly more powerful, being able to look further into the past. If the affinity scaling power held, then my ninty affinity could look back almost eight years ago. The middle tier listed in the book started with hasten self. Unlike hasten mind, hasten self affected your entire body. At a thirty affinity, you moved fifty percent faster. At forty affinity, it became twice as fast. ording to research, you could go more quickly, but the world still worked on the body normally. It noted an example of a mage with a fifty affinity in time who went blind every time he used hasten self. So it was a useful spell, especially inbat, but it had a ceiling. I kept thinking back to a bug being sttered on a windshield. We were definitely getting to some good spell forms. Slow aging sounded promising. I read it three times to make sure I understood the description. There was a simr spell, but you would need to keep it active all the time to get its benefit. The spell form was much more effective as it required either your aether core to be full or trickle aether through it if your core was not full. Your aging slowed to a tenth of its normal at a forty affinity in time. If it scaled up like other spell forms, then my aging would be 1/320th normal. Getting three hundred years for every one year was appealing. I could live to be twenty-thousand¡­or even older. Of course, the spell form required aether all the time, but there were exercises to train yourself to direct aether constantly to a spell form, even while sleeping. So only when my aether bottomed out would it stop. Iughed aloud, as that was amon urrence for me. The next spell form was age target, and it did not work well on living things. I knew that was due to object¡¯s aether resistance, but I should be able to ovee those defenses with a ninty affinity as I did with my space affinity. I did the conversation, and each aether I invested would age a target of about eight years. I did not see how that would help me inbat or life. Maybe growing nts, but there were probably better spells in the nature affinity for that. It had to have applications if the spell was in this book. A little more reading, and it was used mostly in alchemy. Potions that required brewing times of days could be done in minutes. I did not think I was destined to be an alchemist. Probable future was almostpletelybat-focused. The spell form gave the mage a quick view of the next twenty seconds. In arge-scale battle, they would know troop movements before they urred and know if a defense failed. It was all experienced from the mage¡¯s view and left them with a sizable headache afterward. Using it multiple times in session could make the mage go unconscious. It was an incredible power, but it did not fit me. The higher spell forms had to be incredible. The first did not disappoint. It created a bubble of time around the caster. Anything entering the bubble was slowed down, giving the caster time to react. The size of the bubble was fixed at ten feet. How slowly the people and items in the bubble moved was rted to the caster¡¯s affinity in time. At sixty, that was 80% of their normal speed. With my ninty affinity, it would be 40% of their normal speed, and the best part was there was no aether resistance to ovee. The bubble was fixed! The cost in aether was a problem, and each second required a rtive aether point. The bubble was also fixed in space once activated. If the caster left the bubble, it would end. Still, I could imagine being a terror on the battlefield with this or fighting monsters with ease. shback was even more powerful. It sent the caster back in time with the knowledge of the future. It was rted to how much aether was invested in the spell form when activated. With my avable aether, I could go back about¡ª10 seconds if my core was full. In battle, this was immense, especially if I was avoiding a killing blow. But you would still need to realize you were about to die to activate it. The next spell form was called ageless. It worked simrly to slow aging, except when you channeled aether, you did not age at all. It did have some drawbacks. It kept your body in the same state. That meant you could not alter your physical attributes through anything but essences. You could always stop aether channeling to the spell form to age. The second drawback was it took more aether to maintain than slow aging¡ªalmost five times as much. This meant I would recover my aether slower when it was active. Slow aging only used a trickle of aether. Stasis, listedst in the text, was an interesting spell form. It created a bubble of stilled time around an object or the caster. Time halted in the bubble based on how much aether was invested. The bubble size was also limited by the amount of aether invested. The stasis could be broken if the object was moved. I was not interested in bing Sleeping Beauty, so I did not bother puzzling out the math based on my affinity and avable aether. I did not know if these were all the spell forms avable to the time affinity, but they were the most popr. My ny affinity might have more powerful versions of these, but I did not have time to wait. I needed to start working on something now. I reduced my choices to time bubble or slow aging. Ageless was better than aging, but with my high affinity, they were about the same. And if I increased my time affinity with essence, I could slow my aging even further. Time bubble was incredible, too. It could be a lifesaver against a powerful foe or against multiple opponents. Then again, I had my dimensional space for one-on-onebat. I was very tempted to live forever. But could I watch friends and family age and die around me? Also, just because I aged extremely slowly did not mean I couldn¡¯t die. It seemed like almost every week, I was almost getting myself killed. Time bubble could be learned as a normal spell. Of course, I couldn¡¯t cast it yet. But I had been hearted to get my first essences to improve my magic attributes. I could get my magic attributes high enough to cast spells effectively with enough time. I needed the time¡­slow aging was my choice. I had spent hours reading and examining the book and only got a few hours of sleep. I would have to ask Maveith if I could have these giant weasel pelts. They were toofortable a bed. I put on my armor and exited Maveith¡¯s home. It should only be a few hours to the city, and I would see if they missed me. *** Book 1 is on Amazon Kindle! Bonus chapter this week to celebrate! No need to buy it as I will not be taking it down from scribblehub, but there are some edits in the first 10 chapters. I rushed to publish without a real editor as people were pirating my book. UPDATE: BOOK ONE IS ON AMAZON KINDLE!!!! /amazon/B0CV8MMBFT Chapter 91: Konstantin (POV Path to Legionnaire) Chapter 91: Konstantin (POV Path to Legionnaire) Chapter 91 Konstantin walked through the city gates from his small house outside the city walls. He enjoyed his job teachingnguage and history to the children. Not many parents in the city sent their children after they learned to read and write. They would rather have them apprenticed in a trade. So, it was rare for children older than ten to be in his sses. In his opinion, the school was more of a means for the mother to get some rest from raising their child. His small schoolhouse was situated against the outer wall of Barvima. Barvima was a city set away from the coast in the northeastern reaches of the Empire. Its only im to fame was a dungeon nearby that the Adventurer¡¯s Guild administered. Konstantin did not see the allure of risking your life for treasure from a dungeon. He arrived at his schoolhouse, happy to see his ssroom already full. Even though he was a strict disciplinarian, his young students revered him. He was a great teacher who taught reading, writing, and basic math in the morning, then history and literature in the afternoon. He quickly counted forty-nine full seats, with only six open. He knew every student by name and was d to see Maria back in ss today. Her mother was a seamstress, holding her back more often than not to work in her shop. She waved at him, smiling. She was a brilliant young girl, and he hoped she would do amazing things. The Imperial Schr, Javier, stood at the door smiling in his blue robes, ¡°Another good showing for our young teacher. At this rate, you will be making more coin than me.¡± The schr was here to count and subsidize the education of the children. The Imperial College paid Konstantin three silver a week and an additional copper for every student he taught each day. His was one of seven schools in the city. But he believed his school was the most popr. He taught six days a week, and usually earned around six silver, a high wage for a teacher. Konstantin smiled at Javier, who was here just as much to count the students as to make sure what Konstantin taught aligned with the expectations of the Emperor¡¯s wishes. This morning, Javier was not just here to count, and he repeated a warning, ¡°Do not teach about the Duke¡¯s grandfather¡¯s loss in the Third Southern Campaign. I am reminding all the teachers.¡± Konstantin was young, just twenty-six summers, and had only been teaching for less than a year. ¡°How can we not tell it as it actually happened, Javier? Will me not telling it change the fact that it did happen?¡± Javier grimaced, ¡°The Duke runs this province and sent word down. If you do not want to lose your tongue or worse, gloss over the Duke¡¯s grandfather¡¯s mistakes.¡± Konstantin nodded but nned to teach the material as it was. He had studied in three libraries and knew the Empire rewrote a lot of the history. Piecing fact from fiction and finding the missing pieces intrigued him. Thinking his job done, Javier left to count the attendance at the other schools for the day. Konstantin knew a lot about the expansion of the Telhian Empire. He knew of the old Empires they conquered, the battles that were fought, the Dukes whomanded the armies, and the victories and failures of those armies. The Empire grew from the seed of the First Legion into one of the most dominant kingdoms in all of Desia. You were doomed to repeat your mistakes if you did not learn from them. That day, Konstantin made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. He taught the Third Southern Campaign as it had happened. It was one of the biggest losses the Legion of the Lion had, losing over five thousand legionnaires and fifteen thousand army soldiers when they got trapped in a mountain pass. The Duke thatmanded them fled with only a thousand men and most of his mages through an improvised portal. It was a week before the Duke¡¯s grandson took his revenge. Two Hounds arrested Konstantin for aiding the Esenhem Kingdom. Esenhem was the elven nation across the channel. He passed the Truthseeker¡¯s interrogation at his trial but had been held almost a month before his trial. However, when he returned to Barmiva, he had been reced, and Javier informed him he would not find a teaching job anywhere in the Empire. Konstantin worked as a lumberjack for two years. A dangerous job where he ran from all kinds of monsters and watchedpanions and friends die. A particrly brutal attack by a gnoll raiding party left his arm shattered and him unable to work. He took out a loan to have his arm healed by a healer. After seven months, he fell too far behind on the payments and was forcibly constricted into the army. Due to his physique that he developed as a lumberjack, he was allowed into the legion training camp instead of the army training camp. Every day was a struggle to remain on top, and he was slowly forged into a fighter. He was surprised that he had a knack for fighting and graduated fifth in the ss of legion conscripts. His first assignment as a legionnaire was guarding the portal in Varta, arge coastal city in the Western Empire. Hismander at the time was an ancient legionnaire. Whenever they were not guarding the portal they were practicing. Konstantin found himself apt with a bow, extremely proficient with the sword, and growing steadily in mastery. So much so that a magepanymander passing through recruited him. Mage Commander Cassius took him into his service. Cassius worked heavily with the Hounds as his magical spell set made him an incredible tracker. They routed out creatures in cities and towns. Mostly creatures capable of mimicking humans or living deep beneath the ancient cities of the Empire. They hunted humans that were affected by lycanthropy, doppelgangers, specters, trolls, and even an entire nest of kobolds in his time with Cassius. Cassius was a highly intelligent andpetent mage and admired by his men. He also had ess to healing spells, so they rarely lost men while hunting. As Konstantin had matured as a legionnaire, he became friends with hispanions. While working with Cassius and the Hounds, Konstantin also imprinted his own spell forms. The first of which was his minor affinity for healing. The spell form allowed him to obtain a full rest after just four hours of sleep. His strongest affinity, air, got him some minor force magic for moving small objects. His lesser affinity for nature got him an awareness spell form to determine what nts were safe to eat. It allowed him to sense any organic poison. After a few years, hispany returned to Barvima, where Konstantin used to teach so long ago. This visit was at the Hounds¡¯ request to hunt a rogue necromancer in the city. The Hounds were skilled but always called on specialist magepanies when their quarry exceeded their skills. This was one such case. Animating the dead was against Imperial Law. Two zombies were found outside the city, but the Hounds had no leads. When Konstantin arrived with Cassius¡¯pany, his magemander quickly located the necromancer in awork of ancient tunnels deep below the city. They were not aware of just how many animated undead the deranged mage had made from an ancient dwarven catb. The necromancer released his creations into the city in a distraction in an attempt to flee. Cassius¡¯pany caught up to the necromancer anyway, and Konstantin sent the pale death mage to his final rest. But all was not well, as half thepany had died in the expedition, and the necromancer cursed Cassius. Cassius¡¯ body aged rapidly, growing older by a year every day. The wave of undead unleashed had also wreaked havoc on the city. In the clean-up, Konstantin found one of his past students, the seamstress Maria, had been killed along with her two infant daughters. Konstantin became bitter as he watched Cassius grow old and die over the next months. The healing of mages of the Empire could not stop the curse imprinted on his aether core. When Cassius passed in his sleep, Konstantin was ready to retire from the Legion. He had repaid his debt and no longer wished to see his friends die. He only needed to finish out his current year of service, his 12th, before ending his time in the Legion. He was in the East Legion Hall in Telha, the capital of the Empire, when he took a pear from a crate, and his nature spell form tingled, telling him it was not safe to eat. He quickly learned this spell form extended to any nt-based poisons. He had discovered a shipment of poisoned fruit intended for the Imperial Legion Hall. The shipment had been split between the three Legion Halls in the capital. The owner of that shipment was Antonia Segreto. Konstantin had just saved hundreds of legionaries from being fatally poised. Antonia Segreto was the merchant who sold the fruit but not the one who had poisoned it. After she was cleared, she questioned Konstantin in private and then made him an offer. She was of the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian Guard were the Emperor¡¯s most loyal subjects who helped him police the Empire from within. This was an attempt by the Empire¡¯s enemies to weaken the Legion and discredit her as a traitor. She attempted to recruit him, ¡°Konstantin, don¡¯t you wish you could do more? Have a greater effect on the Empire¡¯s fate?¡± Antonia asked him. ¡°I am content with the work I have already done, Master Merchant. I have killed dozens of threats to the Empire. My time of service ising to an end,¡± Konstantin replied to the merchant queen. He knew she was powerful as she was one of the few who was allowed by the Emperor to trade with the Elven Nation of Esenhem. The tall woman had gray streaks in her dark ck hair. She walked around a seated Konstantin like a predator. ¡°You have worked with the Hounds regrly. What if I could get you to be one of their number?¡± ¡°I am too old to be trained by the Hounds,¡± Konstantinughed as he was almost forty. He had worked with them many times, and they operated in small groups and were elite fighters with a variety of spell forms. ¡°Age is not a requirement. Beingpetent is,¡± came a voice from behind him. An athletic man stepped from the shadows. His lean and muscr body made the aged, wisened face appear out of ce. ¡°I am Cornelious. One of the trainers for the Hounds. Your spell form for detecting poisons is something I am interested in.¡± Antonia was smiling as Cornelius continued, ¡°Antonia has a few favors she wishes to call in, and the Emperor has granted them. Your discovery of the poison in the shipment might have just saved the Empire. She,¡± he nodded to Antonia, ¡°wishes you to be trained as a Hound.¡± ¡°And what if I decline your generous offer?¡± Konstantin said, unconvinced. Cornelious looked to Antonia, who answered, ¡°Give me ten years of service. I will buy you a vi in any city to spend your boring years after service. Because that is what your life will be like after the Legion. Boring.¡± Konstantin sat and thought. He had wanted to retire and raise a family before he got too old. Now, he would be almost fifty by the time he was free of the Legion. Antonia ced sixrge red spheres on the table. They rolled around briefly. Konstantin knew what they were. Apex essences. Constitution, if he was not mistaken. Amelia continued, ¡°Now let me tell you a secret about essences¡­¡± Konstantin spent three years with the Hounds. It made him rethink his entire perception of the Empire. The Hounds hunted people as much as they investigated monsters. He hunted soldiers, legionaries, spies, and insurgents. Most of the time, their quarry was definitely guilty of abandoning or opposing the Empire. But there were always cases where he had his doubts. And when the Hounds hunted you, it was not to bring you in for a trial. Konstantin became a skilled woodsman and tracker. He worked with the same four men for his entire service, reporting directly to Cornelius. The men he worked with took too much joy in pursuing, capturing, and killing. He was quickly souring on his life in the Hounds. That was when news arrived that Duke Artorious had died. The Duke had been the one who had ruined his life when he told the truth about his grandfather in his ss so long ago. Shortly after this news, Cornelius said his time in the Hounds was over and that he was to report to Antonia. Antonia smiled as he met her in the gardens of a small vi in Barvima a few weekster. ¡°Konstantin, how have thest few years treated you? Cornelius said you are a quick learner.¡± Konstantin considered his answer, knowing he was trapped in her web until his service expired, ¡°I learned a lot. Why did you summon me? Is it time for me to serve as your agent?¡± Antonia smiled, ¡°I thought you would be in a better mood now that Duke Artorius is dead.¡± ¡°Did you kill him?¡± Konstantin asked, half serious. Antonia had a musicalugh, ¡°Be careful what you ask. Just know he fell out of favor with the Emperor for his ipetence.¡± She circled the gardens with him, ¡°What do you think of this vi?¡± ¡°It is quite beautiful. Not many vis have gardens thisrge in their inner courtyard, and I can see a number of useful nts among the trees,¡± Konstantin said, studying the surroundings. ¡°I was hoping you would be a little more impressed than that,¡± she said, frowning. ¡°This will be yours after you finish your field service for me. Of course, you will be an agent for me in this city after you move in.¡± Konstantin stopped, ¡°So, I will be serving you for life and not just seven more years?¡± His tone hinted at anger. ¡°Don¡¯t look surprised. You knew in your heart that would be the case.¡± She indicated the vi, ¡°This is an investment for me. You will be my eyes and ears in the city when you retire here to start a family. The essence I gave you means you can still sire children aplenty,¡± she said harshly. She stepped back, ¡°I assumed you understood what I offered and what I expected of you?¡± Konstantin sighed. He was not surprised. He did not think she would have followed through on her promise of giving him a vi. She watched him as he processed the information. He nodded eptingly. ¡°Good, now I n to assign you a legionpany with an interesting magemander. She has run into some opposition from Duke Octavian. She is in desperate need of a good scout, and you are going to be it. She is very active across the Empire, so you can expect to be busy,¡± Antonia began. ¡°What is your interest in her?¡± Konstantin interrupted. Antonia had added a few more gray hairs since thest they met. Her face remained impassive but still had a powerful presence, ¡°Her spell repertoire is of interest to me and others. For now, just report her actions to me.¡± ¡°For how long will I be attached to herpany?¡± Konstantin asked, resigned to his assignment. With a little impatience, she answered, ¡°Until I tell you otherwise. Now her name is Mage Castile¡­¡± Chapter 92: Reporting In Chapter 92: Reporting In Chapter 92 The city of Sobral did not seem any different. It felt like I had been gone months and not just four days. As I walked into the city, maybe the city guards looked more professional with clean uniforms and armor. I reached the Citadel¡¯s main gate and was not stopped as I entered. A voice rang out from my right, ¡°Soldier! Why did you not question that man?¡± An angry and abrasive Firth came storming out of an archway in the wall. I was slightly shocked as the old legionnaire had actually shaved and looked unrecognizable. If he had not screamed for me to hear his voice, I would not have known it was him. He also wore the Duchess¡¯ Citadel guard uniform, not his legion gear. He must have rotated fromying the province¡¯s white marble border markers. He was now training the Citadel guards. He seemed to notice me now, ¡°Eryk?¡± He looked me over. ¡°Konstantin and vius went looking for you yesterday morning. Where have you been?¡± ¡°vius is back?¡± I ignored his question. Thest time I had seen vius was on the back of drake, seated ufortably behind Master Mage Sebastian. They were off to search for his brother¡¯s collector, which was secured in my dimensional space. He held up his hand to pause our conversation, and Firth took a moment to scold the two guards, ¡°Even if he is wearing legion armor, he could still be a spy. This boy could have gotten himself killed in the woods, and then they could have taken his armor. Unless a Dukees riding in leading a hundred legionnaires, question everyone!¡± He looked me over, ¡°Come Eryk. I will walk you to Castile to make sure you don¡¯t get lost on the way,¡± he said, smirking at his own jab. I took a jab at him, too, ¡°Not only are your clothes and face clean, but you also don¡¯t smell like a horse¡¯s ass. How can I be sure it is not you who is the spy who reced my good friend Firth?¡± ¡°Good friend, eh?¡± Heughed, ¡°Well, friend, anyway.¡± He thumbed the clean uniform, ¡°I have to keep up appearances while I am out here yelling at the general ipetence of the Duchess¡¯ guards.¡± He spit out something he was chewing on into the bushes. ¡°They have been worried about you, you know. Expected you back the following day after your walk in the woods with the half-giant. Konstantin was quite upset you were sent off with the half-giant.¡± ¡°He is a goliath, not a half-giant,¡± I said, defending Maveith.¡°Same difference,¡± he spat, cleaning the rest of his mouth in the bushes before entering the Citadel. Firth informed me of the events as we walked the Citadel, ¡°vius arrived yesterday morning. He rode here from Macha after the mage released him. Not sure what happened with Master Mage Sebastian in the swamp, but the Emperor ordered Sebastian to remain there.¡± ¡°The Emperor¡¯s in Macha?¡± I said, shocked. Firth was confused, ¡°What? No, you fool, just some of his advisors who speak for the Emperor. The Emperor has not left Telhia in fifty years. Chancellor Marcel from the Schrium, I think he said. vius said half the idle Legion Companies joined Duke Tiberius in Macha for his next push into Bartiradiannds.¡± ¡°So they are starting to excavate the ruins then?¡± I stated. ¡°How did you¡­?¡± His eyes shed in realization, ¡°Ah, I should have put that together. Yeah, the rumor is they are moving under cover of war to dig up some ancient city.¡± Firth was better connected than I thought to know that much. We were walking down the halls in the wing of the Citadel where Castile was quartered. ¡°Konstantin was not happy with Adrian sending you off with the goliath. He convinced Castile to go look for you, and poor vius left with him not four hours after arriving in Sobral.¡± Firth stopped at the door and banged on it loudly without decorum, ¡°Castile, your wayward apprentice has returned. And he looks alive and well.¡± He turned to address me, ¡°When you have time, find in me in the practice yard. Konstantin said you need to practice with your new magic trick in a real fight.¡± Well, at least Konstantin had not changed in four days. I entered the study and halted. The Duchess wore a thin silk blouse and shorts, not her normal dress. Castile was dressed simrly; both were dressed for casualfort. On the tables, dozens of books were spread everywhere, open to pages. Castile did not look up from her book as she said, ¡°Report?¡± I stood at attention and responded, ¡°One of the wardens was killed by a manticore. And¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Castile barked in surprise, standing. Castile and the Duchess both locked their eyes on me, demanding rification. ¡°It is a beast as big as a horse with the body of a lion and the head of¡­.¡± I started to respond. ¡°I know what a manticore is!¡± Castile said irritably. ¡°Where is it located? We can call thepany in fromying stones to deal with it.¡± Castile cracked her back, preparing. I could see her mind churring in preparation, ¡°Do you know where it isired?¡± ¡°It is dead. Well, three of them are dead. The other two went north. The male manticore said there were two others, and they went north. I¡¯m not sure if I believe him as he didn¡¯t seem trustworthy.¡± I was trying to exin but was having difficulty putting my thoughts in order as both the Duchess and Castile were mouths gaping in their casual wear. The Duchess smiled reassuringly, ¡°Start from the beginning, legionnaire. Eryk, right?¡± I nodded and began over, ¡°We visited Trek, the first warden, the day after we left. He agreed to your terms, Duchess. We met the second warden, Lyonis, and found him injured at his cabin. He and the fourth warden, Klinton, thought they were tracking a dire wolf that had been forced south from the flooding. It turns out it was a manticore. A second manticore surprised them, and Klinton was killed.¡± I took a breath, and the Duchess handed me her ss. I drank and found it to be a sweet wine. ¡°Thank you,¡± I handed her the ss back empty. ¡°Maveith nned toe back to the city for help to fight the manticore, but they found us at Lyonis¡¯ cabin that night.¡± I took a moment to put the events of the fight in my head in order correctly. ¡°Maveith ran out to draw them to the ground and get them to waste their tail barbs. He shot the small one, but the mated pair corned him. We had not expected a third one. Lyonis and I attempted to surprise them from behind, but Lyonis was struck, and the poison from the manticore prevented him from fighting further. I managed to surprise the female with a trick, which let Maveith get an arrow into the adult male.¡± ¡°When did the manticores talk?¡± Castile interrupted my retelling. ¡°I am getting to that part. The female went down from a lucky blow, and I injured the male with a pilum from behind. With its mate likely going to die and its offspring with an arrow in its lung, the male tried to bargain with us. It talked to Maveith in the stone giant tongue. I did not understand anything that was said.¡± ¡°Stone Giant? It must have been from Stone Mountain Ind, then. Was it hunting Maveith?¡± The Duchess interrupted, enthralled in the story. ¡°No, it said five of them were summoned by an elf mage well north of here. Two manticores were directed to wreak havoc north, and these three do the same south,¡± I answered. ¡°It could be one of the mages who released the elementals that caused the weather disturbances,¡± Castile guessed. ¡°A Bartiradian infiltrator specializing in summoning. Not something we are likely to get help dealing with the Emperor expanding the Bartiradian campaign in the east.¡± ¡°Should we report this?¡± the Duchess asked, deferring to Castile. Castile sat in the chair and thought for a moment. ¡°I will write a report and hand it to you, Duchess. Whether you turn it in is up to you, Veronica.¡± Castile spent a few moments making notes while we waited. She talked while she wrote, ¡°If you do submit this, Veronica, they may task mypany with finding the two missing manticores summoned by the Bartiradian mage since we are the closest and resources are being sent to the eastern front.¡± I waited patiently as Castile finished the report and handed it to the Duchess. I thought it strange they were on a first-name basis now. How much had happened in the four days? The Duchess took the report, folded it, and stuck it inside the cover of a book. ¡°I have been absent-mindedtely. I am sure I will remember where I put that report you submitted in a few weeks.¡± They both smiled at each other knowingly, and I felt out of ce. Castile turned to me. ¡°So all three manticores are dead?¡± Castile asked, confirming with me. ¡°Yes, Maveith broke the neck of the male, and the other two bled out,¡± I confirmed. I decided not to take credit for any of the kills as I had gotten a lot from taking their essences. I would let the Maveith take the credit and hope the Duchess never questioned him on what actually happened. The Duchess stood, poured some wine in the ss she had loaned me, and drank, ¡°I wille up with a suitable reward for the goliath. Should I give your legionnaire some consideration as well, Castile?¡± She was asking Castile as if I was not in the room. Castile studied me, and I kept my face impassive. ¡°Maybe some new legionnaire armor.¡± Now curious, the Duchess turned to me, ¡°The manticores did not injure you?¡± ¡°Just a scratch, Duchess. Maveith and Lyonis took the brunt of their attention,¡± I said, deflecting the question and not wanting to lie. The Duchess turned to Castile, ¡°Are we going to wait for Konstantin to return, or will you send him now?¡± She had pointed at me absently. Castile turned and addressed me, ¡°Eryk, you, Adrian, Lucien, and ze are going to Lorvo. We are recruiting an alchemist there toe to Sobral, so you will escort him here. On your return, Adrian will stop at the College in Forgabua to recruit a schr.¡± ¡°Is there a portal there?¡± I inquired, not quite sure how far it was. ¡°Yes, but we are sending you on horseback. Lucien is preparing four of the Duchess¡¯ horses. It is about three hundred miles to Lorvo, and another one twenty to Forgabua, and then two hundred fifty miles to return here. The roads should make the travel rtively quick. Adrian knows I expect you back in just over two weeks¡¯ time.¡± Castile exined patiently. I was not looking forward to long days in a saddle. That would be forty miles a day on horseback, and the memories of learning to ride and the pains associated shed back to me. I let out a smirk because, this time, I could heal myself. Castile noticed my smirk. ¡°I am d you are looking forward to it,¡± Castile said, returning to her books. ¡°Adrian should be ready to ride first thing in the morning.¡± It was an informal dismissal. The Duchess smiled knowingly, ¡°You can take a bath and have Lareen service your needs. She has been distraught at your absence.¡± I nodded, looked at the books as I left, and paused. It was not Latin. The writing made no sense; seeing my confusion, the Castile exined, ¡°It is Elvish. The schr Adrian is recruiting should be able to help us make sense of them. They are books from the ruins of Caelora.¡± Veronica stepped next to me, seeing my interest, ¡°We are hoping to find clues of natural resources in the area. Caelora is the undead city of specters you passed on the roading here. These books were recovered by the mage who used to rule Sobral and were in the library.¡± She didn¡¯t seem to mind me paging through the book in front of me. It was short, just thirty of so thick pages. There were illustrations on the opposite page from the writing. They were fantastical creatures, so I assumed this was some type of animalpendium. ¡°Do you read elvish?¡± The Duchess asked, surprised at my intense focus. ¡°No, I was just looking at the pictures,¡± I closed the book, slightly embarrassed, and excused myself. A hot bath did sound extremely inviting. If Adrian pushed us on the ride, it might be my only bath for the next two weeks. When I entered, Lareen was not in my room, so I started to draw a bath myself. The water was warm, at least so the pipes were being heated. Thirty minutester, I was sinking into the semi-hot water. And soon fell asleep. Chapter 93: Duchess’ Library Chapter 93: Duchess¡¯ Library Chapter 93 Mybat senses awakened me as the bathroom door opened with a creak. The water was still warm, so I had not slept too long. My eyes spotted my maid attendant in the archway. Lareen was in her heavy green dress, ¡°You are back.¡± She said cautiously, and I detected a note of¡ªmaybe happiness. ¡°Just for the night. I am off on a mission for two weeks in the morning,¡± I turned the nob to add more hot water, but it had turned cold. I asked, ¡°How do you know when the mage is working to make the water hot.¡± ¡°She is not a mage; she just has a spell form that can heat metal,¡± Lareen said, entering the room and starting to separate my clothes and armor. ¡°Your clothes are filthy!¡± Her nose was scrunching, trying not to smell them. It was cute and somewhat humourous. I tried to impress her, ¡°I tried to get them as clean as possible after we fought and harvested the manticore.¡± She looked up, eyes narrowing me in study, trying to figure out whether I was lying. If I told her there were three manticores, she definitely would not believe me. She did not call me a liar, and she just nodded slowly. She studied my clothes. ¡°I suppose I can get most of the stains out. Or I can call on Cassie. She has a spell form that can clean anything.¡± She was talking to herself, absorbed in sorting my dirty clothes. ¡°Do you have a spell form too?¡± I asked, moving over to lean on the edge of the tub to face her. Lareen flushed a bright red, ¡°I do.¡± She did not answer immediately, and I just stared at her as she worked. She finally revealed, ¡°It is not very impressive. It is actually fairly useless.¡± ¡°I have never heard of any magic being useless. Tell me,¡± I encouraged her with a smile.She flushed again, ¡°I¡­I can dry things. Well, just things with water. I can pull water to my hands from nearby.¡± ¡°That is awesome! Can you show me?¡± I said excitedly. She perked up at my excitement. ¡°It is just a lesser water affinity spell form,¡± she admitted. She quickly retrieved a bowl and filled it from the tub. She knelt on the floor in front of me, the bowl of water between her knees. She then pulled a thin stream of water between her hands, forming an orb of water between her palms. ¡°This is all I can control at once.¡± She was focused on the water, ¡°The spell form is called shape water, but I have so little affinity my volume is limited.¡± The water turned into a butterfly and slowly pped its wings as she concentrated, squinting her face in intense focus. I pped loudly, and the butterfly sshed to the ground. She quickly used her spell form to return the water to the tub, blushing the entire time. I asked, ¡°How did youe into the service of the Duchess?¡± Lareen stood but faced me, ¡°We all went to school at the Imperial Pce in Telha. My father was a Baron, my mother¡­¡± She paused, ¡°My mother a servant. If I had been born with a strong affinity he may have recognized me but since I was not¡­¡± She swallowed hard. ¡°I was his ninth child and not important.¡± ¡°He cared enough to make sure you had a good education,¡± I noted. Lareen was definitely well-spoken and had a poise to her. ¡°All children of dukes, counts, and barons are educated in the pce from age ten to seventeen. I felt fortunate, being sent even though I was a bastard.¡± I gave her a sympathetic look as she continued, ¡°The seven years we spend there are to show us royal etiquette and familiarize ourselves with our peers,¡± she said without enthusiasm. I remember seeing a ss in the Imperial Gardens when I followed Chancellor Marcel to his house. I guessed by Lareen¡¯s expression and tone her time there was not enjoyable. I changed the topic slightly, ¡°Does everyone have a spell form?¡± I asked the young woman. She had loaded a wicker basket with my clothes and set my armor aside to cleanter. She nodded, not making eye contact, ¡°Most. Usually, it is more impressive than a lesser spell form. Those who can cast spells move onto the Mage College after the Emperor¡¯s school.¡± ¡°Have you seen the Emperor then?¡± I asked curiously. She made eye contact, ¡°Many times. He would stop in and watch sses. Also, we would see him at major functions we would attend. Sometimes, the Emperor favored some of the children, like Duchess Veronica. When she turned twenty-five andpleted her time in the Schrium, the Emperor raised her to Duchess and gave her this new province,¡± she said reverently. ¡°How did youe into her service?¡± I asked. ¡°Not being recognized by my father, I had few options. Serving a Duchess is the highest station I could hope for. Most of the attendants in the Citadel under Duchess Veronica¡¯s care went to the Emperor¡¯s school. Some graduated with her, and some, like me, a few years after. But we all knew her at the Imperial Pce.¡± ¡°The Duchess is twenty-five?¡± I asked, having heard her age before and she nodded. ¡°How old are you then?¡± ¡°Twenty, twenty-one next New Year¡¯s Celebration,¡± she said, surprising me. Maybe it was because everyone was much shorter on Desia that I had misjudged her age. ¡°You look much younger,¡± I said, expecting it to be apliment, but she scowled a little. I added quickly, ¡°You are very pretty.¡± That seemed to save me a bit as she smiled before leaving tounder my clothes. I did some yoga before drying and putting on clean linens. I nned to use the amulet tonight but decided to wait until Lareen was asleep and in her small room. It seemed odd that the Empire¡¯s best-educated young men and women were made into servants. It just seemed like a major waste. My stomach rumbled, and I went down the back stairway to the kitchens to swipe something. The kitchen was busy with activities preparing for dinner, and I was ignored. I could probably wait for dinner, but I had missed lunch. I quickly identified an older man who seemed to be directing the chaos. ¡°Cook, can I get a little something? Anything is fine to hold me till dinner.¡± He looked me over, ¡°Lareen¡¯s charge? Back in one piece, I see. Give me a minute, and I will prepare you a te.¡± He weaved through the cooks, sliced arge baked potato in half, pilled on a mound of shredded meat, and then covered it in a white sauce. He put two massive rolls on the side and returned to me with the te. ¡°Will this hold you for a few hours till the evening meal, legionnaire?¡± He had a friendly smile. The te easily had over five pounds of food on it and smelled amazing. I nodded, ¡°Can I get some butter for the rolls and something to drink?¡± I asked, my mouth watering in anticipation. The cook snapped his fingers, and a full-sized stick of butter was on my te a few secondster from another cook, and a pint of ale appeared in my hands. The Citadel guards were more organized, and the cooks seemed to be increasing their production as well. ¡°Thank you¡ª¡± I didn¡¯t know his name, ¡°I am Eryk.¡± ¡°Clyde,¡± he held out his hand, and we shook wrists after I put the mug down. ¡°Lareen is a good woman; she speaks highly of you, legionnaire. More so than what the other attendants say of their charges.¡± I was speechless. I nodded dumbly, picked up my mug, and left. I should have figured servants talk to each other. I took my te to my room, and twenty minutester, the te was clean, my belly bloated, and I regretted my life decisions. I had been lying on the bed, rubbing my belly and trying to will the pain to recede. Lareen walked in with my clean clothes and noticed the te, ¡°I would have gotten you food if you asked.¡± ¡°It is fine,¡± I waved her off. ¡°I do not think I will need to eat dinner. I will just stay here and not move for a few hours.¡± ¡°If you are sure, I can let the staff know,¡± I nodded, but I probably should have waited. Lareen was gone and returned a few minutester. She busied herself cleaning the bathroom while I waited on the bed for my stomach to push my meal into my intestines. I drifted off once or twice and missed Lareen saying something. She repeated herself, ¡°Since you are not going to be at dinner, is there anything else you wish to do this evening?¡± I looked out the window, and some light of the day remained. I thought for a minute and asked, ¡°The Duchess has a library. Am I allowed to use it?¡± Lareen¡¯s face showed disappointment, but she nodded affirmatively. ¡°Yes, your armor is clean. The bathroom is clean, and your clothes are ready for you. I can bring you to the Duchess¡¯ library if you wish,¡± she said, somewhat bothered. Iplimented her on her work, but she still seemed a little perturbed. I followed her to the Duchess¡¯s wing of the Citadel. The library was the room adjacent to the office where Castile and the Duchess met me this morning. The library was impressive. It was three stories tall, and rectangr, and one wall was entirely paneled ss looking into a small garden below. I could see into a few other rooms across that did not have curtains drawn. All the rooms were vacant, though. Two wide wooden staircases on either side went all the way to the third floor. Each floor held hundreds of books. More books than I had seen in my time in Desia so far. The familiar scent of aged paper assaulted my nose. ¡°Impressive, isn¡¯t it?¡± Lareen said as I stared up. ¡°Most of the books were left by the Mage who once ruled here. He was a bit of a collector. He even sent expeditions to look for lost libraries and to other Empires.¡± I walked the shelves with Lareen trailing me. Most of the books on the first floor were in Latin. When I reached the second floor, things started to be muddled. Only one in four books was Latin. The third floor did not have a single book whose binding I could read. ¡°Are you looking for a particr topic?¡± Lareen asked. ¡°You are familiar with the organization?¡± I asked, surprised. Her face hardened, ¡°I know how to read and spend some of my free time in here,¡± she said, annoyed. ¡°Can you show me where the books on spell forms are located? And maybe other kingdoms on Desia as well?¡± I asked. ¡°The magic section is that alcove,¡± she pointed confidently. ¡°The histories of the other kingdoms are on that wall.¡± She pointed at an entire wall of books over ten feet high with adder to ess the higher books. I walked to the wall and began scanning titles. ¡°Are there any maps of all of Desia? I was wondering where Stone Mountain Ind is located. The goliath warden was from there.¡± Lareen went confidently and pulled three wrapped scrolls. She unrolled them while I stood over her shoulder. Maybe I was too close as her hips pushed back into mine. I ignored the contact and studied each of the maps as she unfurled them. The first was just the Telhian Empire. The second was a map of the continent. The third was the world of Desia. I was surprised at how big the was. The map was fairly detailed, and if the key was correct, the equatorial line was over 26,000 miles. Was that bigger than Earth? I did not remember. There were three continents on the map. And dozens ofrge inds. I was leaning into Lareen to look closer when she exhaled and pointed a finger, drawing my attention to a ce on the world map. ¡°It is here.¡± I followed her finger and, in small script, Stone Mountain Ind. ording to the key, it was not a small ind, about five hundred miles across. And it waspletely on the other side of the world. Maveith had gotten as far away from his people as possible. Not wanting to continue pressing into Lareen, I gently moved the reluctant woman aside to study the map. I studied the map enthralled. I wanted to memorize every detail to add this to my dreamscape. I went back and studied the other two maps as well before stepping back. Lareen was waiting, flushed. I needed to be alone in the library. ¡°Lareen, thank you. I am going to spend a few hours here. Can you¡­get me a crate of apples? Bring them to my room so I can pack them for the trip.¡± Lareen looked around, confused. ¡°After you get them, you can join me back in the library. I just don¡¯t want to forget about the apples for the horses.¡± Lareen nodded, disappointed, and left, and I quickly went to the magic section. It took a moment to rece the time affinity spell form book. There was no book for void affinity or worlds affinity. There was a book for discement affinity. It was just as monstrous a tome as the time affinity. It was threepiled volumes as well. I should have given Lareen something more involved to keep her upied. I paged through it, sitting next to the shelf with a glow stone for light. Turning each page, focusing intently. My heart was racing at the chance of being discovered. I got to the end and reced it on the shelf. I stood and stretched. I searched for a book on my dreamscape amulet, but after ten minutes, I gave up. I moved to the wall of books on other kingdoms in the world. Maybe the lines of nations changed over time, but I was looking for one nation in particr¡ªTsinga. I found three books on Tsinga. One was the history of the Duchy of Tsinga, the second was a bestiary for Tsinga, and the third was focused on the religions of the region. I was halfway through the first book when Lareen returned. She walked over to me, smiling, ¡°I got you your apples in your room. Anything else?¡± ¡°I am just going to look through a few books, then head to my room. I am expecting a long ride tomorrow.¡± I replied but was focused on the book. Lareen went and stood by the door. I was tempted to look for books on Other Worlders, but with Lareen watching me, I just paged through the three books on Tsinga and two books on the Kingdom of Keisinia. The Duchy of Tsinga used to be part of Keisinia but was now independent. I returned thest book and hoped to find time to return. ¡°I am done,¡± I announced. ¡°Thank you.¡± I approached Lareen with a sincere smile. We returned together to my room. ¡°Are you sure you do not want something to eat? You said you would take meals with me in your room?¡± She reminded me as I inspected the crate of apples. She had gotten over a hundred apples. ¡°That sounds good. Something light and that you would like,¡± I said, holding up an apple to the light. ¡°These apples are perfect.¡± She smiled and left, and I quickly moved all but ten apples into my dimensional space. Ny-two apples. Lareen returned with a bottle of wine, a roasted chicken, and some candied yellow carrots. She made another trip for ce settings. And then we sat and ate. I was eating the greasy dumbstick a little messily, and sheughed at my contented noises. ¡°What?¡± I asked, savoring the crispy skin and dark meat. ¡°You have no decorum, legionnaire,¡± she giggled. ¡°Well then, teach me. How does one eat with the Emperor?¡± I put down my drumstick and ced my palms on the table. Lareen smirked, ¡°You asked¡­¡± The next hour, I was schooled in the proper way to eat with someone who had higher social status than me. Most of it was waiting for them to take the first bite. One ridiculous thing was that if the Emperor did not try a course at dinner, then no one could. Lareen remembered one dinner she was at when he was not hungry, and no one got to eat anything. It was fun as she teased me about my mannerisms and my posture. It almost felt like a date. The sun had long set by the time the meal was finished. Lareen cleared the dishes to the kitchen, and I went to bed. I put the amulet on under my shirt, waiting for her to return and go to her quarters before using it. It seemed to take forever, but she finally returned. I think her hair was wet as she went into her small room. I immediately went into my dreamscape. Oscar was happy to see me. I only had one task tonight. I wanted to add all the things I read in the library to the shelves in the amulet. I started by working on one wall and erging the three maps. I studied them briefly, making sure everything looked good. Then, I added the spell form book on the discement affinity. Then, there were three books on Tsinga and two on the Kingdom of Keisinia. I gave Oscar a pat, and if my theory was correct, I was about to get one major migraine when I returned to the real world. I inhaled and exited the dungeon. I hated that I was right. My head throbbed, and my eyes felt intense pressure behind them. I groaned and rolled to my right, surprised to find someone next to me. My hands explored a naked Lareen under the covers with me. ¡°Do you want me out of your bed?¡± She asked softly. ¡°No,¡± I replied and kissed her, pulling her body on top of me. Chapter 94: Back in the Saddle Chapter 94: Back in the Saddle Chapter 94 ¡°Wake up legionnaire. Lucien wants you down in the stables,¡± A gruff voice said, standing over my bed. It was still dark, but the voice was familiar. I asked, ¡°Adrian, why didn¡¯t you knock?¡± ¡°Tace wood door. And I got a set of keys to all the legionnaire rooms,¡± he jingled the keys as emphasis. ¡°Get up and help prepare the horses. Say your goodbyes. We should be back in two weeks.¡± He walked out, having issued his orders. Lareen had one leg draped over me and was snuggled into my side. That had really happenedst night. She came to me and had been an enthusiastic participant. It had been enjoyable for both of us. ¡°Are you awake?¡± I asked. ¡°No. I don¡¯t have to wake until the first light.¡± She pulled her body in closer, seeking my body heat as the room was chilly with no fire. I extracted myself but left my prized griffin down pillow behind. I quickly dressed with the light of a glowstone. When I was in my full gear, I looked at Lareen, who had fallen back to sleep, hugging the griffin pillow. Should I wake her to say goodbye or just leave? I leaned in and kissed her until she stirred some. When she was semi-conscious, I broke the kiss. ¡°Thank you. I will be back in a few weeks,¡± I whispered. Her eyes were closed, but she had a smile on her face. I left the room and went to the stables. Lucien was there in the predawn saddling horses. ¡°Eryk, good. Adrian and ze are bringing out the saddle packs. Get those two mounts ready,¡± he indicated two gray mounts; one had a ck mane, and one had a white. I was a little out of practice but quickly remembered as the muscle memory returned. Lucien inspected my work and nodded, ¡°Good work. Now let me tell you why I selected these mounts for our trip. We must travel forty miles daily to get back to Sobral on schedule.¡±I thought about it momentarily, ¡°Are the alchemist and schr going to be able to ride that many miles?¡± ¡°Probably not. Adrian will try to push the horses on the way to Lorvo. After that, he will back off,¡± Lucien said after a moment. ¡°Now long-distance mounts have three features you want to look for: age, body type, and temper.¡± For the next thirty minutes, Lucien showed me the signs to identify the age of a horse, whether its body was conditioned for endurance riding, and a rehash on finding a horse¡¯s temperament. ze arrived with two heavy packs, and then Adrian did as well. We all got them onto the horses and secured our weapons. I was taking two short swords and a spear. That did not include the hidden arsenal in my dimensional space. ze had four small quivers with his bow and short sword. Lucien had a mace and a short sword. Adrian had his long sword. As soon as the sky turned gray with the first light, we were riding out of the gates of the Citadel and then the city. We tested the horses at a light gallop for a mile and then walked them for a mile. We repeated this four times before stopping and letting them drink. The road was packed with y and dirt, which was easy on the horses. I slipped each horse an apple and praised them for their work. My horse was dark gray with a ck mane and tail. He was also the biggest of the four since I was thergest man among us. I decided to call him As since he was carrying my heavy ass around. After the break, I was riding next to Adrian. ¡°We will reach the city of Loule tonight. Castile asked me to work with you on your new spell form. An air barrier of some sort? Can you demonstrate while we ride?¡± he asked as we were at a walk. ¡°Yes, air discs.¡± I almost made one appear in his path but did not think knocking Adrian off his horse would endear him to me. ¡°They are stationary and can take some abuse before being destroyed.¡± I halted As and dismounted. I was standing two feet off the ground, holding my reins. As was looking, and I think he was confused. I mounted and continued to ride. Whenever we were on a walk, Adrian asked questions much as Konstantin had puzzling out uses inbat for my spell form. We had a quick spar at our second water break for the horses. ¡°Is that Delmar¡¯s runic sword?¡± I asked as he unsheathed the silvery de. Adrain smirked, ¡°Yeah, he loaned it to me after losing at dice. When we return to Sobral, I must return it to him.¡± He shed the air. I didn¡¯t know Delmar and Adrian gambled. They rarely mingled with thepany. ¡°Come, let¡¯s see how you fare,¡± hemanded impatiently to use the loaned weapon. Adrian¡¯s sword cut through my barrier much easier than a regr sword. It still slowed its progress, but I thought it was unfair that he had an extra advantage. ¡°If your opponent has an artificed weapon, Eryk, you just need to ce it where they are not likely to strike it. Your biggest advantage is your opponent can not see the disc while you can.¡± Adrian advised after a few engagements. The break was not long, and ze was eager to try shooting arrows at my barrier, but Adrian said there would be time for thatter. The trip went surprisingly quick, just nine hours of riding and breaks to make it Loule. My healing spell form made the soreness fade when it got too unbearable. Mypanions were ufortable as their bodies remembered how to ride, so I mimicked their stiffness and aches to keep my healing ability secret. Loule was a walled city surrounded by farms. It looked prosperous and had a high degree of activity in thete afternoon, easily twice the poption of Sobral. We rode into the city unobstructed and made our way straight to a Legion Hall. We got looks but no stares. The Legion Hall was not impressive. A granite building with an attached wooden stable. The Hall had four bunk rooms with twenty beds each. An old hunch-backed man ran the Hall. Adrian talked to him before returning to talk to us. ¡°We are the onlypany here. We are free to take what we want from the weapons and food stores. Eryk and Lucien, stable the horses and then meet us in there.¡± I went with Lucien,id out the straw, and helped him rub down and check the mounts before feeding and watering them. Lucien left first, and I gave them each mount an apple for their hard day. I could tell they had already started to expect it. I missed Ginger, but As seemed like a fine mount. Adrian and ze were in the storage room going through shelves of equipment. Much of it was rusted and not cared for. Adrian, seeing me,mented, ¡°Mostly trash. A few legionpanies came through here on the way to the eastern front with the Bartiradians. They took anything useful for the campaign.¡± ze was holding a pair of throwing knives, ¡°At least we don¡¯t have to pay for it.¡± ze referred to the fact that when conscripted legionnaires took new equipment, we had the debt added to our ounts. If equipment were just reced, we would not have to pay for it. Castile had paid for any equipment, so the men did not need to, but her ounts had been seized as punishment for the losses in Macha as determined by the Tribunal, and she had not replenished her funds yet. ze picked up some throwing knives, checked their sharpness, sheathed them, and added them to his pack. I went to the foodstuffs. Much of it was bulky items, ceramic jars of items like fermented cabbage or pickles. As I was searching, the others left, and I was alone. Not that there was anything I really wanted in here. I broke the wax seal on a ceramic jarbeled fermented cabbage. One whiff and I was definitely not taking this. I tried the pickles next. They looked normal, just smaller than I was used to. I tried one. It was a bit soft but tasted like a sour pickle. I pulled two five-gallon ceramic containers into my dimensional storage. I was about to leave but noticed an old jar in the back. I pulled it out, and it was heavy. It wasbeled fermented carrots but did not swish, and the container did not match the other fermented vegetables. I broke the wax seal to find a thick sludge inside. I touched it and realized what it was. Honey! This was a lot of honey, maybe three gallons. It had crystallized some, but it was still good. I moved it to my dimensional space. I still had a lot of food from the first Legion Hall I visited, but a little more couldn¡¯t hurt. I also took a massive cast iron cauldron with a lid¡ªmaybe weighing seventy pounds. It was more for a kitchen but could cook for thepany in a pinch if I ever revealed my storage. It could also be a weapon if dropped from the proper height. I would have liked to add arrows, but there were none here. I found the others eating pies Adrian had purchased from the tavern next door. ¡°We need to return the dishes, so don¡¯t break them,¡± Adrian warned, handing me a pie. I started in on mine, but it was terrible. The meat was not identifiable and was chewy and fatty. At least therd and flour crust was decent. Adrian reminded us, ¡°We will get an hour of training in the yard behind the Hall before sleep tonight. I know you are all sore, but we should get some practice fighting together. The next stretch of road has been known to harbor bandits asionally.¡± ¡°How far?¡± ze asked. He was also not pleased with his dinner as most of the gristle chunks of meat remained uneaten. ¡°One hundred and forty miles to Telhas. I want to make it in three days. From there, we have to take the old road west to Lorvo, another hundred miles. It is a wild road, not well traveled, and could run into any number of creatures. Since we are on horseback, I n to run and not fight if anything finds us,¡± Adrian advised us. We went to the training yard, which was overgrown with many weeds and bushes around it. The old man who administered this Hall did not maintain it well. The practice session was focused on me and my air barriers. I found Lucien¡¯s mace was slightly more effective at disrupting it than a normal sword. I also learned how quickly ze could shoot arrows. He fired thirteen arrows in less than thirty seconds. The scary thing was he did not once miss his target at thirty feet. I did notice that his eyes looked a little hollowed. From that, I guessed he must be using a spell form to help with his aim, draining his aether. I was not sure if he even realized what he was doing. I got my own bunk room and was already missing my pillow. I had left it in my room in Sobral with Lareen. I hoped Lareen at least appreciated it. I used the amulet for just two hours, focusing on learning the time affinity spell form of slow aging. When I left the dreamscape, I did not have a headache at all. I was sure I had figured out part of the device. As long as I did not add things to the dreamscape, I would not get migraines on leaving. The next question about the amulet was if what I created was permanent. Would the maps, chair, Oscar, and everything else still be there if someone else used the amulet? Maybe when I found someone to trust, I would find out. Adrian had us up before dawn again and on the move. The next three days of travel south to Telhas were long days in the saddle, interspersed with practice. The variety of attacks and facing multiple opponents helped me develop my use of the discs inbat. We did not encounter any bandits, but a farmer did try to recruit us to kill some giant vermin eating his crops. We told him we would post the request to the Adventerurs Hall in Telhas. There was an Adventurers Hall because a dungeon was about ten miles south. The farmer cursed us, calling us, ¡°Useless Legion Scum Who Couldn¡¯t Wipe Their Arse Without Approval From the Emperor.¡± Adrian took the insult without retort, and we left the farmer screaming at us as we rode away. Adrianmented irritably, ¡°He just wanted us to solve his problem for free. If we had time, we would have helped. Now, he will have to pay a few adventurers some silver.¡± We reached the city of Telhas. Telha was the glorious capital city of the Empire. Telhas was the ugly sister she did not want anyone to know about. The city had wooden walls and very few stone buildings. Adrianmented, ¡°The region is bereft of stone, so all the stone was quarried elsewhere and transported at great expense.¡± We soon learned there was no Adventurer¡¯s Hall in the city. Adrian was angry that he had to pay a silver for a message to the Adventurer¡¯s Hall to deliver the posting for the farmer. There was also no Legion Hall in the wooden-walled city, so we got rooms at the best inn in the small city. The room smelled funny; it smelled like someone had vomited and not been cleaned well. We spent the prior two nights in an abandoned cabin and a farmer¡¯s outbuilding. So, I was looking forward to using my amulet for a few hours tonight. I was sharing a room with ze, whoined about the mattress, ¡°This mattress has more lumps than Lysander¡¯s gravy. I would rather be sleeping on the ground.¡± But he eventually fell asleep anyway. I retrieved and ced the amulet on. A happy Oscar barked and circled me, and I paused to give him some attention. Oscar followed me as I walked into the first dungeon room with the ankheg. I created a copy of Konstantin, ze, Adrian, and Lucien. I had practiced fighting with these men often, so I felt their manifestations would do them justice. I started with Adrian¡­ Chapter 95 Chapter 95 I lost to Adrian twice before I defeated him during our third fight. The dreamscape creation mimicked the real-world Adrian so well that even his facial expressions and mannerisms reminded me of him. I was wondering if this was perhaps something more than an illusion that the amulet drew from my mind. ¡°Adrian, where were you born?¡± I asked after finally defeating him. The facsimile of Adrian shrugged, ¡°That is not relevant to our practice, Eryk. Are you ready to go again? You need to produce your air discs without announcing the cast to your opponent.¡± He waved his hand to demonstrate what I was doing. I was putting my palm t in the orientation of the air disc. It helped me orient the disc in my mind. I didn¡¯t really need to. I returned to my questions about the constructs and pressed him for something I did not know about him, ¡°What are the names of your parents?¡± Adrian looked over at the others for help. They had been standing and watching us. However, Konstantin had been constantly shouting out advice. No one moved momentarily, and then Adrian said, confused, ¡°I do not recall. Should I know?¡± I rxed some. ¡°No. Forget I asked. Take a rest. Konstantin, how about¡­¡± The manifestation of Konstantin was already walking forward, loosening his wrist by spinning his short sword, eager to engage. I also noticed his enchanted sword in hand, which he did not have the first time I created a likeness of him here. The amulet was definitely drawing from my memory. The fight with Konstantin was short as he used my air shield against me. He grabbed the invisible edge to pivot quickly. His sword cut easily into my exposed neck. It happened so fast I did not have time to freeze the environment. I blinked and found myself back in the entry room. I had just died in here, and I was¡ªreset? I touched my neck reflexively. That was a bit unnerving. I walked back into the first room where the ankheg was, and it was as I had left it. Konstantin did not look regretful for having just killed me. And my dead body was not here. Konstantin barked, ¡°You should have expected that, Eryk. If your opponent knows your tricks, they will use them against you. Again?!¡± I liked this dream creation as much as I liked the real one.I fought Konstantin again and lost, this time pausing the environment before his sword pierced my heart as I was on my back on the ground, having tripped when he tangled my legs with an improvised b. He seemed to be getting better and learning from me. I realized that I was not fatiguing, feeling injuries, or had a limit on how much aether I could use. I focused on adding these elements into the dreamscape practice. Although I did not want to feel pain, it made sense to include it while I practiced so I could expect it in the real world. Limiting the number of shields was smart as well to get used to my limitations. I started to rotate who I was fighting. Konstantin always seemed to beat me no matter what I tried. He seemed to be a step ahead. ze was easy to beat with my air shield. Lucien was an even match for me, but multiple shields usually put the match in my favor. He did crush my forearm with a lucky blow. After a moment of shock, it was the most intense pain I had felt in the dreamscape. The pain intensity varied, though, like it was trying to find the appropriate amount from my memories. So, the amulet was adjusting to my knowledge to get things right as I had never had my forearm shattered before. The more I learned, the better the¡­Illusion? Simtion? Constructs? I could see why this was such a valuable artifact. It would still need constant ¡®updating¡¯ from the user to fill in the nks, but it was a great ce to practice. I estimated it had been more than six hours, so I left the dungeon. The room was dark, and ze was still sleeping. I heard his heavy breaths a few feet away. I had a very small pressure behind my eyes, which made sense as I made small changes to the dreamscape. I felt fully rested, which was very encouraging. I quietly dressed and nned to saddle the horses before everyone else woke. It should give us a head start on the day¡¯s ride. We were headed west on an old trade road. ze woke, but realizing he had time to sleep, he just rolled over and ignored me. The horses were excited to see me, and I gave them a quick rub down before saddling them. They each then got the expected apple from my dwindling supply. Lucien arrived just as the sky was turning gray in the sun¡¯s first light. ¡°All done?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep and needed to do something,¡± I exined. Lucien nodded in understanding. He quickly checked the horses, ¡°Looks good. We can spend more time at breakfast if Adrian lets us. I think Adrian is nning to back off on our pace some. He is feeling the saddle pain like the rest of us.¡± I nodded in agreement and followed Lucien back to the inn. ze and Adrian were seated and waiting for breakfast. We sat with them and filled mugs from a pitcher. Adrian took a draft of his mug, ¡°When we meet the alchemist, Eryk, you will need to show him your dimensional space. You need to impress him with the quality and freshness of the ingredients.¡± ¡°I thought he already agreed to work for the Duchess?¡± I sipped my own mug and nearly gagged at the bitterness of the ale. I was getting the impression this inn owner did not like legionnaires. First, the foul-smelling room, and now this terrible ale. I decided I would rather eat a ration bar than trust whatever breakfast was served. ¡°Agreed is a strong term,¡± Adiran admitted, drinking his own beverage like hecked taste buds. ¡°The Duchess received a message sending from Lorvo that there were twopeting alchemists in town. Our job is to convince one of them to relocate.¡± An overweight man in a filthy leather apron brought out tes of biscuits covered in a gray gravy with chucks of¡­ I think ck mushrooms and meat. I took an apple and ration bar from my pocket and crunched into the apple. ¡°So I just need to show him some of the things I collected in the woods?¡± ze was eating and seemed satisfied with the meal, but I was not even tempted. Lucien was scraping the gravy off and focused on just the biscuits. Adrian took a test bite and then continued eating, epting the morning offering. Adrian ate while he talked, ¡°The alchemist we are targeting just graduated from the Imperial College. He hade into some conflict with the already-established alchemist in the city. The Countess of the city asked Duchess Veronica to resolve it. Having two alchemists in one city is a blessing, but these two are causing problems.¡± ze finished his te and asked, ¡°What if he does not want to relocate?¡± Adrian said calmly, ¡°He will not have a choice. Horses ready?¡± He addressed Lucien, who nodded. Lucien ate his biscuits and gravy, but none of the meat and mushroom chunks hiding inside the gray ooze. Our packs were secured, and we were on the road momentster. Lucien was right; Adrian was at a much more sedate pace. It was not long before we reached the trade road. It was not well-traveled but easy to navigate. We were all riding abreast, and Adrian was in the middle. Adrian started talking, ¡°The locals say we are at the tail end of the goblin migration season. Other than that, some giant spiders, gnolls, and giant elk. It is out of rutting season, so the elk will likely not bother us.¡± ¡°They also mentioned an owlbear after the second round,¡± Lucien added from the right. I guessed they had spent time drinking while ze and I went to sleep. Adrian waved his hand, ¡°The way it sounded from that drunk merchant, I think the owlbear was apanion of someone in these woods. It did not attack him; they always attack when spotted.¡± Adrian sounded confident. It was mid-morning when Adrian pointed into the dark woods, ¡°Look there, about two hundred yards. Some webbing in the trees. Most likely a giant spider nest.¡± The woods were shadowy, but I could see the strands hanging from the trees. We walked past and stopped when we came to a clearing in the road near midday. ¡°We will eat and then do some practice in rotation. Eryk can cycle through all of us to get practice with his spell form,¡± Adrian announced. Lucien and I checked the horses while Adrian remained on guard. ze pulled out some hard cheese and jerky for everyone from the saddlebags. As we ate, we all remained vignt. ze asked, ¡°Where are we going to sleep tonight?¡± Adrian answered while standing and limbering up, ¡°There are two fortifications spaced equally along the road. Merchants use them, and so will we. Now, Eryk, let¡¯s practice.¡± I do not know who was more shocked, Adrian or me, when I blocked his de with my sword, protecting my air shield and then using a second air shield to catch his arm, preventing his defense. My wrapped sword pped into his calf as I quickly backed away. I had practiced the maneuver in the dreamscape and was surprised it went so smoothly. Adrian rubbed out his leg and turned serious, ¡°No magic shields this time.¡± I held my own in the next three exchanges with a normal round shield. I had, in fact, gotten better overnight. I was more confident in my instincts and quicker in my reactions. The same was to be said when I fought Lucien and ze. Everyone seemed perplexed at my skill advancement as we folded camp and rode down the old road. I remained quiet. We reached the fortification before sunset. It was just a walled-in area. The stone wall was only fifteen feet high, but the interior was fifty by fifty, with plenty of space for a caravan. There was even a stable inside for the horses on one wall. The entrance was a single ten-foot-wide archway. Adrian walked the interior, ¡°I was hoping the doors would still be here. It looks like the roof and doors are long rotted away. Thest merchant caravan didn¡¯t even clean the stables.¡± Lucien motioned to me, ¡°Let us clean what we can and get the horses fed and watered, Eryk.¡± The evening was spent cleaning the stalls, cleaning general debris out of the structure, and hauling logs to make a barricade over the entrance. It was not easy work, and we were sweaty and tired by sundown. We slept in our bedrolls near the barricade, with pairs of us taking turns on watch. Although the night was full of unusual sounds, nothing disturbed the barrier all night. We rode hard the next day to the dismay of Lucien and his concern for the mounts. Adrian did not trust the condition of the next fortification and didn¡¯t want to have to put in another few hours of work to prepare it. We reached it at midday, and it actually had a door, but Adrian did not stop. We rode on, nning to make Lorvo before nightfall. Lorvo was in the center of the Telhian Empire but was fairly remote. As we reached the outskirts, I learned that it produced much of the wine in the Empire. Vineyards stretched into the distance along the road worked by men, women, and children. Large carts trailed them as they picked basket after basket and dumped them inside the cart. When we reached it, the city seemed out of ce with high white stone walls. We rode into the city, and the guards had bright white tabards and stopped us diligently, asking questions about our business. Adrian handled them, and we rode toward the center of the city and the familiar central fortification called the Citadel in all cities. This Citadel was also white stone but with a glossy finish, unlike the outer walls, which I think might have been painted. The Citadel was marble. We turned off before reaching it to ride into the courtyard of the Legion Hall. The Legion Hall in the city was three stories and also of white marble, just not polished. Four young boys came to take our horses. The courtyard was busy with a handful of legionnaires exercising and practicing. Lucienmented, ¡°A huge difference is when you are connected to the rest of the Empire with a portal.¡± ze asked hopefully, ¡°They have a Discement Mage?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t help us,¡± Adrian informed him. ¡°Forgabua does not. Nor do any city on the return trip. The only reason a city this far south has a portal is so the First Citizens can get their wine in a timely manner.¡± His tone was slightly condescending. The Legion Hall was orderly and clean. We all walked with Adrian to the counter, ¡°Mage Castile¡¯spany. One night stay for four legionnaires on Duchess Veronica¡¯s business in the city.¡± The man behind the desk nodded and made notes in his ledger, ¡°The baths will be open till midnight. Then we close them for cleaning. If you need any gear reced, my assistant can help you.¡± He turned and pointed at a young man who looked eager to please. ¡°Bunk room two on the third floor is currently empty.¡± Adrian spun and motioned for us to go up the stairs, ¡°The stable hands will bring our bags to the room. We will take to the baths, and then Eryk and I will locate the alchemist.¡± He pulled threerge gold coins from his pouch, ¡°Lucien, see about getting him a horse. Check to see if we can requisition one before buying one. ze, check our food and ensure we have enough for the horses and six people for six days. If not, get some from the stores in the Legion Hall.¡± The baths were white marble, and Adrianmented that a quarry was near the city. This city produced both wine and quality marble, so it was not surprising the Count who ruled it appeared to be wealthy. I did not have time to luxuriate in the baths as Adrian had us dressed in borrowed togas and off into the city while our clothes and armor were cared for by the attendants. It was my first time wrapping a toga, and Adrian was amused at my initial difficulty. A toga was a single sheet folded around the body and secured on one shoulder. Adrian talked to me as we walked while he focused, ¡°The Legion Hall was fairly bare. Normally, this city is packed with men, and two or three mages are quartered here. There are no mages besides the Discement Mage elsewhere in the city. The Emperor must be serious in his campaign to the east.¡± ¡°Will that affect us?¡± I asked as I walked. It felt a little odd to be walking around in a toga-style robe. ¡°Unlikely unless the war gets out of control,¡± he muttered. His harsh tone made me drop the topic. We passedrge buildings that seemed to be dedicated to pressing grapes and fermenting the resulting juice. Many people had purple-stained hands from their work. Adrian had been to the city before but still asked for directions. The alchemist shop we were looking for was a gray stone building near the upper city. When we entered, we both paused, a little shocked. The alchemist had bright red skin. He was working on a chemistry set spanning two full-length tables that would make any mad scientist envious. He did not even notice us as we entered the shop. Adrian cleared his throat. The man in a red hat spun, a wild look in his eyes. As if needing to vent, he yelled, ¡°Look what that bastard did to me!¡± He indicated his red face and hands. ¡°I look ridiculous!¡± He calmed down, ¡°No matter. I will get him back ten-fold for this one!¡± He forced a smile, ¡°Now, what potion, remedy, or salve can I interest you in today, good men?¡± He was not wearing a red hat. His bright white teeth and his smile on his glossy red face reminded me of the devil. I leaned into Adrian and whispered, ¡°Maybe we should try the other one.¡± Chapter 96 Chapter 96 The red-skinned alchemist looked ridiculous. His skin looked like red paint, with a slight glisten to it, but this being a magical world, I doubted it was actual paint. He waited patiently for us to ask for our pleasure. I had asked Adrian if perhaps it would be better to try and recruit the other alchemist. Adrian muttered softly, ¡°No, this is the one Castile said to bring back. Let me do the talking.¡± Adrian stepped forward, ¡°Alchemist Decimus, I am here to extend an offer for you toe and work for Duchess Veronica of the Sobral Province. You came highly rmended by Instructor Othello at the Alchemist College.¡± I took the time to guess the man was maybe in his mid-twenties, about the same age as me. However, his glossy red coloring andck of hair made it hard to be sure. Decimus¡¯ eyes went wide, ¡°A Duchess? Wait, where in Pluto¡¯s realm is Sobral? Nevermind.¡± He waved off Adrian, ¡°I don¡¯t want to work for a Duchess anyway. Politics is a good way to get yourself killed. It is nice to hear one of my instructors thinks I am worthy of a positive reference.¡± Adrian grimaced as he had to work to convince the man, ¡°She is only hiring you to brew tier-one potions. She is prepared to offer you housing within her Citadel and ten gold a month aspensation.¡± Decimus appeared stunned at the offer and seemed to consider it. One hundred gold a year did seem like a lot of coin. Although for what potions actually cost, I guess it was not that much. ¡°Shit,¡± I muttered quietly to myself. ¡°I chose the wrong profession.¡± I had not had the option to be an alchemist, but it felt like that needed to be said. Decimus looked torn. He turned around and ignored us while thinking. He checked on three separate apparatuses working on his potions. As he worked, he asked, ¡°Where is Sobral?¡± There was a bite on the line, and Adrian knew it. Adrian responded, ¡°About three hundred miles northeast of here. It is on the banks of the Agantero River.¡±¡°How far from Parvas? Does it have a portal gate?¡± Decimus asked while pouring a blue liquid into a yellow one to make a green mixture. He took a funnel and began to pour portions of the green liquid into the familiar test tube-shaped vials used for potions. ¡°A hundred miles by road to Parvas. There is no portal gate in Sobral.¡± Adrian could sense he was losing the alchemist¡¯s interest. He tried to get him talking, ¡°What are you working on?¡± ¡°A foot salve for healing achy feet and killing fungus. My own creation. Works on most muscle aches, but I advertise it just for feet,¡± he said proudly. ¡°Never knew people would pay so much just to not have stinky feet.¡± The alchemist chuckled to himself. He addressed Adrian, ¡°No portal means rare ingredients would have toe by road. I chose Lorvo because of the abundance of ingredients and anything not found locally, and I could get from elsewhere in the Empire through the portal.¡± Adrian pointed at me, ¡°We have an herbalist with a dimensional pocket spell. He will be at your disposal to collect what you need.¡± I gave a short wave and a half-hearted smile, not realizing I qualified as an herbalist. I was not particrly happy about being loaned out to serve as the alchemist¡¯s errand boy. Adrian motioned for me, ¡°Show him, Eryk.¡± I walked forward to a free space on the bench. I moved out the mushrooms I had gathered when I left with Maveith and the rarer ingredients the sisters in Sobral City could not use. Decimus immediately got interested. He quickly sorted the ingredients and mumbled to himself as he did so. He smelled, tasted, and spit. He snapped stems and crushed berries, checking their freshness. He eventually looked up at me, considering again. ¡°If you make this one my assistant, I will go with you.¡± ¡°Legionnaire Eryk has other duties he needs to help with. While he is on patrol, he can gather your ingredients,¡± Adrian offered. ¡°You are legionnaries?¡± He said, studying us in our togas. We had not worn our distinctive red armor to meet with him. ¡°We are legionnaires from a magepany in extended service to the Duchess,¡± Adrian confirmed. The alchemist looked at both of us, ¡°There is not enough incentive for me to relocate. The monthly coin, while generous, is still short of what I can make here.¡± Adrian had been prepared for this: ¡°Thepensation is for a quota of healing salves and lesser potions to be produced monthly. After the quota is fulfilled, the Duchess will only tax your additional sales at twenty percent.¡± ¡°Is that including the Empire tax?¡± Decimus asked, interested again. ¡°No, the 10% tax is still owed to the Empire, but the province tax will be twenty percent for you, half the standard for alchemists,¡± Adrian exined. Suddenly, it appeared Decimus was teetering on the edge of epting. Adrian pushed a little more, offering, ¡°And you can have use of Eryk as an assistant one day a week.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± I started to ask. ¡°Agreed!¡± Decimus added eagerly. ¡°When do we leave?¡± ¡°Tomorrow morning,¡± Adrian said, sounding somewhat relieved. ¡°That is not enough time to finish my current processes and pack all my equipment,¡± the alchemist whined. ¡°The Duchess has ordered you a tier two alchemist set from the Alchemist College in Telha. You can still pack and pay to have this all shipped to Sobral,¡± he indicated to the maze of ssware, burners, funnels, and ingredients. ¡°There is over two hundred gold worth of equipment here that I paid for!¡± he sounded a little outraged. Adrian was growing impatient and looked it over. ¡°Start packing now. Eryk will take what he can in his space, and you can have the rest shipped to Sobral.¡± He did not wait for a reply and left. Decimus turned to me, ¡°How big a space do you have?¡± I looked around and found a wooden crate a little smaller than I was using to know when my space was full, ¡°You can fill this.¡± It would only take maybe a tenth of his things. I asked, ¡°Why do you need my help anyway?¡± He was looking at the box and his setup, trying to decide what to pack. ¡°Your dimensional space is quite substantial. Even better than I hoped.¡± He started to disassemble one setup that was not being used, ¡°Alchemy is a dangerous profession. Especially when you experiment with new forms, they usually tend to explode. With you by my side, I can be more¡ªadventurous.¡± The white-toothed grin on his red face made him look absolutely demonic. Great, I was a bomb disposal specialist. I helped him pack the crate as tightly as possible and moved it to my dimensional storage. He did not stop his current projects and was constantly checking on his distition and filters. I had done some chemistry in high school, so I understood the basics of what he was doing. Decimus then told me to leave as he pulled out other wooden crates and carefully packed things for shipment. I walked back to the Legion Hall to find Lucien rubbing down the horse he had acquired. I spent some time with him as he exined the whole process of selecting this specific horse for our alchemist. It was just a smaller riding horse and a bit old, but it came from the Legion stables, so it did not cost us anything. Horses in the legion were generally loaned out as needed if they were avable at a Legion Hall. Lucien said all the surplus heavy war horses had been sent to the Eastern front to assist in the war effort against the Bartiradians¡ªanother sign the Emperor was gearing up for an extended campaign. Lucien put me to work the entire afternoon getting the horses ready for tomorrow. He did not like that we were pushing them so hard. Even though we were traveling on easy terrain¡ªalmost always roads¡ªthe horses were losing weight too fast. Most of the work we did was changing their shoes. Lucien was a good farrier and liked to work on his own mounts even though this Legion Hall had a farrier. I was also getting pretty good, and the horses seemed to prefer me to Lucien. But maybe the horses just preferred me over Lucien because of all the apples I handed out. We all ate together in the Legion Hall that evening, and Adrian let us know what he had been up to for the day. With a rare smile, he said, ¡°The Count of the city has paid us fifty gold to take the young alchemist off her hands. He was bickering with the old established alchemist in the city, and his shop frequently rang from small explosions.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t all of his equipment have been damaged?¡± I inquired. ¡°He has a spell form to repair items. At least that is what the instructor at the College told Castile. He is supposedly brilliant but reckless. The best the Duchess could afford,¡± Adrian admitted while cutting into somemb chops. ¡°And I have to work with him?¡± I said, slightly worried. Adrian let a grin escape, ¡°You did say you had chosen the wrong profession. Maybe he can teach you to be an alchemist.¡± For the rest of the meal, I had to deal with everyone saying that I would make a much better alchemist than legionnaire. That night, I used my amulet in secret to start reading up on the Duchy of Tsinga to learn about the nation I was supposedly from. It was a very humid country, and there were a number of jungles where the Tace wood was harvested from. It was an old Empire fractured from the Kingdom of Keisinia long ago. The beast races weremon in thends, and the county was not as wild as the Telhian Empire, which seemed to have imed a massive amount ofnd butcked the military strength to tame it because they were constantly fighting wars at their borders. My biggest hurdle for being from Tsinga was that they did not speak Latin there. I would need to either learn thenguage to keep my guise or purchase a trantion amulet for thenguage. Thetter option sounded much more appealing to me. I studied the maps and texts and decided I would say I was from a remote fishing vige near the city of Tsuengy. Tsuengy was sixty miles west of the capital of Wanoi, and its only exports were listed as fish and tace wood, which I learned grew only in jungles and swamps. There were many small enves of viges throughout the Duchy. It seemed the city of Tsuengy had absolutely nothing remarkable about it, and its poption was under five thousand. It was highly unlikely I would ever run into anyone from that region. I was about to leave the dreamscape when I swore. I stumbled across a description of people from southern Tsinga. They were short, even shorter than Telhians, and usually had darker skin. I just hoped we never ran into someone from the faraway nation before I left the Legion. I exited my dreamscape; my head was clear, and I felt well-rested, having not made any changes to the environment. I sent the amulet to my storage and slept for a few additional hours. In the morning, we ate, saddled the horses, and went to collect Decimus in his shop. He was still packing. We all thought Adrian was going to yell at him. Instead, we all worked together to get things into crates. We had to wait another two hours as he contracted the crates to be shipped to Sobral. Adrian tried to show patience, but we all knew he was close to exploding at the alchemist¡¯s dy of our departure. It was well after midday before we were finally on the road. It also appeared that Decimus was not a very good horseman. Lucien spent all his time trying to help the alchemist getfortable in the saddle. We had a hundred-mile ride to reach Forgabua. Adrian reluctantly held the pace slow, knowing the poor alchemist was going to suffer from his first extended ride. As evening approached, we had only made it fifteen miles from Lorvo. Adrian ordered our camp to be set on a small hilltop just off the road. I felt uneasy the entire time we were setting up camp and eating. The bemoaning alchemist was not my worry. He was liberally using his green concoctions on himself to alleviate his muscle pain from the four-hour ride. Lucien and I were ordered to the first watch. The clear sky gave therge blue moon, Neptune¡¯s tear, illuminating the area and not requiring glow stones to see. A shrill cry cracked the night not three hours into our watch. We did not even have to wake Adrian and the others as they were already stirring. ze asked, ¡°What was that?¡± Adrian had his de in hand and was adjusting his helm. He said grimly, ¡°Nothing good. Lucien, get the horses ready. ze and Eryk to either side of me.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Decimus asked, pulling on his boots frantically. ¡°Help Lucien with the horses,¡± Adrian said impatiently. The woods down the hill and across the road cracked as somethingrge brokerge branches in its inevitable path toward us. It was going to be one of those nights. Chapter 97: Another Giant Chapter 97: Another Giant Chapter 97 The blue light of the moon lit the road below us, maybe a quarter mile away. Creatures started scurrying across, fleeing the destruction behind them. ¡°No glowstones!¡± Adrian warned us unnecessarily. Two deer and then tworge boars crossed the road, fleeing for their lives. Branches were shattered as a behemoth burst onto the road behind the fleeing creatures. It took me a moment to process what I was seeing. Adrian whispered harshly at Lucien, ¡°Keep the horses quiet!¡± A massive bipedal giant was on the road. In one hand, it held a small boar, and in the other, a club. Its head made no sense until I realized it was not one head but two. Adrian told us all, ¡°Stay low; it is hunting the forest creatures. It will pass us by.¡± It stood in the road, seemingly confused by the clearing and looking both ways, one with each head looking in each direction. ze whispered, ¡°What is it?¡± Adrian answered as we all crouched low, ¡°An ettin¡ªa two-headed giant. I¡¯ve never seen or fought one before, but I heard they are a nightmare to fight. Each head controls an arm independently, but that is all I know about them.¡± We watched as the ettin decided its next move. Adrianmented, ¡°He is a big boy, easily over fifteen feet and, my guess, over two thousand pounds. We should be fine and will ride out when it gets far enough away.¡± As if he cursed us, the horse Decimus had been riding whinnied. The mare started to get scared, and it was because the foul smell of the ettin was blowing in our direction. The ettin¡¯s heads were feverishly scanning for the source of the noise. ¡°Dragon shit. Lucien, tie that horse to a tree. We will leave it behind, and it should satiate the ettin¡¯s hunt,¡± Adrian ordered. ¡°Maybe it won¡¯t find us,¡± ze added, and then the horse panicked and neighed louder. Both heads quickly looked at us up on the hill. That horse was never getting another apple from me. The ettin charged toward our hill, intent on harvesting more food tonight. Lucien had only saddled two horses while Decimus had been tying the riding horse off. ze was firing arrows even before Adrian ordered it. ¡°Take the horses down the far side of the hill, but leave that riding horse behind!¡± Adrian ordered. He was not panicked, but his voice was stressed. The riding horse was not cooperating, and its lead line was pulled free. I heard Lucien swear at the alchemist for not trying the line tight. The riding horse bolted down the far side of the hill. Our hopes of leaving behind a target for the ettin dashed.You could feel the ground shake as the ettin lumbered toward us and up the hill. We only had a few dozen seconds. ze no longer had a line of sight on it. Lucien was leading the remaining horses away with the petrified alchemist. ¡°ze retreat as well,¡± Adrian ordered. ¡°Take a few shots if you can from a distance, but get the alchemist to Sobral. Eryk, go with them. I should be able to frustrate it long enough to dy it. Tell Delmar I am sorry about not returning his runic sword.¡± I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t follow the order, but I said, ¡°I still need some practice with my wind barrier. It would be a shame to waste the opportunity.¡± I took a defensive stance next to Adrian. I thought I sounded pretty cool, but Adrian just said, ¡°Fool,¡± and prepared himself. The trees parted in a cracking of branches and flurry of leaves, and the ground shook, and the two-headed giant raced up the final stretch. The giant was wide and thick. Its ugly faces reminded me of the manticore and ogre. I did not have time to think as it was about to reach us. ¡°Back up. I will trip it with my air discs,¡± I said, and Adrian nodded. Iid two air discs side by side about three feet off the ground. Adrian and I retreated, and the trap worked. With five arrows in its chest, the ettin tripped in its run at us. I dove to my right to avoid the behemoth crashing down. The left head focused on me, and the boar in its hand was flung at me. I was surprised, but it only took a thought and push of aether to summon another disc in the path of the projectile. The limp boar crashed into the shield and halted its flight. The air shield broke and was a lot bigger than I had thought, but it never reached me. The massive ettin thundered into the ground, shaking trees. A wave of foul air hit me, and all I could think was this was worse than the ogre. Adrian had already closed and shed at one of the heads on his side with his runic de. The head screamed in anger and panic as the creature swiped widely at Adrian, who danced away. I did not hesitate to outline a box inside the creature¡¯s upper chest and move it to my dimensional storage. I overcame a strong resistance, and my aether bottomed out. I was getting ustomed to the slight vertigo in losing all my aether. The ettin had been getting to his feet, and was currently on all fours. It paused, both its heads suddenly confused. It crashed back down into the earth, shaking everything again. Adrian was breathing heavily on the other side of the downed creature. ¡°Did you kill it? Or is it ying dead?¡± I asked with my spear in hand and kneeling behind the boar. Adrian said nothing and studied the creature, ¡°I don¡¯t think it would y dead; it didn¡¯t seem smart enough.¡± Minutes passed as we waited. Adrian offered, ¡°Maybe the arrows ze got into its chest pierced its heart when it fell on them?¡± That sounded very usible. ¡°ze the giant killer then,¡± I returned and let out augh. ¡°You shared in the victory, Eryk. Nice thinking with the air discs,¡± Adrian returned happily and finally started to rx. My adrenaline was finally wearing off as well, and the creature¡¯s smell was overwhelming. Adrian considered and said, ¡°Gather the rest of the things in camp. I will go get the others.¡± I objected weakly, as I wanted the essence from the giant, ¡°I am fine with getting them. I am the scout, after all.¡± ¡°No, you stay,¡± Adiran said, holding his nose. ¡°You won¡¯t have to search the dark woods as a reward for helping kill the creature.¡± It was obvious Adrian wanted to retreat from the smell. I wrapped a bandana around my nose and mouth as Adrian hurried off, calling into the darkness in a moderated voice. Sure that he was gone, I produced the collector when I had restored enough aether and approached the corpse. The stench came through the mouth covering. I ced the te, activated it, and waited. Blue wisps of glowing smoke swirled toward the disc. A major essence formed in the moonlight, and I needed to use a glowstone to see that it was light green. I had thought the giant would yield a physical essence, but instead, I had an essence for the mental attribute of perception. I considered adding it to my collection. I had consumed the second glossy ck essence to enhance my aether channeling during the ride to Lorvo. I still had the minor essence of empathy but was holding on to it in case I needed to sell it. The idea of consuming this green ball from something that smelled so bad made me hesitate. I got myself upwind and then let the sphere dissolve in my mouth. Holding my nose even though it was unnecessary. I suppressed my gag reflex and let the essence do its work. I had a slight brain freeze, and my eyes ached for a time before normalizing. Maybe things appeared a little sharper in my vision. I was not sure, though, under the blue moonlight. Unlike the ogre, the ettin had clothes on. Not really clothes but hides. He had a bandolier of pouches now trapped under his body¡ªexcept for one. I collected everything in the campsite, sat upwind of the creature, and waited. It had been almost two hours before they returned with the horses. They also caught the riding horse that had escaped and altered the ettin to our presence. We quickly packed the horses, and before we left, I asked Adrian, ¡°Are ettin normal in the Telhian Empire?¡± ¡°No. They are from another continent. If I had to guess, then this is another summoning by the Bartiradian mages. They are trying to disrupt cities and roads as much as possible to draw the legionpanies from the war. When we reach Forgabua, I will report the killing.¡± ¡°Should we search the pouch?¡± I asked, pointing it out. Adrian took out a glowstone as the moon had wanned with the night. He approached, covering his nose. He took a belt knife, cut it free, and dragged it to us. The horses were already ancy from the smell, so we walked a distance away before opening the sack. ¡°Probably made from the stomach of something it killed,¡± Adrian noted. He cut the bag open rather than work the cord that cinched it shut. I was expecting chunks of meat or bones. Instead, a myriad of colorful gems spilled from the bag in the light of the aether stone. The alchemist, who looked sick for most of the encounter, moved in immediately interested. He smelled strongly of urine, and I assumed he pissed his pants. He started going through the pile using a glowstone, ¡°Uncut and raw stones. I use a few in my work. Let us see, some amethyst, citrine, and gas here.¡± He sounded disappointed. ¡°Ah, this is an emerald, I believe.¡± He held the glowstone behind it to confirm the green color. Adrian was done waiting, ¡°ze, pack it up and load it all on the horses.¡± The alchemist put the emerald down and reluctantly let ze collect stones. ¡°My guess is the ettin liked shiny things. Some species of giants act like no more than petnt children. We will let Castile decide what to do with them.¡± ¡°Some decent stones in the bag. I am not a jeweler, but maybe two or three hundred gold there,¡± the alchemist offered hopefully. ¡°The yellow citrine stones are of some use to me in my alchemy. The others, not so much. I use ruby and sapphire dust mostly.¡± No one was listening to his rambling as the wind shifted and the ettin smell came to us. ¡°Should we search the other pouches under its body?¡± I asked reluctantly. Adrian looked, considering, ¡°You are wee to it. Anything recovered would be yours.¡± ¡°I think I will pass,¡± I said, remembering the stench that Mateo had for days after the ogre. Lucien and ze were not as reluctant and took up Adrian¡¯s offer. They worked under the light of the glowstones while we moved a safe distance away. Since everyone else was awake, I took the time to get some sleep, spreading my bedroll on the ground. I was awoken with a soft kick to my boots. ¡°Eryk, we are heading out. Sun ising,¡± Adrian said. I sat up to find Lucien and ze still working, covered in gore. ¡°Did they find anything,¡± I asked while rolling up my bedroll. Adrian nodded, ¡°Another sack filled with merchant silver bars and coins. They think there might be a simr sack of gold and have been going hard at it thest hour.¡± ¡°Guess I missed out,¡± I said, unconcerned. ¡°Well, they n to share it with you. After all, you were the one who stayed behind to help me fight it.¡± Adrian called to them, ¡°Twenty minutes, and we ride out whether you find it or not! And you ride twenty yards behind us!¡± We waited an hour after sunrise until they finished. They had cut the ettin¡¯s arms and legs off and rolled its torso. The other two pouches had rotting meat in one and white ivory fangs in the other that the alchemist thought were from a species ofrge cat. They were disappointed there was no gold. Still, they had 60 gold worth of silver, almost thirty-eight pounds in merchant bars and coins. ze noted from a safe distance, ¡°It was a lot lighter than I thought it would be when we rolled it.¡± I nodded, d they had not searched its chest cavity and found the hollow space inside. I was thest to leave and dumped the ettin¡¯s internals from storage before mounting Titan and following. Lucien and ze were still happier than a pig in shit, and they smelled like it too. Maybe worse. It was so bad that even the horses did not like them riding on them. We stopped at a wide stream and gave the two an hour to clean off. Like Mateo¡¯s ogre encounter, the smell lingered, and they were forced to remain twenty yards behind as we rode. We stayed in a town that evening about fifty miles south of Forgabua. The red-skinned Decimus got a lot of stares, but I could already see his red skin tone fading. It was no longer glossy red, and he confided in me that the coloring would take nearly a month to return to normal. Lucien and ze ended up staying in a barn on the edge of town while we took to the modest inn in town. I do not think the horses appreciated the two joining them for the night when I came to give them apples. I even gave an apple to the Decimus¡¯ riding mount that had almost gotten us all killed. My forgivenessy in the fact we lived, and I got an essence from the ettin. I had my own room in the inn, and the bed was rtivelyfortable. I put on the amulet and spent my time in the dreamscape, divided between studying the three books on Tsinga and working on my spell form for the time affinity. We made the fifty miles to Forgabua the next day, pushing the horses and Decimus¡¯ aching body. I could see Decimus regretting his life¡¯s decisions as he ran out of potions that relieved achy feet and killed fungus. Still, he mentioned he would rather be in a city tonight than have another night encounter with a giant ettin¡ªnot that Decimus participated in the battle. Chapter 98 Chapter 98 Chapter 98 Spoiler Renna walked the halls of the Mage College. She really could not believe she was here and, truth be known, didn¡¯t want to be here. She had recently arrived and was left on her own to limate, as High Mage Livian had said. The school was currently out of session for the New Year holiday. She was enrolled in the newest ss of Aspirant Mages. An Aspirant Mage was one who had the potential to cast true spells, learning to manipte their aether to create spell forms in the air. They also needed to have demonstrated spell forms for at least one affinity. Once she cast her first true spell, she could be called a Mage. There were two higher sses of mages. A Master Mage who had demonstrated mastery over multiple spells, and finally, a High Mage whom the Emperor raised for their unparalleled mastery of magic in a specific affinity. She had spent thest five months working with High Mages to help inscribe her spell forms on her aether core. Now that she had all four of her powerful spell forms, she was to attend the Mage College in hopes she would realize the ability to cast actual spells. She had sufficient potential in her attributes, but that still did not guarantee it would happen. Her spell forms made her powerful on her own, even if she never learned to cast true spells. She shed back to when she found out she had high affinities. When she was fifteen, she had been too ill to travel to the city for the tablet testing. She should have traveled on her sixteenth the following year, but her mother lost her sister in childbirth, and she missed again tofort her mother. Then, everyone seemed to have forgotten she had never been tested after that. It was rare for someone to have enough potential to be a Mage, so she had dismissed the possibility herself. On her eleventh summer, Renna had been apprenticed to Helena, her town¡¯s only basket weaver. She spent her mornings learning the different basket weavings and honing the craft. During her afternoon, she was sent harvesting materials. Mostly the x and bulrush. The harvest of tworge bundles never took more than two hours if she was motivated, giving her time to rx. Her favorite pastimes were swimming, collecting river stones, and talking to shepherd Byron as he tended to his sheep. Byron and she would be married as soon as he could build himself a house and obtain a flock of his own. The small, smooth river stones she gathered every day would one day line the paths of their house. She had been cliff-jumping at the swimming hole just outside the vige when she wondered what it would be like to really fly. Shockingly, it happened on her eighth jump of the morning. She had closed her eyes, expecting to hit the water, but never did. When she opened her eyes, she was thirty feet over the pond. After that, learning to move freely in the air had been exhrating. She kept it a secret, not wanting to be called to serve in the wars the Empire was constantly fighting. She was caught by the miller¡¯s son when she was flying low over the trees a few weekster. He had been jealous of Byron and her rtionship and reported her ability to the Magistrate. Soon, a tablet was rushed out to test her, and the Magistrate was shocked by the readings. Renna was a powerful Elementalist, having powerful affiliates in the four elements and also in nature. She was sent immediately to the nearest city to serve the Empire as all citizens with potential were. She spent some three weeks waiting under the Count¡¯s care for her fate. The Count doted on her, and she lived in luxury, every need attended to by a half dozen servants. She was finally told she would receive the highest level of training to imprint her spell forms before being sent to the Mage College in the capital. She was also to be wed to one of the Emperor¡¯s sons, although no decision had been made on which one.Three dayster, an old and wisened-looking mage came to collect her and train her in her first spell form. Master Mage Dacian was not happy to train her, and he made that clear. ¡°A farm girl with nomon sense been given power beyondprehension. If the Emperor did not ask me personally to train you, I wouldn¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Mage,¡± she said respectfully. She knew not to correct him and tell her she was a basket weaver. ¡°Well, I will get you started on your path, and you can ask me questions in the evening. You are lucky, as Earth magic is the strongest of all themon affinities. You are going to learn a powerful spell form that will allow you topress the earth into stone. This can be used in hunting monsters, building fortifications, and also in building some of the most impressive structures in the Empire.¡± He exined during their first meeting. ¡°That is going to be my job. Building things for the Empire?¡± Renna asked her first mentor. ¡°Ha, no. But you might be asked to help here and there. I hear one of the Emperors younger sons needs a new wife. Once youplete your time at the Mage College, you will bear him children in hopes the affinities you carry will transfer to them,¡± the gruff old Mage said. ¡°I was to marry Byron, the shepherd I grew up with,¡± Renna responded hesitantly. She was not naive and knew she would probably never see him again as her fate had been stolen from her. High Mage Dacienughed at her, ¡°Girl, you are too good for a shepherd. You will understand that once you attend the College and learn to cast true magic.¡± The two weeks with Dacian were not that bad. Every evening, he gave her two hours to ask questions about the magic books he had loaned her. He also had her focus on the spell form forpressing earth and stone. He came to her one morning, ¡°Come, girl. Word hase of a bulette in the south. A little fresh air and your first lesson in hunting monsters!¡± They traveled through the portal gates, and Dacian bought two horses for them to ride out and meet a magepany. When they arrived, she was surprised the magepany was led by a woman. It was her first time meeting legionaries, too. The legendary defenders of the Telhian Empire looked impressive in their crimson armor. Besides being fit and muscled, they seemed like normal young men she knew from her vige. She was bunked with three of them: Felix, Mateo, and Eryk. They joked with each other, and Eryk showed interest in her magic. He was a foreigner and was struggling to learn the Telhian script. So she read to him, and they spent time together. He was friendly and nice to her. Not at all intimidated by her powerful potential. They rode out to fight the bulette, and Renna was afraid the entire time. Dacian thought battle was the best way for a spell form to be forcibly imprinted. He would make sure she had her chance to be put in harm¡¯s way. At least she could fly. A bulette couldn¡¯t, ording to the Mage, but he warned her it could jump really high. When they found the bulette already dead, Master Mage Dacien was angry but didn¡¯t show it. She knew him well enough now, though, to see him simmering. He had wanted an earth essence from the bulette. With it dead, he cast off Renna to the care of the magepany. ¡°Go and learn some leadership skills from Mage Castile. You may be expected tomand legionaries one day,¡± and then he was off, riding back to his research and to practice his spellcraft. She liked being with the legionpany much more than Dacian. She even felt they liked her and were impressed with her flight ability. They searched the mountains to find griffins and locate a lost baron¡¯s son. Her new friends, the weird foreigner Eryk, the young Felix, and clumsy Mateo, treated her like a sister. She thought any of them would make a better husband than the Emperor¡¯s son. They found a dungeon and the remains of the baron¡¯s son¡¯s party. Their camp was in a cave and set outside a dungeon entrance. A lost dungeon. She had only heard of dungeons in stories before and never thought she would see one herself. They stayed in the cave, and she set up her bedroll next to Eryk. She felt safe near him for some reason. The next day, they hunted the griffin. The beast was not far, and she watched Mage Castile down the creature with her shadow chains. She was impressed. Mage Castilemanded her magic and men with poise and confidence. One day, she wanted to be just like her. A second griffin fled with its clutch of eggs. The griffin was harvested, and she watched the legionnaires cut the corpse into pieces fast and efficiently as they soon smoked and salted meat. Renna watched from the side as they worked together and marveled at theical interactions and efficiency. A few men were sent into the dungeon, returned quickly, and met with Castile and her two leaders, Adrian and Delmar. She liked Adrian, who had an innate charisma to him. Delmar, not so much, as he was uptight and always on the men about supplies. Eryk returned with the scout, and he had a griffin egg. The entirepany rejoiced as it would be a big payday outside of their normal wages, and there could be a reward for finding this dungeon. The mood was incredibly celebratory, but Castile had decided to explore the dungeon and see if anyone was alive inside. It was very unlikely, but they decided to look. Eryk, the young legionnaire, had been selected, and she was worried for his safety. She knew from stories that dungeons were ces where powerful monsters resided and dangerous traps. He could be dead in just a few hours, and she would never see him again. It would be like losing a friend she had not gotten to know yet. She was panicked when Eryk did not emerge with the others. They found Justin, the baron¡¯s son, but at what cost? The scout, Konstantin, she thought his name was, told her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the boy is alive. He is just a bit slow.¡± Thankfully, Eryk emergedst, and she was relieved. The walk out of the mountains was awful. Justin Cicero was a terribly selfish person, and the tension he caused was felt throughout thepany. It was so bad that Mage Castile sent a few men with him to deliver him to a city while thepany traveled north. Renna was to apany them and make her way back to High Mage Dacian. The trip was unbearable. Justin was constantlyining, and the legionnaires humored him. She learned the secret n was to return as slowly as possible so Castile could report the dungeon before Justin. She hoped they seeded in the ploy. At least she got to spend more time with Eryk on the ride, just in the evenings when they were setting up camp. It was an adventurous ride, to be sure. They fled a troglodyte, avoided a treant, and saw other creatures in the distance during their ride. She was happy to see the safety of the city walls of Varvao. Justin immediately abandoned them in disgust, and she knew he would get some revenge on Castile in the future. The man was too spiteful not to try something. Before leaving, she told Eryk, ¡°I hope our paths cross again. Remain safe in your travels.¡± She really had meant it but doubted she would see the foreign legionnaire again. He would either be dead, or she would be walled up in Citadel and married to one of the Emperor¡¯s son. Only a weekter, under Dacian¡¯s guidance, she imprinted the spell form forpressing earth and stone. Dacian seemed more pleased with himself for getting her to learn it than her actually learning it. ¡°You will be visiting High Mage Zyna now. She is apetent fire mage and has the favor of the Emperor. Make sure and tell her how superior my training waspared to hers,¡± he said with an arrogant smile, trying to be funny. ¡°Yes, High Mage Dacian,¡± Renna replied dutifully. She left, thankful her time with the condescending Mage was over. The trip to join Master Mage Zyna was quick. One portal and a three-hour horse ride. Master Mage Zyna was tall for a Telhian, standing over six feet. She was also a Baron of a small region in the north of the Empire on the coast. Her estate was humble, located in a modest fishing town. Renna was confused as it was not what she expected from one of the Empire¡¯s most powerful mages. Zyna appeared middle-aged, but that did not mean much for the favored ones of the Emperor. There were rumors of a powerful mage in the Emperor¡¯s service that could halt a person¡¯s aging. ¡°Wee, Renna. My servants will see you settled, and then we can talk,¡± Zyna waved to a servant who directed Renna to follow. The room was in a small wood and stone tower on the estate and had a view of the ocean. The bed and furniture were exquisite, and everything about the room told her a young woman used to live there. Maybe Zyna¡¯s daughter in the past? She made herself at home before she was summoned to dinner with Zyna. She quickly changed into her only set of clothes, which were clean but not up to the standard of the nobility. They were the only two at the table, and much of the food was harvested from the sea. Zyna exined each dish. Giant crab and m stew, rainbow salmon, and kelp sd. Everything was good except the sd, which Renna found slightly salty. She preferred when the kelp was used to wrap rice and meat into rolls and then dipped in a variety of sauces. With dinner finished, Zyna gave her first lesson. ¡°Fire is the ultimate elemental affinity, Renna. Fire can destroy, create, or protect. Fire gives heat in the winter to keep the people alive, and the sun¡¯s inferno spreads light to grow the food we eat. Fire, unchecked, can erase cities and melt flesh. You need to decide how you will use this most powerful gift,¡± Zyna advised her with a motherly seriousness. ¡°Yes, Master Mage,¡± Renna said obediently. Zyna frowned, ¡°Fire is power. You need to decide how it is to be used. For your spell form, I have decided to let you choose. I was ordered to have you imprint the spell form for wave of fire so you can assist on the battlefield. But the fire is subservient to no one. You must choose your own path. You have four weeks to choose and imprint your spell form. Then I will send you on to High Mage Livian to learn your water spell form.¡± Renna studied and thought long and hard about her path in her fire affinity. Zyna was definitely not what she expected. Zyna was firm but let Renna make her own mistakes and never talked down to her like Dacian had done daily. She enjoyed her time on the coast, and the salt air was refreshing. Even the salty kelp sd grew on her after enough meals. It only took her three weeks of study and effort to imprint her spell form. She thought it was powerful and useful. It was called consume me. It was only a mid-tier spell, but her high affinity gave it a range of almost fifty feet around her. The spell drew in all fire and most of the heat in the area, allowing her to direct it to a corridor. She could put out fires in a city by directing the heat upward or canceling other fire mages on the battlefield. If no fires were present, the spell would greatly cool an area around her and cause frost to form as it stole the heat away. Zyna seemed to approve of her choice, which made Renna feel good. Zyna told her as she was leaving, ¡°There will be some bacsh to you learning the wrong spell form from fire.¡± She smiled reassuringly, ¡°Just tell them I directed you to learn consume me. I will take all the heat for the decision.¡± Her y on words made Renna smile. She liked Zyna and wished she had grown up with her as a mother and mentor. She never found out what happened to the girl whose room she used during her three weeks at the estate. The servants told her not to brooch the subject with Zyna. She was then sent off to learn her final elemental spell for water. They had not told her she would be learning any spell form for nature, so she hoped that would again be her decision. High Mage Livian lived in the capital and even taught sses at the Mage College. When Renna showed her flight, hardened earth, and consume me spell forms, she just nodded as each was demonstrated. ¡°They should have never sent you to Zyna for instruction. She is too lenient. I am not. You will imprint the spell form summon rain. Your affinity is strong enough to give you a vast area of effect. You can slow an army with mud or save the fields from drought. You will be useful to the Empire.¡± Although Livian was firm, she was fair. She exined things in much more detail than Dacian and was always patient but did not like stupid questions. She had a month to learn summon rain as the New Year was approaching, and with it, she would be enrolled in the Mage College. She seeded during that time, having be well-practiced in learning a spell form. She was moved from Livian¡¯s vi in the city to a small room at the Mage College. The corridors were empty as the students were off celebrating the New Year, and many of the Mages were sent to the Eastern Border war with the Bartiradians. She wondered if Eryk and the others were there, fighting for their lives. She had a few days to herself before she would face her biggest challenge yet. She would have to fit in with the nobles of the Empire as most students at the Mage College were from the nobility. Master Mage Zyna advised her to keep to herself and not show off her power. High Mage Dacian had advised her she needed to assert herself early and demonstrate her strength. High Mage Livian said she needed to learn as much as possible in her seven short years at the College. She nervously wandered the halls, familiarizing herself with the College. Soon, she would find out if she would be a true mage. Chapter 99: Good Showing Chapter 99: Good Showing Chapter 99 We rode through the gates of the city just before sunset. I had tempered my healing so my aches and pains would not need to be faked. Adrian registered our travel with the gate guards, and then we moved into the city. Adrian handed out orders. ¡°Lucien and ze, go to the public baths. Do not head to Legion Hall until you at least smell bearable. Lucien, report the ettin kill at the Legion Hall.¡± Lucien groaned, ¡°That is right, the Legion Hall in Forgabua does not have baths.¡± Adrian turned to me, ¡°Eryk, go get a bunk room in the Legion Hall for you, Mateo, and Lucien. See if they have another horse we can borrow. I will take Decimus to an inn and stay with him tonight.¡± ze asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t we all just stay at the inn? It would be morefortable than the Hall.¡± He sounded hopeful. Adrian considered, ¡°Are you offering to pay legionnaire?¡± He leaned in close, ¡°I am staying with him to ensure he does not change his mind about serving the Duchess. However, inns in the upper city should cost around two to three gold for five rooms. Still interested?¡± ze countered, ¡°Why does it have to be the upper city? An inn by the outer wall is just as good¡ªand cheaper.¡± ¡°Because first thing in the morning, I am visiting the local Schrium to recruit a Schr for the Duchess,¡± Adrian replied slickly. ¡°You all can wait for me in the Legion Hall.¡± Adrian trotted into the city smugly. I couldn¡¯t me him. Whenever I almost got myself killed, I wanted to pamper myself a bit too. Lucien patted ze on the shoulder, ¡°Let¡¯s try and get the giant stink off of us and log the silver with the Legion Hall.¡±¡°You don¡¯t get to keep it?¡± I asked, confused as we parted ways. ¡°We do, but best to pay the taxes on it. Especially since we have to exchange the stamped merchant silver. We don¡¯t want the Empire thinking we robbed some merchants,¡± Lucienmented. It took me asking two people, a baker and then a wool merchant, to find the Legion Hall. I should have assumed it was near the Citadel. The Legion Hall was wood and reminded me more of a church on the outside. A high steeple challenged the Citadel to be the tallest building in the city. The stables were in a secure courtyard in the back, and no one was avable to help. I unsaddled As, rubbed him down,id hay in the stall, and filled his water trough from the well. I gave him an apple and hoped after the long, hard ride he could get some needed rest. Entering the Legion Hall, it was a massive room with a high ceiling. The massive wooden posts supporting the structure were carved all the way to the ceiling. It was just like a church without the pews andrge stained ss windows. I passed a few men lounging in padded chairs, their sweat stink lingering. The clerk at the desk waived me over, ¡°Yes, legionnaire?¡± ¡°Three from Castile¡¯spany for the night on Duchess Veronica¡¯s business,¡± he quickly noted it down. I asked, ¡°Have there been any monster attacks in the area recently?¡± He looked from his book with a sour expression, ¡°Always,¡± he said deadpan. ¡°Unusual activity,¡± I probed. He gave it more thought, ¡°A wyvern in Alhao and some manticores near Parvas. Are you tracking anything in particr?¡± ¡°No, we just encountered an ettin on the road from Lorvo. One of mypanions will do the formal report.¡± I replied. ¡°An ettin? Are you sure? That is a two-headed giant,¡± the clerk said doubtfully. I held up my hand and counted slowly, ¡°One, two, yep, definitely two heads.¡± The clerk soured, and my attempt at humor was obviously over his head. As was my patience for hisck of belief in my statement. Lucien could handle the report. He directed me to the east wing of the facility, the second floor. The first floor was a kitchen staffed by a half dozen old women. They were cleaning up from dinner. I ordered meals for Lucien, ze, and myself before heading up to the barracks room. The barracks room had forty bunks and windows down the back courtyard. None of the bunks were upied. There were plenty of nkets, no pillows. I dropped my saddle bags and pack and made up a bed by the window. The courtyard had a dozen legionnaires practicing with spears and swords under bright glow stones. The sun had set, and I hoped their practice would end soon. Then maybe the clerk had put us here because of the noise. I guess I should have been friendlier. I collected the meals in the kitchen and brought them up to the bunk room. It was some type of shepherd¡¯s pie. The beverage was a weak wine that was fruity. I finished eating and was wondering what was taking ze and Lucien so long. The ng of sword and spear on a shield was getting annoying as Iy on the thin hemp mattress. I went to the window and watched them from above. The group was a magepany as their young mage was watching their training, and the legionnaires all looked fresh in shiny metal armor. Since they had metal armor, it meant these were all volunteers and not conscripts. Brutus and vius were volunteers, and I was surprised they were still in ourpany. I used my healing to make sure I was all healed up and headed down to the practice yard with my shield and sword. I considered heading to the baths but would wait until Lucien and ze arrived. Twenty legionnaires and the magemander were spread out in the yard. One of the lieutenants approached, ¡°Legionnaire, are you here to train?¡± I thought that was obvious, but I nodded, ¡°We are passing through on an escort mission for a Duchess. Mypanions are at the baths, and I can not sleep with all the racket.¡± He looked up at the barracks window and back at me. He spoke softly, ¡°Sorry about that. Mage Sylvester is new and was assigned to this city after two other magepanies were pulled for the eastern border. He does not have a lot of experience. I am Xavier,¡± he extended, and we sped wrists. He turned and indicated to thepany, ¡°The other lieutenant is Solomon. We both were assigned to the new mage, and he had us training the men non-stop. He doesn¡¯t understand half the things we fight are not human.¡± ¡°I am Eryk, can we spar then?¡± I asked. I was more interested in adding more variety to the dreamscape amulet. He grimaced, ¡°I was the sword champion of my legion ss six years ago. Perhaps you would prefer a less experienced opponent?¡± ¡°No,¡± I started to apply the wrap to my de. He just nodded and did likewise. I noticed his de was too shiny as he wrapped, so I assumed it was an artificed de like Adrian and Konstantin. We soon faced off; he was quicker than me and just as strong. He scored six sessive hits, but I got a feel for his style. He thenpletely changed his style, a grin forming on his face. ¡°I grew up in a count¡¯s household. I have held a sword since I was five,¡± he deflected my de with his shield. I would have been frustrated if I was not intent on studying him. He was better than Konstantin, well, more refined anyway. He had less wasted movement and nned his moves well in advance. It was not long before we were both sweaty. I could see he was tiring as the one advantage I seemed to have was superior fitness. Xavier paused the exchanges to get a drink, ¡°Don¡¯t you ever slow down?¡± He drained his canteen. ¡°I only picked up a sword for the first time seven months ago,¡± I replied, taking adle of water nearby. ¡°Seven months? Never would have guessed. You are better than everyone here with the exception of Solomon and myself,¡± Xavierplimented me. Two of his men overheard and disagreed, ¡°Let us have at him then? Why keep the conscript all to yourself, Xavier?¡± I shrugged and faced them, ¡°If I defeat you two, then let me train with the master swordsman.¡± The first man telegraphed his attacks as clear as day. I easily blocked his attack with my shield and knocked his forehead with the butt of my sword. The loud crack knocked him out, and he copsed. ¡°Shit!¡± I said nervously. Then I remembered there was healing magic. Mage Sylvester came over and kneeled before his unconscious man. ¡°It is fine. I have some lesser healing magic. He was sloppy with his footwork. I am Mage Sylvester, and Xavier did not mention that I have beaten him more than once inbat.¡± ¡°You are a fair swordsman, Mage Sylvester. But without your magic tricks, you would lose to me every time,¡± Xavier countered his im with a grin. Sylvester healed the concussion, and the embarrassed man walked away. The other man did not seem willing to remind me he wanted to challenge me. ¡°I was enjoying watching you two. The conscript is a fast learner. Did I hear you say seven months?¡± The magemander questioned. Nodding, I answered, ¡°Yes, but I have somepetent teachers in Castile¡¯spany.¡± Sylvester looked surprised, ¡°Mage Castile? Heard about her humiliation in Macha. Though, can not say I am sad to hear of Durandus¡¯ death.¡± I held my tongue in defending Castile as I was not sure how the mage would respond. ¡°Durandus got himself killed. Castile had nothing to do with it.¡± ¡°I have no contention with Mage Castile. Who are you escorting for a Duchess?¡± Sylvester asked. ¡°You must have a spell form for listening,¡± I surmised. He had been on the other side of the courtyard when Xavier and myself had talked. The mage put on a genuine smile, ¡°How observant of you. Xavier took almost a week to figure it out. Please continue with swordy.¡± He stepped back and did not press the issue of who I was escorting for a Duchess. I was d of that as this was the first time I interacted with another magepany. I did not want to give away things I shouldn¡¯t. I spent the next two hours practicing with Xavier, never using my air shield. Xavier was good, and I kept healing his bruising strikes on me. It was gettingte into the night, and everyone was exhausted. I even got some ncing strikes on Xavier as he fatigued. Mage Sylvester called, ¡°That is enough for tonight. We patrol the eastern road tomorrow after mid-day meal!¡± The exhausted men almost copsed. ¡°Thank you for your time,¡± Xavier said while wiping his face of crusted salt. ¡°Truthfully, I did not expect much from a conscript. You have to be one of the toughest men I have practiced with in a while.¡± ¡°What he means by that is you can take a beating,¡± Solomon interrupted. ¡°Just d it was not me.¡± Xavier and Solomon left together to talk about their men. I went up to the barracks rooms to find a sleeping ze. He stirred on seeing me, ¡°We just got in. Had to wait for our clothes to be boiled in lye and dried. Lucien brought the horses over and will file the report for the ettin.¡± I pointed to the cold dinner, and ze said, ¡°Thanks, but we ate at the baths.¡± Lucien came into the room, ¡°All set. They are going to send out a patrol to confirm, but word was sent to the Legatus Legonis office. The Hounds will probably be sent to see if they can find where it came from. Good news, Eryk, I have your share of the silver.¡± He tossed me a small cloth bag. ¡°Nine gold, six silver.¡± ¡°Is Adrian getting anything?¡± I asked, moving the small pouch to my space. ¡°No, but he will always drink for free when I am around,¡± Lucien said, and ze nodded. ¡°You were both ready to sacrifice yourselves so we could get away.¡± I did not contradict them. I nodded and asked, ¡°Any baths opened thiste?¡± ze chuckled, ¡°They closed the baths when we entered. Should be baths on the other side of the city, but traveling the streets in the dark¡­¡± He left it unsaid. I sighed, stripped, and took a prone position on the bed, rolling a nket for a pillow. When mypanions put out the lights, I removed the amulet. I wondered how Xavier would fair against Konstantin in the dreamscape. Chapter 100: Reunion with an Old Friend Chapter 100: Reunion with an Old Friend Chapter 100 In the dreamscape, Xavier and Konstantin had some good fights. Xavier won almost every time, though. But this may have been my subconscious effort to put Konstantin in his ce; I did not know how much my desire affected the oue. After watching for a good hour, I joined them. I would fight one while the other watched and then gave me feedback. Then, I would switch. I was not sure how much I was getting from this practice, but I knew that muscle memory tranted into the real world. The best part about all this work was I was getting a good night¡¯s sleep as long as I did not make too many additions to the environment. I spent seven hours in the dreamscape before exiting. I found mypanions sleeping peacefully. I took their uneaten meals down to the kitchen. The old women were just starting breakfast and scolded me for the uneaten food. They did allow me to take some rolls stuffed with hard-boiled eggs and a spicy paste. As I entered the street, the sky was turning gray with the new day. People were already starting their day, filling the street, and after a few questions for directions, I was at the baths. Smoke billowed from a chimney; inside, I found these baths worked slightly differently. There was a steam room, a shower, and then into the hot soaking tubs. I dly paid the silver for the bath and cleaning. I was resting in the tub when Xavier, Solomon, and Sylvester entered. Sylvester spoke for the group, ¡°Legionnarie Eryk, you are up early. I thought you would be recovering fromst night¡¯s¡ªlessons.¡± ¡°I am,¡± I indicated the hot water. I hoped they wouldn¡¯t notice I had no bruises. ¡°Fair enough,¡± Xavier said, sitting down across from me. He let out a sigh of contentment as the hot water embraced his body. Once they were all seated, he asked, ¡°When are you off today?¡± ¡°Adrian wille and get us in the Legion Hall when he is ready. He is staying at an inn with our charge,¡± I replied. The magemander, Sylvester, asked, ¡°Did yourpany really kill an ettin? I saw the report this morning.¡± ¡°It was more luck than anything. Our bowman got a few arrows into it, and it tripped and drove the arrows into its heart,¡± I replied, trying not to sound smug. ¡°Extremely lucky as they have two hearts,¡± Solomon added contemtively. ¡°Fought them once before escorting a Duke to Tegairosia. They have thick hides, take a massive beating, and still fight on.¡± ¡°We must have been really lucky then,¡± I said quietly. I tried to get off the topic and asked the mage a question, ¡°Mage Sylvester, are there more creatures out and about than normal? I heard the Bartiradian mages are summoning them.¡± Sylvester nodded, which got Solomon and Xavier¡¯s attention, ¡°It is true. The Elven High Mage Traeliorn Kelran, a master summoner, is sneaking around the Empire. Maybe one or two of his apprentices as well.¡± Everyone was silent. I broke the silence by asking, ¡°How does summoning work?¡± The mage stretched, and he did have a warrior¡¯s body, although extremely lean. He said, ¡°It isplex magic. It weaves discement and mind magic together. The mage opens a portal to the creature and entices the creature toe through to perform a task. The more powerful the mage¡¯s affinities, the more powerful the creatures he can summon.¡± He stood, ¡°That is not all there is to it. He needs to locate the creatures to summon them, have enough aether to do it, and also make sure the creature does not kill him if it resists his efforts to control it. It is powerful and dangerous magic, and as far as I know, there are only two summoners in all of the Telhian Empire.¡± Sylvester stepped out, and an attendant boy handed him a robe to dry in. His two lieutenants rose to follow him. Xavier said as he left, ¡°I hope we have a chance to practice together again.¡± I left the bath and returned to the Legion Hall. Adrian had not arrived, and I tackled getting another mount. The stables only had our three horses, so I did not think the Legion Hall had any more. I confirmed at the desk. Mage Sylvester was doing a foot patrol with his unit to train them and did not have mounts. I was referred to a horse trader outside of the city. Lucien was awake and decided toe with me when I informed him. The horse merchant was a good mile outside the city walls, but I did not mind walking. As we walked, Lucien told me where he grew up. ¡°My father broke in horses for tilling fields. He worked for a very minor baron, and a disease swept through the herd. The baron lost his estate shortly after going bankrupt. The new owners had no use for my family. I was ten back then. My father got a job as a farrier in the city but couldn¡¯t support my mother, two sisters, and me. When I was twelve, I left to work the fields.¡± ¡°How did you end up in the legion?¡± I inquired. ¡°Dumb mistake. A few of the young fieldhands tried to sell the harvest on the side. We were caught. It turned out for the best. The other three caught with me went into the regr army and were dead within the year. I just finished my ten years, I am debt-free, and Castile convinced me to stay another term,¡± Lucien said cheerfully. I noted that it took Lucien two terms, ten years, to repay his debt. We arrived at the stables and pens. Dozens of horses ran the fields nearby. One brown horse darted toward the fence and started neighing. It looked familiar. I walked toward the mare, and I couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Ginger? Is that you, girl? What are you doing with a horse trader? Lucien, I thought she was a legion horse.¡± ¡°She was; look at her hindquarters,¡± Lucien said as Ginger aggressively nudged my chest in greeting. Three long, deep scars were prominent. The horse trader, a middle-aged man, approached us. ¡°She just healed, but some muscle damage. Legion traded her to me, and I will be foaling her next month. She can¡¯t run well but is strong and will be a good broodmare for a few years.¡± I asked incredulously, ¡°Why not get a healing mage?¡± I produced an apple into my hand and gave it to her. Lucien eyed the apple suspiciously, but I could have easily taken it from the kitchen. She munched happily on it. The horse trader answered, ¡°The Legion didn¡¯t care enough, I guess.¡± ¡°How much?¡± I asked. ¡°Eryk, she will not be able to keep up,¡± Lucien noted. ¡°There is the old healer in Sobral. I will pay him to fix her up. How much?¡± I asked again. ¡°Twelve gold,¡± the trader said, seeing my interest. Lucien scoffed, ¡°Twelve? Try five.¡± ¡°She is a trained Legion warhorse with a great temperament,¡± he retorted. I let Lucien bargain for me as I fed Ginger two more apples. The final cost was six gold. Which was good as a battle-trained horse would go for over forty gold. Lucien inspected the scars, and it was as the trader had said. They were deep and had been healed with some healing salve, closing the wound but not repairing the muscle. Lucien got a riding horse for the Schr as well for five gold. It was a little more than he wanted to pay for a nag, but the mare only needed to make it two hundred-plus miles to Sobral. We stabled the horses at the Legon Hall, and I gave each an apple. Lucien asked, perplexed, ¡°How many apples do you have in your space?¡± I might have been too liberal with them in front of Lucien since leaving Sobral. ¡°I added a few yesterday, but I have just a few left now. Most of my space is crammed with Decimus¡¯ equipment.¡± He nodded, but I think he was suspicious. I rubbed down Ginger, and she enjoyed the familiarity of me caring for her. We waited for Adrian in the barracks room. Lucien and ze started ying a dice game, and I watched, trying to calcte the odds. Adrian walked in just before midday. ¡°Get the horses ready. We will be leaving after the mid-day meal.¡± Lucien stood, ¡°Adrian, do you have a moment?¡± Lucien walked over to Adrian, and they whispered for a bit. Adrian looked over at me twice during the conversation. Finally, Adrian turned and left. Lucian came to me, ¡°You can keep your horse, Eryk. If she can not keep up, we will leave her behind.¡± He winked conspiratorily, ¡°The nag I bought for the schr should be fairly slow, though.¡± He patted my shoulder and started collecting his things in the room. Lucien was a good man. We met Adrian and our new travelingpanion in the stables. The Schr was an older man and seemed rather frail as if he had never exercised a day in his life. I did not know how he was going to ride over two hundred miles to Sobral at our pace. Adrian seemed to realize this as well. When we were finally on the road, the Schr seemed to be apetent rider and at ease with the saddle. A few milester, he was beside me and introduced himself, ¡°I am Schr Favian.¡± ¡°Legionnaire Eryk, Schr,¡± I replied. ¡°I have not been riding for a few years, but the memory returns quickly,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°I am actually looking forward to this assignment. Ancient Elvish writing has always been a passion of mine. I wanted to travel to Esenhem but was always worried I might be considered a spy while I was there and one here when I returned.¡± Heughed at his joke, but I did not think he was jesting. ¡°There are a number of books from Caelora in the Duchess¡¯ library,¡± I said. ¡°So I am told. That is why I am making the trip.¡± He shifted in his saddle, ¡°Did you know there is actually only one Elven dialect and writtennguage? It has remained unchanged for thousands of years although the calligraphy has changed with time. Can you believe that? Over fifteen human tongues are spoken on Desia, and just one Elven, even though there are three different elven races!¡± He said excitedly. ¡°It probably has to do with a standardized education system. If all the teachers teach the exact same thing, then it will propagate without variation in thenguage,¡± I replied. Schr Favian¡¯s jaw would not work as he digested my words. I figured I had said too much, but I thought it was obvious and wanted to sound smart. I broke the stupor of the Schr, ¡°Is the elven tongueplex?¡± ¡°What?¡± He said, distracted, ¡°Your observation is remarkably¡ªurate. The Elven Schriums are remarkably more structured and strict than the Telhian. Most children in the Empire are taught for only a few years before their education is ended. Most can not even read efficiently. Elves are taught for twenty years!¡± I just nodded and let him continue to talk about the shorings of the Telhian education system for the next two hours. My question about the Elvennguage was now buried in the Schr¡¯s expose. I was able to hand him off to our red alchemist, and they got into a deep discussion about the origin of the names of herbs used in alchemy. I got to ride next to Adrian. ¡°That Schr loves to talk. Hopefully, he is what Castile wanted,¡± Adrian mumbled to himself. He looked at me, ¡°What do you n to do with your horse? We don¡¯t always ride, you know.¡± I was stumped as I had not thought that far ahead. I felt connected to Ginger and didn¡¯t want her used by the horse trader as a breeding mare. I also wanted to see her healed. Adrian interrupted my thoughts, ¡°Well, she should be able to keep up. We will make Sobral in six days. It¡¯s a dayter than nned, but there¡¯s no need to press. The alchemist is the one slowing us down. He is in rough shape, and I think he might cry if I ordered a gallop. Schr Favian may look frail, but he used to be a messenger rider for the army when he was younger. I suggest you do not ask him about it, or he will spend hours retelling his youthful glory,¡± Adrian said, recalling a conversation he had with the Schr. After a few minutes, I asked, ¡°How rough will the ride be?¡± ¡°Not very. This is one of the old trade roads before the portals and is still heavily used. There are still dozens of towns along it. We should be spending most nights in an inn. Maybe not the luxury amodations you normally seek, but better than being outside,¡± he smiled, knowing my penchant for being clean. I also think he felt good about his assignment almost being done. A few hourster, dark storm clouds appeared overhead, and it started raining buckets. The packed y and dirt road quickly turned to mud, and the rain was so heavy that visibility was limited to a few dozen feet. I think Adrian had just cursed our easy ride back to Sobral. Chapter 101: Nighttime Visitors Chapter 101: Nighttime Visitors Chapter 101 The heavy, thick rain was also loud. We all pulled out oiled cloaks and wrapped ourselves tight. Even under the cloak, my metal helmet echoed a constant cadence of thunks as we pressed on. My immediate thought was remembering our raft trip from the capital. This rain was simr except that it now also had a chill to it. Even with my oiled cloak wrapped tight, my clothes were drenched, and it drained my body heat, and I shivered. ze, to my left, was not faring any better. I couldn¡¯t see anyone else clearly. We walked for two hours and finally reached a town with an inn and stable. Adrian did not hesitate to stop. Once we were in the stable, we could hear Adrian¡¯s voice clearly. ¡°Feels unnatural. Too much rain, too fast, like when the river flooded on our way to Sobral.¡± ¡°Is the mage close then?¡± Lucien said, shivering. ¡°Hard to tell with weather magic. It might be a powerful elemental or a mage causing it, and he could be standing next to you or fifty miles away. He is definitely aiming to destroy the fields. Thest harvest is this month, and dozens of farms are along this road. It is going to be a hard winter this year,¡± Adrian said morosely. A man came crashing into the stable. He had been running to avoid the rain. ¡°Thought I saw someone out here. Legionnaires, are you staying? This rain seems perilous to travel in.¡± Adrian nodded reluctantly, as we had only traveled half a day. The man smiled, ¡°Arge copper for each horse includes feed tonight and tomorrow morning. You will have to muck your own stalls. The stable boy lives a half mile away and will not be in tonight.¡± ¡°Rooms?¡± Adrian asked. ¡°Two left, two beds each. A merchant¡¯s guard is already taking up themon room. You can sleep in the loft free if you like,¡± the man offered. I looked up to seerge bales of straw along a central walkway above. Adrian sorted us, ¡°Decimus and Schr Favian can take one room. ze and I, the other. Lucien and Eryk take care of the horses. The loft is yours tonight.¡± They left us, and Lucien and I used glow stones to hang everything we could to dry them out. All ten stalls had one or two horses, so the noise and scents would be unpleasant tonight.¡°You know Lareen has a spell form that could dry these things in seconds,¡± I told Lucien, trying to make conversation. ¡°The maid the Duchess assigned you?¡± he asked, and I confirmed with a nod. ¡°Not as pretty as the one Kolm had assigned, but one of the nicer ones,¡± he said. ¡°I was assigned a young man, Heath. He is good at his job but not someone I care to keep my bed warm at night.¡± There was maybe a sense of jealousy in his words. ¡°Are the others indulging with their servants,¡± I asked as carefully as possible. ¡°Most. The Duchess is doing her best to make ourpany as happy as possible. Everyone is certainly working harder because of it,¡± Lucien replied while emptying the packs that had umted water on the inside. I had the unenviable tasks of mucking the three stalls, checking the horse¡¯s shoes, and cleaning the packed y with a pick. Lucien began to rub them down, getting as much water off as possible. It took a good hour before the seven horses were cared for. ze brought us steaming bowls of chicken and carrot soup. ¡°The inn is a small converted house, you are not missing much other than the fire.¡± The hot soup bowl warmed my hands as I tilted the bowl to my mouth. The soup seemed mostly broth, but it was the heat warming me from the inside out that I craved. ze waited till we finished before asking if we wanted another bowl, which we both declined. It had been arge bowl, almost half a gallon. The rain had not slowed and echoed on the roof of the stables. After ze left, we checked out the loft. The loft ran the length of the stables over the center walkway with openings above the stalls. Rough-cut boards made up the floor. There was bailed staw at one end. Tiny grains of ck rice were everywhere. Well, not rice, mouse, and rat shit. Lucien was already making a hand broom with the straw to sweep an area clear. I did likewise near thedders. ¡°Wish I had a thermal stone instead of a glow stone,¡± Lucien mumbled as he removed his wet clothes and hung them in the rafters. He had just one long dry shift in his bag that he put on while shivering. ¡°At least the roof is not leaking.¡± His bedroll was obviously wet. I asked, ¡°What is a thermal stone? Is it for making fires?¡± ¡°Can be. Depends on how hot the stone is artificed to get. They are a bit too heavy to carry around. I can not channel aether anyway. You charge it with aether, and it emits heat for a few hours. The first magepany I was in there was a legionnaire who carried a first-sized one with him. It was weak, but he kept it in his bedroll at night.¡± We set up our damp bedding. ¡°Can you charge this?¡± He tossed me his glow stone, and I did as requested before sending it back. ¡°We should leave them out to keep the mice at bay,¡± Lucien advised. I nodded and ced a glow stone on either side of me. I stripped as well, hanging my wetundry, but Lucien was already trying to sleep, so I took out a dry tunic and sent the wet one to my storage. My dry tunic was quickly dampened in the wet bedroll from my pack. I had one other bedroll in my dimensional space, but it was the heavy one I had taken from the First Citizen Justin when I escorted him with the griffin egg. Lucien was soon snoring, and I considered using the amulet but decided against it. The pounding rain created white noise, and I drifted off. My dreams were of being swift down a river and over a waterfall and drowning. When I hit the bottom, I was bouncing on the rocks. My eyes shot open. The horses were kicking their stalls, shaking the loft, and neighing in fear of something. I put on my helm and grabbed my sheathed sword. My spear was left below. Lucien was alert as well, as I could see him sitting up. The rain was still heavy and loud, and I could see some minor flooding in the horse stalls, but that was not what was spooking the horses. From my perch, I could see the stables¡¯ doors swinging open. The light from our glowstones illuminated the stables poorly. I remained still and waited, as did Lucien. Whatever shadow was in the doorway was short and humanoid, maybe a child. The creature cautiously entered, and enough light illuminated the creature for me to identify it. It was a familiar creature, a goblin. This goblin did not have any weapons and was wearing rags. It also had greenish skin, not the brown skin of the ones I had fought before. Even though the light was up in the loft, the creature never looked up as it entered. It was cautiously moving toward our packs. Lucien gave me the hand sign that I should wait. The loft had twodders, and both were near me and a distance away from Lucien. He was moving to the edge over the stalls and was going to descend that way to cut off the goblin¡¯s retreat. A second and then a third green goblin entered. The heavy rain was masking any sound we made, but Lucien¡¯s movement created shifting shadows, and thest goblin in line looked up. It fled out the door as Lucien swung down and blocked the other two from escaping. I descended quickly, and the two were stuck between us. My de was drawn, but neither of the goblins had any weapons. Then, one of them drew a small three-inch knife from inside the folds of its rags. It stood defiantly facing me. The other one faced Lucien but did not pull weapons, but hissed angrily at him. It actually looked to be shaking in fear. I talked loud enough to be heard over the rain, ¡°Never seen green goblins before.¡± ¡°They are burrowers and scavengers. We will be doing the locals a favor by eliminating this pair. Too bad more did not enter for us to trap,¡± he replied. My goblin lunged, and my de pierced its skull through the eye as I had much longer reach. I flicked it down off my de and smoothly cut into the neck of the other goblin facing Lucien. Lucien rxed and turned to the door. I inspected the small creatures. Their bodies were clean from the rain and looked thin and frail. They were not asrge as the brown ones I had fought in legion training. Lucien approached and inspected the bodies, ¡°They either got flooded out, or theye by here regrly. Most likely, they will not being back tonight, having lost two of their number.¡± ¡°Should we go and tell Adrian?¡± I asked. Lucien looked through the crack in the door. It was still pouring outside. ¡°No, it can wait till morning. They are just nuisances. We will toss these two outside so the blood does not continue to get the horses riled up.¡± The horses were still anxious in their stalls. The war mounts, who had alerted us, were calm now. I think it was Ginger who had kicked to wake us up. Not caring that Lucien saw, I gave each another apple and rubbed them between the ears. Lucien tossed both bodies outside. They looked pretty light by the ease with which he threw them. The adrenaline ofbat faded, and I thought about the collector but decided this one was a lost cause with Lucien here. We bothy down again, but I couldn¡¯t sleep. Lucien was snoring softly in no time. I stayed up waiting and listening to the rain. About two hours after the goblin¡¯s raid, the rain suddenly stopped. The quiet felt odd after hours of hard rain and the constant noise. The horses shifted every few moments in their stall, but otherwise, it was quiet except for some dripping sounds. I climbed down quietly and looked outside. The goblin bodies were gone. Maybe theirpanions took them. It was still hours before sunrise, but the blue moon was giving light through thinning clouds. Standing puddles of still water were causing weird reflections of the moon. The air was warmer¡ªmore humid as well. ¡°Everything good down there?¡± Lucien asked from above me, looking over the edge. I guess I had not been as quiet as I had thought. ¡°Yeah, it just seems eerie quiet now. The goblin bodies are gone. I am going to get suited and wait till morning in my armor,¡± I said while looking out across the road toward the town buildings. There were a few dim lights in the windows, but I did not see any movement. Lucien groaned in disappointment as he started to dress as well. Putting on cold, damp clothes is never fun. Lucien was mumbling to himself, and I just suffered through the wet clothes. We were dressed and sitting down by the stalls. Lucien asked, ¡°Do you have another apple?¡± I handed him one. While he was munching away, I asked, ¡°Does everything just feel off to you?¡± Between bites, he answered, ¡°Magical weather does that. Meddling with weather on this scale will cause problems hundreds of miles away. I don¡¯t know what, but I heard a desert on another continent was made because a king wanted his garden watered daily.¡± ¡°At least it brought warmer weather,¡± I noted. Lucien shrugged. As soon as the sky turned gray, signaling the sun¡¯s imminent arrival, we went to the inn. ze was right; this was a small converted house. A hearty fire was burning in the tinymon room, and four men were curled up in front of it. Lucien did not care if he woke them and moved a table and pair of chairs by the fire for us. The men on the floor cursed us but moved out of the way to sleep elsewhere. The noise brought the innkeeper, who was in a tiny kitchen in the back. We soon had a breakfast of dense biscuits and eggs scrambled with onion. As we ate, Adrian came down the stairs and grabbed a chair to join us, ¡°Any troublest night?¡± Lucien talked through a mouthful, ¡°Some green goblin thieves. Eryk handled two of them, and the rest ran off. Only saw three.¡± Adrian nodded unconcerned, ¡°Must have had their burrows flooded out and were hungry. The innkeeper did not mention any goblin problemsst night at dinner.¡± The innkeeper was close and ced a te of biscuits and eggs in front of Adrian. The innkeeper noted, ¡°Some local farms have been missing some chickens, but no goblin problems reported legionnaire.¡± Adrian nodded to him in thanks. ¡°Can I get another te¡ªdouble portion this time?¡± I asked, handing him tworge copper and my empty te. I was guessing that was more than enough based on his grateful smile. He brought a te stacked with scrambled eggs and biscuits and a pitcher of weak ale for me. Adrian poured himself a drink from the pitcher. As I ate, Adrian and Lucien talked about the goblins. ze joined us as I finished the te. Soon, the alchemist, still red, and the Schr came down. Lucien and I went and readied the horses. An hourter, we were on the road heading east. The town had been on a hill off the road and fared well in the heavy rain. The road was made of packed with y and dirt; some standing puddles were up to two feet deep. A rushing stream was as high as a stone bridge crossing. The reluctant riding horses had to be led across by their reigns. The bridge crossing was the only danger we encountered in the morning. The rain had not reached more than twenty miles from our town. Adrian pushed us as hard as the alchemist could handle. I kept a close eye on Ginger behind me on the lead line. She was a tough horse and kept up with our party. She had a limp, but Lucien assured me it was not affecting her overall health. We stayed in an inn in a town or a city each of the following nights. I was usually with ze and Lucien, while Adrian shared a room with our charges. At night, I massaged Ginger¡¯s muscles at Lucien¡¯s instruction to help the tightness in her hindquarters from the damaged tissue. During the day, I ended up riding mostly beside the Schr, as I seemed to be the only one with patience enough to listen to him. He talked about his specialization, the Elvennguage. I listened and even took the time to learn a few words and phrases. Most nights, I was in the dreamscape for four or five hours, splitting time between studying the Tsinga books, the time affinity spell form, and practicing with the dreamscape manifestations of Konstantin, Adrian, and Xavier. We reached the city of Loule in five days and stayed the night in the Legion Hall. Even the alchemist and Schr stayed in the Hall. It was breaking the rules, but Adrian did not care as the Hall was mostly empty. This stop put us just forty miles from Sobral. The alchemist¡¯s skin was fading daily, and he was more pink than red after the week we traveled with him. I think he was relieved that the red was actually fading, and he swore he would get back at the old alchemist in Lorvo who did this to him. Adrian informed us that he nned to push thest forty miles the next day, eager to end this recruitment assignment. Chapter 102: Surprise Awakening Chapter 102: Surprise Awakening Chapter 102 Adrian pushed us to the final stretch of forty miles to Sobral. Not so much us, as we had gotten our riding legs, but Decimus was still struggling since it was his first time riding more than an hour at a time. The alchemist had almost gotten his riding legs when we reached Sobral. At least he had stopped moaning every time Adrian ordered a light trot. I hope I had not been that bad while learning to ride. The road had that deja vu feeling when traveling somewhere you have been before but in the opposite direction. Around midday and about fifteen miles from Sobral, we passed two carts of a miserable-looking farmer heading toward Sobral with three teenage children helping him. Adrian trotted up to them and asked, ¡°Any trouble in the area?¡± The man and children looked in rough shape, with filthy clothes and dirt marring their features. The older farmer grunted, ¡°Tornado tore through the fields.¡± He indicated and kicked his cart, ¡°This is all that is left.¡± Adrian shifted ufortably in his saddle, ¡°How many fields were hit?¡± I noticed he had a bandaged and braced knee and was limping when I approached. ¡°All of them,¡± hemented. ¡°Mine and my two neighbors, at least. Lost most of our livestock as well, legionnaire. Gonna sell what we can in Sobral before trying to rebuild with my children.¡± He looked like a beaten man, and the two boys and his daughter would not make eye contact with any of us. I could see why if everything you worked for was ripped from you. I noticed his cart had some butchered meat, bundles of carrots, and some other field crops he salvaged. I leaned forward in my saddle, ¡°Sir, my horses love carrots. Can I purchase that bundle there?¡± I summoned arge silver to my hand and tossed it gently at him before he could respond. He caught it inexpertly and stared in disbelief at the coin and then the carrots. He couldn¡¯t believe I was offering ten silver for something that would cost two or three copper at most. He finally understood my charity and retrieved and handed me the dozenrge carrots. As was excited as the carrots passed close to his head, and Ginger walked up her lead line to sniff the carrots in myp. Lucien nodded to me, ¡°You are a good man, Eryk.¡± I shrugged, brushing it off, ¡°I was out of apples.¡± That was not true, as I had about a dozen left, but he did not need to know that.Adrian also tossed the farmer arge silver, ¡°Give Eryk another bundle. We do not want Eryk to be the only generous one today.¡± Lucien and ze followed suit, two morerge silver tossed and received. As we rode on, I had four bundles of carrots awkwardly in my arms, ¡°Do I have to be the one to carry all of these?¡± Adrian smirked, ¡°It was your idea, legionnaire. Deal with the consequences.¡± Over thest fifteen miles to Sobral, the horses ate well. Sobral was different when we returned. The farmers we passed were not the only ones whom the weather had hit. Carts stuffed high with personal possessions were outside the city, and makeshift camps were set up. Dirty peasants were making way the best they could. Adrian rode up and talked to the first group, two old men with three women and five children. We waited while he talked with them, and then he rode back to us. ¡°Refugees from some farms to the west like the farmers we passed. Also, some war refugees from Macha and Vesov. The Bartiradians crossed over from Lortare into Vesov three hundred miles south of Macha,¡± Adiran told us. Adrian shook his head remorsefully, ¡°Vesov has nothing of value. They probably areshing out after Macha. Same with unleashing elementals and monstrosities across the Empire.¡± We walked up to the Citadel, and four men in clean uniforms guarded the gate. One asked formally, ¡°State your business in the Citadel of Duchess Veronica Ang.¡± Adrian rode forward and patiently answered, ¡°Adrian of Mage Castile¡¯spany is returning from duty with an alchemist and schr. All men safe and unharmed.¡± One of the guards took off at a jog to inform his superior, and he returned a few minutester. We were waved through. Adrian announced, ¡°I will bring Alchemist Decimus and Schr Favian to the Duchess. ze go care for the equipment, and Lucien and Eryk care for the horses.¡± There were actually two stable boys in the stables and a half dozen new horses. After a cursory inspection of the new horses, Lucienmented, ¡°Work horses. The Duchess probably bought them from the refugees. Not bad stock, but not war horses.¡± I worked to get the packs off so ze could take them in, and then Lucien and I supervised the stable boys as they cared for the horses. Lucien started to teach them the proper way of caring for a mount. The boys, we learned, were some refugees from Macha that the Duchess had taken into her service. The younger boy exined, ¡°We fled Macha before the Bartiradian army came. We were staying with family in Lignum when the word came that Macha was in ruins. My father¡¯s candle shop was destroyed, so we couldn¡¯t go back. Word came the Duchess of Sobral was hiring any and all workers two weeks ago, so we traveled here with a caravan.¡± I understood that it was a smart move on the Duchess¡¯ part, except that food would be scarce this winter, and she would not be able to feed her increased poption. After the horses were settled, I told the two stablehands, ¡°This girl right here is Ginger. She is my horse. I will be paying for her lodging and feed. No one rides her but me. Also, if one of you could run into the city, fetch the old healer, and bring him to heal her, I would appreciate it. Tell him I will pay his price.¡± I handed each of them arge copper as a reminder. One of the boys rushed off, and Lucien smirked, ¡°You keep spending your coin like that, and you will have a line of plebians every time you step outside.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± I said, sneaking Ginger an apple when Lucien¡¯s back was turned. As looked bewildered; after all, he was the one who had carried me for thest two weeks. I also got him an apple to cate him and addressed Lucien, ¡°But you know we could die tomorrow, and coin is no good to a dead man.¡± I headed up to my room with my equipment, looking forward to a long bath and hopefully some time with Lareen after I was clean. There were a lot of new faces in the halls of the Citadel. Linus, thepany medic, was walking toward me, ¡°Eryk, you made it back in one piece.¡± We sped forearms in a greeting. ¡°Guess it was not too adventurous if you are all back.¡± ¡°Not too many problems. Just a few goblins and an ettin,¡± I said casually. He patted my shoulder, ¡°You have a good sense of humor, Eryk. I have to go work in the clinic for the refugees tonight. I will see you tomorrow at breakfast.¡± There was no point trying to convince him we fought an ettin. Lareen was not in my room, and I guessed she was off doing other duties. An armor stand was in the room, holding a new set of legion armor. Just the auroch-treated leather variant, not the metal tes the volunteer legion received. It looked new, and I recalled Castile saying the Duchess should get it for me as a reward for killing the manticore on hernds. A ck cape was draped over the shoulders. I removed the cape to see the armor better. The cape felt off, not cloth but more like soft, worked leather. It had a hood and fit over the armor but could be worn without it. This must be the cloak Maveith made me from the manticore wings. I stripped off my armor and tried it on. Without the armor, the cloak could be worn like a duster. He must have dyed it ck, which was a fitting color. He had promised me one other thing, but I did not see it here. Ipared my old and new armor, and it looked like Kolm, or whoever assembled it, had gotten the sizes close to correct. I stripped in the bathroom and crossed my fingers as I turned on the water. It was not hot but warm. Good enough. I used a washcloth to clean off most of the road dirt. After I was clean, Iy back in the tub to rx. I heard the door open after a time and yelled, ¡°Lareen, I am in here; you can join me.¡± Maybe I sounded a little too excited, but that excitement was quickly dashed. Konstantin wandered in with Maveith on his heels. The enormous goliath towering over the short Konstantin. ¡°I think I will pass on joining you, Eryk. The water looks filthy,¡± Konstantin smirked at my disappointment. ¡°Just heard you fought an ettin from Adrian. He said you refused to run and fought beside him.¡± I ignored Konstantin and addressed Maveith, ¡°Love the cloak, Maveith. ck is the perfect color.¡± Maveith beamed. In his deep voice, he addressed me, ¡°It is the nicest thing I have ever made.¡± He reached to his belt and held up arge ck pouch, ¡°Still working on this for you. I am waiting for some ice drake hide from the capital to do the lining, but it came out well.¡± He stuffed his massive hand inside, and the pouch fit quite snugly. ¡°It is soft and supple. I will give it to you once I have adhered it to the drake lining.¡± ¡°Thank you, Maveith. I look forward to receiving your gift. How are Trek and Lyonis?¡± I asked after the other wardens, still ignoring Konstantin to his bemusement. Therge man sat on the table, and it groaned in protest. It was made for sorting clothes, not supporting a goliath. He took onest showing of the pouch, ¡°The size of this pouch will be a great sign of your prowess among my ns.¡± He secured the iplete sack on his belt. He motioned to Konstantin, ¡°He helped me get Lyonis to the city, and he was healed, as were my lingering injuries. The other two manticores were killed five days ago, three hundred miles northwest. Lyonis and Trek are now helping with the province markers.¡± Konstantin was done waiting on the reunion and intruded on the conversation, ¡°Your servant, Lareen, is helping in the city feeding the refugees. She will be backte. You have been given three days off by Castile.¡± I sensed a buting and tried to get out of whatever Konstantin had nned for me, ¡°Great. I found my first horse, and she needs healing and some care. I hope to get her ride-worthy again and take her on some rides in the woods while foraging for the alchemist.¡± Konstantin broke into a grin, ¡°That is great news!¡± It was like I had fallen into a trap. ¡°The Duchess wants the alchemist working as soon as possible. You can talk with him, see what he needs to start brewing, and take your horse out riding. He is set up in the northwest tower.¡± ¡°I thought Castile asked you to appease the alchemist after bringing supplies to the men working in the woods?¡± Mavieth¡¯s deep voice questioned Konstantin. ¡°Eryk is already nning to be out there, so he can handle it. He also has the dimensional space, not me. You can join him, Maveith, after you run supplies out to the men digging andying the marker stones,¡± Konstantin expertly delegated all his orders out to us. ¡°What are you going to do while we handle your assignments?¡± I asked the smug Konstantin. Konstantin hedged a bit, but then spoke, ¡°I am going to look for signs of Traeliorn Kelran.¡± The name tickled something Adrian had said, ¡°The elven summoner? You know where he is?¡± ¡°He is definitely on this side of the Aganterao River. The Central Empire has a new monstrosity appearing every week. I may not be able to find him, but I will look for signs of him. Maybe find a campsite he used or his ritual circles for summoning,¡± he borated. ¡°What about the Hounds? Is that not what they do?¡± I asked, getting out of the recessed tub. Konstantin held up a letter, ¡°The Hounds might help track a dangerous mage, but the Mage Companies would be called in when they are found to deal with him. Cornelius asked me to search down this way. His Hounds are deployed on the front and protecting the dig site,¡± Konstantin admitted. ¡°And he already has a squad that is missing.¡± He was mistaken if Konstantin was waiting for me to volunteer to go with him. I would take a few days gathering mushrooms, roots, leaves, and flowers over running off to find one of the most powerful mages on the continent, who would kill me on sight or sic his summoned critters on me. ¡°Well, have fun,¡± I smiled at him. Konstantin hesitated momentarily before making to leave, ¡°I will, Maveith, make sure this one does not get himself killed.¡± ¡°Are you going to let him go alone?¡± Maveith said, watching his back as he left. ¡°Konstantin can take care of himself. We have our orders.¡± I dressed in a light shirt and pants. ¡°Maveith, it is good to see you, but I really want to reacquaint myself with my favorite pillow.¡± Maveith creased his brow, ¡°Is that a reference to your maid? She said you and her¡­¡± ¡°No, my pillow!¡± I went into the bedroom to pull the griffin down pillow out of the made bed. Maveith looked at me skeptically but did leave. I was hungry, but sleep was overtaking me. Unfortunately, It looked like Lareen was not returning tonight. I secured the dreamscape amulet under my shirt and went in to get some practice. I spent my time studying the time spell form for slow aging tonight. The sooner I learned it, the younger I would be for longer. I had been studying for about two hours in therge plush chair with Oscar in myp when I was suddenly ripped out of the dreamscape. Lareen was kneeling over me in a nightshirt, her hair cascading around my face, and holding the amulet in her hand. She must have felt it and pulled it from under my shirt. I immediately assumed that I lost contact with the dreamscape when it left contact with my skin. She was fingering and studying the amulet in the minimal light of the firece. Seeing I was awake, she asked, ¡°What is this, Eryk?¡± Chapter 103 Chapter 103 Lareen was kneeling on the bed, holding my amulet. I didn¡¯t have a headache or any disorientation from the artifact being removed, so at least I had learned something. I could be awakened if the amulet was removed without ill effects. Now, I needed to deal with the curious woman. She was educated, and I assumed the runic patterns on the outside of the device told her it was magical in nature. I gave a half-truth, ¡°It helps me sleep. It filters out the nightmares. I have oblivion pills as well.¡± Lareen was trying to use the minimal firelight to see the device better. She had it in her palm and was running her thumb over it. I gently took it from her hand and put it back under my shirt. It was as big as a pocket watch from Earth, so it created a lump under my shirt. Lareen looked me in the eyes; shes from the fire danced in her green eyes, ¡°Eryk, I am d you are back. I slept in your bed every night, hoping that night would be the one return.¡± She moved in, and we kissed for a long time. She had been busy today and had not bathed. I could taste the salt on her lips and smell her strong, sweaty scent. When we broke the kiss, I asked, ¡°What were you doing today?¡± I was attempting to take her mind off the amulet. She stretched out next to me, and we faced each other on our sides. Morning breath was one thing I did not miss about being close to a woman. I was sure my breath was also undesirable, but that was all I could focus on while she talked. ¡°We mostly moved a few hundred bags of wheat flour into the Citadel cers. The anti-vermin runes are strongest there, and the Duchess did not want spoge or rats getting into it.¡± ¡°Who are we?¡± I asked while her hands drifted to my hips and rubbed my side. ¡°The other servants in the Citadel. Everyone is working to amodate the new arrivals.¡± Her hands got bolder, going under my shirt. ¡°We are trying to get ready to feed another thousand people this winter. It might even be more with how fast the refugees are arriving.¡± She leveraged herself toward me, and my thought as we engaged was I was going to look into finding toothpaste.In the morning, I overslept, and Lareen was already gone. Her day started just after the first light, when she helped serve breakfast. She worked well into the evening by cleaning up after her charge¡ªme. I dressed but did not wear my new or old armor. I headed to the northwest tower to find the alchemist, Decimus. I would take it easy this morning and head out after midday to collect his ingredients. The northwest tower was in a section of the Citadel rarely used. Rooms were empty, and dust lined the window sills. A small spiral staircase wound up around the tower¡¯s interior. A door was on each floor. I found Decimus on the third floor, the tower¡¯s highest floor. The round room was maybe thirty feet across. Tables and crates were everywhere, extremely disorganized. Decimus was snoring softly on a cot. The morning light was bleeding through the four windows in the room. The crates must be all the new alchemist gear that the Duchess bought him. His face was still dark pink, and he was drooling. I checked out the views. Two windows looked north and west out into the woods. The east window had obstructed views down into the gardens. The south window gave a view of the city and the river beyond. From this perspective, the city looked a lot smaller. I could see smoke plumes from the encampments of the refugees. The cot creaked, and I turned to find the bald alchemist sitting up. ¡°Morning, Decimus,¡± I greeted him. ¡°Eryk? What are you doing here? Is it morning already?¡± He asked. ¡°It is. I am here to drop off your crate, although looking at all these crates, I do not think you require it,¡± I observed. ¡°Ah, young Legionnaire, that is where you are wrong. More equipment means I can have more processes going at once!¡± He said excitedly. I moved to the table and I ced the gear I had transported for him on it. ¡°I was told to check with you to get your ingredients so you can begin your work. I also wanted to ask if you made toothpaste.¡± I turned to face the pink man. ¡°Toothpaste? Do you mean a whitening agent? I can do that, no problem. You just need to fetch me a bucket of goat¡¯s milk and urine. Horse or cow urine is best and easiest to collect.¡± He said as he moved to the first crate and started to work the lid off. ¡°Horse piss and goat¡¯s milk whitens teeth?¡± I asked, a little repulsed. ¡°Once I process it, yes. It should only take a day, but it will take me most of the day to unpack everything here and get things assembled and set up to my satisfaction. I would ask for your help, but you would just slow me down,¡± he said as he carefully unpacked the new ssware. ¡°I think I will pass on the whitening agent. Is there anything for just bad breath?¡± I inquired of the alchemist. ¡°Bad breath? There are a dozen different recipes to correct foul breath depending on your vor preference, and some also have dental restoratives. Do you have any aches?¡± He did not wait for me to answer before continuing, ¡°I will need a few things I can create from herbs in the garden. Need to extract the oil essence and create a simple base to mix it with and stabilize thepound, but I can make you a wash that should cure your bad breath for a day or two. Any particr herb voring you prefer?¡± ¡°Mint,¡± I said firmly. ¡°I can gather that myself from the cook¡¯s gardens below. Let me write out a list of things that I will need from the local woods. You can forage it for me.¡± I waited while he scrawled out his shopping list and the amounts he wanted for each. There were only two I was not familiar with. Konstantin just called one something else, and the other was actually a truffle¡ªa fungus that grew underground. When I asked him how I was to find the fungus, I got a lengthy exnation, ¡°To find a truffle, you need to search in an area with excellent drainage. The ground should be partially sandy as well. There is a small white flowering nt that prefers the same soil. It is easy to identify as the white flowers. The nt is the size of your fist, and the flowers have five petals and light blue veins. Dig carefully in that area for the truffles.¡± I nodded but did not think I would be digging for truffles today. I returned to my room to find cold breakfast tes by the window. Lareen must have returned while I visited the alchemists and brought breakfast for both of us to share. I quickly searched her room and the bath for her. She was not here and had probably been required to continue helping with the refugees. I ate both tes and went to the stables to check on Ginger. The stable boy approached me, ¡°Legionnaire, we talked with the old healer on your behalf. Since it is not for the Duchess, he asked for three gold for the healing on your horse.¡± ¡°Is that a lot?¡± I asked the stable hand. But I realized the stupidity of the question. Arge copper was probably a lot to the boy. The older boy replied, but he was uncertain himself, ¡°A fortune, but I think it is because if he healed your horse, it would use all his aether for the day. At least, that is what he implied.¡± ¡°Fine, have hime and do it. Do you know where the goliath is?¡± I asked the pair. The younger one pointed, and I followed his hand. On the far side of the open courtyard, Maveith was shouldering threerge packs. A tossed each boy a single copper and went to talk with Maveith. Maveith noticed my approach, and his deep voice hit me, ¡°You are toote, Eryk. Konstantin left at first light if you had changed your mind about joining him.¡± ¡°I was going to offer to go with you, Maveith. But I have to wait for the city¡¯s old healer to care for my horse,¡± I said, standing beside him, feeling small. ¡°I will be gone two days to deliver this food to your legionnairepanions. Adrian said you had a rough trip and need some rest. I will be fine,¡± he intoned and pped my shoulder. ¡°Be careful out there. With as much food you are carrying, you would make a delicious target for the refugees,¡± I said to my friend. Maveith¡¯s eyebrows creased, and then heughed, ¡°Wonderful y of words!¡± His voice boomed, ¡°Delicious target because I am carrying food. You have the most interesting sense of wordy, Eryk.¡± He picked up one massive backpack and two satchels and left the yard. I returned to the stables to wait for the healer and check out Ginger and As. I felt bad As was being reced, but Ginger was my first. She was also a more impressive warhorse and, I think smarter than the average horse, but that was perhaps my wishful thinking. The town healer arrived with a neatly white-trimmed beard and wearing expensive-looking clothes. He was more well-off than the average citizen. He approached with the older stable boy leading him, ¡°Legionnaire? Are you the one who wishes your horse healed?¡± ¡°I do. I have your requested coin as well,¡± I held up three gold for him to see. He squinted and nodded as if he was dubious that I had the coin to pay him. ¡°Well, show me to the beast, and I can take a look,¡± we followed the stable boy, who was excited to see the magic healing as well. Ginger had her own stall and immediately nudged me for an apple. I rubbed the bridge of her nose, ¡°Sometimes I think you just like me because I am your sugar daddy.¡± The old man went into the stall and looked at the three long, deep w marks on Ginger¡¯s rump. She craned her neck but did not move. ¡°I would hate to have seen whatever did this to your horse. d you lived Legionnaire.¡± He faced me, ¡°I can do it. Three gold to correct the muscles. I do not have enough aether to remove the scarring today. Maybe another day.¡± And for some reason, I doubted his sincerity. He would probably ask for more coins to remove the scarster. ¡°But she will be able to be ridden?¡± I asked while rubbing behind Ginger¡¯s ears. ¡°Yes. Even today, but you should give her an extra meal for the next two or three days,¡± he held out his hand. He wanted his payment first. I ced the coins in his open palm. He inspected them for a brief moment before moving to his work. There was nothing to see. He ced both his hands over the scars, and the flesh rippled under his touch. About a minuteter, he dropped his hands. He was sweating from the effort, ¡°That is never pleasant. I burned out my aether channels in my youth, and channeling that much aether is painful.¡± I reassessed my opinion of the old healer. Burnt mages were something Castile told me about. A mage could only use so much aether in a day. If they took aether restoratives and pushed past this limit, they would damage their ability to funnel aether for magic. This would result in painful use of aether and less aether avable during the day. Ginger kicked with the leg that was just healed and seemed happy. She craned her neck. My guess is she had been in pain from the injury, and that was now gone. She nudged the old healer with her powerful neck and knocked him down. Before he could get upset, I told him, ¡°She is thanking you. And so am I,¡± I handed him a fourth gold coin as I helped him up. The man left happy, and I saddled up Ginger with the stable boys helping. Soon, we were out of the Citadel yard, and Ginger was sprinting energetically through the woods. If a horse could be happy, she was. Maybe I would let her run a bit before looking for the alchemist ingredients. We darted down the paths and among the trees. I was deep into the woods when I pulled up. A legionnaire was in the middle of the path carrying a deer on his back. He was familiar to me, and I had not seen him in quite some time. vius, the archer from Durandus¡¯pany. Thest time I had seen him, he was seated behind Master Mage Sebastian on a fire drake headed off into the swamp to look for the collector. This should be an interesting conversation. Chapter 104: A Brief Lesson In Alchemy Chapter 104: A Brief Lesson In Alchemy Chapter 104 vius stood in the path and tossed the deer carcasses down with a thud on some grass. He stretched his neck, happy for an excuse to rest. He wiped his hands on nearby grass, ¡°Eryk, you returned with an alchemist?¡± I dismounted and led Ginger over to vius, ¡°We did. I am guessing that Sebastian found his brother¡¯s collecter since you returned?¡± vius eyed me carefully, expressionless, ¡°No. We spent three days looking for it. I was sure we were on the right ind, but Sebastian started to doubt me. I was fortunate the Duke¡¯s army arrived to tear down the city of Macha.¡± ¡°Did they really just tear down the outer walls? They must have killed hundreds.¡± I was d to focus the conversation on something other than the collector. vius nodded slowly, ¡°I was told that over half the upying Bartiradian army was on the walls. Thousands were killed.¡± ¡°And now they are rebuilding the city. Seems like a waste,¡± I stated with remorse, thinking about the citizens who stayed, including Carina, the young bath attendant whose brother was a city guard. ¡°No. That may have been the n, but the earth mages moved to the storm giant dig site. Sebastian was ordered to patrol the skies with his fire drake, but he was not happy about it. The Dragon Legion arrived just as I was leaving to relieve him,¡± vius said seriously. ¡°The Dragon Legion? I thought they were ceremonial for parades and such,¡± I gripped the reigns tighter. Things seemed to be escting on the eastern front.vius nodded, ¡°They are. Not in my lifetime have they ever been called to duty for a campaign. The Emperor is serious about protecting the dig site and does not want the Griffin Riders of the Bartiradians getting close to seeing what they are doing. A huge magic array has also been constructed to prevent scrying as well.¡± An odd silence hung between us. vius studied me, ¡°I heard about your fight with the manticores. Three kills are beyond impressive for you and the goliath. A pity you didn¡¯t have a collector for their essence with you.¡± I could tell he was testing me, so I remained as impassive as I could. ¡°I agree, but it was mostly Maveith the goliath, he is an impressive warrior,¡± I replied, trying to give the goliath credit and ignore his jab about the collecter. His stare intensified, and I started to get a little ufortable around vius. He was hinting or guessing at something. I tried to break away, ¡°I have to supply the new alchemist with ingredients. I will see you back at the Citadel. Nice kill,¡± I indicated deer. vius looked down at the deer, ¡°Thank you. My father was a woodsman and taught me a fair amount about hunting and tracking prey. Castile has me going out every day and catching what I can to be smoked or salted for theing winter. The assignment is much better than digging holes with the others.¡± ¡°d you are back, vius,¡± I finished the conversation as I mounted and rode off. I could tell the archer-scout had suspicions about me. It was on his face and how he spoke and studied me. After a few minutes, I spotted arge patch of blood grass and pulled out Decimus¡¯ list. It was time to get to work. Riding Ginger saved some time between spotting harvests, but she was also a good watchdog while I worked, pawing the ground to get my attention. The first time was a giant elk in the far distance. An apple reward had her digging into the ground with her hoof every time she noticed something. A roon, a massive owl, deer, and even a wolf, not a dire wolf, just a normal-sized wolf. Each time, I gave her a small reward. An apple for the dangerous-looking owl and wolf. And a few pats for the other less threatening creatures apanied with verbal praise. The list from Decimus was not extensive; it included just six items butrge quantities. My fingernails were ck with soil as I worked through the afternoon toplete his list. The only thing I was not able to find were the truffles. I did try to find the white flowers that marked likely spots, but I did not see any. It was a rather uneventful long afternoon. The air was cool, and I was seeing my first hint that the weather was changing. From what I had been told, the Telhian Empire had a short winter. The Sobral province had trees changing color and leaves starting to fall in reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. It was not so different from Earth, and I recognized many types of trees. It was close to sunset, so I rode Ginger back toward the city. The woods near the city had a number of foragers. By their rough clothing, these were the refugees. I talked to two pairs, and they were harvesting wild onions and tubers. Both were very simple to find and dig up. I was already aware of how to find both. I spent some time rubbing Ginger down. She did not need more apples for the day, and I noticed As was not there. The stable boy said one of the Duchess¡¯ men took As to run messages to another city. The stable boys did not mind me doing their work for them. Personally, I found the task to be rxing and good therapy, caring for the animal. I even paid one of the stale boys tworge silver to run to purchase horse grooming kits for me. One would be for the stable boys to use on Ginger, and the other is destined for my dimensional space. I was famished as I went to the dining room for dinner. I had worked hard in the woods and only drank water all day. Castile, Adrian, and Delmar were talking at the head of the table, and I sat near them. Castile nodded to me and asked, ¡°How was your ride today?¡± I sat diagonally across from Castile, ¡°I got about half of what the alchemist wanted. Couldn¡¯t find his truffles, though.¡± A servant put arge mug of ale in front of me. I looked for Lareen, but she was not one of the servants in the dining hall. Delmar said between bites, ¡°You need a trained dog to find truffles. And Konstantin was supposed to be gathering for the alchemist¡ªdid he go looking for the mage?¡± I nodded while taking a long pull. Adrian barked, ¡°He is too impatient. We told him that after settling things and we got some healing potions from the alchemist.¡± Delmar sat back and just grunted in shared annoyance. The three were clearly not happy with Konstantin. I tried to divert the conversation. I remembered pigs were used on Earth to find truffles. I asked Castile, ¡°Is there any spell that can find truffles?¡± Castile smiled, ¡°A few. Simple nature spells, none that I have ess to. I actually never heard of a potion requiring truffles. Inquire with the alchemist if it is for his work or a snack.¡± Castile smiled and seemed rxed for once. She was in control of her short-term destiny even though a lot was going on. Donte and Benito came and sat at the table, and servants brought out tes and drinks for them. It looked like most of thepany wasying markers. Both Donte and Benito had their hair cut and shaved. ¡°I will inquire when I drop today¡¯s harvest off with him. What is going on with all the refugees?¡± I asked while attacking the full te in front of me. Castile answered, ¡°We are epting any and all refugees with employment guaranteed for able-bodied men. The pay is only lodging and two meals for now for unskilledbor.¡± ¡°What about the woman and children?¡± I inquired. ¡°I saw a number of them in the camps outside the city.¡± ¡°They will be fed whether they work or not. We are also trying to find work for them as well,¡± Delmar answered for Castile. Adrian added irritably, ¡°We are training more city guards as crime is likely to swell with the refugees¡¯ arrival.¡± We ate for a time, and I listened to them discuss the training of the Citadel and town guards. The logistics were interesting. Equipping them and training them seemed to be the most significant issue with the cost of the equipment and only a few of ourpany in the Citadel at a time. Housing them was not. The Citadel had room for five hundred guards, and two barracks in the city had room for two hundred guards each. Most current city guards lived in personal houses within the city, so the barracks were mostly empty. The city, if you could call it that, only had about six thousand people. It was modest for the Telhian Empire in size but tiny, from my personal experience. As their conversation faded, I asked, ¡°I saw vius in the woods today carrying a deer. Do you want me to hunt while I am out there?¡± I asked, finishing my te. Delmar answered gruffly, trying to add some levity to his tone, ¡°No. Don¡¯t waste arrows.¡± He shifted in his seat, ¡°It is important to get the alchemist working.¡± His steely eyes locked onto me, ¡°The healing salves can save a man¡¯s life, and if he can truly brew the lesser healing potions, we will be truly blessed by Fortuna. I have an order in for the giant bee honeying through the capital. Hopefully, the expense was worth it.¡± The honey was the only ingredient we couldn¡¯t source locally for the healing potions. Seeing my empty te, Castile requested for me to deliver the ingredients. ¡°Bring your harvest to the alchemist, and since you do not require time to rest, continue harvesting for the alchemist. Let me know what he is also nning to use the truffles for.¡± I climbed the northwest tower and found Decimus still pink-skinned, unpacking and setting up his apparatus. He had lit a few burners, and one table was already starting on one of his processes. I noted that this was the equipment I had transported for him. He looked up, smiling. Even though he was pink and not red, it was still creepy. ¡°There were three types of mint in the cook¡¯s garden. Let me know which one you prefer.¡± He pointed to a table. I walked over to the table and found three bundles of leafy stems. I sniffed them all, and they smelled the same. ¡°Chew on the leaves. That will be the vor of your wash,¡± Decimus advised, walking over to me. I did as instructed. The first leaf was peppermint. The second was a spearmint or close to it. I thought thest one had a milder mint taste with a hint of chocte. I pointed to the peppermint, ¡°This one will be good for me. How long till the mouthwash is ready?¡± ¡°A few days. What did you get me today?¡± He asked eagerly. I unloaded my harvest for the day, and he started sorting and hemming and hawing as he did so. ¡°I do not see any truffles,¡± he voiced his disappointment. ¡°No, I did not have any luck. Which potion are they needed for?¡± I asked casually. ¡°My foot brew. The one that relieves aches kills foot odor. Don¡¯t think of putting it in your mouth to cure your foul breath. I tried; it will induce violent vomiting.¡± He finished sorting and looked up, ¡°Not bad. The roots on these two blood grasses got damaged but should be usable.¡± I looked at his maze of ssware, ¡°So what will I be helping you with for one day a week?¡± ¡°Not for a few weeks, I think,¡± he said, looking over his burgeoningboratory. ¡°It will take me three or four days to set up and get some things in process. I will have free time once I get the Duchess¡¯ quota for the healing salve and stamina potions. But I really do need the truffles. The foot treatment was my biggest seller.¡± I didn¡¯t mention that this city was much poorer than the one we recruited him from. He was taking the peppermint to a work table, and it appeared he was done with me. Before leaving, I asked, ¡°Why does making a potion take so long?¡± The pink alchemist paused in his work. He looked at me and sized me up. Then he exined, ¡°A potion is made up of three parts. The emulsion, the active ingredients, and the stabilizer. For example, the basic healing salve uses blood grass as the emulsion. Once purified and reduced, it is thick and can be applied topically to wounds. The active ingredients are thepounds that need to be purified from other fungi or flora. If thepounds are not pure enough, the potion will not work as intended, sometimes to the detriment of the person treated. The final part is the stabilizer. I use ruby and sapphire dust mostly. The stabilizer holds the aether I channel into it to harmonize the ingredients and indicates the brew¡¯s shelf life.¡± I think he was expecting me to be thoroughly confused. Instead, I asked a question, ¡°So if you add more ruby or sapphire dust, it will have a longer shelf life?¡± The pink head shook violently, ¡°If only! No. Too much will toxify the brew, but the shelf life is mostly determined by the purity of the ingredients being used and how well they harmonize. Potions made by a dungeon are perfectly harmonized andst for years or decades!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t alchemists just figure out what is in dungeon potions and replicate them?¡± I asked next. ¡°You make it sound so simple! But no. Most times, when a dungeon¡¯s potions has been sessfully deconstructed, and the constituent parts were not sourceable. Also, instead of gem dust, they use pure aetheric essence. If you have ever seen an essence collector work, then sparkling blue-lit smoke is aetheric essence,¡± Decimus exined. I looked at his growing expansive array of equipment. ¡°So all this is to just pull certainpounds out of nts and fungi?¡± ¡°Yes! The heart of alchemy is purification! Your mouthwash is simple: titrated water soaked in blue mountain flowers, mint andvender oil for the ingredients, and a touch of sapphire dust, and finally activated with aether. It will leave your mouth minty for hours, and even after the minty taste fades, your breath should not stink for a day or two.¡± The alchemist was starting to get excited at my interest. ¡°It is all fascinating. If you don¡¯t mind, could I assist with the mint mouthwash in the evening? So I can follow a process from start to finish,¡± I requested. He was about to say yes but paused, a sly look on his face, ¡°If you find me my truffles, I will teach you all about alchemy.¡± Of course, he would want me to find his truffles. Chapter 105: Truffle Subcontracting Chapter 105: Truffle Subcontracting Chapter 105 I left the alchemist in the tower while trying to figure out how to get his truffles. With leaves changing, it meant winter wasing. How much longer would I be able to harvest for the alchemist? There was still some daylight to burn, so I paused in the library. If no one was here, I could perhaps do some research. Therge doors creaked loudly, and I was bewildered to find the Duchess and Schr Favian inside. ¡°Legionnaire Eryk,¡± the Duchess spotted me before I could duck out. ¡°Are you looking for me?¡± She sounded almost hopeful. Having ridden next to Favian for a few days, I knew he talked forever and never seemed to tire. I made an excuse, ¡°No, I was just looking for Lareen. I don¡¯t know how to draw a hot bath.¡± ¡°Ah, most of the servants are in the city. Lareen is as well and won¡¯t be back till sunset,¡± the Duchess informed me. ¡°But you can help Schr Favian until she returns.¡± She turned to face the schr, ¡°This legionnaire can help you with bringing the books up and down the stairs.¡± The Duchess escaped past me, nodding to me in thanks for the relief. The schr smiled, ¡°I do not really need help. The Duchess was just getting tired of listening to me expound on the variations of the elven script over the centuries. Her collection here is quite remarkable, and she does, as promised, have a number of books from the city of Caelora.¡± I looked at the number of books spread out on tables on the first floor. The script was nothing even remotely familiar to me. ¡°Let me take off some of my armor, and I will help you, schr.¡± ¡°Thank you. These stacks here can go back to the third floor. There are two stacks that need to be brought down,¡± he indicated to the third floor. I made quick work of exchanging the books. ¡°Have you found anything useful?¡± I inquired of the schr while sitting in a padded reading chair.¡°Not yet. But there are fascinating histories that are thousands of years old. The books were never cataloged and sorted. My guess is they never had an expert on thenguage. I am doing my best. The script has a lot of flourishes to it, making it difficult to read, but I am slowly bing ustomed to it.¡± He pointed to an open book, ¡°That one so far is the best lead I have found on what the Duchess is looking for.¡± ¡°What is she looking for?¡± I asked, looking at the book. There were some amazing sketches of elves in everyday life. Mostly craftsman. ¡°The Duchess wants to know if there is anything of value in the region surrounding Caelora. If she reopens the trade road, then the Emperor will expand her duchy to include thosends. Your magemander will notmit to the effort unless she knows there is actually something valuable in thends,¡± the schr informed me. I had already heard them discussing this before. ¡°And what is so interesting about this book? It looks like mostly crafters.¡± I said, still paging through. ¡°It is an index of master crafters of Caelora from the 4th King¡¯s reign, Ninleyn Eldaerenth. It details the crafter, their profession, and what they were famous for.¡± He walked over to me and turned the page to an artificer cksmith. ¡°This is Nabaera Kinvaen. A famous cksmith thousands of years ago, but I am interested in this passage here,¡± he pointed excitedly. I looked at the unfamiliar scrawl. ¡°What does it say?¡± ¡°It describes one of her mithril bowls. It could convert water into milk. But that is not the interesting passage. Where the materials for the bowl came from is! A dungeon the elves called The Shimmering Labyrinth.¡± The schr smiled excitedly. I frowned. If I had my choice, I would never go in one again. What I knew about dungeons was that they appeared over deep ley lines in the earth that ¡®fed¡¯ them, ording to Castile. Second, a dungeon could be destroyed, ording to Delmar. And finally, they were full of horrific monsters. ¡°How do you know the dungeon is still active and near Caelora?¡± I asked with skepticism. Favian smiled, ¡°Because I have found two more passages referring to the dungeon! But you are right that the dungeon could have been destroyed over the centuries. I do not think it is one of the seven dungeons in the Empire. No dungeon in the Empire produces mithril.¡± ¡°How would a dungeon remain hidden for so long? I am sure the Empire has already searched the area around Caelora,¡± I noted. ¡°But no one has searched in the city extensively. Do you know how the city was conquered?¡± Favian asked, going into his teacher¡¯s voice I often heard during the ride. Well, I could now, at least, recognize people speaking elvish and say a few phrases. One of the phrases I memorized was, Don¡¯t kill me, I surrender. ¡°I do not know about the history other than the ce is full of specters and wraiths,¡± I replied. The schr smiled, ¡°About fifteen hundred years ago, the Legion surrounded the city and flooded it with poison gas. They killed thousands of elves. What the Legion did not count on was their horrific act generated the specters from the dead. They stand eternal guard against the intruders. The Empire has lost a number of expeditions over the centuries; that is why I was excited when I heard there was a collection of books recovered from Caelora in Sobral.¡± ¡°So the dungeon is in the haunted city? Castile will never have us search the city,¡± I responded, half-confident. ¡°You are smart, Eryk. Think about it. Most cities grow up around dungeons for their resources. The number of specters in the city has not diminished in centuries, so it makes sense that there is a ley line underneath the city regenerating them after they are in,¡± Favian said clinically. ¡°So that means the city can never be never be retaken. The specters will alwayse back; if the dungeon is there, it is inessible,¡± I rationalized. The old schr smiled, ¡°Oh, there are ways. The kettle of souls, banishment circles, and giving the remains a final rest spell are just a few ways to permanently end a specter¡¯s existence. And before you ask, the Emperor never had reason to invest in cleansing the city.¡± I was thinking about the nightmare wraith the entire time I helped the old schr ferry books up and down the stairs as he searched for more clues. He continued to help me practice the Elvennguage as we worked. I never thought I would have a chance to talk with an elf, but it was something to do to keep my mind off the possibility of entering a city full of specters. I eventually left Schr Favian deep into the night. I carried my armor to my room and found Lareen asleep in the bed. She looked exhausted, and I tried not to wake her. I took a cold bath and then joined her in the bed. She didn¡¯t stir, so I rolled over and sighed, quickly falling asleep. In the morning, Lareen woke me with a kiss. I definitely needed that peppermint wash. After a prolonged kiss, she said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wake me?¡± ¡°You looked exhausted. What did you do in the city yesterday,¡± I asked, showing interest. ¡°Meal distribution for the women and children. More and more are showing up every day. One of the children said he saw dragon riders in the sky,¡± she said in disbelief. ¡°It is true. vius said the Dragon Legion was sent to the eastern front,¡± I replied. She looked concerned and confused, ¡°That is not possible. They do not fight in the wars.¡± She sat up in the bed suddenly on alert. ¡°They are scouting for an excavation being done by the Schrium,¡± I informed her. ¡°I do not think they will be going into directbat, but I can not say for sure.¡± Some relief came over her face, and I could figure out why she had been concerned. I asked her, ¡°You know one of the riders?¡± Her face flushed from the gray light of the morning. She nodded. I didn¡¯t think she would say more, but she did, ¡°We are the same age and had sses together in the Emperor¡¯s Pce. He had enough potential to be a Dragon Rider and was training his drake when I came here with Duchess Veronica.¡± I didn¡¯t need to ask if there was something between them. I rxed on my side, ¡°Have you heard from him since you arrived in Sobral?¡± Maybe their rtionship was tonic. ¡°Two letters,¡± Lareen said with some excitement. Shepletely missed the fact that I was maybe jealous. She smiled while telling me, ¡°He had passed the flight trials with his drake, in the first letter. In the second letter, he told me what it was like to fly on a drake. He hoped that I could one day see him fly during an Emperor¡¯s celebration.¡± Great, I waspeting against a Dragon Rider. I rolled out of bed and started dressing, and Lareen didn¡¯t take a hint. She asked, ¡°Are you going riding north again?¡± ¡°Yeah, just a few miles from the wall. I am supplying the alchemist with material,¡± I replied as I started to put on my old armor again today. ¡°Why don¡¯t you wear your new armor?¡± Lareen asked, smiling. ¡°I was excited to see you in it¡ªand then removing it.¡± ¡°I am saving it for a special asion. If I connect with Maveith, I will probably stay at his residence tonight. I need to range further to keep up my harvest quotas,¡± I said neutrally. I geared up with my weapons and carried my spear to the stables. Ginger was excited to see me. As I was saddling her, Maveith walked into the stables. ¡°Wantpany today?¡± ¡°I do, Maveith. Do you know where I can find truffles?¡± I asked as I worked on Ginger. ¡°ck or white? I have a bunch of the white stored for winter. The ck tastes too much like dirt to me,¡± his deep voice sounded like he was imparting wisdom to me. ¡°Either. The alchemist did not specify but said they grew near white flowers,¡± I replied. ¡°The white then,¡± he answered and nodded. ¡°We can discusspensation for them.¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± I said, relieved. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind purchasing you weasel pelts in your guest room as well.¡± I finished with Ginger and asked, ¡°How do you find your truffles?¡± Mavieth shrugged, ¡°The wild boars usually dig up the ground when they find them. They don¡¯t get them all, and I get a few.¡± ¡°Pigs! I knew it!¡± I said. ¡°No, boar,¡± Maveith corrected me. I didn¡¯t bother to exin they were the same thing. We walked out of the gates. I was slightly annoyed that even though I was mounted, I was barely taller than the goliath. We walked in silence before I asked, ¡°How are thepany men doing with digging holes?¡± Maveithughed, ¡°Good. They had some choice words that you had not participated in the shovel excavation work yet. Brutus said you were too important toe out there yourself and get your hands dirty digging holes. I don¡¯t think he believed me when I told him you killed an adult manticore.¡± I tried to say it as openly as I could, ¡°Can you not tell people I killed the female?¡± Maveith was at eye level with me and considered my request. There was a long pause, and he made contact with me, ¡°I understand, Eryk. I will not tell anyone else. Many people don¡¯t trust people who use poison. I know vius was very interested in your kill as well. I told him you used poison to kill the creature. He asked to see the corpse, but it was already two days dead when Konstantin and vius arrived.¡± ¡°Thank you, Maveith. Just take credit for the kill,¡± I said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do that. I will just not tell them you used poison,¡± he said firmly, closing the matter. A minuteter, he asked, ¡°What type of poison did you use anyway? None of the scavengers that fed on the corpse were killed by it.¡± I didn¡¯t want to get caught in a lie. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. But targets the heart, stops it from beating.¡± Maveith nodded like it made perfect sense to him. We spent the trip to his cabin looking for harvesting ingredients for the alchemist. It was dusk when we finally got to his residence. He had manticore hides stretched outside on racks, and the odor was terrible. ¡°Do you want to learn how to prepare hides?¡± Maveith asked, moving to check on his projects. ¡°No, I am going to clean up at the stream and see if I can get the dirt out from under my nails before sleeping. In the morning, we can discusspensation for the pelts and truffles.¡± I said, dropping my pack and starting to unsaddle Ginger. After rubbing down Ginger and cleaning my hands, I went inside the house, and she tried to follow. Maveith immediately said, ¡°I don¡¯t know about stabeling her inside, Eryk.¡± I realized it might not be safe outside for Ginger alone. I tried to joke with Maveith, ¡°It is okay. She is housebroken.¡± ¡°House-broken¡­¡± he puzzled out the phrase. ¡°Then it is okay,¡± he nodded his permission. I whispered to Ginger, ¡°You better not soil Maveith¡¯s floor. I do not want to be cleaning up in the morning.¡± I walked her until she did her business and then brought her inside. I would be crossing my fingers all night. I left Ginger in themon room and slid into the silky weasel pelts. I was definitely going to purchase these from Maveith tomorrow. I took out my amulet and channeled aether into it¡­ Chapter 106 Chapter 106 I entered the dreamscape and was greeted by Oscar. He seemed so lifelike that I almost felt guilty for always leaving him here alone. Not that I could take him out of here anyway. I started by practicing for an hour with Xavier, Adrian, and Konstantin. Using my air shield was bing more natural. I also improved by using fewer shields to conserve my meager aether. Afterbat training, I tried to change the walls of the dungeon again. The best I could do was paint them or smooth them out by adding material. It looked like the walls were hard boundaries and could not be changed. I found it odd that the walls were apparent boundaries to changes I could make in the amulet¡¯s dreamscape. Did that mean I could find where the dungeon hid its core? If this amulet was a copy of the dungeon when I first entered it, I should be able to locate the core. I traveled down to the scorpion room and started digging by mentally removing the sand. The room was a lot deeper than I expected, going down almost thirty feet before I hit the rocky floor that was not affected by my removal efforts. Ipletely emptied the entire room and could not find the core. I filled the room back up, disappointed, and watched the snails leave their glowing trails of slime. Maybe I was just assuming there had to be a dungeon core. Delmar told me a dungeon could be destroyed, so I assumed that meant shattering or taking a core. I returned to the first room and spent a few hours studying the spell form for slow aging. I spent a total of six hours in the dreamscape before returning. I feltpletely rested and checked on Ginger. No mess. I took her outside to find itpletely dark and a cold drizzle of rain picking up. The night felt alive, with insects and hoots of owls in the distance. Ginger seemed to realize why I had taken her out and quickly did her business without me having to lead her. That deserved an apple when she returned. Maveith was up when we went back inside and mumbled something about hooves on the stone being loud. I patted Ginger and guessed maybe she was housebroken. I went to sleep without the amulet and was sucked into a new nightmare. Castile had led us into the ruins of Caelora. It was midday, but the massive tree in the center of the dead city was blocking out the sun, and the city was dark. ck mold grew on all the crumbling buildings, but we did not see any specters as we went deeper into the city. As we approached the massive trunk of the tree, Castile called for a halt. She had a worried expression and looked from the direction we hade. Row after row of silver specters blocked our retreat. To make matters even more terrifying, two wispy ck creatures stood in front of the specter army. Wraiths. As they charged us, I realized that I did not know what a specter looked like. Which told me this was a dream. I just sent any specter that got close to me to my dimensional space. I startedughing maniacally that I had beaten the nightmare when the specters were gone. Everyone was dumbstruck when all the specters and the two wraiths were gone. Konstantin, with his artificed weapon in hand, barked at me, ¡°Eryk, stop spoiling my fun!¡± I woke shortly after with a grin on my face. I had controlled the nightmare somewhat as I had done in the dreamscape. I dressed as I nned to ride back to the Citadel and help Decimus with the peppermint wash today. I found Maveith preparing breakfast with Ginger literally looking over his shoulder, deciding if what he was cooking was edible for a horse. Arge wicker basket of white truffles sat on the table. I sorted through the bulbous fungi. They looked like stunted potatoes to me. I sniffed one, and the smell reminded me of spicy garlic. ¡°This is great Maveith. What do you want for these?¡± Maveith was cooking a colorful array of vegetables in a cast iron pot. He looked at me, ¡°We are friends. An equal volume of food for the winter is eptable. Something that would keep for months would be appreciated.¡± I put one of Ginger¡¯s saddle bags on the table. I pulled out a stack of wrapped meal bars from my dimensional space and stacked them neatly on the table. I packed the light brown truffles carefully in the bag next. ¡°Maveith, let me know if these are fair. Come, Ginger, I will give you an apple outside.¡± Ginger looked at the vegetables that were being cooked and then at me before walking outside with me. She had either understood my bodynguage or my words. She was smart for a horse, but I had no idea how smart horses were. This world was different, so maybe she was not even a real horse. I stopped myself before I went down an introspective rabbit hole. A horse was a horse, of course. Ginger walked off while I walked around Maveith¡¯s rocks and stretched hides. I was looking for any tracks that would signal a dangerous predator visited the areast night. Maveith came outside chewing on one of the ration bars, ¡°This is pretty good. Better than truffles. A good trade, Eryk.¡± ¡°d you like them. Do you want another twenty for the weasel hide nkets?¡± I asked hopefully. Maveith did not answer but finished the bar he was eating and considering. The ration bars were not good but not terrible, in my opinion. The bars were a dense, chewy core that was covered in a thick batter and then baked. The resulting meal bar was tightly wrapped in a wax leaf. They were calorie-dense but on the dry side, requiring lots of water to get them down. I did not mind the taste, even if it was nd. ¡°Twenty bars for each one?¡± Maveith finally decided. The pelts were maybe five by eight feet in size. The fur was short, fine, and silky on one side and soft, velvety hide on the other. Each one would roll up to the size of a normal sleeping roll, but were twice as heavy. I thought I was getting a steal. ¡°Maveith, I can get you the bars when we return to the city.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± he intoned in his deep voice. ¡°Breakfast is ready.¡± He looked over at Ginger, ¡°She really was housetrained.¡± He said it like he had not believed me. ¡°Of course, Maveith. Let¡¯s eat and start on our way back to Sobral.¡± I tied Ginger with a quick-release knot to a tree and ate with Maveith. Breakfast was carrots, yellow peppers, green onions, and potatoes with a cut-up sausage cooked in bacon fat. I packed up the weasel hides into tight rolls and packed them on Ginger. We made our trek back to the capital. My legion box was already full, so we only paused for mushrooms and flora that did not need to be fresh for the alchemist. As we were getting closer to the city, there were foragers in the woods again. While I stabled Ginger, Maveith went to the Citadel as he told me, ¡°I am supposed to check in with the Citadel Captain when I am in the city.¡± ¡°I will be in the Northwest tower with the alchemist after I am done here. You can find me there, and I will have your meal bars,¡± Maveith nodded, and we parted ways. When the stable boys were not looking, both pelts went into storage. Soon, I finished with Ginger by giving her myst apple. I carried two saddlebags to the Northwest tower and started up the stairs. I paused, produced a sack, and filled it with fifty ration bars. The extra ten were because I felt guilty for taking advantage of the goliath. But maybe not. These meal bars would probably be quite valuable with the hard wintering. Decimus had finished setting up his maze of tables and ssware. He was absorbed in his process and didn¡¯t even see me enter. The windows were open, which was good as the number of oil burners made the room hot, and some smells around the tower¡¯s floor were unpleasant. Something definitely smelled like burning hair. ¡°Decimus, I have your truffles,¡± I said, and his head snapped around, his eyes wide. ¡°Have you slept?¡± I asked, concerned. ¡°Slept? What? No! Too much to do!¡± He waved his hands, ¡°All this needs to be watched carefully. You said truffles?¡± His bloodshot eyes looked a bit maniacal. I unloaded the bag of truffles on the table, the other saddle bag, and finally, my dimensional space filled with the ingredients best used fresh. I filled up the entire table, and Decimus attacked the piles with glee. ¡°Decimus, you said you would teach me how to make the peppermint wash?¡± Although I was more inclined to be offering him an oblivion pill than asking for his help. ¡°What? Yes, yes. Nice job with this. These truffles are fantastic. Come over here.¡± We walked to a table where a ss container was boiling, and the steam was going up into ss tubes. It cooled and then dripped down into a beaker. ¡°Now, this is a delicate process,¡± he started. I rolled my eyes as he was just purifying water. He continued to exin, ¡°There are tiny particles in water. We are turning the water into steam to free it from the particles that cannot be steam. You can watch the process and ensure thisrge container stays half full. If the boiling gets too violent, remove the lid with the tongs here for a moment. Be careful because the boiling water can get too intense and explode!¡± For my first lesson in alchemy, I was going to watch the water boil. I almost wished to be training with Konstantin in the yard instead of this. Maveith rescued me an hourter. I think the stone tower shook when he climbed the stairs, but it was just his voice echoing, ¡°Eryk, is this the right tower?¡± He called up as he climbed. ¡°Come on in, Maveith!¡± I called. ¡°I am testing the theory that a watched pot never boils. So far, I thoroughly debunked the myth.¡± Maveith ducked through the stone archway and looked confused, ¡°Is he pink?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I answered for the alchemist, who was stunned at the sight of the goliath. ¡°Looks like you two have not yet met. Maveith, this is Decimus. Decimus, this is Maveith.¡± Decimus considered and then just said, ¡°Be careful and do not knock anything over.¡± Maveith frowned at the insinuation he was clumsy just because he was sorge. ¡°Decimus, I am going to leave with Maveith. Your distition of water is proceeding well. Maybe we can work on the other parts of the wash next time Ie?¡± I asked hopefully. I thought I had been patient and done a fantastic job watching the water turn to steam. ¡°I had to watch the water purification process for a week before I was allowed to work onpounds,¡± Decimus replied tly. I just nodded and had no ns to watch water boil for a week. Maybe I was not going to be an amateur alchemist. Maveith said, ¡°Eryk, Delmar wanted to see you. Some goblins have been harassing farms in the west. He wants to send vius, you, me, and ze to handle it.¡± ¡°Green?¡± I asked, having learned that variety was a nuisance more than a threat. ¡°I believe so. A number of farms have been raided at night. Small animals keep disappearing. Delmar said we can leave tomorrow,¡± I nodded but was not looking forward to working with vius, who was already suspicious of me. I handed Maveith his sack of meal bars, and he looked inside with a huge grin. I guessed he really did like the taste. We went and found Delmar drilling some Citadel guards in the spear and shield. Delmar paused to talk with me, ¡°Eryk, is the alchemist being kept busy?¡± ¡°He should have enough supplies for a few days,¡± I replied. ¡°Excellent. Farmers a few miles from the city areining about night raids. Chickens and newborn sheep have gone missing. Leave tomorrow after mid-day meal and spend the night to kill whatever is stealing them.¡± Delmar issued his order. ¡°Who will be in charge, and who is going?¡± I asked, even though Maveith had already told me. Delmar issued his orders, ¡°vius will lead you, the goliath and ze. You are the freshest group. Everyone else has not returned from their week¡¯s rotation digging holes. No horses, you can walk there. The farmer¡¯s name is Cassio Cervius. He has two young boys. He supplies a fair amount of grain to the city, so do a good job.¡± ¡°Will four of us be enough?¡± I asked, concealing my disappointment. ¡°We are fairly certain it is just goblins. We were told goblin tracks are all around the farms, and there do not seem to be many of them. vius is confident you four can handle it,¡± Delmar said, dismissing me by returning to his instruction. Maveith and I went to have lunch in the dining room. We found ze and Adrian eating at the table. Lunch was just cold sandwich wraps. A servant brought over a bench for Maveith as he would not fit in the chair with armrests. Even after he sat, he had trouble with his knees bumping the table. Adrian apologized, ¡°Sorry to send you and ze out again so soon after our ride, but so many things are happening.¡± ¡°What has been happening?¡± I asked as I began to help myself to the sandwiches and weak ale. ¡°Not much affecting the Sobral province. However, some of the western provinces have been requested to send double shipments of grain to the capital before the winter. The western provinces have not been hit with the summoned monsters. Duke Octavian controls about half of the grain production in the west.¡± Adrian informed me knowingly. ¡°So that is good news. Octavian will be giving up more of his harvest,¡± I deduced. Adrian barked augh, ¡°No, most likely Duke Octavian will be getting a few favors from the Emperor if he does send the requested grain. It is burning Castile something fierce that Duke Octavian may be seen as the hero in this war by providing food to the starving citizens this winter. He will make sure everyone knows it is his bread they are eating. You can be sure of that.¡± We finished our meal, and Adrian dropped more bad news on me, ¡°Thepany is moving to the Citadel barracks in a few days.¡± ¡°Why? Are we expecting to be attacked?¡± I asked, having unpleasant shes of being in the gate tower in Macha during the attack. ¡°No. Much worse. Countess Ase Ange and First Citizen Boris Ange will be arriving with their retinue. The Countess is the Duchess¡¯s mother, and Boris is her eldest brother. From what I understand, the Duchess¡¯s city is close to the Eastern Border, and she has decided it is time to visit her daughter in Sobral. The eldest brother is destined to take over the city but is jealous of Veronica for being given a province to rule by the Emperor. Veronica now outranks them both.¡± ¡°What does that mean for us?¡± ze asked my own question. ¡°Just stay out of their way.¡± He nodded knowingly at us, ¡°Enjoy yourst night with a personal servant. I do not see that continuing while they are here.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± I said and stood. ¡°Maveith, I have had the misfortune of fighting a lot of big things in thest two months. Do you want to go to the grounds and get some practice in?¡± Maveith looked at Adrian, who nodded in approval. His deep voice bellowed, ¡°That sounds fun.¡± Of course, my n was to get enough time sparring with Maveith to add him to my dreamscape. That way, I could get a decent facsimile to practice against while I slept. Chapter 107 Chapter 107 My practice with Maveith was not proceeding as I had envisioned. I was sprawled on the ground for the fifth time this afternoon. My ribs ached as Maveith extended his hand to help me to stand. ¡°You are too bloody strong, Maveith,¡± Iplimented him while wincing and focusing on secretly healing a cracked rib. I had not revealed my healing to Maveith, but he had gotten more aggressive with his swings when he noticed I had recovered quickly from his strikes. ¡°Your invisible shields are no fun to fight against either,¡± he rubbed his groin absentmindedly. He had run into one of the shields when we had started before bing more cautious and intentionally kicking up more dust with his movements to reveal the air shields. ¡°I have had enough for today, you?¡± Maveith nodded in agreement, recing his club on his belt. The practice yard had five young citadel guard recruits drilled by the guard¡¯s captain while I practiced with Maveith. They watched in disbelief as I, for the most part, held my own against the massive goliath. That was until I had recently run out of aether and had to block his club with my standard shield. What I learned was I never wanted to be struck by a giant. Maveith¡¯s full-force swing was strong enough to shatter my air shield in one swing. That was how he hit me for the first time. The shield slowed his club enough that he just knocked me to the ground, but still, I did not think it was fair. He was also faster than a man his size should be. His second sessful strike surprised me with a snap-leg kick to my chest. I had not thought he would use his feet in a fight. We walked toward the dining room, but I was covered in sweat and dirt. I was still unsure how my rtionship with Lareen would y out. She was no longer going to be my attendant. She was also clearly carrying a torch for her friend in the Dragon Legion. We ended up being early for dinner and were given trimmings of the unfinished roast and loaves of fresh herb bread. Maveith made a sandwich the size of my head and had no trouble consuming it. I filled up on the meat, folding it into sliced bread. vius arrived as we were finishing the early meal. ¡°You two will being with me to handle the goblin problem,¡± vius said in amanding statement. As he sat, servants ced tes in front of him. I waved the servant to get me some of the vegetables vius had been given. I recalled something, produced a pouch from under the table, and tossed it to vius. He caught the soft toss, and a look of recognition came across his face. I exined, ¡°After you left with Mage Sebastian, I carried your pack. I thought you would want that back. One gold, eight silver.¡±vius was surprised and softened. ¡°Thank you, Eryk.¡± He put his coin pouch away. I had not taken anything from it, and I was sure he would confirm thatter in private. Maveith looked to vius, ¡°I am happy to be working with you. It feels like I am part of thepany.¡± ¡°Goliaths cannot be Legion,¡± vius stated tly. ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°Maveith would make a hell of a legionnaire. Would cost ten times what a normal man would to clothe and feed him, but he would be ten times as valuable on the battlefield.¡± Maveith disagreed with shoveling more food into his mouth, ¡°I only eat twice what a normal man eats, Eryk.¡± He finished swallowing and added, ¡°And a goliath is worth about five men on the battlefield.¡± His absolutely serious delivery had vius and me make eye contact and thenugh. viusmented with a grin, ¡°I would dly fight beside a goliath. They are great at drawing the enemy attacks,¡± vius absently stripped the meat from a drumstick with his teeth. ¡°I can see what you mean. No longer being the tallest man in ourpany would be wee. How about it, Maveith? Join Castile¡¯spany?¡± I asked in jest. Adrian walked into the dining room, and he had obviously been listening, ¡°I can make that happen. You cannot be a legionnaire, Maveith, but you can be logged as a huntsman, guide, or porter for thepany.¡± ¡°Huntsman?¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice rang out in the hall, focused on the first job. Adrian sat and talked while he was served. ¡°Huntsman is a mix of guide and purveyor of supplies, basically an additional scout for thepany. They are also expected to help us in a fight. Delmar has paid a few in the past to keep our supplies topped off when we are not near a Legion Hall.¡± He started eagerly on the food ced before him. ¡°Guides are locals that help us in unfamiliar terrain but do not fight with us.¡± ¡°I think he would make a great porter,¡± I rejoined the conversation. I assumed a porter just carried the legion gear. Adrian was cleaning a chicken leg, ¡°We usually only use porters when we cannot bring horses along for an extended assignment outside the cities.¡± Adrian sipped his goblet of wine, ¡°Also, Maveith is contracted to the duchess as a warden, so we would need her to release him from her service.¡± He sized up the goliath, ¡°But I would wee you as well. Castile wouldn¡¯t be opposed either.¡± Maveith was reflecting on the offer as he took advantage of the continuous tes of food being delivered by the servants. ¡°I would have to travel with you? Leave me cabin?¡± Adrian nodded. ¡°Contracts are usually termed, and paid up front. You would travel with us and be given a Legion of the Lion badge. It will allow you to use the Legion Halls with us.¡± I was confused and asked, ¡°I thought the Empire did not allow non-humans?¡± vius answered me with a serious tone, ¡°Mage Commanders have more discretion. I have seen halflings and even a dwarf attached to a magepany in the past.¡± Maveith¡¯s voice rumbled. ¡°I will consider your offer. I have many endeavors going on at my cabin.¡± He looked to be thinking and whispered to himself, ¡°I have missed having others to talk to. My fellow wardens generally don¡¯t likepany.¡± ze came in with Lucien, ¡°We moved our packs to the barracks, Adrain. When are the guests arriving?¡± ¡°Thank you, ze. They arrived in the portal in Parvas yesterday. So maybe five days to make their way down the trade road,¡± Adrian answered. I inquired, ¡°Can I move into the northwest tower instead? The floors below the alchemist are empty.¡± Adrian looked thoughtful, so I added, ¡°Would make it easier as I am helping him gather ingredients and have to help one day a week with his apparatus.¡± Adrian slowly nodded. ¡°I will ask Castile and the Duchess. Perhaps we will move a few of thepany there. It is at the outer wall?¡± I confirmed, ¡°It is. About one hundred feet is cleared from the wall to woods, and the view looks out over the trees.¡± ¡°Good. I will let you know when you return from your goblin hunt.¡± Adrian took his wine goblet and left the dining hall, presumedly to talk with Castile. I had some idle talk with Lucien about how Ginger was doing. Maveith, of course, informed everyone at the table that Ginger was housetrained, which got a lot ofughs until they understood he was absolutely serious. Lucien gave me a curious look, and I just shrugged. It wasn¡¯t like I had trained the horse. Maveith really did have a big mouth. I would have to be cautious about what I said and did around him in the future. I went to my room, probably for thest time, and drew a bath. The water was actually hot this evening, so the servant with the spell form to heat metal was on duty. Without Lareen around, I did my best to clean up and pack for tomorrow¡¯s expedition. I briefly wondered how Konstantin was doing in his search for signs of the Elven High Mage Summoner. I was sure he was fine and didn¡¯t feel guilty at all for not going with him. I was in bed early and considered using the amulet. Lareen was already aware of it, so there would be no harm. I much preferred the controlled dreamscape to the unpredictable nightmares I seemed to have. Also, I missed Oscar. I entered the dreamscape and yed ball with Oscar for a time before taking a seat in thefy chair to study the spell form for slow aging. Oscar stretching out in myp. It was much moreplex than the other spell forms, and there were a number of warnings in the text about mistakes not to make. For instance, I could write the spell form identally and not include all of my body. Granted, this was less likely since the warnings were directed at mages who did not have a high enough time affinity to imprint the spell form. Still, I would proceed with caution. I was a few hours in when a voice cut my studies. ¡°Where is this ce?¡± I snapped up to see Lareen standing in the middle of the entry chamber. Oscar looked at me and then at Lareen. ¡°Thanks for letting me know, boy.¡± I stood up, Oscar hoping off myp and his bob tail wagging as he went to greet Larenn. ¡°Lareen, what are you doing here? Did you channel aether into my amulet?¡± A thousand things were going through my mind right now. I thought the worst-case scenario was she would pick up the amulet again and take me out of the space. I had not thought two people could utilize the amulet at the same time. Lareen was walking toward the shelf of books, and I intercepted her, ¡°Did you channel aether into my amulet? The one under my shirt?¡± I repeated with a little bite this time. Lareen was trying to read the titles from twenty feet away, but I kept blocking her. ¡°What? Yes. I figured out what it was. This is pretty boring.¡± She gestured to the rock chamber. ¡°I thought you had a better imagination than this Eryk.¡± She was walking toward the opening of the ankheg room since I blocked her path to the bookshelf. ¡°You need to leave,¡± I said firmly. Lareen ignored me and continued to the next room. I followed her to the chamber. Adrian, Xavier, Lucien, Maveith, Konstantin, and ze were ying cards at a table. I had set up the poker table out of some guilt, as I did not know how real these dreamscape people were. I figured I could at least give them something to do. Konstantin stood eagerly. ¡°Are you ready to get some practice and stop wasting time studying books, Eryk?¡± Lareen paused, processing what she saw, so I rushed back and exited the dreamscape. I found Lareen straddling me with her hand under my shirt, holding the amulet. I pushed her off and sent the amulet to my dimensional storage. Lareen rolled to the floor with a thud, disoriented. Lareen quickly gained her senses. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± she said, dismayed. ¡°I did not give you permission to use the amulet,¡± I growled. ¡°It is a dreamscape amulet! We can do anything inside it.¡± She looked confused. ¡°Why are you upset?¡± ¡°Did you tell anyone I had this?¡± I asked, forcing myself to cool off. ¡°What? No? I just figured it out this afternoon. I was thinking about the dungeon artifacts we studied at the emperor¡¯s pce; it was the only thing that made sense.¡± She stood and went defensive, rubbing her hip, which had bounced on the floor. ¡°I can keep a secret.¡± She said indignantly. I rxed. I briefly thought maybe she could tell me more about the device so I could use it more effectively. I shook my head. ¡°Please do. It is precious to me, and this private space is the only way to get a good night¡¯s sleep.¡± I looked at her pleadingly. ¡°But¡­¡± She started. ¡°What were you reading?¡± She didn¡¯t realize it was the wrong question. I decided that maybe I couldn¡¯t afford to trust her. Too many secrets were on those shelves. ¡°It is not important. Just do not tell anyone about it.¡± I redirected the conversation. ¡°I need to pack,¡± I said, grabbing a glow stone. ¡°The legionnaires are being sent to the barracks.¡± Lareen frowned, biting her lip. ¡°That isn¡¯t for a few days. We still have a few nights together.¡± I said with manufactured disappointment, ¡°No, I am leaving tomorrow to hunt goblins,¡± I informed her. I started packing the new armor that the duchess had made for me. Lareen sat on her heels on the bed in her nightshirt, watching me and not helping. I was worried about what was going on in her mind. I dressed in my old armor and bundled the new armor for transport. As I finished bundling up the armor, Lareen pleaded, ¡°I am sorry. I won¡¯t tell anyone about your dungeon amulet. We still have tonight.¡± I shouldered my backpack, ¡°I have a few things to get done before dawn.¡± I nodded, started walking out of the room, and turned around. I approached the bed, and Lareen looked hopeful, but I grabbed my griffin down pillow before continuing my dramatic exit. I walked the empty hallway at night, headed toward the northeast tower. Maybe Decimus was awake. Decimus was sleeping in his cot in the dimly lit alchemyb. A lot of burners had been doused or were no longer heating anything. At least the man was getting some needed rest. I went to the floor below and sent the new armor to my storage. I retrieved one of the weasel pelts and my pillow to sleep on the stone floor. It was definitely getting colder at night. I tossed and turned while I tried to sleep. I had never been good in rtionships, but everyone would agree Lareen was in the wrong here, not me. I thought maybe I should talk with her before I left and apologize anyway. Even when I was right, my past girlfriends always appreciated my capittion when we argued, and I needed Lareen to keep my secret. I didn¡¯t see Lareen at breakfast, and vius was anxious to leave even though we were not expected to leave until after midday meal. Shortly after breakfast, ze, vius, Maveith, and I were walking down the road toward the farm with goblin problems. Chapter 108: Goblin Slaughter Chapter 108: Goblin ughter Chapter 108 The road was wet with light rain fromst night. I walked next to Maveith with vius and ze in front. My mind was still turning over the fact that Lareen knew I had a dreamscape amulet. She might know what it was, but I doubt she had figured out just how valuable it was. Six thousand gold was a fortune in the Telhian Empire. I also wanted to keep how I obtained it a secret. Maybe I was selfish, but I did not want to share it. Lareen did teach me something interesting about the artifact. More than one person could use it at a time. It also added more questions. Was there an upper limit to the number of people? Did everyone using the amulet have the same amount of control over the environment? Would the amulet reset if others activated it? I was distracted from my thoughts by ze and vius talking. ze asked, ¡°Why are we going to kill goblins? This seems just the type of easy assignment the duchess¡¯ new guards could wet their lips on.¡± vius answered, ¡°I asked to go when I heard about the farmer¡¯s request.¡± ze pressed, ¡°Why?¡± vius was quiet for a good few minutes, then he sighed and admitted, ¡°Thest goblin uprising, some twenty years ago, when they came north in numbers from the mountains, my family was killed. Killing them helps me feel like I am getting revenge.¡± Maveith had overheard as well and said, ¡°Goblins breed quickly, and they have cities deep in the earth filled with them. Most of what you find on the surface are exiles or wanderers.¡± vius stopped walking and turned around. ¡°How do you know that?¡±Maveith shrugged. ¡°There was a goblin sailor on one of the ships I was voyaging on. He was a bit of a pariah like me, and we talked at night on deck.¡± Seeing vius¡¯ intense stare, Maveith added, ¡°He was not a bad sort, but I have also killed my fair share of his kind and have no reluctance to kill more.¡± vius nodded at Maveith. vius was also interested in learning more. ¡°What did he tell you about the underground cities?¡± Maveith scrunched his face, retrieving the memories, ¡°The goblin cities have thousands of goblins. They grow and eat mushrooms and lichen. They fish in undergroundkes for blind frogs and fish. The goblins are constantly living on alert. He talked mostly about the horrors of The Endless Dark and why he fled.¡± ze, also interested, asked, ¡°What horrors?¡± ¡°Giant tunneling purple worms down there are a blessing and curse. They created awork of passages down there but are also nearly unkible and mindless. Other than that, there are dark elves, kobolds, dwarves, hibernating dragons, and wandering monsters,¡± Maveith said, testing his memory. ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to visit,¡± zemented. Maveith huffed an amused breath. vius nodded slowly, epting the answer. ¡°Thest goblin uprising was arger horde than anyone thought possible. If those from The Endless Dark reinforced them, then that makes sense.¡± He turned and started walking. ¡°No matter. We will kill what goblins we find tonight.¡± We passed a wagon of refugees every hour as we walked. Most were thin and dirty. I had no idea the duchess would handle the constant stream of people. The walk to the farm was just over four hours, and we waited for vius to talk to the farmer in the field for directions. When vius returned, he exined, ¡°The two buildings there are where the goblins have been raiding at night, chickens and piglets so far. But they will get more bold soon. The farmer has not seen them, but the tracks he found indicate there are maybe half a dozen. Eryk and I will explore beyond the fields, and you two can make camp in that building,¡± he pointed. I followed vius while Maveith and ze set up inside the building. As we walked, I scanned the ground with vius, looking for signs. Last night¡¯s light rain had softened the soil and made tracks difficult to see. vius pointed under some trees. ¡°There. I can see the goblins cut the branches to make a path.¡± I nodded but did not see anything until we approached. The goblins were only three feet in height, so they cleared the lower branches. vius studied the small footprints under the tree. He looked up, ¡°Lot of prints, but it could be the same goblin over and over. Definitely goblin prints and fresh. The farmer was right. I will go and tell him. Pick out some spots for snares.¡± As vius left, I was at a loss for choosing the best spots for snares. I didn¡¯t even know how to set snares. When vius returned, I told him as much, ¡°I have never hunted with snares before. Can you show me?¡± vius seemed a little annoyed but did exin. He pulled out some fine metal wire. ¡°We will drive a stake into the ground to anchor one end of the wire. The other end, we make a loop like this.¡± He demonstrated. ¡°And this will hold the goblin? Won¡¯t they just cut the wire?¡± I replied, holding a length of the thin wire. ¡°The green ones are too stupid. The wire cinches into a knot as well. Normally, I would use this for rabbits, but I have found it works just as well on goblins. They struggle, and the wire cuts into the flesh all the way to the bone, making it near impossible to remove without cutting deep into the leg,¡± he exined. He dropped six prepared twenty-inch stakes from his pack. I helped him for the next hour, drove the stakes in with a rock, and set the wires so that the goblins likely triggered them. He only set the traps on their likely path of retreat into the woods, which I had not thought about. It seemed a little cruel. I remembered the green goblins I killed in the stables. They seemed more like helpless children than anything. I also did not foresee any opportunity to harvest essence from the goblins we killed with my presentpany. It would be even more dangerous to use Durandus¡¯ collector with vius here. After the midday meal, we returned to the barn where Maveith and ze had made camp. It was a livestock building with pigs, chickens, and goats. The smell was not appealing, but this was where we needed to be to confront the goblins. vius inspected the barn and pointed. ¡°The windows. When they arrive, three of us will use the windows to catch them outside. Neptune willing, his tear will shine bright tonight, and we will have clear targets with our bows.¡± I looked and realized I would not be one of the three jumping out the window. vius, ze, and Maveith were all the archers in our group. I didn¡¯t even have a bow. Well, not a bow they knew about. ¡°We will not leave the barn again for fear of being spotted. Goblins rise about two hours before sunset and are active through the night,¡± vius educated us. zeined, ¡°I am going to smell like a pig. Are you sure we can¡¯t wait on the roof?¡± vius looked up. ¡°I doubt it could support your weight, definitely not the goliath¡¯s. We will wait under those windows, and when the sun sets, we will remainpletely silent and wait.¡± We ate dinner. Maveith happily ate two of the ration bars I bartered with him. ze had packed our food. The overwhelming smell of the animals made the honey-sweet rolls, sugar beets, and sweet jerky not as tasty. I also guessed ze had a bit of a sweet tooth from his selection. We whispered to each other as evening came. vius told the farmer our n, so he was not going to visit the barn. It meant that we had to feed the animals, which somehow fell to me. I probably gave them too much, but they did notin. The sky was clear when the sun set, Neptune¡¯s tear was soon bright, and we all went silent. The animals had befortable with us and were trying to sleep, making weird sounds from tulence and constantly moving to getfortable. After an hour, I thought the goblins would stand us up. After two hours, I was sure of it. Then, one of the sows squealed in unhappiness, and her piglets made soft squeals, trying to hide under her. Other animals started to get anxious as well. The goblins must be near, and the animals could smell or hear them. We still waited for vius¡¯ signal. My job was to kill any goblin inside the barn. My hand was making my hilt sweaty as I waited perfectly still. The barn door rattled as the goblins removed the simple bar holding it closed. I could hear them talking in their coarsenguage as they entered. They sounded suspicious. This would be the third night in a row they raided the same farm. They were not too bright as they entered anyway. We waited as they entered the barn. A piglet squealed in dismay as it was seized by a goblin who ran out the door with it. The sow crashed in her stall, upset. Finally, vius yelled, ¡°Now!¡± I rushed out of my dark corner, tossing a glowstone from its ck bag. I heard the windows open as the others made their way outside. In the barn¡¯s center were four short goblins and one muchrger goblin. He was almost my height but still had green skin. The three small ones looked to him for guidance. He wielded something and rushed me. He had a rusty long sword, which was a surprise in itself. I made an air shield to block his clumsy swing, then stabbed him in the throat. He dropped his sword and grabbed at my de, sticking in his neck, surprised he had been struck so quickly. The three small greens bolted for the door now that their leader was dead. I caught one in the back of the head as it ran, but the other two were through the door, and now the archer¡¯s problem. I searched the barn as I heard bow twangs outside and squeals of pain from the goblins. I found one tiny goblin, no taller than two feet in height, crouched in an empty pen. It was shaking so violently that I felt pity for it. I could move the creature to my storage, but did I really want to bottom out my aether right now? We were in the middle of a fight. What would I even do with a goblin child? I was indecisive as the smell of urine became even more pronounced amongst the animals. ¡°You are a fucking idiot, Eryk.¡± I moved the goblin to my storage, bottoming out my aether. I grabbed my glow stone and confirmed the rest of the barn was clear, and I joined the others outside. The blue water moon gave us enough light to see. Maveith was retrieving an arrow from a goblin corpse, and ze and Favius were walking toward the woods. It looked like a pair of goblins were caught in the snares we had set. ¡°I got two; how many did you get out here?¡± I asked Maveith. Maveith¡¯s deep voice came back. ¡°ze got three, and vius and I two each. Four made it into the woods, and another two were caught.¡± He pointed. I hustled to catch up to vius and ze. vius hissed. ¡°Caution, Eryk. There were more than I assumed. One of the ones we killed had a sling, too.¡± ¡°One of the ones in the barn was as tall as me and had a sword,¡± I replied. ¡°Hag¡¯s curses on us. A hobgoblin?¡± I just shrugged, not knowing what a hobgoblin was. ¡°Kill the two in the snares while we cover you,¡± vius ordered. I crouched and approached the woods, looking for movement in the shadows. The first goblin was trying to cut off his foot with a rusty knife, and I ended his torment with my de. I almost tripped on another snare, reaching the second goblin. The second goblin was slightly smarter. It had dug up the stake and was carrying it into the woods, limping. But as soon as it stood, ze put an arrow into its throat. I backed away from the woodline to talk with the others. vius had us return to the barn. ¡°Two got away, but that is not a hobgoblin, at least. Looks like a half-breed between a red and a green.¡± ze asked, ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°We got eleven of them, and two got away. The world is a better ce for it. Most likely, those two will not stop running till morning. We will bury the corpses in the morning,¡± vius informed us. ¡°Do we have to sleep in the barn?¡± ze asked, hopeful of an alternative. vius nodded. ¡°Yes, it will be safer. We will scout the woods in the morning for tracks to make sure this pack of goblins is not muchrger than the two that got away.¡± We dragged my two goblins outside and slept in the barn. The animals were upset all night due to the smell of blood, and I did not sleep well with the noise. The piglet that had been snatched by a goblin returned in the middle of the night, and vius volunteered me to go outside and bring it to its mother. When I came back inside, I noticed vius shifting in his bedroll by the window. I was immediately suspicious. Did he check on me? Was he thinking I might use the collector on the dead goblins? I was going to have to be cautious around him. In the morning, we dug a trench while the farmer watched, satisfied with our work, dumped the bodies inside, and covered them in dirt. We walked the woods, and vius identified four sets of tracks fleeing away. We tracked them for half a mile before returning to the farm. vius talked to the farmer, and then we started our walk back to Sobral. What was I going to do with a goblin child in my storage? It could make a nice distracting snack for a monster or a distraction. Or maybe I could try harvesting its essence? When we arrived in Sobral, I looked forward to a bath and rest. vius went to make a report to Castile and the Duchess. I went to the kitchens as it was between midday and dinner. I still smelled like the barn, and they chased me out, handing me a te of food. I found themon baths in the Citadel and washed up before climbing the Northwest Tower to get some much-needed sleep on the unupied floor below the alchemist. I was in a mostly hidden corner of the floor when I donned my amulet and fell into the dreamscape. Chapter 109: The Duchess’ Mother Chapter 109: The Duchess¡¯ Mother I felt secure in my little corner of the tower as I entered the dreamscape. Oscar was there to greet me, and I dly spent a few minutes rubbing his furry belly. I nned to limit my time in the dreamscape to just four hours unless I knew I would not be disturbed. I spent my time studying the spell form tonight. I wanted to learn slow aging as soon as possible. When I returned from the dreamscape, it was dark outside, and apparently, no one had found me bundled in the weasel pelts. Still mentally fatigued from the goblin hunt, I returned for four more hours of study in the dreamscape. It was still dark when I came out the second time, but I could hear Decimus working above. He apparently liked to talk to himself when he was exhausted. Eight hours in the amulet had washed away my fatigue like a full night¡¯s sleep. I climbed the stairs to help him until sunrise¡ªand breakfast. The smell of peppermint was strong in the room, and I was hopeful my mouthwash was among his processes. ¡°Decimus, how goes the alchemy?¡± The pink man jumped in surprise. ¡°Eryk? I was told you were off killing goblins.¡± ¡°That was yesterday. Today, I am hoping to get my peppermint wash.¡± I sniffed around the room, walking toward the strongest scent of peppermint. ¡°Ah yes, I purified thevender yesterday and started in on the peppermint oil this morning. Maybe another day or two. Do you want to see the process?¡± The excitable pink alchemist asked. I indicated he should proceed. ¡°Just like thevender, you grind up the leaves into a mash. Then you use the same equipment for the water purification, but this time, you need pressure to force the oil into the air.¡± As he exined the process, he didn¡¯t understand the chemistry as much as a true scientist from Earth. I paid close attention; it was dangerous as hot liquids were under pressure as he worked. The final collection beaker had a slow drip of oil. I tapped the sk and tasked, ¡°Why not cover the collection beaker? Couldn¡¯t dust contaminate it?¡± Decimus¡¯ pupils, widended, surprised, ¡°Are you sure you are not an alchemist? All my special collection beakers are being used.¡± He pointed at two tables that had a number of sealed beakers that were collecting fluids and gas from a maze of ss pipes. He sniffed the peppermint oil, ¡°This oil¡¯s purity is generally not as important in bncing the reaction. The wash is just one cup of pure water, eleven drops ofvender oil, twelve drops of peppermint oil, some concentrated hawthorn berry juice, and a pinch of sapphire dust. Stir and activate with a wisp of aether!¡± He stopped the collection of the peppermint oil by removing the me and moving a few appartarus. ¡°I guess I have enough to make some if you want to watch.¡± He smiled, his bright white teeth beaming.¡°Show me your skills,¡± I encouraged the pink man. I watched as he took arge ss cup and measured out the water, carefully pipetted drops ofvender, and then peppermint oil. Nothing magical had happened. He took a pouch of powder and added a tiny pinch of the blue-white dust. ¡°Sapphire dust,¡± he informed me. He then rapidly stirred the mixture. He paused and dipped his finger in, and the mostly clear concoction suddenly sparkled blue and emitted a glow. The glow faded, and Decimus frowned. ¡°Did it not work?¡± I asked at his disappointment. The air smelled like a peppermint aerosol. ¡°No, it was a sess. The ingredient harmonization was not very strong, though. The stronger the glow when the aether catalyzes the ingredients, the better the potion.¡± He looked at his ingredients and mumbled to himself, ¡°Probably didn¡¯t wash the leaves well enough.¡± I picked up the drink and sniffed it. A strong peppermint smell wafted from it. ¡°So just take a sip, swish, and spit?¡± I asked reluctantly. Decimus went to his alchemy book and read, ¡°Peppermint wash is designed to cleanse the mouth and whiten teeth. A dose is one mouthful. Hold it inside for twenty heartbeats and spit it out. Do not swallow.¡± ¡°Bottom¡¯s up.¡± I raised the ss and took a mouthful; about a quarter of the concoction filled my mouth. I held it for a moment and felt the familiar taste of peppermint spread, saturating my taste buds. A tingling feeling spread through my gums and to my teeth. Decimus was watching me closely. He seemed to realize something and grabbed a bucket for me to spit into. I spit into the bucket and ran my tongue across my teeth. The minty feeling remained, and my teeth felt polished. Decimus tilted his head to look in my mouth. I showed him my teeth, ¡°Ah, great, it worked!¡± He eximed. ¡°My first time trying to brew this potion. Your teeth are whiter, and your gums look healthier! I might have to try it myself,¡± he mumbled softly, ¡°After a few days, to ensure there are no side effects.¡± I kept running my tongue over my teeth. My mouth really felt better; it felt like I had just swished a healing potion around it. ¡°Why is this potion not more popr?¡± ¡°It is in the capital. But the cost.¡± He waved at his equipment, ¡°I would charge maybe fifty silver for the two days of work involved in preparing the potion. And not all potions catalyze properly. If the aether didn¡¯tbine thevender and peppermint, my two days of effort would have been wasted.¡± ¡°Does that happen often? Failure?¡± I questioned. He looked askance, ¡°Not for me! I am quite good at monitoring the purification processes. But maybe the variant of peppermint I selected wouldn¡¯t have harmonized with thevender. Alchemy is veryplex, legionnaire.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°How much to have you prepare me ten more cups?¡± I inquired. Decimus frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t have time. This was a favor to you. Maybe after the winter when the herbs are fresh,¡± he offered. I sighed, took the cup with three doses remaining, and moved it to my dimensional space. Decimus frowned, realizing he wouldn¡¯t get to try it. ¡°You said it has a short shelf life. Do you have a list of other things you need? I am supposed to keep you stocked,¡± I added, trying to n out my day. The sky was graying from the early morning approaching. Decimus rapidly wrote a list on a torn piece of yellowing parchment, and I went to the dining room. An unfamiliar servant directed me to the barracks on the east side of the Citadel. As I walked to the stone building, I realized that ourpany had been kicked out of the Citadel. Most of thepany was inside themon room. Brutus chirped, seeing me, ¡°Eryk, we thought you were caught in another clusterfuck with goblins.¡± I should have never taught him that word I came and sat at his table with Felix, Firth, and Wylie. Everyone was smiling as they engaged me in conversation. Wylie asked, ¡°How did the goblin hunt go? ze did not say much before he left to dig holes, and vius is never around.¡± I pulled a jar of jam and bread toward me before answering, ¡°It went well other than having to sleep in a barn. I think I can still smell the pigs on my clothes.¡± I leaned into Brutus, ¡°Smell my breath.¡± Brutus leaned away, interposing his hand to my mouth. ¡°Is this some joke?¡± I grabbed his wrist, pulled it aside, and breathed into his face. Brutus had been too slow to react. ¡°What the¡­¡± he sniffed the air. ¡°Is that mint? Been chewing on mint leaves? That gives you the shits, you know, Eryk.¡± ¡°No, it is a mouthwash the alchemist is working on. Fifty silver for four doses,¡± I replied to my table. Firth said disgusted, ¡°Do not get that pink man sidetracked. I would much rather have a healing potion in hand when my guts are spilling out than minty breath.¡± The tableughed and agreed with Firth. In spite, I decided not to tell them about the importance of dental hygiene and asked, ¡°So, how have things been on your end?¡± Felix answered, ¡°Great, now that the Duchess has been hiring the refugees to dig the holes. We just have four men out there guarding them now.¡± I asked, ¡°How will she feed all these refugees during the winter? At the rate they are arriving, it does not seem sustainable.¡± Firth responded by pping the table, ¡°Exactly what I told Castile and the Duchess. Not that they listened to me. We have been patrolling the city at night to help the guard. Burries are starting to increase, and the citizens are ming the refugees. Soon, things will boil over, I¡¯ve seen it before.¡± Brutus shook his head. ¡°He exaggerates. There have only been two thefts from homes in thest two days, no more than normal.¡± He looked at me, ¡°Maybe we can get you on a night patrol. I am sure a legionnaire with minty breath will pacify the angry popce.¡± Adrian came and joined us at the table. ¡°Eryk, where did you sleepst night? I sent Benito to find you.¡± ¡°I was in the northwest tower. We had a rough night handling the goblins. I just wanted some quiet.¡± I said, finishing my meal. ¡°Northwest tower? Ah, yes, I talked to the duchess about that. She said it was fine, but there are no fireces. It was also stripped of furniture,¡± Adrian informed me, chewing on his meal. ¡°I am fine with sleeping on the floor,¡± I said after a little thought. ¡°Good, we will move all the scouts there and Maveith as well.¡± Adrianughed as I made an unhappy, surprised face. ¡°Thought you would be alone?¡± ¡°Is Maveith part of thepany, then? Has Konstantin returned then?¡± I asked. The table got quiet, and Adrian shook his head. ¡°Not yet. But the duchess has given the goliath permission to leave his service for Castile¡¯s. As to Konstantin¡­he should have reported in by now.¡± My heart raced a little in guilt. ¡°Are we going to look for him, then?¡± Adrian grimaced. ¡°No. Other ns are being made. Schr Favian has made progress.¡± I realized that Adrian¡¯s grimace was twofold¡ªone for Konstantin and one for the likelihood of having to enter the specter city of Caelora. ¡°For now, you can find a bed somewhere to bring to the northwest tower and continue to help the alchemist.¡± His tone changed tomanding. ¡°I do not want to hear you wandering off to look for Konstantin.¡± I nodded in understanding. Adrian stood and left our table. ¡°I could use some help carrying a bed to the northwest tower,¡± I asked my table. Everyone was suddenly done with breakfast and had somewhere else to be. I found Maveith in the gardens and got him to help me carry a bed to the tower. Well, I had him carry the bed by himself, and I carried the musty-smelling mattress. I took a wooden bed from a dusty room in a wing of the Citadel. I probably should have asked, but people seemed busy, and the room had obviously not been used in some time. Maveith was breathing heavily from the effort. ¡°We need two more of these?¡± He was distressed as the heavy bed frame weighed nearly three hundred pounds and came in one piece. It was not fancy, just overbuilt. ¡°Three more if you want to sleep in the tower as well. Where have you been sleeping when you stay at the Citadel?¡± I asked while making the bed. I was not looking forward to sharing a room with vius. Maveith said, ¡°The old servant¡¯s rooms.¡± He looked out the window, ¡°This room does have a nice view.¡± ¡°We should get some heavy rope in case we need to escape out the window,¡± I said, looking out on the forest with Maveith. ¡°Why would you need to escape?¡± vius¡¯ voice came from the stairs. ¡°You know, in case a dragon or some other creature was attacking the Citadel,¡± I replied smoothly. vius studied the one bed in the room and looked across the space, maybe thirty feet across, with an archway to a circr staircase. ¡°Dragon?¡± vius said, walking to a window. He looked down. ¡°Maybe a rope wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea. I will take care of it. Get me a bed?¡± Maveith looked at me before agreeing, ¡°Three more beds then.¡± He huffed and headed down the stairs. I followed him, and the next three beds were lighter and more manageable, but we were both coughing from the dust. After the midday meal, I finally made it into the woods with Maveith to forage for the alchemist. We returned before sunset. The next four days proceeded with Maveith and I heading into the woods with vius. I rode and exercised Ginger while I searched with Maveith for ingredients. After four days, my mouth still felt clean and a little minty¡ªthe potion far exceeded my expectations. vius split from us and went hunting, and we went foraging. All three of us searched for signs of Konstantin but did not find any. I used the amulet during the night, not expecting vius to grope me in my sleep. I also had Maveith¡¯s bed next to mine, which was slightly of an error on my part. His loud breathing kept me awake if I tried to sleep without the amulet or an oblivion pill. When we returned from the fourth day, there were forty soldiers and a number of wagons in the primary courtyard of the Citadel. They had blue and gold house colors. Brutus was with the gate guards, and we walked over to him. He exined, ¡°Countess Ase Ange and First Citizen Boris Ange have arrived.¡± Brutus did not look too thrilled. It had taken them a little longer to get here than expected. The countess was the Duchess¡¯ mother, and Boris was her eldest brother. From what I had been told, the countess ruled a city near the border with the Bartiradians and thought it was a good time to visit her daughter with the war heating up. Things were about to get more interesting. Chapter 110: Konstantin Returns Chapter 110: Konstantin Returns The soldiers for the countess were at attention and waiting for orders. They were all sneaking nces curiously at Maveith. Brutus looked to have been working with the Citadel gate guards. Brutus looked tired and asked, ¡°I am done for the day. Do you mind if I spend some time with you in the alchemist tower?¡± ¡°You are wee to. Maveith hauled up an old table and some seating a few days ago. Why don¡¯t you go steal something from the kitchen for us.¡± I smiled knowingly at Brutus. Brutusughed at me. ¡°Lareen still has the kitchen staff after you?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well, Lareen is upset I have been avoiding her, and her anger has bled over to the kitchen staff. Last time I went for a snack, they just gave me the scraps they normally give the pigs.¡± Brutusughed. ¡°I will get us something good. I am guessing the kitchen staff will be focused on dinner for the esteemed guests.¡± I went to the stables to unsaddle Ginger and rub her down. As I finished with her, I told her, ¡°Sorry, girl. No apples today.¡± I held up arge yellow carrot. ¡°Will this do?¡± Ginger sniffed it, considering the betrayal. She eventually took it from my hand, seeing that no apple would magically appear today. Apples had be hard toe by because the refugees had taken them all, clearing the small orchards. Finished, I went up to drop off my harvest with the alchemist. Decimus¡¯ skin was just a light pink now, and he was hopeful in another two weeks, his skin would be back to normal. Decimus looked up from his work as I entered. Last night, he had fallen asleep and had blown up a boiling container. We had rushed up the stairs to find a mess, and Decimus was pulling shards of ss out of his skin. It allowed him to test his first batch of healing salve on himself. It worked, and ourpany would be getting the first healing paste from the alchemist soon. Decimus smiled, still creepy even with pink skin. ¡°Did you get it?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said tiredly. I emptied my legion box from my dimensional space. Decimus eagerly sorted through the harvest. As the days cooled, some things were getting hard to find fresh in the woods. Decimus took the ginseng roots that had taken me three days to find with the help of Maveith.The wild herb root was rare in the area. It was one of the ingredients Decimus needed for the lesser healing potion. The giant bee honey had arrived from the capital just yesterday, along with the special white leather Maveith needed to finish my manticore pouch. I knew he nned to finish it in secret and surprise me, so I pretended not to be aware it had arrived. Decimus inspected the roots. ¡°Amazing. This one is over thirty years old! This other one is about ten years. Great job. The peppermint wash is over there,¡± he waved his hands, shooing me away, focused on the root. I went to the table and found a ss container with odd-shaped jagged holes. Decimus had a spell form that could repair items. The alchemist had tried to repair the exploded ssware but had not found all the shards yet. There were also four sealed containers of the peppermint wash on the table¡ªabout sixteen doses in total. The wash freshened breath, whitened teeth, and restored gums and teeth as a minor healing potion¡ªdental hygiene at its finest. By my estimation, each dosested three to four days and could be spaced out even further. My agreement with Decimus was he would work on the peppermint wash on the side if I helped him for a few hours at night, supervising the extraction of peppermint andvender oils. He had too much work for the Duchess and Castile to work on my wash. Well, he was also working on a number of processes for his own work to sell eventually. I descended the tower to find Mavith munching on a ration bar and sitting on a bench at therge oak table. He really did like those bars. A took a seat and slid him one of the peppermint containers. ¡°This is it?¡± Maveith asked. ¡°Yeah, it should remove the yellow from your teeth and fix the toothache you mentioned,¡± I replied. ¡°Don¡¯t swallow it. Just swish it a bit and then spit it out the window.¡± Maveith broke the wax seal and sniffed the wash. His nose scrunched at the strong, minty wave that hit his nose. He took a pull, taking a double dose to fill his sizable mouth, and started swishing. His eyes went wide as the wash worked. After I counted to twenty, I said, ¡°Go spit it out.¡± Maveith walked to the window and spat out a mist of used wash. He looked down and quickly closed the window. Maveith looked guilty. ¡°A pair of guards were walking the wall below.¡± I just burst intoughter as Maveith slowly smiled. Imented, ¡°Your teeth do look look much whiter. How is the tooth?¡± I inquired while still letting loose my mirth at the unfortunate guards. Maveith sucked his teeth and tested them with his tongue. He found the one that had gued him. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt. My mouth feels cold and fresh. Thank you, Eryk.¡± He pushed the remaining half of the wash toward me. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. ¡°Keep it. Use it again in four days. Decimus thinks the efficiency will fade in five days, so use it before then. He is slowly working out ways for better purity of ingredients, too,¡± I said, letting him keep the remaining wash. The other three jars were secured in my dimensional space for use. Brutus arrived up the stairs carrying a pack. Mateo was behind him, bear-hugging a small cask. Mateo had a grin on his face ¡°Got us a cask of ale.¡± Brutus thumbed his direction in the Mateo. ¡°Found this one moping about no longer having a servant to tend his needs at night and having to do his ownundry. Hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± Mateo put the heavy cask on the sturdy table. It was maybe ten gallons. Brutus put his own heavy pack of food on the table. Mateo looked around the room. ¡°Nice ce. Are we going to y cards or dice?¡± ¡°Checkers?¡± Maveith offered, hopefully. I had found the checkers board and taught Maveith to y, and now he wanted to y every night. vius had corrected the rules I taught Maveith. Once a piece was ¡®crowned,¡¯ it could move one or two spaces instead of one I was familiar with. It created some interesting strategy in the end game, as the crowned piece was unkible on the edges. Mateo nodded. ¡°Sure, Maveith.¡± Maveith gleefully went to get the board and pieces. Brutus had walked around the room and looked out the windows. It was his first time up here. He eventually came back and unpacked his bag. He pulled two loaves, ceramic and ss jars filled with interesting jams and pickled vegetables, a whole roasted chicken, four goblets, and six tes. I was left with tapping the small cask of ale. I only had to remove a round plug on the cask, which took me a few moments. I filled the top-heavy goblets, spilling some ale on the floor, and distributed them. We started to eat the pre-dinner snack. As we ate, Brutus asked, ¡°How is it living with vius up here?¡± ¡°Fine, we talk a little at night about his day¡¯s hunt, but he keeps to himself mostly,¡± I noted, cleaning a greasy wing. Brutus shrugged. ¡°Did he go through your things, too?¡± My perplexed vision had Mateo chime in as he lost the first game to Maveith. ¡°Felix caught him going through Brutus¡¯s pack while you were getting the alchemist.¡± Brutus stated confidently, ¡°He was looking for Durandus¡¯ collector. I confronted him after. Don¡¯t know why he thought I had it. Thought he might have searched your things as well.¡± I shrugged, unconcerned, ¡°Maybe. Most days, my pack is left by my bed. Haven¡¯t noticed anything out of ce.¡± A lot of thoughts went through my head. Was vius working for Sebastian to find the collector? Was the goblin hunt a setup to catch me using the collector? Was being ced to live in the tower to bunk with him a chance to keep an eye on me. We ate, and we all got defeated by Maveith at checkers. As the sun set, vius returned from his hunt. He looked over our little group, and Mateo asked, ¡°What did you get today?¡± vius noted indifferently, ¡°Just a small buck. Kitchen is butchering it now.¡± He helped himself to the cask of ale, taking Brutus¡¯ cup. ¡°Are you two now bunking up here now?¡± Mateo answered, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t mind it. Benito snores, and Kolm¡¯s boots smell like an overripe block of cheese.¡± ¡°You should have him see the alchemist. Decimus has something for that,¡± I said, standing. ¡°Are we going to head to the barracks for the evening meal with thepany?¡± As we walked to the barrack¡¯s dining hall for soldiers on the other side of the Citadel, there was a lot of activity, with servants running everywhere to host. I asked, ¡°A lot of work for just two people. The duchess must really want to impress her mother.¡± Mateo smirked. ¡°Not what I heard. The duchess was not happy about her mothering, but there was nothing she could do.¡± Brutus added, ¡°She was even more upset by her brothering. At least, that is what Saphron told me she overheard. She hates her brother fiercely, and he is her parent¡¯s favorite child. I doubt he is happy that his sister now has a higher rank than himself and their parents. Her father is a baron who oversees some farming viges but did not travel with the Countess because he has a mistress he prefers.¡± vius was walking behind us and overheard, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be spreading rumors about First Citizens. It is a good way to gain their ire.¡± Brutus just shrugged, as gossip was the best entertainment the men got. We reached the dining room, and thepany had already served the meal. I noted that Castile, Adrian, and Delmar were not here. My small group sat with Firth and Wylie. They weed us as we sat. ¡°Any news?¡± vius asked Firth. Firth had a habit of knowing things he shouldn¡¯t know. ¡°Bit of a spat with the duchess and her mother. The countess wants to quarter her personal guard in the Citadel, but both barracks are upied.¡± He smiled. We allughed at the table as we upied one of the barracks, and the Citadel guard we were training upied the other. Firth drank and added, ¡°The countess also brought some twenty attendants with her, and there is a major scramble in the kitchens to feed everyone. The influx of some sixty mouths into the Citadel is causing the kitchens to go into a frenzy withck of staff.¡± ze joined us from another table. ¡°The countess¡¯ guards are still standing in the courtyard. Poor sods.¡± No one at the table mentioned there was plenty of room in the barracks for both Castile¡¯spany and the household guard for the countess. We had all recently been evicted from our luxury amodations to amodate their arrival and were not about to do them any favors. The conversation turned to the training of the city and Citadel guards, and I only half paid attention as I ate. I was still puzzling out how much interest vius might have in me. After returning his coin and the goblin job, I thought we were on good terms, but now I was not certain. I was getting ready to head back up to the alchemist tower when a runner from the Citadel gate came in. The runner was one of the young guards we were training. He had just run here and was breathing heavily. ¡°Come quick! One of your men has returned, and he needs help!¡± We all stood immediately and rushed out of the dining hall, not needing another word. We all thought that maybe the men guarding the hole diggers hade under attack, but instead, we found Konstantin at the gate, slumped on the ground inside the archway. His arm was in a filthy sling, and the right side of his face was burned, blistered, and cracked. Dried blood marred his armor and face, making him a grotesque site. His armor waspletely ckened on the right side. Konstantin was barely conscious as six men carried him back to the barracks. Someone went to get potions from the alchemist. Wylie was sent to get Castile, and we waited. Just what in the hell had happened to Konstantin? Chapter 111: The Summoner Chapter 111: The Summoner Konstantin¡¯s body was a mess as we brought it into the barracks. Thepany huddled around as he was ced on a table and his body stripped. The smell of burnt flesh and charred leather was strong among the stink of days in the woods. His leather bracers had bite marks on them, and when removed, bloody, partially scabbed-over puncture marks were underneath. Lirkin checked the forearm, ¡°Bone is broken. Get the healer in the city if someone has not been sent already.¡± Felix immediately took off at a run, his footfalls echoing on the stone. Konstantin groaned, and Lirkin whispered to him, ¡°You got back, you tough bastard. We will heal you in a day, and you can return to being your old cantankerous self.¡± Konstantin¡¯s dry throat tried to speak. Lirkin leaned down and put his ear to the man to hear. Lirkin stood after listening and informed us what he said, ¡°He found the summoner. It set a pair of hell hounds on him.¡± A lot of whispers rang through the men as no one seemed to know what a hellhound was. Castile walked purposedly in at this moment with Adrian behind her. She answered the question I had. ¡°A hellhound is an infernal dog, not from this ne of existence. It is a summoned creature that is a relentless tracker. Konstantin,¡± Castile stood over Konstantin, taking in his abused body and getting his attention, ¡°are the hounds who pursued you dead?¡± Konstantin painfully nodded his head in the affirmative. Castile nodded. ¡°And the summoner? Is he dead, too?¡± Konstantin shook his head negatively, not being able to speak loudly. Castile grimaced. She put his hand on his shoulder. ¡°Everyone get some rest. I will wait with Konstantin for the healer and potions.¡± Adrian shuffled everyone away. As I walked away, I felt guilty for not going with Konstantin on his scouting mission. Maybe he would not be in such terrible shape if I had apanied him. I returned to the tower with vius and Maveith. vius talked as we went, ¡°Summoners and hell hounds, bad omens. I guess we will be marching soon and hunting the summoner. Best to get some rest.¡± When we got to our tower floor, the empty bed we had brought up here for Konstantin was apparently going to be filled soon. Iy down in my bed, and my mind shed to Konstantin. I recalled his return. He was in terrible shape, but he also did not have his pack or his weapons. His artificed sword was missing, and I imagined it was out there somewhere, stuck inside some fiery beast. I did not use the amulet as I settled down tonight but did take an oblivion pill to stave off nightmares I knew would haunt me. If I didn¡¯t, I would imagine myself looking just like Konstantin. I was awakened in the morning by a familiar horse voice, ¡°Eryk, you can sleep through anything. Get up. It is time for breakfast and some training.¡± Konstantin¡¯s voice was raspy, but it was definitely him. ¡°Love you too, Konstantin. d you are not dead¡­or perhaps you are a revenant back from the dead to hound me.¡± I said, smirking at my joke.Maveithughed in his deep voice, ¡°That is a good twisting of the words, Eryk. Hound because a hellhound almost killed him.¡± I opened my eyes to see Konstantin standing over me, grinning. His face was gaunt, and his eyes sunken. ¡°You look like an ogre just shit you out.¡± His grin faded. ¡°I am still fit enough to teach you a thing or two in the practice yard,¡± he rasped out with his dry voice. ¡°With what? I didn¡¯t see your magic de on you yesterday,¡± I said and immediately regretted it. Konstantin¡¯s face fell in some remembered pain, and maybe it was too soon to be needling him. He finally said, ¡°I preferred my life over the de. Still might be able to reim it if Castile marches us to hunt the summoner.¡± vius was already dressed in his armor and at the table in the room, ¡°So you found the elven summor, Traeliorn Kelran?¡± Konstantin moved to sit across from him. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. The elf with the hellhounds appeared too young.¡± vius was about to interject, but Konstantin stopped him, ¡°I know elves age really slowly. This one was young; he was no ancient and powerful sorcerer.¡± vius grunted in eptance of his words. I sat up in bed and looked out the window, and the sun was just turning the sky. I sighed and started dressing. I looked at Konstantin, ¡°I can¡¯t believe they healed you up, and you are ready to go again.¡± ¡°The summoner is a real threat, Eryk. Castile was doing a message sending to the Legatus Legonis office this morning. Most likely, they will order us after him,¡± Konstantin said seriously. vius nodded at the table in agreement. ¡°So we need to get ready to fight more hellhounds? Is that how you were burned?¡± I inquired as I put on my armor. Konstantin rubbed the side of his face, which had pink new skin, ¡°Don¡¯t know about more hounds.¡± He held up his arm, and a memory of pain shed on his face, ¡°Yes, one grabbed my arm, and the other breathed fire on me. If I hadn¡¯t been able to dose myself in a nearby pond, I would be dead.¡± Maveith boomed from across the room, interested in the story, ¡°How did you escape?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Konstantin shifted in his seat at the table, ¡°I was looking at the summoner from a good mile away. He was setting up a ritual circle. I was deciding whether to try and sneak close and get him with my bow when the two hounds I didn¡¯t see caught my scent from a cursed mile away.¡± Konstantin exhaled angrily, ¡°I dropped from the tree and ran. They caught me in no time, even though I was dropping myconid spores. One grabbed my arm while the other breathed its fire on me. Drove my sword into the mouth of a breather. Had to let go due to the heat. The one biting my arm tried to go for my throat.¡± He looked around at us, ¡°I was half on fire at this point, and the dog I was wrestling was unscathed. It was a struggle, but I got a dagger in its neck and forced myself into a pond to cool off.¡± He chuckled dryly. ¡°Then you dragged yourself back here?¡± Maveith said in awe. ¡°No, didn¡¯t quite kill the second. Swam across the pond, and it stalked me, but it was bleeding out. Giant leeches in the pond forced me out. I was at a disadvantage without my bow or sword, but the hellhound didn¡¯t attack. I forced myself to run and figured the beast was smart as it tried to exhaust me. I hoped it would bleed out from the wound on its neck. Eventually, I won the contest of wills.¡± Konstantin did not sound smug, just exhausted at the retelling. ¡°We should get down to breakfast, or Benito will eat all the butter-honey buns left over from the Duchess¡¯ dinner,¡± vius noted. The four of us made our way to the barracks. I was half expecting to see the Countess¡¯ soldiers in here with us, but it was just ourpany. As Favius had predicted, Benito had a te stacked three high of the dessert buns, ze, next to him, the same. Everyone came up to Konstantin and said they were d he was already on his feet. Linus brought him two tes stacked with food, ¡°Konstantin, noints. I want you to finish both tes before leaving the hall. You had a lot of healing donest night from the healer and potions.¡± ¡°Where is my te?¡± I asked with a smirk at Linus. ¡°Next time you drag yourself in here half-burned with a dozen broken bones, I will get your food for you, too,¡± Linus returned with a mock challenge. ¡°I hope that day neveres,¡± I said, headed to the buffet table with Maveith. Maveith just took one of the serving trays from under the food as his te, grinning while he did. From the look of it, the spread was mostly leftovers fromst night¡¯s dinner in the Citadel, but no one seemed to mind. The Duchess still wanted to impress her mother even if she did not want her here. While we were stuffing our faces, Castile entered on her heels with Delmar and Adrian. She looked around the room, and her face was stern and not happy. Adrian walked over to vius, and I heard them say, ¡°After Castile finishes, go head out and get the four men guarding the crewying the province border stones.¡± vius nodded sharply at the order. Castile addressed everyone present, ¡°I sent Konstantin¡¯s report to the Legatus Legonis. He has ordered us to locate the Bartiradian summoner and end him. Master Mage Sebastian and two of his legionnaires will join us in three days on drakes.¡± Thepany stirred a little at the announcement. ¡°We will also be joined by High Mage Zyna, but she will bring no legionnaires. Sebastian will transport High Mage Zyna, and they will find us in the wilds. No Hounds will being to help search for him.¡± vius¡¯ eyes had snapped to Castile on Sebastian¡¯s name. I couldn¡¯t see his face to read his reaction to seeing Sebastian again. Castile continued as ourpany started whispering louder, ¡°We will leave after the mid-day meal. Delmar will get a load out for your packs prepared. The summoner wasst spotted fifty miles northwest of here.¡± ¡°Is this normal?¡± I asked Konstantin, who was working on his second te and apparently already aware of what Castile was going to say. ¡°Hunting an enemy mage within the Empire borders?¡± He asked with a cocked eyebrow trying to act like I asked a stupid question. vius answered my question directly, ¡°Usually, it would be three full magepanies hunting an enemy mage with two or three squads of Hounds in support to track the mage. High Mage Zyna is a powerful battle fire mage, but used to teach at the Mage College. I was not aware she could be called on for a hunt like this.¡± Konstantin added what he knew while shoveling food in his mouth, ¡°The Hounds already lost a squad searching for the summoner. I am not surprised Cornelius is not sending help. He would only have five squads left in all the Eastern Empire, and I am sure he is being kept busy around Macha countering the Bartiradian Rangers.¡± vius eximed, ¡°Just five! There should be ten in the east!¡± Konstantin shrugged, ¡°I talked to him after Macha. He lost two squads chasing down a rouge magemander before Macha. One squad retired a few months back, and another is¡­not avable. He has over twenty men in training,¡± he gave me a sidelong nce, ¡°But none are ready to put into the field.¡± vius rxed some at the exnation, ¡°It is one the most dangerous jobs in the Empire.¡± Konstantin just nodded but did not tell him he used to be a Hound. ¡°But just five squads left?¡± vius shook his head in disbelief and left. He had to make a long trek to get our men out supervising the digging of holes. I went to the tower with Maveith while Konstantin was forced to stay behind and eat the rest of his food. I packed quickly, thinking we were going to be gone for a while. Maveith just watched me, and I tightly rolled one of the weasel pelts inside an oiled tarp I used for my tent. I asked him, ¡°Are you not going toe?¡± Maveith sat on his bunk, sighing, ¡°I was not asked to go.¡± I looked at him sharply, ¡°Maveith, do you want toe and hunt a powerful mage that can summon creatures of nightmares and legends?¡± He put on a broad smile, ¡°Yes! Traveling with you is always interesting.¡± He began to pack his things, and I shook my head in disbelief. If I had been given a choice, I most definitely would not be going. We arrived in the courtyard, and Delmar had bundled food for us and a few changes of socks and undergarments. Mateo quipped at seeing the houseguards of the Countess, ¡°Never got an apology from the Countess for kicking us out of our rooms.¡± Everyoneughed merrily. Delmar smirked at Mateo¡¯sment, ¡°Why don¡¯t you carry the ration packs for the four men vius is retrieving.¡± He groaned as it was almost forty pounds. He did not end up carrying it, as Felix, Maveith, and I each took one of the four bundles. We didn¡¯t have to wait long before Castile was outside with Adrian. Adrian arched an eyebrow at me, ¡°Thought you would be riding your horse, Eryk.¡± ¡°I can do that?¡± I asked, ready to bolt for the stables and saddle Ginger. ¡°Toote now,¡± he smirked as he was clearly joking. Castile added seriously, ¡°She would just be used to carry supplies, Eryk. Leave her behind. It is safer for her.¡± That ended any argument. We were soon walking down the road northwest along the river. We were going to meet up with vius and the others before following Konstantin into the Wilds to find the elusive summoner. Chapter 112: Raelia (POV) Chapter 112: Raelia (POV) Raelia walked the promenade in the King¡¯s Pce, following the mage. After being sent home by her brother from Macha, she spent two days recovering in the Rookery. She had been mucking nests and showing the newest ss of Griffin Riders how to care for their saddles and tack. Then news came of the Telhian ruthlessness. The mages of the Telhian Empire had torn down the city¡¯s outer walls with earthquakes. It waspletely unexpected and devastating. She had been worried her brother had perished in the attack, but he had managed to retreat with remnants of the army. She had not seen him in thest three weeks, but at least she knew he was okay. She heard he was preparing the defenses in the city of Tanal near the border as the Telhians had already marched on Guiracas. Her anger at the news had made her put in a request for a new griffin, but she was denied. The Master Griffin Tamer told her she would have to spend the next two years cleaning and teaching before he would consider giving her another hatchling to raise. At first, she had been angry; the kingdom needed trained Griffin Riders, and she was trained, but then she was reminded how she had failed her mount. She wanted to get revenge on the Telhians, as many friends andrades had been killed. She had been abused herself, taken captive by a legionnaire, and forced to attack one of her brother¡¯s bodyguards. She had been questioned by a number of mages at the Magus Schrium and had her aether resistance tested five times. One mage even checked to ensure she wasn¡¯t a doppelganger, as the idea that a legionnaire could force her into a dimensional space seemed too absurd. Maybe she could fight as a soldier or Ranger if it could not be in the skies. She had all the qualifications to be a Ranger, and many Griffin Riders came from the Ranger¡¯s ranks. She went to the Master Tamer and asked to be transferred. He looked disappointed but granted her request the next day. She was assigned to the fourteenth Ranger squad. She was frustrated to learn the fourteenth Rangers were assigned to Magus Schrium. The Magus Schrium was in the capital. It was a free magic school for anyone who had the potential to be a mage. Their sprawling campus outside the capital included fifty thousand acres of woond. The fourteenth Rangers patrolled this area. Sheter learned her brother had ced her there to protect her. This infuriated her, but she would do her duty and look for a chance to fight the Telhians. Raelia¡¯s newmander was Jalon Leoyra. He was an ancient-looking human who was deceptively strong and quick. He must have been taking essences to maintain his youthful physique. Today, she was following Jalon to meet with the High Mage Traeliorn Kelran. She watched the young mage students wandering the campus, absorbed in their little world. Children, she mussed, not realizing a battle was happening just a few hundred miles to the west. They climbed one of the tallest towers in the Magus Schrium. The circr stairs wrapped the outer wall with windows every twenty steps she noted. The view rolled from the campus to the woods she presided over. They reached one of the upper floors, and the door was open.¡°Enter!¡± amanding voice sounded. She followed Jalon inside. She was here to take notes and run messages if needed, not to participate. Raelia had never met the High Mage Traeliorn Kelran before, but she could feel the power oozing off him just seeing the powerful elf. He took up her concentration, and she missed the ice drake curled in the corner of the room. The white-scaled creature yawned, and its predatory fangs had her step back. Traeliornughed. ¡°Girl, Kylma is about as dangerous as a puppy. I don¡¯t think she has hunted a day in her life.¡± The drake belched a cold mist toward the mage in a challenge. ¡°Go stretch your wings, Kylma. Your disrespect toward me is embarrassing me in front of my guests.¡± The glistering white-scaled drake stood and unwound its body. Kylma was muchrger than she had guessed. The drake was slowly stretched and then dove out a nearby window. Traeliorn shook his head. ¡°Failed in taming that one, but she does make a good conversationalist.¡± Raelia couldn¡¯t help but voice her disbelief. ¡°You can talk to drakes!¡± Jalon gave her a harsh look for breaking protocol in front of the High Mage. The High Mageughed. ¡°No. But that is the point. I have had a dozen wives in my life, and all we did was get into arguments. Kylma doesn¡¯t talk back, so I never lose the argument!¡± Jalon shook his head. ¡°He has been married thrice, Raelia. You will find our High Mage is prone to exaggerate everything. Now, Traeliorn, why did you request my presence? Do you need more ingredients for your summons?¡± ¡°My apprentice just sent amunication. His two hellhound guards have been killed,¡± the High Mage said seriously. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Is Vaeril injured?¡± the old ranger asked concerned. ¡°Do you need us to retrieve him?¡± ¡°No, it was just a single scout. But now he has no protections while he sets up the next summons. I would like to portal one of your rangers to protect for the next month,¡± Traeliorn requested. The old human huffed angrily. ¡°The council does not agree with your methods, old friend. Putting your apprentice out in the Empire to summon and unleash beasts is a danger to him and innocent people.¡± The air suddenly crackled with blue sparks. Traeliorn power emanated, and he screamed at the old Ranger, ¡°They killed my grandson in Macha! I would kill every citizen of the Empire if I could!¡± The old Ranger did not back down. ¡°How many times are you and your apprentice going to open gates to elemental nes and other dangerousnds? One of these times, the creature you summon will be too strong for you to control. You cannot hide your fatigue from me, old man! Our days of saving the world are over. We are retired! Your grandson made his own choices.¡± Raelia suddenly wished she could be anywhere but here. The mage could snuff out the Ranger with a thought. The air slowly cleared, and they both calmed down. Raelia stepped forward unexpectedly. ¡°I will go.¡± Both sets of wisened eyes turned to her. Raelia stood tall. This was a chance for her to get back into the fight. Jalon said, ¡°Your brother sent you to my care, Raelia. I will not send you to your death in the Telhian Empire.¡± Raelia smirked as she was ustomed to using people¡¯s words against them. ¡°You just said the High Mage¡¯s grandson made his own choice. I want to make my own choice.¡± ¡°I like this one, Jalon,¡± the High Mage smiled. his blue eyes twinkling in victory. Jalon threw up his arms in disgust. He pointed at Raelia. ¡°Burn her face into your mind. When wordes, she is dead, know it was just as good as you doing the deed yourself!¡± ¡°I am prepared to ept that. Leave her here, and I will help her prepare for her duty,¡± the High Mage said gravely. Raelia felt she was slightly over her head. The High Mage addressed her after Jalon left angry. ¡°You know he is right. I have sent more young men and women to their deaths than I can count to fight the Telhians. Every one of them is burned up here,¡± he tapped his temple. ¡°I am willing. Feel no guilt, High Mage,¡± Raelia reaffirmed. ¡°Your primary task will be to watch Vaeril while he is sleeping.¡± He sighed. ¡°Let me see if I can find a few things in this mess to help you in your task.¡± The old elf slowly went through his extremely disorganized closets. She was given a thermal stone fire starter, a wand of aetheric missiles, three dungeon-grade healing potions, and a ring of sustenance. A fortune in artificed gear to help alleviate the summoner¡¯s guilt that he was sending her into severe danger. Later that evening, she was waiting on Traeliorn, who was gathering materials to summon a wyvern near the Telhian capital. An old human woman came into the office unannounced. She immediately started yelling at the High Mage, ¡°You old geezer!¡± She walked up to him. ¡°You are leaving again to summon one of your beasts!¡± ¡°My third wife,¡± the High Mage told Raelia with a small smile. ¡°You are in for a show.¡± ¡°You idiot,¡± the gray-haired woman continued. ¡°Just let it be. Why don¡¯t you help the rest of the High Council figure out what in the dragon¡¯s fire the Telhians are up to south of Macha!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± He rebuffed. ¡°If the emperor made an appearance there, then I might for a chance to snuff him out. Until then, I will show his people how inept he is at keeping them safe!¡± ¡°If you confronted the emperor, he would banish your soul to the void!¡± The woman barked at him. She waved a finger at him angrily. She stormed out angrily after some more back-and-forth screaming. Raelia wished she could have faded into the wall during the screaming session. The white drake returned during the argument and just ignored the two mages as it curled back into a ball and went to sleep. This seemedmonce for it. Raelia slept in a room below, and the next morning, the High Mage opened a portal in his office. Raelia¡¯s mouth hung open in disbelief. ¡°How?¡± It usually took a few mages together to open a portal. The High Mage winked. ¡°Lots of practice. Also, my apprentice has an anchor I cantch the portal to. Shall we?¡± He gestured to the portal. Raelia picked up the heavy pack of food and gear and entered first. She appeared inside a cave with a young elf focused on a metal te. The apprentice, Vaeril, was contributing his own aether to maintain the portal. His golden hair was matted with sweat, and his green eyes focused. Traeliorn walked through next, just in his mage robes. He turned and faced the portal and asked, ¡°Well, are youing? Or do I have to walk?¡± He sounded irritated, but the ice drake eventually emerged, and the portal snapped shut. Raelia stared at the Vaeril as he panted from the effort. Traeliorn seemed unconcerned as he looked around and nodded. ¡°Vaeril, have you moved a good distance from where your pets were killed?¡± ¡°Yes, Master. I am twenty miles from where I was discovered,¡± he answered. ¡°Good, this is Raelia. She is a trained Ranger and will be your protector,¡± Raelia waved at the apprentice. He was kind of cute, and his deep green eyes were mesmerizing. He did not seem as impressed with her. Traeliorn continued, ¡°I am heading north to summon another wyvern. I want you to summon some hill giants and send them,¡± he considered for a moment, ¡°send them in the direction of the scout that killed your hounds.¡± The apprentice nodded happily. ¡°How many hill giants?¡± he asked as the High Mage was mounting the ice drake. ¡°Two. You cannot handle any more than two,¡± he advised and then was in the air. Raelia marveled that he did not need a saddle to ride the drake. Vaeril looked her over and sighed, disappointed his protector was a young female elf. Raelia read his eyes, ¡°I am a skilled Ranger and used to be a Griffin Rider.¡± He cocked an eyebrow and slowly nodded appreciatively. ¡°Good. Come, we have a few miles to walk, and I will be setting up a summoning circle while you watch my back.¡± The pair started walking, and Raelia started up a conversation with the young mage. It was unsurprising that they were almost the same age. Raelia thought this was going to be a good assignment. She would help get revenge on the Telhians, and maybe she would make a new friendship. Chapter 113: Sebastian’s Entrance Chapter 113: Sebastian¡¯s Entrance The march on the road was mostly orderly. We kept three men abreast, spaced ten feet apart, with Castile, Adrian, and Delmar leading. We passed refugees headed to Sobral every few hours. The refugees found the most interesting thing about ourpany was Maveith. I had Maveith on my left and Brutus on my right, so it felt like every refugee was also staring at me. It felt like it had been a long time being part of thepany since I had worked in small groups and foraged for the alchemist. The voices of everyone around me blended in aforting background noise. I noticed we had no scouts out as Konstantin was walking next to Firth, two rows ahead. Maveith was walking and working on sewing in the white leather lining to the manticore pouch. I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell him I didn¡¯t need it. After all, I had a dimensional space. We had marched about a dozen miles when five legionnaires were sitting in the road ahead. It was vius and the men he had been tasked with retrieving: Pascal, Remus, Cyrus, and Soren. Remus was the only legionnaire from Mage Gregor¡¯spany that had survived Macha. He kept to himself, and I couldn¡¯t imagine how he felt losing his mage and everyone in hispany. He was also easy to identify when we had our helms off as he was the ginger in thepany. The five men were sitting on stacks ofrge blocks of rough-cut white marble on the side of the road, and I could see a well-worn path heading into the woods. It looked like these were the province markers the men had been burying in the ground for weeks. Two buried markers on either side of the road reinforced my guess. This must be where they started the project and delivered cut marble from the quarry. I did not see the point of all this effort to ce these markers, but I guessed rich people in every world liked to remind people what was theirs. We paused for a snack, and ze sat with Maveith, Brutus, and myself. ¡°So those are the stones you have been burying in the ground? They look heavy,¡± I patted the marble I was sitting on. Each marble block was roughly one-foot square and three feet in length. ¡°Those blocks weigh as much as four men. You got toze about and walk in the woods while we did all the real work, Eryk!¡± ze said with a half smile. Maveith thought to inform him, and maybe he was defending me a little, ¡°Eryk has been fighting manticores, ettins, and goblins. How many creatures have you killed since arriving, Brutus?¡± Brutusughed, ¡°No need to take things so literally, goliath. I was joking! Everyone in thepany knows if there is danger on the horizon, it is best to keep your distance from Eryk as it will surely find him.¡±Maveith nodded slowly, ¡°Do not worry, Eryk. If danger finds you, I will stand beside you to face it.¡± Brutusughed, ¡°You may not quite get humor, Maveith, but at least you are good at checkers.¡± Maveith reached for his pack, ¡°I brought the game board. Do you want to y?¡± We allughed, and after Brutus lost a game of checkers, Castile had us headed into the woods. vius and Konstantin took off ahead of us, and I walked to Adrian and asked, ¡°Should Maveith and I be scouting as well?¡± Adrian looked to Castile, who gave a sharp nod, ¡°No, with Falvius back, you don¡¯t need to. But with your new air shield, we would like to keep you close to Castile. I typically protect her right side and Delmar her left. We want you to protect her rear.¡± I nodded in understanding. ¡°So, should I be marching with you then? At the front?¡± Adiran confirmed, ¡°When the sense of danger is in the air, yes.¡± Maveith was behind me and asked in his baritone, ¡°What do you want me to do? I told Eryk I would stand with him.¡± Delmar turned his head to look at us as he walked next to Castile, ¡°You can cover him with that monstrous bow of yours.¡± Maveith nodded, happy at the answer, and continued to focus on finishing the pouch. For having suchrge hands, he was making such fine work in the stitching. The path was well-trodden as they had carted dozens of stones into the woods. The men behind him were joking about the effort and how the donkey cart they used was constantly getting stuck. The stones were buried with only about twelve inches showing. The white marble tops made a clear dotted line in thendscape. As we walked deeper, vius and Konstantin rotated back to thepany. Being closer to Castile, I could overhear their reports. They mostly reported what type of tracks they found. So far, nothing dangerous. As evening settled, we made camp in a clearing, and two long strips of white tarp were staked into the ground, making an X. Castile watched them work and informed me, ¡°That is for Master Mage Sebastian. He is not due for a few days, but we will put it out when we stop to rest and camp. It has a light aether signature to it, so he can find it easily when he overflies it.¡± ¡°How will we fight alongside drakes?¡± I asked as I unpacked my bedroll and tarp. ¡°We won¡¯t. They will be in the air, covering us and scouting. High Mage Zyna will join us on the ground for the real fight.¡± Castile ryed tacturdidly. I hesitated momentarily before asking, ¡°Do I have anything to worry about?¡± Castile looked at me, ¡°Not from Zyna. She, like me, was a plebian before attending the Mage College. Shepleted her service quite some time ago. I think she has a manor in a coastal town somewhere.¡± ¡°And from Sebastian?¡± I pressed. Castile looked into the woods where vius was circling the camp in the opposite direction of Konstantin, ¡°He is unpredictable. Knowing his temper, I am surprised vius returned to us. Keep your distance from him. I will shield you if I can.¡± I nodded and thanked Castile before setting up my tarp tent. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Maveith had a tarp but chose to sleep under the stars since the buggy season had passed. After dinner, I lost a game of checkers to Maveith and went to sleep. I was asleep for maybe four hours before someone was kicking my boot. I was instantly awake and putting on my helm. Felix smirked, ¡°All is fine, Eryk. Your turn for watch.¡± I groaned as I had forgotten that I would be part of the night watch rotation since I was no longer scouting. I was paired with Pavel, and we took the positions and huddled in our cloaks to keep the body heat trapped inside. It was cold enough tonight to see our breath form a cloud on exhaling. Pavel had a legion cloak, and I had my ck manticore cloak. It did a much better job retaining warmth. I would roll it up and send it to my dimensional storage after the watch to minimize wear and tear. Pavel was not much of a conversationalist. He was also struggling to stay awake. The only excitement all night was a normal owl swooping down and catching a rodent of some type. I slept another few hours and was up before dawn and packing. Lirkin fed thepany, and we continued our trek, following Konstantin toward thest ce he had seen the elven summoner. During our afternoon break, Maveith proudly presented the manticore sack to me. He had dyed it ck to match my cloak. It wasrge enough for me to squeeze both hands inside¡ªor Maveith¡¯s single hand. It looked exceptional, except I knew where it hade from. Maveith excitedly exined, ¡°I used the ice drake hide for its natural chilling properties. It can keep herbs you gathered potent for much longer. The manticore leather should be able to take a pounding but stillst you a lifetime. I have seen warriors in my vige pass one down for generations.¡± ¡°It is fantastic, supple and smooth, Maveith. Your effort and care in making it will cause me to treasure it always,¡± I studied it for a moment longer under his watchful eye, and then sent it to my dimensional space. I exined, ¡°This way, it will not get ruined while I am fighting.¡± The second night in the woods, Konstantin had us be more cautious. He estimated we were about fifteen miles from where he found the summoner. Castile ordered the camp to be made and informed everyone that we would wait here until Master Mage Sebastian and High Mage Zyna arrived rather than risk an engagement without their support. Maveith noted the weasel den was probably in this area. Delmar barked with a smile at the news, ¡°Since we have a few hours of daylight and do not know how long we will be here, I want a trench line dug there and there,¡± he pointed. We were on a small hill clear of trees, so at least the ground would be free of roots. We spent six hours digging two defense trenches at right angles and staking them. We were also given assigned sleeping areas by Delmar. It almost felt like he was trying to get more rigid with the camp to show off to the two arriving mages. The regr army would construct borate camps every night when they marched. Small magepanies, not so much. Everyone except me was used to digging from thest few weeks. Digging blisters were different from weapon blisters on the hands, and I voiced a vocal dissent to the work. Of course, I would heal them just enough tonight so they would not bother me. Maveith joined us but was relegated to rollingrge rocks out of the ditch for us. Thepany cleaned up in a stream, and I was fortunate to get the first watch this evening. It was early in the night when the familiar two bangs of warning came. The camp was roused, and Firth, who had been on the other side, informed Delmar that he had spotted one of the giant weasels. ¡°Beast was bigger than a horse and moved just as fast,¡± Firth told the awakened men and preparedpany. Everyone looked to Castile. She closed her eyes and sent out her all-seeing-eye. I knew it could be seen in the dark, and we waited. A few momentster, she spoke, ¡°Two giant weasels are moving away from our camp.¡± Maveith said, ¡°They are smart creatures and would not attack our camp with so many men. I just suggest no one wanders in the woods alone at night to relieve themselves.¡± Adrian nodded, a thank you to Maveith, ¡°We will double the guard.¡± Some men groaned as going from six to twelve meant most of us would get half as much sleep. Clouds rolled in, covering the moon and making it extremely dark for the remainder of the night, and light stones were ced out in the woods. It was a relief when the morning came. Delmar had us finishing the defensive square after breakfast, and no oneined. We now had a square camp on top of a hill about forty feet to a side. The ditch was just three feet deep but had a stake every foot. As we were eating lunch prepared by Lirkin, a chunky potato, and salted beef soup, ze pointed to the skies, ¡°Drake!¡± I looked up and saw the silhouette. I had no idea how he saw something so small. Then, I spotted two others trailing the first. They passed our camp, and I thought they missed therge white X at our center, but they soon started circling above our camp. My heart was racing at the possibility of confronting Master Mage Sebastian and him using me of having his brother¡¯s collecter. I caught vius sneaking nces at me, which did not help myfort level. The drakes circled for an hour, slowly descending from their heights. Castile was standing next to me and noted, ¡°He is scouting around our camp, but also, I think he is drawing it out to make us wait.¡± ¡°Who is on the other two drakes?¡± I inquired. ¡°Two of his legionnaires. Probably drake tamers from his estate. The Emperor rarely has Sebastian help with missions. He contributes a lot by raising the fire drakes for the Dragon Legion,¡± Castile stated. Castile looked up and suddenly smirked, ¡°If he doesn¡¯tnd soon, I think Zyna is going to throw him off.¡± I looked and could see thergest drake, which had one person riding a pillion. I guessed Castile was using her all-seeing eye to spy on them. The smaller drakesnded at the bottom of our little hill. Thergest drakended in our midst. The powerful wings blew tarp tents and sleeping rolls everywhere. I could tell that Master Mage Sebastian had intended the dramatic effect. He sild out of his saddle to the ground, smiling smugly. His grand entrance made, he addressed Castile imperiously, ¡°Mage Castile, it seems it has be a habit of mine toe and rescue you.¡± The woman behind him dismounted less gracefully, and her legs were a little weak from the ride. The woman did not look like a wisened old mage. Her auburn hair was braided into a long ponytail. Her light brown eyes were lively. She appeared middle-aged, maybe in herte thirties, and was one of the tallest women I had seen in my time, nearly matching my 6¡¯1¡± frame. She ignored Sebastian and came to Castile and gave her a hug to Sebastian¡¯s consternation, ¡°Castile, my child, it has been ages. You have never visited my estate.¡± Master Mage Sebastian frowned at being ignored, but if my understanding was correct, then she outranked him as a High Mage. His drake bristled, shaking itself out and mimicking its master¡¯s dissatisfaction. Castile broke the hug, ¡°Mypany was never sent on assignment near your coastal town, Baroness.¡± If she was a baroness, then she was also a First Citizen. But I thought Castile said she grew up poor. Zyna turned to Sebastian, ¡°You and your men should finish that patrol I interrupted by insisting yound. You said scouting the entire region before younded was important.¡± There was some terseness in her words. Sebastian ground his teeth, ¡°Yes, High Mage.¡± Castile and Zyna moved off to talk privately, walking outside our fortification. I slowly moved back from the giant flying lizard, now that Castile was no longer at my side. Dragons and I did not mix. Sebastian led his drake through our barricade, destroying some of it, and down to the stream to let the drake drink before heading into the sky with his two men. A handful of men were at the water, vius among them. I was sure I noticed him and vius make eye contact for more than a moment while the drake satiated its thirst. My paranoid self was sure it would not be long before Sebastian took a detour to question me about his brother¡¯s death. I watched the three drakes getting water while Sebastian conferred with his two legionnaire riders. I just had a bad feeling about this whole situation. Adrian called to me, ¡°Eryk! Castile and the High Mage wish for you to join their conversation!¡± I looked to see them at the bottom of the hill opposite the stream. I wondered what this was going to be about. Chapter 114: Zyna, the Fire High Mage Chapter 114: Zyna, the Fire High Mage I had been ordered to talk with Castile and the High Mage, who seemed familiar with each other. I walked down the hill from our camp, stepping between the stakes. Castile was a head shorter than the auburn-haired High Mage. They both turned and faced me in unison. Castile introduced the mage, ¡°This is High Mage Zyna, Mistress of Fire, Baroness of Piscatio, a small vige on the northern coast.¡± Zyna looked me up and down and extended her hand. We formally shook wrists, and the formality confused me. She asked, ¡°This is him? He is a big boy but looks young¡ªand inexperienced. If he is going to watch my back, is he any good?¡± Castile smirked, ¡°As good as any as Delmar or Adrian. He has a decent air shield spell form as well as a dimensional space.¡± The High Mage arched her eyebrow, reassessing her initial appraisal of me. Castile addressed me, ¡°While Zyna is with us, you will be her personal guard.¡± My surprised look had her exin further, ¡°High Mage Zyna outranks Sebastian, so as long as you are in her service, he cannotmand or question you.¡± I was confused but understood this was a way to protect me. Did that mean Castile trusted Zyna? I tried to sound happy at the assignment and asked the High Mage, ¡°Should I call you Mistress, Baroness, or High Mage?¡± Zynaughed, amused with a musical voice, ¡°Just Zyna is fine legionnaire, Eryk. I no longer teach at the Mage College ormand a legionnairepany. My First Citizen status is only so the Emperor could continue to call on my skills when needed.¡± ¡°So that is why you are here? The Emperor called on you?¡± I asked and realized perhaps I had overstepped. Zyna pursed her lips in anger, and I got worried, ¡°I volunteered,¡± she said tersely. ¡°The small fishingmunity where my estate is located was inundated with giant waves. Twenty-four of my people were killed, and most of the fishing boats were destroyed. I am here to get some revenge on the elven summoner who summoned the water elemental that caused the disaster.¡± Her eyes took on a blue glow of aether that tinged with red, and I could feel her aether stirring violently in her core. This little disy showed me why she was considered a High Mage. The ir of vtile power disappeared as quickly as it hade. Castile nodded to me and left me with Zyna. ¡°What do you need me to do for you, Zyna?¡± I asked with as much respect as I could weave into the words. It was definitely not because I sensed her oppressing power a few moments ago. ¡°We must wait for Sebastian to give us a marching direction. Show me to your tent until then,¡± she waved her hand up the hill at our square fortification.I led her up the hill and showed her my tarp tent in the camp. It was very simple, with thick poles cut from branches forming three A-frames at the ends and middle. The tarp was staked over the frames, one end was open, and the other was closed. My weasel pelt wasid out on top of my legion-issued bedroll. She assessed the space, and I was worried she was either going to be sharing it with me or kicking me out. It would be a tight fight for two people, but doable. ¡°It has been a few years since I camped on the march. You can set up my tent next to yours,¡± Zyna informed me, and before I could ask where her tent was, arge backpack hit the ground with a thud. My mind raced, and I put it together quickly, ¡°You have a dimensional space?¡± Zyna smiled, ¡°Not a spell form like you, Eryk.¡± She tapped a ring on her finger, ¡°A dungeon artificed storage ring. Works the same way as your spell form, and it is twice the size of yours,¡± she said with a smirk. Maveith, who had been watching from a distance, approached, ¡°High Mage, can I interest you in a game of checkers while Eryk sets up your tent?¡± ¡°Maveith, wouldn¡¯t you rather help me set this up?¡± I indicated therge, tightly wrapped tent. ¡°No,¡± the goliath assessed my task. ¡°I would rather y checkers with a more challenging opponent.¡± Brutus, Maveith¡¯s usual opponent, huffed from a dozen feet away. Zyna smiled at our yful interaction but then sided with the goliath, ¡°Friend goliath, I would be honored to y a game of checkers with you.¡± They moved off to some logs and a makeshift stone table in the camp that the others cleared for the High Mage as she approached. The drakes took to the skies from the stream and began their search while the Maveith and Zyna set up the board. Brutus came to my aid and helped with the tent. It was arge tent, requiring a dozen eight-foot poles to be cut to assemble it. Thankfully, Brutus was familiar with the style. The final assembly gave the High Mage a roughly eight-foot cubic tent out of the oiled canvas material. There was a square floor panel as well, but no bed role. Maveith and Zyna had a lively conversation during their game nearby, and I was worried that the goliath might have retold about my prowess with the manticores. With the tent finished, Zyna approached, nodded in thanks, and entered. She left the p shut for privacy. Maybe she had more space in her ring and wasying out a luxurious interior. Maveith sat with me, ¡°She is a charming woman. She even won one of our six games.¡± Konstantin and vius had taken down arge deer for dinner. The best cuts were for the men, while the remainder would go to the drakes. When Lirkin had dinner prepared, Castile brought a portion into Zyna¡¯s tent and did not exit before the sun was setting. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. We were waiting for the return of the drakes. They returned just after sunset, and Sebastiannded his drake again in the middle of camp. I think he was attempting to blow over Zyna¡¯s tent, but Brutus and I had double-staked it. The men in the camp had done the same to their own tents, expecting the childishness of the Master Mage. Not one tent was blown away this time, which seemed to make him upset. Sebastian entered the tent unannounced, and the conversation was obviously being muted by magic. We all looked at each other, not knowing what to expect. Everyone kept their distance from his drake, which appeared tired and curled into a ball. Lirkin came and gave it a haunch of the deer, and it greedily ate it. The crunching of bones was not something I enjoyed being so close to. It was a good hour before Sebastian emerged unhappy. He gave me a hard look before leading his drake down to the stream where the other two drakes had already been unsaddled and fed. Adrian and Delmar were called into the tent. When they left at dark, Delmar went to bring Castile¡¯s things to the tent while Adrian gave orders. ¡°The Master Mage did not find any sign of the summoner. We will be marching northwest in the morning, following Konstantin. The drakes will keep watch from above.¡± Everyone felt better knowing the three powerful drakes would be overhead, but I was not so certain. That night, there was amotion in the woods. The loud squealing, hissing and sounds ofbat woke the entire camp, and Konstantin went down and came back to report, ¡°The drakes killed one of the giant weasels. They are feasting on it now. Should quiet it down in an hour.¡± Maveith seemed upset, ¡°Waste of a good pelt. Should have skinned it first.¡± The following morning, we packed up camp, and I struggled to get Zyna¡¯s tent rolled tightly enough to be returned to her dimensional ring. Maveith and Brutus had to assist me. When we marched, Brutus and I were on either side of Zyna with Maveith behind us. After a few hours of Maveith and Zyna discussing different board games, I asked, ¡°How do you know Castile?¡± Zyna smiled, ¡°I was an instructor at the Mage College, finishing my own service to the Empire when Castile started there. Those not of royal blood tend to have a difficult time. I mentored her and helped her through limate. I am the reason she chose the Legion over serving Duke Octavian.¡± ze and Wylie in front of us couldn¡¯t help but turn around in shock at the gossip but quickly focused forward. Zyna just smiled. Maveith, unaware of human decorum regarding age, asked, ¡°If a mage is required to serve twenty years and Castile is almost done with her service. Does that make you sixty? You do not look it.¡± Maveith liked to puzzle things out, and this was not something he should have tried. I reflexively stepped away from the mage, and Brutus did likewise on the other side of the High Mage. Zyna justughed her musicalugh, ¡°Maveith, I am eighty-three. I served twenty-six years as a magemander and twenty-four years at the Mage College. After fifty years of service, the Emperor granted me the writ of primus civis, making me one of the few to be named a First Citizen without the blood of the First Legion in my veins.¡± Maveith grunted, ¡°I would not have guessed you for being older than forty.¡± ¡°Thirty, Maveith,¡± Konstantin said, appearing from the woods. ¡°If you are dumb enough to guess a woman¡¯s age, always guess ten years younger than you think. She won¡¯t burn you to a crisp if you are wrong.¡± I added my wisdom, ¡°Maveith, it is best never to guess at all.¡± Zynaughed, ¡°Maybe, but I have seen enough for two lifetimes, and someone asking my age is not going to upset me¡ªmuch. And the Emperor does grant favors if you are useful enough to keep around.¡± Konstantin walked next to Zyna, ¡°High Mage, I was training your bodyguard in the finer arts of scouting. I would hate for his skills to get rusty. Do you mind?¡± Zyna nodded, ¡°Just do not wear him out, Hound.¡± ¡°I am no longer a Hound, High Mage,¡± Konstantin grumbled. It appeared the these two knew each other as well. ¡°What does Cornelius always say? Once a Hound, always a Hound?¡± Zyna replied. ¡°That old goat says a lot of things. Sometimes, I think he just likes to hear himself speak,¡± Konstantin grumbled. ¡°Come on, Eryk. I found some interesting tracks that I want to show you.¡± When we got off into the woods, Konstantin showed me some bear tracks and old gnoll tracks. We worked our way on the right side of the column while vius was on the left. Konstantin seemed a little anxious about this quest, and I finally asked him when we stopped to take a break while thepany caught up. ¡°You don¡¯t appear to be your normal cheerful self, Konstantin. What has got you on edge?¡± I said, chewing on some jerky. ¡°When you are hunting mages, nothing ever goes as nned. I do feel better with Zyna here. Just hope she doesn¡¯t burn down the woods while we are in them,¡± he said, sipping water. ¡°With a summoner, you never know what type of creature they may have summoned as well. Also,¡± he paused, ¡°there may be more than one summoner. I only saw the young elf, but that does not mean there are not more.¡± I finished the afternoon with Konstantin, and we found another hill for thepany to make camp on. Delmar wanted trenches dug again, so we stopped with a few hours of daylight. Since I had scouted for half the day, Adrian informed me I was off trench and guard duty tonight. Scouts did travel two to three times the distance of the rest of thepany. I still had to set up Zyna¡¯s tent. Maveith helped this time. We had not staked it yet when Master Mage Sebastionnded in our midst. The tent was blown away, and he dismounted smugly. He went to Castile and Zyna with purpose, ¡°The summoner just summoned two hill giants twenty or so miles west of your position. If you hurry, you can catch him before he relocates.¡± Adrian approached, ¡°Night hike with two hill giants in the woods is not advisable. If we are going to fight them, I would want it to be in the light of day.¡± ¡°Not your decision, legionnaire,¡± Sebastian barked at Adrian. ¡°Not yours either!¡± Zyna said forcibly. Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the woman who was deciding on a n of action. Zyna finally said, ¡°We will leave at midnight. That will give Castile¡¯s men some time to rest and should put our encounter with the giants after sunrise.¡± Sebastian was not happy and growled out, ¡°We will rotate watch during the night on the giants.¡± He was holding in his anger. ¡°The summoner will not be trackable from the air.¡± He mounted his drake and took to the air, blowing the camp into more of a mess. I turned to Maveith, ¡°Just how many frigging kinds of giants are there?¡± Chapter 115: Pig Roast Chapter 115: Pig Roast I had asked my question about the variety of giants to be rhetorical, but Maveith answered me anyway. ¡°The Titanse in many varieties. There are the cloud and fog giants of the Dresimere Mountains. Then, the corrupted two-headed ettins, but you are familiar with them already. The stone giants are builders but are nearly extinct as all the great Titan cities have been destroyed. The storm giants ruled all the giants before the Civil War ages ago. The hill and mountain giants are cruel warriors and the most populous of the giantkin. They are both solitary from other races and live in tribes.¡± Maveith counted on his hands, trying to remember, ¡°Ah, yes, the frost giants live in the harsh, cold north. But they keep to themselves. They do not like outsiders.¡± ¡°You forgot the fire giants,¡± Zyna said, having overheard our conversation. ¡°The fire giants love battle more than anything and are always looking for a reason to engage.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t the giants taken over the world?¡± Benito entered the conversation as he was untangling the tangled mess from the drake¡¯s buffeting takeoff. Zyna shrugged, ¡°I have not studied the histories, but I think the Titans once ruled all of Desia.¡± Maveith nodded, ¡°They did. The storm giants were simr to your First Citizens. They governed all the giant races. Goliaths used to be Bloodbound to the stone giants and helped them build the world¡¯s marvels. Tales are passed down in my tribe before the schism and Civil War among the Titans. The giant races fought and destroyed each other all across thend. None of their great cities stand today.¡± I kept my mouth shut. Maveith looked at Benito, ¡°To answer your question, all the Titans are cursed. Not only is conceiving children extremely difficult for most of them, but it takes over fifty years for them to mature. Some of them have other permanent mdies. For instance, the hill giants have the mentality of three years old.¡± Benito quipped, ¡°I have met some pretty smart three-year-olds.¡± Adrian grunted at Benito and didn¡¯tment on Benito¡¯s intelligence assessment. ¡°Most of the giant races are hunted in Desia as well,¡± Adrian added. ¡°Don¡¯t bother setting the tents. Just get some rest. This night march is going to be taxing, and there is a fight at the end.¡±We cleaned up the camp from Sebastian¡¯snding and packed our backpacks. Zyna had a small tarp andid it down a few feet from my bedroll. Zyna had no problem appearing to fall asleep, and I guess, as her temporary bodyguard, I needed to keep an eye on her while she slept in the open. I set my bedroll against a stump to use as a reclining chair. Brutus brought me dinner. Salted fish that had been boiled into a vegetable soup. Sometimes, you have to eat things that are unappetizing to keep your calories up. This was not one of those times. I poured my bowl of soup down a hole in the stump I was sitting on. Hopefully, whatever creature made its home down there would like it more than me. I took out some hard smi and cheese from my dimensional space when it got dark and before the blue moon revealed itself. I ate more than I should have but doubted there was going to be a chance to eat again before the battle. I watched our camp be restless all night as it was the eve of battle. When Delmar called for the march to begin, we all moved slowly, not looking forward to facing the hill giants. Maveith had chosen to stay on the other side of High Mage Zyna, which I greatly appreciated. The blue moon had decided to show itself, and the cloudless sky gave the woods an eerie blue light. A single glow was carried by thest man, Mateo, in our line. This was so the drakes could find us from above. Progress was slow, and Konstantin and vius were leading us. I only saw a drake silhouetted on the blue moon once on the march when we passed through a clearing. I felt better knowing we had three ferocious beasts overhead. Some men whispered back and forth as we made our way. High Mage Zyna then asked a question I always dreaded hearing, ¡°Eryk, you are from Tsinga? I love their national delicacy, caramel bread.¡± ¡°It is pronounced car-mel in my small vige. We only had it on special asions as there were only a few goats from which to get milk,¡± I replied smoothly. I had the name of the vige ready if she pressed. ¡°Oh, so you know how to make it then? After we finish this hunt, I may spend a few days in Sobral,¡± Zyna said excitedly. I was not sure if she was being genuine or if she was trying to entrap me. At least there was a recipe for the bread in one of the books in the dreamscape. ¡°I would like to try it, too!¡± Maveith said in his deep voice, overshadowing the whispering. Maveith realized his error, but he could not whisper well. But he tried talking softer, ¡°I heard it is an amazing dessert. Melts in your mouth and is salty, savory, and sweet all at once!.¡± Zyna didn¡¯t pry into my past again but tried for my other secrets. ¡°Castile wouldn¡¯t tell me if you had any spell forms other than your storage and air shield.¡± When I didn¡¯t respond, she tried in a motherly tone, ¡°I have instructed hundreds of mages at the Mage College. Do you require any assistance in learning spell forms?¡± I considered my response and tempered it, ¡°No, Castile has helped with everything that is needed. My aether shaping is too terrible to learn to cast spells.¡± A plume of fire in the sky appeared a few miles off. ¡°Are they fighting in the sky?¡± ze asked no one in particr as we all stared. Zyna replied hotly, ¡°No, they found the hill giants and are marking them for us.¡± Felix responded from behind me, ¡°But that means we won¡¯t be able to surprise them. He basically signaled that someone found them.¡± Zyna huffed angrily, ¡°I think that is the point¡ªSebastian¡¯s way of showing his displeasure at not making the decisions. Come, Eryk, we will move to the front. The giants look to be just two miles away.¡± I nodded but decided I did not want to be the bodyguard of a High Mage if they were always at the front. We moved forward, and Adrian hissed, ¡°Pile your packs here! We are close!¡± The twenty-three men of thepany quickly and quietly dropped their packs. Everyone was on high alert for the sight and sound of the enemy. The blue gloom lighting from the moon made it easy to see movement, but if something remained still, they would blend in. Castile was at the front and using her spells. Zyna put her hand on Castile¡¯s shoulder and leaned in, ¡°Do you see them?¡± Castile did not respond for a moment, then she pointed, ¡°There, the giants are gathering rocks¡­they are throwing them at the drakes.¡± A crash far away could heard as a wayward rocknded deep in the woods. It caused all the creatures to go silent as more rocks returned to the earth. Delmar muttered from my right, ¡°They are not going to be able to hit anything. But then again, they are not the smartest of creatures. They will keep trying.¡± If youe across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Zyna advised, ¡°We will use this as a distraction. Archers behind me as I move to engage. Castile, stay back and be prepared to help if needed,¡± Castile frowned in the moonlight but nodded. ¡°Shield bearers, be prepared to allow the archers to retreat between you. Spearmen support the shield men if the giants charge.¡± That was all the orders she gave as she walked confidently forward. I was on her heels and Maveith on mine. Our armor made rasping sounds as the hard leather rubbed as we walked, but I had practiced with Konstantin and Maveith, and I was fairly silent. Konstantin appeared from behind a tree, ¡°High Mage, there are just two of them that we can tell. Both are adult males. Before they were disturbed by the drakes, they were eating a bear carcass.¡± Zyna asked patiently, ¡°What are they doing now?¡± ¡°Throwing rocks the size of a man¡¯s head into the sky,¡± Konstantin replied, and I looked up reflexively. Over our heads, we had a thinning canopy of fall leaves, but the sky was still obscured. A sh through the leaves told me Sebastion was taunting the hill giants. ¡°Any signs of the summoner?¡± Zyna inquired. ¡°None,¡± was all Konstantin said as he focused on where the giants were. ¡°Lead me to them then. We can kill the hill giants and see if we can find the trail of the summoner,¡± Zyna said determinedly. ¡°You make it sound so easy,¡± I muttered softly. Konstantin tittered at me, ¡°Oh, Eryk, you are about to see a light show. You will see why they call her a High Mage.¡± We followed Konstantin down a rocky stream bed that gave us some cover. We had timed our march fairly well, and theing morning sun was teasing its arrival, graying the sky. I could see the three drakes high in the air circling. A rock was being tossed in their direction every few moments. The hill giants could barely reach them with the hundred-pound spheres. At least they were distracting the giants from our approach. Zyna stood and marched up onto the small hill. I was unprepared for her boldness, but I stayed by her side. The archers were already formed, seven men ready with their bows; Konstantin and vius had moved into their ranks. Six men with body shields behind them. When I cleared my line of sight, I was disturbed to see the sixteen-foot hill giants. They were on an exposed rocky hillside for easy ess to their ammunition. They looked overweight and childlike as they bent over and dug in the rocky ground for a fist-sized rock to throw. One grabbed a smaller rock by mistake and flung it disgusted at the drakes. Being smaller, it was flung further and faster. By some miracle, the stone connected with the wing of a drake. A hissing scream of pain as the drake spiraled to the ground. Unfortunately, it was not Sebastian¡¯s as thergest drake remained aloft. The giants had not even noticed us as they raced to the falling drake. I felt the ground tremble as they ran. Zyna cursed, ¡°Hades, take him! They are rushing out of my range, and that rider is as good as dead if they reach him.¡± She turned, ¡°Form the archers on that hill over there. I will see if I can draw them back to us.¡± She ignored the men and started casting small dart-sized mes at the backs of the running giants. The darts shed across the vast distance to the target, homing in and connecting. Dozens of darts sprayed at the giants. It seemed to be causing minor burning marks on their backs. That was the unusual thing¡ªthese giants were wearing some semnce of clothes. They looked ragged, but they were wearing some heavy-cloth or hide. One of the giants swatted his back like he was swatting a mosquito. He howled, realizing his back was on fire. Zyna steadily advanced on the giants, closing the distance while the archers got the higher ground. Both giants stopped and helped each other put out the mes. Zyna ordered, ¡°Arrows!!¡± She stopped her own assault. I stood to her right, and Maveith towered behind us. The twang of hisrge bow was heard behind me. The giants were a good three hundred feet away as our seven archers fired a steady stream. Half the arrows connected with the behemoths. The giants helped each other with the mes, ignoring the arrows momentarily. They soon realized they were being attacked. These giants seemed obvious to the world and could only focus on one task at a time. Maveith had said their mental capacity was limited. I thought they would charge our position, but they just bent over and started hurling rocks at our archers. ¡°Curses!¡± Zyna spat. She started moving forward to get them in range of her magic. I moved with her, ready to use my air shield. Before we got in range, a rock hit Quentin in the torso. His body was torn apart. ¡°Take cover!¡± Zyna screamed as a weave of fire formed between her hands. I was not sure if she was talking to me or the archers. I remained at her side and was fascinated as the head of a fiery snake formed and snaked into the sky. The snake quickly grew in size, and the giants were fascinated as it twisted in the air, growingrger andrger, being fed by Zyna¡¯s aether. This is what truly powerful magic was. I could feel its heat even fifty feet away from the massive fire snake. The snake twisted in the air and dove at one of the giants, opening its ming maw. The giant held up his hands in protection, but nothing could stop the magic as the snake swallowed him and mmed into the ground. A pir of me erupted as the giant was burned alive. His fatty body melted, and the fat-fueled the mes more. He howled only for a moment as the me prated his lungs and burned them as well. The other giant stumbled away but knew where the giant snake hade from. He slung a rock at Zyna. I was prepared and had an angled air shield in front of her. The rock deflected into the sky, destroying the shield but saving her life. ¡°Thank you,¡± was all Zyna said as she weaved her next spell between her hands. Arge ming ball appeared over her head and sped toward the giant just a hundred feet away. The ball struck him and exploded. A st of heat hit me, drying my eyes and throat and bringing the smell of burning pork to my nostrils. The explosion knocked the massive hill giant down, and his clothes were burned to his flesh. He staggered to his feet, howling in pain, and he was now clearly blinded, and his corneas had been burned out. ¡°Archers!¡± Zyna called. Konstantin was the first to start firing, followed by Maveith and the others. The giant ran blindly forward, trying to escape. The arrows had trouble prating his thick clothing and fatty tissue. He stumbled and fell and stood, trying to figure a direction away from the attacks. The archers began targeting its head, and it used its burned hands to protect its face. The problem was the archers were close, and not many were missing. The behemoth howled in pain and frustration. It almost made you feel sorry for it. Zyna, drenched in sweat from her powerful castings, formed one more spell in her hand. A much smaller version of the snake raced away from her and consumed the head of the hill giant, forcing itself into its mouth and ending its suffering and its horrid cries. I looked on in horror as it struggled to breathe. ¡°Do not feel sorry for it,¡± Zyna stated, seeing my face. Those giants eat humans, preferably raw and still alive.¡± The body churned only for a brief moment before stilling. Zyna turned to me, appreciative but smugly, ¡°Thank you for the shield. I had a defense ready for the rock, but I appreciate the thought.¡± Thepany joined us on the open field. Quentin had been killed, and his body was brought down, his entire right ribcage missing. Quentin had been one of Durandus¡¯ men. That meant he had been a legion volunteer and not conscripted. He had been on the road guarding our gear while we attacked the storm giant. I don¡¯t know how well he adapted to our less structuredpany, but it was sad to see anotherrade fall. Zyna and Castile moved off to talk while some men went to retrieve our packs, some men buried Quentin, and some worked to start preparing camp. I looked at the charred corpses and wondered if they would yield an essence. I didn¡¯t have time to think more of it as Sebastian¡¯srge drakended on the first body and took a massive bite out of it like it was enjoying a pig roast. It was like he was iming it as his kill. Then Sebastian took out a collector and ced it on the body¡ªactivating it. It was arge collector simr to the shield-sized one Castile used to own. An essence formed, but I could not distinguish it from this distance. I was a little angry that Zyna and Castile were allowing this. He let his drake feed and collected an essence from the second hill giant. He then walked to Zyna and unhappily handed her both essences. That was a relief. They exchanged some heated words, and Sebastian walked into the woods to find his downed drake and rider. Delmar turned and announced to thepany, ¡°We make camp here till mid-day. After the mid-day meal, we march in search of the summoner. Konstantin, vius, and Eryk, go search for signs.¡± Konstantin smiled at me, ¡°Come, Eryk. Let¡¯s go work on your tracking skills.¡± Damn it, volunteered again. PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS ONLY POSTED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS PATREON, ROYAL ROAD AND SCRIBBLE HUB. IF YOU ARE VIEWING IT ON ANOTHER SITE IT HAS BEEN STOLEN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. Chapter 116: Pursuit Chapter 116: Pursuit I started to walk with Konstantin when Zyna halted me, ¡°Eryk, good job protecting me. Castile suggested I give you one of these as a reward.¡± She ced an essence in my hand, ¡°Don¡¯t get yourself killed,¡± she smiled and returned to talk with Castile, Delmar, and Adrian. Konstantin walked beside me as we entered the woods. vius was already ahead of us to the left. When everyone was out of earshot, Konstantin asked, ¡°You know I serve a Praetorian Guard?¡± I cautiously replied, ¡°I do.¡± ¡°She has tasked me with keeping an eye out for potential, and you have drawn her attention,¡± he said to silence. ¡°It would mean spending a few years in the Hounds as preparation. I will tell her you declined her offer.¡± I did not reply. Konstantin added, ¡°It is what I would have advised you anyway. No matter how appealing they make it sound, it is a life service. If she asks you personally, tell her I asked you and offered you ten thousand gold for ten years of service, but you still declined.¡± Iughed internally, then aloud, ¡°Ten thousand gold does not do you much good if you are dead.¡± Konstantin smirked, ¡°I keep telling people you are not as dumb as you act. Now, tracking the hill giants to where they were summoned should not be too difficult.¡± How did I ever act dumb? It was easy to follow the broken branches andrge footprints pressed into the earth. The two giants were summoned to the north. As we moved, Konstantin constantly reminded me to move in stealth¡ªusing bushes and trees for cover. It caused me to move slower, and vius also slowed his pace so as not to get too far ahead. My training with Maveith significantly improved my ability to move stealthily. Konstantin even noted my improvement with a grunt. The path was well-marked as we moved further and further from thepany. After about five miles, vius came back to us to confer, ¡°The ritual summoning circle is just ahead. I do not think the summoner is still there, but there is a cave.¡± vius had deferred to Konstantin, who gave it some thought. ¡°I will explore the cave. You two find cover and stay close.¡± vius did not argue and moved off. The summoning circle wasrge, almost fifty feet across, and was charred into the ttened grass. It looked like the summoner had fed the hill giants after summoning them to contract them. The grass was stained red, with a deer head and giant elk antlers within the circle. The cave that vius found was just fifty yards away. I took cover behind a boulder. The woods were to my back, as well as a quiet stream. I figured a ssh would alert me if something came at me from behind. Konstantin moved along the rock face to the cave and waited for a long time, listening outside the cave before entering. After a few moments, the cave lit up from a glowstone. Konstantin waved us over, and we moved inside. The cave was only twenty feet in depth and fairly small. A fire pit was in the center, and vius dug in it with his hand. He sighed, ¡°Been out at least half a day. We should head back and let the mages know.¡± Konstantin shook his head. ¡°We will find the tracks and follow them. The summoner should be exhausted after summoning those two brutes. He is vulnerable, as I killed his two hounds. We can catch and take him out if we are fast enough.¡± There was some tension in the air. Finally, vius caved, ¡°I have a re. I can signal Master Mage Sebastian.¡± ¡°A re?¡± Konstantin said with amusement evident. I sensed something between them, and maybe it had to do with Sebastian. ¡°Use it. We will continue tracking the summoner.¡± We went to the clearing with the summoning circle, and vius fired off the re. It was not gunpowder but some other alchemical concoction. A tail of blue fire propelled it in the air, bursting into a bright green star¡ªwithout any sound. ¡°Wait here for the drakes,¡± Konstantin said as he waved me to follow. When we got to the edge of the clearing, Konstantin slowed. ¡°Why are we leaving vius behind?¡± I asked, concerned. ¡°We are not. We are searching for tracks leading away from here. We will circle wide and hopefully find something. Most elves have a fair amount of woodsman training, but we shoulde up with something,¡± Konstantin studied the ground as we moved. He paused near the stream. It was wide and had soft sandy soil along the edges. Even I could see the tracks, but that meant nothing, as they could have just been getting water here. Konstantin studied the tracks for a long while before announcing, ¡°They left through the stream. Either up or downstream. I don¡¯t know. Down is the hill giants'' direction, so I am assuming upstream. You take that side, and I will take this side.¡± ¡°How are you so certain?¡± I asked, not seeing it in the mess of tracks. ¡°There are two sets of fresh footprints here. The smaller one appeared to be the one getting water for the camp. Therger prints only ur once, leading to the water but never away from it.¡± Konstantin revealed. ¡°I thought you said the summoner was alone?¡± A cold feeling washed over me. Were we walking into a trap? Maybe there were more elves out and about. ¡°It is a small woman. Maybe she was sleeping when I spotted him the first time. If she is also a summoner, then we need to be double quick about eliminating the threats,¡± Konstantin said firmly. A drakended in the summoning circle. It was one of the legionnaires, not Sebastian. We headed over as vius was conversing with him. The rider gave us the update, ¡°The other drake survived the crash, but the legionnaire broke his neck. The Master Mage is healing the drake. I will be escorting it to the estate to get another rider. We should be back in two days. Master Mage Sebastian will be staying. I will inform the High Mage of your location.¡± The drake rider mounted, preparing to take to the air. His face was impassive, but I could tell he did not like this business. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Konstantin informed him, ¡°We are going to be following that stream,¡± he indicated the wide, shallow water. The rider nodded stiffly and burst into the air. I was buffeted by sand and dirt. I did not like thending and takeoffs of these beasts. I spat out the crunchy sand mixed with my saliva and moved to the stream with Konstantin. Konstantin took the left bank and vius the right bank. I was the rear guard, ordered to stay fifty yards back and not make a lot of noise. The two experienced scouts weaved along the banks, looking for where our quarry might have exited the water. About two milester, Konstantin found the location. We crowded around him in an expanse of rocks. ¡°What?¡± asked vius. Konstantin pointed to a small puddle in the center of an exposed rock. ¡°They must have rung out their socks here. It has not rained in a few days, and the rock is exposed to the sun. It should have beenpletely dry.¡± I was d that vius looked as doubtful as me. We split some sticks toy on our path so thepany could follow us. Laying the fresh white wood face up made easy markers to indicate our direction. That ended up being my job. We spread out on the rocky ground and searched away from the river. A triumphant Konstantin found a footprint a mile from the water. Heading off into the thick woonds. ¡°They are heading west,¡± vius noted. ¡°Deep into the wilds.¡± Konstantin grunted, ¡°They know we are out here. They must have heard thebat or seen the drakes. Look,¡± he pointed. ¡°They sprint into the tree line. We have to push, or they will get too far ahead. We are maybe six hours behind them now.¡± Konstantin was already moving, and vius huffed in disagreement but followed. I arranged a split stick and followed as well. As he went, Konstantin was at a light jog, pointing out signs of passing. The elves were making mistakes now that they sensed we were getting closer. vius just nodded as he moved with him. vius grumbled that he was a good animal tracker, but tracking elves was a different game. I knew Konstantin had been a Hound, so maybe he gained his skills tracking humans there. We moved miles into the woods, and I had trouble keeping up because I had to split sticks andy them as we went. Running and trying to split a stick with a knife was not advised, and I was d I could heal myself. Konstantin halted up ahead, and vius took cover. I crouched and approached them. Konstantin nodded to me and pointed to blood grass, and I understood. The red sap from the root was dripping from a damaged leaf. I had harvested enough of the nts to know the sap only dripped for about fifteen minutes before hardening sufficiently to seal the damage to the leaf. All three of us were still as we listened. I filtered out vius¡¯ breathing and then my own heartbeat. My heart was racing more from adrenaline than fatigue. I didn¡¯t hear any birds, which meant they were also on alert. The mage summoner and hispanion had to be close. Both Konstantin and vius removed, strung their bows, and notched an arrow. vius went right, and Konstantin left. That meant I was in the middle and was going to be the bait¡ªsomething I was familiar with. At least I had my air shield. With my sword drawn, I moved forward, searching with my eyes and ears. I lost track of vius and Konstantin as I moved. I paused once again, seeing dripping blood grass. There was a lot of it here. I started to think they intentionally left the trail to ambush us. No, Konstantin would have thought of that. I kneeled by the dripping grass and moved the dead leaves, exposing the soil. It was definitely a male-sized footprint. I looked into the woods, scanning and listening. I flicker of movement in the trees to my right¡ªit was vius about sixty yards away. I was about to take a step and paused. Something was tickling my mind¡ªsomething I had seen or done. I looked up and scanned the trees. They wouldn¡¯t have been dumb enough to climb a tree? I split my vision from the ground to the trees. There! On a massive tree, its trunk over six feet in diameter, there was a thick branch about twenty feet off the ground. Two figuresy prone on it, covered in brown cloaks. If only one had been, I would have overlooked it, but two brown lumps were very suspicious. A bow twang to my left made me know Konstantin was fighting something¡ªmore elves? vius¡¯ bow sounded as well. I looked up to see an enormous spider rapidly repelling toward me. I shed and rolled away, using the rebound from my strike to gain distance. The crunch on my de told me I had removed a leg, but a second spider was alsoing for me. I created an air shield over my head to prevent the attack and backed away. I had a trio of dog-sized spiders on the ground, advancing in unison now. One walked awkwardly from the missing limb. The two brown lumps suddenly leaped off the branch to the ground, rolling as theynded. One of the spiders coiled, drawing my attention. As it leaped at me, I barely had time to establish my air shield. It crunched into the shield and fell to the ground, stunned. I lunged and stabbed its abdomen before retreating further and making sure I did not have any more visitors from above. ¡°They are poisonous!¡± vius yelled a warning from my right. I grunted; of course they were. My eyes darted from the spiders to the canopy to the two elves running away. Maybe they would have stopped to fight us if they knew we were only three. Blue ooze leaked from the spider I had stabbed, and it was struggling to move, slowly dying. A second spider leaped, but I was ready with an air shield and hacked its carapace, cracking it and taking two legs with it. Myst opponent was the injured spider, which could not do its leap attack with the missing limb. I pressed forward and stabbed it in the mandibles. One of its legs stabbed me through the thigh. I had not expected the quick attack, and the pain red. I hacked the leg off and fell on my ass, cursing. I worked the spear-like spider leg out of my thigh, blood oozing with the removal. I applied my spell form to heal the injury and muscle while staying alert. I could hear Konstantin fighting, but it was quiet from vius¡¯s direction. With my leg mostly healed, I ran to help Konstantin. He was hacking into thest of his spiders¡ªfour in total. Two had arrows in them. I dered, ¡°I saw the elf pair. They were wearing brown cloaks. They ran when the spiders attacked.¡± Konstantin nodded and kicked the spider, ¡°Summoned creatures. At least no variety of spiders I have seen before.¡± He looked around, ¡°Are you okay,¡± he indicated the blood on my pants. ¡°Is vius alive?¡± ¡°Just a scratch, used a salve I had purchased in the capital.¡± I ignored his focus on my leg and looked back to where vius had been fighting, ¡°It was quiet on his side, so I came to help you first,¡± I responded. Konstantin nodded appreciatively and retrieved his bow. We both raced to check on vius. vius was leaning against a log and breathing heavily. A pair of spider fangs was lodged in his vambraces. I counted four dead spiders around him. I had received the lucky draw with just three spiders. vius looked up with ssy eyes, ¡°Some disorientation poison. I can¡¯t stand without falling over.¡± Konstantin asked, ¡°Can you hear me fine, or is it muffled?¡± ¡°Muffled,¡± vius huffed. ¡°Most likely seasickness poison. Probably jungle canopy spiders. You should live. You will lose your hearing in a few minutes and may bleed out your ears, but you will live, and it is heble,¡± Konstantin informed the scout. Konstantin stood and looked in the direction of the fleeing summoners. ¡°Ok, Eryk, it is just me and you then. Let¡¯s go.¡± He started after them, and I hesitated for a heartbeat before joining him. PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS ONLY POSTED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS PATREON, ROYAL ROAD AND SCRIBBLE HUB. IF YOU ARE VIEWING IT ON ANOTHER SITE IT HAS BEEN STOLEN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. Chapter 117: Familiar Faces Chapter 117: Familiar Faces I followed Konstantin as he moved quickly through the trees. I knew he was experienced at this, but he seemed too aggressive¡ªtoo excited. Why not wait for thepany to catch up? I am sure Zyna could handle the summoner by herself. ¡°There!¡± He whispered harshly to me. About two hundred yards ahead, the brown cloaks were moving steadily. We were gaining ground quickly, and I guessed a mage was just not as fit as a legionnaire. Konstantin noted, ¡°Expect them to make a stand when they realize they cannot outrun us.¡± I nodded and focused on the pair. The shorter one was probably a woman and in superior shape. Maybe she was not a mage then. She was definitely waiting for the taller one as she appeared she could outrun him if needed as we got closer. Both elves tossed their packs on the ground when they noticed us gaining on them. I hung back just a little, and as we reached the packs, I slowed for half a step and sent them into my dimensional space. Konstantin was in front of me and did not see me take them. Konstantin suddenly dropped to a knee and fired an arrow in a smooth motion. He missed the tall one by inches. He med his miss on the fletching, ¡°Harpies tits, the fletching was loose,¡± and resumed pursuit. Konstantin was right about them making a stand. The cloaked figures leaped over a massive downed tree and stopped running. Konstantin did not stop running. When we were just fifty feet from the log, the elf woman stood up andunched a fireball from her hands. Konstantin swore, ¡°Demon shit!¡± but there was nowhere to hide. I jumped prone and ced an air shield in front of me. Konstantin was four strides in front of me, trying to get out of the path of the ming sphere by diving right. The fireball crashed where he had been standing a second ago and exploded. Konstantin was thrown into the air by the st. The fire, heat, ming leavers, and sted earth washed over me, briefly making my location an oven. My lungs hurt from breathing in the hot, dry air, but other than that, I escaped unharmed as the pings of small stones stopped echoing on my armor. Konstantin was not as lucky. He was rolling on the ground thirty feet away in some pain and dazed while trying to put out mes on his exposed clothes. He had also lost his helm, and his salt and pepper hair whirled about as he rolled. A blue bolt of light shot from the cloaked woman and struck my air shield, causing it to be visible briefly. I recognized the type of bolt from the dungeon. Castile had used a wand that cast arcane missiles like this. I added another shield as mine was about to expire. Sheunched two more missiles, and they sshed uselessly against the first air shield but shattered it. The mage stopped firing the arcane bolts, and I sprinted for Konstantin, ready with another air shield if needed. She fired another missile, and I thought there was no way it would hit me. The fucking arcane arrow changed directions, and my armor got a ckened scorch mark on the back as it thudded into me and caused me a brief stumble. Konstantin¡¯s face was burned and blistered again¡ªfirst a hellhound and now a fireball. His face was an angry red, blistering, and his facial hair, which had just started growing, was gone again. He had protected his eyes, at least. I dragged him behind a tree for cover, taking two more arcane arrow strikes. One burned my armor, and the other connected with my arm, burning deeply into my bicep. The smell of my cooked flesh hit my senses, and my mouth reflexively salivated. What a fucking Pavlovian response to have in battle! I didn¡¯t dwell on the wrongness of it and focused on the pain, and I got both of us to cover. Konstantin had signs of a concussion. He was unable to focus his eyes and was speaking nonsense. I didn¡¯t have anything that would help him. I healed my own injury and realized I didn¡¯t have much aether left. I did have enough to use my dimensional space to kill one of the mages if I could get close enough, but that meant I wouldn¡¯t be able to use my air shield again. ¡°Dropped my bow,¡± Konstantin sounded irritated and angry, but at least he was now coherent.¡°Doesn¡¯t matter; the string was burned up in the heat,¡± I said, peeking around the tree and studying the enemies. I decided to whine a little, ¡°Why the fuck did you think it was a good idea for the two of us to go after two mages!¡± Konstantin croaked out, ¡°Thought he had to be out of aether after summoning the giants and spiders,¡± he groaned as he moved to look around the tree as well. ¡°If we wait long enough, thepany should reach us in a few hours. Do you have any water?¡± It was the closest I would ever get to Konstantin begging me for something. I realized he had probably inhaled a lot of hot air and produced a canteen from my dimensional space for him. He drank the entire canteen of cold water and tossed it away. ¡°I can still move. I can distract them while you circle that way,¡± he indicated the upturned roots of the tree they were using for cover. ¡°They possess a wand that shoots arcane arrows, just like the ones Castile used to have, Konstantin. You wouldn''t stand a chance.¡± I pointed out the scorch marks on my armor to reinforce my point. Konstantin studied the burns and nodded, thinking. Konstantin was not a person that was good with waiting. I checked for the fifth time around the trunk. ¡°One of them is running, Konstantin.¡± He twisted his body and craned his neck to see. ¡°It is the taller one¡ªthe male summoner. We cannot let him get away,¡± Konstantin growled. ¡°He is slower, so the woman is covering his retreat.¡± He grunted, getting to his feet in obvious pain. ¡°I will draw her attention. Get to her as quickly as possible. I don¡¯t think I can run, wrenched my knee onnding.¡± He did not say more as he hobbled to the right at a light jog. We could have just waited for reinforcements, but Konstantin needed to have his win. How had the man survived for so long? This content has been uwfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He meant to bend over for his helmet as he moved, but his leg gave out on him, and he stumbled to the ground. An azure missile burned into his armor. Fuck it, I thought. I ran to the right, using the distraction he was giving me. The cloaked elf fired a blue bolt at me. I managed to get behind the roots, and it mmed harmlessly into them. I was now at the base of the downed tree she was behind. I moved around the corner to peek. The elf woman was sprinting away. I looked back at Konstantin, who was hobbling but he had his helmet on. The small elf was running to catch up with the summoner, and I thought it would be stupid to chase her as the other one could have set up another ambush. ¡°Get her! I will be right behind you!¡± Konstantin yelled at me. I started running and mumbling to myself, ¡°Don¡¯t let them get away, Eryk. Gather herbs in my ce, Eryk. Time to practice your fighting, Eryk. Eryk, you are the decoy for the scary monsters. Go with a prick mage and fight a storm giant. Chase after the fleeing mages by yourself, Eryk.¡± The shorter elf was not slow, but my longer stride had me covering the ground quickly. I wanted to catch her before she reunited with the summoner. She moved from the thick-trunked forest into a sparser wooded area with evergreens. The scent of pine needles assaulted me as I sprinted and closed the distance. My adrenalin-fueled sprint was going to overtake her. We hit a descent into a small ravine, and I used gravity to close quickly with her. Before she reached the bottom, I was swinging my de into her back. D¨¦j¨¤ vu urred as the elf spun and parried my attack with a dagger. Her momentum took her into a roll as she crashed into the bottom of the ravine and skidded across the dried pine needles on her knees facing me. I surfed the pine needles to a stop ten feet away. The elf¡¯s hood hade down as she stood to face me with a long dagger in one hand and a short parrying dagger in the other. She looked familiar as her chest heaved for oxygen¡ªbut that was impossible. I left that elf burnt and dying at the aqueduct. Her face showed surprise as her eyes got bigger and bigger¡ªnope, it was definitely her as she recognized me to. In elvish, she said something to the effect, Don¡¯t you taint me again with your evil magic, legionnaire. Although, that may be a cleaner version of it. I sought for the elvish words I had been learning from the schr, ¡°Surrender. I will kill you¡ªnot.¡± Her eyes narrowed and got hard, and in ented Telhian, she said, ¡°Your elvish is terrible. I will not surrender.¡± She did not attack and seemed more ready to run again than fight. Then again, thest time we met, I had stored her in my dimensional space for two days. Thankful to be speaking Telhian, I said emotionlessly, ¡°Yeah, I only started learning yournguage a week ago. But you do either need to surrender, or I will have to kill you.¡± I was already nning to rush her if she started to form a fireball. I needed to keep my aether for the summoner so I would have to kill her quickly. Our standoff ended when a drake crashed through the pine canopy, showering us in both pine needles and broken branches. The confusion allowed Sebastian¡¯s drake to crash into the elf girl, seizing her in his jaw, crunching her body, as her bones audibly popped. It flung her into a rock. Her body crumbled, full of oozing puncture wounds. Still mounted on his drake, Sebastian asked, ¡°Was that the summoner?¡± A little shocked, I answered. ¡°No, Master Mage. She was just a guardian, I think. The summoner is close. Just a few minutes ahead of me in that direction,¡± I pointed. He looked down at the elf, sneered in contempt, and took off into the sky, showering me again in more pine needles. I moved to the elf girl and was about to pull out the collector but thought better of it. Sebastian and Konstantin were too close. The young elf¡¯s body was broken and bleeding. Her skull was probably fractured, and her torso was crushed, a few bones showing visible. Her chest was not rising or falling. She must be dead. I could store her and get her essenceter when I was sure Durandus was not around. Greed overcame my judgment. I listened and didn¡¯t hear anything, so I moved the elf into my storage. She must have been only mostly dead because my aether bottomed out with the bacsh. Crap, without aether this was going to be a problem. Konstantin was up on the ridge while I was trying to decide what to do, ¡°Eryk, I saw Sebastian¡¯s drake. Is he here?¡± I pointed, ¡°He went after the summoner.¡± Konstantin nodded, did not descend into the ravine, and hobbled in the direction I indicated. That man was too tough for his own good. I took a deep breath and picked up the elf¡¯s two daggers¡ªthe smaller of which appeared to have runic writing. The long dagger was also shiny steel but did not have any markings other than the smith¡¯s mark. I looked at the scene. If Sebastian returned, he would probably wonder where the body went. There was nothing I could do about it now with no aether. I moved down to the end of the ravine and climbed out to join Konstantin. It did not take me long to catch him, and I could see the drake in the skies circling and searching ahead of us. Konstantin¡¯s voice wasbored, ¡°Is the elf woman dead?¡± ¡°The drake crushed her body and tossed it into a boulder. I collected her weapons,¡± I replied indicating the two short des in my belt. He nodded, looking pleased one opponent was handled. The thick evergreens thinned to grassy hills dotted withrge trees. We could now easily see the drake about a mile away circling one tree. Konstantin grinned and sounded ted, ¡°Looks like Sebastian has treed our prey. Let¡¯s get closer, but let the mage do his work.¡± We slowed to a walk and watched the drake circle a two-hundred-foot pear-shaped tree. When we got within a hundred yards, we took cover behind another tree, Konstantin pulling me aside, ¡°Best to remain here in case Sebastian decides to burn down the tree.¡± Sebastian circled the tree, tormenting the summoner taking cover under it. Konstantin suddenly pulled me back hard, pointing into the distance, ¡°Don¡¯t move and hide yourself from that!¡± A creature was still far away but was already bigger than the drake that Sebastian was riding. ¡°Is that a dragon?¡± I asked numbly and in awe while pressing myself down. ¡°Could be a juvenile dragon, but I think it is a wyvern,¡± Konstantin said emotionlessly. Sebastian finally noticed the massive beast, and realized he had turned from predator to prey. Chapter 118: Aerial Ballet Chapter 118: Aerial Ballet The wyvern made the drake look small inparison as they positioned themselves with the blue backdrop. Sebastian turned hard and low as he flew his drake among the scattered trees. The wyvern did not pursue but insteadnded at the base of the tree where the summoner was. Konstantin and I huddled under the lower branches for cover, with a narrow window on the scene in the distance. The summoner emerged from the tree and stood before the wyvern that towered over him. Its serpentine neck got within feet of the brave summoner. ¡°How is that not a dragon?¡± I whispered with some awe and fear. Just the head of the red-burnt colored wyvern wasrger than the summoner. ¡°I would guess that beast has a fifty-foot wing span,¡± Konstantin said studiously. ¡°Dragons can get muchrger. Maybe we will get lucky, and the wyvern will eat the elf and leave my sword,¡± he added with some hope. I was hoping he would eat the Master Mage myself so I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about his pursuit of his brother¡¯s collector. The summoner seemed to converse with the beast before it bolted back into the air after Sebastian and his drake mount. The buffeting wind knocked the summoner to the ground. When the wyvern disappeared over a hill, I asked, ¡°What should we do? If we go after the summoner and the wyvern returns, we will be caught in the open.¡± Konstantin considered and grumbled, ¡°If I had my bow, I could easily hit him from here.¡± I had multiple bows in my dimensional space, but taking one out would reveal to Konstantin the extended size of my space. I did have spare bowstrings in my space that I had forgotten about. The strings were small, and I had recovered enough aether to take them out. I moved the bundle of bowstrings to my hand and was about to hand it to Konstantin when a shriek echoed beyond the hills. Sebastian and his drake came speeding over the hill and targeted the elf. He barely got back under cover of the tree as the drake turned away and rose into the sky. Only seeing the drake, I asked in disbelief, ¡°Did Sebastian defeat the wyvern?¡± My question was answered when the dragonkin appeared again in pursuit of Sebastian. It was clear to see that the drake was faster and more agile than the wyvern. They both took to the skies in a disy of aerial acrobatics. I had to admire Master Mage¡¯s riding skills. He would let the wyvern get near but prevent it from getting too close. The drake even puffed a thin stream of fire at the wyvern, scorching its head slightly on one sh. This only enraged the beast to pursue the fire drake with more intensity. I ced the bowstrings in my pocket. If I gave them to Konstantin, then he might decide to take a shot at the wyvern, and thest thing I wanted was the attention of a fifty-foot-long dragonkin. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the wyvern just breathe fire in retaliation?¡± I asked. Konstantin had an answer, ¡°Wyverns cannot breathe fire. Only dragons and certain drakes.¡± We watched the show through the thin canopy of fall leaves. After ten minutes, Konstantin said, ¡°I think he is trying to wear it out. I am guessing, but it¡¯s muchrger body would tire more quickly.¡±Minutes passed. ¡°Why has he not led it away from here or toward thepany and mage Zyna? I am guessing High Mage Zyna can kill it easily enough,¡± I asked while pressing to the ground. Konstantin had been worried the summoner might see us, so we had both been lying prone and still for thest few minutes. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you the mind of the Master Mage, Eryk,¡± Konstantin said, watching the aerial dance. ¡°But...it looks like he is...that stupid bastard. I think he is trying to dominate its mind.¡± I rolled over to my back to look at the sky instead of craning my neck. The mage would position himself behind the wyvern and then pass close by, but he was not taunting the beast like I had thought earlier. It did look like he was trying to cast a spell...or use a spell form. Maybe Konstantin was right, and he was using mind magic on the creature. ¡°Will he seed? How much longer until thepany gets here?¡± I asked, watching the mage y cat and mouse with the massive dragon-like creature. Konstantin watched the sky and surmised, ¡°It would be quite the prize for him, and he wouldn¡¯t have to give the essence to Zyna. By keeping the battle over the tree, the summoner cannot escape either. Very tactical of Sebastian.¡± I decided the moment was right to hand Konstantin the bowstrings. He looked at them incredulous, ¡°You had these the whole time?¡± I brushed it off, ¡°I just remembered I had them. They were in my dimensional space.¡± ¡°Where did you get these?¡± He asked, pleasantly surprised as he immediately made to string his bow. ¡°Been carrying them around for a while,¡± I said nonmittedly. ¡°Just don¡¯t go shoot at the wyvern and draw attention to us.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do anything so foolish. Do you have any arrows? Most of my fletchings are burnt,¡± he said anxiously. ¡°No, just the strings. Arrows do not fit in my dimensional space.¡± I said as he inspected his nine remaining arrows, pulling the three best out. Konstantin started talking to himself, ¡°One hundred and twenty paces. The wind is light from the left.¡± He notched his bow and studied the summoner under the tree, who was also watching the aerialbat. The summoner did not seem to know what to do with himself; he couldn¡¯t flee, or Sebastian could make another attack against him. The summoner walked two steps to the right to get a better view, and Konstantinunched his arrow. He missed high as the arrow whizzed over the summoner¡¯s head by inches. Konstantin already had a second arrow notched, and evaluating how he missed, heunched the second. The summoner had only turned at the sound of the arrow. The second arrow struck into his arm, pinning it to his side. Konstantin hadunched the third arrow, but the summoner had already fallen to the ground and scurried behind his tree trunk. ¡°Fortuna¡¯s cursed luck. If he had not turned, that arrow would have pierced his heart.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I studied the sky to see if Konstantin¡¯s attack had drawn thebatants¡¯ attention. It looked like they had missed the few seconds of action and were still in their dance. The summoner was slumped against the far side of the tree. ¡°I bet he has a healing potion,¡± I said. ¡°He still would need to pull out that arrow first, and he has no leverage to do so,¡± Konstantin was searching for his remaining arrows, but the fireball had damaged them all. ¡°Look,¡± I nudged Konstantin¡¯s focus skyward. The wyvern was diving down andnded heavily a quarter mile away, well on the other side of the tree the summoner was hiding behind. ¡°We should run¡­¡± ¡°I agree,¡± and Konstantin gained his feet and ran to the summoner. I was going to say we should run back to get thepany. Instead, I had to follow Konstantin in what amounted to a suicide charge if the wyvern spotted us. I thought seriously about not joining him, but my feet took me after him for some reason. It did not take much effort to catch up to him. As I passed him, I said, ¡°If this gets me killed, I will haunt you till the end of time.¡± I reached the summoner first, and he was struggling to remove the arrow. He jolted in surprise, and painced his face at my appearance. I did not hesitate to press the point of my de into his corbone and down into his chest. He weakly grabbed at the sword, trying to stop it as blood oozed out of his mouth because I had pierced the lung. He dropped a potion in his other hand. He was dead before Konstantin reached us. He was breathing heavily, and I took the potion on the ground, ¡°I think he was going to drink this once he got the arrow out.¡± Konstantin smiled as he broke the seal and drank the potion. The effect was immediate as his burned skin healed, king away, and his knee gave an audible pop. While he was healing, I turned my sights to the wyvern. The wyvern was on the ground, and Sebastian was still circling fifty yards overhead. The wyvern watched the drake almost hypnotically and did not look in our direction. Sebastiannded far away, and I could tell his own drake was exhausted. The wyvern appeared to be breathing heavily from the aerial pursuit. Had the Master Mage tamed the beast¡¯s mind? It seemed to be a standoff, the mage assessing whether he had achieved sess and the wyvern staring him down, waiting. Sebastian dismounted and started to walk cautiously toward the wyvern. Shit, he had really done it then. I could see him weaving spell forms between his hands as he approached, probably reinforcing whatever control he had. The wyvern studied him as he stopped about twenty yards away. It lowered its head in a show of submissiveness. Konstantin seemed to notice what was going on for the first time. He had busy freeing the de on the summoner¡¯s hip¡ªKonstantin¡¯s missing runic weapon. I certainly hoped all his tenacity in the chase was not so that he could reim his weapon, but by the euphoric look in his eyes, I guessed that might be the reason. He gruffly said, ¡°Looks like the mage did it. His standing in the Empire will rise if hemands that creature.¡± Sebastian stopped approaching the wyvern, and I could see the confusion on his face even at two hundred yards away. He stepped back as the wyvern raised its head and¡ªsmiled? Sebastian whistled for his mount and turned to run, but he was too far away now from the drake. The wyvern bounded two steps, shaking the earth and swallowing him whole. Blue arcs of defensive magic red in its mouth, but that did not matter in the beast¡¯s powerful jaws. Konstantin elbowed me as I was gawking, ¡°Time to go.¡± I was sickly enthralled with the crunching of bone. The drake charged the greater beast and was quickly mmed to the ground, trapped under its w. It snapped at the wyvern¡¯s leg, but it was helpless. ¡°Eryk!¡± Konstantin hissed, already twenty yards away. He was no longer crippled and moving with his usual speed. I took a step back, and the wyvern turned its head. The eyes told me this creature was not some mindless beast even at this distance. I turned to run and catch up with Konstantin. I heard the shriek of the drake before its life was snuffed out and then a terrible crash. I looked behind me to find the tree that the summoner¡¯s body was under had been knocked over, and the wyvern was studying the body. I had not even extracted my de. ¡°Run faster!¡± I heard Konstantin yell from in front of me. We were a quarter mile from the dense evergreen forest. I was running at my best speed, but visions of the wyvern came down and inhaled me in one bite yed in my mind. Was it odd that both brothers had died to their own overconfident hubris? Somehow, Konstantin was faster than me, and I couldn¡¯t me him for not waiting for me. Did I have enough aether to move the creature¡¯s head into my dimensional space? Maybe, but it was crowded in there. Maybe a cubic yard of space¡ªwhat body part, then? The heart¡ªno, I would be dead before it mattered. It had to be the brain before it swallowed me. That was the only out. I looked behind me, and the dragonkin was taking flight anding after me. I did not doubt that. I told myself not to look and just run faster. The false safety of the pine forest was just steps away. The pine trees were suddenly in a gale of wind in front of me as the wyvernnded, crashing into some branches and shaking the ground as it cut off my escape. The ground had lurched from thending of the multi-ton beast, helping me stop. My heart beat so loud in my mind I couldn¡¯t hear anything. The scene in front of me seemed too surreal. An arrow shattered on the back of the beast¡¯s head. ¡°Konstantin, run!! Don¡¯t worry about me!!¡± I yelled at him even though I could not see him. A second arrow shattered, and the wyvern didn¡¯t even turn around. It just studied me like a mouse. At least the creature had not just crushed me from above. ¡°You prefer to y with your food? Well, bring it on!¡± I said with bravado. No more arrows came, and I hoped Konstantin was running. I did not want him to see this. I just needed the wyvern to get a little closer. A voice echoed in my mind, ¡°You killed Vaeril, my apprentice?¡± Intuitively, I understood that it was not the wyvern but someone talking through the wyvern. My heart thudded, ¡°Traeliorn?¡± I asked, gulping. Shit, if he was inside or controlling the wyvern, would it count as joined aetheric resistance? Would I be able even to use spatial power on the creature¡¯s brain? The voice echoed again, angrier, ¡°Did you kill my apprentice?¡± Therge ck eyes of the wyvern had a depth to them as they studied me. How should I answer the powerful summoner behind the impossibly formidable creature? ¡°Yes.¡± My answer was dry and factual. Even if I said no, he would not let me go. Arge scaled w stepped forward, bringing the head closer on its craning neck. The voice echoed again, ¡°Then legionnaire, know that it was I who sent you to your afterlife for your crime. Traeliorn Kelran, Vaeril¡¯s teacher and friend.¡± The wyvern roared unnecessarily and lunged with its powerful legs, and extended its neck at me to close on me. I focused on the skull¡¯s interior and moved arge piece to my dimensional storage. It was a strong tug-of-war with the creature¡¯s resistance¡ªI immediately knew it was just the creature, not the mage. The struggle hung in time, but I seeded in iming the brain. Unfortunately, the momentum of the wyvern¡¯s lunge mmed into my body. I heard my bones crack, and I was sent flying with a tumult of earth and stone as the beast copsed into the soft earth. My only fortune was I had not been trapped under the body when it struck me. My aether was bottomed out, and I had no potions on my person. I was also in severe shock as I realized my hand didn¡¯t work and my wrist was at the wrong angle. As the pain started to ebb back into my consciousness, my only thought was I had killed a dragon¡ªwell, something that looked like a dragon. Iughed aloud, but the act enhanced the pain throughout my body and caused me to ck out. PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS ONLY POSTED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS PATREON, ROYAL ROAD AND SCRIBBLE HUB. IF YOU ARE VIEWING IT ON ANOTHER SITE IT HAS BEEN STOLEN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. Chapter 119: Broken Chapter 119: Broken I was cold. My body felt like I was left out in the snow naked. I was in the barn that I had arrived in this world. I was naked, and the air was freezing. My skin was goosebumped, and I felt like I was frozen solid, unable to move. I tried to force myself to move, and pain erupted through my whole body. The barn door rattled, and my eyes focused on the light bleeding through the corners. The door suddenly burst into a thousand pieces, and a massive wyvern was perched at the entrance. My eyes shot open, and I stared at the sky. My body felt hot and cold at the same time, and I felt weaker than a mouse. I tried to move, but that was not going to work. The pain was real but hidden behind a curtain of shock. I checked on my aether. I had been unconscious for about an hour based on my aether core recovery. I used my self-healing spell form to explore my injuries. My heart was still pumping, and I was not bleeding anywhere on the outside. My chest cavity had blood from acerated spleen and liver¡ªthe most serious injuries. At least, I assumed that organ was my spleen. I healed that first. I then used as little aether as I could to work over my other damaged organs. I left the broken bones alone for now, as living through this was more important. I had essentially been hit by a bus¡ªnot a speeding bus. If I had not woken up, I would have died. A massive breeze of foul air washed over me. I craned my neck up a little. The wyvern was twenty feet away and still breathing, its chest rising shallowly and falling. Panic and fear welled up, but as my vision focused, its eyes were wide, bloody orbs, and a steady pool of blood wasing out its nostrils. The wyvern¡¯s brain had forgotten to tell the body it was dead. Well, that part of that brain must be in my dimensional space. I rxed on the ground. This was actually good news. Maybe if it was still breathing, I could harvest its essenceter. I still had the essence given to me by Zyna from the hill giant. I reached into my space, brought it into my hand, and immediately dropped it. That wrist was broken and was a swollen mass of blood. I focused on aligning the bones and repairing the damage. While I was at it, I healed some cracked ribs that had been making breathing difficult. Not that I noticed. I did not finish before I ran out of aether, but I could fish in the grass and collect the essence sphere. I had been nning to save this major essence of constitution for Ginger, but I needed it more right now. I ced it in my mouth and savored the tingly feeling spreading throughout my body. It was not going to heal me, but it should minimally help increase my body¡¯s ability to heal. I rxed into the grass, no longer worried I was going to die. Where was Konstantin? How much did he see? He had shot those arrows from quite a distance. It made me feel good that he had not abandoned me until thest possible moment. Once he saw the wyvern lunge at me, he probably assumed I was dead. I waited for my aether to recover with my eyes closed, trying not to fall asleep. The breaths of the wyvern got further and further apart. When I did not hear an exhtion, followed by the foul air of its breath, I moved to get up. Sitting up was not pleasant as I had a lot of healing yet toplete. Standing was not in the cards at the moment as I crawled to the creature¡¯s head. I had enough aether to remove the collector and use it. The head of the wyvern wasrger than a horse, and memories of Sebastian being consumed and chewed like a piece of gum had me hesitate in approaching. Air exhaled from the lungs again, very slowly, but the blood dripping from the nostrils had coagted and was no longer flowing. Leaning against the head, I ced the collector on top like a memorial death crown. I channeled aether into it and stepped back as the azure mist swirled from the body. The massive creature shivered like it was resisting its life force being taken from it. I watched as the collected wobbled slightly, the beast shuddering in its fight against the collector. More essence was drawn than normal¡ªmaybe because it was still alive. An apex essence formed and rolled onto the ground. The beast¡¯s abdominal cavity slowly copsed as it loosed its final breath. It had been holding onto life like any creature would. Now, it was dead. I picked up the unfamiliar sphere¡ªazure blue with white swirls. A two-tone meant it was most likely an essence for a magic affinity. I used the head to help me stand and leaned against the creature while I rested. If Konstantin or thepany found me right now, I would look pretty badass. Of course, walking was going to be a chore. As aether became avable, I started working on my hip joint. The socket where my femur sat in my pelvis was a mess. Thankfully, I did not need to be a doctor to figure things out. I just needed to know where the issue was and direct the healing spell form at it. I took a tentative step. Then another. I healed some ligaments in my knee to eliminate a limp. I collected my helm nearly a hundred feet away. Then went to the dead summoner¡¯s apprentice. It had been almost two hours since I had killed him. I tried the collector anyway, and it did not trigger. Extracting my de from the body took a little work, and I cleaned it in the grass. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I searched his person for another healing potion and found three different potions secured on his belt. All werebeled in elvish, so I was curious to know if they were healing potions. I sent the potions, the collector, the two des from the elf woman, and the apex essence into my dimensional space. I pulled out a canteen and filled it with rum from my space. I sat down next to the dead summoner and drank. It had a mellow sweetness, but I was drinking it more for the alcohol to get the numbness of being drunk. After a few swigs, I offered the summoner some, but he was uninterested. I was waiting for Castile and the others to find me. I switched to water, not wanting to getpletely drunk in case I needed my faculties. I healed injuries but kept enough aether avable in case Traeliorn sent another creature after me. I removed the baron¡¯s son¡¯s sleeping roll at sunset from my space. I weaved my way into the branches of the tree the wyvern had knocked over and set up a ce to sleep. I figured any creature trying to get to me would have to break the branches and wake me. The alcohol made falling asleep easy enough after an extremely stressful day. I woke once during the night to an owl that was curiously sitting on a branch, hooting at me. I tossed a stick at it, and it flew away to leave me in peace. I was up with the morning sun and continued my healing until I could move without pain. Zyna must have decided a fight with the wyvern was too difficult without the drakes, as they had yet to arrive. Konstantin would have told her that Sebastian and I were made into wyvern snacks. I started to backtrack from the direction we had chased the elves. I searched the ravine to see if thepany hade and searched it. There were no footprints other than mine and the drakes. Thepany had note looking for me. They must have assumed I was dead. I climbed out of the ravine, found a broad stream, and cleaned myself. I had been bathed in earth and stone when the wyvern came up short of ending my life. I remained on alert as Konstantin had taught me as I contemted. I might be able to sneak away. If everyone thought I was dead, then it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to ditch my legionnaire armor and make my way¡­ Where would I go? East was the Bartiradians. North and west were the orcs. South, there was a massive and dangerous mountain range. But on the other side of that range were the older kingdoms of Desia. A deep voice intoned from behind a rock, ¡°Eryk, is that really you?¡± I almost jumped in surprise but didn¡¯t. I just pretended that I had heard the goliath sneak up on me. ¡°You know, Maveith, you shouldn¡¯t disturb someone when they are bathing. I thought you were a goblining to steal my boots.¡± I looked up at the goliath on the rocks twenty yards away. He narrowed his eyes, ¡°You did not hear me, and I would not sound like a skulking goblin if you did hear me.¡± I shrugged at his annoyance at beingpared to a goblin. ¡°So, where is everyone?¡± I asked conversationally. Maveith walked cautiously down to the water but stood a dozen paces away. He sat on a stone and studied me, ¡°Konstantin told everyone that a wyvern ate Master Mage Sebastian and you as well. Zyna was not prepared to fight a wyvern the size Konstantin described. Especially without support in the air.¡± ¡°So, are they camped nearby then?¡± I inquired while putting on my damp clothes. ¡°They headed back to Sobral. Konstantin said you killed the summoner we were pursuing.¡± He finally seemed to believe I was not a ghost, and he rxed and sat on a boulder. ¡°Why are you here then?¡± I asked. Maveith¡¯s brow furrowed, ¡°I was going to see if there was anything left of you and return it to the earth.¡± ¡°You came to bury my body parts?¡± Iughed at the absurdity of it. Maveith did not see the humor. ¡°Mateo said you were too lucky to get killed by a dragon look-alike. He said bringing you down would have taken a real dragon. Benito even started a betting pool that you would walk out of the woods smelling like you had just taken a bath.¡± He looked me over, ¡°I guess he was right.¡± I justughed again. ¡°How far behind thepany are we?¡± I asked as I finished dressing and feeling much better without dirt in every crevice of my body. Maveith stood as well, ¡°They left this morning, so they are maybe half a day ahead now, but Zyna had them moving at a fast pace. I marched with them until they took a break and wandered off into the woods after telling vius where I was going. He said he would give an excuse for my absence. I hoped to bury your remains and reach them during the night.¡± ¡°Well, thank you, I guess. We should get moving then,¡± I stood and started walking, and Maveith fell in beside me. There was a silence for a long time before his curiosity overwhelmed him. ¡°What happened?¡± I had been waiting for the question. ¡°You remember the female manticore?¡± ¡°You poisoned the wyvern?¡± Maveith said in disbelief. ¡°Yes, I did the same thing to the wyvern that I did to the manticore,¡± I said truthfully. Maveith was surprised but seemed to believe me. After a time, I asked, ¡°Maveith, when you left Stone Mountain Ind, you must have been to a lot of ces in your travels. Tell me about them. Why did you finally choose to live in the woods north of Sobral.¡± Maveith did not want to be reminded of the reason he fled his people, but he eventually answered. ¡°The truth was this was as far away as I could get, and living alone in the woods seemed like a suitable punishment. I spent most of my time on ships getting here but did explore some of the more interesting port cities.¡± I listened to Maveith talk enthusiastically about the cities he visited as we walked to sunset. We camped together in a small shallow cave. I felt rtively well rested, so I took the first watch. Neptune¡¯s Tear blue light illuminated the woods below. Tomorrow, we would catch up with thepany if we push. How was I going to exin my miraculous survival to them? Chapter 120: Revenant Chapter 120: Revenant In the morning, we made our way to catch up to thepany. I was having some trepidation about answering questions about my miraculous survival. No one had seen the dead wyvern, and I probably should not have told Maveith I had poisoned the beast as he had trouble with the idea of lying. I also should not have healed all my injuries. Maybe if I returned like I had been put through a meat grinder, they would have thought my escape was more probable. I paused to check the ground and read the passing of thepany, ¡°Maveith, these prints are dry near the stream. I don¡¯t think we are going to catch them today. They are going to beat us back to Sobral. Do you want to detour to your cabin?¡± Maveith contemted before answering, ¡°We can make the Citadel by dark. I think perhaps we should do that. Yourpany will want to know you are alive as soon as possible.¡± I thought I would be fine with Castile and the others in thepany, but I was slightly worried about High Mage Zyna¡¯s reaction to seeing me alive after facing a wyvern. She was obviously much more important and had more sway as a First Citizen. I didn¡¯t argue with Maveith, and we slightly increased our pace to make the Citadel by dark. In the end, we arrived a few hours after dark. The gate guards let us through after conferring with their captain. I assumed word of my return would reach Tasevia, the Duchess¡¯ gate captain. I went to the northwest tower to sleep in the bed there. The four beds we had hauled up here were still there, and vius and Konstantin upied two. Only a dim glowstone lit the room. I backed out into the stairway and stopped Maveith froming up the stairs. I whispered, ¡°Maveith, I want to y a little joke on Konstantin. Can you help?¡± Maveith did not look like he wanted to y along, so I added, ¡°Just pretend you cannot see or hear me. I want Konstantin to think I am haunting him from beyond.¡± Maveith processed what I said, ¡°Like an apparition?¡± I nodded and motioned him to be quieter as his deep voice echoed around the stone stairs. I had Maveith go in first, and both vius and Konstantin stirred to see the goliath before getting up. Konstantin mumbled, ¡°Did you find anything left, Maveith?¡± I moved into the archway of the stairs and just stood there. Maveith was quiet, trying to decide what to say. He rumbled, ¡°I did not find a dead body.¡± Konstantin rolled over to look at Maveith, ¡°The wyvern ate him. I told you would find nothing.¡± I wanted to jump up and down and draw Konstantin¡¯s attention to me but remained quiet. vius said in a low tone, ¡°Your loyalty and bravery in looking for your friend is admirable, goliath. Get some rest. The pain of loss will be temporary.¡± That was surprisingly nice for vius to say. Maybe the news of Sebastian¡¯s death had loosened him up a little. I scuffed my feet and nearly broke into a grin as Konstantin rolled over to look in the archway. His eyes slowly widened in surprise and fear. He rolled off the bed and was drawing his runic de, ¡°Revenant!!¡± He yelled. vius turned and reached for his own weapon. ¡°Maveith, arm yourself!¡± vius yelled as the stationary goliath. Maveith turned slowly to face the door, ¡°What? I don¡¯t see anything unusual.¡± The grin on his face told me he was enjoying this. On the other hand, I was doubting my joke was going over as well as I had hoped. Both experienced legionnaires looked ready to kill me. vius was already notching an arrow. I put up my hands, ¡°Don¡¯t kill me. I have had a really bad few days.¡± ¡°Maveith, did you bring back an animated corpse,¡± Konstantin rasped angrily at the goliath. ¡°What? I don¡¯t see a corpse. Is something wrong?¡± Maveith said mechanically, still enjoying the game and pretending I was not here. ¡°Joke is over, Maveith,¡± I said nervously. ¡°They might actually kill me if they think I am some undead creature.¡± Maveith nodded in agreement, ending the joke. ¡°I didn¡¯t find a dead Eryk. I found a live Eryk,¡± Maveith said triumphantly, pointing at me. Konstantin looked incredulous at Maveith, ¡°Impossible. Eryk or whatever you are, move to that wall.¡± He pointed with his sword. ¡°vius, go get Castile,¡± he ordered. After I moved out of the stairway, vius rushed off to get Castile. I was seeing the downside of my joke going awry. After vius left, Konstantin did not rx; instead, he moved to the stairs. ¡°What happened then? I saw the wyvern lunge at you. You were as good as dead.¡± This was a lot harder than I thought it would be in my mind. ¡°The Elven High Mage Traeliorn was controlling the wyvern. That was how he fooled Master Mage Sebastian into thinking he had control of the wyvern. He talked to me through the creature.¡± Konstantin¡¯s eyes narrowed some. ¡°And how are you alive? Did you bargain with him?¡± Well, at least Konstantin was not calling me a liar¡ªa traitor, yes¡ªliar, no. I leaned against the wall to appear rxed. ¡°Why don¡¯t we wait till Castile gets here so I don¡¯t have to exin things twice?¡± That would also make sure I didn¡¯t actually change my story. Konstantin just turned to Maveith and said, ¡°Where did you find him?¡± Maveith answered, ¡°I was following the trail to the wyvern, and I found him bathing in a shallow stream on the way. He said I sounded like a goblin when I snuck up on him.¡± Maveith shook his head, still upset that I said he sounded like a goblin. This content has been uwfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Konstantin rubbed his forehead like he was getting a headache. He still had his runic sword in his hand, ready to defend himself. During his time in the Hounds, I knew he hunted various creatures that could change shape, so I was not too surprised he was skeptical I was me. He studied me, ¡°If it is you, Eryk, I am d you are alive, but things are not good. Master Mage Sebastian was a very important mage in the Empire. A favorite of the Emperor. His death is going to have consequences.¡± Castile arrived in a nightshirt with her boots on a momentter. She was breathing heavily like she had run here. Her eyes went wide, ¡°Dragon shit. It¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get excited. I am still not sure it is actually our lost legionnaire. He might be an undead or a shapeshifter,¡± Konstantin said doubtfully. His voice wasced with skepticism as he added, ¡°He has not told me how he survived.¡± Castile looked me up and down, ¡°Well, I am sure it will be an interesting story. Let me confirm he is not an undead.¡± Konstantin¡¯s grip tightened on his sword as Castile closed her eyes. vius was in the archway for the stairs and was also ready to respond. When Castile opened her eyes, she spoke, ¡°Not an undead, and his aether core is familiar. I think it is legionnaire Eryk. Now, Eryk, please exin.¡± Her eyes danced in happiness or maybe amusement. I couldn¡¯t tell. Konstantin rxed visibly, which I was d about. ¡°The summoner was controlling the wyvern. Not the apprentice summoner we were chasing, but Traeliorn Kelran.¡± Castile¡¯s eyes rose skeptically. I added, ¡°The mage talked to me through the wyvern.¡± Castile settled into a chair, falling heavily and going into thought, ¡°It would make sense. We learned the wyvern was attacking a vige far to the north. It suddenly stopped and flew hard south. The apprentice must havemunicated with Traeliorn and asked for help.¡± Castile was thinking hard. She finally looked up. ¡°What happened to the wyvern then?¡± ¡°It is dead.¡± I knew they would want more than that, ¡°I poisoned it when it got close. It was so close I could touch it. I ced poison in its mouth, and it didn¡¯t even realize it.¡± I looked at Konstantin, vius, and then Maveith to my left. Castile knew I could heal, but they did not. ¡°I was mortally wounded as it crushed me in its death throes.¡± I thought about lying and saying I had healing potions, but that would lead to more questions. ¡°I was barely able to heal myself¡ªit took me over half a day since I have so little aether.¡± Castile nodded slowly. Konstantin was exasperated, ¡°You have a healing spell form?¡± I was surprised Konstantin was more angry about not knowing I had a spell form than the fact I just said I used poison. Castile gave him a sharp look, ¡°He can only heal himself.¡± A look of realization came across his face as he pieced things together from the past. He whispered to himself, ¡°The aqueduct¡­the run to the capital¡­¡± Castile focused on me, asking hopefully, ¡°Did you get Sebastian¡¯s collector?¡± ¡°Did I what?¡± I asked, perplexed. Then I remembered that Sebastian had a collector. I had not thought about searching inside the wyvern for Sebastian¡¯s body. ¡°No, I did not. It was not on his body when the wyvern ate him. It must have been on his drake. The wyvern killed the drake, too. It might still be there.¡± Konstantin sheathed his de, realizing how foolish he looked holding a sword at me. ¡°I can get there and back in three days,¡± he volunteered, his eyes still on me. I knew he also wanted to verify my story. Castile considered Konstantin¡¯s offer, and vius extended his services, saying, ¡°I can go with him.¡± Great, there were two of them that wanted to verify my story. ¡°Yes. Recover Sebastian¡¯s body for the Emperor. Get the collector if you find it. I will send a message to High Mage Zyna that the wyvern has been killed, and we are attempting to recover Sebastian¡¯s body,¡± Castile said, still thinking. ¡°The High Mage is not in Sobral?¡± I questioned. I probably had too much relief in my voice and tightened up. ¡°No, High Mage Zyna rode hard to a portal to get back to the capital. She needs to exin and ount for Master Mage Sebastian¡¯s death,¡± Konstantin interjected. ¡°Will Octavian cause you trouble again?¡± I asked, concerned. ¡°Unlikely,¡± Castile said. ¡°High Mage Zyna was in charge of the hunting party. The fault is with her. If they choose to investigate and call a Tribunal, you and Konstantin may have to go before the Truthseekers.¡± Even from the grave, Sebastian was still causing me anxiety. I nodded to Castile. Konstantin started packing for his expedition. vius joined him. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± I asked, still feeling under the microscope. I had a feeling Konstantin and vius were going to go over the battle site with a fine tootb. I did not leave any evidence that I could remember. Castile stood and smiled, ¡°Rest, Eryk. I am sure thepany is going to be shocked to see you at breakfast. Once Konstantin and vius return, we will take thepany to the Ruins of Caelora.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± escaped my mouth before I could hold it in. ¡°The Schr found enough evidence the dungeon is in the city?¡± Castile arched her eyebrow and smirked, ¡°You are remarkedly well informed. Yes, there is a dungeon near Caelora called the Shimmering Labyrinth. Maybe it is even inside the city. Schr Favian is still not sure if it is viable. It was still being delved when the city fell some fifteen hundred years ago, so we assume it is still there.¡± ¡°How are we going to deal with the specters?¡± I said, concerned. I had a nightmare about ourpany being ambushed inside the city, and now it wasing true. Castile smiled tightly, obviously not happy, ¡°The Duchess has managed to get fifty runic arrows, three runic des, and a kettle of souls.¡± I thought the Duchess was poor. That sounded like a major investment. While I was pondering this, Castile left the room. Konstantin and vius left in the middle of the night, saying they couldn¡¯t waste time as there was always a chance someone could loot the site. In the morning, I went to breakfast in the barracks early. Lirkin was preparing thepany¡¯s breakfast, and I hid in a hallway and waited. A lot of solemn, whispered conversations were happening at the table. When everyone was sitting at the table and eating, including Castile, Adrian, and Delmar, I walked out and sat at the table next to Benito, ¡°Can you pass the potatoes?¡± I asked innocently. ¡°Sure thing, Eryk,¡± Benito said, handing me the potato bowl after taking two for himself. Benito kept eating away, but silence slowly spread throughout the dining table as all eyes focused on me. Delmar and Adiran¡¯s grins told me they had already been informed of my resurrection. Benito was oblivious as he kept eating until Felix elbowed him. ¡°What was that for?¡± Benito whined while rubbing his ribs. Felix said with all seriousness, ¡°A dead man is sitting next to you.¡± With all eyes on me, I took a bite of the potato, ¡°I can assure you. The rumor of my demise has been greatly exaggerated.¡± Benito fell backward off the bench as realization struck him. Normally, thepany would haveughed at Benito¡¯s misfortune, but instead, silence hung in the room as I enjoyed my potato. PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS ONLY POSTED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS PATREON, ROYAL ROAD AND SCRIBBLE HUB. IF YOU ARE VIEWING IT ON ANOTHER SITE IT HAS BEEN STOLEN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. Chapter 121: Flavius and Konstantin (Epilogue) Chapter 121: vius and Konstantin (Epilogue) The early morning sun was showing, but the forest was in a mild fog ofte fall as two men in crimson armor jogged through the woods. One was scouting left and the other right as they progressed in harmony. vius, on the right, asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t know he could heal, did you?¡± Konstantin did not say anything for a mile as they raced toward the site where the wyvern had killed Master Mage Sebastian. Slightly out of breath, he finally responded to vius¡¯s question. ¡°No, I did not know he could heal himself.¡± There was silence between them for a time as Konstantin was trying to remember the battle at the aqueduct and reying Eryk¡¯s actions in his mind while maintaining his alertness. vius asked another question, ¡°Where is Eryk from? Someone told me Tsinga, but he is awfully pale and tall for being from that southern kingdom.¡± Konstantin had them halt with a hand motion and take cover as a giant elk grazing appeared ahead. It raised its massive rack to study the two men. Elks were dangerous this time of year as they were rutting and fiercely defending their territory. They moved to the right in unison to avoid the beast. ¡°He is from Tsinga¡ªsome backwater vige. Appearances do not mean much. There are always outliers,¡± Konstantin said, defending Eryk. When the two men paused to refill their canteens, Konstantin had a question for vius, ¡°Why did you want toe with me so badly? Do you owe Sebastian¡¯s family something?¡± vius coughed on the water he was drinking, ¡°No.¡± He appeared to look over his shoulder like he might be heard, ¡°I am d he is dead, and seeing the body myself will quell some bad dreams. He had no family besides his brother¡ªat least none I am aware of. I think a few illegitimate children are on his estate, but all his property will revert to Duke Ocavtian as it is in his province.¡± Konstantin paused as he processed the information, ¡°I did not know that was where his estate was located. I heard he had quite the menagerie of creatures.¡±vius was removing his boots to check his feet, ¡°Durandus regrly visited his brother. He raised the drakes for the Emperor¡¯s Dragon Legion. Fire, ice, and smoke drakes mostly.¡± ¡°Smoke drakes?¡± Konstantin questioned the unfamiliar creature. ¡°Smaller ck drakes that are too small to ride,¡± vius informed him. ¡°They have shiny dark gray-ck scales with red glowing eyes. They breathe a dark, fiery cloud of ck smoke. Malicious creatures that suffocate their prey to kill them. Sebastian only had a pair of them but used them to hunt, relishing in the drake¡¯s manner of killing.¡± ¡°I heard that Master Mage Sebastian was malicious,¡± Konstantin said. vius grunted in affirmation, ¡°He has a pack of dire wolves that he hunts with as well. Mage Durandus joined him once when we hunted down a carriage with a baron and his family that betrayed the Emperor. I tell the truth when I say Sebastian was smiling as his pets tore apart the man and his family. He took pleasure in their cries of pain.¡± No more words were spoken as they soon continued their run. It was just before sunset when they arrived in familiar terrain. Konstantin had them pause. ¡°The mage and hispanion dropped their packs here when they ran. They should be around here somewhere.¡± The two men circled the area and approached the ravine. ¡°Did Eryk take the packs?¡± vius asked. ¡°No, maybe some goblins found them, but I do not see any tracks. Let us check down in the ravine. The summoner¡¯spanion was killed by Sebastian¡¯s drake down there.¡± Konstantin decided. There was still enough light of the day to see as the two experienced men searched the area. The prints of therge drake were easily identified. ¡°Dried blood on this rock. Eryk said the drake bit and tossed the smaller elf into the rocks. It was a female, probably a Ranger with some fire magic.¡± His hand ran unconsciously up to face. ¡°Curious, there is no body or signs of it being eaten or dragged away by scavengers. Maybe the elf had a healing potion. Eryk probably forgot to confirm the elf was dead.¡± viusmented. ¡°I was thinking the same thing. Eryk still needs training,¡± Konstantin said. He was carefully moving dried leaves aside to look at prints underneath. ¡°The drake took to the air, and only Eryk left the ravine. But if the elf were a Ranger, she would have concealed her tracks.¡± He theorized. They had spent too much time investigating the ravine, and Konstantin decided they would camp the ravine tonight. They split their time on the watch and were up at the first hint of sun to go to the site where the wyvern and drake had battled. The wyverny at the edge of the pine forest, as Eryk has described. The smell of death hung lightly in the air and got stronger the closer they stepped cautiously closer. Both men were apprehensive about approaching the corpse of the gargantuan creature. They circled from a distance, and viusmented, ¡°I don¡¯t see any wounds on the creature.¡± ¡°Eryk said he used poison to kill it. Oblivion pills,¡± Konstantin grunted out. ¡°Oblivion pills? Four or five can kill a man, but a wyvern,¡± vius said skeptically. ¡°He said he used a hundred,¡± Konstantin reminded him, but his voice also sounded uncertain. He was having trouble seeing the wyvern, pausing over Eryk to gloat while the summoner controlled the creature. They both found where Eryk hady after getting rammed by the wyvern, his dried blood evident in the earth and grass. Neither spoke as they read the terrain independently. Konstantin finally said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and check the drake and see if the collector is there. Should be on the other side of that felled tree.¡± When they reached the tree, the dead elf summoner hadrge maggots crawling all over his body. ¡°Eryk killed the summoner?¡± vius asked apprehensively, kneeling to inspect the body. ¡°He did not hesitate if that is what you are insinuating. I disabled him with an arrow, and Eryk killed him before he could heal himself,¡± Konstantin noted Eryk¡¯s prints around the site and a legionnaire canteen. He picked up the empty legion canteen and sniffed the contents, his face growing wide in surprise. vius looked up at his shock. Konstantin smiled, shaking his head, handing him the canteen, ¡°Alcohol, probably rum. I guess Eryk had it in his dimensional space for a special asion. He said it took him half a day to heal himself. He probably needed it to kill the pain,¡± Konstantin guessed. vius searched the elf and handed some folded papers to Konstantin. Neither could read Elvish, so Konstantin just secured them. Konstantin muttered to himself about Eryk¡¯s failure to find the documents. They both walked to the drake. The throat had been ripped out, and the body was chewed on in many ces. ¡°Coyotes, wolves, or another scavenger,¡± vius noted the corpse had been scavenged. ¡°They are probably watching us as they are not done with it.¡± ¡°They chose to scavenge this one rather than the wyvern as the scales were probably too difficult to get through.¡± Konstantin thought, ¡°Maybe the poison Eryk used scared them off the wyvern carcass as well.¡± vius nodded in understanding. They started to work the drake over to get the saddle bags underneath. As they worked, viusmented, ¡°I heard the poison barb on the wyvern tail is a most deadly poison, and they are immune to it. Do you really think even one hundred oblivion pills could kill a beast that size?¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Konstantin grunted as he finally got therge saddle bag free. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Eryk doesn¡¯t strike me as the type of person who thinks things through but has Fortuna sitting on his shoulder even when he is taking a shit.¡± vius smirked slightly but erased the expression just as quickly as it appeared. Konstantin was already digging through the pack and pulling out the collector. He had a big smile on his face, and it looked undamaged. vius took the pack and emptied the remaining items, going through the contents: camping supplies, two spell books wrapped in oiled hide, and some coins. ¡°What should we do with these,¡± he indicated everything on the ground. Konstantin was packing the collector and looked over. ¡°Castile would have us split the coins, but still, we will give them to her first. She will probably want the magic books. Any essences?¡± vius searched the pouch with the coins again, ¡°No. I guess he consumed them as he got them. I know he rarely rewarded his legionaries with essences. I saw him give a few essences to this beast before, though,¡± he kicked the mutted fire drake. ¡°His collector is not very efficient, rarely yielding an essence from smaller creatures. I remember the two mage brothers arguing about it all the time when they were together. Sebastian was always envious of Durandus¡¯ dungeon collector. One of the best in the Empire. Strange how it disappeared.¡± vius nced sideways, judging Konstantin¡¯s reaction, but he had none. ¡°Well, this is better than having no collector. We still need to retrieve the body.¡± Both men looked over at the wyvern carcass. When they got closer, vius walked to the head and inspected it, ¡°Looks like a lot of blood dried and pooled here, maybe from the mouth or nostrils? Can obviation pills do that?¡± ¡°Lots of poisons can destroy organs and cause bleeding.¡± Said off-handedly. ¡°I think I will ask an alchemist if obvilion pills can cause something like this,¡± vius said contemtively. He was studying Konstantin for a reaction but once again Konstantin did not seem concerned. Konstantin had his enchanted de out and was cutting into the throat of the dead wyvern. Grunting, he noted, ¡°Pity we did not have more men here to harvest this creature. It might have solved the Duchess¡¯ coin problems.¡± ¡°Unlikely, this is the Emperor¡¯snd. She couldn¡¯t im it,¡± vius said. Konstantin nced at him sidelong, ¡°How many times has Sebastian not reported the facts about harvests and essences?¡± vius huffed a shortugh and shrugged, ¡°Point taken.¡± Magemanders have always had a lot of leeway in the Empire. ¡°Some, not all,¡± Konstantin said tersely. Konstantin worked his de from the chest to the abdomen; working the de between scales and cutting the hide was difficult work. He then had to fight through muscles and fascia to get to the organs. As Konstantin worked, vius continued to explore around the creature. He saw movement on the edge of the woods and prepared his bow, ¡°Konstantin, a few wolves are watching us. Don¡¯t think they will bother us.¡± A few minutester, the wolves were gone, ¡°I know wyvern hide is prized for leather bindings on books and cloaks. Should we take some?¡± ¡°You can if you want to spend the time, vius, go ahead. I am already not looking forward to carrying back Sebastian¡¯s body as it is,¡± Konstantin grumbled as he was arm deep in the abdominal cavity. The cold liver came out first, blood still flowing as it had not coagted without ess to air. This turned Konstanin¡¯s arms, armor, and clothes red as he had to clear the massive liver away to reach the bloated stomach. vius did not volunteer to help as he was watching the treeline and was still trying to figure out exactly what had happened here that allowed Eryk to escape. Konstantin reached the stomach and cut into the rubbery lining, and he dodged as a squirt of stomach bile was expelled from his incision. He made more holes to drain the yellow bile and partially digested contents. The air smelled putrid as he held in his gag reflex. He avoided touching the bile and finally cut a long line from the top to the bottom. A small wave ofpressed bones and flesh spewed out onto the ground, emptying the stomach as the lower abdominal cavity rxed in a swoosh and hiss. The acidic air made Konstantin¡¯s eyes water as he worked. vius walked around to look at the mess. There was more than one body in the mess. ¡°That one with the dark blue robes is Sebastian. He really is dead. Would never have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes.¡± The two men took to extracting the body from the mess. Two children, a man, and half a horse, were in partial phases of digestion mixed in the ball. Most of Sebastion¡¯s flesh and clothes sluffed off as theyid out the body. Konstantin noted, ¡°The wyvern was attacking a vige before it flew here. Guess these were some of the victims.¡± ¡°Should we take the artificed items?¡± vius asked, indicating Sebastian¡¯s body. He had two bright gold rings, one on each hand, and a thick silver ne. ¡°These all look like dungeon artifacts.¡± They both knew if that was true, they would be worth hundreds of gold each, if not more. ¡°We will pack them for Castile. If they are registered with the Collegium Schrium, they maye looking for them,¡± Konstantin said while removing the three pieces. ¡°What does that mean?¡± vius asked, confused. ¡°Some powerful artifacts are documented with the Emperor¡¯s College. If you have no descendants or family, they be the property of the Emperor,¡± Konstantin informed vius. ¡°Part of the job of the Hounds is to track down these artifacts for the good of the Empire.¡± Konstantin also knew sometimes the Empire made sure there were no descendants to pass an artifact to, either through misfortune or the courts not recognizing them as a rtion to the artifact¡¯s previous owner. He cleaned off each ring and the ne with water from his canteen and ced them in his pack. Thest thing they had to do was prepare the body of Sebastian for transport. ¡°We should have brought the goliath to carry the body back,¡± vius said, not envying the task of carrying the dissolving corpse. ¡°Can I borrow your sword? I want a souvenir from the wyvern¡ªjust a tooth.¡± Konstantin looked at his de. He had just gotten it back and did not want to loan it to vius, but they had worked well together so far. He had also spoken more words today than in the entire past week. He handed the runic weapon to vius. vius turned to work on the jaw, ¡°I wanted to let you know, Konstantin, that Sebastian sent me to see if Eryk had his brother¡¯s collector.¡± Konstantin was immediately on guard by the statement but didn¡¯t show it. He stepped back half a step, pretending to work on preparing for the return. ¡°And?¡± He asked, unconcerned. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter now. The bastard is dead, but I think Eryk has it,¡± vius said as he was cutting into the gums. ¡°He is smart enough to know when not to use it, but it is the only thing that makes sense. Nothing in the swamp would have taken it.¡± ¡°They searched his space when you were all questioned at the Mage Tribunal concerning Durandus¡¯ death,¡± Konstantin said cautiously. ¡°Yes, but Eryk was not with us the entire time. When we got back to the city, he went and took a bath,¡± vius said, causing Konstantin to chuckle at Eryk¡¯s love of being clean. vius pressed, ¡°So he could have stashed it somewhere before and retrieved it after the tribunal.¡± ¡°Does it matter if he has it now?¡± Konstantin asked seriously but was considering a lot of things now. But Konstantin already knew the collector was one of the artifacts that the College of Schrs would want back with both mage brothers dead. It was a collector made by a dungeon, much better than ones artificed by human hands. One that would have to be returned to the Emperor if no other family members imed it. vius shrugged, ¡°No, I guess not,¡± he got both hands on arge tooth and started wiggling it free with all his body weight. The tooth was ten inches long, giving him leverage. Blood flowed from the mouth as he worked. It finally popped and started to move. It still took twenty minutes, and the help of the runic weapon to free the tooth. vius returned the runic de, and Konstantin rxed his guard. It had been in the back of his mind that vius might use it on him. Sweaty and tired from the effort, vius sat on the ground inspecting his prize, ¡°I will send this to my daughter and tell her that her father slew a dragon,¡± he said, smiling. Konstantin nodded, but taking the credit for someone else¡¯s kill was something he would never do. The pair were soon headed back. Each of them had half of Sebastion¡¯s body on their backs, wrapped in an oiled tarp. When the body reached the capital, Konstantin knew that the Emperor would call on a Necromancer to talk to the deceased Master Mage to confirm how he died. It should help High Mage Zyna if there were any doubt she yed a role in his death. As they jogged, vius had pieced several things together. The wyvern had lunged at legionnaire Eryk and just died. It had crashed into him and tossed him a good distance after colliding with him. No poison killed instantly like that. That left only magic. He doubted Eryk was a powerful mage in disguise. If he were a powerful mage, joining the Legion of the Lion wouldn¡¯t make any sense. That meant he must have a powerful artifact on him that killed the wyvern. With Sebasiton dead, he had no one to ry his assumption to. He looked at Konstantin, who ran a few steps ahead to the left. Konstantin worked for a Praetorian Guard. Maybe he could use this information to get in the graces of his own Praetorian Master. END OF BOOK 2 PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS ONLY POSTED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS PATREON, ROYAL ROAD AND SCRIBBLE HUB. IF YOU ARE VIEWING IT ON ANOTHER SITE IT HAS BEEN STOLEN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. Chapter 122: Good Samaritan Chapter 122: Good Samaritan As thepany registered the disbelief of my presence, they came by to p me on the back¡ªnot gently¡ªand congratte me once again for a miraculous survival. I think the ps were to make sure I was actually here and not an illusion. With the wee done, I started eating breakfast in earnest. I was pretty sure Firth started whispering a new nickname for me around the table: The Revenant. He thought it was funny, but I did not. Konstantin had called me that before he almost attacked me. Brutus informed me that a revenant was an undead creature that rose from its grave to avenge itself. As the excitement of my return from the dead once again ebbed, Castile got everyone¡¯s attention, ¡°At this point, it is safe to say Fortuna is watching over Eryk. We are going to need her supervision. We leave for the Elven Ruins of Caelora tomorrow after Konstantin and vius return.¡± Mateo was the first to break his focus off me, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the ruins we passed on that old road? The one filled with ghosts?¡± Castile nodded, ¡°Specters, not ghosts. We are going to explore the ruins and look for the entrance to a dungeon mentioned in the books recovered from the ruins a long time ago.¡± Surprisingly, Benito asked a smart question: ¡°Would we get another dungeon discovery fee from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild if we find it?¡± Delmar stepped forward, ¡°If we find it, yes. But most likely, any reward would be dyed. The Duchess needs to use the information to barter with the Emperor to add the surroundingnds, and we would also have to open the trade road.¡± Firth groaned, ¡°We will have to take care of that pack of dire wolves then.¡± Delmar affirmed the announcement, ¡°Yes, the dire wolves will need to be handled, but only after we confirm the dungeon exists and is viable.¡±¡°How are we going to kill the specters? Only Delmar and Konstantin have runic weapons,¡± someone asked from the table far to my right. Castile couldn¡¯t contain a smile, ¡°The Duchess called in some favors. I have twenty runic arrows for ze, and fifteen each for Pavel and vius. Delmar has been given a runic long sword, and I have two more to assign.¡± Those three were thepany¡¯s best archers, so her division of arrows made sense. Adrian stepped forward, ¡°Those two des will be wielded by the best swordsmen among you lot.¡± Everyone started eyeing everyone else, trying to figure out who that would be. ¡°Should have gotten runic spears,¡± Firthmented loudly enough for everyone to hear. He was an excellent spearman and average swordsman in thepany. Adrian snapped at him, ¡°What we have are des, Firth, and we are thankful for them. This evening, we will have everyone on the training grounds to contest for the two des.¡± That got ripples of excitement from the table. Any type ofpetition was wee¡ªespecially one with a reward at the end. ¡°We also have a kettle of souls, men. It can permanently banish a specter so it cannote back to hinder us again,¡± Castile added emphatically to encourage everyone. I don¡¯t think the men knew that the specters regenerated over time in the city. Being able to vanquish them permanently was a huge boon. Adrian announced to the growing fervor of conversation, ¡°You have the remainder of the day off. Rest and enjoy your time in the city. It may be a few weeks before we see theforts of walls again.¡± Firth added, ¡°At least walls that are not manned by the spirits of the dead.¡± Hisedic delivery gotughs from everyone as they made their way out. Brutus came to talk with me, ¡°Can I buy the Revenant a drink in the city?¡± I rolled my eyes and hoped this nickname disappeared as quickly as thest one had. We walked together to the establishment in the city that the other men favored. Brutus told me the ale tasted foul but was strong, and the food was decent. As we entered, I noted it was also favored by all the city and citadel guards our men had been training. We found a table, and a woman came by, and Brutus said, ¡°Two specials and two ales.¡± He leaned into me eagerly, ¡°So tell me how you escaped a dragon.¡± ¡°Not much to tell. It was not a true dragon, anyway,¡± I paused. I was not going to tell Brutus I could heal. ¡°I was injured but was lucky as the elven summoner Konstantin had struck down with an arrow had a healing potion.¡± That reminded me that I had three potions that needed to be identified by the Schr. ¡°I was nearly killed but was able to heal. The wyvern¡ªwas exhausted from fighting Sebastion. It just lost its train of thought in the fight, and I prevailed.¡± I smiled at the confused Brutus by the bullshit story. He was expecting some hero¡¯s tale, but I was no hero. We sipped ale, waiting for the food as I deflected Brutus¡¯ questions about how I prevailed. ¡°Did Quentin have a family?¡± I asked after the Legionnaire, who the hill giant had killed. It was an attempt to steer the conversation away from me. Brutus was clearly frustrated at my storytelling capabilities. ¡°Quentin?¡± Brutus recalled him with a frown as he had been one of Durandus¡¯ men with Brutus. ¡°No, well, no wife or kids. His parents owned a few sheep farms outside a city in the western Empire. I think they were well off. He joined the Legion to learn to fight and serve the Emperor.¡± Death wasmonce, and besides an honoring of the dead, they were generally not discussed again among the men after falling in battle. The food was brought out, and it was a small pie. Brutus paid arge copper for both of us. It was some fatty meat with carrots in gravy inside a thick crust. It was good, and we paused our conversation. After the meal, I decided to go for a ride, and Brutus followed me to the stables, still asking unanswered questions. I found Ginger in the stables, and she was upset I had left her for so long. At least, that is what I assumed, as she kept pushing her head into my chest strongly and pushing me back. ¡°Fine, girl. We can go out for a ride. After the ride, an apple is in your future.¡± She snorted an affirmative, and I guessed she missed the apples more than me. I saddled Ginger, and Brutusughed at me for talking to a horse. But really, I was trying to get away from him and his incessant questions. ¡°Eryk, have fun on your ride. I will see you tonight when I gain ownership of one of the runic des,¡± Brutus smirked as he left. Brutus was one of the best men in thepany with a spear but had also trained with swords growing up. If I could use my air shield, I might have a good chance of iming one of the des. I made my way out of the Citadel and then the city. The countryside was dotted with dozens of campsites made up of wagons and improvised shelters. The Duchess bit off more than she could chew when she opened her arms to all these refugees. It might not have been so bad if food was not going to be very scarce soon. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I was taking a path through the tents to get into the woods, nning to let Ginger run for a while. The closer I got to the people, the more terrible things looked for them. There was a cart from the city, and I could see two Citadel guards and some of the servants handing out food. Lareen was not among them. Right now, hunger was not a problem. When food became an issue, things were less safe for the people. I entered the woods and started into a gallop, and Ginger responded immediately, understanding she was free to go as fast as she wanted. I got my body in synch with hers as she sprinted through the woods, churring up the soft ground. The cold early morning air felt good on my face as I raced past surprised foragers. Shested almost five minutes at a sprint before easing off and panting hard. I patted her neck as she came to a stop, and I dismounted to give her the promised apple. A few people nearby stared at us. I saw some viable blood grass and was considering harvesting it when a voice off to my left asked, ¡°Legionnaire? Is that you? The one from the baths in Macha?¡± I turned to find a dirty young woman with a basket filled with tubers. Two other young women stood just behind her, just as dirty from digging in the dirt. It took me a moment to remember the face, ¡°Carina?¡± I asked, finally recognizing the young woman from Macha baths. ¡°It is you!¡± She said, surprised. ¡°I heard about Macha falling and the city walls crumbling,¡± I said consolingly. ¡°Did your brother make it out alive?¡± I asked, remembering her brother was a member of the city guard. Her dirty smile fell from her face, and tears started to well up. ¡°I am sorry that I asked. You made it to a safe city. The Duchess is a good woman.¡± Her throat was a little tight as she spoke, ¡°The Duchess is kind, but there is not much work for a bath girl in the city.¡± She tried tough, but I could tell things were not going well for her. She looked thinner than I remembered, and her clothes were soiled from digging. ¡°We,¡± she indicated her twopanions, ¡°all worked in the baths. Now, we try to supplement the food allocation from the woods but are having to venture further and further from the city. It is dangerous, and we are worried about the other foragers and monsters.¡± I went to Ginger and pretended to root around in the empty saddle bags. I pulled out a ten-pound block of hard cheese and arge jar of berry preserves from my dimensional space. I walked back to the three women. ¡°Here, you can have these supplies. They were for the wardens but I can get more. I know a few people in the city, and I might be able to find you some work.¡± The three young women had wide eyes as I handed Carina the food. Carina dropped her basket and juggled the two heavy foodstuffs. ¡°Where can I find you if I can find you some work?¡± Carina was at a loss for words, so one of the thin women behind her volunteered, ¡°The are three wagons forming a triangle outside the east gate of Sobral. We are sharing the blue-painted wagon there.¡± I nodded to her and mounted Ginger. As I rode away, I mumbled something Adrian told me, ¡°You can¡¯t save everyone, Eryk.¡± I would still try. I thought about finding them a job in the Citadel, as that seemed the safest ce. Then I remembered how the Duchess used her servants. Not that I objected too hard to Lareen seducing me. I rode further into the woods and started harvesting mushrooms and flora as I thought about how to help. Then I realized that I knew one job that might help Carina. The two old women herbalists, L and Ria, had offered to buy my excess harvests. I had yet to return them since our first meeting, but Carina and her two friends might be able to harvest for them. I spent until mid-day harvesting an assortment. Mushrooms were scarce, and blood grass and most of the other flora were starting to wilt from the colder nights. I returned to the city with a sizable harvest and visited the two old women. ¡°Look who decided to return, Ria,¡± L said as I entered their small herbalist shop. The mixture of sharp herbal scents hit me. I bowed, ¡°I have been kept busy by my magemander, but I missed your wit and charm.¡± ¡°If you are here to sell, you are going to be disappointed with what we can offer. We are just interested in the edibles,¡± Ria said. I still ced everything I had found from a morning¡¯s work on the counter while L sorted through it and Ria dealt with a middle-aged male customer. When she finished, she looked up, ¡°Three silver, fifty copper. Best we can do at the moment. Plenty of others areing in to sell, and we cannot process what we have.¡± Ria had joined L as the customer had bought a tincture and left. I nodded as if thinking, ¡°What if I could find you some help? I know some of the refugees, good people.¡± Ria perked up, ¡°Experienced herbalists?¡± She asked, interested. I frowned, ¡°No, you would have to train them.¡± ¡°Not interested, then,¡± Ria said with a dismissive wave. ¡°Food is scarce and coin tighter. We wouldn¡¯t be able to feed them, only pay them a pittance, and with theing snow, things are going to get worse. Prices have already doubled and will double again before too long.¡± ¡°What if I could give you some food? Not from the Duchess, but some Legion stores I have ess to? It is not a lot. Maybe a month¡¯s worth for the three women. I will also pay for their housing inside your shop. Is a silver a week for each fair?¡± The shop had a second floor, so I assumed there were multiple rooms up there. ¡°Three?¡± L barked augh. ¡°You are keeping three women satisfied? You should havee to us, boy. There are two of us, and we know things they don¡¯t!¡± She chuckled, and I smiled weakly, trying not to form any mental images. I wanted to close the deal, ¡°Is it a pact then? Three apprentices? A month¡¯s worth of food and two gold coins to train them for a year?¡± I tried to press an agreement on the herbalists. Ria seemed to be the decision maker and held up her hand to have me pause as she thought, ¡°No. The coin would cover housing your women, but a month¡¯s worth of food is not enough. In a month, it is going to take two silver a week to feed a single person. Getting through winter to spring is going to be hard.¡± I did not have a shortage of coin, so I offered, ¡°Six gold for the year, then? They are all young and eager and will be able to forage and harvest for you in the local woods.¡± ¡°Young and eager?¡± L smirked at me. I ignored the insinuation. The two old herbalist sisters got together and discussed it privately. I waited patiently for their decision. Ria finally turned around, ¡°The three of them will have to share a room upstairs. They will not be paid, but we will feed and house them for the next year and teach them what we know. Six gold and whatever food you can offer to help, Eryk.¡± I smiled in victory, ¡°So you did remember my name! Can I give you a little extra? I would hate for the women not to have any money to buy clothes.¡± L¡¯s aged face returned a smile, ¡°Your name was kicking around in here,¡± she tapped her temple. ¡°What investment do you have in these women?¡± She asked curiously and maybe slightly suggestively. I went with the truth, ¡°I met one of them in Macha. The other two¡ªI don¡¯t even know their names. I found them in the woods foraging this morning and figured I could help.¡± The two sisters looked at each other, ¡°You are a strange one, Eryk. We agree to your terms.¡± The sisters left an hourter as we wrote out a contract of sorts for them and the three women. I gave them the eight gold, mostly in silver, to take all three young women on as apprentices. They would be fed, housed, and paid fifty copper a week each. Both old women left their shop to go to the blue wagon and make them the offer. I was supposed to wait in the shop for them to return. Instead, as soon as they left, I emptied my dimensional space of most of the food. Three jars of berry preserves, a bag of onions, thirty pounds of flour, twenty pounds of sugar, four jars of yeast, two casks of pickles, nine massive smi links, one block of hard cheese, tworge bags of mushrooms, and two bags of potatoes. I decided to keep the honey and my remaining ration bars. The pile of foodstuffs looked like it was enough to feed a few people for a month. I left before the sisters returned, locking the door behind me. I did not need the adtion and was just happy to know my coin had helped some people. I was at the stables in the Citadel and unsaddling Ginger. The stable boys were not here, which surprised me. A pair of guards walked by outside on patrol, and I asked, ¡°Where are the stable boys?¡± ¡°They are probably in the center courtyard with everyone else. Your Legionpany is holding a fightingpetition,¡± he replied before continuing to walk on his patrol with his partner. Did the contest for the runic des start already? I rushed through Ginger¡¯s rubdown and fed her before rushing to the central courtyard. I thought I had a decent chance of winning one of the two des for myself. PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS ONLY POSTED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS PATREON, ROYAL ROAD AND SCRIBBLE HUB. IF YOU ARE VIEWING IT ON ANOTHER SITE IT HAS BEEN STOLEN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. Chapter 123: Contested Blades Chapter 123: Contested des I made my way to the central courtyard and found an borate setup. The central square of the fading gardens had been set with a thinyer of sand and sawdust. Over a hundred spectators stood to watch on one side of the square. Most of the spectators were workers in the Citadel. A slightly raised wooden tform was along another edge of the square. The tform had a number of upied seats. Castile was seated next to Duchess Veronica in the center, and a frown creased both their faces. They did not look happy to be here. A woman in a gaudy gown sat next to the Duchess, who I assumed was the Countess, Duchess Veronica¡¯s mother. On the other side of the Countess was a lean man who looked to be in his early thirties. He had a smug look and looked happy to be watching the entertainment. Several Citadel attendants served the four VIP chairs on the makeshift spectator stage. Among their number was Lareen. On the third side of the square, the men of thepany were getting ready for thebat. As I joined them, Maveith was in the back, and I asked him, ¡°Maveith, where have you been all day?¡± Maveith looked surprised to see me, ¡°Eryk, Castile epted me as a huntsman for thepany.¡± He was beaming with pride. ¡°I went to my cabin to get some things and seal it from the elements and intruders while I am away. I told Trek to check on it asionally as well. I just got back to find this.¡± He indicated the makeshift fighting square. ¡°Maveith, what is with all the formality? I thought we were not going to do this until after dinner.¡± I indicated the borate setup. Adrian turned and walked to me to answer the question. His tone was sour, ¡°The First Citizen Boris found out about thepetition and set this up and got the Duchess to force Castile to agree to it. Eryk, are you going topete?¡± ¡°Yes, of course. Isn¡¯t everyone?¡± I asked. I noticed Lareen bringing a tray of food for First Citizen Boris. He leaned back, and they whispered to each other. ¡°So far, just ten men are interested in the des,¡± Adrian informed me, which made sense. For instance, ze and Pavel wouldn¡¯t want to fight as they were being given runic arrows. I noticed Lareen pointing at me while whispering to Boris. Oh, Lareen, what are you doing? Adrian had a piece of paper in his hand, ¡°You will fight Kolm in the first pairings.¡± I looked and saw Kolm stretching. He was thepany¡¯s ad hoc cksmith and repaired our resin hide armor as well. He was short, but his biceps matched his thighs. He was one of thepany¡¯s shield men, and I don¡¯t remember him practicing often with a sword.¡°Can I use my air shield when I fight?¡± I asked Adrian. ¡°Yes, any spell forms are allowed. The First Citizen wants the men to fight bare-chested for the entertainment spectacle,¡± Adrian said unhappily. ¡°The old healer is in the crowd if anyone gets injured, but control your enthusiasm as I don¡¯t want anyone seriously injured. The first pairings will start soon.¡± Adrian walked away to continue organizing the mini-tourney. I walked over to Kolm and watched Boris subtly as I talked to Kolm. Boris¡¯ eyes were definitely following me. ¡°Kolm, looks like we are paired off in the first round,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Harpies tits! Really? Why does Adrian hate me,¡± he said dejectedly. ¡°You are one of the favorites,¡± Kolm admitted sourly. ¡°I never understood that curse? Who are the other favorites?¡± I asked the miserable-looking Kolm. Filth was quick to chime in, ¡°Harpies tits, Eryk. You know, they look like a regr woman¡¯s, but then the rest of the creature is hideous and trying to kill you. And Brutus and I are the favorites,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°They have been practicing out here all day,¡± Kolm told me. Both Firth and Brutus were spearmen in thepany, so I was shocked they were favorites in the swordpetition. Then again, our three best swordsmen in thepany already had runic weapons: Konstantin, Adrian, and Delmar. Benito came up behind me, ¡°Eryk heard you are fighting. Cost is ten silver.¡± My confused face had Benito exin. ¡°Winner take all. Runic sword and the silver.¡± I handed Benito the ten silver and realized the man was a gambling addict. The men, not Adrian, established this prize purse. I returned to stand with Maveith as the first pairing was called to fight thirty minutester after more spectators and refreshments arrived. Brutus was against Felix. Both legionnaires entered the ring in just their canvas pants and boots. Their muscled torsos held a shield and weighted wooden practice sword. Their bare feet stirred the sand as they walked. Mateo was close, and I overheard him say, ¡°The sand and sawdust are so our blood does not stain the stones of the courtyard just like in the coliseum.¡± The spectators started making some noise as the two men engaged. My focus was on the First Citizen Boris as he frequently asked Lareen questions, and his eyes drifted to me instead of the fight he had seemed anxious for. It was less than a minute before Felix was lying unconscious on the sand. The old healer moved to the sand to check on him and heal him. The next fight was between Benito and Mateo. I had not followed the fight and was shocked when I looked up to find Benito had won. Mateo was a good swordsman and was heavily favored, but Benito was a shifty little guy. ¡°Eryk and Kolm,¡± Adrian announced the next fight. As I removed my armor to get stripped down to my canvas pants for my duel, I noticed First Citizen Boris studying me intently. I fumed as I guessed he was seeing if I was wearing the dreamscape amulet. That was probably why he wanted us to fight bare-chested. It also meant Lareen had betrayed me and told the First Citizen I had the artifact. I moved to the sand with Kolm. His pale, bare chest had curly blonde hair, while his head and beard were deep ck. It made him look odd. His jaw clenched, not liking his matchup with me. We both tapped our weighted wooden swords on our shields to let each other know we were ready. Kolm had a strong base but moved poorly. He was used to a body shield. I circled to his left, trying to cross him up. He was prepared to turtle with a much smaller shield than he normally fought with and take opportunity attacks. As he got anxious, I moved in fast, and deflected his swing on my shield. Kolm had nned to use my block to surprise me with a low swing. I surprised him by stabbing him and spinning away. My wooden sword point connected where his heart was, leaving a bloody welt. Kolm¡¯s sword swung through the empty air, and he winced from the pain of my strike. ¡°Killing blow,¡± Adrian determined, and Kolm threw his shield and sword away in disgust. The Citadel workers pped and cheered my quick victory. I looked to the tform to find Castile nodding appreciatively, and Boris¡¯ eyes narrowed. Lareen held a pitcher and ss but was beaming happily at my victory. I think the Countess looked surprised and licked her lips, studying me. I went to Kolm and put my arm around him as he got some minor healing. I spent a few moments telling him what he did wrong. He had basically telegraphed his entire attack. ¡°Benito and Eryk!¡± Adrian announced the next match. I guess I would not be allowed any time to rest¡ªnot that my first victory took long. I moved back to the sand and faced off against the much smaller Benito. Benito was fast but made a lot of mistakes in one-on-one fights in practice. At least, that was my experience from all the times thepany trained together. He was an excellent man to have on your side in a fight, though. Benito spun his sword in his hand, trying to show off to the crowd. We both tapped shields and engaged. I was cautious as I protected my legs, figuring he would target my knee. We shed and tested each other. Our speed actually matched well, but I was definitely faster than I was a few weeks ago. Benito was quickly frustrated as I was being cautious and not giving him an opportunity to exploit. Benito suddenly overextended, and I shed the wrist of his sword hand, breaking his wrist and causing him to drop his wooden sword. If he had been wearing his vambraces, it would have saved him. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. Benito stepped back and cursed under his breath. He dropped his shield and walked to the healer, disgusted with his own impatience. I think he thought he would win the coin and runic de¡ªhe certainly didn¡¯tck confidence. I looked at Adrian, smirking, ¡°Am I going to have to fight again? Or can I get a rest?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get a rest in battle,¡± he replied with his own smile. Thepany chastised me with jeers as well at myint. Adrian announced the next pairing with a smirk, ¡°Brutus and Remus!¡± Remus was the only man from Gregor¡¯spany left. He had long red hair, making him stand out from the others. As the two engaged, it was clear the two were familiar with each other, and it was no contest. Brutus was an excellent swordsman as he had been practicing since his youth. It took a few minutes, but he disarmed Remus by getting a strike on his fingers and breaking a few fingers. He followed it with a blow to the ribs. Adrian announced, ¡°Debilitating injury! Brutus wins!¡± Brutus raised his hands in victory like a diator, and there was a lot of cheering from the Citadel workers. I noticed Lareen hadn¡¯t cheered at either of my victories as well. I was a little envious as the spectators had not cheered as loudly for me¡ªexcept the stable boys, but I had bought that idolization. I rested and sipped water while watching and waiting for my next call. We were putting on a good show for the Citadel workers. Castile still looked unhappy, but the three First Citizens were content with the pre-dinner entertainment we provided. We were not trying to be fancy in our fighting as winning was more important than giving them a show. Thepany men did not care about their happiness. Fighting without armor was not something we practiced, so it was expected that we would make mistakes. As they happened, I studied the other fights, and soon we were down to just four. Firth, Brutus, Soren, and myself. Soren was one of the quiet ones in thepany. Rumor had it he had killed a baker for selling him moldy bread. I doubted that was true as I had never seen the man go into a rage before. ¡°Brutus and Soren!¡± Adrian announced. Firth moved to stand next to me, ¡°Looks like we are paired next, Eryk. I will go easy on you and not make you look too bad. If you drop me two gold, I will even let you win,¡± he said with a smirk, holding out his hand. I was pretty sure even if I paid him the two gold, he would go all out. ¡°For twenty gold, I will let you win, paid upfront, though,¡± I returned with my own offer and grin. Firth walked away smiling and confident with no gold exchanged. I knew he served a Praetorian Guard, and maybe he was more skilled than he was showing. His job was to eliminate Castile if she did anything against the Empire¡¯s interests. Brutus won his fight against Soren but was not yet guaranteed a runic de. Adrian announced, ¡°Congrattions Brutus. One of the des is yours. You will still need to fight the winner of Firth and Eryk in order to determine who picks first!¡± Adrian roared to the crowd and waved his hands as he got into the event¡¯s spirit. The only issue was the healer seemed to be out of aether after healing Soren. I stood across from Firth on the stand. His eyes were hard and focused on me. I could tell Firth was nning to go to go all out. I thought about using my air shield in the fight. I had not needed it so far, but I had a feeling Firth was hiding his true ability. We tapped shields and circled. I tuned out the crowd and took in Firth¡¯s movements. The caution in his steps betrayed his skill. It reminded me of Xavier, the swordmaster. He was trying to show as little as possible, but there were hints of it. Firth, the brothel-loving legionnaire, was more than he seemed. He shed forward, and I defended and countered with my shield. I heard someone in thepany mutter that Firth was faster than normal today, and I thought the same thing. He continued to press, and I was hard-pressed to block and parry. He finally stepped back after nearly a minute, breathing heavily, ¡°Eryk, you have gotten much better. This should have been over by now.¡± I could see his heavy eyes and guessed maybe he had used a spell form. I was guessing by the familiar, exhausted look in his eyes from using all your aether. It was a weak spell form, if that was what it was, and he had almost no aether to sustain it if he was already out. Firth saluted me with his sword, ¡°I concede the duel to Eryk.¡± To the disappointment of the crowd and Boris in particr, Firth walked off of the sand. I thought it was a very even match, perhaps even slightly tilted in Firth¡¯s favor. Whatever he did to elevate himself had drained him considerably, and he chose to concede rather than lose in front of everyone. Or maybe he had used his one trick or did not want to show more. I was not the only man in thepany with secrets. Adrian seemed puzzled and shocked as well. I walked off the sand to stand by Maveith even though the next fight was mine. Benito moved close, ¡°Eryk, that was impressive. I don¡¯t feel so as useless as tits on a minotaur now for losing to you.¡± Maveith intoned, trying to educate Benito, ¡°There are female minotaurs with functional breasts, Benito.¡± Mateo, who was nearby, asked, ¡°How does minotaur milk taste? Is it the same as cow¡¯s milk? How do you get it?¡± That got a lot of chuckles from the men. There was a smallmotion on the stage as the two des were brought out and ced at the feet of Duchess Veronica. Adrian called us forward, ¡°Brutus and Eryk,e forward and look upon your de choices.¡± The Citadel workers were crowding and craning their necks to see. I walked with Brutus and looked upon the two long swords. Each de was about 33 inches with a hilt of 8 inches. Both des had runic markings, but one was tarnished ck and pitted. The other de was polished steel and ancient-looking. Duchess Veronica smiled down at both of us, ¡°Two des from my mother¡¯s family guards. They have been loaned to me by my mother¡¯s grace. Thest runic smith of the Telhian Empire forged the dark de for its intended purpose. It has fought in hundreds of battles and served its wielders well. The orcs of the Boutan Caliphate forged the other de. It was imed in battle by my grandfather from an orc warrior.¡± Brutus caught the same thing in the exnation that I did. He asked, ¡°After the expedition to the elven ruins, the des have to be returned?¡± The Duchess smiled, ¡°Yes, unless you wish to enter my service. In that case, you can keep the de and wield it to defend me.¡± Brutus frowned as he felt he had been scammed. I looked at Castile; she looked like she had already been aware of the condition. Adrian interrupted our dismay at not being able to retain the des after the expedition. ¡°Eryk and Brutus, move to the center and prepare to fight.¡± As I moved onto the sand, I figured it made sense as a runic de was worth a thousand gold, ording to Delmar. Although the two des we were fighting for were not nearly as immacte as the Delmar¡¯s or Konstantin¡¯s. Delmar¡¯s hade from a dungeon, and an elven smith forged Konstantin¡¯s. Brutus still seemed determined to win even though the prize was temporary. We tapped shields, and Brutus engaged with vigor. We danced and kicked up sand as swords ttered on shields at a rapid tempo. The men of thepany cheered us both as we circled. ¡°You are better than I remember,¡± Brutus said after I intercepted three quick sessive attacks.¡± ¡°Maybe you are just getting slow in your old age,¡± I countered with a smile and counterattack. ¡°I am younger than you!¡± He barked as heunched into a series that was familiar to me from my time with Xavier, and I dodged and backed away, letting him expend his energy in futility. I could see the consternation and frustration building on his face. I still had not even used an air shield yet. I was beginning to think my dreamscape practice was more effective than my practice in the real world. Brutus was better with a shield than I was. I was learning a lot by how his minimal movements prevented me from taking advantage of his openings. The fight was the longest fight of the evening, and the crowd loved it, and I was feeding off the growing noise. Brutus tried a trick that ended the fight. He tried to hook the corner of his shield on mine and pull it away to expose me. I had experienced this same act in my dreamscape from Konstantin. So when I noticed his shield caught mine and tugged on my arm for what it was. I used it against him, creating my own opening. My swing was powerful and directed at his knee. Brutus realized it and tried to turn away from the strike to lessen the impact. I still connected, just not as solidly. ¡°Debilitating injury!¡± Adrian called immediately, ending the fight. I think Adrian was concerned about making sure everyone was healthy before we left, as the healer was exhausted. Brutus limped away and had trouble putting weight in the leg. I think I shattered his pate. I made sure Brutus was fine, but he was angry about losing. The healer needed a few hours before he could heal him, but Brutus assured me he was going to be fine. ¡°That was a quick counter, Eryk. I didn¡¯t see iting. A well-deserved victory.¡± He pped me on the back in both congrattions and assistance to stand. ¡°You should go and choose your de, as the First Citizens do not look happy to be kept waiting.¡± Silence spread in the crowd as I walked to the tform and inspected the two des again under the gaze of the Duchess, her family, and Castile. I picked up the tarnished de and tested its weight. Then I did the same for the other one. The ck de was slightly heavier and appeared to have a better edge, even with the odd aging on its length. ¡°I will take this one,¡± I indicated the darker de. The Duchess¡¯ eyebrows went up in surprise as it was probably the lesser of the two artifacts. First Citizen Boris drew attention to himself by pping loudly. ¡°Good disy of skills, legionnaire! I want to test myself against the best swordsman today. I am sure Mage Castile will give me the honor to exercise with this evening¡¯s winner in front of the assembled crowd?¡± Chapter 124: A Woman Can Not Keep a Secret Chapter 124: A Woman Can Not Keep a Secret Boris had essentially challenged me in front of everyone. I looked to Castile, who had been ufortable with the whole disy, and now she even wore a frown. I looked back at Adrian and Delmar, and neither offered me help dealing with the First Citizen. First Citizen Boris had the unmistakable smile of someone who thought they were better than you. He walked out onto the sand while I sheathed my new ck de. Boris spoke again, ¡°That sword you imed is a family heirloom. The First Captains of our Citadel guard wielded it for centuries. My grandfather told me it was a gift from a third Emperor to his great grandfather.¡± I had a feeling this was set up, and I was waiting for him to get to his point. ¡°I will keep it safe and return it after our exploration of the elven ruins,¡± I said cautiously. He smiled like a snake oil salesman, ¡°Perhaps while you have my family¡¯s de in your care, I can hold something of yours in case you do not return?¡± And there it was. I looked to Castile, who had a dark look on her face directed at Boris. Lareen was conveniently behind one of therge chairs on the stage, and her back was turned to me. I looked for any support or clue on what to do. Duchess Veronica spoke, ¡°I gave Mother a fair price for the de, Boris. It is not yours to barter with.¡± Boris ground his teeth at his sister¡¯s remark and being interrupted. ¡°Fine. I still wish to practice with the legionnaire; perhaps he would care for a bet on the oue? Something of equal value to this?¡± I sensed this First Citizen was not too bright as he was making things up after his original n failed. He drew his sword. The de reminded me of Delmar¡¯s dungeon-made long de. The de shimmered in the light of the fading sun, appearing to ripple like water. Boris¡¯ mother, Countess Ase, barked, ¡°Boris, no.¡± Her voice wasced with anger. ¡°He has nothing of worth to match it! And that de is still mine until you take my seat as Count.¡± Her anger seemed genuine, so I did not sense she was party to this sham. ¡°But he does, mother. This legionnaire has a dreamscape amulet,¡± he announced to everyone present. I heard Benito ask someone loudly, ¡°What is a dreamscape amulet?¡± My eyes were focused on Castile, whose eyebrows showed surprise as she locked eyes on me in question. Lareen was now missing from the stage entirely, hiding from my irate gaze. Whispers started running through the crowd, trying to figure out what a dreamscape amulet was. Mypanions seemed just as perplexed at the unfolding events. Boris¡¯s grin split his face at themotion he had caused, thinking he had scored a victory. The Countess was weighing something in her mind. He spun in a circle as he spoke so everyone could hear him, like a showman at a circus, ¡°As I told youst night, Mother, a dreamscape amulet is a dungeon artifact allowing you to control your dreams. You can practice with swords, read a book, fight monsters, or fuck every woman you ever met in whatever manner pleases you!¡± The Countess finished her internal deliberations and gave him a small nod to approve the bet. ¡°I refuse,¡± I stated tly. ¡°The duel and the wager.¡± I turned my back on Boris and walked back to thepany. They seemed half curious about the amulet and smirking at my dismissal of the First Citizen. Mateo intercepted me, and asked as I reached the group, ¡°Where did you find a dreamscape amulet, Eryk? Sounds like it would be, uh, educational. Can I try it?¡± Behind me, Boris had not given up and turned his attention to the tform, ¡°Mage Castile, surely you would not deny me a friendly contest and wager!? I wish to fight yourpany champion!¡± Castile grimaced. I knew she hated dealing with First Citizens and did not hide this fact on her face as she stood. Castile walked off the stage and past the haughty Boris to join thepany. She came straight at me and walked past me, and I moved to join her to talk together in private. ¡°Do you really have it? A dreamscape amulet?¡± I considered my reply for just a moment and admitted, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± she said, considering and with no anger showing. ¡°That is how you have been studying and learning your spell forms so quickly. Did you steal it from Durandus? Or take it from a corpse of one of the Bartiradians?¡± She questioned. ¡°No, I had it before Macha,¡± I replied quietly. Castile nodded slowly, her mind working, ¡°Then it is your possession. Unless¡ªthe dungeon?¡± Castile was too smart for her own good. I nodded subtly, not denying it. She coughed, seemingly amused. She shook her head in disbelief while in consideration. ¡°Well, do not tell anyone you took it from a dungeon while in my Mage Company. The Empire has the right of purchase, especially from a legionnaire conscript.¡± She looked at the smug Boris, waiting impatiently, ¡°He cannot force you to fight. As a First Citizen, he could try to force you to sell it to him, but I doubt he has enough gold to buy it if it does what he says.¡± She thought for a moment, ¡°Veronica told me a little about her older brother Boris. He is spiteful. If he can¡¯t get the amulet, he will spread the word you have it to others.¡± ¡°Castile, what should I do?¡± I sought her advice in a pleading tone. I was not giving the First Citizen prick my amulet. Castile looked over her shoulder at Boris who was ying to the small crowd. ¡°Do you think you can win? You have improved greatly, but Boris is an aplished swordsman. He practices three hours every morning in the courtyard and has fought in dozens ofpetitions.¡± ¡°Can I use my spell form? Does he have a spell form?¡± I asked quietly. ¡°He does. Veronica said he can harden his skin and can enhance his strength. He is no mage, of that I am sure,¡± she informed me. ¡°Then yes, I can win,¡± I replied confidently. Lareen didn¡¯t know I had the air shield, so that meant Boris didn¡¯t know either. ¡°You will be making an enemy,¡± she cautioned. ¡°Your amulet is no longer a secret either.¡± I shrugged as the wholepany knew now anyway. Not that I was nning to let them use it. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. ¡°I will talk with the First Citizens with your permission to get everything formalized,¡± Castile waited till I nodded. She went to the tform, and the Duchess, Countess, and Boris convened with Castile. Boris was confident as he waved his hand to rush the conversation. He had watched me fight and probably thought he had a good measure of my ability. It took almost twenty minutes and some time to write things out formally after that. Castile finally announced the duel with the Duchess holding the parchment with the conditions. The crowd¡¯s anticipation was about to be quenched as Castile spoke, ¡°First Citizen Boris and Legionnaire Eryk have agreed to a duel. The first person incapacitated or yielding will be deemed the loser. The winner will take both prizes with them.¡± Castile smirked, ¡°Duchess Veronica will hold the prizes during the contest.¡± Boris turned his head abruptly, realizing he would not be fighting with his runic weapon. Castile had out-maneuvered the not-so-bright Boris. It also meant I needed to take the amulet out of my space and hand it over to the Duchess. Boris agreed after a short argument before sending a runner for another weapon. I walked and reluctantly handed the amulet to Castile, who brought it to the Duchess, who started studying the artifact intently while we waited. I was worried she might try to use it, but she didn¡¯t fall asleep in her chair before cing it down. A guard from the countess¡¯ men came rushing in and drew his de for the First Citizen. The de was another runic weapon but had a dull polish, and I guessed a runic cksmith had forged it. Boris swung the new de twice and seemed content. He moved to meet me in the center of the sand, his confidence still evident. Castile looked at both of us, ¡°Acknowledge you are both ready.¡± I tapped my de on the shield. I would have used the ck de, but it was a few inches longer than what I was ustomed to. Boris tapped his sword on his shield, and I frowned, realizing it also had runic patterns, and thought I might have made a mistake. ¡°Begin!¡± Castile said, backing away. Boris started to circle me, and I did likewise. The men of thepany were getting loud, and their support had quite an array of colorful words. I circled faster and created an arc of windshields around the unsuspecting Boris. Boris¡¯ skin got darker as he turned to follow my movement. My biggest advantage was the air shields were only visible to me. When they were at his back, I stepped forward, and he prepared to receive my attack. Instead, I just added more air shields, boxing him in. This was one of Konstantin¡¯s ideas, but he was not here to take credit for it. It was toote when he realized the trap as Boris felt the first air shield at his elbow. His confidence evaporated as he searched for movement as I narrowed his confinement before the shields dissapated. I set the air shields off the ground, just above his knee to over his head. He worked his runic weapon into an air shield, trying to destroy the invisible shields while I swung in an arc low at his feet. He jumped to avoid the swipe, but his head met another shield I had ced over his head. My sword shed his shin but barely prated. He really did have magically hardened skin. I had thought my first strike would have ended the fight. I shed again as he destroyed the first air shield, giving him an escape route. However, this time, I cut deeper. My third strike targeted his Achilles. I did not get much pration on the tendon, but it was enough as he went to one knee. Although I had tried to tune out the noise, Adrian¡¯smand voice reached me through the shouts, ¡°Do not let up till he yields, Eryk!¡± Boris had produced a potion and was going to drink it. I could see the gaps in my shields that would expire soon, and I lunged forward to stab the Boris in the ribs. The tip of my de barely entered four inches into him, and I could feel it grating on bone as it reached the liver. I yanked the sword sideways, cutting his organs. The sudden pain caused Boris to drop the potion and his sword while his mother screamed for someone to help him. My adrenaline started to fade, and the crowd noises returned. Castile dered, ¡°Boris is incapacitated. Do you agree, Countess?¡± ¡°Heal him!¡± She yelled at the old healer in the crowd, ignoring Castile. I removed my de, and blood oozed from the wound as Boris clutched at it. Dark blood flowed, and the old man kneeled to help. Castile interrupted, ¡°Boris, do you yield?¡± Boris nodded, his eyes slightly ssy. Castile nodded, and the burnt healer started sweating as he forced aether painfully through himself to heal Boris. I waited while the healer struggled after closing the wound. I had probably damaged more than the liver, and the healer was already very low on aether from helping men in thepany today. Castile picked up the potion and fed it to Boris. Hisplexion went from pale to slightly pink. It was a full healing potion so I knew he would live. A few minutester, Boris stood; the old healer could not and was clearly in a lot of pain from using too much aether in his burnt channels. Mateo and Felix came to help the healer stand and assisted to a bench to sit. Mateo hissed as he passed me carrying the healer, ¡°Amazing Eryk! I still want to try your amulet.¡± Borris was angry as he regained himself, ¡°I did not concede! Or request outside assistance! The fight is still in process!¡± Castile shook her head, hiding a smug expression from Boris, ¡°The Countess was a signed proxy. She called for outside assistance, and it was given. First Citizen Boris, the contest is over.¡± Duchess Veronica could not hide her own smirk, ¡°Brother, this is my Citadel, and I rule you lost by the terms written. The prizes belong to the legionnarie.¡± Boris fumed and stormed away, seeing he would not get any assistance from his sister. The Duchess was clearly happy with the oue, and her brother being embarrassed. Castile was right in that I had made an enemy today. Maveith¡¯s huge hand pped me on the back, causing me to stumble toward it. Soon, I was surrounded by men of thepany, receiving congrattions and praise. I forced my way past them to the tform to get my prizes, sending the amulet to storage and picking up Boris¡¯ dungeon de. Duchess Veronica looked down at me, smiling, ¡°That was an interesting means of achieving victory. I congratte you on a well-earned victory and prizes.¡± Countess Ase approached furiously, ¡°He cannot keep the de, Veronica. Have him return it immediately!¡± I looked between the mother and daughter, each of them challenging the other with lighting stares. I would probably be made a target if I carried a runic weapon like that. I addressed Duchess Veronica, ¡°Are the ck de and Boris¡¯ de equal in value? Could I trade you Boris¡¯ de for the ck one to keep?¡± I knew I was getting the worst end of this deal, but I would end up with a runic de either way. I was thinking the aged ck de was fairly inconspicuouspared to the shiny dungeon de. Castile eyed the Duchess as she considered a response. They had formed a good rtionship, and the Duchess was not going to ruin it, ¡°I agree to your terms. The dungeon de is twice the value. Would you ept both des?¡± She indicated the orc-forged de that was intended for Brutus. Castile nodded approvingly at me, and I took it that was a fair trade. I ced picked up the other de and left Boris¡¯ de on the stage. I guess that de now belonged to Duchess Veronica. The fireworks between the Countess and Duchess were not over, and I tried to retreat. Mateo asked me again to borrow the amulet. ¡°Just for one night, Eryk.¡± ¡°You need to be able to channel aether to use it, Mateo,¡± I told him, walking past. Of course, someone else could probably activate it for him, but I was not certain of that. Mateo frowned. I passed Adrian and told him, ¡°I will be in the northwest tower getting some rest.¡± I was happy Maveith was on my heels. I was sure he would be a deterrent to mischief by Boris until we left in the morning for the ruins. I did not head directly to the tower. Instead, I veered off and went to the library. I wanted to talk with Schr Favian about some elven potions and daggers. Chapter 125: Preparation Chapter 125: Preparation With Maveith trailing me, I entered the library. Schr Favian was sorting books on a table. ¡°Eryk, I am not ready yet. Trying to decide which books will be most helpful on the expedition.¡± ¡°You areing to the Haunted Ruins?¡± I asked, surprised at the old schr¡¯s statement. ¡°Of course! Are you not here to pack my things? Mage Castile said, half of your dimensional space is at my disposal, and you and Maveith would carry my pack and food. But I think I can carry my own food,¡± he added with a wink. I stacked a few books on top of each that he was not using, ¡°This is about half the size of the space, Schr.¡± I realized the other half of my space was probably going to be the potions from Decimus. It would mean I would not be able to pull extra items out of my dimensional space during the expedition, and I was going to have to suffer and carry my gear like everyone else. Favian started using the pile to sort and resort his chosen books. He hemmed and hawed as he made life-or-death decisions in his mind. I waited patiently while he finished, stacking eight tomes next to my pile. ¡°There. All the books with maps of or pictures of the ancient Elven city. I wish I had time to copy them as I only need a few pages of each.¡± I moved the selected books to storage. Favian frowned, ¡°I was still going to cross-reference a few things¡­never mind. I should focus on packing my other gear.¡± I took the opportunity to ask a question, ¡°Favian, I recently fought the elven summoners and took this as a prize. Can you tell me anything about it?¡± I ced the runic dagger on the table. Maveith¡¯s eyes went wide, ¡°That is an exquisite dagger. You already had a runic weapon? Now you have three?¡± Maveith said in awe. I shrugged, ¡°This is actually a secret. I would prefer if no one knew I had it.¡± Even if people found out, I was unconcerned. I thought I could sell the dagger eventually, and the more I knew about it, the better I could negotiate the price. I was also testing the waters on whether I would ask Favian to read the script on the three elven potions. Schr Favian handled the de delicately as he studied, ¡°Maveith is right. This is a piece of artwork.¡± He studied the runic script and other markings on the de. ¡°I cannot read runes. You will need to have the Adventurers Guild use a revtion scroll on it or find an enchanter to decipher them. Most des have durability, sharpness, or everclean runes on them. But I can tell you what these markings are,¡± he indicated the fine script along the de.Maveith leaned in to look over my shoulder as I studied where he pointed, ¡°And?¡± It was simr to the elven script I had seen in the books. Schr Favian smiled, ¡°It is a legacy de! See this fine tiny script here. These are the names of everyone who has been gifted the de and when they received it. I am unfamiliar with the calendar system, so I cannot age the weapon.¡± ¡°Can you read the names?¡± Maveith asked curiously. ¡°Hmm, there are five here: Aelua Jorieth, Fildarae vien, Shaerra vien, Eliyen vien, and Raelia vien. All feminine names, if I am not mistaken. Probably a gift given from mother to daughter when theye of age. But that is just my guess.¡± He pointed, ¡°This here is the forger¡¯s mark. It is not a name, and I have not studied the famous elven smiths, so I cannot tell you if it is significant.¡± Thest name Favian read was Raelia vein. Was that the name of the nearly dead elf griffin rider in my storage? Most likely, she was going to be made into an essence when I had the opportunity. Knowing her name made me feel a little guilty about it, but it was unlikely to change my mind. I had the two elven backpacks, but both wererger than my dimensional storage, so I would have to search those in private to avoid questions. I was assuming they had food and camping gear. If I even had some private time as we moved out in the morning to explore the ruins of Caelora. I took the dagger and sent it to my dimensional space. Maveith stood up from his crouch. ¡°I found one other interesting thing on the summoner,¡± I randomly produced one of the potions and handed it to him. The off-green liquid appeared viscous in the test tube-sized vial. ¡°I will not question the method of obtaining these. I heard you were left behind to fight a dragon by yourself,¡± Schr Favian said, taking the potion interested. ¡°I told you I was a messenger rider in the army. Sometimes, we do things out of necessity in battle.¡± He studied the script, ¡°This is the alchemist¡¯s mark here. The date is here with expected efficacy. The potion is named dominate creature. There is a book in the Duchess¡¯ library that talks about potions. Give me a moment.¡± Favian excitedly went to the magic section, took just a few seconds to pull the book he wanted, and returned. Eagerly paging through it, he found the entry, ¡°A dominant creature potion allows the imbiber to beguile a beast. They will think you are friendly and, if you are able tomunicate with them, will perform tasks for you. The greater the intellect and resilience of the creature, the more likely they are to resist the effect.¡± He handed me the book, and I returned the potion to my dimensional space. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°I am just going to page through this book. I have been working with Decimus, and I am interested in the different types of potions an alchemist can brew,¡± I said, sitting in the chair. ¡°There are probably very few alchemists in the Empire that can brew that potion. The upper right has difficulty brewing it, tier four,¡± Favian said. I saw four stars after the name and nodded my thanks. I paged through the book while Maveith waited for me and then reced it on the shelf. ¡°Thank you, Favian,¡± I said, shaking wrists with the aging schr. Maveith waited for me, and we headed to the tower. I found Mateo and Felix in our room ying checkers. ¡°I got next game,¡± Maveith said excitedly, going to the table. Mateo looked at Felix. ¡°I told you he would eventuallye back here.¡± He focused on me, ¡°Delmar said to find you and have you see the alchemist and schr about filling your space.¡± Felix interrupted, ¡°I was told to find you. Mateo just followed me like a puppy. He has not shut up about your dreamscape amulet and its possibilities.¡± ¡°Eryk is going to let me try it out. Right, Eryk?¡± Mateo said pleadingly. ¡°I told you you need to be able to channel your aether, Mateo,¡± I said as Mateo deted. ¡°Are Konstantin and vius back yet?¡± I moved to start preparing my gear on my bed. Mateo was sulking by filling a goblet from the ale cask. Felix answered while starting a game with Maveith. ¡°No, they have not returned. Brutus is looking for you, too. Said you have his sword,¡± he chuckled. Mateo was on his second cup, ¡°How did you get so good with the de, Eryk? I remember when you joined us a few months ago, you couldn¡¯t beat a single one of us in thepany.¡± ¡°Konstantin,¡± I offered as an answer. Mateo nodded at that, knowing how hard Konstantin had worked with me when he had trained me. When I finished packing, I went to the alchemist floor above. Decimus was working furiously between multiple processes, ¡°Eryk, give me twenty minutes. No, wait¡ªwatch that table and release the pressure if it gets too high!¡± I ended up helping Decimus for over two hours. A few hours ago, I was a celebratedpany champion, and now I was the alchemist¡¯sckey. Decimus¡¯s skin had returned to normal but was drenched in sweat as he worked. ¡°Eryk, thank you. I wanted to try a run at the lesser healing potions since Castile is leaving tomorrow. Put these six in your storage immediately. The harmonization was not powerful, but I think they will work. Also, there are twenty vials of healing salve over there. My processing is getting better, and they shouldst a good amount of time.¡± He sat down exhausted in his chair. ¡°You mean you are noting with us?¡± I asked, with a smile he didn¡¯t catch. Decimus jumped up suddenly, nervous, ¡°What? Did Castile say I was going with thepany?¡± His face was showing panic and fear. ¡°No, I just thought you might want to go. Schr Favian is going,¡± I said, trying not tough at hisical fear. Then again, I had be numb to danger and had not even thought about going to an undead city. I was not sure if I was not afraid or just certain I would somehow find a way out of the situation. Decimus rxed, seeing he was not recruited. ¡°I am happy in my tower. However, Sobral is not what I expected. The people have no spare coin for my remedies. Now, with winter almost here, I willck fresh ingredients, and harmonizing potions is going to be challenging.¡± I took the vials he indicated and was disappointed he had no more mouthwash for me. I wished Decimus well and went downstairs. Mateo was gone, and Felix and Maveith were still ying checkers. We headed down for the evening meal in the barracks. We sat with Firth. Firth gave me an unhappy stare, probably for besting him and winning the de. Firth still dispensed the gossip, ¡°The Countess is moving her men into the barracks after we leave tomorrow. Apparently, they are staying through winter as the war with the Bartiradians is intensifying.¡± Felix inquired while eating half a roasted chicken with his hands, ¡°Where are we going to stay when we return?¡± ¡°First, we need to return,¡± Firth said hotly. ¡°Focus on that.¡± The meal proceeded in silence after Firth¡¯sment. I ended up watching a dice game after eating. Benito was running it, and he seemed to win more often than not. They were only ying for coppers, but I still turned down an invitation. ¡°Konstantin and vius are back,¡± ze said from the door. Both scouts entered the dining hall after him to cheers as Konstantin held up the prize, the essence collector. vius scanned the room, found me, and locked eyes with me for a moment before turning away. Delmar appeared, and the two scouts followed him to meet with Castile and Adrian. I was a little worried that they had not asked me to join them. I was the one who had killed the wyvern and wondered what they had figured out. I watched the dice game, and the longer Konstantin and vius took, the more paranoid I became. Delmar was with them when they returned, and Delmar approached me with purpose. ¡°Eryk, did you get the potions from the alchemist?¡± He asked quickly. ¡°Yes, twenty salves and six lesser healing, but he thinks the efficacy period is short on the lesser healing, so I need to keep them stored,¡± I reported. ¡°Good, Castile wants to see you. She is in thest room down that hallway,¡± Delmar pointed. He then raised his voice for the dozen men still in the dining room, ¡°Get to your bunks. Breakfast at first light, and then we march!¡± Groans erupted, but everyone began cleaning up. I stood and walked down the hallway Delmar had indicated. These were the officer rooms for the barracks, and there were four of them. Thest door on the right was open. Castile was in the room looking at some items on the table. A single bed was against the wall under a small window. She looked at me quizzically, ¡°Eryk,e in and shut the door behind you.¡± A closed the door and took the only other seat at the table across from Castile. Chapter 126: Choosing Sides Chapter 126: Choosing Sides I was seated across from Castile, a worn, dark oak table between us. Two gold rings, a silver ne, and some folded papers were on the table. She studied me until I started to get ufortable. Castile broke the silence, ¡°Can I see the amulet?¡± I didn¡¯t hesitate, and I put the amulet on the table. Castile picked it up and turned it in her hands. I was watching her eyes to see if she used it. She eventually put it down, never having tested it. ¡°I never heard them called dreamscape amulets before. There were two of these at the Mage College, usable only by the First Citizens and under the supervision of a High Mage. They could help you learn new spells in weeks instead of months.¡± Castile made strong eye contact, ¡°How did Boris know you had this?¡± I winced, ¡°It was Lareen. The servant assigned to me. She caught me using it. She promised not to tell anyone.¡± Castile¡¯s eyebrows raised in a mocking visage, ¡°I will talk with the Duchess. I am sure Lareen will be suitably punished for not informing her before her brother.¡± That made me feel slightly better, but still, she had betrayed me, and the secret was out. She pushed it back toward me, like pushing away a temptation. ¡°Secure it. Duchess Veronica is not letting her brother do any message sendings, but we are certain he will n to obtain it or use its existence to gain favor from another powerful First Citizen.¡± I felt like this amulet was about to be an albatross. I took the amulet and stored it. Castile did not ask to use it, but her bodynguage hinted that she wanted to. Castile indicated the items on the table, ¡°These are the artifacts found on Sebastian.¡± Behind Castile, the collector was also on the bed. ¡°The maps and instructions from the summoner are in elvish,¡± she indicated in the papers. I winced again, realizing I had not searched his body thoroughly. I directed my attention to the table¡ªthe rings did not have any runic markings on them, ¡°They are magical? I don¡¯t see any markings on the rings.¡± The silver ne clearly had a unique pattern in the links. Castile frowned, ¡°Dungeon rings are typically just silver, gold, or tinum bands. Only when they are in use or heated in a me will their runic workings appear.¡± She picked up one of the rings, ¡°I do not know their function, but yes, they are dungeon artifacts.¡± After studying the ring, she put it down, ¡°After we leave for the Ruins of Caelora, the Duchess willpose a message sending to the capital. If Sebastian has an heir, they will go to him or her. If he does not have an heir, the registry of artifacts will be consulted. If any of the items are listed there, they will be turned over to the Empire.¡± Castile turned around to look at the essence collector. ¡°Almost all essence collectors are registered in the Empire, so I will hold onto that until they request it be returned.¡± She let a small smirk escape, ¡°Of course, once we march with it, we will have no means ofmunication as I do not know the message sending spell.¡±I figured out her n. Castile and the Duchess had plotted so she would be able to keep the essence collector for this one assignment. I asked, ¡°And the rings and ne?¡± ¡°I will try to figure out their function tonight. They will remain with the Duchess, though. Most likely, Duke Octavian wille looking for them,¡± she said with spite. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Duke Octavian?¡± I asked, bewildered. Castile clenched her teeth, ¡°vius informed me Master Mage Sebestian¡¯s estate is in Duke Octavian¡¯s province. If he has no heir, and vius thinks he does not, then all his property will revert to Octavian.¡± ¡°Why just not report the recovery of the items and keep them?¡± I offered a simple solution. ¡°If the items are not registered, that could work. But I do not know what is and what isn¡¯t. The collector is definitely registered, but these¡­¡± Castile looked at the rings and ne. ¡°If we did not try to get them to their proper ce, a Truthseeker would discover the deception eventually.¡± Castile straightened, and her tone turned serious, ¡°We have avoided why I asked you here long enough. Konstantin and vius are both suspicious of you. The wyvern had no wounds, and no poison works that fast.¡± With her tone change, I got ufortable, ¡°What happened to, if you don¡¯t know, you cannot tell the Truthseekers?¡± I said slowly. Castile pursed her lips and frowned. She was more direct, ¡°I am not asking you anything. I am telling you Konstantin and vius will be watching you more closely.¡± ¡°If Konstantin watched me any closer, his head would be stuck in my ass,¡± I joked. That got a small smile from Castile. Her smile faded, ¡°Konstantin knows you can heal. I expect any future training sessions are going to be more¡­intense,¡± Castile said. I groaned as that had been one of my bigger fears. ¡°Do you know Konstantin¡¯s spell forms?¡± Castile suddenly asked. ¡°He knows your secrets. It is fair you know his.¡± ¡°He has a form of telekinesis. He can move small objects,¡± I answered, and Castile nodded. When I did not offer any more, she supplied them, ¡°He can tell if something is poisonous.¡± My blood suddenly chilled, and Castile smirked at my difort, ¡°Only poisons thate from nts, though. It is a weak spell form from the nature affinity. He has a third as well. Another weak spell form that is actually extremely useful. It allows him to get a full night¡¯s rest in four hours.¡± ¡°That bastard. That is how he is always up before me. That is just cheating,¡± I spat in disgust at the unfairness. ¡°Cheating?¡± Castile asked, amused. ¡°You can heal yourself, turn air into defensive shields, have a secret storage, and have a training amulet. I think you have the advantage over Konstantin.¡± Castile did not even mention that I was working on a spell form for time. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition. ¡°So, you just wanted to warn me?¡± I asked Castile. Castile rubbed her brow, trying toe up with a way to exin it, ¡°Yes and no. Also, that the amuletplicates things. Konstantin will soon hear from the others that you have it, and he will tell his Praetorian Guard master, and Boris will continue to pursue it. It is going to draw a lot of attention to myself and thepany.¡± I was confused. I couldn¡¯t believe such a small device could cause so many problems. ¡°Then what do you want me to do? Give it away? Flee the Empire?¡± I said thetter in jest, but the thought often crossed my mind. Castile eyes danced with indecision, ¡°No, it is not yet time we do that.¡± A cold feeling ran down my spine. Castile had just confirmed some of my suspicions. She had clearly used the word we. She had been grooming me to help her flee the Empire. At least, that is what I was interpreting from her words. It had been intentional on her part as I read her eyes. I waited for her to continue. ¡°You could always sell the amulet or seek protection from a First Citizen.¡± ¡°The Duchess?¡± I asked, trying to read her intentions. Castile was impassive as she answered sadly, ¡°If you wish to enter her service, then you could. I know a few men of thepany who would take her up on her offer.¡± She did not sound bitter, though. ¡°I also suspect that the Duchess is already working with Konstantin¡¯s Praetorian Master.¡± ¡°Konstantin is working for the Duchess?¡± I said. I was extremely confused. Castile deliberated in silence, deciding what to tell me, ¡°No. It is not that simple. I think Antonia Segreto is using the Duchess to keep me safe.¡± ¡°Antonia Segreto? The merchant queen you thought is Konstantin¡¯s handler?¡± I asked. ¡°Handler¡ªinteresting way of putting it, Eryk. But yes. While Firth is here to ensure I don¡¯t betray the Empire, Konstantin appears to be here to ensure I do not get myself killed. She has some purpose for me, and I do not know what it is,¡± Castile disclosed. ¡°Is that why he pushed us so hard to get to the capital for the Tribunal?¡± I asked. ¡°Partly so, I believe. He also has some loyalty in him,¡± Castile said softly as her thoughts wandered briefly. Too many things were ying through my mind. Castile was a peasant raised to power and caught in the politics of the Empire. She obviously was hoping to escape one way or another. Konstantin had been a mentor, a tough mentor, but still a mentor. But his true motives were hidden. Castile let me consider everything for a few minutes. I finally chose to side with Castile. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± Castile¡¯s lips twitched in a brief smile. ¡°Stay close to Konstantin. Ask him for help in protecting your amulet.¡± Castile let her words sink in before adding, ¡°If you can get him to divulge what Antonia Segreto has nned for me, it would help enormously.¡± So this is what it hade down to. I was to spy on Konstantin. ¡°Konstantin keeps hinting that I should join the Hounds,¡± I said after considering her words. Castile wavered a moment before admitting, ¡°He did mention it to me. He thought it would be beneficial for you. In case you had cause to flee the Empire. That is¡ªknowing how your pursuers work.¡± It was like lightning striking, ¡°Konstantin thinks I am going to flee?¡± Castileughed softly, ¡°I think he is more surprised you are still here. He has tracked more than a few legionnaires in his time, and the first day you arrived, he warned me you had all the signs of a runner.¡± I thought on it for a moment, ¡°So I should ask Konstantin about working for Antonia?¡± ¡°Before, she may have seen you as useful as a smuggler. But now you are actually apetent soldier with self-healing,¡± Castile paused, maybe realizing how attractive I was to recruit. Imitted to Castile¡¯s side, not seeing many options, ¡°I understand and will try to gain Konstantin¡¯s confidence.¡± Castile nodded but didn¡¯t smile. ¡°If you need help in the future, you can trust Adrian, Felix, Mateo, and ze.¡± I tilted my head before figuring out what Castile was hinting at. If I decided to leave the Empire, as she was nning, then those four would be trustworthy. ¡°Mateo, really?¡± I asked about the legionnaire who did not know how to hold his tongue. I was also surprised Delmar was not among the names mentioned. Castile nodded, ¡°Foolish with his tongue but loyal and brave beyond measure. Ask him about his family sometime. It is a fascinating tale.¡± I stood, ¡°I should get some rest for tomorrow¡¯s march.¡± ¡°Are you going to loan one of your new des to Brutus?¡± Castile asked as I made to leave. ¡°Before we reach the ruins, yes. I want to try them both before deciding which to keep.¡± Castile nodded approvingly, and I left. I returned to the northwest tower to find Maveith animatedly talking with vius and Konstantin. Maveith was retelling of thepetition and how I had won the day against the First Citizen. Konstantin had Maveith pause, ¡°So those are yours now?¡± He pointed at the two runic des on my bed with my pack. I nodded and studied Konstantin. Maybe it was just the talk with Castile, but I could see the suspicion in his eyes. vius was ignoring mepletely as he packed his own bag. I noticed a bundle of silvery arrows on the bed, so he must have received the runic arrows already. Maveith broke the silence, ¡°Benito brought you this,¡± hisrge hand dumped a mess of silver into my hand. ¡°Tenrge silver and forty small,¡± Maveith informed me. Benito had set up a betting pool for the tourney, and I won. I moved the coins to my storage. ¡°Yes, Konstantin. I am going to loan one of the des to Brutus. And you heard about the amulet as well?¡± I said, sitting on my bed, my face impassive. ¡°From Mateo, yes. Sounds useful. I hope you are using it well,¡± he said indifferently. Maveith could feel the tension in the room and asked, ¡°Does anyone want to y checkers?¡± Konstantin disappointed Maveith, ¡°We should all get some rest. It is going to be a long walk tomorrow.¡± After inspecting the wyvern, I knew both Konstantin and vius had questions about me. Laying down, I prepared. I moved the amulet to my hand and entered the dreamscape. I only spent a few moments encasing the bookshelf inside a rock wall in the scorpion room before returning. I returned the amulet to my space for safety. The only way someone could im it was by killing me, forcing the contents of my space into the real world. As I settled into an ufortable sleep, the unpleasant dreams came quickly. No matter where I went in my dreams, someone wanted the amulet. It started with Mateo asking incessantly to borrow it on the march. Then, it was Konstantin¡¯s Praetorian Master trying to get it from me in exchange for her protection. Then it was First Citizen Boris demanding to fight me for it over and over. I beat him down every time. Konstantin was up first and kicked the bed to wake me. ¡°Time to wake, Eryk; we have an hour before breakfast. Let¡¯s see if you deserve to carry those des.¡± I was awake instantly, but it was still dark outside, and Konstantin held a glow stone. ¡°Am I still dreaming?¡± I asked myself softly, even though I knew this was not a dream. Konstantin barked augh. The racket from Konstantin had forced vius and Maveith to wake. ¡°I am ttered you dream about me, Eryk. Get your armor on, and we only have an hour to make sure you don¡¯t cut yourself with your new swords.¡± Konstantin was being Konstantin, and I did not detect suspicion in his voice. He was gone, stamping down the stone steps. I groaned but started moving. Chapter 127: The Black Blade Chapter 127: The ck de I followed Konstantin down to the training yard, carrying my pack and two des so I would be ready to leave when thepany marched. It was still dark when we arrived. The training yard was adjacent to the Citadel barracks, where the rest of thepany was quartered. No one was up yet, and it was maybe an hour before sunrise. I decided to tease Konstantin that I knew some of his secrets, ¡°So, you have a spell form that allows you not to need much sleep?¡± Konstantin eyed me with an appraising stare, ¡°I do. I need about half what a normal man does. Just means I was required to stand watch more often or not while I was with the Hounds.¡± Konstantin had his own pack and was getting ready for some practice. He took on a paternal tone as he gave me advice, ¡°You will just find the more spell forms you have, the more that is expected of you. But you know that already with your dimensional spell form.¡± I nodded as I was testing both des, deciding what to use first. ¡°Are we wrapping our des?¡± I asked since Konstantin had made no effort to. We usually used practice swords or wrapped our actual des when we practiced. ¡°You can heal yourself, Eryk. There is no need to wrap mine,¡± Konstantin said dismissively with his back to me. I could imagine the grin on his face. I had been hoping for him to say something like that, ¡°Yeah, I can, but I do not have a lot of aether, so I can only heal a little.¡± I hoped this would prevent him from causing me a serious injury as I wrapped my de in the tacky cloth. Konstantin still didn¡¯t wrap his de and asked, ¡°Is that how you kept up on the run to the capital? You healed your feet as we went?¡± I nodded, and he half-smiled, shaking his head in an un-Konstantin-like manner. ¡°Damn, Eryk. My feet felt like an ogre had chewed on them during that run. Seeing you not suffering made me think I was getting soft.¡± ¡°So, I made you feel inadequate?¡± I smirked, and he lost his good humor instantly. Konstantin walked over to me, all business, and held out his hand, ¡°Do you mind if I look at them?¡±I had to remember trying to befriend the coarse man to find out why Castile was deemed important by the Praetorian Guard. I handed him both the des, ¡°The polished one is orc forged, and the ck one is just old.¡± He first held the partially wrapped ck de, ¡°It is sometimes called a devoted de, Eryk. Forged by the smiths of the First Legion before the elves killed them all. That is why there are no runic smiths in the Empire. They are always killed as soon as they are recognized. There might be some working in secret for the Emperor, but they are not known publicly,¡± Konstantin stated. ¡°The elves kill the runic smiths?¡± I asked, interested in the small piece of history. ¡°The Bartiradian assassins, yes. Not always elves, though.¡± He moved his hand along the length of the ck de. It was mostly ck with arge number of tiny pits in it. ¡°As I was saying, the devoted des were forged to kill one specific enemy. When carving out the Empire, the First Legion fought campaigns against the orcs, dwarves, elves, goblins, gnolls, centaurs, and other humans. Most likely, this de was forged against one of those.¡± He handed me back the de. ¡°It is rare and valuable, then? So, what does it do? Can it kill them with one swing?¡± I swung the de to test its weight. ¡°I have only read the histories, and this is my first time seeing one. The ck depanies were elite units in the various campaigns sent after the most troubling opponents. The stories say the ck des prevented beings from using magical healing, including potions, after being injured,¡± Konstantin informed me while facing me. ¡°The des are umon but not rare and probably hanging on the walls of most citadels in the Empire. Dungeon des are much more valuable and useful against all types of creatures.¡± ¡°So, will the de not work against the specters?¡± I asked, reconsidering choosing this de. ¡°It will. It is a runic weapon. The ck coloring is from silver mixed with steel. There is an ancient tale about the ck des. It may regain some of its luster if you soak it in the blood of the enemy it was forged to fight. If you find another wielder of such a de, you should ask them.¡± He was ready to begin, and we engaged and started our practice. The ng of steel woke the men up, and a few came outside to watch from a distance and prepare for the march, repacking their packs. I realized they were not going to be happy with Konstantin or me for waking them early. Neither of us was using shields, and the first serious injury was to my forearm. After parrying my de, Konstantin cut all the way to the bone on a sh where the greaves didn¡¯t cover. I cradled my arm to conceal the healing as best I could from watchful eyes. Reknitting the muscle and flesh took time, and Konstantin watched, shaking his head in disbelief. I don¡¯t think he believed I could heal until he saw it himself. Konstantin nodded to himself now that it was confirmed, ¡°Okay, Eryk. So, your biggest problem is getting used to the longer sword. You have the strength and size to wield it, but your mind and muscle memory are still trying to use it like a shorter de. Now¡­.¡± We spent the next half an hour as Konstantin showed me how the sword forms I learned in training were slightly different for the longer de. Almost the entirepany was outside watching now, including Brutus. I had tried the orchish de, and the ck de just felt better in my hands. I was only loaning the other de to Brutus anyway. Adrian appeared with Delmar first and yelled, ¡°Breakfast inside, then we march!¡± As the cold air dried our sweat, I walked inside with Konstantin. He asked, ¡°Did you see him?¡± ¡°See who?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°The First Citizen Boris. He was watching you from the third-floor balcony. I am disappointed if you didn¡¯t see him,¡± he said, shaking his head. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I noticed people watching from the windows of the Citadel, but I did not know who they were. I was too busy trying to avoid your de seeking my flesh,¡± I muttered. Konstantin pped me on the back in an almost fatherly pat, ¡°I taught you better than that. Danger cane from anywhere. My impression is the First Citizen Boris is about as smart as an ornery bull. But if you ignore that bull, its horn is going to pierce your heart when you least expect it.¡± Konstantin went to sit with Adrian and Delmar, leaving me to take a table with Brutus and Mateo. I preempted Brutus¡¯ question, ¡°Yes, Brutus. I will loan you the orcish-made de. The ck de feels better in my hands.¡± Mateo sounded in, ¡°You were lucky that Konstantin was not part of the contest. He brutalized you this morning and could have won the de.¡± Brutus defended me, ¡°He gave Konstantin as good as he got. Eryk was probably pulling his strikes so as not to hurt the old man. Besides, he has his own runic weapon already.¡± Mateo was bouncing and itching to change the topic. ¡°Don¡¯t even ask Mateo. My answer is still no.¡± Mateo looked distressed but didn¡¯t ask to borrow the dreamscape amulet again. Felix came, put a massive haunch of ham on the table, and sat with us. ze brought a bowl of small boiled potatoes. To everyone¡¯s disappointment, the pitchers were full of only water. I noted with some snark, ¡°Since the Countess arrived, the food and drink quality has really dropped off.¡± Everyone was using knives to cut off chunks of the boiled ham. zemented, ¡°That is because you spend your nights in the Alchemist Tower. We usually get the leftovers from the Duchess¡¯ dinner with her mother. Seconds, but extremely tasty, and at least it is seasoned.¡± He tapped the nd ham with his knife. As we ate, the conversation drifted to thepany contest yesterday. I only half followed the conversation and nodded when appropriate. It was all too soon when Castile arrived with Schr Favian, and Delmar ordered us to formation. Everyone made to stuff as much food as they could into their mouths as we went to shoulder our packs and began the march. Adrian informed me, ¡°You will be marching next to Castile in the center, Eryk.¡± I nodded, as it seemed I would be talking with Castile during the march. Castile was dressed infortable clothing and even had a small pack herself, which I found surprising. She usually did not carry any gear, but then I remembered we had a kettle of souls. I assumed that was what she was transporting. Favian was on her right, and I was positioned on her left. After we settled into the march, Castile said, ¡°You are going to protect Schr Favian.¡± Castile smirked, ¡°Don¡¯t look surprised. You carry a runic weapon and proved yourself one of the best swordsmen in thepany. Your aptitude to shield Zyna with your spell form was also a consideration.¡± ¡°So, no more scouting with Konstantin?¡± I said, confused. We had agreed I was going to get closer to him and learn his purpose in thepany. ¡°No, not with you carrying the potions again. vius is back as well to help him,¡± Castile noted the scout further down the road. It waste morning when we reached the turn-off for the trade road that led to the ruins of Caelora. We took a short break at the intersection before starting the march north. The dirt road was lined with farms, but all too soon, we reached the old paved trade road. Everyone got tense with the stone road beneath us. We had fought the wraith and were headed into dire wolf territory. Castile and Favian talked about their ns for exploring the haunted city, and I listened as we walked. The first step was circling it and seeing if the maps Favian had in the books matched. There were only two gates through the walls: the East and West Gate. Favian thought the West Gate was the better ess point as it was near the Elven library. That was where many of the books in the Duchess¡¯ collection had been salvaged from. Favian only found a short ounting of the expedition that recovered the books. The members of the expedition camped a mile outside the West Gate, and then, on the first day with clear skies and sun, they rushed to the library and recovered as many books as they could. The specters had trouble in daylight and they encountered only a handful inside the library. Still, six members of the twenty-man expedition had died. Listening to Favian describe the journal entries of the mage who led the expedition, I was not feeling too great about our chances but d I now had a runic de to fend them off. I also had the elven dagger as a backup weapon and thought about loaning it to the Schr since he already knew about it. If the situation made sense, I decided to give it to him. The two finally discussed the possible locations for the mysterious Shimmering Labyrinth Dungeon. Favian gave his view, ¡°I strongly believe it is under thergest hearth tree on the west side of the city. I have found numerous references to the mages essing the ley lines in the city in the same area but no definitive location to the dungeon.¡± ¡°Are you sure it is even in the city?¡± Castile questioned, doubt in her tone. Favian waivered, ¡°We have been over this before Mage Castile. The selection of books they took on the expedition is highly varied. There are neen references to the dungeon, but it does not appear on any of the maps. The Elven King and his family controlled ess and kept its location secret.¡± The conversation went back and forth as Favian described the cityyout. The city¡¯s East side was residential and the only area where non-elves were permitted. The West side had their important citizens: royalty, wealthy, and many of their craftsmen. That is what the city was known for¡ªhigh-quality trade goods. The celebrated craftsman and the works of art they produced. Konstantin came back from scouting to Castile, and Adrian and Delmar joined him. Konstantin noted, ¡°We are still south of the dire wolf territory. I suggest we make camp soon.¡± There was a brief discussion, and four milester, vius found a defensible hill with good water nearby, and we set up camp. Maveith had Favian¡¯s gear and set up his tent. Since I was in charge of his protection, I set my tent next to him. Maveith set his own tarp next to mine. I was dreading Konstantin asking me to train with the ck de. Instead, Castile approached Maveith and me, saying, ¡°Maveith, make sure you watch him while he sleeps. I do not believe he can perceive the outside world while using the amulet.¡± Castile made eye contact with me and nodded slightly before leaving. Castile was telling me that she expected me to use the amulet. Maveith nodded seriously, ¡°I will guard your body with my life, Eryk.¡± Maybe I would not have to stand watch either. ¡°What about the watch?¡± I inquired to confirm with the departing Castile. ¡°You are tied to Favian. Do not leave his side,¡± Castile said, talking over her shoulder as she walked away. Konstantin overhead, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Eryk. I am sure Favian will not mind watching you train.¡± Favian, who was already inside his tent, replied, ¡°I do not mind watching your sword practice, Eryk. I heard of your exploits with the de.¡± ¡°Great,¡± I said sarcastically. After Castile left, I told Maveith quietly, ¡°If you remove the amulet from my body, I will wake.¡± I thought there were some secrets I would prefer to keep. A few hourster, I was in my tent after a supposedly short session with Konstantin before dinner. Dinner was cold, and only a little was left when we approached Lirkin for our portion. He gave me an apologetic look as he scrapped the pot for my bowl. Before using the amulet, I used a glowstone for light to page through all of Favian¡¯s books. I wanted to add them to my dreamscape amulet tonight. With the amulet in hand, I channeled aether into it. Chapter 128: Dire Feelings Chapter 128: Dire Feelings The dreamscape looked as I left it¡ªI was half expecting to find strangers inside for some reason. Oscar greeted me with his bobbed tail wagging emphatically. I petted the excitable Australian Shepherd. I continued the dog therapy by talking to him, ¡°Guess this secret is out in the open, Oscar.¡± Oscar barked and chased to get a tennis ball I had created for him. Iughed, ¡°Guess it doesn¡¯t matter to you.¡± I tossed the ball for him while I made copies of the elven books Schr Favian had me carry for him. I couldn¡¯t read them, but there were some maps inside. Maybe the knowledge would have a use in the future, so I would not mind the mental bacsh when I exited the dreamscape. With that task done, I walked into the first monster room, the ankheg chamber. My sparring partners were ying cards. Konstantin arched his eyebrow at me, ¡°Going to get some practice today? Or are you going to sit andze about all night?¡± He put down his cards, waiting for my response. I sighed, ¡°Yes.¡± I manifested my new de. The group around the table eyed the ck de curiously. They were waiting for me to choose someone to practice with. The table consisted of Maveith, Konstantin, Adrian, ze, and Xavier. I nodded reluctantly to Konstantin as I had practiced with him this morning and this evening as I adapted to the new weapon. With Konstantin¡¯s help, it was nowfortable in my hands. I was also confident I could beat the man inbat using my air shields. What I wanted to be able to do was beat him without the defensive air shield spell form. We moved to the center of the chamber and began. The Konstantin in the dreamscape had improved quite a bit. I realized the magic amulet had upgraded Konstantin¡¯s fighting style based on our practices today. It was learning from my new memories. It meant the dreamscape manifestations were imperfect but could be improved upon. I spent two hours with Konstantin and an hour with Xavier. Xavier¡¯s manifestation was good, but I doubted it fully incorporated the sword master¡¯s knowledge. I tried tobine Xavier¡¯s skills with Konstantin¡¯s. The results were surprising. Konstantin¡¯s style had been blunter and simpler, while Xavier had an efficient and artistic style moving between the sword forms. Konstantin¡¯s new blended swordsmanship suddenly became unbeatable for me. It was frustrating to fight his new efficient form. I took repeated losses and decided I had enough. I returned to the entry room and studied the spell form for slow aging. I was getting close to the tipping point, and I would finally learn spell form. After seven total hours had passed, I stepped out of the dungeon and left the dreamscape amulet. I opened my eyes to darkness and strained my hearing to understand my surroundings. Men snored in their tents, and the men on watch whispered nearby. The night guards were arguing over who had the better attendant at the Citadel. I could tell by the argument¡¯s voices that it was Felix and Benito. If I remember correctly, Felix had a short, fat, middle-aged woman, and Benito, an older woman who constantly wore a scowl. I felt well-rested and sat up. My head spun with vertigo, and Iid back down. The mental strain from adding to the dreamscape soon passed. Adding eight books had been a little much in one session, or maybe it had been upgrading Konstantin in conjunction. When I feltfortable, I exited the tent and nodded to Maveith, who was whittling new checker pieces. Surveying the camp, there were two small fires. One had Konstantin stoking a fire, and the other had Lirkin preparing hot food for thepany¡¯s breakfast. I could see my breath; it was one of the coldest mornings I had experienced. I went and sat across from Konstantin, who was focused on heating water in a small cup. The heat of the fire felt amazing on my legs. ¡°How many days to Caelora?¡± I asked. ¡°Two,¡± he sipped his tea contentedly. ¡°We will be in the dire wolf territory after mid-morning. I¡¯m unsure if Castile will have us increase the pace or use caution. Positives and negatives to both courses of action.¡± Before he could expound on the positives and negatives, I asked him a question, ¡°Have you fought dire wolves before?¡± I stirred the coals on my side to release more heat. ¡°I have. Smart creatures. They will distract a group and then pick off the weakest member, dragging them away. Hopefully, our numbers will deter them from attacking,¡± Konstantin said while cleaning his cup of tea leaves. He then took out his weapons to clean, starting with his runic weapon. The silvery de looked ethereal in the firelight. I took out my ck de to sharpen and clean as well. ¡°You don¡¯t sharpen a runic weapon, Eryk. Did you notice it has no chips on the edge? That durability is why runic des are cherished. To clean it, just use a rag to clean the length, then use the oil rag on it. It will make sure it draws smoothly.¡± I worked in silence across from Konstantin. The oil rag he referred to was used for our metal helms to protect them from rusting. Konstantin cycled through his weapons, and I did likewise. I was still carrying my short sword, a knife on my belt, and the legion utility hatchet in my pack. Seeing us finishing, Lirkin called us over for an early breakfast. Konstantin and I enjoyed the dense bread that tasted like garlic topped with the berry preserves Lirkin had heated. Maveith joined us, bleary-eyed, after a short nap. He had watched over me while I slept all night, which is not what I had intended. I had just wanted him to rouse me if something threatened me. Maveith¡¯s deep voice soon awakened the whole camp a little earlier than sunrise. Delmar called everyone to eat and announced we would start an early march. Maveith received some annoyed stares. Back on the old paved road, we walked till just past mid-day before a rest. I ended up working in my Elvishnguage with Schr Favian as a distraction from the boredom of marching. My elven vocabry was growing, but the Schr was not impressed with some of my pronunciations. We set a fast pace, and vius and Konstantin were scouting only a short distance ahead. As we marched in the afternoon, the scouts started to find dire wolf tracks crossing the road. They were massive,rger than a man¡¯s hand. We encountered our first dire wolfter in the day. A signal from the rear guard had everyone turn, and our eight men with shields quickly formed a wall. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. It looked like just a normal gray wolf at maybe two hundred yards back. Then, another darker gray wolf walked into the road to stand over the pup. Maveith advised thepany, ¡°They are not hunting us. If they were then, they would not have shown themselves.¡± His statement didn¡¯t make anyone less tense. I was shocked as therger wolf was just as big as Ginger. Benito noticed the same thing, ¡°That beast is as big as a horse. I wonder if I can ride it.¡± Firth barked a harshugh at Benito, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go and give it a try and let us know how it goes.¡± Someughs and snickers from thepany eased the tension a little. ze, behind me, asked, ¡°I can hit it. Should I release?¡± There were some whispers between Castile and Delmar before Delmar announced, ¡°Hold your arrows. Firth and Mateo, you are added to the rear guard.¡± We tightened the formation, and Konstantin and vius were now only leading thepany by twenty strides so they could retreat back to us quickly. Adrian was constantly reminding individuals of their jobs if a dire wolfpack did attack. Half the men were for defense, and the other half were charged with killing whichever monstrous wolf Castile restrained with her shadow chains first. It was important to eliminate one foe at a time as quickly as possible when attacked with numbers. Schr Favian was probably the most nervous among us after we spotted the dire wolf. I tried to take his mind off our danger, ¡°Favian, have you learned anything about the Shimmering Labyrinth Dungeon? What monsters are inside?¡± ¡°The King controlled the dungeon, and it gave vast resources to the city. Iron ore and silver were mined from inside it as the craftsman in the city used it in great quantities. There are also a few references to rarer metals¡ªmithril for one.¡± He said giddily. ¡°It also supplied vast quantities of meat to the city,¡± he paused to think. ¡°References to dishes prepared with boiled spider legs, bear meat, and mushrooms from the dungeon have appeared in my reading.¡± While I was thinking about what horrors supplied those things, Lirkin, ourpany cook, asked, ¡°How do you prepare spider legs?¡± Schr Favian had a big smile, ¡°I wondered that myself! Apparently, you need to boil the legs and crack them open for the meat. Not all varieties are edible, but I read it tastes just like crab meat, only saltier. The elves seemed to like the meat dipped in butter made from goat¡¯s milk.¡± Delmar, at the front of the formation, replied, ¡°Spider meat is a bit mushy but not bad. On long delves, you eat what the dungeon provides. It is not umon forrger dungeons to support entiremunities.¡± Delmar was our experienced dungeon delver. He addressed the Schr, ¡°What else did you find about the dungeon?¡± ¡°Nothing. Just the name appears in some texts I pieced together. It was called The Shimmering Labyrinth. I think it is extremelyrge based on the references, but the King kept it hidden from the outside world as a treasure of his city and people,¡± Schr Favian replied with uncertainty. Firth announced from the back, ¡°Therge wolf is following us. It is in the woods, maybe two hundred yards back.¡± Maveith offered his input again, ¡°If it were hunting us, then it would have called the rest of the pack. It is probably making sure we are leaving its territory. Maybe it is teaching the young one how to stalk its prey.¡± Brutus noted, ¡°If we are the prey, then your words are not reassuring, Maveith.¡± There was some back-and-forth among the men when Castile ordered, ¡°Halt! Konstantin!¡± she called the scout back from further down the road. When he returned, she ordered, ¡°Go and check on the wagons we found on our way here.¡± Konstantin rushed into the woods, and I realized we were approaching the area where we had discovered the wagons. I remember picking up a gold ring from the ground at the time. The money from the locked chest had gotten thepany recement armor. Konstantin whistled for Maveith, and the goliath went to support him. It was not far from the road, and we could see them as the leaves had all fallen from the trees. I checked on our furry follower, and it sat on its hind legs about two hundred yards back. I could tell ze was itching to take a shot, but Castile held him back. When Konstantin and Maveith returned, ¡°Just small animals have been by since.¡± Castile nodded, but she had apparently expected something else by her consternation. The short rest was over, and we continued our march. There was a discussion on when we would stop for the night as we had covered almost forty miles today on the road. Castile told everyone to take out glowstones, and we marched into the night. Castile, being next to me, I asked, ¡°Are we continuing because of the dire wolf?¡± Castile considered her answer, ¡°A dire wolf following us is not unusual. What I am confused about was the first smaller wolf we spotted. We have not seen it since. I even searched for it and other dire wolves; therge one behind us is the only one.¡± Fortunately, the blue moon was bright overhead, and the skies were clear. We marched for three hours in the darkness before Castile finally ordered us to camp in the middle of the road. Konstantin objected until Castile told him she hoped the dire wolf would approach during the night so she could snare it with her shadow chains and we could eliminate it. That got everyone excited. Eliminating our stalker would be wee and boost morale. We set up a tight camp for the night, and the watch was doubled. Castile reminded Maveith to watch over me again. It was her way of telling me to use the amulet tonight. I did not know how I felt about using the amulet with danger so close. I reminded Maveith, ¡°All you need to do is remove the amulet to awaken me. But get some sleep tonight yourself.¡± ¡°I understood you the first five times you said it, Eryk.¡± The goliath seemed frustrated that I either didn¡¯t trust him, thought his memory was terrible, or was tense like the others with the dire wolf following us. My tent was in thepany¡¯s center, next to Schr Favian. When I crawled inside, I debated not using the amulet again. It felt like there was a building tension in the air to me. I think Castile felt it, too. I decided to spend a few hours inside and focus on the spell form for slow aging. With Oscar in myp, I spent two hours studying and then exiting the dreamscape. I listened, and men were whispering, but there was no rm. I could hear Maveith breathing heavily as he sat on a log and rolled over near our tents. I entered the dreamscape again. About three hours in, the familiar feeling of the spell form inscribing on my core was achieved. I had learned the slow aging spell form. I exited the dreamscape, excited to study it and learn how it worked. Nothing had changed in the camp, but Castile was agitated as the dire wolf was apparently still watching us but had not approached. I studied the spell form and activated it. It was supposed to draw a slow trickle of aether to slow my aging greatly. The trickle was so insignificant I didn¡¯t even perceive it. I used some aether to cast some air shields and frowned. I had wanted to see how fast my aether recovered with the slow aging active. My best guess was that my aether was recovering at half of normal. At least, that was the best I could estimate. It was still a decent trade-off for being able to live for thousands of years. I smiled as Iy awake for the rest of the night, listening to everyone and thinking about what I could do with all the time in the world. The sunrise came, and the dire wolf had never approached the camp. It had also remained vignt, unnervingly watching us the entire night. Chapter 129: Traeliorn Kelran POV (Patreon Vote) Chapter 129: Traeliorn Kelran POV (Patreon Vote) After arriving in the Telhian wilderness, Traeliorn left his apprentice Vaeril and Ranger Raelia and flew north on the back of Kylma. The ice drake was a good mount and friend, she moved with his body and did most of the work as they flew north, so he didn¡¯t even require a saddle. His n was simple. He would summon thergest wyvern he could and attack small towns south of the Telhian capital. The wyvern would kill the peasants, making the Emperor look ipetent and unable to protect his citizens. His goal was actually to get the Emperor to leave his pce. Then Traeliorn would attack him, putting his life on the line to end the Void Mage. The Emperor had caused him so much pain and grief over thest two centuries that he was willing to risk his life to finally kill him. Traeliornnded between two rocky summits and sent Kylma to one of the peaks to watch over him as he worked. Summoning a wyvern was always a difficult task. Luring one through an open portal took a lot of aether and a powerful summoner. The draconic beasts also had very primal desires: hunt, kill, eat, and reproduce, and the negotiation with the beast would usually have to satisfy those needs. He spent an entire dayying out thergest formation he had ever constructed. Heughed, thinking it was big enough to summon an actual dragon. He was not stupid enough to try that, though. A dragon¡¯s will was too strong and would not even enter negotiations. Traeliorn preferred to bypass the negotiation phase of a summoning and instead dominate the mind of the creature when it came through the portal. He spent an entire day resting in preparation, and Kylma brought him arge fresh fish to eat. ¡°I suppose you want me to cook it for the both of us?¡± The ice drake puffed a frozen cloud at him. ¡°Fine, it is a good twenty pounds. I am taking the best fillet for myself.¡± The drake puffed another cloud before curling into a ball and watching him work closely. The summoner skillfully descaled and sliced the fish. He found arge t rock and held out his hand as he wove the spell forms together. A me erupted from his palm as he sted the stone until it turned an angry red. The heat was wee as the weather was turning. It was not turning fast enough for him. He wanted to see the fruits of hisbors. He had targeted fields and farms across the eastern Telhian Empire. This winter, the peasants of the Telhian Empire would starve and me the Emperor. The stone cooled enough to cook therge fillets. He reached deep into his belt pouch and pulled some salt and herbs to season the fillets with. When he flipped them after a few minutes, Kylma got up and eagerly approached, ¡°Old girl, you should be eating this raw. I have spoiled you too much with cooked food.¡± The ice drake gave an indignant puff. ¡°Consider this your reward for flying my old bones around.¡± Traeliorn took a small piece of the fish after it was perfectly cooked, and the ice drake quickly consumed what was left behind. Kylma thenunched herself into the air to keep watch from one of the peaks again. The summoner shook his head and considered sending the drake away if the Emperor left his pce to confront him. It was something that was unlikely to happen, though. He began the ritual summoning with the watery-blue moon, giving him strong light. The wyvern scale at the center was the focus as he poured aether into the runes he had carefully inscribed on the ground to focus his power. The magic would search for a match to that scale on all of Desia and sometimes beyond. He liked to think of it like fishing, casting out a line and hook, seeking out the fish on its own. It was almost an hour before he finally got a bite.He had devoted two-thirds of his aether so far and was slightly worried when the portal finally anchored and opened, showing a wyvern on the other side. Even before the beast stepped through, he knew it was formable. It came fearlessly through and immediately lunged at the mage. The dragonkin¡¯s size and the attack¡¯s ferocity made him flinch. It was practically the size of an actual dragon. The containment runes red blue, green, and red as they held the massive wyvern in ce. It strained and roared defiance inside the circle. Traeliorn tried to establish a connection to its mind, but the creature was stronger than a wyvern should be. It was like wrestling an oiled pig from his youth. He kept grabbing at it¡ªonly to have it slip away. Traeliorn was sweating as his aether was slowly consumed in the fight for dominance. Finally, the wyvern made a mistake, and Traeliorn slipped into his mind and subdued his thoughts. The elf summoner sat heavily on the ground, his heart still racing from the struggle. He had almost lost the struggle. He only had about one-twentieth of his aether remaining. Kylmanded next to him now that the difficult part was done. He noted that she used him as a buffer to the wyvern. He scratched her ear holes to let her know he was fine. He drank his entire waterskin before slipping back into the mind of the impressive wyvern. Controlling a beast through its mind was not easy; he would give it back some control to make it easier on himself and allow himself time to recover some equilibrium. The wyvernunched into the air, and Traeliorn began the search for thergest farmingmunities north of him. He found a farmer in a field harvesting squash. A horse pulled a cart while the farmer and his children deposited squash into the cart for winter. He set the wyvern loose on the people and lessoned his connection to the beast. The summoner copsed on the ground, checking in on the wyvern periodically as it terrorized and killed peasants. Even after it had satiated its hunger, the summoner nudged it to continue its rampage of the people. It had been a few hours since the summoning when he received a message sending from his apprentice Vaeril. ¡°Master Kelran, the legionaries have found us! They have a drake and more than one mage with them! We are running, but I do not think we willst long. Please send help.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the vition. Traeliorn¡¯s heart pounded. He was going to lose another apprentice and friend. Not to mention, the ranger¡¯s death would anger the General as well. He reconnected with the wyvern that was massacring a pasture of sheep. The creature tried to resist Traelorian¡¯s mind, but the link had already been anchored. He forced the creature into the air and sent it south to find his apprentice. Suchplete control drained his aether rapidly as he searched through the eyes of the beast. He headed for anyrge flying creature in the skies. He was searching for the drake. Vaeril had an anchor stone for a portal, making it somewhat easier to determine the direction, but it was more of a feeling than a true direction. He knew he was not going to make it in time. It was just too far. But at least he could get his revenge. There! Not the drake but the anchor stone. The massive wyvernnded in an open grassy area, dotted with trees. Underneath one of the trees, he found Vaeril alive. When the wyvern did not attack, relief filled the young elf¡¯s face. ¡°Master Kelran, is that you?¡± Traeliorn used weak telepathy tomunicate through his bond with the wyvern. ¡°It is me. Where are The Ranger and legionaries?¡± A pained look came on Vaeril¡¯s face, ¡°She gave me more time to run. They caught her. The legionaries killed the two hill giants I summoned and areing after me. They have a powerful fire mage with them, Master Kelran.¡± Their conversation was interrupted when a drake zipped over the trees. A man was riding it. The wyvernunched itself into the sky in pursuit. The summoner guided its rage at the much smaller creature. The aerial pursuit quickly got frustrating. The wyvern had filled its belly, not helping its agility. The rider and drake were too agile and fast. And the rider kept trying to anchor his own dominance on the mind of the wyvern. It was bing futile, and Traeliorn¡¯s aether was almost empty. He needed to take a risk. He pushed his mind to a corner of the wyvern and left the rest for the mage to subvert. He was a powerful human mage who soon grappled the remaining mind into submission but didn¡¯t realize Traeliorn was still present. The Empire Magended his drake, thinking himself victorious, and approached the wyvern wearing a sneering grin. Conquering this beast was an impressive feat. Traeliorn had almost failed himself. If Traeliorn had not already weakened its defenses, the human mage would not have had a chance. But here they were. He waited as the human approached to im his prize. The human even foolishly left his drake behind. When he was in striking distance, Traelorian pushed his mind out to regain control. The mage realized his mistake toote, and the wyvern¡¯s long neck snapped out and consumed him in one bite. Some defensive magic red inside the wyvern¡¯s mouth, but the angry wyvern ground the mage with its teeth, crunching bones and forcing him down his throat to an already full belly. The drake took exception to its rider being eaten and charged the wyvern. The massive wyvern easily swatted it down and tore out its throat in seconds. The wyvern roared in victory, and Traeliorn smiled far away. He had saved his apprentice and killed a powerful mind mage of the Empire. Traeliorn took control of the wyvern, nning to have it carry Vaeril back to him in its w. He walked the beast toward the tree, and his blood froze. The wyvern rushed the tree and batted it over, uncovering the dead apprentice with a sword piercing down into its body. The pained look on Vaeril¡¯s face made the summoner go into a rage. He had been so close. He had been so distracted by fighting the drake that he had left Vaeril unprotected. The wyvern¡¯s head snapped up, looking for movement. There! He forced the wyvern to chase the two fleeing legionaries. He would get some modicum of revenge. One of the men made it into the trees, but the wyvern cut the other one off, like a cat cutting off a mouse. The legionnaire was halted in his tracks, separated from hispanion. Arrows uselessly bounced off the scales of the wyvern as Traeliorn stared through its eyes. In the Telhian speech, the legionaries defied the wyvern and his fate, saying, ¡°You prefer to y with your food! Well, bring it on!¡± Traeliorn approached slowly and sent a message into the legionnaire¡¯s mind, ¡°You killed Vaeril, my apprentice?¡± He looked shocked at the message but seemed to understand the wyvern was talking to him. Surprise crossed his face. He asked, ¡°Traeliorn?¡± So, the young legionaries knew who he was. He must be a Hound sent to find him, and he found Vaeril instead. The wyvern¡¯s ck eyes focused on the legionnaire. Traeliorn wanted confirmation he was getting his vengeance, ¡°Did you kill my apprentice?¡± He repeated. ¡°Yes,¡± the legionnaire answered with a clear and t tone, not denying it. He was brave to be standing before certain death. Most men would have cowered, begged for their life, or soiled themselves. Instead, he stood defiantly, weing his fate. Far away, Traeliorn acknowledged his bravery and sent the final message to the human, ¡°Then legionnaire, know that it was I who sent you to your afterlife for your crime. Traeliorn Kelran, Vaeril¡¯s teacher and friend.¡± The wyvern roared and lunged at the legionnaire with its powerful legs and neck. Traeliorn gasped as the bacsh from his mental link with the wyvern was severed. He fell to the ground, and Kylma nudged his exhausted body worriedly. His aether was spent, and his head had an intense pressure. He was in disbelief. The wyvern must have been killed. How was that even possible? So instantaneously? Only one thing could have done that¡ªvoid magic. It must be another used void mage like the Emperor. How powerful would he have to be to y a wyvern with just a spell form? Traeliorn needed rest¡ªa lot of rest to recover from the bacsh and the ordeal of the day. He was not going to return to Bartiradiannds until he got his revenge on the legionnaire who killed Vaeril. He rationalized that killing a void mage would help the Bartiradian war effort. A few dayster, Traeliorn was watching through a wolf¡¯s eyes as two legionnaires searched the wyvern and Vaeril¡¯s body. He was still too weak to attack. He hade here in hopes of returning Vaeril¡¯s body to the earth but found the legionnaires here instead. He should have known they would want to harvest the wyvern. He watched and waited for them to leave. When they did, he had the wolf follow them. Kylma stayed on the lookout while Traeliorn buried Vaeril. He actually shed tears as hepleted the task, promising the corpse he would avenge it. The wolf followed the legionnaires back to the city of Sobral. The next day, it followed them along the road and then north along the old abandoned trade road. There were over twenty of them in thepany but only two apparent mages in the group, and that legionnaire with void magic was among them as well¡ªso three had strong magic. Traeliornnded and dismounted Kylma a good distance away. He was still much too weak to confront them, but it would still take them days of travel to reach the capital. A dire wolf came out of the brush to challenge Kylma. Traeliorn smiled as the contest of wills with a dire wolf, even in his state, was not difficult. He sent the dire wolf to rece themon wolf and track the magepany. He figured they must be returning to the capital on the old road. He wouldn¡¯t let them get there, though. He just needed to recover more before he could summon again. Book 1 promotional sale Book 1 promotional sale There is a temporary sale on Amazon for book 1, ebook version. It is just $0.99 for a little while and if you have a spare dor it would help promote the book (via sales) and you can rate it and write a review. It is still also part of kindle unlimited as well. Visibility is one of the things I have to work for as an indie and independent author. I don''t have a publisher promoting my work and rely on readers word of mouth. I appreciate the support and feedback on this tform. Five hundred word minimum? A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a s a a a a a a a a s a a a a a s a a s a s a a a s a s a s a s a s a A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a s a a a a a a a a s a a a a a s a a s a s a a a s a s a s a s a s A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a s a a a a a a a a s a a a a a s a a s a s a a a s a s a s a s a s A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a s a a a a a a a a s a a a a a s a a s a s a a a s a s a s a s a s A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a s a a a a a a a a s a a a a a s a a s a s a a a s a s a s a s a s A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a s a a a a a a a a s a a a a a s a a s a s a a a s a s a s a s a s A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a s a a a a a a a a s a a a a a s a a s a s a a a s a s a s a s a s aaaaaaCheat the system. Stolen from its rightful ce, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Chapter 130: Disconcerting Decisions Chapter 130: Disconcerting Decisions As I joined thepany for breakfast, I didn¡¯t feel immortal. Quite the opposite. Even with my slow aging active, I was constantly in danger being part of the legion. I realized I had be somewhat numb to a fear of injury and death¡ªit was just part of my daily life now. Castile was watching the dire wolf as she ate some dried fruit and salted crackers. ¡°ze, can you hit it? She asked the marksman. ze looked up, excited at the prospect of finally getting his wish. He rushed to stand next to Castile, and studied the dire wolf for a few moments, ¡°No, the arrow¡¯s arc most likely would not make it through the branches. Maybe if we encountered a clearing.¡± Castile studied the massive wolf and said, ¡°Take the shot if you think you can get it.¡± ze nodded emphatically and went through his arrows, selecting the best one for when the opportunity arose. It was a long breakfast and a slow time packing up the camp, and Delmar did not rush us as normal. My suspicion was everyone was dragging because they knew we would be close to the Caelora and the specters this evening. Castile had me open one of the salves to give to Lirkin. He was using small swabs of the gel on the worst blistering and chafing of thepany. Some men had gained weight in Sobral, and their armor did not fit perfectly anymore. It was a luxury we could afford now that we had a supply. As we started the march, the dire wolf followed us but remained in the trees far back, not giving ze an opportunity to take the shot. It appeared much smarter than it should be. During a rest, I heard Konstantin talking with Castile, ¡°The dire wolf will stop following us when we get within the site of the ruins. I am surprised it has followed us this far, but they are smart creatures and know not to approach the undead city.¡± Castile muttered with some snark, ¡°I am assuming you are suggesting we are not as intelligent as a dire wolf for going into the city?¡± Konstantin shrugged and retorted with his own snark, ¡°I have never met a smart human before. We all eventually do something stupid¡ªmore often than realize.¡± Castile shook her head, smirking at thement, but nodded in agreement. She looked back at the wolf, concern on her face, ¡°Do you think you and vius could hide and ambush it when it passed? I am certain there is only the one.¡±Konstantin studied the dire wolf, its yellow eyes seeming to glow from the distance. ¡°With five of us, maybe? Eryk, Maveith, ze, and vius,¡± he named his choices for the ambush. I let out a low grunt from nearby but was ignored. Why was I always being volunteered? Castile ended up shaking her head, ¡°No. Perhaps it is as you say and will leave us as we approach the elven ruins.¡± The afternoon wore on, and the road got wider as we passed over familiar stones. In one break of the trees, I could see the mammoth tree jutting out of the city ruins. Konstantin said the elves maintained gardens of special trees. Schr Favian also noticed the tree, ¡°That must be a Hearth Tree¡ªa ceremonial tree where the elven dead were buried among the roots to be returned to the earth. The roots run deep, and they never stop growing. The First Legion supposedly cut all of them down within the Empire¡¯s borders. The lumber was used to construct the Emperor¡¯s Pce in the capital.¡± ¡°How?¡± Maveith asked, awed by the tree as well. I would think it would take a hundred men to circle that gigantic tree.¡± As he stepped from behind a tree, Konstantin answered the question, ¡°Magic felled the trees, of course, goliath.¡± He looked up at the canopy, which was odd as it was the only tree that still had all green leaves while every other tree in the forest was turning fall colors and losing its leaves. Konstantin had a sour look on his face because I had not spotted him sneaking up on me. He noted, ¡°Giant eagles were nesting in it thest time we passed.¡± Adrian ryed to everyone in hismand voice, ¡°Giant eagles are a danger and can lift a man a hundred feet in the air and drop them to their death.¡± He made eye contact with everyone, ¡°Do not wander in the open unless you want to test your ability to fly.¡± We broke into the clearing around the city. Looking at it now, it felt like the forest respected the city¡¯s territory, and there was no overgrowth from the road toward the city. It had been fifteen hundred years, yet the four hundred yards to the city were utterly unobstructed up to the walls. Konstantin gave the orders, ¡°We will stay under the cover of the trees as we circle to the western gate.¡± As we moved under them, few leaves were left on the higher branches. Thepany made a slow pace as we scanned the skies and the woods. I was not the only one to see the dire wolf off in the distance woods, still keeping track of us. I guess the city did not scare it off. On our right, it was easy to see the city walls were crumbling. Large sections of the ramparts had copsed. Some ancient foundations could be seen outside the city wall, with the wooden structure they once supported long since copsed and rotted away. The sense of death was strong, with the vegetation refusing to grow and only the massive green tree jutting out of the city. When we reached the western gate, we found arge wooden gate the height of two men and wide enough for six horses to ride abreast through. Delmar questioned aloud, ¡°Why has the gate not rotted to dust?¡± Schr Favian answered, ¡°The elves treat their wood with a preservative that canst the lifetime of an elf. Elves can live more than a millennia.¡± ze, who had incredible eyesight, said, ¡°It is not in good condition. It looks to have some rot, and there appears to be a gap on the right.¡± He pointed, but I could not see anything inside the city. Castile studied the sky. ¡°We will make camp further away and enter the city in the morning with an exploration groupposed of those of you that have runic weapons, the Schr, and myself. Everyone else will guard the camp.¡± I almostughed when Brutus realized that iming the runic sword prize came at a weighty price. I had obviously fallen into the trap as well. Although I suspected even if I didn¡¯t have a runic weapon, I would have volunteered. We moved two miles from the city and found a small ruined watch tower simr to the one we stayed on the river. There had once been a road that passed by this tower, but the forest had long since reimed it. Most of the walls had copsed, but it would be easily defensible, and with the dire wolf still watching us, the added security was wee. While men movedrge stones in the rubble to clear space for tents and make it more defensible, Konstantin had Brutus and I practice against each other. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I was finding the ck de¡¯s added length more suited my strength. Without using my air shields, Brutus and I were good training partners. Konstantin and Adrian gave us pointers as they supervised the clearing of the ruined tower¡¯s interior. I actually preferred this practice to moving therge stones with everyone else. Benitoined, ¡°I thought after a month of moving those cursed white marble markers, I would never have to move a stone again.¡± Kolm pped him on the back, ¡°But you are so good at! I bet you could roll that stone out at the entrance.¡± Firth quickly doubted Benito¡¯s ability, ¡°I don¡¯t know. He is the smallest man in thepany.¡± Benito leaped at the opportunity, ¡°I bet you arge copper I could!¡± I don¡¯t know if I should feel bad for Benito for getting tricked into doing the extra work; after all, he got a copper out of it. Everyone was famished as the sun set and a strong fire burned in the camp¡¯s center. The walls around us were between twelve and twenty feet, so we felt safe. Dark clouds had moved in to cover the moon and stars, making it pitch ck out in the woods. We established a shit pit going into the old basement of the tower, as no one was going out into the woods tonight. I heard ze tell Delmar he could see the yellow eyes of the dire wolf in the dark. I had a choice when I entered my dreamscape amuletter that night. I could start working on a new spell form or practice with my new sword. I opted for sword practice as I didn¡¯t want to get distracted trying to learn a new spell form during our exploration. I kept my practice short to just three hours. When I exited the dreamscape, all was quiet, and the weather had gotten very cold. I pulled out my heavy rain cloak and wrapped myself to sit by the fire. I was not the only one. Three men were guarding the archway into the tower, and two other men were at the fire. I sat with them, d for the heat. I was not surprised; one of the men was Konstantin, and the other was Delmar. They were talking quietly and just nodded at me as I sat across from them. The crackling of the wet wood made it impossible to hear what they were talking about. Castile came and sat next to me unexpectedly. Delmar asked her, ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Castile looked to the sky, ¡°The wolf is still out there, watching. And these clouds are not natural.¡± Konstantin shook his head irately, ¡°The summoner?¡± Castile nodded slowly, ¡°I think so. Some type of storm elemental is causing the clouds.¡± Delmar cursed, ¡°An orge¡¯s ass, Castile. If it is Traeliorn, we should run now.¡± Konstantin stirred the coals calmly, ¡°It is probably toote. Depending on what he summons to attack us, we might have to take refuge in the city.¡± Castile offered some hope, ¡°It might just be another of his apprentices. We will see how strong the elemental is when it changes the weather.¡± As if she had cursed us, a few snowkes started falling, quickly bing bigger and heavier. The fire sizzled asrger andrger kes were consumed on the coals. No one spoke until Konstantin finally said, ¡°Seems like a powerful elemental to me.¡± The camp was quickly awoken, and everyone was ordered to pack. I was close enough to Castile, Adrian, and Delmar to overhear. Delmar wanted to retreat, ¡°We should get back on the road and race back to Sobral.¡± He added,¡°If we are going to run, we could also head east. Parvas is much closer than Sobral.¡± The wet snow was umting quickly, pulling the heat from my body, and my toes were getting numb. My breath was a solid cloud every time I exhaled. I just hoped they decided soon. My gear was packed, and I was ready. Adrian thought staying was wiser, ¡°If we march in this snow, at the rate it is falling, it could be a man¡¯s height in half a day. We should fortify the tower and prepare for the summoner.¡± Castile finally decided, ¡°We don¡¯t know how far the storm reaches. The dire wolf knows we are in the tower. I think the storm elemental is creating the snow, so we don¡¯t move from here. Whatever beast he is nning to summon, it will know where to find us. He might be holding us here so he has time to summon a creature. We cannot deal with a wyvern,¡± she said emphatically. Reluctantly, she decided on a course of action. ¡°We march for Parvas.¡± When Castile mentioned a wyvern, I thought Castile would give me a look, but she didn¡¯t. Delmar called out, ¡°Three days food. Lighten your pack of non-essentials.¡± Delmar was giving us the freedom to decide what we wanted to drop. The snow, already three inches deep after just fifteen minutes, was soon littered with legion gear and food. The falling snow quickly covered cooking sets, tarps, spare clothes, discarded food, and hatchets. Everyone was confused about the snow and marching before dawn. Glowstones were out, lighting our way through the deepening snow. Adrian moved among the men, letting them know what was happening so rumors would not spread. Visibility was only about thirty feet, and we marched three abreast and in close formation. The front of the line suddenly stopped. Everyone moved forward to circle a blue spectral form of a child. It was thrashing at the snow, frustrated. Konstantin already had his de out and was flexing his forearm, eager to strike down the undead. He was scanning the snow further away, and you could see more figures moving. Castile had dropped her pack and removed arge bronze urn, the kettle of souls. Konstantin looked down at her, ¡°They are wandering far from the walls. They must be killing the vegetation at night. We should be safe on the road.¡± Castile stood with the urn. ¡°Destroy that specter. Let¡¯s confirm this will work if we need it.¡± Konstantin eagerly stepped forward. The specter looked just like a child, just translucent. When it looked up, its face was twisted in pain as it lunged at Konstantin. His sh left a blue line on the specter, pushing it back as his sword sparked. A second strike followed, and the apparition deformed and melted slowly into the ground. Castile moved forward, holding out the urn. Her feet crunched on the snow, and her breath createdrge clouds in front of her. The urn had blue sparks sh over it as she focused aether into the device. Where the specter had melded into the ground, wisps of blue-violent smoke flowed up and into the urn. It was simr to the smoke from forming an essence, but it had a deeper purple color. Castile breathed a sigh of relief as she capped the urn. Konstantin asked, ¡°What happens now that it is inside that?¡± She shook the urn, but we couldn¡¯t hear anything. She exined, ¡°It is destroyed. Aether crystal dust with a necromantic affinity for alchemy. I had never used one before, and it just felt like it was draining the heat from my hands.¡± Adrian rushed forward to attack another specter of an older woman who was more white than blue and had blended in the snowfall. ¡°Runic weapons to the front. Do not fire any of the arrows unless you absolutely must!¡± I drew my de and formed the front line with Adrain to my left and Brutus to my right. Castile was drawing the second dead specter into the urn. My first opponent was the image of a guardsman. He wielded a spectral de, and my sh passed through the de and connected with his body. I did not get the same sparks as Konstantin¡¯s de, but it felt like I had struck something akin to a training dummy. I stabbed with my next strike, pushing it back. My third attack was an overhead swing onto its head, and it finally started to meld into the ground. Blue wisps of violet smoke from my defeated foe flowed back toward Castile. Nine specters were killed before they stoppeding. Adrian was breathing heavily and ounting for all twenty-three men and Castile. Delmar barked, ¡°It is getting heavier, Castile.¡± He was right, as the kes wererger and the line of sight decreased. Konstantin advised, ¡°We will never make it if the snowfall is this heavy all the way to Parvas.¡± Everyone¡¯s helm had an inch of snow on it. The snow also melted on our necks from our body heat, soaking our clothes under the armor. Hypothermia was going to be a real problem soon. Castile¡¯s hands were blue from the cold as she held the bronze urn. I produced leather gloves from my dimensional space and handed them to her. She took them absent-mindedly. She was considering entering the city, and we all knew it. Finally, the words came out with vitriol, ¡°Cursed summoner. We make for the city¡¯s gate.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 131: The Library Chapter 131: The Library The heavy, wet snow crunched under our feet as the discordant rhythm of our steps headed toward the western gate of Caelora. Adrian and Konstantin were out front and cut down another specter while Castile took its death essence. The dark walls of the city soon shadowed over us, blocking some of the snowfall. Large stones were scattered at the foot of the wall, having fallen with time. Being close to the city felt wrong, and the aged stone was covered in a ck mold. The gate was glossy, ominous ck wood as we reached it, with one of therge doors slightly ajar, giving a narrow entrance to the city. Thepany huddled by the wall as Konstantin checked the narrow opening in the gate. I was standing in front of Schr Favian, who was shivering and did not appear to be doing well. Maveith was standing over the older man, trying to shield him from the wet, heavy snow. The more snow melted on my neck and soaked my clothes underneath, the more I felt the bite of the cold. Especially now that we had stopped moving. A specter of an elven woman in guard armor passed through the stone wall, and surprised Pavel further back. Pavel screamed in pain as the arm of the specter passed through his torso. The specter red, its body bing more coherent as it took something from Pavel¡¯s pained wailing. I was the first to get my runic de on the specter. After four rapid strikes, the creature faded into the ground. Castile used the urn to destroy the creature permanently while Linus checked on Pavel. I kneeled opposite Linus, concerned for Pavel. Pavel¡¯s face was pale, and he was struggling to breathe. ¡°He will recover as long as more specters do not strike him,¡± Linus told me. He addressed Pavel, ¡°Come on, Pavel, one strike from a specter cannot take down a legionnaire.¡± Pavel struggled to sit up, his breathing wasbored, ¡°My lungs feel like cold spikes are stabbing them.¡± He rasped, ¡°Can I have a healing potion?¡± Castile was standing over us, concern on her face, ¡°It won¡¯t do any good. It attacked your life essence, not your physical body. You will recover in a day; just do not get struck again before then. If the specters drain your life essence, you will be one of them.¡± The wind suddenly seemed to shift, and our minor protection from the wall was gone. Snow was blowing directly into us and getting heavier. Konstantin returned from the opening to report. He sounded grave, ¡°Dozens of specters are walking the street, Castile. If everyone had a runic weapon, we might stand a chance.¡± Adrian shook his head, ¡°It is a death sentence if we stay out here. We will freeze and be exposed to whatever creature the summoner sends at us. I prefer to fight inside the city. We can shelter in one of the buildings and have those with weapons shield the others.¡±Firth dissented, ¡°Easy for you to say. You have a runic weapon.¡± Tension among the men was getting thick. It was the first time thepany did not feel cohesive. For some of the men, they were fighting an enemy they could not injure. Konstantine offered a solution, ¡°Give everyone one of the runic arrows. Those without a runic sword can hold off the specters long enough with the runic arrowhead for another with a sword to finish it.¡± Silence hung, and the kes fell. ¡°Do it,¡± Castile finally said. Things were so dire I pulled out one of my aces, ¡°I have this, Firth.¡± I handed him the elven runic dagger I secretly brought from my storage. He seemed like the best person in thepany to wield it, someone prone to stab others in the back. ¡°Found it on the elven summoner.¡± Firth unsheathed the dagger in the light of the glowstone. He grunted, ¡°Pretty little poker. Thank you.¡± He sounded mollified and returned the runic arrow ze had given him. I got a look from Castile, but she did not say anything. ¡°I want it back after this, Firth,¡± I tried to make eye contact, but he had just waved his hand in acknowledgment. I hope he was not going to hold onto it. The snow was almost knee-deep now, and everyone was shivering but prepared as best we could be. Delmar took the lead through the crack in the gate, and we followed in single file. We fanned out on the other side of the gate, the ruined cityid before us. Skeletons of stone roofless buildings lined the streets; some had copsed walls. Specters, as Konstantin had noted, walked the streets. They moved effortlessly in the field of snow, leaving it undisturbed as they moved. Delmar was dealing with the nearest one, a young elf male. The specters noticed our arrival and started moving toward us. Castile ordered, ¡°Remain here at the gate until we thin them out. Let theme to us!¡± I moved to the right to face the length of the inner wall; two specters in guard uniforms walked through the wall of a nearby building, and I was soon fighting in the deep snow. As I engaged one, the twang of a bow behind me sent an arrow into another. ¡°ze, hold your arrows!¡± Delmar said angrily. ze¡¯s arrow passed through the specter, causing a tiny sh, forcing it back briefly, but it recovered quickly. The arrow shattered on the stone beyond, the arrowhead and splinters disappearing into the snow. Maveith stood behind me with the Schr, but there was not much they could do to help against the incorporeal specters. Thepany formed an arc at the gate with the five runic des protecting everyone. The only constion was the slow speed of the specters. They all appeared to be walking toward us. Castile was busy utilizing the urn on the dispelled specters. If she did not pull their death essence into the urn, they reformed from the ground in about thirty minutes. We found that out when Castile missed one of the specters Delmar had dissipated. It reformed under Delmar and struck his leg. Delmar cursed and backed away, and I had to strike the specter down so Castile could use the urn. Delmar was limping and cursing as he handed his sword to Benito, who took his ce. Castile was doing her best, but it took almost fifteen heartbeats for the violet smoke to be consumed by the urn, and the specters seemed endless. Stolen novel; please report. The wind shifted again, and the snow was now falling straight down. The gate and wall had shielded us from the slow, drawn-outbat for hours. The specters were easy enough to deal with one at a time. My shoulder and forearm were starting to fatigue, so I switched hands. My ambidexterity training wasing in useful. ¡°Cursed elemental!¡± Castile screamed at the sky as the snow was getting deeper. ¡°We need to get inside a building. Favian?¡± Night had given way to a gray dawn filled with continued snowfall. Favian was shivering and bundled tight. He looked up, his face blue, ¡°The library should be entirely stone and still have its roof.¡± He looked left, right, and then straight, ¡°It should be that way. Maybe a hundred yards from the outer wall.¡± His teeth were chattering. ¡°Eryk and Konstantin at the front!¡± Castile barked her orders. We were in the best condition of the men wielding the runic weapons; at least, we appeared the least fatigued. Adrian handed his own de off to another man to get a rest, as did Brutus. I moved to the front and walked with Konstantin. Not only did we have to fight the specters, but we also had to break snow, which was thigh-deep now. We had definitely thinned the specters in this part of the city, but it was a city, and if everyone in the city had be a specter, that meant there could be thousands. Many tripping hazards were hidden in the snow, but we pressed forward in a sliding walk. We moved one block into the city, and it attracted a wave of two dozen specters. We were forced to retreat back to the gate as Konstantin and I killed them one by one. I found my air shield did not deter the specters, but Castile¡¯s shadow chains could hold them in ce and prevented us from being overwhelmed. The problem was Castile needed to constantly utilize the kettle of souls, or the specters would reconstitute themselves. We moved forward again once Castile had eradicated the spectral essences. At the intersection of the street, Schr Favian shouted, ¡°There it is! That building there!¡± A vague outline of a building through the dense snow could be seen in the gray morning light. The street had widened as we moved to the building and climbed the steps unmolested. Therge front doors were missing, but Favian had been correct. The building did have a stone roof. I took out my glowstone and entered with Konstantin. A specter greeted us, but we dispatched it quickly together. Even in the frigid air, the pungent smell of mold hit me. The antechamber to the library was round and had mosaics on the wall, mostly covered in thick green and ck mold. A second and third specter greeted us from deeper inside the structure as the others moved into the room. While we handled the specters, men gratefully cleared their bodies of snow. ¡°Grab what you can to start a fire,¡± Adrian said, taking back his sword. There was not much in the room besides some dried vines. Konstantin had already looked further in. ¡°There are a lot of copsed shelves and moldy books further in. Only noticed three specters, as well.¡± ¡°We will move deeper then,¡± Castile decided. The shiveringpany pushed into the next room. It was a massive, high-ceiling room with hundreds of shelves and books. Most of the shelves had been knocked over or just copsed on themselves with time. The specters Konstantin noted were on the far side and seemed uninterested in us at the moment. As soon as we started hacking up the shelves for firewood, the three specters moved toward us, and two we had not seen. Castile used the kettle of souls after we destroyed them. The urn now sounded like it was half full of sand. Castile also looked beyond exhausted. It was not long before we had a fire going. Mateo was warming his hands, his fingertips white with frostbite. He was not the only one with frostbite. Some men had swollen red fingers, pale white skin, or the extremities ckening like Mateo. I finally had time to sit and take off my boots, as my feet had been hurting for hours. Felix took my ck de while I rested. For now, there were no specters. My toes were an angry red, and some skin was peeling. I had been fighting nonstop for hours, which probably saved me from more severe frostbite. I focused my healing spell form on my feet, and the skin ked off, giving rise to fresh, healthy pink skin. Linus came over and requested I give him all the potions in my dimensional storage. When the skin turned ck, it meant the skin was dead and needed to be treated with healing. ¡°Don¡¯t burn those!¡± A shivering Favian stood as Kolm was about to toss some moldy books on the fire. Castile turned at themotion, ¡°Burn the shelves first. If we run out of wood, burn the damaged books first.¡± Favian nodded in thanks. I could tell he wanted to explore the tomes, but he was still in a miserable state. I was close enough to hear Adrian and Castile talking. ¡°I hope we have not just trapped ourselves inside the city.¡± ¡°The kettle of souls is doing its work, Adrian. We just need to not rush into the city and get overwhelmed,¡± Castile said tiredly. She removed the leather gloves I had given her, and her fingers werepletely ck. Adrian yelled at her, ¡°Gods, Castile! Why didn¡¯t you say anything!¡± He took her hands, and they tried to warm them. ¡°Linus! One of the lesser healing potions for Castile.¡± Linus rushed over and gave it to her, and she drank it with Adrian¡¯s help as her fingers were not working. Her ck skin slowly regained color. We ended up using half of our stock of potions as we got arge fire going. Men removed their armor andid out their wet clothes to dry. Specters arrived sporadically from both inside and outside of theplex. They were easily dealt with, and every time we slew one, Castile stood and used the kettle of souls on it. The snowfall was not slowing, and by midday, it was almost five feet deep. At this height, traveling in the city was impossible. Not only would you have to break the snow, but you couldn¡¯t see the specters until they were on top of you. Concern was growing, and vius said, ¡°The summoner and the specters are not going to be the death of us. He is going to bury us under ten feet of snow, and we will starve to death.¡± His pronouncement did not help thepany¡¯s mood, but he was right. Most men had dropped most of their extra food at the tower to lighten their packs. Maveith cheerfully offered up his bag freely, ¡°I have twenty-seven ration bars left.¡± ¡°I would rather starve,¡± Firth said,ughing at Mavieth¡¯s offer. If things got dire, I was prepared to reveal my additional storage capacity even though I had regretfully just given way to most of my food stores. Delmar tried to be optimistic, ¡°If we can find the dungeon, there should be plenty of meat to harvest inside. I have never been in a dungeon that didn¡¯t have something edible in it.¡± ¡°How are we going to search for it under ten feet of snow?¡± vius said bitterly. ¡°I think this city has a sewer system,¡± Schr Favian interrupted the growing discontentment of the men. All eyes turned to him as tempers cooled. ¡°Most of the great elven cities had expansive undergroundworks. I think one of the books Eryk has detailed their maintenance. Unfortunately, there were no maps inside.¡± The few of us who realized it turned and looked out at the sea of thousands of books. Most were probably useless, but there had to be a map of the city¡¯s undergroundwork somewhere in the mess. Chapter 132: Glimmer of Hope Chapter 132:Glimmer of Hope We had been in the library for most of the day with the snow not letting up outside. The night was settling outside, and the stained windows of the library were darkening. They were not even real windows, just massive blocks of semi-transparent stone, probably quartz. The fire was burning merrily in the center of the ancient elven library, constantly supplied by men breaking apart old bookshelves. Fortunately, everything was dry and burned well with minimal smoke. The specters kept arriving but much slower, one every half hour or so. Castile was confused and spoke aloud, her concerned voice echoing in therge room, ¡°Specters should not be able to range so far from where they died.¡± Konstantin was inspecting the library¡¯s outer wall and answered her, ¡°If you watch them, Castile, they are going about their daily lives until something interrupts their routine. If we had not attacked the first spirit of the girl picking flowers, the others might have left us alone. Well, the non-soldiers, anyway.¡± Castile shook her head while flexing her recently healed frostbitten hands before the fire. ¡°It just concerns me. If all the specters can wander anywhere in the city, then we could be rushed by thousands at once at any time.¡± Schr Favian was sitting by the fire going through stacks of books Benito and Felix were bringing him as the shelves were dismantled. If he thought a book was trash, he put it to his left in the burn pile. If it was useful, he stacked it to his right. He added his input, ¡°Specters should take a lot longer to reconstitute after being disrupted by runic weapons. My guess is the ley line underneath the city is feeding them somehow. It is probably a nexus, an intersection of ley lines. It also makes it much more probable there is a dungeon somewhere within the city walls.¡± Another specter entered through the wall, and Adrian moved to deal with it, Konstantin quickly supporting him. Castile rose with the urn to permanently end the threat. It was bing routine now, and everyone felt somewhat safe except for the fact the exit waspletely blocked by snow. Castile returned to the fire, ¡°There is definitely a nexus under the city. My aether recovery has increased.¡± I had not noticed or felt any difference myself. Konstantin walked back to the fire, ¡°We should explore the rest of the library. This is just the main room.¡± It was not the first time he had mentioned it in thest few hours. He was smart enough not to wander off on his own without permission. He also had not sheathed his runic weapon the entire time and was always moving to attack new specters when they wandered in. His runic weapon was the only one that sparked when connecting with the specters. It was like his weapon was taking pleasure in striking the undead. ¡°We will wait to see if Schr Favian finds anything useful first,¡± Castile replied patiently, the same response she had every time Konstantin mentioned exploring. Konstantin looked around at the massive room, almost the size of a football pitch. ¡°There are tens of thousands of books, Castile. It could take him months to find anything. At least let me see if I can find any ess down to the sewer system, so we have the option to move under the city if the summoner sends something after us, we cannot handle,¡± Konstantin requested.¡°At least it will not be full of elf shit,¡± Mateo added, getting augh, but I shook my head as I knew what Konstantin was going to say next. ¡°And see. I already have a volunteer to help,¡± Konstantin¡¯s smirk had Mateo groaning. Delmar had collected everyone¡¯s food, inventoried it, and told Castile, ¡°Castile, we have four days of food here, five if we stretch it, more if we start rationing now. I agree with Konstantin. The sooner we find other exits, the better off we are going to be.¡± Castile relented, ¡°In the morning. Let¡¯s make sure everyone has dry clothes and is rested.¡± Half the men walked around in their underclothes, waiting for the heavier fabrics to dry near the fire. It was a terribly slow process. As the light from the quartz windows faded, Iid down on my bedroll. Half the men had dropped their bedroll at the tower before we ran, so I counted myself lucky. I was mentally exhausted from theck of sleep and fighting all day. Fighting the specters was like striking training dummies, and I had probably killed over two hundred today. If I had not had the healing spell form, I probably would not be able to lift my arm. Brutus couldn¡¯t even hold the sword I had lent him; his forearm and shoulder were too sore and cramping. Linus told him he couldn¡¯t afford to use a healing potion on him as we were down to just two of the lesser healing potions. My bedroll was next to the Schr who was sitting in a chair by the fire. He was exhausted as well but too excited about paging through the viable tomes, humming and hawing as he went. Maveith was also nearby and not in the mood to y checkers. I closed my eyes but found sleeping difficult. I decided I would not use the amulet or an oblivion pill with danger so close. My survival instincts were telling me not to sleep at all. I heard the other men tossing and turning nearby as well. Maveith shook me awake, therge goliath standing over me, ¡°Eryk, it is time for us to be on watch.¡± I sat up and looked around. Somehow, I had fallen asleep and didn¡¯t even dream. I always dreamed when I slept and could usually recall most of what happened in them¡ªusually, I was gued by nightmares. ¡°I thought we were guarding the Schr,¡± I asked groggily. ¡°I will be fine. You won¡¯t be far away anyway.¡± Schr Favian said from his nearby chair, dismissing me. He was intently focused on the book he was paging through and didn¡¯t even look up. I stood and looked around. Benito and Delmar were by the entrance, huddled in cloaks. Konstantin and Firth had their backs to the fire, facing the open end of the library. ze and Donte were hanging by the eastern wall, giving us a total of six men on sentry duty. At the fire, Lirkin was heating arge cast iron cauldron. He looked at me and answered my unasked question. ¡°Found it buried under one of the piles of books. Spent two hours cleaning it and boiled a few runs of water.¡± He tapped the side, ¡°Looks like we were not the only ones to camp in the library, the smith¡¯s mark is in Telhian.¡± The five-gallon cauldron was being used to melt snow and boil water. As I dressed in my armor, I asked Lirkin, ¡°Did you dreamst night?¡± He looked at me perplexed but went into deep thought. ¡°No, not that I can recall. But I usually don¡¯t remember my dreams. Why do you ask?¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. ¡°Just curiosity. I usually dream, but nothingst night. Not even sure how long I slept,¡± I said casually. Maveith answered me, ¡°Four hours. The watches are four hours, ording to Delmar, and we are on the second watch. We are to rece Benito and Delmar at the door.¡± Lirkin offered his meal preparation efforts, ¡°Have some weak tea, rice, and hard bread.¡± I got my cup from my pack, and the hot tea was wee for the warmth it spread inside me. The fire might be half a dozen feet across, but the temperature dropped rapidly once you were more than ten feet away from it. The allotment was a lot smaller than I had expected, just a cup of salted overcooked rice and a slice of stale bread. I still ate it greedily as my stomach was growling with impatience. The food was gone too soon, and I knew every meal would be simr while we were trapped in here. Maveith got a double portion, but it would not be enough to sustain him either. We walked to the entryway, and Benito jumped when I said, ¡°Relief behind you.¡± Benito turned and handed me my sheathed ck de. Delmar poked his head out of his own cloak, his breath forming dense clouds in the frigid air, ¡°Things have gotten quiet. Haven¡¯t seen a specter in two hours, but stay alert.¡± He handed Maveith his de and went to get some rest. Sharing runic weapons was unusual, but it was necessary with only five des in thepany. Firth also had the elven dagger and had used it but had not passed it off to anyone. I nned to get it back when we were free of the elven ruins¡ªif not before. Delmar and Benito dly went to the fire to get warm, and we pulled our cloaks tight around us. A glowstone lit the chamber beyond. The archway we had entered was nowpletely blocked by snow, and it was almost eight feet to the top. Maveith fought with a club, and Delmar¡¯s de looked small in his hand, but he knew the importance of it. We didn¡¯t talk for most of the watch as I listened to the snowfall change. Maveith heard it, too. ¡°It is getting much colder outside. The wet snow is changing to lighter snow but will umte quicker.¡± I just nodded as the cold was still prating my cloak. I started to focus on the clouds of my exhaled breaths to pass the time, seeing how far I could send them. Maveith spoke after a time, ¡°I have never seen this much snow before.¡± ¡°It is called a blizzard,¡± I said, using the English word. ¡°Blizzard,¡± Maveith tested the word. ¡°Sounds ominous and fitting for this circumstance. ¡°Still d you came with us?¡± I asked lightheartedly. Maveith gave the question serious thought, ¡°Exploring the elven ruins is thrilling. Being chased by an angry and powerful elven summoner is not as exciting.¡± I chuckled at his honesty. I reached down and picked up a book. The book crumbled in my hands. I guess these books closer to the entrance had more exposure to the weather, allowing mold to grow on them. Remus and Brutus came to relieve us. Brutus winced as I handed him the ck de. He was still sore from swinging his de thousands of times yesterday. I had healed my own damaged muscle tissue with my spell form. ¡°Castile wants to talk with you,¡± he said, taking over the duty at the archway. The red-haired Remus took Delmar¡¯s de from Maveith. We left them trying to keep the warmth inside their cloaks. I was not sure why we were guarding the entrance to the room. Castile sat on a bench, paging through arge elven book, and I sat beside her. Each page was a painting of a magnificent city with elves walking the streets. I waited while she finished and ced the book down between us. ¡°Konstantin is going to explore the rest of the library. He wants you and Mateo to go with him.¡± She spoke softly so no one could hear us. I sighed in a long exhale, ¡°You want me to leave the potions.¡± ¡°You are not going with him; just Mateo is,¡± she said heavily. ¡°I wanted to ask you a question. How much food do you have in your dimensional space? You do not have to take it out, but I need to know.¡± She had spoken softly, and no one was within twenty feet of us. This was it. How much was I going to reveal? I went through it in my mind what I had left: three gallons of honey, almost twenty gallons of rum, thirty gallons of water, fifteen pounds of salt, five pounds of peppercorns, fifteen ration bars, and ten pounds of standard legion rations. I also had the two elven packs I had yet to search. I slowly said, ¡°Enough for one person for three to four weeks.¡± Castile nodded, obviously disappointed I did not have an entire pantry. Things were going to get bad fast as the food ran out. With the snow, we had no way to get more food. She was quiet for a time, and I sensed despair from her. I suggested a course of action, ¡°Delmar is right. The only way out is to find the dungeon. The summoner may have buried us under ten feet of snow, but he cannot spy on us either. If anyone can find a dungeon that has been missing for fifteen hundred years, it is Konstantin.¡± I also suggested, ¡°It is frigid by the entrance. Can I suggest we pull those sentries closer to the fire?¡± Castile considered, her tone changed to confident and authoritative, ¡°Konstantin, you and Mateo can explore but no more than four hours. Adrian, tighten the watch closer to the fire and bring the glowstones to Eryk to charge them.¡± Mateo was given a bow with five runic arrows, and no runic de. Konstantin and Mateo then left to explore the library, which I assumed was argeplex. I recharged the glowstones, marking up the perimeter of the camp. Then, I joined everyone else, making firewood from the shelves and bringing books for Schr Favian to sort. Rice and jerky stew were served as our lunch, and it was an even smaller ration than breakfast. Lirkin was rationing food as directed, and no one wasining yet, but everyone was realizing what a terrible spot we were in. I do not think Castile made the wrong decision. If we had not entered the city, we would have frozen to death in the snow on the march. After just two hours, Konstantin returned, running into the chamber with Mateo, ¡°I have ten or more specters right behind us!!¡± The men moved quickly to form a wall, and the four men with runic des prepared for the charging specters. Over a dozen specters of children came through the walls in pursuit of Konstantin. Firth barked at Konstantin as he entered the fight, ¡°I knew you were terrible with kids.¡± It didn¡¯t get anyughs. Castile was ready with the kettle of souls, and the fight did notst long. Konstantin was breathing irregrly. Castile was waiting for him to report. Mateo informed us, ¡°He got struck twice. There may be five or six more specters, but they must reconstitute themselves.¡± Since Konstantin could not speak, Adrian asked Mateo, ¡°What did you find?¡± ¡°Lots of smaller libraries and studies. A few isted specters. When we finally found stairs going down, they were not to sewers. It was some type ofrge shelterplex. One of the rooms had hundreds of elven bones, mostly of children. Only a few of the children chased us, but there were hundreds more,¡± Mateo reported. He also had that look that indicated that he never wanted to work with Konstantin again. A look I knew well. Schr Favian approached, ¡°We should be searching the smaller libraries. This was just a general library. Fascinating books, but the thousand books I have looked at so far had nothing useful.¡± Konstantin rasped, ¡°I think the undergroundplex extends under the entire city. The civilians took shelter there when the Legion attacked. The poison gas killed everyone above and below ground, Castile. There will be hundreds more specters¡ªbut I think we can travel under the city to search for the dungeon.¡± Konstantin¡¯s voice was exhausted. Konstantin nodded his head at Mateo in appreciation of his efforts. Mateo looked unhappy but unsheathed a new thin de on his hip. They had found another runic weapon. An elven forged de. This got murmurs in thepany. If we could find more, then everyone could defend themselves. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 133: Forgotten Knowledge Chapter 133: Forgotten Knowledge After the scouts returned, the men huddled near the center of the massive library. Konstantin and Mateo¡¯s news that there were thousands more specters under the city was not being met with much cheerfulness. Mateo¡¯s new runic elven de was being passed around, but I ignored the interest. I shifted my position to listen to Konstantin, Castile, Adrian, and Delmar talking. They were all circled around the Schr to n an expedition further into the library. Konstantin exined what they had found through ragged, wheezing breaths: ¡°The library has tworge towers on the northern corner of this structure. We only explored one of the towers. Each floor of the tower had its own library. We only encountered a few specters of what I suspect were the elven librarians. Easily handed, and they reformed after half an hour like the others.¡± He nodded at the kettle of souls to indicate it would be required. The Schr eagerly interrupted, ¡°What books were in the smaller libraries?¡± Konstantin shrugged, ¡°Unfortunately, not all were as well preserved as this room. Some weather managed to get through damaged windows. The third and highest floor also has damage to the roof, and the books are just a pile of dirt from centuries in the elements.¡± Schr Favian frowned at the news. ¡°The first and second floors had books in better condition as well as a number of offices. That is where Mateo found that,¡± he pointed at the elven de. ¡°It was mounted on a wall in one of the offices.¡± Delmar looked around, ¡°We should move camp to one of the offices in the tower. It will be easier to heat and more defensible from the specters.¡± All eyes turned to Castile, but she had yet to make a final decision, ¡°What about the undergroundplex?¡± Konstantin continued, ¡°After we climbed the tower, we descended and thought we were headed into the sewers underneath the tower like the Schr mentioned, but we encountered a long hallway with a number of storage rooms. We only encountered a single specter until we reached arge room littered with hundreds of skeletons, all of them elven children. That is where we drew those specters that were chasing us. Mateo got anxious and swung his new de even though they were ignoring us,¡± Konstantin shook his head. ¡°Otherwise, I think the child specters would have continued wandering the room.¡± Delmar was interested in the other rooms, ¡°Anything useful in the storage rooms?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t explore them too thoroughly, but it is unlikely. I suspect they were full of food and other perishable supplies that have long since expired.¡± All eyes turned to Castile to make the decision.¡°Any sign of vermin?¡± Castile finally asked. Konstantin went introspective, ¡°I see what you are asking. Rat meat is better than starving, but I suspect the specters keep the city clear of all living things. I saw no signs of rats.¡± He paused before delivering more unwee news, ¡°We were able to see the city from the third floor of the tower. It is still snowing out there; all you can see is white, Castile. Even the hearth tree of the elves is covered. We are trapped.¡± Adrian offered some optimism, ¡°We have enough here to burn to keep warm and just need to melt the snow for fresh water.¡± Delmar dissented, ¡°We will run out of food, Adrian. Maybe we can stretch it and let itst a month, but I doubt we are going to find anything in the city that has not spoiled or turned to dust long ago. Our only hope is we find the Schr¡¯s dungeon and hunt there.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Castile said tersely before an argument erupted. ¡°We will clear the two library towers of specters and see if their libraries offer any more clues to its whereabouts.¡± From his seat, Schr Favian was quick to add, ¡°Elven libraries in the Esenhem Kingdom have special restricted sections for magical study. Maybe one of the tower libraries is a study of the dungeon itself. It would make sense if the dungeon is indeed inside the city.¡± There was slight optimism as the leadership group separated and began to move our camp to the north end of the library, closer to the towers. The decision was made for Konstantin, Adrian, ze, and I to go with Castile to secure one of the towers. The Schr woulde with us. Brutus, Mateo, Delmar, vius, and Pascal would remain with therger group, protecting them with their runic weapons. There was not much fanfare as we entered the doors on the north end of the library. I somehow ended up in front with a glowstone in one hand and my ck de in the other. A shield would be useless in this situation as it wouldn¡¯t stop the specters anyway. The wide corridor had footprints from Konstantin and Mateo in a thinyer of dust. The walls were painted with images, but the dust coating them was too thick to make them out clearly. ¡°Follow our prints,¡± Konstantin said impatiently from the left. ¡°There will be a wide stairway to the left in about fifty feet.¡± I walked slowly as our footfalls were muffled by the thick dustyer. I paused at the steps Konstantin had informed me about. The stone steps were a rich beige stone and had much less dust. I started to climb the wide circr staircase. The extremely cold air had not reached freezing temperatures yet, and our ascent¡¯s echoes made me tense as I was a dozen steps ahead of the group. I reached the firstnding, and tworge double doors hung loosely from broken hinges. They were also covered in dust; whatever had ripped them out had done so a long time ago. I entered the room beyond, and a specter was cing a book on a shelf, oblivious to my presence. Castile hissed, ¡°It is a poltergeist. Watch out, as it can affect the material ne.¡± Adrian was on my right, ¡°Eryk, you and me, now.¡± We both advanced on the translucent elf in robes. It turned its head in curiosity at us before Konstantin¡¯s de stabbed forward from my left and took it in the chest, causing a sh of sparks. It screamed in silence as Adrian hacked it from my right, and I finished it off, bringing my de down on its head. Konstantin chuckled, ¡°Third time I have killed this one. Hopefully, this time it stays dead.¡± Konstantin must have rushed forward to attack the specter. I quickly nced at his runic de, and it had a luster to it that I had not noticed before. Konstantin confidently sheathed the de, ¡°That was the only one on this floor when we explored.¡± Castile had the kettle out, and the violet death essence smoke was already being sucked into it. Castile was not happy, ¡°Konstantin, you didn¡¯t mention any poltergeists?¡± He looked nkly at Castile. ¡°They are advanced forms of specters that can manipte objects. They are usually only capable of throwing objects and not wielding them like weapons. This one must have been immensely powerful to handle that deteriorating book so gently.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Konstantin nodded, epting his failure, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that. There is another one on the third floor. When I struck it down, it was trying to repair the damaged books.¡± I took in the room as Schr Favian was itching to get at the shelves. There was only a single transparent stone window, helping our glowstones light the room. The room was surprisingly clean and orderly. The poltergeist must have maintained this room through the centuries. Six long double-sided shelves dominated the room. Simple but elegant desks lined the walls, with five doorways dispersed between them. Those of us with runic weapons walked the small library and searched the doors. Adrian found a specter in one of the rooms and quickly dispatched it for Castile to consume with the urn, much to Konstantin¡¯s chagrin from iming there were no more specters on this floor. We were allowed a break when the entire floor was secure, and Favian started to go through the shelves in earnest. I went into one of the offices that had a firece and window. The view through the stone was foggy, and I cleaned the inside as best I could. Beyond that, it looked like the snow was slowing, as I could see a good distance and see what looked like the shapes of buildings in the city. The massive tree that dominated the city was covered in snow, its massive branches sagging under the weight. Blue lightning shed in the sky high above as I watched. I heard Castile walk up behind me. ¡°Storm elementals,¡± she pointed out to the blue shes. ¡°Looks like the summoner¡¯s control over them is waning at the moment.¡± ¡°Are we getting out of this?¡± I asked softly. This felt like Macha all over again, trapped in a city. She tapped the kettle of souls in her arms, ¡°Yes. With this, we stand a chance.¡± ¡°Why hasn¡¯t someone used that before to clear the city of the undead? There appears to be a lot in this city that can be plundered,¡± I asked. Castile looked out the window with me at the sky, ¡°The first kettle of souls was found in a dungeon about nine hundred years ago, ording to Schr Favian. There was not much use for it until they learned the death essence it crystallized could be used to forge runic weapons and certain potions. The Telhian Empire has neither powerful runic smiths nor powerful alchemists to make use of it. This kettle was sitting in the vault of a Count, long forgotten, but Schr Favian was aware of its existence. We were lucky the Count was willing to part with it for a favor.¡± ¡°Favor?¡± I asked. ¡°That is Between the Duchess Veronica and Count Lorenzo. He did not know the true value of this artifact. Neither did I.¡± Castile left my side, walked the room, checked the firece, and ornate ckwood desk. She searched the drawers and pulled out a small silvery knife that looked like a letter opener. She talked while she searched the rest of the desk, ¡°We are going to clear the upper two floors. You are to remain here and guard Schr Favian while he sorts the books.¡± Castile did not find anything else interesting, so she secured the small knife on her person and left the room. I sat at the desk and ran my hands along it. It was a beautiful ckwood desk that had survived centuries, but if thepany moved up to these floors, it was going to be smashed and burned in the firece. I sighed and went to the library area, ¡°Schr Favian was excitedly reading the spines among the shelves. Castile, Adrian, Konstantin, and ze were departing to head further up the tower. I went and stood next to the Schr, ¡°Any luck?¡± ¡°Luck?¡± Schr Favian said absently. He reced a book, ¡°Unfortunately, these appear to be all advanced reference manuals for professions. A lot of terminology used is even beyond my understanding.¡± ¡°Interesting, they sound valuable. What professions are here?¡± I asked, trying to make conversation while we waited. ¡°Valuable if you can read Elvish. Maybe if they were tranted and transcribed, but my grasp of the finer points of thenguage iscking. Let me see,¡± he started to walk the shelves looking at the spines, ¡°This section here is for weaver¡¯s, this section over here,¡± he paused to read a title, ¡°appears to be for cooking¡ªand brewing.¡± He spent some time on the next shelf reading titles before announcing, ¡°It appears to be furniture making. It includes everything from cutting the tree to seasoning the wood to various techniques.¡± He had covered most of the sections and came to thest full row, ¡°This appears to be the herbalism section and apothecary section.¡± ¡°Alchemy? I have learned a little bit from Decimus,¡± I said excitedly. ¡°Not alchemy,¡± he shook his head, ¡°Just basic herbalism and non-aether infused brews for an apothecary.¡± I was still interested, and he indicated maybe three hundredrge tomes on the shelf. Of course, they were all in Elvish. I started paging through the first book on the shelf. It had a lot of pictures and text. Seeing me enthralled, Schr Favian returned to his own task of trying to find clues for the Shimmering Labyrinth. I was paging through my fifth book when he said, ¡°There might be an alchemy section in a different library, or wherever the Mage College is located. It took me fifteen years to learn the nuances of the written Elvennguage.¡± Schr Favian started to go into his diatribe about how he became an expert on the Elvennguage, and I half listened as I focused on slowly turning the pages. If I couldn¡¯t move these books to my dimensional space, I would try adding as many as possible to my dreamscape. It was over four hours before the group returned from the upper floors. I had paged through about one-third of the books before my eyes started hurting. ¡°How did it go,¡± I asked the group. Adrian answered tiredly, ¡°Seven specters and four poltergeists. There is nothing useful on the third floor. Part of the roof copsed and weathered everything. All the books were mush. The second floor just had a crack in the window, but mold got to a portion the books.¡± Favian eagerly stood, ready to explore upstairs despite his bloodshot eyes. Castile stopped him. ¡°Later, Schr. I want to get thepany settled up here first. What did you find in these books?¡± Schr Favian eagerly told Castile, ¡°It appears to be a catalog for the elven master craftsmen. I assume the other smaller libraries are the same, focusing on five or six professions on each floor. There is invaluable knowledge contained within. The Collegium Schrium would be extremely excited to get this collection.¡± Castile took in all the books but shook her head. ¡°Getting them all out of here will be too much of a task. What about the Shimmering Labyrinth?¡± Schr Favian had a smile split his face, ¡°Three references so far. One is very promising.¡± He opened a book he had put aside and started reading, ¡°The rock spider silk spinnerets are viable for seven hours after harvest. Getting them to the weavers on Dawn¡¯s Light Street directly from the Labyrinth is best to spin them into silk thread immediately.¡± His smile grew, ¡°Dawn¡¯s Light Street is in the city.¡± ¡°So, the dungeon is within seven hours of the city,¡± Adrian said unhappily. ¡°It does not mean it is within the walls or essible by the undergroundwork.¡± Castile gave him a harsh look. It was not like Adrian to voice his pessimism; it was not the first time since being trapped in the city. Castile barked, ¡°Adrian and Konstantin, with me, we will go and escort the rest of thepany up here.¡± As they were leaving, I heard Castile voicing her displeasure at his attitude and how it would affect the rest of thepany. ze went and sat by a window and looked out at the white expanse, slowly darkening with night. He seemed morose and was normally one of the cheerier men in thepany. I was beginning to think this undead city was affecting people. I remembered thatst night I didn¡¯t dream. Maveith had also been extremely quiet since entering the city and didn¡¯t want to y checkers. Yes, this city was definitely affecting us somehow. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work results from my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 134: All We Need is Time Chapter 134: All We Need is Time Castile returned with the others over an hourter. Three specters had stumbled into therge library while we were gone, and thepany had been killing them repeatedly as they reconstituted, waiting for Castile to return with the kettle of souls. As thepany arrived, Adrian used the five offices and set them up as small bunk rooms. There were twenty-five of us if you included Maveith, Castile, and Schr Favian. I was rooming with Maveith, Konstantin, Mateo, Felix, and Schr Favian in thergest office. Our job was to protect the Schr while he worked through the books. Every office in the small library had a firece, but we were warned only to burn enough to fight off the chill. The firewood was being hauled up from the copsed shelves of the main library in shifts. As we set up our room, Favian paged through the single shelf of books in the office. Half of them fell apart at the spine as he flipped through them. I imed the only desk in the room to sleep on. This desk was made of the same ck wood as the other desk but was muchrger. I guessed this office belonged to the chief librarian of this tower. Felix scoffed from his position near the fire at me setting up my bedroll, ¡°Wish I had thought of that; this stone floor sucks the heat right out of you.¡± I ignored him. ¡°Anything interesting?¡± I asked Schr Favian as I sat in the chair at my bed/desk and went through the drawers. He didn¡¯t answer as he paged through his most current book and reced it on the shelf with a huff, ¡°No¡ªmostly administrative books. One is a log of books to be copied and loaned out to requested parties. I think other ancient elven libraries, but I am not sure. The titles listed are interesting anyway. It would really be useful if I had an elf fluent in thenguage here to help.¡± He didn¡¯t say more as hey down exhausted on his own bedroll near the small fire Felix was starting. I found a lot of paper in the desk that crumbled to dust when I tried to move it. I sifted through the dust and found what looked to be, a bag of shiny steel marbles. The bag was brittle and cracked as I took out the seven marbles. I rolled them in my hand, and they had a good weight to them. They were perfect spheres¡ªmaybe ball bearings of some kind, or I thought they might go to some game the elves yed or possibly ammunition for a sling. I left them on my bedroll in front of me as I meticulously searched the rest of the desk. The only other thing of interest was a dozen vials with murky ck liquid. They were obviously potions that had not deteriorated over time. The elvish writing on the vials had faded entirely with the centuries. The room was filling with light blue smoke as Felix¡¯s fire started to get going. It was a more confining space than the massive open library, and the small amount of smoke was building up. ¡°Open the flue!¡± Konstantin barked as he entered the room. He went to the firece himself and operated a small stubborn crank. It groaned, and we found it had been a mistake to use it as centuries of dust in the chimney vent crashed into the fire. The fire went out, and the room filled with dust.Everything and everyone was coated, and no one looked happy. Schr Favian started coughing. Angry eyes tearing, as the smoke and dust filled the small space, trained on Konstantin. To me, it felt like an unnatural anger. I startedughing, a loud, boisterousugh, ¡°Damn it, Konstantin. I can¡¯t believe the all-knowing legionnaire didn¡¯t realize there were fifteen hundred years of dust in there. You are never going to live this one down.¡± I was trying to cut the tension, and finally, Maveith coughed hoarsely and startedughing too, taking my lead. Konstantin finally joined theughter, and it was awkward to see him jovial. ¡°You are right. I will shake out everyone¡¯s gear. We should see if that window opens.¡± He spent some time, but the block of clear stone had no hinges or method to remove it. While Konstantin was cleaning the room, we made two trips for firewood from the primary library while the dust settled. That night, as we all ate an insignificant dinner, as I studied everyone in thepany. It was clear they were depressed. It was hard to tell if it was linked to our circumstances or if the ruins were doing something to them. I was leaning toward thetter. That night, I was tempted to use my dreamscape amulet. I asked Maveith to sleep close and remove it if necessary. I also only nned to be inside the dreamscape for two four-hour sessions. In the dreamscape, I added ten of the elven books on herbalism to my secret shelves. That was as much bacsh as I thought I could handle when I left. I was not concerned with practicing with the men in the ankheg room. Instead, I went to the shelf and pulled off thependium of spell forms for the discement affinity. Discement magic was used to run the massive teleport gates in the city. Discement Mages were highly sought after, and with my sixty-one affinity, I thought I might be able to imprint the spell form for their ability. I opened it to the index. It was remarkably simr to the time spell formpendium. There were four suggested spell forms at three different power levels. I was happy to see that with my sixty-one affinity, only two of the major spell forms were not avable to me.
Discement Affinity Lesser Spell Forms (10-25)
Anchor (10)
Quick-Step (20)
Summon Object (10)
Ethereal Body (25)
Discement Affinity Major Spell Forms (25-40)
Blink (30)
Dimensional Door (35)
Send Object (40)
Connect Portal Gates (40)
Discement Apex Major Spell Forms (40-70)
Teleport Other (50)
ne Shift (60)
Create Portal Gate (70)
Greater Teleport (70)
I skipped the spell forms beyond my affinity so I wouldn¡¯t know what I was missing out on. I spent all four hours I had allotted figuring out the portal gate spell form. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Create portal gate also required the anchor and connect portal gates spell forms to create the portal gates that the Empire used in therger cities. There was more to the process as the gates themselves had to be artificed to create a permanent weave to feed aether from ley lines, which was then activated by a discement mage with the connect portal gates spell form or the actual spell. It allowed me to cross off anchor, connect portal gate, and create portal gates off my list. With the ability to cast actual spells being so rare, I could see why they had these spell forms in this book for Telhian Mages. The thing was, I did not see myself spending the rest of my life making portals for the Empire. I exited the dreamscape to the room¡¯s chilly air, even with a fire burning. My head was pounding from adding the books, and I couldn¡¯t imagine doing that twenty-nine more times just to get all the herbalism and apothecary books into the dreamscape amulet. I even questioned their value as I couldn¡¯t read Elvish. I focused on the room around me, stilling my breathing. Maveith was breathing loudly in his sleep, and Mateo was snoring softly. The Schr, I was happy to hear, was also sleeping. He had been too excited by the massive amount of elven knowledge we had encountered. I let my headache fade before returning to the dreamscape. I started to review the simplest of spell forms, quick-step, also referred to as sh-step. It was a very short-range teleport that was always the same distance in the direction you were facing. The distance was dependent on your affinity for discement magic. With a ten affinity, that distance was just under five feet, ording to the text. I started to do the math to see what my sixty-one affinity would get me. The answer was about one hundred and seventy-one feet. Utterly useless unless I was trying to run away¡ªso maybe not that useless. The good thing about this spell form was you could not materialize inside objects. It shortened the distance until there was space toplete the teleport. And if you didn¡¯t teleport, your aether was still expended. I looked at the aether requirements and swore, ¡°Fuck!¡± Oscar jumped and went on alert at my foulnguage, barking and looking for the problem. I startedughing at the absurdity of someone invading the dreamscape. Quick-step only moved the mage¡ªnot their possessions. How was it even remotely useful? Okay, I had misread the text. The mass of the mage¡¯s equipment would add to the base aether cost for the quick-step ability. You could also not take anyone else with you when you shed forward due to their aether resistance. I did not find this spell form appealing. The summon object spell form did appear much more useful. This spell form brought an object to you. The distance and mass determined the amount of aether. The object had to also be within the mage¡¯s line of sight. It was an extremely usefulbat ability for disarming foes. The problem was the orientation of the object was fixed. So, I would be summoning a sword pointed at me. I read a little more on the spell form. It was useful in evading arrows as the arrows were light, and all inertia was halted when an object was summoned. But once again, the aether cost seemed prohibitive to me. I moved on to the next spell form, hoping it was a better option for me. It required at least an affinity of twenty-five, so it had to be more useful. Ethereal body allowed the mage to push himself into the astral ne. This meant my afterimage would be immune to damage. Well, runic weapons and aetheric magic spells could hit creatures in the astral ne. We were doing that with the specters, so this was not an invulnerability spell. The blink spell form was a more advanced form of the quick-step spell form. This spell form functions the same way but lets you control the distance you travel. It only required a thirty affinity to learn, so I moved on to the next spell form, dimensional door. The dimension door was a very impressive spell form that required two castings. The first casting was the anchor used on any doorway. The second casting was also cast on a doorway and connected to the first. As long as the mage sustained the connection, people could pass through from one doorway to the other. There was no restriction on distance. However, once the mage dropped the connection, both anchors faded and would need to be reset. The limiting factor for me came down to the distance the doors were apart, which determined how much aether would be required per second. I just did not have arge aether pool. Send object could teleport any non-living object to a ce with which the mage was familiar. The mass and distance determined how much aether was required. I couldn¡¯t even cast the higher affinity spells once. So, teleport other, ne shift, and greater teleport were off the table for me. I was having enough trouble on this ne of existence anyway. Not being able to learn greater teleport was a disappointment. This spell allowed you to send your mind to a location and pull your body there. The cost in aether was immense. Maybe there were more spell forms options out there. If these were my only choices, then it would either have to be blink or dimension door. I started thinking maybe dimension door would be a good way to escape a terrible situation. I certainly wish I had it at this moment. I returned from the dreamscape. I sat up, my back aching from the hard surface. I wished I had pulled out my pillow. The window had the gray of the morning light shining through, and Konstantin was sitting there looking out the window. It was just the two of us awake. He slowly turned to me, ¡°The snow has stopped. But I do not think we are done with the elementals.¡± ¡°Why, what is going on out there?¡± I asked, moving to the window, and almost tripping on Maveith. I reached the window, and the blue shes in the sky were still there, but Konstantin was right. The sky was clear, and just an ocean of white was out there. ¡°They are dropping the temperature. I have been scraping frost off this window for thest two hours.¡± ¡°We were not nning to go outside anyway,¡± I responded while noticing a huge amount of snow drop from the massive hearth tree in the distance. A giant eagle took flight and circled into the sky; it quickly returned to the tree, not daring to approach the elemental lightning. ¡°Those eagles are going to freeze to death,¡± Konstantin nodded out the window, ¡°They might be our best chance of food if we can get to them.¡± ¡°Breakfast!¡± came a call from the central room. The entire small library instantly came alive as men felt the start of the hunger pains. I went with Konstantin to find a thick soup for breakfast. Lirkin smiled, ¡°Mashed up the stale bread and used a little extra jerky this morning in the soup. Don¡¯t tell Delmar.¡± His request was moot as Delmar was behind him and just rolled his eyes. I guessed that Delmar had told him to use what he did this morning. The starchy soup had pea-sized pieces of rehydrated jerky in it, but Lirkin made sure to scoop from the bottom for everyone, so they got the sediment. My protesting stomach thought it was one of the best things I had ever eaten. The air felt colder, but the five side rooms all had small fires, making the central room bearable. Delmar spoke after everyone arrived, ¡°We are all going to remove our armor. Armor is not much use much against the specters anyway, and it should help you bundle your cloaks tighter to your body. If you have spare clothes,yer them. Castile is going to lead an expedition to the other tower this morning. Mateo, ze, Brutus, and I will thin out the specters there with Castile.¡± After Castile left, my job was to guard the men who were gathering firewood from the shelves in the primary library to haul up to our rooms. Adrian was supervising, making the floor of the tower we now upied more hospitable. He had groups taking what they could from the upper floors. I think most of us realized it was busy work to keep our minds off our predicament. I was on my fifth trip with firewood when Castile¡¯s group joined us, climbing the stairs. Maveith was carrying arge bundle of wood and was not afraid to ask, ¡°What did you find in the other tower.¡± Delmar answered for Castile, ¡°Half a dozen specters. The roofpletely copsed, and there was nothing to salvage on any of the floors. All the books have long since been destroyed by weathering.¡± Castile said steely, ¡°We will start thinning the specters under the city. It will take time, but as long as we have the kettle, we can clear them all.¡± As we climbed, she reassured everyone around her, ¡°Schr Favian will find out where the dungeon is located soon, and we can seek refuge there.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 135: Shared Dreaming Chapter 135: Shared Dreaming We all started to get ustomed to the persistent cold as it became the new normal. We sealed the doors to the small library as best we could to keep in the heat and kept the five fires going in the offices. Part of my assigned duties were to watch over Schr Favian as he paged through the hundreds of books. I also finished going through the entire herbalism and apothecary section. Each night, I added another ten books to my dreamscape collection, and I was getting better at handling the migraines on exiting. Perhaps I was building a tolerance? They were fading much quicker, at least. I also made trips with Maveith to the floors above to search for viable books in the mess above, which was once a small library for Favian to look at. The third floor still had its doors intact, but a rafter in the roof had fallen, exposing a portion of the room to the elements. The room was half filled with snow; no tomes remained other than some tarnished silver book bindings. We stacked those dozens of ckened silver tes together. If we escaped the city, maybe we would pack them out¡ªor they might find their way into my storage. The second floor held more promise. The shelves had copsed, and one of the quartz windows had buckled, leaving a wide crack. It gave me ess to see how cold it really was outside. Sticking my hand through the crack, I found it colder than anything I had ever experienced before in this life or myst, and my hand was prickled with needles of pain immediately from the cold. Maveithmented after replicating my act, ¡°We wouldn¡¯tst an hour outside. The summoner doesn¡¯t need to send any creatures after us in order to finish us off.¡± I tried to cheer up the morose goliath, ¡°The Summoner cannot hold back spring.¡± I handed him a ration bar from my storage. ¡°Eat this, Maveith; you are looking a little thin.¡± The truth was all of us were thinning rapidly after just four days in the city on the forced diet. Maveith more so, even though he was getting twice as much as everyone else at meals. He looked at the bar uncertainly. ¡°I have a few more in my storage. Eat it. It is fine, and just don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± His hand slowly extended to take it, his hunger winning out. Maveith had trouble with lying, but I thought he would keep this secret. He snapped it in half and tried to hand me the other half. So far, I had been suffering with the others, not eating from my dimensional space. It had been difficult to ovee the urges and I knew if I started, I wouldn¡¯t stop. Looking at the bar, my mouth watered, ¡°No, Maveith, it is all for you.¡± I turned my back on him, resisting the temptation, and continued searching the second floor. As I dug through the debris, I heard him slowly crunching away guiltily on the ration bar. These upper floors held no offices to search as they only held shelving. We dug through the mess and stacked books to be brought downstairs for Schr Favian to review. ording to the Schr, the second floor appeared to focus on all types of metal smithing, from household goods to armor and weapons. There were lots of techniques with instructions and images by elven master smiths within the pages. Of course, it was all in Elvish and useless in our current circumstances. No one in thepany was foolish enough not to think these books would be worth thousands of gold if recovered. The problem was recovering them. After I had paged through the herbalism and apothecary collection, I started helping Schr Favian sort the books. He had resumed teaching me the Elvennguage. It was a lot easier to speak thenguage than it was to read it. This was made doubly so by the fatigue from slowly starving my body. My mind did not want to focus for more than a few minutes at a time. I was finding myself staring out nkly at nothing. I had no idea how the Schr kept going so strong hour after hour, but I guessed his thirst for knowledge outweighed his hunger pains and mental fatigue. I did make progress on the Elvennguage though, as I cheated. I spent four hours in the dreamscape amulet every evening, working on reading, writing, and speaking the Elven tongue. So far, no one had requested to use the artifact. I was most surprised that Mateo had not made another request. During my nights, I added ten books and then tried to sort the ones I had as I worked on my steady mastery of thenguage. Having a copy of Schr Favian with me in the dreamscape made the process even easier. Creating a copy of him allowed the amulet to draw on the short daily lessons he taught me during the day, making progress faster with each day that passed.Learning inside the amulet was also much more effective than in the real world. I found that recall for knowledge was much clearer from studying the books, and my muscle memory from weapons practice was much sharper and more efficient, helping to reduce wasted movement during sparring practice in and out of the dreamscape. My best guess was the amulet focused all my efforts on learning the current task. I could see why these amulets were so valued if using them allowed me to progress so much faster than without one. Schr Favian thought that with my rapid improvement, I should be a master linguist rather than a soldier. The funny part of all this was I could not speak Tsinga, my alleged nativenguage. None of the books I had gave me insights into thatnguage, though. On the fifth morning in the tower, I noticed that only Konstantin and I seemed well-rested when I woke up. Everyone else was lethargic and took more time to wake up and get active. I used the amulet, and Konstantin had a spell form to shorten the rest he needed. I nned to tell Castile my suspicions and observations. I spent that night cleaning up the space in the amulet, after I added more books and a bit ofnguage practice. I moved everyone and everything to the scorpion room, walled it off, and reset all the monster rooms. I felt some guilt locking Oscar with the constructs, so I altered their disposition to y with him. I was never part of Castile¡¯s small group that went every morning to the undergroundplex to kill specters. I did hear stories of how they would spend time trying to attract the attention of only a few at a time. Then they would lure them back toward our tower and y them with runic weapons, and Castile would use the kettle of souls to end them permanently. When they returned this evening, the group was missing a person. I could read the faces of everyone; someone had died. I tried to recall who went with them this morning. Konstantin stood in the doorway, his face nk. Castile went into the room she slept in and closed the door. Delmar gathered everyone around, ¡°Men,e close; I don¡¯t want to repeat myself.¡± His voice was heavy. Delmar¡¯s face was thin, and his eyes were sunken and dark. He waited as a group wasing back from gathering wood. With everyone present, we listened to him, ¡°We encountered a wight.¡± A lot of confused looks had him exin. ¡°It is a powerful type of undead zombie. We were surprised, and it got Lysander. Castile was able to restrain it subsequently, but Lysander is dead.¡± There was a quiet shock. Lysander was one of the youngest men in thepany. Not even twenty-one, if I remembered. He was also a terrible cook, but no one made a joke about it now. Firth asked the most pertinent question, ¡°Are there more of them? The wights?¡± Konstantin answered, ¡°More than likely. We entered a different part of the undergroundplex. It was a barracks or refuge for important citizens. It had a slew of specters and poltergeists. We had drawn out five of them and the wight as well. Lysander was paralyzed as it stabbed him and then bit into his neck, ripping out his throat.¡± Konstantin handed Brutus the sword that I had loaned him at the beginning of this mess, as he lent it to Lysander this morning for use. Konstantin walked into the room, ¡°We cannot becent. This undead city most likely has more surprises.¡± He ced a new elven short de on the table Schr Favian worked at, its thin de about a meter in length which grew wider toward the end with only a slight curve. ¡°The wight had a runic weapon. Lysander fought well; remember him well.¡± Delmar broke into Konstantin¡¯s speech with a t tone, ¡°There is some more good news. We found a storeroom full of elven wine. If it is not vinegar, we will have it with our meals.¡± Even the promise of alcohol did not break the somber faces. Twenty-one legionnaires were left, not including Maveith, the Schr, and Castile. Delmar gave Lirkin two bottles from his pack and went to join Castile. Adrian followed him but had not been part of this expedition to the undergroundplex. I knocked on the door shortly after it had closed. Castile¡¯s sharp voice answered, ¡°Enter!¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I walked in, and the three of them looked at me expectantly. I told them my thoughts, ¡°I think everyone is being prevented from dreaming and recovering mentally when they sleep.¡± Delmar responded hotly, ¡°Everyone is sleeping just fine, Eryk.¡± Castile held up her hand to stop Delmar, ¡°Exin, legionnaire.¡± I gathered my thoughts, ¡°I have noticed everyone is more lethargic, irritable, and quick to anger with shorter tempers. I have had to calm more than a few men down. I have been using my dreamscape amulet nightly, and Konstantin has his spell form to help him sleep and recover quicker. We appear to be the only two acting normal.¡± Delmar harumphed and said dismissively, ¡°Normal? We are eating a quarter of what we should be eating. Most of the men are making a new notch in their belt every day.¡± Adrian finally said something, ¡°I agree with Eryk. We have been in more dire situations before. The men seem to have given up too quickly and easily.¡± Castile nodded as well, ¡°I think Eryk is right, too. We should confirm it by having others use the amulet.¡± She looked me in the eye, ¡°With your permission?¡± I had known this was going to be the oue. ¡°I think it is necessary. Two people can enter at once; perhaps more. I have never attempted it. They just both need to be touching the amulet.¡± Castile nodded slowly, ¡°Tonight then. I will use it with you here, and Adrian and Delmar can stand watch.¡± I left the room feeling slightly awkward, but I knew that it was the right thing to do and had to be done. Maybe the men were being blocked from just getting a deep sleep, but I felt it was more. Maybe there was some type of slow-festering corruption or curse surrounding the city. A few hourster, I was on the floor, in front of the fire, with Castile on the bedrolls. The n was to stay in the dreamscape for six hours and see if it was effective for Castile, I suspected it would be. Delmar was currently on watch in the outer room. ¡°I will channel aether and enter first,¡± I told Castile, who nodded. Adrian was seated, watching intently as my consciousness left to enter the dreamscape. I was in the entry room of the dungeon. Castile appeared a momentter. She turned around slowly, ¡°The dungeon?¡± I nodded. ¡°The others using it will figure out where you got the amulet if this is the space you created.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t create it. It was like this the first time I entered, and I can¡¯t change it,¡± I said while creating a table and chairs and taking a seat, offering a seat to Castile with an extended hand. Castile stepped back, surprised, before rxing. She sat opposite of me, ¡°How does it work?¡± ¡°I just think what I want, and it creates it,¡± I exined while filling the table with a Thanksgiving feast. ¡°I know it is not going to give your body any sustenance, but it still tastes good.¡± Castile took the mashed potatoes and cranberry relish. She tried the relish first and spit it out, ¡°Sour!¡± Iughed. ¡°It is tart, not sour; it has sugar, but you need to get past the tartness. Give it a chance,¡± I said, and she tried it again and nodded slowly. ¡°What is it?¡± She asked, trying the mashed potatoes, which were much more to her liking. ¡°Cranberries from the south,¡± I replied. I watched her as she ate. She tried a little of everything before stopping. ¡°You are right. I think the cursed souls in the city are affecting us. Because there are so many specters, they are creating an aura,¡± Castile moved the food around on her te, not making eye contact. I questioned Castile, ¡°But you have made progress in the undergroundplex? The more specters you kill, the less the evil aura?¡± Castile couldn¡¯t hide a pained look, ¡°It is muchrger than we thought. There are two levels and even a sewer system underneath those levels. Konstantin thinks it was built by their earth mages to hide the citizens when the Legion attacked the city. The Legion never entered the city, instead filling it with a powerful and deadly gas that seeped into the underground cityplex.¡± ¡°So, you have made no progress?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°We kill more than a hundred specters and poltergeists a day. We learned the undead are not tied to their body but to the city itself. It means they can all wander anywhere in the city. And now that we encountered a wight? Wights are powerful undead, and there could be wraiths, or maybe even banshees,¡± Castile admitted. ¡°Was the wraith we encountered heading to Sobral from these elven ruins?¡± I said, remembering that terrible night. Castile recalled the encounter, ¡°It was definitely an elf in a past life, but it was more interested in Konstantin¡¯s runic weapon. Some undead have connections to certain objects from their past life¡­¡± She trailed off, not talking further about it, and focused on eating. After she had stuffed her face for a time, I offered with an ufortable smile, ¡°Do you want to fight any monsters?¡± We walked into the ankheg chamber but didn¡¯t fight them. Instead, Castile practiced manifesting objects and creatures. She was able to do it, sessfully creating gnolls, but it took much more of an effort for her than for me. She was the second person to enter the dreamscape, so I think it was harder for her to make changes, and I voiced my opinion. Castile offered a guess, ¡°I know at the Mage College, only two people used them at a time. My spection is any more would overload the amulet. The first person in the dreamscape amulet also has primary control of the environment. Even though I tried to stop you, you could make the gnolls I created disappear.¡± I was happy to finally be learning more about how the amulet functioned. I had another question that I wanted answered. Could I get others to create books here with their knowledge? And would those books remain after they exited the dreamscape? I smiled encouragingly at Castile, ¡°You can create books that you have read before. Try it.¡± Castile arched an eyebrow at my sudden eagerness but focused, and a thick tome appeared in her hand. It was a spellbook. She slowly opened it up, and her eyes got wider and wider as she rapidly paged through it. ¡°It is theplete book!? I read this a long time ago at the Mage College. I learned shadow chains from it.¡± She was in disbelief, ¡°It looks the same. Even the page where I left a drink to hold it open has the watermark.¡± Castile¡¯s thoughts were spinning. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± I asked her. ¡°There are dozens of spell books I looked at. There were spells I couldn¡¯t learn at the time that were tooplex. I thought I would never have the opportunity to.¡± Castile said excitedly as she continued paging through the book. I created a shelf in the entry room for her, and she studied for thest few hours while I practiced fighting her manifestations of gnolls. When we exited the dreamscape, Castile moaned in pain and held her head, sitting up too quickly. She rolled over and dry heaved a few times. ¡°I should have warned you, Castile. The more things you create in there for the first time, the more it taxes your mind. How many books did you recreate?¡± Castile continued to dry heave for a minute. Adrian was handing her a canteen of water. Sheughed harshly, ¡°Almost all of them, thirty, maybe thirty-one. Every spellbook I read at the Mage College.¡± She took the canteen and pushed Adrian back, ¡°I am fine. Just some nausea and a headache.¡± Adrian gave me a harsh look as he helped Castile stand. Castile wobbled on her feet, suffering from a bout of vertigo, and it reminded me of the first time I had overextended myself in the dreamscape. ¡°I don¡¯t think we will find out if it protected you from the undead city¡¯s aura,¡± I said while returning the amulet to my storage. Castile regained herself, ¡°No, it did. Even with the aftermath, I can tell. My aether core is easier to ess, and my thoughts are clearer.¡± Adrian looked a little skeptical, ¡°Are you sure? You look much worse than before you used it.¡± ¡°I am sure,¡± Castile said firmly. ¡°Do we have the wholepany use it then?¡± Delmar asked from the doorway, clearly agitated. Castile looked at me, and I nodded. ¡°Well, I will go now, then.¡± Delmar moved andy down next to me. I felt slightly ufortable but produced the amulet and entered the dreamscape. Thest book Castile had been reading was still here. She must have made the others disappear rather than put them on the shelf I made for her. I tried to manifest the books she had created, but none appeared. That was disappointing. The three gnolls she had created were still here. I made one of them vanish and made it reappear a minuteter. So, if she left creations behind, I could control them. I was thinking about this when I finally wondered where Delmar was. I waited a few more minutes before exiting the dreamscape. The three of them watched me as I got off the ground. ¡°It didn¡¯t work,¡± Castile said. ¡°What didn¡¯t work?¡± I said, confused. ¡°You have to be able to send your own aether into the amulet to activate it. My aether didn¡¯t work for Delmar,¡± she rified. I let out a chuckle, and Delmar¡¯s face contorted into masked fury; he was ready to throttle me. I was chuckling that I had not lied to Mateo; not Delmar¡¯s inability to manipte aether. Delmar didn¡¯t see it that way; he thought I wasughing at him. He didn¡¯t give me a chance to exin. An irate Delmar ordered me out, ¡°Go back to your room, Eryk!¡± I left the three of them as they started to discuss what we had learned and to n a course of action. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 136: Goliath Therapy Chapter 136: Goliath Therapy I returned to my room, stirred the coals in the firece, and added some boards to liven up the fire. Once the fire was going again, Iy out on the ck desk. Maveith stirred, ¡°Eryk, is everything alright?¡± He tried to whisper, but his baritone was still fairly loud. ¡°Yeah, Castile just used the amulet tonight.¡± I thought for a moment, ¡°Maveith, you have a spell form, right? Can you direct the aether in your core?¡± I whispered. ¡°My spell form is weak. I can turn rock into y for a brief time before it turns back to rock. But yes, I have enough awareness of my aether core to manipte the aether,¡± he grumbled out in a softer voice, aware of how loud he was. I produced the amulet. ¡°Maveith, I am going to enter the dreamscape amulet first. You can touch it and channel aether into it after,¡± I offered. ¡°I am not interested in using your amulet,¡± Maveith replied. Felix stirred and mumbled something about us being quieter. ¡°Just trust me, Maveith. The city is doing something to us, and this will counter it,¡± I said pleadingly. ¡°Alright,¡± he said after a pause. Maveith appeared in the dungeon entry room shortly after me. He immediately started spinning about, curious. He then looked at his hands and flexed them. ¡°Everything looks so real,¡± he said in awe. His voice was back to his normal intrusive volume. I started to exin, ¡°The city is preventing us from dreaming. So even though everyone is sleeping, they are not getting any mental recovery. This amulet space allows you to dream because it is a dreamscape,¡± My exnation soundedme, but Maveith nodded like it madeplete sense.I did the same thing I did for Castile and created a spread of food on the table. ¡°It is not real but still tastes good,¡± I motioned for him to help himself. Maveith was too wide for the chair, so I created a bench for him, and he jumped when it appeared under him. Iughed, ¡°Maveith, it is just a bench. You can create anything or anyone you ever knew here. However, you might suffer a slight headache when you leave, depending on how many things you create. Or maybe it has to do withplexity. I am still learning how the artifact works.¡± Maveith seemed to consider and created a massive tray of some type of pasta dish. He tentatively tasted it and then smiled. ¡°It tastes just like I remember it.¡± Maveith put some on a te and offered it to me. I tried it, and the dish was mostly nd, with some pungent chunks of cheese in a thick, oily sauce. ¡°It is good,¡± I offered my filtered opinion to the goliath. It was all fake, but my taste buds still had me salivating. Maveith started eating everything on the table, and I just watched him for a bit. ¡°We will leave after five hours and see if you are any better.¡± ¡°Nothing is wrong with me, Eryk,¡± he said while ripping meat off arge turkey leg with his teeth. I didn¡¯t want to exin depression and irritability fromck of sleep to the goliath, so I just let him eat. After he finished getting his fill of the food and asking a dozen questions about what things were on the table, we moved into the ankheg chamber. ¡°Do you want to fight a monster?¡± I willed one of the two giant crawfish-like creatures to surface, and Maveith jumped back, unconsciously materializing his club in his hand. It took Maveith some time to calm down, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you would want to fight monsters in here. You can...¡± Maveith stopped talking and was focused intently behind me. I turned to see an obviously feminine goliath. Maveith just stared as I studied her. Her gray skin, bald head, and emerald eyes reminded me of Maveith. She was shorter than him at only about 6¡¯8¡±pared to Mavieth¡¯s 7¡¯6¡± frame and had a leaner upper body and feminine chest with a muscr build. She spoke, ¡°Brother, why did you not help us? The orcs killed me and took Myra.¡± Shit, Mavieth¡¯s guilt was imprinted on his manifestation of his sister. I focused, took control of the female goliath, and directed its speech, ¡°I forgive you, brother. You could not have done anything to stop it, and they would have killed you if you had intervened.¡± Maveith was tearing up and sobbing, ¡°You don¡¯t know that, Zorana. I might have been able to turn the tide and get you to a healer in the vige.¡± ¡°Let it go, Maveith,¡± she reasserted. I had the female goliath move into him and hug him. Maveith¡¯s massive body was suddenly wracked with heaving sobs as he squeezed his sister tight. I couldn¡¯t stop tears of my own being released at the scene. I let him have a bit of private time with her and returned to the entry room to do a bit of studying. I could hear the two of them talking, both with deep baritones. Eventually, Maveith came back to the entry room. ¡°Thank you, Eryk. I know it was not real, but I missed her so much. I got a chance to say goodbye.¡± Maveith¡¯s eyes were puffy, which made little sense in here unless he wanted it like that. I walked back into the ankheg room to find Zorana studying the creature. I sent her to the room to y with Oscar and the others. When Maveith saw she was gone, he just nodded. ¡°I think I would like to kill some monsters, Eryk. Can you dream up some orcs?¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I never met an orc. I think you should do it,¡± I replied as orc after orc materialized in the first ankheg room. After the seventh orc appeared, they stopped. Three of the orcs hads, so I assumed these were the orcs that had killed his sister. They generally fell in what I imagined the race looked like, except they appeared¡ªcivilized. They wore tailored clothes under their armor and had unblemished skin and well-trimmed hair. Maveith entered the fight before me, and I got to see a side of Maveith that I had never seen before. He was a violent and powerful goliath who ignored wounds to his body to get a killing blow on his foe. The orcs were mildly decent swordsmen, but not a challenge for me unless I gotted. I only needed to use a single air shield to avoid thes, so it never reached me. We killed the seven orcs three times before Maveith¡¯s lust for vengeance was finally satiated. ¡°I can now see why you would want to practice your fighting skills here. Maybe we can do this again sometime?¡± His voice rang with satisfaction. ¡°It has been about six hours, so let¡¯s get some breakfast and see what Castile wants to do.¡± We exited the dreamscape, and I found Maveith¡¯s hand on my chest, reaching up from his position on the floor to grasp the amulet. Benito was standing over me, ¡°Eryk, I am hurt. You let the big man into your dreams but wouldn¡¯t let me? I am much more fun than him.¡± I sat up, working the kinks out of my back. ¡°Maveith has control over his aether and can activate the amulet. Besides Benito, who says you do not already haunt my dreams?¡± I teased Benito. Benito gave me a confused and dubious look. He shook his head, giving up on puzzling it out. ¡°Castile wants to see you, Eryk. Bet you and her are going to have fancy dreams together, too.¡± Benito¡¯s voice was slightly harsh and usatory, and hecked his normal joviality. Something was definitely affecting us. I knocked and walked in on Castile and Adrian talking quietly. ¡°Delmar is leading a trip for firewood. Did the goliath seed?¡± Castile asked pointedly. ¡°Maveith was able to use it. I think it helped him.¡± I replied to Castile¡¯s nod. ¡°Good. I have a n. There is a spell called nightmare. It is an advanced form of the sleep spell, but it is the only spell I reviewed while at the Mage College that forces the target into a dream state. I want to borrow your amulet to learn it.¡± Castile looked at me expectantly. I produced the amulet and handed it to her. Adrian added, ¡°Eryk, if you have any food stored away, now would be a suitable time to share. The men are fraying from hunger and exhaustion and I fear we may see fighting soon.¡± I looked at Castile, who had a nk expression. She had obviously told him I had reserves. I ced fourteen meal bars on the desk. His eyes went wide, ¡°Anything else?¡± I produced a small, wrapped bundle of food from when I had left the legionnaire training, I had never touched it. There were maybe eight or nine pounds of food in the bundle. Adrian carefully went through it, frowning the entire time. I could tell he realized how long I had the food as it had date stamps from the legion training camp on the items. I was clearly revealing my abilities to him, but Castile said he could be trusted, so I decided to trust him as well, if only a little more. I was just as thin as everyone else, so I was obviously not partaking in the food. He didn¡¯t ask if I had any more; he just mumbled that Delmar was going to use me of hoarding food. It was the only thing that made sense when food just appeared out of nowhere. Adrian finally said unhappily, ¡°Three more days of food here for thepany. Wee but not enough to make a huge difference.¡± I produced therge three-gallon jar of honey on the desk. Delmar¡¯s eyebrows went up as the jar was obviously bigger than my space as he knew it. He opened it and tasted crystals, ¡°Honey?¡± I nodded. ¡°Another three days,¡± he said, expecting me to produce more. I shrugged, indicating that was it. I still had twenty gallons of rum and whiskey along with about three dozen ration bars, the two backpacks from the griffon rider and summoner that probably had some food in them as well, but I would hold that in reserve for now. Castile seemed to consider, ¡°If I spend all day in the dreamscape amulet, I might be able to learn the nightmare spell in a week if Fortuna favors me. It is a difficult spell, but the amulet does focus your efforts allowing for faster learning.¡± ¡°We need to keep clearing the specters from the loweryers, Castile,¡± Adrian pronounced in a clearly scripted speech. Castile tapped the kettle of souls on the desk, a small smile on her face, ¡°It is just like a normal collector, Eryk. You aim the artifact at the disrupted body and push your aether into the device. It will feel slightly wrong as it pulls in the death essence, but that is normal.¡± I didn¡¯t like where this was going, ¡°What if we encounter another wight? Or something more dangerous.¡± ¡°Konstantin, Adrian, ze, and Brutus will go with you. Just work the periphery of theplex for now.¡± She held up the amulet, ¡°I think this is more important for the moment. After my own time in the dreamscape, I can sense some of the men ready to break.¡± Adrian offered a weak, haggard smile. ¡°The good news is the elven wine appears viable, Eryk. Most of our descents will focus on recovering as many bottles as we can.¡± ¡°How is this going to be exined?¡± I gestured at the honey and food. ¡°I will take responsibility, and we will dole it out slowly,¡± Castile said. ¡°We are lucky you had it, Eryk.¡± I winced, remembering I had given away a few weeks of food just before we left to the old women who ran the herbalist shop in Sobral. It was not the first time I wasmenting that decision. Delmar entered the room in a huff, ¡°The men are gettingzy. Not carrying up a full load of shelving to burn.¡± He noticed me and asked tersely, ¡°What is he doing here?¡± He noticed the food. ¡°I told you he was hoarding food!¡± Castile waved her hand and snapped her fingers, ¡°I told him to, Delmar. Figure out how to stretch this,¡± she indicated everything. He was still clearly upset. I left them to get my breakfast of broth and rice. As I sat down next to Maveith, he looked down at me, showing a smile for the first time since we got trapped in the city, ¡°Eryk, do you want to y a game of checkers?¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost, or create into an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 137: The Kettle Bearer Chapter137: The Kettle Bearer I was okay with temporarily giving up my dreamscape amulet as I was not getting out of here alone. Castile was probably our best chance if we had to confront the summoner or if we eventually got into the dungeon, and for what it was worth, I trusted her. The temperature had remained cold outside, and the snow depth had not dropped, so we were unlikely to walk out of the city anytime soon. After losing two games of checkers to an improved and somewhat smiling Maveith, I was back in my room with Mateo and Felix. Mateo was giving me the stink eye, so I offered, ¡°Castile has the amulet. Maybe she will let you try to use it.¡± His eyes looked hopeful and then fell, ¡°Maybe after this mess. Is the wine giving you the squirts, too?¡± ¡°What?¡± I was caught off guard and confused by the conversation¡¯s direction. Felix looked over and rified for me, ¡°Some of us have been squirting out the arse after drinking the wine.¡± ¡°It is not poisonous,¡± Konstantin said from the archway. ¡°Most likely, it is because you are not getting enough solid food.¡± He directed his attention to me, ¡°Castile said you are to start making the specter culling runs and bringing up more of the wine.¡± ¡°Yes, I am to take the kettle of souls and use it in Castile¡¯s stead while she works on solving another problem.¡± I answered him. Looking at Konstantin more closely, it looked like he had aged ten years in thest week. ¡°Good. Get it, and we can begin now. Brutus, ze, and Adrian are with us?¡± I nodded. ¡°I will collect them and meet you at the stairs.¡± I soon had the brass kettle in my hands. Castile had emptied the crystalized death essence into a bag, so it was currently empty. I turned it over and over under the light of a glow stone ze was carrying beside me. The runic writing was on the inside of the device, and I couldn¡¯t make it out very well. ¡°Don¡¯t damage that, Eryk. It is the only thing that is giving us a chance to get out of here.¡± Adrian said from behind me.I nodded, stopped trying to inspect it, and got a better grip on the device. We were all following closely behind Konstantin, who turned in the corridor and opened arge door. The door creaked ominously, and light spilled out when it opened. Konstantin noted, ¡°Castile has been charging the glow stones in the walls below as we explored. You should just focus on using your aether on that device. You start to get low, and we will ascend.¡± It appeared Konstantin was in charge of the party over Adrian. It made sense, as Konstantin was the scout. Adrian said, annoyedly, ¡°Konstantin, we are just making runs to the wine vault.¡± Okay, maybe Konstantin just thought he was in charge. Konstantin paused to confront Adrian, ¡°Even if Castile¡¯s n works, we still have to find the dungeon to survive the winter. The more specters Eryk can send to their final rest every trip, the faster that will be.¡± Adrian flexed his grip on his sword, and we all felt some tension in the air between them. Instead of addressing Konstantin, he addressed me to avoid a confrontation, ¡°Eryk, let me know when you are too tired, or your aether gets too low, to continue.¡± I nodded, not wanting an argument to break out. I think Adrian¡¯s restraint was rooted in his knowledge of how the city was affecting him. We descended the stone stairs into a well-lit corridor with glow stones every twenty feet. A single small elf girl specter was wandering aimlessly in the center. Konstantin walked forward and unceremoniously cut her down in a sh of sparks. It was weird how only his runic weapon seemed to give those special effects. I had yet to see any other weapon do something as shy. I got closer to where the specter had dissipated. I aimed the kettle and channeled aether into it like I did with the collector. The purple smoke rushed toward the kettle and was consumed like a vacuum. A strange, cold, and wrongness pricked across my body. My breath was momentarily lost like I had stepped outside into frigid air. The coldness permeated my lungs for just a breath. Castile had said it would feel slightly wrong, but that was a massive understatement and I had to wonder how high her aether tolerance was to feel just ¡®slightly wrong,¡¯ Maybe her aether resistance had something to do with it. It felt like I was bathed in the creature¡¯s death aura as it was harvested. I shook the kettle to confirm it worked, and a small amount of the purple-ck glittering sand was in the bottom. Adrian was waiting on me, ¡°It worked. How many of these did Castile do every day?¡± I had no idea how she subjected herself to that feeling over and over again. I was looking at Castile¡¯s toughness in a new light. This was going to be very unpleasant for me. Konstantin answered, ¡°Over a hundred every descent. How many can you manage with your aether, Eryk?¡± I examined my aether core, ¡°It didn¡¯t take a lot of aether. It is more of the bacsh from using it. I don¡¯t know how she managed it so many times.¡± Adrian gravely voiced, ¡°She is a tough one. Just let us know when you need to ascend, Eryk.¡± As we walked the corridor, Brutus and Konstantin were out front, ze at my side, and Adrian guarding the rear. There were dozens ofrge wooden doors lining the hallway. Konstantin passed them all by without hesitation. Four lone specterster, I almost felt like asking to return to the tower. My lungs ached like I had run a marathon, and my fingers were numb. Konstantin stopped at the door, pushed it open slowly, and peeked inside, ¡°Clear.¡± He entered, and we followed. Racks upon racks of wine bottles were present. Brutus was the most flummoxed, ¡°There has to be at least ten thousand bottles in here.¡± Adrian answered, ¡°More. Eryk, fill your space, and ze and I will fill our packs.¡± I picked up a green ss bottle and brushed the dust off. Imprinted in the ss was a scene of an elf, hunting a gnoll. I remember Adrian said the gnolls were the mortal enemies of the elves or something like that. Each bottle was its own unique carved piece of artwork. Different colored ss in innumerable scenes. Every once in a while, Konstantin said a bottle that I picked up was no good. His ability to know if something was an organic poisoning through, maybe? I added twenty-four bottles, and ze had ten wrapped bottles in his backpack. Adrian had eleven. Konstantin and Brutus were not carrying packs as they were scouting ahead and needed to remain unencumbered. Adrian considered our next course of action, ¡°Konstantin, we will swing by the children¡¯s shelter, clear it, and head back to the tower.¡± Konstantin nodded appreciatively and led the way. It seemed we were heading back toward the tower, but I needed to spend more time in this unfamiliar underground maze to be sure. We descended a wide stairway into arge chamber that was lit by only a few glowstones. Hundreds of small skeletons were scattered across the room. ¡°We cleared this room of hundreds of specters, and now we usually find less than a dozen specters here every descent,¡± Adrian informed the group. I scanned the room and could see only a single specter in the corner¡ªa small boy, by the looks of it. Konstantin had us wait for a good twenty minutes before walking confidently into the room. Three specters of children rose out of the floor to rush us, as did the boy. Konstantin and Brutus dealt with them, and Ipleted my task with the kettle, wincing with each use. Konstantin seemed pleased, ¡°Just four this time. That is a good sign.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Leave it, Legionnaire!¡± Adrian barked, startling everyone. We turned to find ze sifting through the bones. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to loot the dead or the energy to carry the spoils unless it is a runic weapon.¡± ze stood and dropped a ring he had picked up. The metal sounded louder than it should be on the stone. Four adult specters emerged from the wall to the right, their faces twisted in a silent scream. Adrian yelled, ¡°Back up the stairs! It may be a rush!¡± As we retreated up the stairs, Brutus asked, ¡°What is a rush?¡± We took positions at the top of the stairs to fight the four specters. Once the four specters were dead, Adrian answered, ¡°Sometimes something triggers a bunch of the specters toe at us at once. Usually, there is a poltergeist or two in the rush. Though we haven¡¯t seen a rush in the shelter in a while.¡± After I gathered the death essence of the four specters with the kettle, I broke down a bit. ¡°Adrian, I think I am done. I am shivering uncontrobly and have a pounding headache.¡± Konstantin frowned, clearly disappointed in me. ¡°That was, what, thirteen? This isn¡¯t going to work, Adrian. We need Castile.¡± I focused on Konstantin and angrily said, ¡°Can¡¯t you use aether as well, Konstantin?¡± I held up the kettle, offering it to him. Konstantin looked down at his runic weapon and then at the kettle of souls. ¡°I need to keep swinging my de. You should push your limit, Eryk. Let¡¯s find one or two more wandering specters before heading back.¡± He said, somehow sounding rationale. ¡°It is up to you, Eryk. I know Castile found the experience unpleasant, but I don¡¯t think there is a limit on how many times she could use it,¡± Adrian said, deferring to me. I hesitantly nodded my consent. Six specterster, we were climbing the stairs to the tower. My body was racked with chills that never seemed to end. Firth was at the top of the stairs, ¡°About time you are back. We have five specters in the main library, and we have been subduing them, waiting for the kettle.¡± I groaned but turned around with just Konstantin and Adrian as support. After the library was cleared, I shivered uncontrobly as we walked back to the tower. I didn¡¯t think I could do this every day. I had no idea how Castile managed this. Adrian put his hand on my shoulder and said, ¡°You did good work today, Eryk.¡± Leave the wine and kettle in Castile¡¯s room. I will get you a double serving of tonight¡¯s feast and meet you there. Castile was prone on the floor, eyes closed, on the bedroll in front of the fire, gripping the amulet. Delmar looked up from his chair. He was watching over her and tending the fire. I ced the bottles from my dimensional space on the desk and the kettle while Delmar watched me. ¡°Castile said she knew,¡± Delmar said tly. I didn¡¯t know what he was referring to, so I just nodded slowly. ¡°You should go in there and bring her out.¡± He motioned to Castile. My first thought was not a problem, but I would have preferred for Adrian to arrive first. I sat on the other side of Castile. I stalled, ¡°Adrian is bringing dinner. Right after I eat, I will retrieve Castile. Using the kettle takes a lot out of you.¡± Delmar shrugged and took the fire poker to stir the coals and add a board. We sat in silence, and Adrian entered a few minutester with both backpacks of wine bottles and a bowl. He handed me the bowl, ¡°Lirkin is stretching the ration bars. The men say this soup is not terrible.¡± He looked at Castile on the floor and sat on another chair. He addressed Delmar, ¡°It went well. The specters seem to be thinning in the area we patrolled.¡± Delmar replied, ¡°The Schr found a map of the city folded into one of the books.¡± Adrian immediately perked up. Delmar waved his hand dismissively, ¡°He found what he believes is the dungeon entrance, but it is on the other side of the city, just beyond the hearth tree.¡± I was a little surprised by this great news. ¡°Damn it, really?¡± Adrian bemoaned. I didn¡¯t understand what the problem was. ¡°Do you have any good news?¡± ¡°Nope, we are out of healing potions and salves. Donte and Remus¡¯ frostbite is much worse. Might have to amputate their toes.¡± I tried the soup, and it reminded me of warm fig pudding. It was probably wishful thinking, but I kept the imagery up as I ate. Delmar and Adrian continued their conversation, ¡°Has shee out since we left?¡± ¡°No. I was going to send in Eryk to get her,¡± Delmar responded tly. I put down the empty bowl, ¡°Why is it bad news that we know where the dungeon is?¡± Delmar shook his head like I was an idiot. ¡°It is fantastic news, Eryk,¡± he replied a little too harshly for my liking. ¡°It is just the fact it is on the other side of a city infested with undead, and we are going to be surviving off of wine while we cross the city inch by inch while half of us lose our minds.¡± Delmar was not an optimist. ¡°I think I will go check on Castile now.¡± I said, sinking to the floor and touching the amulet. Castile was studying one of her spell books on a couch in the entry room, looking veryfortable. She had a coffee table in front of her with an assortment of food and beverages. She looked up, surprised, ¡°Is everything okay?¡± I vented my frustration, ¡°Other than Delmar being ready to snap, things are fine. Also, what the hell, Castile! The kettle of souls feels like it is sucking the soul out of me! Konstantin is pushing me harder than ever before, and they found the location of the dungeon.¡± Castile slowly closed the spellbook and looked me over. ¡°Do you feel better yelling that out loud?¡± ¡°A bit,¡± I admitted. I probably wouldn¡¯t get any chances to yell at Castile in the real world. ¡°Using the kettle of souls works against your aether tolerance, Eryk. Your tolerance was twenty-two with a potential of fifty?¡± Castile recalled. ¡°I think so,¡± I thought about it, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t have any trouble using it. I told you it would be unpleasant. You should also be able to train your aether tolerance by using it.¡± She said patiently. ¡°Delmar will hold it together. I will handle him if he falls too far. The sooner I learn this.¡± She tapped the book, ¡°the better off we all will be.¡± ¡°How is a spell called nightmare going to help anyway?¡± I said, rxing some as I waited for her to answer. ¡°I decide what the nightmare is when I cast it. It is like a predetermined dream. It is intended to break a person¡¯s mind but doesn¡¯t have to be used that way,¡± she exined. ¡°Is the Shimmering Labyrinth where the Schr thought it was?¡± ¡°No, it is not under the hearth tree, but it is close, just on the other side of it,¡± I ryed, and Castile winced. ¡°Well, at least we know where we are going now. Hopefully, the undergroundwork has a path to it. As for Konstantin, keep an eye on him. I think his elven runic weapon may be influencing him.¡± Castile said indifferently. ¡°Nothing to be too concerned about at the moment. It was forged to kill the undead and may be encouraging him to fulfill its purpose. Have you noticed that his sword sparks when ites in contact with the specters? That is the sword enacting its purpose, disrupting the enemy it was created to destroy.¡± Castile exined. ¡°Adrian and Delmar already know to keep an eye on Konstantin. Is there anything else?¡± Castile seemed so calm it was almost disturbing knowing how dire our situation currently was. ¡°They sent me in here to get you out for a while,¡± I said finally. Castile frowned. She tapped the spellbook, ¡°Tell them I will be out in two hours and to have something ready to eat for me. I n toe right back after eating. I hope to start practicing the aether weaves soon. This is really a remarkable space, Eryk. It is so easy to focus in here. I might be able to learn the spell in just a few days.¡± She picked up something that looked like a cookie and munched on it. Seeing I had nothing else for her, she opened the spellbook and returned to studying. I felt like I was being abused a little bit. Then again, Castile had been the one using the kettle of souls repeatedly for days. This was her mini vacation at my expense. I exited the dreamscape and told Adrian and Delmar that Castile would be out in two hours. I also told them all they needed to do was remove the amulet from contact with her body to wake her. There was no need to go inside the dreamscape to retrieve her. I returned to my room to find my roommates deep into their second bottle of wine. Maveith was ying checkers with Konstantin on my desk/bed, and Mateo and Felix were clearly intoxicated. They offered me the residuals of a bottle, and I passed. Konstantin was ying with the steel spheres I found in the desk. He was rolling them in one hand. ¡°Can I have my balls back?¡± I said to Konstantin as I held out my hand for them. ¡°Or do you enjoy ying with them that much.¡± Mateo and Felix looked up from the checker¡¯s board between them and were holding back theirughter. Konstantin looked up, a single eyebrow arcing, ¡°Did you know these balls are tinum, Eryk?¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 138: Elven Assessment Chapter 138: Elven Assessment Konstantin and Maveith continued ying checkers on the desk, preventing me from lying down. Konstantin noted the spheres in his hand, ¡°They appear to be ingots for making rings.¡± I continued holding out my hand for the balls. Konstantin regretfully dropped them into my hand, and I sent them to my storage for safekeeping. I took my canteen and sat on the bench by the fire. The fire felt warmer and more invigorating than normal, and I scooted the bench closer. ¡°tinum is very valuable, Eryk,¡± Maveith intoned as he cornered Konstantin¡¯sst piece. ¡°Much more so than gold. It carries runic enchantments much better than most metals and never tarnishes.¡± Konstantin nodded in agreement, frustration on his face for losing the game. He appraised me, ¡°How are you feeling?¡± There was only a mild note of concern in his tone, though more than I expected after our earlier interaction. I held my hands closer to the fire, deciding what to admit. I didn¡¯t want to appear weak, but Konstantin would push me harder if I admitted I could manage it. I tossed a board on the fire, ¡°I managed today. The Schr found the dungeon location today.¡± By theirck of reaction, they already knew. Konstantin nodded somberly, ¡°Yes. We are going to search for more runic weapons tomorrow. You are going to have to be able to do thrice what you did today with the kettle of souls. Sixty at a minimum each day if we are going to reach the dungeon before we all die of starvation.¡± ¡°Castile told me it would get easier the more I used it. Maybe not sixty tomorrow, but I will get there,¡± I sounded confident, but my body shook at the memory of using the bronze artifact. I hid my body¡¯s unease by stirring the coals. Mateo suddenly stood and rushed out of the room, having to take a ¡®squirt.¡¯ He left the door open in his rush, and we cursed him for letting the heat out. ¡°Felix, close the door!¡± Konstantin ordered as they started another game of checkers. ¡°Last one, Maveith, Eryk needs his rest,¡± Konstantin winked at me like he was doing me a favor, giving me my bed. The next morning, I had to force myself to eat; my appetite was gone. Konstantin gave me twice as much rice and beans as everyone else had received. He then went to talk with the Schr. As breakfast ended and men started on their daily tasks, Castile made an appearance, Delmar, and Adrian at her back. She looked pale and thin, but her eyes were bright, telling me her mind was sharp. She looked across the room slowly, making eye contact with everyone, ¡°We will be getting out of this. You are the strongestpany in the Lion! I could promise you rewards beyond measure from the plunder of the city, but instead, I want to affirm to each of you that your lives are more important. The undead will not break you! The cold will not break you! And the unseen summoner will not break you!¡± Castile¡¯s passion was met with some nods, but a few still remained indifferent. I could see Adrian noting who in his mind. Delmar wrapped his knuckles on the shelf loudly, ¡°We are moving to the underground tomorrow. We learned everything we needed to here.¡± That got whispers. Schr Favian looked around longingly at all the books he had not had a chance to study. Delmar continued, ¡°It will be warmer down there, and we will save time advancing through the city. We will be dressing back in full armor kit starting today. Get to your daily tasks, men.¡± With that said, Adrian walked toward me and handed me the kettle. ¡°Konstantin and I will be at your front today¡ªjust ze at your back. Let us know when you need a rest. Gear up, legionnaire!¡± He said with a pat on my shoulder. Putting on my armor again was almost surreal. It was like the set had been made for a giant. I had trouble getting everything to fit tightly. I walked out into themunal area and noticed my elven dagger on Firth¡¯s belt. I approached the veteran, demanding my dagger back, ¡°Firth, you have a runic sword now. Give me back my dagger.¡± Firth looked me over and drew the dagger, ¡°This is too pretty a weapon for you, Eryk.¡± He bnced the de on his index finger and spun it, the de and handle whirling. ¡°I have never handled such a perfectly weighted sticker. How much do you want for it?¡± ¡°I am not selling it,¡± I held out my hand. Firth considered me again and nodded slowly. He tossed, snatched, and sheathed the de and handed it to me. It took me some time to feed the sheath on my belt, but soon I was ready. A few men nodded in appreciation at my remation of the runic dagger. Our armor ttered as we descended the stairs together. Normally, it had a rhythm to it, but not any longer with it being so loose. ze asked, ¡°Why the armor now?¡± Konstantin answered him while ying with his straps, ¡°In case we run into a wight wielding a weapon.¡± Adrian contradicted Konstantin, ¡°No, we are to secure the wine room this trip. I know we talked about looking for more runic weaponsst night, but Castile thought the men needed to see us making progress toward a goal,¡± Adrian replied evenly. Konstantin looked ready to object but nodded and continued to lead the way. It was more of a slow walk today, and we didn¡¯t see any specters for a few minutes. ze asked, ¡°Where do all the doors go?¡± ¡°Some are more storerooms. Others lead up into other buildings in the city,¡± Konstantin paused at a door, ¡°This faded writing here says where the door leads.¡± I took out my own glowstone to examine the faded elven script on the stone. ¡°Some type of restaurant,¡± I tranted with my poor Elvish. ¡°Do you think they are open?¡± ze asked seriously. ¡°I know it is early in the morning and all.¡± He started to smile at his joke. We all startedughing, and Adrian chuckled, ¡°Well, if they are open, breakfast is on me.¡± When things simmered down, Konstantin gave a reality check, ¡°We only took one stairway up to the city. The building had copsed on the stairs, but that didn¡¯t stop three specters froming through the rubble to greet us. We want to avoid triggering a rush from the city. If we stirred the city, it could have hundreds of specters after us.¡± That sobered things up pretty quickly so we continued on in silence. We encountered just two specters on the way to the wine room. Inside the wine room, Adrian ordered Konstantin, ¡°I want you to go through every bottle and dump the toxic ones. Castile doesn¡¯t want anyone drinking them by mistake.¡± That was how we spent our next four hours. Dumping the wine bottles down the drain after Konstantin pulled them off the racks. After that, we searched a handful of nearby storerooms for specters before returning to the tower. I only harvested nine specters all day and was greatly relieved at the lower number of times activating the kettle. This novel is published on a different tform. Support the original author by finding the official source. As we climbed the stairs, the most divine smell in the world assaulted our noses. We rushed into the small library to find a bird spinning on an improvised spit. Men were talking energetically and keeping their eyes on it. I guessed what the bird was. ¡°Baby eagle?¡± It was the size of a turkey, so it was definitely not one of the monstrous adults. Felix answered excitedly, ¡°vius got an owl that entered the main library! My stomach can¡¯t wait to make its acquaintance.¡± ¡°It was most likely a scout controlled by the summoner,¡± Delmar said from across the room. ¡°It saw us packing up from the window and wanted to know where we were nning to go.¡± ¡°Delmar is correct. The summoner sent it, and I am certain it is not poisoned. He just made a slight error in his impatience. He has remained a few miles away, tired of waiting us out,¡± Castile said neutrally and sounded in control. ¡°The good news is he is too busy maintaining his hold of the storm elementals to summon anything else. Once we disappear into the undercity, we may lose his focus.¡± For some reason, I doubted Castile¡¯s optimism. Still, her counter to Delmar¡¯s pessimism brightened the mood. There was a lot less meat than it originally looked like. Everyone got an equal share, and no oneined. The feathers were stuffed into a small bag, and then the bones were boiled, along with the feet, for breakfast broth the next day. The fresh meat, although somewhat acidic tasting, cheered everyone up. I made sure toy out on my desk before Maveith could start his nightly checkers tournament with Konstantin. I needed to sleep myself, and after a few minutes of twisting and turning, I snuck myself an oblivion pill in the absence of the amulet. Konstantin took pleasure in waking me from my deep sleep in the morning. ¡°Eryk.¡± He whispered next to my ear while snapping his fingers in my face, ¡°If I was a goblin, I would have stabbed you five times already.¡± I pped away his hand and sat up. Just as I had guessed, the non-magical oblivion pills did not seem to give me restful sleep in the city. A thought crossed my mind. ¡°Are goblins edible?¡± I asked, remembering I had one of the creatures in my dimensional storage. Maveith answered from the floor where he was packing, ¡°They probably taste worse than the owl fromst night, but I do not think they are poisonous.¡± I nodded, thinking that tiny creature had to be at least forty pounds. Maybe I could release it and pretend it wandered into the city. With everyone moving out of the tower, it meant Castile could handle the kettle duties today. I hesitated in the room, being thest to leave the small library. I looked longingly at therge ck desk. Not only was it a piece of artwork, but it was a good bed. I checked outside the door and then stored therge desk. The top was three by seven feet, and the height was about two feet tall, and it might serve as a good obstruction or workbench for me. I caught up with everyone and walked next to Castile who handed me the kettle of souls so she could practice her aether shaping of the nightmare spell. So much for a break for myself. She was not much of a conversationalist today, fully concentrating on learning the spell as quickly as possible. We only encountered a single specter on the way to the wine vault, and I used the kettle to deal with it. When the doors opened, everyone who had not seen it yet gasped and gawked while walking stupidly among the racks. Delmar issued his promation, ¡°No one drinks without permission. I will assign you all sleeping locations. We piss in the drain and shit in the storeroom across the hall in pairs. That is right.¡± His voice rose to amand, ¡°No one shits alone!¡± It took a few hours to settle in as Delmar was in charge of camp setup. It helped him direct some of his increasingly aggressive nature productively. Adrian assigned the guard duties, of which I had none. Konstantin pulled on my armor, ¡°Come on, Eryk, no one shits alone.¡± Maveith stood, ¡°I haven¡¯t shit in three days. I think I might have to.¡± ¡°Fine, you cane too! Could use a brute.¡± Konstantin said, irritated. I could already tell we were not going for a shit. In the hallway, Konstantin went left and walked rapidly while we followed. ¡°I don¡¯t have the kettle of souls,¡± I warned him. He looked to be on the hunt for more specters, or maybe his de was driving him to hunt. ¡°It is fine. It is just a few doors down.¡± He exined, as he continued walking. He paused at a door, studied it, and opened it. We followed him inside, and on the other side of the room were heavy bunk beds. Thick dust from deteriorated mattresses covered them, but this could be a game changer. ¡°Too heavy to haul up into the tower but forty feet down the hall? I think that is manageable.¡± Maveith and I wrestled the first one out the door while Konstantin watched for specters. My fatigued and emaciated muscles could not match Maveith¡¯s, so we made quite a racket to get the first one into the wine room. There were eight bunks for sixteen beds in total, and soon, the wholepany was helping. It was the most animated I had seen Delmar in a long time. We moved wine bottles and took down racks to make room. Delmar thought the wine room was more defensible than the small room from which we took the beds. The next small room with bunks was too far away to haul back, but we could sleep in shifts. Everyone was covered in filth when we were done, but the sense of aplishment was high in thepany. Some of the soldiers were actually smiling and making jokes to one another. The only unhappy person was Schr Favian, due to the fact that he was only able to carry ten of his priceless books from the tower. We were allotted a little more wine than we probably should have had that evening. I noted that Adrian and Delmar didn¡¯t drink and remained on watch with Castile using the amulet. We were in a new phase of our exploration of the ruins, but the clock was still running on us. We had already too many days in Caelora, sustaining ourselves on extraordinarily very little. Living off calories from wine was not going to be very pleasant. The move had abated some of the depression, but it would soon return. For the next three days, Adrian, Brutus, Konstantin, Mateo, and ze guarded me as we started to explore the hearth tree and thin the specters in preparation for finding the dungeon. ze got knocked out when a poltergeist threw a heavy ceramic bowl at his head from behind, but we did well other than that one injury. I was up to between forty and forty-five specters in the morning and another twenty-five or so in the afternoon as we slowly explored new areas. We were also searching rooms Konstantin had not searched previously. One interesting room had a familiar device¡ªan assessment tablet¡ªbut it was a modest table, simr to the one I used in the capital at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild in the capital. It was also much fancier, with finer wood and decorative carvings, and thenguage was clearly Elvish after I cleared the dust off. ¡°Leave it. It is useless anyway, as it is based on the elven race,¡± Konstantin advised, leaving the room without giving it another thought. However, it had all the attributes and twenty-one magic affinities on the table. Even if it gave skewed results, it was probably worth something. Konstantin called from the corridor, ¡°We should head back anyway. This corridor is heading away from the hearth tree.¡± I did not know how he knew that, but I was sure he would exin it in excruciating detailter if I didn¡¯t ask. I made sure I was thest one out of the room and sent the entire assessment tablet table into my dimensional storage. It was only about three by five feet, and the height was simr to the ck desk I had stored a week earlier, and I had a lot of space if I got creative. We got even better news when we returned to the wine vault. Castile had sessfully learned the nightmare spell! I was thrilled as it meant that hopefully, I would get my amulet back soon. As this ce was beginning to affect me like the others. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 139: The Wight Problem Chapter 139: The Wight Problem Castile used her nightmare spell on seven men, including Delmar, to start. They were the worst of thepany, with sunken, dark eyes and the worst disposition. It was to be a twelve-hour sleep on the bunks for them. Trapped in some dream Castile imagined. Everyone nervously watched as Castile forced man after man into a deep sleep. When Castile was finished, she was seated on her bunk bed alone, clearly drained from her efforts. I took the opportunity to talk with her and sat next to her. I asked, ¡°What are they dreaming about?¡± Castile looked around at the sleeping men, ¡°They are building houses. The spell required a task and environment on casting, I put them on a grassy in, and they are cutting and stacking sod to build a house. It was what I remembered of where I grew up. No monsters. Just endless therapeuticbor with a loving family encouraging them.¡± I nodded, thinking that was not too bad of a nightmare. I certainly had much worse. ¡°So, will you be joining the exploration team now?¡± Castile had a small knife out and was cleaning under her filthy fingernails. ¡°Yes. I will be going out.¡± She knew why I was here. Castile fingered the amulet around her neck absently but did not offer it to me. When she did not offer it back to me, I asked, ¡°Can I have that back?¡± I didn¡¯t think she heard me, so I was about to ask again. ¡°I would like to keep using it.¡± She said softly, my stomach turned over, and a cold chill spread through my body. She quickly added, ¡°I think we can run two exploration teams. One will be led by me, and the other will be led by you. While you are out, I desire to use your amulet. When you return, wake me, and you can have it.¡± That soundedpletely reasonable. As my magemander, she probably could have just kept it even though she recognized it as my property. ¡°I think that is eptable. Are you going to learn another spell?¡± Castile held the amulet again, studying it longingly, not answering for a time. ¡°For me, a single day studying in the amulet is like a week. I could learn every spell I ever tried to study and failed. You do not realize what a treasure it truly is.¡± Her tone was slightly usatory and had some jealousy in it.Realizing she may have crossed a line, she added, ¡°It is yours, Eryk. Perhaps I have be a little addicted to it.¡± She removed the dreamscape amulet and handed it to me. ¡°Perhaps a few days apart from it would do me good.¡± She added unconvincingly. Castile stood and walked away to talk with Konstantin. After an hour¡¯s discussion, she announced to everyone not sleeping, ¡°Adrian, Brutus, ze, and Mateo. You are with me for a specter harvest.¡± Castile snatched the kettle and marched for the door while they scrambled to follow. I moved over to sit with Maveith, who was sorting wine bottles with Konstantin at a table. ¡°Surprised she didn¡¯t take you,¡± I noted, and Konstantin looked up. ¡°We just returned an hour ago, Eryk. Castile decided the second team would be you, vius, Delmar, Firth, Benito, and me,¡± Konstantin revealed with a faux smile. ¡°Damn, she got to pick all the cool kids,¡± I said gruffly. Maveith didn¡¯t understand, ¡°I think everyone is pretty cold, Eryk. But it is warmer under the city than in the tower.¡± Konstantin cackled augh, ¡°I think Eryk is saying that he wishes he got to choose his own team. I am actually quite hurt you don¡¯t want me on your team.¡± I don¡¯t know why I said it, I think it was probably because it had been a few days since I got some real sleep, and my mind felt frayed and exhausted. ¡°Konstantin, you are reckless. You chase every damn specter you see. Regardless of whether it is safe for the rest of us or not. Of course, I don¡¯t want to explore with you the tunnels with you!¡± I had yelled that a little too loud, and a number of men overheard. All the attention in the wine vault was on us now. Konstantin ced two bottles he had been holding on the table and looked me in the eyes, and I met his stare defiantly. Our eyes studied each other. He said softly, ¡°You are right, Eryk. I have been reckless.¡± I exhaled in some relief. ¡°We are running out of time, though. He reflectively touched the pommel of his runic weapon.¡± ¡°So, it is not your weapon driving you?¡± I used him, getting bolder. Konstantin¡¯s hand caressed the hilt while studying my face. He admitted, ¡°It does reward me with a euphoric rush when I cut down a specter. But it is not controlling me.¡± My mouth opened to reply, and then I shut it. Konstantin was an addict and didn¡¯t even realize it. ¡°Perhaps you should loan your runic weapon to another, Konstantin.¡± My suggestion was met with harsh eyes. I remembered that Konstantin had also recklessly pursued the summoner to reim this de. I was not sure how he didn¡¯t see that he was beholden to the weapon. I decided not to press further. I walked over to Schr Favian to see about continuing my education in the Elven tongue. After an hour, I decided to get some rest; my mind had its fill of new vocabry and listening to the Schr¡¯s voice. I went to an open bunk andy down, leaving Konstantin and Maveith. I had the amulet, and I wanted to get some actual rest. I entered the dreamscape and found the safe entry room filled with living room furniture and an entire kitchen. The bookshelf I had left Castile was now full of books as well. I mumbled to myself, ¡°Castile, you have been a busy woman and made yourself at home.¡± I flipped through each one of the books she left behind on the bookshelf and made a copy of theplete set. I then walked down to the scorpion room. Castile did not appear to have spent any time fighting the creatures of the dungeon. Either that or she reset them after she had killed them. After a quick inspection, it seemed that my secret room was undisturbed. I then set my copy of the books into my secret room and left, closing it behind me. Oscar rushed me and jumped into my arms to lick my face. It took me a moment to realize that was what I wanted. Konstantin studied me with steel-blue eyes, ¡°You locked us all away here like prisoners. Are you going to let us out now?¡± I ignored hisment. ¡°Did Castile stop by and say hello?¡± I asked the group. Maveith¡¯s sister, Zorana, spoke for the group, ¡°She didn¡¯t find us. Is that what you are asking? She dide into the scorpion chamber once, though. She fought it and returned it back to normal.¡± ¡°Thanks for telling me, Zorana.¡± I looked at the assortment of people and the goliaths. ¡°Well, let¡¯s practice some fighting tonight.¡± Xavier, the sword master, eagerly drew his de and stood from the poker table. Adrian was not far behind him. Maveith stood protectively next to his sister, resting his club on his shoulder. ze was the only one who did not look thrilled at the idea of weapons practice in the group. Oscar excitedly barked as I removed the wall, and we battled on the sand in the scorpion room. I spent eight hours inside the dreamscape, and my perception of the world was different when I exited. It had felt filtered before, and now it was clear. The targets of Castile¡¯s nightmare spell were still in their forced sleep. Castile¡¯s group had not returned yet from their culling of specters, and the men were getting anxious. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences elsewhere. Konstantin approached me, ¡°I think I should go look for them. You need to stay here as you have a runic weapon to protect the others.¡± The door suddenly opened, causing everyone to rx visibly as Castile entered with the others. ¡°We encountered another wight,¡± Adrian announced. ¡°It had a runic weapon,¡± he tossed a sheathed short de to Benito, who eagerly caught it. Castile also had good news, ¡°We found passages blocked with roots. Large enough that it can only be the hearth tree. We are getting closer to where the dungeon must be. We just have to find a way around the tree.¡± Adrian bnced the news, ¡°The roots have blocked and weakened some of the passages. One path was alsopletely blocked with snow.¡± Everyone understood that meant it was exposed to the city above. Surprisingly, Schr Favian stood and said, ¡°I would like to go on the next exploration. I am not doing much good here. Maybe I can help by reading the Elven engravings.¡± It was true the Schr was not of much use to us anymore. He had been quiet studying his books, and maybe he figured the small allocation of food we used on him might be withheld soon. Almost all our solid rations were gone, and we were pretty much drinking our calories from the wine. Castile considered the Schr and handed me the kettle of souls, ¡°Eryk is leaving soon. You can go with his group, Schr.¡± Her voice dropped so only I could hear. ¡°Just eliminate as many specters as you can and return. We will all go together tomorrow. We are close, Eryk.¡± She said reassuringly and even cracked a smile on her thin face. I started getting ready and heard Benito ask while looking at his new weapon, which was shaped like a long slender leaf rounding out thest two-thirds, ¡°Why do only the wights have runic weapons?¡± Adrian patiently answered him, ¡°They are smarter than normal undead. They may not have wielded a runic weapon in life but have wandered the city long enough to find one and know what it is and how powerful they are.¡± ¡°How many wights are in the city?¡± Benito asked, causing everyone to still, creating a silence to listen to Adrian¡¯s answer. Adrian looked to Castile, who gave him a nod, which I assumed was the go-ahead to answer truthfully. ¡°We think there are dozens in the city above. In the under-city, we do not think there are many.¡± Everyone rxed some at the news and continued their tasks. Before we left, I spent time with Adrian, Castile, and Konstantin as they discussed the direction they had traveled and where they found the passages that were blocked with roots. Konstantin was leading my team, as I was just the kettle bearer. Castile cycled the sleepers under her spell. Those waking up were exhausted, but you could already tell they were in better shape mentally with theirments and liveliness. Delmar was barely speaking to anyone and movednguidly, probably realizing what an ass he had been for weeks. Firth, Delmar, and Konstantin led my group. Firth was also waking up from his first deep sleep. He was more animated than Delmar as he talked, ¡°It felt like I had a foot in Pluto¡¯s realm and didn¡¯t even realize it,¡± he told Konstantin as we walked. I walked next to Schr Favian in the middle, who was trying to read every door we passed. The ancient elf writing had faded or ked off, so he did not have a lot of sess. Behind me were vius and Benito protecting our rear. We all followed Konstantin as he knew exactly where he was leading us. Our job was just to clear specters and return. We only encountered lone specters as we moved into an unfamiliar part of the undercity. We also reached a section where Castile had not charged any glowstones, and everyone took theirs out. Konstantin faced the group at this point, ¡°This is as far they got. We are going to return to the wine vault and search side rooms as we go.¡± Everyone was tense as we turned around. We had only found seven spectators so far today. The first door had Schr Favian inform the group, ¡°It is a cobbler¡¯s room.¡± Inside was arge workshop with three specters. The shoes had all since rotted away, and we quickly finished off the specters. ¡°Why do they need a shoe store under the city?¡± Benito asked after we finished clearing the room. The Schr answered, ¡°They were prepared for a long siege by the Legion. They were prepared to live under the city for years. We must be under the merchant quarter. This city used to be home to some of the greatest artisans in the world. They would not stop doing their professions even if a war were raging around them.¡± We continued opening doors but skipping doors that led up to the city. Every time, we were rewarded with one to four specters inside. It was as the Schr had said, and these were the specters of the artisans. The spectral clothes they wore were fancy and fashionable. Schr Favian suddenly got excited at the ninth door: ¡°It is a weaponsmith! There must be a forge on the other side of this door.¡± Delmar looked at Konstantin, and they both looked like kids about to raid a candy store. Konstantin repeated the same thing he had for each of thest few entries, ¡°I will go first, Delmar will go left, Firth will go right, after me. Don¡¯t get distracted; cut down the specters quickly so Eryk can use the kettle.¡± Konstantin tried to open the door, but it didn¡¯t budge. The moisture in this part of the undercity had rotted the door some. Delmar and Konstantin worked together, and they were able to pry it off the hinges with a lot of effort. Konstantin rushed and shouldered the door. The door spun, freed from its prison, and mmed into the ground inside the forge room, causing a thick cloud of dust made worse as the glowstones illuminated the particles. The thick cloud of dust caused zero visibility. Konstantin rushed into the room with Delmar and Firth. ¡°Does anyone see any specters?¡± Delmar said through coughing fits. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything!¡± Benito replied from beside me. A body was thrown out of the room and mmed into me, knocking me into the wall in the corridor. It was Firth who looked broken and choked out a warning, ¡°Wight!¡± ¡°Where?!¡± Konstantin¡¯s voice echoed in the dust cloud from inside the forge room. A figure rushed toward me from the dust, and I erected an air shield in front of me. The emaciated elf crashed into my air shield, just a foot from my face. It looked like a zombie elf, its gray skin stretched tight over its bones. Firth was trying to stand, but struggling. Delmar screamed in obvious pain, ¡°I have specters in the forge! I need help in here!¡± Konstantin yelled, frustrated as I could see shes of his sword through the dust cloud, ¡°Where is the wight!¡± My ck de stabbed forward into the stomach of the wight, but it just pressed forward, trapping my de. It screamed a raspy, angry yell at me, ¡°In the corridor!¡± I shouted. Benito attacked, and the wight punched him in the chest, tossing him sprawling back down the corridor. An arrow suddenly protruded from the neck of the wight. The wight swiped at my air shield, shattering it without difficulty. His wed hands then left deep gouges on my armor. Konstantin rushed out of the dust cloud and hacked into the neck of the wight; instead of sparks, the de hissed and steamed as he connected. I couldn¡¯t extract my ck de, so I drew the elven dagger and stabbed the wight in the eye. It suddenly paused in its attack, looking confused. Konstantin hacked the other side of its neck, freeing its head from its body. The dust was clearing, but Delmar was still screaming for help. ¡°Use the kettle, Eryk!¡± Konstantin yelled as he dashed back into the room to help Delmar. The dust was clearing but not fast enough. I aimed the kettle and channeled aether into it. A thick purple smoke came from the corpse of the wight, and it felt almost like a brief tug-o-war as it resisted a final death. It finally sumbed to the bronze kettle, and a palpable relief escaped me. I turned my attention to Firth, who was moaning in pain, one arm clearly broken. ¡°I am fine! Help the others!¡± He pushed me away with his good arm. vius rushed into the room as the dust was clearing. I entered after him. The forge room wasrge, and its expanse briefly took me aback. Easily two hundred feet deep. Delmar was on the ground to the left. He was no longer screaming for help. Konstantin was swinging wildly at four specters around him, sparks flying with every swing of the de. ¡°Eryk! Use the kettle! There were at least nine specters, maybe more if Delmar killed some.¡± Konstantin sounded frantic and worried. I used the kettle, and it eventually pulled eleven specters into it. With the room now clear, we all stood over Delmar. His scraggly bearded face was pale white, and his eyes looked up and vacant. Damn it, he was definitely dead. Benito was to my right and asked that exact question, ¡°Is he dead? Is he going to turn into a specter?¡± Konstantin let out a long, disgruntled sigh. ¡°Yes.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 140: Mourning Chapter 140: Mourning Konstantin stood over Delmar. He studied the legionnaire¡¯s body and then said with remorse, ¡°Did anyone else get hit by the specters or wight?¡± Firth was cradling his broken arm, ¡°The wight broke my arm.¡± Konstantin moved to stand in front of Firth and study him. ¡°Just the one injury? Do you feel any different?¡± ¡°My fucking arm is broken, Konstantin. Of course, I feel fucking different!¡± Firth yelled, spittle flying from his mouth. ¡°Eryk cut off Delmar¡¯s head and use the kettle on him!¡± Konstantin barked at me while we were all still in a daze. I looked at Delmar¡¯s corpse, not processing the request. ¡°What?¡± ¡°His spirit is going to turn into a specter! You can prevent that before it happens!¡± Konstantin yelled, his anger bleeding out. He kicked over a rack of swords. The violence and noise were therapeutic for him. I walked to the body and readied my ck de, but it just felt wrong to cut off Delmar¡¯s head, so I hesitated. Konstantin stormed over and used his own runic de toplete the task, steam hissing up as he did so. I fumbled for the kettle and used it. A purple haze flowed from Delmar¡¯s neck and head into the kettle. It was proof that he had been turning, but it still did not make me feel any better. Benito was walking around the room, looking at all the various weapons. I think he was having trouble dealing with Delmar¡¯s death and seeking a distraction. I went to the wall and charged the embedded glowstones to illuminate the massive forging chamber. There were a number of workstations and anvils throughout the room.Benito asked weakly, ¡°Who is going to tell Castile?¡± There was silence as we all looked around. Konstantin finally voiced, ¡°It will be me. His death was my fault.¡± No one argued with him as we continued our search. Benito seemed mollified it wouldn¡¯t be him and asked, while clearing the dust off some short des, ¡°Are any of these runic weapons?¡± Schr Favian was searching with us. ¡°Most likely, no. Clean off the dust, and there is a chance if they have no rust.¡± I started searching with everyone else. It gave us something to distract us from Delmar¡¯s body. I noticed vius pick up Delmar¡¯s runic de. It was an extremely valuable dungeon de, but no one stopped him. Every de and axe I checked was tarnished with rust under the jacket of dust. It felt like Delmar had given his life for no reason. There were hundreds of weapons in here; all were artistic works that needed to be cleaned and oiled, but nothing was free of tarnish. ¡°Got one!¡± An excited Benito called from near the forges. We all rushed over to find Benito was cleaning something that looked closer to a sledgehammer than a weapon. The head of the sledgehammer had been cleaned off and looked like liquid mercury in the light of the glowstones. Schr Favian quickly assessed it: ¡°Definitely an artificed hammer, but I think it is designed for metalworking and not fighting.¡± He handed it around, and I realized how heavy it was when it got to me. The head alone was probably over five pounds, and the shaft added to that weight again in rich ck wood. Konstantin said what I had been thinking, ¡°The goliath can use that. He can then be of some help with the specters.¡± We continued to search the room and started stacking the weapons in the center so we wouldn¡¯t go over them more than once. We made four stacks; one was daggers, one for short swords, one for long swords, and one for axes. The spears we found, we leaned against the wall. We were interrupted twice by wandering specters but eventually searched the entire room. Konstantin was the most upset of all of us. I think he wanted to find something more substantial so Delmar¡¯s death would not be in vain. We found three runic daggers and a second smaller runic forge hammer among the bones of the fallen smiths. Bringing the total to four more runic weapons added to thepany and a sledgehammer for Maveith. We left the room and began the walk back to the wine vault. Konstantin led us but did not drag his feet. When we reached the room, he marched right up to Castile and told her what happened. I went to Maveith, who was ying checkers with Remus. ¡°Eryk, how did your exploration go?¡± The goliath asked when studying the board. ¡°Delmar is dead.¡± I said inly, and Remus¡¯ red mop of hair looked up in surprise. ¡°That is impossible.¡± Remus muttered as he stood and went to spread the gossip. I sat across from Maveith and passed him therge runic sledgehammer. ¡°This is for you, Maveith. It is a runic weapon. Not designed for fighting but should be good enough to bash some specters.¡± The goliath took the hammer and caressed the thick ck shaft and the silvery head. ¡°It is an impressive hammer, Eryk. How did Delmar meet his fate?¡± He leaned the sledgehammer against the table, focusing on me. I looked around the room as Remus spread the word. ¡°We found a forge, an armory of sorts. We bashed down the door, and a wight attacked us in the confusion as dust blocked the light. There were another eleven specters in the room, and Delmar had to fight alone for a period while we dealt with the wight. We didn¡¯t know he was fighting so many. He was overwhelmed before we could assist.¡± Castile was pacing further in the wine vault as Konstantin had finished telling her. The entirepany also heard the news, and the mood was extremely heavy. vius was handing out the runic daggers and the small hammer those who did not have a runic weapon yet. Everyone who had been sleeping was soon awake as we waited on Castile. I approached to see if I could help. Castile¡¯s face was hard as she walked back and forth between the wine racks. Konstantin and Adrian stood nearby, waiting for Castile to vent. She continued to pace for minutes before finally looking up. Her face hard, she located and asked Adrian, ¡°Who is the best man to take over for Delmar?¡± Adrian swallowed hard. I assumed Delmar and Adrian were friends. They only ever really talked with each other. Adrian offered names, ¡°Lirkin, Linus, or Eryk. Lirkin has been with us the longest.¡± I was taken by surprise at the mention of my name. We all looked at Castile. Lirkin was thepany cook, Linus was our medic, and I was the porter. Castile considered the advice and then looked at me, ¡°Eryk, do you want the job?¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the tform they originally published on. Adrian nodded at me, indicating I should ept it. ¡°Yes. I will take over for Delmar.¡± Castile pushed forward through her apparent grief, ¡°Konstantin, thank you for letting me know. Adrian and Eryk, let us discuss what we will do now.¡± Konstantin still looked guilty but left us. I moved in close with Adrian. Castile announced, ¡°We need to move out tomorrow.¡± Adrian agreed, ¡°The men are going to be reeling from Delmar¡¯s loss. If we are moving, they cannot dwell on it. We have been lucky only to lose two men so far.¡± ¡°What about food and water?¡± I knew the water canteens needed to be refilled from snow soon. ¡°We cannot live off of the wine alone. We should melt snow first.¡± Adrian spoke, ¡°Agreed. I will get teams to fill up some backpacks to melt snow tonight. Should take three trips to fill everyone¡¯s canteens.¡± Castile¡¯s hand was shaking slightly as she voiced a question, ¡°Should we attempt to leave the city and confront the summoner or continue our search for the dungeon?¡± This was obviously not the first time they had discussed this. Adrian gave his viewpoint, ¡°The snow is too deep to move effectively out of the city and beyond. We cannot surprise him, and he will have time to prepare for us. Even though I dislike dungeons, I think it is our best course of action to continue our search for it.¡± They looked to me as part of this exercise. Apparently, I was supposed to offer an opinion and a reason for it. ¡°If we do make it into the dungeon, we may be trapping ourselves there. The exit may be congested with specters and wights.¡± Adrian nodded in agreement, ¡°We could draw hundreds of specters to the dungeon entrance. What if only six of us can enter? The rest will be mobbed.¡± Schr Favian had been edging closer and was close enough to overhear the conversation and approached us. ¡°I do not think we will need to worry. The Shimmering Labyrinth has no limit on the number of Adventurers that can enter.¡± Castile looked displeased, ¡°What have you found out? What have you not told me?¡± Schr Favian winced at her sharp usation, ¡°I don¡¯t know how urate the information is. It is one of the children¡¯s books I found about the dungeon. It describes the first floor as a stone maze. Everyone who enters is randomly ced within the maze.¡± Adrian said in disbelief, ¡°I have never heard of a dungeon that separates the delvers.¡± ¡°That is because I think it is a solo dungeon. You can meet up with others once inside and work together. The good news is that it appears there are many exits, and it is not difficult to leave the dungeon.¡± The Schr offered the book in question to Castile. Castile opened the book, and Adrian looked over her right shoulder, so I looked over her left. There were some faded pictures, and the Schr described the book, ¡°It is a tale of an elven princess who wants to be an Adventurer. She sneaks into the Shimmering Labyrinth to prove herself to her father.¡± ¡°There could be a lot of embellishment,¡± Castile voiced skeptically as she paged through the children¡¯s book delicately, careful not to degrade the ancient book further. She was interested in the pictures. Each picture was a faded watercolor and had the heroine fighting a different monster. I noted the monsters pictured. There were many spiders of varied sizes and colors, including a ck bear and a massive white bear. The Schr took the book back, ¡°It is a child¡¯s tale, but there should be threads of truth in it. It is also the only book I have found that directly describes what to expect in the dungeon.¡± Castile looked old, and her hair had streaks of gray in it. ¡°Do you still have the recipe book too?¡± ¡°Yes, I also brought that one with me,¡± Schr Favian affirmed. ¡°We will make our way to the hearth tree tomorrow and try to find a way around it. Will the dungeon be above or below?¡± Castile asked resignedly. The Schr didn¡¯t have a definitive answer but with an hesitant look offered his best guess. ¡°I believe it is below ground. The Elven King tried to hide its existence from outsiders and seems to have been sessful for the most part.¡± Castile nodded,mitted to continuing the search for the dungeon. She addressed everyone in the room. ¡°Delmar was a great legionnaire. He knew exactly what each and every one of you needed and how much you could carry. His knowledge and skill with the sword will be sorely missed.¡± She scanned the group, locating Delmar¡¯s de. vius, Delmar would have wanted Adrian to carry his de.¡± vius walked forward, and the two of them exchanged runic weapons. vius took the borrowed de the duchess had secured for the expedition. After the ceremonial exchange, Castile continued, ¡°We are close to the dungeon. In eight hours, we will push together in search of it! We will be able to find food inside, and the summoner will not know where we went!¡± Castile¡¯s speech was not as motivating as I thought it could be. She also did not tell thepany that the dungeon might separate us when we entered. I was left to coordinate the snow retrieval teams with Adrian to fill everyone¡¯s canteens. I also had to ensure each man securely packed six bottles of wine in their packs. Being in charge of logistics meant I now had a lot less free time and had to babysit the men who were toozy to remain prepared. I also saw how much solid food we had left in Lirkin¡¯s pack. It was just enough food to feed everyone a single full meal. Lirkin nned to stretch it for three days, and then we would subsist entirely on wine afterward. As we left the wine vault, there were still thousands of bottles here if we needed toe back and replenish our supply. Too many of the men were dealing with daily cramps and muscle pains from slow starvation. I agreed entering the dungeon was our best course of action. We were too feeble to fight our way out of the city. I was in the middle of the group with Castile, who frequently went forward to capture a specter. I was d I did not have to use the kettle. We quickly moved through the undergroundwork, Konstantin leading us. When we reached the room where Delmar rested, Castile went in and covered his body in his sleeping roll. She said a few private words and then offered the men a chance to take any weapons they wanted from the piles we had made during our previous visit. Even though they were not runic weapons, the quality was far superior to our legion-issued gear. I picked through the daggers and hand axes. I added a dozen of each to my storage. No one was paying much attention to me, and I figured they could eventually be cleaned and sold. I also took one of the Elven spears. If we found another wight, I would prefer to be able to hold it at range. The w marks on my armor were a terrible reminder of the encounter. We quickly found the passages blocked by the hearth tree¡¯s gnarled roots when we headed out. The roots blocked the passage and even went through the stone floor to the lower level and down to the sewers. Castile determined it would take too much energy and time to cut through the mess. We started making our way to the right, trying to follow the roots. We constantly had to backtrack and seek a wider route around. But we were making progress circumnavigating the tree. Things got a little dicey when we caused a rush of over fifty specters and poltergeists when we entered a wide corridor. We had to cycle men to the front, and Castile got extremely busy with the kettle of souls. Ourrge group even had to deal with spectersing from behind through the walls. During the rush, Maveith was a monster with his new runic sledgehammer. Where it took multiple strikes from a runic sword to dissipate a specter, Maveith¡¯s heavy hammer blow always took them out in one. We proceeded even slower after that rush. Firth was the only legionnaire who was too injured to help in the fighting, his dominant sword arm broken and in a sling. Everyone was exhausted after hours of walking and fighting in the undergroundplex. Theplex never seemed to end. It really appeared as if we were never going to get to the fabled dungeon. Schr Favian got Castile¡¯s attention, ¡°Mage Castile, this door goes up to the city.¡± She gave him an impatient look to get to the point. The Schr wiped the coating of dust to read the Elven script, ¡°It goes to the Elven barracks that I think¡­now, I am not too certain¡­but this barracks or maybe Delver Hall was in charge of guarding the entrance to the dungeon.¡± The entirepany was suddenly silent. All eyes turned to Castile for direction on what we would do next. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work results from my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Fan Fiction Contest Winner Fan Fiction Contest Winner Bets, Bulls, & Butts Benito let out a loud belch as he rubbed his empty belly. Empty that is, except for the alcohol running through his system. He¡¯d just woken up from passing out in his cups. The brothel smelled of sweat, sex, and stale beer. The owner attempted to cover the smell with cheap incense, which only managed to empower the thick cloying scent. Thebination turned his sour stomach. Benito reached into his pocket, disappointed that he¡¯d spent hisst copper. Broke once again and sulking in his chair, his mind wandered. Theughter of a nearby table reached his ears. Benito leaned back and eavesdropped on the conversation... ¡°I shit you not, walked right up to the thing. Reared back like he was some actor in a y and smacked it right on its arse. Took off like bloody lightning after that, didn¡¯t even get a scratch on ¡®em.¡± The man ended the story with a p to the table and uproariousughter from his friends. ¡°With balls like his, he had his hands full just carrying ¡®em around. Of course, he couldn¡¯t pull out coin to pay for his own ale. Lucky bastard didn¡¯t buy a drink the rest of the damn year!¡± Benito¡¯s mouth was open, the wordsing long before he thought them through, ¡°I would do it for just a night of free drinks.¡± His outburst silenced the nearby table. Its upants all turned to look in his direction. ¡°What did ya say, boy?¡± one of the men, a scarred, mean-looking curmudgeon asked. Benito realized his mouth had just bitten off more than it could chew, again, rose from his chair and walked over to their table. ¡°I said, I¡¯d do the same thing for a single night of free drinks. I wouldn¡¯t need a whole year.¡±The men traded looks. One even smirked, giving the others a slight nod. Benito missed the byy, lost in dreams of free beer. ¡°Is that a fact? Alrightd, how about we up the stakes a bit, eh? How does that sound?¡± the storyteller said, giving Benito a once-over. This is going to be fun, he thought. The kid, not much older than a teenager if he had to guess, was a small one. 5¡¯ 4¡± or 5'' 5¡± max, and skinny. He might be quick, but it was worth a few extra coins to the men at the table to find out. Interested in getting a bigger payday, Benito gave it no thought, instead asking, ¡°Up the stakes, how? What did you have in mind?¡± The old curmudgeon spoke up this time, an evil glint in his eye. ¡°We¡¯ll buy ya drink for an entire week if yur able to do as ya say.¡± ¡°And the stakes? I won¡¯t, but what happens if I lose the bet?¡± Benito asked. The man grinned then, showing a few missing teeth. Swinging his arms wide to epass the rest of the table, he hollered, ¡°Join the Legion, boy! We all done it. It¡¯ll make a man out of ya and by the looks of ya, it¡¯s needed.¡± Benito hesitated, but his desire for free alcohol overruled hismon sense. ¡°I¡¯m fine with that, but it¡¯s never going to happen. You have a deal.¡± CRACK The storyteller mmed his palm down, harder this time onto the wooden table. The sound echoed throughout the room, grabbing the brothel¡¯s attention. Jumping to his feet, the man yelled, ¡°MANCHESTER¡± at the top of his lungs. ¡°We have a Manchester on our hands, you twats!¡± Benito had heard of someone calling ¡°Manchester¡± when making oundish bets. It was done when one of the bettors believed the other would back out due to fear. Doing so wouldbel them a coward, their betting days over. To Benito, that was far worse than joining the Legion. ¡°Hey! I ain¡¯t a coward. All I''ve gotta do is smack something on the ass and get away, right? That doesn¡¯t sound so hard!¡± The table in front of him roared withughter. Wiping tears from his eyes, the storyteller tried to pull himself together before asking, ¡°Lad, are you telling me you missed the part of the story about what it was the crazy bastard smacked on the arse?¡± A bad feeling started to grow in Benito¡¯s gut. Shaking his head, ¡°No, I just heard that he smacked its ass and ran off without a scratch.¡± Taking a moment to close his eyes, the man fought backughter. ¡°A Sacred Bull¡± he managed to say. Benito frowned, ¡°A what?¡± ¡°A Sacred Bull, you dumbass!¡± wheezed the old curmudgeon between coughs ofughter. Its ropes cut, the sinking feeling in Benito¡¯s gut became a freefall. ----- The men wanted to turn it into a spectacle. Rather than going straight to the vige¡¯s Sacred Bull, they set a time for the next afternoon instead. They wanted a day to spread word about the wager. Benito left with his head low. I have no idea how I¡¯m going to survive this, let alone win it. Sacred Bulls were a breed of bovine with a strong earth affinity. Considered ¡°tame¡± in the loosest sense of the word. They left you alone as long as you did the same to their herd. Touch one of them and they would kill. ¡°I really am an idiot, how could I have made such a stupid bet.¡± ¡°Bet? What¡¯s this I hear about a bet, you been gambling again boy?¡± In his mood, Benito hadn¡¯t been paying attention to his surroundings. His neighbor, Old Betty, was out watering her garden. She¡¯d been telling him for ages to knock off the gambling or he was going to wind up either homeless or dead. Thinking about having to join the Legion if he failed tomorrow, Benito realized that she might just be right in the end. With a deep sigh, Benito nodded and sat near where she watered her tomato nts. ¡°How bad is it this time?¡± she asked, voice tired. ¡°It¡¯s pretty bad. Ma¡¯am.¡± Tilting her head to the side, she considered him. ¡°Alright then, out with it. What the hell did you get yourself into now?¡± Putting his head in his hands he mumbled, ¡°I have to smack a sacred bull on its ass and----¡± She cut him off, ¡°Speak up boy, and quit mumbling. I swear I just heard you say you have to smack a bull¡¯s ass.¡± Blushing, Benito took his hands away from his face and started again. ¡°I did, I have to smack a bull¡¯s ass, A Sacred Bull¡¯s ass and I have to get away from it without getting hurt.¡± Old Betty stared at Benito for a long moment and then dumped the contents of her watering can over his head. Benito spluttered as the cold water ran down his back and stole his breath. He jumped up from where he had been sitting, looking at Old Betty in shock. There, he found another, this one of pain. He could see the disappointment written on her face as she shook her head. ¡°Benny, sometimes I wonder why I even try. You really can be an idiot sometimes.¡± Turning to her home, over her shoulder she called, ¡°Come with me. There is only one thing I can think of to help get you out of this mess alive.¡± Looking like a drenched puppy, Benito followed along as she made her way inside. ¡°What¡¯s that ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Train Benny, we¡¯re going to train you.¡± ¡°AHHHHHH¡± Old Betty could hear Benito¡¯s girlish screams from her garden. With a sigh she thought, I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m going to do with that boy. He¡¯s going to get himself killed. This was the only way to distract him I could think of. Her idea of training involved Benito chasing the mice and rats living in her cer. He could ¡°train¡± his speed and dexterity, ¡°As they were the only chance you have to see the following sunrise.¡± She¡¯d told Benito that she¡¯d pay him a copper for every three mice or rats that he caught. Nothing motivates that boy more than money and food. At the thought, Old Betty¡¯s eyes homed in on her neighbor¡¯s house, an idea forming, I think it¡¯s time to call in some reinforcements. Old Betty set down her watering can and walked across the street. ------- Benito rushed the corner where he had one of the furry little bastards trapped. I''m going to get you this time, those coppers are mine! His thoughts preupied, Benito didn¡¯t see the broom handle sticking out until it was toote. It caught his foot, causing him to fall t on his face. He let out a groan. After almost two hours, he¡¯d caught eight vermin so far. One away from making his third copper, enough to buy a half-dozen honey buns from the nearby baker. His stomach rumbling, Benito realized he hadn¡¯t eaten all day. No wonder I¡¯m struggling to catch these things. I¡¯m starving! Forcing himself out of the dirt, Benito climbed back to his feet with a new drive, this time fueled by hunger. Walking outside, Benito saw Old Betty crossing the street. ¡°I¡¯ve got ¡®em! Nine of the little guys, that¡¯ll be three coppers ma¡¯am!¡± Old Betty raised her eyebrows, ¡°Nine of them? That old tom of mine must be gettingzy..¡± Reaching into an inner pocket of her dress, she pulled out the three owed coins and held them out. Benito¡¯s mouth had already started to water at the thought of his warm, buttery, and yeasty prize. Imagining the crackle as he broke open its hardened ze. He reached to take the money, but she kept her grip on the coins. ¡°Don¡¯t go spending this on more drink, boy. It¡¯s only mid-afternoon and we still have more training to do.¡± ¡°We do? Do you have more rats you want me to catch?¡± Old Betty let out a snort, ¡°Sweet Heavens I hope not, otherwise they are likely to eat me out of hearth and home. No, Benny. Your next bit of training is over at Carl¡¯s ce.¡± She pointed back the way she¡¯de. ¡°Okay.... What is he going to have me do?¡± Another snort, followed by a cackle, ¡°You¡¯ll find out when you get there, now hurry up. You¡¯ve got a long day ahead of you.¡± Benito, rubbing his full belly with one hand, stuffed the final honey bun down his gullet with the other and made his way up Carl¡¯s stone walkway. Wiping his greasy hands on his pants, Benito knocked and stepped back to wait. After a moment and with no answer, Benito moved to knock again just as the door swung open. It caught him full in the face, knocking him on his ass. ¡°Ow owowow Oooo!¡± ¡°Shit! Sorry sonny, ma legs just don¡¯t work like they use¡®ta and it took me a second¡¯ta get outta ma chair.¡± Carl¡¯s old scratchy voice apologized. ¡°No, don¡¯t worry about it, Mr. Carl. Old Betty said toe over here and see you about some training?¡± Benito said, rubbing the goose egg that was sure to form. Hawking a phlegmy-sounding loogie, Carl spat it an impressive distance. ¡°Sure do. Betty said you¡¯d gotten yaself inta trouble again and need¡¯ta work on a few things or else you¡¯d be carrion food this time ta¡¯morrow.¡± Letting out a deep breath, Benito nodded in confirmation. ¡°Said ya needed practice sneakin up on som¡¯n big. Well, I don¡¯t have nothin big but I¡¯ve got som¡¯n you¡¯d have¡¯ta work for ta sneak up on. I¡¯ll even pay ya ta do it.¡± Benito would have done it anyway. He didn¡¯t have a choice, but hearing he¡¯d be getting paid, his attention focused in on what Carl was offering. ¡°How much are we talking about?¡± The old man side-eyed Benito, holding up three fingers, ¡°Coppers.¡± That¡¯s enough for a meat pie from the stand down the road. ¡°Deal,¡± Benito replied before Carl could change his mind. ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± ording to Carl, the best way for Benito to train his stalking skills was to catch the backyard chickens he had running loose. As Carl said, they weren¡¯trge but Benito wasn¡¯t having much luck sneaking up on them anyway. He¡¯d be just out of arm¡¯s reach when they seemed to sense him, skittering away a moment before he pounced. After a few minutes of watching Benito try and catch a chicken, Carl had to admit the show was too good for him to witness alone. He decided to ask Betty to join in the entertainment. Carl heard two voices as he approached her home. Continuing around the side, Carl saw Betty talking to Jesup, one of the vige¡¯s fishermen. Waiving for their attention, Carl hollered, ¡°Y¡¯all wanna see a show?¡± Betty wheezed a breath from deep within her chest, ¡°I thought it¡¯d be funny to watch. I was about to head over but wanted to ask Jesup for a favor.¡± Carl looked between the two with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Wants me to take the boy fishin in the mornin, keep him busy,¡± Jesup answered. Carl nodded his head in understanding. ¡°That¡¯d be mighty kinda ya. If ya gotta minute, ya can watch the dummy runnin round after some chickens smarter¡¯n him.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Jesup¡¯s grin was answer enough. ¡°Arrrrgh!¡¯ Benito roared, why can¡¯t I catch these damn things! He¡¯d be desperate by this point. Cornering one, he dove forward onto his stomach, slid across the grass, and finally, finally, caught one of the feathery assholes. Benito climbed to his knees and raised the chicken over his head in triumph, just in time for it to shit down the side of his face. He gagged, dropped the chicken, and wiped off as much of the warm and stinking feces as he could. His stomach roiled at the smell and knowledge of what dripped into his ear. Benito did a poor job of removing it, only smearing it across his face and coating his hands. It was a losing battle and his stomach revolted. Once his insides settled, empty of the honey buns he¡¯d just enjoyed. Benito reached up, wiping the vomit off his lower lip. ---- Carl was willing to pay Benito to catch and cut the chicken¡¯s flight feathers, even without the pretext of training. He was tired of chasing the damn birds when they escaped his fence. After watching Benito blow chunks for a second time, Carl felt he owed the boy twice as many coppers. Hystericalughter forced Jesup to sit and poor Old Betty was worried she¡¯d have an aneurysm, struggling to remember thest time she¡¯dughed so hard. Wiping away tears, Carl took mercy on the fool. ¡°Boy, sweet heavens, that was funny. Ya rightly need some help with this, so watch. Ma bones are too old ta do this more¡¯n once.¡± Benito watched Carl enter a half squat, his arms out wide, and hanging past his knees. He walked bowlegged toward a chicken. Approaching the bird, Benito could see that Carl wasn¡¯t staring directly at it, he was looking at the ground to its left as he approached. Quick as a cobra, he snatched it off the ground, cradling it to his chest. Benito stood, jaw hanging, as Carl turned toward him with a gapped-tooth grin and said, ¡°That¡¯s how ya do it, sonny!¡± Benito was shown the trick to snaring chickens, something he was assured, could be used on most animals no matter the size. ¡°Don¡¯t stare right at ¡®em. They gonna feel ya eyes on ¡®em. Look just off ta the side of ¡®em, ya will still be able¡¯ta see ¡®em.¡± Benito found it helped him get close to the birds without making them nervous but he still ran into trouble when it came to catching them. The broom Carl had taken to using, smacked the back of Benito¡¯s head once more. ¡°No! Yer movin too quick, yer freakin ¡®em out! Slow sonny, go slow.¡± Benito tried to follow Carl¡¯s instructions. The problem was, once he was within arms reach of his target, he moved too quickly, startling the bird into squawking and making its escape. Carl sighed. The boy just ain¡¯t getting it. Deciding to take another approach, he called Benito over to him. ¡°Now boy, I don¡¯t wanna hear no denials, I know ya¡¯ve done it, I¡¯ve seen ya.¡± Benito hunched his shoulders. He wasn¡¯t sure what Carl had seen him do but it probably wasn¡¯t good. ignoring Benito¡¯s reaction, Carl continued, ¡°When the baker pulls out a fresh tray of honey buns or hot cakes and ya n on stealing one.¡± Carl smacked the top of Benito¡¯s head with the broom as he opened his mouth to object. ¡°I said I seen ya didn¡¯t I? That¡¯s not the point. When ya go ta steal one, how do ya do it, hmmm?¡± Benito took a moment to give it real thought, remembering to the numerous times he had stolen a hot cake. I¡¯ve always had to go slow so I didn¡¯t draw attention! The realization smacked Benito in the face like Carl¡¯s broom had all afternoon. Thest puzzle piece slotted into ce and Benito knew what he¡¯d been doing wrong. His next attempt was a sess, as were the following half-dozen. Carl nodded in satisfaction. Huh, I¡¯m better at this than I thought I¡¯d be. He looked back towards Betty¡¯s house, where she and Jesup were still watching. Jesup took the opportunity to mime wiping his chin and throwing up. Carl snorted loud enough that it made Benito jump and drop the chicken held in his arms. Mumbling under his breath, ¡°Crazy old bastard.¡± Benito lowered himself back into his half-squat and approached thest obstacle between him and his meat pie. Benito waved goodbye to Carl, happy with the 6 coppers in his pocket, double what he¡¯d been promised. He earned a bonus for his hard work and was proud of it. Calling it a day on such a high note, Benito went to find dinner and was feeling pretty good overall. Between chasing the mice and stalking the chickens, Benito felt like he was in peak condition and thought he might have a chance after all. Passing Old Betty¡¯s house, Benito saw her in her garden again and waved as he passed. Standing from where she¡¯d been pulling weeds, she called, ¡°Benito! Jesup asked for your help tomorrow. Can you meet him by the docks mid-morning?¡± Benito hadn¡¯t spoken with Jesup much over the years but he knew Jesup was a good friend of Old Betty¡¯s. ¡°I can do that, did he say what he needed help with?¡± ¡°Something to do with fishing, said he¡¯d treat you to lunch for helping.¡± Knowing he would be fed was reason enough, Benito was happy to help. With food in hand, Benito yed hot potato with the pies as he walked home for the evening. Oblivious to the fact that he hadn¡¯t worried over tomorrow¡¯s looming threat for hours. ----- Jesup waited for Benito as he made his way onto the docks. Walking up to him, Benito gave him a small wave and stuck his hands in his pockets. He felt off after seeing people watching and whispering as he walked by. It must be about the stupid bet. Those four from the brothel sure spread it around fast. Guessing at what was wrong, having heard about it himself from a couple of gossips. Jesup dove right into their ns for the day. ¡°We¡¯re going fishin. Mrs. Betty asked me to show you a thing or two and train up your reaction speed. If you¡¯re going to stand a chance this afternoon, you¡¯re going to need it. You¡¯re going to have to react the moment you smack that bull.¡± Remembering how good he felt after yesterday¡¯s training, Benito perked up at the thought of more. Recalling that Old Betty promised Jesup would feed him lunch didn¡¯t hurt either. Jesup had Benito help push a nearby boat away from the dock before they jumped in. Passing Benito an oar, Jesup instructed him on how to use it and keep the boat from drifting to the side or spinning in a circle. After 15 minutes of rowing along the river bank, Jesup called a stop and tossed out an anchor line. Handing Benito a pole, Jesup showed him how to bait his hook and they cast out their lines. Benito¡¯s throw was caught on a low-hanging branch and Jesup had to help get it loose. His second attempt went better, if not where he¡¯d tried to ce it. Sitting back, with his rod held in the crook of his arm, Jesup began to speak softly. ¡°A lot of people think fishin is all about waitin. They¡¯re wrong. It¡¯s just a part of it, the smallest part. You coulde out here, throw out your bait, and yea, you might catch two or three fish a day doing it that way. But, that ain¡¯t fishin, that¡¯s just wastin your time. A real Fisher can tell you what I mean...¡± finishing hisst word with a grunt, Jesup grabbed his rod and gave it a strong pull. ¡°We get things done.¡± With that, he began winding his line around the rod wheel, tugging as needed once he¡¯d reeled in all the ck in the line. Benito was impressed, they¡¯d only been out for a few minutes and Jesup had one on the hook already. Jesup pointed near Benito¡¯s feet where he saw a with a long handle. Benito grabbed it and waited. After a final, strong pull from Jesup, a sh of silver scales could be seen in the sunlight. Lunging forward, Benito scooped the fish out of the water and into the boat. Admiring his work, Jesup looked down with a contented smile. ¡°May have made that look a little too easy. I¡¯ve been fishin this river for decades. I know where and when they are going to be. I know what they like to eat, I know them. That¡¯s what I wanted to teach you. If you can learn somethin about that bull, it might just save your ass.¡± Bending down, Jesup pulled the fish out of the and removed the hook from its mouth. He smashed it onto the side of the boat, killing it instantly. Jesup then tossed it into a water-filled storagepartment to keep it fresh. Returning to his seat, Jesup checked the bait on his hook and tossed what remained into the river. As he baited on a new worm, Jesup continued speaking. ¡°The main thing I want to help you improve while we¡¯re out here is your reflexes and reaction time.¡± Giving Benito the side-eye, he said dryly, ¡°If that¡¯s even possible.¡± Benito looked at him in confusion. That is until he felt the rod in his hands give a small jerk, realizing it¡¯d been doing that for a short while and he hadn¡¯t noticed. Benito jumped to his feet, gave a mighty pull, and almost threw himself into the river. If not for Jesup grabbing him by his belt, he would have fallen overboard. He also managed to snap his line pulling it so hard. Now he was left to reel in the weightless string and thread on another hook. Settling back down in his seat, new line cast out, Benito looked at Jesup. It was always said that the man didn¡¯t mince words and would give it to you straight. Building up the courage to ask, and before he could chicken out. ¡°What do you think of my chances today?¡± Jesup gave Benito another side-eye. ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°Pretty much what I thought...¡± Silence reigned after that and Benito found itforting. No expectations, no responsibilities, just pay attention to his rod and pull hard to set the hook the moment he felt a fish bite. Over the next couple of hours, Benito had a few opportunities to practice and even managed to catch a few, as Jesup continued to reel in fish after fish. Soon enough, Jesup looked up, the sun high in the sky, and dered, ¡°That¡¯s enough, we¡¯ll head back to the vige and I¡¯ll cook up a few of today¡¯s catch for lunch.¡± By the time they returned to the docks, Jesup finished selling the day¡¯s catch, and they finished their meal, it was well past noon. The sun was starting its descent and it was time for Benito¡¯s date with the bull. He could be dumb at times, but he wasn¡¯t a coward. I¡¯ve done everything I can to prepare for this. Hell, this could be the start to my own legend. Like the stories the traveling peddlers tell of great heroes. ------ ¡°I¡¯m worried for the boy,¡± Old Betty repeated for the fourth time since Carl picked her up from her home. ¡°I know, but there¡¯s nothin we can do for the little idiot,¡± he said. ¡°He won¡¯t make it in the Legion. He¡¯s too soft and the bad apples would eat him alive! Look at what¡¯s happened already with just our local scum.¡± Betty continued as if he hadn¡¯t spoken at all. ----- Heaven¡¯s Mercy, the entire vige is here. Benito stopped in his tracks and stared at the crowd. He¡¯d known people woulde out to see, but he had no idea it would be so many. He stood frozen in ce for too long and was soon noticed by the crowd. A loud cheer began and a path opened between him and a group of four standing beside the paddock gate. Steeling his nerves, Benito made his way through the crowd. The gathering felt split between two groups, those excited to see what was toe and those who looked at him as if he was already dead. Don¡¯t let it get to you, this is where you make a name for yourself. Reaching the paddock gate, Benito stood in front of the four men. The old curmudgeon with his gap-toothed grin on full disy, the same evil glint in his eye. The storyteller stood proud, hands on hips, their twopanions working the crowd and taking bets. The storyteller stepped forward and said, ¡°You showed up! I¡¯m honestly surprised! Are you backing out? You¡¯ll bebeled a coward. Don¡¯t forget, I thought you might and called this a Manchester for all to hear.¡± Benito ground his teeth, yelling, ¡°And I told you yesterday, I ain¡¯t a coward. I came, I¡¯m here, let¡¯s do this. I¡¯m thirsty and could use a drink.¡± I can do this. The crowd roared at his promation and Benito felt their energy flow through him like electricity. Facing the gate, Benito saw Old Betty, Carl, and Jesup standing off to the side. Old Betty waved, Carl nodded, and Jesup pointed towards his head. A reminder to use what the three had taught him. He dipped his own in acknowledgment and hopped over the gate into the paddock. Benito¡¯s eyes were drawn to it immediately, the Sacred Bull. Head and shoulders above the surrounding herd, it was huge. Not just in size but in build, its shoulders looked to be made from earthen boulders. Benito was lucky the bull was off to the side and not in the middle of the herd. He moved forward, each step smooth as butter. He could not risk spooking any of the nearby cattle as his boots crunched in the tall dry grass. He started to sweat as the bull grewrger andrger the more the distance closed. He could practically feel the beast¡¯s aura once within 15 feet of the creature. Squatting behind a spotted cow, Benito observed the Sacred Bull in all its glory. Up close, the thing was massive, it was also terrifying. I ain¡¯t no coward. Benito repeated it a few times as he continued to ¡°observe¡± its movements. This is stupid, it¡¯s just standing there eating grass. What the hell am I supposed to learn from that? As if onmand, Benito did learn something. Its cowpies were just as massive and overwhelmingly powerful as the rest of it. epting that he wouldn¡¯t get anywhere with that tactic. Benito decided to make use of another skill he¡¯d been working on, stalking his prey. Creeping around the heifer he¡¯d chosen for cover. Benito worked his way around to the bull¡¯s rear, where it wouldn¡¯t be able to see him, being careful to view the bull in his periphery, just like Carl had shown him. Benito edged his way around, lining up with the paddock fence to make his escape as quick as possible. Looking over his shoulder at his exit point. Benito saw the crowd had moved to his side of the paddock for a better view. Great, they better not spook the herd or this bet is over. Reorienting on his target, Benito took deep breaths to calm himself. He was going to need all of the skills he¡¯d been training. The speed from chasing mice in Old Betty¡¯s basement, his quick hands catching Carl¡¯s chickens, and the reaction time he¡¯d shown fishing with Jesup. Gliding his way thest two or three feet, silent as a wraith. Benito stopped breathing. The world slowed and the crowd quieted as he closed thest few inches... There. Benito felt it, the stars aligned, and he struck like a viper. SMACK He was moving. Tearing off, back the way he¡¯de. His hand throbbed with pain after hitting what felt like solid rock. He was sprinting as fast as he could to his egress point when he heard it. A deep, resonating sound that shook Benito to his bones. Then he felt it. Through the soles of his feet, the ground shook under heavy impacts. Benito could barely hear the crowd screaming for him to run over the bull¡¯s bellow. Risking a small peak over his shoulder, Benito nearly shit himself. Taking one step for every two of Benito¡¯s, the beast was gaining fast. Fear empowering his movements, Benito poured on the speed almost missing the spotted cow moving into his path because of it. Benito knew he couldn¡¯t stop, could feel it in his still rattling bones that if he did, he died. He also knew he was moving too quickly to get around the animal. This left him with only one option, something only someone of his size could do, he went under it. At full speed, Benito dropped to his side, feet first. He stretched out his body and prayed to anyone who¡¯d listen. Someone must have heard him because his timing was perfect. Managing to squeeze right between its slow steps. He grazed a single raised hoof before he was through and back up and running in seconds. Sprinting towards his salvation, Benito was counting the distance. 20 feet, 15, 10, five fee---- He never got to finish the thought. ¡°Uhhhgh¡± burst from Benito¡¯s lips as he was hit by the power of a runaway horse, or, a pissed off bull in this case. A sharp, burning pain started in the back of his thigh, moving up his leg. It continued until it reached his left ass cheek before digging in deeper, the pain red and Benito screamed. He felt pressure tighten around his waist. Shit, it¡¯s caught on my belt. The next thing Benito knew, he was airborne, screaming the entire flight. Goodbye cruel world, I wish I¡¯d had more sweet cakes. Hitting the ground, Benito¡¯s first thought was whether or not his leg was supposed to bend that way, he was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t. The next, snapped him back to reality, as he looked for the Sacred Bulling to finish the job. Seeing that he was surrounded by chattering people, it took Benito a few moments to realize that he must have been thrown out of the paddock. It took a few moments more to figure out why he was still alive. Once a Sacred Bull either killed or ran something out of its area, it wouldn¡¯t pursue, It would return to protect the herd. Benitoid his head down in either relief or pain, he wasn¡¯t sure. The agonying from his leg answered the question of whether or not it was broken and oupled with the pain in his ass, he didn¡¯t have the energy to move. With a deep sigh, Benito couldn¡¯t help but think, I guess this isn¡¯t the start of my fame and fortune. The crowd, busy watching and staring at Benito parted, and the four men who¡¯d orchestrated the spectacle appeared staring down at him. To his great surprise, when Benito met their eyes. He didn¡¯t see theughter or scorn he had been expecting. No, now he thought he saw respect in their depths. ¡°Pick up thed, boys. We¡¯ll patch up his bleeding arse, splint that leg of his, and get him able to walk again. The Legion will heal him the rest of the way after he¡¯s joined.¡± The storyteller said. Benito groaned, ¡°No chance of me getting out of that is there?¡± This time, it was the old curmudgeon that spoke, ¡°Sorry boy, ya don¡¯t back out of a bet involving the Legion, but yur goin to learn all about that soon enough.¡± To hispanions, he said, ¡°Now help him up so we can get him splinted. After somethin like that, I think he deserves a drink.¡± Looking at the man in confusion, Benito asked, ¡°A drink? But I lost. You said I still had to join the Legion.¡± The old man wheezed augh, ¡°Yur right boy! I did and ya are, but I¡¯d buy any man a drink for provin his metal like ya just did. Now call me Sal, Boot, ya drinkin with the Legion tonight.¡± ----- mming his now empty beer down on the table, Benito let out another massive belch. Looking around the table at Eryk, Mateo, Lirkin, and Kolm. He stood with a sway and announced, ¡°And thatdies, is how taking one in the arsended your¡¯s truly in the Legion!¡± Chapter 141: The Shimmering Labyrinth Chapter 141: The Shimmering Labyrinth Castile stood next to Schr Favian as he continued to clean the door. His robes, hands, and arms were quickly covered in dirt as he frenziedly cleared away the centuries of dust, searching for more script. ¡°Does this mean the dungeon is above ground?¡± Castile asked the filthy but excited Schr. Schr Favian paused, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. ¡°The trantion is something like, ''Guardians of ess to the Labyrinth.'' The Elven King who ruled Caelora kept the Adventurer¡¯s Guild from essing the dungeon and maintained his own guards for the entrance. The entrance could be at the top of these stairs,¡± he said excitedly. He looked down the passage, ¡°Or it could be close, just down there. We are in the right ce at any rate, Mage Castile.¡± Adrian looked skeptical. ¡°We should not go up to the city unless we are sure. It could trigger a flood of specters to our position, and we would be quickly overrun.¡± Castile looked out over the men in the corridor. It was clear we were on ourst legs. She looked at me, expecting some wisdom, but I remained silent, with nothing to offer. Finally, Castile gave amand, ¡°Let¡¯s clear a room nearby and rest. Eryk, find a suitable room. After we rest, I will lead a team up the stairs to explore.¡± Adrian was clearly not happy with the answer but nodded. It felt strange being part of the decision-making process. The mystique of leadership appeared to be mostly a guessing game. We found a storeroom with rotted crates and set up camp. I was tasked with watching Lirkin cook and prepare the meager food allocation. After the meal, I sat with Maveith, who was fondling his new hammer in a less-than-ttering way. ¡°You like ying with it?¡± I asked, preparing to lead into a joke. Maveith nodded. ¡°Killing is not its intended purpose, but it is still a runic weapon. It makes me feel strong and confident.¡±His voice echoed in the room. He was making a lead-in joke too easy, but I resisted. ¡°You are taking down twice as many specters as the next man in thepany, even Konstantin,¡± I said, and he beamed at the praise. I left the joke about his fascination with ying with his hammer unspoken; I was not feeling it today, and Maveith would have probably taken a few minutes to puzzle it out anyway, ruining the delivery.We rested against the wall and sipped on watered-down wine. Both our stomachs protested loudly at the inadequacy of the offering. Maveith spoke uncharacteristically softly after a time, ¡°Eryk, I think I am going to go home and tell my father.¡± I knew Maveith was referring to the reason he ran away from Stone Mountain Ind. He had seen his sister cut down by orc vers and ran away in fear and shame at not trying to help. I had been hoping Maveith would stick around for a while. He did grow on you after some time. ¡°I think that is sensible, Maveith. He will be happy to see you are alive.¡± Maveith did not say anything else, and a few hourster, Castile took Konstantin, Adrian, vius, and Brutus up the stairs to search the building above. It was only a few minutes before we could hear the echoes of fighting up above. Benito and I guarded the base of the stairs. The muffled sounds rang down to us, but we could not determine what was happening. It was almost an hour before Brutus descended the steps. He looked cold and exhausted. ¡°One wight, but Castile restrained it with shadow chains. Also, some twenty specters so far. Specters keeping from the city, but only one or two at a time. Benito is to head up and rece me for now. Eryk, you are to rece vius.¡± I directed a few of the men to take our ces guarding the stairway. With my glowstone out, I climbed the stairs with Benito. I counted forty-one steps to reach thending, and each step brought colder and colder air. Entering the room beyond, I was momentarily confused as one of the windows was letting in light from the very top. It was a blindingly bright white light after so long underground, where the only light came from the soft glowstones that lit the rooms and halls. The rays of the sun felt almost foreign to my skin. Konstantin was sitting on a stone table with Adrian. Castile was walking slowly around the room. A desated corpse in armor was sprawled across the floor, and other scattered skeletons dotted the room. I tore my eyes from the wight, and the room looked like an intact tavern trapped in time. The windows were also intact, but the deep snow encased the building. vius studied me for a moment before he headed down the stairs to get some rest with thepany. As I was figuring out therge open room, a specter walked through a wall near a window, and Konstantin slid off the table and hacked it down in a flurry of sparks. Castile did not use the kettle immediately as she circled the room,entranced. Seeing Castile thinking, Adrian asked, ¡°What is it, Castile?¡± ¡°The stone walls have runic weaves in them. This entire building has been artificed like the library to preserve it,¡± she said while running her hands along the stone wall. ¡°To what purpose?¡± Konstantin asked while keeping watch over where the specter had dissipated. Castile paused her exploration and used the kettle on the remnants, collecting the purple smoke so Konstantin could sit down again. ¡°Defense. Protection,¡± Castile said, bemused and shrugging as, in the end, it didn¡¯t matter how it had stood for nearly fifteen hundred years. ¡°It is just like the library and seems like a huge waste of resources, but maybe it is just how the ancient elves built their buildings. These runes are something I would expect to find defending the walls of the city, not every building within the city. I could probably break the weaves as they are weak, but¡­¡± Castile went silent in thought. After a long silence, I interrupted Castile¡¯s musings, ¡°So the dungeon is not here?¡± Castile turned and considered. ¡°We think it is through that door,¡± she pointed to therge door at the back of the tavern. I did not understand why the others were not more excited at the prospect¡ªthe goal of over a month of searching. I approached the heavy door and knocked on it. It was solid and didn¡¯t sound like wood. Konstantinughed at my efforts. ¡°It is petrified wood. Wood turned to stone, like everything else in here.¡± Castile approached the door and stood next to me. ¡°We are going to need Maveith¡¯s hammer to break it down. Whatever magic petrified the wood has sealed the door in ce. We already tried opening it. We will check and clear the upper floors first. I am guessing this is the elven version of an Adventurer¡¯s Guild Hall. Do you think we should have thepany join us up here?¡± Her question was directed at me. I sensed it was a test. I thought about it, ¡°No. If the specters cane through the walls, we might get rushed and be unable to retreat to the undercity before being overrun. It is also much colder up here,¡± I said as I watched the cloud of my breath expand and dissipate. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Castile nodded and smirked. She addressed Adrian, ¡°Told you he could think and offer something.¡± Adrian just shrugged,either at my answer or Castile¡¯spliment of me. Adrian had said the same thing I had before we climbed the stairs, so I essentially agreed with him. Only one stairway led up near arge firece, and we all made our way up the petrified steps. Our footfalls scraped on the stone as we reached the next floor. The stairs wrapped around, indicating even more floors. The hallway was lined with sealed stone doors. It was as if all the wood in the building had been turned to stone. We managed to break through one of the thin doors. The noise brought five specters, but the fight was over quickly. Konstantin had us remain perfectly silent after the short fight so we could listen for any wights. We didn¡¯t hear any movement, but everyone was on edge. Inside the room was a bedroom with all the furniture turned to stone. Castile studied a chest and bed before tapping the stone bed frame, ¡°I think a powerful mage did this before he died. It must have happened when the Legion poisoned the city. The mageshed out blindly while dying from the poison, petrifying all the wood in his spell¡¯s range. But that is just my best guess.¡± We called Maveith after we got to the first room. Maveith was willing to use his new hammer to bash down door after door. We worked through the second and third floors with a few preserved skeletons and fewer specters. Two more elven runic des were found and passed to men in thepany. Only Schr Favian, Castile, and two legionnaires now had no runic weapon to use against the specters. Looking out on the city from the higher floors showed us to be in the shadow of the massive hearth tree. Adrian offered conspiratorially, ¡°If those giant eagles are still alive, perhaps we can lure one down to join us for dinner.¡± Castile shook her head, ¡°If we did, it would reveal to the Summoner where we are. We need to get into the dungeon unnoticed.¡± With the upper floors cleared, we turned our attention to therge door at the back of the building that possibly led to the dungeon entrance. We encircled the door as Maveith swung his hammer, and his first strike caused spidering cracks to form. His second strike caused a chunk of stone to free itself, thudding onto the floor. His third strike had the door crumbling inward, revealing a small pile of snow walled behind it. Our celebration was short-lived as a wight burst out of the snow andunched itself at Maveith. The mummified elf bit into Maveith¡¯s arm, and he flung it into the center of the room, sending it crashing into and shattering a stone table. Castile yelled, ¡°I will restrain it! Someone take its head!¡± Another wight burst out in a cloud of white snow, targeting Maveith again. He was ready this time, and his hammer came down on its head, mming its body into the floor. Shadow chains raced from Castile¡¯s fingers and encircled the first wight. Konstantin started to engage it, but I was more concerned with the translucent spectersing from the snow with it. Adrian cursed, ¡°It is a fucking rush! We should retreat!¡± Castile was fumbling with the kettle while trying to maintain her shadow chains. ¡°No! Eryk!¡± Castile tossed the kettle in my direction to focus on restraining the wight for Konstantin. I nestled the kettle and channeled my aether to consume the wight Maveith had struck. The tug-o-war with its undead soul left a cold, unnatural feeling spreading through me. I used my ck de to hold off a specter with my free arm as I backpedaled. A third wight tore out of the snow. Benito had engaged it, but the creature was immensely strong and in silvery te mail. Benito was thrown back hard by the creature¡¯s silvery broadsword striking his own. Benito crashed hard into a stone table, losing his weapon. ¡°Eryk, kettle this one!¡± Konstantin yelled as he went to protect Benito. The first wight was beheaded, and I raced to use the kettle on it. It seemed to take forever as the rich purple smoke flowed slowly from the severed head and neck into the kettle. Castile¡¯s shadow chains epassed the wight with the massive runic broadsword. They couldn¡¯t contain it, though, as it crossed swords with Konstantin. Konstantin grunted as he tried to block a heavy overhead swing. The wight¡¯s sword cut into his pauldron and drove him to his knees. Maveith was swinging wildly and grunted with effort at the stream of spectersing from the snow, trying to get them all before they entered the room. Adrian targeted the specters that slipped past Maveith. It wasplete chaos. Benito was moaning in pain, Konstantin was in serious trouble, and Castile was drawing more shadow chains to slow the wight. Should I continue with the kettle or help Konstantin? Maveith howled in pain as a specter got past his windmilling hammer. I made a decision and raced to help Konstantin, leaving the kettle spinning on a table within easy reach of Castile. I rushed the creature in te armor, swinging its nearly four-foot sword to behead Konstantin. Iyered air shields in the path of the killing blow. The sword destroyed both air shields but slowed the de enough for me to parry therge de and pull Konstantin back. The old scout did not look good, with blood oozing from his shoulder. I could tell from the wound that his vicle was broken. I barked at him, trying to motivate him, ¡°Konstantin, are you telling me it only took one swing to bring you down?¡± Castile wasyering her shadow chains, and therge wight was struggling but almost under control. Konstantin grunted something I couldn¡¯t make out and tried to stand. My ck de was trying to get past the armored wight, but it was still foiling me. With Castile¡¯s shadows weighing down the wight, it was a somewhat even contest. I was soon sweating in the frigid air and focused on mybat. I finally got the advantage by ducking a horizontal swing and cing air shields so the undead creature could not swing back. My de darted out, striking into its throat. The creature just grabbed my de and extracted it. While it was focused on me, Adrian came from the side and hacked into its neck. This gave me some control over my own de, and with Adrian¡¯s help, we removed the creature¡¯s head. I ran over, picking up the kettle once more, quick to use it on the creature. I gritted my teeth against the pain that was evident on my face as I overcame the creature¡¯s resistance to being permanently ended. Castile nodded weakly in my direction, drained from using her chains to hinder the wight. The violent violet smoke seemed almost substantial as it flowed from the creature into the kettle. Maveith was still holding back the tide of specters, and Adrian moved to help him. I stumbled for a second but also joined him once my task wasplete, just hoping no more wights entered the tavern. Konstantin even stood with us, weakly wielding his runic de. Benito was not able to stand, his arm clearly broken and his leg at an odd angle. Fortunately, the tide of specters slowed and eventually stopped. Castile must have used the kettle nearly a hundred times in less than thirty minutes. The bronze artifact was almostpletely full from her efforts. Benito was on the floor, wincing and trying to get his dislocated hip in afortable position. Konstantin was trying to remove his armor to check on his shoulder. Maveith was inhaling deep breaths and still guarding the shattered stone door. White and ck blotches were all over his skin from where the wight and specters had struck him. I stood next to Adrian, and we were both steaming as our sweat vaporized in the freezing air. Castile¡¯s fingers were white with frostbite as she put the kettle of souls down once she was sure she had contained all the remaining specters. No one spoke for a long time as the realization that we had won slowly sank in. Maveith was the first to speak, ¡°What does a dungeon entrance look like?¡± Castile answered him, ¡°It would appear as a ck door with an oily appearance.¡± Maveith nodded, ¡°I think the dungeon is there, then.¡± We all rushed to see where he was pointing. The snow blocked the majority of the doorway, and it was still extremely deep, but about thirty feet away, the top of a stone archway was visible above the snow, and a ck oily surface was just below the stone arch. We all stood there and studied the obvious dungeon entrance tantalizingly close. The sun was setting outside, and soon, it would be hidden by the dark. But we were all certain we had found the entrance to the Shimmering Labyrinth. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work results from my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 142 Chapter 142 The ck oil slick of the dungeon entrance protruded above the snow in sharp contrast to the white field. Castile held everyone back and looked up at the hearth tree canopy. The tree still had green leaves, but heavy snow covered them. There was also the threat of giant eagles somewhere in the branches, but no movement could be seen at the moment. ¡°Stack some tables against the shattered door for now. If there are any more wights nearby, I don¡¯t want them to surprise us.¡± The petrified tables were fortunately not fused with the floor, and we wrestled them to cover the door, Maveith doing the heavy lifting but grimacing through his injuries. Castile worked her frozen hands together as she tried to warm them and sat down. Adrian ordered Konstantin, ¡°Check your injury with Linus, inform the others we found the dungeon, and make sure they are well.¡± Konstantin hurried off, and I sat with Castile and Adrian at the table. Maveith slumped against a wall, struggling with his breathing as he recovered from the specter strikes. Castile opened our meeting with our injured men. ¡°Firth, Benito, and Konstantin are too injured to fight. Weck healing potions for them.¡± ¡°I am sure they would object to that assessment.¡± Adrian stated. Castile sighed, some color finally returning to her hands, which were rubbed continuously together. ¡°Suggestions?¡± She finally said. Adrian responded first, ¡°We need to clear as many specters as possible in this area of the city before exploring the dungeon. We don¡¯t want to exit and be swarmed. There are probably more wights in the neighboring buildings as well.¡± Both turned to me, and I thought about it, ¡°We should dig under the snow to the dungeon gate to hide our ess from the summoner. We need to send in people to hunt food now.¡± Adrian¡¯s eyebrows arched in surprise, and Castile looked contemtive, ¡°It is about thirty feet to the dungeon entrance. There are nine tables, each about eight feet long and three wide. I like the idea, make it happen, Eryk.¡± She turned to Adrian, ¡°Once we recover for a time, we can see about drawing specters from the streets. The issue is we cannot see through the snow.¡± Adrian asked, ¡°Will we bring all the men up here now that the room is cleared?¡±Castile slowly shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of separating the men, but it is much colder up here than in the undercity. I think we will all remain in the undercity and just work out of this tavern during the day. This will also make it more difficult for the summoner to find us.¡± There was not much more to be said, and the meeting dispersed, Castile taking the kettle down the steps and Adrian remaining on guard. I went and sat with Maveith, ¡°How are you doing, big guy?¡± Maveith was whizzing a little bit, and his voice was not as deep as normal, ¡°The arm hurts the most from where the wight bit it. I don¡¯t know how many times I got hit by the specters, but they definitely got my ribs and hip. It is painful to breathe and walk.¡± Maveith was extremely stoic, so I knew he was in a lot of pain. ¡°You did amazing in the fight. Without you holding the door, we would have been overrun.¡± I patted him on the shoulder. Pavel and Lucien came up the stairs to help me create the tunnels to the dungeon entrance with the stone tables. Maveith rose to help, but I told him he needed to rest. I sent for three more men to stand guard while we worked. Who knew what was out in the snow? Brutus, Remus, and ze came up the stairs to stand watch while we worked. We took down the two tables blocking the doorway and then extended a table lengthwise into the snow. The snow was crystalline, powdery, and difficult to pack down. We tried anyway, packing the snow to the left and right and edging the table forward. We added more tables as we went. It was slow and extremely cold work. We were cautious as we proceeded and only stumbled across a single specter. Lucien was the unfortunate one of us pressing the snow under the table when it emerged. Lucien scrambled out into the tavern, bringing the elven child specter with him, carrying a toy sword. He had been struck in the face and lost vision in his right eye from the attack. Brutus retrieved the kettle for me, and I collected the death essence. It took three hours of steady work in the cold to reach the dungeon entrance. Pavel was the first to reach the ck archway, and it had taken just under five tables to cover the distance. Everyone looked relieved that the cold and miserable job was done. ¡°We need to raise the tables up next,¡± I informed them. They all groaned, so I said, ¡°We can take a break and find items to put under the table legs. There were several stone chests in the rooms upstairs.¡± Two men pressed the stone tables up while another moved stone casks, chests, and other petrified furniture we salvaged from the rooms under the legs. When finished, our table-tunnel under the snow had about a five-foot clearance. It was better than crawling on our hands and knees to reach the dungeon entrance. We should be secure from the sight of both the giant eagles and the summoner. We finishedte in the night when we all retreated to the undercity to get warm and inform Castile. Castile was sleeping, as was most of thepany. I was also happy to see Maveith¡¯s chest rising and falling gracefully in slumber. I found my pack andid out my bedroll. I utilized the dreamscape amulet to force a good night¡¯s sleep upon myself. I made arge fire inside the dreamscape¡¯s entry chamber to feel the fictional heat. I spent my night rxing and ying with Oscar. I wasn¡¯t motivated to study spellcraft, spell forms,nguage or practice with weapons. I fell into the same trap as Castile had and created arge array of food to try and satisfy my body¡¯s need for sustenance. After seven hours, I left the dreamscape. It was day, and most of thepany was already up. I climbed the stairs to find Castile and Adrian talking. ¡°Excellent work, Eryk.¡± Castile acknowledged the tunnel in front of the men. ¡°Pavel and Lucien did most of the challenging work. How is Lucien¡¯s eye?¡± I replied loudly enough to deflect the credit to them. ¡°His vision is blurry but should return to normal in a day.¡± Adrian answered happily. That was the good thing about the specters. The injuries were painful, but the damage was temporary and faded with time. The wights, however, were as strong as five men, and their touch was much more deadly, requiring magical healing for a full recovery. The wight¡¯s bodies were gone, and the silvery armor of therge wight was on a table with his massive broadsword. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. ¡°What is going to happen with these?¡± I indicated the armor and sword, sitting at the table where Castile and Adrian joined me. Castile looked at them, ¡°It is runic te armor. Worth a fortune but also sized specifically for the elven wight when he was alive. A runic smith could resize the set, but none existed within the Empire¡¯s bordersst time I checked. It will probably end up on a manikin in the Emperor¡¯s collection.¡± Adrian picked up the broadsword, ¡°This is a runic weapon and valuable as well. The Schr is sure it is dungeon forged, but its true purpose eludes him.¡± Adrian stood and did a few test swings, ¡°It is over five pounds and better off being wielded two-handed. I don¡¯t think any men in thepany would befortable with it.¡± I took the de from him, and it was monstrous. The de was almost forty-eight inches, and the guard and hilt were another twelve inches. Hefting the de, I thought it was closer to six pounds not five. The wight had wielded it one-handed, but I did not see how anyone could do it for more than a few swings. I ced it back on the table. ¡°When are we going to explore the dungeon?¡± I inquired. ¡°I already entered and exited.¡± Adrian said, and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. Adrian did not like dungeons. He ignored my surprise and continued, ¡°The exit was right behind me after I entered. It is called the Shimmering Labyrinth because it is a maze, and the stone floor and ceiling emit a sparkling light.¡± Castile added, ¡°Adrian and Kolm went in after Adrian returned, and they appeared in different parts of the maze.¡± I winced as that was not great news. ¡°We have not explored past the safe entry rooms yet. The dungeon has not been touched in centuries, so the creatures inside are probably quite a bit stronger, and we have no idea howrge it is.¡± ¡°How difficult will it be to find each other once inside?¡± I asked, wondering if the n was to send multiple men in at once. ¡°Depends on the size of the maze. Schr Favian was hopeful we would find some tomes on the dungeon in the library. All he found were obscure references and a few children¡¯s tales.¡± Castile reminded me, and I nodded, having coborated with the Schr for most of our time in the city. ¡°Bears and spiders?¡± I recalled. Castile nodded, ¡°Yes, in one of the children¡¯s tales and some recipes in another book. I will go in alone with the collector and attempt to harvest a creature.¡± She slid the kettle across the table toward me. ¡°You are one of the only other people capable of using this effectively. If I do note out, it will be your responsibility.¡± I was pretty confident Castile would not have an issue with whatever monster she encountered. I fingered the terribly unpleasant kettle, ¡°When are you going in?¡± ¡°In a few hours. We dealt with more than twenty specters this morning, and I am recovering from the wight that wore this.¡± She tapped the runic armor on the table. I remembered the purple smoke from that wight had been almost solid when she harvested its death essence. I was not sure what to do, and Adrian suggested, ¡°Go check on the injured men. Delmar was never particrly good at empathizing with them. You can do better, Eryk.¡± I nodded to make my rounds. I found Firth at a table with a wine bottle he was sipping on and sat across from him, ¡°How are you faring?¡± The scruffy man took a long swig, unwrapped his arm, and showed it to me. The arm was splinted, but the skin was ck, ¡°If I don¡¯t get a healer, I will probably have to cut it off. Less than a week, I am guessing.¡± He said stoically. ¡°I am sorry.¡± I said, but it didn¡¯t help his mood. ¡°Maybe there are healing potions in the dungeon?¡± His face brightened some at my suggestion. ¡°Healing potions aremon rewards in dungeons.¡± He said softly and with some hope in his voice. ¡°Castile is going to start exploring soon. Maybe I will be able to go in as well.¡± I said, but I realized that meant I would be going in alone. I was already thinking that maybe I could put someone in my dimensional space and pull them out after entering. It would reveal a lot about the strength of my space affinity. I moved on to Konstantin, who was standing near a window on guard. He had his bad arm in a sling, and the gash in his armor was still there. ¡°Looks like you need some new armor,¡± I joked. ¡°How bad is it?¡± ¡°Snapped my vicle but didn¡¯t prate too far. Can¡¯t use that arm, and swinging with my good one is painful.¡± He spoke indifferently of the injury. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to get in some practice? I think we would be fairly evenly matched now.¡± I said with a smirk. My praise of his prowess with the de got the response I wanted. Konstantin couldn¡¯t help but chuckle and winced at the pain it caused, ¡°You are an evil man for making meugh.¡± I patted the older man on his good shoulder as I moved on. I checked on Maveith and Benito next. Both were resting. Benito¡¯s wrist was a swollen dark purple mass. His eyes were closed, so I didn¡¯t wake him. Maveith was still sleeping, and at least Maveith¡¯s breathing sounded much better. Castile was getting ready to go into the dungeon, so I was on watch duty with the collector. The specters arrived infrequently in ones and twos, but I still flinched every time I had to use the artifact. It was getting easier, but it felt like I was a masochist for the effort. Castile was ready and walked down the snow tunnel, crouching slightly. Most of the men watched her as she made her progress. That dungeon was our best hope of survival. When she reached the oily ck surface of the entrance, she paused only a second before being embraced by the ckness, snuffing out the glowstone in her hand. Everyone held their breath. No one spoke as we waited for Castile¡¯s return. I picked up therge, broad sword and started swinging it as a distraction, the kettle of souls on the table nearby. A fat specter wandered into the tavern through the doorway, and everyone paused. I don¡¯t think anyone had ever seen a fat elf before. The specter ignored everyone and made to go and sit at the bar, expecting to be served. With everyone paralyzed in disbelief, Konstantin took action and grunted as he swung his runic weapon into the specter¡¯s back. Sparks shed, and the specter moved faster than he had any right to. Konstantin backpedaled in surprise. Two runic arrows pierced the specter from ze and Pavel. Adrian¡¯s de took it from the side, and Konstantin regained his footing managing another strike, forcing the specter to dissipate. I did my job and used the kettle on the remains. The resistance from the specter was much stronger, and I guessed that maybe it had been a poltergeist. After the kettle consumed the purple smoke, I dropped it heavily on the table. ¡°That one was stronger than normal.¡± Adrianmented. ze and Pavel retrieved their arrows, and we returned to waiting for Castile. Castile was gone for an hour when Mateo, who was watching the snow tunnel, announced her return. ¡°Castile¡¯s back!¡± We all circled around the doorway as her glowstone approached the tunnel. Castile was dragging the corpse of a ck spider the size of a dog. She was struggling with her prize but pulled it all the way to the center of the tavern. ¡°Dinner is served!¡± she said triumphantly, dropping the rope lead. Looking at the grotesque-looking arachnid, I was the first toment, ¡°I don¡¯t think I have much of an appetite.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 143: Spider Legs Chapter 143: Spider Legs The ck spider had eight thick, hairy legs. Each was as thick as my wrist and the hair thick enough to be wire. The worst part about the arachnid was the smell. Now, admittedly, after weeks in the city, none of us was very hygienic, but this spider emitted an odor that reminded me of pungent urine that had been sitting in the sun all day. Schr Favian was called up with his cookbook of dungeon delicacies. Even though he had once been excited at the prospect of trying dungeon creatures, he turned up his nose when he got close. ¡°It looks like a rappelling ck spider. They are the only ck spiders mentioned with thick hairy legs within the recipes.¡± Castile confirmed his guess, ¡°I entered arge room, and it dropped on it from above on its thread.¡± ¡°Well, yes. Let us see: the legs should be boiled or steamed to start. Then, they should be cracked open for the flesh. The flesh can be grilled with a ze or baked with butter,¡± the Schr recalled. Lirkin, our cook, noted sarcastically, ¡°Let me go and check the pantry. Nope. Don¡¯t have any of...¡± He paused, ¡°We have a tiny bit of honey left...¡± With a bad arm, Konstantin put a damper on an early dinner, ¡°We should wait till dark if we are going to start a fire in here. The smoke may attract the specters or let the Summoner know where we are in the city.¡± ¡°Agreed, it should be dark in a few hours,¡± Castile confirmed the need for caution. Schr Favian noted, ¡°The book said you have about eight hours before the spider meat starts to spoil.¡± Lirkin nodded as he hauled the spider toward the firece in the tavern and began giving orders for water and therge cast iron pot to be hauled up from the space we were using in the undercity. Castile motioned me to a table. I made my way to sit with Castile and Adrian. Castile opened with her experience in the dungeon. ¡°The entry was different from the one you described Adrian. It was oval with two exits. Each exit led to an intersection about forty feet down. I followed the corridors with my all-seeing-eye, but the dungeon disrupted it when I was removed from the line of sight.¡±¡°What?¡± Adrian interrupted with surprise. ¡°It is not unusual. The walls of the dungeon probably contain concentrated aether. If it is a maze, then it makes sense that the dungeon would have counters to exploring with magic.¡± Castile sipped on her canteen before continuing. ¡°I stayed right and came to arge chamber, maybe fifty feet across. I teased out one of the spiders from the ceiling by stepping into the room and pulled it into the corridor before dispatching it.¡± ¡°Do you think anyone in thepany can handle the dungeon alone?¡± Adrian asked seriously. ¡°Maybe the goliath and Konstantin if he was healthy,¡± Castile gave her opinion. ¡°What about me?¡± I asked, and immediately regretted it. I had been surprised she had not considered me capable of going in alone. Castile studied me and contained a smile. ¡°I would have included you if you let me finish. After we see how edible the spider is, we can decide who goes in next. One of us has to remain here to use the kettle. I also condensed this.¡± Castile ced a small sphere on the table. The dark pink sphere rolled on the table. It was a minor essence of coordination. Castile had carried Sebastian¡¯srge collector in her backpack, but it had been so long that I had forgotten about essences. My own stolen collector was designed for dungeons. Castile asked. ¡°Who deserves this?¡± Adrian was quick to reply, ¡°Benito has not fortified his coordination attribute, but his broken wrist hampers him, and he is not fighting effective at the moment.¡± I put forth Maveith¡¯s name. ¡°Maveith prevented us from being overrun by the specters. He saved all our lives.¡± The two of them made eye contact, and Castile stated and nodded. ¡°Maveith it is.¡± Adrian pocketed the essence for now to give to the goliathter. Adrian tapped the table with his fingertips, thinking. ¡°Are we going to try and map the dungeon? There can only be so many entry rooms.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s n on just getting some food into everyone first. There were supposed to be bears in the maze, but I didn¡¯t see any in the small area I explored. There was elven writing on the wall, probably to alert the delver which safe room they had arrived in and where to go.¡± Castile informed us. Adrian thought momentarily, ¡°There was writing in the rooms I entered as well. Maybe we should send in the Schr to read the script and then return.¡± ¡°Not yet. That first encounter was much too dangerous for one person. There were maybe a dozen of those spiders in the ceiling, waiting. I think we are missing something.¡± Castile looked deep in thought. I thought about it, too. ¡°If there are a fixed number of entry rooms, then couldn¡¯t you just keep exiting and returning until you end up in the same room as someone else?¡± ¡°Perhaps. Adrian, why don¡¯t you try that with a legionnaire? We need to understand the rules of this dungeon.¡± Castile ordered. This novel''s true home is a different tform. Support the author by finding it there. Adrian stood and looked around the room, deciding, ¡°vius, you and I are going to try and puzzle out thebyrinth. Come with me.¡± Castile also stood to whisper softly to him, ¡°Don¡¯t leave the safe room entrance. We will have food ready for you when you return.¡± vius didn¡¯t look too enthused about being selected. He talked with Adrian briefly before they both headed down the snow tunnel. I was on kettle duty while Castile rested, and we waited for the sun to set. The fire was started as soon as it was dark, and the iron cauldron we hauled from the library had the water boiling. It took about two hours. The spider legs went into the water, and soon, the entire tavern smelled like a wet dog. The cauldron foamed and boiled over, causing even more foul air to fill the space. Fifteen minutester, Lirkin dragged the kettle off the coals and removed the steaming legs. They had turned white. ¡°Perfect,¡± Favian said excitedly, ¡°That is exactly how they should look! Just crack them open to retrieve the flesh and do the secondary cooking.¡± Maveitn used his hammer to crack the hot legs, and the flesh inside didn¡¯t look or smell too terrible. It was rubbery and had an off-white color. Lirkin had set up a makeshift grill using the runic armor. It was too narrow and long for anyone in thepany to wear it. It was gross when you thought a zombie elf had worn it for fifteen hundred years, but Lirkin first heated it in the fire, and this was no time to worry about such things. The ze was a honey and wine mixture that he reduced in the pot. The first chunk of meat hit the runic armor and sizzled. It almost smelled like grilled chicken. He turned it and zed the seared side, then turned it again and zed the other side. The first piece of spider meat was ready for consumption. My mouth couldn¡¯t help but water, even knowing where it hade from. It actually smelled good! Everyone was in the tavern as the firece heated the room well, and the smell of cooked food was too powerful to ignore. The question was who was going to try it first. Lirkin held up the cooked flesh, and Mateo volunteered, ¡°Give it to me. If I die a horrible death, I will haunt you for eternity, Lirkin.¡± Lirkin wasn¡¯t fazed by the threat and passed the seared spider flesh to Mateo. Everyone watched in anticipation as Mateo crunched into the piece. He chewed slowly, and a myriad of expressions crossed his face. He took a second and third bite. Through a mouthful, he announced, ¡°It is actually kind of good.¡± Lirkin soon cooked up rows of the spider flesh on the extremely expensive grill. When my turn came, and I bit into the crunchy and sweet outer crust, my long-forgotten taste buds came alive. The spider flesh texture reminded me of scallops. The actual taste of the flesh was somewhat nd and chewy but definitely edible, with just a hint of sweetness from the honey-wine ze. Everyone received a palm-sized piece of spider meat. Unfortunately, the honey used in the ze was all that Lirkin had left. I brought Castile a sample of the food and sat with her. She enjoyed the solid food as much as everyone else but still managed to take almost half an hour to eat it. Mine had been devoured in just a few seconds. Adrian returned shortly after she finished, and he sat with us. Kolm brought Adrian a piece of spider flesh and ced it in front of him. I could see his mouth-watering, but he paused to give the unwee news first. ¡°There are over fifty entry rooms. vius never moved, and I exited and returned nearly a hundred times. I never appeared in the same room as him. Each entry room had Elvish script.¡± He couldn¡¯t wait any longer. He tried the spider meat, and it was gone in three bites. Castile let him finish before asking her questions. ¡°How did you know there were more than fifty entry points to the maze?¡± ¡°I marked the wall every time I entered. On my ninth reentry into the dungeon, I was in the room I had marked two. I never found vius in my ny-two attempts to appear in the same room as vius before the agreed two hours were up,¡± I could see Adrian keep looking toward the fire for more of the food, but one spider was just enough food for the twenty-three of us to get half of a meal. Castile seemed to consider. ¡°Eryk, you will go in tomorrow. Try to get one dungeon creature.¡± Her face got worried. ¡°I think I will not give you the collecter in case you meet an unfortunate end.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± I replied reflexively. Castile suspected I had Durandus¡¯ collector, so this would be my first opportunity to see how it worked on dungeon creatures. I was also looking forward to entering the dungeon to have some privacy. I definitely wouldn¡¯t feel guilty now about eating some of the small amount of food left in my space now that thepany had ess to the dungeon. Adrian pointed at my chest. ¡°You should probably leave your dreamscape amulet with Castile as well.¡± Castile¡¯s face was impassive, and she had not asked to use it since she learned her nightmare spell. ¡°Before I enter tomorrow, I will.¡± I was reluctant to part with it. Lirkin extinguished the fire, and Adrian called for everyone to return to the undercity room. The mood was positive and almost boisterous as we prepared to sleep. Castile forced seven men to sleep with her nightmare spell, and five men remained on first watch. I slept next to Maveith, who continued to improve from the earlier fight. I entered the dreamscape and immediately went to the spider bridge in the liminal space. I practiced fighting therge spiders for eight hours. They were monstrouspared to Castile¡¯s harvest, but I figured the experience couldn¡¯t hurt. I then studied a bit more of the elvishnguage figuring every little bit would help if there was writing on the walls. When I exited the dreamscape, men were whispering nearby. The conversation seemed to revolve around the possibilities of more solid food today. The pressure was going to be on me to deliver. Castile led a lead element to the tavern, and we followed an hourter. I walked to Castile at a table, and she informed me. ¡°Seven specters and two poltergeists this morning. It is good that we are thinning them, but I am still worried there may be many thousands in the city.¡± I reluctantly handed over the dreamscape amulet to Castile. She immediately put it on, ¡°I will keep it safe. Proceed cautiously. Just harvest one spider and return, Eryk.¡± I checked my gear and ducked low as I made my way down the snow tunnel with a glowstone. Some of the snow had melted around the door, which might have been a problem if we had continued using the firece in the tavern. I reached the ck, oily surface. My glowstone did not reflect in the dungeon¡¯s entrance, which I thought was odd. I hesitated for just a moment before taking a careful step and pushing into the ck veil beyond. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 144: Solo Chapter 144: Solo I was prepared and didn¡¯t even stumble entering a dungeon for the second time in my life. A strong blue light filled the hexagonal room I was in. As Adrian had said, the floor and ceiling emitted light. It looked like frosted ss with swirling white-blue glowing rivers moving underneath. Every once in a while, an oblong silvery shape shed in the flow, and it was a bit mesmerizing. I guessed this was why this was called the Shimmering Labyrinth. I focused on studying my location. The hexagonal room had the dungeon exit behind me, and it felt good to know I could leave at any time. Two of the six walls had wide corridors leading off into the distance. I spun in the room and found the elven script Adrian had mentioned. I went and stood before it, studying the writing. It took a long time to puzzle it out as my grasp of the elvennguage was not overly strong, yet. Northeast Quadrant, Room Thirteen. The right corridor leads to a bear chamber. The left corridor leads to water. I immediately guessed the elves had mapped the maze somehow, and the writing gave the dungeon delver his location. Why couldn¡¯t we have found the map in the library? I was also feeling a little superstitious about arriving in room thirteen. I considered leaving and trying my luck in another room. I eventually decided it was unnecessary and best to use my time in istion productively. I first removed therge ck desk and chair from my dimensional space. Taking a seat, I pulled out the two elven backpacks from the summoner and the griffin rider. I was searching for food as I emptied the packs on the desk. The spare clothes made it easy to figure out which belonged to the griffin rider elf. The spare garments were smaller and dirty but had no odor that I could detect. The male elf summoner had been leaner than me, but I could probably wear his clothes, if a bit snuggly now. As expected, there was a lot of dried meat and fruit in the bags, all neatly packaged. There were maybe twenty meals between the two packs. I slowly munched on some zed nuts and dried apricots. At least, I think they were apricots by the peach color and chewy texture. The taste was more bittersweet than I remembered of apricots. I stacked the clothes, bedroll, and tarps off to the side. I ate about a single meal¡¯s worth as I searched the packs, and my stomach was gurgling at the fiber that had been missing from my diet for so long. I couldn¡¯t tell whether it wanted more food or was just too surprised that I had sent actual food to it. It was not long before I felt bloated and hungry at the same time. I reluctantly packed the remaining food to save forter. I started sipping cold water to settle my roiling stomach. There was a fishing kit in the woman¡¯s pack with a few lures and a spool of thin braided wire. I already had a fishing kit, but she also had a fist-sized stone. It didn¡¯t make any sense that she would carry around this two-pound weight. I ced the shiny ck stone on the desk and stared at it. It looked like an oval piece of volcanic obsidian ss. Maybe it was a glowstone and just needed aether? I touched the stone, and it greedily took my aether. The stone didn¡¯t glow, so I pushed more aether into it. I felt the heat and smoke started rising from where in contacted the desk. I pped the rock off the desk to the floor and cursed. A small off-ck ring now marred my beautiful ck wood desk.I also realized what the stone was. It was a thermal stone! I had a frigging thermal stone in my dimensional space this entire time I was freezing my arse off! I groaned and felt like an idiot. Just what I get for throwing things randomly into my space. I had two waterskins from the elven packs. Sniffing the water, it smelled a little off. Maybe it was elven tea or something. I decided I didn¡¯t need to test it at the moment. There was a simple mess kit with a pot, te, and cup in each bag made from what I was sure was an aluminum alloy by its weight. The summoner had individual bags of ws, chitin, and other unusual monster parts. Not something I needed to concern myself with. I moved them off to the side with the other things for now. The best haul from the elven packs was the food and thermal stone. I checked on the stone, and it was still emitting a strong heat. I still had the griffin rider in my dimensional space. She also had gear on her, but she was barely alive. I thought she might even have some healing potions on her. The summoner had a healing potion, so it was possible. A few men in thepany desperately needed healing potions. I was considering bringing her body out when, out of the corner of my eye, a movement shed down at the end of one of the corridors. My heart started thudding as I thought entry rooms were safe rooms, and no dungeon creature could enter them. The movement down the corridor that the writing indicated led to a bear. I focused on the corridor, and something was definitely moving down there. I began to pack things back into my dimensional space, saving the thermal stone forst. The glossy ck stone was still quite hot, but I didn¡¯t need to touch it to store it. Finishing my clean up, I readied the elven spear and walked toward the bear room. I moved as silently as my armor allowed, cautiously approaching the room. I thought that if I could bag a bear, I would be a hero to the others. I didn¡¯t see the movement again as I approached. The end of the corridor was close, and it obviously opened into arge room. I could hear water running and studied the room, ten feet from entering. The room looked about a hundred feet across. The ceiling shot upwards to maybe forty feet. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t see any movement up there in the river of light. A small waterfall on the far left fed a pool on the other side of the chamber. I had thought the other corridor led to water, but apparently, there was water here as well. I edged forward, my armor identally scraping the wall and causing me to pause. I noticed the shoreline of the pool had a field of small dark gray mushrooms. The surface of the pool rippled, and arge gray furry mass rushed from the left and dove into the pool. If that was a bear, it was too damn big! I waited,pletely still, and the massive bear emerged from the water with a long fish that reminded me of a pike in its mouth. It shook out its coat, a mist of water filling the air, snapped the fish in half with its powerful jaws, and then consumed each half noisily. Its massive head then looked up, and its ck eyes stared directly at me. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised, as my red armor made me stand out even if I was still. I didn¡¯t know what to do. If there was just a single bear, I could deal with it. After a few minutes, the bear yawned andy down, but it didn¡¯t take its eyes off of me. I assumed I needed to enter the room to draw its attack, but I couldn¡¯t surprise it now. What I needed was some type of distraction. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred tform. Support original creators! I edged closer to the entrance to see if I could see any more of therge bears. As I got closer, it raised its head in anticipation. It looked like there was only one of the gray bears. I had plenty of aether and enacted my n. First, I removed the collector and a bag and slung the items onto my back. Then, I removed the goblin. The goblin I had collected at the farm appeared in front of me. It was clearly, massively confused because of the sudden change in the environment. No time had passed since I had captured it, and this room was much brighter than the dark barn in which I had captured it. Getting its attention, I threatened it with my spear, it got the message, tumbling backward and into the room. The massive bear lurched up and charged at the unsuspecting goblin. I felt a little evil feeding the goblin to the bear, but it was the best way to make sure the dungeon creature was alone and distract it. I edged forward as the bear charged, ready to take its head. The goblin¡¯s summersault brought it around enough to see its fate charging. The goblin regained its feet, flight instincts taking hold as it raced toward another exit. The bear changed direction, skidding momentarily on the floor, to chase the tiny creature. I paused at the entrance to take in the entire room. There were two exits and just one bear. With the bear currently chasing the goblin in a direction away from me, I entered the room and raced after the two of them. The goblin dashed right into a passage, and the bear¡¯s momentum took it past the entrance and roared in frustration as its prey escaped down the tunnel while it skidded to a stop. The bear spun and faced me, growling in challenge, but it was within my range. I already had the ovey of a box ready and removed the bear¡¯s head, sending it into my dimensional space. My aether bottomed out satisfactorily at my quick victory. It remained standing, the body awaiting orders from the brain as the heart pumped blood spurts out its neck at me. I evaded its final attack and remained on alert. The patter of the feet of the fleeing goblin echoed in the distance. I was sure it would eventually meet its demise to a spider, bear, or some other horror in the dungeon. Seconds passed, and the bear slowly crumbled to the ground with arge puddle of blood in front of it. ¡°That was just as easy as I thought it would be.¡± I announced aloud, praising myself to the dungeon since no one else was here to do it. I didn¡¯t know how creatures reformed in a dungeon other than that they eventually did. The dungeon would also eventually reim the corpse, so I needed to work fast. I approached the wet bear and got to work. I skinned arge section of the pelt using the elven runic dagger. Then I started working on the flesh, removing the legs at the joints, and carving off meat sections along the belly, ribs, and back inexpertly. I was soon a bloody mess and not sure if I was getting the best cuts of meat but going for therge, easy muscles. I told myself Lirkin and Maveith could scold meter. If anyoneined, they coulde and kill their own bear. The bear had easily been over a thousand pounds, and I had almost a hundred pounds of meat on the hide. I nned to drag it back to the portal. As soon as my aether recovered enough, I removed the collector from the bag and used it on the bear. As the smoke coalesced above the disc, my anticipation rose. It had been quite some time since I had used it. The smoke seemed thick, and from experience, I knew dungeons left for a time returned powerful essences from their creatures. The sphere that formed was apex-sized and dark orange in color! An essence of power! I gently rolled it off the collector¡¯s center into my hand and consumed it on the spot. Unexpectedly, my stomach groaned in protest. I doubled over in intense abdominal pain thatced through me in waves. I instinctively knew it was because the essence needed some caloric assistance toplete its work. I sat hard on the ground and pulled out the elven food. I didn¡¯t taste the dried fruit and jerky as I rapidly consumed what I could. I ate almost a quarter of the elven rations before I felt the essence finish its work. I probably didn¡¯t need to eat anything, but my instincts were telling me it was the right thing to do to help get the most out of the essence. My stomach felt full to bursting, and I rolled to continue my work on the bear. I paused with the six-by-six pelt stacked the quarters and other bits of meat. I looked at the mushrooms. Konstantin should know if they were safe to eat. I cleared off a small section of the hide and dragged it toward the water. I proceeded to create arge pile of mushrooms on the hide, away from the bloody meat. The water¡¯s surface churned behind me as onerge fish surfaced for a moment, reminding me of their presence. Carefully at the pool¡¯s edge, I stared into the water, and the light illuminated quite deep. I could seerge, elongated fish swimming toward the bottom like I was looking into a massive fish tank. I had two sets of wire fishing lines in my storage. I was not thinking much about adding fish to ourpany¡¯s diet, but a little variety couldn¡¯t hurt. Besides, perhaps the fish might offer some essence spheres. Maybe it was too much to hope for, but Durandus¡¯ collector supposedly yielded an essence from all dungeon creatures, which meant even the harmless creatures in here, like the fish, should yield one. I finished with the mushrooms first and made to wash the bear¡¯s blood off my arms and armor in the pool. The red cloud caused the fish to go into a frenzy,ing to the surface. Maybe they were savoring the defeat of their lifelong mortal enemy in the dungeon. I eagerly retrieved the fishing line with a lure and used the spear as my pole. The lure only touched the surface before the first pike bit it. I pulled the prize to shore past the mushrooms and inserted the dagger behind the eyes, severing its spinal cord. The fish stilled, and I reached for the collector. Light wisps of aether life essence pulled from the thirty-inch-long fish. It seemed to take longer than normal, but a minor essence eventually formed. I was too giddy at my sess, and the dark green sphere rolled toward the mushrooms. I snagged it before it got too far as it was headed toward the pool. The marble was dark green¡ªthe quickness attribute. I looked into the pool, grinning. How many fish were in it? I had twelve fish in my dimensional storage an hourter. I figured I would surprise the men with my fishing skills after they praised me for my hunting and gathering skills. I hadn¡¯t emptied the pool, but the fish had wizened up some and were not biting the lure. I also did not see much movement deeper in the water, so maybe I had thinned their poption. I also secured twelve dark green lesser essences to show for my fishing prowess. I dropped the bear¡¯s head into the water in appreciation of the fish¡¯s contribution. As it sunk to the bottom, a feeding frenzy ensued at the bottom of the pool. I had been gone for over five hours. I figured Castile and thepany were probably worried about me. I grabbed the corners of my bear carpet and started pulling my harvest toward the dungeon exit. I noticed an alcove in the wall as I pulled my feast. Dropping the corners, I inspected it to find a small granite box. It was the dungeon reward forpleting the room. I had forgotten about that little tidbit, I was excited to see what was inside. The box rattled as I picked it up. It was solid, and there was no way to ess the contents. I cracked the box using the runic dagger¡¯s hilt, and the stone crumbled away. Large nk silver coins spilled out, rattling on the ground. I sifted through the rubble, finding fifteenrge silver coins, maybe an ounce each. There was also a single vial of some potion. I couldn¡¯t read the runic writing identifying the contents, but maybe Castile could. I grabbed the corners again and started down the corridor to the dungeon exit. It was time to eat! ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 145: The Feast Chapter 145: The Feast I tightened my grip on the bear pelt and stepped through the portal. My senses were on alert, but I was not prepared to walk straight into Brutus. ¡°What in Pluto¡¯s realm!¡± He barked at me. ¡°Eryk? You¡¯re alive?¡± He turned around, and Felix was right behind him. ¡°Eryk¡¯s back! Move back and let him out.¡± There was someone behind Felix as well, a small train of men. It was a little bit of a cluster getting everyone to turn around and exit the narrow snow tunnel in full, now ill fitted, armor. I don¡¯t think they saw what I was pulling behind me. Thepany men were excited to see me alive as I entered the tavern. Mateo cheerfully said, ¡°Told you he was still alive. Eryk could go to bed with a medusa in a brothel ande back satisfied with a smile.¡± The bear hide behind me was dragged into the room, and everyone¡¯s eyes suddenly became fixed on the harvest. Everyone was silent. Benito rubbed his eyes with his good hand, ¡°Tell me that is real. Please, someone! Tell me that is real!¡± Maveith¡¯srge body moved forward and poked the meat with his hammer. His deep voice echoed, ¡°It is real.¡± But he let out a long sigh in disappointment. ¡°Eryk, you didn¡¯t scrape the hide properly. You have forgotten everyone I taught you when we harvested the manticore. Don¡¯t worry, luckily, we can still save it.¡± The men didn¡¯t wait any longer and started to sort through the leg quarters, chunks of meat and mushrooms. Konstantin warned everyone, as he held a mushroom in hand, ¡°The mushrooms are not poisonous but still need to be cooked. If you eat them raw, you will regret your life decisions.¡± Konstantin, with his arm in a sling, nodded at me. Was this recognition for doing a good job? I think I was momentarily stunned by the small sign of recognition. Castile and Adrian stood smiling nearby, ¡°Eryk,e and report.¡± I sat at a table while everyone else began to process the meat using practiced efficiency. Lirkin yelled to our table, ¡°Where is the liver, Eryk? Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t get the liver! No kidneys here either? If you had brought the intestines, we could have smoked some sausage.¡± His tone was notpletely serious, but he was upset. Adrian gave Lirkin a hard stare, stopping hisints about my animal processing skills. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to learn more from Maveith in the future.¡± I replied back at Lirkin. He gave a nod of approval in return. Castile¡¯s own smile slowly faded, ¡°Well done. We were sending in teams to look for you.¡± ¡°Teams?¡± I said, confused.Adrian warmed his hands and cracked his knuckles, ¡°Yes, we figured out how the dungeon worked. You need to be in contact with the others as you enter the portal. Up to four people can enter together this way. There is one team of four already inside the dungeon, but they should be back soon as they were not to leave the entry room. We started a mapping effort after you did not return.¡± Castile looked over at the men and asked curiously, ¡°What kind of meat is that? How did you kill it?¡± Adrian added, ¡°Whatever it is, it looks tastier than spider legs.¡± Castile gave him a sidelong sour nce as she had provided the spider legs. ¡°It was arge gray bear. At the end of a corridor was a room with a pool and just one bear. I distracted the bear and got a good strike on the head. My attack was so sudden the bear had trouble using its head to fight back.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smirk at my y on words. Rather than go into details, I gave as little information as possible. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy. The rest of my time was spent cutting up the beast,¡± I indicated the meat. Castile and Adrian looked over at the excitedpany. I think their mouths were watering as well. I decided to continue with the good news. ¡°I found this in the reward chest after killing the bear.¡± The small potion vial was on the table. Castile¡¯s eyes popped and she snatched it and looked at the runes. Adrian already knew what it was, ¡°A healing potion? Who gets it?¡± Castile confirmed, ¡°A greater healing potion.¡± Adrian and Castile had a lot of discussions as they went through the injuries in thepany. There was a lot of frostbite, but the only real use of the potion would be getting someonebat-effective again. That meant Konstantin was the most likely candidate. Their discussion narrowed it down to Konstantin or Maveith. Castile looked at me, ¡°Maveith is in some pain but should be fine, especially if we can im more of these.¡± She hadn¡¯t released the potion from her grip. ¡°Konstantin will heal with time, but if we are going to explore the dungeon, having our best scout capable would be the best use of it.¡± The decision was made. Adrian addressed me, ¡°Go give it to him.¡± Castile reluctantly ced it on the table, and I could see why. Her fingertips were ck, and she had been hiding the advanced frostbite from us. Lirkin rushed over to our table, ¡°Can we start a fire? I know it is not dark yet, but the men might start eating the meat raw if I don¡¯t cook it soon and bear needs to be cooked properly to be eaten safely. It is incredibly tough and greasy if not cooked properly!¡± I was about to produce the thermal stone but paused. I had stuffed the box in my dimensional space with fish. Castile was considering the request. I decided to show myst ace, ¡°I have some fish, too,¡± I announced. Three sets of eyes turned to me, and I dumped the fish on the table. The pile of fish was the shape of my legion box and quickly spread out across the table as the fish slid across each other. Instead of praise from Lirkin, he scolded me, ¡°You cut off the heads and tails! Eryk, those are the best parts for making soup!¡± He pped me on the back in jest much harder than I appreciated, ¡°Next time, just bring me the entire fish.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Castile was smirking at my consternation at being criticized for failures. I leaned back to look Lirkin in the eyes to reply to him, ¡°Next time, Lirkin, you can fight the bear solo and wiggle your toes in the water to attract and catch the fish! My space is only so big.¡± I didn¡¯t know if that was a thing, but I remembered noodling was a way to catch catfish using just your hands by wiggling your fingers. Lirkin got serious and apologized as my tone had been somewhat harsh, ¡°I am sorry, Eryk. I appreciate your incredible effort. There is enough here to feed thepany for seven or eight days. We might actually start putting back on some weight.¡± I stood, took the potion, and walked across the tavern to Konstantin. The aged scout was watching a table where four men were thinly slicing some meat and hanging it on a spear shaft to be dried and smoked. Standing next to Konstantin, I asked casually, ¡°Konstantin, how is the arm?¡± ¡°Corbone is still broken, and fortunately, no infection has set in, unlike Firth¡± he replied grumpily. ¡°Well, you just won the lottery.¡± I produced and held out the potion. His eyes held confusion as he puzzled out what I held in my outstretched hand. ¡°You found a dungeon healing potion?¡± He muttered loud enough for almost everyone to hear. Everyone stopped working and focused on the magical vial of life. There was probably not a single person here who couldn¡¯t benefit from the healing potion. ¡°Castile decided you were the best person to consume it. I don¡¯t know why,¡± I said with some snark, letting everyone know it was Castile¡¯s decision, not mine. Konstantin didn¡¯t object to being selected and took the vial, broke the dungeon seal, and drained the small vial. He winced, and an audible pop could be heard in the room from his shoulder as the magic aligned the bone. Seconds passed as Konstantin waited for the potion to finish its work. Konstantin windmilled his arm, testing his arm while his armor ttered from the movement. He looked around at the envious men, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Now that I am healthy, Eryk and I will go and im more healing potions inside the dungeon.¡± A few men nodded, and soon everyone was back to processing the meat, fish, and mushrooms. My mind was racing, though. If I had to explore the dungeon with three others, how was I going to use the collector? I could still probably use my dimensional kill, but losing so many essences was already starting to tug at my greedy nature. Maybe it was time to reveal I had the collector? The snow tunnel erupted as the group of four returned from exploring the dungeon entrance room. ze, Linus, Lucien, and Kolm emerged to see everyone cheerfully preparing the meat and starting a fire. The men in the room were all smirks at their surprise. Mateo pointed at me, ¡°Eryk is alive and brought us dinner!¡± Their vision broke from the food preparation and turned to me. I was sitting across from Maveith as he prepared the checkers board. I waved, and ze walked over to me, hugged me, and cried. It was not a sobbing cry, just tears of joy at the feast being prepared. Kolm, Linus, and Lucien just patted my pauldrons in appreciation as they made to help. Kolm handed the Schr a piece of paper, and I assumed the Schr was responsible for mapping the dungeon. The activity in the room got more lively as the fire grew to heat the room. Lirkin was lively as he went from prep station to station to guide thepany. Most of the work focused on preserving as much food as possible. Most of the fish were shoved into the snow in the tunnel. Lirkin had focused on getting as much fat from the meat I cut as possible so he could fry the mushrooms and cubes of meat together. Each man was given a te stacked with braised meat cubes and sauteed mushrooms. Lirkin had his cauldron simmering with fish bones after he had cut the fillets away and stuffed them in the snow. The fish soup was going to be the next meal. Everyone in thepany stopped by at my table to thank me, and it felt good to be recognized. The meal was interrupted a few times by wandering specters, a stark reminder of where we were and that we were still in danger. Konstantin ate with Castile and Adrian, and I already knew he was trying to convince them to let him in the dungeon. The sun was setting, and suddenly, someone shouted, ¡°Bird in the window.¡± There was a single window in the tavern that the snow had not covered. A small white owl hadnded on the snow and was staring into the tavern, watching us eat. Adrian spoke, ¡°Maybe it was not sent by the summoner.¡± ze released an arrow, striking the ss and bouncing back into the room, not even cracking the ss. ¡°Use a runic arrow!¡± Adrian yelled, but it was toote. The owl took to the air and flew away. The mood in the tavern suddenly turned somber. Castile broke the mncholy, ¡°The summoner would have found us eventually. Now that we know we can enter the dungeon in groups of four, we can always retreat into the dungeon. Now that the summoner knows where we are, we can keep the fire going during the day.¡± Someone started pounding the table like he was challenging the summoner toe. Others quickly joined him until all of us pounded the stone tables in unison. The beat built to a crescendo, and everyone cheered and then continued to eat. Everyone slept that night with a full stomach and contented smiles. Castile used her nightmare spell on a third of the men. In the morning, Castile sent seven men, led by Konstantin, to the wine vault. I sat with Castile and Adrian. Castile was not as optimistic, ¡°The storm elementals were not over the city this morning.¡± Her tone was heavy. ¡°How long do we have?¡± Adrian asked. ¡°He is preparing arge summoning circle just outside the city. My guess is a wyvern or some otherrge flying beast. The city is too deep in snow and has too many specters for anything on the ground to reach us in the city¡¯s center,¡± Castile noted. Adrian thought on it, ¡°He might have seen the dungeon entrance as well. The tree canopy shielded it, but that owl was close.¡± ¡°Are we going to send everyone into the dungeon?¡± I asked after a period of silence. Castile nodded, ¡°I asked Konstantin to get as much wine as possible.¡± The weight ofmand on her, she announced, ¡°We need to decide what the groups of four will be.¡± There were twenty-three of us. Meaning there would be five groups of four and one group of three. Castile wanted me in her group with Adrian and Konstantin, but I didn¡¯t want to leave Maveith. I felt I owed him something for influencing him toe with us. Castile conceded, and we assigned everyone to a team over the next hour. The goal for thepany is to reunite inside the dungeon. We would spend the next year living in the dungeon and then exit together in the hope the summoner had abandoned his pursuit. I looked at the groups and hoped I made a good choice in lobbying for my entry team. Castile, Adrian, Konstantin, ze Firth, Wylie, Mateo, Felix Eryk, Maveith, Schr Favian, Brutus Lucien, Benito, Pavel, Lirkin Kolm, Linus, Donte, vius Cyrus, Soren, Remus ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 146: Not a Graceful Entrance Chapter 146: Not a Graceful Entrance Konstantin returned from the wine vault; all six men who had followed him wereden with bottles of wine, clicking as they moved with broad smiles. The mood was joyous as the men thought we had a source of food and plenty to drink. Castile had been cycling who had received the nightmare spell as well, so everyone was finally somewhat well-rested. As the men celebrated, Konstantin came to report, ¡°One hundred and twenty bottles. Do you want us to make another trip? We cut down five specters on the trip that will be reforming. Eryk shoulde with us with the kettle.¡± Castile replied heavily, ¡°No, there will not be time. The summoner released the storm elementals from his control and is preparing for a new summons.¡± ¡°Harpies tits,¡± Konstantin rasped, realization sinking in. ¡°How much time do we have?¡± Castile had a stoic visage as she answered, ¡°Not much time. I keep checking on his progress every hour. When I see him start his summons, we will move.¡± Adrian added, ¡°We have divided up thepany to enter the dungeon. You will be with Castile, ze, and me.¡± Konstantin¡¯s eyebrows went up in surprise, and he looked at me. ¡°Eryk is going with Maveith, Brutus, and Favian.¡± Konstantin nodded, but I could see him thinking. Maybe he was going to make a case for me to remain with the premier group, but he never voiced his opinion. ¡°I am going to tell the men now so we can prepare,¡± Castile made to stand. ¡°Castile, can I have the dreamscape amulet back?¡± I asked softly. Things were about to get hectic, and I didn¡¯t want that detail to get lost in the confusion. The amulet would be invaluable for me inside the dungeon. Castile put her hand between her breasts, feeling the amulet underneath her tunic. ¡°Sorry, Eryk. I forgot I still had it.¡± Still, Castile¡¯s hand was slow and reluctant as she went to retrieve it. She ced it on the table, and I made it disappear. Castile exhaled regretfully and moved to talk with the men. I definitely think she was hoping I had forgotten about it.Adrian tapped the butt of a spear he found in the rooms upstairs on the floor to get everyone¡¯s attention. The men quickly went silent and faced Castile. Castile took a deep breath. ¡°I hope everyone enjoyed the fish soup this morning.¡± Murmurs of agreement raced among the men. I had thought it nd, but the hot soup warmed me from the inside. Castile continued, ¡°The summoner is preparing to bring forth another creature outside the city walls.¡± I guess Castile decided to rip the bandage off. The room went deathly silent except for the wood crackling in the firece. The fire had obviously drawn the summoner¡¯s attention, but we could not hide from him forever. Everyone understood how powerful the elven summoner was. It was why we had trapped ourselves inside the city, protected by the specters. ¡°We are going to seek refuge inside the dungeon and wait him out,¡± Castile announced. A lot of men fidgeted, suddenly ufortable. Dungeons were not known for being forgiving ces. ¡°You have seen the sustenance it can provide. And even though we have to enter in groups of four, we should all be able to find each other inside given enough time. The Schr has confirmed as much.¡± The mood lightened at that news. Castile did not mention how big the dungeon was said to be in the children¡¯s book she was referencing. The princess snuck into the dungeon on her own and was able to wander miles without meeting any others inside. Adrian took over the speech, ¡°There are over one hundred entry rooms. If your team ends up in a bad location, exit and reenter together. Firth leads the first team and will have Wylie, Mateo, and Felix.¡± The four men quickly found each other. Firth and Wylie frequently worked together, and Mateo and Felix were thepany¡¯s babysitters. At least, that was what they did for me when I first arrived. ¡°Lucien will lead Benito, Pavel, and Lirkin as the second team,¡± Adrian announced. Benito hooted, ¡°Yes! We got the cook!¡± Adrian stared hard, ¡°If you want him to cook for you, Benito, then you need to kill something that he can cook.¡± The realization that he would have to fight the dungeon critters shut him up. Benito¡¯s wrist was still broken and swollen. From memory, Adrian announced the third team. ¡°One team will only have three men. Cyrus, Soren, and Remus.¡± These three were the quietest men in thepany. The red-haired Remus cursed under his breath, clearly unhappy. When we had been assigning groups, they had been the three odd men out. Remus was from Gregor¡¯spany and never really fit in. When the minormotion Remus made died down, Adrian continued, ¡°vius will lead Linus, Donte, and Kolm.¡± Linus and Kolm were two of the most liked men in thepany and had helped a lot of men through thest few weeks. I still didn¡¯t trust vius, but he was apetent scout and should keep them alive. ¡°Eryk will lead Brutus and Maveith and protect the Schr,¡± Adrian said, looking pointedly at Remus. My group essentially had just three fighters, and Maveith was hampered by injury. This mollified Remus some, as my group was just three warriors as well. I had selected Maveith because I felt guilty for involving him in the ill-fated expedition. He was also probably the best man in the entirepany at processing kills. The Schr would hopefully have value with his ability to read the Elven script in the safe rooms. I chose Brutus as my fourth because he was one of the best spearmen and swordsmen in thepany. We were also friends, and I thought he could keep my secrets if I had to reveal them. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition. Adrian didn¡¯t announce thest team, Castile, ze, Konstantin, and himself. It was implied. ¡°Get with your teams. Eryk is responsible for dividing up rations and gear.¡± My head snapped to Adrian, but I guessed that was my job now that Delmar was gone. I spent time with Lirkin, dividing up the fish, smoked, and dried meat. I had the Schr divide the wine. Everyone got seven bottles, with two extras that I took for myself. I sent all nine bottles of wine into my dimensional storage; everyone else would have to carry their allocation. ¡°I gave you the deepest reds, Eryk. They have been the tastiest and densest wines we sampled,¡± Favian whispered to me conspiratorially. ¡°If you can manage to resist the urge to drink them, they will be worth a king¡¯s ransom to a First Citizen.¡± The old man was ever the optimist. I patted the older man on the shoulder, ¡°Thank you, Favian,¡± I said, dropping his Schr honorific. ¡°I chose you because yournguage skills will be extremely useful in the dungeon.¡± He nodded sharply, ¡°I will do whatever I can to help.¡± A lot of the men were packing and repacking their gear out of nervousness. It was not like we were not going to take everything we possibly could into the dungeon with us. Brutus came and sat with us. ¡°Maveith, I hope you are bringing your checkers¡¯ board. I think we are going to have a lot of free time.¡± ¡°Most assuredly,¡± Maveith said, tapping the bag with the board inside. Maveith hesitated before asking in his baritone, ¡°Eryk, do you have your dreamscape amulet?¡± I just nodded. Maveith either wanted to see his sister again or bash some orcs by his happy nod. Lirkin was busy cooking and smoking as much as he could before we were ordered into the dungeon. It wasn¡¯t long after sunset that Castile suddenly stood. Her abrupt motion caused everyone to be quiet and turn to her. Her eyes were staring off into the distance. ¡°Enter the dungeon!¡± she said sharply. ¡°We do not have much time. No questions. Just go as soon as your team is together.¡± No one hesitated. Men raced to shoulder packs and grabbed items with their free hands. Remus, Soren, and Cyrus were the first to head into the snow tunnel. Adrian barked at them, ¡°Remember, you need to be touching each other when you enter!¡± Being the smallest group made it easy to organize and go first. My group was helping the Schr pack the books he had been perusing. Firth, Wylie, Mateo, and Felix were next to enter a less than a minuteter. I stepped near Castile to hear what she was saying to Adrian and Konstantin, ¡°The crazy elf summoned two wyverns. He is trying to control them now. We do not have time to waste.¡± Damn, the summoner liked his wyverns. Konstantin stepped closer to Castile, ¡°We should go next.¡± He was impatient as they were ready. Castile looked at him sharply, ¡°No, we will gost.¡± vius was shepherding his three charges into the tunnel at the moment. ¡°We are ready!¡± Brutus yelled to me from near the snow tunnel. Lucian had his group head into the tunnel, cutting in front of us as Brutus looked angrily at me, missing our opportunity to go next. The building shook as I took a step toward the tunnel. Dust spilled from the rafters, and the building groaned at the added weight of a wyvern. Brutus entered after Benito, ¡°Go, I yelled from behind Maveith.¡± Brutus was the first in my group to enter, followed by Favian. A hunched Brutus raced down the tunnel, with Maveith having difficulty keeping up as he was forced to crawl behind Favian. I was hunched over, pushing Maveith¡¯s ass to move faster. ze was behind me, the first member of thest group, Castile¡¯s group, ¡°Move faster!¡± he anxiously yelled as the snow above us suddenly thudded with debris as the wyvern destroyed the building. Chunks of wood and stone rained down, thudding into the stone tables that served as the tunnel''s ceiling. Some bricks even made it through the snow to our sides. The gate seemed so far away in the light of a dropped glowstone midway. A specter appeared right in front of me from the snowpack on my right. There was no way to draw my sword, but fortunately, I had the elven runic dagger. Maveith howled as the specter plowed into his hips. I stabbed repeatedly until the specter faded from existence. I realized Castile had the kettle of souls, so leaving the dungeon without it would be a problem. But that was a problem for future me. ¡°It is a rush of specters out here!¡± Adrian¡¯s voice rang back in the tavern. The wyverns tearing the tavern apart had attracted specters in the city to rush the building! This was about as bad a scenario as I could think of. Arge number of specters might remain around the dungeon entrance even after the wyverns left. ¡°Move Maveith!¡± I pushed him harder, and a momentter, the ck surface of the doorway to the dungeon embraced him, and I followed. Maveith was sprawled on his belly in front of me. The familiar stone surrounded us. We were in an oval chamber with only the dungeon exit and a single corridor. I breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Maveith, are you ok?¡± He groaned as he rolled over onto his back, rubbing his hip where the specter had contacted him. ¡°Wait, where are Favian and Brutus?¡± Maveith sat up slowly, a pained, apologetic look on his face. ¡°Sorry, Eryk. When the specter hit me, I lost contact with Schr Favian. I shoved him forward through the portal, thinking we would be overrun.¡± I was not sure if I should be angry with Maveith. We had made it into the dungeon. I hoped thest group with Castile and the kettle of souls also made it. Maveith stood and had trouble putting weight on his leg. I knew the effect of the specter¡¯s attack would fade in a day or so. I pulled out the elven food from my dimensional space. Maveith¡¯s eyes went wide at the variety and amount, ¡°Where were you keeping all this?¡± I divided the elf rations in half. And handed it to Maveith, ¡°I kept a little in reserve. I need you strong to help in this dungeon. Eat what you can. We can harvest more food from the dungeon.¡± I walked the outer wall, finding the elven script I was searching for. I focused on it, tranting the script. Unknown quadrant. Two shapeshifters in the room at the end of the corridor. Extremely dangerous. Well, shit. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 147: The Elven Children Chapter 147: The Elven Children ¡°It is beautiful,¡± Maveith noted. He was staring at the ceiling. The flowing river of lights and silvery shes might be beautiful if you didn¡¯t know you were in a dungeon that was trying to kill you. ¡°Yes, Maveith, it is.¡± I couldn¡¯t get angry with the goliath as our teamwork was going to be important in getting through this. ¡°What do you know about shape changers? That is what is down this corridor,¡± I pointed. Maveith moved painfully to look down the corridor. It looked to go for maybe a hundred feet before opening into a room. Maveith considered my question, ¡°Many creatures can change shape. Doppelgangers are the mostmon in cities. I have never met one, at least not one I was aware of.¡± ¡°The elves wrote that they were extremely dangerous. Can you fight?¡± I asked my friend, and he affectionately rubbed the head of his hammer on his belt. ¡°Can we wait a day? I should regain movement and feeling in my leg by then,¡± Maveith said, rubbing at his hip. I nodded as waiting made sense, it would be suicide to rush through the dungeon. ¡°I will go scout. Have you ever been in a dungeon?¡± Maveith shook his head no. ¡°Well, my experience is limited, but so far, I learned that if you don¡¯t enter the rooms where the monsters are, they cannot attack you.¡± Maveith nodded, ¡°I heard a lot of dungeons have dangerous traps between rooms, and there were also some rooms that were safe to stay in.¡± Great. That was all we needed, traps. I hoped Maveith had not just jinxed us for mentioning it. ¡°I will be careful. Wait here, and I will be back in a few minutes,¡± I stood, adjusted the small round shield, and drew my ck de. I proceeded down the corridor to the room, doing my best to remain silent. I counted my steps, one hundred and six, probably the length of a football field. It made me worry just howrge this dungeon might actually be. The light got brighter as I approached the room. It was arge room with a green carpet of moss and bushes dotting the floor. The bushes had blue-green leaves and dark blue berries. Movement caught my eye in the room, and I was speechless. A young elf child stood, perhaps only ten years old by human standards. She said something in elvish that I hadn¡¯t been paying close enough attention to catch. Another elf child stood on the other side of the chamber, this one a male and looked to be about the same age. Both were dressed in rags.I was paying attention this time as the boy spoke, ¡°Have youe to save us? Take us out of the dungeon?¡± The elf girl added, ¡°We have been trapped in the dungeon for so very long.¡± Both children hadrge, blue, innocent-looking eyes, and I immediately felt pity for them. I was still developing my elvish, so I took my time in responding. ¡°You cane with me. The exit is down this corridor,¡± I indicated behind me. I already knew these were the creatures in the warning written on the wall. ¡°Really!?¡± The female said excitedly. ¡°Can youe and help us carry our treasure out? You can have some for saving us.¡± I almost wanted tough at the obvious trap. ¡°What is this treasure?¡± I asked. They just wanted me to enter the room so they could attack me. I paused, considering maybe these shape changers had sapience? There were two exits from their room. I pointed at the other corridors, ¡°Where do those lead?¡± The boy pointed at the one, ¡°That one leads to a big, mean red bear.¡± He pointed at the other corridor, ¡°That is where we get our treasure. We can show you if you want.¡± I will admit the elven children in their rags looked innocent and convincing. Maybe the elves of Caelora were fooled by the act. I knew no one had entered the dungeon in fifteen hundred years, so still being children was impossible. Also, the warning on the wall helped. The children kept trying to lure me inside the chamber as I examined the mossy floor. Was there a danger there as well? Were those berries good to eat? I wished the Schr or even Konstantin was here. Did I just wish for Konstantin? Well, his ability to know if something was safe to eat anyway. The elven girl started to approach cautiously, almost like I was the monster. She stopped ten feet from me, well within my range. I remained calm and unthreatening. ¡°If you don¡¯t want our treasure, maybe you want something else?¡± She said provocatively. I aligned a box over her head and attempted to move it into my dimensional space. I let out a small smile as I used my dimensional storage. I woke on the ground momentster with a splitting headache. The two elf children standing at the entrance, evil smirks on their faces. ¡°Look at the poor soldier boy,¡± the girl said. ¡°Did he hurt himself?¡± ¡°He tried something and failed. He is a failure,¡± the boy mocked me. I stood slowly, my aether barely recovered from bottoming out. The weird thing was that the shape changer had not resisted my attempt. It was like my ability had rebounded at the entrance to the room. I backed away from the smirking monsters. Thinking about what just happened, I was making a wild guess. The monsters could not leave the room. So, if you have a ranged weapon or spell, you could kill the creatures from the doorway. I needed to test my theory further. I waited until my aether recovered and removed a bow and a single arrow from my storage. The two children¡¯s eyes went wide, not in surprise but mocking merriment. I aimed at the girl and fired. My aim was true, but the arrow lost all momentum at the door and just fell into the room softly. The elf girl walked forward, picked up the arrow, and touched the sharp tip. ¡°I don¡¯t think he wants to y with us,¡± she said, locking eyes with me. She blinked, and her blue eyes wentpletely yellow before they were back to blue in the next blink. I started backing up as the two startedughing in a musical tone. I returned to find Maveith sitting against the wall. Several empty bags were nearby him from the elven rations I had given him. Maveith handed me a half-full bottle of wine, ¡°What did you find, Eryk?¡± ¡°Two demon tricksters were masquerading as children,¡± I said, sitting down next to him. ¡°They are blocking us from exploring further in thebyrinth, so we will have to deal with them. But that is a problem for tomorrow.¡± I finished the half bottle of wine and relieved myself along one of the walls. We set up our bedrolls just to the left of the exit of the dungeon. We were going to have to trust that we were safe in the entry room. I ced the amulet around my neck and told Maveith I was going into the dreamscape. He acknowledged my words before falling asleep himself. Maveith was too exhausted to even ask to join me. Entering the dreamscape, I was in the entry room as normal. I walked to the scorpion room, where I had stashed everything and everyone. I silenced the people and went to my bookshelf. I added a dozen of the elven books I had not gotten to yet and then pulled a book on aether shaping. During my time in the dungeon, I would focus on my magic, hoping to find magic essences in here eventually. Learning a discement spell form was a waste of time, and I didn¡¯t have spell form manuals for my other high affinities. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Oscar sat in myp while I studied, seeing we would not y. I spent eight hours inside the dreamscape going through the aether shaping and channeling exercises that I learned Damian, the healer, back during legion training before exiting. The practice inside the dreamscape was always more effective, and I made progress in my control of the aether, even though I was fairly sure my shaping had already been maxed. My limiting factor was my aether-shaping attribute. Maveith was still sleeping when I exited, his breathing hoarse but deep. I needed to get him a healing potion. My aether was over half recovered, and I stood. There was no point hiding things now. We were going to be dependent on each other. I pulled out the elven tablet table. I was cleaning it when Maveith stirred and woke. He looked confused at the table, ¡°Where did thate from?¡± ¡°I picked it up in the undercity. Have you never seen one before? It is a tablet reader,¡± I said nonchntly. Maveith¡¯s brow was furrowed, and he was perplexed. I could see his mind working on the problem, and he came to the correct conclusion. ¡°Your dimensional space is much bigger than everyone thinks!¡± ¡°Bingo!¡± ¡°Bingo?¡± Maveith replied, once again confused and trying to puzzle out the meaning. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Maveith. I wanted to show you this to prove my dimensional space is slightly bigger than you thought,¡± I indicated the table. Maveith inspected the table, ¡°I have seen them before, but I have never used one.¡± His fingers ran across the disys. This table had everything, all attributes and all the affinities. But from my understanding, it was keyed to the elven race. ¡°Maveith, you just need to channel a tiny bit of aether in here,¡± I pointed to the handprint on the right side of the device. ¡°The results wille out in elven numerals, but I will read them to you,¡± I encouraged him. I was also curious about what his readings would be. Maveith ced his hand and forced his aether into the device. Nothing happened. Maybe it had been damaged and didn¡¯t work. ¡°I think I need to hold the other side of the table as well,¡± Maveith guessed. There was no handprint on the other side of the table, though. ¡°Try it and use a little more aether this time,¡± I encouraged him. Maveith gripped the edge of the table and ced his hand again. A heartbeatter, the table was illuminated in a soft glow, and numbers filled in after the eleven scripts on the table.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength 77/107 Intellect 20/38 Aether Pool 9/10
Power 60/90 Reasoning 34/46 Channeling 19/30
Quickness 38/55 Perception 29/40 Aether Shaping 15/16
Dexterity 22/40 Insight 15/30 Aether Tolerance 22/25
Endurance 44/90 Resilience 19/34 Aether Resistance 9/21
Constitution 39/101 Empathy 48/67 Prime Aether Affinity Earth
Coordination 23/33 Fortitude 30/50
Elemental Magics (Common)
Fire 0
Air 3
Water 0
Earth 14
Lightning (Energy) 7
Spirit (Healing) 0
Nature (nt) 2
Unaffiliated Magics (Umon)
Charm (Mind) 0
Illusion 0
irvoyance 0
Protection (Guardian) 0
Necromancy 0
Celestial 0
Abyssal 0
Rare Magics
Space 0
Time 0
Discement 0
Materialism 0
Worlds 0
Void 0
Convergence 0
His readings confirmed it was keyed to elven physiology. Maveith had two potentials past one hundred, where one hundred should have been the maximum. Well, that was how it worked on a human tablet anyway. I started reading off the numbers for Maveith. When I finished, I exined to him, ¡°Unless you fortified your stats with essences, they may have dropped while we starved in the city. It looks like Earth is the only spell form you can learn.¡± Maveith could shape stone, so he had already learned his one spell form. ¡°I have never consumed an essence,¡± he replied in his deep voice. ¡°I feel really weak and have lost a lot of weight since we entered the library. Can we check again when I am healthy and fit?¡± ¡°Sure thing, Maveith. Now, I need you to understand the size of my dimensional space is a secret. Can you keep that secret for me?¡± I said seriously. It didn¡¯t take long for Maveith to nod, ¡°I understand, Eryk. What about you? Are you going to use the device?¡± Maveith questioned. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Maveith¡¯s question on whether I would also use the reader hung in the air. Maveith¡¯s physical attributes were impressive for an elf, I guess. I wanted to build trust with the goliath but was worried about him seeing my high magic affinities. He may not be able to read Elvish, but he could probably figure out numbers fairly quickly, and there were just too many non-zeros in my affinity. I decided in a distraction, ¡°I don¡¯t think so, at least not right now anyway. I wanted to show you this.¡± I ced the obsidian stone on the floor. I could still feel the heat emanating from it. ¡°I found it my first time in the dungeon.¡± That was sort of true, as I hadn¡¯t realized I had been carrying it until then. Maveith approached the stone, his hand just inches away. His brow furrowed, ¡°A fire starter? This would have been useful, but perhaps we can use it to cook inside the dungeon. Brutus had most of our firewood in his pack.¡± ¡°Exactly what I was thinking. But I just thought it was thermal stone for heating a room,¡± I replied, feeling the heat for myself. The air in the dungeon was cool but not cold. Maveith apparently knew a little bit about thermal stones, ¡°There are different grades of thermal stones. It depends on how fast they can convert aether into heat. The material they are made from is mined and shaped on Stone Mountain Ind, and artificers from around the world purchase it from goliath miners and crafters,¡± he said proudly. He touched the stone and drew his hand back. ¡°This is a high-quality fire starter. The more aether you channel into it, the hotter it will get. To cook, just channel the aether until it turns red.¡± The gray-skinned goliath considered the stone, ¡°It should remain hot for an hour or so before cooling off slowly based on its size.¡± ¡°How long do theyst? How many times can I charge it?¡± I asked the goliath. Maveith shrugged, going to his pack for materials to cook. ¡°As long as the stone is not damaged, it shouldst forever. My father,¡± he paused, ¡°my father had one passed down from my great grandfather. We should cook something,¡± Maveith said excitedly. He had a lot of weight to put back on, so I was not surprised. He went to his pack and pulled out the mostly frozen fillet. He soon hummed to himself as he charged the stone to red color and carefully bnced the pot on the stone. He meticulously watched and cooked the fish. Without oil, the skin stuck to the pan, but Maveith didn¡¯t seem to care about the lost nutrition. He was happy about the normalcy of cooking and reminiscing about cooking with the thermal stone.The smell of the cooking fish soon permeated the room, and as Maveith focused on that task, I figured out how to clear the tablet reader. The surface was nk, and without Maveith seeing it, I activated it, cleared it, and returned it to my dimensional space. I took a ce to sit along the wall to puzzle out my reading. I had to think way back to myst reading to calcte the changes in my head. None of my affinities for magic had changed.
Elemental Magics (Common)
Fire 0
Air 0
Water 0
Earth 6
Lightning (Energy) 8
Spirit (Healing) 23
Nature (nt) 0
Unaffiliated Magics (Umon)
Charm (Mind) 5
Illusion 0
irvoyance 0
Protection (Guardian) 30
Necromancy 0
Celestial 0
Abyssal 0
Rare Magics
Space 98
Time 90
Discement 61
Materialism 9
Worlds 88
Void 22
Convergence 74
My physical, mental, and magical attributes had changed; some of them had even decreased.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (-7/+0) 45/80 Intellect (-2/+0) 29/54 This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Aether Pool (+0/+0) 16/22
Power (-2/+1) 46/84 Reasoning (-5/+0) 44/61 Channeling (+7/+2) 21/57
Quickness (-5/+0) 30/49 Perception (-4/+1) 50/61 Aether Shaping (+2/+0) 8/8
Dexterity (+0/+0) 39/60 Insight (-3/+0) 32/49 Aether Tolerance (+8/+0) 32/50
Endurance (-3/+0) 64/95 Resilience (-2/+0) 45/71 Aether Resistance (+1/+0) 8/19
Constitution (-8/+1) 42/69 Empathy (+0/+1) 12/22 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (-4/+0) 42/63 Fortitude (-5/+0) 48/89 Minor Aether Affinity Time
The first thing I tried to puzzle out was with the essences I had consumed, my potentials seemed right in line with expectations. But if this tablet reader were made for the elven physiology, wouldn¡¯t my potentials be different? Some type of sliding scale? The second part of my confusion was the decrease in my attributes. With weeks of starvation, it made sense I would lose attributes. I was probably twenty-five pounds lighter, if not more. Maybe I would recover quickly with the more food that I consumed. I thought back to the other men in thepany, and our fighting effectiveness had definitely dropped, but not as much as you would think for how little we were eating. Konstantin had mentioned that the essences fortified your attributes and made it more difficult to lose ground over time. Maybe my slow aging also yed an effect in helping mediate my losses? I thought I had fared much better than a lot of the others in thepany. Maveith had finished cooking and presented me with half therge fillet. The fish was ky and tasted buttery except for the tiny strings of cartge, which I had just swallowed. Maveith ate contentedly as well, savoring the fish while the fire started slowly changing from red to ck in its cooling process. ¡°Are you healthy enough to fight?¡± I asked Maveith a while after the meal. He nodded slowly, ¡°I can swing my hammer. What are we facing?¡± ¡°Two shapeshifters that are masquerading as elven children. They tried to trick me toe into the room. The room is covered in a carpet of green moss. I am not sure if it conceals any danger.¡± I pointed at the wall, ¡°Apparently, this room was an unpopr starting point as the elves did not map it.¡± Maveith stood painfully, wincing as he stood. ¡°We should also try and find the others.¡± He pulled his hammer from the loop on his belt and nodded to me. To Maveith¡¯s amazement, I stored both our packs in my dimensional space. Best not to be slowed down by them. Together, we made our way down the corridor, side by side. The width and height of the passage were around ten feet to a side. As we approached, the two elven children were standing at the entryway, blocking our ess to the room. The boy spoke in elvish, ¡°Look, he has returned and brought a friend.¡± The girl added, ¡°I think they havee to y. It has been so long since we yed with anyone.¡± Maveith¡¯s hands flexed along the handle of his sledgehammer and questioned me, ¡°What are they saying? Their mannerisms seem unnatural for children.¡± The girl switched to Latin, ¡°Oh, the big one speaks the new tongue. I want to y with him first!¡± I couldn¡¯t help my own curiosity and asked the pair, ¡°Are you the dungeon talking through these creatures?¡± ¡°He calls us creatures! You are the creature! Coming in here to kill and loot over and over again,¡± the girl berated me in Latin. ¡°We are not the dungeon. Just ythings of it. If you are not going to y with us, leave.¡± ¡°I have never heard of creatures in a dungeon talking before,¡± Maveith said worriedly. ¡°Are you sure we should be fighting them?¡± The boy teased Maveith, ¡°Look, you have scared the big one. He is going to be too afraid to enter now.¡± ¡°Back up to the center of the room, and we will enter,¡± I requested of the pair. Could you even reason with these creatures? The two looked at each other creepily, then back at us. They started to take steps back, their bare feet leaving footprints in the mossy ground that quickly disappeared. ¡°Maveith, we cannot leave the dungeon as there was a rush swarming the tavern, and the summoner¡¯s wyverns may be there. We only have one path to follow in thebyrinth, and it leads us here. I will take the girl, and you can take the boy?¡± I said it softly, but it was clear the creatures overheard as they failed to hide a smirk and were anticipating the fight. ¡°They have no weapons,¡± Maveith said, assessing our opponents who stood twenty feet apart in the center of the chamber awaiting us. ¡°Shape changers, remember. My guess is once we enter, they will change their form. Ready?¡± Maveith studied the two children and slowly nodded. I rushed forward, prepared to use my ability, and react to anything. The ground was spongy as I led with my round shield and ck de in the other hand. The two children just smiled, and I risked a nce at Maveith, who was two steps behind. I had let my adrenaline get the better of me. Twenty feet from the children, their eyes blinked to a yellow. The girl¡¯s body started rapidly stretching first, quickly tearing through the rags she wore as she gained girth and height. Her skin stretched and became gray and veiny. Her messy hair retracted into her body as her face head became bald and ridged with bones over the eyes. The creature had grown from less than four feet to over eight in the short time it took to cover the ground. Long,nky arms sported imposing ck ws. The rags gone; the creature appeared genderless. The creature took a defensive stance as I reached it. The creature¡¯s head suddenly disappeared. My aether bottomed out after a brief struggle with its resistance. I changed my direction, pivoting in the moss, and my ck de slid into the outline of the ribs on the boy that had also grown into the simr horror. The surprised creature backhanded me, and I easily intercepted the strike with my shield. I did not expect its immense strength as I was flung back, and my sword hilt was torn from my grasp. I had held it long enough to wrench the de sideways through the body. I skidded on the carpet of moss, the berry bushes slowing me slightly. I caught Maveith swinging his hammer into the knee of the creature. It had turned to face me, giving the goliath a wide opening. A satisfying pop resounded in the room as the knee bent at the wrong angle, and the creature fell to its knees. Maveith was already winding up for another swing at the creature¡¯s head. As the blow wasing, the creature¡¯s armshed out and grabbed the shaft, preventing the goliath frompleting a swing. The creature¡¯s arms were deceptively long even as the seven-foot-plus goliath towered over the kneeling body. The other hand punched out into Maveith¡¯s leather armor, causing him to backpedal while releasing air in a huff. These things were just too strong. The only good sign was my ck de embedded in the creature was dripping a stream of blue-ck blood. Its t face had no mouth, but it still managed to hiss in pain and anger, but no recognizable words came from it. Standing, I realized my shield shoulder was dislocated. Pain red when I tried to move, and I was unable to raise my arm, so I let the shield fall to the mossy ground. I drew the elven dagger with my good hand but kept my distance. ¡°Maveith, how are you doing, big guy?¡± Maveith coughed painfully as he supported his weight on his hammer. ¡°Some broken ribs, but I can still fight.¡± The creature was looking back and forth between us as we nked it now. It touched my sword exploratorily, but it decided not to extract it. With the flow of blooding off the sword, I doubted it could live much longer. Maveith had destroyed one knee, so it should remain immobile. We watched as it struggled to stand and then gave up andy down on the mossy floor. ¡°Keep an eye on it,¡± I said, moving to the other creature¡¯s corpse. The aether-rich dungeon was helping me recover quicker than normal, but it was still going to take some time before I could bring out the collector. Minutes passed slowly until I finally materialized the collector. I ced it on the corpse, and thick blue smoke was pulled from the body and onto the collector. ¡°What is that? Do you have a collector?¡± Maveith asked from the far side of the room. ¡°Yes,¡± was my short reply as the smoke coalesced in an apex essence. A myriad of ever-shifting colors swam inside the sphere as I picked it up. It felt weighty in my hand, denser than previous apex essences I had held. I slipped the essence under my armor and into a pocket. I circled wide of the creature and stood next to Maveith. He was audibly wheezing. I just hoped the reward for this room contained a healing potion. ¡°Give me a few minutes, and I will retrieve your bow for you. You can make sure the other one is dead. ¡°If you have your own bow in there, perhaps it is best if you shoot it. I think it might be too painful to draw my bow,¡± he said with difficulty. Iughed, ¡°My shoulder is dislocated, but I can wait until I can heal myself. Go sit down and rest, Maveith. I will watch it.¡± Maveith gratefully copsed onto his back on the mossy floor. I stood over him. ¡°Grab my wrist and pull straight down,¡± I swung my arm to him, and he reached up. I figured it would save some aether if he got it back in the socket. Maveith yanked down, and a soft pop resounded in my body. It had not been too bad. I was able to move the arm but raising it above my head was a burning pain. Minutester, I drew the bow and missed from ten feet. Konstantin¡¯s voice echoed in my head, mocking me. Truthfully, I almost missed it now. My second, third, and fourth shots connected without the creature stirring. Cautiously, I moved in with the collector and used it to the same effect as the first time. Another swirling prismatic orb. From my experience, it was definitely a magic essence. I had Castile¡¯s library in the dreamscape, so I should be able to find it. Now, if I were a reward chest, where would I be hiding? ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 149: Chapter 149: The reward chest was not challenging to find. It was in the middle of a bush and was the same solid stone box I had found before, with no way to open it other than shattering it. This one was slightlyrger, which gave me hope for a good haul. I turned it in my hand, and it clinked with coins and something heavier. I went to Maveith and sat beside him, shaking the box. ¡°Got the reward chest here, Maveith. Hoping it contains a healing potion for you,¡± Maveith looked over, interest and hope clearly on his face. I smashed the box with the elven dagger hilt, and it crumbled like before when Ipromised it. I sifted through the debris and found thirty-sixrge nk silver coins and an apex essence in the mossy carpet. The golf ball-sized sphere was a faded purple. Intelligence, if I remember correctly. ¡°Did it have a healing potion?¡± Maveith asked, rolling on his side to look at the loot. ¡°No, it is just some silver coins and an apex essence,¡± I replied, holding up the sphere. ¡°Apex?¡± Maveith questioned, sitting up. ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°Essencese in three sizes. The smallest are called lesser or minor essences, depending on who you ask and what you read,¡± I produced the minor dark green quickness essence and handed it to him. ¡°The middle size is called greater or major essences. They are about twice the diameter of the minor ones.¡± I let Maveith study the minor essence before continuing. ¡°The final ones are called apex essences. They are highly valued because they can raise your potential.¡± I handed him the light purple sphere I had just obtained. Maveith turned the balls in his hand and focused on them, ¡°vius asked me if I ever saw you use an essence collector that matches that description.¡± ¡°What did you tell him, Maveith?¡± I asked, curious.¡°I said no.¡± He looked at me, ¡°Did you have that the entire time? You should have used it on the manticores,¡± Maveith¡¯s tired voice rumbled. ¡°I did. I was able to harvest all three of the manticores while you were recovering in the cabin.¡± I pulled out another apex essence, ¡°it produced an apex essence from the young manticore.¡± The sphere was blue and had white cloud-like wisps inside, reminding me of the sky. ¡°This was from the young manticore.¡± I handed it to him. ¡°Why is this one so much prettier than the others?¡± Maveith said, intently focused on the magical spheres. ¡°I think it is because it can enhance a magic affinity.¡± I said truthfully. Maveith made to hand the three essences back to me. ¡°Take one and consume it. The green is quickness, the pale purple is intellect, and the cloudy one is the magical affinit. I may be able to find out what it is once I study the books Castile left in the dreamscape.¡± It did not take long before the gray-skinned man handed me back the two apex essences and ced the green one in his mouth. His expression went through a range of emotions, ¡°I feel tingly like electric currents are being fired through my muscles.¡± Just a few secondster, he said, disappointed, ¡°The feeling is gone. I do not feel any different.¡± ¡°It takes dozens of essences to affect real change. But there is a secret. Essences can help fortify an attribute and make it more difficult to lose points,¡± I told him of the secret Konstantin revealed. I still kind of felt like an ass and greedy just giving him the one essence. I should probably share the manticore and shape changer essences with him in the future. I stood. ¡°I am going to explore the corridors. Is there anything we can get from the bodies of the shape changers?¡± Maveith painfully stood and went to the nearby creature. ¡°It has muscle, but some monsters have toxic meat. I think these are mountain berries,¡± he indicated the bushes. He plucked one and chewed it before spitting it out. ¡°It tastes like mountain berries as well. The moss looks likemon moss used for stopping bleeding by soldiers and women.¡± Maveith¡¯s tongue and teeth were stained a deep blue-purple. ¡°I do not know how long it will take for the shape changers to reappear, but I think we have at least a day. Why don¡¯t you harvest the berries while I check the corridors?¡± I offered the goliath. ¡°Okay, Eryk. Do not be too long,¡± he said as he looked at my first kill. The stump of the head had soaked the moss in arge area with its dark blood. ¡°Where is the head of the other one?¡± A slight panic hit me, and I walked to the beheaded creature and then circled the room. I ced the head behind a bush out of Maveith¡¯s sight. I picked it up to show him, ¡°It just rolled a little way over here.¡± Maveith nodded, epting, ¡°I was focused on mine and did not even see your strike. Just the body falling to the ground.¡± I thought I would keep some of my secrets if I could. Maveith was not stupid; he just took time to puzzle things out and usually came to the correct answer. The more we traveled together here, the more he would see and learn. I ced one of the twenty-gallon water casks on the moss. Water sloshed inside as I shook it, but not much remained. Maveith¡¯s eyebrow raised at the size of the cask, processing that it came from my space. ¡°Fill the canteen and use this to harvest the berries.¡± The other water cask in my dimensional space was full as I had only used this one to fill my canteen. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. There were two exits from this room. I faced the corridor where we entered and recalled what the shapeshifters had said. One corridor led to a dark room with treasure, and the other corridor led to arge, mean red bear. How did they even know the bear was mean if they could not leave their room? I looked down the corridor that had the dark room, and a ck void was just fifty feet away. It did not look like a dungeon exit, though. I walked halfway to it and stopped. I had an ominous feeling start to creep in on me. I took another step, still twenty feet from the dark room. The light from the ceiling and floor did not prate the room. Even my glowstone could not shed light into the room. My uneasiness was too strong. I started backpedaling and returned to find Maveith lining the barrel with moss. I realized I had cold sweat on my face as Maveith looked up at me, waiting for a report. ¡°There is a dark room that light cannot prate. I did not enter, and it felt dangerous.¡± ¡°Maybe we can try together if the other corridor is not feasible as well,¡± Maveith offered supportively. ¡°Maybe,¡± I said, but I did not even want to enter that corridor again. I walked to the other corridor and could not even see the end. Remembering Maveith¡¯s warning of traps, I used the butt of my spear like a blind man¡¯s cane as I proceeded, counting my steps. About one hundred feet down, a side corridor opened to my left. The corridor I was following continued in a straight line, and there appeared to be an end in sight. I decided to continue down the corridor, and I reached room in just over a hundred feet. I paused at the entrance to the room, taking it in. The ceiling was maybe forty feet and had shes of red, differentiating it from the ceilings I had seen so far. The room was also a massive hexagon, maybe eighty feet across. A massive mound of earth dominated the chamber¡¯s center, and the floor appeared to be a soft ck soil. Around the chamber were nine apple trees that I could see, but maybe more beyond the mound, I could not. I did not see an exit from the room, but the mound blocked my line of sight. The apples on the trees were all bright red and looked delicious. I studied the room, not wanting to take a step in. I remembered the lesson with the scorpion, where I had been trapped inside after entering. I finally picked something out: there were bear prints in the soil. Veryrge bear prints. I whistled as loud as I could, hoping to draw out the monster that guarded this room. I heard a heavy snort, and a red gargantuan bear sauntered from the other side of the mound. This bear was easily twice the size of the gray one I had killed. Its body rippled with fat and muscle as it walked. It had short red hair that seemed to shimmer like me. The bear noticed me but did not charge. It just walked to one of the apple trees, its massive head sniffing, finding an apple it liked, and its long tongue wrapped around, pulling it free. It crunched into the apple, its massive jaws crushing it and causing a foamy drool to form. It eyed me as it ate apple after apple. It was clearly waiting for me to enter. Was there just one red bear? It did not look like a normal bear. Did it have a hidden power? I stepped into the room hesitantly. The corridor did not seal behind, allowing me to exhale in relief. The bear finished its current apple but did not charge me. It just watched me. I realized this bear was much smarter than a normal bear. It knew I could run if it charged. It yawned, acting unconcerned, but took a half step in my direction. I remained near the corridor, not nning to move further into the chamber. The red bear took another step toward me. I did not move. It took patient step after patient step, its eyes locked to mine. Its head was at eye level with me as it approached. The eyes were a deep red, almost ck, as it approached. When it reached fifteen feet, the extreme range of my reach, its body suddenly tensed, ready to rush and reach me before I could flee. It never got its chance, as the front half of its head had been removed. The body copsed quickly, and I could see the reward chest appear on top of the mound behind the bear after its body dropped. Yeah, I was cheating the dungeon out of a fight, but I did not care. I just hoped the dungeon did not have a consciousness and started to change the rooms to counter my ability. I climbed the mound, eager to check the chest. The stone case was easily shattered to reveal twentyrge silver coins and two potion vials. I recognized the runic writing on one of the dungeon potions, as it was the same one, I had received after defeating the gray bear. I had a healing potion for Maveith¡ªa greater healing potion. The other potion had unfamiliar runic writing, but I could probably find out what it was in the books Castile manifested inside the dreamscape. I sent the coins and the unknown potion to storage as I approached the bear. The essence collector ready, it worked rapidly, pulling in the smokey essence to form a ck sphere that flickered with red and orange mes. Another apex magic essence. I sent the essence and collector to storage, took the apex essence of intellect, and consumed therge, faded purple sphere. It dissolved on my tongue and tasted like cotton candy, or maybe that is just what I wanted it to taste like as it rapidly dissolved. I quickly received a brain freeze as the essence worked. I was grateful for getting a huge multiplicative of effectiveness from essences, but the physiological changes were much more pronounced for me, especially when I consumed apex essences. Grateful as the feeling faded, I looked at the bear. With the elven de, I quickly cut a sizable bear steak. I carried the steak back down the long corridor to return to Maveith as proof of my victory. Maveith was hunched over a berry bush and looked up; his lips were a bright blue. ¡°Sampling the merchandise, Maveith?¡± I questioned him. ¡°The berries are extremely sweet,¡± he smiled; his teeth were a deep blue. At least I had a few drafts of the mouthwash in my dimensional space. ¡°Is that meat?¡± I held up the steak, ¡°From a bear with rippling red fur that reminded me of fire as it moved.¡± Maveith¡¯s brow furrowed in thought, ¡°A fire bear? They are dangerous foes. No fire, magical or normal, can harm them; they are incredibly strong and fast.¡± ¡°Yeah, it was a tough fight. Do you want to go help harvest the rest of it? Maybe after you drink this healing potion?¡± I held up the prize in my other hand. Maveith¡¯s eyes went wide, focusing on the tiny vial. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 150: Dungeon Wanderings Chapter 150: Dungeon Wanderings Maveith drank the healing potion, and his face instantly rxed. He must have been in intense pain as a euphoric expression came across his face. He started to rotate his torso, a smileing across his face. He picked up his hammer and swung it in an arc above his head, grinning as he did so. His deep voice echoed in the room, ¡°Thank you, Eryk. I can help you fight the dungeon creatures now.¡± Maveith¡¯s eyes focused on the bear steak. He licked his dark blue stained lips, ¡°Do you want me to cook that?¡± I pulled out our packs and the thermal stone, and Maveith got to work cooking. ¡°A shame we don¡¯t have salt and pepper,¡± Maveith said regretfully. ¡°We do,¡± I said and deposited one of three five-pound bags of sea salt and the bag of peppercorns on the mossy ground. Maveith¡¯s eyes were bugging out of his face. I exined not using them earlier, ¡°I did not see the value in voring our meager offerings with thepany. If I had revealed this in the tavern, others would have be aware of myrger dimensional space. Castile was able to keep myrger space from being known by thepany.¡± ¡°Castile knows?¡± Maveith said, taking the salt and pepper reverently. I think the appearance of the twomon spices surprised him more than therge elven tablet table. At least he was more appreciative of them. ¡°Castile, Delmar, and Adrian,¡± I paused. ¡°Just Castile and Adrian now.¡± Maveith carefully counted peppercorns to grind like he was already rationing them. ¡°I have two more bags of salt, but that is all the peppercorns I have.¡± Maveith nodded but focused on crushing the peppercorns and not losing any of the spice. While Maveith cooked, I tried one of the berries. It tasted like blueberries, but the juice was thicker with the consistency of syrup. I started eating them by the handful, believing they were not poisonous. Maveith charged the thermal stone, cut the steak into one-inch cubes, lightly seasoned them, and then seared all six sides, forming a brown crust. He handed me the first one, and it practically melted in my mouth with an explosion of vor, the center just slightly pink. I was unsure whether bears from the dungeon carried trichinosis like bears from my world, but I figured with magic and increased stats we would be alright, and Maveith did not seem to worry so I didn¡¯t either. I had forgotten how salt and pepper magnified your taste buds. The vors were dancing on my taste buds and lingered after I swallowed the first piece. Maveith tried one next, and soon they were gone, and he was working on the second batch to finish off the steak. ¡°We should harvest the bear after this. This is some of the best bear meat I have ever cooked,¡± Maveith voiced eagerly while turning the cubes. I let Maveith have most of the second cooking of the bear meat, and then we picked up camp and headed to harvest the bear. It had been almost two hours since I had killed it, and I was wondering if it would still be there. ¡°Where does that lead?¡± Maveith asked of the side passage halfway to the bear mound chamber. ¡°I did not explore it yet. Best to keep things simple and explore one room at a time,¡± I counseled. Not that I was an experienced dungeon delver myself. I immediately knew something was wrong as we reached the chamber. The bear should have been visible, but I did not see the carcass.¡°Are those apple trees?¡± Maveith said excitedly, not seeing the worry on my face about the missing bear. ¡°Wait, Maveith. The bear is gone. Stay here,¡± I stepped into the room, expecting the fire bear to have respawned. I circled along the outer wall to the other side of the chamber. The mound had a cave entrance opposite our door. From a distance, I tossed in a glowstone and it was not very deep and also empty¡ªjust a shallow den. ¡°It is fine, Maveith. You can enter,¡± Maveith immediately plucked an apple and then crunched into it, chewing and savoring it. I had a cynical thought. Without Konstantin here, I had Maveith as a poison taster. I knew I should not be thinking that way as I considered him a friend, but I could not help it. ¡°Pick some apples, and let¡¯s go back to the blueberry room.¡± ¡°Why? Shouldn¡¯t we be exploring further in the dungeon?¡± Maveith asked, his jaws working loudly on his second apple. ¡°I just want to check and see if the bodies are gone. The dungeon reimed the bear quickly, but we were in the blueberry room for half a day, and the bodies never disappeared,¡± I voiced my thoughts. I dropped some dirty socks from my space under one of the apple trees to see if the dungeon reimed them by the time we returned. Maveith soon had forty apples on a tarp, and we retreated from the room. I paused in the corridor, Maveith following suit. The socks under the tree slowly sank into the earth and disappeared. It had only taken the dungeon seconds to im them after we vacated the room. ¡°Did you see that?¡± I asked Maveith. ¡°I did.¡± He thought for a moment, ¡°We shouldn¡¯t leave anything behind,¡± he noted while eating another apple. I nodded, thinking we had been lucky not to leave the tablet table or barrel of berries behind while exploring. It was also somewhat spooky. Could the dungeon just absorb us at any time? I knew I now had a new source for my nightmares. We returned to the blueberry room but did not enter. The bodies of the shape changers were gone. They had not revived, as there was no movement in the open room and nowhere to hide. ¡°I think the berries bushes are full again,¡± Maveith noted excitedly. ¡°I stripped every bush to fill the barrel, but they are flush with berries again!¡± That seemed awfully fast, but then again, dungeons drew on aether from magical ley lines. I decided not to enter, and we returned to the fire bear room. The apple trees that Maveith had picked had much smaller apples, like they were in the middle of growing,pared to therge fist-sized ones he had picked already. The question was, how long did it take for the creatures to respawn? If we never left a room, would they never return? No, I remember my first trip into a dungeon, and there were special safe rooms like the entry room. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Maveith, we need to look for the others and find a safe room. It is a room like where we entered with the elvish writing on the wall.¡± Maveith abruptly let out a long, wet-sounding fart. He rushed to remove his leather leggings and squat nearby. Squatting, he said, ¡°I am fine. I just ate too many berries and apples,¡± he said as disturbing sounds echoed in the chamber as he emptied his bowels. He probably had eaten a few pounds of berries and apples to go with his bear steak. I waited and harvested some apples while Maveith groaned, painting the earthen floor. I decided to stay away from that particr area. I knew my own time of having a substantial bowel movement was in the near future. I distracted myself by thinking of our needs. We needed water, so we needed to find a room with water. My twenty gallons mightst us twenty days at most of heavy activity. But weren¡¯t apples mostly water? There had to be two or three hundred apples on the trees, maybe more. Maveith finished his business, and we spent a few hours harvesting three bushels of apples. Picking the apples kind of made me miss Ginger, but I was d she had note with us. If she had survived to make it to the library, she most likely would have been used to feed thepany. Maveith looked much healthier and was moving without any pain. With all the apples in my storage, I announced, ¡°As we explore, we will always take the right corridor.¡± Maveith nodded in agreement, and we started walking down the corridor opposite the fire bear den. Forty strides, and wee to a T intersection. Both corridors looked identical. We turned right, as agreed, and came to a small room, maybe thirty feet across. We studied the room without entering it. The floor was a dark blue marble, and only the ceiling illuminated the room. Each of the three walls had a sizeable alcove covered in thick vines. The vines were dotted with small red flowers that had yellow veins. Maveith was standing over me as we both took everything in. ¡°I don¡¯t see any creatures,¡± Maveith¡¯s voice echoes into the room. Hisrge hammer was in his hand. ¡°The vines are fairly thick, so something could be hiding there¡ªor even the vines themselves are dangerous,¡± I said, remembering the shambling mounds. ¡°Are the nts familiar to you?¡± I asked mypanion. He hesitated, ¡°No. I have not seen anything like them. There is also no exit from this room.¡± ¡°It could be a safe room,¡± I guessed. ¡°But I say we don¡¯t enter and turn around,¡± I looked up at Maveith, who nodded in agreement. We left the vine room undisturbed and followed the corridor back to the intersection, taking the other route. Maveith noticed first, ¡°The corridor is turning. I think we are slowing turning right.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if that is a bad thing or not,¡± I muttered, unhappy with how little I knew about dungeons. Imented never reading any books on dungeons in the Duchess¡¯ library. I lost count of steps after one hundred as we followed the slowly curving corridor. It eventually straightened out, but there was no end in sight. I was guessing we had walked almost a quarter mile without seeing a side corridor or a room. ¡°Should we turn around?¡± Maveith asked, also feeling ufortable at the monotonous scenery. I considered before replying, ¡°Let¡¯s see this one to the end.¡± After another three hundred steps, it finally looked like a room ahead. I think I was more worried now about the size of the dungeon and finding the others from thepany. ¡°Water,¡± Maveith intoned behind me, and I heard it too. We approached the entry and were amazed at the site beyond. A massive domed room, maybe three hundred feet across, was being fed by a waterfall at its zenith. The waterfall created a misty environment that resulted in a myriad of rainbows from the illuminated ceiling. Arge pool dominated the center of the room, and waist-high grass surrounded it the pool. ¡°Do you see any creatures?¡± I asked, studying the room intently. Maveith had over a foot of height on me, ¡°There is something in the grass.¡± The sound of the water sshing into the pool prevented us from being able to hear anything. A head suddenly appeared above the grass. It looked like a weird giant chicken with a yellow and red crest of feathers. It pped its wings, which were featherless, leathery, and dark gray. ¡°Maybe something bigger in here feeds on them?¡± I guessed. A second of the oversized chickens raised their heads elsewhere in the grass. It turned to face us, and Maveith¡¯srge palm covered my face. His hand smelled foul as he dragged me backward. I was too surprised to resist. ¡°Those are not chickens, Eryk,¡± his voice was somewhat panicky. I let him pull me almost twenty feet before freeing myself from his grasp, spitting the foul taste out of my mouth. ¡°What, Maveith?¡± I asked for an exnation of his rough and unpleasant treatment. ¡°Cockatrices.¡± Maveith rasped out in his deep but worried voice. My nk stare had him exin further, ¡°They have the gaze of a Medusa. They can turn you to stone, petrify your flesh.¡± I started to look back, but Maveith grabbed my shoulders and prevented me. ¡°I have seen them hooded and for sale in the city of Balsa. They are a gue on the ins, and the nobility hunts them for sport and for their meat for banquets. You either need to hunt them blindfolded or with magical sight. With that waterfall in there, we have no chance of fighting them. We must seek another path,¡± he implored. I nodded in agreement. ¡°How many did you see?¡± I asked the goliath, who was still uneasy. ¡°At least three, but the grass was high. There could be many more. Please tell me we are not entering that room,¡± Maveith pleaded. I gave it some thought and finally nodded. I knew what a medusa was from mythology and did not want to be turned into a statue. ¡°There was a corridor on the far side of the room. It may be our only option.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just leave the dungeon?¡± Maveith intoned, still clearly upset at the cockatrices. I reminded him, ¡°No. We need to find Castile and the kettle of souls to return to Caelora. Otherwise, we will be swarmed by specters.¡± We began the walk back to the fire bear room. We waited and confirmed it had not been revived before entering. The apples had already started regrowing on the trees. Instead of returning to the shapeshifter room, we turned right down the unexplored corridor. The corridor ended in a Y intersection, and I was d we had more options. We took the right corridor and soon reached a rectangr room. ¡°Well, this doesn¡¯t look quite as bad as cockatrices,¡± Maveith muttered merrily, his fright evaporating from seeing the cockatrices. He pulled his hammer off his belt loop. ¡°Maveith, I hate spiders,¡± I bemoaned at our misfortune. The entire room was covered from floor to ceiling in thick webbing that shimmered with the illumination from the ceiling and floor. The thick strands vibrated slightly from the unseen spiders hiding within. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 151 Chapter 151 Spiders. Of course, it would be spiders. The room looked to have a high ceiling, maybe twenty feet. The strands dominated the long room, making seeing to the other side difficult. The webbing also created lots of shadows and corners for spiders to hide in. Other than the sticky-looking webs vibrating slightly, I could not see a single spider. Maveith also confirmed but had bad news with his observation, ¡°I cannot see any movement but the thickness of the strands,¡± he paused, ¡°they have to be veryrge spiders.¡± Shit, that did not even ur to me. The glistening strands were as thick as my wrist. ¡°Maybe we should try the other corridor,¡± I offered to the goliath. Maveith sucked on his teeth; his lips were still purple from the blueberries. ¡°This is the third room we have not entered. Fourth, if you add the dark room,¡± he said slowly in consideration. ¡°We cannot avoid every room, Eryk. Spiders are not too difficult.¡± ¡°We will check thest corridor first,¡± I said as apromise. ¡°Then try one of the rooms.¡± We returned to the Y intersection and followed the other corridor. Maveith immediately got excited as we approached the end of the corridor. I was focused on the thick, ck, oily pools scattered through a long wide room. The reflecting river of light from the ceiling made the pools seem to move. Maveith¡¯s excitement was due to the gold statue at the room¡¯s far end. I don¡¯t think the dungeon could have been more obvious that it was a trap. My eyes focused on the statue, an elf wielding a sword. The statue was gold, and there were no monsters in sight. It would be easy to get close, move it into my dimensional space, and leave. This was probably a safe room, too. That made sense, as only a safe room would have a golden statue. Maveith bumped me as he stepped past into the room. My eyes looked up at the goliath to yell at him for trying to get to the statue first. As soon as my focus left the statue, a fog lifted from my mind. I grabbed the back of Maveith¡¯s leather armor and yanked him hard, pulling him out of the room. He had only taken a single step inside, and I was fortunate he had not expected my yank. Unfortunately, he stepped back onto my boot, which caused me to fall backward, followed by Maveith. Having arge, odorous goliath fall on top of you is unpleasant. His weight knocked the air from me, and I was pressed into the floor ufortably. ¡°Maveith,¡± I grunted, ¡°it is a trap. The statue is affecting your mind! Do not look at it!¡±When Maveith removed his considerable weight from me, I focused on the chamber floor, healing my knee that had been strained from his weight. The oil slicks on the floor were stretching toward us in amorphous limbs. They reached the archway to the room and ttened against an invisible barrier, unable to leave. ¡°What the hell is that!¡± I said while scuttling back and standing. I reminded Maveith, ¡°Do not look at the statue.¡± If I had been alone, I might have walked into the room oblivious to the danger. Maveith shielded his eyes to just look down at the roiling ck ooze. ¡°I do not know. Maybe an ooze. Never heard of a ck ooze before.¡± The ck stic mass gave up trying to pass into the corridor and returned to its puddle further in the chamber. I counted seven of the creatures, and two attacked Maveith as soon as he had entered. I recalled my time in the sewers of Macha, ¡°Are they the same thing as slimes? We saw those in the sewers of Macha.¡± Maveith shook his head, turning away from the room. ¡°Slimes are harmless inparison to oozes. Oozes move faster, and once they grapple you, they climb over your body and force themselves into every orifice on your body. Then they digest you for the inside out.¡± Imagining dying that way was not pleasant. ¡°I think we will not enter this room either. Spider room?¡± I asked the gray-skinned man, and he gave a curt nod. We quickly returned to thest room. Nothing had changed in the fifteen minutes we had been gone. We both stood there, and I considered all the rooms we had encountered so far. Every room was extremely dangerous for the unsuspecting dungeon delver. I was beginning to have doubts about our survivability. It only took one mistake, and it would be the end for us. I took out an apple and tried to throw it into the room. When it passed the archway, it fell rapidly to the stone floor and rolled a few feet, touching the anchor point of one of the strands. All the strands vibrated slightly quicker before settling. Maveith was staring at the apple. I exined, ¡°You cannot make attacks unless you are in the room, and the dungeon creatures cannot leave the room. But do not hold me to that. I know truly little about dungeons.¡± ¡°You have killed every dungeon creature you have fought,¡± Maveith said supportively. ¡°I am d it is you that I am trapped with.¡± I winced as trapped seemed like the correct word, and I felt guilty that I was thinking of Maveith as my taste tester for dungeon produce. ¡°I have been in a dungeon room once where the exit was sealed behind me, Maveith. I do not know if we should enter this room without knowing what we are facing,¡± I said. This novel is published on a different tform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I was wishing I still had that goblin. I did have another living creature in my dimensional storage, the elf griffon rider. I knew she was still alive but on the brink of death. For the first time I thought about possibly healing her and trying to convince her to help. Of course, she was likely to try to kill me first, and then Maveith would also know how powerful my dimensional space was. ¡°I will go first and draw out the spiders,¡± Maveith said, gripping the handle of his hammer tightly. Before I could change his mind, he entered the room, and nothing happened. The massive goliath slowly scanned the maze of webbing. We could not see to the far side of the chamber. Maveith stepped forward and grasped the apple on the floor while remaining alert. He tugged on it, and the skin of the apple peeled off, remaining on the sticky strand. Thework of strands started to dance. Maveith was frantically searching for the spiders, as was I. A loud snap and one of the strandsshed toward Maveith. He dodged to his right only to step into another. It stuck to his arm, hampering his movement. The left wall started to move and quickly became recognizable as a massive gray spider, its bodyrger than a horse. The spider¡¯s body shifted rapidly from the dark gray stone of the wall to an ominous ck as it scuttled toward Maveith. The spider seemed too big for this room as Maveith attempted to free himself. Clicking sounds as the spider¡¯s legs cadenced on the stone drew my attention from scanning the rest of the room. I did not see any other movement and was hoping this was the only spider. I stepped into the room and removed the spider¡¯s head before it could get close to Maveith. I could not risk Maveith getting poisoned and being incapacitated. My aether had bottomed out, but the spider¡¯s resistance was not severe. The spider copsed, and blue viscous blood oozed out of its missing head. Maveith grunted, trying to free his arm, but he clearly noticed the dying spider that was just ten feet from him. The legs were twitching as it leaked a puddle on the floor. I used the elven runic dagger to cut Maveith free easily. He was clearly speechless from the demonstration of my power. ¡°Anything useful to harvest on the spider?¡± I asked the goliath casually. ¡°Eryk, did you? How can you?¡± He stuttered to find the words. I gave him time to puzzle everything and got to work. I pulled the essence collector out from the minimal pack I was carrying. I approached the spider to a dumbfounded Maveith and used the collector. The dense, blue smoke rapidly formed a glossy ck apex essence. Aether channeling. Maveith was still stunned, so I started looking for the reward chest. Of course, it was barely visible through the maze of crisscrossing webbing. I used the elven dagger to cut away strands. When it contacted the strands, it reminded me of a hot knife touching stic, easily burning through. The room was about thirty by sixty, and I was confused. Every dungeon room I had ever been in had something for the creature to eat. As I cleared this room to reach the chest, there was nothing but webbing. The chest wasrge, three feet long, but still solid stone. Once again, I shattered it with the pommel of the dagger, eagerly anticipating the loot. I could see how the danger and lure of treasure could be appealing. A shiny, short sword sat among the silver coins. The hilt was designed in the image of a spider with the legs sying out to make the guard, and all along the de were little etchings of spiders. It looked like they had hatched at the hilt and run down both sides of the twenty-four-inch de. ¡°Twenty silver coins, Maveith, and a dungeon de,¡± I stood and turned to face mypanion, who was still processing what had just happened. ¡°Maveith, is there anything we can harvest from the spider?¡± I repeated my question. Maveith tore his eyes from me to look at it, ¡°It is a gargantuan spider. Non-poisonous, so no venom sacs.¡± He stared back at it, realizing the fangs were gone with the head. ¡°The spinnerets. But I am not familiar with harvesting them.¡± I shrugged. Delmar had harvested the spinnerets in my first dungeon. ¡°Eryk, do you have void magic?¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice questioned me. ¡°Would that be a problem?¡± I asked, neither confirming nor denying. Void magic seemed to be what people thought my power came from after seeing it. Maveith seemed to consider, ¡°Void mages are regted just as much as necromancers.¡± He stated, not answering my question. ¡°I think all void mages in the Telhian Empire need to be in service to the Emperor.¡± ¡°Well, can you keep my secret?¡± I asked, still not offering him theplete truth. ¡°I am not Telhian,¡± therge man stated. I nodded, thinking that was the best I was going to get from him. ¡°I can only do this once,¡± I pointed at the spider. ¡°It takes me about two hours to recover enough aether to do it again.¡± Maybe I was giving him too much information, but we were going to be fighting together for a time in this dungeon. Maveith¡¯s mind was still turning, ¡°Is that how you killed the female manticore?¡± His eyes suddenly went wide, ¡°And the wyvern!¡± It had only taken Maveith minutes to piece everything together. ¡°Yes. Do you want this short sword?¡± I held up the spider-themed weapon. ¡°What do you think the spider was eating to stay alive?¡± Maveith¡¯s focus gradually came back to the conversation, ¡°Gargantuan spiders can hibernate for years. If there are any egg sacs here, we should destroy them. This one was just an adolescent; they can get muchrger after years of molting.¡± We searched the room but did not find any egg sacs or molted exoskeletons. The room also had no exits. It looked like we were not going to solve the mystery of the spider chamber. I sent the spider de to my dimensional space after Maveith declined it. I was a little unhappy that Maveith appeared more wary about me as we left. ¡°We should rest. We can head back to the safe room where we entered,¡± I suggested. ¡°We can stop and collect more blueberries,¡± Maveith nodded, licking his lips. Two elven children were seated among the bushes as we approached the room. The shapeshifters had been revived. It had been over a day since we had killed them. ¡°Maveith, I still need about an hour before I can do my trick again.¡± The two elves walked to the entrance, the girl¡¯s eyes narrowing at me usatorily. ¡°Looks like they are back to y again.¡± I waspletely taken off guard, ¡°Wait, you remember us?¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 152: Q&A Chapter 152: Q&A The elf girl was speaking Latin. Many thoughts raced through my mind, and none of them were pleasant. ¡°Maveith, I don¡¯t know about this. If they remember us each time¡­¡± Maveith did not seem as intimidated by the shapechangers as I was. ¡°I am healed this time. I can manage one by myself,¡± he dered confidently, his voice echoing in the hall. In a blink, the boy¡¯s eyes turned yellow and stayed that way. He shed Maveith a toothy smile. ¡°The big one thinks he can beat me again.¡± His skin stretched, and his clothing ripped as he grew to full height. He did not resemble the creature we fought before but instead was a mirror image of Maveith, albeit nude and immodest. Maveith suddenly looked ufortable, his hands clenching around the handle of his hammer. ¡°I do not know about this, Eryk. Perhaps we should try the vine room next.¡± His voice was now uncertain as he faced himself as an opponent. My focus remained on the creatures. I worried that these two could continuously learn from us, preparing better to fight us each time until we eventually lost. I had an unusual thought. Maybe they would not tell the truth, but perhaps they could share something about the dungeon. I recalled something the girl had said: ¡°You lied. There was no treasure in the dark room.¡± I never entered that room, but she did not know that. The creepy elf girl¡¯s face twisted into a horrid sneer. ¡°We do not lie.¡±She pointed at me. ¡°Oh, did you not bring your mining pick?¡±Her tone was mocking. Maveith¡¯s unease at seeing himself did not prevent his curiosity from shining through in the conversation. ¡°Mining pick?¡± ¡°You travel this deep into thebyrinth ande unprepared,¡± the girlughed unnaturally, openly taunting us. I grasped at the thread in her words. ¡°Deep? Where are we in thebyrinth? Are there levels?¡±The other Maveith returned to being an elf boy. ¡°Do not tell them anything. Make them pay for the knowledge,¡± he told the girl. The girl nodded energetically at herpanion. ¡°We want the red apples. I am sick of the berries. Bring us twenty apples, and we will tell you where you are!¡± Maveith was about to say something, but I raised my hand to negotiate. ¡°Twenty apples is a lot, and the bear does not like to give them away without a fight. Five questions and five apples for each answer. If I do not like thepleteness of the answer, no apples.¡± The boy turned to the girl, and they deliberated. ¡°He is trying to trick us. He will give us the apples and then steal them back after killing us again.¡± ¡°You could always let us pass without fighting?¡± I offered, interrupting them. ¡°Those are not the rules. Break the rules, and we will never be made whole again,¡± the girl said angrily. I produced five apples in my hands to entice them. ¡°Then eat them after you answer my question.¡± They looked at each other and then back at me. The girl¡¯s eyes locked on the apples, desire clear. ¡°You are near the bottom of thebyrinth but not at the bottom,¡± she blurted. That was a cryptic answer. What did it mean to be near the bottom? ¡°We just entered thebyrinth in the room down that corridor,¡± I pointed down the corridor we had arrived in. ¡°They are lost! They know not where they are!¡± The girl danced, mocking me. ¡°No more questions until the apples are received!¡± I felt I had not received aplete answer, but it was best to build trust. I rolled the five apples into the room, and they snatched them suspiciously. ¡°Think they are poisoned?¡± the girl asked the boy. ¡°If they are, then it is a good trick on us,¡± he replied, his teeth bing needle-like as he devoured the first apple, noisily chewing and savoring the flesh. The girl, not to be outdone, also grew sharp teeth to attack her own apple. The five apples did notst long. Juices dribbled down their bodies in a gross disy of gluttony. Seeing how much they enjoyed them, I produced five more. ¡°Next question. How big is the Shimmering Labyrinth?¡± I hoped to get a clearer idea so that maybe being near the bottom would make more sense. The girl said, ¡°It has been too long since we wandered the dungeon. It is wider than you think and deeper, too!¡± The boy added, ¡°It continues to grow, so you never know how big it is! Now, the apples!¡± His greedy eyes focused on them. I frowned at their vague answer. ¡°You did not answer my question to my satisfaction. No apples.¡± The boy rasped out angrily, ¡°I told you we shouldn¡¯t trust them.¡± He fumed before calming down and trying to offer a better answer. ¡°When we wandered the dungeon, there were hundreds of rooms. Right, left, straight, down, and all around! We ended up here eventually. Trapped!¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice reminded me he was behind me. ¡°The dungeon did not create you?¡± The girl was frustrated. ¡°Another question? No apples for thest! They are tricking us!¡± To mollify the girl, I rolled the apples into the room again. The grotesque disy of their consumption happened once more. When they finished, I pointed at Maveith. ¡°Answer his question next.¡± The shapechangers looked uncertainly at each other. The boy finally answered, ¡°We entered with the elves in the guise of one of their number.¡± The boy shifted into an adult elf. ¡°They discovered our true nature, and we killed them but could not escape the dungeon.¡± The girl shifted into an adult as well. ¡°We died elsewhere but woke, trapped in this room, never able to leave. Bound for eternity to the cursed dungeon. Forced to kill interlopers.¡± My body trembled at the thought of being cursed to live forever in a single dungeon room. I was sure I had new ammunition for nightmares. I absently rolled the apples forward, thinking. Maveith asked another question while I pondered, his voice uncertain. ¡°Are the creatures stronger the deeper in the dungeon you go?¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The woman wiped sugary drool from her mouth. ¡°Of course! Foolish question, and now you owe us more apples!¡± ¡°Maveith, it was a good question,¡± I reassured him. It meant that the rooms we were exploring were much more dangerous than those higher up in the dungeon. It gave me hope that some of thepany might have survived. I gave them their prize, and the adult elf male smiled with his needle-like teeth. ¡°You have but one question left!¡± ¡°But I have more than just five apples left,¡± I returned his toothy smile. The woman answered, holding her stomach. ¡°I am full and no longer desire apples. We will answer yourst question as agreed.¡± ¡°Maveith, let me think,¡± I warned the goliath. If we only had one question left, I wanted to make it count. Maybe the shapechangers could be reasoned with again for more answers. I finally asked, ¡°Can we rest safely in the corridors between the rooms?¡± The maleughed disgustingly at the question. ¡°They enter a dungeon and do not know the rules! Foolish human andrge gray man.¡± The woman joined him in mocking us. But they were the real fools here, having been trapped. Still, I wanted an answer. The pair calmed down, reverting to their child forms. The girl answered, still giggling at ourck of knowledge. ¡°Only rest rooms are safe. If you rest in the passages,¡± she locked eyes with me, ¡°and stop making progress, then we will be free toe and find you.¡± The girl licked her lips, and I shivered. I gave them their apples. ¡°Would you be interested in some fish for more answers?¡± I offered. Their greedy eyes focused on the fillet I produced. The ceiling of the shapeshifter¡¯s chamber changed to a shing red pattern. They looked up, worried expressions on their faces. ¡°We havepleted the bargain, and it looks like another bargain will not be struck,¡± the boy said. Did that mean the dungeon was watching us? Still, I felt the answers we had gotten were worth the fish. I tossed it into the room, to their surprise. The two elf children fought over it like quarreling siblings, shoveling chunks of torn raw fish into their mouths and trying to deny the other a bite. The brief fight was violent, and the two were bleeding from minor scratches at the end. The girl addressed us when the fish was gone, shreds of fish stuck in her needle teeth. ¡°Flesh is so much better than apples. Maybe it is time youe in and y with us so we can taste yours?¡± The ceiling faded from the red shimmering to return to normal. It appeared the dungeon had warned the shapeshifters of their behavior. ¡°Maveith, we need to get back to the safe room to rest.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± his deep voice echoed reassuringly behind me. ¡°I will take the boy. I am ready when you are.¡± ¡°Can you two back up to the center of the room again?¡± I asked the shapechangers. They started to shake their heads no, malicious smiles on their faces in anticipation. ¡°I gave you the fish withoutpensation,¡± I told them. Reluctantly, the two children started walking backward toward the center of the room, conceding that the fish had been worth this smallpromise. Maveith and I entered the room, but the children morphed into theirrge, monstrous bodies and did not rush to attack this time. Maveith swung his hammer lightly in his grip. My ck de and round shield were ready for an attack, but it never came. The two of them were studying us, trying to learn from us. I took a step toward the corridor to the safe room. If we did not have to fight them, all the better. My action caused the creatures to sprint toward us. I took the closer one¡¯s head, causing the other one to try to flee in surprise. Maveith was not having it, though. He thrust the head of his hammer into its face. Facial bones audibly cracked as its facepressed. The strike stunned the creature as Maveith¡¯s strength was on disy. I circled behind the dazed creature and targeted its hamstring, opening a gash and cutting deeply into the muscle. With no mouth, the creature could not scream. It gained enough awareness to pivot and try to backhand me with its powerful arms. I had already retreated, and Maveith¡¯s hammer was on a downswing. He missed the top of its head but caught its neck and shoulder. The head of the hammer embedded four inches deep in the grotesque figure, and a loud crack could be heard from the snapping of bone, forcing it to its knees. I did not hesitate to step forward and behead it. We were both breathing heavily from the adrenaline and nodded to each other. It had been easier than expected, and we both came out unharmed. ¡°Maveith, collect the blueberries, and I will help after checking the chest.¡± The chest was in the same location as the first time, nestled in one of the blueberry bushes. It had thirty-sixrge silver coins and, again, another apex essence. The color was different this time, and it was light yellow¡ªan essence of insight. Was this a joke by the dungeon after we gained some knowledge from the shapeshifters? I used the essence collector on the shapeshifters but was saddened to see they both yielded just a major essence with the same shifting colors, though it was still a boon. Mental essences seemed to be lessmon than physical ones. The first time, they had yielded apex essences. Maybe it was because we had killed them so quickly after the first time? What were these dungeon rules they mentioned? I started helping Maveith harvest the berries. ¡°Maveith, what essence do you want? I have a few magical essences, the minor essence of quickness and an apex essence of insight.¡± ¡°Quickness,¡± he said immediately. ¡°Being faster than your opponent is the best way to win a fight,¡± he stated confidently. I handed him the small green sphere as soon as my aether recovered enough to retrieve it. I also stored everything in my space. Maveith stated the obvious. ¡°After we rest in the safe room, we will have to fight them again to explore the dungeon.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I figured eventually the shapeshifters would find a way to make the fight more even if they recalled each fight. We finished with the berries, and I relieved myself in the room. Having such arge bowel movement after so long was an odd feeling. I had a few wax leaves to clean up, but I wished I had more. I left the head of the shapeshifter on the mossy floor. On a whim, I tried to use the collector on it. It pulled no essence from the head, which was slightly disappointing. I walked with Maveith back to the first room we entered. The familiar elven script was on the wall. The floor of the room where we had defecated was clean. The dungeon was cleaning up after us. The exit was still here, mocking us with a false offer of freedom. Maybe we could exit and enter before the specters swarmed us? It was a thought, but it was best to wait, as the summoner was still out there, and it had only been two days. We were exhausted, and while Maveith prepared dinner, I set up our bedrolls. I figured it had been over a day since myst essence, and I assumed the glossy ck apex essence would enhance my aether channeling. It worked quickly, giving me an intense awareness of the aether around me. The dungeon almost felt like it was forged from pure essence before the feeling vanished. Maveith grumbled, ¡°If we had arge pot, I could make onerge batch of apple-berry jam.¡± I surprised Maveith again by taking out the cast iron cauldron I had taken from a legion hall long ago. The thing must weigh seventy pounds with the lid, and I took it to use as an improvised weapon, not for its intended purpose. Maveith shook his head in disbelief. ¡°What else do you have in there, Eryk?¡± I mumbled, ¡°This and that,¡± but did not specify. Maveith shrugged epting and took the pot to work on his jam. Maveith started talking as he worked. ¡°It is too bad we got separated from Brutus and the Schr. Their help would have been most wee. Just the two of us are going to have a challenging time working through the rooms down here and finding the others.¡± Maveith was stewing blueberries and apples together, making jam. He was also doing his best to make use of thest bits of the rations from the elven packs. Now that we knew we had food sources, we could be more liberal with our meals to restore our bodies¡ª, the faster, the better. After much internal deliberation, I finally revealed something to Maveith. ¡°You know, Maveith, I may know someone who could help. Not sure if she would be too willing, though.¡± Maveith¡¯s eyebrows rose in surprise. ¡°Who?¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 153: Schrodingers Elf Chapter 153: Schrodinger''s Elf Maveith¡¯s question hung in the air. ¡°Who?¡± It was not a simple question for me to answer. I was going to have to reveal to him that it was not void magic that helped me kill the monsters. I probably should have prepared him better for this and taken the decisive step of trusting the goliath earlier. ¡°You know how you thought I had powerful void magic? Well, I do not have any void magic. I can remove part of a creature by cing it in my dimensional space.¡± Maveith¡¯s face was an unreadable mask as therge iron pot bubbled in front of him, giving the air a fruity scent reminiscent of candy. ¡°Maveith?¡± I tried to get the attention of the goliath, who was still processing my words. Minutes passed before he began to stir the syrupy hot jam. ¡°I do not know much about magic,¡± he finally said, ¡°but your statement seems too fantastical.¡± Okay, I was never going to tell Maveith I was an Other Worlder. He seemed a bit broken, struggling to fathom the extent and power of my spell form. I opened my dimensional space and rearranged it slightly to make the elven tablet reader appear next to him. It was seven feet away from me. Maveith jumped a little but eyed me slowly, putting the pieces together. A a prolonged silence followed as he stirred the pot. Every once in a while, he would look at me or the table. He finally said, ¡°So if you can pull a part of a monster into your dimensional space, can you pull an entire monster¡ªor person¡ªinto it?¡± I nodded and confirmed, ¡°Yes.¡± I let Maveith think for a moment before he asked, ¡°Could you put me in your dimensional space?¡± ¡°Probably. If you were sitting down,¡± I said, cracking a grin. I partly wanted him to think the space was smaller than it actually was, and it was also just a jab at his immense size. ¡°So, who is in there now?¡± Maveith finally asked, moving the cauldron off the thermal stone.I winced slightly, having to tell this story. ¡°Back in Macha, when the Bartiradians attacked, their griffon riders crashed into the city. I was sent with some of thepany to make sure they were dead.¡± ¡°She has been in there the entire time!¡± Maveith eximed. I winced. ¡°Well, no. I put her in there when she was casting a fireball at me. I released her and the fireball at an enemy a few dayster. I thought the explosion had killed her,¡± I exined. Maveith shook his head, interrupting me. ¡°That is not how magic works. You cannot steal another¡¯s magic and store it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°That was how it happened.¡± Maveith seemed uncertain. ¡°I do not know. I just have never heard of anyone doing that. So, she is in there now, burned and suffering.¡± ¡°Time does not pass in my dimensional space,¡± I reminded him, and he nodded. ¡°Actually, I left her in Macha, and she was healed by her people. Then fate brought her into my path again. She was with the summoner¡¯s student when we caught up to them. Sebastian¡¯s drake crushed her in his jaws and mmed her into a rock. I put her in my space to save her forter.¡± That sounded just as bading out of my mouth as Maveith¡¯s face scrunched in disgust. I tried to exin quickly. ¡°I intended to use the collector on her. Konstantin and Sebastian were close, so I could not reveal the collector. I learned that if I store dead bodies, I can get the essenceter.¡± Maveith seemed somewhat cated, and I wondered just what he thought of me. He asked, ¡°How do you know she is alive?¡± ¡°My aether bottomed out. She resisted being ced in the dimensional space. That means her aether core is still active. At least, that is my guess,¡± I told him truthfully. Maveith nodded, and we started to eat. We dipped everything in the hot jam before it jelled. As we finished off the loose rations, Maveith asked another question, ¡°How is the mostly dead elf going to help us? Do you have another healing potion?¡± I dipped some jerky in the fruit sauce and savored it while chewing. ¡°No, I do not. I was hoping to find another healing potion. But you can see why I am hesitant to bring her out. She is not going to be very happy with me.¡± ¡°I would not be very happy with you either,¡± Maveith said, chewing on some hard cheese. ¡°Is she a good fighter?¡± I thought back to our encounters. She was good with her des and had magic¡ªmagic that could easily be turned against me. I suddenly recalled being fireballed in the back and reconsidered this idea. ¡°Yes, she can fight and cast fireballs.¡± Maveith seemed to consider. ¡°Perhaps it is best if I try to reason with her when you release her from your imprisonment.¡± It appeared Maveith had already decided it was a good idea. I sipped some wine from the bottle. ¡°Maveith, that is a pretty harsh way to describe it.¡± ¡°You ced her there against her will and held her without a chance of freedom. That describes it aptly,¡± his deep voice carried strong disapproval. Then I remembered the orc vers had killed his sister, and I was sort of enving the elf. ¡°I could have let her die,¡± I countered his disapproval. He seemed to ponder this for a long time. ¡°Sorry for being upset. You were enemies. You did nothing wrong. And now you n to save her to make amends.¡± The tension in the room lessened greatly. Soon, we were making our way to sleep. I held the amulet in my hand, needing to reference the books Castile had created in the dreamscape. ¡°Maveith, the amulet is in this hand. If you need to wake me, just take it.¡± Maveith¡¯s eyes studied the amulet. ¡°Can I?¡± ¡°Next time we sleep,¡± I confirmed. I entered the dreamscape. Searching through Castile¡¯s books proved extremely useful, as one of the books was on arcane scripts from dungeons. The other potion I received from the red bear was an aether restorative potion. I knew these potions were extremely rare and valuable since alchemists had trouble brewing stable versions of them. Even the simplest aether restorative required a tier-three alchemist. It took time to find a reference table for essences. The book contained a whole section on the history of the collectors. The first collector was found in a dungeon thousands of years ago, and they were extremely rare. The First Legion saw the immense value in them and focused on recreating the devices with their artificers. They produced hundreds of them, but the master artificers capable of crafting them were assassinated in subsequent wars. Thus, the number of collectors became limited and rarely found in dungeons. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I matched up the essences with the chart to see what I had in my storage: Based on the information found in the book, I could consume one physical, one mental, and one magical essence together without fear of harming myself. However, if I wanted to consume more in the same day, they would need to be the same types. If once again, if I consumed a strength essence the first time, I would need to stick with strength in the physical stats until I let a day pass to change the type. I was still a bit skeptical and would need to do my own testing. Maybe being an Other Worlder made me different somehow. I hadpiled quite a collection of essences in the dungeon in a short time. I was eyeing the minor air affinity essence. When I took the apex earth essence, I had zero affinity, and it was painful to add the new affinity to my aether core. Maybe the minor air essence would not be as horrific. Castile left a lot of books, but I focused my time in the dreamscape on learning the runic script. It was a headache since it was essentially memorizing over seven hundred symbols and their rough meanings, which only became clear when you chained them together. The patterns were intricate as well. Fortunately, most potions required only a sequence of three symbols to identify the contents. Within the symbols, I could also see many geometric patterns in the spell forms I had imprinted on my core. Dungeon script was thenguage of magic. I was not going to be able to draw the symbols, but I could at least study them to recognize them. I created shcards and worked for almost eight hours. I cleaned up the dreamscape, moving everything to the scorpion room and sealing it away. Maveith was going to use the device next, and my level of trust with him was reaching a point where I would let him use it without my presence. I left the dreamscape to find Maveith already awake. He seemed in a cheerful mood. ¡°I used the reader. Can you read it to me?¡± he asked. I moved the reader and tried to teach Maveith the elven numerical symbols as I read them off. Fortunately, they were in base ten as well. As expected, his magical affinities had not changed, and his potentials remained the same.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+3/+0) 80/107 Intellect (+0/+0) 20/38 Aether Pool (+0/+0) 9/10
Power (+4/+0) 64/90 Reasoning (+0/+0) 34/46 Channeling (+0/+0) 19/30
Quickness (+2/+0) 40/55 Perception (+0/+0) 29/40 Aether Shaping (+0/+0) 15/16
Dexterity (+0/+0) 23/40 Insight (+0/+0) 15/30 Aether Tolerance (+0/+0) 22/25
Endurance (+3/+0) 47/90 Resilience (+0/+0) 19/34 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 9/21
Constitution (+1/+0) 40/101 Empathy (+0/+0) 48/67 Prime Aether Affinity Earth
Coordination (+0/+0) 23/33 Fortitude (+0/+0) 30/50 Minor Aether Affinity
¡°This is great! It looks like your body is recovering after being starved for so long.¡± It had only been just over a day and a few meals, but Maveith¡¯s physical stats were rising rapidly. I figured mine would be doing the same. He paid close attention to the numerical symbols, and I thought he would be able to read it on his own next time. I stood and started to help with the cleanup. I was not going to use the reader as he might want to know what mine were, and my magic affinities needed to remain secret for now. We had almost five gallons of jam! I just moved the entire cauldron to my dimensional space to store the apple-berry jam. I ced almost everything in my space, leaving us both with small packs of items we needed for quick ess.. I felt the most well-rested and satiated I had been in weeks. It felt strange because I was trapped deep in an extremely dangerous dungeon. We walked to the chamber with the shapeshifters, and I felt great relief wash over me as they were nowhere in sight. ¡°How long has it been since we killed them?¡± I asked Maveith. Maveith was still scanning the room. ¡°Just over half a day. They are shapeshifters, though. They may be hiding as something else.¡± ¡°They can do that?¡± I also searched my memory, trying to identify anything that seemed out of ce. ¡°I do not know. But anything seems possible after what you told me yesterday,¡± his voice echoed in the room. We studied the area for fifteen minutes before stepping in, and nothing happened. The bodies of the shapeshifters had not vanished and were just over the rise in the moss, already desated. The bushes were full of tiny berries, recing what we had harvested. We quickly refilled the water barrel and moved into the corridor toward the fire bear. Oddly, I was disappointed not to have the chance to talk with the shapeshifters again. They had given us valuable information, and I hoped to tease out more knowledge, even if the dungeon did not want them to cooperate. We would see them again if we had to return to the safe room. The fire bear was eating apples off the tree when we approached. Maveith was already excited. ¡°Such a majestic creature. The fur would make a spectacr cloak. And that was some of the best bear meat I have ever eaten.¡± The fire bear was eyeing us but not overly concerned. I studied it for a long time. ¡°It looks smaller. Actually, I am sure. Thest one wasrger. Maybe it is not the same one? That would be different from when the dungeon revives the shapeshifters.¡± ¡°Do not damage the pelt. I want it in one piece,¡± Maveith¡¯s eagerness was more focused on harvesting the bear than my suppositions about how the dungeon worked. ¡°Wait here.¡± I stepped into the room, immediately drawing the shimmering red bear¡¯s attention. It cocked its head, its eyes bing a deeper red as it charged. I removed most of its brain from fifteen feet away and sidestepped as the body slid forward on the soft earth. Maveith stepped into the room, his jaw open. He walked to the bear that was spilling blood steadily onto the ground. Seeing he could not speak, I told him, ¡°You can start harvesting the bear. I will check the reward chest.¡± I pointed to the stone chest atop the mound. A momentter, I was shattering the thin stone casing and was relieved to see the two familiar potions among the silver coins: the aether restorative and the greater healing potion. Maveith found his voice after being stunned at my disy. ¡°Eryk,e over here, and I will show you the proper way to harvest a bear.¡±I sighed, gathering up the coins and potions to join Maveith. I would send them to my dimensional space when my aether sufficiently recovered. With the healing potion, releasing the griffin rider was a viable option now. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Maveith was excited when I removed the collector and brain from my inventory, stating that it would be useful for tanning the hide. I helped him prepare the bear after harvesting its essence. It was a major essence for fire affinity, a downgrade from the apex fire essence I had gotten from the first fire bear. He was meticulous in his harvest, not wanting to waste anything, and I learned a lot from him about processing a kill. He must have asked me every five minutes if my dimensional space could hold everything. After stripping the pelt, he did his best to stretch it on an apple tree. As soon as the steaks were cut, I sent them to my dimensional space to preserve them. ¡°We should only spend half a day harvesting the bear before leaving the room,¡± I suggested after a few hours. Maveith considered this and nodded. ¡°If the shapeshifters do not reappear after half a day, then I think that is wise. Where are we going from here?¡± ¡°To the vine room, I think. It seems the safest option to explore,¡± I revealed my thoughts, and Maveith nodded. As we processed the bear, we were getting three weeks¡¯ worth of meat from this one kill for the two of us. I decided Maveith could have the organs when we cooked. I never got used to the chewiness of heart muscle, the chalky richness of liver, or the off taste of kidneys. Maybe if I were still starving, I would try it, but with all the steaks, it was a hard pass for me. We collected apples as well, maybe two hundred, before leaving. We munched on apples as we walked out of the room. Between bites, I told Maveith, ¡°There was a healing potion in the reward chest. But I am not nning to use it on the griffin rider just yet. If you are injured again, I would rather have it for you.¡± Maveith finished his apple, core, and all. ¡°I will try not to get injured again, then.¡± I just chuckled at his logic. ¡°Maybe there will be another healing potion next time we harvest the fire bear. The loot chest was exactly the same as the first time,¡± I said as we approached the vine room. The room looked the same. Three alcoves were covered in thick vines with bright red flowers and yellow veins. There were no signs of an exit. ¡°I will go in and retreat if needed. Stay here.¡±I stepped into the room and was slightly upset when nothing happened. With a second step, I noticed a fragrant scent filling the air, probablying from the flowers. I took another step into the room, eying the vines, and prepared an air shield. My breathing became slightly strained after a minute, so I sent healing aether to my lungs, nning to run. I did not detect any damage to them. Then my eyelids started to feel heavy. I stumbled backward, slightly unsteady on my feet. All I wanted to do was lie down and fall asleep. I stumbled into Maveith in the corridor, and he supported me, worry on his face. ¡°What is wrong, Eryk?¡± He shook me a little, my armor rattling from the force. ¡°Where is the healing potion?¡± He was getting panicky, but my mind was foggy, and I closed my eyes to sleep. Water sshed on my face, and I woke up sputtering. A relieved Maveith stood over me. ¡°I was praying to Pluto for you, Eryk. You were unconscious for almost an hour.¡± I shook my head, my thoughts quickly clearing. ¡°I think the pollen from the red flowers puts you to sleep.¡± I checked my body. ¡°I am not injured, and I am breathing fine.¡± I sat up and noticed Maveith had dragged me about fifty feet from the entrance. My eyes had to do a double take at what I saw. The vines from the vine room were twenty feet down the corridor, covering every wall. Maveith answered, ¡°They do not move fast, but after you left, the vines stirred and followed you out of the room. I thought creatures could not leave the rooms?¡± I hypothesized, ¡°I think the dungeon lets the creatures pursue us once we enter a room. It is the only thing that makes sense.¡± I reconsidered. ¡°Maybe nts can just leave rooms. I don¡¯t know.¡± I remembered that when I released the goblin, the bear did not pursue it down the corridor it fled into. I was frustrated with not knowing the dungeon rules. Then again, maybe each dungeon had different rules. It would make sense since the entry criteria for this dungeon was different from the entry criteria of the other dungeon I had encountered when I received the Dreamscape Amulet. ¡°The vines are slowly retreating,¡± Maveith noted, and I focused on them. It was hard to discern movement with the flowing, hypnotic lights on the floor and ceiling, but I think he was correct. Perhaps the vines could pursue me because I was unconscious and vulnerable? I told Maveith what I learned from the room. ¡°The room had a sickly-sweet scent. I think it is from the flower pollen. My lungs burned for a moment, and then I got really sleepy and could not help but fall asleep.¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice intoned, ¡°A really vile trap. The vines probably pull you into an alcove to digest your corpse. I heard of such nts in the jungles on the southern part of the continent.¡± I nodded, standing, and thought I had a bestiary in my book collection in my dreamscape. Most were in elven script that would take me days to trante. Tsinga had some jungles, and I remembered paging through the local threats in case someone questioned me. I had skimmed over the flora and did not recall these particr vines. Next time I was in the dreamscape, I would try to find out what the vines were. I gave Maveith the unwee news. ¡°It looks like our only option is the room with the cockatrices.¡± Maveith¡¯srge body recoiled when I said it. We had not explored only three rooms: the gold statue room with the ck oozes, the dark room that the shapeshifters said we needed a mining pick for, and the massive cockatrice room with the waterfall. This story has been uwfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Eryk, I do not know,¡± Maveith hedged, still fearful of the oversized chickens. ¡°I wille up with a n. For now, let us sit outside the bear room and watch it until the fire bear respawns. I want to see it with my own eyes,¡± I informed Maveith. He nodded happily, dying our trip to the cockatrice chamber. We started to prepare a big meal, cooking in the corridor with one of us watching the den entrance. While Maveith was on watch, Islipped into the dreamscape and quickly located an entry for the vines in the Tsinga book. The sleeper vine is easily spotted from a distance by its bright flowers with veins of white or yellow. The flowers give off a sickly-sweet scent that lulls the unsuspecting creature to sleep for up to three hours. Once the creature falls asleep, the vines drag it into their maw and restrain it withyers of vines. Thick thorns pierce the flesh and inject digestive acid. When the prey wakes, they have awareness but feel no pain as their body is metabolized over the course of two days. Repeated exposure to the pollen of the sleeper vine allows one to build up immunity. The beast tribes of Kwainongkwa expose their children to the flowers early so they can resist the effects. There are numerous alchemical uses for the flower and the nt''s small amount of nectar and pollen. See Gundry¡¯s Alchemical nts of the Kingdom of Keisinia for more information. I did not have that reference book, but at least I had good news for Maveith when I exited the dreamscape. He was still watching the earthen mound¡¯s entrance. ¡°Maveith, good news. We can build up immunity to the effects of the red vine flowers with repeated exposure.¡± Maveith was chewing on a bear kidney he had just fried, his eyes focused on the entrance. ¡°We should do that instead of trying to kill the cockatrices.¡± ¡°But one mistake and I will be nt food,¡± I noted. ¡°Do you not trust me to pull you to safety?¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice sounded hurt. ¡°Are you really trying to guilt-trip me right now?¡± I countered. ¡°Guilt? Trip?¡± Maveith went into contemtion mode to puzzle out my colloquialism. ¡°I am sorry, Eryk. I do not understand,¡± he finally said, giving up. ¡°It does not matter. I will be the bait as I am ustomed to it. But right now, the fire bear is back,¡± I noted, pointing, and standing. Maveith¡¯s eyes shed to the den. ¡°A day, give or take an hour,¡± the goliath stated confidently. ¡°Hopefully, every room is the same, so we can prepare,¡± I said, watching the bear exit and shake its coat. The fur rippled, looking like mes, and I judged the bear to be the same size as the one we had killed a day ago. ¡°Well, big guy, it looks like we are going to be eating a lot of bear meat.¡± I stated as I pulled the collector from my dimensional space and handing it to Maveith to hold onto while I dealt with the bear. I stepped into the room, and the bear locked its focus on me. I casually walked up to it, and it seemed more curious about me than ready to fight. Its eyes started to glow a fiery red, but those eyes were suddenly in my dimensional space. A giddy Maveith rushed into the room. ¡°I could eat this bear meat every day. I still do not understand your aversion to the kidneys. These are the tastiest I have ever eaten.¡± He exined excitedly, handing the collector back to me while reaching for his skinning knife. Maveith attacked the bear with his skinning knife while I shattered the stone reward box. I had focused on the earthen mound, and this box just appeared in the blink of an eye. Maybe it was teleported by the dungeon with discement magic. Maveith was not concerned with the chest, as his prize was the bear. Sifting through the debris, I gathered up the silver coins and the two potions: one healing and one aether recovery. I was pleased the loot had remained the same. I turned the aether recovery potion in my hand. It was valuable, but I now had three of them. I broke the seal and drained it¡ªnot. because I needed to, but so I would know what to expect when I used one inbat. The feeling was akin to drinking a hot beverage rapidly. The heat branched out from my stomach through my limbs and kept going. I realized the potion contained more aether than my core could contain and bled away from my body into the environment once my core was full. It was wasted on someone with a small core like mine. On the bright side, it could quickly recharge my dimensional ability. I spent some time making one of the potions easily essible under my armor. I then harvested another major fire essence from the bear. Maveith watched in fascination as the collector worked, and I snatched the essence before it rolled to the ground. However, when I offered it to Maveith, he was only interested in the essence of quickness. The apples were back as well, and I decided to pick them and let Maveith have all the fun processing the bear. I still had dried blood under my fingernails and in every crevice of my armor. I felt very unsanitary and smelled worse. The waterfall pond in the cockatrice chamber looked very appealing to me at the moment. With our luck, there was probably a fifty-foot gator hiding in the water that fed on the cockatrices. ¡°I think there are fewer apples this time around,¡± I noted to Maveith after I finished. Iid them all out on my tent tarp, and the pile seemed smaller. ¡°I am going to count andpare.¡± Partly, I was curious, and also, I would not have to help with the fire bear. Maveith was engrossed in his work and waved me to do the task. I found that I was :right, 214st time, and now I had just 178. Were the apples growing back slower? Or maybe the dungeon was not happy with me and how I was killing its creatures?. We spent half a day in the room before returning to the vine room. The vines hadpletely retreated back inside, and the corridor was clear. ¡°Do you have any rope?¡± Maveith asked. ¡°No. Why would I have rope?¡± I said, confused. ¡°You seem to have many things hidden in your space. Rope would have been a smart thing to have,¡± Maveith said matter-of-factly. ¡°We could have used it to tie around your waist, and I could pull you to safety.¡± ¡°Well, I do not have any rope,¡± I said tersely, as rope would have been a good idea. Then again, almost everything in my space had been liberated from Legion Halls in various cities. I summoned some courage and entered the vine room again. I inhaled the sweet scent and backed out of the room. I made it about ten feet before cking out. When I woke. , Maveith was standing over me. ¡°Eryk, you were only sleeping for half an hour this time!¡± I gave him a thumbs-up, but as I sat up, my head spun, and I vomited. I was having the worst hangover of my life. I washed out my mouth with water from a canteen. ¡°I think I need more time between being exposed to the flowers, Maveith.¡± It was a good half an hour before I felt right again, and the vines took another hour to retreat back into the room from the corridor. I still could have fought, but it would have been unpleasant. My next foray into the room had me taking about eight minutes to recover under Maveith¡¯s watch, and the hangover was still prevalent but not any worse. On every trip after going into the room, the time decreased for how long I was forced to sleep. I lost track of how many times I was exposed to the flowers, but finally, I was able to inhale the sickly-sweet scent and only feel slightly drowsy. It was time to try to clear the vines. Chapter 155: Cock-a-doodle-doo Chapter 155: Cock-a-doodle-doo This time, entering the vine room, I nned to hack the vines apart with the ck de. Maveith stood in the corridor, watching intently. He was ready to hold his breath, rush in, and carry me away if I sumbed to the flowers. As I stepped into the room, I was able to enjoy the scent of the flowers with only slightly heavy eyes. The vines stirred as they had done a dozen times before. They left their alcoves and snaked across the floor slowly. None of the flowers were on the creeping vines along the floor. I was about to sh into the creeping vines when I thought better of it. Even though my runic weapon could not be dulled, ording to Konstantin, I sent it to my dimensional space and retrieved two of the elven hand axes I had taken from the forge. The vines moved so slowly that I could walk back casually while I hacked away. Maveith called from behind me, ¡°Eryk, do not cut them into sections that are too small. I can try making rope from the vines.¡± I grunted at the request, as all three alcoves in the room were trying to grasp me with their vines and pull me in to digest me. I realized that perhaps a well-ced fireball here would make quick work of them. I had a pocket griffin rider that could cast fireballs. I tried to appease Maveith by just cutting five-foot sections of vines off as I went. The sound of metal striking stone rang out repeatedly on the stone floor, and sticky sap soon coated the de and my armor. The vines seemed endless as an hour progressed, and my arms started to feel achy from the repetitive swinging. The elven hatchets were also fairly dull from hundreds of strikes into the stone floor. ¡°Eryk, try cutting the base in one of the alcoves,¡± Maveith advised anxiously from the hallway. Why was he anxious? I was the one doing all the work. I danced around the vines that had thinned considerably but kepting. I moved to the alcove on the right,. cautious and ready to retreat if I might get cornered. I hacked at the base of a thick steming out of the floor. All the vines from this alcove stilled as I truncated this nt. Soon, I cut away the bases in the other two alcoves, and all the vines became still. The flowers wilted in seconds, and I guessed they needed to be harvested while the nt was alive. A stone chest appeared in the center of the room. ¡°We won, Maveith,¡± I said tiredly. Maveith¡¯s eyes widened in anticipation as he stepped into the room. He immediately got woozy and fell into the sappy mess. Iughed, at least my friend would also be covered in creeping vine sap. I could not even smell the sickly sweetness anymore, but it must have still lingered in the air.I shattered the stone box, collecting fifteenrge silver coins and one unknown potion. I dragged my friend out of the room into the hallway. I returned to the room and attempted to use the collector at the base of the nts. A few wisps of emerald smoke formed, but the small disc would not pull it in. I thought this strange, as I remembered Durandas trying to use this on the shambling mounds. Maybe I had destroyed too much of the body, or the collector could not harvest nts. I moved the vines into a pile and sent the mess to my dimensional storage. The sap was drying, and the tes on my armor were no longer sliding easily across each other. It was getting increasingly difficult to move. Swearing to myself, I checked each alcove quickly and found nothing. Disappointed, I joined the sleeping Maveith in the corridor, removed my armor, and attempted to clean it before the sappletely dried. The oiled sections of the armor were easily cleaned, but the other sections were not, and I had to wait until they hardened enough to scrape off with a knife. Maveith woke before I finished, and as he stirred, I asked, ¡°Have a good nap?¡± ¡°My head is a little foggy, but yes, thank you.¡± He suddenly realized where he was and sprang to his feet. ¡°Eryk, I am sorry I fell! I barely smelled the flowers and thought they all wilted.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It is okay, Maveith. I do not think we will try the room again. There was only one potion in the reward chest,¡± I said, calming him down. His eyes turned to the room, and he groaned in disappointment. He thought the dungeon had absorbed the carnage I had wrought on the creeping vines. ¡°Did you collect any of the vines for rope?¡± Maveith asked hopefully. I let him stew for a while before telling him with a grin, ¡°I got you a little, but you will have to wait until we get to a safe room. Also, I do not know about the viability of the vines as the sap hardens.¡± I pointed to his front, and Maveith began peeling dried sap off his soft leather clothes. After we cleaned up a bit, I asked, ¡°Cockatrice room next? I am going to go into the dreamscape to see if I have any more information on the creatures. Watch over me while I am gone.¡± It did not take long for me to find some references for the ugly birds in one of the elven bestiaries. Tranting the script was a slow process. Cockatrice These avian creatures are much more dangerous than they appear. They usually form flocks of between eight and twelve and attack as a group. The males of the species have azure, bluebs, and dark blue feathers. The females usually have deep brown feathers, but younger specimens can be tan. The saliva of these creatures is extremely corrosive and can petrify flesh. Multiple bites can turn a creaturepletely into stone. Severe damage can be done to a person¡¯s veins and arteries from a single bite and may result in death. The meat of the creature is considered a delicacy in many nations¡ªnot so much for the taste but for the difficulty in harvesting it. Many people say they cannot tell the difference between chicken and cockatrice. The saliva of the cockatrice is useful in numerous alchemical preparations but needs to be fresh, as it will lose efficacy soon after the bird¡¯s death. The rest of the text discussed habitats and had a few pictures. I was also able to decipher the runes on the potion. When I exited the dreamscape, Maveith let out a relieved breath. ¡°You were in there for two hours, Eryk. We probably should not linger in the corridors.¡± This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. I stood, reached up, and patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. ¡°We are okay. I even found an elven book detailing the cockatrice, and there is good news. Their gaze cannot turn you to stone¡ªonly. their saliva can, so we need to ensure we do not get bitten.¡± Maveith chewed on his lip, thinking. ¡°Maybe I confused them with a basilisk.¡± He looked away abashedly. ¡°I do not want to be turned into a statue.¡± ¡°I will count the birds before we enter. You will not have to approach the chamber,¡± I tried to reassure the big bald gray man. Maveith reluctantly walked with me down the long looping corridor to the massive domed room. He stayed back a good fifty feet while I scouted. The tall grass hid the birds, and I could now identify the males by their blue crests and the females by their brown. The cockatrices did not seem interested in me as they scavenged in the long grass. Maveith impatiently rumbled, ¡°How many do you see?¡± ¡°Give me some time,¡± I replied, scanning the area. I was envious of one of the female cockatrices bathing in the pool as it preened its feathers. Another male cockatrice snapped its head up with a thick worm in its mouth before swallowing it. I watched for almost an hour but may have missed some resting birds. ¡°Seven, Maveith. We can handle seven together, right?¡± Maveith did not look too thrilled at the prospect. ¡°I will give you your bow, and maybe you can kill one or two before they even reach us.¡± He brightened at that thought. We slowly prepared to enter the room, Maveith¡¯s confidence steadily growing. One of the females approached our corridor, curious about us. As it got closer, Maveith shielded his eyes, but I was confident in my interpretation of the text. It was not a pretty bird. The closer it got, the uglier it looked. It was a cross between a turkey and a lizard, with sporadic feathers and a scaly tail. The wings were tucked into its sides but were featherless and more bat-like. ¡°They looked more edible from a distance,¡± Imented to Maveith. Maveith slowly opened his eyes to look at the creature. Some people had a fear of water, and Maveith had a fear of being turned into a statue. ¡°It is ugly,¡± he said,ughing hoarsely. The bird rushed at us in the corridor. Surprised, I readied my ck de. Itunched itself into the air and came at me feet first, ws extended. The bird mmed into the archway, an invisible force preventing it from reaching us. The failed attack was apanied by a loud clucking challenge, which caused the remaining birds toe out of the grass. Seven more joined the female: four males and three females. So, my count had been off by one. The cockatrices were agitated as they pranced around the archway, making a racket. They stood almost three feet tall, and I could see viscous yellow saliva on their tongues. I backed away from the room and pulled Maveith with me¡°. Let them settle down, and we cane back. They swarmed to the door this time but not all at once.¡± Maveith nodded. We rested and snacked on apples and berries before returning to the archway. Maveith, with his bow ready, and I with the ck de. Only one of the males was close to the corridor this time. ¡°Ready?¡± I asked, and he reluctantly nodded. ¡°I will take this one. Shoot them as they race out of the grass.¡± I stepped into the room, and the male nearby made a huge racket to summon the family, crowing like a malevolent rooster. Itunched into the air and stunned itself when it mmed into my invisible shield. I quickly sidestepped and beheaded the confused cockatrice. As the head satisfyingly hit the ground, I was shocked as the body started running around, pumping out small spurts of blood. Thankfully, it had no awareness of me and ran into the wall of the chamber. The distraction almost cost me, as the other seven were rushing us. Maveith¡¯s bow sang, and a thick arrow thudded satisfyingly into the male leading the charge. It rolled away, clearly incapacitated, and out of the fight. Of course, our n to take them a few at a time did not work, as the four trailing cockatrices took to the air to catch up. An arrow from Maveith took out a second running cockatrice. ¡°Only five left,¡± I said encouragingly as they closed. Maveith¡¯s bow sang again, but I was focused on my own fight and did not see where the arrow went. I set two shields, one high and one low, for the two fliers and one running at me. Why did three of the four remaining cockatrices target me? Maveith was the much bigger target! I waited unti they mmed into my shields and then moved to the side. One of the flyers tumbled toward me after striking the air disc. I timed my swing, beheaded the confused bird before it hit the ground, and dodged the decapitated head as it nearly hit me. The runner recovered quickly and dashed toward me. A quick air shield cast through my foot was supposed to halt the female¡¯s charge, but it pped its wings,unching itself over the shield and going for my face. I did not want to risk the beak getting close, so I used my dimensional space to remove the head and deflected the headless body with my round shield. Taking in the chaos, I yelled to Maveith, ¡°Above you, Maveith!¡± The other flier that I had deflected off my shield was now above him and closing in. While I had been busy, Maveith had dropped his bow and crushed the other cockatrice with his hammer. Maveith went into a rapid forward roll, his massive body moving faster than it probably had a right to, and he came up facing the other direction, already swinging his hammer. The cockatrice, with ws outstretched, crumbled under the force of the hammer blow, and was thrown a good distance away. The cockatrice¡¯s body was crushed, and it struggled to move, clucking pitifully. The fight had only taken a few seconds, but my heart was still racing from thebat. A few clucks from dying cockatrices overcame the noise of the waterfall. ¡°Stay on guard until the reward chest shows.¡± I walked around and carefully dispatched the mostly dead birds. Only one of the ones with an arrow in it put up any fight, but the arrow shaft greatly hampered its movement. We stayed away from the tall grass around the pool for now, and I used the collector on the cockatrices while Maveith remained on watch. ¡°I think I see a box on the shore,¡± Maveith said excitedly as I kneeled over the first male cockatrice I had killed, removing the collector from my minimalist-packed backpack. I knew Maveith was not excited about the treasure; it was just that the chest signaled that all the petrifying birds had been killed, and he was no longer at risk of being turned to stone. The blue smoke was thick, and I watched the essence form on the collector. A rich brown apex essence formed with swirls of gray moving in the sphere¡ªan. earth affinity essence. The rest of the roosters yielded major earth essences. The four female cockatrices all yielded clear major essences that could be mistaken for ss balls. These were aether tolerance essences that were useful in resisting magic. It was an excellent haul, and Maveith might want the earth essences to improve his shape stone spell form. Together, we walked to the pool in the center of the chamber. The cooling mist from the sshing waterfall was wee. There were four nests in the grass but no eggs. A few green leaves sprouted from the ground that I recognized as wild onions. Somewhere under the soil were fat worms, and I wondered if they would also yield an essence. We reached the shore, and I shattered the stone box to reveal a dozen silver coins and a balled-up dark gray cloak. A piece of clothing was slightly disappointing, and after unfurling it, it was too small for Maveith to wear and too small for me to wear over my armor as well. It would fit me without my armor, but Maveith would probably be upset if I wore this over the manticore cloak he made for me. I sent it to my dimensional space. ¡°What now?¡± Maveith asked over the noise of the water. ¡°Now we bathe!¡± I said happily as I walked into the shallow water with my armor still on. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA and allows me to seek financial restitution. Chapter 156: Sanctuary Chapter 156: Sanctuary The water was cool as it soaked my boots, then my socks, and my linen pants, working its way up my body. I was waist-deep, and a cloud of filth was spreading out from me, fouling the clear water. ¡°Maveith,e on in! The water is fine!¡± Maveith stood on the shore, uncertain. ¡°We saw the cockatrice bathing. There is nothing dangerous in the water.¡± The tall goliath looked around the room, turning his head slowly. ¡°I think I will harvest the cockatrices first. That way, I do not have to bathe twice. I will also retrieve my arrows.¡± I rolled my eyes at Maveith. ¡°Well, I saw some wild onion stems among the tall grass. You can dig them up as well.¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice sounded hurt that I thought he could not spot the dark green stems of the onions. ¡°I saw them too, Eryk. There looks to be some garlic as well. Did you see the garlic?¡± He challenged somewhat yfully. ¡°No. Is there garlic too? If you start pulling up the root vegetables, see if you can capture some of the worms the cockatrices were eating. I want to see if I can use the collector on them.¡± Maveith looked doubtful at that statement. I started removing my armor, one piece at a time, cleaning it before tossing it into the grass to dry. Maveith focused on the cockatrices. I would throw him in if he tried not to bathe. We both smelled so foul that we no longer noticed how bad it was. After my armor was off and cleaned to the best of my ability, I worked on my clothes,soaking and rinsing them repeatedly until they no longer produced clouds in the water. The dirty water quickly settled into the sandy bottom, filtering downward. Eventually, I waspletely naked, so I produced my shaving kit to retrieve the small bar of soap inside. I then returned the rest of the kit. I scrubbed out every crack and crevice of dirt, dried blood, and sap. I used the entire bar of soap, but it was worth it. I moved under the waterfall and began to rinse my hair and scrub my face. I remained under the cascading water until my skin was puckered, pale, and perfectly clean. I had spent two hours bathing, and Maveith worked the entire time. I might have felt guilty if I had not asked him to join me a dozen times while he worked. I pulled out clean underclothes from my storage and dressed. I only had one spare pair of legion boots in my space, and I was wearing them now. I no longer felt like a soldier on an infinite campaign. I felt almost human, if I was not trapped deep inside a dungeon that was trying to kill me. Maveith had a tarp in the grass with a stack of bird meat and organs. There was a pile of small wild onions and a second pile of some pungent bulbous wild garlic. The onions and garlic would give our meals a lot of vor in the future. After bathing for the first time in weeks, I was reluctant to dig them up. ¡°Eryk, if you cook, I will bathe. We have about eight hours before we should leave.¡±I nodded and was d the goliath was tracking our time as well. Thest thing either of us wanted was to be caught bathing when the cockatrices respawned. Maveith finally stripped and entered the water to wash himself and his gear. I focused on cooking. I heated some bear fat in Maveith¡¯s cast iron pan. I cut up several onions and two garlic cloves and cooked them. One of the cockatrice breasts was cut into thin strips, and I ground up some pepper. I seasoned each side with a little salt and pepper, then seared both sides of the bird meat, cooking it through. I folded the crispy meat like a taco and filled it with onions saut¨¦ed and garlic. I munched on the first one, enjoying the texture and vors. As I prepared the second, I called Maveith over. He came out of the water to get his cockatrice taco, naked. ¡°Damn, Maveith, watch where you swing that thing!¡± He ignored me, and the taco was gone in two bites. ¡°That was tasty. Can I get six more?¡± His deep voice asked eagerly. His statement brought back nightmares of working at a fast-food restaurant in high school, trying to keep up during the weekend lunch rush because half the staff called out sick. ¡°Keep washing. And no service without shoes, shorts, and a shirt!¡± I told the goliath. He was confused by the sudden requirements but waded back into the water. ¡°I will let you know when it is ready.¡± I made two more for myself before preparing six for Maveith. ¡°Can I cook the greens from the onions and garlic?¡± I asked Maveith, who was dressing. Maveith considered. ¡°Onion greens are bitter, but garlic greens taste like their bulbs, and I have used them before in my cooking.¡± I chopped up the garlic stems and added them to the next round of stir-fry. Maveith ate nine of the tacos before he was finally full and topped them with a cup of his apple-berry jam for dessert. I had a cup of savory-sweet jam myself. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°After we harvest as much onion and garlic as possible, we will explore the passage,¡± I said. There was a passage directly opposite the one where we had entered the massive domed room. ¡°I am hoping we never have to fight these birds again.¡± He crunched into hisst taco. ¡°But they are tasty.¡± Personally, I thought they tasted closer to turkey than chicken, but all the vor came from the bear fat, onions, and garlic. We had only used up one of the massive breasts, too, so we had a lot of meat remaining. As I pulled garlic and onions from the ground, I searched for the elusive worms. I even tried cing the collector on the ground in a few spots, hoping the worms were close to the surface to pull their essence. I had no luck. Maveith found the first worm when he pulled up the waist-high grass to inspect the roots. Apparently, they nested in the roots. I felt cheated when the finger-sized worm released tiny wisps of blue smoke but did not produce an essence. I tried it on multiple worms, but it never produced an essence. So much for the collector working on every creature in a dungeon. We washed our hands, and I stored the harvest. We filled our water from the falls and finally left the idyllic room. The corridor was the same as elsewhere, but the room fifty feet down the corridor was not. It was a square chamber, twenty feet on each side. A stone shelf was on the left and right walls, three feet deep. Across from us was the most confusing sight:. a wide stairway going up. We did not enter the room as we both pondered it. ¡°There is writing on the wall, Eryk,¡± Maveith said, pointing. It was hard to see, as it looked to have faded with time, but there was elven script above one of the recessed shelves. ¡°I think this is a safe room, and those are sleeping alcoves. Otherwise, the dungeon would have erased the writing on the wall.¡± I stepped into the room, trusting my instincts. Nothing leaped out to attack me, and I cautiously approached the writing. It was in elven script. ¡°It is a safe room,¡± I said to the relieved Maveith, who joined me. ¡°It is going to take me a little while to decipher this. Do you want the dreamscape amulet?¡± ¡°I would be grateful for it, yes,¡± his deep voice intoned. While Maveith made himselffortable in the other alcove with the dreamscape amulet, I tranted the ancient writing. Maveith soon started sleeping deeply, and I slowly figured things out. The script indicated our location: we. were on the third level of thebyrinth in a special series of rooms. It warned of the cockatrices, fire bear, and shapeshifters. The dark room was the real prize in the corner of this dungeon, as it contained silver ore with trace amounts of mithril. Apparently, there were better ces to mine mithril, as this was not a popr path due to the cockatrices and greater doppelgangers guarding it. There was no reference to what was at the top of the stairs. My curiosity got the better of me. I would climb the stairs and check. Maybe there was another safe room at the top. The stairs corkscrewed as I climbed, and I counted the steps. It seemed to go on forever, and I worried I might not be back before Maveith woke. I assumed I was heading toward the secondyer of thebyrinth and getting closer to the others from thepany. Perhaps the rooms on the secondyer would not be as dangerous. I reached the top of the stairs and did not like what I found: an. oval chamber with a ss floor where giant eels swam underneath. No, it was not ss; it was ice. This room was a skating rink. There were two exits, though. The question was whether the eels were the monsters or if they were what the guardian ate. I studied the room, but the only activity seemed to be under the ice. I was about to leave when movement on the ceiling caught my eye. The body of something had blended in nearly perfectly. The creature gave up hiding and dropped to the ice as I focused on it. Six thick legs, ending in terrible ws, scratched the ss-like ice, marring the surface and throwing chunks. The dark blue lizard-like creature wasrger than a horse and growled at me, clearly unhappy with my presence. It paced on the ice, its ws ripping up chunks as it went. I watched in horrific fascination, as if I were at a zoo and perfectly safe on the other side of the bars. After twenty minutes of prancing for me, the muscr creature burrowed into the ice in seconds. I could see it under the ice hunting therge eels. It was not long before it scored a victory and burst out of the ice at a different spot from where it had entered. The ice appeared to be about six inches thick from the chunks that had been washed across the rink. I was curious about how the chamber was reset to make the surface of the ice smooth, but I needed to get back to Maveith. If only one creature existed in this chamber, then it should not be too difficult. Maveith was still sleeping when I returned down the two hundred and six steps to the safe room. When Maveith woke, we needed to make a big decision. Would we leave this part of the dungeon with the familiar monsters and rooms, or would we go to the secondyer and explore unknown threats while attempting to find the others? ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Book 1 will be $0.99 in some markets on Novemner 1st Book 1 will be $0.99 in some markets on Novemner 1st Hello, Congrattions! We selected the following title(s) for a Kindle Deal on Amazon.ca. Amazon will handle the price updates during this period. - A Soldier''s Life: Book 1 will be discounted to CDN$ 0.99 in a Kindle Daily Deal which runs on Nov-01-2024. Please do not update your title(s) price prior to the Kindle Deal date, including using Kindle Countdown Deals and/or Free Book Promotions. If changed, the title(s) will be removed from the Kindle Deal. Regards, The Kindle Direct Publishing Team Hello, Congrattions! We selected the following title(s) for a Kindle Deal on . Amazon will handle the price updates during this period. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.- A Soldier''s Life: Book 1 will be discounted to $0.99 in a Kindle Daily Deal which runs on Nov-01-2024. Please do not update your title(s) price prior to the Kindle Deal date, including using Kindle Countdown Deals and/or Free Book Promotions. If changed, the title(s) will be removed from the Kindle Deal. If you have any questions about your Kindle Deal, contact us as soon as possible: /contact-us Regards, The Kindle Direct Publishing Team Here is the link to it on US market (I am not sure if the US is one of the markets. I thought I approved Australia, but maybe they don''t want my book down /amazon/B0CV8MMBFT Chapter 157: Frost Salamander Chapter 157: Frost Smander I let Maveith sleep as I prepared breakfast for both of us, finely dicing some bear meat to make patties. As I worked, I popped one of the clear essences into my mouth. This would raise and fortify my aether tolerance, which indicated my natural resistance to channeling substantial amounts of aether. If a mage pulled too much aether too quickly, they risked burning out their aether channels. The old healer in Sobral was burnt out. I thought I might be at risk of the same if I started using the aether restorative potions. As the sphere dissolved, the world around me and my perception of it momentarily muted. It felt like the opposite effect of the perception essence. My best guess was that the dungeon was so saturated with aether that it affected me. The smell of cooking meat roused Maveith, who took over the cooking duties after handing me the amulet. ¡°How did it go, Maveith?¡± ¡°It was cathartic. I will never get tired of seeing my sister again,¡± he rumbled with strong emotion. He smiled widely. ¡°We fought the orcs and ankhegs together and were victorious.¡± ¡°I am d. How about you use the amulet every third rest? Just remind me?¡± I offered. ¡°I would appreciate it. You are a true friend to let me use something so precious,¡± he intoned deeply while nodding enthusiastically. ¡°Do you want another quickness essence?¡± I asked, already holding the small green spheres in my hand. Maveith nodded eagerly, and I ced all the remaining dark green essences into his hands, which widened his eyes in surprise. ¡°Just take one a day. Let me know when you run out, and you can choose something else.¡± Maveith swallowed one immediately and ced the remaining spheres in his pocket. He focused on cooking, as he was the much better cook. Maveith handed me the finished meal: bear patties and apple slices drizzled with hot apple-berry jam. While we ate, he asked, ¡°Did you take one of the magic affinities?¡±¡°No, I took an aether tolerance essence. I had trouble thest time I used a magic affinity essence and have been reluctant to try again.¡± I winced reflexively, recalling the pain from the earth essence I consumed, how abused my body was afterward, and the foul stench I emitted. ¡°I am here to watch over you, Eryk.¡± His deep voice became serious. ¡°You have many secrets. I will keep any you are willing to share.¡± There was something about the big gray man that just made you want to trust him. ¡°I will consider it. I also explored up the stairs. It is a big climb and ends in a frozenke chamber with a giant lizard that can burrow through the ice. It huntsrge eels in the water.¡± I continued to exin what I had found at the top of the stairs. My description of the creature did not ring any bells for Maveith. ¡°I am going to get some sleep with the amulet. I will see if I can figure out what the creature is.¡± Maveith looked anxious.¡°Can you leave the vines? I can start on the rope. Maybe leave the reader table out as well?¡± I smirked as he was clearly getting addicted to tracking his progress. The essences would not affect him much, but regaining his lost muscle and body mass would quickly raise his physical stats. I left the tablet reader table and the pile of vines for him. Entering the dreamscape, everything looked normal until I entered the ankheg room. The strong metallic smell of blood assaulted my senses. Dozens of abused orc corpses littered the room alongside two foul-smelling dead ankhegs. I muttered, ¡°At least clean up after yourself, Maveith.¡± I eliminated all smells first, removing the orc bodies and resetting the room. I would have to tell him that the amulet remained as he left it. With the room clean and live ankhegs hibernating underground, I headed toward the scorpion room. In the water room with the centipede fish, I was shocked to find Zarana swimming. Seeing me, she left the water, climbing onto the floating stone in front of me¡ªand she was naked. I averted my eyes.¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t know you were in here.¡± Then I remembered I was in the dreamscape and took in her body. I had impure thoughts and wondered just what Maveith was doing with his sister in the dreamscape. ¡°Is Maveith back?¡± Zarana asked as I remained speechless. I used my power in the dreamscape to clean her clothes and put them on her body. She looked at the garments, disappointed either in their style or just in being clothed. ¡°No, Zarana. Why are you in this room?¡± Which sounded like a stupid question. Her deep, feminine voiceughed, ¡°Cleaning the blood of the orcs off, of course!¡± ¡°How? Did Maveith let you¡ªlet you wander the dungeon?¡± I was trying to figure out what freedoms this construct Maveith created had. ¡°Maveith said I could do whatever I wanted. I wanted to swim,¡± she said with a mischievous grin. ¡°Do you want to join me? You are Eryk, Maveith¡¯s little friend?¡± Little friend? I guesspared to the seven-foot bald, gray-skinned goliath woman in front of me, I would appear that way. ¡°Yes, that is me. But I have too much work to do. Perhaps another time.¡± I hopped across the stones, and Zarana followed me to the scorpion room uninvited. When I removed the wall, I was not surprised to see Zarana¡¯s construct was missing. Oscar came rushing at me, eager for attention. The Aussie was ready to y. The men were ying cards. ¡°Nobat training today,¡± I preempted any questions from the disappointed men. Konstantin¡¯s construct barked, ¡°He is getting soft.¡± I muted the entire table, including Maveith, who Zarana did not seem to recognize as her brother. I questioned Zarana, ¡°Did you tell or show Maveith this secret room?¡± ¡°No, he never asked about it,¡± Zarana replied truthfully. ¡°Good. Never show it to him or tell him about it. You can continue to do what you want in the dungeon,¡± I said, sitting in my plush chair with the elven bestiaries. Zarana stood behind my chair, looking over my shoulder. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the vition. ¡°What are you doing back there?¡± ¡°I was hoping you would read to me,¡± she said happily, leaning on the back of my chair and rocking it slightly. I pinched my nose. It felt wrong to be rude to the construct of Maveith¡¯s sister. She seemed a mix of mischievousness and innocence. ¡°Fine, just don¡¯t interrupt me,¡± I said. Oscar hopped in myp, seeing we were not ying ball. I paged through all the bestiaries but did not find the blue lizard with big ws. I did manage to identify the potion from the creeping vine room. It was a protection from heat. I supposed that meant fire, but I was not sure. I recreated the elven potions from the summoner and identified them as well: lesser aether restoration, lesser stamina, and an empathy enhancement potion. The dominate creature was the best potion I had liberated from the dead summoner. I had been reading aloud andpletely forgotten Zorana was behind me. ¡°Are you leaving so soon?¡± she asked, disappointed. She was clearly one of those annoying personalities¡ªextroverts. ¡°It has been about six hours. I have to go and help Maveith,¡± I said. I expected her to ask me toe, but she clearly knew she could not. I looked at the silenced poker table. ¡°You all can wander the dungeon and interact with Big Z here.¡± I did not let her challenge the nickname as I teleported to the entry room and left the dungeon. Sitting up, Maveith looked at me expectantly from his work, creating a rope from the vines. ¡°Maveith, you do realize the dreamscape remains however you leave it? You left all those dead orcs and your sister unattended.¡± Maveith¡¯s eyes got wide in surprise. ¡°I am sorry; I didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Be careful when you clean up. I don¡¯t want the environments to reset. I have some things in the scorpion room I don¡¯t want to have to recreate,¡± I told him, taking another step down the trust road. He nodded and added, ¡°I understand. Is Zorana, okay?¡± I closed my eyes. ¡°She is not real, Maveith. She is just constructed from your memories by the amulet in the dreamscape. Do not get too attached. But yes, she is fine and hanging out with everyone else in the scorpion room.¡± I could see the conflict in his eyes. He hade to terms with what happened to his sister but could not let her go. The problem with the dreamscape constructs was that they behaved exactly as you expected them to. I hoped Maveith did not be too attached. ¡°I will check and see if the cockatrices are back. You can wait here,¡± I said. It had been over a day since we cleared the room. As I approached, I could already see the cockatrices in the grass looking for worms. They were back. I spent a few minutes trying to count them to see if the number had changed. I only counted six, but that did not mean anything, as a few could be in the nests. I returned and gave Maveith the unwee news, ¡°The cockatrices are back. We either have to deal with them again or go up and handle the blue lizard.¡± Maveith dropped the cordage he had been working on. About twenty feet of the thick rope had beenpleted, but he had almost used the entire pile of vines I had salvaged. ¡°I prefer to go up but will follow whatever you want to do.¡± Maveith stretched and flexed his fingers from working on the rope. He asked a question I was not ready to answer: ¡°What about the elf griffin rider?¡± ¡°What about her? We have not reached a part of the dungeon that would require a third person yet,¡± I said, and I could see that Maveith thought much differently by his facial expression. Maveith put his thoughts in order. ¡°We were outnumbered in the cockatrice room. An ally would have been most wee. You almost got overrun.¡± I exined my concerns. ¡°She is not going to trust us. Well, trust me anyway, as I am wearing my legionnaire armor. As soon as I heal her, she will attack me. Then I will not be able to sleep, knowing she is nearby, probably thinking about slitting my throat.¡± ¡°You can always just put her back in your space,¡± Maveith rationalized in a sage-like tone. He had obviously been thinking about this. ¡°It would take me two hours to recover enough aether to put a live person in the space. And if I cannot, we have to kill her and waste a healing potion on her.¡± I could tell Maveith was going to be pushing for her release even before he spoke. ¡°I will restrain her and protect you. Goliaths are known to be honorable people among the elves. She should listen to reason,¡± Maveith argued. I ended the discussion by saying, ¡°Let¡¯s clean up and look at the ice room together.¡± My tone left no room for debate. We could not leave anything behind. The dungeon appeared to let writing remain on the walls, but anything on the floor was absorbed after we left, which was nice since there were no toilets in the safe room. The two-hundred-plus steps up following the corkscrew pattern were done in silence. I knew Maveith well enough to know he was nning arguments for releasing the elf griffin rider. When we got to the room, it was just a sheet of clear ice. Therge eels were underneath the sheet and swimming, oblivious to our presence. I scanned the ceiling, looking for the creature. ¡°There, Maveith. See how the river of light seems to go around that spot?¡±Maveith focused, but the creature was not moving. We stared, and suddenly, the creature dropped to the ice, aware its camouge was exposed. As it hit the ice, its mass caused spider cracks to form under its six legs, each ending in a nasty locking w. Maveith inhaled sharply, and the creature looked ferocious. ¡°Do you recognize it?¡± Maveith shook his head. ¡°It is some horror I have never seen.¡± The creature¡¯s beady blue eyes focused on us. ¡°Maybe the elf rider knows what it is,¡± Maveith suggested, causing me to roll my eyes. The creature started stalking the room, repeatedly judging us. It was clearly frustrated that it could not reach us. We waited, making sure a second creature was not in the room. ¡°Since it is just one creature, I can take it.¡± ¡°It looks fast, Eryk. Be careful.¡± Maveith strung his bow and got hisst three arrows ready. I had not even realized the other arrows had cracked or snapped. The creature dug its ws into the ice, and with six legs, it did look fast. I stepped onto the ice, leaving the protection of the corridor. The head of the creature snapped to me, its ck eyes sizing me up. It did not look afraid. All six legs locked into the ice. Shit, if it dove through the ice and attacked from underneath, I was fucked. My armor was not dense but did not float either. Thankfully, it charged me, and the ice erupted beneath it. The sheet rocked from the creature¡¯s mass, and cracks spread with an eerie, rolling cracking sound. Dodging it would be difficult on the ice, so I nned to jump over it after taking its head. At fifty feet away, it opened its maw and screamed, and a cone of snow, frost, and freezing air sted toward me. The temperature dropped rapidly, and a snowy haze blocked my vision. Panic started to form in my stomach as my corneas quickly froze, causing my vision to blur and darken. The thudding sound of the approaching monstrosity was all I could focus on. I erged the box and listened, guessing at the appropriate time. I moved the box I had made into my dimensional space and felt strong resistance¡ªa good sign I had gotten some of the creature. I tried to move, but the cold had slowed me. The sound of nails on a chalkboard hit my ears, and I figured it was the creature¡¯s ws sliding on the surface of the ice. That was all I figured out as it mmed into me, whipping my head back and throwing my helmet away. I was catapulted hard into the wall behind me, mming my head and knocking me unconscious. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 158: Phazed Decisions Chapter 158: Phazed Decisions I was having a really bad dream. I had been transported to a world full of magic and dangerous monsters and forced to serve in the Legion. My eyes opened painfully, a crusty feeling on my eyelids; a bluish light dted my pupils, and a blurry image of a bald gray man stood over me. My mind slowly pieced everything back together, and the memories flooded back in. Maveith said something that I missed; it sounded muffled to my ears. His deep voice became clearer as he tried again, more insistently, ¡°Where are the healing potions?¡± I was confused when he asked about the healing potions, and I tried to speak. My jaw was on fire as it moved reluctantly, and other centers of pain began to announce themselves across my body as my nerves mapped the damage. I croaked out, ¡°Under my chest piece.¡± Maveith fished around in my armor and found the vial. Relief in his voice, he said, ¡°I will pour it in your mouth. Swallow it.¡± He ordered sternly. My taste buds only registered the blood in my mouth as the aether restoration potion worked. It was my only potion not in my dimensional space, but it gave me aether to pull an actual healing potion from my dimensional storage. I then had only a heartbeat to funnel aether as fast as I could into my healing spell form before the overflow of aether bled away into the environment. I was only moderately sessful in using the overflowing aether from my core. I held up the retrieved healing potion with difficulty; my arm was clearly broken. It was still hard to speak, so I said, ¡°Healing potion,¡± offering it to Maveith to feed me. ¡°What happened?¡± I croaked, my memory still fuzzy from what had transpired after the lizard breathed a blizzard on me. ¡°Eryk, you cannot take two different potions so close in time to each other. It would be best if you waited at least an hour,¡± Maveith said worriedly. I tried tough, but even a small chuckle elevated my pain awareness, reminding me just how much of a mess I was. I tried to rx and focus on using my own aether to heal my extensive injuries. ¡°What happened?¡± I repeated more clearly. ¡°The creature hit you on the ice and threw you into the wall. After you bounced off the wall, it hit you again and crushed you into the wall. Your skin was frozen from the cloud of frost, and your eyes did not look good. I did not think you lived,as that creature is easily over two thousand pounds.¡± Maveith was still worried about my fate as one of my bones snapped back into alignment. I was worried for another reason. The collector was in my backpack, and I feared it might have been damaged.My injuries were under control. After healing my head enough to think straight, I focused on my internal wounds. ¡°I am healing myself. Use the collector on the creature. If I pass out, use the healing potion on me.¡± It took a lot of effort to get the words out. Maveith did as I asked, and I focused on healing. My armor had done a decent job of protecting me, much better than when the wyvern mmed into me. Broken bones seemed to be my biggest issue. I quickly burned through my avable aether and was still in rough shape. Realigning bone with aether was not only painful but also required more aether than healing tissue. I was taking a break from healing when Maveith stood over me again, proudly holding arge apex essence in one hand and the collector in the other. It looked like a sphere containing dark blue water. It was a water affinity essence. I nodded as the pain was preventing me from moving. ¡°How long was I out?¡± ¡°One-third of an hour,¡± Maveith said, concern still evident on his face. My vision cleared as I healed my eyes from the damage to my cornea. Blinking rapidly, I saw Maveith pulling me out of the room and into the corridor. Maveith indicated the room. ¡°The ice in the room is melting. I think the creature was keeping it frozen with its freezing breath.¡± Maveith bit his lip. ¡°Also, when we entered, all the exits turned into solid stone, trapping us inside.¡± I forced myself to sit up; the ice had a thin sheen of water on top. Even if the icepletely thawed, there was a small ledge along the wall that we could walk on to circle the room. As I studied the area, Maveith¡¯s concern faded as my body healed. ¡°Your face and ears have frostbite,¡± he pointed out. I was focused on Maveith¡¯sment about the dungeon locking us in the room. It had not done that before. I recalled the scorpion room from my first dungeon experience, which had done that to me. Maybe the final room of a floor prevented you from retreating? I shared my thoughts with Maveith. ¡°I think the room was more challenging and locked us in because it gives ess to a deeper level of the dungeon.¡± I touched the tip of my nose; pain radiated from it and my nose was slightly stiff. My healing was able to restore the damage from the frostbite. My aether was low again, so I paused while it recovered naturally. ¡°Maveith, do you want to catch the eels? I have some fishing line.¡± Maveith looked at the melting ice. ¡°I am not familiar with this type of eel, but it should be edible. I do not think we should try the meat from the lizard you killed. Its blood is blue, and the meat is pale white; neither are good signs for consumption.¡± ¡°I want to harvest essences from the eels. I am not really concerned about eating them. We also need to decide if we are going to head back to the safe room at the bottom of the stairs or use one of the two exits up here. With that ranged breath weapon, I am not sure we should attempt this room again. I should bepletely healed in half a day, so this is unnecessary.¡± I made a show of sliding the healing potion under my armor in the pocket where the aether restoration had rested. Now Maveith knew where he could find it next time. There was also a stone reward chest in the center of the ice. Maveith was reluctant to walk out on the surface to retrieve it. I removed my armor temporarily to lighten myself and had enough aether to cast at least three air discs to stand on if the ice could not support me. The ice groaned and cracked as I walked toward the reward chest. As I picked it up, the ice splintered further, and I retreated to the corridor with Maveith. I unceremoniously dropped the chest to shatter it. Silver coins spread across the floor, and a distinctive yellow of gold appeared in the mix¡ªfive gold coins. We sifted through the messy debris, not seeing a potion or other item. Maveith found a silver ring blending in with the coins. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°This ring is probably an artifact, Maveith. Do you want it?¡± I asked. Maveith held up his hand with his thick fingers. ¡°I don¡¯t think it will fit, Eryk.¡± ¡°Well, when we get out of here, you will get your share of the coins,¡± I reassured him. Maveith looked at the watery ice. ¡°I think we should use those corridors and try to find the others.¡± With how close I had been to death, it was more apparent we needed help. ¡°I agree. Let us move to the corridor on the right.¡± I was not confident about walking across the ice again, so I moved slowly along the narrow ledge. My body was still healing, so every little slip was ufortable as I kept my bnce. Maveith¡¯s wide body stepped on the ice every few steps when the ledge got narrow, and it creaked under his weight, but it held. We sheltered in the new corridor, and I gave Maveith both of my fishing kits. He shattered the ice with his hammer, creating a hole, and I gave him the chunk of the lizard I had sent to my space for bait. With Maveith upied in fishing, I gratefully slid down the wall, my armor scraping on the stone. I started to eat in order to recover reserves and fight off exhaustion. Maveith caught the first eel almost immediately. The four-foot eel was dark gray with a silvery belly. He smashed its head and slid it toward me. I pulled out the collector and noticed it had a small dent in it. I needed to be more careful with this artifact in the future. I had thought carrying it was smarter for easier ess since my aether took time to recover after I killed a creature. Instead, I had almost broken one of my most valued possessions. I used the collector, and the blue wisps pulled into the collector formed a dark green minor essence. ¡°Maveith, quickness essence.¡± I held it up for him, and Maveith¡¯s eyes lit up with eagerness. I was guiltily greedy myself and would dly give him minor essences while keeping the apex essences for myself. Although, I admit being quicker might have just saved me from almost dying. While Maveith pulled eel after eel out, I used the collector and continued healing the damage to my body. Maveith tossed the eels out onto the ice, as they smelled fairly horrible, and we decided not to try the meat. Hours passed, and the bites came less and less frequently. There was a heap of twenty-three minor dark green essences. Maveith suddenly stood and backed away from the entrance to the room. I was on alert and stood as well. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The corpse of the lizard creature just disappeared. I looked up, and it was gone. I think the room is resetting,¡± Maveith noted, and we both watched from the corridor¡¯s safety. ¡°How long did it take?¡± I asked Maveith since he had a better feel for time than I did. Maveith bit his lip, thinking. ¡°I think just under a day. Maybe exactly a day. I drifted off a few times while waiting for a bite.¡± A huge cloud of frosty snow erupted from the ceiling. The frigid st quickly froze the water on the ice, resulting in a ss-like finish. The eels did not seem to have repopted yet. I could only see a few eels deep in the water. The dark blue lizardnded on the ice, which was definitely smaller than the one I had recently killed. I was still not eager to fight this particr creature again. We watched it survey its domain before I said, ¡°Maveith, take the essences, we should get going and see where this leads. I was hoping to explore both options before deciding, but I lost track of time, and we will have to settle for this corridor.¡± I hadpletely healed; my only pain was my stomach requesting fuel. Reluctantly, I sent the collector to my dimensional storage to protect it from my own shorings. We walked down the straight corridor, maybe two hundred feet, to the next room. It was anotherrge chamber with a few full-grown trees, creating a small forest. I thought the trees were oak¡ªat least the leaves were shaped like oak leaves I recalled from Earth. ¡°Do you see anything, Maveith?¡± ¡°In the trees,¡± his deep voice echoed above and behind me. ¡°Arge mantis is eating leaves.¡± He had to point out the green creature for me. It was notrge¡ªmaybe the length of my arm. Maveith voiced what I was thinking. ¡°They are not overly dangerous. I am guessing they are sustenance for something much more deadly.¡± We started to get frustrated trying to find the threat in the room. We spotted at least four of the mantises but no overt threat. The room almost looked peaceful, with neenrge oak trees, a high ceiling, and much brighter lighting than in other rooms. We sat facing each other in the corridor, resting our backs on the wall, and started to make dinner. We watched the room, trying to figure out the threat before entering. Maveith cooked with the thermal stone between his legs. I could tell he was tired, and we needed to sleep somewhere safe soon. As we ate some seared bear meat, a sh of movement urred in the trees. ¡°What was it?¡± I asked Maveith, who was studying the trees with me. We could hear crunching as the mantis was being devoured in the canopy. ¡°I think it was a spider, but it was fast, and I don¡¯t know what type.¡± As if the first attack was a catalyst, other shes urred in the upper branches as more spiders decided it was dinner time. ¡°I don¡¯t see any webbing,¡± I said, as the blue-white spiders dashed among the branches harvesting the mantises. ¡°They could be nesting inside the trees. I counted over ten,¡± Maveith noted, still focused above. ¡°I have never seen a blue-white spider before.¡± ¡°I think I remember something in the books in the dreamscape library. I will go and check.¡± I put the amulet in my hand and entered the dreamscape. I ignored the people and Oscar, as I did not want to be gone too long. I found the entry in the elven bestiary and focused on tranting it. They were a variety of phase spiders¡ªspiders that could make themselves incorporeal to avoid attacks or surprise prey. The ones we noticed were slightly smaller than the entry, about the size of a dog. They were venomous, and the poison was a paralytic. They nested in trees and caves. Their webbing was only used to preserve prey and cocoon their eggs, as they did not make webs. They were noted as extremely dangerous foes. I returned to Maveith and informed him of what I had learned. ¡°They are called phase spiders. Their bite can paralyze you, but they can also make themselves incorporeal. We have enchanted weapons, which should make that point moot.¡± Maveith was pointing, drawing my gaze. Shit. There was a mama-phase spider the size of a horse. We watched the smaller spiders bring therge parts of their mantis harvests as offerings. Therge spider used its legs to put the pieces into its mouth, making loud and disturbing crunching sounds as it snacked. Maveith asked, ¡°Is it time to bring out the elf griffin rider?¡± There were so many enemies in the room that Maveith and I would be outnumbered. I was not optimistic about returning to the ice room to explore the other corridor. ¡°Twelve small spiders gave offerings to the big one. That makes thirteen total,¡± Maveith said from his observations. ¡°I do not see an exit from this room. The trees could be blocking it, but this could be a dead end,¡± I reasoned. ¡°Maybe we fight the blue lizard and try the other corridor?¡± Maveith seemed to consider. ¡°I think we will eventually return here. We should try this room. Venom usually takes time to work or requires multiple bites to be effective. I think we can do this, but having the elf as an ally makes it safer.¡± I was still reluctant. ¡°If she doesn¡¯t stab us in the back while we are fighting,¡± I wavered for minutes before finally conceding. ¡°Fine, Maveith. I will bring out the griffin rider, and we will try to reason with her.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 159: About What I Expected Chapter 159: About What I Expected It was going to happen, no matter my reservations. As Maveith repeatedly pointed out, the danger level was too high in the dungeon, and we needed allies. I had two healing potions and two aether restoration potions left. I handed Maveith the other healing potion from my dimensional space and held an aether restoration in my hand. Maveith looked expectantly at me. ¡°I think I am going to remove my armor and store it. If she sees the red legion armor, she may panic.¡± After storing the armor, I changed into some ordinary clothes. I had nice clothes I purchased in Telha, but I did not think they were appropriate for this asion. Maveith sucked his cheek, inspecting me. ¡°Eryk, you look a little tough. Like someone who would be in a press gang.¡± Even though we had washed in the cockatrice chamber, we both looked a little rough. I took out my barber¡¯s bag and used the small mirror. My scraggly beard from malnourishment had not fully grown back, my ck shoulder-length hair was matted from my helmet, and my teeth were stained blue from the blueberries. Altogether it made me look a little menacing. I would run from me, too. I started with the mouthwash. The mint-infused liquid strengthened my teeth, purified my breath, and whitened my teeth. Spitting the used potion resulted in a dark blue stain on the wall. I tested my teeth and was happy they felt smooth; my gums had recovered as well. I gave Maveith a dose as well. Then, I had him hold the mirror while I shaved and trimmed my beard and hair. Maveith expounded on the benefits of being hairless while I worked. I cut myself three times with the straight-edge razor, but it did not matter as I healed the cuts immediately with my spell form. It felt surreal doing this in a dangerous dungeon. Also, there was the fact I was prettying up for an enemy who would likely try and kill me. Maveith was hairless. He just needed to wash his gray-skinned head and hands. I thought he looked much more imposing than me, as his body was filling out again with our increasing sustenance. ¡°Better?¡± I asked the goliath, who inspected me for a minute. ¡°Yes. Do you think she will recognize you?¡± Maveith asked. I thought about it. My helm covered my head fairly well and protected my cheeks, but my eyes, nose, and mouth were visible. She had also recognized me the second time I ced her into my dimensional space. ¡°Yes. She might not immediately, but she will eventually.¡± ¡°Stand behind me, then, until I can exin to her what is happening. Do you know her name?¡± Maveith asked. ¡°No! Both times we met, she was trying to kill me. I did not have time for introductions!¡± Iughed incredulously, but something tickled my mind. I pulled the elven dagger off my belt. I was wearing the ck de and her elven dagger. I looked at the small script. I did not remember what Schr Favian had said the writing was, but I was able to sound it out myself in the elven tongue. ¡°Her name might be Raelia vien.¡± Maveith nodded, recalling the Schr¡¯s deciphering. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to go back to the safe room to do this?¡± he asked again. Phantom pain spread through me. I could tolerate a lot of pain, but it was still extremely unpleasant. The ranged attack of the blue lizard would take a lot of work to ovee. We could never kill it if it never came within range of my dimensional space. Also, if the creature shattered the ice and put us in the water, we would be finished. Maybe if the chamber had not locked us inside, I would have had more confidence if we could draw it into the corridor. ¡°No, Maveith. I think we will try our luck with the phase spiders.¡± We cleaned up the corridor, but the dungeon had not yet absorbed our bowel movements. It was what it was, and I was going to assume our mess would be thest thing she was concerned with. I did not know how long we could linger in the corridor before the dungeon released the creatures in the rooms to pursue us, but the shapeshifters warned us that the dungeon would eventually pursue us. I stood behind Maveith and told him, ¡°She was in bad shape. Get the potion into her quickly. It might not even help. I was pretty certain she was dead when I pulled her into my space.¡± Maveith took a deep breath. ¡°I am ready.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The elf griffin rider appeared on the floor in front of Maveith. He already had the potion moving to pour into her mouth. Her body was a mess; blood flowed from puncture wounds caused by the drake¡¯s bite, and her leather armor and clothes were damaged and soaked with blood. It had not taken a lot of aether to take her out, and I could send her back¡ªor remove her head if necessary. Maveith was excited. ¡°The wounds are closing! It is not going to be enough. I need the other potion.¡± His voice was urgent. ¡°It is ourst healing potion, Maveith.¡± I could get by without healing potions, but Maveith could not. Maveith held out his hand emphatically. I pulled the potion from my space and handed it to him. He understood the ramifications. The griffin rider¡¯s wounds closed, and her face went gaunt as the potion did its work, using her body¡¯s minimal reserves. Her chest began to rise and fall. Then she inhaled a deep, panicked breath. I guessed her mind had caught up and was remembering what had happened just before she had been stored in my dimensional space. ¡°Search her for weapons and items, Maveith.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the vition. Maveith hesitated briefly before removing her belt, which had a few pouches on it. He handed it to me, and he found a knife secreted in her boot. I searched the pouches, finding three lesser dungeon healing potions. We had just used two greater healing potions on her, so I was taking these as payment and sent them to my dimensional storage. These potions would have been useful when we were back in the library, Imented. The other pouches contained myconid powder, dark moss, and spools of twine. I looked at Maveith, who was waiting for her to regain consciousness. ¡°Give me the ring,¡± I indicated the bright silver ring the elf wore. Maveith hesitated a moment before removing it and handing it to me. It looked like it could be an artifact, so I sent it to storage. Her eyes began to flutter, and if it was not for her blood-caked face and messy hair, I might have thought she was attractive. ¡°Raelia,¡± Maveith whispered softly and reassuringly. ¡°You are safe now. I am Maveith.¡± He started to repeat that over and over. What if her name wasn¡¯t Raelia? Then Maveith would look silly, not me. A groan escaped her lips as she came to and moved slowly. Her crusty eyes began to flutter, and the moment was upon us. I whispered, ¡°Be careful; she has fireball magic.¡± Maveith hissed, ¡°Quiet. Elves have excellent hearing.¡± The griffin rider slowly turned her head as her eyes focused. The shimmering lights in the ceiling were probably not the best environment to awaken to. She finally focused on the smiling Maveith, who was lucky I had the mouthwash to whiten his teeth. Otherwise, his dark blue lips and stained teeth would have scared her. She finally spoke weakly and confused, ¡°A goliath? Where am I?¡± ¡°You are in a dungeon. I am Maveith, and I will not harm you. You have my word as a member of the Stoneskin n.¡± Stoneskin n? Maveith had never told me he was part of a n. I felt slightly betrayed that he told the elf first. She spoke softly with effort. ¡°Why am I in a dungeon? What happened? I was with Vaeril.¡± She paused to think. ¡°We were running from the ursed Telhian legionnaires.¡± Her body jolted. ¡°A drake. I was in a drake¡¯s mouth and helpless.¡± She was sitting up, and I could tell her heart was racing with the memories that were just a few moments ago for her. Her hands traveled over her body, feeling her bloody clothes and the holes in her armor. Her voice was slightly clearer. ¡°Maveith, how am I here with you?¡± Yeah, Maveith, how is she here with you? ¡°My friend saved you.¡± He moved aside so she could see me. The elf¡¯s eyes had trouble focusing on me as she had not quite gotten ustomed to the shifting and flowing dungeon light. There, I could see it happen; her eyes started to widen as recognition urred. She reached for her belt knife. I could not help myself. I pulled her runic dagger. ¡°Looking for this?¡± It was an idiotic y to taunt her, especially when she overreacted, and anger red in her eyes. Maveith tried to calm the situation. ¡°Eryk is a good person. He has saved me multiple times. He will not hurt you either.¡± I was smart enough not to debate the point and sheathed the dagger. If necessary, I would end her. ¡°He is a legionnaire, goliath. Do the world a favor and end him before he kills you,¡± she spat a bloody glob on the floor at my feet. ¡°I do not think this is going to work out, Maveith. I will just put her back for now,¡± I said, thinking the threat would give us some leverage. The elf realized what that meant, rolled to her feet in a sh, and darted into the phase spider forest room. ¡°Well, we tried,¡± I said, but Maveith was already rushing after her. ¡°Raelia! Stop! We are in a dungeon!¡± Maveith yelled, but the elf girl did not stop. ¡°Fuck,¡± I swore, drawing the ck de and moving to protect Maveith. The elf reached the center of the room, and two phase spidersunched from the trees. She managed to roll forward and avoid both. She was sprinting toward an exit we had not been able to see. Two more of the phase spiders zipped through the air behind her back. She could not see them but dodged anyway. Then Mama Spider shed to the ground, blocking her ess to the corridor exit. Maveith had crushed the first two spiders that had attacked the elf. I caught movement and shed the air, bisecting my own spider. I could not focus on Maveith or the elf girl. The spider¡¯s bodies were the size of cats, but their legs made them seem muchrger. I was actually surprised at how easily my ck de cut through them. They were probably just as surprised, as they were a blur and thought themselves immune to my attack. I killed a second, then a third, and then snuck a nce at Maveith. He was covered in spider goo. The elf was dodging the horse-sized spider, trying to sneak past it. I got my fourth spider, and Maveith yelled, ¡°We have to help her. She does not have a weapon.¡± I was free of spiders and rushed forward as Maveith crushed another spider with the hammer, sttering spider goo on me as I passed. The elf girl was trying to tear the spider from her back, and therge spider closed in on her. I removed the head of therge spider, feeling modest resistance to my effort, but I was sessful. I hacked one of the small spiders on the ground, leaving just the one on her back. Maveith joined me, grabbed the spider¡¯s legs on her, and started tearing them off with his bare hands. The elf was wobbling on her feet as the venom took effect. I spun, looking for threats, but just smiled when I noticed the stone chest in the center of the trees. The elf copsed to the ground, paralyzed. Maveith knelt to check on her. Relieved, he said, ¡°She is alive. Just puncture wounds in the shoulder. Are you sure the venom is just a paralytic?¡± I walked over and stood over both of them. ¡°Maveith, I do not think this is going to work out. She is not going to help us.¡± The elf¡¯s eyes started darting from me to Maveith and back again. She tried to speak, but it came out garbled. I noted, ¡°Huh, looks like the paralysis doesn¡¯t affect her hearing or sight.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, RoyalRoad, or Scribblehub, it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 160: Mutual Benefit Chapter 160: Mutual Benefit The griffin rider was paralyzed but could still hear and see us, her eyes darting around in panic at her situation. Maveith was tending to her while I searched the forest room. The trees would have been an ideal harvest for the city above, especially if the room recovered with fully grown trees each time it reset. The branches still had a few mantises, but I was not about to climb the tree to get them. The floor was covered with leafy nts and grass, and the reward chest was in the center of the room. Since Maveith was tending to the elf, I shattered the stone casing. As I searched through the stone and silver coins, I found arge ring resembling a napkin holder. It appeared to be made out of stone, with a soft pink color and considerable weight. There was a relief around the outside depicting elven hunters chasingrge elk. The craftsmanship was amazing, and I hoped it was an artifact. I bagged it with the coins for now and would move it to my dimensional space when I had the aether. I turned my attention to the nts. The only thing I recognized as useful was ginseng. Ginseng is used in alchemy, cooking, and teas. If I remembered correctly, the older it is, the more potent. I carefully dug up the first ginseng while waiting for my aether to recover in order to pull out my collector. The ginseng root was huge¡ªover a foot long¡ªand had dozens of rings. This ginseng was incredibly old and, therefore, probably valuable to the right alchemist. I had time to harvest a second before I could retrieve the collector. I started on thergest spider. Maveith was talking to his captive audience, who garbled words asionally that I could not make out. I doubted the goliath would be able to soothe the griffin rider. I had an aether potion ready to drink if she needed to be dealt with. Thergest phase spider had remained upright, its body frozen in rigor mortis after I took its head. I had to chop the legs to get the body down, as it was eight feet in the air. Soon, I watched thick wisps of blue smoke being pulled into the collector, and I got excited. The apex essence that formed was something I had not seen before. Inside the essence sphere, little shes of white jumped around a foggy matrix. I had memorized all the affinities; this was discement¡ªa rare magic affinity. I quickly harvested all twelve of the small spiders, keeping an eye on Maveith and the elf. I soon added seven major essences and five minor discement essences. These rare essences were as good as gold outside the Telhian Empire. I stored them all and returned to harvesting the ginseng. Just over an hour after the fight, Maveith said, ¡°She is starting to move.¡± I cleaned the dirt off my hands and walked over to the two. Maveith had bandaged the puncture wounds from the phase spider on her shoulder. It made me think, ¡°Maveith, do you think we can harvest some of the venom? It was pretty effective.¡± I indicated the elf, and she returned my look with a hard stare. Maveith considered, ¡°If it is simr to harvesting snake venom, I can try. Usually, the snakes are alive, though.¡± Maveith stood and took one of the small spiders. While he worked, I looked down at the elf. Her eyes were fixed on me in defiance as her fingers twitched. Maveith announced, ¡°I think it is a different process, or they need to be alive. Nothing came out.¡± ¡°A pity. We should cook in here and rest before checking the passage.¡± Maveith nodded eagerly at the prospect of food. I took out the elven tablet reader to use as a prep station, curious about what the griffin rider would make of it. I decided to try making a brisket. I rubbed a seven-pound bear roast with salt and pepper and seared all four sides before putting it in a pan with the apple-berry jam and some water. I used another pan to cover it. The thermal stone was a distance away, making it challenging to control the heat. ¡°That is mine,¡± the elf said in ented Latin. Well, at least she hadn¡¯t attacked me. ¡°The knife or the thermal stone?¡± I replied casually while trying to control the heat. It was hard as I was using Maveith¡¯s cooking pot alongside mine. The massive cast-iron cauldron was still full of apple-berry jam. The elf struggled to sit up and fold her legs beneath her. Maveith was watching her closely, and I was keeping her within range of my dimensional space. She finally said grumpily, ¡°Both.¡± ¡°Well, you are wee to carry the stone, but I have to hold onto the knife to make sure you don¡¯t stab me in the back,¡± I said dismissively. She ground her teeth a little. ¡°It is a legacy de. Only those of my line may wield it.¡± Her eyes were angry, but she controlled her speech. ¡°You can hold onto it, but I ask you not to use it.¡± Maveith had been paying rapt attention. ¡°That sounds reasonable, Eryk.¡± It was the best de we had for skinning and preparing meals. I took off the sheath with the dagger and made it disappear. Her eyes widened, but she calmed quickly, realizing I had stored it. I reced it with another knife from my storage. ¡°Happy?¡± I asked, but she did not respond, so I focused on the meal. A few minutester, she started to fish for information. ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°Maveith told you. We are in a dungeon. A dangerous dungeon,¡± I replied calmly. ¡°Which dungeon?¡± she said, irritation in her voice. ¡°It is called the Shimmering Labyrinth,¡± Maveith supplied, trying to mediate. The elf processed the name. ¡°Never heard of it.¡± ¡°Really? It is in the ruins of Caelora, an elven city.¡± I said, and her eyes went wide. ¡°We are in the Lost City!? Why would you go into the Lost City!?¡± Her surprise at where we were etched fear onto her filthy face. The city seemed to scare her more than being in a dungeon. ¡°The city is not lost and was quite easy to find, actually,¡± I stated sardonically. ¡°Idiot,¡± she said softly in Elvish, but still loud enough for me to hear. She continued in Telhian, ¡°Lost City to the elves. The King of Caelora refused help from Esenhem when the Legion was conquering thends. They thought they could defend themselves and would not send their soldiers to help others. The Elven Council became so incensed they ostracized the King and the city. It was LOST to the other elven nations. And then the King of Caelora cursed his people, always to defend it.¡± The griffin rider¡¯s information sounded about right. ¡°Yeah, I never studied Elven or Telhian history. I am just a country bumpkin,¡± I said with some indifference. Bumpkin confused both her and Maveith, but the meaning was implied. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition. Maveith stepped in as he sensed our tempers rising. ¡°Eryk was conscripted into the Legion. He is not from the Telhian Empire.¡± The elf girl studied me, and I could see her flexing and testing her control over her hands. Was she getting ready for some magic fireballs? I figured two air shields would block them easily enough. My jam was bubbling with the roast, so I added a little water. The elf¡¯s stomach rumbled at the sweet smell. All the healing had probably drained her bodies stores. ¡°Where are you from?¡± she finally asked. ¡°Tsinga. Small fishing vige. Do not ask about my lighter skin. My parents immigrated there. I had a tough time growing up being so pale,¡± I ad-libbed a little, but I saw pity in her eyes for just a sh. ¡°What did you do to get conscripted?¡± she asked, sounding interested and maybe a little more rxed. She stood and stretched, and we both tensed. She was testing us, I thought. ¡°Rape, theft, assault. The usual. But I profess my innocence. Not that it matters in the Empire,¡± I said irritably, trying to shock her a bit and get her reaction. ¡°I can see it,¡± she said, but I did not know if she was alluding to my crimes or my profession of my innocence. ¡°My name is Raelia of House vien.¡± I think she thought I would be more impressed. She was immediately disappointed that I was not and just nodded slightly. ¡°Maveith said you would release me if I helped you escape the dungeon?¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice echoed as he rushed to join the conversation he had been listening to raptly. ¡°It would be a fair exchange, Eryk.¡± He had not consulted with me on this point. I could not help butugh. ¡°Raelia of House vien. We are in the deepest part of a powerful dungeon. Even if we leave, there will be tens of thousands of undead specters who want to kill us. Not to mention that the rest of mypany are in this dungeon, and I do not think they are going to be happy to see you, if you know what I mean.¡± There was also the fact that I could not let them see her, as it would reveal how powerful my space affinity was. ¡°Then why did you let me out!? Why did you imprison me a second time?¡± Her voice quickly rose in volume. ¡°I will get out of here on my own!¡± She stormed off toward the blue lizard chamber, never even giving me time to reply. ¡°Raelia!¡± Maveith said, trying to calm her as she stormed away. I barked harshly at Maveith, ¡°Let her go!¡± Maveith stopped hesitantly. When she entered the tunnel out of earshot, I told Maveith, ¡°She will be back. She needs to realize we are her only hope. I will tell her she can get out of the dungeon in my dimensional space if we meet others from thepany.¡± Fifteen minutester, she came storming back into the chamber. ¡°There is a frost smander in that room!¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn ¡°Is that what it is called? We were calling it a blizzard lizard,¡± I retorted with a smirk. Maveith was confused. ¡°We were?¡± ¡°Ugh, I just came up with it, Maveith. Help a guy out here, or the delivery does not work,¡± I begged, trying to sound funny. Maveith nodded. ¡°Yes, we named it the blizzard lizard. Extremely dangerous, and you should not attempt to kill it alone. Eryk almost died when he did,¡± Maveith advised the elf sagely. ¡°You killed the frost smander yourself?¡± she asked in disbelief, looking at me. ¡°Blizzard lizard. But yes.¡± I waved my hand dismissively. Maybe I was trying to impress the elf a little. She didn¡¯t need to know how close I had been to death. The griffin rider mumbled worriedly, ¡°Phase spiders and frost smanders. What is down that corridor?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t explored it yet,¡± Maveith answered her. Her despair at figuring out how trapped she currently was made me feel some pity for her. She copsed and sat cross-legged, and I could see her flesh through all the holes in her armor and clothes from the drake. I blushed when she caught me staring. I pulled out the cloak we got from the cockatrice room and tossed it to her. She caught it, and her eyes went wide. Angerced her voice. ¡°Who did you kill to obtain this? And what happened to Vaeril?¡± ¡°It was a reward in the cockatrice chamber. Vaeril is dead.¡± I knew Vaeril was the summoner¡¯s apprentice she had been with, probably protecting. That news seemed to hit her hard. She muttered ¡°cockatrices¡± and Vaeril¡¯s name a few times to herself but did not address us for a good while as she processed. She eventually put the cloak on to cover herself, and it shimmered to blend into the ground, giving her modest camouge in the open. I should have realized the item was an artifact. ¡°You can just borrow that,¡± I grumbled. She pulled the cloak around herself. ¡°It is a ranger¡¯s cloak. The methodology to artifice one was lost¡ªwell, it was lost when Caelora fell, as they were the only elven crafters who could make them. My people highly prize them.¡± Maveith seemed to think of something. ¡°Maybe the crafters in the city did not make them, and the ranger¡¯s cloaks were found in the dungeon?¡± ¡°Perhaps, Maveith.¡± I produced her backpack and tossed it to her. It had her spare clothes. ¡°Howrge is your space!?¡± she asked, some amazement entering her voice. She started going through her bag, but I was certain there was nothing dangerous in there. ¡°I am not telling you,¡± I said tly. She huffed and went behind a tree to change into underclothes that had no holes. She walked back to us and approached more confidently. The thermal stone and steaming brisket were on the ground, and the elven tablet reader was covered in items I used to prepare the meal. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Raelia eximed, seeing the table clearly for the first time. ¡°That is an assessment table! You cannot use it to prepare lunch!¡± ¡°Are they valuable? We found it in Caelora,¡± I asked nonchntly, holding back a grin. ¡°You can find them in Adventurer¡¯s Guild Halls, but this one is elven-made. Unless¡­¡± She dropped to the ground, and I stepped back on alert. She moved under the table, inspecting it. ¡°Disappointing. It is just a copy of the Telhian assessment tablet.¡± She stood, and inhaled the stewing meat, her stomach rumbling loud enough for me to hear. ¡°What does that mean? A copy?¡± Maveith asked. ¡°The First Legion was the first to make readers two thousand years ago. All the artificers who made them keyed them to human physiology,¡± she said with some loathing. ¡°Others copied the artifact, but it wasn¡¯t until about a thousand years ago that dwarves and other races started artificing assessment tablets that were keyed to other races.¡± ¡°How old are you?¡± I asked, perplexed. She could pass for a human woman in herte teens or early twenties. Her eyes narrowed at the question, but she answered, ¡°Forty-seven.¡± Maveith offered unhelpfully, ¡°Elves live much longer than humans, Eryk. She just looks young by human standards.¡± ¡°Thanks, Maveith.¡± I tested the brisket, and it still needed an hour or two. ¡°I am going to harvest the rest of the ginseng. Maveith, can you watch the pot and my back while I am doing it?¡± ¡°Dungeon ginseng?¡± Raelia asked, suddenly interested. ¡°That is exceedingly rare. Give me a knife, and I will assist.¡± I was not willing to give her any weapon yet. ¡°I will be fine on my own,¡± I said, dismissing her offer. I left the two talking and went to harvest the ginseng. I even got lucky when one of the mantises fell from a tree. I quickly restrained it and used the collector to get a minor essence of coordination. ¡°You have a collector, too?!¡± Raelia barked from across the chamber. She must not have been able to see me using it while she was paralyzed. I groaned as Maveith showed off his bag of minor quickness essences to her on the other side of the chamber. I was not sharing my essences with the elf. I dug for a few hours when Maveith finally called me over for the meal. He had added a lot of pepper to give it some spice. The sweet, shredded BBQ brisket was probably the best thing we had in the dungeon so far. The elf probably ate three pounds of it and even scraped every bit of jam left in the pan. I could not me her; after all her healing, she needed the calories. ¡°How much time left, Maveith?¡± The elf was holding her belly and perked up at the question. Maveith patiently exined to her, ¡°We decided to only remain in a room for half a day to make sure the creatures do not respawn on top of us.¡± ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you know how a dungeon works?¡± Raelia asked, perplexed. ¡°You do?¡± I asked, suddenly interested in what the elf had to say. ¡°Yes. I have been in the Nameless Swamp and Whispering Woods as part of my training.¡± Maveith and I looked at each other. Maybe the elf would be useful after all. I could not help butugh when Maveith asked, confused, ¡°If it is called the Nameless Swamp, doesn¡¯t it have a name then?¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, RoyalRoad, or Scribblehub, it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 161: Gnolling the Elf Chapter 161: Gnolling the Elf We walked about fifty feet into the corridor in silence to explore the next room. Raelia walked in front of me and broke the silence. ¡°Can I have my ring back?¡± I hesitated before asking, ¡°What does it do?¡± The elf woman paused before replying, ¡°It is a ring of sustenance. It allows the wearer to require less food and less sleep.¡± Maveith echoed my thoughts. ¡°That would have been useful to have when we were in the library, Eryk.¡± ¡°How much less food and sleep?¡± I asked, pulling the ring into my hand. The silver ring didn¡¯t look too special; it was just a thick silver band. ¡°When I was wearing it, I could get a full night¡¯s rest in about two hours. I still needed to drink normally, but I only needed one small meal daily to feel full.¡± She sounded truthful, but I could never be certain. ¡°Why would I return it to you if it is so useful?¡± I asked doubtfully, turning it over in my hand. ¡°How about I trade you the ring for the ranger¡¯s cloak?¡± she suggested cautiously. I considered the offer; technically, both artifacts were mine. Being cynical, I thought maybe she wanted the cloak to help her escape. Maveith added to the conversation, ¡°I made Eryk a beautiful cloak from a bull manticore¡¯s leather wing.¡± I took the hint from the goliath. He wanted me to make the exchange to build trust¡ªand to affirm that I would treasure his cloak. ¡°How does the ring work?¡± I asked, intrigued. Raelia turned her head. Seeing I was holding the ring, she said, ¡°You put it on and channel aether into it. It takes about a week to attune to a new wearer. Over the week, you will need less and less sleep and feel the need to eat less.¡± The ring would only fit on my pinky finger. As I was about to put it on, sheughed. ¡°Never worn a dungeon ring before?¡± I did not appreciate the mirth in her tone or how she looked down on my ignorance. I controlled a scathing retort and asked calmly, ¡°No, how do you wear a ring?¡± The griffin rider stoppedughing. ¡°Just slide it on the finger you want, trickle aether into it. It may take a while to reform, but it will. Only dungeon-created rings will resize.¡± She was right; the ring slid slowly onto my ring finger. I just hoped this ring was not cursed, but I was less worried since I had Maveith take it from her while it was still in her hand. ¡°Do you know how to figure out what a ring can do?¡± Maveith, on a quest to win her trust, informed her, ¡°We found a ring in a dungeon chest.¡± I was not upset with him pandering to the elf or revealing what we found. I was having some trouble believing she was sincere and not just acting while waiting for an opportunity. Raelia considered the question before speaking. ¡°There are three ways that I know. One is a revtion scroll. Adventurer¡¯s Guild Halls have them. The other is finding a mage who can cast a divination spell. Thest is by heating it up and using a magnifying ss to study the intricate runes on the ring that reveal themselves in the heat of a fire. But you need someone skilled in reading the runic markings of dungeons.¡± I nodded, remembering that Castile had said something simr, and I thought I had a way to cheat. We approached the end of the hallway, and Raelia was walking next to Maveith. They stopped at the entrance, and I halted behind them. ¡°Not a safe room,¡± I said, disappointed as I took in the next room. It was anotherrge chamber. Boulders and small trees dotted the expansive space. A small body of water cut through the room like a wide stream, flowing slowly, as indicated by the visible ripples. ¡°Okay, dungeon expert. What are we facing?¡± I asked Raelia. Raelia leaned forward to take in the room. ¡°This is arge room. Bigger than anything I have ever seen in a dungeon.¡± She continued, a little more uncertainty in her voice, ¡°Usually, you know what to expect in a room based on others who came before you.¡± I asked another question. ¡°What about the room reset times?¡± ¡°Always a day based on the sun. Sometimes longer if the dungeon is low on aether from the ley lines feeding it. Usually, a member of the dungeon team carries an hourss,¡± she said, looking back at me dubiously. ¡°You cannot repeatedly delve into a dungeon, or you will exhaust it,¡± she replied. I thought she was leaning too far in, so I grabbed her shoulder to stop her and pull her back. She tensed and spun quickly to face me; herrge blue-green eyes fierce. I was ready with an air shield, but she did not attack. I exined, ¡°I thought you were getting too close to the entrance of the room. I did not want you trapped inside.¡± She huffed and exhaled as she rxed. ¡°Only the final room orst room on a floor will do that,¡± she said, rubbing her shoulder. I had unintentionally grabbed the shoulder Maveith had bandaged. I debated whether to apologize or not. ¡°I forgot your shoulder was injured, or I wouldn¡¯t have grabbed it so hard,¡± I said with as much sincerity as I could muster. My eyes were locked on hers as she determined whether I was being genuine. Maveith drew our attention to the room. ¡°I see some movement. I think it is a gnoll.¡± We both focused on the far side of the room, and Raelia confirmed, ¡°It is a gnoll. I can see three, but there are probably more.¡± The bipedal hyena-beasts were supposedly fast and a huge nuisance to the Empire. I recalled something. ¡°Don¡¯t elves and gnolls have an enmity? Are we going to need to restrain you from rushing in?¡± Raelia tersely noted, ¡°I have no love for gnolls, but wood elves attack gnolls on sight. I am a high elf.¡± She finished tersely as if that exined everything. ¡°High elf indeed. You see yourself as above all others, then?¡± I retorted sharply in a poor attempt to tease the elf. ¡°That is not¡­¡± She started to reply tersely but changed her mind, seeing I was goading her. ¡°Just above some.¡± Her eyes narrowed on me. Stolen novel; please report. One of the gnolls finally spotted us and ran at us on all fours before standing before the passage. It was nude and definitely a male as it sniffed the air. It then cackled loudly, drawing the attention of the others. A hive of activity ensued, and seven other gnolls raced across the cavern, all naked and all males. They soon cackled as a group, which was abrasive to my ears, especially with their proximity. We backed away from the entrance to escape the hideous cacophony they made. The griffin rider spoke first. ¡°They are feral gnolls. I did not see any armor or weapons. They will attack with ws and bites.¡± ¡°What is the difference between feral and regr gnolls?¡± I asked, thinking they were like feral dogspared to domesticated ones. Raelia eyed me. ¡°Gnolls are intelligent and form small nomadic tribes in the forests. They have a society, in a manner of speaking. Those,¡± she pointed back at the room, ¡°are just beasts. I do not think they will be coordinated when they fight.¡± I looked at Maveith. Numbers were the worst thing for us to encounter, as I could only kill one of the creatures instantly. This was why we had recruited the elf woman. Maveith thought for a moment. ¡°I can take three, I think.¡± ¡°I could take two if I had my weapons,¡± Raelia offered. I ignored her for a moment to think. Eight opponents were a lot, and they were all man-sized and fast. The terrain was not favorable either, allowing them to surround us. I turned to Raelia. ¡°What about your fireball? Do you have any other spells?¡± Raelia¡¯s face twisted slightly as she probably remembered I had used her own fireball against her at the aqueduct. ¡°You cannot charge a spell outside of a dungeon room. The aether in the spell form will break apart as you pass the entrance. I can cast a decent fireball if given time after entering the room.¡± ¡°What about your other spells?¡± I pressed. She was being cagey and did not answer. I pulled out the assessment table. ¡°Use it,¡± Imanded. She had defiance in her eyes but moved to the tablet reader and ced her small hands on it. I scanned her attributes quickly but was more focused on her magical affinities.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength 19/38 Intellect 31/40 Aether Pool 27/35
Power 22/44 Reasoning 23/35 Channeling 31/33
Quickness 50/76 Perception 41/65 Aether Shaping 48/52
Dexterity 49/95 Insight 19/43 Aether Tolerance 28/37
Endurance 28/42 Resilience 28/58 Aether Resistance 29/40
Constitution 18/29 Empathy 52/64 Prime Affinity Fire
Coordination 48/69 Fortitude 24/36
I felt slightly jealous of her aether shaping and dexterity, which gave her the ability to cast actual spells. I scanned over to her affinities. Nothing impressive. Elemental Magics (Common): Fire: 39 Air: 27 Water: 5 Earth: 4 Lightning (Energy): 0N?v(el)B\\jnn Spirit (Healing): 0 Nature (nt): 0 Unaffiliated Magics (Umon): Charm (Mind): 0 Illusion: 0 irvoyance: 0 Protection (Guardian): 0 Necromancy: 0 Celestial: 0 Abyssal: 0 Rare Magics: Space: 0 Time: 0 Discement: 0 Materialism: 0 Worlds: 0 Void: 0 Convergence: 0 ¡°What are your spell forms for fire and air? And do you have any other spells?¡± I asked again. Raelia reluctantly spoke. ¡°For fire, I have thermostasis. It is cold in the skies and keeps the air around my bodyfortable. My air spell form eliminates wind shear when I am riding.¡± She stopped talking, and I remembered we had killed her griffin. ¡°And spells?¡± I asked for a third time. The elf woman finally conceded to tell me. ¡°Fireball, gust of wind, control me.¡± ¡°What does control me do?¡± I questioned her. With some pride, she said, ¡°I can influence magical and non-magical fire. It is not immensely powerful, but it helps me enhance and direct my fireball.¡± I put the tablet reader away as Maveith was trying to decipher the elf¡¯s numbers. We did not have time for this right now. ¡°Okay, this is the n. We will wait until the gnolls return to the room¡¯s other side. Maveith and Raelia will enter first. Raelia will fireball the tightest group she can get, and then we will engage the leftovers.¡± ¡°I need a weapon,¡± Raelia reminded me brusquely. Maveith arched an eyebrow at me. I think he was bing amused by our interactions. He was also curious about what I was going to do. I produced the long dagger that belonged to her¡ªher non-magical de. I handed it to her, and I think she realized she was not getting her runic legacy weapon back. ¡°Stay out of the fighting after the fireball. Maveith and I will clean them up.¡± She sheathed the de on her belt, still possessing the scabbard. It took the gnolls almost an hour before they wandered from the entrance. We moved into the room together, and Raelia created her fireball. The tight ball emitted a heat I could feel even standing behind her as she added increasingly more aether to grow its power. Only three savage gnolls charged us in a lead group, and Raelia released her searing ball at them. It exploded in a sh among the three gnolls. A dry wave of heat reached us from forty feet away, and the three clustered gnolls were blown away like rag dolls. Maveith thundered forward, and the other five gnolls only paused for breath as the heat wave hit them. I sprinted ahead with Maveith, a little reluctant to have the elf at my back. ¡°Take the one on the far right, Maveith!¡± I yelled. I did not want either of us to get nked, so I targeted the one farthest to the left. My ck de shed out, removing the paw of my target, and as it went into shock, I rotated and pivoted into an arcing swing to take the stunned gnoll in the back. My de bit deep, severing the spine above the hips. I extracted my de as the gnoll copsed and faced the next one, blocking a w attack with my battered shield. Using my superior reach, I stabbed the unprotected chest of the gnoll, piercing its heart as its jaws tried to snap over my shield, a spray of saliva hitting my exposed face. I twisted the de, destroying its heart, then extracted it and turned to take in the scene. Maveith had both his gnolls handled, one with a crushed skull and the other with a crushed chest. The eighth gnoll was sprinting at Raelia, who had a defensive stance, ready to receive the charge. It was just within range of my dimensional space. I removed its head, and it copsed in front of the stunned elf, its heart pumping spurts of blood at her from the stump. I appreciated seeing her stunned look as her eyes went from the headless gnoll to me and back numerous times. I moved to end the paralyzed and burned gnolls, which sounded like wounded dogs, and Maveith joined me. Soon, all eight gnolls were dead, and the reward chest appeared by the stream. I cleaned my de on some leaves as Raelia was still staring at the headless gnoll in front of her. I think she was piecing together that I could have killed her just as easily the first time we met¡ªor the second time. Chapter 162: Party Dynamics Chapter 162: Party Dynamics A Soldier''s Life While Raelia was still focused on the headless gnoll, I went and cracked open the chest. Over thirtyrge pieces of silver spilled out, and buried underneath the coins was a heavy silver chain adorned with arge sapphire. It was an ornate piece of jewelry, etched with images of birds and fairies along the chain, with two fairies holding the gem. The azure gem was shaped like a ttened egg, and its cut made it appear as though flowing water was trapped inside when light shone through it. It was clearly evident that it was an artifact. I scooped up all the coins and the ne, cing them in the manticore pouch Maveith had made for me while I waited for enough of my aether to recover to bring out the collector. Maveith was dragging the bodies of the gnolls away from the water source. I searched the chamber, noting that the stream running through it was the most interesting feature. It emerged from one wall and exited through a small whirlpool at the other end. There were no fish, which was disappointing since I had hoped to harvest another assortment of essences. The bushes showed no signs of fruit either. Confused, I yelled across the room at Maveith, ¡°What do you think the gnolls were eating?¡± Every room had contained something the dangerous monsters could survive on. Maveith walked around a bit and replied, ¡°Rats orrge moles. There are some small bone fragments in the scat over here.¡± He was stirring it with a stick. Raelia had recovered her wits. ¡°Dungeons do that to minimize the aether required to maintain the creatures popting their rooms. There should be something in here for the rats to eat as well, probably one of the nts.¡± We continued searching, finding a few holes in the soil. Maveith uprooted one of the bushes, revealingrge, dark bulbous tubers hanging off the roots. ¡°Is that a potato?¡± I asked, suddenly excited.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Maveith washed one off in the stream and cut it in half. The dark purple exterior revealed brilliant purple flesh streaked with white. Maveith looked confused. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a purple potato before. Maybe it¡¯s poisonous.¡± Raelia walked over, took it from the goliath, and sniffed it. ¡°This is a vitelotte potato. They are a delicacy with a nutty taste. You boil them, mash them with browned butter, form them into small discs, and fry them in oil or fat.¡± Did the elf just describe tater tots? Maveith showed interest and looked at the bushes. ¡°Eryk, how many potatoes can you store?¡± I pointed at Raelia, indicating her size. ¡°I just freed up some space. About that much volume.¡± Raelia did not appreciate my joke and gave me a hard stare. I took out the collector and approached the line of gnolls that Maveith had piled together. The elf followed, intrigued by the collector. Kneeling over the first corpse, I ced the collector down and, without looking at her, asked, ¡°Never seen a collector in action before?¡± ¡°Of course I have,¡± she replied, offended at my remark. ¡°They are just rare to see outside the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, since they are extremely rare to find in dungeons and how to artifice them has been lost.¡± ¡°I thought the Telhian artificers made them?¡± I said as the blue smoke was pulled from the body, forming a dark yellow major essence of dexterity. Raelia inhaled deeply in shock at the density of the smoke. ¡°None that are currently alive,¡± she said tersely. She gawked at the essence. ¡°A major essence from just a gnoll?¡± she whispered. I sounded a little smug, knowing something she did not. ¡°The dungeon has not been disturbed for centuries. Creatures here are more likely to yield essences, andrger ones at that.¡± She watched in disbelief as every gnoll yielded the same dark yellow essence of dexterity. I ced each one in the bag as I went. After I finished with thest one, I tossed it to her, and she nimbly caught it. ¡°Only one of the gnolls was killed by the fireball.¡± She quickly pieced together what I meant. Angrily, she spat, ¡°What! How is that fair?! You told me not to help after the fireball, and the two others caught in the st could not even move when you executed them!¡± Was I teasing her too much? ¡°You¡¯reining?¡± I asked seriously. I could see Maveith walking over quickly to intervene after the griffin rider yelled at me. The elf stormed away like a petnt child. Maveith¡¯s hands were dirty from harvesting the potatoes, and his deep voice rumbled in concern. ¡°We need her help, Eryk. She was extremely helpful in the fight, taking three gnolls out of action before it started.¡± ¡°Sorry, Maveith. I shouldn¡¯t tease her like that.¡± I took two of the spheres from the manticore pouch and handed them to Maveith. ¡°You can give these to her. Tell her you convinced me she deserved them.¡± ¡°I told you the pouch would be useful,¡± Maveith said, grinning. Was Maveith making a joke about the pouch holding the spheres? ¡°Yes, it is very nice. I¡¯m still a little squeamish when I think about what it used to hold,¡± I said to my friend. Maveith studied the ck pouch but did not seem to understand my difort. Maveith approached Raelia, who was trying to clean herself near the stream¡¯s drain. He gave her the two essences. She looked at me for a second before turning her back to me. I consumed one of the dark yellow essences, feeling a tingly sensation spread, focusing on my fingers and toes before dissipating. Dexterity should improve my fine motor control. I started helping Maveith harvest the potatoes. When he uprooted arge mole from one of the nts, I yelled at him to catch it, but it quickly burrowed into the soft soil. So, there were moles, not rats. With my aether recovered, I sent the pouch to my space and retrieved the small mirror from my barber¡¯s bag. I walked over to Raelia, and she looked up at me, curious. At the moment, she had no anger in her eyes after Maveith had given her the two essences. I offered her the mirror, and she was shocked and embarrassed by her appearance. She immediately began scrubbing her face. I left her, amused that she was concerned about looking good in a dungeon. Who did she need to impress? Maveith and I had a huge stack of dark purple potatoes on the tarp. Raelia, now looking much better after cleaning up, offered to wash them in the stream. ¡°Great, Raelia. I¡¯m going to clean up myself on the other side of the chamber.¡± I crossed the room, nning to bathe out of her sight. ¡°Maveith, you should bathe too. We don¡¯t get many opportunities in here.¡± Maveith nodded and joined me. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As we stripped, I took the opportunity to hand Maveith two of the lesser healing potions Raelia had. ¡°Two lesser healing potions, Maveith. In case you need them during a fight. Let me know when you need more essences as well.¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice was filled with gratitude. ¡°Thank you, Eryk. I have been taking one essence every day like you told me to. I think they are working. I feel faster already.¡± I arched my left eyebrow at him because I knew that even if he had taken all thirty-eight lesser essences, he might have only raised his quickness attribute by one point. It would not have affected his quickness potential at all. He was fortifying the attribute, and training it would be easier, making it less likely to decrease over time. It was strange how filthy you could get inside a dungeon in just a few days. The stream had a sandy bottom and was only knee-deep but cool and refreshing. I had no soap left, so I used an abrasive wool sock as a washcloth and gave the other to Maveith. ¡°You can keep that sock,¡± I told the goliath after watching him use it to wash every body part. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Maveith asked. He looked up and muttered, ¡°I think Raelia is spying on us.¡± I turned and saw a brief sh of movement sixty feet away. ¡°Maybe she was nning to roast us with a fireball while we bathed,¡± I chuckled, but suddenly, unpleasant images of being burned like the gnolls filled my mind. Maveith¡¯s face scrunched. ¡°You should not antagonize her so much. We need her, and I like her.¡± Looking at Maveith, I could not see the nearly eight-foot goliath being intimate with the elf, who barely stood over five feet tall. I erased all thoughts of it. ¡°I¡¯m just testing her, Maveith. We need to find out if she can control herself¡ªand if she¡¯s likely to turn on us.¡± Things were quiet for a while, and Maveithid out to dry on a boulder while I floated in the water. Soaking in the cool water felt amazing. ¡°I am done!¡± Raelia yelled from the other side a few minutester. ¡°How much time do we have left, Maveith?¡± I asked the goliath, who was putting on his damp clothes to join Raelia. Maveith considered., ¡°We have been in this room for less than eight hours.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I moved to the shore and pulled out several items for Maveith to cook with. ¡°I¡¯m going to enjoy the water for a bit, but you two can start a meal.¡± Maveith nodded and looked at everything, considering. ¡°If we are going to fry the potatoes, I need some fattier bear meat.¡± I searched my space and added some belly meat to the mix. Maveith nodded and took everything across the room. I soon heard the two of them talking softly on the other side of the chamber. I dozed off in the water, even though I had not meant to. ¡°Eryk, the food is ready,¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice called above me. He whispered, ¡°She tried really hard to cook. Say you like it.¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked, leaving the water. ¡°Are you sure she didn¡¯t poison it?¡± Maveith¡¯s face scrunched in displeasure. ¡°She is eating the food as well. It is just a bit salty.¡± Maveith confided. I dressed and sent my armor to my space for now. We had time before our next encounter, and the freedom of movement was wee. They had set up a nice little camp, and Raelia had stacked the cleaned potatoes neatly. The dark purple made it look more like a pile of rocks. I just hoped they tasted better than rocks. Dinner consisted of grilled bear meat and purple hamburger-sized potato patties. Raelia looked expectantly at me as I took two patties and sandwiched some meat between them. The meal had a good crunch to it, and it was vorful, but as Maveith had warned, it was quite salty. I summoned a canteen and took a long pull of water. I was honest with her. ¡°The texture and vor are good. Just a little too much salt for my delicate pte.¡± She reddened, and Maveith shot me an unhappy look. Raelia softly said, ¡°I thought the salt was flour by mistake.¡± ¡°An honest mistake,¡± I consoled her, rather than teasing her further. I would not say my own cooking skills were spectacr. I needed the entire canteen to wash the meal down. Whether my new sustenance ring was working or my body simply did not need a second portion, I opted for a raw apple to cleanse my mouth instead. Maveith started cleaning the pots in the nearby stream, leaving Raelia and me facing each other. I decided to put her mind at ease. ¡°If we encounter anyone from my Mage Company, I¡¯ll put you back in my dimensional space.¡± Panic shed across her face, and she tensed, looking like a frightened rabbit ready to bolt. ¡°Is it that bad in there?¡± I asked, genuinely concerned. Raelia paused, slowly calming down. ¡°I¡­I¡­I do not remember. No time passed for me. However, I was unconscious the second time.¡± There was a brief silence while Maveith clicked the pots he was cleaning in the background. ¡°It¡¯s the only way out for you. I promise to release you when it¡¯s safe outside¡ªmy word is good.¡± I could see the doubt in her eyes. ¡°And on the bright side, if someone kills me, everything in my dimensional space will be tossed out, freeing you anyway.¡± ¡°Really? I do not know how space magic works. It is an extremely rare gift. Did you use space or void magic to remove the gnoll¡¯s head?¡± I sensed she was trying to dig for information. She was not particrly good at it, or maybe her ented Latin revealed her interest. ¡°I don¡¯t know any void magic.¡± and produced the head of the gnoll at her feet, hiding a grin, and got the reaction I wanted as she jumped up. It was a bit childish, but it proved to Raelia that I had not used void magic to kill the gnoll. The gnoll blinked, its face sneering, unaware it did not have a body. But with just a few heartbeats, it stilled. Raelia cursed me. ¡°Why would you do that without warning!?¡± Maveith looked disappointed as well. How was I the bad guy here? Raelia stared morbidly at the head, fascinated, contemtion written on her elven features. My guess was that she thought she could be next. I broke the awkwardness brought on by my own doing. ¡°Let¡¯s check out the next room.¡± I sent all the potatoes to storage, and Raelia¡¯s eyes bulged as they disappeared. If the ring of sustenance worked as advertised, this could mean years of potential food stores for me. I equipped my armor again, and soon, the three of us were walking down the only other exit from the room. It took a few minutes before we reached a familiar-looking room with tall, elevated stone shelves and a small fountain in the center. It was almost identical to thest safe room we had found. I had everyone wait five minutes before entering first. Raelia went straight to the faded elven writing on the wall. ¡°This is good,¡± I said, looking around. ¡°We can spend a day here getting some sleep without worrying about getting attacked.¡± Raelia turned to me. ¡°It is an old script, but I had no difficulty reading it.¡± I was going to tell her I could read it too, but I let it slide, as my Elven reading level was probably that of a six-year-old. ¡°It says the next room contains gnolls, followed by phase spiders, and then a blizzard lizard room. It also mentions that the stairs to the third level are two chambers beyond.¡± I looked up, confused. ¡°Wait, it says it¡¯s called a blizzard lizard?¡± ¡°No, but I thought that is what we were calling it,¡± she said, a humorous smirk on her face. Maveith nodded, confirming the name. ¡°Okay, fine. Can I use the thermal stone to heat the magical rings enough for the spell forms to show up?¡± I asked the griffin rider. She thought about it. ¡°I think so, but even if not, it will not damage the ring.¡± ¡°What about these?¡± I pulled out the silver ring from the frost smander¡¯s chest, along with the gold ring I found by the ruined wagons, therge pink stone ring, and therge sapphire ne. Raelia¡¯s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as I casuallyid them out. She might have recognized one of the artifacts. She looked from me to the items repeatedly, disbelief etched on her face. I calmly asked, ¡°Do you know what any of these things are?¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, RoyalRoad, or Scribblehub, it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 163: Gnolls, Bunnies, and Bears, Oh My! Chapter 163: Gnolls, Bunnies, and Bears, Oh My! Raelia tentatively picked up therge sapphire ne. ¡°No, I do not know what any of these items do, but they are all clearly artifacts.¡± She turned the ne in her hand, studying the fairies and birds on the chain, shaking her head in disbelief. ¡°This jewel is perfect. It must be worth¡­¡± She did not voice her opinion and instead put it down to pick up therge pink stone ring. She examined the rings artwork, muttering, ¡°It is beautiful.¡± She stepped back, clearly tempted. ¡°Do you have any other artifacts?¡± I raised an eyebrow, signaling that I was not going to share my secrets. ¡°No, we¡¯ve just picked these up in the rooms we have cleared.¡± I picked up the sapphire ne and the pink stone ring. ¡°From my experience, dungeons do not work that way, even old ones. Maybe one in five rooms will have an artifact, and one in three creatures will yield an essence.¡± Her tone was usatory as if I were hiding something from her. ¡°Every gnoll gave you a major essence,¡± she stated tly. I had already exined that the dungeon had not been delved into for centuries, and I was not going to tell her that my collector was special. I shrugged, ignoring her plea for an exnation. ¡°If you don¡¯t know what they do, I¡¯ll put them away.¡± Both items vanished, leaving just the rings. Raelia looked longingly at my empty hands. I guessed all women, regardless of their race, liked jewelry. ¡°Can you get the thermal stone?¡± I had let her carry it in her backpack. I ced both rings on the stone and channeled aether into it. As the stone glowed red, tiny symbols formed on the inside of the rings. I had no chance of reading them, but I hoped my trick would work. I focused on one ring at a time, turning the stone with a knife three hundred and sixty degrees while I concentrated. Seeing me work, Raelia asked in astonishment, ¡°You can see that and understand the runes!¡± She distracted me, and I turned the stone again, studying each ring before answering her. ¡°No. I was just looking.¡± I knocked the rings off the stone to cool. Raelia immediately picked both of them up before I could stop her. She said haughtily, ¡°Enchanted rings do not get hot in fire. They are extremely difficult to destroy. You would need to toss them into a volcano at a ley line nexus to melt them down, or perhaps have an ancient dragon melt them with its fire breath.¡± She was too smug with her knowledge. I held out my hand, and she huffed, dropping the rings into it. ¡°Maveith, can you keep an eye on me while I sleep for a bit?¡± I asked the goliath, who was setting up his bed. Raelia scoffed. ¡°We are in a safe room. Nothing can attack you in here.¡± Her voice trailed off at the end, realizing I wanted to be protected from her. Maveith moderated, ¡°I understand, Eryk. We will work on preparing a meal for when you wake.¡± I then brought out all the ingredients he wanted, and he set up with Raelia on the far side of the room. I produced the weasel pelt and my griffon down pillow to getfortable. Iy down with the dreamscape amulet hidden from Raelia¡¯s sight. Entering the dreamscape, I spent a good amount of time ying a game of therapeutic fetch with Oscar. I had to ignore Konstantin and the others as I focused on creating the rings: one silver and one gold. I started with the silver ring from the frost smander, erging it to ten feet across so I could stand in the middle of it. It did not even need to be heated for the spell forms to pop up in glowing blue script. I could not believe it had actually worked. My subconscious had been able to read the details in the real world and replicate them here. The dreamscape amulet was much more powerful than I had originally thought. I had gotten the idea since it seemed to recreate books from Earth in perfect detail, which I had read a long time ago. Now, the challenge was figuring out what the rings did based on the books Castile left behind. Three hourster, I was still working on the silver ring. As best as I could decipher from some of the spell forms that matched in the ring with Castile¡¯s books, the ring granted the wearer resistance to cold. How much resistance, I could not determine. Perhaps the ring was a reward for defeating the blizzard lizard, so you would be immune to its cold breath the next time you fought it. This would be useful, especially if we had to leave the dungeon and traverse the ruins in the snow. Should we risk trying to obtain another one? I repeated the process with the gold ring next. I found this ring near the abandoned merchant wagons when we took the old trade road after heavy rains had washed the barge transport away. The runes here were much moreplex. After hours of studying andparing, the best I could figure out was that the ring allowed the wearer to influence another person¡¯s disposition positively. How powerful it was, I did not know. It made sense that a trader would wear such a ring. I exited the dreamscape and was weed by the smell of roasted meat. I had gotten lost in my work and had not tracked how long I had slept. ¡°Maveith, how long was I asleep?¡± Maveith looked over, and I could see the two had been ying checkers. ¡°Six hours, maybe a little more.¡± Raelia huffed and announced loudly, ¡°Maveith, can you watch me while I sleep and make sure I am not molested?¡± She went into the stone alcove across from mine to get some sleep. I ignored the upset elf and went to get some food. It was a beef stew with potatoes, onions, and bear meat. It was really good, but after arge bowl, I found myself full. Raeliay on her side with her back to us, and I assumed she was sleeping. ¡°Maveith, this ring will keep you warm in the cold.¡± Raelia twitched, and I assumed she was not actually sleeping. ¡°See if it will resize to your finger.¡± Maveith took the ring and was amazed. ¡°It is working! The ring is gettingrger.¡± Raelia pretended to stretch and rolled over, but her eyes appeared to be closed. It took Maveith nearly ten minutes to slide the ring onto his finger. It thinned out a little, conserving mass, but eventually he said, ¡°I can feel it working. The air around me feels slightly warmer.¡± Stolen story; please report. After being trapped in the freezing city for so long, I had not noticed, but the dungeon corridors and rooms were on the cooler side. Raelia¡¯s eyes opened slowly, and with a hint of usation in her voice, she spoke. ¡°I thought you said you could not read the spell forms on the ring.¡± ¡°And I thought you were sleeping?¡± We stared at each other for a moment before the elf rolled over, putting her back to us again, and tried to sleep. ¡°Maveith, I¡¯m going to scout the next room. Will you be safe waiting here with the elf?¡± I asked half-seriously. The elf pulled her bedroll tight around herself but did not respond to my jest. Maveith was fingering the silver ring and looked up at me, then at the elf. ¡°I think I will be fine. Can I have the rest of the stew?¡± I nodded, and he eagerly grabbed the pot to finish it off. I walked down the corridor cautiously and arrived at a T-intersection. I went right, and the corridor curved for a good long while. Finally, I arrived at another room. It was notrge¡ªmaybe sixty feet across. A hilly range of dark gray and ck stone made up the floor, and the room had a twilight feel to it, with less light than usual lighting from the ceiling. I remained vignt but did not see movement. I decided not to risk entering. It was a long walk back to the intersection and the other corridor. I hoped we could find Castile soon, as I wanted to avoid spending eternity in the Shimmering Labyrinth. The other corridor was much shorter, leading to a room with a hilly meadow covered in grass and small flowers¡ªmaybe seventy feet across. A fat rabbit stared at me as I approached the room. As I got closer, the rabbit darted into a burrow, and a massive bear appeared from over the mound, furiously digging in the soil, trying to reach the rabbit. The dark gray coat of the bear shifted with muscle as it dug, but it was not asrge as the fire bears. Taking a chance that it was the only creature in the room, I stepped in and removed its chest cavity while its back was turned to me. I paused just inside the room, listening for other creatures. The fat rabbit popped up on the hill to see what was happening, its ears perked up in attention. It quickly ducked into another burrow. I moved farther into the room and spotted the stone chest, which made me rx. I was about to step toward it but paused. Would the dungeon trick me with a reward chest to make me lower my guard? I cautiously entered the room and noticed no fewer than three rabbits poking their heads up. I shattered the stone chest and took out eight silver coins, a potion of greater healing, and a potion of stamina. So far, every bear I had killed had rewarded me with a greater healing potion in this dungeon. Was this a coincidence, or would this continue? A greater dungeon healing potion was valuable. An alchemist¡¯s major healing potion was worth fifty gold but had a shelf life. Dungeon potions had no such limitation from what I had been told. I thought it might be time to try milking the room for this healing potion since the safe room was just a ten-minute walk away. I suspected this was a stone bear. The bear¡¯s hide was coarse and difficult to cut. I harvested some meat with an elven dagger imed was from the armory. It was not Raelia¡¯s, as I had told her I would not use it. I waited for enough aether to retrieve the collector, stacking up the best cuts as I went. I had learned a lot about harvesting game from Maveith, and I thought he would be proud of how much I had improved. I was not surprised when I harvested an apex strength essence. I was slightly disappointed, though, as the apex essence probably meant no one from thepany had reached this room yet. The rabbits watched me from a safe distance the entire time, their instincts telling them I was the new apex predator. As I walked through the smaller chamber, I saw only grass, clovers, and small wildflowers for the rabbits¡¯ diet. I considered exploring further but realized I had already been gone for almost four hours, by my estimation. So, I stored everything in my dimensional space and returned to the safe room. Maveith looked up as I returned and told Raelia, ¡°Told you he was okay. Eryk can take care of himself.¡± Raelia replied quickly, ¡°I was not worried. I was just asking if we should check on him.¡± I ignored the exchange and told them what I found. ¡°The corridor forked. There¡¯s a simple meadow room with a stone bear.¡± I produced fifty pounds of bear meat next to Raelia¡¯s bed. ¡°There are some quick rabbits in the room, but I couldn¡¯t catch any of them. Maybe we can get some with a bow. I did not enter the room at the end of the other fork; it had uneven rock terrain, and I didn¡¯t see any threats, so it could be an ambush predator.¡± ¡°You killed a stone bear by yourself?¡± Raelia said, astonished, then added, ¡°Of course you did.¡± As if it were not a big deal. Then, irritated, she moved her bedding to ensure the blood from the meat did not reach it. Maveith looked disappointed. ¡°Is this all you harvested?¡± I added the kidneys and liver to the pile, and he cheered up. Not that I would be eating either. Next, I handed Maveith the apex strength essence. ¡°It¡¯s a strength essence, Maveith. Take it next. We¡¯re going to clear the gnoll room again after the dungeon restocks it.¡± Raelia¡¯s eyes watched the essence jealously as it passed from my hand to Maveith¡¯s and then directly into his mouth. ¡°Why are we fighting the gnolls again?¡± Her tone was challenging. ¡°Because I said so,¡± I said, sitting down, rxing near my bed. Maveith shot me a look to be nicer, so I added, ¡°Partly for the essences, but mostly because of the potatoes and the water from the stream.¡± That exnation seemed to cate the griffin rider. ¡°Maveith, I got two potions as well. A greater healing potion and a stamina potion. Keep them essible, and you can give the elf one of the lesser healing potions.¡± ¡°Maveith already gave me back one of my healing potions. A greater dungeon healing potion?¡± Raelia inquired, suddenly highly interested and moving closer. I frowned at Maveith, but I suppose it was his right to give the lesser healing potion to the elf. I just wished he had told me. ¡°Yes. So far, the reward chests in this dungeon for bears seem to give a greater healing potion every time.¡± I thought for a minute. ¡°This was the fifth time I had killed a dungeon bear, and the reward chest had a greater healing potion each time.¡±n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om ¡°You have five greater dungeon healing potions! They are worth five hundred gold each!¡± Raelia eximed. ¡°No, that¡¯s the only one left. Maveith got one, Konstantin got one, and you got two,¡± I said, doing the math. ¡°You gave me two greater healing potions?!¡± She eximed in shock. ¡°Yeah, you looked like a dragon¡¯s chew toy, and I only wanted to give you one, but Maveith insisted you needed another to survive,¡± I replied. If Maveith was interested in the elf, the least I could do was make him look good. Raelia was quiet for a moment before she whispered, ¡°Thank you.¡± But I did not know if she was directing it at me or the goliath. We returned to the gnoll chamber a half dayter to find the eight gnolls restored. Raelia was able to take out six in a single fireball, which made the room extremely easy. It was time to start squeezing the bears and gnolls for essences and loot. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, RoyalRoad, or Scribblehub, it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 164: Bacon Chapter 164: Bacon I looked at the pile of essences in my hand from the gnolls. The essences had been reduced to six lesser essences and two major essences. Raelia still could not believe that every gnoll yielded an essence. ¡°How is every gnoll still producing essences?¡± she asked for the third or fourth time. I shrugged, but it was clear she was suspicious of me or perhaps even the collector itself. ¡°Like I said, the dungeon has been undisturbed for a long time. Perhaps that has something to do with it, but I¡¯m no dungeon expert. Here,¡± I handed her the two major essences and two minor essences. Her eyes bulged, but she took them gratefully. I do not think she had taken many essences in her lifetime. I gave her four because she had been responsible for six of the gnolls this time. ¡°Don¡¯t get used to it. Your contribution to the fight determines what I give you.¡± I had been slightly reluctant to give her the four essences, but she had done most of the work this time, so I recognized her efforts. The main reason for clearing the room was harvesting the vitelotte potatoes. Not only did the potatoes taste good, but we also needed variety in our diets¡ªnot so much for me, as I could feel the ring of sustenance reducing my caloric needs every day. We worked as a team to process them as quickly as possible. The tubers appeared smaller but fresher, and they started to stack up. When we finished, I sent them to storage. Raelia stood, announcing, ¡°I am filthy. I am going to bathe. Do not spy on me.¡± She eyed me before she walked off, but I had no intention of spying on her. ¡°Too bad we didn¡¯t catch any of the moles. I was curious what type of essence they might yield,¡± I said conversationally to Maveith, who was cooking. He seemed distracted while preparing dinner and did not respond, so I asked, ¡°How do you think the gnolls caught them?¡± ¡°Probably dug with their ws,¡± Maveith intoned, disinterested. ¡°We are out of onions and garlic,¡± he stated morosely. To get back to the cockatrice room, we had to descend, and I was reluctant to do so. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be going back to that room; it would take us in the wrong direction. We need to find Castile. Maybe we¡¯ll find another chamber that has onions,¡± I said optimistically. Not that I was a dungeon expert. It felt odd talking about the culinary shorings of a dungeon. Raelia returned, her wet, dark hair matted to her very damp clothes, leaving little to the imagination. She carried her leather armor, which had puncture marks, and dropped it carelessly on the ground. She focused eagerly on the food Maveith was preparing, and I wondered how someone so small could eat so much. Raelia looked up briefly but did not stare, and I averted my eyes when I realized that I had been staring. ¡°Are we going to kill the stone bear next?¡± she asked, stretching her arms over her head. I think she realized I was staring earlier and was trying to draw my attention back to her. However, I had a stronger will than that. ¡°Yes, we will kill the bear. If it yields a greater healing potion, we¡¯ll clear that room two more times before moving on.¡± I moved to shatter the stone chest. I had left to see if Raelia would break it without asking. She had not even mentioned it. The usual silver coins were inside, but there was norge sapphire on a silver chain this time. Instead, a modest brooch with hundreds of tiny red and clear stones in the form of a bird spreading its wings. I brought it back to the group and showed it to them. Maveith nodded appreciatively, but Raelia¡¯s eyes showed shock and longing for the brooch. ¡°Do you know what power this artifact has?¡± Raelia made eye contact with me, her deep blue-green eyes studying me. They were actually very lovely¡ªif I was not worried about getting stabbed by her at the first opportunity. ¡°Not all items found in a dungeon are artifacts, legionnaire.¡± I did not break eye contact with her, and she finally broke down and exined to demonstrate her superior knowledge. ¡°I know it. It was once the crest of Caelora¡¯s ruling family. Now, it is a symbol of sedition and hubris to elves.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°But yes, it is an artifact, though no elf would ever wear it openly. There is a reward for turning them into Esenhem to be destroyed.¡± I turned the pretty piece of jewelry in my hand. ¡°But what does it do?¡± ¡°I do not know. Some type of protection, I think¡ªor maybe awareness. I have seen it before on an exiled descendant of Caelora¡¯s king.¡± She thought for a moment. ¡°But it does not make sense for it to appear in a dungeon. Unless it¡¯s true that a dungeon can recreate the items it absorbs.¡± Maveith had been listening and spected, ¡°Maybe the elves of the city sought shelter in the dungeon when the Legion besieged the city. They were probably trapped and died down here.¡± I nodded in agreement. ¡°That would exin the ranger¡¯s cloak if Caelora¡¯s crafters produced it.¡± I made the brooch disappear, and Raelia¡¯s eyes fell in disappointment. I thought maybe the brooch had given the wearer some influence over the elves. Or, more likely, Raelia just liked jewelry. ¡°The stone bear room should be ready for us.¡± I stood and led the two to the chamber with the bear. The bear was back, and I quickly dispatched it, while Maveith went right into processing it. ¡°If I had a bow, I could get the rabbits,¡± Raelia noted as the bunnies watched Maveith from a distance. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°I have a few bows but no arrows,¡± I stated absently. She just gawked for a minute, clearly wondering what else I might have secreted away before heading off to look at the small flowers. I was left alone to open the chest and was relieved to find silver coins and two potions, one each for healing and stamina. If we did meet with thepany again, I was sure these healing potions would be sorely needed. Raelia had a bouquet of small yellow and white flowers and was excited. ¡°These are sundrops and sugarweed.¡± She used the elven names for the flowers, and I had to interpret her words before I understood. ¡°Are they good for anything?¡± I was not familiar with either flower, but there might be a reference in the elven books in the library. ¡°The sugarweed flowers can be dried and used as a sweetener in baking. They only bloom at the height of summer, but once dry, theyst a long time. The sundrops,¡± she indicated the yellow flowers, ¡°are found only in early spring and are used in alchemy. I am not familiar with their uses, though I was told to pick them if I ever found them.¡± ¡°You can pack out what you want. We get enough sweetness from the berries and apples. I want to keep my storage for bear meat and potatoes.¡± Her face fell at my dismissal, but I was not going to add things to my space that we could not use. It was already getting crowded in there, and designating a space for killing creatures would be a problem if I filled it up. Maybe it was time to do some spring cleaning. I left the disappointed elf to cook while Maveith expertly processed the bear. We returned to the safe room and repeated the gnoll room after a day had passed. The gnolls all yielded only minor essences, and I gave four to Maveith and four to the griffin rider. The reward chest contained silver coins and a pair of simple silver earrings shaped like leaves. I had a gut feeling that the jewelry was not an artifact. When I channeled into it, it did not take my aether, and it felt like no spell forms were buried in the metal workings. It was still an incredibly detailed piece of art. I never let Raelia see it, and she did not ask what was in the chest. After we harvested the potatoes, I announced, ¡°This will be ourst time fighting the gnolls. We¡¯ll kill the bear again and see if we can find stairs leading up to the first level.¡± Raelia tensed, realizing what that meant, but I doubted she wanted to spend an eternity in the dungeon. We rested and ate in the safe room before clearing the bear room again. The bear gave a major strength essence, and the chest still yielded the greater healing and stamina potions along with the silver coins. We might have to return to the room again if we needed more potions. I would have liked to stockpile them, but I felt that time was not on our side. I did not know if anyone from thepany lived, but they might be having a harder time than we were, so finding them was a priority. I told Maveith, ¡°Just take the best cuts from the bear. My space is getting close to full.¡± Maveith nodded, and I knew the liver and kidneys were going to be harvested, if nothing else. Raelia¡¯s attention snapped to me. ¡°Huh, you are not as big as I thought you were.¡± Was that innuendo? Was she trying to joke and insult me in the same sentence? Maybe it was some residual anger from not storing the flowers. I held my tongue rather than retort, and I think the elf was disappointed that I was not ying along. We had fought together for days, which naturally brought soldiers closer. I was still wary of the elf, but found her tolerable.N?v(el)B\\jnn We quickly checked on the room I had not entered, the chamber with the ck and gray rockndscape. Raelia identified the rock. ¡°That is cooled magma. I have flown into old volcanoes before. If something in there created it, I think we should avoid entering this room.¡± We all stared for nearly an hour, seeing no movement. I decided, ¡°Okay, we¡¯re not entering if we can¡¯t identify the opponent.¡± No one disagreed, and we returned to the bear room. I gave Maveith his bow and three remaining arrows, and he managed to skewer a rabbit as we passed through. I was excited to see what essence it might yield. Raelia scoffed at my effort and said mockingly, ¡°That creature is too small, legionnaire. Even I know it will not yield an essence.¡± I probably should not have tried, but I wanted to prove Raelia wrong, even if it revealed the utility of the collector. All three of us watched as the collector struggled to pull out the blue wisps from the creature, Raelia¡¯s grin growing at the probable failure. It took longer than normal, but a minor essence formed. Raelia had utter disbelief on her face, and Maveith just asked, ¡°What is it?¡± I picked up the small sphere and was confused. It was a pale red¡ªnot pink. ¡°It¡¯s a minor essence of fortitude,¡± I said, perplexed. So far, every essence I had harvested or seen harvested had made sense. Fortitude was akin to mental endurance¡ªwhy did a rabbit yield it? ¡°I¡¯m going to keep it if that¡¯s okay, Maveith?¡± He had killed the rabbit, so it probably should have gone to him, but I wanted to fortify the attribute. ¡°It is your collector, Eryk. As far as I am concerned, all the essences are yours,¡± Maveith replied with assurance. Raelia panicked and objected strongly, ¡°Do not put those thoughts in his head, Maveith!¡± I stopped the potential argument. ¡°I don¡¯t mind sharing. But I will decide who gets what.¡± I stood and popped the mental fortitude essence into my mouth. My head felt cloudy for a few moments before clearing. Raelia watched me intently, her eyes narrowing. I ordered us onward, ¡°Let¡¯s explore the next room.¡± The corridor curved left and right, snaking for a while before we reached the entrance to the next room. The chamber wasrge and roughly dome-shaped. It looked like a rolling grassy field, but our sight line was obstructed by a hill near the corridor¡¯s entrance. A massive, horse-sized ck boar with deep, slightly luminescent red eyes was digging up the prairie grass on top of the hill. It grabbed a massive grub tangled in the roots of overturned grass. I let my first thought escape on seeing the boar. ¡°Bacon.¡± Raelia cautioned, ¡°That is not a pig.¡± The boar noisily chewed the grub and turned to face us. Bestial red eyes focused on us. Maveith voiced concern. ¡°It is a dire boar. Dire animals have been mutated by aether. They arerger, stronger, and much more aggressive than their counterparts, Eryk.¡± He paused before adding, licking his lips, ¡°But yes, bacon. I do not know if we have enough salt to cure it.¡± The dire boar grunted, calling over a second beast. Soon, a second, third, and then a fourth dire boar arrived. Four pairs of glowing red eyes stared straight at us. ¡°We definitely do not have enough salt,¡± Maveith remarked. We needed a n. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, RoyalRoad, or Scribblehub, it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 165: Familiar Faces in Strange Places Chapter 165: Familiar Faces in Strange ces The dire boars were huge, their size reminded me of American buffalo. Each of their off-white tusks was the size of my arm, and even with my armor, I figured getting gored would be painful if not deadly. One of the boars wandered closer to us. Raelia studied the creature and informed us what she knew: ¡°The tusks may look dangerous, but it is the hooves you need to be wary of. Once they get you on the ground, they will trample you to death.¡± Each boar looked to weigh over a thousand pounds, and the thought of getting under their hooves was horrible. ¡°So, you¡¯ve fought these before?¡± Raelia flushed at being questioned about her knowledge. ¡°No. I was flying on Moonw over the Seagrass ins and saw dire boars in action. I did not know what they were at the time, but mymander told me afterward. They chased down a pair of centaurs and trampled them to death. I have never seen a dire boar this close before.¡± I assumed Moonw was her griffin, but she had never mentioned it before. ¡°So, how do we kill four?¡± I asked my group. ¡°I think they charge mindlessly in a straight line, like a bull,¡± Maveith offered after a short silence. ¡°Perhaps one of us could stand against the wall and trick it into running into it.¡± ¡°Are you sure about that, Maveith?¡± I asked uncertainly. Having been used as bait before, I did not like the idea. Maveith nodded slowly. ¡°Dire animals aremon on Stone Mountain Ind. Their instincts are to attack recklessly. Dire bears have killed many of my people¡±, he added, nodding to Raelia. She voiced some concern, ¡°Their hide is thick, or so I imagine. My fireball would just burn away their hair and make them angrier.¡±We waited to ensure there were only four creatures as we discussed strategies. Two wererge males, and the other two were younger males, about half the size. They were mostly concerned with eating grubs, but Raelia spotted one that found a truffle and consumed it while keeping the others at bay from its prize. After over two hours of watching, I finally decided on a n. ¡°They are aware of us but seem disinterested. All three of us will attack a single boar when it is separated from the others. Hopefully, the other three won¡¯te at us together, and we can take down a second boar as a team. I will kill the third, and then we can all work together on the fourth.¡± As I spoke, I produced Raelia¡¯s runic dagger and held it out for her. Her eyes widened briefly before she took it from me, and her expression was unreadable at the trust I was extending to her. She spent a moment attaching it to her belt before advising, ¡°Do not run into the corridor if things go bad. Once we attack them, the creature will be free to pursue you if you leave the chamber. Dodging something that size will be impossible in the narrow corridor.¡± We had gotten that answer from the shapeshifters, but we had not experienced it yet. Once you started fighting creatures in a dungeon room, the fight had to end with a victor. There was no retreat, as the creature could pursue you. It was half an hourter when our opportunity arrived. Just fifteen feet from us, one of the smaller boars was near and isted. My heart raced, and adrenaline surged as I led the charge into the room. My n was to stab with my ck de behind the shoulder to reach the heart for a fatal blow. The boar turned too fast for me, and I only got a ncing sh, opening its hide on the shoulder. The cut felt as though I was cutting shoe-leather with a steak knife, despite the enchanted de. It squealed loudly, calling the others. My shield arm stung as its head whipped around, and its tusk smashed into me, forcing me to retreat a few steps. With its attention on me, Maveith¡¯s hammer came down on its head, crushing its skull and causing the beast to copse instantly. Maveith¡¯s hammer was buried in the skull, and he needed a moment to extract it. I turned to look at the small hill as the thunder of hooves echoed ominously in the room. ¡°Where¡¯s Raelia?¡± Maveith asked. Shit, I did not see her. Had she ditched us now that she had two des and thought she could escape the dungeon alone? I did not have time to worry. I braced myself for the first charging boar. It was one of therge ones. Iyered five air shields in front of me and nned to roll to my right. The good news was that the boars were spaced about twenty feet apart. Maveith towered behind me, weapon retrieved. ¡°We are dodging right, Maveith!¡± I yelled as the boar thundered toward us. I dashed right, and Maveith dove. The boar suddenly jolted to a stop, destroying four of the five air shields on impact. I nted my foot and lunged with the de, achieving excellent pration behind the shoulder. The stunned boar spun, ripping my embedded de from my grip. Maveith¡¯s hammer came down on the back of its neck. I winced at the loud cracking sound on the spine, finishing the beast. We were not done, as the secondrge boar was too close, and I was forced to kill it with my dimensional space. Now brainless, its legs folded, and it skidded into the first boar. The final opponent was one of the smaller boars, weighing only six or seven hundred pounds by my estimation. The ground still rumbled as it charged. Raelia suddenly stood up, whipping her camouge cloak back to reveal herself, and leaped onto its back as it passed her. She squeezed the creature with her legs, preventing herself from being thrown off, and drove her dagger and short sword into the creature''s back. The whole sequence took just a few heartbeats but demonstrated incredible timing and skill. It reared and squealed at the sudden pain. The boar smartly started to roll onto its back to crush its rider, and I worried for the elf. However, as the boar rolled, she gracefully dismounted and rolled to cushion her fall. She had left her two weapons buried in the creature, and it did itself no favors by rolling. When it righted itself, it had trouble walking with the des lodged deep in its shoulder. Grunting in pain with every step, it moved spasmodically toward Raelia. I took a moment to pull my ck de free, as it got jammed between the boars ribs when the beast copsed. Maveith was already taunting the crippled creature, keeping its attention from the unarmed Raelia, allowing me to nk it from behind and sh the tendon on a back leg. After that, it was easy for us to finish off the immobilized creature. Raelia smiled as she went to retrieve her weapons. I, however, was not happy. ¡°That was not the n! And you were hiding in the open. What if the boar trampled you? You did not tell us you were doing it! We thought you ran away!¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A shocked look came over her face at being yelled at. I think it was the first time I had truly shown anger at the elf. Her mind seemed to race, and guilt appeared on her features. But instead of defending herself or yelling back like I expected, she just squeaked out softly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Her response was so unexpected that I was caught off guard. I gave her my angriest stare and waited for Maveith to intercede and defend her, but he did the opposite, reiterating my points, ¡°Raelia, I am disappointed in you too. The n was clear, you should have voiced your intentions to us.¡± Maveith¡¯s statement was like a p to her, and she physically stumbled. Maveith had taken her side ever since I had released her. She stared at her feet, no longer able to make eye contact. Was she going to cry? Why was I feeling bad? I rxed. ¡°You did look like a badass doing it. But if our partnership is going to work, we need tomunicate better.¡± I looked over the bloody boars, soaking the earth into a pasty red mud. Maybe a token punishment? ¡°Maveith, Raelia will help you harvest the boars. Make sure she does most of the work. I am going to search the rest of the chamber.¡± I walked away and heard Raelia trying to understand what I said by asking Maveith. ¡°How is my ass bad? It does not smell at all. I just bathed!¡± I chuckled to myself as Maveith tried to help her sort out my colloquialism. The ground was torn up around the chamber as the boars scavenged under the sod for grubs and truffles. The stone chest was near a small spring that fed a small pool on the far side of the hill. I shattered it and looked at the coins spread out in the grass. I was more excited about the silvery runic knife inside. The metal gleamed on the de of the short, single-edged weapon. No, not a weapon, but a skinning knife. Maveith was going to love this. There was only one exit from this room, so the choice of direction was easy. Rather than dig for grubs, I returned to the others while waiting for my aether to recharge to retrieve the collector. With a grin, I handed the goliath the knife. ¡°Maveith, try this out. It was in the reward chest.¡± I presented him with the skinning knife. Maveith took the de reverently while Raelia looked on, her eyes clearly recognizing it as an artificed weapon. Maveith cut into the belly of the next boar, the skin parting without much effort, and the gray-skinned man smiled. ¡°This is remarkable. Thank you for letting me use it.¡± ¡°No, Maveith, it¡¯s yours. As well as two of the essences from these creatures. We definitely wouldn¡¯t have won without you.¡± It was a small jab at Raelia¡¯s actions as well. She had abandoned us at the start of the attack, doing her own thing. The collector appeared in my hand, and I collected two apex constitution essences and two major constitution essences. I gave the two apex essences to Maveith, while Raelia watched jealously. I moved a distance away, pocketing the other two essences. I had not gotten used to the gamey smell of animals being harvested. Maveith was joyously using the new knife, cutting away chunks rapidly and handing them to Raelia, who could barely keep up with stacking the meat and organs. Raelia was covered in blood and did not look happy. Four buffalo-sized boars gave a lot of meat. Maveith asked for the other bag of salt, and he only cured one b of belly fat, conserving our dwindling salt stores for cooking. He stacked the other bs nearly three feet high. I sent them to storage so they would not spoil, but I doubted we would find more salt in a dungeon. I also had to temper Maveith¡¯s excitement over his new tool. I added less than a quarter of what he harvested to my space. ¡°Maveith, that¡¯s it. I do not have more free space.¡± Maveith pleaded, ¡°Eryk, can I peel the intestines? Surely you have enough room to take the casings so we can make sausage in the future?¡± How long did the goliath think we were going to be trapped in the dungeon? I acquiesced and made a small box with my hand. ¡°This big, Maveith. I need to have some space reserved for killing creatures too.¡± Maveith eagerly started working on the intestines. He had to strip them, scrape them, and then turn them inside out and scrape them again, all while washing them thoroughly. He needed water for his work and fouled the only pool in the room. He had a dozen six-foot sections when he was done. I guess the saying that you do not want to know how the sausage is made is true. We spent over half a day in the room before packing up and heading to the next one. The corridor was not long, and we were a bit surprised to find another safe room. But this safe room was special, as it had stairs ascending to presumably the first level at one end and a ck, oily door at the other. It had been so long since we had seen a dungeon exit. Maveith and I just stared at it in disbelief. Raelia questioned, ¡°Are we going to leave? I thought you said the city was full of specters.¡± ¡°Yes, it is. We cannot leave, no matter how tempting it looks right now. We will certainly be killed. We need to find Castile first.¡± I could not tell her there was also an Elven summoner out there trying to kill us. She might risk running to seek his protection. Raelia went to the elven script on the wall. ¡°It says dire boars ahead. Guess dungeon notes are not useful if you are going backward.¡± She offered a weak smile at us before continuing to read the faded script. Maveith asked curiously, ¡°Does it say anything else?¡± ¡°Nothing useful. The truffles the boars were eating are valuable, but other than that, it does not say much.¡± Raelia imed one of the stone shelves and started unpacking her pack. ¡°Maveith, what do you want to prepare for dinner?¡± I asked while breaking my eyes from the tempting exit. I spent time getting his supplies, and then I went to scout the stairs. Raelia jumped to her feet. ¡°I wille with you.¡± I considered her for a moment. ¡°Stay with Maveith. If there are legionnaires at the top of the steps¡ªwell you can imagine,¡± I stated neutrally. Frustrated, she said, ¡°Just do not go in the room. It will seal you inside if it is the final room before a descent.¡± Was Raelia actually concerned for my safety? I paused but did not respond to the elf as I climbed the stairs. There was a lot of hope riding on each step I took. Was the rest of thepany on the first level? Were they still alive? Was Castile among them? The stairs did not corkscrew as I climbed, but the wall had a long, slow curve. When the stairs ended, I was on a smallnding with arge circr room beyond. The floor was packed earth. The walls of this chamber had a thick green slime covering them, giving the entire room an eerie green light, but that was not what caught my attention. A massive drake circled restlessly in the center of the room, its powerful body rippling with hidden muscle. The drake¡¯s dark mahogany brown scales glistened under the flickering light, and itsck of wings marked it as an earth drake¡ªan imposing creature I had recognized from the pages of the bestiary. Yet, it loomed muchrger than a typical member of its species, creating a daunting presence that filled the vast space. As I scanned the chamber, a sh of crimson caught my attention on the far side, where a legionnaire who had been seated in quiet observation had now risen to his feet. The chamber stretched over two hundred feet in length, an expanse that made it difficult for me to discern his features. In a moment of resolve, I lifted my helm to reveal my face, revealing myself. He met my gesture by removing his own helm, and for a brief instant, our eyes locked in mutual recognition. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 166: Good News, Bad News Chapter 166: Good News, Bad News The steel helmet, with its scratched redcquer, came off, and I recognized him immediately. Even with a scraggly beard, the familiar lines of Kolm¡¯s face were easy to make out across the chamber. Thepany armorer was alive. ¡°Eryk? Is that you?¡± he yelled across the chamber, clearly skeptical and not believing what he was seeing. I remembered he was with vius, Linus, and Donte. A relieved smile spread across my face. ¡°It is me. Are you alone?¡± I yelled back. The earth drake that had been agitated was now going into a frenzy as we yelled back and forth, making conversation difficult. It was not permitted to leave the room, and two tasty meals encased in red armor were talking back and forth, just out of its reach. ¡°vius, Linus, Donte, Brutus, and Favian are at the other end of the passage! They are fishing in thest room!¡± he yelled back. I rxed somewhat. Five men of thepany were alive, and so was the Schr. Admittedly, I could have done without one of them being vius. ¡°Maveith and I are fine as well. I¡¯m d Brutus found you!¡± I replied. My thoughts turned to the forting reunion and what it would mean¡ªno longer being able to use my ability or the collector and storing Raelia. Heughed. ¡°We found him! He wouldn¡¯t leave his entry room to fight the spiders. He was with the Schr and starving. We were surprised he had not eaten the Schr!¡± I could not even contemte such an action, but when men got desperate, they would do anything to survive. ¡°How are you on food?¡± I yelled across. ¡°Not great, but we have enough to go around if we can reunite. We managed to clear a few rooms, but only thisst one had a decent source of food with the fish.¡± He turned and looked back down the hallway. ¡°I have to get back, Eryk. They are fishing in the previous room, but the pair of harpies will return soon. Our safe room is just beyond the harpy room, the left hallwaying from this direction. I¡¯m sure vius cane up with a n to take care of this,¡± he indicated toward the powerful earth drake. ¡°Just hold on a bit. I will go get someone,¡± he reassured. Then he was gone, disappearing as if he were a figment of my imagination. I watched therge pseudo-dragon storm around the chamber for over an hour. It looked powerful and well-muscled, with thick scales that moved like small shields along its body. Its head appeared bony, and its jaws sported dozens of six-inch fangs. It calmed down a few moments after Kolm left and focused all its attention on me. Just over an hourter, vius and Brutus arrived with Kolm. They talked among themselves before vius yelled across, ¡°Eryk, we cannot defeat this drake. Kolm was watching it, looking for a weakness, but attacking would be a death sentence. Have you seen anyone else?¡±I tempered my reply. ¡°Maveith is still with me. We appeared on a lower floor of the dungeon.¡± I pointed behind me. ¡°There are stairs here, leading down.¡± Brutus yelled, ¡°What happened when you entered?¡± His tone held some anger, likely for being left to fend for himself with just the Schr. I exined what had happened. ¡°Maveith got struck multiple times by a specter and lost contact with the Schr. He was in bad shape when we entered, and we have had a rough time of it on the lower levels.¡± I said this more to mollify the clearly angry Brutus. ¡°No sign of Castile?¡± I added to brush past his antipathy. There was a brief conversation I could not hear before vius yelled back across the chamber, stirring the earth drake. ¡°Brutus and the Schr exited the dungeon to reenter three days after everyone else entered.¡± Brutus added, yelling over the drake¡¯s movements, ¡°I was hoping to appear in a different entry room with another group. The bodies of Remus and Soren were just outside the dungeon entrance, torn apart. The snow was packed around the entrance, and there were half a dozen specters as well.¡± The news of the death of ourpany mates was hard to swallow. ¡°What about Cyrus?¡± Only one group of three had entered the dungeon: Cyrus, Soren, and Remus. Brutus impatiently replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t have time to check all the body parts, but I did not see him. He could be wyvern shit by now, for all I know.¡± vius took over the conversation. ¡°We think the summoner is in the dungeon with us.¡± ¡°What? Why would he enter the dungeon?¡± I was confused by the stupidity of it. Why trap himself in here? Was his lust for vengeance really that great? vius answered, ¡°The wyverns were gone, but they killed Soren and Remus.¡± Brutus added, ¡°After the specters chased us back into the dungeon, the Schr said he saw bloody footprints in the snow heading into the dungeon. They were narrow, like an elf¡¯s, and definitely not legion boots.¡± There was a prolonged period of silence as they let me absorb the implications. We were fighting for our lives in every room and being hunted by a mage seeking revenge. vius broke the silence. ¡°Eryk, we have to head back past the harpy room to reach our safe room. Linus has a broken leg, and Donte is recovering from spider poison. Even if they were healthy, I don¡¯t think we could defeat this creature.¡± The earth drake hissed at vius in apparent challenge at his gestures. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Kolm was thest to leave and tried to encourage me. ¡°If we can find Castile, she can defeat this drake. Stay alive until then.¡± I gave him some parting knowledge. ¡°All the bears have had healing potions in their reward chests, Kolm.¡± He nodded curtly in thanks, and I heard vius yell at Kolm to hurry. The earth drake focused solely on me now. Ity down on all fours, its long neck extended toward me, and its glossy ck eyes waited. I waited ten minutes and took out the collector in the meantime. I decided to talk to the creature. ¡°You know I have killed a wyvern before, and it was much bigger than you.¡± The drake cocked its head like a dog and turned to the other passage to confirm no one was there before focusing on me again. I stepped into the room, and its body tensed as its head snapped up. Then, like a marite with its strings cut, it copsed to the ground. The drake had resisted but not as strongly as the wyvern had. It still bottomed out my aether, but I was now so ustomed to the feeling that I could brush off the disorientation it created. I was not going to pursue the others right now. Maybe after I moved Raelia to the safety of my storage, we could reunite with them. I bnced the collector on the drake¡¯s bony head and left it for now while my aether recovered. The reward chest was in the center of the chamber. It was thergest I had seen, the size of a narrow coffin. It also took a little more effort to shatter it. A few gold coins were mixed in with silver, but the real prize was the spear on top of the coins. The leaf tip was matte ck, like it had been left in a fire too long and was covered in soot. The shaft was ck wood, but after hefting the spear and studying it, I noticed the grain of the wood spiraled and was extremely dense. I went through a few forms, assessing the weapon, and it hummed through the air faster than it should have. It was a little hefty but a well-bnced weapon. Even though I could not see any runic script anywhere on the spear, I was fairly certain it was a dungeon artifact. I walked to the walls to study the green slime, carrying the spear with me. The slime appeared to flow across the surface, and its faint smell reminded me of rotten eggs. I guessed this was the only thing the drake had to eat, and I could not me its eagerness to eat us instead. I was about to return to use the collector when I paused at the slime wall. It appeared too smooth and was shaped like a door. The tip of the spear cut through the slime curtain that concealed another corridor with no flowing lights in the ceiling or the floor. I flicked the slime off the tip and watched as it slowly began to cover the entrance again. Interesting. I returned to use the collector, and thick blue lines were drawn on it. The essence that formed was an apex earth essence. My body briefly shuddered, remembering thest time I consumed an apex essence with the earth affinity. Castile had exined that adding new affinities to your core was not dangerous, but it overwhelmed me since I had received a greater benefit from each essence with my convergence spell form. Before descending the stairs, I waited long enough to store the coins, spear, and earth essence in my space. I then positioned the heavy drake¡¯s head to face away from the passageway so that if the others returned, they would think the drake was sleeping. I also concealed the chest remains behind the drake¡¯s tail. Raelia was sleeping when I returned, and Maveith looked up from a pot of stew he was attending. His deep voice asked quietly, ¡°What was at the top of the stairs?¡± ¡°A fat earth drake. Also, there were a few members of thepany on the far side of the chamber. They didn¡¯t want to risk fighting the earth drake. vius, Kolm, Linus, Brutus, Schr Favian, and Donte are alive.¡± I informed the goliath and watched Raelia carefully to see if she was listening. Her body did not flinch, and drool dripped down her cheek. Maveith looked over his shoulder at her, too. ¡°Any news on Castile?¡± Maveith asked as softly as he could. ¡°No. Remus and Soren are dead, though.¡± I was not going to tell Maveith about the elven summoner with Raelia possibly overhearing. Maveith nodded slowly at the news. ¡°What do you want to do?¡± ¡°They are retreating past a room with harpies to another safe room. There was another exit from the earth drake room. We will explore that for now.¡± I said as I took the bowl of offered stew. Maveith had mixed the pork and bear meat together, but it needed a longer simmer to break down the tissue. The potatoes were well-cooked and bnced the meal. I felt a little guilty about not reuniting with the men to share our food stores. I could not postpone it forever, though. I sat down opposite the griffin rider, studying her momentarily before setting up my sleeping arrangements. The amulet was in my hand, and I confirmed with eye contact that Maveith would remain awake while I slept. With the ring of sustenance almost limatized to my body, I was down to about four hours to feel fully rested. The entrance to the dreamscape dungeon felt familiar. It weirdly almost felt like home now. Seeing Konstantin almost made me miss the guy until he asked to spar. I materialized a replica of my new spear, and his eyebrow arched. ¡°Another new weapon? We are going to have to train you twice as long and hard to master both the ck de and this ck spear.¡± Konstantin said eagerly. I rolled my eyes and decided I would practice for a time with Xavier, the sword master. Of course, I did not know how Xavier would fight someone with a spear or with a spear and shield. The practice was inefficient, but I found somefort with the new weapon. Before leaving the dreamscape, I went to the elven collection of herbalism and apothecary books to look up the sundrop flowers and sugarweed. The sugarweed petals needed to be dried in an oven. They were used as a sweetener, like Raelia had said. They were also used to ease stomach cramps and help digestion when made into tea. I regretted not at least taking some of them. The sundrops were also interesting. They only bloomed in early spring and were actually eaten by animals of both sexes to increase fertility¡ªnot particrly useful to me. I finished my four hours in the dreamscape and left. Maveith had cleaned up and was ying checkers with Raelia. As I started putting things away, I told Maveith, ¡°You have eight hours to sleep before we climb the stairs.¡± Maveith nodded and won the game, to Raelia¡¯s consternation in the next few minutes. Maveith took a few minutes to getfortable but was soon snoring softly on the stone shelf. Raelia looked at me expectantly. I guessed it was time to have the tough conversation about her going back into my dimensional space. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 167: Reconciliation Chapter 167: Reconciliation I was eyeing her, trying to figure out how to tell her I needed to put her back in my space, when Raelia finally asked, ¡°Do you want my legacy de back? You know, to ensure I do not stab you in the back?¡± Her tone was conversational, and I was unsure if she was joking or serious, but I detected no malice in her words. ¡°What?¡± It took me a second to remember she called her runic dagger a legacy de. ¡°No, you can keep it. What is a legacy de?¡± She drew it and fingered the script. ¡°My family surname is vien. When my ancestors lived in Esenhem, our family was part of the military ss. Everyone in the family participated as either a soldier or an administrator in one of the corps. When the Esenhem Consul signed a peace treaty with the Telhians, most of the viens migrated to the Bartiradian Empire to continue fighting the Telhian Empire. My grandfather passionately believed the Telhian Empire needed to be stopped.¡± She eyed me usingly in my red legion armor. My legion armor was in a sorry state, and I looked more like a vagabond merc than a legionnaire. I had no response and doubted that agreeing with her would change her opinion of me. She sheathed her dagger. ¡°It is tradition for us to carry legacy des into battle so that if we fall, our bodies can be identified.¡± ¡°That does not make any sense. If there¡¯s only one de, what about your siblings? Do you have any? Do they have legacy des, too?¡± I asked, showing genuine interest. Raelia let a small smile escape. ¡°Yes. I have an older and younger brother who are still living. My older brother is General lyn vien. My younger brother has not yet chosen his path. The legacy des go to the eldest on both the matriarchal and patriarchal sides. My mother gave me this legacy de, which she carried with her into battle. lyn has one given to him by our father. My youngest brother will carry a newly forged de with our father¡¯s name when he begins his service. The parent¡¯s name is always on the de, so they know who to return it to.¡± I remembered the General had been searching frantically for Raelia in Macha. He had dismissedmon military sense in his quest to find his sister, but the blitz had worked in his favor. I shifted on my stone seat as Maveith ripped a long fart in his sleep, taking it as a sign to go and sit next to Raelia to escape the cloud. She did not tense as I sat next to her. I was not sure if I should ask the question, as it reminded her of the past, but I did. ¡°How did you be a griffin rider?¡± She tensed, the tendon on her neck showing for a moment as she clenched her teeth before rxing. I thought I had made a mistake, but she rxed. ¡°I am small among my people. At first, I wanted to be a ranger and a scout for the army. As I was training to be a Ranger, I saw the griffin riders in action and became enamored with the idea of taking to the skies.¡±¡°What is flying like?¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice cut into our conversation. I had not even realized he was awake, and maybe his tulence was intentional to get me to move closer to Raelia. Raelia genuinely smiled for the first time since I had known her. Her teeth were stained from the berries, but that did not detract from her youthful beauty. Her stern face rxed, and two small dimples appeared on her cheeks. ¡°It is freedom, power, and ecstasy all rolled into one.¡± Maveith sat up, clearly interested in the topic. He asked eagerly, ¡°How did you tame your griffin? Was it hard?¡± Raeliaughed, realizing his intentions. ¡°Maveith, I was allowed to be a rider because of my size. You are toorge to mount a griffin. It would never get off the ground.¡± ¡°Maveith, don¡¯t listen to her. If you want to ride a griffin, I will help you find one big enough for you.¡± Raelia looked at me skeptically, and I could not hold back myughter at the joke. She soon joined in, realizing I had not been serious. ¡°If there were a griffinrge enough for you, I would be petrified of it,¡± Raelia said as theughter died down. ¡°Maveith, we raise the griffins from the egg. It is important to feed them and spend hours with them as they grow to maturity over the course of a year. It is another year after that before they can take a rider. You build loyalty with each other, and they be your best friend¡­¡± she trailed off, struggling to get the words out. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your griffin. Moonw, was it?¡± I thought I sounded conciliatory, but Raelia clenched her fist, her forearms flexing. Tears pooled in her blue-green eyes and rolled down her cheeks. ¡°It was my fault. I flew too low over the city. I put us in range of your mages.¡± I did not say anything, and Maveith remained quiet. We let her cry for a bit before she spoke again. ¡°I realized I did it again when we fought the dire boars. I did not follow orders, and it risked getting Maveith killed.¡± After a long pause, she added, ¡°And you, too.¡± She hid a small smirk at withholding my name at first. I was beginning to understand that Raelia did not just have a youthful appearance¡ªshe, in fact, truly was youthful. She was brash and reckless of mind as well. It felt like the right time to break the upsetting news. ¡°Raelia, we¡¯re headed back to the first floor. There are legionnaires up there who cannot see you with us.¡± She tensed, her hand reflexively covering the handle of her runic dagger, but she rxed slowly. This book is hosted on another tform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°When the timees, you should be holding both of your weapons.¡± Both Raelia and Maveith looked at me questioningly. I exined, ¡°If I am killed, everything in my dimensional space will materialize. Whatever¡ªor whoever¡ªkilled me will probably not be friendly.¡± Saying it out loud was sobering. A heavy silence fell over us. ¡°Is there anything I should be aware of in such a scenario? Will I be buried under purple potatoes? Or will ten other women appear with me as well?¡± Raelia said jokingly. ¡°Give me a minute. Sometimes I forget what¡¯s in there myself,¡± I said, pretending to focus straight ahead. ¡°Let me see¡ªone mostly dead ogre, a horse, and just two other elf maidens, not ten. But you probably do not know them, as I made their acquaintance before I met you.¡± Maveith¡¯s eyes bugged a little, and Raelia¡¯s jaw fell open, unable to speak. Did they really think I was telling the truth? Maveith seemed the most perplexed. ¡°Do you have Ginger in there?¡± Raelia¡¯s eyes shot to Maveith and then to me, thinking Ginger was a person. Maveith thankfully exined, ¡°Ginger is Eryk¡¯s horse, not an elf maiden.¡± Although it was funny, I stopped the spection, sounding exasperated. ¡°No, I was joking. I do not have an ogre, a horse, or a harem elves. I have camping equipment, all the food we¡¯ve harvested, some weapons, and a few things I picked up here and there.¡± I sighed as they now both looked skeptical. ¡°Let¡¯s head up the stairs. Raelia, stay behind us until I confirm no one from thepany is in the earth drake chamber.¡± We climbed the stairs, and Maveith walked straight in when he saw the dead drake. ¡°You already killed it?¡± he said excitedly. He walked around it, inspecting it and testing the scaled hide. I motioned Raelia forward, as there were no legionnaires here. Raelia was also impressed. ¡°That is thergest earth drake I have ever seen.¡± She did not want to get too close and instead kicked the stone shards from the destroyed reward chest. She was probably wondering what had been in it, given the amount of stone. Maveith stood, grumbling to himself. I think he was about to educate me on what I should have done. ¡°The scales are useful for making shields. ws and teeth can be made into useful tools, as they are much harder than normal bones. The flesh is too dense and would need a long cooking time to break down the tissue. I say we harvest the teeth and ws to sell.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been just over half a day since I killed it, so I will give you an hour,¡± I informed Maveith. ¡°Where is the other exit?¡± Raelia asked, looking up from the stone shards. ¡°You said there were two exits?¡± I pointed at the green slime wall. She walked to it, perplexed. Maveith had his runic knife out, so I joined Raelia. She reached out and touched the slime with her finger, then sniffed it. ¡°Is that safe?¡± I asked, standing next to her. She looked at me. ¡°It is green slime mold. Goblins use it as a food source because it grows quickly. If it were dangerous, my finger would have burned. It is the only thing in here the drake could have eaten.¡± I did not tell her that was also my conclusion. I would let her think she was smarter than me. She had not found the hidden door yet, as it was ten feet to her right. I drew my ck de and walked to the smoother part of the wall. I cut the slime like a curtain to reveal the dark passage beyond. I made to hand her a retrieved glowstone. She dismissed it with a wave. ¡°I do not need that. I can see just fine in dim light.¡± She made to step into the corridor, and I grabbed her shoulder. ¡°Wait till Maveith finishes ying with the drake.¡± Raelia nodded but watched, fascinated, as the green slime once again hid the entrance. ¡°That is different. The slime mold grows so quickly and not just on a surface.¡± She took her own runic dagger to cut away the slime again and watched it reform over the passage entry. I walked to Maveith, who had cut away the drake¡¯s lips to get easy ess to the gums as he sought to pry the fangs out. Even with the runic knife, he was struggling. ¡°I think I can get the fangs in the allotted hour, Eryk. If you want the ws, you¡¯ll need to help.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all you, Maveith.¡± I thought about scouting the harpy room, but I might get spotted if the others were in there or watching it. Maveith got twelve ten-inch-long fangs from the drake¡¯s mouth. He was grinning as he stuffed them into his bag. He was a mess of blood from his work but was happy about his harvest. ¡°If I can find a master crafter, these will make exceptional cooking tools.¡± I just nodded in affirmation. Raelia was already cutting away the slime, eager to explore the dark passage. I handed Maveith one of my four glowstones, and we entered. The slime slowly formed its curtain behind us, making this path feel more ominous than others. It was the first part of any dungeon I had entered thatcked a light source. However, there was that magical dark room near the shapeshifter room. We walked about fifty feet before Raelia spoke. ¡°This could be a new dungeon room that the dungeon has not finished yet. Dungeons feed off the ley lines and grow like the roots of a nt over hundreds of years.¡± Maveith questioned her assumption. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that mean it grows downward?¡± ¡°Not always.¡± She clicked her tongue. ¡°I am not knowledgeable about dungeons, but they grow in all directions around the ley line they feed off of.¡± She stopped walking, and we all stopped with her. ¡°I hear running water,¡± Raelia said. We proceeded to walk, and the walls seemed different somehow. I could not ce it as we walked farther. The corridor opened to a rocky balcony overlooking a massive chasm. Water cascaded on the far side, but our glowstones were not strong enough to show us the other side. Maveith was the first to realize it. ¡°We are not in the dungeon any longer.¡± There was no doubt or surprise from me or Raelia, as we felt it, too. It was like we were no longer being watched and soaking in the dense dungeon aether. ¡°Where are we?¡± I asked, feeling heat waves rising from the deep chasm, and I was starting to sweat. Maveith said with awe in his voice, ¡°The Endless Dark.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 168: The Green Goblin Chapter 168: The Green Goblin The chasm before us made no sense in its immense scope. I had heard a legionnaire mention the Endless Dark before. ¡°The only thing I know about the Endless Dark is that it is where the goblin hordese from. What is it doing inside a dungeon?¡± Raelia, also in awe, stood dangerously close to the edge. She rasped softly. ¡°It is not inside a dungeon. The dungeon is inside of it. Dungeons are part of the Endless Dark, feeding off the ley lines deep in the earth. We¡¯re miles below the surface.¡± Maveith could not resist tossing a rock into the chasm. It bounced along the wall on its descent, creating echoing sounds even over the water cascading on the other side. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the dungeon,¡± I said, suddenly having a bad feeling. Flickers of lightning appeared deep within the chasm below, and I felt the temperature rising. We exchanged quick nces, and that was all we needed to spur us into running back to the safety of the dungeon. Shadows from our glowstones bounced around us as our feet scraped the stone. When we reached the end of the passage, there was no curtain of green slime lit by the glowstone. Instead, there was a solid, uneven rock. ¡°Damn it.¡± I pounded on the wall, and it echoed slightly. The dungeon was trying to seal us out. I tried to create a box to send the stone into my dimensional space, but the attempt rebounded, causing me to stumble. Disoriented, I bellowed, ¡°Maveith! Use your hammer!¡± He understood and swung into the rock, breaking through a thin covering to create a small opening as the green slime tried to cover the hole. I pushed Raelia through first and followed. I did not even mind getting covered in the green slime as I pressed through the hole. Maveith crawled after us, and we all turned to watch the green slime cover the gap, breathing heavily. Wiping and spitting the slime from my face, I was relieved to see the drake was still dead. I had been worried it would have been revived by the dungeon. It seemed like this had all been a trick by the dungeon to kick us out¡ªor probably just me. I spected that it really did not like how I won our fights. Breathing heavily, Maveith asked, ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The dungeon tried to lock us out. I tried to create a door, but it was like when I tried to kill a creature without entering the room. My attempt bacshed on me,¡± I said, still sweating from the heat of the chasm and the adrenaline surging through my veins.¡°Dungeons follow rules,¡± Raelia said, disgustedly cleaning the green slime from her hair. She had gone first and took the brunt of the slime. She whipped a glob off her hand. ¡°No one knows why. One of those rules is that you need to enter a room to fight a creature. Once a fight begins, the creature can pursue anywhere in the dungeon.¡± ¡°What are the rest of the rules?¡± Maveith¡¯s deep voice intoned as we all calmed down. It did not appear there was anything pursuing us. ¡°The ones I remember, you already know. Safe rooms can¡¯t have dungeon creatures in them. Once you enter a room, a monster can pursue you out of it. There¡¯s a reward for clearing a room¡­¡± Raelia stopped cleaning herself and thought. She held up her hand and seemed to be counting, trying to remember. ¡°Rooms will reset after one day, and if you rest in a corridor between rooms for more than a day, the creatures in any connected rooms can pursue you.¡± She had not offered any new information. ¡°Is that all you remember?¡± I pressed her. Any new knowledge would be wee. Raelia nodded. ¡°The dungeons I entered were not as dangerous as this one, and they were more for training us to work as a team against non-humanoids.¡± Raelia¡¯s head snapped in rm to the far entrance, and I swore as I turned. I expectedpany men, but instead, I saw a small green goblin sprinting frantically out of the corridor. It stumbled into a roll when it noticed the massive earth drake in the chamber¡¯s center. The goblin child was familiar¡ªit was the one I had released to distract the bear. How had it survived for so long? Maveith¡¯s rumbling voice questioned, ¡°Do you all see a goblin too?¡± Horrid screeches of feminine anger followed the goblin out of the corridor. ¡°Harpies,¡± I warned my group. ¡°Harpies?¡± Raelia questioned. ¡°The goblin must have run through thest room. It had a pair of harpies in it,¡± I exined while drawing my de and rushing to the corridor to meet them. The frail goblin wasn¡¯t a concern. The harpy screams echoed down the corridor as they approached, and my head ached from the discordant cadence of their screams, which sounded like a mutted song that I couldn¡¯t ignore. My mind clouded, and it was a strain to remain focused. ws clicked rapidly on stone as they approached. I stood at the side of the passage opening and waited. Maveith had pursued the goblin, and I could not yell at him for help, or I would alert the harpies. The first harpy stumbled into the room, and my de came down on the back of its neck. I mistimed my swing but managed to sever one of its leathery wings. It screeched in pain, sending a pressing migraine through my head. I pivoted to finish it with another swing when the second harpy plowed into me, talons-first. I was pinned underneath the creature, struggling as I learned more about harpies than I ever wanted to know in those next few seconds. Their legs were massive bird legs with talons, trying to tear my armor off. It also had long ws on its hands that tried to reach my exposed face. A grotesque woman¡¯s face with greasy ck hair, wild eyes, and sharp teeth hissed and spat at me. I struggled to hold the heavy creature at bay. Its talons had a strong grip on me, and it was much heavier than it looked. Strangely, in my struggle, I remembered a curse myrades used¡ª¡°harpies¡¯ tits.¡± And yes, the torso of this creature was well-muscled and would have been attractive on any buxom human woman. ¡°Close your eyes!¡± Raelia yelled. I trusted her in that moment because I thought I knew what she was doing. Heat erupted around me as a wave of fire enveloped me for not more than a fraction of a second, sting the creature away and freeing me. My armor protected me from the worst of it, but my face was blistered, and I smelled burnt hair. I rolled to my feet to see both harpies struggling, their wings in shambles with embers still burning from the fireball. I shed the one I had crippled with my ck de, ending its pained cries. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The lone remaining harpy was hobbled, its wings shredded, and half its face burned. Its one good glossy ck eye contained more malice than I could fathom. It tried to scream, but Raelia¡¯s legacy dagger suddenly appeared in its throat, and it grasped at it as it struggled to breathe. I nced at Raelia, who stood twenty feet away. I nodded at her, my voice cracked from the dry heat. ¡°Nice throw.¡± I stepped into the harpy¡¯s reach and stabbed it in the chest, aiming for its heart. I backed away before it could retaliate as it died. My face burned, and I reached for the aether potion but stopped. It was best not to waste the treasure and just deal with the pain. The only threat now was the goblin. I saw Maveith chasing the goblin around the corpse of the earth drake. The small goblin was bone-thin but incredibly fast. It definitely had a strong survival instinct. Raelia stood beside me, looking concerned. ¡°I am sorry; it was the only thing I could think of to help you.¡± ¡°You did the right thing,¡± my voice creaked out. I thought I¡¯d inhaled some of the fireball, as my lungs also burned along with my face. The harpy¡¯s ws would have ripped out my throat if she had not helped me. It was almostical as we both watched the goblin avoid Maveith by using therge drake as cover. If Maveith got too close, it would scramble over the drake to the other side, therge scales making excellent handholds for its tiny, nimble fingers. Neither Raelia nor I moved to help Maveith. Finally, I said, ¡°It¡¯s not a dungeon creature, Maveith. I brought it in here and released it when I fought my first bear.¡± Maveith stopped his pursuit and looked at me, his chest heaving from his efforts. The goblin also looked exhausted but studied Raelia and me. Even with my red and blistering face, recognition shed in the goblin¡¯s eyes. That quickly turned to fear, and it bolted for the exit, descending the stairs to the safe room in a heartbeat. ¡°Let it go!¡± I yelled to Maveith. In an odd way, I felt sorry for the creature if it had survived over a week in the dungeon, running for its life. My guess was that it ran through a room and pulled the monsters into the next room to fight each other. I walked to Maveith and began healing my face as my aether recovered. Maveith was apologetic. ¡°Sorry, I did not help with the harpies. I got focused on the goblin.¡± I looked at the part of the wall where the green slime covered the exit to the Endless Dark. The slime was no longer a t surface, which indicated there was now rock behind it. Had we just passed up a chance to leave the dungeon? How would we have even scaled the chasm, and how far below the surface were we? No, we made the right choice, and whatever was at the bottom of the chasm was not friendly. The harpies both yielded major charm essences. The essences had spiraling smoke inside in a mix of white and blue. If you looked at the pattern too long, it made you dizzy. I handed both to a surprised Raelia. She had possibly saved my life and definitely yed thergest role in the victory. She studied my face, which was now mostly healed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to waste a healing potion on your face.¡± I shrugged, not telling her I could heal myself. I looked to the goliath. ¡°Maveith, it¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s move back to the safe room.¡± I looked seriously at Raelia. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to return to my dimensional space.¡± She did not appear as reluctant now. Maybe there was a little trust between us. We slowly descended the long set of stairs, concerned the goblin could have drawn the dire boars into the safe room. There were no goblins or boars at the bottom of the stairs. Maveith began to cook while I scouted the boar room to ensure there was no threat. I had recovered enough aether to kill a boar if needed. Two boars were clearly visible as I approached the dire boar chamber, blocking the entrance while the small goblin huddled, trying to make itself small in the corridor. My armor rasped loudly as I walked, the resin-infused leather tes having melted and deformed a little from the fireball, no longer sliding seamlessly against each other. The goblin spun back and forth between the two boars and me, trying to decide on the lesser of two dangers. At just over twelve feet away, I didn¡¯t give it a chance to make its final decision. I aligned some free space and sent the creature into my dimensional space. I had recovered enough aether, and having something in my dimensional space that could serve as a distraction in a future fight seemed like a good idea. I returned to the safe room. ¡°The goblin¡¯s taken care of,¡± was all I said as I sat down. ¡°After we eat, Raelia,¡± I told her, and she nodded in understanding. The meal consisted mostly of us specting on why the dungeon was trying to get rid of us. Raelia thought we had just caught it in the process of expanding itsbyrinth and did not think the dungeon had enough awareness to target us specifically. She managed to convince Maveith of this, even though I was fairly certain the dungeon was targeting me. I think it recognized me as a threat and a nuisance. After storing the goblin, I had to draw out the meal to recover enough aether. Raelia seemed to think it was due to my reluctance to store her, which worked in my favor. as I felt we had built a bit of trust, and I no longer saw her as an enemy. Raelia finally stood. ¡°Let us get this over with. If I am trapped inside you for a long time, know that I am not going to be happy when I am let out.¡± Raelia drew her two des. ¡°Put your pack over there,¡± I instructed, pointing to the shelf. ¡°You¡¯ll want to be unburdened when youe out.¡± She nodded and did as instructed. She prepared herself and nodded. ¡°You can keep the ranger¡¯s cloak,¡± I said, pushing her into my space before she could respond. Maveith seemed sad as I went over to her pack. I took out the thermal stone first since we had not used it to prepare the meal. ¡°Eryk, what are you doing?¡± Maveith asked. ¡°Repacking her bag a little.¡± I sorted everything out, and when I had enough aether, I pulled out food. Maveith understood and started to help. When we left the dungeon, she was going to need food to get back to Bartiradiannds. Before repacking everything, I made a decision and pulled out arge egg. Maveith was confused. ¡°Is that an egg? It is huge. What is it?¡± I think Maveith was salivating at the culinary implications. ¡°This is a griffin egg, Maveith.¡± His eyebrows shot up in surprise. ¡°Help me pack it so it¡¯s protected with all this food.¡± During the process of packing Raelia¡¯s backpack, I told Maveith the tale of how I acquired a griffin egg. When we finished, I sent the pack to my space, and Maveith asked, ¡°Do you have any more eggs? Chicken eggs, preferably. I miss omelets.¡± Iughed at therge man. ¡°No. That was the only egg I had in my space.¡± I took a deep breath and held up a major essence with shifting colors. ¡°Can you watch over me as I take this? It¡¯s the illusion affinity from the shapeshifters.¡± Maveith nodded. ¡°I will watch over you.¡± We had talked about this before¡ªmy unpleasant experience with the apex earth essence. Hopefully, using one of the major essences instead of an apex to unlock my illusion magic would not be as bad. It felt like it was the right time to experiment before reconnecting with thepany. The essence dissolved in my mouth, and goosebumps ran across my body. My skin tingled as the electric heat left my stomach and spread across my body. ¡°This isn¡¯t so bad¡­¡± I suddenly vomited, and my muscles clenched. I curled into a ball on the floor and let the process work its way topletion, trying to block out the pain. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 169: Something Brewing Chapter 169: Something Brewing Through the pain, I kept trying to remind myself that it was not as bad as consuming the apex earth essence in Macha. Maveith¡¯s voice echoed in the back of my mind as he tried tomunicate, but the pain consumed all my focus. I bit my tongue, tasting the metallic, coppery blood that filled my mouth. As the pain finally ebbed away, my clenching muscles rxed. I rasped out, ¡°How long?¡± Maveith was kneeling over me. ¡°Less than a minute. Are you okay, Eryk? That looked unpleasant.¡± There was no way it had been only a minute. I moved to a sitting position, every part of my body aching. ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°What is it, Eryk? You smell horrible¡ªlike rotten eggs¡ªand your skin is slimy.¡± Maveith voiced his concern but still backed away. ¡°Yeah, I shit myself too. If I ever do this again, I¡¯m going to make sure I¡¯ve purged both ends before I start.¡± I spat out the residual vomit and tried not to move my ass too much. My throat was sore, and I used some healing on my damaged tendons and ligaments from clenching so hard. The fouled clothing and filthy underclothes were definitely staying behind in this dungeon. I recalled the conversation with Kolm. ¡°The harpy room had some water¡ªat least they said they were fishing there. We should be able to get past the earth drake since it hasn¡¯t been a day yet. There should also be a reward chest to im in the harpy room.¡± ¡°I will walk ahead of you,¡± Maveith said, scrunching his nose. I was going to retort that I had put up with his body odor for a long time, but then again, my own smell was making me nauseous and causing my eyes to water at the moment. We climbed the stairs, which was no fun in my soiled clothes. The dead earth drake was still there, and we cautiously crossed into the next corridor. It curved slightly before arriving at the harpy room. The harpy room had a mix of short green trees and tall deadwood trees. I did not see any sign of the legionnaires, and the stone reward chest was visible next to arge pool in the center of the room. Without my armor on, I had Maveith lead. ¡°You go first, Maveith. I have enough aether to manage one problem.¡± He nodded, and we passed the short trees with red berries on them. Maveith ate one of the berries and immediately spat it out. ¡°This is bitter, Eryk, do not try it.¡± I picked one of the berries anyway and inspected it. It looked like a small cherry, but it obviously was not. I squeezed the fruit, and a bean was inside the husk. The bean was white and looked oddly familiar.¡°Maveith, I think this is a coffee bean. We have them in Tsinga.¡± I was notpletely sure, but from my reading, I knew there was a dessert beverage that sounded like coffee. They roasted, crushed, and filtered water through the beans to create a rich ck drink. It certainly sounded like coffee. I had not found coffee in the Telhian Empire, but many tea varieties were avable. We both walked to the pond in the center of the chamber and looked into it. It was about twenty feet across, and Kolm had been right about there being fish in this room. This variety of fish was smaller than the eels or other fish I had already discovered. They were rotund and barelyrger than my hand. They bobbed to the surface before diving deep into the depths of the pool and disappearing. I guessed they needed air to breathe, which gave the harpies a chance to swoop down and grab them from their perches in the dead trees. I gratefully stripped, tossing my underclothes in a pile for the dungeon to reim. The water was cold when I tested it with my foot, and an oily sheen spread across the surface from my exposed leg. Whatever foulness my body had extruded was oily. The fish seemed to be repelled by my scent, suddenly stopping their trips to the surface. As I settled into the water, there did not appear to be any threat. ¡°Maveith, why don¡¯t you check the chest in the center of the chamber while I clean up?¡± Surprisingly, the goliath did not seem as excited about treasure as most people. He nodded, epting the task reluctantly. I scrubbed myself as best I could in the water with a sock. With no detergent, it was difficult to clean off. Soon, the entire surface of the pool was covered in an oily film from my efforts. I scrubbed my skin raw, trying to free myself of the foul stench. While I was bathing, Maveith returned with twelve silver coins and a potion, handing them to me. I studied the runic script on the potion before announcing, ¡°As best as I can trante, it says see in the dark. This is a potion of night vision.¡± Maveith looked impressed. ¡°Keep it, Maveith. Dungeon potions should be good for years.¡± I sent the coins to my dimensional space so he would not have to carry them and put the fishing kit on the shore for him. Maveith looked disgusted at the pond, which now had an oil slick coating it. ¡°Eryk, I do not know if I want to fish this pond.¡± I looked into the water, and it seemed some of the fish were having trouble swimming. Whatever impurities had been released from my body had fouled and poisoned the water. ¡°Can you harvest the berries for me? I think they have a use.¡± Maveith looked at the two dozen coffee trees and nodded. He seemed happy to have an excuse to get away. I continued my efforts to get as clean as possible before dressing in clean clothes. A few fish bobbed on the surface, clearly dead. I tried the collector on three of the small fish, and only one yielded a minor essence of constitution. I handed it to Maveith before putting my armor back on. My legion armor was in bad shape. The redcquer on the metal helmet was chipped. The leather pieces soaked in resin had warped slightly. The armor even had gouges from the harpy''s talons. It looked like whoever wore this suit had been through a lot¡ªthe poor guy had been frozen, burned, crushed, and wed. I had a new set of legion armor in my space, but I could not wear it without revealing my expansive space to thepany. I helped Maveith fill arge tarp with the coffee berries before tying the corners together and sending it to storage. I had no idea how to turn the berries into actual coffee, but one thing we had plenty of in the dungeon was time. There were two exits from this room. The one to the left led to vius and our legionnairepanions. The one to the right was probably where the goblin hade from. I had to make a choice: reunite with vius and the others, or search for Castile? We still had hours before the harpies would respawn. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I debated internally for a long time before announcing to Maveith, ¡°We¡¯re going that way.¡± I pointed in the direction from which the goblin had most likelye. Maveith looked at the entrance that led to the legionnaires, then back at the one I had chosen. His confusion made me feel the need to exin myself. ¡°vius can¡¯t know that I have the collector, and the extent of my other abilities needs to remain a secret.¡± Maveith understood. ¡°I will take your secret to my deathbed, Eryk.¡± His deep tone was reassuring, though I was a little worried¡ªhe said it too loudly, like he was making an oath, and I nced at the corridor, relieved no one was standing there. After my I had voiced my decision, we did not waste much time, leaving the harpy room behind. As we went, the corridor curved left and right, but the familiar flowing lights on the ceiling and floor were reassuring. I wondered where the goblin hade from and why nothing had pursued it from the room we approached. When we reached the end of the corridor, it opened into a wide sandy room. Little dust devils of sand dotted the room. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s something underneath the sand?¡± I gestured to Maveith on my right. Maveith was studying the sand as well. His deep voice spected, ¡°There certainly are a lot of environments within this dungeon. I traveled through the Scorching Waste before. There were carnivorous beetles, scorpions of all sizes, and different varieties of elementals. Those sand swirls could be minor elementals.¡± I studied the swirling clouds of sand more intently. They didn¡¯t seem to move, and I could recall no books that referenced elementals. ¡°If the goblin was able to pass through the room, should we try?¡± Maveith looked behind us, probably considering the five legionnaires and the Schr back there. He eventually turned back to the sandscape. ¡°If they¡¯re elementals, they should be affected by our runic weapons,¡± Maveith said. I took that as a yes and stepped out onto the sand. The chamber was sweltering hot, like I was in a scorching desert, and the sand eddies started moving toward me. Maveith stepped behind me. ¡°They are not elementals, Eryk. Something is moving in the sand beneath them.¡± Maveith was right. The sand formed mounds moving toward us. It was easy to get distracted by the mini tornados. They moved at a decent speed, spread out, and coordinated. ¡°Back out of the room, Maveith.¡± We both exited to the corridor¡¯s safety, ready to retreat to the harpy room. All five mounds converged on us and stopped at the entrance. A dog-sized beetle emerged from the sand, its impressive mandibles snapping in the air in frustration. It appeared uncertain about leaving the sand before submerging itself again. We both stood ready, but the beetles slowly moved away. Maveith¡¯s baritone sounded, ¡°I think they are sand scarabs. I have never seen them before, but sand scarabs use aether and earth magic to burrow in the sand. If you try to fight them, they can quickly sink you in the sand to attack you below the surface while you are immobilized.¡± ¡°That sounds utterly horrific. Getting trapped in the sand, unable to put up resistance while they use those mandibles on your legs¡ªand other parts.¡± I shivered, understanding why vius and the others had not tried this room. ¡°They¡¯re also fast, so it will be difficult to avoid them,¡± Maveith noted. ¡°We do not need to avoid them, Maveith. They will not leave the protection of the sand.¡± I stepped into the room and waited for the first scarab to reach me before pulling a deep column of sand under the vortex into my space. My aether bottomed out, and the beetle had resisted strongly, but I still seeded. I stepped back into the corridor with Maveith. We were both ready as the other four scarabs hovered outside the corridor, but they were still unwilling to leave the sand¡¯s protection. I smiled at Maveith. ¡°Now we just have to wait until I can do that again. It usually takes me about two hours, but it has been less than an hour in the dungeon.¡± I guessed it was not just the dungeon but also the gains in my aether channeling attribute that were speeding my recovery. About forty minutester, a second scarab was killed. They traveled about a foot under the sand, but the swirling sand above them made it easy to track their movements. After killing a third one, thest two surprised us by leaving the safety of the sandy room. Maveith wasn¡¯t caught off guard¡ªhe crushed one with his hammer, and I was able to pierce the other between the mandibles with my ck de. This was good, as I could use the collector on thest two, getting a major earth essence from both. I tried the collector on the other three scarabs, getting one additional major earth essence and one minor earth essence. The first scarab had been dead for too long to yield anything. We knew the room was clear when the stone reward chest appeared in the center of the micro desert. ¡°Easy peasy, Maveith.¡± I smiled at the goliath, who gave me a doubtful look as he tried to figure out what ¡°peasy¡± meant. I approached the modest chest and shattered it. Silver coins spilled out, and a leather-bound tomey on top. It smelled strongly of seasoned leather as I opened it. Inside were pages ofyered spell forms for some type of spell. I could not understand what the spell actually did without the Latin script exining it. After the first few pages of spell forms, the runic script on the following pages probably went into detail about the spell, but it would take me hours to puzzle out the trantion in the dreamscape. I noted a few symbols that seemed to indicate it was rted to the earth affinity. I held the book out to Maveith. ¡°I think it might be an earth affinity spell. Do you want it?¡± ¡°No, I already inscribed my earth affinity, Eryk. And I cannot learn actual spells.¡± I shrugged and gathered up the silver coins along with the book. We looked around the room, seeing only sand filling the oval space. ¡°Let¡¯s move to the corridor, Maveith. This room wasn¡¯t very difficult for us, and I would not mind returning to get more earth essenceter.¡± We walked into the unexplored corridor, and it was not long before we arrived at a familiar-looking room with two long, wide stone shelves. Maveith grunted happily. ¡°A rest room.¡± It was a safe room, unique in that there were three different exits¡ªnot including the corridor we were standing in or the oily ck door tempting us to exit the dungeon for good. We moved in and started to unpack, but I immediately noticed dark letters in Latin next to the faded elven script on the wall: "Castile¡¯s group went this way," with an arrow pointing to one of the corridors. We were close¡ªbut how long ago had that been written? I turned to Maveith, who could not read Latin. ¡°Castile¡¯s group was here.¡± His eyes went wide with excitement. He was clearly ready to get out of the dungeon. ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited. We don¡¯t know how long ago they passed through here. Why don¡¯t you get some sleep first? I¡¯ll stay up and prepare some food.¡± I pulled out the elven tablet table and some ingredients, including a handful of coffee berries. Maveith made himselffortable and was soon snoring. With Maveith asleep, I grasped the edges of the table and activated the device. It was time to see what the major illusion essence had done for me. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 170: Staying Grounded Chapter 170: Staying Grounded I was looking forward to seeing my progress. I felt healthy and fully recovered after a week of full meals, and the ring of sustenance had slowly increased its effectiveness. I had not been training in my spare time, but I still felt like most of my strength and rity of thought had returned. I was not expecting too many gains, as the period since myst reading was minimal. I was mostly focused on my illusion affinity¡ªhow much had it increased from just a single major essence? I reviewed the left side of the tablet first, moving my food prep items out of the way to read the results.
Physical Mental Magical
Strength (+4/+0) 49/80 Intellect (+2/+2)31/56 Aether Pool (+0/+0) 16/22
Power (+1/+0) 47/84 Reasoning (+4/+0) 48/61 Channeling (+6/+1) 27/58
Quickness (+3/+0) 33/49 Perception (+2/+0) 52/61 Aether Shaping (+0/+0) 8/8
Dexterity (+2/+1) 41/61 Insight (+1/+0) 33/49 Aether Tolerance (+3/+1) 35/51
Endurance (+3/+0) 67/95 Resilience (+2/+0) 47/71 Aether Resistance (+0/+0) 8/19
Constitution (+3/+0) 45/69 Empathy (+2/+0) 14/22 Prime Aether Affinity Space
Coordination (+2/+0) 44/63 Fortitude (+1/+1) 49/90 Minor Aether Affinity Time
My physical attributes had normalized to their rtive levels before we were chased into the Elven ruins and nearly starved inside the library. My mental attributes showed modest gains from a few essences. The magic attributes showed the most impressive gains, with channeling increasing by six points and aether tolerance by three. I assumed this was due to the ley line being so close to the dungeon and the faster rate at which I could recover my aether. With my channeling increasing, it meant I would see gains outside the dungeon as well¡ªif I ever got outside of the dungeon. Two ring weaknesses stood out: my aether pool and my ability to shape aether. So far in this dungeon, I had not discovered any essences for either magic attribute. There wasn¡¯t much I could do about my poor luck, but I had enough essences tost me weeks. I moved everything to the other side of the table to read my magical affinities. The only change was with my illusion affinity. Rare Magics: Space: 98 Time: 90 Discement: 61 Materialism: 9 Worlds: 88 Void: 22 Convergence: 74 Unaffiliated Magics (Umon): Charm (Mind): 5 Illusion: 3 irvoyance: 0 Protection (Guardian): 30 Necromancy: 0 Celestial: 0 Abyssal: 0 Elemental Magics (Common) Fire: 0 Air: 0 Water: 0 Earth: 6 Lightning (Energy): 8 Spirit (Healing): 23 Nature (nt): 0 I had unlocked three points in the illusion affinity, raising it from zero to three with a single major essence. It was not even remotely enough to gain a new spell form, and it was half as effective as the apex earth essence had been in awakening the affinity. Still, the awakening of the illusion affinity had been just as painful and unpleasant. I still smelled like dried vomit, even though I had left the soiled clothes behind. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Sighing, I started to work on dinner, shaving bear meat with Maveith¡¯s new skinning knife. I could only take one essence a day without risking being overwhelmed. I had told Maveith and Raelia to do the same, but Castile had told me during my first dungeon delve that you only needed to wait an hour between consuming simr essences, though each sessive one would be unpleasant as the body needed time to recover. Could I raise one of my magic affinities high enough to imprint a new spell form? If yes, should I pursue illusion or earth essence? I had two apex and one major essence of illusion remaining. For earth essences, I had two apex, six major, and one minor essence. There was also the possibility of getting more earth essences from the sand scarabs. I had books in my dimensional space with spell forms for both affinities. The meat started sizzling. I cooked it in small batches and sampled each one. The cooking was more for Maveith since I had the ring of sustenance. Maveith rolled over at the smell, facing me. Sleepily, he asked, ¡°Did it work?¡± ¡°Did what work?¡± I asked, feigning ignorance. ¡°You took out the tablet table, Eryk. I know you do not want me to see your readings, but it is obvious you wanted to see if the suffering you went through was worth it.¡± I had to remember that Maveith was not dumb and that I was being very transparent. I admitted calmly, ¡°Yes, I awakened my illusion affinity. Do you want to try to awaken one of your affinities?¡± Maveith sat up, his nose wrinkling at my lingering scent. ¡°No.¡± His voice echoed in the room. ¡°I am happy with improving my physical prowess. How long was I asleep?¡± ¡°More than two hours, less than three.¡± I did not have Maveith¡¯s uncanny ability to know how much time had passed. ¡°After you eat, you can go back to sleep. The ring has reduced my sleep to just two or three hours now. Although, I do want to use the amulet at some point.¡± I started frying slices of purple potatoes in the remaining bear fat while Maveith quickly devoured five pounds of shaved bear meat. He had lost a lot of weight but was putting it back on quickly. It was awe-inspiring how much food he was able to consume. I drank water and popped a few slices of purple potato into my mouth. Even if I burned my mouth, I could heal the blisters easily enough. I was starting to use magic without even thinking about it. Finally satiated after eating fourrge potatoes after the bear meat, Maveith asked, ¡°Are we going to pursue Castile?¡± ¡°Yes. But first, I want to harvest the sand scarabs one more time,¡± I admitted. ¡°I want to try and increase my earth affinity high enough to imprint a spell form for earth on my aether core.¡± Maveith¡¯s eyes danced excitedly. ¡°That would be amazing, Eryk. I would suggest my earth spell form, shape stone. It has been extremely valuable to me and would give us something inmon.¡± His green eyes sparkled eagerly. ¡°I will see when the timees, Maveith. I still need to raise my earth affinity high enough to imprint a spell form.¡± Maveith ate some apple-berry jam before going back to sleep. I turned my attention to the coffee cherries. I was not a coffee addict, but I enjoyed a morning cup on the way to work a lifetime ago. I husked all the berries, giving me a handful of white, slimy beans. I took a moment to enter my dreamscape amulet and find the passage for cava, the dessert drink made from beans. Unfortunately, there were no recipes to follow, so I was winging it. I tried heating them in a pan¡ªthey smoked fiercely but eventually browned. I ground the beans up and added boiling water once they were dried. I let the sediment settle and tried a sip. I spit out the bitter, grassy-tasting beverage. My heart thudded in my chest, and I felt the turmoil in my aether core. Thankfully, I hadn¡¯t swallowed the brew. These coffee beans contained raw aether. They were an alchemy ingredient, not a wake-me-up beverage. Maveith was still sleeping, and I did not disturb him while I cleaned up. I removed my armor and went through my sword forms. I was only mildly rusty. Even with consuming essences, I needed to start getting into the mindset of training both in the dreamscape and outside of it. When Maveith stirred again, he rose to do his business in the corridor, and I set myself up for a nap with the amulet. As he returned, I channeled aether into the amulet. First, I confirmed in my dreamscape library that I had the book for earth spell forms. It was there, but I would wait to study it until my affinity reached a sufficient level. I opened the scorpion room and spent three hours practicing with Konstantin, Xavier, and Maveith. It felt good to focus on fighting people instead of monsters. I also missed Konstantin¡¯s repeated¡ªencouragement. Zorana wanted to fight with me as well, but I declined her requests and let her y with Oscar, who was begging for attention as well. I sealed everyone in the scorpion room again, as we were getting close to finding Castile. I guessed she would want to use the amulet. On an impulse, I created a likeness of Raelia. She immediately rolled away, drawing her weapons, and started swearing. ¡°Where am I? Who are these people?¡± She pointed at me. ¡°Legionnaire, what treacherous space have you sent me to now!¡± She pointed her legacy de threateningly at me. I had expected Raelia to react this way¡ªher form and personality were drawn from my subconscious. Maveith moved to calm down the agitated elf. With a smirk, I informed her, ¡°Wee to the dreamscape, Raelia. We can talk another time.¡± ¡°What is a dreamsca¡ª¡± she started to say, but I was already exiting. I sat up and was disappointed that the sour, acidic bile smell still lingered on my body. Maybe I could use the mouthwash as a body wash to eliminate the smell? No, it was best to save the mouthwash. Maveith was rolling his essences in his hand, probably trying to decide which one to consume. ¡°You can take another one, Maveith. Everyone is different in how long they have to wait between essences. If your stomach gets upset, you¡¯ll know your interval between consumption.¡± What I told Maveith was the truth from my perspective. He took another quickness essence and put it in his mouth, savoring the effect. ¡°Has it been a day since we killed the scarabs?¡± I asked Maveith. ¡°No, Eryk. There are still about four hours before a day has passed,¡± Maveith grumbled. We walked back to the sand room and waited in the corridor. Maveith snacked while I studied the dead scarabs, waiting for the dungeon to absorb them. They disappeared in a blink, and two small swirling sand funnels formed, followed by a third, a fourth, and a fifth. ¡°Maveith, it¡¯s time.¡± I stood and cracked my knuckles. It went the same way asst time. I killed two scarabs in the sand but did so closer to the corridor. I removed the collector before the fight began, allowing me to use it on the sand scarabs between kills. When we finished, I took two major earth essences and three minor earth essences. The reward chest only held somerge silver coins and non-runic ornate jewelry with some impressive emeralds. I now had a sizable collection of earth essences. Back in the safe room, I slowly ced one of the major earth essences in my mouth. shes of phantom pain made me hesitant to consume my second earth essence. This was another test. If I had truly unlocked the earth affinity, I shouldn¡¯t have to go through that pain again. The grainy earth essence dissolved in my mouth and was hard to swallow. My stomach suddenly cramped. ¡°Shit!¡± I said, and Maveith moved to steady me. I held up my hand to hold him back. ¡°No, I am fine. Just an upset stomach. It¡¯s working normally.¡± It took a few minutes before I felt the essence assimtepletely. The brief pain was perhaps because I had not waited long enough between essences, or maybe this was a sign that I was not fully healed from opening my illusion affinity. I needed to be mindful over the next few weeks. I used my healing spell form to try to detect any damage in my mana channels but sensed nothing wrong¡ªthough perhaps my healing spell form could not detect issues with mana channels? I took out the tablet table, and Maveith turned his back, making me feel guilty for not trusting him. I used the table, reset it, and returned it to my space. ¡°Okay, Maveith. Let¡¯s go find Castile.¡± As we walked into the unknown corridor, I smirked. My earth affinity had increased from six to eight. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 171: Surprise Webbing Chapter 171: Surprise Webbing We had three unexplored corridors from the safe room, but we were following the note left by Castile. The corridor was unremarkable, just like the other dungeon levels. It was a short walk before we reached a room withrge, borate webs crisscrossing the ceiling. The floor was stone with small patches of emerald grass that danced in the light from above. Large, bulbous, man-sized white sacs dotted the webs. I was in disbelief. Could those cocoons contain the remains of Castile and her group? Mymon sense told me there was no way they would have fallen to spiders. I tensed up, realizing for the first time that maybe the Kettle of Souls was gone, and we had no way of the city before being overwhelmed by the specters. Castile could already be dead. I shook off the negative thoughts and scanned the room, looking for movement. My heart rate was elevated as I tried to figure out what we were dealing with. The webbing indicated spiders, and I was not a fan of spiders. ¡°Maveith, do you see anything?¡± ¡°The floor is coated in webbing. Fighting with our boots sticking to the floor will be difficult.¡± I nced at the floor, and Ipletely missed it. Konstantin would have berated me for not ounting for everything in the environment. The silvery-green web strands were camouged, blending into the floor. As I studied the floor, Maveith spected, ¡°I count four cocoons. Maybe the spiders are in there.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think those are people? Castile¡¯s group?¡± I wondered aloud, returning my focus to the ceiling. Maveith seemed to consider, ¡°No. Too small. They are smaller than legionnaire armor, only about half the length of a person.¡± I nodded at his assessment after studying the sacs for a while. The cocoons were forty feet in the air, near the ceiling, and the flowing lights around them created the illusion that they were bigger than they looked. ¡°Are we going to enter?¡± Maveith asked, eager for action. Or maybe he wanted to reunite with the others. I considered our options. ¡°Go ahead. Take a few small steps in, then step back out if anything stirs. I¡¯ll watch from the corridor.¡± Maveith did not mind being used as bait and did not hesitate. He stepped into the room, taking small steps to draw out the enemy. His fourth step, just five feet from me, made a sticky-tearing sound. The cocoons vibrated above him on their suspended cables. He tried to step back but struggled as his boots resisted the sticky strands now attached to them. Four glossy ck spiders emerged from the cocoons and immediately shot threads of webbing at Maveith. The thin spider silk did not look dangerous or capable of restraining the goliath. Maveith had made it back to within a step of the corridor. His boots had dozens of sticky strands attached to them, making walking difficult. He twirled his hammer to intercept the iing threads. The strands quickly wrapped around the hammer¡¯s head, forming a mini cocoon, reminding me of cotton candy at a carnival.Then, all of a sudden, Maveith grunted unhappily. ¡°They are trying to steal my hammer, Eryk.¡± As Maveith pulled on the handle, the entire webbingwork on the ceiling flexed, and the cocoons and spiders bobbed from his effort to keep his hammer. I stepped into the room and cut the lines attached to the hammer. My ck de severed the spider strands with ease. ¡°Back into the corridor,¡± I ordered, and we both retreated. I freed his boots from the strands dragging behind him. The four spiders repelled down to the floor, their glossy ck chitinous legs tapping the ground, sounding irritated at our escape. The spiders did not approach us but seemed very agitated by our presence. ¡°Why do you think they¡¯re not attacking us?¡± I asked Maveith. Maveith¡¯s boots still made a sticky adhesive sound as he walked. He was also having trouble peeling the spider cocoon off the head of his hammer. ¡°I do not know. Maybe they only have ranged attacks? They do look fragile.¡± He noted with some contempt. Maveith¡¯s observation was astute. The spiders were notrge and looked fragile, with spindly legs and oversized abdomens. Their heads were small, and their fangs were barely noticeable. It seemed these spiders incapacitated their prey before moving in for the kill. There were only four spiders. I wanted to find Castile, so we needed to conquer this room. ¡°Maveith, can you get two if we rush them? The two on the right?¡± Maveith¡¯s response was an uncharacteristic roar as he charged into the room. I guessed the spiders had angered him by trying to take his hammer, and it was time for payback. Don¡¯t mess with a goliath¡¯s hammer, I guess. I rushed in behind him, casting an air shield just above the ground as I did so. Maveith¡¯s hammer mmed into the first spider. Two spiders shot a spray of dense webbing at me. My air shield intercepted the attack, the spider silk pooling on the shield in a white mass. The spiders did not understand what was happening and moved closer to me. My ck deshed out around the air shield, stabbing deep into one spider. The second spider tried to flee. I lunged awkwardly as my feet stuck to the floor, and only caught three legs. It was crippled, oozing blue blood, and it struggled to get away. I looked over at Maveith, who was struggling to move his feet. The second spider had retreated toward the ceiling and was spewing webbing at him. The goliath was angry but slowed as the strands began toyer him, restricting his movement. ¡°Maveith, use your skinning knife. Don¡¯t get captured.¡± I moved to pursue the crippled spider, stepping on an air shield to allow me to move without hindrance. The spider was slowed from blood loss, and it offered no resistance when I ended its life with my de. Maveith had freed himself in the meantime. This had been a difficult room, and we had underestimated the threat of the spiders. I got within range of thest suspended spider. It thought it was safe a dozen feet above us, but I used my dimensional space to but the strand it hung from. For a split second, I thought I saw surprise register on its monstrous face as it fell a dozen feet to the ground, and I quickly dispatched it with my sword as itnded. The dead spider leaked blue blood, its spinneret slowly releasing more thread. The stone reward chest appeared, signaling we had cleared the room. Thanks to my air shields, it was not a challenge for me to traverse the sticky floor. Maveith¡¯s small runic knife was the best tool to cut away the strands that were slowing him down. My non-runic knife quickly got gummed up, its edge bing useless unless cleaned repeatedly. My ck de worked as well, but it was awkward. I met Maveith at the chest, which yielded only a few silver coins and a single potion. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. I turned the potion to read the script. ¡°It says hover, Maveith. Or maybe levitate? I can confirm it in the dreamscape. I¡¯m going to use the collector. Is there anything else harvestable? Maybe the spinnerets?¡± ¡°Maybe. I can try.¡± Maveith took his skinning knife and moved to try his best to harvest the spider. I remembered Delmar being skilled at extracting them intact. Maveith struggled to walk across the sticky floor to each spider. The collector worked on each spider, giving a minor essence of coordination. While Maveith worked, I tried to figure out what the spiders ate. The floor was stone with tufts of emerald grass scattered across it. I kneeled to study the grass. It reflected the light, giving it a shimmering appearance. I tried to pick one and immediately regretted it. The grass was flexible but sharp like a knife. A long cut formed on my palm, bleeding freely. ¡°Shit, that hurts,¡± I hissed. Maveith looked up on alert, ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°The grass is sharp and tough. Maybe it¡¯s fuel for the spiders to make their webbing.¡± It was a wild guess, but it made sense in this dungeon ecosystem. I stomped over to Maveith, who sessfully collected two spinnerets. His first attempt had failed as he cut it with a knife, rupturing the sac, and the spider he¡¯d smashed with his hammer had a split sac. I added the two sacs to my storage. We moved across the sticky floor to the only other exit from the room. Once we reached the corridor, we used Maveith¡¯s runic skinning knife to cut the webbing from various parts of our clothing and boots. My legs and most of Maveith¡¯s body had remnants of the spider silk. I decided we could clean itter in a safe room. This corridor was much longer and curved to the right, making it difficult to see more than fifty feet ahead. Eventually, it opened into a massive room that looked like an entire forest had been transnted into the dungeon. The ceiling seemed even brighter, giving the trees something to reach for as they extended high above us, creating a green canopy. Remembering the phase spiders, I was hesitant to enter. ¡°I cannot see any other exits,¡± Maveith¡¯s voice said over me. This forest made it difficult to see anything. The sound of an axe on wood suddenly echoed from deep within the woods. Maveith and I looked at each other. A second axe sounded in response. A terrible rhythm echoed as the two axespeted in different tempos. I was hopeful that those axes could belong to legionnaires. Maveith was also craning his neck, trying to see past the tree trunks. A familiar voice rang out over the chopping, ¡°Stay away from the knots; it¡¯ll be too hard to split with our hand axes.¡± ¡°That sounded like Firth,¡± Maveith said excitedly. I nodded and listened for a while to confirm but only heard axe strikes. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Maveith. Be ready to retreat if necessary.¡± We moved into the chamber, moving silently toward the other side. The sound of grunts and the thudding of axes grew louder. In a small clearing, I saw a bloody Konstantin harvesting a massive ck bear while Firth, Wylie, and Mateo cut branches. I did not see anyone else, but Konstantin was a part of Castile¡¯s group. Firth, Wylie, and Mateo had been with Felix. I signaled Maveith to stay while I approached the group. Maybe I could surprise Konstantin. My armor rasped as I moved, but the echo of the axe strikes covered the noise. Konstantin suddenly whistled, and everyone froze, including me. I was maybe twenty feet from Konstantin, with his back turned. Firth asked, ¡°What is it? You think that annoying goblin is back?¡± Konstantin slowly turned around, and I hid myself. ¡°I thought I heard something,¡± he said. ¡°And there is something foul in the air, yet there is no wind.¡± The men suddenly dropped their axes, and I heard swords being drawn. So much for surprising them, "Well, if you think I smell foul, then I¡¯ll just leave,¡± I said, stepping out from cover. Mateo grinned widely, ¡°Is that a virgin dryad or Eryk? I hear they¡¯re both pretty rare in dungeons.¡± His eyes slowly widened, ¡°What in Pluto¡¯s realm happened to your armor?¡± My armor did look terrible¡ªit was warped, charred, and recently covered in spider webbing. Konstantin was cautious, still holding his bloody skinning knife in one hand and his runic weapon in the other. Firth nodded, like my appearance was just natural. Wylie started to smile, matching Mateo. Konstantin asked, ¡°Where are the others you were in charge of?¡± ¡°Maveith!¡± I called the goliath forward. ¡°Brutus and the Schr got separated when we entered. We¡¯ve been wandering for days.¡± Maveith came through the trees, and everyone rxed, but happy faces abounded. ¡°Wandering, eh?¡± the always-skeptical Konstantin noted. I ignored his suspicion. ¡°Are Castile and the others nearby?¡± Firth answered, ¡°Adrian, ze, and Castile are in the safe room. We¡¯re gathering wood for cooking and harvesting the shadow bear.¡± ¡°What about Felix?¡± I inquired. Smiles faded, and Mateo responded, ¡°He did not make it. The first room we tried¡­¡± He trailed off, not finishing the sentence. Felix and Mateo were good friends, and they had been my roommates when I joined thepany in Formica. I felt the pain of loss, a knot forming in my stomach. Konstantin started pressing me for information, and I reported what I knew, ¡°We saw Brutus, Kolm, Donte, Linus, vius, and the Schr. We couldn¡¯t reach them because they were on the other side of a massive earth drake. They said Cyrus, Remus, and Soren were killed by the summoner outside the dungeon entrance. They think the summoner is now wandering the dungeon with us.¡± ¡°That would exin the goblin,¡± Firth said. ¡°It must be one of his scouts.¡± I did not correct him and gave Maveith a look to keep quiet about the goblin¡¯s origins. My news could have been met better. Konstantin processed what I said, looking unhappy. He looked at everything that had been harvested so far. ¡°We need to inform Castile. Let¡¯s focus on wood. We can always return to kill the bear again, but we need the wood to cook it.¡± Mateo whined nervously, ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight the shadow bear again.¡± Wylie patted him on the back, ¡°At least there was a healing potion for you after the fight.¡± ¡°Was it a hard fight?¡± Maveith asked, interested. Konstantin said dismissively, ¡°It can move between shadows, and Castile¡¯s shadow chains had no effect on it. This is our second time killing the beast. Mateo just made the mistake of having his back to a shadow.¡± Mateo winced at the memory. Firth appraised us, ¡°The meat tastes a little smoky, but it¡¯s edible.¡± He was inspecting our small packs, probably thinking we did not have much food. ¡°Maveith, help Konstantin with the bear. Show him your new runic knife,¡± I said, smirking, knowing Konstantin would be jealous even if he did not show it. ¡°We should definitely take everything we can.¡± As we started working together, Mateo approached and gave me a hug, ¡°Just wanted to make sure you¡¯re real and not a figment of my imagination. I am sure you have a story about why you look like a fiery dragon swallowed you and then shit you out.¡± It was odd talking with everyone after so long. Konstantin kept eyeing me suspiciously, trying to figure out how Maveith and I had survived for so long. Even on the first level of the dungeon, the rooms were dangerous. Once we were finally loaded with wood and bear meat, we started off toward the safe room, where I would reunite with Castile and the others. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 172: Safety in Numbers Chapter 172: Safety in Numbers I was anticipating a grand reunion with thepany. Maveith would let me do all the talking to exin our time in the dungeon so far. Mateo entered the safe room first and mboyantly announced, ¡°We found some wandering creatures in the dungeon. They smell like an ogre¡¯s ass, but they¡¯re good people.¡± This drew Castile¡¯s attention, and Adrian and ze looked up. ze had a massive grin on seeing us, and Castile smirked happily, though she did not quite allow herself to smile. Adrian looked pleased at seeing us alive, nodding to us and smiling. I challenged Mateo¡¯s statement, ¡°I think it was us who found you. And the only one in thepany who has ever smelled like an ogre¡¯s ass is you.¡± There was a chorus ofughter at the truth of my statement since Mateo had literally wiped an ogre¡¯s ass outside of Macha. A brief debate erupted on who had discovered whom, since Konstantin had smelled me before I announced myself. Adrian spoke seriously once the levity died down. He asked me pointedly, ¡°Brutus and the Schr didn¡¯t make it?¡± ¡°They live. We got separated when we entered the dungeon,¡± I said, pointing to Maveith. ¡°Maveith was struck by a specter and lost contact with the Schr. We appeared on the lower levels of the dungeon.¡± Castile looked confused. Adrian, who detested dungeons, growled, ¡°Lower levels? That isn¡¯t normal. Then again, nothing about this dungeon is normal. I¡¯ve never heard of any dungeon thisrge before, or with such a variety of beasts.¡± Konstantin interrupted the reunion to get me to report to Castile. ¡°Tell them about the summoner and the others.¡± I faced Castile, who was clearly happy we had rejoined them. ¡°We saw vius, Kolm, Linus, Donte, Brutus, and the Schr. We could not reunite with them because an earth drake was in the room between us.¡± Maveith leaned in, trying to help. ¡°It was a really big earth drake¡ªover sixty feet from snout to tail tip.¡±I confirmed, ¡°Yes, it was huge. But I think they¡¯re just a few rooms back. Brutus told us that he and the Schr exited the dungeon, hoping to reenter near another group.¡± My voice heavier, I continued, ¡°They found the bodies of Remus, Cyrus, and Soren torn apart before they reentered.¡± Castile frowned at the news, and looked like she had been pped with the sting of more dead. I added worryingly, ¡°The Schr noticed bloody footprints leading back into the dungeon. He thinks an elf made them.¡± Silence hung in the room before Konstantin voiced what he was thinking. ¡°If the summoner is in the dungeon, he might be using goblins to disrupt rooms.¡± Unable to hold my curiosity any longer, I asked, ¡°You saw a goblin?¡± ¡°Twice, but maybe the same one both times. It appeared while we were fighting in rooms. The first time, angry spiders were chasing it, and the second time, it was a winter wolf.¡± Konstantin spoke, clearly frustrated. ¡°We were upied both times, and the goblin managed to get away.¡± It appeared that the little goblin got around. I immediately took a liking to it if it could cause Konstantin such anxiety. ze asked me hopefully, ¡°Did you see any signs of the other group? Lucien, Pavel, Lirkin, and Benito?¡± Pavel and ze were bothpany archers and often worked together. I did not have any good news for him. Looking him in the eye, I noticed ze¡¯s quiver only had two arrows. ¡°No, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find them,¡± I reassured him. ¡°There is a lot of dungeon to explore,¡± Konstantin grunted at the truth of my statement. As the mood turned a little somber, Castile announced to everyone, ¡°Prepare a good meal for the return of our lostpanions.¡± She motioned for me to join her and Adrian. I paused momentarily to ce arge number of purple vitelotte potatoes on the stone, smiling as I said, ¡°My contribution to the meal.¡± From what I saw, it looked like they had been living off meat and nuts. The potatoes got greedy stares from everyone as they were added to Firth¡¯s preparation. Castile now had a genuine smile as she stepped into the corridor, directed at me. ¡°I am happy you survived, Eryk. How many rooms did you clear? And tell me about the ring.¡± The shiny ring of sustenance was a bit shy and easy to spot. I held it up, considering. ¡°We found it in a room. I think it allows me to get by with less food and sleep.¡± Adrian arched an eyebrow, surprised. ¡°That sounds useful. And the goliath¡¯s ring?¡± I should have realized that the artifacts were extremely noticeable. I would have to start wearing gloves regrly, or it would be an advertisement that I was wearing runic rings, since they never tarnished. ¡°He¡¯s less affected by cold wearing it,¡± I stated simply. Castile nodded in understanding. ¡°They are probably a ring of sustenance and a ring of warmth. Both are rare dungeon finds. We have had our share of luck in the dungeon as well.¡± She informed Adrian before focusing on me again. ¡°And how many rooms have you explored?¡± ¡°Our focus was on trying to find the others. When we learned we were in the dungeon¡¯s lower levels, we tried to find stairs going up. Our biggest challenge was getting around the drake at the top of the stairs.¡± I said. I did not want to lie to either Adrian or Castile, but it looked like I had no other choice. I was probably showing a little difort, feeling cornered for the truth. Castile seemed to notice and rescued me. ¡°How did you find us? Did youe across one of the messages we left behind?¡± ¡°Yes, a few rooms back, we found the safe room that led to the spider cocoon room. At first, I thought the cocoons were victims of the spiders.¡± Adrian scoffed at the thought their group would fall to spiders. ¡°Still, those spiders nearly trapped Maveith and me,¡± I admitted. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Weavers. They are called weavers, Eryk.¡± Castile looked at Adrian. ¡°We had seven to handle the room, and I was able to restrain three of the weavers. With just the two of you, it is remarkable that you made it through.¡± ¡°Their silk sacs are extremely valuable on the market, making an incredible thread for durable garments. They were mentioned in the Schr¡¯s books. Do you know how to reach vius and the others?¡± Adrian pressed. ¡°Yes, I think they were in the direction of the sand room,¡± I said, acting like I was thinking. I was obviously unconvincing as Castile¡¯s eyes narrowed. Castile moved in a little closer between Adrian and me. ¡°The sand scarabs are dangerous. We could not get them to surface to fight.¡± I felt ufortable under her assessing gaze. ¡°Do you remember who I told you that you could trust, Eryk?¡± My mind skipped back to the conversation. It felt like a lifetime ago. ¡°Felix, Adrian, Mateo, and ze,¡± I recalled softly. Castile nodded. Adrian looked a little shocked that I knew of their shared conspiracy to leave the Empire. ¡°Felix is dead, Eryk. That leaves Adrian,¡± Castile nodded in his direction to confirm her trust, ¡°Mateo, and ze.¡± I could tell she wanted me to be honest with her. I was still having trouble sharing. Even Maveith only knew half of my secrets. I relented, ¡°We killed the scarabs. After killing the first two, the others rushed us into the corridor, leaving the sand. Beyond the scarab room, there¡¯s a room with two harpies. The others should be just beyond that room in a safe room. That¡¯s what they told us, anyway.¡± Admitting that I could have joined the others had Adrian eyeing me suspiciously. ¡°Good,¡± Castile said, rxing now that she had the information she wanted. Adrian was not as content. ¡°How did you kill the scarabs under the sand? And the harpies, for that matter?¡± He did not have a chance to ask why I had not joined the others. Castile gave Adrian a cold look. ¡°We can discuss this another time. Adrian, we will reconnect with the others after the shadow bear returns. Prepare the men with the good news.¡± As Adrian left, I peeked into the room to see a number of people talking with Maveith. Could Maveith keep my secrets under the scrutiny of the others¡ªKonstantin in particr? Castile interrupted my concern and asked me softly again, ¡°How many rooms did you clear?¡± I tore my eyes from Konstantin and Maveith talking animatedly. It was hard to focus, but I thought about it. ¡°Twelve different rooms, maybe.¡± I was not counting the number of times we cleared rooms more than once. ¡°Twelve?¡± Castile looked more than a little shocked. ¡°We conquered seven rooms on the first floor and found six safe rooms.¡± She seemed to be considering me again in a different light¡ªeither as a threat or an ally. ¡°Is the summoner a threat? Can he summon creatures inside the dungeon?¡± I focused her thoughts on the other danger. Castile looked me in the eyes for a long time before speaking. ¡°I do not know. If he can summon creatures in the dungeon, he has ess to more aether, being so close to the ley line.¡± She sighed. ¡°If he is in here, hopefully, he is struggling as much as we are.¡± ¡°You seem to be doing well,¡± I stated, realizing my mistake. We had lost two men in the city, four men in the dungeon, and four were unounted for. I added quickly, ¡°I mean, we are surviving well here. This dungeon could also be a major source of food for Sobral.¡± Castile looked ill. ¡°No, we are not surviving in here, Eryk. We got lucky that the shadow bear dropped a healing potion each time we killed it. Firth nearly lost his arm a few days ago, and Mateo got mauled by the shadow bear yesterday; either could have died. Although the essences boost morale, we put our lives on the line every other day just to eat.¡± I guessed they had not been as fortunate as us with as many varieties of food in the rooms as we had. But then again, we visited twice as many rooms, and they had seven people to feed. ¡°Did you know all the bears drop healing potions? At least, that has been our experience,¡± I said. ¡°Not all the time. You must have gotten lucky. We have killed six bears and received four healing potions,¡± Castile said heavily. I guessed that maybe the dungeon was pulling back on rewards because Castile¡¯s group had nine people. This dungeon was definitely aware of us. ¡°If the summoner is in the dungeon, are we going to flee? He would not be outside to stop us,¡± I asked. Castile¡¯s eyes betrayed her as she was thinking the same thing. There were four men of thepany we would potentially be abandoning if we left and tried to outrun the summoner. ¡°If he is in the dungeon, I assume he is checking the exit periodically for tracks. We could get lucky and get a head start or ambush him when he exits. It will also depend on how many specters are waiting for us near the entrance.¡± Castile added, ¡°Adrian and I have discussed our chances of making it through the city to safety. If we try and have to retreat back into the dungeon, we will all be separated again.¡± I nodded, as these were a number of things I had not yet considered. ¡°I would also like to confirm the fate of Benito, Pavel, Lucien, and Lirkin.¡± The burden of leadership was in her tone and on her face. I nodded in understanding. ¡°Just let me know what you need of me.¡± Castile smirked. ¡°Oh, you can be sure of that.¡± We moved to join the others, and Mateo wasining jokingly about the food, ¡°We really need to find Lirkin. This dungeon fare needs a professional cook to make it taste edible.¡± Firth elbowed him, as he had cooked this particr meal. I was handed a bowl of purple mashed potatoes with charred bear meat chunks. On the side were some bitter, round, toasted nuts. I ate withoutint while listening to the conversations. ¡°So, Eryk. How did you get your armor melted?¡± Wylie asked. I chewed some nuts while I spoke. ¡°We encountered a female demon with pointy ears. She threw a fireball at me, and I failed to dodge.¡± I shrugged like it was not a big deal. Everyone went silent, and I pulled out an apple and started munching on it to cleanse my pte. I do not know if they were more shocked at the apple or my fabrication about a demon. I tossed an apple to each of them in turn. I was careful not to reveal too much from my dimensional space, but it felt like the group needed a little boost in morale. ¡°I¡¯ll never ask you to use your amulet again if you have a second apple for me,¡± Mateo pleaded after eating his¡ªcore and all. I tossed him a second apple. I could see Castile reassessing me. The mood was jovial as we cleaned and prepared to sleep. Soon, everyone made to get some rest. The stone shelves and floor were packed with the nine of us. I was surprised Castile had not requested the dreamscape amulet. I had been expecting it. Instead, I utilized it for sword practice. The amulet worked with the ring, so I only needed three hours of sleep for aplete rest. I was up quickly, even before Konstantin. Firth raised his head as I moved but went back to sleep, seeing it was just me. I nodded to ze to get some sleep. Konstantin was supposed to relieve him, but he eagerly took the extra sleep and found a cozy spot on the floor. Nine of us, soon to be fifteen. With so many, the dungeon rooms should not be as challenging. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 173: Trust Chapter 173: Trust I watched everyone sleep, snore, and emit various ttions. In a way, I felt at home. I felt much safer being with thepany and sharing the danger¡ªnot so much the smell. I secretly popped an apex earth essence, and it roiled my stomach for a bit. I leaned against the wall, squatting as my body consumed the essence, and sweated through the assimtion. I needed to give myself more time between consuming affinity essences. I was finding that the magic affinity essences needed longer to limate than physical or mental ones. After about ten minutes, I was able to stand. Castile stirred as my armor scraped against the wall. She was the quietest among us since she did not wear the hardened legion armor. She surveyed the room and moved close to speak with me. She asked me a question for which I was unprepared. ¡°Do you think we should exit the dungeon and run after connecting with vius?¡± She was essentially asking if we should abandon hope of finding Benito, Lirkin, Lucien, and Pavel. Lucien had patiently taught me to ride and everything anyone could ever want to know about horses. I had helped Lirkin cook and had eaten the food he had prepared for months. Benito was like my clueless younger brother. I considered Pavel a friend as well. I locked eyes with Castile. ¡°Is this a test?¡± Castile looked impassive. ¡°If you were in charge, what would you do?¡± she pressed. I realized I did not want to leave them. ¡°We could alwayse back for them,¡± I hedged, thinking we could escape and return with support. ¡°Unlikely. As soon as we reach a legion hall, we will be called to the capital to report and ount for our extended absence. Most likely, when we leave the dungeon, I will have us rush to Parvas, and then I expect we will be ordered to portal to Telha to report to the Legatus Legionis,¡± Castile exined. ¡°We will not be allowed to return to Sobral City.¡± My first thought was of poor Ginger. She was going to wonder why I never returned. Castile interrupted my thoughts. ¡°So, you would leave without knowing their fate?¡± I understood that Castile was soliciting advice for her own imminent decision. My mind raced for an answer. ¡°If I were inmand, I would map the entire first level of the dungeon looking for them. That way, I would feel I put in an effort to find them, and my conscience would be clear.¡±Castile looked much older as her stern expression rxed. ¡°There are ny-nine safe rooms on the first level of the Shimmering Labyrinth. We learned that much from the elven scrawl on the walls in the safe rooms. That is, as long as this dungeon has not grown in thest fifteen hundred years. The elven writing also indicated there are seven different descents to ess the second level of the dungeon. We found one of those stairs but did not descend. We do not even know if there are levels below the second. If you arrived on the second level, they could have done so too.¡± I thought Castile wanted me to tell her it was okay to leave the others, but I could not be responsible for that decision and spoke without decorum. ¡°Benito had a broken wrist when he entered the dungeon, but he¡¯s tough. We shouldn¡¯t give up on them until we know for sure.¡± Castile¡¯s face soured slightly, and she did not get the answer she wanted. She nodded but then asked, ¡°Where did you get the apex earth essence?¡± My surprised expression made her smile slyly. ¡°All-seeing-eye,¡± she exined how she knew. She must have been using the spell while pretending to sleep. ¡°It is a fight with the dungeon to use it past the current room, but I am getting better with it. It was just luck I saw you consume it.¡± I decided to tell her the truth. ¡°From the earth drake.¡± Her eyebrows arched. I had confirmed what she already knew¡ªI had Durandus¡¯ collector. ¡°The big one Maveith mentioned?¡± she asked in disbelief. I nodded. ¡°Do not tell me more. We can talk after I am questioned in Telha by the Truthseekers.¡± Konstantin stirred and stood, suspiciously eyeing us near the corridor¡ªor maybe irritated that I had woken before him. He stood noisily, waking a few men. ¡°I will sit on the shadow bear room,¡± he announced to Castile, and then set off down the corridor with his pack. Soon, everyone was stirring, and it was Mateo¡¯s turn to cook. They had only harvested meat, mushrooms, and nuts. They had a little salt from a room with a saltwaterke but had not have enough wood to evaporate much water to im the salt. We moved as a group to join Konstantin. He was sitting in the corridor, whittling a stick. He looked at us. ¡°Still not time, maybe an hour or two.¡± Huddled in the corridor, our smelly group watched the room intently. The skinned shadow bear was barely visible. ze was the one who noticed the reset first. ¡°It¡¯s gone!¡± Adrian started issuing orders. ¡°Stay away from the shadowy canopies. Draw it to the perimeter. Pair off and work together.¡± Maveith and I were left as a pair. Konstantin entered with Firth at his side. A bear¡¯s roar sounded from the center of the chamber. I entered and moved right with Maveith. The shadow bear appeared far to the left, emerging like a nightmare out of the shadows on the ground. It was an odd visual as it charged at Mateo and Wylie. Mateo yelled angrily, ¡°Ah, shit, not again. I must taste good.¡± He braced for the bear¡¯s charge with his dented and damaged shield. The twang of a bow sent an arrow into the bear¡¯s neck, halting its charge. Its paw swatted the arrow, snapping the shaft. The bear dove into a shadow, disappearing as if into a pool. Konstantin moved forward. ¡°It will not be able to hide for long. Be ready.¡± The shadow bear emerged on our side, and Maveith stepped toward its emerging form. His hammer swung down on its skull as it was partially out of the shadow. A loud crack resounded in the room, and the bear slid back into the shadow, disappearing. Everyone remained tense, ready for the bear to return. Konstantin finally said, ¡°I can see the reward chest. It must be dead. Search the trees for the corpse.¡± We searched in groups of three, but the bear¡¯s corpse was nowhere among the trees. Adrian was upset about losing the bear meat. Castile thought the bear must have been trapped in the shadow and died from Maveith¡¯s strike. Adrian directed me. ¡°Eryk, you are responsible for organizing the harvest of wood and nuts.¡± These were the same bitter nuts we had at breakfast. I sent four men to chop wood, and I joined Maveith in picking up the nuts on the ground, or he would hit a tree with his hammer to get the nuts to fall. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. It was disappointing not to get any meat, but no one med Maveith. Instead, they congratted him on his impressive killing blow. When we had a moment alone, I asked Maveith, ¡°How are you doing?¡± ¡°It is good to be back with the others, but I miss Raelia,¡± he said as softly as he could. I cautioned the goliath. ¡°Castile has a spying spell, Maveith. Be careful what you say, even if you think you can¡¯t be overheard,¡± I advised. He nodded in understanding. ¡°I have not said anything, even though Konstantin and Adrian have pressed me for details of our time in the dungeon,¡± he replied quietly as he gathered nuts into a pile. Castile expected me to track thepany¡¯s food and supplies. I had forgotten that I was taking over for Delmar. The next three hours were spent reviewing each man¡¯s pack as I inventoried what we had. The biggest problem was that the dungeon meat needed to be smoked or eaten, or it would go bad in just two days. They did not have ess to a dimensional space to preserve their meat, and many rooms did not have wood that burned well. As best I could project from what I counted, the group had four days¡¯ worth of food. It was not a bnced diet, but it was enough for plentiful meals. Each man was also now carrying a bundle of firewood from the shadow bear room. The reward chest had yielded only a few silver coins and a single lesser healing potion. I was now quite sure the dungeon had reduced the reward because there were nine of us. I asked Castile this question. ¡°Do you think the dungeon reduced the reward? There were nine of us when there should not have been more than four.¡± Castile thought about it while cracking nuts. ¡°I do not know. This is not my first dungeon, but it is muchrger than any of which I have ever heard of. Thergest dungeon I know of in the Telhian Empire has nine rooms total. Perhaps you are right. We can test your theory in the weaver room.¡± We spent half a day in the shadow bear room, and I learned how poorly off thepany was. We had just three arrows left between ze and Konstantin. Many buckles and straps on the armor were in bad shape. Half the men had holes in their socks and boots. Clothes were soiled and frayed. Bodies were filthy and unhygienic. Wylie had a nasty cough and a minor infection on his leg. Firth had two broken fingers, but at least his arm had been healed with a potion. But not a single one of themined. Another apple for everyone could not hurt, so I added it to the meal after the work was done and before we moved out. Konstantin happily ate his apple and casually asked, ¡°How many more apples do you have?¡± ¡°A few, but I was hoping to save them for Ginger rather than waste them on you lot,¡± I retorted with good humor. Adrian let out a rare chuckle. ¡°Damn, Eryk, you like your horse better than the men you fight alongside.¡± Adrian had been with me when I found Ginger injured, and the horse trader was going to use her for breeding stock. Adrian had allowed me to bring her back to Sobral and to have her healed. ¡°Ginger just appreciates me more than you all,¡± I grunted dismissively. That got someughs, and everyone professed that they appreciated me very much¡ªas long as I had more apples. We moved on to the weaver room. Konstantin caught a glimpse of one of the ck spiders. ¡°The room is set. Same n?¡± He looked at Castile. ¡°No. It will just be Eryk, Maveith, Adrian, and myself. Eryk thinks we will get better loot with fewer people.¡± She nodded at me. ¡°You can draw them out.¡± I was going to be bait again. Maveith was behind me as I moved into the room, my boots sticking as I stepped forward. Ance of fire shot over my head into one of the cocoons. I turned to see Castile holding a new ebony wand. I set shields to hold the spray of webbing from reaching me or Maveith as Castile burned each cocoon. The spiders crashed to the stone floor as their webbing was destroyed. Adrian moved past me to attack the stunned spider. Maveith crushed a spider, and I killed my own, stabbing into its array of eyes. In less than a minute, the weavers were dispatched. Castile was smiling as she slid her fire wand back into her garments. She struggled to move across the floor to the chest. ¡°Maveith,¡± she indicated the chest. He moved to Castile¡¯s side with sticky steps and tapped the chest, shattering the stone. Castile studied the contents. ¡°Definitely more silver, and a levitation potion. Last time, we got a spider climb potion that we used to check the cocoons.¡± ¡°Was there anything in them?¡± I asked, looking up at the smoldering balls. ¡°No,¡± Konstantin said from behind me. The others moved into the room, and it got very loud as they moved across the sticky floor. Firth swore as the sole of his boot came off. ¡°Are we going to harvest the spinnerets?¡± I asked Castile. Castile was removing her collector from her pack. I could hear it scraping on the metal of the kettle of souls as she took it out. Adrian was almost to the opposite corridor. ¡°No, they need to be preserved. These spider legs need to be boiled, too, and we do not have the water to do that.¡± Castile hissed in disappointment as the first spider yielded nothing with the collector. I asked, ¡°Do you want me to handle this while you are getting everyone settled into the safe room?¡± Castile locked her eyes on mine and nodded, understanding in her gaze. ¡°Yes, Eryk, handle the spider harvest. We got three essences the first time through. Hopefully, you have the same luck. Everyone else, let¡¯s get to the safe room.¡± I pretended to have difficulty getting to the next spider to make sure everyone had left and was out of sight. I used my collector, and a minor coordination essence was formed. I then proceeded to get three more. I experimented with my dimensional space, cutting the chitin abdomen in half with the thin ne. It worked, and the organs oozed out of the bisected weaver. I dug out the spinneret and collected two more, giving me a total of five in my dimensional storage. I washed my hands of the evidence and joined the others. It looked like it was Konstantin¡¯s turn to cook. I handed Castile¡¯s collector back to her along with the three of four coordination essences. She smiled as she took the collector. ¡°Firth, Konstantin, and Wylie, these are yours.¡± Morale was high with the ease of thest two fights and essences. As everyone settled into the room, Castile, Adrian, and I talked in the corridor. ¡°How are we getting past the sand scarabs?¡± Adrian inquired. ¡°I will go with Eryk and Maveith and assess the situation,¡± Castile decided. ¡°You are in charge of the men until we return.¡± Adrian did not look happy. ¡°Bring a fourth man. Konstantin or Firth.¡± Castile shook her head. ¡°The three of us are fine. Have Konstantin scout the raptor room and get everyone fed and rested. We are close to reuniting with ourpanions.¡± Maveith and I walked with Castile to the sand room. When we reached it, she looked at me expectantly. ¡°I need to know what you can do, Eryk.¡± I looked at Maveith, then stepped out onto the sand. The dust devils moved toward me. I waited until they got close, and targeted one of them. A puff of sand and the swirling sand above the scarab dissipated, and I stepped back into the corridor before the others could reach me. Castile looked from me to the sand a few times, processing it. Maveith was watching to make sure the scarabs did not attack. ¡°Did you put the entire scarab in your dimensional space?¡± Castile asked in disbelief. ¡°Do not answer that. Can you and Maveith clear the room by yourselves?¡± ¡°Only if I drink my aether restoration potions. Otherwise, I have to wait about forty minutes each time,¡± I revealed. Castile¡¯s jaw dropped, her eyes wide. ¡°You have aether potions!? As in plural!?¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 174: Good Cooks Are Hard to Find Chapter 174: Good Cooks Are Hard to Find Castile was staring at me, her jaw practically unhinged. I asked innocently, ¡°Are aether potions good?¡± Castile found her voice. ¡°Dungeon aether potions are almost impossible to get. Aether potions brewed by alchemists start to lose their efficacy immediately, and most alchemistsck the aether to infuse them properly! Yes, they are good!¡± She rasped vehemently. I pulled out the potion from beneath my armor and handed it to her. Her eyes widened even further, if that was even possible. ¡°You do realize this is a greater aether potion, Eryk!¡± Once again, I asked, ¡°Is that good?¡± with mock innocence. ¡°Is that good?!¡± she spat incredulously. ¡°This is a greater aether potion that could restore my aether four times over!¡± ¡°Yeah, when I tried one, I felt a lot of the aether bleed off into the environment,¡± I said casually. Based on her reaction, these potions were obviously a sort of holy grail for mages. ¡°You drank one of these? Wasted it? A sip could have restored all your aether!¡± She reached for the potion like I was not deserving of it, and I let her take it. She turned it over in her hand, as if trying to determine if it was real. I shrugged. ¡°Well, I needed to know how it worked.¡± ¡°How many of these do you have?¡± Hunger was evident in her eyes. ¡°Which dungeon room did you find them in? Is it close?¡±¡°No. It is not close. It was a fire bear room deep below, on the third floor,¡± I admitted. Castile regained herposure, her childlike excitement fading. She started to hand back the potion, but I declined. ¡°Keep it. You can make better use of it than me.¡± I had another anyway, and the gift should endear Castile to me a little¡ªor a lot¡ª, just like the essences did for her and thepany. Castile rxed slightly. She held up the potion and exined slowly, ¡°Once the seal on a dungeon potion is broken, the air will degrade it. Use a little and seal it quickly again. It shouldst at least a few hours...¡± She looked at me, considering. ¡°Or if you store it right away in your dimensional space, it shouldn¡¯t lose any of its efficacy.¡± She made me feel foolish for not realizing I did not need to drink the entire potion. ¡°You need to be careful when using these. It restores your aether but does not increase your aether resistance. Channel too much aether too quickly, and you will burn out your channels.¡± Maveith watched the entire exchange and brought our attention back to the dungeon room. ¡°Are we not fighting the sand scarabs?¡± Castile focused on me again and looked at the spot where the scarab dust devil had disappeared. ¡°The scarab?¡± She wanted an answer. ¡°I didn¡¯t put an entire scarab in my dimensional space,¡± I said vaguely. I was trying to give her an out from lying to the Truthseekers if they asked her about this. Castile seemed to understand my piecemeal information. She looked at the sand where the scarab had been. A small crater of sand remained. I could tell she was trying to puzzle it out. She finally said, ¡°Impossible.¡± She had not directed it at me but simply spoke to the sand. Castile was still deep in thought when footfalls behind us announced Adrian¡¯s approach. He came and stood with us, looking into the sandscape room. ¡°Did youe up with a n to draw out the scarabs?¡± he asked while watching the mini tornados with us. I waited for Castile to answer him. ¡°Eryk and Maveith have some interesting ideas. It should not require anyone else in thepany. Get the men ready to clear the raptor room. I will join you in a moment.¡± Adrian looked at all three of us in turn. He did not say anything before nodding to Castile, turning on his heel, and returning to the group. Once he was gone, Castile spoke. ¡°It will take us three hours to take down the three raptors in the room. We will be gathering water from a stream there, but the raptors have very little meat.¡± ¡°You want us to remain here? To figure out a way to handle the scarabs?¡± I asked rhetorically. Castile nodded and moved to follow Adrian¡¯s path. She slipped the aether potion inside her garments as she left us. We watched her go, and Maveith¡¯s deep voice rumbled quietly, ¡°She was stunned, Eryk.¡± ¡°Yeah. Now that we are back with the group, I can¡¯t keep it from her. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s going to be able to shield me from the others for long. Konstantin is clearly curious how we managed to wander the dungeon by ourselves, as is Adrian.¡± I sighed heavily as I watched the swirling sand move in the room. We were quiet for a while. I was relieved that most of thepany was well, and that the Kettle of Souls was close. We both watched the sand because the scarabs could leave the room at any time since I had already killed one of their number. A few times, the swirling sand got close but never breached the corridor. I stood as soon as I had enough aether to use my dimensional space again. I waited while the nearest scarab dashed toward me, and I killed it at ten feet. I quickly stepped off the sand and onto the stone of the corridor. The other three scarabs rushed to the scene and past their deadrade. This time, we did not have to wait to kill a third scarab as all three left the protection of the sand to attack us in the corridor. The dog-sized, six-legged beetles rushed us, two abreast. Maveith crushed the first one while I fenced with a second. The beetle was using its mandibles to prevent my ck de from scoring a piercing strike. The third beetle was crawling over Maveith¡¯s foe while I struggled with mine. ¡°Deal with the third one,¡± I barked at Maveith. My opponent matched my reach, and I did not want to overextend myself between its mandibles. Maveith had superior reach, and I was soon sttered with clear fluid as Maveith¡¯s hammer descended on the third beetle. It was not long before Maveith¡¯s hammer also finished off my stubborn opponent. I looked at Maveith, who did not have any stter on him. I had thick, clear mucus all over my armor. ¡°I just got all the webbing off, and now I am slimed,¡± Iined, wiping away the goo. The first time we fought the scarabs, I got through unscathed. At least the fluid was odorless. Maveith could not help but chuckle at my overreaction. ¡°Go dig the two scarabs out of the sand. We need to stage the area,¡± I growled without malice at the goliath. ¡°Stage?¡± Maveith questioned. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°We¡¯re going to make it look like we tricked the scarabs out of the sand to kill them.¡± Maveith nodded in understanding and set to the task. I kept an eye on the corridor while the goliath worked. I waited until my aether recovered to pull the collector to my hand. With my eye on the corridor, I first used the collector on the scarab that gave me the most trouble. A major earth essence formed. The other three scarabs yielded minor earth essences. With the scarabs freed from the sand, I had Maveith crush them with his hammer near the corridor. His ferocious attacks concealed the fist-sized holes through their exoskeletons. Maveith surveyed the work. ¡°It looks like I killed all the scarabs, Eryk.¡± That was true, as his hammer had crushed each of them. He was also eyeing the stone chest in the center of the room. ¡°We¡¯ll leave the chest for when the others get here. That way, they won¡¯t think we took anything. And tell them you smashed all the scarabs, Maveith.¡± This chamber was hotter than the others, and we were both sweating profusely. I was also covered in sand. As the clear scarab blood dried on my armor, it became embedded with sand. I looked ridiculous. Maveith agreed, but after half an hour, he asked, ¡°Should we go check on them?¡± ¡°No, Castile gave us three hours to get the scarabs. They should be here soon.¡± We would just wait. We had some apple slices with apple-berry jam. Half an hourter, Konstantin arrived first. He grunted from the corridor, announcing his presence as he inspected the scarabs in the corridor and then the two remaining sand scarabs in the room. He walked over to Maveith and me, lounging by the unopened stone chest. He looked down at us. ¡°How did you get the scarabs toe out of the sand?¡± I squinted at him, as this room was brighter than most. ¡°I lured them out. They could not reach me if I stood on my air shield. Maveith smashed them with his hammer.¡± Maveith said nothing but showed Konstantin his hammer, backing up my story. Konstantin considered my statement, probably assessing its legitimacy, before nodding. ¡°Smart,¡± was all he said beforending in the sand next to us and taking an apple. Wylie and Firth were next into the room,menting on the size of the scarabs between them. Firth noticed the stone chest first. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you crack this open?¡± He sauntered up to it, doing the honors. ¡°Huh?¡± he voiced loudly, causing me to twist and look. Among the typical silver was a ck stone goblet. Thest time we got a spellbook, and I had assumed it would be something simr this time. Firth picked up the silver coins and the goblet. Castile and the others arrived, impressed with the room already being cleared. Firth announced as if he had cleared the room himself, ¡°Found a ck cup in the chest. What do you think it is?¡± He held it out to Castile. Castile arched her eyebrow at Maveith and me before taking the cup. She turned it over in her hands. ¡°No visible runic script.¡± She studied it for a moment while thepany circled around her. ¡°I believe it is made from a single piece of ck jade. Goblet artifacts typically transmute liquids ced in them.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s try it out,¡± Firth said eagerly. ¡°Maybe it gives us some quality ale.¡± Castile looked over at me. ¡°Maveith and Eryk cleared the room. It is theirs to do with as they please.¡± ¡°As long as the Dukes do not find out he has it,¡± Konstantin announced to thepany. It was for our benefit to make sure they kept the secret. Castile handed me the goblet. It was quite heavy and shaped like arge wine cup. Firth held out his water skin and began pouring water into it, uninvited. It overflowed and sshed on me. I channeled aether into the cup, and it greedily took my offering. It took more aether than I needed to open my dimensional space to activate. Firth was leaning over me, sniffing loudly, and studying the liquid in the cup. ¡°How can you smell anything when you smell that bad?¡± I pulled the cup away from the nosy legionnaire. It was hard to tell if the liquid in the chalice had changed color since it was ck. I sniffed it myself. The water had definitely turned into an alcoholic beverage¡ªnot beer or wine, though. I tipped the goblet, spilling the contents into the sand. It was an amber liquid. ¡°Don¡¯t waste it!¡± Firth moved to stop me. ¡°Leave it, Firth!¡± Castile barked. ¡°It could be poisoned. Eryk, it is best not to sample it until a scroll of revtion is used on it.¡± She nodded at me, and I made the empty ck chalice vanish. Still bent over, Firth picked up the wet sand and inhaled deeply. ¡°That is whiskey, or I¡¯m a goblin¡¯s sire.¡± Konstantin looked over. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the women at some of the brothels you frequent, Firth. That statement might just ring true.¡± ¡°Ah, if only this dungeon had a brothel room, then I could be content spending the rest of my days here,¡± Firth said in jest. Some of the men chuckled at the back-and-forth, and Castile took out her collector and went to work on the scarabs, but she didn¡¯t get a single essence. Adrianmented theck of luck. ¡°Those were elemental creatures. Would¡¯ve had a chance at an affinity essence. Next time, get Castile as soon as all the creatures are killed.¡± Castile rallied everyone. ¡°Come on, the work in this room is already done. Ourpanions are close!¡±! The group of us were soon moving down the corridor toward the harpy room. The deadwood trees and coffee berry trees were familiar as Adrian, Castile, and I stood at the entrance to the room. The two hideous harpies hopped from branch to branch upon noticing us, their perfect chests bobbing. Adrian muttered, ¡°We should just stick Firth on them. They¡¯d run away.¡± His uncharacteristic attempt at humor fell t. Castile ordered the men behind us, ¡°Two harpies. Block your ears with what you have. This should not be too difficult. I will disable their wings.¡± Thepany started going through their packs, shoving bits of cloth, nuts, and other objects in their ears to mute the harpies¡¯ song. It wasn¡¯t long before we were ready. Castile stepped into the room first. Wisps of ck smoke unfurled from her extended hands. The harpies did not even get close before Castile entangled their wings, and they crashed to the ground. Konstantin was the first to reach one of the harpies, and Adrian and Firth reached the second. A few well-ced strikes, and it was over. Wylie tried one of the coffee berries on the trees and spat in disgust. ¡°I hate this ogre¡¯s ass of a dungeon! Berries should not taste this bad.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t jinx us,¡± ze said, picking one of the berries himself. ¡°It¡¯s a cava berry. Don¡¯t eat the skin or the seed. Just eat the flesh.¡± He demonstrated this by squeezing the berry to shoot out the seed. He then consumed the flesh and discarded the skin. ¡°Not bad. The seeds are used to make a drink called cava from the south.¡± ¡°Do you know how to prepare the beans?¡± I asked as I moved to try the berry¡¯s flesh myself. It tasted like a mix of cherry and watermelon¡ªextremely refreshing. ¡°No, my father had a small shop in Brapo. He traded in cheap exotic goods. I¡¯ve seen these before. I know the seeds need to be roasted for cava, but I¡¯m not familiar with the process.¡± ze was picking and eating the fruit, and soon the entirepany was. Castile moved to the harpy and produced her collector. She eyed me briefly before using it and getting a minor charm affinity. The second harpy yielded the same. Firth had once again taken the opportunity to shatter the reward chest by the pool. ¡°There are fish in this pond!¡± he noted as he excitedly dug through the coins. ¡°Just some silver in the chest.¡± I thought that was odd since there had always been something in addition to the coins in the chests. If Firth had taken something, no one noticed. I moved to the pond myself and was d to see the dungeon had cleaned it since myst dip. Firth was already removing his armor. I think he was more focused on the fish than taking an actual bath. He might actually have sess catching them since they had to bob to the surface to breathe. Mateo was stripping his armor to join him. From across the room, Lirkin eximed joyously, ¡°Are you all having a party without us?¡± Everyone went silent and turned to see the cook standing by himself. He probably came to check on the harpy room for his group. Mateo, already swimming in the pool,ughed. ¡°You¡¯re only invited if you do the cooking.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 175: Gangs All Here Chapter 175: Gangs All Here Lirkin entered the room, all smiles, to talk with Castile. He looked malnourished, but his eyes were filled with the joy of seeing us. I joined them to learn how they had connected with vius and the others. Castile immediately asked, ¡°Who is with you?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a safe room down the corridor,¡± he pointed behind him. ¡°vius, Brutus, Donte, Benito, Linus, Kolm, and the Schr are there.¡± The men moved into crowd Lirkin, even the naked Mateo and Firth, who had not bothered to dress. ze interrupted and asked earnestly, ¡°What about Pavel and Lucien?¡± The joy left Lirkin¡¯s face. ¡°I don¡¯t think they made it. I know they didn¡¯t make it.¡± Adrian moved to stand in front of Lirkin, grabbing his pauldron firmly. ¡°What happened?¡± he demanded softly. Lirkin copsed a bit, overwhelmed by the memory. ¡°A few days ago, maybe four. It¡¯s hard to tell time in this cursed dungeon. I was resting in the safe room where we arrived from the tavern with Lucien, Benito, and Pavel.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°We didn¡¯t leave a watch and were all sleeping.¡± Konstantin rebuked him harshly from nearby, ¡°Why not!?¡± Lirkin defended himself aggressively, ¡°Every day was the same. After weeks, we just assumed we were safe.¡± His anger fell, and he softly added, ¡°We gotcent.¡± Castile calmed everyone with a look and then encouraged Lirkin to continue. ¡°Tell us how it happened, Lirkin.¡±¡°A troll. A crusty-ass, shit-brown troll. If it hadn¡¯t been so loud storming down the corridor, we would¡¯ve all been killed right there. Benito, even with his arm broken and useless, confronted it. He gave us time to form a defense but took a nasty sh to his face.¡± Lirkin paused, recalling the nightmarish incident. ¡°We formed up, protecting Benito with the dungeon exit behind us. We hoped to trick the troll into the portal, but an ice drake emerged from the corridor, and an elven wizard was just behind the drake.¡± Someone inhaled sharply at the confirmation the summoner had joined us in the dungeon. ¡°It was the summoner then. He has an ice drake under his control. I have seen it,¡± Castile confirmed calmly to everyone. Lirkin nodded at Castile. ¡°We figured fighting the specters was better than fighting the troll and the ice drake. We were going to enter the dungeon again together right after exiting, but the troll followed us through the portal.¡± Everyone was silent as Lirkin continued his retelling. ¡°There were a lot of specters on the other side¡ªand frozen body parts of legionnaires. The troll pushed us back from the gate, and Benito tried to hold off the specters with his good arm but could barely stand.¡± He sighed as he reyed the final part of his tale. ¡°Lucien said he would distract the troll away from the portal so we could get back through together. Pavel joined him without being ordered, telling me to drag Benito back in. Pavel got two arrows into the troll, and it charged him and Lucien. I saw specters swarming Pavel, and the troll tackled Lucien to the ground near the copsed tavern. That was thest I saw of them before I got Benito back into the dungeon. Fortunately, we arrived in a safe room close to vius and the others.¡± There was dead silence as we all absorbed the mental weight of more losses to thepany. Adrian broke the somber mood. ¡°Let¡¯s reunite with the others. We can mourn our fallenrades together.¡± ¡°Make use of the pool first,¡± Castile said numbly. ¡°Everyone bathe. Two legionnaires at both corridor entrances. Lirkin, Konstantin, and Adrian, go bring the others here.¡± It was not long before the pool was filled with men sshing each other like children while trying to catch the bobbing fish. Adrian returned with the others. The Schr and Kolm were supporting Benito. His cheek and neck had a filthy bandage with dried blood. Linus had a splinted leg but was walking under his own power. It looked like Donte had recovered from the spider¡¯s poison. The groups mingled, and smiles andughter were all around, pushing the reality of our lostpanions to the back of our minds. When I got close to Benito, he smelled like death and ammonia. He was still smiling, even though he was obviously close to Pluto¡¯s realm. I patted Benito on the back. ¡°It looks like a troll got a hold of you and took your maidenhood.¡± Benito¡¯s eyes were a bit ssy as he replied, ¡°I gave just as good as I got, Eryk. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have any wine left to numb the pain a bit?¡± he asked hopefully. I pretended to think about it. ¡°I do have a bottle left, but I thought you might want this instead.¡± I held up one of the greater healing potions I had left. His eyes had trouble focusing on it, and I do not think he understood. Castile snapped at him, ¡°Drink it if you want to live, boy. That¡¯s a greater dungeon healing potion.¡± ¡°Ah, you don¡¯t happen to have another for me?¡± Linus asked jokingly. Maveith moved to retrieve one of his potions, but I gave him a look, and he stopped. I retrieved the lesser healing potion I had gotten from Raelia¡¯s bags and offered it to Linus, who was flummoxed as I handed it to him. He rasped out, ¡°It should work as long as the bone is aligned closely.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ¡°How many healing potions do you have?¡± Mateo intruded on the gift-giving, thankfully clothed this time. He pretended to pat me down. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I knew revealing the potions had risks, but neither Benito nor Linus would be able to flee with us once we left the dungeon. I pushed away the handsy Mateo. ¡°Just one left now. I¡¯d prefer to save it for a real emergency if you don¡¯t mind.¡± I watched as Benito got help from Schr Favian to drink the healing potion. A loud pop had Benito wince as his forearm bones aligned properly. He started coughing up yellow phlegm and tearing off his crusty bandages next as he seated himself on the ground. He soony spread-eagle, breathing deeply, as if it was the first time in a long while he¡¯d been able to do so. Benito¡¯s skin was filthy with sweat, dirt, and recently ked scabs. The first words out of his mouth were, ¡°I am famished. What¡¯s for dinner?¡± A tingly feeling of satisfaction went through me. I missed Linus taking the other potion, but he had also removed his splint and was practically skipping around the coffee berry trees. For some reason, I channeled my inner Delmar. ¡°Okay, now that everyone is mobile, I need a full ounting of the provisions. I want four men picking berries and four men fishing.¡± Everyone looked at me strangely for a moment before Castile backed me up. ¡°You heard Eryk. Everything needs to be harvested before the dungeon reims the room, and I want everyone to bathe. I am sick of my eyes watering from your stench when I try to sleep.¡± She let out a slight smirk and winked at the men before returning to her usual demeanor. As the men paired off and started to work, I did not like that Konstantin and vius moved off to guard one of the corridors at Adrian¡¯s orders. Adrian began making the rounds to check on the men, and I joined him. Adrian had always been more interested in morale than Delmar had. But I was not Delmar, and I wanted to know how everyone was doing. We still had a number of injuries among the men. Firth had broken fingers, Donte was weak from the after-effects of the poison, Benito still had a fever even though his body was healed, and Kolm had bruised ribs, but Wylie¡¯s leg infection was at least clearing up. I gave Benito one of the two cure disease potions I had purchased at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild in Telha. That immediately normalized his temperature and apparently healed his mouth, as Benito suddenly could not stop talking. Several people noted privately that I should have waited a bit longer before saving his life. Soon after, we abandoned the harpy room and made the walk to the safe room vius and his group had been using. Everyone smelled mildly better, and we were mostly in good spirits. I stood, listening to vius report to Castile once the group had settled in the familiar-style safe room. The dungeon exit loomed nearby, enticing us with its offer of freedom. The lump in Castile¡¯¡¯s backpack was the key to that freedom. It might have been just me, but vius¡¯s eyes kept roaming to me while he talked. ¡°There is arge earth drake room down the other corridor from the harpy room, but I assume Eryk has already told you that.¡± ¡°He has,¡± Castile said firmly. ¡°What is this way?¡± She indicated the only other exit from the safe room. ¡°Wolf spiders in the first room. They are justrge, hairy bastards, but their venom lingers for days. Beyond that room are giant centipedes. They have a paralyzing toxin, but there are only four of them. Beyond that is the safe room where we arrived. Neither of the rooms offered a decent food source. We have been killing the harpies every two or three days for the fish. We did not know the berries were edible. Linus tried them whole and ended up vomiting an hourter.¡± vius waited while Castile considered the information. ¡°And what is beyond that safe room?¡± Castile questioned. vius held up his hands to draw a map in the air. ¡°Two other corridors. One goes this way to a ferocious owlbear with glowing red eyes.¡± He shifted his hands. ¡°The other goes this way for a long distance to a water-filled room with giant snapping turtles. We considered trying that room, as the turtles might have been too slow to pursue us in the corridor. I decided against it, thinking there might be other threats in the murky water that could follow us.¡± ¡°This dungeon is a bloody menagerie,¡± Adrian spat. ¡°I don¡¯t think it is worth exploring those rooms,¡± Castile decided. ¡°We will rest for a day and then make our exit.¡± ¡°To where?¡± vius inquired. Castile looked a little irritated at the question. ¡°We will try to return to the under city and back to the library to avoid the concentration of specters in the city. From there, we can clear the snow to the gates and get outside the aura of the city.¡± Castile exined. ¡°What about the elven summoner?¡± vius pressed. ¡°He made a mistake following us into the dungeon and dismissing his elementals. Without his constant control of the weather, I am guessing the snow is now passable.¡± vius was not as certain. ¡°We cannot be sure of that.¡± Castile¡¯s patience ran out. ¡°Enough, vius. You and ze can watch the wolf spider room for the approach of the summoner. Do not engage if you see him or his creatures. Just retreat here to report so we can prepare.¡± Adrian added stiffly, ¡°Be aware. He has been using goblins as scouts as well.¡± vius nodded curtly and turned away from our group. Once he was far away, Adrian spoke to Castile and me. ¡°He¡¯s been leading the men for weeks and has be bolder. Clearly, he has won over Brutus and is working on Konstantin.¡± ¡°Do you think he will be a problem?¡± Castile asked. Adrian hesitated a little. ¡°Maybe. Konstantin told me he was asking about how Eryk and Maveith reconnected with us.¡± Adrian had an amused look on his face. It made me look to Castile and back to Adrian. Castile had obviously shared something with him. I should¡¯ve realized it when he was no longer suspicious of me. Shit¡ªI hoped this would not bite meter. Castile watched ze and vius move down the corridor. ¡°ze will let us know if he¡¯s up to anything.¡± She turned to me. ¡°Do you and Maveith want to scout the harpy or earth drake room? We will be leaving the dungeon when you return.¡± I was puzzled for just a moment. I was pretty sure she was asking if I wanted to harvest more essence. I considered the offer. I had dozens of essences in my dimensional space. But magic affinities were rare. Charm or earth essence? ¡°We can watch for the summoner in the earth drake corridor,¡± I finally said. Castile nodded approvingly. A short whileter, as I was getting ready to leave, Brutus offered to join us. Thankfully, Lirkin suddenly needed help preparing meals, so Adrian volunteered Brutus to help. Maveith and I walked back down the corridor to the earth drake room. We stood at the entrance to the chamber. The familiar draconic beast stirred and thundered a challenging roar at us, like it remembered that I was responsible for its past deaths. Maveith grunted, ¡°I don¡¯t think it likes you very much.¡± I looked down the long corridor behind us and then back at the drake. ¡°It¡¯s going to like me a lot less in a few seconds.¡± ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 176: Run! Chapter 176: Run! The earth drake yielded a major earth essence while Maveith watched the corridor. Maveith helped me drag the drake¡¯s long neck around to face away from the corridor, making it look as if the drake was sleeping in case someone came by. The reward chest was much smaller this time, so I was not expecting another spear inside. It rattled with coins as I picked it up and carried it behind the drake. I shattered the stone chest, using the drake¡¯s body to shield my actions. Inside were a few dozen silver coins and a pair of thick brown bracers. The soft, flexible leather covered from wrist to elbow, withces to tighten them. I let Maveith try them on, but his forearms were toorge for them. If these bracers were an artifact, they would neither resize nor absorb aether from me. I sent the bracers to my dimensional storage to figure them outter. With our work in the roomplete, Maveith asked, ¡°Are we going to descend and attack the boars again?¡± I had considered going by myself, but I shook my head. ¡°No. We¡¯ll just wait until it¡¯s time to leave the dungeon. Linus or Benito will forget us when it¡¯s time.¡± I slid down the wall to rx in the corridor with Maveith. Maveith smiled brightly. ¡°Do you want to y checkers?¡± I nodded absently as he set up the board between us. ¡°When will you release Raelia?¡± he asked after winning the third straight game. I hesitated before answering. ¡°When it¡¯s safe. It might be some time before I can get away from thepany.¡± I reset my pieces on the board, and we continued to pass the time. Hourster, the pounding of boots and the rattle of legion armor echoed down the corridor. Benito was running full tilt at us, using the wall to slow himself. ¡°The summoner was spotted across the owlbear room! We¡¯re leaving now!¡± He turned and sprinted back the way he came without waiting for a response. Maveith was trying to put the checkers set in the bag. ¡°Leave it, Maveith!¡± I pulled him up, and we started running back to the safe room. Of course, we were the furthest away and probably thest to be warned. Benito, the little rabbit, was already gone as we raced down the corridor after shouldering our packs. Thoughts raced through my mind. How much would the owlbear slow down the summoner? Would the summoner figure out that we had exited the dungeon? I nced down the right corridor toward the harpy room. Seeing and hearing no one, I assumed they had already retreated, and we were thest ones left. Momentster, I saw the small safe room and the legionnaires preparing to enter the exit portal.A piercing screech echoed down the corridor. Castile¡¯s voice cut through the noise with an order, ¡°Into the gate! Runic weapons lead! The summoner has controlled the owlbear! It¡¯sing!¡± Clinking red-armored men scrambled forward into the exit portal ahead of us. Almost everyone was through when we emerged into the safe room. A hulking, bipedal owl burst into the room from the opposite corridor. Its over-muscled body was incongruent with its massive owl head. The beak alone was asrge as a man¡¯s head, and when it screeched again, sharp, jagged teeth lined the impressive beak. Castile¡¯s aetheric shadow chains swarmed over the creature, trying to contain it, but they snapped like spider threads. Castile, Adrian, and Kolm were the only legionnaires left in the room. ¡°Get through the portal!¡± I yelled, not for any heroic reason but so I could use my abilities without being seen. Castile nodded, understanding my intent. ¡°Move! Eryk will upy it with his air shields and follow us momentarily.¡± Maveith roared his own challenge, and the creature looked confused as Castile, Kolm, and Adrian disappeared into the portal. I stepped within range of the owlbear, and it spun toward me. A foreign intelligence burned in its red eyes¡ªthe summoner trying to control the feral beast. I removed a good portion of its chest cavity, my power overwhelming its resistance. The beast belched a spray of blood at me and charged on all fours. Fuck, I must have missed something vital. Maveith stepped in front of me, lowering his hammer. The owlbear¡¯s powerful beak mped down just as Maveith¡¯s hammer connected. A portion of Maveith¡¯s stomach, leather armor, and abdomen were torn away. I pressed my de into the creature¡¯s shoulder as it chewed its reward. Maveith stumbled back, leaking blood and bile from a gaping stomach wound. ¡°Drink your potions!¡± I yelled as I twisted my de and yanked it free. The pain drew the creature¡¯s attention to me while Maveith fumbled for his potions. The owlbear, frothy blood dripping from its beak, stumbled toward me. It was close to death, but I must have hit the lungs instead of the heart. I reached under my armor for the aether potion. I only needed a sip to recover all my aether. The owlbear clumsily lunged toward me in slow motion, giving me plenty of time to sidestep. It was its final act, as the massive creature copsed. I took a swig of the potion, capped it, and sent it to my dimensional space as my aether core was replenished. I kneeled next to Maveith while scanning the corridor. Arge splotch of pink skin denoted his injury, which was slowly turning gray to match the rest of his body. ¡°Did you take all your healing potions?¡± I asked, inspecting the wound. A deep dent in his abdomen showed where the owlbear had taken a bite. Maveith nodded painfully. I produced myst greater healing potion and handed it to him. The aether from the previous potions hadn¡¯t been enough to repair the extensive damage. Maveith rasped, ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± He pointed painfully down the corridor. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. I spun around to see a creature bounding toward us. It must have been the summoner¡¯s ice drake. The scales shimmered, appearing like undting ice as it rushed closer. I wasn¡¯t concerned, as I had enough aether to deal with it. ¡°Maveith, get into the portal and help thepany with the specters.¡± Maveith groaned as he stood unsteadily. He seemed to be missing some muscture, as he had difficulty moving. Hopefully, the greater healing potion would restore the soft tissue. The ice drake skidded to a stop at the entrance, its crystalline eyes showing intelligence as it assessed the situation. Seeing only one legionnaire and a struggling goliath, the drake paused. I backed up toward the portal, making sure Maveith made it through. The serpentine neck of the drake slowly locked eyes with me, its gaze intense. I wondered if the summoner was controlling or viewing through it. The ck, oily surface enveloped Maveith, sending him to the others in the ruins. The ice drake took a tentative step into the room, eyes locked on mine. If it had a ranged breath attack, I would retreat. If it got within fifteen feet, I would end it. The room was only thirty feet across, but the drake paused, puffing frosted air in annoyance at me. The sound of soft footfalls behind the drake had me shift my focus to the corridor. The summoner wasing. The slow, dramatic pace of his walk made time seem to stretch. The tall, aged elf entered the room, standing behind his drake. He rested a hand on its crown, stroking it. I pulled the aether potion back into my free hand, rxing my grip on the ck de, letting it point at the ground to appear unthreatening. The High Mage Summoner surveyed the room, his eyes lingering on the dead owlbear before looking up at me. ¡°Did you kill the dire owlbear, legionnaire?¡± I was a little shocked. Did he not recognize me? Should I be insulted? I thought he would remember me from when he looked through the wyvern¡¯s eyes. He had sworn to kill me. ¡°Maybe,¡± I replied evenly. His eyes brightened as he studied me, and a sh of recognition appeared on his face. ¡°The void mage,¡± his voice hardened. ¡°Do note any closer.¡± He studied my dpidated and mangled legion armor, a delighted smile forming. ¡°It looks like you have had a rough time in the dungeon.¡± I was trying to decide what to do. I could argue that I was not a void mage. I could drop Raelia in hisp and hope she convinced him not to attack. Or I could escape by taking one step back and joining thepany. Instead, I asked, ¡°Why did you follow us into the dungeon?¡± The summoner smiled maliciously. ¡°You are ignorant of the goings-on in the world. I was running out of time for my revenge, as I was ordered to return. Your Empire thinks it can hoard the secrets of the ancient Titans. We cannot let them have it, as it would tip the bnce of power too much.¡± I figured I might be able to draw out more information if I kept the conversation going. ¡°So, they found Antium?¡± Traeliorn raised an eyebrow at my knowledge. ¡°You are no ordinary legionnaire. A Praetorian agent, then? For whom? I will be sure to let them know you will not be returning to their service.¡± His dark humor attempted to mimic mine. I chuckled as he dug for information. ¡°No, I serve no one. I am a conscript, forced to join. Being a legionnaire was not by choice.¡± ¡°You lie, legionnaire.¡± The mage¡¯s voice suddenly turned angry. Damn, the summoner was a Truthseeker as well¡ªthis time, I felt the spell-like spiders crawling over my skin. My sensitivity to aether had increased in the dungeon. I borated with the truth. ¡°After I was convicted of a crime and sentenced, I was given the choice of hardbor or the army. I chose the army.¡± The elf nodded slowly, epting my answer. He considered and shrugged. ¡°It matters not. You killed Vaeril. My pursuit of vengeance has cost me much, but the knowledge and rewards of this fascinating dungeon have made up for it. And now you are trapped.¡± A devilish smile formed on his face. A cold realization spread through me. I reached behind, expecting the dungeon exit¡¯s embrace, but I felt only a smooth, solid surface. I quickly looked back. The oily wall was still there, but something akin to my air shield blocked my exit. I was actually impressed that the mage had managed to cast the spell at such a distance¡ªnearly thirty feet. He had more tricks than just summoning creatures. ¡°Perhaps we can bargain? Would you let me go in exchange for the griffin rider? The elf who was guarding Vaeril?¡± My bargaining position was not strong. If I could eliminate the ice drake, I might be able to race to the earth drake room and use the exit at the bottom of the stairs.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ¡°Raelia is a prisoner? I will inform her brother when I return. He canunch an expedition if he wishes,¡± the mage said, unconcerned with the young elf¡¯s fate. It felt like the mage was toying with me, savoring his victory. I slowly raised my dark de into a defensive posture. The ice drake immediately tensed, sensing a battle wasing. ¡°Kylma, rx. This one is mine.¡± Seven arcane missiles formed over his shoulder and shot toward me. I hastily erected air shields in front of me. The two shields shattered under the force, and the seventh missile burned a hole through my severely damaged armor. My flesh burned where the missile struck, and the smell of burnt flesh reminded me I was facing a powerful mage. ¡°Are we not full of surprises!¡± Traeliorn eximed, genuinely shocked. ¡°What other secrets are you hiding?¡± His unfriendly smile returned. ¡°Too many to count,¡± I retorted reflexively. ¡°If you have a few hours, perhaps we can discuss them.¡± The mage sighed. ¡°Unfortunately, I do not have time for banter. I need to eliminate the rest of yourpany and confront your Emperor.¡± It was time to go. I dashed to the right, aiming for the corridor. The ice drake exhaled a cloud of frost, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as the ice smander¡¯s attack¡ªit merely washed over me. I left an air shield behind, blocking the corridor. A torrent of lightning crashed into it, superheating the shield until it exploded, throwing me tumbling down the corridor. My ears rang, and I thought to myself that this most definitely was not a fair fight. I activated my healing spell form and coughed in pain. I stumbled to my feet as the mage¡¯s muted shout registered, ¡°No, Kylma!¡± I nced back to see the mage had warned the drake against pursuing me, but the beast¡¯s hunting instinct had taken over. It saw me beaten and sprawled on the floor, and it rushed toward me, eager to finish me off. The headless ice drake¡¯s body skidded into me. My head felt stuffed with cotton, my ears throbbed, and I stumbled to my feet and ran. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 177: Boss Fight Chapter 177: Boss Fight The mage¡¯s wails of anger echoed as I shuffled down the corridor. I fumbled with the cap of the aether potion and drank more than I intended in my haste. I immediately began directing the aether to heal my injuries. My head started to clear. The body of the ice drake should slow the mage down. Suddenly, I was shoved hard from behind by multiple impacts. Arcane bolts sizzled into my armor, creating burning holes, and reaching my flesh. This was not a fair fight if I could not get close to the damned elven summoner to remove his head. Two of the strikes hit the back of my thighs, scorching my hamstrings and making my escape even more difficult as my legs struggled to work properly. I could really use that greater healing potion I gave Maveith right about now. I pulled out thest lesser healing potion I took from Raelia and drank it. It did not help much with my extensive injuries, but it did close my wounds. The minor numbing and cooling effect across my skin was also wee. I had other potions and drank one of the major stamina potions. It collided with the remnants of the healing potion in my stomach, creating a burning, nauseous sensation. Maybe mixing potions was not a good idea, but the warm, revitalizing energy flooded my damaged body, allowing me to break into a run. The pain faded like a bad memory, though I knew I would be in a world of hurt once the potion wore off. I did not look back for the summoner as I turned into the corridor leading to the earth drake. The earth drakey dead, just as we had left it. I was halfway across therge chamber, just past the drake, when I mmed into an invisible wall. The jarring halt to my sprint sent me bouncing backward,nding hard on the dirt-covered floor. I scrambled back to use the drake¡¯s body as cover. I thought I had broken my nose, as blood flowed freely across my lips and down my chin, and I spat out the metallic taste. When things settled, I panted heavily. ¡°You¡¯re fast for an old man,¡± I said in my limited elvish, hoping to confuse him. Instead, heughed. ¡°You are butchering a beautifulnguage, legionnaire. Just another reason you have to die.¡± There was madness, anger, and condescension in his tone. I thought I had done a fairly respectable job speaking it. I was not going to talk my way out of this, and he would not let me escape. Raelia would probably side with the summoner if I brought her out. I doubted the goblin would be much help¡ªmaybe a distraction at best. I retrieved the ck-tipped spear, the spider-engraved short sword, and another greater stamina potion from my dimensional space. I gripped the spear, my only weapon that could be used as a ranged weapon. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your ice drake. But she did not seem to be in a yful mood,¡± I taunted, hoping to provoke him into making a mistake. But I immediately regretted my words¡ªthe fly does not antagonize the spider when caught.¡°Kylma was a dear friend¡­¡± Using his voice as my guide, I stood and hurled the spear at the summoner. He waved his right hand, and I saw the sh of a spellform. He was a skilled mage, creating spells almost instantly and with just one hand. The spear thudded into another invisible wall, causing an echo in the room. I ducked back behind the carcass of the earth drake. This was not going well. The spear was my only ranged weapon unless I wanted to start throwing purple potatoes at him. His imperious voice echoed in the room, ¡°Did you kill this earth drake as well? I suppose it was not much more difficult than a wyvern.¡± There was an amused tone, as it was clear he had me cornered. His quick shifts in emotion worried me, and he might have lost his grip on sanity. Feeling the effects of the stamina potion fading, I drank the second one while the standoff continued. It was a struggle to keep the potion down. Drinking so many potions in such a short time was probably not wise. With the ck de in one hand and the spider de in the other, I nned to rush for the exit. I hoped that whatever invisible wall he had put up, I could destroy it with the two runic weapons, then descend the stairs to the safe room and escape the dungeon. I took a deep breath and released my distraction, my aether getting dangerously low. The goblin did not cooperate. Instead of running and pulling the summoner¡¯s attention, it was disoriented and tried to hide under the earth drake¡¯s body, squeezing itself into the ground in a desperate attempt to disappear. Shit, the goblin was useless¡ªor maybe just smarter than me, considering the situation. No time had passed for it, and it had been paralyzed with fear when I returned it to my dimensional space.N?v(el)B\\jnn I pushed off the floor, my des extended, and searched for the invisible wall. The ck de made contact first, and I swung the spider de overhead. The wall had a slight reverberation to it. I attacked in a berserk frenzy, and the spider de drew on my aether with each strike, draining me dangerously. I never defeated the wall. Instead, the world lit up as energy surged around me. Lightning engulfed me, forcing my muscles to clench, and straining my joints painfully. When the lightning stopped, all I could smell was burnt flesh, and my vision was blurry. I groaned and rolled on the dirt, trying to focus on healing my eyes and ears while ignoring the pain. The soft shuffle of feet reached my ears. The mage was approaching. I continued to moan pitifully¡ªit did not take much effort¡ªand hoped the mage woulde within ten feet. Through my bloodshot eyes, I saw the hem of the summoner¡¯s dark blue robes. Then, the bastard stopped twenty feet away! I had expected some gloating speech and was not disappointed. ¡°Legionnaire...¡± The goblin took that moment to scramble over the drake and flee the one-sided battle. The mage turned toward the noise, and I rolled to my knees, nted my foot, and lunged toward him. My body protested the rapid movement, but I just needed to get close enough. I focused on the mage¡¯s head and tried to send it to my dimensional space. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. My veins began to burn with an ufortable intensity, warning me of being overtaxed. I had been pushing my aether reserves for thest several minutes, refilling and depleting them repeatedly. Castile had warned me about the risk of burning out my aether channels, and my body was telling me I was getting close. But it did not matter because I had won. Then came the bacsh of Traeliorn¡¯s resistance. Not only did his head remain, but it felt as though mine had been severed. Time seemed to slow as I fell to the ground. I flung the spider de at the mage, who was turning to face me again. His aether shield red, but the runic weapon prated it enough to cut into the hand he had put up to block it. The cut was not deep, but I would haveughed if I were not in such a tremendous amount of pain. I fumbled inside my armor for the aether potion, only to find that the vial had cracked, leaving me with wet dirt. I sucked on the dirty vial, trying to get even a drop of the restorative potion, but all I got was grit and crunchiness in my mouth and just a hint of aether. Traeliorn moved slowly toward me. I was helpless and could only watch. He bent down to pick up the spider de, more interested in it than in finishing me off. As he examined the de, his face twisted with concern. His eyes moved from the de to me, and he spoke, ¡°A mage assassin then. I would have never guessed it by your looks, boy. Still, I do not need magic to deal with you.¡± He expertly spun the short de in his hand, then frowned. His eyes hardened, and he attacked. I was weaponless, my ck de a dozen steps behind me. I pulled one of the fire bear pelts from my dimensional space, using it as a momentary shield. From this minuscule expenditure of aether, my veins felt as if they were filled with acid. I scrambled back to retrieve my long ck de. It worked, and I stood facing the irate summoner. Although standing might be too strong a word¡ªI could barely force my body to an upright position. Traeliorn did not hesitate and rushed me, the short spider de dancing dangerously in his skilled hands. The exchange was fast. I thought myself an equal swordsman, but I was heavily injured, and he scored a light sh on the back of my hand, parting the flesh and exposing the tendon underneath. I moved to create some distance and tried to heal the wound. Nothing. I could not feel my tiny amount of aether in my core or any aether at all. It was slippery as I tried tomand it. The summoner smirked, ¡°Not so fun when it happens to you.¡± The spider de had a grimy, oily coating¡ªit must have been what blocked my ess to aether, that or it emptied my aether core. The pause in our fight gave me a chance to ask a question. ¡°Is it permanent?¡± ¡°It is your de, legionnaire. Do you not know what a magebane is?¡± He narrowed his eyes, suspicious that I might be trying to trick him. He obviously was not going to tell me much, but I figured he would be angrier if it was permanent. Suddenly, the goblin dashed out, and both of us turned to watch. It had circled back and picked up the spear, struggling with its weight. I thought it might help me, but instead, it ran off with the spear down the corridor toward the dead owlbear. The summoner looked bemused by my shock. Traeliorn shifted his stance, removing his robes in a flourish to give himself greater movement. I drew my belt knife in my off-hand as we circled each other. He took a side stance to reduce his profile, while I angled mine to bring the dagger into y. We engaged again, my joints protesting at the required speed. ¡°Not just a mage, then?¡± I asked after a few exchanges, sporting several shes on my armor. I had the longer reach, yet I was losing. He probably had centuries of practice, and my dreamscape amulet was showing just how effective it was at focusing my training, but it was ultimately insufficient against his experience and my injuries. The elf smirked, speaking in Latin for the first time. ¡°I have kept fit through the centuries, training with some of the best Rangers in Bartiradia. I can usually hold my own with a de, but you are not unskilled.¡± I acknowledged thepliment with a nod. He did not allow me to rest and moved to engage again. Slowly, I started to feel and hint at control of my aether core again¡ªthe poison from the spider de wearing off. If his aether returned, I was doomed. The problem was that Traeliorn was not giving me an opening, and he countered any of my attempts to create one. The deadly dance continued, and I kept trying to coalesce my aether. Though it was there, it was like trying to collect water with a sieve. Finally! I managed to pull the elven spear I retrieved from the ancient armory into my hand. I dropped both des in favor of the ancient weapon, parrying Traeliorn¡¯s attack and sweeping the spear in an arc as he retreated. His right thigh now sported a deep gash, with some of the muscle exposed. I did not give him time to react, pressing the attack. Traeliorn was now hobbled, and suddenly, I had the advantage. He seemed unfamiliar with fighting against a spear. I scored a hit to his abdomen, then another to the injured thigh. He tried to retrieve something from his belt, but that was his downfall. I drove the spear into his sternum, pinning him to the wall. He was trying to thumb the top off a potion in his hand. Instead of stopping him, I moved in close and wrenched the magebane de from his grasp. He brought the potion to his lips, but I used the spider de to open his throat. The poison coating the de as I shed. My aether channels burned as the de sucked what little aether my body had to create its supernatural concoction. The potion tried to heal the wound, so I sawed away frantically until his head was severed. The mage¡¯s body slid down the wall, the spear tip scraping the stone as it went. With his head in one hand and the dripping spider de in the other, I dropped the head and joined him on the ground. The adrenaline of battle ebbed away, and every injury on my body began screaming as the rush faded. I pulled a canteen of water from my dimensional space, ignoring the aether burn from the action. I drained it dry, belching loudly. I did not bother offering any to the summoner. Exhaustion swept over me, amplified by the potions, the aether bacsh, the poison, and my wounds. If I slept here, I would likely wake up inside an earth drake stomach. I gathered my ck de and positioned the mage¡¯s body and head on his robes before starting to drag it back to the safe room. Once the pain of the aether burn lessened, I would use the collector on him. The corridors seemed much longer than they had before, and every step was a chore. The ice drake was still mostly blocking the corridor¡ªI needed to use the collector on it soon or risk losing its essence. I pulled the mage past the drake and into the safe room. The ck spear was near the owlbear in the center of the safe room, and the goblin had rummaged through my pack, consuming everything that was edible. It was now in a contented fooda, oblivious to my presence. I guessed it had not eaten in days. I nced at the dungeon exit, wondering how thepany was managing. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 178: To the Victor Goes the Spoils Chapter 178: To the Victor Goes the Spoils The gobliny sprawled on the ground, its belly bloated and drooling in its sleep, blowing grotesque bubbles of saliva. I assumed it could finally die happy with a full belly. The goblin had tossed everything out of my pack, scattering it across the room. I thought briefly about killing the small, unsightly creature, but it had saved my life in its own way. It seemed too cruel to kill my benefactor in its sleep. I moved as quietly as possible to reim the spear and make sure it had no ess to any weapons. I would let it fend for itself in the dungeon when it woke. My veins and arteries still burned with every beat of my heart, warning me against using any more aether. On the other hand, I had three powerful potential essences in this room. I would not risk permanent damage by returning the goblin to my dimensional space, but I could at least im the essences as that should just require a tiny amount of aether. I felt a sense of urgency to catch up with the others, as Castile had the Kettle of Souls. I started by searching the mage, no longer squeamish about looting the dead. The robe I had used to drag him to the safe room seemed to resist staining¡ªeven the pools of blood from his neck had not soaked into the fabric. It was probably an artifact, so I snapped it in the air, rolled it up, and stuffed it into my conveniently emptied pack. He wore a single shiny, untarnished gold ring on each finger. Both were definitely dungeon artifacts. His borate ck belt had six small sewn-in pouches, three on each hip, each just big enough for a hand. I checked them, but they were all curiously empty. Maybe he had used everything. I coiled the appealing utility belt and added it to my pack as well. A heavy gold and silver medallion rested around what remained of his neck¡ªanother artifact, and possibly simr to Castile¡¯s aether shield amulet. I had depleted his aether shield during the fight. I put it in the pack for now. His boots were nice, but they were far too small for me. There was not much else of use here, so I assumed the summoner had left his pack elsewhere. I strapped my ck de and the magebane de to my pack, shouldered it, and carried the spear as I left the room. The walk to the owlbear room seemed to take forever, but I was rewarded with a room filled with tall grasses and dark berry bushes. I quickly located the untouched reward chest for defeating the owl bear. Without hesitation, I shattered it and was relieved to find the greater healing potion I was hoping for. I drank it immediately, the multitude of injuries fading like a bad dream. I had not realized how injured I truly was until the warmth of the healing potion washed over me. I could have waited hours and healed myself with my spell form, but I needed to catch up with the others, so time was of the essence. I packed away the silver coins and a second potion. A quick nce at the runic script told me it enhanced one¡¯s strength when consumed. I pulled the collector from my dimensional space, my aether channels ring in protest at even this smallest of aether expenditures. I considered my armor for a moment. It was in terrible condition, with multiple holes in the resin-infused hide from the powerful arcane missiles. I unbuckled it, discarding the pieces on the floor. Even my clothes underneath had numerous holes. Feeling much freer in my movements, I returned to the safe room. The goblin was still sleeping, with arger puddle of drool beneath its chin. At least, it seemed to be having pleasant dreams. I used the collector on the owlbear first, wincing at the effort of channeling even a wisp of aether into it. As the disc pulled the rich blue smoke, I worried it had been too long since the creature¡¯s death to yield anything, but I was rewarded with a modest dark purple sphere¡ªa major strength essence. The summoner was next. I ced the collector on his chest, anticipating something substantial.I jumped when the goblin let out a loud tulence. It was an attack, just not a physical one, as the foul cloud reached me. I covered my nose as I channeled my aether despite the persistent pain. I was rewarded with an apex essence, a luminescent pearl for increasing aether pool capacity. I thumbed the sphere in appreciation¡ªthis was much better than the magic affinity I had expected. I wanted to consume it immediately, but I was still recovering from myst earth essence, and my aether channels were still on fire. The burn was so bad I was sweating. The headless drake in the corridor was thest potential essence. I packed the apex pearl in my pack and moved to where the drakey. It really was a beautiful creature when it was not trying to kill you. I ran my hand along the scales, which were silky smooth and cool to the touch. If Maveith were here, he¡¯d probably be upset that I was not working hard to harvest the creature properly. I bnced the collector on its body and endured the increasing pain. The rich blue aetheric smoke formed quickly. A dark blue aquamarine sphere formed¡ªan apex water affinity essence. I was slightly shocked but appreciative. I packed the essence with the collector in my bag. With the ck de and the magebane de strapped to my pack, I shouldered it. Once the aether burn lessened, I would store the entire pack, but for now, I needed to avoid further damage to my channels. I prepared to exit the dungeon, carrying only the spear. The goblin chose that moment to stir, panicking when it saw me. I held the spear in a non-threatening manner, resting the butt on the floor. The goblin scurried into the wall. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot take you with me. No more free rides. Best of luck, little guy.¡± I saluted the petrified creature and stepped into the oily portal, leaving behind the terrified but satiated goblin. The bright snow momentarily blinded me as I exited the dungeon. It was midday, the brilliant sun reflecting off the snow. I swung the spear in a defensive arc as my eyes adjusted. Red splotches filled my blurry vision, and soon, I could see the legion armor and blood-stained snow. No specters in sight. Further away, near the copsed tavern,y a troll with a legionnaire¡¯s body pinned beneath it. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences. I inhaled deeply, savoring the crisp, cool air, finally free of the stale dungeon atmosphere. I sighed as I saw no sign of thepany. It should not have been more than two hours since they had fled ahead of me. The hearth tree¡¯s green canopy extended high above me. I took a quick nce at the branches, looking out for the giant eagles, but saw none. I assumed the wyverns had finished them off. Still, it would be a shame to fall prey to an attack now that freedom was so close. I rxed slightly, and I surveyed the area around me. No specters were in sight. On inspection, I recognized the body under the troll as Lucien, the horse master. I closed his wide, shocked eyes and whispered, ¡°Thank you for sharing your wisdom about horses.¡± I sighed, recalling our time in Formica. Another legionnairey within the tavern wreckage, a bow still clutched in his grasp. I assumed it was Pavel, but I did not venture into the debris to confirm. Beneath the tavern rubble were runic armor and a great sword. But this was not the time to retrieve them. The courtyard where the dungeon entrancey was packed with snow. The tracks showed thepany scaling the wall to my right since the entrance had copsed. I picked up a legion helm¡ªred hair spilled out, and as I turned it over, Remus¡¯s frozen head rolled out. His milky eyes stared up at me from the icy snow. My own indifference to his lifeless face surprised me. My helm was the only piece of my own armor left. I still had the full set of armor gifted to me by the duchess, but I would not be able to retrieve it for some time. The torn bodies of three legionnairesy scattered and pressed into the snow. This confirmed that the wyverns had killed the entire group: Soren, Cyrus, and Remus. I started piecing together a set of armor. Cyrus had been short but barrel-chested, and his upper body armor would fit me well enough. Soren had been taller, and his greaves should work for me. As I dug out Cyrus¡¯s body when a familiar voice called out, ¡°Eryk!¡± I spun to see Maveith standing in front of the dungeon entrance. ¡°Maveith, did you all go back into the dungeon?¡± I looked at the wall thepany had climbed, then back at Maveith.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Maveith¡¯s voice echoed too loudly, ¡°No. I have been searching the dungeon for you! I have been going in and out, hoping to find you!¡± My throat tightened at the loyalty and friendship he showed. ¡°Thank you, Maveith. For having faith. What about thepany?¡± ¡°They went over the wall. They nned to find a building to ess the undercity,¡± Maveith replied, but his booming voice drew a specter through the wall. I grabbed my spear, and a single stab dispersed it. The spear must have been stronger than my ck de since it usually took more than one strike with the de to finish a specter. Maveith rushed to my side, ready to help. I whispered, ¡°Keep your voice down, Maveith. Keep watch while I salvage some armor.¡± ¡°I am sorry. I was just so happy to see you alive. What happened to your armor? Is the summonering?¡± He asked much more quietly while standing over me as I worked. I growled unhappily as I pulled the body from its icy grave. ¡°The summoner destroyed my armor. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be joining us.¡± Maveith grunted but did not ask further questions. Maveith eximed, as quietly as a goliath could, ¡°I almost forgot. I have words from Castile. She asked me to tell you that you should stop ying the hero.¡± I clenched my jaw as I heard Castile¡¯s message, and my hands were soon numb from the cold as I imed the armor from my fallenrades. Legion armor was precisely fitted to each person. I knew I would get some chafing from wearing this armor, but it was better than nothing. ¡°All right, Maveith, let us get out of here.¡± Thepany had packed snow and debris to create a small ramp up to the wall. It was just over ten feet high, and I managed to pull myself up. Maveith handed me the spear as I surveyed the city from the top of the courtyard¡¯s wall. He climbed up to join me. Half of the buildings had copsed over the centuries, but some remained, some still reaching several stories high. It seemed like the weeks we had spent in the dungeon hadpacted the snow somewhat. The bluish heads of several specters were visible above the snow, indicating that the depth was around four or five feet. Thepany had broken a path through the snow to a building across the street. ¡°Wyvern, Eryk,¡± Maveith whispered, startling me, and drawing my attention behind us. In the distance, a wyvern circled far away from the city. It must have been released from the summoner¡¯s control when he entered the dungeon and had yet to wander off. ¡°We need to reach the undercity and catch up with the others. I see dozens of specters down this street.¡± I dropped the spear and lowered myself onto the packed snow. Maveithnded with a thud beside me. I barely had time to grab the spear before the first specter emerged from the snow around us. A quick upward sh dispatched the specter. ¡°Move, Maveith!¡± I hissed as I followed the path thepany had cleared. The narrow channel through the snow was dangerous, as specters could appear right next to us. The spear proved invaluable, easily dispersing specters with one strike. Reaching the building door, we found it had been smashed in. I stepped over the threshold, looking around. ¡°Maveith, do you have your glowstone?¡± He entered behind me, and I turned to defend the door while Maveith retrieved it. I avoided retrieving my own glowstone to spare my channels further strain. By the time Maveith retrieved the glowstone, I had already cut down two more specters. The building appeared to be a shop, though its disy cases were long destroyed, and its furniture had copsed. Drifts of snow had gathered through broken windows, but I could see multiple footprints in the dust and snow. ¡°Find where they went. I¡¯ll hold the door.¡± As Maveith followed thepany¡¯s tracks, I cut down three specters. Themotion would definitely draw more. ¡°Over here, Eryk!¡± Maveith finally called. I retreated after dispatching another specter. The specters would reform in about half an hour, and I was eager to put some distance between us. At the back of the shop, Maveith found stairs leading down into the undercity. Clear footprints in the dust showed thepany had gone that way. ¡°Go!¡± I urged the goliath. I followed Maveith down the stairs. Once we reached thending, we saw tracks in the dust leading both right and left. ¡°Which way?¡± Maveith asked, focusing on a specter approaching from the left. I was puzzled by the tracks¡ªit looked like thepany had split, with half going left and the other half going right. No, this had to be Konstantinying a false trail for the summoner. If I were Konstantin, which path would I choose? ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. Chapter 179: Last Day in Caelora Chapter 179: Last Day in Caelora In the glowstone light, it took us a few minutes to identify that one set of tracks looked slightlyrger. ¡°Backtracking is much harder than following a trail ofid footfalls,¡± Maveith intoned softly, pointing towards the likely path. We moved to follow it. A hundred feet further down the tunnel, the first turn showed signs that someone had been waiting in ambush around the corner. The dust was disturbed, and there were spots of drying urine on the wall¡ªclear signs we were heading in the right direction. A specter interrupted our inspection of the intersection. Maveith¡¯s hammer made quick work of it, and we moved out before it could re-form. We followed the trail, cutting down a few more specters that appeared more frequently. The roots of the hearth tree blocked several passages, and it seemed thepany was circling around the root system in the opposite direction from where we had arrived. It did not make much sense, unless they were nning to leave the city by a different route. I recalled the map of the city in my head: the hearth tree was in the northern district, near the city wall. My best guess was that they were nning to exit as far from the library as possible in case the summoner searched there first. After killing a fifth specter in just a few minutes, I paused in the corridor. ¡°Maveith, do you think we should try to find our way to the library instead of following thepany¡¯s path?¡± Maveith considered the question. ¡°Why? Do you not wish to reunite with everyone?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. They¡¯re headed for areas of the city with a high concentration of specters. We could get swarmed, and Castile may have stopped using the kettle on dissipated specters to make it harder to follow them, since they don¡¯t know the summoner is dead. We spent weeks thinning out the specters around the library. It might be safer for us to go that route.¡± Maveith looked thoughtfully down both directions of the corridor. ¡°If you think the library is safer, then we should go that way.¡± Maveith tightened his grip on his hammer. I turned around, and we backtracked to the first split in the corridor. Soon, we encountered a familiar specter: a teenage elf in a ball gown. I remembered her clearly from the first time I had faced her. I cut her down, and we started following the other set of tracks. Before long, we reached the room beneath the adventurer¡¯s tavern we had sheltered in. The wyverns had copsed the structure. Konstantin must haveid the false tracks to this point to confuse the elven mage.We continued to follow the clear path all the way back to the wine cer. Only six wandering specters confronted us on the journey¡ªfar fewer than on the short path we had followed for Castile and the others. We entered the wine cer, which appeared undisturbed, and no specters were present. ¡°I could use a rest, Maveith. I think we¡¯re safe here.¡± I sat down on one of the bunks we had hauled into the room. I was exhausted and famished after using so many healing potions. I assumed we¡¯d face a fight to make it from the library to the city gates. I was tempted to retrieve something from my dimensional space, but my aether channels were still ring. Just one small item should not hurt, right? I pulled the dreamscape amulet to my hand and winced at the pain. How long was this burn going tost? Maybe Castile¡¯s books in the dreamscape had an answer. Maveith eyed the amulet knowingly. ¡°I¡¯ll stand watch for specters, Eryk. You can rest.¡± He began walking up and down the rows of bottles while I made myselffortable. With just a painful trickle of aether, I entered the dreamscape. The dreamscape creations greeted me. Lucien, the horse master, was among them, and a heavy weight settled on me seeing him alive and smiling. I talked to him about horses while Oscar circled me excitedly with a ball. Raelia¡¯s clone demanded to know when she was going to be freed from her prison. Konstantin, Xavier, and Adrian pestered me to spar, but I turned them down as I moved to the shelves of books. Schr Favian interrupted me, saying, ¡°You know, Eryk, if you are passing through the library, I wouldn¡¯t mind getting some more reading material.¡± I paused, looking at him. I had already added all three hundred books the Caelorian elves had on herbalism and apothecary to the dreamscape. I recalled the other sections of the library: cooking and brewing, weaving, woodcraft, and a floor filled with books on metalurgy¡ªeverything from household goods to weapons and armor. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do, Schr Favian,¡± I replied, and the manifestation of my subconscious smiled brightly. I focused on learning what I could about aether burn from the books Castile had manifested. The news was not good. If you continued using aether while feeling the sensation of burning, you risked destroying your ability to channel aether¡ªit was described as ¡°feeding the fire.¡±So, I had already reduced my capacity to channel. After a storm of curses, which made everyone back away from me fearfully, I calmed down. The text said that healing aether channels required consuming apex channeling essences, and it would take around a dozen or more to restore each point of potential. I guessed it might take less for me¡ªmaybe I could even manage with major essences. However, I currently had no channeling essences. The only ones I ever had came from the manticores and gargantuan dungeon spider. I reread the ¡°Burnt Mage¡± chapter a few times before putting the book back on the shelf. The amount of pain a burnt mage experienced depended on how many points of potential they had lost. Based on the pain I felt, I feared I had lost quite a few points. There was nothing I could do about it now, and there was nothing I would change about the fight¡ªexcept running sooner. Since my slow-aging spellform constantly drew aether, I would be in constant pain until I consumed the necessary aether channeling essence. I yed with Oscar and practiced with my new spear for a while before leaving the dreamscape. Maveith had pulled dozens of bottles of elven wine from the racks and ced them on another bunk. ¡°Any specters?¡± I asked as I stood. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°None,¡± he grumbled tiredly. I nodded¡ªthat was good news. It meant the specters had not tracked us. ¡°Rest for a while, Maveith, and then we¡¯ll visit the towers in the library before leaving the city.¡± ¡°Why?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°I want to gather some books to take with us.¡± Maveith looked at the wine he was selecting. ¡°I was hoping you could take some of these if you had space. I am partial to the deep red ones in the green bottles.¡± I revealed my issue to him. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do. I burnt my aether channels fighting the summoner.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om With a very serious tone, Maveith said, ¡°Your body tells you when you need to stop using aether. Everyone knows that.¡± I frowned but did not respond. Castile had told me as much, but I had pushed my limits. My aether tolerance far exceeded my aether pool, and I had been forced to drink the aether restoratives repeatedly, just seconds apart. Eventually, Maveithy down with the dreamscape amulet, and I took watch. Hourster, Maveith woke with a yawn and a burst of morning tulence. I moved away from the deadly cloud and figured it had been long enough to try essing my dimensional space again. I pulled out the elven tablet reader table, and while my channels still burned, it had not gotten any worse. I took a deep breath and activated the table through the pain. I was stunned by what I saw. My aether channeling was 27/57¡ªdropping from 28/58. I had only lost a single point of potential. Why was the pain so intense? Was I just weak? What would it feel like if I lost two or three points? Suddenly, I felt a lot more sympathy for the old healer back in Sobral. Maveith kept his distance, respecting my privacy. I reset the reader. ¡°Do you want to use it?¡± I asked, but he shook his head. I pulled out the thermal stone and arge quantity of food for a feast, letting Maveith prepare it. We had potatoes, bacon, and liver for Maveith. Even with my ring of sustenance, I had an enormous appetite , keeping pace with Maveith, who was more than a little surprised as we mock-raced to finish our food. I moved all forty-eight bottles of dark red elven wine into my space to join the nine remaining bottles. The aether burn was the same whether I was moving arge or small item. Maveith shook his head in sympathy¡ªor perhaps disappointment¡ªas I winced from the effort. It was a different type of pain than physical. I reactivated my slow-aging spell. It felt like fire coursing through my veins instead of blood. Over time, I hoped I could get used to it. Before sending my pack to storage, I studied the runes on both of the summoner¡¯s rings, turning the thermal stone slowly. I would figure out what they did in the dreamscape sometimeter. I attached the ck de to my hip and decided to send the magebane de to storage with the pack. My head exploded in a sh of light¡ªthen nothing. I woke on the floor with a genuinely concerned Maveith kneeling over me, shaking me. ¡°Eryk, wake up!¡± he shouted, rattling my armor with his efforts. ¡°I¡¯m awake!¡± I protested. ¡°What happened?¡± Maveith exhaled in relief. ¡°Your backpack shot across the room and mmed into the wall, and you copsed!¡± My head hurt, and my aether channels red with each beat of my heart. I recalled what happened. I opened my dimensional space, selected an open spot for the pack, tried to close it, and then¡ªboom. Something in the pack could not be stored in my dimensional space. I quickly scanned my storage and was relieved to see everything intact. Raelia seemed unharmed, though I would not know for sure until I released her. I rubbed my aching head, reactivating my slow-aging spellform again and dealt with the pain. I picked up the pack, ensuring the collector was unharmed. ¡°Something among the summoner¡¯s belongings resisted being stored. I think I¡¯m fine¡ªit was just extreme bacsh, like when I failed to store the summoner¡¯s head, but ten times worse.¡± I stood unsteadily, searching through the pack. I had my suspicions¡ªit was either the robe or the belt. Or it could have been the rings or the amulet. My splitting headache felt like some modicum of revenge from the dead mage. I pulled out the robe and belt but decided against trying again. I reced them, shouldering the pack. I stored the magebane de and the essence collector instead. ¡°Let¡¯s head to the tower.¡± We only encountered two specters on our walk, and one did not even attack¡ªit was just an elf boy wandering the undercity with a toy soldier in his hand. We climbed the tower, and the lingering, unwashed smell of thepany still hung in the air, even after weeks. The sun was shining outside, and Maveith looked to me for direction. ¡°Bring me the books on smithing. We¡¯ll take as many as I can store to sell. In the meantime, I¡¯ll page through as many of these other books as I can to add to the dreamscape.¡± Maveith did not question the dy in leaving the city and got to work. It was about midday, judging by the sun outside. I decided I would work until sunrise the next day, then we¡¯d leave. My Elvish had improved significantly, making it easier to trante the titles. Schr Favian had not shuffled the books too much on the shelves. I started with the cooking and brewing books, leaning toward brewing. Since I was only paging through, I was not consuming the knowledge but enjoyed the faded illustrations briefly as I worked, preparing to add them to the dreamscapeter. After sunset, I worked under the glowstone while the stack of smithing books Maveith brought started growingrge¡ªI doubted I would be able to take them all. Maveith finished his task, bringing all the viable books, and I moved on to paging through the woodcraft books. My eyes burned as I turned pages hour after hour. Maveith was snoring softly by the time dawn crept through the window. I had just finished the woodcraft collection and let Maveith sleep until I was done. Then, I stood, cracking my back. I was surprised I could store all five hundred books Maveith had brought from the other library, but I had to remove some apples and potatoes. My extra-dimensional storage cube was getting crowded, but eventually, I would page through the books to add them to the dreamscape and could sell them. Maybe I could return one day to collect the rest, though I assumed that once Castile reported back, the Empire would clear the city of specters and take the intact tomes. ¡°Maveith?¡± I called out loudly to wake my friend. He woke quickly, standing on alert. ¡°It¡¯s almost time to leave. I¡¯ll get some sleep while you cook. Wake me when you are ready to leave.¡± With that, I channeled a bit of aether into the dreamscape amulet and fell into slumber. ¡°It¡¯s time to go,¡± Maveith said after taking the amulet from my hand as I woke. Maveith had left a te of food for me to enjoy. It was mid-morning, and ourst day in the lost elven city of Caelora. ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyrightw. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in vition of DMCA. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 180: Escape From Caelora &: Epilouge Chapter 180: Escape From Caelora &: Epilouge We descended the tower together, Maveith¡¯s heavy steps echoing, drawing a specter. A translucent elf appeared, wearing a leather apron and wielding a hammer. The ck spear hummed as I effortlessly shed through the phantasm. We moved back into the main library. The vast chamber was much emptier than when we had arrived. Piles of fragile books lined one wall, but thepany had broken apart most of the shelves to keep warm during the weeks we were there. We had tried to avoid burning the ancient books, but many had been used as fuel if they were deemed too deteriorated to be salvaged. ¡°Eryk, look.¡± Maveith paused and knelt. At first, I did not see it, but there were small footprints in the lightyer of recent dust. ¡°Goblin tracks,¡± his deep voice informed me. ¡°How many? Maybe we cleared enough specters that the local goblins have nested here.¡± I scanned the open room for movement. ¡°Small tracks, probably a young green. Only one unique set,¡± Maveith said after a moment, standing. I could not help butugh. ¡°That little bugger. He must have followed us.¡± I exined to the confused goliath, ¡°I used the goblin to distract the summoner. I left it in the dungeon, but it saw me exit. I guess it didn¡¯t want to spend its final days in the dungeon.¡± Maveith spent a few minutes tracking the goblin, but soon gave up when the tracks crossed themselves repeatedly. Most likely, the creature was hiding somewhere in the library. It just might survive if it could keep avoiding the specters. Maybe it would even follow us out of the library. At this point, it definitely deserved its freedom. Outside the library, the snow was still present,pacted down to about five feet, and from the steps, we could only see the head of a single specter walking the streets. The city gates were still a few blocks away¡ªmaybe a quarter mile. There could also be more specters hidden below the snow if they were shorter. We had certainly seen arge number of spectral children during our time in the city. ¡°Maveith, maybe we could make some snowshoes from some of the shelving?¡± I suggested.Maveith processed my words but looked confused. ¡°How would shoes made out of snow help us?¡± I patted my tall friend on the back, smiling. An hourter, we had makeshift snowshoes strapped to our feet¡ªwide nks tied to our boots. I had gone snowshoeing a few times before and gave Maveith some advice. ¡°One step at a time. nt your heel first with your lead foot, and don¡¯t rush it. My spear can handle any specters quickly, so don¡¯t panic and fall.¡± ¡°I do not know... Are you sure these will allow us to walk on the snow? They do not seem enchanted, Eryk,¡± Maveith said, skeptical. I was concerned too¡ªhe was such arge man. Even slimmed down a bit, he was likely around 350 pounds¡ªmore with his gear. I reassured the goliath, ¡°The snow haspacted over thest few months. We shouldn¡¯t have any trouble.¡± I climbed onto the snow first, sinking just an inch or two with each step. Maveith followed hesitantly; hisrger feet sank a few inches, but he stayed atop the snow. He paused, amazed that it worked. As we walked through the blinding white snow, I led and stabbed any specter foolish enough to show itself. Fortunately, it seemed the specters could not see through the snow themselves. We had walked the first block, halfway to the gate, when Maveith informed me, ¡°The goblin is at the library doors.¡± I twisted awkwardly and saw the tiny goblin standing there, watching us leave. It was a pitiful sight, looking like we were abandoning the child-like creature. ¡°It¡¯s light enough that it does not even need snowshoes. It¡¯s on its own now. We need to hurry and get under the trees¡ªwe¡¯ll be too visible against the snow to wyverns or eagles,¡± I said, turning and continuing across the snow. We reached the gate quickly and faced a problem: the gap in the gate was buried beneath the snow. While Maveith dug into the snow, I guarded him. Half a dozen specters interrupted his work, and he was struck twice while digging. I responded quickly, but they appeared suddenly from the snow wall. Maveith was limping but managed to climb over the snowpack on the other side of the gate. I followed, and we moved rapidly away from the walls of Caelora. Maveith was leading, stumbling a few times as he missed his steps with the snowshoes. Soon we were under the cover of the barren branches. We stopped to catch our breath, bothughing. We were free. We were on the eastern side of the ruins. We could head west to the city of Parvas, about fifty miles away, or south to Sobral, about seventy miles through dire wolf territory. Alternatively, we could head northwest, following the river back to Telha, the capital. As we rested under the trees, the tiny goblin emerged from the city gate, running wildly with books tied to its feet, mimicking our snowshoes. A few spectral heads pursued it, bobbing just above the snow as it raced for the trees. It disappeared into the forest, still running. Maveith and I looked at each other and shrugged. That brief excitement over, Maveith asked, ¡°Where are we going from here?¡± ¡°Thepany has nearly a day¡¯s head start on us. I think they would have headed north to the capital if they exited near the northern wall. The city of Parvas is the closest, though¡ªmaybe just a two-day walk for us, following the river. Castile wanted to avoid Parvas because Duke Octavian¡¯s son is the count there. But they have a portal to the capital. We might even beat thepany to Telha if we go that way.¡± I realized Maveith was not aware of Castile and thepany¡¯s conflict with Duke Octavian. After considering for a moment, Maveith questioned, ¡°What about heading back to Sobral? Should we not inform the duchess of our sess?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m a bit worried about the dire wolves with just the two of us, Maveith.¡± ¡°Parvas, then to the capital? Then I can take a ship back to Stone Mountain Ind.¡± He nodded, as this route took him in the direction he wanted to go¡ªto confess to his father. We kept to the cover of the trees as we moved east. After about six miles, the snowpack had dwindled to just two feet deep, and we discarded our snowshoes. Maveith¡¯s snowshoes had been falling apart anyway. We reached the wide, uncrossable Aganterao River and followed it toward Parvas. The snow showed a lot of tracks¡ªbears, gnolls, humanoids with boots, wolves, and even some horse tracks that Maveith insisted were centaur tracks. All these creatures had given the ruins of Caelora a wide berth, obviously smarter than us. Night descended about halfway to the city. We made camp in the center of a group of evergreens and used the thermal stone to cook. The stone was a huge boon¡ªproviding heat for cooking without any smoke or scent of burning wood, that would attract creatures. Still, with just the two of us, I stayed on watch all night, while Maveith slept in short spurts with the amulet. As Maveith entered another round of sleep with the amulet, I carried a glowstone a short distance into the woods. I listened for a while, only hearing the soft crackle of snow refreezing after the mild day. I considered waking Maveith but decided against it. There was a mix of jealousy and fear that he might leave with her. Raelia stood before me, crouched in anticipation. The glowstone shadowed her features, and she exhaled a cloud of steam in the chilly night air. After seeing I was alone, she finally spoke. ¡°We¡¯re out of the dungeon?¡± Her posture rxed. ¡°Yes. We are about twenty miles west of Parvas. Do you know where that is?¡± I asked. With a note of sorrow, she looked around. ¡°I know where Parvas is. Did Maveith not make it?¡± I doubted she would have had the same concern for me. ¡°Maveith is sleeping,¡± I said, adding a little white lie to spur her. ¡°Mypany is not far off, with my magemander. You should get going. I suggest traveling south, crossing the river, and making your way home.¡± I produced her pack and handed it to her. ¡°There¡¯s food and some fragile items inside, so be careful with it. You should make haste.¡± She sheathed her des and stepped forward to take her pack, surprised by its weight. She shouldered it and was about to turn but paused. ¡°If you are ever captured,¡± she began, then hesitated, ¡°ask for General lyn vien. I¡¯ll tell my brother you helped me. He¡¯ll make sure you end up in a work camp rather than strung up with the other legionnaires.¡± ¡°What a generous offer,¡± I replied with a mocking undertone. She rolled her eyes at me onest time, checked the position of the moon, and trudged off into the snow. I listened to her footsteps fade away. I hoped she made it home safely. I wondered what her reaction would be when she saw the griffin egg and apex fire essences in her pack. Certain she was gone, I returned to camp and warmed myself with the thermal stone. I took out therge pearl essence I had collected from the summoner and ced it in my mouth. A tingling feeling spread through my body as it dissolved. It was easy to swallow, like cool water, and chills spread from my abdomen to my extremities. My heart pounded, recognizing the potential power I was consuming. I felt my aether core swell, and my aether channels red in protest¡ªI was going to need to get them repaired. The core enhancement briefly distorted my spell forms, causing me to lose my connection to the slow-aging spell before it re-established itself. I would have to ask Castile if increasing my aether core could endanger my spell forms. When everything settled, I released a relieved groan. I showed restraint in not checking my attributes immediately. Once we reached safety, I could review my progress. We started moving early in the day, walking along the river. A barge loaded with soldiers, along with a handful of legionnaires in red armor, came up behind us. We paused, thinking we could get a ride the rest of the way to Parvas¡ªit was still nearly thirty miles away. Even half a mile off, I could see Benito jumping up and down, pointing at Maveith and me, yelling something I could not make out as the barge changed course, heading toward us. The entirepany crowded the bow as the craft scraped the sandy shoal below the bank where we stood. Castile could not hide her smile, and Konstantin shook his head. Benito was yelling about winning some bet. We scrambled down the bank to board, receiving pats on the back and half-hugs. Curiously, one member of thepany was missing¡ªvius. The bargemen got the barge back into the river, grumbling about the smell of legionnaires they had picked up along their journey. The forty or so soldiers knew better than toin about our unwashed bodies. After being fed and deflecting questions for an hour by telling them we escaped by returning to the library and using the west gate exit the city, I ended up in a secluded spot on the bow with Castile and Adrian. Castile asked quietly, ¡°The summoner?¡± ¡°He won¡¯t be following us,¡± I said tly. Castile nodded slowly, relief flooding her face, but she did not press for details. ¡°Where is vius?¡± I asked about the missing member. Adrian answered with skepticism, ¡°Konstantin said a wight got him in the undercity when they scouted our escape route together.¡± Castile¡¯s face remained unreadable. Castile let out a long breath. ¡°The Empire is at war. The Esenhem elves havended on Amatalhos Isle, breaking the peace treaty that stood for centuries. Word is that the Boutan Orcs are also gathering a fleet, but no one knows where they willnd once they sail.¡± The summoner had mentioned the Esenhem elves. I stayed quiet, and Adrian continued, ¡°Everyone is descending on the swamps south of Macha. There are even rumors that the Emperor might leave his pce.¡± My mouth fell open. A four-nation war was brewing over the site of the city of the giants, Antium¡ªall because I told a single Truthseeker about it. After I digested the news and my potential role in sending thousands of men to die on a swampy battlefield, I inquired, ¡°Are we headed back to Macha, then? Maybe we should have stayed in the dungeon¡ªit would have been safer.¡± Castile smirked at my attempt at humor but looked uncertain. ¡°I won¡¯t know our orders until I report to the Legatus Legionis in Parvas.¡± Castile observed the departure of legionnaire Eryk and the goliath from the safe room. Curiosity about how the young legionnaire would kill the earth drake pulled her to investigate. She considered sending her all-seeing-eye to follow them, but the extra aether required in the dungeon was best conserved. She was fortunate to have such a hidden power in thepany, but keeping the others ignorant of it had be a full-time job. vius, in particr, was starting to ask too many questions. Adrian believed he would try to gain favor with a First Citizen or Praetorian Guard when they reached a city. Castile had her own ideas on how to protect the legionnaire, but first, she needed to protect herself. Her gaze swept across the room, taking in the rest of the legionnaires. Despite the looming danger of the summoner within the dungeon, a sense of camaraderie and determination radiated from them as they prepared. The summoner¡¯s presence in the dungeon was a constant threat, and any attempt to flee would likely result in his swift pursuit. Their best chance was to ambush him when he emerged, but even that carried considerable risk. If the summoner controlled the dungeon creatures, he could send them out first to upy thepany, then join the attack himself. Traeliorn¡¯s reputation as the most powerful summoner on the continent overshadowed the fact that he was also a formidable battle mage. Though he had not fought on the front lines in a century, Castile had read the histories and knew how much of a threat he posed and how feared he had been when he fought the Empire. Thepany¡¯s best option was to distance themselves from the summoner and reach the safety of a city as quickly as possible. Castile reflected on the mission and still felt the pain of all the men she had failed and lost since Duchess Veronica assigned it to her. She wished she had never epted it. Young Lysander had been the first to fall in the undercity. Lysander had grown up in the vige of Modena, near where she had been born. He was a goodd, and his fate was undeserved, just like many of the conscripted legionnaires in the Empire. She chuckled to herself, remembering the times she had Delmar instruct Lysander to add too much salt to the soup or intentionally burn dinner. He sabotaged the food preparation without hesitation, taking the ire of the men for his poor cooking skills, even though he was following her orders. Then there was Delmar, who had also fallen to a wight. He was from the small town of Corsica and sent most of his pay to his ex-wife and children, hoping they would grow up better than he had. As long as she lived, Castile vowed to continue sending the twenty silver a month that Delmar used to. At first, she had suspected that Konstantin had orchestrated Delmar¡¯s death, but after listening to the retelling of thebat and seeing Konstantin¡¯s guilt, she decided he hadn¡¯t intentionally gotten Delmar killed. Delmar was an excellent swordsman, his sternness contrasting Adrian¡¯s congeniality with the men. She had been fortunate to have him in her service. The Empire had arrested Delmar for withholding artifacts obtained from delving, and he chose conscription over a decade ofbor in the Imperial quarries. She had helped him get his gambling problem under control and counted him as a friend and loyal subordinate. Her heart ached at the memory of young Felix and his infectious smile. Due to their cheerful personalities, she frequently paired new legionnaires with him and Mateo. Felix was from the northern coast, but she couldn¡¯t remember the name of his town because he always said it was too small to deserve one. Felix had no woman but spoke fondly of his younger sister. Castile nned to write her a letter about Felix¡¯s bravery and send some coin to help her. Lucien, the horse master, was a good man and too decent a person to be forced into a soldier¡¯s life. She believed he had an illegitimate child somewhere. She would check with Adrian, who knew all the men¡¯s life stories. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition. Lucien and Pavel had given their lives so that Benito and Lirkin had a chance to live. Pavel never spoke much about himself, but if ever there was a pious man in thepany, it was him. He would have been much better as an acolyte of one of the gods. He had chosen to be a legionnaire rather than starve on the streets of the city where he was born. Soren and Cyrus were two of the more malicious men in herpany. Both had killed men in anger and mostly confided in each other. She was not saddened by their loss, but they had been her responsibility, so she had failed them as well. If Adrian knew of any of their children, she would send them something. Finally, there was Remus, the red-haired man from Amphia. A sailor and foreigner from Gregor¡¯spany, he had been involved in a brawl at the Telha docks and ended up in chains. He was outspoken and, truth be told, a bit of an ass. Seven more names were added to the list of men she would have to answer for when she went to Pluto¡¯s realm for judgment. The list was getting much too long for her liking¡ªnow one hundred and seventeen. She sighed heavily. Her eyes turned back to the corridor where legionnaire Eryk had left. A real, honest-to-goodness otherworlder. She was certain of it now. He had too much naivety and far too much unrealized power. He was the key to her potential freedom. If he lived long enough, perhaps she could convince him to join the Hounds and eventually get close enough to destroy or switch her blood samples in the Archives. She kept nudging him in that direction¡ªtoward Konstantin¡¯s circle¡ªbut it was probably reckless on her part. He did have the dreamscape amulet, and she had never wanted to possess anything more in her life. Even though the created environment was a contrived fantasy, living in the dreamscape was the first time she truly felt freedom and control over her fate. Resisting the urge to request it was difficult, and she waited for him to offer it again. The boy did not realize that once they reached a city, it would not be long before a First Citizen confiscated the artifact. Adrian sat across from her, and they began reviewing the mental and physical health of the men. Most were healthy enough for a forced march. The question was whether they could get a head start on the summoner and reach a city in time. Rattling armor, drew everyone¡¯s attention, and a scream echoed down the corridor. The swearing yell became clearer. ¡°The summoner is in the owlbear room!¡± Everyone froze. ¡°Benito!¡± Adrian barked, and the nimble legionnaire raced off to get the others watching the harpy and earth drake rooms. Thepany rapidly began packing their gear, readying themselves for the dungeon exodus. While the men prepared, Castile sent out her astral all-seeing-eye to scout. The damnable dungeon forced her to use far more aether than she liked, just to send the scout down the corridors. If they were lucky, the owlbear would slow the summoner. But she doubted it. Her eye reached the room, and she swore¡ªthe summoner was walking behind the owlbear, and his line of sight was directed right at her astral eye. In Elvish, he ordered the owlbear to run. Castile snapped her vision back, her voice cutting the air with an order, ¡°Into the gate! Runic weapons lead! The summoner has controlled the owlbear!¡± Clinking red-armored men scrambled forward into the exit portal. They disappeared rapidly, their numbers dwindling. The noise of the charging owlbear echoed through the room. She looked to Adrian, who was counting the men. ¡°Just missing Eryk and the goliath,¡± he said. She turned and saw them a few dozen yards down the corridor. For a moment, it looked like they might all make it before the owlbear, but fate had other ns. The hulking owlbear burst into the room, and Castile tried to slow it down. Her wispy aether chains snaked across the floor and wrapped around the red-eyed owlbear. They were no match for the creature¡¯s powerful frame. It tore through the shadow chains as if they were paper. The owlbear screeched a sharp, piercing cry of challenge. Its glowing red eyes marked it as a dire owlbear, far stronger than the usual kind. Its body was saturated with aether, making it much more powerful. Eryk entered from the far side of the room, taking in the scene. He yelled at her, ¡°Get through the portal!¡± Castile looked at the foolish young legionnaire. Maybe he had a n, but she doubted even her entirepany could have taken on a dire owlbear. Maybe, if they had time to ambush it¡ªand if one of the most powerful mages on the continent were not right behind it. Adrian stood next to Kolm in front of her, ready to protect her from the owlbear¡¯s charge. She looked at Eryk and nodded. ¡°Adrian, into the portal.¡± Adrian hesitated, unwilling to leave Eryk. Castile recalled that Eryk had stood with him against a giant ettin. A man¡¯s foolish bravado. She yelled at him, ¡°Move! Eryk will upy it with his air shields and follow us.¡± Castile stepped into the back veil exit, Adrian and Kolm behind her. The gray light of early morning hit her. The tavern was a pile of rubble, and the invigorating, fresh, cold air filled her lungs. The men were engaged with a handful of specters. Konstantin¡¯s de shed sparks as he got her attention, ¡°Nine specters so far! Are you going to kettle them?¡± His sword sparked again on another specter. Castile needed to decide quickly. ¡°Form a defensive line around the exit! We will prepare for whatever emerges!¡± Adrian added an order, ¡°Eryk and the goliath still have to exit! Identify your target before releasing your bow!¡± Chaos ensued as Castile used the kettle to eliminate the specters, and the men formed a line facing the dungeon. The body parts of dead legionnaires were scattered, staining the snow red. The men¡¯s feet packed the snow, and the specters were finally dealt with. The goliath stumbled out of the dungeon, holding his side. Arge patch of his soft abdominal leather armor was missing, and his flesh was pale in the early light. He stumbled past the four men in the shield wall. ¡°Where¡¯s Eryk?¡± Mateo asked the goliath as he passed his shield. Mateo mmed the bottom of his damaged body shield into the snow once the goliath was safely behind him. The goliath turned to face the oily ck wall. ¡°He ising,¡± his deep voice informed the men while he held his side and drank a potion. Castile moved closer to speak quietly with him. ¡°What happened, Maveith?¡± she asked. Maveith seemed to gauge his response, but Castile¡¯s impatience showed through. He whispered, ¡°The owlbear is dead, but the ice drake was rushing toward him. He will be victorious.¡± He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself. Castile processed the news. The dire owlbear was dead¡ªone less threat. She looked around at the men, weighing options. ¡°Adrian, get men over the wall. Clear an area on the other side, and I will use the kettle.¡± Benito looked incredulous. ¡°What about Eryk?¡± Castile rebuked him a little too harshly. ¡°We will wait as long as we can for him. We are not going back into the dungeon to help him.¡± Castile mused to herself that even if they tried, they would not find him in time to help. ¡°I will go look for him!¡± Benito chirped, moving toward the oily wall. Adrian barked at him, ¡°Fool! You won¡¯t find him in time. He either exits soon or is lost to us.¡± Castile remained focused on the kettle as they guarded the exit. Almost an hour passed before she looked at Adrian, and their eyes met in agreement. Adrian announced, ¡°Over the wall. We are leaving!¡± Maveith, who had been fidgety, questioned the orders. ¡°We should wait longer.¡± Castile shook her head sadly. ¡°We cannot wait. The summoner has most likely prevailed and is probably gathering dungeon creatures to exit ahead of him.¡± Mateoughed half-heartedly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll probably get to the city and find Eryk already at the baths.¡± A chorus of agreements followed, and Benito was already starting a betting pool on when Eryk would reappear. Most likely, no one would collect on it, as the dungeon would likely im his body, but Castile did not stop the banter. ¡°I am going to look for him,¡± the goliath announced, pulling his hammer from his belt. Castile was about to berate the goliath and order him to follow thepany, but instead, she slowly nodded. ¡°When you find him, tell him he should stop trying to y the hero.¡± The goliath nodded and disappeared into the ck entrance. Everyone held their breath, but nothing happened. Adrian¡¯s voice broke the silence. ¡°Over the wall! I won¡¯t repeat myself!¡± Packing down the snow and crossing the small za to the nearest standing house, they encountered numerous specters emerging from the white banks. Konstantin and vius led the way, holding most of them back. A few men were struck, but nothing serious as they smashed the door and entered the ancient shop. Soon, they were back in the undercity. Konstantin did a quick sweep before reporting, ¡°We shouldy a false trail. That way leads back to the library, which should eventually lead to the city¡¯s outer walls.¡± Adrian was nearby. ¡°If the summoner is following us, you should stop using the kettle. Let the specters reform and slow him down, along with whatever creatures he controls.¡± Benito was within earshot. ¡°How will Eryk and Maveith follow then?¡± Mateo pulled him aside to exin the reality. Castile agreed with the n, putting away the kettle. They moved, using the hearth tree¡¯s roots to guide them. During a short rest, Konstantin approached Castile to talk quietly. ¡°vius ns to report directly to the Legatus Legionis when we reach a city.¡± Castile remained calm. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°He thinks Eryk is an otherworlder, and that you knew about it. He is also certain that Durandus¡¯ collector was in Eryk¡¯s possession. He found multiple minor essences in the goliath¡¯s bags.¡± Konstantin informed her, studying her for a reaction. When Castile did not respond, Konstantin asked, ¡°What do you want me to do about it?¡± Castile was unsure whether she could trust Konstantin, knowing about his other loyalties. vius could put Castile in apromising position and force another tribunal in front of the Truthseekers. She looked Konstantin in the eyes. His weathered face was expectant. Deciding that she could trust him, she said, ¡°Do what needs to be done.¡± He nodded and turned sharply. An hourter, Konstantin came running from a side corridor he and vius had been exploring. ¡°A room full of wights! They pulled vius in! Move before they realize there are more of us!¡± Konstantin moved to lead, pulling thepany with him. Castile paused while the men rushed ahead, sending her all-seeing-eye down the corridor. Two turnster, she found vius¡¯s body, his throat shed and arge pool of blood beneath him. His eyes were wide with shock. Damn it, Konstantin. The city would turn the corpse. vius would be a specter, or perhaps even a wight. A necromancer couldmune with the undead if the Empire ever retook the city¡ªa problem for another time. They soon took stairs up into a tower guardhouse in the wall. Thepany stood on the wall, looking back into the city behind them. The snow-covered buildings and the massive hearth tree looked almost serene, but they knew the truth. Thousands of specters remained, guarding the city from outsiders for eternity. ¡°We should be able to jump,¡± Konstantin¡¯s voice interrupted the moment. ¡°The snow looks to be deeper than a man¡¯s height, and it¡¯s just twenty-five feet or so.¡± He did not wait for Castile and jumped. Everyone looked over as he thudded into the snow and disappeared. He freed himself and started moving away from the city with his runic weapon drawn. Soon, the entirepany was on the ground, pressing through the snow. Only two specters interrupted their progress. When they reached a copse of evergreens, they paused to look back at the city. It was just a bad memory now. Castile had only twelve men left, plus the schr. ze noted a wyvern in the distant sky, but it looked to be keeping its distance from the city. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s tied to the summoner?¡± Adrian asked from her right. ¡°No. It is just circling in azy hunt,¡± she replied. ¡°Do you think Eryk is alive?¡± he asked a momentter. Castile considered the question. ¡°No,¡± she said sadly. ¡°Get the men moving. We will march north and try to reach the capital as quickly as possible.¡± Adrian hesitated, cing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, consoling her. After the moment passed, he barked at the men, ¡°I think you have rested long enough. Two men up front breaking snow. Rotate every ten minutes!¡± The path north was difficult. It was miles before the snow depth finally eased, making the trek slightly easier. They camped near the river with no fires, huddling together for warmth. In the morning, they marched along the old trade road that paralleled the river. ¡°Sail! River barge!¡± Wylie announced from ahead. They managed to g down the barge, which was loaded with soldiers. When it beached on the bank, the captain of the unit reported to Castile, ¡°Mage Commander. We¡¯re headed to the eastern border. Do you need a ride?¡± Castile looked over her men. They were exhausted and cold, and it was over a hundred miles to the capital. The nearest city downriver was Parvas, but Count Cus, Duke Octavian¡¯s second son, ruled the city. Still, they had a portal to the capital. ¡°Yes, you can drop us off in Parvas, Captain.¡± The men climbed aboard, relieved, and copsed on the barge. The regr soldiers gave them a wide berth, and most of her men were asleep in no time. Castile settled on the barge as it broke away from the bank. She and Adrian moved to get news from the captain about what had happened during the past months. ¡°Where have you been, Mage Commander? The entire continent is about to erupt in war. The Esenhem Elves have taken Amatalhos Isle off the coast. Most likely, they¡¯ll invade the maind soon. It¡¯s rumored that the Boutan Orcs are also preparing a fleet. There are rumors of other nations mobilizing as well, but they don¡¯t hold much weight,¡± the captain exined. Adrian was shocked. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The city of the Titans, of course. Rumor is that Antium has been discovered in the swamps south of Macha.¡± Castile and Adrian made eye contact before settling down and pressing the captain for as much information as they could. Hourster, they drifted peacefully under a light breeze. The crisp air was warmed slightly by the water, but chunks of ice floated slowly by. The rushing water was a luby for most of thepany. The serenity was broken as Benito began jumping at the front of the barge. ¡°There he is! That red dot has to be him!¡± Thepany stirred, and everyone moved to the bow to see what had gotten Benito so excited. As the craft moved closer, a person in legion armor was clearly walking on the high bank with a very tall person at his side. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s him. The armor looks to be in too good condition,¡± Adrian whispered just to Castile. Castile did not wait; she sent out her eye and returned it to her body a momentter. ¡°It is him, Adrian. The boy survived again.¡± ¡°I will believe it when I see it. What do you think happened to the summoner?¡± he asked. ¡°I am assuming Eryk killed him,¡± she said tly. Adrian turned to Castile, doubt on his face. The barge grounded on the bank, and the men swarmed the two figures. Castile let the reunion y out, failing to hide her own smile. One less person to add to her death roll, although his survival might cause more problems down the line. When things settled, Castile met Eryk with Adrian at her side. She asked quietly, ¡°The summoner?¡± ¡°He won¡¯t be following us,¡± Eryk said tly. Castile nodded slowly, relief flooding her face, but she did not press for details. Eryk looked around the barge. ¡°Where¡¯s vius?¡± Adrian answered, ¡°Konstantin said a wight got him in the undercity when they scouted our escape route together.¡± Eryk seemed stunned at the news, as he should have been. vius was an experienced scout, and maybe she would one day tell him that his death was to protect his secrets. Castile exhaled a long breath. ¡°The Empire is at war. The Esenhem elvesnded on Amatalhos Isle, breaking the peace treaty that had stood for centuries. Word is that the Boutan Orcs are also pulling together a fleet, but no one knows where they willnd once they sail.¡± Adrian continued, ¡°Everyone is descending on the swamps south of Macha. There are even rumors that the Emperor might leave his pce.¡± Eryk gawked in surprise. He stuttered slightly at the implication, worry in his voice. ¡°Are we headed back to Macha then? Maybe we should have just stayed in the dungeon. It would have been safer.¡± Castile could not hide her smirk, but she also feared what was toe. At least with a multi-nation war, no one would be focused on her smallpany. ¡°I won¡¯t know our orders until I report to the Legatus Legionis in Parvas. It was only half a day to Parvas, and the docks were full of soldiers and legionnaires. Adrian came back to report that the Legion Hall was packed and that the Legatus Legionis office was too busy to handle a report. The Telhian Empire was always on a constant war footing, but this was different. The Empire was under threat and mobilizing for a long campaign. Adrian said heavily, ¡°The Empire is pulling most of the soldiers from the western Agorian front. The forts along the swamp will be left with just a skeleton force. You can bet the trolls and troglodytes will take advantage. When all is said and done, you can expect the Empire to be much smaller.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just focus on living to see the end of it, Adrian,¡± Castile rebuked him. ¡°Is the Count aware we are here?¡± ¡°No. The portal opens at midnight to the capital. We should be able to leave the city before he learns you¡¯re here,¡± Adrian replied hopefully. Castile kept herpany at the docks, but even then, Konstantin and Firth managed to wander off despite her orders. She realized both needed to report to their masters. They returned just in time to march to the central square and join thepany through the portal. Arriving in the capital was different from usual. In their silvery armor, over a hundred of the Emperor¡¯s legionnaires guarded the sunken za. Archers trained arrows on them before rxing, seeing it was just wagons of supplies and a small Mage Company. Castile rxed, relieved that no one was there to arrest her. She turned to Adrian and Eryk. ¡°Get everyone to the Eastern Legion Hall. I will go and report directly to the Legatus Legionis office.¡± Castile nervously made her way to the office. She had prepared a report while waiting in Parvas; all she needed to do was hand it over. The scroll detailed everything that had happened since they marched from Sobral City. She had prepared it with the Imperial Truthseekers in mind, confirming the details and answering questions before they could be asked. She waited in a lobby to be dismissed, but was then asked to wait in a small conference room an hourter. Maybe they were just busy and could not deal with her at the moment. Hours began to blend together. She asked for a runner to inform Adrian she was waiting, but her request was denied. Eventually, the door opened, and she was shocked to see Konstantin enter. He was followed by a tall, older woman with graying ck hair. Though Castile had never met Antonia Segreto, the merchant queen, she recognized her. A third person followed them in¡ªCenturion Cornelius,mander of the Eastern Legion Hounds. The door shut with authority, and she guessed Konstantin had betrayed her to his Praetorian master. Konstantin moved to stand in one corner of the room, his face nk. Cornelius moved to another corner, his face wearing the deceptive smile of an old man. Antonia sat across from Castile and introduced herself, ¡°I am Antonia Segreto. I have been following your career since your time in the Mage College.¡± Castile was on the defensive. ¡°I am ttered. Why am I still here? Was my report iplete?¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Antoniaughed. ¡°Iplete? It reads like a tragic y. Most would think it fiction, concocted for sympathy.¡± She gestured to Konstantin. ¡°He confirmed every word of it was true. And Firth reported the same to Cornelius.¡± Castile¡¯s head snapped around to each person, trying to puzzle things out. Konstantin, sensing her difort, tried to ease her fears. ¡°You are not in jeopardy, Castile. They just want to talk.¡± ¡°Not in jeopardy yet,¡± Antonia corrected, her smile blossoming. ¡°But if I continue, you will be. The question is, do you want me to continue?¡± Konstantin looked irritated. ¡°Just tell her, Antonia.¡± He faced Castile. ¡°They need you. They need your ability to unweave spell forms before someone can manifest their spells. You are the only one who can do what they need.¡± Castile was confused. ¡°Who do they need me to use my ability on?¡± Antonia looked at Konstantin. ¡°I hate it when you disrupt my delivery.¡± She turned back to Castile, her tone conversational. ¡°We need you on a special team¡ªto help kill the Emperor.¡± END OF BOOK THREE ? Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne No Permission is given to trante, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, , or , it has been stolen without my permission and vites DMCA. 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