Soul Caller 1 - Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Unfortunately, the restful sleep he was hoping for was not to be his. Instead, Merrick dreamed. When he had fallen from the cliff on Sky Mountain, he had seen many things. Those images had flashed through his mind at tremendous speed, rapidly appearing and vanishing as if they were being implanted into his mind or maybe drawn from his subconscious. They came and went so fast that he did not remember any of what he had seen, and only had the faintest impressions of them. But this time, those same memories played back again, clearer, brighter.

He saw a powerful warrior of his people, scarred and muscular, missing an eye, leading the fight against a strange enemy that looked like reptilian insects. He saw men and women, like the strangers he had seen earlier, wielding bizarre weapons that could throw fire great distances, unleashing deadly lines of light that tore apart whatever they touched. He saw strange doorways that led to other worlds. All of this he saw and experienced. Waking from the dream soaked in sweat, he gasped for breath, his eyes fixed on the window that had appeared in front of him.

[You have enough experience for a level up.]

Unsure what the window was trying to convey, he reached out with his finger, trying to touch it. Again, his hand simply passed through.

[Would you like to level up?]

Instinctively, he knew to say yes, but he had to admit he was still frightened. The knowledge that this level up was a good thing resided in his mind, but he also knew that with this level up would come change. Almost against his better judgment, he nodded his head, and the world expanded before him.

[Each time you level up, you will be presented with skill points that can be spent to increase the level of a skill you possess. Additionally, you will be granted minor blessings at every level that can be used to unlock new skills. Major blessings will be granted every three levels, allowing you to unlock a new path, upgrade an existing path, or spend the upgrade as if it were three minor blessings.]

Unsure exactly what was going on, he saw his status pop up, showing a few new lines.

STATUS

NAME:  Merrick

SOUL PATH: Warrior

LEVEL: 1

EXP: 0/20

BLESSINGS: 3

SKILLS: [1/2]

Warrior’s Observation [1]

Unspent Skill Points: 1

Major Blessings: 0

Minor Blessings: 1

“Merrick!”

Hearing his sister’s voice, he quickly waved the status window away and jumped up. The sun was not yet up, but he knew the village would already be bustling, with the hunters getting ready for their hunts, the foragers heading out to pick fruit and berries, and the warriors meeting to practice. Getting out of bed, he stretched, finding that his body seemed to move a bit easier than it had the day before. There was a greater amount of strength in his limbs. His grip felt tighter, and as he moved, his entire body held a certain lightness that promised increased speed. Whatever this spirit was that had blessed him, it had given him a great boost.

Quickly getting dressed he hurried to the door where his sister was waiting for him, holding a bowl with his breakfast.

“You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry. The others are probably already at the practice field. Here, eat this.”

With a grateful look, Merrick quickly downed the porridge she gave him and took off through the village, hoping he’d make it before the sun came up. Heading for the practice field where the warriors gathered, he began to consider his future. As a trainee, he had learned the basics of all of the martial forms practiced by the Sky Mountain Tribe, but as a warrior, it was his duty to pick one and learn it so fluently that he could use it in battle. Additionally, he had to select a job that would use his gift and benefit the tribe. Currently, he was leaning toward becoming a scout, and after talking to Sellie, he had started to become interested in learning archery.

When he arrived at the field, Maro was already there, lifting boulders as big as his body as he practiced his strength. Sellie, on the other hand, met him at the entrance to the practice field, holding two bows and a couple quivers of arrows. Seeing him, she waved to him as he approached.

"You're up a little bit late. Sleeping in?"

"Not intentionally," he said, "I just had a weird dream."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it was—"

He found, to his dismay, however, that when he tried to tell her, the details of it seemed to fade away, once again vanishing from his mind. Noticing his confusion, Sellie was about to ask another question but stopped, her eyes going wide. Turning his head, Merrick saw that the strangers from the day before were standing nearby, led by Elder Gorik. The Elder was explaining to them how the spirit warriors trained, and as Merrick watched, he saw one of the men reach up and tap a small gem that was set in a tight collar around his neck. Instantly, Merrick knew that this was a manastone. How he knew that, he wasn't sure, but he knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The stranger, who had pressed the manastone, looked at one of his companions, and whispered under his breath, "I honestly don't know why we're still here. These savages aren't going to be able to help us at all. They don't even know what a manastone is."

One of the others, a large man with darkly tanned skin, a mustache, and a bald head, frowned and hissed at him.

"Hush, you're not in charge, and Vale wants to bring them along. They know these mountains like the back of their hand. So at the very least, they can serve as guides."

"We don't need guides," the first man said in a grumble.

Listening from the side, Merrick was stunned. The language that they were speaking was one he had never heard before, yet their words were clear as day to him, their meanings filtering into his mind, as if he spoke the language fluently. He had never seen these men before the previous day, and never encountered anyone who spoke a language like theirs. He remembered when he had first seen them yesterday, he had no idea what they were saying. But now, after his dream, he seemed to be able to understand them perfectly.

Seeing him staring, the man who grumbled flashed a smile in his direction and waved.

"Stupid savages," he said, clearly unaware that Merrick could understand his words.

Though he felt like returning the man's smile with a fist for his offensive words, Merrick didn't say anything, and just smiled and waved in return. He was curious, curious about these men, curious about their language, and curious about these things that they held. Though the man thought that no one in the village knew what a manastone was, Merrick did. And not only did he know what they were, he had a sense of how incredibly valuable they were as well. Merrick watched as the man reached up and tapped on the gem once again. This time, he turned to Elder Gorik, speaking in a broken version of the Sky Mountain Tribes' language.

"Your warriors look very powerful."

Nodding and smiling proudly, Elder Gorik gestured to the training field.

"Even our young warriors are incredibly powerful," he said. "All of them are excellent hunters and know the mountains well."

Nodding, the fake smile still plastered to his face, the strange man spoke again.

"Can you provide guides for us? We want to explore this land further. But we are unfamiliar with the dangers that it holds."

"Where do you intend to go?" Elder Gorik asked, a slight frown on his face.

"We intend to go deep into the mountains, to the north of here," the man said, pointing his finger towards the peak of Sky Mountain.

Elder Gorik frowned and shook his head.

"If you were going anywhere in our lands, I would agree. But we do not own the hunting ground north of Sky Mountain. You will have to ask one of the other tribes."

Still smiling, the stranger shook his head.

"We are afraid of getting lost. We only need a guide to get us to the next tribe. At least help us find the next tribe's hunting grounds."

Considering it for a moment, Elder Gorik was going to turn him down once again, when all of a sudden he found Merrick standing in front of him.

"Elder Gorik, if they wish to go into the mountains to find the next tribe’s hunting grounds, I volunteer to lead them. I can serve as a guide," Merrick said, bowing his head.

Elder Gorik didn't like the idea, but at least gave it some consideration.

"No, it is too dangerous," he replied after thinking it over. "The tribes to the north of here are not friendly. I will not send you into their hunting lands."

"What's he saying, Evan?" The large bald man asked as Evan reached up to tap on his collar once again to turn off the translation function.

Evan looked over at him and shrugged.

"They don't want to take us. This kid here said he'd volunteer, but the old man doesn't like the idea."

The third stranger, who was a young man with dark black hair, shook his head.

"I guess it's time to get out the gifts. I was hoping we could do it without him. Evan, let this chief know that we're willing to trade for the service."

Grumbling to himself, Evan nodded and tapped on his collar once again.

"Elder Gorik, we would be willing to give as trade some of our goods if this young man would be willing to show us the path to the mountains in the north."

This time Elder Gorik hesitated longer. He had seen many of the items that these strangers brought the day before, and a few of them had caught his eye, specifically the sharp metal knives and axes that they carried. Metal, though not unknown to the tribes, was incredibly rare, and even the metal they had was not nearly as good as the tempered steel the strangers brought. They also had a variety of cloth that looked like the cloth of the plains tribes and was much finer than anything his people could ever create. Thinking it over, he looked again at Merrick, who was watching him expectantly, eyes shining hopefully, and finally nodded.

"All right, but only to the next tribe's lands. He will not lead you into them. It will be up to you to find your own way to the next village."

"Thank you. Yes, that's fine," Evan said, bobbing his head happily.

Tapping his collar, he turned.

"They’ve agreed, but I have a feeling we're going to pay a pretty penny for this. I hope it's worth it," he said, looking at Vale.

Dugan, the large bald man, slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. The stuff we're carrying right now is nothing like the stuff we're carrying out. I'm telling you, up north there are riches."

"Yeah, but we have to be alive to carry them out," Vale said calmly, “which is why we are hiring a guide. I keep telling you, survival is the ticket to wealth. Now, let's see what this young man costs."

The strangers spent a long time negotiating with Elder Gorik and by the time they had come to an agreement, their packs were considerably lighter. Elder Gorik also insisted that if Merrick was going to go, another older and more experienced spirit warrior had to go as well. Barak was picked for the duty, since he was the most familiar with Merrick and the two of them began their preparations.

Estva, Merrick's sister, wasn't happy at all that he was going to be leaving again. Neither were his friends. Maro didn't trust the strangers, but for Sellie, she was just mad that she was missing the adventure. After a few days of preparation, everything was finally ready. Merrick had a pack with two weeks of provisions, a warm blanket that would help with the cold of the northern mountains, some basic survival gear, his knife and his spear. After double checking everything, he added another knife and a small hatchet that Jorn gave him, and then set off, saying goodbye to his sister and brother-in-law, and his friends who came to see him off.

The three strangers wanted to take their horses into the mountains so Merrick and Barak, who didn't have horses, had to run alongside them as they traveled, but the terrain was mountainous, and it became apparent that the two spirit warriors could move considerably faster than the strangers, horses or not. Realizing that they had to set a slower pace, Merrick elected to stay with the strangers while Barak forged ahead, determining the best path. Every few hours, the veteran spirit warrior would come jogging back along the path to wherever Merrick and the strangers had managed to make it.

The group traveled for a full day, occasionally stopping so that Vale, the dark-haired one, could take out a strange piece of stone and look at it, comparing something on it to the area around them. After making some notes, he would order them to continue, and they would carry on. When the sun started to dip in the sky, Barak came back and mentioned that there was a place to rest up ahead.

"There's a small hollow around the mountain," he said. "We can start a fire and set up camp there."

Nodding, Merrick turned to Evan, who was the party's translator. None of the three men could speak the people's language, but the manatech device Evan wore on his neck allowed him to hear a basic translation of what Merrick said and it automatically translated his words so that Merrick could understand them. Seeing Merrick wave to him, Evan tapped the manastone on his collar.

"There's a place ahead where we can set up camp."

"Oh, good," Evan replied. "I think my horse is as sick of me as I am of him."

Picking their way carefully down the mountain path and around the side of the mountain, it was forty-five minutes before they came to the spot that Barak had found. Barak, not much for talking anyway, didn't seem to like interacting with the strangers and kept his distance. Even after Merrick led them to the camp, he only stayed long enough to let the young warrior know that he was going out to hunt and would be back the next morning.

Merrick, on the other hand, was fascinated by the strangers, listening to their conversation every chance he got. He was careful not to reveal that he could understand them, keeping his face neutral as he listened to them speak to each other. But the things they spoke of were fascinating. Very quickly, he learned that they were not the only strangers in the area, but there were other groups who were going to other villages. It appeared that they were looking for something, searching for something. They called themselves prospectors, though Merrick didn't quite understand what that word meant. They came from the east and had crossed over the great plains, trading with the tribes there before coming into the mountains.