A New Star Chapter 107 (Patreon)

"Now, what next?” I asked the two the next morning. I had made quite sure the mage’s tower in the mountains was as safe as I could currently adjust something to be, which was very safe. I had little concern about sleeping there; it would take having something or someone many ranks higher than me to make me worried, as anything up to J-rank would take a very long time to break through the current defenses, even with the exterior defenses being weaker than the interior shields and traps.

“Was that rhetorical or…?” Francesca asked.

“It was not rhetorical, but I do have an agenda in mind,” I replied. “I was more asking for your thoughts and your wants. Where do you think we should could, and where do you currently want to go?”

“Well, it would be nice to see the forest,” Francesca stated.

“I want to experience the Ice Peaks,” Cain said, though he shrunk back a little when I hit him with a critical eye.

“We can see the edge of the forest for now, but both of you need a couple more ranks and some more training before we go through the woods,” I informed them. “Ideally, along with Angela, the three of you will form the core of our expedition team. There is some strength in numbers, of course, but I’m looking for elites, of which you two are already well on the path. I intend to field a small, but very powerful, team of adventurers to spend most of their time exploring and fighting in the Wilds. That’s what you’ve both expressed interest in, but there are going to be more jobs than that if you find it not to your liking. With me so far?”

“Yes,” the both replied.

“Good. What we really need now is time, and we have at least a little. Unless you know something I don’t?” I asked.

“I don’t have any obligations,” Francesca said, slightly forlorn. I could understand a bit, because being a noble and not having any obligations meant that the person, or even their entire family, wasn’t important enough to matter.

“I don’t have anything happening,” Cain affirmed.

“Good. Working on our teamwork will be quite important,” I continued. “Especially getting the two of you familiar with working together. Normally, I would do that through combat, but, considering we have nothing pressing, I’m not advocating throwing you in the deep end just yet. What we’ll do is patrol around the mountains for the next few days and take a look at the Shiverwood. There’s so much to cover just in the mountains that several trips will only barely cover what’s within a hundred miles of the estate in either direction, and there’s plenty besides that. We don’t need to go over everything in exhaustive detail, and I’ve written a pile of notes on what is where and how things work based on my current exploration. Questions?”

“Rank and power of the enemies?” Cain asked, having recovered from his disappointment that the tough mountains weren’t in his immediate future.

“Good question,” I said, and it was. Knowing the immediate dangers and threat levels was pretty much always the critical information to get down first. “Everything is subject to change; understand that the Wilds doesn’t operate on the same rules, or general guidelines, even, that the Settled Lands do. Without much civilization out there, there’s nothing to help regulate and keep things in check. Basically, always be prepared for anything, which means constant vigilance.

“As to your immediate concern, most things in the border mountains are anywhere from A-rank up to F-rank. We don’t really see much more than that typically, considering the amount the edge of the mountains are patrolled. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t far more dangerous things here. What I just said holds true, mostly, for the surface, but if you decide to go do a bit of spelunking or mining or anything taking you underground, it’s a very different beast. In a way, the surface ecology is a reflection of one thing; fear. For the border mountains, anything not strong enough to survive elsewhere in the Wilds, including the mountain depths, gets driven south and/or up. That’s why the range for the mountains is usually, and I stress usually, fairly low. It all changes in the Shiverwood, however, which is why we are going to hold off on that for now.”

“You said, ‘without much civilization.’ What does that mean?” Francesca asked with a frown.

“Well, Fran,” I said before pausing. “Can I call you Fran?”

“Of course,” she replied quickly with a small smile. I had hoped shortening her name wouldn’t upset, but she even seemed pleased with it.

“Well, Fran, I don’t know what the academy exactly teaches about the Wilds, but I have already civilized peoples out there,” I explained. “We could get into a whole debate about ‘what is civilization’ and all that, but let’s not go down that road today. I have met peoples here that are intelligent, cunning, crafty, build structures and cities, and have forms of writing, currency, and trade. I would say that counts as civilization, of at least a basic degree. There are those who are hostile and those who are not, so, once again, caution is the name of the game here.”

“We were taught that nobody intelligent lives in the Wilds, to answer what the academy instructs,” Fran said, frowning. “Our instructors covered several courses about the Wilds, but they were mainly about the beasts and monsters present, how to fight them, how to build a good camp in the Wilds versus the Settled Lands, and how to find treasure.”

“That last one was a bit dubious,” Cain added quietly. “The instructions basically were, ‘look for lots of mana or lots of beasts gathered together.’ It was not, particularly, a very good lecture, which is kinda weird. The other lectures, even about the Wilds, were better than that.”

“Yes, well, I doubt anyone with any real knowledge, especially firsthand experience from expeditions themselves, is too eager to give away the secrets of their success,” I added rather dryly.

“Fair,” Cain conceded with a nod.

“Interesting. Well, what I have encountered so far are high orcs, rather larger and stronger than the ‘normal’ orcs we have in the Settled Lands,” I explained, even doing the finger quotes, “and elves, though I haven’t seen them personally. The elves, by the way, are from an isolationist tribe of warriors that the orcs described as ‘hostile berserkers,’ so be very, very careful if you ever spot an elf that’s not part of our group already when in the Wilds.”

“High orcs? Elves?” Fran asked, but she was more excited even than curious. “I haven’t heard about either such thing in the Wilds. Just how much did our instructors leave out?”

“Quite a lot, would be my guess,” I answered drolly. “I assume that it’s a combination of ignorance, considering the success, or lack thereof, of expeditions in recent decades, as well as the fact that, like I stated earlier, they just don’t want to broadcast the secrets of what success they have had to every person in the Settled Lands.”

“It’s hardly every person in the Settled Lands at the academy,” Fran said a bit primly.

“But it’s a hell of a lot of people, and all those people talk,” Cain added.

“Especially given many of those people are, no offense, gossipy teenagers,” I added with a small smirk, tapping a finger on the wooden table we were seated around.

“Well, yes, that’s true,” Fran said, sliding her chair forward a bit, the old wood grinding a bit on the stone floor.

“Besides,” I added, “a lot people get starry-eyed for the Wilds at some point in their lives, but few hold onto that ambition. I would imagine not many academy graduates are all that eager to sign up for an expedition, especially not right after graduating. That would put less priority on lessons, as well; I can imagine they taught you the basics, or what they thought of as the basics, and then assumed that was good enough for now.”

“Yes, I understand. Many of the students were more interested in the balls and fashion,” Fran said. “Speaking of which, will you be going?”

“Explain,” I commanded, though with a slight quirking of my right eyebrow.

“I mean, to the Winter Ball!” Fran said eagerly. “I’m not much one for fashion, but the Seasonal Balls are important! Besides, they’re quite fun!”

Cain had a look like he’d eaten an old piece of boiled leather, and I imagine my expression wasn’t all that different, though I think I did a better job containing it then he did. After sharing a quick glance with the man, I replied, “I had not planned on it, but my family does still exert some pressure on me in such matters. Not that I couldn’t just blow it off, but it’s likely I will attend at least the primary day of the event. And if you’re asking for permission, I have no problem with you attending that and other parties, but it can’t become a weekly habit or anything like that. Understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” Fran said, nodding dutifully.

“But does that mean we will be going?” Cain asked, looking a little put upon and a little lost.

“I will likely have to go. Fran very much wants to go. Unless you have family obligations, you do not have to go, but the option is open,” I replied simply, waving a hand idly. “If you want to attend certain events or functions, I can make it happen, regardless as to what it is. If you don’t, then don’t.”

“Understood,” Cain said with a relieved sigh, which he tried to mask at Fran giving him a slightly dirty look.

“Now, let’s get to exploring. We can talk more both on the way and after we’ve gotten some of the landmarks and such settled,” I said, clapping my hands and rising from the chair. I would need to grab a few new chairs for here; not that what was in the tower was in terrible shape, though it wasn’t great, but I was getting concerned that it wasn’t exactly built for purpose. Cain and Angela were both rather large and likely weighed quite a bit, not to mention their strength, and I was no slouch either. I would also keep in mind, considering the leviat would join us soon, that I should have some chairs that were comfortable for people that had partial or full tails.

I led the way out of the tower after that, showing the other two how to disarm and arm the security measures. I had them engaged almost constantly, not really needing to worry about the cost as long as something wasn’t actively attacking the tower, so I showed them sequences and left everything armed as we left. The first thing we did was circle the area, though I a broad sweep, just to get them a good idea of the lay of the land. That was important both for them to understand what was around the tower, but also so they were familiar with the terrain. While I had never had such close experiences, I had listened to enough of my soldiers in my last life talk about their familiarity with the terrain the only thing that saved them as they were injured and trying to make their way to home base. Getting a good feel for an area could be an immense help when having to retreat under duress and find one’s way back to that area and to the safe point inside that area.

After a few hours of that, we moved eastward, sticking to the slopes of the mountains. The valleys weren’t exactly more dangerous, but they were much more abundant with life than the middle to upper reaches of the mountains, which meant a lot of stuff to fight through or avoid. It was easily possible for this team, but getting bogged down fighting hordes of E- and F-rank beasts was just not on the agenda for today, or the next few days. We did dip down into the valleys at one point so the other two got a decent idea of what they were like near the mage’s tower, but then it was back to higher altitudes.

That didn’t fully protect us, of course, but the main thing we had to deal with were fliers, and they were generally easier to spot and either avoid or fight. Down in the dense forests of the valley and lower slopes, beasts and even aggressive animals were everywhere and could often be hard to pick out, but the beastly birds and flying dangers were sparser and easier to identify. Well, that was how it was in the border mountains, anyway, though not all ranges were the same.

“Do note,” I said to the other two at one points, “That things can be different within the range, and different ranges are different. The Ice Peaks that Cain is interested in, which cannot really be seen from the border mountains, have far more and denser groupings of fliers than here.”

“And still the density on the ground?” Cain asked, glancing around where we had stopped, rather far up the slope, to survey the area.

“The ground density is still rather high,” I clarified. “It is not as much as here, though, because the terrain tends to be steeper and the valleys narrower. There is simply not as much room for ground-based life in the Ice Peaks, or many sections of them, but there is plenty of space for roosting fliers of all kinds. Birds are not the only thing to worry about up there, though I wouldn’t exactly be counting on any dragons or phoenixes roaming about.”

“Understood,” Cain said with a nod. Fran had listened intently, but had nothing to add or no further questions.

We ventured pretty far afield to the east before stopping for the day. I had not shown them all my hideouts, just another one, and that’s where we camped for the night, having some travel rations, which weren’t great but weren’t awful, and then slept in watches. As the privilege of being the leader and the one setting it all up, I took first watch, which was often considered the best watch, depending on just how tired everyone was; if the group had been utterly and thoroughly exhausted, last watch, which just meant getting up a few hours early, would have been better, but I wouldn’t have taken that. Not with a fresh, green group that hadn’t done any real exploring or tough fighting; leaving greenhorns to take the rough watches alone was a bad idea. Rookies made mistakes, everyone did, but watch duty was far too important to let someone who wasn’t used to the rigors of battle and travel take.

Previous

Next