Tycoon May: Chapter 28 (Patreon)

Chapter 28

After Sarge ran him through his paces, Grant was dripping with sweat.  Combining attacks was getting easier, but Sarge had a tendency to keep throwing enemies at him until he couldn’t win, no matter how perfect he was.

<Leveling up to thirty-seven added a few more points to your physical cultivation, but you wouldn’t know it from what I just saw.>

“Come on Sarge, how am I supposed to beat ten monsters at once?”  Grant wiped sweat from his eyes, blinking away the burn.  “Especially when they’re more coordinated than any real monsters ever would be?”

<Ever would be so far.  You have no idea what the monsters in the rest of Summer, let alone Autumn and Winter, will be like.  They don’t just get stronger, they get smarter too.>

“Smart?  How smart?  Like, human smart?”  Despite being overheated, Grant shivered.  “That could be really bad.”

<Your instinctive use of Adjusted Air Friction in your last fight was great, but your lack of chaining together your other skills only proves to me you’re thinking too hard when it comes to your attacks.  Stop thinking about what you’re going to do, and just do it.>

“That’s what I’m trying to do.”  Grant took his helm off to shake out his hair.  It was getting long enough that it worked almost like a towel, holding in moisture enough that it might rust the metal.  “It’s not as easy as you say it is.”

“What’s not easy?”  Evander poked his head up from the heaping sacks of grain on the back of the wagon.  “Jumpin’ around like a crazy person, swingin’ your sword at nothin’?  The only thing not easy about that is being able to sleep while you’re goin’ on behind the wagon.”

“You aren’t supposed to be sleeping, big guy.”  Grant took three quick steps and jumped onto the rear tailgate, easily keeping his balance on the narrow piece of wood despite his tired muscles.  “If I wasn’t here, all kinds of bad things could have snuck up on us, and no one would have known.”

“Yeah, but you were here, so it doesn’t matter.”  Evander let out a loud yawn as he stretched, scratching at the bandages that covered his chest.  “How do you have the energy to do all that runnin’ around anyway?  You were hurt almost worse than me last night.”

Grant shrugged.  “I heal fast.”  Hopping up to sit next to the larger man, he leaned back and propped his feet up on a sack of grain.  “So, any idea how much longer until we reach the next town?”

Evander looked around for a moment before squinting up at the sun.  “It’s hard to tell, since this part of the trail all looks the same, but I’d say we’ll be there late this evenin’, or early tomorrow mornin’ if we stop soon.”

“That’s good news.”  Grant sat up higher to look around.  “Any chance we’re going to pass by a stream or river so I can wash up?  Training doesn’t make anyone smell good.”

“Bah, I don’t see the point.  Men should smell like men!”  Evander held up his arm and sniffed, causing him to wince.  “Although, a quick wash wouldn’t be so bad.”  He pointed toward the front of the wagon train.  “Since you’re feeling all spry and such, run up ahead and ask Adria if we can stop at the next stream.”

Hopping down, Grant took off at a dead run.  Even without using Thundering Step, he was moving incredibly fast.  He sprinted past the front wagon, only stopping when he saw the single horse and rider that served as their advance scout.  Breathing hard, he waited for the lead wagon to catch up to him.

“Sarge, how fast do you think I am now?  Faster than a horse can run?”  Grant spread his stance, stretching his calf muscles.  “Because I feel like I can outrun a horse.”

<I don’t think you could beat a charger in a race, but a regular nag?  Probably.>  Grant’s chest swelled with pride.  <Which means you’re slower than every single Autumn monster in existence.>

Grant deflated, shaking his head in defeat.  “I guess I’m lucky this is a Summer District, then.”

“What was that?”  Grant looked up to see Geneva and Kristen riding on the front seat of the lead wagon.  Geneva was driving, and she was the one who had interrupted his conversation with Sarge.  “Something about it being summer?”

“Nevermind.”  Grant waved off the conversation.  “I’m actually looking for Adria.  Evander and I were wondering if we could stop at the next stream so we could wash up some.”

“Oh, a bath would be nice.”  Kristen stood up, looking around to the north of the convoy.  “Adria went to check on the scout in that direction.  He missed his check-in time.”  She hefted her heavy bow.  “It’s probably nothing, but she asked us to keep an eye out while she was gone.”

“Hmm…”  Grant looked to the north, where the trees were the thickest.  “How long ago did she leave?”

Geneva looked up at the sun that was doing its best to peek through the clouds.  “Oh, not long.  About ten or fifteen minutes ago at the latest.”

“I’ll go check on her.”  Given his past experiences, Grant knew it was never a good idea to go off by yourself while in the woods.  There were spiders in there.  But, he was never one to shirk his duties.  Well, not recently, at least.  “Just to make sure everything is okay.  After that attack last night, you never know what might happen.”

The two women conferred for a bit while Grant kept pace beside them.  Finally, Geneva turned and nodded in agreement.  “We don’t see anything wrong with it.  Make sure you come straight back here though.  If memory serves, the next stream isn’t too far from here, so we’ll stop the convoy to wait for you.”

“And take it easy.”  Kristen’s head poked up over Geneva’s.  “You were injured yesterday, and we don’t want you hurting yourself all over again.”

Grant gave them both a thumbs up and sprinted away, leaving before they could change their minds.  While he appreciated their concern, he was already fully healed.  Besides being hungry again, of course.  He pulled out another strip of dried meat to chew on as he ran through the woods.

Considering Adria had left the wagons farther back on the trail, he angled his run so he would intercept her trail.  If she had gone far enough away from the group, he should be able to easily see her trail through the stubby trees.  Most of the ground was undisturbed, except for the occasional small animal prints.  It was relieving to see that most of the big monsters liked to stick to the more open plains regions, where little trees wouldn’t be underfoot.  Or underclaw, in most cases.

After a short period of time, Grant finally saw footprints left by a human, which thankfully matched what he thought Adria’s would look like.  They angled farther north, and he followed them for far longer than any scout should have gone.  Grant felt a sense of foreboding as the trail he was following intersected with a muddled set of tracks that had both monster and human prints.

<Well, this can’t be good.>  Grant nodded in agreement with Sarge’s statement.  <Do you want to keep going, or go back for help?>

Images of a friend dying at the hands of a huge monster flashed through his head.  “I don’t want to risk the time it would take to go back.”  Grant crouched a bit to make sure he stayed under the edge of the short trees so he couldn’t be seen from a distance.  “I’m going now.”

Now that he knew there was a threat in the area, Grant moved much quicker, doing his best to stay as quiet as possible.  Most of the prints were too muddled to make out, but it was clear the monsters had talons big enough to carve deep divots into the muddy ground.  It didn’t match anything he had seen so far, beyond being threatening.

The terrain started getting rougher the farther he traveled, and the trees started growing tall enough that he didn’t need to crouch anymore.  He was officially entering the foothills of the northern mountain ranges, and the muddy trail gave way to rocky gravel and sharp rocks that seemed custom made to twist the ankles of the inattentive and unwary.

Following the tracks became much harder, and eventually Sarge started helping to point out the more subtle signs of the trail.  <There.  See how those rocks are dirty on top?  Since it rained recently, that means they were recently disturbed.>  An orange flicker highlighted a broken branch after a few more minutes that led to a narrow trail that threaded between two steep hills.  <That’s a fresh break.  Go that way.>

Leaving the main trail he had been on, Grant felt an impending sense of foreboding.  Whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen soon.  By the time he reached the end of the trail, the sun was far closer to the horizon than it was when he started.  Even if he ran full-out, it would be dark by the time he made it back to the wagon train.  And that was only if they stayed at the stream to wait for them.

Up ahead, Grant saw a clearing in the trees where a rockslide had long ago washed away a large chunk of the forest.  A few scraggly trees poked up here and there, but it was obvious where his final destination sat, waiting for him like an old enemy.

<Oh, look!  Another cave for you to explore.  You really do have the best luck.>

Grant definitely disagreed.