[Beta] Ashborn - 11. Lord of the Mountain (Patreon)

XI

Lord of the Mountain

“We’ll go and make the rounds,” a soldier said, taking three men with him.

In their absence, the plateau was quiet. Softly, the campfire whispered, crackling with the utmost care—as if was loathe to disturb the peace.

Two of four hours had passed of our shift.

Fire Keeper - lvl. 5 -> Fire Keeper - lvl. 6.

3 free stat points gained.

1 SP gained.

I called up my status.

Vitality: 9

Strength: 4

Dexterity: 6 (16)

Fortitude: 8

Perception: 7

Arcane: 15

Free Points: 6

My dexterity was effectively higher than my arcane due to Saber’s family trait. But it wouldn’t do to keep my dexterity low because of that (if Saber became incapacitated, my stat would come plummeting down), but it was something to keep in my mind.

‘I think I want my arcane to hit twenty as soon as possible. But keeping my strength at four seems like a bad move.’

It was safe to assume that monsters would have similar stat distributions to my own. Worse than the trogs was sure to come. If I wanted to keep fighting melee with higher level enemies, I would need more than speed. That, and having a flaw in my stat page could see that abused later on.

So, I put three points in arcane and three in strength.

My gaze went to the five SP I had. Though I’d hoped I would get a way to use it at level five, nothing had happened.

‘Guess I need to wait until the shop unlocks.’

I’d already consolidated most of my essence, I couldn’t start practising Rend in the middle of the night, and Saber was perched in one of the trees.

Shortly put, there wasn’t much for me to do.

“You are progressing fast,” Jaoma said.

A lantern sat next to him on the log bench, allowing him to read from the book in his hands. He’d wrapped himself in a black shawl. On top rested the necklace I returned him. He smiled as he noticed the trajectory of my gaze.

“Do you think so?” I said.

He nodded easily. “I’ve travelled with my fair share of cultivators. You’re the fastest I’ve seen.”

I shook my head. “That may be, but I feel like I’m nowhere near strong enough yet.”

He chuckled. “If you’re not strong enough, I’m a leaf, ready to be blown away.”

I inspected the merchant.

[Merchant - lvl. 11]

Huh, he levelled. I hadn’t seen him cultivate once, though. That got me to question how anyone not a cultivator levelled. I asked him.

“One of my skills. Expeditions like these grant me experience. The absorption into my bones happens automatically.”

Interesting. The soldiers probably had a similar ability.

“Expeditions,” I repeated. “Being a merchant in a world like this doesn’t seem fun…”

He shrugged. “It’s how the cookie crumbled.”

My brow raised.

Jaoma closed his book and set it aside. A moment passed as the merchant weighed his words. His lips curved minutely.

“Do you have a goal, Aedan? A reason for entering this place?”

A stray flake of snow fell against my cheek. I ignored the cold. Whatever goal the original Ashe had, I didn’t share in it. Yet to exist without a sense of purpose…there was only insanity down that road. That’s why I latched onto my bond with Saber so much and looked forward to was to come.

Another moment flew by.

“To see my family again,” I said finally.

“Are they in danger?”

I could tell from his body language that it was an innocent question. But I didn’t answer.

“My apologies,” he said and stared at the flame. A soft current which slipped between the wagons sent the campfire fluttering. It darkened for a moment. “Lady Aurille was right when she said this realm is a garden of cultivation.”

I listened.

“It is the world we live in. They say there are a myriad of ways to reach the heavens, but in reality there is only one.”

“Which is?” I said.

“Be useful.” His hands linked in front of him. “Whether through killing things or being a servant. The universe, the system, and all under the heavens only bless those who have a use. Those who learn that rule too late are discarded.”

I hummed.

“You became a merchant because it’s what you were most useful as?”

“Sounds empty, doesn’t it?”

“A little,” I confessed.

He smiled. “Like you, I care about my family the most. Whatever would help them survive is what I’ll do. I don’t need any greater purpose than that.”

Perhaps unbeknown to him, his hand went to his locket.

The echoes of our conversation slowly filtered out.

A use, huh. So then what was the system’s use in bringing me here? Had I been reincarnated because I was useful in my previous life? If I could’ve pulled an answer out of a magic hat, I would’ve done so.

My attention turned to the time. Another hour before I could get my rest—

The light coming from the campfire darkened again. That was the second time.

I glanced up and peered. The blizzard was soft and some moonlight made it through the fog. A shadow circled overhead.

“A White Stalker?” Jaoma said, following my gaze. “But why is it alone…we best wake Aurille.” He turned back to me. “I don’t mean to disparage you—”

“I understand,” I cut him off. “I’ll go get her.”

We had four tents set up in a ring around the campfire. Aurille was in the one nearest the treeline.

She’d warned me not to step into her tent to wake her up, so I used my scabbard to tap on one of the metal poles keeping her home upright.

Aurille stepped out like she’d been waiting. “You are early.”

“We have company,” I said and directed her gaze to the sky.

She took a moment. “A single one. I may be able to lure it down.”

‘Lure it? That’s at least two hundred metres above us.’

She huffed at the scepticism she read in my expression. “Just get ready. I won’t be able to beat it by myself if it’s over level ten.”

“Is there a threshold for when we cannot beat it?”

“Level fourteen. Any higher and we should flee.”

She climbed out of her tent and strode towards the fire.

“We need to wake everyone up first,” I commented.

The turn of her head was slow.

“In case of an emergency,” I explained. “The battle will wake them up anyways.”

She couldn’t argue with that, so I made the rounds. Ten minutes went by before our squad was up and about. I reassured them they wouldn’t need to fight but instructed them to gear up either way.

Aurille stood in a small clearing and stared at the shadow overhead. I joined her side.

“So, how exactly are you planning to grab its attention?”

“No need to. It’s already circling us.”

Ah, right. We just had to show it we were aware of it. Then it would make the decision to either leave or come down.

I yawned. ‘Whichever way, best get it over with quickly.’

A final glance at our party—Jaoma and the servants hid behind the guards.

“Ready?” Aurille said.

Saber sauntered into the clearing.

“As ever,” I said.

Aurille extended her hand and closed her eyes. Essence drew from the surroundings and congealed above her hands. The ball of energy was dense. Dense enough that it made the outside cold seem like but a summer breeze.

‘I wonder when she started training.’ Humans didn’t begin training until sixteen, yet she didn’t seem much older than me.

The ball sharpened into a spike sharp enough to drill through one of the wagons. It launched as if thrown by a ballista.

The night swallowed the whistle of her art, if it even was one. I put a hand on my brow to see better. The dart missed by a mile.

One of the guards chuckled. I kept my eyes on the sky. Moments passed, then the White Stalker stopped circling. Its darkened silhouette crashed to the earth.

Aurille glanced at me, and though her lips didn’t pull upwards, I caught her drift.

“I never doubted you,” I lied.

My blade left its scabbard.

She snorted and pulled her own sword. It was the first time I’d seen her draw it. The firelight illuminated the entirely white alloy, and the fog pouring from the blade increased threefold.

The White Stalker was halfway down. I should’ve been tense. But I had a hard time being so when Aurille was standing beside me.

Whatever level it was, it couldn’t—

Far faster than it should’ve, the creature slammed into the ground. The ground shuddered, and I shielded my face from the explosion of earth and snow. A stray rock drove into my stomach, nearly making me bend over.

‘That’s some serious force,’ I thought.

Beside me, feet shuffled backwards. I turned towards Aurille.

Her eyes were wide.

Crunching down on a jolt of surprise, I turned back to the creature, whose silhouette could be seen slowly rising from within the fog. The dust settled, revealing the White Stalker.

A few things came to my notice all at once. One, the bird held a staff in its claws, the tip of which was encrusted with a red gem that blazed away the dark of night. Two, and perhaps the most important part, was that the thing was no bird at all. Great wings which were almost like spiderwebs spread from its back to shroud a lanky figure. Holes littered its skin, as if there had once been scales but they had been ripped off. They remained in one place, near the head, which was an elongated snout with two horns poking out and loose slabs of tissue covering it.

At its full height, the monster was at least seven feet.

I did something I should’ve done from the start.

Identify, I thought beside myself, and golden letters appeared over its head.

[Aberrant Drake - lvl. 18. Lord of the Mountain.]