by Tao Wong
“Right, just keep us here for now and we’ll get to it. What do you think, Ger, crab traps?” Prek said as he pulled out the fishing net from where they had been stowed. In short order, the fisherman was checking the net over, readying it to be tossed in.
“Crab traps,” Ger agreed. Even as he spoke, he was readying the crab traps by placing in pieces of offal, attaching them via hooks to the bottom of the trap before tossing the trap into the water with an easy over-hand toss. To Daniel’s surprise, Ger actually let go of the rope, allowing the entire trap to fly away. Only when a small float bobbed up later, showing where the trap was located, did Daniel relax.
In the meantime, Prek had finished his preparations and stood up, balancing easily on the lightly rocking boat before he cast the net into the water. He let the rope play out in his hand as the net sank, having expertly sprung open as he threw it.
Daniel watched all this with interest, though he occasionally cast a suspicious look around for additional threats. Nets were something they had considered using against the imps, but experience had shown that tossing nets and having them hit was more difficult than they had thought. In the end, the use of the rockbow had been a lot more convenient. Still, there might be little tips to the casting of these weapons that could be learnt from watching someone this experienced.
In short order, the fishing group hauled up the first of their haul. With numerous crab traps situated close by, Prek ordered Daniel to row away from those traps, working the edges of the self-imposed boundary to find new fish. The haul was bountiful. So much so that the group spent as much time sorting and storing the haul as they did fish.
“Another Skill?” Daniel asked curiously as Ger made another fish disappear from his hands.
“Fisherman’s Haul,” Ger confirmed. “Prek used his storage Skill on the boat. I used mine on the haul. Works best that way.”
“I can see that,” Daniel said. “I could store some if you want?” His Inventory ability was limited in size, but outside of his some ancillary weapons and survival equipment, Daniel had deposited all his Adventuring equipment at base camp, leaving him with a chest worth of free space.
“Nah. Adventurer Inventory’s don’t keep the taste right. Too warm,” Ger said.
“Hold up on that thought, Ger. If we let him keep the camp’s supply, we could store more for sale,” Prek said.
“Fair enough. Alright, you store the ones I give you,” Ger said. In short order, Ger handed Daniel a pink-striped fish, about the size of his arm. Daniel watched the creature’s mouth move as it gasped for air before he shrugged and willed the fish away.
It was another two hauls before their first major delay occurred. The net when it came up was broken, a large hole in one side showing where a more aggressive fish had made its escape. Neither fishermen were particularly surprised, and Prek took to fixing the net immediately, making twine appear from a small pouch by his side.
“Might as well drop the anchor here,” Ger said as he hunted for, and found, a pair of fishing rods. “We’ll be here a bit until Prek has fixed the net.”
“What are you doing?” Daniel said after he had dropped anchor. By the time he was done, Ger had baited and sunk the fishing hook in the water before offering the rod to Daniel.
“Line fishing. Might catch something good with the lures I got,” Ger said.
“But…” Daniel paused.
“We’ll see and sense any trouble long before it arrives,” Ger said, tapping his head with one slimy finger. “Sea Sense. We both have it.”
“Then, why’d you need me for?”
“Can’t always run. And nice to have a third pair of hands to row,” Ger replied as he cast his own rod. After playing with the rod a little, he added. “Relax. Ours is the easiest job there is. And before you ask, sure, we have a spare net. Have two. But I’m already two-thirds full. Once we add the crab haul, we’d be done in a day. No real point hurrying with the haul. Better to get something good than just filling up the nothing, you know?”
“Not really,” Daniel admitted. This seemed like a different way of doing things, but the Adventurer had to admit, fishing on an expedition probably had much different constraints to when he mined. A small mining operation still consisted of tens of Miners. “So, now what?”
“Now, we fish,” Ger said with a grin as he leaned back. From his side, Ger pulled out a bottle, popping the sealed cork top and taking a swig. Even a foot away, Daniel could smell the alcohol in the bottle. “Drink?”
“No. I think… no.” Daniel shook his head. His job was to keep the pair safe. Though, as Daniel looked longingly as the pair shared the bottle, passing it between each other, he wished he was not so uptight. Just a little. But, expeditions were dangerous. And he would not see another injured because of his carelessness.
Back at the camp, Asin slunk around the small depression that the group had chosen for their campground. The Beastkin bounced off the set of collapsed stone, climbing quickly to ascend to the top of the worn stone to take her place as the camp’s guard. At the top of the destroyed masonry, she considered the steep drop that had resulted before fishing in her belt pouch. In short order, she had laid out a simple string and bell warning system and then added a second, nastier trap just over the edge of the cliff. Satisfied, the Catkin then dropped back down a few feet.
In short order, Asin found a comfortable seat just beneath the topmost portion of the tumbled masonry, a short distance from her trap. Having made herself comfortable, Asin unslung Daniel’s crossbow and placed the quiver beside herself before squirming down to take her watch.
Ranger approved or not, Asin was not entirely sure she agreed with the choice of campsite. Sure, the depression and the strange tumbled masonry made for an easily defensible location—there were only two easy entrances to the campsite without clambering over bramble-filled and crumbling masonry. That made the campsite highly defensible and also made sure that the glow of their campfires at night would not reflect as far. Along with the trees that covered the edges of the clearing, they were relatively well hidden.
But it also meant that there were only two major ways to run away. That seemed like a horrible idea to Asin, but as the Catkin considered the issue she sighed.
“Beast.” She chuffed out, realising the issue. She thought of mortal enemies, of sentient monsters like the cunning Kobolds or the lizardmen. They ganged up, ran away, laid traps and fought smart. But for Tula, her greatest concern was not sentient monsters but beasts. Predators that might be aggressive and even have some low cunning but not the sentient ability to hunt and plan. In that case, two exits were probably significant.
It still did not sit well with Asin, though. The Catkin eyed their surroundings, absently tracing a claw over the ruined stone. For a brief moment, interest sparked in the Adventurer as she looked down at the hard stone. Even now, centuries later, the stone refused to come apart under her sharp nails. What had been built here? A former outpost of the Empire? Centuries ago, the Empire had fallen. But before that, it had spread its tendrils through monster-infested lands, the height of civilization.
Human civilization. Asin’s lips curled slightly as she chuffed out the unhappy thought. Old history, but it was only after the fall that the Beastkin had scrambled upwards. Not that the history of the Beastkin had been all one-sided. At one time, they had even been the foremost members of the army.
Old stories. Dead stories.
Asin sniffed, discarding the useless thoughts. The here and now was important. And the future. The past was dead and could stay that way. Better to consider what she could do to make sure they were not dead too—if the Ranger’s expectations were not met.
Three days later, Daniel had to admit, the expedition had been off to a weird start. Not only was their time significantly more peaceful than he had expected, the number of battles the group had to contend with could be counted on a single finger. That is, if you didn’t count the hunts.
&nbs
p; “Is this normal?” Daniel asked Tula that night when she came back.
“Is what?” the Ranger replied, staring up at the beefy Adventurer.
“The lack of combat,” Daniel explained.
“If you’ve got a Ranger, yes,” Tula said with a sniff. “Our job is to get you back alive. Which means finding the right routes, having you camp in the right areas, and then setting up traps and bait to keep predators away.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing?” Daniel said, surprised. “I thought you were scouting.”
“That is scouting. Ranger scouting,” Tula said, tapping her chest. “Anyway. This is only a rank Orange location.”
“What does that mean?” Daniel said with a frown.
“Mmm… well, you have mundane locations, non-ranked forests and the like. Those are where most villagers and Adventurers travel,” Tula said, ticking her fingers off. “Doesn’t mean there aren’t monsters, but the monsters are rare and generally managed by sending Adventurers and guards.
“Then you have the Basic, Advanced and higher wilderness locations. We rank them the same way the Guild does, just to make it easier. But a Basic location is what you see in the deeper parts of unranked forests. The kind of dangers you’d expect to face normally.”
“We once fought a Shadow Leopard,” Daniel offered.
“Exactly. Like that. One kind of predator, nothing major. Advanced ranked areas see a wider range of monsters, with the highest threat predator marking the boundary of the danger,” Tula said. “In this case, we’re likely to see Orange class monsters at worse.”
“So, why so many of us?” Daniel said, gesturing around at the large group.
“Because it’s the wilderness,” Tula said. “Go about another ten kilometers that way, we’ll make it to the Esman Gorge. Where there’s a rank Green-Blue threat. And just because they’re ten kilometers away, it doesn’t mean the raptors won’t make their way here.”
“Blue…” Daniel licked his lips.
“Green individually, blue in a group,” Tula clarified. “The Nizhnye raptors are flying creatures of course, so they receive an increase in rank. They’re semi-intelligent, with a low-level cunning that has them attacking only those who are injured or those they believe they can defeat. They also have a modicum of air elementalism, allowing them to form air armour and wind blades. The armour makes taking them with ranged weaponry difficult. Magic and powerful, singular attacks are the recommendations.”
“Are you an encyclopedia or a person,” Hjalmar said, the rogue somehow having managed to sneak up on the pair.
“This information is the minimum required of a Ranger to know,” Tula said with a sniff. “I could also tell you about their mating habits and their preferred prey, but for an Adventurer, I think it’s unnecessary.”
As Hjalmar bristled, Daniel coughed into his hand before he took control of the conversation. “What you’re saying is that most expeditions are easy, until they’re not?”
Tula sniffed at Daniel but had to reluctantly acknowledge his words. “There are worse things than an easy expedition.”
“And now you’ve done it,” Hjalmar said. “Idiot Ranger. Never say things could be worse. Never!” As the rogue stomped off to relay the idiocy of the Ranger to his friends, Daniel had to silently agree. Perhaps if he found some salt to throw over his shoulder…
Chapter 12
Ominous pronouncement or not, the expedition continued with their uneventful journey. Day in and day out, Daniel found himself either on the boats or, on rare occasion, working with the gatherers. As Craig realised Daniel’s laughable level of accuracy with his crossbow, the Adventurer was never allowed to join the hunting party. The group had no use for an Adventurer who could not hit a barn door at fifty paces.
As the days continued, the campsite grew in size as tanning racks, curing and smoking stations were added. As each piece of hide, each morsel of meat was cured or smoked, Sava and the other merchants would store them away in their bags. Each bag was enchanted with dimensional storage attributes that doubled or tripled the volume within. After that, the merchant’s individual Skills and Sava’s expedition manager Skill then added to the storage amount. It was only because of the higher Levels of the merchants and Sava that this entire expedition would even make financial sense. Even so, by the time they hit the third week that they were in-forest, the merchants had begun to select and remove less expensive goods, setting them aside to be replaced with more commercially viable products.
Daniel yawned, working some leather oil into the greaves of his leather armour again. Mid-afternoon on a rest day meant Daniel was taking the time to care for his equipment. Hands moving in a small circular motion, he worked the oiled rag into the leather in parts, eyeing the scratches and discolorations. The armor was still in relatively good condition, though that could end at any time. But the motion of caring for it, of slowly massaging the armor in was meditative and restful.
“Incoming!”
Daniel jerked, dismissing the greaves as it nearly fell from his hands as the rag fluttered to the ground. Daniel grabbed for his hammer and shield, eyeing the direction the shout came from. A few seconds later, the harvesting team rushed in. Direction of threat confirmed, Daniel moved to take position in front of the entrance while other members of the rest team took their place too.
“Asin!” Daniel called once he was situated, shouting for his friend who was on guard again today.
“Orcs,” Asin called. “Four… five?”
Daniel grunted, crouching down beneath his shield but forcing himself to relax tense muscles. No reason to stay tense, to use energy when the danger was not here yet. He would hear it when the rest came.
“What happened?” Daniel called out, hoping to get an answer. There was no reason for Orcs to be out here. They lived to the west on the plains mostly and rarely ventured into these forests.
“No idea. We were out gathering, and then boom, they shot Uwe. Omrak and Bjarne are holding them off, but we had to run,” a familiar voice called back, the same one that first shouted a warning.
“Pack up!”
Daniel turned his head, spotting Sava running back in from the other entrance. As he turned, Daniel was surprised to see that the merchants were already packing up their bags, stuffing everything into their bags with practiced ease. “Get ready to move.”
“Back, foul beasts! I am Omrak, son of Losin, an orange-ranked Advanced Adventurer and. You. Will. Not. Win!” Omrak roared, just before the telltale discharge of electricity from Omrak’s skill exploded forth. The crackle and hiss of lightning, of leaves and branches hissing as they burnt, and the screams of strange monsters resounded.
“Come on, you blond oaf!” Bjarne cried.
In short order, the pair stumbled in, Omrak dragged backwards by Bjarne. As they stumbled into the clearing, enchanted globes were triggered by Vivian. The Sorcerer twisted her hands, setting the pre-prepared traps. A light yelp preceded a low yelp as a shadowed figure threw himself into a roll, just avoiding the newly set traps.
“Watch it, Viv!” Hjalmar snarled as he spun, his recurve bow appearing in his hand and an arrow nocking as he stared back the way he just came from.
“Sorry!” Vivian said, the mage’s eyes tight.
Daniel ignored the commotion, having moved over to help Bjarne pull Omrak back and lay him down. Bjarne was feeding the Northerner a potion even as Daniel placed his hand over the man, eyeing the numerous cuts that criss-crossed the teenager’s body. A particularly nasty cut had torn through the hardened, enchanted leather vest that Omrak wore, parting skin and muscle beneath and showing bone and portions of his innards.
Omrak, son of Losin (Level 16)
HP: 161/532 (Bleeding -8)
“Can you heal him?” Bjarne said.
“Yes,” Daniel said. Already, he threw Minor Healing II on his friend, layering the spell again and again in short order, using a touch of his Gift to help stitch toget
her the wounds that closed.
“Then I shall leave you,” Bjarne said.
Daniel barely heard the words, his focus on his friend. The generic healing spell fixed everything, from the incipient bruises along the man’s arms to the giant wound that pulsed blood, but with his hands pushing together flesh, Daniel was able to guide some of that healing. A flash of pain, a portion of his mind twisted away as he connected severed blood vessels. Then, the healing magic from the potion and his own spells washed over the wounds, stitching them together.
“Stay down. Let the spell fix you,” Daniel ordered Omrak whose cloudy eyes were slowly clearing up. “Healer’s Mark.”
The time-delayed healing spell washed over Omrak, working to send pulses of healing energy into the Northerner.
“I can still fight…” Omrak said, his fist closing on his two-handed sword.
“Don’t move, you idiot,” Daniel said, shoving his friend down not too gently. Already, at the clearing, Daniel could the sounds of battle as sword met shield and ice-cold enchantments froze and slowed. “They have it. And I just healed you. If you pick up that sword again, you’re just going to tear open your wounds.”
Omrak growled but stayed lying down, though he squirmed around enough with pained grunts to roll his head around to watch the fight. Content that his friend was going to stay down, Daniel scooped up his hammer and stalked over to the entrance.
Hampered by the lamed bodies of their friends that had triggered the ice spike traps, the Orcs were having a hard time getting into the clearing. Bjarne stood at the forefront of the fight, stabbing and cutting with his halberd, the small shield strapped on his arm only occasionally used to block cuts that he could not react to in time with the haft of his polearm. By the side, Hjalmar had exchanged his bow for a pair of short swords that he used to defend and cut at arms and legs that approached too close. And behind them all, Vivian let loose bolts of fire while Asin sniped those at the back with the crossbow.