Chương 9: Movement

Conflict between the two nations on the Cilara content has been all but ended over the past 50 years. During an unprecedented tournament, the two top contenders gathered fans and respect for their honor and sportsmanship. One from the Crater kingdom, and the other from the Versale kingdom. During the tournament these two stood on the final stage and clasped hands with a brotherly embrace as a show of respect to all watching.

The message scrolls went out by the thousands proclaiming the "other side" as respectful and honorable. This mindset took some time to settle among the soldiers, but eventually it became difficult to convince soldiers to deal finishing blows during successful campaigns. Realizing they were almost all conscripts on both sides, pawns in the nobles wars, the majority of soldiers just gathered and stood aside as officers fought to decide victory.

Eventually the leadership on either side realized their subjects did not harbor the hate needed to conquer and they came to the table to establish peace. This talk took place just over 50 years ago. Unfortunately that is long enough for a new generation to emerge that hasn't experienced true war. With easy times, envy and hate spreads. People not exposed to "others" eventually find reasons to hate them. If the ruling class found reason to curtail this division, they have not made a move to.

— excerpt from (War and culture through the Ages) authored by scholar Yarris Eval It took Nasha and Nel over a week to convince their mother that the tree man was real. Listening to the rambling excited chatter of young children just makes adults skeptical of fantastic claims. Who would actually believe two young kids who claim to have found a new, unheard of, intelligent being?

After several days of insisting she agreed to have one of the hunters escort them back to the place they claimed to have met this "Blick" creature. That alone was a hard sale.

Most of the hunters she asked brushed the kids tale off with a chuckle and a wave, having better things to do with their time. She didn't blame them. She understood the reasoning. Finding one of the youngest hunters who often wondered alone at the parimeter, she made a final pleading case. With a reluctance displayed clearly on his face the young man agreed and decided on the next morning to set out with the children.

Strong but untested, the young hunter brought only his spear and food stuffs, expecting a quick adventure.

"Why are you so slow if you're so much bigger than me?" Little Nel asks the hunter. Squinting down at the rudeness of somebody else's child he shakes his head and continues scanning the surroundings as he follows the two beyond the creek and deep into the wood. Cresting the hill named "lookout hill" by the young Nasha, the hunter takes a moment to mark their trail with a scratch on the biggest tree with the tip of his spear.

With a nod of approval at his own intelligence he turns to see both kids staring at him with lowered eyebrows like they think he's an idiot. Scowling back he waves them on and they turn and sprint down the hill, taking him by surprise as his eyes widen in an effort to sprint after them. Having a core developed and mist inside it, he doesn't struggle at all to keep up with the kids. It's just frustrating having them act like he is the crazy one.

Especially since they are about to waste his day chasing impossible creatures. Nasha slows down coming to the empty blueberry bush from days ago. Looking around the area she realizes her mistake.

"Oooohhhh, we didn't plan where to meet it again!" She complains aloud while kicking the bush a few times. The hunter walks closer and examines the bush and the clear ground around it for signs. Finding quite a lot of prints and broken leaves in the surrounding area he determines the kids certainly spent some time here last week. And a lot of those indents look too deep for the kids to have made. Shrugging and standing up to continue searching he takes the hunt more seriously.

A yellow flower head high for a taller adult stands out because they don't bloom for another several weeks.

"It grew that, we watched. It was as fast as old man Forg" Nasha claims with a smile and wide eyes. Ok so whatever they met has access to its core. And enough density to push a flower to bloom in minutes. So mist stage with average meridians. A new cultivator. Not a large threat but definitely equal to his own strength. Leaning on the kids story of a peaceful encounter he relaxes knowing the creature is not only peaceful, but also weak enough to protect the children from. This task just got more exciting.

"Why does he keep laying on the ground?" Nel whispers to his big sister. The kids have been following the hunter for a while and now the sun is at its peak.

"He's tracking Blick. He keeps laying down to look at tracks… it has been a whole week. If it rained there probably wouldn't be any tracks left to find." Nasha says around a mouthful of dried meat. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Here we go." The guard grabs the kids attention pointing at a small clear spot with some black burn marks near it.

"It made camp here. Built a really small fire and ate… what looks like a raccoon… if the bones over there are just from one creature." He points just a few feet from the fire to a small pile of bones in front of a downed log. The pile is absolutely covered in bugs that will probably clean all the left over meat off in just a few more days.

"Strange" the hunter says while looking in a large hole near a fallen tree.

"Whats that?" Nel asks walking over. Holding up the braided piece of ivy, he inspects it.

"This must be where it went down for the night. This braid work makes me think it spends time crafting."

"Oh it does, we watched it fill a pouch made of leaves with some berries." Nel shared with pride.

"Did you see it carrying any kind of weapon?" He asked while squatting down to eye level with the young boy. Nel shook his little head side to side with a question in his one raised eyebrow. Keeping the thought to himself, the hunter nods back and adds another check mark to the "less dangerous" side of his threat meter. Before it gets too dark the trio takes the long hike back to the village. Not failing entirely on their task.

The hunter was proud he had something to report to the others about their new neighbor, and the kids were disappointed in not getting to meet their friend again. In the village life, things happen in due time.

Before the sun set, I decided to circle back toward where I met the little people several days ago. My curiosity about the different plants and animals in various parts of the forest just kept bringing me to new locations. Drifting through the forest in such a comfortable manner allowed me to keep a mental map of my travels. It didn't include specifics, but I knew how far and what distance I was from the hill those kids raced over the other day.

Not knowing what to expect from an entirely different race of beings, I just carried on as usual with my life of discovery. With a peek into my almost empty berry sack, I pull out my gifted red braid circle. Realizing how torn the sack has become I need to put this somewhere else before it falls out. The first gift from anyone…. Ever… I realize with conflicting thoughts. With a quick look at my armored body I loop the braid through a spot on my shoulder for safe keeping.

Remembering how dangerous home hole was, and comparing it to how calm and peaceful this place is.. I start to believe I am not in the same place at all. For the first MANY days I assumed I was just in another part of the forest. It seems whatever happened with those squiggly lines on that tree took me somewhere new. I can't imagine my kin would have chosen to live in such a dangerous place. Had they known this peaceful place existed? Surely not.

My slow meandering pace took me another two days of walking to find the hill I was looking for. Not sure if or when the little people would return I set up a more permanent hide hole right there in the hill with the best view around. The next morning I noticed a smoke line coming from the tree tops in the distance. With a shrug I assumed that was the village they came from. Glad to know the direction at least, I set out for more of those delicious berries for first meal. They will return when they want to meet.

"The scouts report smoke along the western edge of the formation. It seems there are locals way out here sir." Captain Rictor raises both eyebrows in surprise.

"Why would anyone live out here, there's nothing here! Alright, report received. You may return to your post" Rictor stands up from behind the makeshift desk in his tent to walk outside and review the mission progress.

"Lieutenant Jones, what's the status on the mana beast situation?" The fresh officer abruptly stands and salutes with a fist over his chest before replying.

"We've lost three scouts to what seems to be a bear attack when they entered a cave to look for crystals, another single fatality to an alligator while refilling his water skin, and one unfortunate fella stepped on what looks like an old bear trap and lost half his foot. He will recover with help from the healer. He won't be walking home tho so expect less space on one of the wagons as his service is over along with his mandatory service obligations."

Rictor rolled his eyes in annoyance at the ignorant fools who get injured or killed during a non combat mission.

"For fuck sake lieutenant do any of these men know how to pay attention to their surroundings? Did they wash out of training?" The young officer looks nervously at his captain because he knows this answer will not make the aggressive man happy.

"Sir I regret to inform you, but half the new recruits are conscripted and pushed through the "expedited" program. They pushed them into our unit when we took this specific mission with the assumption that they would learn on the mission with less risk."

"Ah whatever, it doesn't matter, we haven't found anything worth our effort yet aside from several of our more experienced troops condensing some liquid in their core with the steady diet of mana beasts. Mark the cave tho. I will help the veterans take down the bear after we go visit the native people. A feast of bear should provide mana and a morale boost for the men. Make sure to continue the daily cultivation lessons for the youngest troops. They still have a chance of growing into usefulness."

"Yes sir." With that, Rictor returns to his tent and plans a route that wraps the village and the cave into one trip to save time. Hopeful to make it back to the capital before year end.