Chương 28: Chapter 27 - On the Road Again

Elias found the gentle sway of the creaking wagon beneath him to be surprisingly calming, and after all the excitement yesterday it felt like it had been days since he had a chance to sit and decompress. Eli took a moment to lean back and enjoy the warm breeze drifting by under the sun-dappled canopy above, heavily laden with the scents of damp earth, moss, and a hint of wildflowers.

As he closed his eyes and breathed deep, he felt his weariness drop away, buoyed up by the wind rushing through the leaves and soft banter of the soldiers driving the carriage. He was surprised that the idle chatter in the background brought him such peace and satisfaction, he had always sought solitude back on Earth, but maybe it took experiencing true isolation to appreciate the company of others. After a final deep satisfying exhalation, he sat up, cracking an eye to check on the pair up ahead.

Astra and Mira rode side by side on their saddled lizard mounts, surrounded by a dome of frost tinted air as Astra narrated some tale or another. It must have been a gripping story given the amused expression on Mira's face and the wild gestures that Astra was making.

While Astra may have been deeply absorbed in whatever tale she was telling, Mira was clearly keeping an eye on their surroundings and the pair were bracketed by the four soldiers of 1st squad marching on either side keeping a wary eye on the tree line. Eli watched the swaying gait of their mounts for a moment, mounts which he had learned were called Ridgebacks for the thick layer of scales protecting their spines, a sleeker, more predatory version of the broad Bluffbacks pulling the wagons.

Apparently they all belonged to a group of creatures called field drakes, which definitely led Eli to ask about dragons. According to Coop and his squadmate sharing the driver's bench, one Private Sasha Fletcher, a muscular brunette with dark skin and sharp green eyes and a scar notching one eyebrow, dragons not only existing in this world, but were considered strong beyond measure. Sasha arched a brow up at Eli on his perch above them."

While no one I've known has seen one either, I'm surprised that you think they're some kind of myth." She pointed up at the mountain ridges peeking through the canopy above." The Dragonspine mountains are supposed to be full of them." She snorted, waving a hand in the air."

I mean only a real dim wit would believe the old tales of the mountains being the remains of some old monster, but you can occasionally find some trophies in the larger guild halls or garrisons, giant heads or claws mounted in their trophy rooms and such. They're supposed to be ferocious beasts, with strong claws, fangs, and nigh impervious scales, and the older ones can also wield powerful magic from the rumors I've heard." She waved towards Eli to lean down."

I've even heard a rumor that the Old Duke fought one or two a way back, but the family doesn't like to talk about it." She leaned back, " Nothing to worry your head too much about though, apparently they're intelligent creatures, as smart as you or I if not more. Supposedly they are proud creatures, rightly so in my opinion, and just don't see any need to mingle with the rest of the mortal Folk." Waving her hand back at the mountain, " So they stay on their side of the Spine, and we stay on ours. Easy."

Eli leaned back to look up at the towering peaks above in wonder." Even so I would love to see one, wouldn't that be amazing? How many people could say they met a dragon?" Sasha gave Eli a dubious look while Coop laughed and shook his head." Aye, I imagine it would be something, although you might be made of sterner stuff than me. I'd rather keep my head where it is if you catch my meaning. The sight might be wondrous, but I rather make the midday snacks than risk ending up as being one."

Eli chuckled, " Yeah, but with your cooking who knows, maybe you would make a friend instead?" Coop waved him off, " Sure, sure." Eli laughed before rising, dusting some fallen leaves off his lap." Time to get started on my project." Coop chuckled, " Good luck!" before leaning over to whisper at Sasha upon seeing her confusion. She gave Eli's retreating form an appraising gaze as he disappeared over the parapet.

Eli dropped to take a seat in the middle of the rooftop and opened his status menu for the first time since meeting Astra. He had heard numerous chimes ring in the back of his mind throughout the previous night, he was still surprised at the speed of his progress. Astra inferred that [Whistling] in the 200's was amazing, so I doubt it's normal to level this fast. Eli eyed his class name [Child of the Void] for a moment.

I mean she did say I had a child class at one point, does that mean it's literally a category for children? Then what the hell does everyone else have? I remember Astra mentioning a skill to [Identify] people, do I have anything I can check with? He flipped through to find one of the kill notifications. Ding [Congratulations! You party has defeated a [Bandit Reaver] (Earth Lv 12)] Ding [Alert! You have reached your first class evolution. Any experience gained will be banked under after your class evolution has been completed.] Huh, looks like I'm stuck at 10 until I complete this evolution, I wonder how I'm supposed to do that. I'll have to ask Astra, I also have all these free points I don't want to mess anything up. Oh that's new! Ding [Congratulations! You have unlocked the general skill [Stalwart]] Ding [Congratulations! You have learned the general skill [Stalwart] Lv 1] Eli flexed the mental muscle to show the skill description.

Ding [Stalwart: Lv 1 - When duty called, you answered. You have shown exceptional perseverance in the aid of others and a strong will to see your objective completed in the pursuit of an action you view as righteous. This skill will passively provide a minor enhancement to your strength and endurance when you are pursuing an objective you view as righteous, and will provide a moderate boost to willpower to resist mental attacks that may obstruct you from the completion of your duty. Increased strength, endurance, and willpower boost per level.] This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Eli covered his face in embarrassment, I am definitely not telling anyone about this one, especially Astra. I'm sure it will be useful, and it makes sense after everything from yesterday. Eli sighed, slumping his shoulders with a wince, but it sounds totally cringy. Whatever, problem for later. He pulled up his current full status page.

Name: Elias Mercer Age: 23 Class: [Child of Void] Lv 10 ============ Health: 90/90 Stamina: 210/210 Mana: 250/250 ============ Vitality: 9 Strength: 21 Endurance: 21 Dexterity: 10 Intelligence: 25 Wisdom: 9 Willpower: 26 Charisma: 7 Free points: 70 ============ Class 1: [Child of the Void] Class 2: Locked Class 3: Locked ============ Class Skills: [Child of the Void] Locked ============ General Skills Observant: Lv 10 Tracking: Lv 7 Stealth: Lv 10 Eagle's Eye: Lv 5 Basic Weapon Crafting - Primitive: Lv 4 Basic Weapon Proficiency - Polearms: Lv 5 Dismantling: Lv 2 Basic Weapon Proficiency - Small Blades: Lv 8 Stalwart: Lv 1 Free Skill Slots: 1 / 10] Looks like watching the fire was worth one more level in [Eagle's Eye].

I bet that was why Mira told me to practice a bit. It looks like it's not just using the skill that advances the level but trying to push the boundaries of what it can do also helps. He opened his eyes to take a look at the pair up ahead before rolling his eyes as Astra mimed stabbing with a knife and getting splashed in the face, pointing in his direction while Mira threw her head back and laughed. I guess there goes my chance at making a good impression on Mira.

Well nothing to it except to show I have what it takes. Eli flicked an eye at his mana pool. [Mana: 250/250] All right, back to full! Wait, could I get some kind of HUD like a video game? The system can display windows after all. Eli focused on his desire to know his mana pool at all times, but nothing happened. Hm, maybe I need to be more specific. Eli decided to focus instead on the memory of seeing little bars in the corner of his screen. Eyyyyy, look at that!

Three little bars with labels appeared in the corner of his mind. Even better than I imagined, they even fade away if I don't focus on them. Happy with his success Eli settled in to work on his vision skill while keeping an eye on his mana bar, not wanting a repeat of the prior headache.

He had to be careful with his mana expenditures with how slowly it recharged, by the combination of the pleasant forest environment and the quiet banter of Coop and Sasha in the background set his mind at ease, allowing him to devote his entire focus to the task.

The afternoon passed by in a pleasant fugue, as Eli sat cross-legged atop the wagon working on his skill. With time he was able to get a better feel for energies drifting up from his core and better direct their efforts.

He was able to figure out the trick of detail at a distance by guiding the energy to cornea, and later to adjust the zoom by splitting the flow to include a separate stream for the iris and lens that could be independently adjusted to fine tune the focal point of the lens beyond what his ocular muscles could normally achieve.

He was definitely delighted to find out that after repeating each modification a few times the system would 'lock in' the feature, for the lack of a better term, and instead of needing to focus on intently directing the energy it would become a sort of mental toggle or dial he would need to adjust instead, greatly reducing the mental load required.

Eli was a little stumped on the third task, he had a feeling it could be achieved by a similar separate focus to the rods and cones around the optical nerve, but couldn't quite find the method for it. He had long ago maxed out the skill level for his rank. Ding [Congratulations! [Eagle's Eye] has reached Lv 10] That would be weirdly arbitrary to stop improvements there though? I mean the system seems to encourage and reward exploration and experimentation, it would be odd to dampen progress.

Eli thought back pondering his experience with the System in this new world so far. Actually it seems to reward violence the most, which is kind of fucked up if I'm being honest, another question for Astra. Eli's musings were brought to a halt as the wagons broke through the tree line arriving back at the river camp, as the sunlight washed over his back as the canopy of the forest fell away behind him, he was surprised to find it was much later than he expected.

Squinting into the dropping sun, Eli held up a hand to gauge how much daylight was left. Huh, maybe a little over an hour until sunset, I must have been more wrapped up in the practice than I noticed. Eli rose and stretched out his limbs, shaking out a cramp in one leg from sitting still for so long in one position, and watched as Coop pulled it around onto a more heavily used dirt path easing the Bluffbacks to a stop as the second wagon pulled up alongside.

Sasha hopped down to being unhitching the beasts, leading them off a small patch of meadow nearby for grazing, as Coop knocked twice on the side of the wagons before circling around back to drop the stairs and begin helping the refugees inside dismount. Gazing around it was clear that for the most part everyone knew their duties and pitched in on auto pilot as they started unpacking goods and checking on the refugees.

Not one to stand around Eli hopped to the ground and walked up to Coop as he helped a tired looking woman shakily climb down the steps. Eli clapped a hand on his shoulder before walking to the other side to help the woman on her other elbow." Well Coop, I kind of feel like a fifth wheel around here, is there anything I can do?" Coop raised a brow with a huff of amusement." Well I don't know friend, is there anything you can do?"

Eli laughed a little harder than he should, all he needs is the cigar, waving off Coop's look of confusion." You reminded me of someone from home, I'll tell you later. I have two arms, two legs, and I'm good with a knife. I'm more than happy to do some heavy lifting, and while I doubt I have anything like your skill in the kitchen, I can peel and chop with the best of them. Where can I help?"

Coop smiled, the blond hair, brown eyes, and sunny attitude reminding Eli of a golden retriever, Yeah that's probably a better fit than the sergeant from the horror movie." I can work with that, once we have these people unloaded, why don't you join me over by the field kitchen." Eli nodded, " Will do."