Chương 54: Chapter 53 - On the Approach to Springdale

Dinner prep went quickly enough, since mana enriched meat was considered a luxury good. Cooper prepared the meat closer to the way a steakhouse on earth would treat it, light seasoning to showcase its flavors and serving it in a variety of preparations, lightly charred steaks, thick roasts slow cooked over an open flame to be served in thick slices, and flash cooked cubes tossed in herbs topped with a light sauce made of a reduction from the roast drippings.

The normal silence around the campfire was broken by happy eating noises, Tia joining in with her own tiny grunts of satisfaction from the extra stool and table that had been set up for her to join them, and there was a quiet murmuring chatter through the camp in the evening twilight as soldiers and refugees indulged in the unexpected treat.

Cooper had filled Eli in over the meal prep that tier two meat wasn't unheard of in the tamed sections of the empire but it wasn't very common, especially not from the upper levels of the tier. The higher level ingredients helped quickly replenish resource pools in addition to improving the flavor were often either used for recovery, celebrations, or for fine dishes for the wealthy.

Since the creature had produced well over 200 pounds of meat, the camp would be eating well for a few days despite the size of the group. Mira sat back in her seat with a satisfied sigh, " Excellent work Mr. Mercer, please give my compliments to Mr Cooper at the first convenience as well. My goal is to complete your attribute allocation before we arrive at the first large settlement, so I expect you to repeat this performance a few more times once we are en route to Emerald Grove.""

But first" She snapped her fingers and dropped her privacy dome, " We must deal with the question of Springdale." Astra grimaced, " Aye, there is likely a traitor in the village that we will need to ferret out. How heavy handed should we play this?"

Mira drummed her fingers on her knee for a moment, " When we were last in the village headman seemed a trustworthy sort and it is a small tight knit community, I don't think subterfuge is necessary, if we state our case outright I expect he will quickly flush out our prey." Mira waved in the direction of the camp, " A small community does not accommodate turncoats, I suspect our target is most likely either an outsider or already a suspect."

Eli brought up the sister's suspicion of the trader from their caravan and Mira nodded, " Aye, a likely possibility, time will tell." She gave Eli a serious look, " You are still unfamiliar with the laws and procedures of the Empire Mr Mercer, while your keen eye should be helpful, please follow the lead of my Lady and I on the morrow." Eli agreed, " Sure thing Mira."" Very well Mr Mercer. Good Eve My Lady, Mr Mercer.", Mira headed off to bed.

Astra stood, stretched, and gave Eli's shoulder a squeeze with a soft smile, " Thank you again for the excellent match today Eli, it was thrilling. Good Eve and rest well, tomorrow should be interesting." Astra sauntered off to her tent, she tossed a quick glance over her shoulder before slipping through the flap, and a small sly grin spread across her lips as she caught his gaze following her. Are you going to start looking at her tail like foodmaker-Cooper does to fruitbringer-Sasha?

Eli snorted in amusement, A little late on the uptake there Tia, I've been looking at that particular tail for a while now, come on its bed time. The wyvern hopped off her seat and padded after him with a yawn, a slight waddle in her gait after the large meal. I like her brother-eli. She's nice, and she said she will teach me how to roast birds once I get a little bigger. A fine goal.

Eli smiled internally at the wvyern's one track mind, getting into bed and triggering the next step in Mira's boosting plan before falling asleep for the night, a sensation somewhere between burning and tingling settling into his muscles as the System modified his body in his sleep. Time to work boosting my secondary physical attributes to meet my primary ones.

Name: Elias Mercer Age: 23 Race: Voidborn Human Class: [Child of Void] Lv 10 ============ Health: 90/90 Stamina: 210/210 Mana: 250/250 Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

============ Vitality: 10 Strength: 21 Endurance: 21 Dexterity: 15 Intelligence: 25 Wisdom: 10 Willpower: 26 Charisma: 10 Free points: 60 ============ 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 10 Stealth: Lv 10 Eagle's Eye: Lv 10 Studious Pupil: Lv 5 Basic Weapon Proficiency - Polearms: Lv 10 Dismantling: Lv 7 Basic Weapon Proficiency - Small Blades: Lv 10 Stalwart: Lv 5 Companion Bond- Tiamat Mercer: Lv 5 Free Skill Slots: 0 / 10 Another night passed with no more dream memories cementing in Eli's mind theory that the recollection was complete.

There was a tension in the air around camp as the patrol prepared to make for Springdale, which worked in Eli's favor as he wanted some time alone with his thoughts. The more he considered the odd events, the more he realized that if he wanted any more immediate answers he would need a way to speak to Vael again, and he would likely need Astra and Mira's help to do so.

Mira had hinted that the Duke's library would contain some of what he was looking for, and whatever he couldn't find there he would need to seek out from the capital, either from the Royal Academy or the Crown's Reserve. His lessons from Mira were still in the preliminary stages, but the Empire of the First Oath was a vast place, the patrol had a couple months worth of travel before they returned to the Duke's home in Emberholdt, and the Imperial Capital was even further.

The pair of women had been very kind and welcoming to Eli, but the prospect of learning anything sooner was compelling. Also the entity had seemed supportive if more than a little odd, but even a small favor from a massive eldritch being from the deep reaches of space had to be pretty significant, and if the third party guarantor that they were hinting at was the System, it did put Eli's mind at ease given how everyone in this world treated it as a fundamental and inviolable part of the greater fabric of reality.

Astra first, pupil or not, if I surprise Mira again she might actually slit my throat this time. Tia chimed in, Auntie-mira would not hurt you, she smells sad sometimes when she looks at you, I think she feels bad about before. Sister-astra would help though, she can burn up shiny-dream-man if he tries anything. Eli stumbled to a halt, Wait, did you see my dreams Tia? No, but I saw a flash of a shiny-man and can hear you worry about him. Is this a two-legs secret too?

Just for a little Tia, let me talk to Astra before you tell Mira about him, he might be scary for the other two-legs. Ok brother.

The convoy set off quickly, Eli was expecting that his training was to be put on hold but was quickly disabused of the notion, as she put him through a quick intensive strength training session of hauling a series of increasingly large boulders before resuming the agility drills from yesterday. The word had spread of Eli's training had spread through the refugees, and most of them had left the confines of the battle wagons to watch the show.

As the terror of their tribulation had eased, boredom had set in, and unlike a normal passenger convoy the patrol had little in the way of idle entertainment, so Eli's suffering had become a popular pastime. Small groups had taken up seats on the crates in the loaded trailer or on the top of the wagons, and some of the younger ones would follow along on foot at a trot.

The heavily loaded wagons and trailers didn't move at a blistering pace, but any of the refugees on foot would need to jog to keep up with the dismounted soldiers, and Eli suspected that the long steady strides of the troops may be powered by a skill that they had in common. Mira had added another wrinkle to his training, much to the delight of their audience, where she would occasionally flick a small pebble at random intervals.

When Eli told Mira that he preferred agility and dodging to tanking heavy blows, her delighted grin made him suspect something like this.

Eli snorted in amusement as he occasionally caught small coins being passed back and forth as bets were traded back and forth, and even Mira cracked a tiny smile at the chorus of groans that accompanied a small pouch being tossed across the path to the opposite wagon as one of the pebbles slipped past Eli's notice, catching him between the eyes as he turned towards his next target.

The pebbles were being tossed with a deceptively gentle motion, but landed with the force of a pellet fired from an air rifle, and Eli suspected Mira was more than capable of putting a little more heat if she wanted to. With the kind of strength she possessed he wondered if she might be able to get one up to the speed of a low caliber bullet. I wonder if I could some day?

Eli grew a new appreciation for the power of the system's enhancements, his body should have been one giant bundle of bruises at this point, but all he was left with was a small welt when he missed a dodge. I can feel myself getting faster too, and [Observant] is more powerful than I expected, it's faint but I could swear I felt that one coming, now that I know what to look for I might be able to dodge the next one even from behind.

Chatter broke out all around as Mira called a halt to the exercise, probably working out the odds for the next round of betting, Eli thought with a wry grin. Mira waved for Eli to join her up front as the forward scouts and rear guard collapsed inwards to bracket the wagons, and as Tia flapped over to drop onto Eli's shoulder he could see a break in treeline up ahead.