Chương 57: Chapter 56 - A Clue to a Deeper Plot

The house consisted of a communal room with a small kitchen, a door leading to an outhouse out back, and doors leading into four rooms each with a pair of bunk beds. He found the pair of women seated at a table in the communal area, one reading through a set of loose papers while the other paged through a ledger. Elias knocked on the frame with a call of " Room Service" before entering and dropping a tray in front of each of them, " If you two don't eat soon I'm going to sick Tia on you."

Astra laughed and set down her papers, but Mira only cracked a smile, her eyes not leaving the ledger as she began eating in an oddly neat fashion for someone not looking at her food. Eli arched a brow at the sight, and Astra snorted in amusement before shaking her head that it wasn't worth it to ask and digging in herself, Eli took it up himself to fill them in as they ate." The refugees are doing better, they set up a mini party out on the green that you two missed.

Everyone is fed and has a place to sleep, and while most will be staying at the inn, a few feel safer staying in the tents with the patrol." He sat down with a sigh as a tired Tia slithered down into his lap, " A bunch of villagers stopped by including Adler and Smith, Mason told them you were busy, and Coop fed any one who wanted to join." He leaned forward and in a stage whisper said, " You two missed the most exciting part of the night!

Sasha was able to wrangle Coop out onto the village green, and Tia thinks Sasha may have even gotten a little handsy before Coop fled the dance floor in defeat." Eli waggled his brows at Astra as she choked out a laugh around her food. Mira smirked while she read, " Mr Mercer, while it would be a little amusing to read an epitaph of 'death by potato hash', please refrain from subjecting my Lady to any more assasination attempts."

Eli held up a placating hand as he sat back with a smile, " All right, all right, but man you should have seen his face, as red as the setting sun." Astra washed down her food with a gulp of tea and a satisfied sigh, " Good for her! She's been circling the man for long enough, it's about time she made a play." Eli nodded, gesturing at the table, " Find anything?" Astra sat back with a grimace, " Not much, a few short letters in an indistinct hand, no signature, no names, no house seal.

The paper and ink quality, as well as the way they issue orders do seem to indicate a noble or at least a well educated and wealthy party dictating the show, but nothing to indicate who." She pushed a small metal case across the table, " Just that." Eli opened it and found a small token nestled in velvet, a small round disk bearing a sigil of a red seven pointed star in a black circle on a bronze token with another symbol in red in the center he had never seen before.

He turned it to look at it from a few angles before closing the case and pushing it back to Astra." Never seen the symbol before, I mean hell I've never seen most things in this world before, but it looks like it is a token to signify an organization kind of like the mark you gave me, but obviously a mark for assholes." Astra laughed and even Mira snorted in amusement before closing the ledger, " Delightfully pithy, but unfortunately accurate Mr. Mercer.

It is no house either of us have ever seen, but it is clearly intended as a mark, and what's more there is an enchantment woven into it." Eli got excited for a moment, " Oh? Enchanting, you haven't talked much about that yet. I assumed it was something that existed in this world after seeing your armor for the first time, can you tell what the enchantment is?" Mira shook her head, " I'm afraid not.

Not only is it quite early in your lessons to cover such a topic, but it is also an area that lies outside of my talents. All I can discern is that it converts ambient mana into spatially aspected mana, the pattern of the weave is reminiscent of a communication device, and the enchantment itself is deceptively powerful, most likely a masterwork."

Mira sighed, " Spatial magic is rare and requires immense power and control to enchant into an item, and as such communication tokens are exceedingly rare, I'm sure you can imagine if they were not my Lady and I would carry them ourselves." She shook her head, " No, the Duke, certain high nobles, and highly ranked imperial officers carry them to communicate in an emergency or to send reports to the Crown when deployed on critical orders from the throne."

Eli gave a low whistle, " So not only a noble but a very rich or very powerful one? Fun. Where do we start?" Mira smiled at him, " Nowhere Mr Mercer. I much appreciate your enthusiasm but both you and my Lady are a little too early on your Path to power for such an endeavor. I'll make some enquiries at Emerald Grove, but I will request that you both leave this matter to me privy to the etiquette of tier."

Astra nodded, speaking after she saw his look of confusion, " It is common in our realm to separate matters into their respective tiers of power. Just like you saw at the bandit camp, from her tier Mira could swat any of the lower ranks like insects, but if she solved all our problems for us we would never grow strong enough to be her peers. In exchange for any problem at her tier we would be too weak or too lacking in knowledge to be much help.""

The system helps adjudicate this to a small degree as you would receive no essence from slaying those much weaker, and if you manage to exceed your tier you would reap a great harvest. Furthermore if a high tier individual starts to regularly slaughter the lower ranks for no reason, the system may issue a widespread warning to the surrounding regions the same as might occur with a monster tide, which would result in them being hunted down by their peers."

Eli nodded, " That's mostly reassuring and only a little horrifying, good to know." Mira looked down at the snoozing wyvern in Eli's lap, " Well there is nothing we can do for the moment, so I am off to rest. Good Eve my Lady, Mr Mercer." Eli and Astra rose to follow, Eli gave her a hip check as they exited the bunk house and strolled towards the green, " How's my guide doing, still ok?"

Astra smiled and nodded, " Aye, it is sweet of you to ask, but there is no room in my heart for slavers and butchers, it is full enough seeing after the good people of the realm." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Eli nodded back, " Yeah I get it, feelings still get weird though, just wanted to check in. You're right though, fuck those guys." Astra laughed as they headed off to rest for the night.

Name: Elias Mercer Age: 23 Race: Voidborn Human Class: [Child of Void] Lv 10 ============ Health: 100/100 Stamina: 210/210 Mana: 250/250 ============ Vitality: 10 Strength: 21 Endurance: 21 Dexterity: 20 Intelligence: 25 Wisdom: 10 Willpower: 26 Charisma: 10 Free points: 55 ============ 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 Taking a break in travel seemed to suit everyone in the patrol just fine.

The mood of the refugees lightened, the soldiers took turns playing games of dice and cards on the green, and the blacksmith was doing booming business performing maintenance on their equipment.

Astra, Cooper, and Mason placed orders and took deliveries of various supplies, refilling their stock of perishable goods and consumable ammunition like arrows and bolts, and the blacksmith's apprentices were out in full force, taking in an endless stream of spears, swords, shields, halberds, and more, which were later returned sharpened oiled, buffed, and resurfaced.

There was no rest for the weary as Mira's training continued unabated, the village children and a few of their parents watched Eli with amusement as Mira put him through his paces sprinting up and down the main street.

Eli had a rival for an audience as Tia's hype squad had grown as several of the village children had joined the Hostler sisters in cheering on the wyvern as she stomped around the village green dragging weighted stones in circles as well as carrying some into the air to drop on targets designated by Cooper. The tiny draconic roar of victory followed by cheers as she successfully struck a target brought a smile to Eli's face whenever his loop took him past the village green.

As Eli's body adjusted to the increased dexterity score, Eli was bewildered and exhilarated by the boost to his agility, Mira's drills reinforcing the supernatural effects as she pushed him to move ever faster, sprinting full speed to cut and turn shedding velocity in the blink of an eye and redirect his movements. It almost felt as if the mana suffusing his form worked as a sort of inertial dampener bending the laws of physics, and allowing for maneuvers that frankly, just shouldn't be possible.

Well at least not without breaking my ankles, Eli was starting to see the value of Mira's training, none of the soldiers moved like this, even when in battle or sparring only Cooper came close, the only one he had seen with the same eerie moves was Astra. I get what she was talking about, my body is stronger and faster, but without someone pushing you past the mental blocks that say 'no that's impossible, I can't do that' you would never realize what is really possible with this kind of power.

Elias was no superhero just yet, but he couldn't help but get excited as he envisioned the future, I mean if a few points do this someone like Mira must be able to run across water or dance barefoot on the edge of a literal razor blade. I have no idea what her level is, but the way Astra was hinting it's got to be in the 200's if not higher.

A thrill filled Eli's chest as he considered this, the drums stirring and coiling before calming, the prospect of reaching such a level one day filling him with hope and expectation.

Mira did relent on the afternoon training since hunting would be much easier on the road, and Elias took the time to tour Jonas' orchard with Tia. Eli was little more than an interpreter, but it was still a pleasant afternoon as he vicariously enjoyed Tia's and Jonas' passion for all things inkfruit. He may have learned way more than he would ever need to know about the life cycle and cultivation of the plants, but if it was important to his companion it was important to him as well.

Jonas only cultivated a few strains, all three still purple but with differing levels of sweetness and flavor profile, but he pontificated to a raptly attentive Tia about the many different varieties of the fruit throughout the empire. Just like citrus fruits on Earth, they came in a variety of sizes, flavors, and colors, and Eli had his notebook out taking a dictated list from Tia as she enumerated all the types she wanted to try once they found a city with a robust enough trade economy.

She was especially enamored with the idea of a brilliant green version that Jonas assured her would match her scales with a milder flavor and a higher water content, a favorite in arid environments. Tia was sad to depart as the sun began to set, but Jonas needed to return home to his family and assured her that he would come to see the patrol off in the morning.

Despondent Tia did not last long as, upon returning to the village green, she made a beeline for Astra and chittered away at her about all the things she learned that day. Astra nodded politely giving Eli a smirk as he caught up and, with only a few repetitions, translated the deluge of fruit trivia from the excited little wyvern. Ding [Congratulations! [Companion Bond] has reached Lv 6] By habit Elias joined Coop and the gang for meal prep, translating for Tia as her and Astra sat by the kitchen in folding chairs, chatting away and joining the casual banter of squad 6. As the sun sank low in the sky some of the refugees and the villagers set up a bonfire on the green while the group from the previous night struck up some lively folk music once again.

The food and drink flowed, Eli joined the gang in handing out food and welcoming the villagers, and Astra and Tia joined the villagers in a local group dance that they were terrible at, but no one minded the stepped on toes or the occasional tail to the face. As Eli closed up the serving line and cleaned the cookware, he watched his new friends dance in the setting sun.

Sasha twirled with Astrid across the green, blushing when she bent to whisper in her ear with a pointed glance at Cooper, and Tia's scales scattered a kaleidoscope of colors across the face of a laughing Astra as she spun the wyvern in circles by the bonfire.

The music rose and fell, and as the day light faded and the ring light rose, Eli's heart was full in a way he did not expect, one he realized he had maybe never experienced before, and, in this moment, countless lightyears from the place of his birth he felt a sense of peace and belonging.

A warm breeze swirled across the green drifting past the clapping villagers and the dancing soldiers; it flickered over Tia's scales, and tousled Astra's hair, before swirling around Elias bringing the scent of sunshine and wildflowers, the scent stirred something within his heart he had never really known before, and it felt like home.