Chương 86: CHAPTER 83 — Westward Roads

Mark agreed to escort Owen to Lakeside as a favor to Garrick, who used to be the carpenter for that village. Garrick came to visit Forest's Rest and decided to stay, but at the request of the leaders at Lakeside, he had found a carpenter that was willing to move there and help out with their needs. When Elias found out about the trip, he also wanted to go to set up more trades for their wheat that they were harvesting and to look for folks willing to help with livestock and farming in the southern zone.

Along with any other tradespeople they could find that wanted a new adventure. Mark also wanted to go on this trip to strengthen ties with Lakeside and get to know the surrounding villages and outposts. But mostly for his class upgrade, he needed to explore another zone, and getting trade agreements along the way would be great for the outposts he represented. As they were preparing to leave, Cora came to Mark, also asking about his trip.

She was still working on her project to improve transportation and roads and had heard that the zone west had some good roads and trails and wanted to check them out to see what she could learn from them. So finally, after many delays, the four of them headed west. They crossed over the stream and followed the new path that was there.

When Mark first visited, there were no trails connecting settlements, but now with the influx of people and the outpost tasks to build trails, he was told they existed the full way there. Mark's plan was to circumnavigate the full zone. His goal was to finish his second zone survey and complete that portion of his class upgrade. They started first by going directly to Lakeside.

It was just over a half-day's walk from the Crossroads, so really not that far away, and with the speed boost on trails, they covered the distance quickly. When they got there, Mark introduced Owen to Mara and Edwin and let them know he had come as a replacement for Garrick, who had decided he was going to stay and keep building and then move south to build that zone. Edwin said he was disappointed that Garrick was not coming back, but they appreciated that he had sent someone as a replacement.

As the others went to look around the village, Mark and Elias sat down with Mara and Edwin to discuss trade for the wheat. Elias had brought a full bag of wheat and set up a trade deal for Milk, Eggs, more baby goats, and chicks along with other equipment and needs for the farming. The village was very grateful to have the trade routes, which were set up between Forest's Rest and would transfer to the southern outpost once it was built.

They then talked about the migration of people who had headed toward the cave and the fact that even with so many heading that way, their village had gained 10 residents since the last time Mark had been there. Mark then brought up the Forgeworks project and let them know about the future options for system-sanctioned projects and the things they had done to open that option. They also told them about the Rootmaw Alpha, which had killed multiple people in the operation to take it down.

He also shared with them the class he had and how he had opportunities to adjust and affect minor changes to the zone and his intentions to visit to open the option here. Mara immediately grew defensive until her husband calmed her down. She thought that mark was trying to come and take over their village, which he explained was not his intent. He assured her that all he wanted to do was offer help. Maybe offer advice using the extra tools his class provided.

That he had no intentions to create, own, or control any part of their zone. Finally, they wished him well as they went to scout the zone. Mark was surprised at first that she was upset with him, but as he walked south, he thought it through and realized that he could have presented his offer maybe in a better way and decided he would not be so pushy going forward with the other outposts and villages in the zone.

They headed south following the map that the couple had given them toward what was listed as the southern outpost. It took the rest of the day to get there, as they arrived at dusk. The outpost did not have extra rooms for rent, so they were invited to pitch their tents in one of the residents' fields for the night; then they could talk to the outpost owners in the morning.

The next morning, when they got up, he pulled up his zone map and was glad to see that more of it was being filled in and that he could see that there was a trail directly south from the crossroads to the outpost and a trail that went almost directly north up to Lakeside from this outpost along with a lake that was southwest from this point.

When they finally spoke to the outpost leaders, they found that the outpost only had 8 full-time people living there, which was about what Mark had expected from the cabins that existed there. He found out from them that the cabins had been constructed by Garrick, and they asked if he was back in the area, as they wanted to get another couple cabins built. Mark let them know that Garrick was not back but a new builder was in Lakeside and that they could reach out to him for their needs.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Elias was able to set up a very small trade of wheat for fish and some vegetables and fruits and wild berries. He found out from them that one of the boys named Scott living in the village had wanted to head east and that he could escort the first shipment of goods to Crossroads, and then when Elias got back, he would go down to help Elias farm.

Elias then let him know that he would get an extra three bags of wheat sent down to them for their willingness to let Scott travel east and work for Elias. Before they left, the leader of their camp warned them about going south, as there was an abandoned riverport, and no one that had gone there had ever returned. Mark, Cora, and Elias left just after breakfast, heading north to the crossroads, then west toward the Westward Village.

After the outpost was out of sight, Cora asked, "So, Mark, what do you think about the story of the river port? It sounds interesting; I think I want to go visit it." Mark replied, "My map shows a directional marker south to the abandoned riverport, but it's not on the map of the current zone. It might be worth sending a team down to investigate sometime, but if we do, we need to make sure it's a group that can fight so that they return and don't just vanish like the outpost leader said had happened to others."

Cora replied, "I will make notes of it and talk to our scouting group about it then." They continued northwest past the first split in the path and then west again at the next branch of the path. The trail and woods were beautiful. They eventually got to a river with a bridge across it. Mark stopped to admire the bridge. Garrick had told him that he built it before he left. They had talked about building a couple bridges near Cave Camp and Crossroads but have yet to start building one.

Mark was impressed with its design, and it made him really want one added now that he has seen this one. They got to Westward just after lunch and sat down with a few of the village members and discussed the trade agreements. Their leader said, "You have wheat to trade?" Another person said, "real bread?" They were excited about the wheat. They had heard that Lakeside had some; they had used it so quickly that none of it had made its way to them.

They created more trade deals for Wheat, tools, and other trade goods in exchange for carpentry-made goods; they had chairs, tables, candles, beds, and other goods that had become one of the region's primary trades. They were very interested in trade with the east and promised that they would, in the next few weeks, get together with those in the local area that had goods to trade and make a trip out to crossroads to do some one-off trades.

As they headed north on the trail up the west side of the lake, Cora commented that the trails here were well made and maintained and was impressed about the traffic along the roads. From the start of their trip to then, they had passed more than 15 groups going in one direction or another, meaning that the area was more active than he was led to believe. They had not traveled far until Mark received a notification.

[Zone Control Increased] Silvermere Lake Region Control Rating: 22% → 45% Mark had seen the name of the lake on the map but never realized that the zone was referred to by that name. He was pleased that he was gaining control without ownership. But with his class of Frontier Steward, he was not surprised. He pulled up his map to see the trail detailed in and had the full southern part of the zone filled in with only a few minor locations not revealed.

He saw that a river flows out of the lake that Lakeside was on and flows down to another lake that was mostly in the zone south of this one. As they continued north, they found another trail branching directly west, but from the map, they also saw it left the zone, so they continued north. The sunlight was fading when they finally made camp on the side of the path.

The zone map showed that they were almost to the Northern village but they did not want to show up in the middle of the night, so they waited until morning. Just before going to sleep, he brought up his class status.

[Frontier Steward — Apprentice Rank] Advancement Requirements: • Maintain 3 functioning outposts (4 / 3) COMPLETE • Establish an active regional trade network (1 / 1) COMPLETE • Coordinate 3 successful regional operations (3 / 3) COMPLETE Rootmaw Hunt, Southern Survey Expedition, Western Trade Delegation • Support a population of 50+ across connected settlements (150+ / 50) COMPLETE • Develop 5 specialized professions within settlements (6 / 5) COMPLETE • Expand controlled territory influence to 3 connected regions (3 / 3) COMPLETE Northern Forest Region, Southern Wheat Plains, Western Lake Region • Construct a permanent regional infrastructure project Forgeworks: (15% / 100%) Potential Advancement: Journeyman Frontier Steward Mark was surprised to see that it was now all complete except for the Forgeworks, which was still 25+ days from completion.

He went to sleep with a smile on his face; another day or two at most and he would be back to Forest's Rest, where he could see what he could do to speed up the Forgeworks.