Chương 120: Back To The Farm

The drive through the Benault Forest with the two E Rank bandits was quiet. The bandits were too afraid to talk, and Damion was uninterested in questioning them. When they finally arrived outside of Bufort's gate and Damion advised the guards on duty that he had captured two bandits and killed seven others it took a moment for the guards to process the news and direct Damion to the Justiciar Order's local headquarters.

After a short description of events and the two E Rankers confessions, Damion was free to continue out on his own. Damion left the gear of the bandits with the Justiciar for them to calculate and add the value to his payment card account. Damion did not pay attention to the amount; he doubted it was more than a gold in any case. Now that Damion was in Bufort and even though he arrived faster than he had anticipated, Damion decided to start his walk to the Galen farm.

As Damion was heading out of the city gates someone called his name and Damion looked over. In the holding area near the gate were trucks belonging to Hoyt Shipping, Ethan was sitting behind a small table registering escorts like Damion had seen Ethan's father do in the past. Turning away from the gate, Damion headed over to greet his friend.

"Damion! What are you doing here? Why did you dye your hair? Did you take the escort mission? I didn't see your name on the list," Ethan said as he tabbed on his tablet a few times as if searching for Damion's name.

"Just passing through. Ran into a few bandits this morning, just finished with the Justiciars and now I'm heading out to Galen farm," Damion told Ethan, ignoring the question about his hair. Perhaps the news of the hero of the east gate had not reached Bufort, but even if it had, Damion did not want to talk about the beast wave.

"Fire Scorpions? Aren't those a bit beneath you?"

"I need to hone my new magic spells and Fire Scorpions make easy targets."

"Magic? Oh, your seal lifted! Congrats," Ethan cheered.

"We've been so busy with expanding the business again that I haven't been back to Saung in months. Now with the beast wave, we're preparing to ship food into Saung instead of out."

"It is alright. I know you are busy," Damion told him.

"You walking to Galen's? I can at least let you ride along until we get to the edge of the forest. You can then head over to his place, will cut your travel time down."

"No, it is fine. I'm using the time it takes to walk to practice."

"News about beast waves don't usually travel much outside certain circles, but I heard the one in Saung was pretty bad," Ethan whispered as he came closer to Damion so they would not be overheard.

"Three S Rank Demonic Beasts," Damion whispered back to Ethan. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Really? And Saung is still standing?" Ethan muttered in disbelief.

"I think they called in every S Rank alive to fight them. There were even people from the magic academies that showed up to fight."

"So why aren't you out there doing clean up missions? Those pay pretty well."

"Just need some time to myself while I get used to using magic," Damion told him.

"I need to get going. So, I'll let you get back to work. Wouldn't want your father to see you slacking off."

"Sure," Ethan said with a smile. He could tell something was wrong. Something was upsetting Damion that his friend did not want to talk about, and Ethan did not want to push if Damion was not ready to talk.

"After I finish this trip to the outer villages to stock up on food, we'll be taking it to Saung. Should be there in a few days. We can catch up then."

"Sounds good," Damion said halfheartedly. Before Ethan could respond Damion headed back towards the city gates and off to the Galen farm. Ethan stood there for a few moments watching his friend walk off before taking out his communication tablet and making a call to Mage Teft. Ethan figured if anyone would know what was going on with Damion it would be his teacher.

Just as he had the day before, once Damion got away from the city gates, he started repeatedly casting spells intent on raising the level of his spells as quickly as possible. If he could complete the quest from the Magic System he was sure he could raise his magic power to C Rank. It was well after lunch when Damion arrived at the burnt fields of Galen Farms. They did not look too different than they had three years ago when Damion first came here on a mission.

The small fields that were walled off with stone had grown a bit and it looked like another field had been reclaimed on the side of the house, but not much had really changed. What surprised Damion more than the place remaining the same, was that the Fire Scorpions did not move on from this place. He knew Ferocious Beasts tended to be territorial, but staying in the same area for so long seemed to indicate there was something else the Fire Scorpions liked here. Damion walked up to the door of the house and knocked.

Mr. Galen answered the door and like his farm, had not changed much. He still had a long grey beard and leathery skin, though Damion did not think he looked as frail as he did before. Perhaps reclaiming more of his farm had breathed a bit of life back into him.

"Here to kill the Fire Scorpions ehh," Mr. Galen said as he looked around and then to Damion.

"What'cha do, walk out here? Where's your ground car?"

"I walked. I like the exercise," Damion answered calmly.

"I was here once before, a few years back with Ethan Hoyt. I see you have managed to expand your safe areas a little bit. I'd like to help you expand them more if I can."

"Ambitious one ain't cha," Mr. Galen said taking another hard look at Damion.

"Mage?"

"Ice mage."

"I can't afford no more than the posted mission," Mr. Galen told Damion.

"That is fine. I'm here more to practice my spells than to get paid," Damion reassured.

"What area has the most Fire Scorpions?"

"The back corner, the one closest to the woods."

"Alright, I'll go there to try a few things out first. If you have another area you would like to section off from the Fire Scorpions start working on that. Once I'm sure my idea will work I'll come over and help with the wall and then clear that area out for you."

"Alright," Mr. Galen said grabbing a long metal pole that had one end sharpened to a point. Damion headed around the house to the corner closest to the Benault Forest. While Mr. Galen headed to a farm plot next to one of the others in front of the house. As Damion approached the back corner of the farm he could see a number of Fire Scorpions moving around the area. Continuing to walk closer, Damion started to cast Ice Shard. Targeting one Fire Scorpion after another with a fair amount of accuracy.

What Damion did not realize, was that in the branches of a tree in the nearby Benault Forest a pair of cold eyes watched as he cast Ice spell after Ice spell.