Alice was becoming decidedly tired of leaving Metsel. That was the conclusion she came to after her fourth day travelling on a horse. She’d thought it was bad when she and Ethan had ridden to that village, but after four days riding, she was convinced that the smell of horse had seeped into her very bones. At least her Endurance was high enough that she didn’t really suffer from the muscle cramps and soreness she had last time.

Ethan had decided that two attempts on Alice’s life were enough. Before leaving Metsel, he spent a few days placing an order with Doll. The [Tailors] who had made Alice’s dress so long ago had given Ethan a list of measurements to submit. After all, according to Ethan, Doll didn’t see non-Immortals. Not even if she was making equipment for them. Her Perks would take care of that, apparently.

A day after Ethan had left to place an order, he returned with a metal shirt and metal pants. The shirt looked almost like a breastplate, but there were some very distinct differences. For one, it looked like it was some sort of hybrid between a long sleeved shirt and actual armor – which confused Alice quite a bit. She didn’t know much about armor, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t what armor was supposed to look like. Inside of the shirt, there were also a bunch of complicated looking straps and latches. Alice had no idea how to put it on. It was also swimming in System mana, making Alice wonder just how many System enchantments Doll had stuffed into the item.

When she had given the metal shirt a baffled look, Ethan had grinned.

“She already had it made. She just needed to resize it enough for the Perks to do the rest. It should fit you perfectly,” he said. “It’s one of her better works in the last few decades. Put it on.”

When Alice had touched the armor, she realized that her concern about how all of the latches and straps worked was irrelevant.

The moment she touched it, the suit of armor started rippling, almost as if she had just touched a pool of water. Then, it had swarmed across her body, and all of the straps and latches had just… clicked into place.

A few moments later, Alice saw System mana spread throughout her body. Then, she started feeling more solid. Almost as if her skin had been rebuilt out of iron. Alice didn’t even need to look at her Status Screen to realize that a huge System enchantment had just activated.

“Ethan… how much [Endurance] did I just get?” asked Alice.

“A hundred points,” said Ethan, causing Alice to blink in shock. She had heard that Doll was Illvaria’s best craftsman, since she was an Immortal [Blacksmith] and [Tailor]. But one hundred points from a set of clothes was just insane. “And you also now have the ‘resilient body’ Perk while the armor is on. It’s a pretty common level 20 Perk that a lot of different melee classes have access to. It makes your skin sturdier and harder to bruise, cut, or pierce. In most cases it’s similar to a 10% increase to your endurance stat – but keep in mind that it’s not entirely the same. It doesn’t provide the same temperature and disease resistance that raw Endurance does, and it also won’t help against things like lightning or fire. Electromagnetic mages aren’t exactly common, but they do still sometimes make their way onto battlefields.”

Alice had looked at the armor, opened her mouth, and then closed it.

One hundred points of Endurance from a suit of enchanted armor was way more than she had expected. The extra Perk on top of the extra hundred stat points was even more ludicrous. While it didn’t quite double Alice’s Endurance stat… it got pretty close. Alice’s [Endurance] was currently sitting at 138, before factoring in stat effectiveness. And now, with her new armor, Alice had 238 Endurance. Alice was very impressed.

Of course, that wasn’t the only precaution Ethan had taken this time. Ethan had done away with most of the entourage of [Guards] that had followed them around last time. According to him, they were useful in a fight – but they also forced the group to move more slowly, making it easier to intercept or harm them. Instead, when the group had prepared to leave Metsel, Alice was more than a little surprised to see Allira, Immortal of Song and Shadow, join them.

Alice hadn’t seen Allira since her time in Cyra – but she vividly remembered just how lethal Allira’s singing had proven against the vinebears. Ethan also assured Alice that Allira was good at scouting.

The final member of their little group was Cecilia. She had extensively tested the best of her [Enchanters], and deemed them able to manage the newly recruited [Enchanters] for the time the journey was expected to take. And Alice was afraid of letting Cecilia out of her eyesight. Given how focused the Society was on her, it seemed far more likely than before that Cecilia would be targeted. Alice liked Cecilia’s survival odds much better if she was defended by multiple Immortals instead of in the city. So Alice had begged Ethan to bring Cecilia along with them, and Ethan had agreed.

When Cecilia and Alice had seen Allira, she had seemed rather surprised to see them as well.

“Your name was Alice, right? And you were Cecilia?” asked Allira, upon seeing the two of them. “Well, it’s a small world. Didn’t think I’d see the two of you again so soon. And you’ve certainly moved up in the world,” she said, giving Alice a wink. “Well done.”

After Allira had joined the group, they had started riding.

And riding.

And riding.

And riding.

For four days, the group had travelled on horseback. Ethan and Allira had taken care of watch each night, which was basically the only time the group stopped to rest. Cecilia looked like she wanted to flop over and die, and even though Alice’s body didn’t hurt, she sympathized with that feeling. She felt exhausted after spending nearly fourteen hours each day in the saddle.

“I see the border fort up ahead,” said Ethan, breaking Alice out of her thoughts. She took a few moments longer than expected to blink herself back into awareness of her surroundings. The monotony of each day had started to get to her more than expected.

Alice looked up, and saw a large fort, made of wood and stone. They were still quite a distance away, but with the horses were quickly eating up the distance between the group and the fort.

Alice could see System mana crackling inside of the walls and towers of the fort, and several hundred troops manning the walls. All of them were dressed in well-polished metal armor – although Alice noted that only some of the armor had System enchantments on it. Most of them looked like ordinary armor.

“Polished armor,” said Allira, before snorting softly. “They must have a lot of free time, if they’re polishing their armor.”

Ethan chuckled softly at Allira’s words, but didn’t say anything else.

“Are the eastern forts of Illvaria… not well liked?” asked Alice.

Ethan shrugged. “None of the other member-states of the Shil Confederacy are likely to invade Illvaria. They’re content to let us act as the front line against the Sigmusi and the northern nomads, although our immediate neighbors wouldn’t mind us being humbled a bit. Since actual war is highly unlikely, the eastern forts are a spot to place troops who have problems. They lack discipline, or they fled in battle, or they don’t level up very fast. It’s a safe place to be stationed, but it’s also the death of a military career.” Ethan shrugged. “So don’t expect much from this fort. There isn’t much substance to the troops here.”

Alice and Cecilia nodded. It was one of the first times that Ethan had spoken poorly of some members of the military, and Alice also knew that Ethan’s father was the general of Illvaria’s forces. For now, she’d take his words as truth.

As the group approached the border of Illvaria, there was a stir as some of the soldiers shifted around. Alice noted, with some amusement, that it looked like there were still [Soldiers] inside of the fort. They were doing their best to… polish their armor? It was hard to tell, since Alice was relying on her mana senses to look at those [Soldiers], but that was what it looked like. The members of the fort were trying to put on impressive fronts to the group as they passed by.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

She also confirmed Ethan’s words as she started to get a better look at the [Soldiers]. The highest-level [Soldiers] she saw were only level 45 or so, and the majority were only level 30 or 35. Most military units that she heard of in the north had a core of level 50 [Soldiers], backed by some elites at around level 70 or 80. The [Soldiers] of the fort were severely underleveled.

A few moments later, Alice saw a man rush towards one of the towers. She realized that he was the [Commander] of the fort, based on the way he dressed and the other [Soldiers] reacted to him. He had enchanted gear, but he was only level 50. For the [Commander] of a fort, that was rather low.

Despite Ethan’s derisive words earlier, Ethan didn’t show the man any blatant disrespect. Instead, he simply nodded at him before speaking.

“Hail,” said Ethan. “Have the replacement horses been prepared? Ours are about to drop, I think,” he said, giving the group’s current rides a few dubious looks. The four days of hard travel had been even harder on the mounts than their riders.

“They are ready for your usage, Honored Immortals,” said the [Commander]. “Would you like to tour the fort and rest awhile?”

“That won’t be necessary. We need to make good time,” said Ethan. The [Commander] hesitated for a moment, as if disappointed, before he gestured to the side of the fort. There, another group of horses were stabled, to replace the horses they had ridden thus far.

Their old horses would be able to rest here. The riders, unfortunately, would need to continue on.

“Then have a safe journey, Honored Immortals,” said the [Commander]. A [Stablehand] led them to the stables, where a new set of mounts were saddled up. And then, they were on their way.

Moments later, the group rode beyond the fort, and Alice got her first glimpse of the lands outside of Illvaria.

She was surprised by how stark the contrast between Illvaria’s lands and Cendarian lands was. She hadn’t been expecting the terrain to change much. Instead, Alice was greeted with an immediate difference. Illvaria’s lands weren’t particularly poor or barren, but the land directly bordering Illvaria was almost a carpet of green. Plants grew with wild abandon, as if they were trying to strangle their surroundings. That being said, there was a certain unkemptness to the plants as well. It looked as they hadn’t been cared for or managed recently.

“Why is the land here so different?” asked Cecilia. Alice was relieved to know that she wasn’t confused just because she was an Earthling.

Ethan, seeing her confusion, grinned.

“There are a lot of differences here. First of all, Perks. A [King’s] Perks often influence themselves at lower levels, and even at mid levels. They might boost a [King]’s intellect, or wit, or help them stay aware of their surroundings. A [King] might even end up with a lot of social skills, to help manage the [Nobles] of the country. But at higher levels, the influence of a high-level [King] becomes more obvious. A high level [King] can often find the most talented members of the [Kingdom] and get a good read on how they might best be trained. If those talents are [Teachers], they, in turn, train other members of the country more quickly, creating a positive feedback loop. It takes several generations to get working, but eventually, this can create obvious differences in prosperity. What you’re seeing is the influence of [Farmers] who are about two levels higher than Illvarian [Farmers], on average. If only one [Farmer] was higher level, the effect wouldn’t be so obvious… but when it’s an entire group of people working together, you get something like this. “Ethan frowned. “Although, the unkemptness of the land is odd. I wonder why the [Soldiers] at the fort didn’t report this.” Ethan grimaced, and then looked at the [Soldiers] they had left behind again. He didn’t say anything else.

“So I take it Cendaria is ruled by an Immortal [King]?” Alice asked.

“[Queen], but yes. [Queen] Cendaria, who named the country after herself when she reached Immortality, stopped aging two hundred years ago.” Ethan frowned. “She is not on the best of terms with Illvaria, frankly. She also likes to rub in the fact that a ‘little country’ like hers has an Immortal [Queen], while Illvaria does not have an Immortal ruler. Of course, she’s also the only Immortal in her country, while Illvaria has six Immortals currently living. I also think she wishes her country had a direction to expand in, although she’s not dumb enough to invade us.”

“So… she’s an issue?” asked Alice, wondering if they were going to face any problems while travelling through Cendaria’s territory. Alice had already been on the receiving end of multiple assassination or kidnapping attempts, and she wasn’t eager to face more.

Ethan shook his head. “I wouldn’t have travelled through her territory if I thought she was going to be a problem. While Cendaria isn’t on the best terms with Illvaria, she honors oaths and treaties. She has some sort of Perk that only works if she uphold bargains. It was probably the result of combining {Honorable Treaty} with some other Perk at level 75. At least, that’s what the [Scholars] in Illvaria think. It’s hard to get the exact wording of other people’s Perks, of course, but part of the reason that her rulership has such a noticeable effect on the country is the fact that her Perk also has a restriction on it.” Ethan shrugged. “Or at least, that’s what our [Scholars] think. At the very least, she has a very, very strong historical record of upholding promises and treaties. And while she and Illvaria have their disagreements, she is still a member of the Shil Confederacy. When I sent a [Messenger] asking her for passage, she agreed, and guaranteed your safety within her lands,” said Ethan. “I had a few [Scholars] comb the exact wording of the message, just to make sure. And even if we missed something, you’re currently guarded by two Immortals and your own strength, along with armor made by Doll. Hurting you would be very hard right now.”

Alice nodded, feeling slightly more relieved at Ethan’s words. It wasn’t an absolute guarantee of her safety – but then again, it was probably impossible to achieve absolute safety these days. With the intelligent and strengthened monster hordes running around, and the desperation caused by the System collapsing, Alice doubted absolute safety existed anymore. People in the middle of catastrophes could do crazy things. That was probably the very reason that the Society and the Sigmusi were so focused on her, despite the fact that it would invite massive retaliation from Illvaria. They were desperate to learn what was happening, and knew for sure that Alice could give them more details than were available to the public.

“Anyway, let’s go,” said Ethan. “We have a [Queen] to meet, and then we need to keep moving. We have two more countries to pass through.” Ethan paused. “Well… three. But one of them is basically only a country by technicality.” Alice blinked, but decided to leave it for later. Instead, the four continued moving through the overly green countryside.

Alice noticed, as the group kept travelling onward, that there weren’t that any [Farmers] tending the fields. Many of the regions they passed through had the signs of recent neglect that they had seen earlier… and a few of them had signs of battle. A few of them looked like they had been razed to the ground, while other villages had signs of the inhabitants packing up and leaving in a hurry.

Ethan and Allira grimaced as they passed by the fourth abandoned village in a row.

“The monster hordes are hitting Cendaria a lot harder than they hit Illvaria,” said Allira, after looking at the messed up houses and bloodstains. “I’m surprised that Cendaria has let it get this bad.”

Ethan nodded. “I knew that Cendaria’s military was weaker than Illvaria’s, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. Abandoning a few outlying villages makes sense, but this is still a little much.”

Alice grimaced.

She might have been more sheltered from the monster hordes than she had thought. She had assumed that Illvaria had the problem under control, and figured other countries were also managing. But the abandoned or destroyed villages they had encountered painted a different picture.

It only took Alice a few minutes to realize why. The monster hordes were bad enough on their own. Coupled with most of the citizens gradually losing their mind, and all of the other cascading problems caused by the collapse of the System, perhaps the monsters served as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Let’s hope the same thing doesn’t happen to Illvaria,” Allira said.

Then, the group continued travelling onwards. Two hours later, the group came upon something Alice had been half-dreading and half-expecting.

“I see a monster horde,” said Allira. “Around two hundred. Maybe two-fifty.”

“What kind?” asked Ethan.

“Glimmerspren,” said Allira. “I don’t see any villagers still left in the area. They lost a while ago. We can take the horde, even if all of them have a few extra Perks. Glimmerspren are particularly weak against me because they have no way to shut off their sense of hearing. They should be a manageable threat.”

It took Alice a few seconds, but she remembered the term Glimmerspren. It was one of the monsters she had learned about during her time in her monster biology class. Glimmerspren were creatures that faintly resembled crows, but had the rather unique trait of folding in and out of sight based on light level. In dim light, they were easy to spot, but in full light or darkness, they were almost impossible to track with the naked eye. They also had the ability to fire metallic feathers at targets with fairly high accuracy.

“Glimmerspren…” said Ethan thoughtfully, before he turned towards Alice. “Normally, I would take this as an opportunity for you to train a bit before stepping in. You’ll need to be able to defend yourself eventually, and we won’t lose that much time if you fight for half an hour or so before we move on. But with times being what they are… I’ll leave the choice up to you. What do you think?”

Alice thought about it. Two hundred and fifty monsters was definitely more than she could handle… but she also wasn’t so confident in the future that it seemed like a great idea to throw away a chance to train. Even if she was reliant on Ethan and the [Soldiers] of Illvaria to keep her safe, she didn’t want that to remain the case forever. Also, Alice was full on basically all of her mana types, and needed some levels in various classes to progress. Maybe trying to get creative in using her magic during a fight would push her closer to level 85 in [Explorer of Magic]?

Alice hesitated, before she sighed.

“How about I try what I can, and then you step in once I start getting overwhelmed?” asked Alice, trying not to grimace. She couldn’t believe that she was heading towards a fight.

Ethan grinned. “I’m glad you’re taking the chance to improve,” he said. Alice sighed, got off her horse, and stepped towards the monster horde in the distance.