As evening approached, Qin decided it was time to set up camp. They found an area sheltered by a large growth on one side and erected their low one-man tents. Quan started working on a fire for the hares and small birds the twins had brought back as they were finishing. Tram made a slow circuit around the camp, dropping something from his bag as he went.

"What was that?" Quan asked when he finished.

"Oh, just a simple array to mask our presence and redirect anything that might disturb our sleep, little extra safety," he replied.

"Really? I've been in these woods fairly often, and we've never done that," Quan commented.

'It's a different forest when you don't have a master at your side," Qin said as he pulled out some cooking supplies. "Is this your first time without a Master with you?"

"Depends what you mean, I guess," Quan replied. "My forest outings were always with a Master, but Asha would often leave me or send me in another direction to do something."

"I am sure she was closer than you realized and had probably checked for anything harmful in the area." Qin had pulled out several spices and was starting to cut up the meat as he spoke. "Don't let your past fool you. There is a reason we come in groups or with stronger members as we get farther from the sect. Keep alert, and there's unlikely to be an issue, but complacency could be dangerous."

"Fair enough, what are you doing?" Quan asked as Qin began cutting some mushrooms and vegetation he'd gathered during the day and adding it to a large cooking pot that could not have fit in his bag.

"Have you never seen someone cook before?" Qin asked.

"Funny, not so complicated at a campfire, no," Quan said.

“Oh, this is nothing," Junjie jumped in. "You should see him when he has all his supplies at home, instead of what he can fit in his cooking ring. If you could cultivate by cooking, our Prince would never fight again."

"I don't see you complaining when you're filling your mouth," Zao injected.

"Oh, I'm not complaining. Half the reason I agreed to come was to enjoy his cooking!"

"Well, now I'm excited. I was fully expecting to eat half-burnt rabbit tonight."

"So tomorrow," Qin changed the topic, "should be an easy day. We will reach the border, but it's still fairly tame. The brothers will scout and keep alert for signs of danger. Tram will find and reset the border arrays while Quan and I stand guard." Everyone nodded their roles clear and laid out before they had even left the Sect. They all settled in around the campfire and watched Qin work for a while as the scent of meat and species began to fill the air.

"So what lies beyond the border?" Quan asked. "Just wilderness? The maps show the kingdom claims land way past where we are going."

"Maps makers always want to make kings and nobles happy, but this is the real end. There is a border town still though. It doesn’t really fall under kingdom rule. I've never been there, but apparently, it's not that large. A last stop for the desperate or the adventurous and is probably more dangerous because of the people than the wilds. But otherwise, it's the animals, beasts and spirits."

"Animals and beasts?" Quan asked.

"Sure, animals are basic wildlife with no core. Beasts have developed a core and can range in power as much as human cultivators," Zao replied as Qin began to hand out food in bowls to everyone.

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“Oh wow, this is great. You should be a chef!” Quan exclaimed.

“What’s a chef?” Qin asked.

“Oh, a professional cook. Someone who works in a food place that people come just to eat what you make,” Quan supplied. “I heard of them in the bigger cities.”

Qin smiled but kept his thoughts to himself as he ate. Soon everyone drifted to their tent to meditate or cultivate before crawling into their tent for the night.

~

As the group checked the border arrays, Quan began to appreciate a new field he hadn't been exposed to before. They found the large and obvious locations he had expected where they watched as Tram inspected and adjusted Arrays after changing the crystals that powered it. They were usually set in an open area on a stone or wooden platform that was built to last. Lines that Tram called channels connected the various crystals in complicated patterns called fractals. Tram tried explaining how they created the complex monitors they needed, but they didn't have the time or basic examples for the Quan to make sense of it. He understood they looked for several things like aura strength or human vs creature to set them off.

As well as the large 'distractions' as Tram called them, they found hidden arrays. Some were scrolls or rolls of cloth hidden in a tree or bush. A few were even buried in the forest floor. According to Tram, these made up the actual alerts. He was careful to rehide and leave little evidence of the groups passing. With the aid of the scouts, he would sometimes relocate an array to a new and presumably better location.

After they had found a dozen arrays, Tram was looking at a few crystals in his hand. "Qin, I don't know if this is a problem exactly, but it's weird, and since you're in charge, I thought you should know."

"What's the issue?"

"These crystals have too much energy left." They should all be drained to near empty. That’s how the schedule is set. Some of these are only half used."

"Meaning?" Qin asked uncertainly.

"As I said, don't know. Just, it's weird and wrong, so I thought I should speak up."

"Okay, if anything else comes up, let me know. For now, let's keep going."

~

"If this is a wilderness border, why so cautious?" Quan asked Tram as they watched Zao climbing a tree to place an array bundle in the top branches of a large tree.

"It is still a border, so there's a minimum level we have to meet," Tram said, "but you're right. This is mostly just practicing here. Another group will come by in a week or so and test themselves by trying to find them and sneak past without setting off any alarms. Then I will get scored against them."

"So it helps you move up in rank instead of fighting as the rest do," Quan mused.

"Oh, I still fight. Everyone does. We are still cultivators. But when the ranking comes, my ranking can get pushed up or down based on things like this," Tram filled in. "I'm shocked you don't know this. It's the same for you as a blacksmith."

"Ahh, well, rank has been an issue I don't dare bring up while I'm in the bad books," Quan said.

Suddenly a high-pitched whistle cut through the sounds of the forest, and they looked up to see Zao coming down the tree so fast that Quan was sure he was falling at first.

He hit the ground and spun northwest along the path they had been following. "Follow, silence," he said and started moving quickly. Just as the confused party started to follow, Junjie released something he'd pulled out while the rest were distracted by Zao's descent. It made a huge racket as it burst through the trees in the opposite direction they were now heading.

"Move," was all the usually verbose boy said when he saw them turning to him.

The group followed Zao in silence at a run. Quan noticed each member of the group had some trick to keep up at the advanced pace. The twins seemed to walk on air at times, skipping difficult steps that might slow or trip them up. Tram would touch bare earth and then suddenly reappear several paces ahead on the next step while Qin was the hardest to spot. He would blur from time to time and move forward rapidly during the blur.

Worried he'd slow the group from whatever they were fleeing, Quan began to pour on the speed. They flew past clear markers of Arrays without ever looking at them. Tram started to show signs of fatigue as they ran, but he kept pushing on as the scouts gave no sign of stopping, and he knew few things would make them act this serious. After nearly an hour of running, Zao motioned for them to stop. Tram went down to all fours and puked from the effort.

"What was that?" Qin asked.

"Giant Cave bear was following our trail. I'm going to see if we lost it. If I whistle again, break your token cause it's hunting us." Without another word, he vanished into the woods, leaving the group in ominous silence.