Chapter 31

The days passed by in much the same fashion. We would exercise every morning switching between running and basic exercises and the practice with Adrian’s massive weapons. Once we completed Adrian’s training we switched over to sword practice with Devin. We would go through our forms and then spar. We would either spar against each other or spar against Devin at the same time. We would finish the day with either magic practice or working with Charlotte in the forest. This was how nearly a month passed by in the blink of an eye. We were now able to keep up with Adrian throughout the run as well as use his sword without much hassle. We could swing the swords through the different forms and our skill with the greatsword was coming along nicely. The sword practice with Devin was also coming along very well. He now let us take turns fighting with him. We were still no match for his skill but every once in a while we would land a hit or be able to dodge his moves. We could now both summon our respective affinities attacks. I could now throw balls of water and Sora could send out blades of wind as deadly as any blade. Morigan also showed me how to summon a small barrier of earth that I could use to protect myself. She didn’t know any dark or light magic so she couldn’t teach us those. I could also summon the wind blade but mine wouldn’t be very effective in a fight. Sora had also learned to summon a ball of water and the earth barrier but much like with my wind blade her other magics weren’t combat ready.

We had been at this campsite for a month. Devin had called a meeting for today to discuss our plans. “Alright everyone. We have been here for long enough. Sora and Alex have improved enough that we can trust them to watch or back on a contract. So pack everything up and let's get ready to move out.” With that said everyone got to work breaking down camp and packing everything away. Morigan had a storage item that allowed her to store a certain quantity of things. It was just the right size to carry all of the gear we didn’t need on a daily basis. They hadn’t shared that particular bit of knowledge with us at first because they didn’t want us to try to steal it. Storage items are very valuable and only noble or bigger adventuring parties had them. Once everything was safely put away it was time to go. The only thing I had to carry was my sword. Everything else was in the storage item. I couldn't wait until I was able to afford my own. Though I figured that would be very far down the road for me considering the price. We took one final look around to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything and then made our way farther north. It was time to start doing more adventuring. Training and learning had been necessary and even fun at times but it would never replace being on the road and traveling to different places.

Devin finally let us in on where we were going and what we were doing. “We are heading to the northernmost part of the kingdom at the border with Karengorn. There have been bands of raiders coming from the north into our kingdom and we are supposed to find out who's doing it and put a stop to it. Our orders are to capture or kill every raider we come across. They want to know where they are coming from, why they are coming , and who sent them.” Adrian said. “I Suggest we just kill them. Lugging around prisoners is always such a pain.” Devin replied. “While I agree with you for the most part we will probably need to interrogate a few of the raiders to get information and they can’t talk if they are dead. We will try to capture at least one when we come across them to gather information. Of course we will also have to search every raider to see if they have any information on their corpses.” That pretty much ended that conversation. There was really nothing to add. We had all fought bandits and raiders before. They would stop people on the road or burn small villages while taking everything for themselves and leaving death and destruction in their path. They were worse than animals and I would happily take the lives of any we came across. We were a few days' travel from where we needed to start our search. The burned out villages would leave a trail back to them but we also needed to be on the lookout for roving bands of raiders looking for an easy target. A large group of raiders would consider themselves a match for a group or size. So we need to always be cautious and stay vigilant.

We walked and talked. We had become a pretty tight knit group as of late. We had spent a lot of time around each other and really gotten to know one another. Sora and I had kept the most important details about ourselves secret. As close as we had gotten with them, we still thought we needed to keep those things secret. I mean I had killed another orphan in my escape from the Church and Sora was the Princess of the Sakura Empire. These things couldn’t just be told to anyone. We need to have a little more trust before we could let that information out. Not to mention I was carrying around an ancient dragon in my necklace and I was the son of the goddess of luck. The last part I had told to no one, not even Sora. That was a secret that could get me killed. Sure me killing some scumbag in my former city wasn’t a good thing but if I explained things correctly they should understand. Sometimes hard choices had to be made to escape even harder situations. I didn’t want to dwell on the past. There was so much of the future to look forward to. Time passed quickly on the open road. Soon it was lunch time and we stopped for a break. Not having to carry everything was a far greater benefit than I had anticipated. We could move more quickly and we traveled farther without needing a rest.

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We didn’t want to stop for too long as we had a long way yet to cover so we ate sandwiches that had been pre prepared and continued walking. The landscape didn’t change much even as we made our way further north. From here to where we were going was just a huge forest with a road cut down the middle. There were a few towns around and we might even stay in one if we got there before the sun went down or didn’t arrive right after we started walking. Sleeping in a town would be nice but we had delayed our trip for long enough with our training. It couldn’t be put off any longer just for a few minor comforts. There would be comfort enough when we returned to the Capital after this job. While we had taken more than one contract it was important to report back with every completion. Not only to get the payment that was owed but also to check in with other adventures. To trade stories and learn from others. That was an important part of the adventuring community. There was also the large bag full of goblin ears we needed to cash in on. While the regular goblins were not worth much the shamans, hobgoblins, and the goblin general should fetch a very good price considering how rare it was to come across one.

We walked until well into the afternoon. We set up a simple campsite. Adrian made a simple soup with some bread he had made before we left our last camp. Dinner passed with pleasant conversation. After supper we talked for a while longer. Sora and I went through our sword forms before she went to bed. It was important to keep up our training even on the road. Devin and I stood watch that night. He silently walked me through different sword forms while we watched for any danger that may approach. It helped the time pass and also worked to keep us awake. Once our watch was finished I climbed into the tent and went to sleep. Another long day of travel awaited us the next day. We should pass through a small town tomorrow. We would take the time to quickly resupply before moving on and heading farther north. Sleep came easy to me and before long it was time to wake up once again. After a quick breakfast of eggs and bacon, we were back on the road. At about the time we would normally stop for lunch we came upon the town. Showing our adventurer plaques got us quickly inside the walls of the town. We decided to go to an Inn to have lunch and then we would fill up on supplies. We made it to the inn easily with directions from the town guard.

We were served fried chicken with a pile of mashed potatoes covered in gravy. It was delicious, not quite as good as what Adrian could make happen in the kitchen but good for a small town Inn. Adrian even inquired about the recipe. After we finished up our meal we made our way to the general store. I gave Devin our share of what the supplies would cost. It was important for us not to feel like a financial burden to the rest of the team. Devin and Adrian went into the store to conduct the business of buying the supplies while the rest of us wandered the town looking at the different shops. After an hour or so they made their way out of the store and Morigan put all of the supplies away in the storage device. We had accomplished all we needed to in town so it was time to go. The time we had spent here was well worth it. We wouldn’t have to stop again for supplies and we hadn’t actually lost too much time all things considered. We made our way out of the town gate and continued on a path north towards Karengorn. Once we were outside of the town we continued on our journey. Many days' travel separated us from our goal and we had kept them waiting long enough. The next few days passed much as the first had. We walked throughout the day stopping for lunch and supper. When we had finished for the day Sora and I would practice with our swords. Then when everyone else was asleep Devin would walk me through sword techniques that he hadn’t yet showed us.

We finally came to the area we were meant to be searching. There was a larger town close to here that we needed to visit to get the latest information on the raiders. Only the people that lived here would have any real idea where the raiders went when they had finished pillaging the countryside. We made our way closer to the town gates. Once we got to the gates we had to show proof of our allegiance to the guild. They seemed worried that we may be the very raiders we had been sent to deal with. We assured them we were not raiders and asked if we could speak to the mayor so that we could get more information on where the raiders currently were and what they had been doing over the past month. They eagerly gave us directions. Happy that someone had finally come to get rid of the raiders that had been plaguing them for so long. One might ask why raiders were left to just run amok at the borders. The answer was simple: if the raiders were from Karengorn and the army killed them , it would be an international incident and possibly start up another war. The current emperor couldn’t risk a war with another major power. Not with rumors that monsters were being seen at increased rates all over the kingdom. Though he had to do something to help his citizens. So he hired the guild to go and do what the army could not. The only problem with that was the guild had limited numbers and few still that could take on a job like this. Silver rankers did not grow on trees after all.

We made it to the mayor's office and were let right in. The mayor was a hard looking man of about fifty. He looked like he had spent some time in the army just from how he carried himself. He was all business and told us everything he knew. He gave us several locations of raider attacks as well as locations of suspected raider hideouts. We thanked him for his help but he dismissed it as just doing what was necessary to protect his town and kingdom. We left his office because there wasn't any reason to stick around. We would spend the night in town and then start exploring the places that were marked on the map. We went to an Inn and had a meal. After that everyone took turns taking baths and then it was time to sleep. It will be an early day tomorrow. We had a lot we needed to do. I went to bed thinking of all that was to come. Hopefully we could find these raiders and put an end to whatever they were doing. I just hoped we didn’t get in over our head on this job, but only time would tell.