Eventually, I left Stellmo and Algier near the greyed-out gate to their own devices. Algier was still on the ground, though already on a blanket - I didn't want to leave him on the cold, hard ground.

I took Los, with Parcas on top by his reins, and went towards the place where most of us gathered.

There, Fenfallal had already set up his tent and went around helping the injured with their own places to stay. The rest of the unwounded warriors followed his example except for Tensen, who took the job from injured Marvin and prepared something to eat for the whole group. While it was way too early for lunch, it was a great way to relax and think about our next steps.

"So..., how bad is it?" I asked, sitting next to Marvin on a large blanket near the fire.

"Ymh! Bad, that fucker cut me open like a pig in the slaughterhouse..." He clutched his side as he spoke, the bandages slowly reddened, and eventually, the blood seeped out, on his pressing hand.

I looked at the wound and asked. "We should replace the bandages, did someone sew you up?"

"No, Mine is painful, but I would survive without any treatment, that cursed commander broke Arthur's collarbone and one of the bones in Damien's forearm - their injuries are much more urgent than mine measly flesh wound." He looked resolute, and adamant in his reasoning. But to me, it seemed that a bit of selfishness surfaced, with an understandable wish for the pain to stop.

"I could do that to help you if you would let me. I know a bit of how to sew, and although I hadn't learned any particular spells yet, I can use a bit of nature mana - I heard it helps with healing." I sold myself as well as I could, imagining that Marvin would be embarrassed or scared to ask me for help. I am about twenty years younger than him after all.

Thankfully, he didn't have any problem asking for help - I should learn a bit from him, it's not really healthy to bottle everything up and try to deal with yourself. "Egkh... Yes, please try your best." He got quiet for a second before speaking quietly. "If you mess up we can always cut the stitches after all..."

I wasn't particularly encouraged by his comment, But I got to work either way.

First, even before taking off Marvin's bandages, I cut out a piece of the fresh ones and wrapped them around a piece of ice I conjured.

"Put it near the wound after I take off the bandages, but please leave me enough room to amount with the needle." Marvin winced at the notice of the sharp, tiny spike I procured from the med kit along with the bandages.

Then I got to work.

Sewing isn't one of the things I excel at, but I got my fair share of practice with my and Derek's clothes. However, flesh proved to be harder to work with than animal hides and cloth. It was bulkier and I couldn't move it around to get the angles for the needle easier. Either way, I think I did a good work on Marvin's belly, the wound closed up nicely with little strain visible on the skin. Blood still seeped from inside, but that was to be expected.

Also, nature mana worked well to calm my friend, and even lessened the blood flow a bit. I wouldn't call it healing magic yet, but I was heading in a vaguely good direction.

So, having finished with my basic operation, I helped Marvin stand up and together we went closer to the fireplace, where Tensyn gave out a light broth he managed to prepare in the last hour. The rest of our group had already sat there, waiting for us to finish.

I sat down immediately and took a bowl of my own, not a large portion but enough to heat me up from inside. Meanwhile, Marvin went up to Fenfallal, to check the stitches I made. Fortunately, my work was good enough to leave it be. Soon after that, everyone was on the ground, blankets under our butts and small bowls in our hands.

"Do we bury them?" Marvin asked mid-way through his bowl, catching us all unprepared for such a question.

Algier was the first one to answer. It was nice of him, as it would be his decision either way. "We will, but only after we scout the surroundings, we don't have enough manpower at the moment to do those two tasks at the same time."

"Which brings me to tell you what we will be doing for the rest of the day," he said after pausing for a moment to stuff a spoon in his mouth and gulp the contents down. "I, Stellmo and Adam will take our horses and ride around in search of entrances - the rest of the unharmed will stay here and fortify this place as much as possible. As for the injured, prepare your tents and go rest, there is no reason to strain you in such a condition."

I was surprised a tiny bit by what Algier said, as it was very reasonable, none of his weird, psychotic traits surfaced.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Only one thing left me wondering.

"Shouldn't I stay with the wounded?" I asked a few moments after Algier stopped talking.

"No, Fenfallal will take better care of them and also can defend them if needed. Tensyn and Gravis will do better at making fortifications. It's best to use you as an eye." He concluded before returning his interest to his bowl. He didn't look as if he was willing to answer any questions at the moment, so I too, immersed myself in the broth.

Soon, I mounted Los while Stellmo and Algier got on their own steeds, and after leaving Parcas behind with Marvin, we ventured into the plain.

The area around the Gate was one big grassland, where high vegetation blocked the view for a man on his feet but didn't trouble us while we sat on top of the horses. Above the grass, rolling hills spread in every direction, troubling us in finding any places of interest.

Nothing else was in the distance, the hills occupied every corner I could see. Which was weird, as even in the plains around the outpost, I had seen the Fire Mountains far in the distance, so far in fact that only the tops were visible, but still, it was a few weeks of travel.

"Algier? Why is there nothing else in the distance apart from grass?" I asked, as I always did.

"Because the grass blocks the view, obviously." He answered cheekly. "Oh, wait you're right, I forgot." He looked at me weirdly. "The safe area is always either an enclosed space or impossible to escape. Very stale in views too."

"What do you mean 'Impossible to escape'?" I asked, despite feeling both Stellmo and the senior mage rolling their eyes, hidden from my sight.

"It's more of, 'OH! I am in the same place again!', then inescapable. It's like going in circles without any knowledge." Algier explained, still not looking at me.

I think noticed my confusion, as Stellmo stepped in right after glancing in my direction. He probably wanted to see my reaction to a piece of information that I should have known, in his opinion.

"Ehhh... Adam. if you go far enough to the west, you will magically appear very far in the east. Which means there is a spot, a barrier, which can't be really crossed."

That explained things a lot more than Algier's cryptic words.

I asked no more questions, for now.

In a few minutes, we arrived at the top of a nearby hill, where we scattered in three directions - The Gate could be seen even behind the hill we were on, so it wasn't a problem for us to find the camp in case something happened.

I rode west, with Algier going east and Stellmo north.

West was just like the rest of the area, grassy plain with few hills here and there, Which by the way, were my objectives. The older guys told me to do so, so I obliged.

But soon, I realised that there was nothing to be found in my area, on the hills, or not.

Bored and curious about what was in the other places, returned to the hill we started on and went north, in search of Stellmo - neither he nor Algier had returned when I arrived, so they must have found something, and choosing between Algier and Stellmo wasn't a hard decision.

Algier is smart, has some interesting ideas and makes a great conversation partner when I manage to pressure him into talking about magic, but otherwise? He is a dick. And an exhibitionist.

Neither of those two make me ich to spend time with him.

So, when I went north, I found Algier staring at a rock - of course.

"What are you doing?" I asked, nearing a big boulder next to which stood Algier's steed, without a rider.

Algier was on the other side, staring intently at the rock without paying attention to anything else - as shown by the way he jumped up when he heard me talking.

"Wha!? What are you doing here?" He asked immediately after gathering himself up from the surprise.

"Looking around. I didn't find anything interesting in the West, just like you in the East, probably." I answered.

He looked at me and nodded in understanding.

"Yes, you're right. As for what I am doing, obviously, I am investigating this rock."

Another non-answer.

"What's so interesting about it?" I pressured. My curiosity would not be squashed this way.

He looked at me once again, irked.

"It leaks mana, come and look. If you want." Finally some answers.

True to Algier's words, there was a slightly thicker hue around the rock in question. It wasn't a big difference, but if I focused, I could sense the deviation.

"How come? I can't see a reason why it would do that." It was weird, so I asked.

Algiers started to walk towards his horse, before stopping and looking back at me. "You won't find it, the rock is normal."

I looked at him, dumbfounded, as he mounted his steed, before beckoning me to join him. All the while, refusing to answer my rock-based questions.

When I did, Algier led me between two hills. from one of which a small stream poured out, flowing further north.

"A stream? That's why you waited there, to show me this?" I still hadn't given up asking about the rock, but seeing no progress in that direction, I changed the topic.

"No, it was to show you the rock - if I wanted to show you some water, I would take a nap on this hill." He pointed at the one from which the stream poured out. And to be honest, it made some sense - the grass there looked incredibly comfortable.

"I just didn't want to travel alone. We have an hour or two before we catch up with Stellmo, maybe you will finally think of some interesting topics to talk about." He finished.

And just as he said, we did.

The ride was something I can not explain. At the same time, we both wanted to talk, but neither of us could agree to follow the other's topic to the extent that I started to believe Algioer didn't want a conversation partner, he wanted a quarrel competitor. Or better, someone to swear at afterwards.

So, while we rode downstream and shouted at each other from time to time, the sun streaked across the sky marking the time passed.

At the end of our journey was a small lake surrounded by a dozen or so trees and a few streams feeding water into the pool. There, Stellmo sat under the biggest tree, along with his horse, who lay nearby.

The warrior looked bored, easily shown by the amount of ash laid around. He probably decimated the local population of sticks.

"Oh, you have finally arrived. You took your time, you know?" He berated.

-----

So, I will spare you Stellmo's anger issues and the journey back. Where it's safe to say nothing interesting happened, as we just buried the dead, ate dinner and went to sleep.

We needed rest, after all the next day, we returned to the lake and headed upstream of one of the other creeks.

To find the entrance of the true dungeon.