Adion had decided on his plan of action going forward. He needed to hunt beasts at his level. It was both because he needed to continue tempering his Will while he had the chance, and because he needed the money he would get from stronger beasts. Adion would need a lot of money to travel all the way to Cyalis, after all.
There was no way to do that without attracting some attention, however, at least not that Adion could think of. So, he had just bought himself a mask to conceal his identity. The Outskirts Guild would still know he was Adion from Farfield village whenever he handed over his prey. However, if some people started looking for him for whatever reason, he could still remove his mask and Guild card and disappear without anyone finding him.
Hopefully, that wouldn’t be needed. He would appear to be a low Bronze mage capable of hunting peak Bronze beasts. With his age, that would raise some eyebrows. Still, Adion hoped that people would continue to assume he came from a powerful family clan, and that would hopefully discourage people from bothering him too much.
Adion exited the city through the southern gate without any problem and started making his way west. When he was clear of any prying eyes, he took out the mask he had just bought from his backpack and put it on. It was made from Ash Willowin wood, so dark it was almost black. It had two holes for his eyes and only went down over his nose, leaving room for him to eat without needing to remove it.
Adion released the grip he had constantly held on his aura for the past weeks and now simply hid his middle Bronze strength. Anyone looking would feel the aura of a low Bronze mage. He still hid his space element deeply, though.
He started jogging down one of the many roads leading towards the Endless Forest. He was a bit out of shape from weeks of sitting still, but as a well-trained Bronze mage, it was no trouble for him to run for a couple of hours if he didn’t run too fast.
It took him three hours before he saw the outline of the forest in front of him. The Endless Forest was somewhat close even though the city of Billford had been around for hundreds of years. That was partly because the beasts of the forests weren’t all that easy to deal with, but it was also because the Emperor didn’t want to simply gain more land for his empire. Even though that was a desire as well, he also wanted to keep part of the forest within the Empire.
Many plants and trees had unique fruits and berries, forming a desirable ecosystem. If the Empire were solely interested in land, they would just cut down the trees and vegetation at the border and continuously expand their agricultural fields, making an environment where it was hard for beasts to live and hide.
That was a method widely used long ago when land was more scarce. Now, there was enough land for everyone to live and grow food, at least in the Delovan Empire. It was well-known that the Alago Empire had cut off a vast amount of forest in the southern peninsula of their Empire. It was a much more controlled environment than the Endless Forest, as all the Soul beasts living there had long been taken care of, and mages of the Alago Empire could go there to fight beasts without worrying too much that a beast much stronger than they could handle would appear. The forest was also filled with unique resources that the mages going there could gather and sell for a hefty sum.
Adion guessed that the Delovan Empire wanted to accomplish something similar, so the distance between Billford and the Endless Forest wasn’t very big.
But this part of the Endless Forest wasn’t as chaotic and lawless as the area where Adion had found himself when he teleported from the Remori clan. There were outposts spread throughout the region, some located so deep it would take Adion weeks to get there.
Adion wasn’t planning on going too deep, as the closer you got to the Black Mountains, the stronger the beasts were.
Adion made his way along one of the many smaller roads that led into the forest. Even though stumbling upon a beast this far out was unlikely, Adion still focused his attention on his surroundings. He spread out some of his space mana and focused on sensing any auras that might pop up as he ran.
It only took him a few hours of jogging before he arrived at the first outpost. It was more like a small town by this point, though, as it had high walls running around it and seemed to be of a considerable size.
There are surely at least a couple of thousand people living there. And there are so many more of these places around. Very convenient for Outskirters so they don’t have to make the journey all the way back to Billford every time they want something from a town.
Adion continued on his way without stopping to look for too long. There was a road to follow, wide enough for a carriage to ride on. But both sides of the road were densely packed with trees.
Adion passed a few groups of people along the way. He only nodded in a quick greeting while continuing his jog. Most people gave him odd looks, maybe because he was traveling alone, or maybe because he was wearing a mask, but Adion didn’t get too stuck on the matter.
When it was nearing sundown, Adion came up on another outpost. This one also looked more like a small town, a little smaller than the one he had passed previously but big enough that it should be able to see to his needs.
I should go inside and book a room for the night and get a good meal. I’m starving. I’ll continue a little further tomorrow and head into the forest this time. If I go hunting tonight, I don’t think I will have much time before the sun goes down.
The wall surrounding the town was nothing compared to the one around Billford. It was almost entirely made of wood, with a few stone structures in a few places. The gates were closed and had two guards standing outside, but they didn’t look like the city guard that guarded the gate in Billford. They had no uniform and lacked the discipline Adion could discern in the city guard.
Probably Outskirters that have taken guard duty as a mission. They are both low Bronze, so probably only 2 rank travelers at most.
Adion approached them and held out his Guild card. One of the two men took a look and waved to have the gate open. He had an odd look as he scrutinized Adion.
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“Has young master been here before?” The guard asked, “I can show you around if you want.”
“No need,” Adion answered.
“Alright, enjoy your stay at Outpost Grillis,” The guard said and waved goodbye.
Young master, huh? It might be annoying, but at least most people won’t cause me any trouble.
Adion made his way through the now-open wooden gate and got a good look at the small town. The main street that he was walking on was actually cobbled. It was quite lively, with a few food stands and taverns with people laughing.
At least half the people here seem to be mages, almost all Bronze. We are in the Outskirts, so I guess that is to be expected.
Adion bought some skewers from a man at a food stall, the meat apparently from a Blue Fire Boar. Adion didn’t know if that was true but paid the price anyway and took the opportunity to ask where he could find a good inn. The man was happy to help and gave directions to an inn a few streets away. After walking for a few minutes, he noticed a building matching the man's description and read the sign hanging above the door.
‘The Outpost Inn’? Well, let’s have a look.
Opening the door, Adion stepped inside a tavern half filled with people. He got a few looks, but no one’s eyes lingered for long.
Adion was quickly approached by a busty middle-aged woman. “Is the handsome young fellow looking for food, room, or both?” she asked with a warm smile.
“Both, please. How much for the night and a meal?” Adion asked.
“A room is thirty coppers a night. Three silvers for the week, including breakfast and dinner. Meals are 10 coppers a person, not including drinks.” She answered.
Maybe I should stay and advance to rank 2 here instead of heading deeper and going directly for peak Bronze beasts. It could be a nice warm-up after not fighting for a while.
“I will take the room and food for a week then,” Adion said as he handed over three silver coins.
“Glad to have you. Take a seat, and we will bring the food over.” The woman said as she walked away, taking a few orders for more drinks before stepping back into the kitchen.
Adion went to a small table in the corner where he could sit without conversing with the other people. It didn’t take long for the food to arrive, which was some kind of spicy stew, and Adion happily ate it all. He had been moving around a lot during the day, after all.
After eating his fill, he headed up to the room that had been prepared for him. It was nothing fancy, a room with a bed for one and a small desk with a chair.
Well, I guess it will do. Let’s get some rest. Tomorrow, I will do my first hunt since reaching middle Bronze.
Early the following day, Adion had a quick breakfast by himself. He then left the outpost, which now had its gates open and more people moving in and out. He jogged deeper into the forest along a small dirt road. After a while, he decided to jump off the road and head into the surrounding forest.
He guessed there should be mostly low and middle Bronze beasts around, going by the strength of the mages he had seen in the outpost. He still had his backpack on his back, with all the pills securely in the metal case he had found them in. He didn’t want to leave them unattended in the inn.
He had considered burying them somewhere safe, at least most of them. But the thought of not having control over the situation seemed way worse. Rather that someone stole from him and he knew it than him having no idea until he came and took a look.
Perhaps when he had a more permanent residence or somewhere else that was more secure, he could leave them, but just burying them in the ground was out of the question for him.
Even though he wouldn’t need it, he still had a Supreme Healing Pill of Mesana in his pocket. If something unexpected happened, he could get to it quickly.
He encountered a few groups of beasts during the first hour of hunting, but they were all Stone or Iron, so Adion ignored them.
When it was almost noon, Adion finally felt something that interested him. It was the aura of three low Bronze beasts. The beasts were rushing toward him as they had felt Adion’s aura as well. Adion didn’t want to hide his aura while hunting, so the weaker beasts would stay away, and the beasts he was interested in fighting would find him.
That was how many beasts also did things. Even though they could hide their aura better than sapi, they wanted to show off their strength so that weaklings would run away and the stronger mages would ignore them.
When they got closer, Adion could feel their outline through his space mana and gathered that they were a type of boar. Adion quickly pulled out his sword and released more of the space mana he had in his core to gather between him and the beasts.
The beasts quickly became visible as they approached, and Adion thought they looked a lot like the Yellow Fire Boar he had once fought.
They should be Blue Fire Boars. Maybe they will give me some free fire to use. I don’t want to waste so much of my Will to conjure my own fire.
And sure enough, all three boars shot a ball of fire from their snouts as they got closer. But Adion had the space in front of him under his control and simply froze space before the fire could hit him. He then manipulated the space around the fireballs to the ground quickly before the fire could go out, making the ground before him catch on fire. Without fuel or a Will acting on the fire, it would immediately go out. And Adion didn’t want to risk his safety wrestling for control of the fire still under the three Bronze beasts’ Will.
The Blue Fire Boars were confused and halted for a second before continuing the charge. They were not afraid of the small fire in their way. Fortunately for Adion, the boars had let go of their control of the fire the moment they noticed that the fire had missed, which wasn’t strange. Fire mages and beasts could conjure a lot of fire, but they couldn’t control it for long. But Adion was different; he had taken the Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pill, and as long as the fire wasn’t too big, he could control it for as long as he wanted.
He thought through his options quickly in his head. He wasn’t scared; even if there were three beasts, they were only low Bronze. Adion didn’t want to burn them too severely as that would take away from his reward, so as the boars jumped over the fire, Adion froze the middle one and lunged forward to quickly pierce its skull with his sword. Unfortunately, he couldn’t freeze them all at the same time, but he grabbed two pieces of flame from the fire burning and manipulated into the eyes of the two remaining boars while distancing himself from them.
He Willed the fire to burn fiercly with all his might, and to his surprise, it only took 5 seconds before the fire managed to penetrate the skulls of the beasts, and they collapsed on the ground, dead.
Interesting, it seems like my Will is much stronger than those boars. Or is there something else that could explain how they died so fast?
Maybe it was a good idea to fight weaker beasts for a while. I need to get used to my strength. I haven’t fought since I became a middle Bronze mage, after all.