Chapter Forty Five: The Wild Dogs Cry Out in the Night

Fourth Tower Year 4776, 3.5.5

The Border

This was more like it!

Marc pushed the horse faster. Compared to the nightmare of flight, riding along the well-worn merchant’s road was what travel was truly supposed to be.

He didn’t often get a chance to ride, but his interface compensated for his inexperience, and he now had a high proficiency in his RIDING skill. This allowed him to ride like he had been born on a horse.

The terrain was almost disturbingly familiar. The area was dry and arid, with sparse vegetation and hills breaking up long swaths of flat and empty land. It reminded Marc so much of the deserts in southern New Mexico, that he wouldn’t have been surprised to see a highway sign alongside the road.

Rynan had no difficulty keeping up with Marc, and neither did Hee-ssu, who was sitting behind the tall woman on her steed. Mumay, who was riding with Marc, also had no difficulty with the horses.

They had gone with two rental horses, and had opted to make use of the remaining daylight to try to make it to Wolf’s Mesa before nightfall. The party of four would travel together. While it was hardly crowded on the mostly deserted road, Rynan had suggested that they limit the usage of the portal to the bus to a minimum. They would need to pass the border check, as well as the entry to the city, once they arrived, so they should be able to present their travel documents should anyone get curious.

This suited Marc fine, for now, at least. He was enjoying the wind in his hair, the responsiveness of the horse, and the scenic terrain. He even considered buying some horses outright, but that would be impractical without knowing how useful they would be in the future. If he wanted to keep them stabled in the pocket dimension, Kira wouldn’t be able to use her golems, and he knew that idea wouldn’t fly.

What he really needed was a motorcycle. An old, classic road hog would be perfect. He should talk to Kira sometime to see if it would be possible to find, or even make, something like that in this world.

《Why would you even want something like that?》

“Wouldn’t it be cool?”

《A vehicle like that would be impractical. There are few roads, and maintaining such a contraption would be a huge waste of time and resources.》

“No one who has ever owned a bike, cared about practicality. It’s all about image.”

《Yeah, I suppose, at the very least, it would make a good warning to people around that you are a vain fool who makes poor decisions without actually having to say it out loud.》

“See, saving time is good. Efficiency!”

《Border station ahead. Two kilometers down the road.》

Kira had thrown up a floating green arrow pointing to a small structure he could barely make out in the distance.

Stopping the horse, he waited as Rynan pulled alongside him.

“Border crossing ahead,” He said, pointing to the dot on the horizon.

Rynan and Hee-ssu nodded.

“Should be fine. All our documents are in order,” Mumay confirmed.

It was always a little stressful to cross a border. The changes involved with changing the government whose jurisdiction you fell under alone involved risk and uncertainty. This time, it was expected to be rather simple however.

The Kingdom was a small nation to the West of the Mevitra Republic. History recorded that it was actually once part of the Republic. Many generations ago, a disagreement led one of the regional governors to revolt and form his own nation.

Over time, the relationship between the Kingdom and Republic had gone through many transformations, but a strong sense of shared culture, economic interdependence and the overall stable state of security on the continent had cemented the situation into a peaceful status quo. While no one ever seriously spoke of a reunification, it had been hundreds of years since the last notable disagreement between the two nations.

This was apparent as they passed through the border checkpoint.

Manned with just a small group of guards, none of whom even bothered to ready weapons at their approach, the border check seemed to be set up for the simple purpose of informing travelers that, indeed, they had crossed a border.

Mumay’s carefully prepared documents were only given a cursory glance, and a bottle of local spirits Rynan had procured from the outpost, convinced the guards that there was no need to delay the Guild-sanctioned travelers. Minutes later, they were back on the road. It would be a few hours of riding to get to Wolf’s Mesa, So after they had lost sight of the border, Marc checked his map to ensure there was no one who could be observing them, then opened the portal to allow Mumay to go back inside and check on Beth. Rynan chose to join her, so Hee-ssu and Marc rode the rest of the way, and with the lighter load, made excellent time.

They stopped a few times to rest and water the horses, and while they waited, they spoke about the adventure ahead.

“What do you know of Sett?” Marc asked the usually silent dwarf.

“Not much. It’s a desert. A dead land.”

“I’m curious what is there now. I know that all life was wiped out, but that was thousands of years ago. I wonder if anything lives there now. I mean, how are we going to find this great teacher? Even Rynan doesn’t know where he is. From the maps, the continent is huge, Nearly as large as Tehric.”

“There are animals. The Sett desert fox is a native. I want to see one. They are very cute.”

“You do love animals. All animals? Including beasts?”

“No,” she admitted.

“I don’t like bugs. And anything with more than two heads. Slimy ones, too. A little is okay. Goblins aren’t too bad, but not oozing puss like Mana slugs.”

She shivered at the thought of the universally despised pests.

“How about our friend out there?”

She gave him a curious look.

“He’s out past that boulder deep in the plain,” Marc pointed out the large rock, about half a kilometer off the road.

She squinted, then finally saw it.

Their “guest” was just an adolescent. Marc had been tracking him as soon as he popped up on the map. He had been tailing them for the last half hour.

There wasn’t any danger, from what Marc could tell. The dire wolf wouldn’t attack them unless he sensed there was an opportunity. Marc would not encourage the predator, so he would likely just follow them a while longer until he got bored.

“You knew it was there the whole time?”

“Yeah, my mapping skill is pretty good at that.”

Hee-ssu nodded. She had seen the effectiveness of that very skill inside of the Krt’al Mines.

“Marc?”

He looked at her, wondering what she was going to ask.

“What are you going to do with all those fruits?”

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He let out a small chuckle. Perhaps she had changed her mind about he question at the last moment, or maybe not. He had to admit, dwarves were still pretty hard for him to read.

He pulled a few items from his inventory. A small knife, a cutting board, some seasonings, a small loaf of bread, and one of the black fruits.

He sliced it in half, revealing the green flesh and the pitch-black seed in the center. Popping out the seed, he scooped out the soft flesh. He used a bit of magic to toast the bread, seasoned some slices of the fruit, then sliced the impromptu snack in half.

Taking a small bite, he chewed, then added a bit more salt. Smiling, he offered the other half to Hee-ssu, who took it with a concerned look.

Still, she took a large bit without hesitation.

As she chewed, her eyes widened. It was impossible to tell if she was smiling under that thick beard, but her eyes seemed to sparkle.

“It’s good!”

“Told you. He, what did they call these fruits anyway?”

“The vendor called them ‘abacotl,’”

Marc frowned. That name was… oddly similar. Having learned the origin of the name in his old world, his found the similarity troubling. This had happened a few times. Most things in the world were totally alien to him. Different languages, measurements, customs, and even common sense were as though it had developed in an entirely different world, which it had, of course. But once in a while, there were odd similarities in name or function.

It could be just a coincidence of course. Everything couldn’t be different. Even by chance, there should be some things that randomly end up the same. Still, it was yet another thing that would stick in the back of his mind.

“We have them back where I came from. We call them ‘avocados,’ and they are one of my favorites. You can do so many things with them. Cook them, or eat them raw, you can add them to salad or to soup, and they make any sandwich better. The only problem with them is that they spoil quickly. Once they start to soften, you need to eat them quickly.”

Hee-ssu nodded as she kept chewing.

“That’s why you put them into storage immediately. To keep them fresh.”

Marc smiled and nodded. He had managed to get quite a supply, and with luck, they were native in this region. He would keep an eye out for more at the next city.

Finishing his snack, Marc stood up, placed everything back into his inventory, and checked on the horses.

They appeared to have drunk their fill, so he collected the water troughs and prepared to resume the ride.

As expected, the wolf broke away shortly after their rest stop. Marc remembered seeing coyotes and grey wolves shadowing his car as he drove down the highway. He wondered if this country had even more similarities to his old world. The climate, flora, even the behavior or local fauna seemed to overlap in so many ways to where he had grown up.

He had been in this world for years now, but this was the first time he felt himself getting nostalgic. Suddenly, he wondered how his old Car was holding up. He even spared a thought for his absentee father.

Maybe he could find some tacos and tamales. That would be nice.

Before they got too close to the city, Rynan and Mumay came out.

“How’s Beth doing?” Marc asked.

“She’s doing well. It’s so amazing, Marc. Your dimensional space. There’s no sense of movement at all. It’s as though we never left Clearwater. I think Beth is actually doing better. She can rest with less stimulation. Thank you so much, Marc.”

Marc wasn’t used to taking compliments like this. He just nodded.

As they continued to travel deeper into the Kingdom’s territory, Mars started to notice the terrain changing. Signs of ground erosion increased in amount and size. Walls of stone started to rise up, as the road followed a path resembling a wide canyon. The river had disappeared ages ago, but the walls of hard stone remained.

When they reached Wolf’s Mesa, Marc was astounded.

Clearwater was a fully constructed fortress. A giant turtle-shaped city, surrounded by a huge wall, and containing an entire community.

Threshis, by comparison, was a more traditional city, but beautiful and timeless.

Wolf’s Mesa was… a mess.

It was, in fact, a giant mesa, nearly the size of Clearwater. They could see it clearly rising above the ancient dry river valley.

But unlike Clearwater, which was a nearly entirely man-made construction, this city looked like it had grown organically, like ivy on a building.

Atop the mesa was the main city, but lacked the walls and towers of Clearwater. Instead, structures that appeared to be made of clay, stone, and adobe were connected and layered on top of each other. Streets and pathways cut between the structures, creating alleyways and cave-like paths. Giant ramps curled around the mesa, giving the city access to the valley below, while scaffolding seemed to be present everywhere.

It resembled a strange ant colony more than a city.

Mumay was amazed as they approached the ramps leading up to the city. This was the first major settlement besides Clearwater that she had ever seen, and this one was practically from another world based on its appearance.

Hee-ssu, on the other hand, looked almost offended by the odd construction. Marc often felt that the attention to detail in Threshis bordered on obsession. He was sure that two buildings on opposite sides of the city would, if measured, maintain perfect right angles in alignment.

“This is an abomination! Didn’t the mages even care when they built these structures? They look like they were formed by children!” Hee-ssu spat out her criticism.

“Dear child, don’t be so quick to judge. It’s not that the Earth mages were careless or inexperienced,” Rynan turned her head to the dwarf riding behind her on the horse.

“It’s that no earth mages were used at all.”

“What? Why not?”

“As you know, amongst humans, Earth and Air mages are very rare. Within the Kingdom, they are all but unheard of.”

“Why not allow Earth mages to come from other countries? One look and I can tell how much improvement could be made by a single master here.”

Hee-ssu truly seemed to be offended by the status of construction in this city.

“Hee-ssu, you will find that in the Kingdom, Magic and skills are not treated with the reverence that the dwarves of Zah’paht Dur do. Even compared to Mevitra, the philosophy of the Path is perhaps stronger here than any other place on the continent. This entire city was built with almost no magic at all.”

Hee-ssu was in shock, and even Mumay was impressed.

Marc was intrigued. A place that avoided using magic. He knew that the teaching of the Path was not antagonistic to magic. There were no rules against using, or even demonization of the evil acts that had been perpetrated using magic. The path emphasized responsibility for actions. Frivolous usage of magic would not bring judgment on the magic, but instead, the Path would lead people to understand the root cause of the problems. The greed, ignorance, and impatience of people.

As they approached the main gate at the bottom of a large ramp, Marc looked at the city with new appreciation. In a world of magic, the residents of this city still chose to build this city by hand, without the cheats that could have created something far superior in less time.

He was looking forward to spending a bit of time here; to observe and learn more about the Path and how it was represented in the real world.

Upon producing their Guild tokens, the party was granted immediate entry. Mumay and Marc would report to the Guild Hall, while Rynan and Hee-ssu offered to find out where to return the horses.

Marc was truly saddened to say goodbye to his mount. He looked forward to future opportunities to travel like that again.

Luckily, Kira had accessed maps of every possible route they might take. That included a fairly recent map of Wolf’s Mesa. With that information, Marc was able to locate and plot a path to the Guild Hall without having to ask for directions.

As they walked through the city, Marc noticed more differences.

“Kira, what percentage of the population of Wolf’s Mesa is human?”

《I’ve updated the census counts I had with my own scans of the city. The population of Wolf’s Mesa is 176,324 people. The percentage of humans is 96%.》

Woah! 96% That’s incredible. That meant less than 10,000 people in this entire city were not human. While Clearwater was mostly human, other species still made up more than 30% of the population. No wonder they were so short of Earth and Air mages.

The Guild Hall was, like nearly every other building in the city, constructed of dry clay walls. It was a stark contrast to the rather opulent Halls in Clearwater and Threshis. Like the other halls, however, it was a buzz with activity. Guild employees in uniforms ran around with stacks of documents, and Guild hunters gathered around tables, reviewing contracts and commissioning documents.

The Guild Head was working just as hard as every other officer. A thin, frazzled man in his late middle age, he was the one who helped process their local registration.

“Clearwater? I see. On an expedition? Fine. Sett… Research… Sea route… Okay, that’s all good. Would you need any supplies or resources?”

“Ummm. No. We are still fully supplied.”

The Head finally looked up from his documents and looked at Marc and Mumay with a suspicious look. But as quickly as he had looked up, his gaze dropped back to the papers in front of him.

“Fine. How long do you intend to stay in Wolf’s Mesa? You are free to stay as long as you like, of course, but it would be helpful to know if you would be available to take requests.”

Mumay looked confused.

“We can take local requests?”

“Of course! We could use every bit of help. Always underserved here. Not many glamorous hunting requests out this way, but always in need of couriers and labor contracts.”

At that, the Head seemed to notice the size of Marc and the slight build of Mumay. Shaking his head, he continued.

“Of course, there is no pressure to take jobs, especially while you are on a sponsored expedition… Oh, also, I regret to inform you that the Guild dormitory is under renovation and unavailable for the near future.”

“That’s fine. We won’t be here long. We are just going to get our bearings and move toward the coast as soon as we can,” Marc offered.

“I see. That’s fine, then. Everything is in order. Thank you for visiting Wolf’s Mesa Guild Hall. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you do need any assistance while you are here.”

Before Marc could even respond, the man disappeared to grab another stack of papers, and then ran off to another part of the hall. He had not even remembered to introduce himself.

“So rude! I thought Meservi was bad. Is this what the smaller Halls are like?”

Mumay was scowling while scrutinizing the Hall operations.

“If I want to continue moving up, I’ll likely need to spend some time working in another Guild Hall for a while. Now I’m starting to wonder if I can do that.”

“If you got assigned to a place like this, would you drag Enpii along with you?”

“Of course! He’s got to follow me wherever I go. That’s a given.”

Marc again felt a twinge of jealousy toward his friend. If it weren’t for the current situation with Beth, he would say that Enpii had really defied expectations to build a charmed life.

He needed to help Beth get better as soon as possible. There would be no time to loiter in a place like this. They needed to keep moving.

“Let’s go get Rynan and Hee-ssu. No need to stay here long.”

Mumay nodded, then the set off into the city.