Early the next morning we awoke to the sounds of the private adventurer group packing up camp. They kindly lent us a spare horse they had with them to help us going forward and some extra supplies they had left over. We would return the horse once we arrived in Obon, also our horse would be happy with the company. We tried to convince them to wait for another week until we could all go together. We would make a formidable caravan train and few direwolf riders would dare to tackle a group of that size. But they politely declined, stating contract deadlines. It was a pity.
After their carts disappeared to the south, a quiet solitude surrounded us. The gentle wind blew over the reeds creating hushing noises as they rippled in waves. The water was clear and still. As much as we enjoyed the brief rest, we needed to get on with what we came for. I was certain the level of marsh-iron ore would diminish in volume the closer to the shoreline following successive searches of marsh-iron ore over the years that had cleared out all the areas closer inshore.
I discovered that larger, more well-funded expeditions created raised wooden sections where the team could camp out for a longer period and where the horses could keep clear of the water. The reused wooden platforms eventually broke down over the years. There hadn’t been an expedition like that for a long time so we couldn’t expect any wooden platforms for our horses.
With my level of skill, I could evaluate an area of around twenty-five meters for metals or other items. The restricted area coverage had more to do with my ability so my range would improve with time. I could already sense one or two small pieces of marsh-iron ore in the area, but it was clear that previous sorties already mined the shoreline well. Tobias made an announcement.
“From this point on, Shane will be directing the search while the Red Sparrows deal with any monsters. Having the other group in the area helped clear out some of the marsh bullfrogs in the vicinity.”
I thanked everyone for their help then explained that one of the horses would need to come with us into the water to help with the pulling of the magnetized iron bars.
Cortez wasn’t too happy about having to let one of the horses go into the marsh lands, but we were eventually able to persuade him when we suggested we only do a three-hour trial run for a start. Cortez and Corey would stay behind to keep an eye on the cart and horse.
The iron bars we connected one side to the horse harness and the other side lay in the water. When we set out the water was only leg deep at its highest and didn’t vary much as the ground on which we were walking was flat for a long distance.
I picked a place I knew would have a smaller amount of marsh-iron ore and the iron bars immediately ripped the iron out of the ground and attached to the iron bars. That surprised everyone but me but to get the iron piece off we had to slide the iron off at the end of the bars. I hadn’t thought that through too well. It turned out that it needed some effort to remove the iron, and when we picked up a large chunk of iron it would hold up the work until we removed the piece. I didn’t expect it to take that much effort, I needed more thought, or I would scrap the idea.
Using a combination of earth and water skills I picked up where any remaining marsh-iron ore lay. After two hours of wandering around it became clear that the amount of iron in the ground was minimal in those areas. We would find little or no ore there.
There was something else I kept finding abundantly scattered on the lakebed, hundreds of marbles shaped objects that looked and felt like white stony pebbles. They varied in size, but most were about the size of a thumb nail. We bumped into a large one about the size of a grapefruit which I held onto for later investigation. These items called marsh stones had no intrinsic value. Some had included them in odd jewellery items but because they were common and the stones held no attractive features, they were essentially worthless.
After three hours of cold, wet marsh water work we arrived back at the base camp with not much to show for it. Cortez already had the lunch going and he had cooked a good pot of hot stew which was like a medical remedy to a cold heart and body. He had improved the food’s taste since I showed him how to use a few spices. It needed a bit of work still, but he would improve.
I pulled out my deck chair and had a chance to evaluate the marsh-iron ore and marsh stones. The sudden silence around me and their blatant stares made me realise that the Red Sparrows were still not used to seeing me use my pocket dimension storage system before. They all looked at me in absolute amazement. My pulling a chair out of some weird looking black surface must have been difficult to process. I had a feeling that by the end of our trip they would be as used to it as we were.
When I investigated the marsh-iron ore it was clear that it was a particularly high-quality metal. It had a few other rare metals trapped inside it, which was why it had certain physical characteristics. I never asked what specifically made that iron so sought after, but I could at once see that there was a small concentration of about ten percent Mustite mixed in. Curious as to how exactly the Mustite came to be in the iron, my answer came when I investigated the white stones more closely.
Each stone had a massive amount of EE stored in it! The marsh was a minefield of EE stones. I think the guys were so surprised when I jumped up out of my chair and shouted with exuberance. I found an EE goldmine. They couldn’t understand why I would get so excited about a small marsh stone. They explained that the stones were the faecal remains of some monsters. That just was plain wrong. I’d even put one of them in my mouth. Later I discovered it was a half-truth because the water sprites were the fabricators of the stones and they created it as a necessary waste product. And through an external means, not through a digestive process, I might add.
The thumb sized stone I held in my hand had three hundred and fifty-seven EE. When I thought that there was an average distribution of two to three stone per square meter out there, the whole marsh became worth so much more to me. The large grapefruit sized marsh stone I picked up earlier was worth just over ten thousand EE. Unfortunately, I was on an existing quest, so I couldn’t just change the dynamics of the search, but there was a better way of operating.
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“Tobias. I would like to make a proposal on how we can improve our chances of getting marsh-iron ore.”
“Oh?”
I think he was ready to listen to any other workable suggestions. Another fruitless session in the marsh didn’t make for a good drink story at the pub. To his credit he listened to my proposal and nodded his head a few times then agreed with me. Just like that. I thought he would have had more questions.
“Don’t you have any questions?”
“No, not really. I have seen enough now to know that you have most of the angles sorted. What you did in the forest the other night was nothing short of amazing, and every day with you brings on more surprises. I must admit that when Karato said you were unusual my expectations were far below measure. We are in your hands, you lead, and we will follow and protect you.”
“Thanks Tobias.”
I turned to Cortez.
“I have less good news for you Cortez. We’re taking you and that cart into the marsh.”
“Huh?”
Cortez was careful not to circumvent Tobias’ authority on the issue but that didn’t stop him from asking a tirade of questions until he was satisfied. Finally, I promised Cortez that other than a bit of cold the horses would have to endure, they would recover just fine. The wagon would ordinarily battle in the marsh, but thanks to me, neither the horses nor the cart would have any problems getting through to our destination. My discovery of an abundant source of EE significantly changed our prospects.
My intent was to push deeper into the marsh to get to the better mining grounds. To do that we needed to take everything and travel at least two days into the marsh. On the first day we need to travel until early evening to a spot where we could set up camp. There I would create a temporary earthen platform for us to camp on and recover. As if lending impetus to my decision we had another unexpected visit from a scouting direwolf rider later that night on Cortez’ guard duty shift. It didn’t bode well for our expedition even when no further developments occurred that night. The next morning Cortez was the first to have breakfast going and everything packed. We had no intention of repeating the other night’s battle.
We travelled further east that morning as I wanted to get as far away from the area the earlier adventurers worked. As we entered the marsh, I started applying earth skill. I compacted two tracks on the lakebed using earth compression. Those two tracks matched the width of the cart’s wheels and stopped the iron wheels from digging into the marsh. The horses were intelligent enough to feel where the ground was harder. I was able to plough a path straight through the reeds which meant we didn’t have to deviate much. If you were standing on the shore it would look like two parallel strips of open water disappearing through the reeds into the distance.
We travelled for three hours through the water before stopping for a rest. There were no monsters that attacked us which was convenient. I created a small earthen platform of earth just high enough that the horses and cart could stand clear of the water, where we could sit on the cart and rest. I dried the horses off with Cortez and threw a blanket over each to keep them as warm as possible. The water removal and heated air skills came in useful. I could see the horses visibly enjoy the warm air as I dried them off.
Two hours later we reluctantly waded back into the water again. We travelled for another four hours deeper through the marsh and then decided to stop for the day. The water was as high as our waists and we could no longer see the shore.
I created a large flat and dry pad surface about a meter off the water with a ramp leading up to the pad. We were still not high enough to be clear from bullfrogs, but I was hoping they would not attack if we simply stayed in the same place. If those bullfrogs were anything like those territorial ones from earth, I suspected that bullfrogs here would attack people who entered their territorial waters. I had never heard of bullfrogs actively hunting people with the purpose of eating them. The stories of attacking events always were coincidental when people came across them in marsh waters.
The next morning, I removed the pad because after a bit of discussion we decided not to leave anything in place where direwolves following us could potentially rest. Not that we expected them to be there but then we underestimated them before and were proven wrong. Once again, we travelled until lunchtime where I repeated building a temporary pad and travelling again after five hours we decided to camp. Once again I created a temporary pad for us to rest the night on. After discussion with the others, we decided to travel another four hours the next day and then after creating a temporary platform, I would create a more sizeable camping area that time, to give us a feeling of space while we were resting. I planned to raise a platform of earth with an area of about twenty-five meters by twenty-five meters. That was by far the largest single movement of earth I tried up to that point, if it wasn’t for the marsh stones, a pipe dream it would have remained.
After arriving there and while the others rested on the temporary platform, I first walked around the area I intended working in and using a combination of water and earth skill, removed any marsh-iron ore and marsh-stones from the water. Once again Ara came to the fore and helped me with an ambitious plan to create a base of operations for us. After I designed the complex with Ara’s modelling ability I could then raise an area of ground about twenty-six meters squared to just above the water level. From there I could stand on the raised platform and work better. I sacrificed a meter on all sides of the earthen rampart to raise thick walls about three meters high, with ramparts on top. If needed, that would allow the archers to safely shoot from the walls while having some cover. I learned never to assume anything.
On the inside eastern side of the walls, I created four separate equally sized rooms that took up the entire eastern wall. Each room took up five meters along the wall and were three meters deep. The doors and windows of each room faced inwards towards the centre of the structure. I placed the ablution and wash facilities on the north-western corner, closed off with two-meter-high walls for open washing and ablutions, potential enemies be damned. In the middle of the northern wall, I placed the cooking facilities. A covered stable for the horses on the western side next to the washing facilities and finally, and most importantly, a hot tub between the washing and cooking facilities on the northern wall.
When I finished with that, I raised the entire platform three meters above the water level while using the surrounding ground on all three sides of the platform. Lastly at the entrance on the southern end I placed an earth ramp coming out of the water, just wide enough for a cart to pass through a hole in the wall for the gate. I recommended we park the cart in front of the gate until I could devise a better alternative for a large door.
Due to my excavation activities for the platform and walls, the waters around the platform were anywhere from four to five meters deep and extended at least five meters away. That would stop any bullfrogs from being able to jump into the camp from shallow waters.
That whole arrangement took me about three hours to complete and the rest of the team stood some distance away on the temporary platform, staring unbelievingly at all my activities. They also looked pretty cold and miserable even if they were all on top of the platform.
“B,b,b,brilliant.”
Said a shivering Hana when it was all done.