Luna and Joan searched through the camp, not finding anything of great value. The heavy backpacks were full of gear, smithing tools, building supplies like nails, saws, cooking pots, sacks over sacks full of meat jerky and pickled vegetables in ceramic jars. Joan guessed that the team had been carrying enough foodstuff to last them at least a month, even if they did not forage or hunt.
The building supplies on the other hand raised a very different question. Just how long had the base been there and how many people did they expect? This was more than just a simple camp for a season or two, this was a planned and well organized incursion.
Luna stoically moved through the task of retrieving her arrows, feeling weirdly detached from the process. It felt like she was just working on a piece of meat, like any other animal she had hunted down. All the doubt she had harbored had simply vanished in a single night of blood and carnage. She wondered if she was simply in shock and not able to process it all.
There was nothing they could do about the bodies. They simply stacked them to one side and dragged the backpacks off near the cliff where they covered them with a tarp. Joan would have liked to hide everything, just in case someone came looking for the group, but there was no place near them where the backpacks would not be immediately noticeable and carrying them further away was an impossible task for the two of them.
Joan had searched Jackson’s body and simply threw his weapons on top of everything else. While this was the only gear of decent quality they found, the rest being simple and cheap weapons, it was not worth the trouble to carry it with them. They each took some of the rations to refill their supplies, but that was about all they could carry. The fire had more or less burned down by the time they were done and they simply scattered it at the cliff face, where no brush was likely to catch fire. After that they left, returned to their backpacks and walked for an hour until they made their own camp for the night.
When they settled down for the night, Luna decided to get some answers. “Who was that guy?”
Joan’s shoulders dropped, a deep tiredness settling over her face. “Jackson was one of the recruits from the city. It must have been about 18 years when he joined and started his training, some of it overseen by me. He was a city kid and he had a lot to learn about life outside the city. We had thought he had adapted well, even earned himself praise from his mentor and then we let him start going on missions alone or with a small team.”
Staring into the fire Joan sipped on her water skin and continued. “We did not hear about it for some time and it is hard to figure out when it started. At some point he began demanding payment from villages for doing minor tasks, talking people into hiring him and his team as ‘extra guards’. He was basically running a protection racket on the people he was supposed to protect. When we found out about it, we tried finding the team and confronting them, but they must have heard that someone had sent a report and went into hiding, if any of them are even still alive. We have not been able to find them since. They were expelled from the guild and they are wanted as traitors in all three kingdoms, or at least they were supposed to be. That was four years ago. But seeing Jackson here explains a lot. If there are former Pathfinder working on the other side, they would know exactly where to set up base.”
Luna absorbed the information and thought about it. “That means they will have competent leadership and once they realize this group has disappeared, they will go out and look for it. If they find them dead, they will abandon the base and scatter. At least that is what I would do in their place. Abandon the compromised location, scatter, regroup and set up someplace else.”
Joan nodded. “Exactly my thought, we do not have enough time to alert anyone. We will have to scout the base, find out how many people are there and then decide on a plan. But that is a topic for tomorrow. Tell me how you are feeling?”
Without meaning to Luna had started eating some jerky while listening to Joan and she noticed that she was famished. Which made sense, as she had left her last meal near the enemy camp.
“It is weird. It is like I have stopped thinking of them as humans. I just realized I started eating, not even considering anymore that I had puked my guts out after killing those people. In my head I thought of it as ‘enemy camp’, while earlier it was just ‘the camp’. I cannot explain what is going on right now, it simply feels like something changed and I cannot figure out what it is.”
“Then try to sleep Luna. I think we have nothing to fear tonight and we should get all the sleep we can. We will have to move quickly tomorrow, I plan on moving into the night, that way we can hopefully find the base before noon on the day after that. Just let me know if you are having trouble with what happened.”
“I will. I just have to think about it first.” Luna replied and then crawled into their tent. Joan joined her shortly after. At least this night they had found a nice and wind protected spot, so they should not be half frozen again in the morning.
Luna drifted off, but instead of the oblivion of sleep her Ancestral Memory Skill was waiting for her. Another bright star shining in the blackness. This time Luna knew what to expect and welcomed the new memory.
The first thing Luna saw in the memory was a gigantic tree, many dozens of meters high, the canopy impossibly far away. The sun was shining and all around here was the lush green of healthy plants, mixed with myriads of differently colored flowers and blossoms.
When Luna stopped gawking at the trees she realized that she was sitting on some kind of half oval with people seated in tiers around a central stage. Everyone looked very young and very much like humans at first glance, but some impossible things stood out. Green hair in all different tones, blue-green, yellow-green, some even with a clear tint of red. Leafs and blooms mixed in with the hair, but not as simple ornaments, they were part of the hair.
On the stage, seated in a small wooden chair someone was holding a lecture. “You must always remember, that when you kill something or someone of a race that has access to Mana, you give something back to the land. It not only takes back the body when it decomposes, it takes in the mana too. And as it does that, you will be nourished in return. It is your duty to guard the land and bring down those who harm it and in return you are rewarded. But always be careful how much Mana you are exposed to, as all of you should know how wild monsters are born, outside of dungeons. Too much mana at once will corrupt even the mightiest of beings.”
The memory got clearer and Luna could finally focus on the humanoid shape on the stage. It looked like a wise grandmother, but it was different from anything Luna had ever seen before. Her skin was tree bark, her hair brown and green leaves falling down her back, nearly reaching the ground in her sitting position. Luna felt mesmerized by just watching her sit there.
“The first time you kill a monster or sentient being, you will unlock a hereditary skill. It will start your growth as a Sylvan and nourish your bond with nature. The next time you update your status you will get to choose your first physical trait and your true growth as a Sylvan will begin. Take the chance to pick your physical traits, as you cannot postpone the decision indefinitely. If you take too long a trait will be chosen for you. For every two racial skills you will be able to pick a physical trait. Any questions?”
As the question round started the memory started to fade. This time she did not wake up, but finally drifted off to sleep, dreaming about brightly colored hair, glowing eyes and beautifully woven braids of branches and leaves.
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Luna kept the memory to herself, as she was not sure what to make of it. She checked herself over for any visible changes when the sun was up, but nothing had happened yet. She had no idea how long she had to get to a Class Tablet, or if there was even something waiting for her in the first place.
They traveled quickly, covering a lot more ground than they had when following the group of bandits. They only made quick breaks through the day and kept walking straight east. There was no real choice right now, they had to move in the open and hope that there were no lookouts in the hills. Given the miserable spring temperatures, Joan expected them to not meet anyone until they reached the forest the next day.
It was an absolutely boring walk and Luna kept thinking about what had happened, but decided to not talk about it. Joan was deep in thought herself and so they only talked during their breaks and when Joan changed directions slightly, pointing out where they were going to go around a small hill, or follow a small stream for a while until they found a shallow spot to get across without getting their feet wet.
They made good time and the forest already came into view in the evening. The hill chain was going west to east and Joan expected the base on the southern side of the hills, most likely with direct access to fresh water. The forest would provide plenty of concealment for the base and it could be anywhere, but based on the description they overheard, she expected it to be close to the hills, near a pass to get through towards the northern road.
They set up camp on the leeside of the last hilltop that was bare of trees and would again, to Luna’s dismay, be spending the night without a fire. Joan decided against a night watch, as the wind had picked up again and sitting outside without any cover would only make them catch a cold. It was also unlikely that anyone would be out here during the night for the same reason.
Another cold night cuddled together for warms later and they were back on the move at first light. They quickly covered the distance to the forest during the twilight hours before the sun came up and Luna finally relaxed a bit when there were trees for cover again. Having reached the forest, they followed its outskirts until they found a stream coming down the hills. If there was a base close by, it would have to be situated near to a freshwater source and this stream was as good as any other. They turned north and followed it uphill into the forest. The forest was light and interspersed with smaller trees and bushes competing for light. Luckily they were just starting to grow new shoots and did not hinder their progress too much.
After two hours of walking Joan signaled for Luna to stop. She pointed to the stream and Luna spotted what had alerted Joan. Some debris was caught up in a fallen over tree. It looked like some pieces of cloth and wooden scraps had been either washed away or thrown into the water and ended up here. Luna was suddenly very glad that Joan had told her to not drink the water. Even her Purify Water Skill was not enough to convince her to drink the water. If they were throwing their garbage in the stream for disposal, they were surely dropping their other waste in there as well.
They kept going until they both heard the unmistakable sound of an axe hitting wood. Joan quickly dropped into a crouch and they retreated back to a small dip covered by bushes.
Joan signed for Luna to get close and then whispered. “This is as far as I want to go right now. We are clearly in the right area, but we have no idea how many people are around and we cannot risk being spotted. We will wait here until nightfall and then move without out backpacks. Without the extra weight it will be much easier to move silently and run if we have to. I will keep watch, if you are the least bit tired try to get some extra sleep. I will wake you.”
Luna nodded, but did not believe for a moment that she could sleep now. She nonetheless dropped her backpack and sat down next to it leaning on a small tree. Joan had dropped her backpack near the bushes concealing them and lay prone on her belly next to it, looking out from their little hiding spot. She did not even notice the sleep coming, but when she opened her eyes Joan was carefully tapping on her shoulder. It was already evening and the sun was about to drop behind the hills. Luna grabbed her weapons, putting the string on her bow and they set out.
It did not take them long to find out where the axe sound had come from. They found a large clearing where spruce trees had been cut down, branches removed and stacked in a pile to be picked up later. From here it was easy to figure out where to go, as previous cut trees had been dragged off along a path where brush and small trees had been removed to clear the way.
Coming to a loop of the stream they found a makeshift wooden bridge made of three tree trunks. They carefully followed the stream further and then crossed it, a location like a small bridge might not be guarded, but at least used often enough to avoid showing themselves there.
Night had fallen and Luna had taken over the lead, the improved vision from her racial skill giving her an edge over Joan’s experience. Only a short while later she could make out the flickering light of a fire between the trees and pointed it out to Joan. They retreated to the right side of the obvious tracks they had been following and carefully made their way closer.
The fire was the center of a small group of wooden log houses, built right next to the small stream, which came down from the nearby hills. Just behind the log houses the land started to rise and the camp had been cleverly built into a horseshoe shaped fold in the terrain, where the stream had eroded the hillside. If you came from any other direction you might just walk past it without ever noticing it was there. The trees had been cut down to make room for the houses, but no additional land had been cleared around them.
Luna and Joan were still a good 50 meters away from the first building and even further from the fire. Luna had described the layout to Joan in whispers and they were now circling around the camp, looking for a good spot to get closer. They were nearly discovered by a man who came stumbling from behind some trees while working his pants closed. It was clear what he had been doing and was not paying attention to anything around him, simply walking back towards the fire.
[Frank]
Level 19, Human
Luna checked his level and hoped that it was representative for the rest of the camp. When he had passed they made a loop around there area he had used to relieve himself and crawled up to some bushes with better view of the fire and people around it.
A quick count revealed 11 people present, levels ranging from 17 up to 28. None of the people were currently wearing any armor or weapons and they had not seen anyone on guard around the camp at all. The safety of the camp over the past years had apparently made them relax, not expecting anyone to find them before the year's activities had even started.
Luna relaxed into her hiding spot and waited for her Skills to activate. She was still unused to consciously using the passive Skills and their bonus to stealth and perception. It took a few seconds, but then Luna’s vision improved, more details becoming visible and the previously hard to understand conversations came into focus as well. Signaling to Joan to wait and pointing at her ears, she started to listen.
“Jackson and his group of misfits should be here every day now. But we are not going to wait for them before making the first move. With more people they will have to set up new houses anyway and that will take them a few days. No point wasting time.”
“I agree. Jackson is always way too cocky and I’d love to see his face when he gets here and has to build houses and wait for us to get back.”
Agreeing laughter went around the fire before a third voice spoke up.
“I have cut down enough trees for them already, never expected my Lumberjack class to gain so many levels here, but every point of Strength helps.”
“You are lucky. We only got a Class Tablet last season. You might say that this is now an official unofficial village. The first year we had to actually dress up as peddlers and visit some village to use one. Still the easiest way to get into a village though. Dress up as merchants and sell random crap you just stole on the other side of the hills. Carrying it around still sucks though.”
“Sure, but first we have to loot a merchant train to have the goods to sell. Without anything to sell it isn’t going to work.”
“What do you think we are going to do Frank? That is why we have to get started. Build up a stash and then sell it somewhere else. Not much point just having all the things stacked up and rot, all we need are coins to buy ale and good company with.”
“Let’s be off. Those selected for the team tomorrow, meet up at noon at the wooden bridge. We will go from there. Pack rations for at least a week and bring blankets, still cold out there.”
“Remember last year when…”
The rest of the sentence was lost to Luna when she broke her focus by moving. They crawled backwards and made their way away from the camp. “Could you hear them clearly?” Joan asked her.
Luna nodded. “Later, let’s go back first.”