Zalia and the townspeople took everything they could find of use in the camp. They took off the simple armours the deserters were wearing, their weapons, food and supplies that most likely had been taken from nearby townspeople and farmers. One towns person came up and gave her an extra twenty arrows that they had found on the archers stating that she had stopped the arrows from being shot at them, so they would give them to her. Her bag was starting to feel quite heavy with the amount of stuff in there. Packed in was her tarp, sleeping bag, metal pan, work knife, lighter, rope, axe, various herbs, old clothes and now an additional twenty arrows. If she added too much in now the weight would grow cumbersome, slowing her down more than it helped. Obviously this limit would grow as her strength did but she hadn't reached that point just yet. Arthur, the man who had been caught scouting, was fine after a slightly longer time healing than some of the others. Aside from some mental trauma that was. Zalia was starting to wonder if her healing had an effect on the mental side of injury as well, though she guessed not having the scars and injuries of whatever trauma they had received helped on its own.
They stayed for a few more minutes before setting off, prisoners in tow,
"Hey Tristan," Zalia said, walking up next to the man.
"What's up?" He asked.
"I have this sword I really don't know how to use. Could you be convinced to show me the basics?" She asked.
"You're not going to become a skilled swordswoman overnight but I could certainly show you some basics and things to practice. You won't get far without a sparring partner though," he replied.
"I won't be staying around long, my goals are worth more to me than learning how to use a sword," she said, squinting her eyes at him, "you won't convince me to stick around for that."
"Worth a try," he said back, laughing.
"To think you thought I'd stick around in one place just for a sparring partner, tsk," she muttered.
"Would you stick around for something more?" Tristan asked.
Zalia winced,
"Ah I'm sorry Tristan, I'm not exactly interested in men.. or anyone for that matter. More of the lone wolf type in that regard, I'm sorry," she replied, hoping he wouldn't take it badly.
"Don't need to apologise Zalia, just thought I'd shoot my shot," he said, not seeming too hurt to her relief.
"Still up to train me a little?" She asked.
"Of course! I'm not convinced I should let you keep the sword without. More likely to hurt yourself than whoever you're swinging it at the way I saw you holding it earlier," he replied, laughing again.
"Ouch, it wasn't that bad was it?" She said, trying her best hurt look.
He looked at her incredulously before she cracked and laughed with him.
"Not that bad," he muttered.
They made it back to town without incident, handing off the deserters to the town guard. Zalia hoped there weren't any more corrupt guards but with the reduced number of deserters it wouldn't be much of a problem to deal with if they escaped anyways. Before she left town, Tristan showed her some basic footwork and how to hold the sword properly, giving her a few basic strikes to practice along with how to defend against the same basic strikes. It would be a long time before she came up as anything acceptable in a fight but she thought she could hold her own against a similarly inexperienced fighter. Besides, she planned on shooting anyone who wanted to kill her long before they got within reach, not that it always worked out. She wondered what kind of training the town guards got or if they were just equipped with weapons and told to guard the town. The man she had first killed hadn't seemed particularly skilled as a fighter, especially compared to someone like Tristan or Vidar. Thinking about that man made her hands shake a little again, before she calmed herself. This would have made her dismiss her theory about the healing helping with mental trauma but maybe she would have been far worse off without it. She definitely wasn't going to forget the look on the man's face as his body was sapped of liquids before his own eyes, as she muffled his pained screams with her bare hands. No, that experience would haunt her to the end of her days.
It was two days after returning to the town that she left. She was starting to feel restless, claustrophobic and locked in. Returning to the wilds she breathed the fresh air in relief, once more alone on the road. She still planned to go west, to find the Morning's Shade. She wasn't sure what the entry requirements to such a group was but would find out and get in anyways. A part of her wanted to forget about it and go back north but she felt that what she could learn from them would be invaluable to her continued living here.
She continued her mobility training as she went, adding in short rests to practice the basic strikes and defense stances Tristan had taught her. She also began harvesting and using Dodge-vine as she found it, realising she probably should have been doing it all along to train her ritual magic. It also came with the side benefit of having the ritual active constantly, the defensive bonus slight but valuable. She also occasionally poisoned herself, not attempting the silver rank poison, to help level her healing skill that was so close to Iron rank. Zalia wondered if other people or creatures had classes linked to all their stats. Her own classes each linked to two stats each, increasing all six of her attributes as she levelled.
"Does everyone else who has two classes only have an increase to four of their six attributes? What about creatures, it seemed like those bunnies had an increase to resilience and dexterity but was that it? All things the Morning's Shade could teach me I suppose, though it would certainly explain why I am able to punch above my weight quite a bit," Zalia thought.
The thought of having a distinct advantage over everyone else gave her some comfort for the future. It would mean that at higher levels she would always be equal or greater with each attribute to others of her rank, but never lower.
About a week passed as Zalia travelled, finding no towns and thoroughly enjoying her travels alone. A surprise came one day in when she hunted down a small furry creature with two legs that hopped around from tree to tree,
Congratulations! You have fought, hunted and been hunted while wielding 'Hunter's bow'. The item is now bonded to you.
Hunter's bow (Heirloom) - Bonded Tin rank.
Tin - Arrows fired from this bow gain a mild seeking effect.
Seeking effect - arrows will adjust in flight to hit vulnerable spots such as joints in armour or scales and avoid other natural defenses such as bone.
Testing the effect, she found that her arrows now would almost never hit bone but hit deep in-between ribs or joints. She figured it would have a similar effect when faced with armour as well. She hadn't been aware of the strength of heirloom items, only knowing of the minor self repair effect, until now. It made her truly appreciate Darren and Juniper, the two farmers who had given it to her. It was only minor but if it levelled to gain Iron and further rank abilities as she did, it would be another great advantage.
As the week passed, she gained a couple levels in a few skills as well as a new general passive for her efforts,
Congratulations! Survivalist and associated skills have reached Tin 15.
Congratulations! Flora identification has gained two levels reaching Tin 15
Congratulations! Preparation has gained two levels reaching Tin 16.
Congratulations! Stasis has gained two levels reaching Tin 15.
Congratulations! Harvester has gained three levels reaching Tin 17.
Congratulations! Herbal magic has gained three levels reaching Tin 18.
Congratulations! Herbalist class has gained two levels reaching Tin 15.
Congratulations! Healing presence has reached Tin 20.
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Congratulations! Healing presence has reached Iron 1.
Healing presence - passive - aura
Tin - Your very presence grants life to all around you. You, nearby allies and any flora and fauna you so choose within your aura are affected by a heal over time effect. The heal over time effect heals for low health every second.
Iron - Healing presence now heals the most grave injuries first and you may focus it onto a single target, increasing that targets healing while reducing the healing other targets receive
Congratulations! Through your hard work and training you have learned the new general passive 'Mobility'.
Mobility - passive
Tin - Your speed is increased. Your stamina is less affected by movement.
The new effect Iron rank gave the ability, plus the fact it was now Iron rank itself, made healing presence a powerful survival tool for Zalia. She found that the fact it was iron alone made it quite strong and the focused healing part made it sufficient to properly bring her back from an injury otherwise quite dangerous.
The new mobility general passive came with it a noticeable increase to how fast and how far she could run at once before getting tired. It wasn't a game changer but she would take everything she could get.
She had taken to wearing her armour all the time, taking it off only to sleep. In a town she might not do the same but out in the wild it was preferable to her. She was sat, about a week after her departure, next to a small campfire she had made. Some very light snow had come down that afternoon and the light layer of snow made a very beautiful scene in the flickering light of the fire. To her eyes at least it was calming, the snow glittering in the light as it reflected the firelight. It was dark, only the small area around her lit up, vague shapes of trees and other plants all around. She was peacefully eating a small piece of meat she had carved from a kill that still lay roasting gently on the fire. She was incredibly relaxed, listening to the strange clicking sound she found some creature made for a short time after sunset. The cold didn't bother her at all anymore, even the heat of the fire not able to harm her as she passed her hand through it, carving off a little bit more meat to heat with her bare hands and knife. She didn't need to eat so much anymore, the closer she got to Iron the less it was necessary. She felt once she reached Iron in survivalist she wouldn't need to eat or drink at all anymore. Not that she couldn't, just didn't need to. She found she could still eat as much as a person normally could. She tensed, suddenly alert and scanning the area as she heard the odd clicking sound stop in a direction just off to the right. She flipped up her hood and drew her dagger, standing ready. She started slowly moving away from the fire when a figure walked out from the shadows, to her eyes apparating out of thin air,
"Relax, relax," a low calming voice said out of the figure, holding its empty hands up, palms out.
"Says the person sneaking up on a lone traveller in the wilds," Zalia replied, only ever taking her eyes off the person to check her surroundings for a few moments.
"A fair point," the figure said, voice still calm.
"What do you want?" Zalia asked, tense.
"I'd like to sit and have a chat," the person replied.
Zalia stared at the figure for a few moments before nodding. She crouched down, still on her toes and ready to move into action should the figure or a hidden enemy attack. She was a little off put when her aura observation couldn't determine what the person's rank was, though she guessed it could be an ability significant to stealth classes,
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I was disinterested and then you noticed me. Now I'm interested. My name is not important," the figure responded.
"Where are you heading to, lone traveller," the figure asked.
"Don't see how that's important to you," she responded in kind.
She could see the man's face for the first time, suddenly, as a kind of magic dropped from his form. The man dropped the magic, apparently, just so she could see him raise his eyebrow at her.
"Did you just drop your concealment magic to raise your eyebrow at me?" She asked.
"Expression is very important," the man grumbled.
"The dark and mysterious shadow thing really does not work for you," Zalia said, relaxing a little.
The man sighed,
"It was worth a try, I guess," he said.
"Yeah definitely not, I'm trying to find my way to the Morning's Shade. Know where I can find them?" She asked.
"Actually, I do. They're based in the fortress city of Endelbyrn. I was just heading there myself, care to join me on the way?" He asked.
Zalia thought for a moment. The man seemed trustworthy but she wasn't about to trust a random lone traveller that stumbled upon her in the wilderness. Though, she realised she was also a random lone traveller in the wilderness.
"I don't quite trust you yet, what are you doing out here alone?" She asked.
"I'm a messenger," he said, simply.
"Explains all the stealth shit he seems to have going on I guess, some kind of hidden messenger," she thought.
Still unnerved by being unable to detect the man's rank, she slowly nodded,
"We might be able to come to an agreement. Some direction would be nice," she finally said.
"Wonderful!" He said cheerfully.
He pointed at the small roasting animal she had on the spit,
"May I?" He asked.
She looked him straight in the eyes,
"No," she said.
Zalia barely slept that night, keeping an eye on the man as he soundly snored away, or, tried to at least. Despite the sound and the fact she knew he was there, she had a very hard time from actually seeing or hearing him. She had to focus quite consciously on his form to even see him. It was an odd sensation, as if her eyes slid away from where the man slept,
"I wonder how the clicking insects noticed him," she thought, "maybe they have some kind of divination magic."
She smiled at the ridiculous thought, smiling more when she realised it could actually be possible.
When morning came, the man stood up, brushed himself free of snow and looked to her,
"Ready?" He asked.
"Naturally," she responded, having been ready to bolt at any point during the night.
"Quite a paranoid one aren't you," he said, obviously noting her tiredness.
"Alive, paranoid one," Zalia corrected.
"Can't fault that I guess," he replied, before walking off.
"Come on! It's about two days walk, best get to it," he said.
They travelled for two days in near silence, not that Zalia minded. Silence might have felt wrong with a group of people or some others but it felt comfortable in this situation. The second night she fell asleep, finally, unable to keep herself awake any longer. Thankfully, she woke up still in possession of all her things and un-murdered. It was positively delightful to discover the man wasn't entirely untrustworthy. The snow had melted away in the sun leaving a glistening and soaked landscape slowly drying in the sun. The land around these parts was quite beautiful, rolling hills and trees dotting the area. Long, wavy grass grew all across the landscape forming patterns in the wind.
Zalia didn't do anymore practice during the time, not wanting to let the man know how incompetent her sword work was. She also left her bow in the bag except for the once a day she hunted a small creature down to eat. She had consciously been keeping her aura as a focused heal on herself but no longer needed to concentrate on it, the ability feeling almost natural to her after even a short time. Some of her magic still felt unfamiliar to her but the constant calming, warm presence of her healing had been active the moment she had gotten it, a constant companion. As they travelled closer and closer to the city she finally spoke,
"So what should I expect from the city?" She asked.
"Well as the name suggests, it's a veritable fortress. The population is quite low for a city of its size but the average rank is quite high. I expect you'll not find another Tin ranker in there whatsoever. You can expect all the norms of a city, your average people doing all sorts of jobs. The main difference you should expect is the presence of the very organisation you're looking for. They're held in very high regard by the people who live there, some even revere them, oddly. Despite my distaste for the reveration of the shades, their reputation is not entirely unfounded. From what I've heard, there are some quite powerful people higher up in the chain of command. There are some theories and rumours of course, there always are, but the shades I have met are quite polite. Usually," he replied.
"Hmm," she murmured.
"That's it!?" The man asked incredulously.
"You don't speak for two days, finally ask a question, I give you a thorough description and you're answer is Hmm?" He asked, obviously in frustration.
"Relax, relax," she said, holding up her hands palms out, much like he had when they first met.
She smiled to herself as she walked past continuing the journey. She could almost feel the disbelief rolling off the man in waves.
Within the hour, it was her turn to be in disbelief. While she had seen a few small towns in this world and had been impressed by the artwork displayed in the construction of the buildings, the fortress city of Endelbyrn was something else entirely. She came over a hill to see it, built at the top of a hill turned cliff edge. The walls were built flaring outwards with spines as they rose up and around the city forming an effect that looked like a halo. The walls themselves were made of a polished stone that reflected the sunlight. Within the shining halo of stone stood a large keep, spires pointing to the sky. The keep was made of a dark stone that seemed to absorb the light rather then reflect it. Around the keep a relatively normal city grew within the bounds of the walls. The whole effect together looked as if the shadow of a keep sat within a glowing halo of morning light,
"Wow," Zalia said.
The man just smiled.