Indis found Zalia as she finished up her guard shift.
“We’re to meet tomorrow morning, be ready," Lady Indis said.
"Yes ma'am," Zalia said sarcastically, giving a salute.
"What is that gesture you did?" Indis asked, frowning.
"Gesture of respect," Zalia replied.
"Didn't feel that way," Indis muttered.
Zalia walked away, smiling. She gave her profile an inspection, checking what she needed to rank up.
Profile - Zalia Taori
Health - Excellent
Mana - Full
Stamina - Full
Class one - Hunter - Tin 12
Linked attributes - Strength, Dexterity
Active skills
Kill shot - Iron 1
Hunter's mark - Iron 1
Escape - Tin 12
Passive skills
Hunter's Sight - Iron 1
Survivalist - Iron 1
Class two - Herbalist - Iron 1
Linked attributes - Vitality, Resilience
Active skills
Flora identification - Iron 1
Preparation - Iron 1
Stasis - Iron 1
Passive skills
Harvester - Iron 1
Herbal magic - Iron 1
Unity class - Druid - Tin 18
Linked attributes - Wisdom, Intellect
Active skills
Nature’s wrath - Tin 18
Protection of the wilds - Tin 18
Passive skills
Healing presence - Iron 1
General Passives
Heat resistance - Iron 1
Cold resistance - Iron 1
Aura observation - Tin 6
Low light vision - Tin 4
Poison resistance - Iron 1
Mobility - Tin 14
Stealth - Iron 1
Trapper - Iron 1
Weapon proficiencies
Bow - Iron 1
Sword - Tin 13
Both Druid actives would rank up relatively soon and then she was just waiting on Escape to rank eight levels still. Hopefully due to it being the only skill that could gain levels at this point it would go by much faster. She felt she had gotten past the Tin rank quite quickly, though she wasn't done yet she soon would be. Now she thought about it though, most creatures would be the rank in the early years of their life and probably took longer due to being young and inexperienced.
Zalia walked slowly through the streets thinking about the time she had spent in this place so far. Thinking about Alara and the army back up north she realised she had forgotten to do something.
Zalia walked out of a small store crammed between two others shortly afterwards, holding a map of the lands. It seemed to have most of the towns but obviously not all of them since Bur wasn't on it. It showed the kingdom of Endaria up to its borders and then passed in some parts. It didn't show any of the north but it did show on the southern edge of the border there was a desert stretching an unknown distance further south. The western edge of the kingdom came up against the edge of the continent except for further south near the desert where it started widening out, going further out east once more. She put away the map feeling suddenly claustrophobic in the city once more. She put her bag back on as she suddenly went into a sprint, making her way towards the exit of the city.
The activity was much harder now that she had the stealth passive, some lower rank people not seeing her until she was much closer so she had to avoid everyone much more carefully. She sat against a tree in the small forested patch near the city, breathing deeply as she inspected the carvings on her bow. They didn't seem meaningful but knowing where the bow came from and who had owned it did give her a feeling of understanding the weapon, like a friend who had shared an important memory from their past,
Congratulations! You have learnt about the past of 'Hunter's bow'. Your bond has deepened and you may now summon and store the item within its own space.
Zalia could immediately feel the change, sensing the weapon in her mind. She tried it out a few times, storing and summoning the weapon from and into her hands. It was like the weapon had become a new limb she could control, only one that appeared and disappeared. She smiled as she looked at the bow, through it she could hunt and eat and through her it could fulfil its purpose. It was a good practical two way relationship that left nothing else wanted or expected.
Zalia started practicing summoning the bow in the midst of a close combat in case her sword got taken from her. It probably wouldn't work and she'd end up getting stabbed but it could be a good emergency plan to have in the right situation. She couldn't really practice properly without a sparring partner but was content trying some things out first.
Zalia spent the rest of the day performing her various routines practicing sword work, mobility and newly added attempts to walk as quietly as possible. She properly thought about what she was doing and where she was trying to get to in life. She had spent such a long time fighting for survival out in the cold north of her world but even there she could most likely easily survive now. She considered what her class descriptions had been when she had gotten them. The Druid class said she was meant to be some protector of the balance of life and death. In some regards she did think it important that the world's ecosystem has balance between all creatures upon it but what did that mean in a world where some were born so much stronger than others,
"Do I even want to be some protector of nature?" She asked herself.
She wasn't sure.
She had survived the journey here to try and learn about this world and what the magic she now had entailed. It had been her goal since leaving the north to find such an opportunity and now she was achieving that but what came after, she did not know. As she went to sleep that night she thought about where she wanted to end up once she was done learning.
⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻
Zalia woke up the next morning still undecided as to where she wanted to take her future. For now however, she could push the thoughts into the back of her mind as she had a short term goal to work on. They were meant to explore some sort of abandoned mine that was very possibly overrun by some sort of elementals. She suspected they would be earth or metal elementals but didn't really know what parameters they worked under, if any. She had seen an earth elemental once before, the day she first learnt of the war currently going on. She made her way into the city of Endelbyrn as she considered, heading towards the marshalling yard the shade had told her to go to the day before. None of her abilities were particularly strong against an elemental, she wasn't even sure if her poison would work or not. Hopefully ritual magic could provide some utility to a fight but she didn't hold out hope it would be super useful. Fortunately or unfortunately, switching from moment to moment in Zalia's eyes, she had a team. Zen would be quite useful with the large mace he wielded,
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Indis might just turn them into earthing elementals with her lightning," Zalia thought.
She chuckled at her own joke, constantly amused by her own terrible humour. She was decidedly unimpressed with the world when she realised no one here would get the joke.
Zalia arrived at the marshalling yard early and began practicing her sword work. Another team arrived speaking in low tones,
"They're sending a fuckin Tin ranker with us," she heard a man whisper.
"What a joke," the man's companion whispered.
Ignoring the not so subtle whispers she continued her practice.
It wasn't long until the others arrived, the last of the lot being a Silver rank woman. All together there were twelve people. Zalia's group of four, a group of five including the two not so quiet whisperers, a duo; male and female twins and the one Silver ranker. The twins were Bronze rank and the other group of five were all Iron rank.
"Morning everyone, name’s Larel. I’ll be in charge of making sure not too many of you die on this contract since the hunted’s number and strength are unknown. Any questions?” The Silver ranker introduced herself.
“Why is the Tin ranker on this contract?” The man from earlier asked.
“What's your name shade?” Larel asked.
“Eston,” he replied.
“Well Eston, she is here because the people in charge of organising the contract decided she should be here. One of the said people who organised the contract would be the Hidden himself. Any more questions?” Larel explained.
Eston shut his mouth after that, speaking no more on the matter. Larel ran her eyes over the rest of the group, lingering on Zalia for a moment before speaking once more,
“Let’s get moving then,” she said.
They began moving out of the city, Larel at the front, followed by the twins, followed by the group of five and finally followed by Zalia’s group.
“So what have you been doing all these weeks?” Zen asked Zalia, in a good mood as always.
“Living,” Zalia replied, still unhappily within city walls.
“... great! Any interesting hunts recently?” he asked.
“Not particularly,” Zalia said.
“You’re such a bore Zalia,” Lady Indis said.
“Thank you,” Zalia replied dryly.
The woman just rolled her eyes,
“How about you Ember, what have you been up to?” Zen asked.
“Living,” Ember replied, grinning.
“I'm surrounded by introverts with dryer than desert humour,” Zen muttered.
“Sorry Zen, I’m just not fond of being around so many people,” Zalia said.
“But we’re alright aren’t we?” Zen asked.
Zalia stared at him for a few seconds,
“You’re people,” she replied.
“Yeah but we’re the super interesting and fun to be around kind of people,” Zen said back.
Zalia didn't say anything, not agreeing but not disagreeing either.
“I’ll take the silence as acceptance of my duly stated fact,” Zen said happily.
Zalia stared at him deadpan for a few moments,
“Sure!” she said in an overly excited yet quite sarcastic tone.
“Why, thank you Zalia,” Zen said, missing the sarcasm entirely.
Zalia let him have his moment, not having reason to shatter his illusion. Ember just laughed quietly while Lady Indis muttered, “commoners,” as she shook her head.
“Are you actually from a noble house?” Zalia asked Indis, genuinely curious.
“You don't know of house Indis?” Lady Indis asked.
“Do I need to remind you that I’ve been living in the snowy north for the past… let me see… most of my life?” Zalia asked.
“I still find it hard to believe, with your rank, I apologise. I did forget you’re uncultured. Yes, house Indis, a previously quite influential name in the kingdom of Endaria but having taken a bit of a plummet in past years. I intend to bring honour and influence back to my house, to restore what my parents managed to destroy,” Lady Indis explained.
“And you will do this by walking about doing contracts with and while insulting us ‘commoners’?” Zalia asked.
“Of course not, this is just a stepping stone in my plan,” Indis replied.
“Wonderful, I get to be a stepping stone for her great ladyship Leyra Indis,” Zalia said dryly.
“Of course, it is good you know your place. And it is her great ladyship Indis to you, my name is above you,” Indis replied.
Zalia just shook her head, trying to pretend there wasn't a kernel of belief in Indis’ words. She might be stuck up but she had some potential to be a good person, or so Zalia thought.
“What about you Ember, what are you here for?” Zen asked.
Ember looked at the man for a short time as they walked,
“To help the people who can’t help themselves,” she said simply.
Zalia swore she saw a little emotion behind the words, some history maybe. Ember quickly hid it however so she didn't push, Zen seemingly not noticing.
“How long will this journey be?” Ember quickly asked, changing the subject.
“The Hidden said a few days but from how slow some of these people are I’d expect about three,” Zalia answered, looking pointedly at the group of five in front of them.
“I don't know about the rest of you but I really don't feel like going three days without a proper meal. What do you say Zalia, up to teach me?” Ember asked.
Zalia squinted her eyes at the woman. It was the most she had ever heard her talk and right after Zen had asked her that question.
“Oh come on Zalia, surely you can show us a trick or two!” Zen said, jumping in and supporting Ember on her suggestion.
“It would be nice if you could hunt some food for us Zalia, really,” Indis said.
Zalia considered for a moment. Ember and Zen would at least like to learn a thing or two, which wasn't so bad. It would mean they were less reliant on Zalia and she liked that. What finally convinced her was the pleading look that Ember had hidden in her expression, as if she really wanted to talk about anything else at that moment.
“Fine, fine, I’ll teach you. But you have to listen very carefully to what I say, I’m not fond of speaking once, let alone twice,” Zalia said, giving in.
Looking at her two new students, Zalia had a feeling one of them would pick it up a lot better than the other.
⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻
It was much later in the day and the group had camped for a quick break, some people bringing out travel rations while others, such as Zalia, Zen and Ember, had gone off to hunt. Zalia began showing them the ropes of hunting properly. They were each at least at a certain level of perceptiveness, having had to in order to pass the Morning’s shade entry requirements. Both Zen and Ember had the intellect attribute so they picked up what Zalia told them relatively fast, thank the stars. Ember also had the wisdom attribute and she seemed to understand what she was taught on a deeper level than Zen did, at first. Zalia did have a huge advantage in her Hunter’s sight ability pretty much doing the tracking for her but she had also done this for years before she had gotten magic at all and knew what she was doing.
“You see where these tracks split just a little? It seems two creatures were passing through here following in each other's steps for the most part,” Zalia explained, gently pointing to where some small creatures with furry tails had passed through.
“Their tails hide the tracks quite well but this section here has two footsteps next to each other, that's what shows us it's more than one creature. It could be the same one moving through two different times but each track seems the same age to me. Don't worry about identifying the ageing of tracks just yet, that’s much more difficult to do and requires a lot of experience. My ability confirms for me that two small four legged creatures did indeed move through here, about five minutes ago. If we follow quickly enough we can catch them soon,” Zalia continued, explaining all the little details she saw as she went.
The other two seemed extremely attentive. She wasn't sure if it was because they were actually quite interested in what she was showing them or they were just surprised at how much she was talking at one time.
Zalia tracked the creatures, explaining what she saw as she went until her knowledge and ability told her that the creatures were quite close. She stopped making sound and motioned for them to move quietly as she approached. She summoned her bow into her hand, getting a look from the other two as she did so. Zen wasn't wearing his plate armour at Zalia’s request, knowing the man most likely wouldn't have been able to sneak properly in it. They snuck up on two small creatures bouncing around a clearing playing some sort of game. Zalia stopped and drew an arrow, nocking and then drawing as she aimed carefully. Zen stepped on a stick just as she released the arrow, making the creatures begin to panic and flee. Zalia however, no longer relied on luck but ability and magic. Her arrow flew at an incredible speed, cleanly passing through both creatures' heads as the arrow curved in the air before it struck into a tree, the two creatures falling dead to the floor. Zen whistled in appreciation,
“Don't make a sound when I'm about to take a shot at my prey, or you’ll be my next hunt,” Zalia said grumpily.
“You still got them though!” Zen said in his own defence.
“Only because of magic, wouldn't have hit either because of you not so long ago,” she retorted.
“It was quite an impressive shot, I must say,” Ember said.
“Thank you, it is kind of what I do. Obviously neither of you have ranged weapons but we can get you both some small hunting bows when we’re back in Endelbyrn,” Zalia said, walking up to the kills.
“You could also learn trapping but it usually takes too long on trips like these, more of a stay at home kind of version of hunting,” she added.
“Now, field dressing is very important after making a kill, listen closely,” she continued.