Thankfully it is Rami, the warrior, who takes care of most of the unpleasant work. He wraps up their two dead comrades in their blankets while Núira chops down some young trees to build a makeshift stretcher we can drag behind us. While they are busy Aila and I keep watch.

They probably don't trust me to do it on my own. I can't fault them for it either. I'm still a total greenhorn after all. Even worse, I'm a essentially still a total stranger. And considering my class, [Scoundrel], I can't really expect them to be too trusting. I can probably count myself lucky that they want me around at all.

At least I get a chance to chat a little this way. Not with Aila though, she takes her watch duty pretty serious. Instead I talk with Rami. He seems in the mood for it too. Maybe this is his way to deal with the stress of battle and the loss of his comrades. Well, it really isn't my business.

“So, that was Kronk. A bandit lord, huh? Was he the reason you were out here?”

He finishes tying up Gaotano in the dead man's own blanket before he answers, taking great care to make sore all the knots are tied right and tight. Finally he nods.

“Yes, that was Kronk. The others were some of his gang.”

He nods in the direction of the dead mushroom zombie bandits. Núira emptied their pockets, but otherwise no one seems to care for them.

“I'm surprised you know of Kronk. Sure, he is a little infamous around here, but you don't strike me as a local. I doubt he is infamous enough to be known beyond the frontier.”

I just shrug.

“I spent the last night in some ruined tower beyond the creek somewhere over there.”

I take a moment to gesture in the general direction before I continue.

“One of the walls was painted with Orukh pictographs. Kronk have be here. Piss off. Or some such nonsense.”

He nods and laughs.

“Yes, that would explain it. Has to be an old one though. I think he grew out of that particular habit quite some time ago. You don't become a successful bandit or even bandit lord, by drawing too much attention.”

He certainly isn't wrong. Being famous or even just infamous as a bandit is asking for trouble.

He heads over to Silvina to wrap her up in her blanket for transport too. As he works he resumes talking.

“We didn't come out here for him though. Sure, there is a nice bounty on his head, but we are adventurers and not bounty hunters.”

At this point Núira pipes up as she joins us with the rudimentary stretcher she has fashioned.

“We won't say no to the bounty though, now that we have his head. At the very least the money will cover the funeral expenses.”

The warrior nods.

“True. And we even found a clue as to what might have happened to the people that have started to go missing out here.”

I perk up at the mention of missing people.

“Oh! Missing people? I might have stumbled across another piece of that puzzle on my way here!”

I point over my shoulder in the general direction from where I have come.

“You heard the roar earlier?”

Both Núira and Rami nod. Even Aila looks over now. I certainly have their attention now, thus I continue.

“There is a big, blighted area that way. Fungal growth choking the very life out of everything. I don't know how big it actually is, but it certainly is spreading. Anyway, I stumbled across some myceloid foragers just a little way in. You know, big, walking mushrooms.”

The trio looks pretty troubled now, but they don't interrupt.

“They left little doubt about their intentions to add me to their larder. It's a good thing that they weren't anything like this Kronk fellow. I dealt with them easy enough. Except our fight apparently didn't go unnoticed.”

Now Núira adds a comment of her own.

“Thus that roar? Myceloids supposedly have a weird connection like that. Most curious since it isn't magic. But anyway, that was a rather mighty roar. That wasn't just more foragers or even warriors. Am I right?”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Of course she is right. I nod in confirmation.

“Right! The moment that roar resounded all around, I took off at a run. I only dared to look back by the time I was well out of the blighted area. That is when I saw it. A giant walking mushroom. And when I say that it is gigantic, then I mean it. It stood taller than any of the dead trees it kept knocking over while it shambled along. And it wasn't just tall either. It was massive!”

The trio looks at each other, uncertainty and maybe a little disbelief clearly visible on their faces. It isn't that they think that I'm making things up though. It looks more like they want to believe that I must be mistaken. Finally Rani asks the question that must be on the mind of the other two as well.

“Did … did you identify it?”

I nod.

“I timed it so it was looking the other way when I activated the skill. So I would have a little time to get out of sight again myself. It was rather cumbersome after all. Anyway, it is something called a King Boletus. I have no clue about its actual level though. I can only guess that it has to be higher than mine.”

Rani swallows hard, as he finishes with Silvina's body. He looks troubled. It is Aila though who takes over the conversation, while Núira in turn goes on watch duty with a dead serious expression on her face.

“Myceloids usually start out as sporelings. Foragers and warriors are a first common evolution. Troublesome in numbers, but not too hard to deal with individually. A King Boletus, especially a big one like that, is probably a rare evolution two steps beyond that. I'm not entirely sure though. If we are really unlucky it could be epic too. Either way we need help.”

Rani finishes loading the bodies on the stretcher so we can bring them along. Then he nods.

“We'll let the guild know. They'll probably call in some of the more famous adventuring bands from around the frontier land.”

Now the ranger perks up too.

“Think that they might call in the Dancing Embers? A chance to see Ediva Glimmersong in action. That would be so awesome!”

My brow furrows a little and the other two groan. Finally it is the cleric who reprimands the ranger.

“Please, I know she is your grand idol, but try not to be such a fangirl when she is around. You remember the last time, do you? When her comrades came over to ask of us that you keep your distance? That was more than a little embarrassing.”

The warrior nods too, as he lifts the handles on one end of the stretcher. It seems like he'll be able to pull it on his own. We still might have to switch every once in a while though, depending on how far off this city of Riverrun is.

“It was funny at first, but that wears off quickly. Please don't make the most powerful wizard on the frontier incinerate us. Anyway, I think we are just about ready to get going.”

The ranger blushes at the reprimand, but she doesn't protest. It seems she is well aware of the issue, even if she doesn't really want to change her ways.

As we get going there is no more time for discussions anyway. The ranger starts screening out little group at a distance. She never ventures out too far or too long, but she disappears in between the surrounding trees time and again. At least it looks like she does to my eyes. Maybe that is a skill at work? Something like my [Stealth] skill?

I decide to give my own [Spot] skill a good workout in turn. It's not like I have anything better to do. I feel like I'm making progress, slow and steady, but it probably will be a while before I receive another notification for that skill.

Eventually I switch with Rani to drag along the stretcher with the party's dead instead of him. That way the warrior won't be too exhausted should trouble rear its head. Eventually I switch with the cleric in turn. Apparently only the ranger is exempt from this duty. Probably because she has the sharpest senses.

Thankfully everything stays quiet. Sadly we don't reach the city that day. Our macabre cargo is slowing us down too much. Well, there is no way around it. The trio has made it very clear after all that they won't just leave the bodies of their comrades. I'll have to camp out in the wild once more. No comfortable bed and refreshing bath for me.

No proper meal either. Possibly still better than what I have had so far though. That much becomes obvious when my mushrooms are, after a quick inspection by the ranger, added to a stew the trio gets cooking in a small cauldron. Mushrooms, some vegetables and a little meat together with some corn to make it filling.

Rani the warrior lends me a spare bowl and a spare spoon once it is time to enjoy the meal. I take a deep breath to savor the aroma. Yes, definitely better than a piece of cold bread and at least as good as my campfire skewer.

I'm not the only either, who deposits their water bottle at the fireside to heat the contents up. I even get to add some herbs provided by the cleric.

I wish there were an easy way to use [Identify] on the resulting tea. I try to use it on the water bottle instead. Some of my Mana drains away. The results that come back are a little disappointing though.

[Water Bottle (Brass, Common) – A sturdy water bottle made of brass. Its contents can get you through a day. It's still recommended that you drink more though. Right now it contains not water but tea brewed using the wild green leave. Category: Container]

I already knew all that. Never mind. The real reward follows a moment later anyway.

[*Ding!* Your skill Identify has leveled up to level 7!]

That will have to do for now. I have to be thankful for every little bit of progress. Overall this evening is shaping up to be much better than the last one anyway already. That doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to a proper inn though.

It's too bad that there are no more spare blankets I could borrow for the night, but at least Núira shows me how to pick the best possible spot so I won't end up sleeping on a stone or a root. It seems that is the best I can hope for tonight. Maybe I'll at least not wake up in a worse state that way tomorrow?

There is just one other thing on my mind. Well, no that isn't true. There are two things on my mind.

One I can't exactly talk about right now though. I want to try and use my [Change Shape] racial skill to mimic the looks of these three. I'm not sure they would take well to it though and right now being mistaken for a nefarious monster could very well prove lethal for me.

Thus I address the other intrusive thought that I just Can't shake.

“Say, would it be alright with you, if I were to use my identification skill on you?”

Aila grimaces.

“I'd rather you didn't. I'm terribly sorry, especially since I already used the skill on you, but that feeling I get whenever an identification skill is used on me gives me the creeps.”

Núira shakes her head too.

“I wouldn't mind in general. But right now isn't a good time. I tend to be a little on edge out in the wild, especially when I'm on guard duty.”

Rani at long last shrugs as he smiles apologetically.

“Go ahead. I'm used to it.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

I focus on him across the fire and trigger the skill. The mental fatigue is building by now, thus I feel the drain on my Mana reserves a little more keenly this time around. A moment later my efforts are rewarded with some brief information on the warrior.

[Rani, Stalwart Warrior (Metal, Uncommon, Level 8)]

I nod. I'm a little surprised that his level isn't any higher, but I don't let it show. I can feel that the skill made a little progress too, but it still is a long way to the next level up notice for it.