After the initial flurry of signals I got from the detectors and the one that detonated, it was radio silence so to speak. Two weeks went by without a single hit from the detectors. I was afraid the detectors had burned out or the Stygian Order found a way to circumvent them somehow. I was able to alleviate those concerns by using my prototype portal to verify the system was still working. I guess they had been spooked off for the meantime.

That didn’t mean there weren’t still spies watching me though, so I kept my actions confined to the fortress or the warehouse.

I was also getting worried about Javier, he was two days overdue. I couldn’t run off at the moment to find him though. So I went to Maria.

“Maria, are you ready to set out?”

“Yes, Mr. Paul, is the barge complete?”

I nodded. “Pick up a load of merchants from Houston and follow Javier's route backward, starting with the stop after Saint June. I’m going to send a couple of extra men with you in case of trouble.”

“Do you think Javier is in trouble?”

“I hope not, maybe the barge just broke down, or he was delayed. But if you see trouble, don’t wait, get out of there as soon as possible. Oh, I almost forgot,” I fished out a mage staff from my ring.

Her eyes grew wide in surprise as I handed her the runic staff. I had given Javier a similar gift before he last left, Maria’s was just delayed due to lack of materials.

Bloody Thorn

Quality: Superb

Damage: 15-20 bludgeoning x2 critical damage

The bloody thorn leaves seeping wounds that are hard to heal. Holding the staff enhances all spell damage by 10%

“This is your gift for a job well done, I hope you like it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Paul, it is an amazing gift. I will treasure it.”

I felt a bit awkward at the praise, sure it was a decent staff, but I whipped it up in like ten minutes. I just nodded and accepted the hug she gave me in return.

“… ok, that’s enough…”

Thankfully she released me.

“I will do my best to find Javier, Mr. Paul.”

She rushed off to the dry dock to prep the barge.

“You're just a big softy,” I heard a light chuckle from behind me.

I turned to see Charles walking up. I just grunted at his comment.

“How is the wall coming along?”

“It’s about twenty percent complete. Are you planning on having any more barges?”

“Not at the moment. We need to open up more trade routes before more barges make sense. Plus I need to get more materials, I am fresh out.”

“Are you planning a trip to the Bazaar?”

“I would if I could, but the ones I know about are all in cities I’m not exactly allowed in at the moment.”

“What about Vegas?”

I quirked an eyebrow at this.

“I overheard a guy in Houston that said he came from that direction. Said Vegas is booming more than it was before the System. He also mentioned that there was a Bazaar there, but it was not exactly as open to the public as the one in Houston.”

“Really?” I asked.

Charles shrugged.

“I guess it won’t hurt to take a look. I’ll need some capital before I head over there though, so I may spend a week making some weapons.”

I handed Charles some message plates. “In case you need to get in touch with me while I’m gone.”

After my talk with Charles and Maria, I went in search of Kurt. We weren’t exactly friends but there was a grudging understanding between us. He was harder to find now that he was off trying to level in some nearby dungeons. Luckily, I found him in his office.

“Good, you’re here. I just wanted to stop in and let you know I will be gone for a couple of weeks. Give the stipend to Charles until I return.”

“Anything I should be worried about?” Kurt asked pointedly.

I ignored his tone as I responded. “No, I just need to pick up more materials to continue working on more barges. It would be nice if we could find a local supply of mithril though.”

Kurt scratched his chin. “Well, I can ask some of the people that are braving the rocky plains to see if they spot any ore deposits. Any idea what it looks like?”

I shook my head. “I can give you a small sample of a piece of refined mithril to compare it to but I have never seen it in its raw form.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I pulled out a tiny piece of scrap no longer than an inch and handed it to him. He looked at the unassuming grey metal with a bit of confusion.

“So something like this is what you’re looking for?”

“Yeah, have you seen anything like it?”

“Maybe, the Rock Elementals have a similar color, I wonder if they are made partly of Mithril. I will have a sample brought in and see if we have a furnace that can melt it down to compare.”

“That would be appreciated. I talked with the mages today and they say the wall is going up quickly.”

“Yes, It will be nice to not have to worry about random monsters crawling in from the rocky wastes to the north. It didn’t happen often but it was always a surprise when it did. At least now we have active patrols along the border to deter the creatures. And with the dungeons and new influx of people, we are gathering a larger fighting force in case of trouble.”

“Well, have fun with that, I’m off to Vegas,” I stated with a smile and a wave. I could hear the man grumbling behind me as I walked out.

***

After a week of preparation, it was time to head out. Well, I actually stopped north of Houston and waited for Fiona to appear.

“How are things going,” She said appearing out of nowhere and startling me.

“Fucking hell, do you have to do that!” She just chuckled at my surprise. “I’m fine by the way, how are you and the others doing?”

“Martin is keeping busy and the Mayor has kept the few unruly people that knew we were a part of your team off our backs. Ska is working with the Marshall to try and figure out where the information leaked.”

“Any progress?” I asked.

She shrugged, “Our main suspect was that guy giving you shit about the barges, a Gaben Hewitt. But he was killed in the attack on the gated community.”

“Wait, the dwarves attacked the gated community, why?” I asked in confusion.

“Nobody really knows why, but they seemed to target heads of households.”

“That doesn’t seem to match the rest of their actions,” I added.

“Martin and the Marshall seem to think the same thing but getting someone in there to figure out what went on is proving difficult. The surviving residents have increased their defenses to the point that even I can’t get past them without tripping an alarm.”

I scratched my chin in thought. “I’ll see if I can come up with a way to bypass their security. Anything else going on?”

“No, just beefed up patrols and a bunch of frightened people, wondering when the next boot will drop,” she added.

“They shouldn’t have to worry about that dwarven clan. I took care of any survivors.”

“But what if there were more that didn’t show up to the fight? Or if what happened in the gated community was true, those dwarves?”

“We can’t do everything for these people, Fiona, sometimes they are going to have to fend for themselves.”

“You try telling them that. By the way, why are you here anyway?”

“I need to visit a Bazaar to get more materials. I heard one was in Vegas to the West and figured I would stop by to say hi.”

“You should take Ska with you, while the Marshall appreciates his help, he isn’t very subtle.”

“I can imagine. Alright, I will wait here, send him my way. And thanks again for the help,” I added.

“Don’t mention it, it’s what friends are for.”

***

After Fiona left it was a few more hours before I spotted Ska racing toward me in the distance. I clapped the panting Grimalkin on the shoulder and we boarded the fortress to leave. But not before I had deployed one of the new stealth sensors. I had two dozen of the items manufactured and had been dropping them every hundred miles on my route west.

I wasn’t surprised when the devices were already picking up portal activations ahead and behind me. It seems the Stygian Order truly was keen on keeping an eye on my activities. There wasn’t much I could do about it at the moment. The detectors only told me people were teleporting in and out. I tried triangulating the locations back when I was in Saint June but didn’t have any luck. Either my devices weren’t up to snuff for detail like that or the magic made it hard to detect where the portals appeared. It was going to be an issue I needed to solve if I wanted a chance at capturing one of their agents.

Until I got concrete information on their headquarters or eyes on their people, I was unable to move forward with my plan to get rid of them. I would need Fiona’s help with this plan as well, so waiting until things settled down in Houston was probably a good idea.

The trip west was rather dull. I had no idea where Vegas was in relation to Houston, but even if the land between hadn’t been merged with another mass of land, it was going to take days to get there.

It was endless short hills dotted by scraggly trees and uninviting-looking grass, and that was just normal Texas vegetation. We were truly beyond the farthest reach of where the Marshall’s men had gone after a full day of travel. If I had to guess we were on the west side of Texas by this point. The weather didn’t improve much and only got hotter and drier. To the north was a sickly yellow haze that hung over bubbling pools of sulfur.

If we hadn’t been so far south I may have mistaken them for the ones in Yellowstone. But we were just crossing into New Mexico. The only reason I knew this is because we set down in an abandoned town near the border. The faded sign a few hundred feet down the road read “Welcome to New Mexico”

The first interesting landmark we came across was a massive sinkhole. It had to be close to a mile across and even in the noon-day sun I could not see the bottom due to the haze. Even staring into the depth, through the remote viewer, gave me the willies and we skirted around the strange new landmark.

About an hour after that we ended up running across Roswell. It was a bit funny to me how wrong we had gotten it. We did end up stopping in Roswell. Not to shop but to get food and maybe some directions. Turns out the people here had fared relatively well. I guess I shouldn’t be overly surprised, they were kind of used to weird shit. A few gave interested glances toward Ska, but he wasn’t the strangest creature around.

We walked past three humanoid armadillos as they lumbered down the street. The city even had a short but effective wall to keep predators at bay. The open stalls along the street showcased the remains of those creatures. Giant snake skins, colorful lizard pelts that seemed to scatter the light, and all sorts of other items I was unable to identify. Ska and I did stop at a food vendor and got some lizard meat. I got mine in a taco and Ska got his on a stick. It was quite good and the vendor seemed happy that we enjoyed his food.

After getting some water and dried food we headed out again. I was surprised at how open and friendly everyone in the town had been. It made me too wary to stay. Perhaps that’s just how they were but I didn’t want to find out the hard way that I had accidentally stayed in a town full of cannibals or some other such nonsense. Or maybe I was just too jaded by my experiences to believe people could just be happy.

From there I turned the fortress north-west. Since leaving Texas there had been few active settlements. With the loss of the ability to pump water, the desert had returned to take its place. If anything it was hotter than the great desert I had first fallen into in the South. The land wasn’t dead though. Creatures that could brave the harsh climate were plentiful in the area. And far more terrifying than before the System came to be.

I had thought the Sand Scorpion Matriarch was large but the group of scorpions I had spotted below were the size of a semi-truck. At first, I had mistaken the creatures for some weird desert art exhibit until one of them moved. I wanted to blast them with the mana cannons but I hadn’t gotten around to fixing them back into place yet. But those weren’t the only huge denizens of the desert. We came across a snake that was the length of a freight train and it had its coils wrapped around an eagle that was as large as the fortress. Whatever weird shit was going on in this section of the desert, we decided to leave it behind. I was thankful we had the cloak going for the fortress. One of these creatures would easily be able to take it down.