Peter signs, “So can we move out now that we’ve figured it all out?”
Jason tilts his head to the side with an eyebrow raised, “That would be nice but we haven’t figured out what to do with the pearls. That and I’m sure there are more of them than you let on. While we did a good job of gibbing them, we focused on the head. What can you offer?”
Peter closes his hand and covers his mouth with it. “Sigh, of course you wouldn’t forget that. Since you want a potion, we can consider it your payout in this. Though it could cover all three of your rewards. Rosha, you want anything in particular?”
Rosha scratches her head, “Well, you suggested I outfit myself with some new weapons. How about you go out with me and find me what I need? The place you will bring me to look outweighs any other reward.”
Peter nods, “And I’ll pay for some of the cost as well. While the connections to get into places is worth more than money, it isn’t costing me anything. Now Courtney, how do you want to do this?”
Courtney frowns and taps the table while she thinks. Rosha shakes her head, “This will take her a while. How about we clean up the meal while we wait?”
They clean up the rest of breakfast while she takes her time, and then they sit down to wait. It doesn’t take too long, but enough time has passed that Rosha has started to fidget. Though that has more to do with Jason putting Lily in the shoulder harness so she can’t pet her.
Courtney shakes her head and sighs, “To be honest, I think I will avail myself of the same thing Rosha chose. You’re married to an enchanter and with the level he is at, only the best things will be used. Because of him you should have access to the high end shops in a way we can’t even dream of at the moment.”
Peter claps, “Well, that’s another simple request there! You had me sweating there. Figured you were going to think of something torturous for me to do. So can we head out now?”
Courtney shrugs, “I don’t see why not.”
With a smile, Peter gestures for them to leave the inn. Once outside he explains how the day will go. Though there isn’t much to it. He will leave the yubs to the group and once those all die Peter will snipe the yubjub’s main body.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The group arrives at the gate and evidence of Peter’s yubjub killing spree last night is present in the form of swarm cats. With all the ones that had wandered off the road taken care of the cats had poured in from the sides. Seeing them, Peter sighs, “Ignore them. They seem to only be at the gate right now so we can do a run around on them. All of us can jump off the walls after all.”
The others don’t mind skipping another swarm fight until Jason stops them. “I want to let Lily take care of them. Every bit of experience for her is worth it in my book.”
Peter rolls his eyes but says nothing against it. With no opposition, Jason opens up the harness and lets Lily jump up and over the wall. Fur charged, she lands in the center of the swarm and goes at it. Of course, since there is only a single swarm down there, Lily rips right through them and in no time has cleaned up the entrance for everyone to leave.
They of course just jump off the wall themselves. No need to waste time going down the stairs. Though this makes Jason a little confused, “So why walls? Here it makes sense, but that is because of the swarms. Walls seem to be overall a popular feature, although I could get over them in seconds, and I’m nowhere near being powerful.”
Peter shrugs, “A lot of times it comes down to animals. Not that the walls would stop them. Rather, it is more there to discourage them. As you pointed out, you could just go over the walls. But every time we get to an outpost, we enter through the gate. Though I will note that in the swankier cities the walls will have a massive number of runes, enchantments, and rituals carved into them. The end goal of any city is to have walls in the shape of a circle that can project a spherical shield.”
Jason nods, “Fair enough. I can see why such a thing would be desired. Let me guess, it is one of the more common uses for Energy based rituals?”
Peter laughs, “I see you have some working knowledge of the power you have chosen. But yeah, because they build most places in areas with natural sources, the massive Energy ritual is very popular. Though not for the shield itself. That they go for Mana because it lets them keep it powered off and only use some Mana crystals to turn it on when needed. No, the Energy rituals they use are the ones for preventing teleportation and such.”
“Those sorts of applications not only fit the power source better, a long term small draw of Energy. But they also fit in with how Energy works. With teleport denial, it is stiffening the fabric of reality so people can’t just pop in. In the capital there are multiple layers of denial rituals, all building on the last. I hear reality is so solid in the personal space for the royal family that storage devices do not work. That is very much beyond the level of a simple teleport denial.”
Jason shakes his head, “I would be disappointed if they didn’t have at least that much protection. There are just too many ways to get in and cause trouble. Adding in teleportation would make the job of keeping people out so much worse.”