Kyle chuckled as he and C.H.A.D.D. wove through the upper portion of the city with their escort, seeing crowds of gawking goblins watching them pass. From his briefing, while there were trolls and ogres on the planet, they’d never seen a human before. He imagined they made quite the sight, with the goblins around him barely coming up to his chest.
They arrived at a private gondola, which descended from the upper layers of the city into the lower levels nearest the ground paths. Looking about, Kyle could see hundreds of similar gondolas strewn about, each carrying large groups up and down. With a smile, Kyle took the momentary peace offered by the private transport to look out at the city below.
The whole city seemed to glow as the sun shone upon it. The capital easily rivaled anything he’d seen back on Earth, both in beauty and in size. As they descended, Kyle caught glimpses of large open markets, towering buildings, and beautiful mosaics made of different colored stone. If he had the chance upon his return, he was definitely planning to stop and take in more of the sights.
Their gondola touched ground near the far edge of the city, and they stopped as they approached the wide road leading into the jungle. The goblin leading their procession turned to face Kyle. “I know they’ve provided you with a map, I’ll caution you about straying too far off the noted paths. We’ve had issues with predators lately, and some of them are dangerous enough to pose a threat even to our D Grades.”
“I appreciate the warning. Do you have any specifics I should be on the lookout for?” Kyle asked with genuine curiosity.
“I’m not an expert by any means,” the goblin mumbled, though failing to hide his smile. He was clearly happy Kyle had asked. “Shrikes are the most dangerous around here from what I’ve heard, and you can tell if you’re getting close to their territory by big gashes in the trees. That’s how they mark their territory.
“Otherwise, keep your head up for stranglevines. They grow on some of the larger trees, but if you look up you can usually spot them. Big, knotted vines wrapped around the branches. So long as you don’t get too close, you should be fine.”
“Thank you for sharing with me; I’ll be careful.” Internally, Kyle knew that the first stop they would need to make on their journey would be to find a stranglevine for C.H.A.D.D. to study. Honestly, Kyle was interested, too. From what he’d been able to study, predatory plants were rare pretty much everywhere.
The road ahead glistened gold in the light of the overhead sun, constructed from the same shining stone as the buildings of the city. Dense jungle foliage spread on both sides of the pathway, and Kyle could see how easy it would be to get lost. At least, if one didn’t have a talkative cartographer in their backpack. Nodding goodbye to the escorts, Kyle strode out onto the road ahead.
Once he was well out of sight, he pulled out the communication device he’d been given by the Council. With a quick activation of Identify, he looked to see what the piece of equipment was actually designed to do. As the runic inscriptions lit up before his eyes, Kyle saw the expected and familiar communication infrastructure, as well as a far more subtle tracking feature.
This was to be expected. Kyle tucked the device away as he deactivated his skill. He’d been concerned about recording features or potential explosive traps, but from what he’d seen, neither of those were the case. A simple tracker was no cause for worry, and he and C.H.A.D.D. could use their more sensitive skills freely. And, of course, have a very hard discussion.
[DR. MAYHEW, DO NOT THINK THAT I HAVE FORGOTTEN YOUR FORFEITURE OF SALVAGE RIGHTS. FORTUNATELY, I BELIEVE I HAVE FOUND SOME WORKAROUNDS.]
“C.H.A.D.D., we can study all we want. The salvage rules are pretty clear, though. We just can’t take everything we come across.”
[WHAT ABOUT MANA? I HAVE YET TO COME ACROSS ANY LITERATURE, COLLECTIVE OR OTHERWISE, THAT DEFINES MANA AS SALVAGE.]
“I don’t think they’ll approve of us taking large amounts of mana from the local flora and fauna either.”
[THEN IT IS A GOOD THING THAT THERE ARE PROVISIONS IN CASE OF IMMINENT PHYSICAL HARM. WE SIMPLY NEED TO FIND A STRANGLEVINE, YOU NEED TO GET CAUGHT, AND THEN I CAN DRAW THE MANA OUT. IN SELF-DEFENSE, OF COURSE.]
“I’ll take it under advisement. We’ve got a long road ahead of us, so who knows what will pop up.”
[A STRANGLEVINE WILL, DR. MAYHEW.]
Kyle chuckled as they continued down the path, his pace a comfortable run without Ignition active. His boosting skill would allow him to cover ground significantly faster, though for now he just wanted to take in the sights and sounds of Er’Mithren.
The heat and humidity only increased as they traveled along the golden road. Several groups of goblins passed him along the road, riding what looked like oversized geckos laden with packs. He got some strange looks as he blew past, and within a few hours Kyle arrived at the next waypoint: a small settlement called Prindas.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The town was spread out, the jungle itself opening up into a large clearing which Prindas occupied. 2 troll guards met him on the road, mottled skin glimmering with sweat beneath the blistering heat. Their auras felt D Grade, though not particularly powerful. One of them stepped forward, raising a palm. “You must be the Courier.” Cocking his head to the side and squinting, he continued. “A real strange looking fella.”
Kyle smiled as he slowed to a stop in front of them. He raised his hands with his palms out in greeting and to show he wasn’t a threat. “You’re correct, I’m here on business for the Verdant Republic and your governing council.”
The second troll spoke, scratching his nose as he brushed long, dark hair out of his eyes. “We thought you’d be by much later today, you’re faster than we was told. Say, do you think you could help with something?”
Kyle raised an eyebrow at them. Clearly, they’d been waiting on the road for his arrival, and the information provided from the tracker should have clearly shown them his progress. Still, he played along. “So long as it doesn’t interfere with my delivery, I don’t see why not. What can I do?”
“We’ve had a bit of an issue with a pack of shrikes getting too close to the village,” the first troll said, quickly adding; “Not that we couldn’t handle it, of course.”
The second troll picked up where the first left off. “And, given that you’re here on a mission of diplomacy and whatnot, and that we figure you’ll be coming through the village a few times as you run your errands…”
The troll’s voice petered out, and Kyle understood the implication clearly. A quick use of Identify confirmed his suspicions. Lots of Vitality, and not much else. Despite being in D Grade, it looked like these two had progressed with some fairly basic classes. Vitality was their highest attribute, which was common among trolls. Their mana flowed crudely, and he assumed that both were Fighter archetypes as a result.
“I can lend a hand, but we’ll need to have terms negotiated. Understand, I can’t jeopardize my current assignment to do extermination work if it’ll take much time.”
“Of course, of course,” the first troll said, a note of relief clear in his voice. “I’m sure we can come to an arrangement. What do you want?”
Kyle paused for a minute, then smiled. “I’d be willing to do the work in exchange for a complete set of Er’Mithren’s botanical records.”
The second one spoke almost immediately. “We’ll see what we can arrange. Rest your feet in the shade, we’ll be back shortly.”
Once the two were out of earshot, C.H.A.D.D. piped up. [I DO NOT CONSIDER BOTANICAL RECORDS AN ADEQUATE SUBSTITUTE FOR ARCHIVING THE MANA SIGNATURES FIRSTHAND.]
Kyle sighed. “I didn’t expect you would.”
The duo bickered for nearly an hour until the trolls returned, carrying a crystal that Kyle recognized as a communication device. “The Council agreed to add a copy of our records to your compensation after your job is done. They’ll get to work getting the data transcribed in a fashion you can use.”
Kyle nodded. “Thank you. By the way, what story did you tell them as to why you two aren’t handling the shrikes? I’m guessing you want to make sure mine matches yours when I get back.”
The trolls exchanged a sheepish look. “We may have implied that you saw the threat of the creatures, and wanted to ensure the Prindas’ safety,” the first troll said.
Kyle shrugged. “Not too bad as excuses go. Now that our business is settled, show me where the shrikes are.”
The duo of trolls led him through the village, waving at playing groups of children as they walked. Unlike the capital, which looked to be primarily goblins, Prindas had a diverse population. Towering ogres sat and laughed with trolls and goblins on restaurant patios, and many of the residential buildings were clearly sized for a particular occupant in mind. The hodgepodge was interesting, and pleasant to observe.
All the noise faded, however, when they approached the far edge of the settlement. Bright red ropes cordoned off an entire quadrant of buildings, an eerie quiet blanketing the area like a fog. His guides slowed as they came up to the nearest rope, and Kyle turned to look at them. “I take it we’re getting close?”
The first troll nodded. “The marks showed up on some trees just past here.”
“Are you planning to come with?” Kyle asked.
“We wouldn’t want to get in your way,” the second troll replied with a sheepish grin.
“I suppose you wouldn’t. I’ll find my way from here, no guarantees.” With that, Kyle ducked underneath the red rope.
The contrast between the carefree attitudes in the town and the somber quiet of this corner struck Kyle as particularly odd. Throughout the entirety of Prindas, Kyle only saw a handful of awakened, and none more powerful than the 2 D Grade trolls. If a shrike was as dangerous as he’d been led to believe, why did life seem to be so normal? Why weren’t there other resources being sent to Prindas to solve the problem?
These questions nagged at Kyle as he walked. Something was just… off. There was a building sense of wrongness that took him longer than he’d have liked to place, but soon he realized the source. Small plants were starting to creep up between the stones of the street, and as he focused with Synaptic Barbs, he could feel similar activity around most of the cordoned buildings.
That only became more pronounced when he came across a second layer of cordoning ropes about 500 meters deeper, where the jungle looked to be on a path to reclaim the city in its entirety. Creeping vines criss-crossed the cobblestones and began to climb buildings, and faint layers of mosses could be seen on the goblin dwellings that were shaded by those designed for ogres.
The silence was oppressive now, Kyle’s nerves on high alert. For the plants to have grown to this degree, this area had been abandoned for quite a while. He could justify not having sent security forces if this issue was only a few days old, but this was looking more like an order of months. How long were they planning to give ground? Kyle wondered.
Finally, he came to the edge of the jungle. He immediately noticed the damage on the trees nearest the town’s perimeter, and he internally rebuked the goblin who described shrike territories as being marked by scratches in the trunks. Tree limbs lay scattered across the jungle floor, and the gouges in the trees looked like a particularly zealous lumberjack had been swinging with abandon for some time. The damage made the scratches left by bears on Earth seem subtle by comparison.
Without a word, C.H.A.D.D. brought up a map of the surrounding area, which showed 3 red dots. Kyle nodded, and began moving in their direction. He looked forward to getting some exercise before continuing with his delivery. It was time to hunt some shrikes.