- 93 -

Will looked sour after hearing the enchantments Drew had available.

“Enchantments have a logical equivalent exchange.” Damien said.

He pointed to the diagram for the Anti-Slip enchantment. Drew recognized the terms for resist and slippery in mana script.

“The more specific the enchantment and the more it aligns with the natural function of the object-” Damien continued.

“The more powerful the enchantment and the more efficient its mana cost.” Drew interjected.

Damien nodded.

“Yes precisely!” He said.

“You can make a pair of shoes that resist slippery surfaces. Or you could enchant that same pair of shoes to make you stronger, but the anti slip enchantment would be far more effective and less mana intensive than the strength shoes.”

“But that seems so arbitrary. Couldn’t you enchant anything to do anything?” Drew asked.

“An enchanter goes to study for years to understand how different enchantments interact with objects. Why waste your time enchanting those shoes to raise your strength by 1, when you could just as easily enchant them to raise your agility by 10?” Damien said.

“So for example, if we enchant the suit of armor with weight reduction then it wouldn’t be as effective as adding resist rust?” Drew said.

“Precisely. And if you limit the enchantment to Ressian or Elves for example then the enchantment is more specific and you gain some effectiveness.” Damien said.

“I’ve already forged the armor from Mirror Steel. It’s more durable, it won’t rust and it will have a natural mirror finish.”

Drew pulled up his screen and checked the list of all the enchantments he knew.

“Durability? Self Cleaning? Reduce Weight?” Drew suggested.

“Those are all good but we need something truly fantastic.” William said. “I designed this to be for a king. A king would have people to mend and clean his armor.”

“We will need to find more enchantments then. There is a library in Valoria where we can diacover any enchantment you can Imagine.” Damien said.

Or we could modify one we already know. Or write one from scratch.

They approached the gate and the guards glared at them as they passed through.

Drew perched on the window and looked for the kids.

Will they be okay on their own? It’s safer here than Rottervale, but still.

They were nowhere to be seen.

Did I do enough? Show them enough?

Maria waved to Marcus and blew him a kiss. Her brother glared from beside her.

Kinda thought they’d at least say goodbye.

The wagons passed through the gate in the palisade quickly. They rolled out towards the open fields and forest beyond the safety of the village.

“Here we go! Next stop Valoria!” John said cheerfully.

“It’s at least a week away yet brother, measure your excitement!” John hollered from the back wagon.

Drew spotted a flock of flamingoes fly by but the new wards repelled them.

Huh look at that! The closer they get the more confused they become.

The flock turned aside as if an invisible bubble surrounded each cart.

“The enchantments are working perfectly Drew!” Damien said. He was leaning out the open door with his Mana Lens to his eye.

Sure, those flamingoes aren’t a threat. There’s much worse out there hunting travelers.

“But will they fend off the more dangerous beasts?” Drew asked.

“The mana levels will taper off until we get closer to the arrays in Valoria.” John says.

“So we won’t see many large beasts for a while.” William said. “When I came here from Callapeia we hardly saw any monsters.” William said.

“You must not have traveled in the summer. In the winter all the monsters would rather sleep in than go about terrorizing the kingdom.” John said.

Aldermere was shrinking behind them as the wagons rolled into the forest.

-

John and Seraphina and Marcus rode along civilly. Seraphina and John chatted and flirted happily while Marcus kept to himself.

William sat quietly and stared out the window. Giving Damien and Drew time to themselves.

Damien was transcribing his notes from several books into a fresh volume. He would constantly switch from one book to another to cross reference one detail or another.

He is writing in the margins of the new book already. This is a never ending process for him.

Damien smiled to himself and selected another book, leafing through it to a section near the middle. He turned the book sideways and started copying out a diagram into the new journal.

Drew spent some time reading the novel Sara left behind. He stopped once he gained a level in Speak Common.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

It’s a romance novel alright. What else was I expecting?

Frigid air exploded out of the second wagon and the mercenaries fell into formation looking for the threat.

Marcus ran out of the wagon screaming, dodging ice bolts as he dove into the thick brush beside the road.

Seraphina was yelling in Elvish and throwing Ice Bolts after him.

“Sera! My love, calm down.” John said as he jumped down from his bench on the wagon.

Another John rushed over to calm the garnts.

“Fellon! Enough John! I cannot ride with this coward any longer. He should walk in shame.” She said.

“It was a positive observation!” Marcus whined from the bushes.

Seraphina blasted the bushes with frigid air.

“Listen to your Al’Galib.” Marcus cried. “And respect your elders!”

“You are no honored elder felon! You abandoned your service and can never escape that fact!” She shouted.

Marcus swapped seats with William, joining Damien and Drew in the first cart. The box of armor was too cumbersome to move so William left it in Drew’s care.

Hopefully Will’s polite demeanor keeps him safe from her cold shoulder.

-

“Those shrubs are moving.” William said.

A couple large bushes slunk away into the trees as the wagons passed.

“Bushcats” John said. “Glad the wards are working.”

The group had pressed on towards a mesa in the distance. It was too early yet to set up camp.

As they rounded a bend in the road a familiar papery sound caught Drews attention.

“We’ve got company!” Drew said.

Guiles burst from the trees and attacked.

Let’s see how you like my new knife!

“Stay back from the windows!” Marcus shrieked.

Seraphina jumped from her wagon and fired ice bolts into the approaching monsters.

“Shouldn’t we stay inside the wagon?” William asked.

“It’s fine.” A John said. He reached down to hand William a net on a long pole.

“Catch a few and make yourself a fine belt!” He laughed.

Drew sliced through a pair of Guiles mid air.

Ha ha! Now that’s a knife!

“Don’t stray too far from the wagons Drew! They are still venomous!” Damien said.

The enchanter opted to stay in the wagon and a pair of mercenaries shuttered his window as they passed.

William teamed up with Thrain and Krag and a John to chase down the flying beasts with nets. And together the group made short work of the beasts.

I took out 14 of them and nearly earned 10000 exp! And of course the area is a safer place now too.

Drew spent 8000 exp to level up his Gathering Ring to level 8. It now holds 78stacks of up to 8

“Did you see those two separate?” William laughed.

“I did!” John replied. “And I saw both halves bite you! Go get checked out by our feathered healer before you pass out.”

“Bastards!” A elder shrouded in mouldy cloths burst from the trees yelling and waving a gnarled staff. “You killed my Guiles!”

The strange figure scrambled over to an injured guile on the road and scooped it up.

“Hag!” Marcus screamed and tucked himself behind a wagon.

“Druid!” The eccentric person shouted back. They came to a stop and shielded the guile with their body.

“Old woman, our apologies, but these beasts attacked us. Surely we must protect ourselves.”

“Man.” He said.

“What?” John asked.

“Don’t call me Shirley.” The Druid said. “I’m a man.”

John was speechless.

Damien leaned out of the door of the wagon to whisper to Drew.

“He’s been eating seeds of the weeds.” He said.

“What?” Drew asked.

“They are a strong euphoric. You see the cloak he wears? It’s woven from their fibers. And his rambling speech is a sure sign of long time use.” Damien said.

The old Druid is a junkie then? He’s just trying to live off the grid.

“I’ve been raising these Guiles for eggs and meat. They have their fangs and poison sacks removed. They are harmless!” He said.

The mercenary captain crouched down and inspected the corpse of a nearby guile.

“The Druid speaks truthfully.” He nodded the affirmative.

“Of course I am! You illiterate fools, it boggles my mind that you didn’t read the sign I posted.” The old Druid stomped around in a circle.

“City folk are too well to do to read a sign? Balderdash! Too stuck up is what that is.” He rambled on swearing to himself as he gathered up the corpses of his guiles.

John held out a sack full of guilds to the old Druid. He snatched it swiftly.

“What sign?” Another John asked. “We swear we have not seen it.”

“Daft fool! Why it is just up there around the turn in the trail! You could not have missed it. It’s as tall as you are!”

John laughed but his brother clapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

“Apologies sir, but we came from Aldermere in the north. Is there a sign posted from that direction?”

The Druid fumed silently and threw his dead guiles on the ground.

“Bella’s boundless breasts! Why would you come from the North?” He screamed and dropped to his knees.

“Might we make it up to you? We can cook up these guiles for you. My brother is a fine cook.” John said.

“Don’t bother! Just leave! I’ll feed these to Betty. At least she appreciates them!” The Druid said.

“Who’s Betty?” John asked.

“Who’s Betty? Who are you! Which one of you am I talking to? Stop moving about I’m seeing double.” The Druid said.

A roar erupted from atop the nearby mesa. Marcus screamed.

“There’s Betty. My beautiful Drake!” The Druid said. “Smarter than any of you civilized folk that’s for certain.”

“Well in that case it’s time to go.” Thrain said. Krag grunted his approval.

Definitely.

-

The group traveled well into the evening to put plenty of distance between the mesa before dark.

“I still say we are too close to the Drake.” The Captain said. “If it’s brooding then we are still within its hunting grounds.”

“It won’t get past our wards.” Damien said. “And its belly will be full tonight.”

“And other large beasts won’t stray so close to her nest. We could have saved an hour ride and camped closer.” Thrain said.

They were all sitting down to a meal the Johns prepared. Their camp tents were set up in a tight circle. The mercenaries had built a fence of tripods and sharpened sticks to form a perimeter.

They had set out gear for Drew to mend as payment for the Drake scales. He was working on a short shovel with a loose handle as he ate.

“After those Drew, we have some armor we picked up from the feral goblin camp.” Maggie said.

“Yes ma’am!” Drew replied. “Would you be interested in an enchantment for any of them?”

“It’s possible, depends what you have available.” Maggie said.

Thrain brought out his game of Cabal and one of the Johns sat down with him for a match. William watched them play.

“Say William?” Drew called as he used a small rounded hammer to tap out a dent in a ladle. “Have you worked with spider melon shells?”

“In practice, yes.” He replied, but didn’t take his eyes off the Cabal game.

“I’ve got a sack full from a Giant Spider Melon we fought recently and they are burning a hole in my mana reserves.”

“Are they fire aspected?”

William turned to look at Drew with a glint of excitement in his eye.

“What? No, that’s just an expression.” Drew said. “I’d like to make some armor out of them. Let’s call it payment for your enchantments.”

“Happy to. Could I see them? Ive not worked with them too much.”

“They are in Damien’s Trunk, I’ll get them later.”

Thrain and John shook hands their game over. Scarlet joined Thrain for a game.

“Wait until you see this win Jeff!” Scarlet boasted.

“Nobody can beat Thrain.” Drew said.

“You wound me Drew!” He said pretending he was shot with an arrow in the chest.

“It’s a simple fact. I’ve seen Thrain play against several people, people who haven’t lost except to him.” Drew said as he finished mending a net.

“Krag! An ale for good luck!” Thrain said.

Thrain chuckled to himself and set up the game for the next round.

“Care to make a wager then?” Scarlet said. “If I win you enchant my lock pick set with durability so that they stop breaking.”

Lock picks!

“Deal! And if Thrain wins then you teach me the lock picking skill.” Drew said.

Drew set down the frying pan he was scouring and flew over to watch the game.

Thrain went first and opened up two stalls in the market and hired a thug.

Scarlet played an inn and a warehouse and put a pick pocket into play.

“Hmm.” Thrain said as he dealt them both three more cards.

The early game continued on until Thrain’s market expanded twice and he built up a guard post and a warehouse of his own. He had three guards, 4 merchants and 6 thugs.

Scarlet had three brothels and a small army of 10 pickpockets, working under one underboss.

The game transitioned into the final rounds as Thrain purchased a brothel and moved his guards into position to attack Scarlet’s warehouse.

Scarlet is starting to sweat.