Balin followed the map for two days now. While they didn’t note in which city the Gaus group has their headquarters, the areas where they had to pass through are clearly noted in it. So Balin only had to follow it backwards and sooner or later he should come across their headquarters. But for now, he had to prepare himself. They were experts in fighting. Taking them out won’t be easy. So, he had to get some intel on them beforehand and come up with a plan. Right now, he was resting in an inn on the side street. It was marked on the map indicating that the mercenaries planned to come through here on their way to the river-valley and maybe they left some clues in here to where they were coming from. It was still afternoon, so he decided to wait until the tavern part of the inn fills up and he could get someone to talk. Until then he had some time. Since he had time he decided that it would be good idea to test out what his arm can do. He wore long sleeves and traveling gloves so that no one could see his unnatural arm. The gloves he bought form a vendor a day ago after he realized that it did attract stares and rumors. Balin left the in and went into the forest along the road. He walked into it for about ten minutes when he decided that no one would find him here and took his glove and long-sleeved shirt of. He didn’t want to ruin them after all. It was a bit chilly but that was the first thing blain realized. In this arm he didn’t feel the cold. Remembering what he did with the door of that shack in the graveyard, he decided that he should test it out how hard he could punch. For that he took aim at a big pine tree and punched as hard as he could. He punched about tree centimeters deep into it before his hand was stopped. Still shards of wood broke of and hit him in the face, which annoyed him. Despite punching with enough force to easily shatter a metal helmet and the face behind it, he didn’t feel nothing in the arm. Sure, he somehow registered that he hit something hard and the roughness of the wood there was no pain. Balin looked at his hand again. There was no scratch on it. Weird. Next, he grabbed a high branch and tired to pull himself up on it. It was as if there was no resistance and he almost flung himself up. As a last test he picked up a fist sized rock and tried to squash it in his hand. It broke almost immediately. Satisfied with his new strength Balin did some other exercises to test his power until sunset. Hours later when the sun started to set Balin was out of breath. He sweated all over his body and was tired but in his earth arm he didn’t feel a bit tired or worn out.

When he returned to the inn a lot of the customers already started to come. Balin looked around the tavern. There were all kinds of people here. Most of them were probably merchants or other vagabonds, but there were two people with expensive looking clothing in there. Probably some nobles who were visiting their family or something. Balin didn’t really care. Balin knew a few nobles from his time as a squire but most of them didn’t see him as one of them. Even fully-fledged knights are beneath them, but they liked to be associated with powerful knights for various reasons. Like the fact that they could command their armies or could give they honor in a tournament. Balin remembered that Sir Egbert apparently even won a sword fighting tournament years ago, that was the main thing that brought nobles to Rivervally that and vacation.

“You want something to eat?”

Asked the innkeepers daughter.

“Hmm”

It took Balin out of his thoughts.

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“Yes please. I would like the daily special please.”

“Ok, that would be one bowl of bean soup, and as many potatoes and sausages as you can eat. The first beer is free but if you want more to drink that costs extra.”

“Please”

“Coming right up. Sit down somewhere. I’ll be right back.”

Balin sat down on an empty table and waited. The waitress quickly came back with the food and gave it to him.

“Anything else?”

“Yes, please I would like some company!”

“Thanks for the offer but I have a fiancé. So, no”

“No that isn’t what I meant. I just need some info on some people who came by earlier.”

“Ah ok. I think, I have a moment, so why not.”

She sat down on the other side of the table.

“What do you want to know?”

“Six people of the Gaus group came by here earlier. Do you know from where they came from?”

“The Gaus group? Hmmm haven’t heard from them in a week. Why do you want to know?”

“They died defending a village from monsters. I… want to inform the next of kin. But I don’t know where they are from. So, I need to know where to start looking.”

“They died. What a tragedy. I liked that one tall guy and his girlfriend they were nice. They are mercenaries, right? I would start looking in a mercenary guild. That is where most mercenary groups stay during their travels. Maybe they have like a register that you could look up. Most bigger cities have one, so you might want to start looking there.”

“Oh, thank you that will help.”

“No problem. Now I got to go. There are other customers. We can talk later, ok? Until then enjoy your meal.”

She stood up and left. Deep in thought Balin started eating.

It took Balin another day reach a bigger village with a mercenary guild. The building doubled as a tavern and an inn, so that Balin was able to stay there after he asked the man at the counter for information. Despite him being a big man with an intimidating cut on his shaven chin he was very polite and professional when Balin asked him about the Gaus groups location. He opened a big book and searched for the Gaus group. Luckily, they appeared to be semi regular customers of this establishment. Other wise it might have taken a while to find information about them. After thinking for a while the man recommended to Balin.

“They are affiliated with the “West coast mercenaries AG”. So, I would recommend looking in Beachline. That is where West coast stays has their headquarters. So, the Gaus group probably doesn’t stay too far from there. It is a three-day hike to get there. So, I would recommend going in the morning. That ok with you?”

“Yes, thank you. I have a question what is the “West coast mercenaries AG”?”

“Guess you don’t travel a lot. They do things like organize where mercenaries stay and help them do things like budget and taxes. At first, they were just some people from the West coast trading company who made something by the side helping illiterate mercenaries out but that evolved into a big business. They know almost anything about the groups affiliated with them. In fact, if someone is affiliated with them they get discounts in stores like mine. It is a good deal.”

“Ah, ok. That is all I wanted to know. I’ll go to bed then. I must leave early. Good night.

After three days Balin reached Beachline. It was quite a big city. Not as big as the capital but still impressive. Balin wanted to make a b-line to the West coast mercenaries AG but he took a moment to reconsider. If he were to ask around chances are that the mercenaries might hear of him and Balin might lose the surprise factor. He didn’t get a second shot at living only to be killed by his first target. No, he had to be smart about this. After checking at one of the various inns he took inventory. There wasn’t a lot of gear to kill with, so he had to organize some. His golem like arm was impressive but aside from smaller areas with earth all over his body, he was still mostly human and that means that he is vulnerable. So, he had to get some gear. Luckily his pockets were quite full, and he knew it was time for some shopping.