It took around an hour to track down what we wanted to bring with us. My necklace was filled more than half-way through with fresh and dried provisions. Spare armor and clothes, spare weapons, and whatever we managed to salvage from the healer supplies. Most of it would probably end back into the storehouse of Nis when we reached there. My aim was to save what I could in case the village got overrun by monsters or kobolds.
One thing I didn't dare place in my storage necklace or backpack was the third expanded backpack. I didn't know if it would result in anything but I didn't want to accidentally create a black hole by mixing two exotic space-time curvatures.
As we were leaving, I spotted something strange in the village square. I felt like an idiot for not having seen it earlier. There, partially trampled by many boots, were grooves in the dirt. Wheels.
Vel looked at me strangely as I walked around the plaza and examined the ground with my sphere. I meticulously followed the tracks and managed to approximate a map. Three sets of two axles had come in, this meant two wagons. They entered in column and stopped in an arc around the plaza. When they continued, they left deeper grooves. This meant they had increased in weight.
System Log
Gained General Skill [Investigation (I)]
Skill [Logic Enhancement (I)] gained 4 levels (10 to 14)
Skill [Mind Acceleration (I)] gained 3 levels (11 to 14)
Skill [Mind Partition (I)] ranked up (I to II)
Skill [Mind Partition (II)] gained 2 levels (0 to 2)
Skill [Tacking (II)] gained 3 levels (3 to 6)
Skill [Investigation (I)] gained 2 levels (1 to 3)
"The attackers came with wagons," I said, "loaded them up with captives and bodies then left."
"Why would they take the bodies?" Vel asked. "The remaining villagers I can understand but …"
"I have a feeling I don't want to know," I grimaced.
The tracks left the village and followed the trading path.
"Let's follow the path from afar," Vel said.
I nodded.
----------------------------------------
Vel and I followed the path at a quick jog. Alan was watching from above and keeping an eye out for anything dangerous or interesting. My hope was to reach at least half-way with the remaining day we had. After around an hour and half, Alan found something.
He spotted a clearing with some camp remains. We cautiously approached the place and observed it from the tree line. There were the remains of two fire pits. The wagon tracks looped around the clearing as well, four this time.
Only the unloaded wagons had been in the clearing. It had been their staging point. Far enough from the outer barrier to have little chance of being detected immediately.
Then, once the attack had happened, the last wagon had joined the rest.
System Log
Skill [Investigation (I)] gained 1 level (3 to 4)
Skill [Logic Enhancement (I)] gained 1 level (14 to 15)
I didn't know if the system only rewarded correct deductions. Better not to rely on that.
"Let's continue."
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We avoided any groups of monsters while following the trail. Alan proved invaluable for that. Despite the heavy foiliage, his eyes managed to spot movement at an impressive distance. Those that escaped his watching gaze were caught by my sphere before they could see us.
Six hours of walking later, night was fast approaching. We searched for a place to camp and finally settled for another tall tree.
I cracked open a trail ration and ate the bland mix of dried fruits and the small piece of meat jerky.
"Not as bad as I thought," Vel said.
"You'll get tired of it really quickly," I smiled.
"I guess that's why the scouts always shudder when they talk about them."
Vel took the first watch of the night and I was out like a rock immediately.
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"Wake up sleepyhead," Vel gently shook me awake, "it's you turn."
I groaned and pulled myself out of the shelter. I had slept in full armor again. I really needed to figure out if I could use my storage amulet to change clothes, it would save a lot of time.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
I gave my girlfriend a good night kiss and took a seat on a nearby branch. With some time to kill until daybreak I could finally take some time to work on my spells again.
Nature Lore was at the second tier and gave me access to new elements.
Nature Lore (II, 1/40)
Grants an intuitive understanding of Nature magic, allows the study and creation of spells.
Higher skill levels increases the level of spells you can understand or create.
You start with the ability to study/craft 3rd level spells.
Every 20 skill levels, the level of spells increases by 3
Tier I: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Light, Void
Tier II: Lava, Ice, Lightning, Mist, Plant, Shadow
Shadow magic had already proven useful through Alan. It was a strange field of magic, fairly abstract in how it could be used. It wasn't centered on direct offense or defense but deception and battlefield control. Illusions and constructs were the two main uses but not the only ones.
Plant magic I already knew about. Vel was more suited than me to this element, though it would probably make for a good source of backup arrows.
The element I was the least interested in was lava. I felt that either earth or fire by themselves would work better. Ice, on the other hand, was one of my favorites. It was versatile and had great battlefield control potential. Especially when combined with mist. Lightning also had potential, it was a very offense oriented element and would synergize well with the other.
Another aspect I wanted to explore was metamagic. Being able to modify spells on the fly would increase my options exponentially.
I mentally cracked my knuckles and go to work.
System Log
Skill [Nature Lore (II)] gained 8 levels (1 to 9)
Skill [Arcane Lore (I)] gained 4 levels (16 to 20)
Skill [Arcane Lore (I)] ranked up (I to II)
Skill [Arcane Lore (II)] gained 4 levels (0 to 4)
Skill [Metamagic (I)] gained 7 levels (0 to 8)
Skill [Logic Enhancement (I)] gained 3 levels (10 to 13)
Skill [Memory Enhancement (I)] gained 5 levels (12 to 18)
Forgotten Spells
[Flame Bolt (3rd)] [Conflagration (3rd)]
[Water Blade (3rd)] [Air Bullet (3st)]
[Overpressure (3rd)] [Earth Spike (3st)]
[Pit Trap (3rd)]
Freed: 21 memory (34/61)
Memorized Spells
[Lava Stone (0th)] [Cool Object (0th)]
[Flame Orb (6th)] [Lightning Orb (6th)]
[Ice Shard (6th)] [Obscuring Mist (4th)]
Cost: 22 memory (56/61), 2 utility slots (5/12)
Memorized Spells
[Projectiles +1 (1st)] [Power +1 (1st)]
[Area +1 (1st)] [Speed +1 (1st)]
Cost: 4 memory (21/38)
At daybreak, I gently kissed Vel to wake her. We ate a quick breakfast and continued on our way.
----------------------------------------
Three hours later, we reached another clearing. This one was expected. It was the crossroads between the path leading to Niu, the one leading to Nis, and one leading to the wider network.
Again, there were many tracks. Too many for only four wagons.
It all clicked into place when I found fresh tracks on the path headed to Nis. Both villages had likely been attacked.
Moreover, none of the tracks left the clearing. The way to the wider network was completely clean.
It was as if the wagons had … vanished.
But again, maybe they had.
This group had mages powerful enough to get through the barrier. It wasn't a too much of a stretch if they had mages capable of teleportation. A portal was the most probably option. The tracks did seem to stop abruptly without going anywhere.
The scholar in me wanted to study it more but I doubted there were any meaningful traces left. The dense mana in the air had washed any spell residue away.
----------------------------------------
"Found out more?" Vel asked.
She handed me a bowl filled with some soup. I picked at the floating chunks of meat while gathering my thoughts.
"Yes. And I think Nis was attacked too," I said solemnly.
"What? How? Why?"
"I traced more wagon tracks, the same size, on the path to Nis."
"Where did they go?"
"Vanished. The tracks just … stop in the middle of the clearing. I think they used a portal spell."
"That's … high level magic. Who are these people?"
"I don't know."
"It doesn't matter," Vel said with conviction, "we'll find them. Even if they hide themselves to the end of the world." Her magic was flaring about aimlessly.
I took her into a hug. She calmed down and leaned into me.
"Don't worry," I said, "we will find them. We'll save our families, our friends, all of them. Even if they are scattered to the four corners of the world."
Getting to Nis village had become a higher priority. I wanted to find any survivors, if there were any, and every day that passed made that already small chance slimmer and slimmer.
This time, we ran and followed the path. Alan proved to be a fast enough flier to keep up pace with us as well. Moving on cleared terrain, it took us only two hours to get to the second staging point. I didn't bother investigating it in details. There hadn't been anything useful left at the other one and I didn't expect this one to yield anything different.
An hour of running later, we arrived at the gate of Nis village and my suspicions were confirmed. The doors had been destroyed and no barrier could be felt.
Out of an abundance of caution, I did another flyover looking through Alan's eyes but I found nothing. The village was deserted.
"Nobody here," I said as I grabbed Vel's hand.
She squeezed it gently and we stepped forward. Even without having ever been here, I could picture the villagers milling about. Small children playing with each other. Apprentices running about to help their teachers.
It felt eerie, to walk in this place so devoid of life. It almost felt like the village was mourning the loss of its population. Here too, it looked like there had been a fierce battle. Some buildings were missing walls or their roof. A multi-story house had crumbled on the street.
"Let's split up and see what we can find," I said, "if anything, stocking up has become a much higher priority now."
"Yeah …" Vel trailed off. "It feels a bit weird to do this. Like we're … disturbing a grave?"
"I think they would understand," I said with a sad smile.
"I guess you're right. Better us than some random adventurer stumbling here."