Alfred led Tanisha and Bjorn through the camp, the man walking with a jovial pep to his step. It was far livelier now as people were preparing for hunts. A large group of monster hunters gathered at the gate for a joint raid.
“What’s going on over there?” Tanisha asked.
Alfred spun around to look at what she was talking about. “Oh, that, there was an armored chrysalis spotted nearby. So they're putting together a subjugation party to take it down.” When Tanisha didn’t seem to know what he was talking about, he continued. “You know, armored chrysalis? It’s a monster that absorbs ambient mana to harden itself and has many arms and teeth. Now that I think of it, how much do you know about monsters?”
Tanisha raised her hands in a full-body shrug. “Stories. I've heard of ripper jaws before and orcligers, but not much else.”
“Oh, this is going to take a while. Which is perfect!” Alfred said with a twinkle in his eye. “Let’s see if we can stretch this out for two days. I'll even waive your instructor cost.”
Tanisha waved off the idea. “One day is fine.”
“Your loss. Well, monsters aren’t born in the same way as you or me or even Bjorn there,” Alfred’s tone grew more serious. “Instead, they're formed through chaotic ambient magic. Some more superstitious believe it’s the Divines testing us, but I don’t think so. If the conditions are right and the concentration of ambient mana is correct, you'll have a monster manifestation. It’s as simple as that.
“Yuhia has very neutral ambient mana, so monsters don’t usually manifest in the country. Even the monsters we fight here aren’t ones that manifested here; they just managed to cross the border. Most of them aren’t strong, as the lack of ambient mana sources causes them to starve, for lack of a better word. Then they have to start looking for sources of mana to feed on, and I'm sure you can guess why they attack people.”
“They're trying to eat people’s magic core?” Tanisha asked.
“Right'o, and the closer they get to starving, the more feral they become. Some monsters in highly chaotic ambient mana areas are completely docile, but as soon as they leave, they become savage in a few weeks. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression; most monsters will attack you no matter what. You're like a magical buffet for any monster.”
Tanisha thought about it for a minute. “So they're like the undead?”
“Shambling undead, I suppose, yeah,” Alfred said. “After we get you all the equipment you'll need, it would be a shame only to do this one day. How about we schedule you in for another hunt with me tomorrow to ensure your lessons today sink in?”
Tanisha shook her head at the man’s insistence on using her to get out of work. “I have to get back to my stall tomorrow.”
“Stall? Are you a merchant?” Alfred asked.
“Yes, I'm an alchemist.”
Alfred stopped in his tracks. “An alchemist? Can you make health, stamina and mana potions, and the like?”
“Yes, of course, up to greater quality, but probably higher if I get the ingredients,” Tanisha said.
Alfred had a twinkle in his eye. “Do you know where you are? We normally have to order potions from Lavi, and shipments stopped after some civil war or attack or something. We're nearly out of healing potions. You were selling your stuff in town. Come out here, and you'll be sold out in a day. I have half a mind to offer you a contract to stay here with the Jackrabbits.” He started walking again. “But first, let’s ensure you and your familiar can survive.” Alfred motioned to the open door of a blacksmith shop. “Here we are.”
Tanisha walked in first. The beating of metal and the smell of charcoal permeated the air. The displays of light armor and weapons were on stands and shelves. The temperature inside was hot despite the forges being in another room. There were several other people already there getting orders or looking at gear.
“Pretty impressive, right?” Alfred said as he walked up behind her. “Right now, we just need to get you some better protection. Cloth will only get you so far.”
“Is that Alfred? What brought camp administrator out of his keveia tower to mingle with us lowly workers?” A gruff voice called from the counter with a mocking tone on the ‘camp administrator’ part.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Ah, Joel, you're working the counter today. I thought your master liked to sell things, but I guess if he has your ugly mug out here, he must be trying to keep his armors,” Alfred said just as mockingly as he walked over and leaned against the countertop.
The armorer was a dwarf, uncommon in Yuhia as they rarely left the dwarven kingdoms. The hardy people were renowned spellcrafters and runesmiths. They are masters of spellcraft to the point that it is rumored that they draw life from working with their hands, and as long as a dwarf can craft, they will live.
Tanisha had only ever seen one other dwarf. Mat despised a professor named Dainius who didn’t like Mat’s spellcraft specialty, which was in invocation. The professor and the man in front of her were so similar in appearance that Tanisha could confuse them for brothers. The main difference was that the professor’s black beard looked to have a fire going at the ends, and Joel’s beard had beads that sparked with electricity.
“You old son of a bitch,” Joel said with a smile stretched across his face. “Robert finally freed you up to hunt some monsters again? Are you going with the team to take out that armored chrysalis?”
“I am free today, but not for that.” He motioned towards Tanisha, who walked up to the counter. “I'm here to help this new girl and her familiar.”
“Nice ta' meetcha. My name’s Ironjaw Stonecrusher, but most people call me Joel.” He held out his hand, which Tanisha shook.
“Tanisha Scalebound and this is…”
Joel jumped onto the counter, his eyes so wide that Tanisha thought they would pop out of his head.
“Is that a fuck'n hydra!” Joel yelled with amazement. “What in the Great Forge is one of those doing here?”
He hopped down and walked around Bjorn, looking over every detail of the familiar. Tanisha looked to Alfred, who smiled at a joke she didn’t get.
“His name is Bjorn,” Tanisha said.
“Hydra pup, and he’s strong too.” Joel whistled. “I thought these guys were untamable; too many types of magic interfere with bonding with them. He looks almost like a Brimax Plane hydra, but not quite. A hybrid maybe?”
Tanisha shook her head and threw her hands up. “Okay-okay, why does everyone here know what Bjorn is? I've had to tell most people that he’s a chimera. Even I didn’t know what he was for a while!”
Joel rubbed his beard. “I reckon no wendigo in Yuhia today has ever seen a hydra. They aren’t from anywhere near here, I can assure you that. The Brimax plane is over two thousand miles away, and wendigo don’t travel very often, if ever. Not to mention, hydra are quite withdrawn, much like dragons. I'm from Brimax, and so are the Jackrabbits.” Joel walked back around the counter and cleared his throat. “Now, sorry about that, young lady. What can I do for you?”
“Just need to get the lady fitted up with some basic gear,” Alfred said.
Tanisha pulled a small bag from her necklace inventory and placed it on the table.
“I also have a request. I overloaded it, but it’s a keepsake from a friend. I wanted to know if there was any way of repairing it.” Tanisha said.
Joel opened the bag and whistled when he saw the shards of charred metal that used to be a blade and a beautifully crafted dagger handle that looked practically untouched. Tanisha then took out the twin of the broken dagger from her inventory and placed it next to the bag. Joel inspected both for a moment while muttering to himself.
“Looks like you ran some power through it that the runes were not made to handle. The blade of the complete one is beautiful. The runes are clean, although they are an older script. Repair is impossible, but if you leave the weapons with me, I can reforge the broken one to match its companion. What were you trying to channel through the weapon, maya?”
“Something like that. And please fix it exactly like the other one,” Tanisha said, pushing the conversation along.
They talked for a while longer and haggled on the price before agreeing. Tanisha was so happy that her dagger would be fixed that she almost forgot why they were there until Alfred reminded them they needed equipment. Tanisha was fitted and found that they had several things that would fit her and not be restrictive to her fighting style.
She settled on a brown gambeson with a blue steel short-breastplate and pauldrons. Her boots were sturdy leather with blue steel shin guards. She asked if they had a bardiche for sale since she had destroyed her old one during the battle at the gatehouse in Lavi. She did get a replacement from the First Princess as a reward but it was too fancy and she didn’t trust the monster hunters to see her with it. Joel would have to forge one for her and she agreed to have one made. For the time being she bought a steel voulge after she found the weapon to be the most like what she lost.
On the way out of the camp, Alfred explained that they would be hunting monsters called crawling stalkers. They were small humanoids without any face except a mouth full of fangs. They crawled on all fours and were quiet. It was a relatively simple hunt that they sent newer hunters after. The monsters were the most common to cross the border because they were small, and there were just so many. For most people, they are primarily a nuisance; however, recently, more significant numbers than usual have gotten into the territory, so they have become a problem.
“We are going to treat this like a hunting party,” Alfred said as they left the camp gate. “I will act as the party leader, but when we engage the monsters, I will hold back and give instructions. I want to see you and Bjorn fight together, and since Bjorn will be going alone soon, I need to see him by himself as well. If you both pass, I will let you two take missions alone. Does that sound fair?”
“Sounds good,” Tanisha said as Bjorn hissed his agreement.