I finished sewing up my armor and used the jar of coal pitch to blacken the leather patches to hide them and the thread I had used. I was quite happy that it matched the black dye of the uniform and my repairs didn't stand out like I was worried they would. It wasn't seamless, not by any stretch of the imagination; but, it was repaired as well as it was going to be, especially since I was pretty much the only one that could work on it safely and without damaging the wires.
I hung the uniform coat on the back of the chair to let the coal pitch dry, then I stored everything into my bag of holding, including the war hammer that I had left out the night before. I glanced up at the ceiling that I had broken with a Mana Presence Hand and wondered how I was going to fix it, when there was a knock on the door. I looked through it and saw the innkeeper's daughter with a tray of food. I dug into my pants pocket that was on another chair to grab a couple of copper coins, then went over to the door and answered it.
“Good morning.” I whispered and took the tray with a Mana Presence Hand and handed her the two copper coins. “Thank you.”
The young woman nodded and I closed the door as silently as I could. I brought the food over to the table and Maylia sat up in bed.
“I guess it's time to get up.” Maylia said and gently shook Afyne awake.
Afyne whined a little and her hands reached out for where I had been sleeping beside her, and her hands met nothing but air. She jerked like someone had poked her with a sharp stick and bolted upright into a sitting position in the blink of an eye.
“Where is...!” Afyne gasped and then saw me at the table with breakfast and relaxed. “I thought...”
“I won't ever leave without telling you where I'm going.” I said in a serious tone, and she nodded.
I brought the tray of food over to the bed, climbed onto it beside Afyne and put the tray down, then gave her a quick hug to reassure her. We ate the nice breakfast and cleaned up, then we dressed in our adventuring outfits. I saw the other members of my quite crowded party come from their rooms and they walked towards to the door of my room, so I rushed over to the door and pulled it open before any of them could knock.
“Good morning!” I said and waved them all inside. They came in and I shut the door behind them. “I hope you all slept well, because this is going to be a long day.”
The mage and the guard glanced at each other, then back at me.
“Did anyone have a chance to think about how to deal with a giant snake?” I asked and they all had a surprised look on their faces.
“You were serious?” The guard asked.
“Of course I was.” I said. “Anyone have any ideas?”
“It depends on if it is hiding inside one of those cracks.” Imiryl said. “If it is, we can trap and probably kill it. If it's just out and around, we'd have to wait until it's asleep before we would have a chance to do anything else.”
“That's how we caught it the first time.” Maylia said. “We approached it from two directions and...”
“You should have killed it from a distance.” Allirynn said.
“That might have been possible, assuming it didn't detect whatever you attack it with.” The mage said. “Some snakes have very acute sensory organs on the sides of their noses and can react instantly.”
“It threw up!” Afyne blurted out. “They scared it and it ran away!”
“That's not something I've heard snakes do.” The mage said. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I said with a sharp tone, and she nodded in acknowledgement that I wasn't going to say anything else about it. Allirynn leaned close to Imiryl and whispered.
“It was either a delay tactic or it needed to lose the extra weight to get away faster.” Imiryl said.
“Yes, that would make sense.” Maylia said. “Making itself lighter would let it move a lot faster. I hope when we find it that it's not sluggish, because that means...”
“...it would have just eaten.” I said. “Yeah, no one wants that to happen.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
“First things first.” I said. “Let's find some paper and copy that crack locator spell a few times, then we'll head out of town and cast it.”
“Why out of town?” The guard asked.
“In case there's something wrong with it or it does something weird.” I said. “It's always safer to do things like that when you're not near the general population.”
Imiryl gave me an odd look. “Do you actually care about things like that?”
“Don't you?” I asked.
“Hunter.” Maylia said and I looked at her. “She's asking if you actually care about collateral damage.”
“I know; but, it's such an odd question that I wondered what made her think... oh.” I tried not to sigh. “I'm not with them, so if they gave you that impression, you can forget about it right now.”
“If you are the summoned hero, then they...” Imiryl started to say.
“I never agreed to anything.” I said and cut her off. “I was taken without my knowledge or consent and sent here. I didn't have any choice in the matter, and I hate that. A lot.” I used a mental technique to stay calm and my anger didn't try to rise. “Regardless of the circumstances, I'm here now. So, I'm going to do the best that I can to deal with the situation. Not for the goddess and definitely not for her emissaries. I'm doing this for me and for those that I care about. This world is dangerous and I will protect them from it.”
“But...”
“If I go out there with the belief that I'm going to save the world, I am going to fail.” I said and they all stared at me. “I can't save the world. That's too lofty of a goal for any one person, or even a group, to take on.”
“But... but we... that's always...” Imiryl stammered.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Don't delude yourself by thinking that the fate of the entire world rests on your shoulders.” I said, and I could see in her eyes that was exactly what she was doing. I glanced at Allirynn and saw a similar look. “Remember your pledge to me. You shouldn't try to save every single person from losing people. It's not possible. All you need to do is concentrate on saving the next person.”
“That's short-sighted.” Allirynn said.
“Only because you don't realize that there will always be someone next to save.” I said, and his eyes widened. “Yeah, you're getting it.” I said with a smile and looked back at Imiryl and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Do the immediate goal and achieve it. It's not that far fetched, is it? Saving one person?”
Imiryl shook her head no.
“Once you save someone, you can feel good that you're making a difference, then you can move on to the next person to save.”
“That's so...” Imiryl stopped talking.
“You have my permission to say that it's simplistic, because it is.” I chuckled. “It also works.”
“But... but we...”
“I did it for almost a year and started to take down an all powerful organization that spans hundreds of worlds. My goal wasn't to kill them all, since that was completely unrealistic. I just wanted to save the next person from them so they wouldn't suffer, then moved on to the next person.”
“How... how many...”
“Too many to count.” I said with a smile and let her shoulder go. “Once you included those people's families and friends who let others know what my friends and I were doing...”
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“Word spread like a wildfire.” Alliynn said with a nod of respect.
“It did, so that's what I'm going to do here.” I said. “You all pledged to help me, so that's what we need to do. We are going to start by saving the next victim from this giant snake.”
Everyone nodded, even Afyne.
“Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, we need to discuss what roles we have, so we all know where our uses will be best.” I said. “I'm a Psionic Vanguard and I apparently lead from the front.”
“You're a what?!?” Most of them said in response, and I chuckled.
“Hey, more people that have no idea what I can do.” I laughed. “I'll find out what my class can do when I find someone that can tell me about it.”
“You don't know?” Diofra the mage asked.
“I told you. I had no idea what was going on when I came here.”
“But... but...”
“I have a name and a location for the person; but, it's pretty far from here, so I'm not worrying about it for now.” I said and looked at Allirynn. “What about you?”
“Unarmed combat fighter.”
“I guess that explains the massive amount of mana in your muscles and bones.” I said. “You can't use weapons at all?” I asked, and he shook his head. “What about throwing a rock?”
“Throwing a... are you joking?” Allirynn asked.
“You didn't think of that?” I asked, and he shook his head again. “Well, we can try it later. Either tossing a rock at a target or using it to crush a bug.”
“But...”
“Yes, it has the potential to become a weapon.” I said with a smile.
“You have such strange thoughts.” Imiryl said.
“The blast shield over my eyes didn't give you that impression already?” I asked and tapped the black metal. “I think I'm losing my touch.”
Maylia laughed. “I'm a... was a guard. I fight swiftly with my sword and my fists.”
“I'm a stable hand.” Afyne said proudly. “The best in the capital.”
That made everyone smile.
“I'm a royal guard for Queen Celestina.” Evus the guard said. “I can fight with sword and shield.”
“I'm a court mage.” Diofra said. “I can cast both offensive and defensive spells.”
“Do you need time to prepare? To pray or something?” I asked.
“No, and that's why I'm one of the most powerful court mages.” Diofra said, just as proudly as Afyne.
“I'm an ice maiden.” Imiryl said, and the mage, the guard, Afyne, and Maylia caught their breath and stared at her.
“What's that mean?” I asked when I saw their reaction.
“We live very long and sheltered lives. It's against our society's rules to leave the comfort of the mountains.” Imiryl said.
I intentionally didn't glance at Maylia, because her society had the same rules. “What else?”
“What do you mean?” Imiryl asked.
“You didn't just decide one day to leave, did you? Something must have happened.”
Imiryl quickly glanced at Allirynn and then back at me.
I didn't need to hear any other reasons. “What can you do?”
“You really don't know anything.” Diofra the mage said, a little surprised at the truth. “She's an elemental sorceress. Ice in all its forms is hers to control.”
“That sounds handy.” I said. “Have you stood in a desert and made it snow?”
Imiryl stared at me and didn't say anything.
“I'll take that as a no.” I said and looked at their faces. “I see that I've got a lot to teach you about testing your limits.”
“Which you can do at a later time.” Maylia said with a smile. “We need to get that paper and cast the spell.”
“Yes, we better get on that right now.” I said. “I really hope there's no crack nearby, though.”
“Me, too.” The mage said. “I hate snakes, and the thought that thousands of them are just waiting to come here to eat us all...” She shivered uncontrollably for a moment.
“Then let's get work.” I said and led them all out of the room and down the stairs to the innkeeper and we handed over the keys to the rooms. “I'm sorry to tell you this; but, I damaged the ceiling in my room. There's a hole about this big that goes up into the attic.” I said and held my hands almost a foot apart. “We were experimenting and...”
“Say no more.” The innkeeper said with a smile. “We've had adventurers stay here before.”
“Thanks for being so understanding.” I said and handed him a silver coin. “I hope that's enough to cover the repairs and the loss of the room rental until it's fixed.”
“It's more than enough, sir.” The innkeeper said with a huge smile on his face and slipped the coin out of sight, then he waved to us as we left to go to the general store. I had been tempted to leave Afyne behind, since there were too many of us to take the horses this time; but, I knew that she wouldn't like it, not after my promise to always protect her.
I bought a pile of paper and coal pencils and gave some of them to the mage, and she quickly copied over the spell several times and stored them, then handed the original back to me. With that done, we walked out of town and found a good spot and the mage asked for my help. She took out her mana crystal and put it on a flat rock next to the paper with the spell on it, then she held her hand out to me.
“I don't think you're going to need the crystal.” I said.
“It lets me channel more of my mana into a spell, so I'm using it as the catalyst.”
I shrugged and took her hand. “Do you want me to start sharing now or...”
“I'll let you know.” Diofra said.
“I don't want to interrupt the spell when you're surprised.” I said, and she chuckled. “I'm serious.”
“I'm using the crystal, so as long as the mana gets added, it won't matter if I'm surprised.”
“All right.” I said. “I'll follow your lead.”
Diofra started to chant out loud as she read the spell and her finger moved down the page, then she started to glow. She was about halfway down the page when the five inch wide crystal glowed and she paused and nodded to me. I used a touch of Presence to initiate the connection between us and she caught her breath, then I started to add my mana. She didn't gasp like I thought she would, though. I looked down at it and it glowed brighter and brighter.
Diofra's glow doubled and I felt my mana go through her and into the crystal. “S-s-s-stop.” She whispered and I slowed the mana down to almost nothing. Her hand trembled as she moved it down the page and she finished reading the rest of the spell out loud. When she said the last word, the paper dissolved and I felt all the mana she had built up inside the crystal get sucked away as a twenty foot wide slightly green see-through bubble formed around us. It wasn't the local area like I had expected, though.
It was the entire First Sothen Kingdom.
“WOW!” Afyne yelled as the map appeared. “It's so pretty!”
“That doesn't help us much.” Allirynn said.
“Hush.” Imiryl said and pat his arm, then looked at Diofra. “You need more concentration.”
“She must have been thinking of the safety of the whole kingdom and not the local area.” Maylia said.
I sighed. “I should have emphasized what I said for you, too.” I said to Diofra, who stared at the map like she had never seen anything like it before. “Diofra.” I said and she didn't react. “DIOFRA!”
“Huh? What?” Diofra looked at me and blinked her eyes.
“The local area, please.” I said.
“The local... oh, yes. Okay.” Diofra said and closed her eyes. “Agotorn and the surrounding area. Agotorn and the surrounding area.” She chanted and the map zoomed into the town and showed several miles around it.
“Okay, everyone. Help us look for... well, something odd.” I said, and they all started to look at the map for anything out of the ordinary.
“I don't see anything.” Imiryl said. “Isn't it weird that I'm looking for something that I don't know what I'm looking for or what it looks like?”
Allirynn put his arm around her waist and they kept looking.
“There!” Afyne said and pointed to a spot a couple of miles away. “Look! It's a black spot!”
“I don't think that's...” The guard started to say, then he walked over to her. “Hey, I think she's right.”
“She sure is.” I said and quickly drew out where it was on paper. “Thank you, Afyne.”
“Y-you're welcome.” Afyne said with a slightly red face.
“Okay, now I have a question.” I said and turned to the mage. “Can we locate the snake with this?”
“Not unless you have something that it owned or was a part of it.” Diofra said and dismissed the spell. She picked up the mana crystal and put it into her bag of holding.
I thought about the thing it threw up and shook my head. I wasn't going to consider trying to carry some like that around just to locate the snake, assuming we could carry it.
“Then we do it the old fashioned away and hunt it down.” I said and turned to Imiryl. “You're our ace in the hole.”
“I'm your what?” Imiryl asked, surprised.
“You're the trump card. The thing we need to win.” I said. “Snakes need external heat to maintain their body temperature.”
Imiryl nodded. “I understand.”
“Good, because we're going to use that to our advantage and we're going to end this thing before it eats anyone else.” I said. “We know where the crack is, so we're going there first.”
“I'll try tracking the snake when we get close to that thing.” Maylia said. “Everyone needs to watch carefully for the snake until then.”
“It moves unbelievably fast, so I'm tempted to get the horses for Afyne and Imiryl.” I said.
“That's a good idea.” Evus the guard said. “It keeps them slightly out of harm's way, and keeps them more mobile than us.”
I nodded and we went back into town. I had Maylia on one side and Afyne on my other side, and I held her hand. Just before we reached the stable, I came to a stop and gave Afyne a pile of copper coins. She stared at them for only a moment, then she understood. She had already given away the copper coins I had given her in the capital. She had handed them to the stable worker and hadn't kept them for herself, even though she had earned them for taking care of the horses herself.
Afyne smiled at me and we went into the stable to retrieve the horses. The young man had them kitted up and saddled in record time and she gave him two copper coins. He thanked her profusely, to everyone's amusement, and we stepped outside with the horses. The guard went over to the carriage they had arrived in and talked to the driver.
“Where did you get such magnificent beasts?” Diofra the mage asked and admired the slightly oversized and very muscular horses.
“We bought them in a town a long way away.” I said. “They weren't in good shape then; but, we've taken good care of them since.”
“Well, whatever you're doing to them, don't stop.” Diofra said and stroked the neck of one.
“We're going to have to buy more, since we use them to travel.” I said and helped Afyne climb up onto my horse. “I doubt anyone here besides Maylia could keep up with me on foot.”
“Ahem.” Allirynn fake coughed and I glanced at him.
“We can race later.” I said. “Help Imiryl climb up onto Maylia's horse.”
Allirynn looked at me with slightly squinted eyes.
“That was advice, not an order.” I said and gave him a crooked smile. “I'll do it if you don't want to.”
Allirynn didn't say anything and held a hand out to Imiryl. She raised her eyebrows at me and then took Allirynn's hand. He helped her climb up into the saddle and her new outfit let her ride without a problem.
The guard came back over to us. “The driver said that he has to head back since we're all staying.”
“It wouldn't be fair to make him stay.” Diofra the mage said. “He's got a wife to get back to.”
“We are definitely going to need more horses.” I said.
“And bedrolls. And food.” Maylia said.
“We'll worry about logistics later.” I said. “Let's go.”
I took the reins of my horse and led my group out of town towards the spot where the crack was and occasionally checked the paper I had drawn. Hopefully, the giant snake wouldn't find food before we found the giant snake.