Connor felt slightly overworked. He had moved their impromptu camp a bit further from the waterfall, to avoid both the noise and the inherent cold. But he only had one set of arms, moving his wounded friends was a chore. Of course, he was stronger now than ever, but he was still a human, and physics still applied. They were all tired, except maybe for Takeo, the guy had been sleeping for the past two days. Damn, layabout.
Since the appearance of the old geezer, the Jungle had turned still, and he had to wonder if she had something to do with this. Not that he would trust the temporary truce, but it was a welcome respite. He had tested all nearby bushes of reed, and all were thankfully empty. Of course, the damnable slimy beasts were probably still around, and would probably come back soon, but that was a problem for later.
"Hey, Connor... Could you raise the backrest a bit? So that I could at least keep an eye out for you?" asked Takeo, who had for some reason decided to stay aware for once.
Connor grumbled. "Sure it won't open your wounds again? That old hag hasn't provided much of that miraculous ointment..." He was still a bit bitter to have been drafted into some strange quest. He didn't like to be beholden to someone else.
His young friend snorted, "You should probably make sure she's not around before you speak about her like that..." Both of them were still a bit in shock at the display of her might. "And no, it shouldn't. At least so long we don't move too quickly."
The crafter relented, two sets of eyes were better than one. Besides he was flush with new material anyway, even if those Frogs' bones seemed small and light in comparison to his usual fare. He hadn't yet experimented with the Werewolf stuff, these would probably be more interesting. And now he'd got two feathered humanoid lizard corpses, it was present's day.
He hadn't yet Looted them. He wanted to have a closer look at them. Unlike their slimy brethren with their sticky fingers and weird eyes, these looked like killing machines. One meter and a half tall, at the very least, a massive jaw with two rows of sharp pointed teeth, leathery frills, a feathered crest, spiky backbones, huge clawed hands and feet, and a long tail. That by itself made them dangerous. But what's worse, was that they had armor and jewelry. A clear sign of intelligence, and society. His Master had forewarned them about such display. Monsters that had a village, or a tribe, were the most terrible. He hoped these were only scouts, or hunters, and not some patrol.
"What do you think Stellates are?" asked Takeo, interrupting his thoughts. "We should probably have asked her..." Of course, they should have, but she had this... aura. It had reminded him of the Sovereign and his Master to a lesser extent. These were people you shouldn't cross. And that had made him quite angry, he hated bullies. Besides, he had been wondering the same thing. They had had their hand forced into this, but if the Balm worked as intended, they would need to repay their debt.
"Brown and Red Stellate, she said," he reminded himself. He looked around and sighed. "I don't know, but. It's probably something we can figure out. She seemed to think we would get those today, so it is probably something we would find on the way toward the Village." He shrugged as he looked toward the direction she had flown to. At least we have gambled right on that point. He turned toward Takeo, his hand right above the hole in his chest. We're not there yet. He sighed, "Take your Book out, I'll give you a bit of whatever I find, and you tell me!"
"By the way," muttered Takeo, he was still careful with his breathing and his speaking. "I think she scanned us. Or something similar."
Intrigued, Connor asked, "What do you mean?" There were many Abilities in the Realm, and he didn't know them all. "Scanned" wasn't a word he was familiar with though.
The young man shrugged, "I don't know for sure. I was in Stasis when I saw it, a dome of golden energy from outside expanded, reached me, and overcame my Soul Bubble then went right through me. That's when I decided to wake up, to warn you, but she was already there." He seemed apologetic, "I'm sorry."
"Soul Bubble?" muttered Connor. "You mean your domain? The film of Soul energy that surrounds you?" He had seen it, but he had never thought of it as a bubble. His friend nodded. Shit. To be honest, we already knew she was crazy strong anyway, so what's another advantage her way? Still, I wonder what she saw? Connor took out a knife and went to dig out any and every plant in his surroundings. He stored everything in his Ring and would give all that to Takeo afterward. He could do that while thinking. "So she looked inside us. I didn't feel it, and I feel like I should have." He wasn't yet a true Soul Master, and that was yet another reminder that he had still a long Path in front of him.
Many thoughts were hovering in his mind. The presence of the old apothecary was in favor of there being a village somewhere, besides her own words. But the absence of Guards where they landed didn't bode well either. Was it a true village? or just an improvised settlement? At least, she didn't look like a slaver. Not that I knew what they looked like anyway... And less fun thoughts, would Xander get better quickly? Takeo was already a lost cause, as his wound seemed special in some way. Their old Master had told them that there were plenty of ways to harm someone lastingly, and none were fun to recover from.
Takeo had been silent for some time. I don't want to wonder what's in his head either... His interest in the young man's world had been picked since that fateful Challenge, but he wouldn't pry. It was both too early and too dangerous right now. He had to focus on the present, and yet. These people had seemed quite ingenious. Everything he had seen had been terrifying, but also fascinating. His Analysis Ability had had a field day at that time, everything had shined with untold potential. Even his Guide had been talking crazy, but he had yet to understand whatever she meant.
He scrapped some moss from a stone pike and extracted several small mushrooms from a recess in the stone. He dearly hoped whatever they were looking for wasn't to be found in the Jungle. But he had taken some of the weird plants he had found at the border. Little orange sapling, with a weird smell and already covered with some white hairy mushrooms. Another with long purple leaves, hosting in their cradle a very intricate flower made of brown and red solid, almost metallic petals. Silvery beard-like plants that seemed to sprout from branches of a tree. And many more. He had no idea what they were, but he had taken them all.
He went back toward Takeo. "Here we go," he said, forcing a bit of enthusiasm. "I'll take them out one by one, and store them back in, just stop me whenever." And so it went. He took out a plant, and Takeo would tell him if it was the one. He had to admit, it was a bit fun. He had never been much of a botanist, but he had always been curious. Takeo seemed to be taken by some of these as well. He had to admit, some of them were quite pretty.
A largish plant landed on the young man, long dark and solid roots, fat large green leaves stripped with silver, and a flower made of five leaves-like petals of a deep yellow, highlighted with a red center and black markings, almost as if it had been made up for a party. Takeo's eyes widened, and he said, "That's it! That's the one!"
Connor was quite happy. This one came from one of the older stone pikes, its root firmly anchoring it onto the pillar of stone. "So what is a Stellate?" he asked, curious now as to why the old harpy had wanted this one. At least, they'll be easy to spot and to get.
"The Book isn't that much talkative about them," said Takeo, "besides the usual. It says this one is a Yellow Stellate, so not quite the one we are looking for. It doesn't indicate any immediate benefits though." He shrugged, "Give me more of those and I'll probably get some Insight if that's something you want."
Connor looked around, once again, and this time focused only on his new prey. There were still about a dozen of them around. He hoped some would be Red or Brown. "Could they be related to the Orbs?" he asked. Not that he expected Takeo to know.
His friend shrugged and didn't bother to reply. Connor pilfered every single Stellate he could find. And even found a few more within the fog. Most of those had been Yellow, but there had been a few Reds. He wasn't bothering himself anymore with the other plants, but he still kept an eye out for both the Frogs and the vicious lizards. And who knew what kind of surprise these plants could hide?
When he came back to the improvised camp, the silence of the Jungle hit him again. It was seriously creeping him out now. His Master had been a fount of warning of all sorts and they had had to learn a lot of them by heart. There was one who said that silence in nature wasn't a good thing. It meant large predators were around. He prayed silently to Lady Jessica that they wouldn't be the next meal of some giant snake or something.
He couldn't leave while Xander was still down, and it frayed his nerves. He mustered some of his Will and took hold of himself. He handed Takeo most of the useless Stellate and kept the Reds that had been requested. "Ten's enough, right?" he asked.
Takeo nodded, "Yep. You want the Token?" He was holding a small crystal coin, with a red star-like flower in its center. It faintly shone blue and was quite pretty.
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He hesitated, this was only idle curiosity, botanist wasn't neither his thing nor in his plans. But he was curious. "Sure, why not." He grabbed the coin, took another look at it, and put it in his mouth. Not a second later he remembered why that wasn't a good idea, as it melted and burned through his brain.
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He hadn't been out of it for more than a few seconds, but these Tokens were heavy hitters. How could I have forgotten about that?
He was still a bit dizzy, but he was back in control. He looked at Takeo, who was looking at him with a bit of worry. "You okay?" he asked.
"Err, yeah. I'm fine. I just forgot how strong these were." He said while massaging his temples. He checked on Xander while trying to make sense of the feeling he had just received. It seemed more intelligible than when he had taken the Token on Leather and Metal. Even Thorns had been a mess. This one seemed like a more focused topic. It seemed he also lacked a lot of background. Concepts were missing and the whole picture was blurry because of it. It seemed to him that these plants had a job, a mission to fulfill in this environment, and that was related to energy. But that was it, he couldn't grasp more than that.
Thankfully that was when Xander woke up. He was still a bit groggy, but he was back. "Welcome back, lazy fart!" exclaimed Connor, he was quite happy to see his friend back with them. He also looked quite healthier, his skin wasn't pale anymore, and he seemed to be breathing easier. Broken ribs were probably still hurting him if he could judge the occasional twitching on his torso. But he was back.
"Hey, Connor. Takeo," he said haltingly. "Got, any, water?" He was still a bit out of it, but he would be fine. Connor gave him a bit of water and added for good measure some strips of jerky. His friend munched on those with gusto. Takeo himself didn't say no when he proposed some to him.
"Thanks," said Xander. He took a few probing breaths, then moved his arms around, rotating his shoulders. "Should be fine enough..." he muttered then closed his eyes. And nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the help." He looked around, "Where are we?"
"Just moved the camp a bit further from the waterfall," said Connor. "Thankfully the weather here is warm, otherwise I would have had to make a fire. But I needed to get you guys out of the mist and the cold." Xander nodded and slowly, set himself up. Connor had to restrain himself from fussing over him. He needed his friend to be in shape for the remainder of the trip.
He did some stretches, slowly to begin with, then with more vigor. "That Balm was indeed quite effective," he said. "And you said it wouldn't deal well with bones Takeo?"
His friend nodded, "Yeah, it's not meant for that. It's more of a skin and muscle thing." Both of them had been looking at the rejuvenated Xander. "But it seems to have worked well enough. I'm glad."
Connor nodded, "Yeah, me too. I was a bit worried." He looked around, "So, what's the plan now? We've identified the plants we have to find by the way." He summoned one from his ring to show him. "They grow by the waterfalls on stone pikes. Probably on any rocks around water."
Xander was happy to hear that. "Great, that's a good start." He was still getting acquainted with his body. Connor recognized the forms their Master had taught them. Xander always had been good at those. "I'm in good enough shape to walk, at the very least. I can probably fight some more, but I'd rather not."
Connor concurred, "Yeah, I'm not in a hurry to fight those lizards again. They were quite vicious."
The swordsman looked around, "Err, can you hand me back my gears?" He was still in his underwear, fully bandaged waist up. All the little nicks and cuts he had received had been treated and had disappeared during his time out. That Stasis of this kid is quite something. No scars, nor pinkish skin. It's as if nothing ever happened. I can't wait to look at what's under that bandage. Healers were a great addition to any team, but they were rare on the Path, as they tended to be less than good fighters. Still, Connor had to reign himself a bit as Stasis also had some drawbacks, like being turned into a stone-like statue.
He summoned his friend's gear. He hadn't tried his hand at another bone sword for him. But he would try to make another one up to his friend's standard, only to show it to a true blacksmith and have one ordered. But these were thoughts for later. They weren't in the safety of the village yet.
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They had been walking for a few hours now. Takeo stayed awake for this leg of the trip. He promised to go back into Stasis whenever a fight occurred, and he had done so on two occasions. It had taken them an hour before they reached another waterfall, unopposed. They had been quite wary, but just like at their camp, the Jungle had been silent beside the noises of the wind and the river rushing below. But, when they had landed on the ground below, by yet another waterfall, they had been greeted by a small contingent of Frogs, but thankfully no Lizards. Xander had been able to dispatch them without hurting himself further. He was getting well acquainted with these beasts, and they were getting easier to deal with.
They added another bunch of Stellate to their collection, and this time refrained from turning them into Token. They could farm them later if need be. Thankfully another couple of Red and a Brown had joined the fray. They had been quite happy to see that. The Jungle was back to its usual self, which meant they had to redouble their vigilance. And it paid. Connor had found himself a knack at spotting the ambush lizard, Chameleon Spotters of the Greckiss Tribe, as Takeo had called them. He had been able to shoot one down before they could spring their trap, and Xander got the two others.
It was moments like these that reminded Connor why he had always wanted to be a ranger. Sure, there was the pleasure of overcoming a cleverly hidden foe, but navigating the unknown, the tension of the hunt, the thrill of the chase. It was all there. He would make sure his new career wouldn't prevent him from enjoying these moments.
The river they had been following for so long had forked. Not knowing any better, they followed the one that seemed to go straighter toward the Valley and when they had finally reached yet another cliff, they could witness the end of the Jungle and the beginning of the bottom of the Valley. Under them, quite a tall cliff awaited their descent, a hundred meters, if not more. The pond receiving the waterfall's water seemed so small, it was vertiginous. The river then lounged around on the lower plateau only to fall again further below. From their vantage point, they could see dozens of such rivers all around the valley, and the Jungle seemed only to cover a small part of it.
The Valley was enclosed between three tall mountainous pitons, whose summits were flush with ice and snow. Something Connor and Xander had never witnessed, besides through some illusion of their Master. The sun was currently high above, with nary a cloud to mare the picture. The air was warm, and a bit lighter than when they were deep in the Jungle. Below, them, on the plateau, vast plains of tall grass seemed like a sea of yellow and brown, where the wind was playing with the waves. Here and there bushes of trees, ponds, and rocks had sprouted like islands, but the river seemed to be the only way to navigate this sea with any certitude. They could see a few animals, more like blurry dark spots, displacing the tall grasses and leaving behind trails in the otherwise uniform sea. Birds and flying beasts oversaw all of this like sentinels, either above in the sky, or on top of some outcropping of stones.
Beyond, and further, on the other side of the valley, the group could see little square fields, roads even. And just one or two buildings. From the size of it, despite the distance, Connor could only qualify those as shelter. But they were there, and that meant people, and they were going in the right direction.
"Look!" called Xander, pointing toward their future destination, if a bit further toward the left. "People!" He was quite happy to see that. Three black dots had jumped from below and were now crossing the field at high speed. Jumping around, darting toward the Jungle, uncaring of the grass fields below them. A few larger birds took offense, but a few lines of orange lights flashed and the birds were no more. Damn, these guys are fast... Soon enough, the three dots jumped up the cliff and disappeared into the Jungle. So that's what true Pather looks like.
As kids, they had been segregated from Pathers-only cavern of Sandford. And when their Master had taken them out to hunt and learn their trade, they had been confined to the outskirts of the village. They had never seen a true Pather in action. Of course, Connor hadn't been happy about that, and most of his little escapades had been to breach the segregation and observe the object of his desires. But those had been Pathers in a village, not Pathers in actions. A few did show-off of course, but it wasn't the same.
"People seem to like jumping here, don't you think?" asked Xander, musing. "I wonder..."
"Specialty Orbs?" asked Connor. Those were rare occurrences in Haven, but they were a thing. They were like normal Orbs, that granted Strength for example, but instead improved something else. "Jumping Orbs would be quite a boon for almost anyone." He didn't know if such Orbs existed, but he wouldn't be surprised. Sandford monsters were known to occasionally drop Hardness Orbs. According to his Master, most of the time they were quite useless, like Sliminess or something.
Xander nodded, "Yeah, that would be quite something. I wonder if they have a way to farm them." He looked around, "Also it would be quite useful around here." And sighed, "Alright. There is still no village in sight, but there are roads. If there are roads, they must lead to somewhere."
"Let's go then," said Connor enthusiastically. For a moment, he had forgotten that the Path was also froth with wonders. He had been so focused on the dangers that he had forgotten the rest. He was quite happy to be reminded of that. But, there was still some work before the fun could begin. He looked down. Climbing below would be quite a pain. He wondered if he could just drop Takeo and have him Teleporting the last few meters. Something to try. But he probably won't like that, he snickered.
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"Find Jasper, and tell her to be at the southern checkpoint. Three whelps are coming down. Let her give them the spiel, but no checks. I've already vetted them," barked the elderly woman as she came into her abode.
"Yes, Elder!" shouted her aide, and ran off.
She dropped off her load and massaged her shoulders. She wasn't as young as she used to be. She pondered what she should do. The Path split in front of her, she could either crush the Newcomer, or she could nurture him. Leaving him be wasn't an option as he would bring everything she'd been working for so long on its head. Her right hand was aching again. But there was nothing she could do about it. Blasted corruption...
It would have been easier if she'd just killed them off when they had landed in her Realm. But her soft heart had betrayed her once again. She had been too curious, and now she was stuck with them. She had to make the best of it. She had to make sure they would be useful to her. She had to make sure the Valley survived their sojourn. "Lizzy. Get me the Captain. And the blasted princess." she whispered. She heard no reply, nor acknowledgement, nor a movement, and nodded in appreciation. She's getting better at this. She put some water to boil and prepared some tea. She was going to have a longer day than expected.