The meeting with the Asterfal councillor had gone well. With the amendments to the trade rights being progressed through one party, the new barrel rates for fish would increase the profits of all parties involved in the tri-way deal. It was a shame that SJ couldn't manage all the southern regional aspects of fishing, but there were so many small minor parties that it would be a full-time job. She was already communicating regularly via mail to the other member's territories, as it was. She knew she would never stop writing letters if they expanded further.
The initial idea of joined-up approaches was beneficial but time-consuming. She would need to invest in communication stones. The local air mage couldn't possibly handle all the communications by himself, and he would require support as the town grew. For now, he only sent critical messages via magical means due to how mana-intensive it was.
"Alice," SJ called after seeing her enter the barracks. Alice detoured from her route upstairs to her office to see SJ.
"What's up?" Alice asked.
"I need to come to Asterfal with you."
"Oh." It was obvious that Alice wasn't expecting to hear the statement. "What's wrong?"
"There is nothing wrong. I have been contacted about a task."
"What sort of task?" Alice frowned.
"The sort I can't really discuss as yet. Not until I know more details or even confirm that I will complete it."
"I see. Well, I will be leaving tomorrow first thing. I will be happy for the company. Darren won't be coming with me. Since he has taken on overseeing the hunters in town, he is needed here in Killic. They are considering setting up a new lodge, which will be constructed once the wall in the valley is complete. There have also been sightings of bears to the west of the lake."
"I am aware of one bear. Cristy is out there today with Patch."
"Cristy?" Alice said, surprised.
SJ laughed. "I know. It is hard to believe that she is now an adult. The transformation was so fast."
"I knew gnolls always matured quickly, but this is the first time I have been that close to one to really witness it for myself," Alice acknowledged.
"While I remember. Cristy mentioned that you may heal her as a druid."
Frowning, Alice looked at SJ with confusion. "She isn't a beast."
"No. But apparently, the Carlati can heal other lycans because of their beast affinity, and gnolls originate from beasts, which means they may be able to be healed by druids. Have you ever tried healing Zigferd before as a lycan?"
"No. I have never needed to. There has always been a cleric or paladin available. I hadn't even considered it."
"If you consider that paladins and clerics can heal beasts as well as beings, maybe you can also?"
"I was always trained that as a druid, we have only beast healing capability, but if what you say is true, I may have to try with Zigferd. If it works, at least I could heal lycans and gnolls. I am not sure any other races come under the beast affiliation."
'Dave? Any ideas on which races originate from beasts?'
"The basic races that come from beasts are ratkins, gnolls and, through their curse, lycans. Possibly minotaurs as well, although their origination is still being discussed. There are two or three aquatic races, but I would assume they would not come under beast classification but rather reptilian origination," Dave said.
'Not draconian then?'
"No, they are draconic origination. They are not classed as beasts."
'Bugbears?'
Dave chuckled. "No bugbears, although named bears, are a sub-race of hobgoblin origin, so come under goblinkin."
SJ had never really considered the origination of the races, and it was another item to add to her list of things to consider.
"Maybe ratkin and minotaurs," SJ added.
"Possibly. I will have to try and see what happens," Alice said.
"I am just going to finish up the summary for the council from the meeting, and then I will find Cristy. She has been gone all day," SJ said.
"Are you staying again tonight?"
"No. I will be heading to Farleck tonight."
"Okay. If you could meet me at mine in the morning, that would be great. Alef is planning to leave early."
"Of course. I will see you then."
It took SJ another hour to finish her report. The one thing she missed from Earth, above anything else, was a word processor. Writing everything with quill and ink was so time-consuming. She couldn't imagine the hours that scribes must have spent producing some texts, and she could also see why the books she had bought in Asterfal were so expensive.
Happy with her report, she called Kibble, who happily jumped onto her shoulder before she left the barracks. It was late afternoon, and she was worried about Cristy. The west side of the lake was where she had originally landed when she arrived near Killic, and the creatures she had encountered there weren't high-level, or at least hadn't been back then.
She made her way to the edge of town and looked over the fields. Several beings were working by the auction warehouse that stood at the edge of the fields. SJ walked over, asking if anyone had seen Cristy. No one had, so SJ decided she would head to the wolf's den.
"Get down Kibble," SJ said.
Kibble jumped from her shoulder and landed on the ground. In moments, she had shrunk to her miniature size. Kibbles looked at her excitedly. They had flown together a few times now, and he always enjoyed it when she did.
"Come on. Let's go visit the wolves."
SJ took off, and Kibbles launched into the air behind her. He began speeding along after her, spiralling around as he did. He was exceedingly fast and nimble for his size. It didn't take them long to work their way through the forest towards the den. Landing in the clearing, SJ grew back to her full size. The wolves had sensed her and stood watching as she grew.
"I don't suppose Cristy or Patch have been back yet," she asked. SJ wasn't even sure if the regular wolves could understand her. One wolf stepped forward, SJ recognising the scar that ran along his side from the rock gobbler fight. He stood in front of her, lowering his head, and let out a low growl. Kibbles was still hovering in the air, uncertain of the wolves. When he met them the first time, they had tried to capture him.
"Kibble, come down here," SJ said.
He let out a squeak in protest, flying up to a nearby branch, and looked down.
"They won't harm you," SJ shook her head despondently.
The wolf with the scar stepped forward. His head lowered towards SJ. SJ reached out and stroked its thick and soft fur. It turned its head to the side, allowing SJ to scratch it under the chin. The normal wolves were much smaller than Patch, and SJ hadn't even considered if they had been levelling or not. Thinking about it, she triggered her identification skill. The last time she had identified them, the grey wolves had been level six.
Grey Wolf
Level: 15
Hit Points: 100
Mana Points: 0
Armour Class: 18
Attacks: Bite/Claw
Special: Nil
'Almost ten levels!' SJ thought.
"I am not surprised the hogling levels have increased in accordance with the territory levels as well. All forest animals or other beasts will have," Dave said.
'I wonder what level Patch is now.'
"He is twenty."
'That's great. That will really help with Cristy.'
"Yes, but also consider the bear they may have gone to challenge, which could be twenty—level twenty bears, whether forest or mountain, are powerful. Do you remember how many hit points Zigferd had, and he is a lycan? A true bear's form will have an insanely high constitution as a base due to their build."
'That's not great to hear,' SJ suddenly felt very nervous that Cristy had gone out alone with Patch.
"You need to stop worrying. She has come back as a level 16 with combat experience, and it isn't as though Patch is new to fighting, either. I doubt you will have anything to worry about unless Cristy gets injured, of course, because healing herself could be challenging."
'Not helping!' SJ thought.
"Can you help find Patch?" SJ asked.
The grey wolf with the scar tilted his head at her before he turned, looking off to the west.
'He appears to know which way he has gone.'
"Can you take me to Patch and Cristy?"
The female white wolf, which SJ knew was Patch's partner, walked forward and growled at the grey. The grey turned to look at her. If they communicated, SJ couldn't tell, but the next thing was the grey moved off to the edge of the clearing, heading in a Westerly direction.
"Come on Kibble," SJ said as she shrunk again.
The wolf moved off into the forest, and SJ followed, flying by the side of the grey. Kibbles was still unsure as he stayed much higher out of its range. The forest was alive with the sounds of creatures, and with a group of predatory wolves living so near, it was amazing how lively it was. Compared to SJ's other visits, it seemed livelier than usual.
"I bet it's because of the bear. If the bear is moving around near the mines, then it has likely pushed the forest animals in this direction," Dave said after SJ thought about it.
'It seems to have taken a long time for it to happen.'
"Bears can travel for miles to reach new areas, and if they come from a different territory, which they may have, they could even be new to the area."
'I didn't even realise there were bears up here until it was mentioned. I thought the only predators on the plateau were the wolves.'
"They probably were originally. It's no different from the way the wyvern arrived. There are no time limits for crossing the border. Many animals usually stay in one area, but if it gets harder to survive, they will move. It depends upon the type of bear it is as well. If it is a mountain bear, it could have easily come over the mountains to get here."
'I thought the mountains were pretty impassable.'
"Not to nature."
They travelled for a while before eventually coming onto the main path that led to the mine. Since the mine had been created, the track that used to lead to the valley had been worked on. The dwarves had packed the earth and widened it in parts to accommodate the wagons that now traversed it. It wasn't long before the path split that led to the new smelter that had been built at the top of the ridge. The grey continued past it and headed towards the river that fed from the lake into the valley. SJ hadn't been back across the river since her initial arrival in Amathera.
As they approached, the wolf sped up, and it sprinted at the edge of the river before it launched itself into the air, quickly clearing the distance and landing on the far side. SJ was so glad she had flown normally. The memory of her horrendous flying attempt when the raven grabbed her made her shudder. They carried on for some time, moving towards the southwestern edge of the mountains which surrounded the plateau. The forest here was thick, and it was obvious no beings apart from forest creatures usually visited it. The speed they travelled at, with the wolf bounding along, was much faster than SJ would have been able to maintain if she had been walking.
After another ten minutes, the wolf growled towards SJ before bursting into a small clearing. The clearing was destroyed; the earth was torn up, and it was clear from the signs that a fight had taken place. SJ could see patches of red on the churned-up earth and splashed onto the foliage that lay scattered in the clearing. On the far side of the clearing, SJ spotted an arrow sticking from a tree. Mixed amongst the torn earth were chunks of fur as though a pair of clippers had attacked the bear, shaving its fur.
'I hope Cristy is ok,' SJ thought, her nerves tingling and her pulse racing seeing the scene. They could hear nothing, but the marks looked fresh, the blood patches glistening in the afternoon light filtering through the canopy. Kibbles let out a squeak and flew straight across the clearing. The grey wolf didn't seem perturbed by the scene and also crossed the clearing and stopped looking at SJ before turning and carrying on. SJ again followed.
It was clear where the combatants had moved. The brush was beaten and flattened in front of them as they continued. It was then that a howl broke through the forest. It was still quite distant, and SJ picked up speed in the direction it came, the grey easily maintaining the pace and redirecting her slightly. Kibbles seemed to know exactly where it was as well, following directly above the wolf. Five minutes later, they appeared from the edge of the forest, where the trees thinned as the rocky mountain took over. Not two hundred feet from the edge, SJ could see Cristy. She appeared to be slumped over the enormous bear that lay motionless.
"Cristy!" SJ shouted, sheer panic filling her. Patch was sat to one side, his maw covered in red. An area of fur on his foreleg was missing, although there was no sign of a wound.
Cristy moved. Relief flooded SJ until she turned and saw that she was covered from head to toe in blood.
"SJ? What are you doing here?" Cristy asked.
"I was worried, so I came looking. Are you injured?"
"Oh, this," she said, indicating herself. "It's not mine. I am just skinning the bear. It's a little awkward with its size." Cristy had a huge grin on her face.
The truly enormous size of the bear became apparent as SJ neared. She landed and grew to her fullsize. It must have been twenty feet in length, and SJ couldn't say how tall it must have been when standing upright. The bear's fur coat was an almost silvery colour where it hadn't been coloured red by its blood.
SJ could see at least twelve arrows that Cristy must have recovered from the bear's body. They were closely piled to one side of the remains.
"If you don't mind getting a little messy, I could do with a hand," Cristy asked.
"Sure," SJ said. "When did you learn to skin?"
"I used to watch my dad when he went hunting, and I also harvested a few goats while I was at the conclave."
"Oh," was all SJ could respond.
"If you grab that part there and pull it as I cut, it will be much easier. Patch tried helping, but his teeth kept tearing the fur."
"What happened to his foreleg?"
"He got too close and was bitten. He is all healed now, though, and his fur should grow back eventually."
"You healed him?"
"Yes. Easily. I didn't realise how much I had increased my healing at the conclave when I healed Reay from her injuries, and it's quite powerful. It just costs quite a lot of my mana to do it. I need to be careful when I use it during a fight. My mana didn't increase very well when I levelled. Is there anything I can do to boost it? I don't know how much mana some of the skills require when they level."
"There are items with charms or enchantments that would help. Larianco knows a powerful Willpower enchantment, but it's very expensive. It may be worth talking to Fran and see what she knows."
"I will when I see her."
SJ checked through the standard equipment she held.
Ring of Mana Regeneration - Passive regeneration restores 5% of total mana every minute. 50% immediate recovery occurs once every 24hours.
Removing the ring from her finger, she passed it to Cristy.
"Here. I do not need this. It should help with your regeneration."
Cristy took the ring, and her eyes went wide as she read its details.
"Wow. This must be very expensive."
"It didn't cost me anything," SJ replied with a shrug.
"Thank you."
SJ helped Cristy skin the bear. It took them a long time, especially moving its huge form to extract one large pelt. Cristy then started harvesting some meat.
"I bet Floretta can cook this up a treat," Cristy said as she cut fresh steaks, tossing one to Patch and also to the grey. That was when Kibbles objected and dived, grabbing one end of a steak, and tried to wrestle it away from the grey. The grey snarled at him, and Cristy cut a small steak off and threw it to Kibbles, who greedily swooped on it and then flew off a distance from the wolves.
A further hour passed as the bear was harvested, Cristy leaving little to waste. And anything that was left wouldn't be wasted, as the other forest animals would happily eat the remains. SJ ended up placing many steaks into her inventory as Cristy's was soon full, and Cristy was happy SJ had arrived so as not to waste the meat. When they finished, the sun was starting to set.
"We better head back," SJ said.
"Yeah. There isn't much more I can do with it. I have harvested what I can. Can you store this pelt in your inventory? I don't have room."
"Of course." SJ picked up the pelt and transferred it. It then appeared in her inventory, taking up four slots because of its size.
"Once that is cleaned and sorted, it will make a nice rug for the cottage," Cristy said.
"I saw the clearing you fought in. It looked like a hard fight."
"It wasn't too bad. Patch was much faster than it and kept harassing it, and I hit it with arrows when I could get a clear shot."
"So your new skills helped Patch?"
"Yes. They give him great buffs. He just got too close in the end trying to finish it off."
SJ wished she had witnessed the fight. She had never seen Cristy fight before.
"How did you cross the river?"
"Jumped," Cristy said, grinning.
"You can jump that far!"
"Further if I want to. My increases in my attributes have really helped."
SJ couldn't understand how she could jump so far.
"How?"
"You haven't seen me run recently, have you?" Cristy returned her bow to her inventory and the arrows she had removed. She then dropped to her all fours. SJ frowned, not having seen Cristy run on all fours.
"Shall we head back then?" Cristy asked as she started to run.
SJ shrunk and took off, speeding to catch her up with Patch and the grey running at her side. She was at one with the wolves. Her natural gnoll form allowed her to maintain a high speed alongside Patch easily. Kibbles squeaked as he sped behind, realising that they were leaving from where he had been busy poking at a large beetle that had been climbing over the rocky side. They flashed through the forest, soon reaching the clearing and then onto the river. Cristy didn't slow once and sped towards it just as the grey had and leapt the river, clearing it easily, landing perfectly in stride and continuing.
SJ was amazed at her speed and agility. The four-year-old gnoll who had crashed into her knee in the market square after a few weeks had not only turned five but also into a dextrous killer.
