The only way to move forward was to continue to walk
Chapter 118
Decklan twitched his brain recognizing a lot of information at once and combing through it It was only a split second of frozen indecision then he continued to creep forward as though nothing had happened
When they arrived there were guards but they weren’t paying very close attention to the portal so Decklan and Annie’s groups slipped away before they were noticed joining the strange blue treeline nearby Annie faded into the foliage slipping away while the rest followed Decklan They found a small clearing and Decklan sent Tera to scout around trusting her to remain discreet
Perhaps it would have been better to just make contact but the fact that Alana and Devan had disappeared for a day meant that this wasn’t exactly a simple situation After Tera discovered the general direction of the village they began to move that way
But as they did so Decklan’s instincts abruptly screamed that something very powerful was watching them His body froze but his Killer’s Instincts obtained at Lvl 30 from his class immediately contradicted that saying he should continue to walk pretending not to notice the powerful watcher After all if the watcher assumed Decklan had no idea of his presence he might not view him as a threat
So Decklan continued to walk cursing himself inwardly for freezing up but doing his best to relax the lines of his shoulders But his worst fears came to pass or at least a version of them An anthropomorphic turtle appeared on the path in front of him bent with age but clearly the source of that oppressive aura
The turtle grunted Passable You detected me and you chose to mask your knowledge rather than act But your execution was lacking Follow me
The turtle turned away and the rest of the group just gaped but Decklan straightened and said And if we don’t
After pausing for a second the turtle turned back and gave Decklan a mild glance Without saying anything he turned away again and began to slowly hobble forward arms behind his back
Grimacing Decklan signalled his squad and everyone gathered and followed neatly behind this strange figure Decklan was frustrated but after meeting that turtle’s gaze he had no confidence of resisting him even if they all worked together
But it seemed that Annie had escaped the turtle’s notice so all was not lost Decklan fervently hoped she wouldn’t do anything stupid
Alana was surprised when Bert returned leading Decklan and his squad but said nothing They all crowded into the low ceiling room Hess smiling at them all
Welcome welcome Bert some more drinks Bert nodded calmly and meandered towards that side door once more Now welcome friends from Donnyton I am Hess one of the three elders of this village Kith Klark Unfortunately the one with the least influence but still
Decklan’s eyes moved from Alana to Devan to the Kiersty and Nathan still sleeping on the cushion in the corner of the room then to Hess Thank you for your hospitality My name’s Decklan one of the leaders of Donnyton’s 3 Speciality Squads I also am a part of Donnyton’s council On behalf of all of Donnyton I thank you for taking such good care of our people while they are visiting your world
To Alana’s ears Decklan’s words sounded very forced and it seemed Hess heard it too because the cat woman smiled lightly
You are welcome But we don’t need to act too stuffy after all the other elders are using you two to play games with each other Hess said cheerily Although their motivations are different Now who wants some cider
The room around her was filled with a heavy silence
Later that night as Decklan leaned against the wall he felt exactly what he was waiting for the soft whisper of a ghost in his ear He listened carefully then quietly began to explain the situation to Glendel
In the early hours before dawn Randidly laboriously created another avatar made of roots forming the body the arms and finally the spear Then equally slowly Randidly had the avatar thrust out with its spear
Randidly raised his spear and with his eyes closed mirrored the action Noticing the small differences between them Randidly tried to adjust his form but after several more thrusts with the avatar nothing had changed The spear thrust was just as ungainly
Smaller then ’ Randidly thought to himself He thrust again with his own spear There were so many parts that felt natural that just happened easily and those were what he needed to systematically identify and understand if he was to improve
The avatar thrust forward with Randidly’s attention focused simply on the way he used the vines to grip the spear Afterwards he thrust with his body
He made a small adjustment to the tightness of the avatar’s grip and tried again
He thrust with his body
He made a small adjustment
Over and over he pressed and pressed starting with the grip tightness moving to the balance of his hands the distance between his two hands
Avatar thrust body thrust
Tiny adjustments
Several seconds of thinking followed by no adjustments
Over and over until Randidly blinked opening his eyes to the warm of the dawn’s rays He grimaced slightly annoyed that he had lost track of time But it was important to do this His training in the Spear needed some organization to it It was just discouraging that it took so long to make such small gains
Almost against his will Randidly grinned Had he really gotten so spoiled in the months he had lived with the system Although he didn’t learn much from the father who was absent most of his life he did remember one of the few visits the man made to him and his mom
It was recently after his parents divorced and Randidly was still young at that point Randidly had asked his father why he had to live in this new tiny apartment with his mother now without him
His father looked at him with his calculating grey eyes and asked If I let you live with me how will you compensate me
Randidly just stared dumbly at him
His father shook his head almost sadly Your mother and her weird fucking names listen to me little R what’s worth having is worth working for Never ask for handouts Then his father straightened and left
Randidly trembled slightly He wasn’t sure why he remembered that man just now but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling He hadn’t thought about them much since he left his mother to her string of boyfriends refusing to return the once a year calls on his birthday from his father That family was dead to him
But still he felt a pang in his heart Because his new family too was probably
Squeezing his eyes shut Randidly cut off that train of thought What he needed now was strength To find anyone who might still be alive To protect the things he held dear
And he would only get that through work
After taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of the sunrise Randidly turned walking towards the training area It would be another long day but Randidly needed it Because his current self Wasn’t enough He craved more
Mrs Hamilton tapped on the table with perfect measure almost like a metronome The rest of the figures around the table Regina Glendel Daniel Clarissa and Sam stood still frowning at their respective fingers Glendel had just reported the strange situation of the other village as well as Alana and Decklan could figure it
Donny and Dozer were both absent going to clear the dungeons next to old Turtletown and Donnyton respectively Now that Turtletown had fallen and most of its people slowly drifted over to Donnyton after realizing their previous town had fallen monsters spewing from that location were becoming a serious problem for the trade route they planned on establishing to Franksburg
Mrs Hamilton’s tapping stopped Best to wait it out huh They should be able to take care of themselves over there
Everyone else was silent After a long moment Glendel spoke The children don’t appear to be in any danger
But their mother Sam muttered his arms folded
Mrs Hamilton sighed Regina straightened and said I agree with Mrs Hamilton This is diplomacy Delicacy and tact is important here