Master Of None

”It is concerning that we have run in to a few monsters that hold on to undead mana. It feels like it is more common here because there are more scavengers or sealed monsters.” Since Su was worrying about it, Walker made sure to think over what he had encountered.

”You’re right. If there are so many here it might be because there is a high chance for undead here. Those spiders hunted undead and they were undead too. It’s part of their lifecycle and I assume that’s because of the ancient monsters.” Now it was Su’s turn to look contemplative.

Clearly, she was wondering about the fact that Walker was considering how the ancient monsters would have caused an innate change to undead from dead in defeated monsters. Especially since it seemed that nothing could perish here without being eaten later.

”If there were larger monsters taking entire species as food or killing them off accidentally, then there was most likely a lot of monster bodies left to rot and go untouched. Other monsters would be afraid to enter their territory and steal any prey from them. So, undead became more common.”

Nodding along, Su caught the flow well enough. ”So that would cause monsters to begin to develop aspects after undeath or to prevent becoming them. Or they would begin holding the mana from what they ate. It would cause a lot of changes over time.” She had begun to truly grasp the concepts that Walker was chasing.

As much as she had thought about how Walker studied magic and the world, she never truly took the time to consider how he was learning about individual manas and why he was gaining traction.

She had listened to him say that time mana was more about potential. Yet, that was hard to grasp for her since she could say she saw potential in how a warrior fought or how a young swordsman stood in their stance.

Yet, seeing how he thought with the flow of how something or someone developed and how they were meeting the current strength they had helped. She could tell that Walker was tracing back what and why a monster developed unique aspects of their skills or abilities then looking at how people could do the same in the present to the future.

He saw the origin so that he could see other potential elsewhere.

In terms of time magic, he was trying to understand the effects of time on specific aspects of the world around him. The why and how was enough to show him what to expect and give him the knowledge to advise others too. It was a lot to think about and Su felt that if she thought about it too long she would keep combining the threads of thought until it bcame a jumbled mess.

”It’s a worry we need to address since we will have plenty of adventurers who want to come here and make a name for themselves when they return. I also expect nobles and guilds to send out expeditions looking for rare materials or monsters. Undead being more possible to encounter here could be an issue. Especially since we will be looking for monsters that might be sealed somewhere. But methods to defend from undead will be needed.”

”That should be simple enough, many of the experienced adventurers went to the undead city or learned how to be ready for that place. So, we use similar rules and have healers prepared regardless.” Knowing that they could easily prepare for the inevitability that undead would be here was enough. Especially since Walker would always have a part of his mind that dwelled on the safety of all the people he felt responsible for.

Midnight, what do you smell?” Walker noticed that the downtrodden Midnight had her nose in the air again. While she had been pouting since she got reprimanded for her actions earlier, it was not enough of an act to make Walker and Su change their minds. Regardless, her change in focus towards something she smelled was harder to ignore.

”That’s fire?” Su looked toward the distance where she knew scouts should be. But she also understood that they would not have stopped and made camp so far from the main camp. It didn’t make sense.

Walker started to move quicker toward the smoke with Su and Midnight on his heels. Both understood why they had to move more quickly. It was not normal for this situation to occur, especially since they are so far from any settlement properly prepared.

Yet, when they did arrive past a few larger boulders and over a small hill of stones and sand, Walker and Su were able to determine that it was not a choice to make a fire. The three scouts around the fire were heating their daggers to use to close some claw marks on their arms and legs.

”What happened?” Walker started a healing spell while Midnight and Su took up defensive positions to watch for what might have injured the three scouts.

”Our team crossed a crawling tiger and her cubs. We tried to appraise them and lost our benefit of distance. It can leap very easily and might have a unique affinity. The appraisal was not finished so we can’t give much other detail.”

”Any other injured?” Su spoke up while looking over the hills of stone and gravel.

”No, we were a small forward team. Just scouting so we can fill in small missed areas of the map we are making. I was told that we would not see much of the monsters here because it is too hot right now on the stones. The crawling tiger seemed to resist the heat well enough.”

”That’s good enough information for me. I will have an eye out for them. I can understand that a mother would protect her cubs. That isn’t a problem. You three need to be better prepared in the future. Your fire was a good move to help your wounds since it seems none of you have first aid kits. But…” Walker looked at Su who picked right up where he left off.

”You should have had a first aid kit. You should have been in fleeing positions even if you were facing a monster you thought you could appraise. You should have considered that your fire would attract more monsters causing you to flee while partially healed. That’s why we noticed you and why we have three monsters approaching over Midnight’s hill right now.”

Su stopped speaking just in time for Midnight to growl while taking her dragon form. She easily lashed out and threw body after body toward the temporary camp until three monsters were piled up.

”Those are called long legged hunters. They are a distant cousin of some spiders. Their long legs keep them from being on the hot stones and their piercing fangs drink blood directly. Normally they hide in crevices but the smell of smoke warns them of fires forcing monsters toward them from the forest.”

The knowledge added from Walker’s appraisal without giving every detail, was enough for him to make a good point. After a few moments of healing spells and resting, Su and Midnight came to help bring the three injured scouts back. They also made note of the fact that the scouts had shown their inexperience while leaving tracks behind.

In a threatening situation, survival was first, but this also showed the level of the scouts and how they need to grow beyond it.

In natural fashion though, as they walked back, Walker spotted another monster. ”That’s a golem millipede. It gathers stones and pieces to make its body while eating the silt left after rain. I didn’t expect monsters like this. It’s a new golem we haven’t seen before.” Walker pointed out the larger golem moving along rubbing in to what must be dried puddles.

”If there are new forms of golems, then we can share that with the dwarves. They may be able to guess what ores they might be formed around or what could be harvested from them.” Su and Walker enjoyed chatting about who would make the best of this new information. The scouts remained silent but clearly were taking it all as a lesson.

Meanwhile, Midnight managed to sniff out a small thorny plant growing in the rocks with several bright red berries on it. She brought it back and was more than pleased to hear Walker tell her it was called a crevice berry that grew in cracks and crevices of rocky areas. Perfect for smaller monsters or for a small sweet treat.

She then made it her mission to find several of them. Enough to grow elsewhere on a farm when they returned to Genesis.

…..

….

….

Please say no to piracy! Don’t take part in crime! Don’t patronize thieves!

Drop those golden tickets!