M41

Here's your bonus Saturday post! Enjoy!

Morgan, Olivia, and the Ardeni herders crested a long, gradually graded slope a few hours after midday of their third day out from the longhouse, and Morgan saw the Rill Catcher for the first time. A long, blue ribbon filled the nearby horizon, stretching from the southeast then gradually curving to disappear into the forested hills west of the sea of grass that they’d driven the herd up. Morgan could see that the grassy plains with the distinctive red blossoms continued on the far side of the river, but, far to the east, following the river as a guideline, Morgan saw a faint line of blue-green that he hoped was the forest around Tarn’s Crossing. “What a view,” he said, standing in his stirrups to take in as much as he could.

“Aye, this rise gives a nice vantage,” Teric replied. “From here, we’ll continue west to Galan Vale. You and Oliva will follow the river a bit south and east. You should pick up a trade route in a few hours; just follow it, and you’ll end up in Tarn’s Crossing.”

“I can’t believe we’re here already! That river looks amazing; judging from the distance, I’d guess it’s bigger than the Mississippi,” Olivia said as she rode up on her roladii, Blue. Morgan looked at her and was impressed by how naturally she handled the animal. She’d been first to get the taming skill, and she was miles ahead of him when it came to controlling the beast. Not that Morgan was having trouble with Munch, but he and the mount couldn’t seem to intuit each others’ intentions the way Olivia and Blue did. Even Teric had commented that he’d rarely seen a herder connect to their mount as quickly as she did.

“Oh well, buddy; we can’t all be phenoms,” Morgan whispered to Munch, scratching the wrinkly skin on the side of his head. Louder, he said, “Teric, we’re forever in your debt.” He turned to the others sitting nearby on their mounts, “You and all the others. Truly, thank you all for the hospitality and for teaching us to tame and ride these mounts.”

“Yes!” Olivia echoed, turning to face the Ardeni. “Thank you so much! I have a gift for each of you.” Olivia reached into her blue satchel and pulled out a handful of sparkling Energy beads. “I made a quad-attuned Energy bead for each of you. Use ‘em however you want; spend ‘em, keep ‘em for good luck, or give ‘em to your sweethearts back home.” She smiled and handed one of the beads to each of the herders. They each were quiet, with solemn expressions, taking the beads reverently. When Olivia passed the last one to Beyli, he held her hand in his and touched his forehead to her knuckles, almost reverently. She blushed a bit and patted his hands, gently pulling hers back and straightening up, “I’ll miss you guys. This trip across the Chebli Sea will always be a fond memory for me.”

“Ahem,” Morgan cleared his throat, smiling, “Well, I hate goodbyes, so see you later.” He waved one last time and urged Munch into a ground devouring lope down the hill and toward the Rill Catcher. A few moments later, he could hear Olivia riding up behind him, and he looked over his shoulder. The herders were turning, heading back to gather up the herd and move off, and Olivia was tearing over the ground toward him, her hair streaming behind her and a massive smile on her face. “Oh, a race, is it?” He snapped his reins and clicked his tongue, urging Munch into a full sprint.

Morgan laughed as the wind roared in his ears, leaning low over Munch’s back. He stood slightly in the stirrups because Munch’s back was surging up and down, and Morgan didn’t want to have his spine reduced to crumbles. The slope of the grasslands was a gradual decline, which only added to the breakneck speed of their mounts, and it was only a minute or two before they were forced to veer left, to the east, by the steep bank of the Rill Catcher.

The grass was short here and worn completely to dirt in patches, and Morgan thought this must be part of the usual route for trading that Teric had mentioned. He was still laughing and leaning forward when Olivia and Blue burst past him on the left. Man, she had a way with that animal! After another hundred yards or so, Olivia pulled up on the reins, bringing her roladii down to an easy walk, and Morgan caught up to her. “Okay, you win!” Morgan laughed.

“Blue might be small, but he’s a good, fast boy!” She was breathing heavily from the effort and excitement and stroking Blue’s huffing neck. When Morgan walked Munch up close to her, Blue made a huffing, groaning sound and rubbed his neck along Munch’s. “Hah, they like each other!”

“Yeah, thank goodness! Though, I’ve never seen a roladii be anything other than agreeable.” Morgan patted Munch’s neck.

“They sure are interesting beasts. I wonder how much our taming skill affects their demeanor?” Olivia asked, and Morgan agreed it was a good question. Things couldn’t be taken for granted in this world. Energy and the magic you could do with it changed everything. He looked around as they continued at a steady pace. The Rill Catcher was a big, sedate river at this point. Looking down the steep, rocky bank, he could see its sluggish blue-green water flowing east, and the far bank was at least a hundred yards across. He watched the water for a while, wondering what sorts of fish might lurk in those placid depths, but only saw the occasional bubble or ripple.

“I wonder if we can make it to those trees before dark,” Morgan said after they’d walked for a while, letting their mounts get their wind back.

“Maybe. Do you want to, though? I’d almost rather camp in the grassland, in the open, then in another dark forest.” Olivia gestured to the sprawling grassland off to her left.

“Yeah, I suppose I would too. Let’s just get close, and then we’ll set up camp. We should be able to make Tarn’s Crossing easily tomorrow.” They picked up the pace a bit, urging their mounts into their version of a trot, and fell into an easy silence as they devoured the ground between them and the distant blue-green line of the forest.

Morgan thought about his time with the herders while they rode, his mind drifting to the battle with the boyii pack. His Azure Burst spell had undoubtedly been effective, and Morgan wondered if his Human Champion title had played a part. He looked at the description again:

***Human Champion: Transient title. Energy efficacy enhanced 1.5x. More frequent access to System generated Opportunities for Refinement.***

Did it mean that his spells or skills that used Energy had 50% more power? Or did he have to use 50% less power for the same effect? He would need to do more experimenting, he supposed. One thing was for sure - the spell had utterly devastated the hounds that he’d caught in the radius of effect.

His spell aside, he had been disappointed not to get a chance to try out his sword skills in actual combat. Teric had proved to be a passable sparring partner, though, and Morgan had learned a lot about his Crane Style. Namely, it was incomplete; if he just tried to fight anyone with any knowledge of swordplay, there were glaring holes in the style. Morgan had found that he needed to integrate some techniques from his basic melee weapon mastery: parries, various guard positions, ripostes, even his footwork. Once he’d stopped trying to just rely on the Crane Style, he’d started having an easier time with Teric. After hours of practice on two different nights, Morgan felt like his skill was on the cusp of advancing. At least, he hoped it was.

Another thing his sparring with Teric had taught Morgan was that his sword was inadequate for the Fighting Crane Style. It was one thing to practice his forms in a vacuum, swinging at the air, but when he had an actual opponent, it became clear that the blade was just too short to transition between some of the forms correctly. The worst example of that deficiency was when he transitioned from The Crane Forages to The Crane Defends the Nest. He ended up tangled with Teric if the man pressed at all - the katana he had just didn’t have the reach he needed.

These thoughts occupied his mind while they traveled, and Morgan could see that Olivia was similarly deep in thought. When they’d covered more than half their intended distance, Morgan asked, “It was lucky we found those herders, don’t you think?”

“Hmm?” Olivia looked over to him, smiling slightly, “I can’t think of a luckier break, to be honest. They were friendly, helped us with directions, and even taught us how to ride. Yeah, I’d say it was a lucky break!”

“Yeah, this world, this System, it’s so hard to pin down. While in the Crucible, I was bracing myself to fight for my life all the time against one horror after another. Since then, sure, I’ve had plenty of fights, but there’s been so much beauty and encounters with kind, peaceful people and creatures.” Morgan shrugged, patting Munch again, and he grunted.

“Well, I have my theories about some of that,” Olivia answered. “You know, the System placed us in this area for a reason. It measured us, according to you, before it placed us, even. This world is, by all accounts, immense. Creatures and people have found their niches here, and this is the spot where the System thought we’d fit in the easiest. I imagine there might be places with more danger and greater challenges. Here, we have our problems, but it seems, if we just look for it, we can find help too.”

They continued in silence for a while, each mulling their thoughts. As they came close enough to the forest line to see the individual trees, Morgan reached out with Guardian Senses again and felt Issa almost directly east and only ten or twenty miles away. The sun was sinking, though, and Morgan agreed with Olivia that traveling through an unfamiliar forest in the dark wasn’t the most brilliant move. They moved off the worn section of the plains a bit north into the taller grass and set up their camp. After caring for their mounts, Morgan practiced his forms while Olivia created more Energy beads, and then they both practiced their cultivation drills. Once again, they took turns watching while they slept, and, after an uneventful night, they packed up and continued their journey in the gray light of dawn.

When they entered the forest, Morgan was happy to see that the worn path in the plains continued into the trees, and within a mile, it looked like a proper dirt road. Excitement warred with caution, and Morgan urged Munch into a rolling gait that was his version of a cantor, Olivia easily keeping pace. The trees in these woods were tall and mainly of the same breed: thin, white-barked trunks rising hundreds of feet with wide canopies covered in broad blue-green leaves. The undergrowth was sparse, dead old leaves making up a soft, noise-deadening mulch. Occasionally they’d get a view of the Rill Catcher through the trees on their right, but it was usually a bit too far off to see. However, the sound it made was ever-present, a rushing susurrous that almost reminded Morgan of the wind. At one point, Morgan swore he could hear the echoing sounds of someone’s shouts coming from the river. He wondered if they were getting close enough to the village for boats to be out and about.

After traveling for another hour, a shape started to come into view down the road. Morgan and Olivia slowed and continued at a walk as it approached. Soon, it became clear that the shape was a tall, narrow wagon being pulled by a team of roladii. The two humans pulled their mounts to the side to allow it to pass, and as it approached, they saw that an Ardeni woman with brilliant lilac-colored hair was driving the team. She pulled on the reins and shouted down from her high, wooden bench, “Well-met travelers! Good intentions from me and mine.” As she spoke, little windows opened high on the sides of the tall wagon, and Morgan could see several more blue faces with bright, colorful eyes peering out. He wasn’t sure what the proper response was, but Olivia called out:

“Well met! Good intentions from us as well!” She waved, a smile revealing her even, white teeth.

“Good journeys to you, then. Tarn’s is peaceful today; you’ll make it there by midday.”

“Thank you!” Morgan said, and then the woman snapped her reins, and the wagon was trundling past. Morgan looked at Olivia and shrugged.

“C’mon!” she said, urging Blue back into a trot.