M38

Morgan and Olivia made good time traveling through the southern forest near the colony. Thousands of settlers spending the last week or more foraging and hunting in the woods nearby had created paths and scared away most of the low-level creatures that might pose a threat. That being the case, Morgan set a pretty tough pace, being sure to pause now and then to monitor Olivia’s progress. She definitely had a shortage of vitality in comparison to him; he knew it was more than just the stat, but also the way his physical body had been improved through the racial upgrades he’d gotten in the Crucible. Keeping that in mind, when he heard her breathing start to wheeze, he’d pause for a few moments, making a show of taking out a waterskin for a long drink.

Olivia seemed to appreciate the rests, though, to her credit, she never complained about the walking. She kept a cheerful demeanor, and Morgan wondered how much was for show and how much was really her. During one of their breaks, Olivia spoke up, “Hey, you don’t seem bothered by my lack of supplies. All I have is this little satchel.” She had a grin on her face, and Morgan smiled back.

“Oh, you want me to notice your new magical bag, eh?”

“Haha, you caught me! It’s pretty, though, isn’t it?” She lifted the baby blue satchel in her hands, showing it off.

“Yeah, it’s gorgeous,” Morgan said half-mockingly, drawing out the word “gorgeous.”

“Okay, okay, maybe not your style, but I love it!” She pulled out a fruit that resembled an orange in shape but had a peel like a banana. She tugged off the tough skin and then split the bright red meat of the fruit in half, offering half to Morgan. He took the offered fruit and sniffed it. It smelled vaguely of citrus, so he bit into it. The flavor exploded in his mouth, like a mix between a strawberry and a lemon, sweet but also a bit sour. It was refreshing, though, so he gobbled his portion.

“Mmm, thanks,” he said around his last swallow.

“No problem! We’ve gotta look out for each other, right?” She winked and started to stretch her thighs by pulling her feet up behind her, one at a time.

“You doing alright? Don’t feel like you can’t speak up if you want a break. I’ve already got a class, and it gives me a lot of vitality every level; it’s kinda hard for me to tell how tired you might be.”

“Yeah, I’m alright. Even though I haven’t been working on my vitality, the Energy infusing our bodies sure improves our health. At least it seems that way to me. Let’s keep this pace and see how the day goes.” Olivia replied, slapping her hands together. Morgan nodded, and they continued through the woods. By noon, they’d passed out of the territory that hunters and foragers from the colony frequented, and Morgan followed the path of least resistance, winding between clumps of shrubbery and following game paths whenever he could find one.

It felt like they were gradually losing elevation, which made the going easier. Morgan occasionally used his Guardian Senses ability to ensure they were going toward Issa as they hiked. By mid-afternoon, he could tell a noticeable difference in the distance to Issa that he “felt.” At first, he’d been worried that their southeasterly path would bring them close to the vale where the Yovashi dwelling had been. Morgan, for some reason, dreaded another encounter with the young Yovashi that he’d left alone with a clutch of her mother’s eggs.

He grudgingly admitted that he felt some guilt about the whole thing. In fact, that guilt had been part of his reasoning for wanting to solidify his path forward as more of a straightforward fighter. If he were better at fighting and able to face his foes directly, would it have been possible to stand up to those Yovashi in the dwelling and talk to them rather than skulk in the shadows and stab them in the back before they knew he was there? These types of questions tormented him when he let his mind wander back to that place, and he was trying to throw off the foul mood he felt descending when he stepped through a break in the treeline. The sight that confronted him took his breath away, and he heard Olivia gasp softly behind him as she stepped up.

Stretching before them, for as far as Morgan could see, a sea of knee-high purple grass spread forth. Each stalk of purple grass was topped with a bright red flower, about the size of a poppy blossom and similar in shade. The sky was a bit grey with clouds, and the late afternoon sunlight peeking through highlighted the waving sea of red and purple, creating a scene that was almost biblical in its ability to inspire. “Goddam,” Morgan said quietly.

“It’s beautiful!” Olivia said, her face flushed with exertion and her words coming between heavy breaths. Morgan looked at her and saw that she was coated with sweat and leaning against a tree trunk, favoring her left foot.

“We should camp here.” He reached into his storage ring and brought out the heavy canvas tent he’d bought at the Contribution Store before leaving. The canvas was dark gray and wrapped around the collapsed wooden tent-poles. He started to unpack it and spent the next few minutes setting it up. Olivia, meanwhile, sat with her back to a tree, pulling off her boots and massaging her feet. She had a few prominent blisters on her heels.

“I’ll help in a minute,” she said half-heartedly, and Morgan laughed.

“Nah, you’re good. Just rest those feet.” He paused and took one of the healing potions he’d gotten from the Yovashi dwelling and tossed it to her. “Try rubbing a little of that liquid on your blisters.” Then he went back to setting up the tent. It looked like it would hold five people comfortably, so it shouldn’t be a problem for him and Olivia.

“Hey, this stuff is great! My blisters are already scabbing over,” Olivia called as he started digging a little firepit with the shovel he’d also purchased that morning. Olivia walked over and handed him back the potion, but Morgan held up his hand.

“I’ve got a few more. Put that in your satchel, there, in case of an emergency.”

“Okay, thanks! I’m going to find some dry wood.” Olivia walked back into the treeline, scanning the fallen branches for manageable firewood. Morgan stepped a bit further into the purple and red grassland, pulling his sword from his storage ring. While he waited for Olivia to make the fire, he lost himself in the meditative practice of his forms. He didn’t stop until the sky was getting dark, and he noticed the campfire crackling. He stored away his sword and walked back, sitting down opposite Olivia. “That was interesting,” she said as she munched on some bread and jam. Morgan wondered where she’d seen jam for sale on the Contribution Store. He suddenly wondered if he’d gone too fast through the menu when he bought his dried meat and mixed nuts with dried fruit.

“Oh, just trying to get better with the sword. I picked up a skill that gave me some kind of fighting style. It’s pretty amazing how the System can just plant knowledge in your head. I’m finding that practical use is another matter even with that knowledge. I’ve already improved a lot with just a few hours of practice.”

“Oh, definitely! Also, if you are lucky, you can discover new skills by experimenting. I figured out how to do this by playing with my Energy channels,” Olivia replied as she conjured four different balls of Energy to float above her hand. “The more I play around with them, changing their sizes and patterns, the easier it becomes. I think I’m getting close to increasing my skill level.”

Morgan grunted, “Huh, pretty cool.” They sat in silence for a while, both of them seeming content to meditate. Morgan, for his part, spent some time practicing his cultivation drill. He’d been at it for a while when Olivia spoke up again:

“Are you cultivating Energy?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I swear, I can feel the Energy moving through the air toward you. That’s incredible. I’ve never sat near someone who cultivated before, so I hadn’t ever realized it was a tangible effect. Keep at it; I’m going to do some cultivating also.” Morgan didn’t reply; he just kept working on pulling Energy in a bit more and a bit faster with each cycle. He lost himself in it and was taken by surprise when a System message appeared:

***Congratulations! Your Core has advanced to: Vortex Class - Base 3***

Morgan stopped meditating, a huge smile on his face. He studied his statistics, trying to see how the new Core level would affect him, but the only change he saw was that he seemed to have gained a full 100 maximum Energy. He imagined his Core was stronger now, as well, hopefully, able to pull even more Energy at once.

“My Core just leveled,” He said across the fire.

“Showoff! Leave some Energy for the rest of us, will you? Hey, speaking of showing off, I managed to make some Energy beads with multiple affinities like the ones you showed me yesterday. I even made one with four.”

“No shit? I’d ask you to show me, but my Energy doesn’t have any affinity.” Morgan stood to stretch. “Well, how about you get some sleep. When you wake, I’ll get a few hours. I don’t need to sleep as much as I used to.” Olivia didn’t put up much of an argument and crawled into the tent. She pulled her blankets out of her satchel and wrapped herself up. Morgan noticed her breathing changed after a while, and he surmised she was asleep. He stood up, walked away from the fire, and put his back to a tree near the edge of the grassland, watching and listening.

Sometime around midnight, after the fire had burnt down to hot coals, Morgan felt the ground trembling slightly beneath him. He stood up and looked around with wide eyes, trying to see what was causing the sensation. After a moment, the feeling intensified, and then he saw movement out on the plain, hundreds of yards away. A great shadow was crossing the plains, and at first, Morgan thought it was some sort of gigantic creature, but then he realized it was a herd of something. Morgan couldn’t make out the creatures in the dark, but the herd was moving rapidly from northeast to southeast across the plains. He sighed with relief as the mass of creatures kept moving, but then something caught his eye. On the far side of the herd, bobbing lights moved, and he could only guess that people were herding the animals along.

After the shadowy herd of animals moved on and the faint rumble of the ground subsided, Morgan sat back down against the tree and waited for Olivia to wake. Even though she’d gone to sleep fairly early, it was almost dawn when she came crawling out of the tent. Morgan had been tempted to wake her during the early hours after midnight, but he honestly didn’t feel very tired. “Hey, good morning. I’m just gonna get a couple of hours of sleep. Then, let’s get moving. I saw a herd of something move across the plains in the middle of the night, so keep an eye out in that direction for sure.”

“Oh man,” Olivia yawned, “Sorry I slept so much!”

“No worries - you were exhausted.” Morgan crawled into the tent and lay down. “Hey, don’t let me sleep more than three hours!”

“Alright, don’t worry,” Olivia replied, fussing with the coals to get the fire going again. Morgan closed his eyes, and it felt like he had just started to fall asleep when he felt someone shaking his foot and heard, “Morgan! It’s been around three hours, I think. I need to invent a pocket watch.”

They packed up the camp and resumed their journey to the southeast. At first, Morgan debated whether they should stick to the tree cover rather than walk openly through the grassland, but not knowing the area’s topography, he didn’t want to risk doubling or tripling their journey just to avoid this massive sea of grass. After only thirty minutes of walking through the flowering grass, they came upon the swath of trampled vegetation left behind by the herd of animals Morgan had seen. The trampled grass continued in the exact direction where Morgan could feel Issa.

“We’re really out in the open here,” Morgan said.

“Yeah, but what can we do? At least we aren’t scaling mountains or something; we’ll make good time going this way.” Olivia shrugged, gesturing toward the sprawling plains in every direction. Morgan nodded, and they kept walking. After only an hour more of walking, Morgan saw shapes in the distance. They kept moving carefully and trying to stay low in the grass to get a better look, but they’d only made it a few feet when they heard a gruff voice:

“You ain’t trying to sneak up on our Roladii, are ya?”