The Way Ahead

Vinstead didn’t look much like a proper fantasy city, in Edwin’s clearly expert opinion. While they were waiting to enter the gates, he took the chance to look around at the nearby buildings. They seemed mostly uniform in architectural style, with four posts driven into the ground serving as the corners of the mostly single-floor buildings, with the walls made of cobblestones stacked so closely together there wasn’t even room for mortar between them. The roofs were mostly either wooden planks or thatching, though Edwin couldn’t discern any pattern for which would be used. Overall, other than the oddly well-fit stones making up the majority of the walls, it was a decidedly mundane look, which if he had seen back on Earth, he wouldn’t have so much as bat an eye at. Kind of disappointing, really.

There was a clatter of armor from the side of the wagon, and Edwin ducked back inside. A moment later, an armored figure, a human in a simple breastplate and open-faced helm, entered his wagon, taking a look around. As soon as he laid eyes on Tara, he immediately saluted, “Apologies ma’am ... back.”

Oh hey! He mostly understood that. He hadn’t tried Polyglot with normal people lately. Tara dismissed the guard with a nod (wait, when did she open her eyes? She’d been seemingly dead to the world for days, was she aware that entire time?), who climbed back out of the wagon, said something to another person outside, and then moved on to the next wagon in the train.

About fifteen minutes or so later, the wagon finally started moving again, and Tara rose to her feet, effortlessly keeping her balance even as the floor rumbled and bounced slightly over the paving stones. “Gather your things. Once the caravan reaches the merchant’s block, we will return to the garrison. There, you will be licensed and introduced to an individual who can help you with your… unique class.”

“Wait, licensed? What’s that?”

Tara cocked her head at him, “Did I not… ah, I suppose I did not. Adventurers may be a scourge upon the face of the Empire, but some have decided that they are not without uses,” she wrinkled her nose in distaste, “Adventurers may insist on throwing their lives away, but such suicidal determination can still be useful. As an incentive to not cause too many problems or to turn to banditry, we license some individuals to report on their Skills, Paths, and Classes. In exchange, they are given many of the legal protections offered to citizens.”

Edwin hesitated, “But what about my Status skill upgrade? I got that one from my… origin, after all.”

She stopped, thinking. After a moment, she finally spoke up, “I can grant special dispensation for you to keep a handful of skills secret, but you will need to report to me to document any future Paths which relate to that. You said you had a couple of other Paths with similarly Outsider natures?”

“Outsider and Realm Traveler, yeah.”

She nodded in agreement, “Wait some time before completing them. Particularly Realm Traveler. Outsider, used outside the context of your origin, may pass unremarked upon. You will be exempted from having to give details to how you obtained those Paths, as well. For the purposes of explaining away your oddities, we will say you came from Fierisal through secret magics. It is true enough for the registrar.”

“Fierisal? Also, what about your superiors? Won’t they want to know details?”

She winced, “Yes. However, they are aware of the value of my unbroken Oath, and I can swear to them that the knowledge is best left secret. Fierisal is,” Tara paused, then said the exact same word, “The Unknown Lands.”

“Oh! Is that what the dwarves call Enigma? That continent on the other side of the world?”

Tara nodded approvingly, “Indeed. Now, it seems as though we have reached our destination. Further questions you may have can wait until you meet your mentor. He can appraise you of the state of the world- your cover story ought to provide enough in the way of explanation for him.”

“Who is this mentor you have in mind for me, anyway? How are you so certain he’ll help?”

A mischievous smile played across Tara’s face, “He’ll help… if he knows what’s good for him. Don’t underestimate him, either.”

That wasn’t ominous at all, but what was that saying about trusting the expert or whatever? Did he imagine that? Eh, whatever. He’d find out when he found out, and he didn’t have many options at the moment regardless. Hopefully whoever it was understood the value of peace, quiet and alone time. Hey, he could dream.

Tara conjured her armor and left out the back, followed closely by Edwin, his backpack slung over his shoulders. It was really uncomfortable, though. He’d need to try and find something that was actually made for being a backpack and not secretly cobbled together in a cave. Really, it was kind of surprising it had held together this long, and with that thought, he quickly Infused his bag through Packing, which should keep it together for the time being regardless.

The market section was thriving. While there didn’t seem to be many civilians around, nor even market stalls, hundreds of individuals, avior, human, halfling, even a few dwarves, and more besides, were all hustling around like ants, hauling comically large loads from one place to another. There was a group mostly made of humans being directed by Forala unloading lumber from wagons in the back, alongside other goods Edwin hadn’t seen before. Crates, bags and a few pieces of furniture all streamed out of the wagon train, being carted off to places unknown, vanishing into the crowd. It was all happening so fast, too. People were practically sprinting all over the place, even burdened under their loads.

Tara seemed to be impatiently waiting for him, tapping an armored foot on the stone while he looked around, and he gulped, “Sorry. It’s impressive around here.”

While her voice was distorted by her helmet again, Edwin could still hear the smile in her response, “You’ve barely seen anything and yet this is already impressing you? Your world must have been fairly dull, wasn’t it?”

Edwin immediately glanced around, hoping nobody had heard that, breathed a sigh of relief that everyone seemed to be too preoccupied to listen, “Not dull. Just… different. We had machines to do all this sort of thing, though at similar if not even greater scales. I’m sure you’d have much the same response as me if you ever… made it there yourself.”

Nope! Get back in your box, homesickness. Shoo. Look, a fantasy city! Stop pining after Earth.

Tara didn’t seem to notice the hesitation in his voice, “Well, come along then. The sooner the better.”

“Wait, I need to complete my transaction with Aerfa. I agreed to pay her afterwards.”

“You’re my charge now. She’s not allowed to require me or any of my traveling companions pay for fare.”

Edwin shrugged, “But I like following through on my deals.”

Tara stayed silent for a moment, “Fine. Just don’t take long.”

Nodding his thanks, Edwin checked the front wagon. If she had sent Forala to oversee her workers, she must have still been resting. Sure enough, she was still laying on her front on a collection of beanbags haphazardly arranged into something resembling a mattress. Faera, her young daughter, sat next to her mother, singing a song which, so far as he could tell, didn’t have any actual lyrics, just a songbird-like melody. There was nobody else in the wagon beside the three of them, so Edwin sat down next to the avior on one of the many plush chairs..

“It’s good to see you resting. I would have thought you’d try and push through the pain to work.”

Aerfa stirred as he spoke, “I would greatly like to,” she replied, “but Risarn made me make a Contract that I would take care of myself, which includes lying around while I wait for a proper healer to come and finish fixing me. You kept me alive, but I won’t be flying until I’m treated. Damn adventurer cut me to the bone, and I’m lucky it wasn’t more.”

“Adventurer? The bandit?”

“Eh. Adventurer. Outlaw,” she waved a wing dismissively, “It’s all the same- ah, present company excluded.”

“It’s fine,” Edwin waved it off, “I’m just here to complete my end of the Contract.”

“You didn’t have to,” she countered, “you managed to keep me from dying, defying an Enforcer in the process. We’re even so far as I care, even if the Enforcer took you as a Charge.”

“But I wanted to,” Edwin pressed, “You helped me, I help you. It’s how things work.”

The avior relaxed somewhat at that statement, and her tone became a little less sharp, “If more people thought like you do, then the world might be a much better place. Very well, tell me.”

“Do you need to write it down, or..?” he asked, only for the merchant to shake her head, “Okay then.”

He quickly outlined the steps needed for making concrete, outlining his method for making mortar, “Oh, and then mixing it with sand and gravel is how you make something that stands on its own, and I think adding… volcanic ash is how you make it really strong. Or something. That part is half-remembered at best.”

“It will suffice. I know many who would be very interested in what you’ve already told me. I find myself once more in your debt.”

“You really… aren’t. I’m just upholding my end of the deal. And it’s not even that complex of a process,” Edwin awkwardly deflected, as he stood up to leave.

“Be that as it may, thank you. May the winds lift you high.”

Tara didn’t seem too displeased with how long he had taken, which Edwin counted as a win. As she led him along like- no, not like a meek little puppy, shut up brain- as she led him along, past the insanely crowded merchant square into the city proper, Edwin got a better look at the buildings within the walls. Most were of a similar basic style to the buildings outside, wooden posts on the corners,walls made with stone, but in here, the stone blocks and cobblestone were bigger and there was more variety in their coloring, particularly among the nicer-looking buildings. There were also a lot more two-story buildings, though Edwin had yet to see any that were three or more.

He did his best to not just stare at every little thing, but to instead keep his head forward and follow after the shining silver figure of Tara. Suddenly, she did a face-heel turn and grabbed something from the air next to Edwin.

“No,” she said to the empty air, and Edwin looked on in confusion. What was she talking to? He strained his eyes, trying to see whatever it was that caused the reaction.

Level Up!

Seeing Level 19→21

Visualization Level 26→27

Identify Level 31→32

Outsider’s Almanac Level 64→65

Polyglot Level 21→25

Visualization Level 27→28

Sleeping Level 21→22

Breathing Level 20→21

Suddenly, he could see. Well, not see exactly. More like his Skills were interacting in some strange way, with Seeing letting him notice everything he could see, Visualization filling in the empty space, and Identify and Almanac giving him an actual lock on what he was seeing.

Phantom Pickpocket

It was a kid, probably in his early teens, trying to twist out of the vicelike grip of the Silver Blade, and even though Edwin could see exactly where he was, he still struggled to actually keep his attention on the kid, his gaze constantly sliding off in every direction.

“Turn it off.” Tara said, voice hard, and Edwin found that he was finally able to focus on the pickpocket. He wasn’t wearing clean clothes exactly, he wasn’t wearing rags either. After a moment of looking at the subdued boy, she literally tossed him off to the side, “Now get.” The would-be thief twisted in midair and reactivated his hiding skill, meaning Edwin lost track of him before he hit the ground.

Did Tara have some kind of vigilance skill? That was impressive, and also highlighted just how far Edwin had to go if he wanted to be able to protect himself. If he could be looking directly at a pickpocket and not be able to focus on him, he had no chance if there was an assassin or something dangerous sent after him. Scary thought.

As they progressed through the city, the stones making up building walls gradually grew larger and larger, until they were massive stone blocks, oftentimes with no wooden corner posts. Finally, Tara slowed to a stop in front of a relatively empty square made of smooth white stone, with a massive inset pattern of an eagle with wings spread composed of black stone (not Blackstone) in the center. On the far side of the square, a white stone wall made of massive blocks loomed. At the dead center, a pointed arch, resting on smooth pillars, left a single aperture into the courtyard beyond. The entire wall had shining copper lines tracing the gap between blocks, but it was especially prevalent in the archway, where there was a thick web of copper lines in various arcs, crisscrossing the entire area.

Beside him, Tara looked up at the construction, armored helm tilting back, “I never get tired of this. Come now, I’ve been gone far too long.”