7 Entering the castle
After being awakened by Luna, Aaron opened his eyes quickly, seeing that there was no danger, he calmed down.
After giving Luna some water and taking some of it himself, he left the tent to see that it was almost noon.
Feeling a bit hungry, Aaron went to the campfire to start a fire, but to his surprise next to it was a rabbit.
After looking more closely, he saw clear teeth marks on it, directing his gaze towards Luna who was taking in the sun, Aaron thanked her for which she replied only with one bark as if trying to hurry him.
"I know, give me a moment and I'll prepare something to eat"
Watching as Luna continued to enjoy her sunbath Aaron chuckled and tossed a couple of branches into the fire.
After that, he skinned the rabbit keeping its innards in his inventory and using a branch he lightly cooked some organs to give them to Luna while he finished preparing the rest.
Placing on the stewpot a couple of vegetables from his inventory and some dried meat as a condiment, Aaron began to prepare a rabbit stew.
Letting the fire do its thing, Aaron sat down to wait as he stared at the fire and stroked Luna's back.
*********
Mission completed: A deserved rest
After a good rest, you're ready to take on new challenges.
-----
Mission Assigned: Build your empire 1
With renovated strength and a camp secured it's time to find more people and grow your strength so you will be able to make a stand in this hostile place.
Search for survivors, tools, and supplies.
Survivors rescued: 0/25
Reward: New Skill: Lord's insight - The user will be able to see the basic stats and the loyalty of the people, as well as the status and characteristics of his domains.
Time limit: 12 days
Penalty: The system will stop working for 7 days
-----
Secondary Mission: Investigate the city´s castle
Even if most of the city is in ruins, the castle is still mostly standing. If you may find someone inside the city, that is your best option.
Go to the central castle inside Caya and search for survivors, tools, and supplies.
Reward: Low-level wood keep.
Time limit: 4 days
Penalty: None
*********
"What?"
Surprised by the sudden appearance of the windows, Aaron pinch Luna making her jump and look at him.
"Sorry"
Saying that he returned his gaze to the windows.
[I guess the best I can do is try to get some help before entering the city]
[But the time limit is worrying, the tower would save me a lot of problems… That's if people don't underestimate me and try to take it by force ...]
[Boy, what are you thinking about?]
"Good morning Hal, glad to hear from you again"
[Good, I can feel something is bothering you and I doubt it's the stew]
"I was wondering what to do, even if I find survivors, I doubt they want to listen to me considering that we only have a few tents"
[It's obvious, who would risk following a lonely boy in this situation?]
"Exactly, but instead if I have a tower in conjunction with my status as an apprentice magician I can convince them to join me, but they may try something, after all, it is difficult to deal with the greed of the people and more in this situation…"
[I get you, boy, in my opinion we should search in the city first]
"And why is that?"
[Well, this way you can advance the two missions, although now it is in ruins we do not know if someone returned or hide on it, also there must be a large amount of equipment still in the castle]
"But there may be some beast or demon in there"
[And elsewhere too, boy, from what I saw since yesterday most of what's left of the horde that attacked has already dispersed throughout the territory, it seems that most are low-ranking.]
"Low rank? "
[Yes boy, usually hordes like that are led by a superior demon, upon losing his leadership, many of its members would leave the horde at the first opportunity.]
"So where did they go?"
[Most of the high-ranking and superior demons must have returned to the sanctuary where the portal from where they come is because there the magical power of the void get to this world with greater intensity through the portal, so if wounded, they should be able to quickly recover there and rearm a new horde.]
"Wouldn't they have a hard time doing it, with all the beasts that left the horde?"
[Boy, they're low-rank beasts at best or if we're unlucky maybe mid-rank]
"I still don't understand all this about ranks"
]{Sigh} Boy, every living being has a rank that goes from inferior, low, medium, high and superior. It is somewhat ambiguous but the rank defines the growth capacity of the living being.
The chosen ones use a similar system to classify all things, they classify them dividing each rank in two from Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very rare, Veteran, Captain, General, Commander, King, Emperor, they also added one that goes beyond from the superior-rank, the 'Legend' rank ]
"I guess that way they avoid attacking enemies that are beyond their capabilities… I'll trust you, Hal, if you think it's the best I suppose we'll leave after breakfast"
[If we do that, we would arrive a couple of hours before dark.]
"It's okay, don't forget that I grew up in that city, I used to go out at night to explore so at least I won't get lost."
Saying this, Aaron got up and took his sword, and started practicing while waiting for the food.
After eating, Aaron put out the fire and put the skins where he slept in his inventory, and headed to Caya with Luna.
----------
After five hours of travel, Aaron had managed to cover most of the way, but he took a detour to one of the camps next to the river near Caya.
[Boy, weren't we going straight to Caya?]
"That is the plan, Caya has several parts of the outer walls still standing, so I thought it would be best to use a raft to approach the city from the river, usually the merchants used this town to spend the night in case they did not reach Caya before dark so it will be easy to find one "
[Good plan kid, it will take us half an hour more to arrive but at least you can rest during this time]
After searching around the town with the little light it left and not finding anything useful, he approached the river port and prepared a raft, seeing that there were more, he tried to keep them in his inventory without success.
[It won't do any good, boy, rafts are a type of transport so you won't be able to keep them in your inventory]
"I don't understand, how is it possible that I can store many more things in quantity like logs and armors, but something like a small raft doesn't?"
[Remember boy, the system is based on the one used by the chosen ones, so it has all the limitations and benefits that they have, just imagine if each chosen could keep only one galleon in their inventory and could take it out whenever they wanted, with the ingenuity of the chosen ones, they would undoubtedly end up causing disasters.]
Thinking of what he would be able to do with it, Aaron ended up hopping on one of the rafts and heading downstream.
When he was about to arrive, he approached the south bank of the river and after securing the raft he investigated the ruins of the outer tower that served as the river gate and waited for midnight.
Aaron put his sword in the inventory and told Luna to wait there while he put on his belt the dagger that he had wrapped in animal skin to avoid cutting himself, he entered the river, and following the edge of it, he entered the city.
Moving with the current, Aaron approached a grate that fed the inner part of the city.
[Now what boy?]
[This sewer feeds the internal moats, so it will lead us directly to the castle]
[But how are you going to open that grate without alarming everything that is left in this part of the city?]
[Under water there is a loose section of the sewer side]
After thinking that, Aaron holding on to the grate to avoid being swept away, dove in, and using the dagger as a lever to help himself, he removed a couple of loose blocks.
Entering the sewer, Aaron swam until he passed under the inner wall and the noble district of the city ending in the moat of the castle's external walls.
With the moon as the only source of light, Aaron discerned the outline of the castle, his home.
This was damaged and several towers collapsed on themselves, from the roof, you could still see a little smoke coming out.
[... Even though I knew what to expect, seeing my home as this ... hurts me]
[Focus boy, this is not the right place to lament it we don't know who or what may be around]
Reacting to Hal's voice, Aaron silently swam to the front, and after passing through the broken front gatehouse, while Aaron was putting his line shirt on he was able to observe the front field in which he played during his childhood and was able to observe the shadow of himself training with his friends just a few months ago.
The large fountain that decorated the center of the courtyard was broken and dark spots could be seen in various parts on the courtyard floor.
After passing the second gatehouse that protects the front of the castle he was received by a silent room, damaged carpets, and broken furniture, knowing that this was no longer his home, he moved silently through the wall of the hall to the wing of the castle in almost complete darkness.
Reaching the north part of the castle Aaron inspects the guard room from where he secures an escape route, and not finding anything useful he starts moving in the direction to the servant's quarters and kitchen.
To his disappointment there was no one there, not letting that discourage him, Aaron got inside the warehouse next to the kitchen, and taking some rations, oil, and torches he starts going to the basement.
When he reached the middle of the stairs and after making sure that the light of the torch would not be seen from outside, Aaron lit it and advanced until he reached the garrison room next to the stairs, where, despite not finding anyone, he found some abandoned equipment.
Not wanting to be limited by the weight and loudness of plate armor, he removed his soaked pants and linen shirt and replaced it with a gambeson and a new pair of undergarments, after which he kept a couple of swords, bows, arrows, and armor in his inventory and inspect them.
*********
Gambeson - Common - Defense +6: Padded fabric armor with quality cotton, produced for continuous use, has a sturdy fabric, and the ability to change padding with ease.
High-quality bow - Uncommon - Attack + 4, Accuracy +2: Made specifically for soldiers in charge of the protection of a castle, a high-quality wood was used ensuring their resistance.
Steel Sword - Rare - Attack +8: Forged at the request of a noble for his soldiers, the resistance and lethality of these weapons are worth their price, as long as their wielder knows how to give it the proper maintenance.
Leather armor - ...
Satisfied with his new equipment Aaron resumed his exploration of the castle basement, verifying that there was no danger for now and after visiting the castle general storages which were almost empty except for a couple of sacks of grain, using what little light was left from the torch, Aaron placed a simple alarm on the door of one of the storages and relaxed by sitting down to rest as the torch slowly faded.
"{Sigh} As I thought, there doesn't seem to be anyone there"
[Don't be discouraged boy]
"It's not that Hal, it's just that staying alert at all times is tiring and I'm not used to it, usually when I slipped away I didn't have to think that after every step I took, a rabid beast or a bloodthirsty demon could jump on me ..."
Aaron said as he ate some dried fish that he took from his inventory
[I understand you boy, you are doing well, let's rest 10 minutes before continuing, if we don't find other torches along the way, the four that you have left would only last us two hours at most, do you think you will be able to explore what remains of the castle before that?]
"There should be no problem, we just need to check the last floor of the basement, there is only one warehouse and the prison so we should finish in less than 20 minutes, giving us just enough time to go up before the torch burns out."
[I see, in case…]
{Pat. pat. pat}
"Boy get ready, something is coming"
[I know]
Thinking that Aaron quickly took and placed the torch beside him and hiding behind a box with the dagger and the flint on hand to light the torch, he waited to try to listen in the dark.
After a minute without hearing movement, Aaron slowly approached the door to try to better hear if there was something in the hall.
[It seems that whatever that was, it already walked away]
[It seems so. When we go down the stairs remem- Watch out boy!]
Hearing Hal's scream, Aaron quickly reacted by rolling away enough from the door before it slammed open allowing a shadow to enter which quickly set its gaze on Aaron.
Sensing the shadow's bloodlust and hear it growl, Aaron quickly slammed his dagger into the flint at the tip of the torch to ignite it, but the shadow lunged at him causing him to fall backward.
Reacting on instinct, Aaron quickly covered his neck with his arm which followed a slight pain in his arm and the feeling of something ripping his chest damaging his armor slightly, after which the torch had finally lit up completely revealing the shadow, which was one of the castle's hunting dogs, corrupted by magic.
Feeling how the dog's bite began to penetrate the sleeves of his armor, Aaron quickly stabbed the dog's side with his dagger which after sensing Aaron's intentions he released him decisively and stepped back, this gave Aaron enough time to roll and get up facing the dog which, realizing that Aaron was not hurt by his surprise attack, rushed at Aaron not wanting to give him time to recover.
Seeing this, Aaron quickly threw a bottle of oil at him which hit the dog, soaking it and distracting it enough for Aaron to dodge it without difficulty and reach the torch which without hesitation, threw it causing the dog's fur to catch fire. , which, thanks to the oil, burned with more intensity, causing it to twist for a minute before it stopped moving.
"We must hurry, I don't think there are more of those beasts around here, they would have come otherwise and the noise of the fight should not have left the basement, but it's better if we don't stay here."
[Okay kid, let's hurry, let's check the prison and get out of here]
Lighting another torch, Aaron left the warehouse and after verifying that there was no danger, he quickly went to the stairs that led to the lower floor of the castle, he quickly checked that the corridor was empty, he places some vessels on the stairs in case someone came down, after that, he checked the remaining warehouse which, as expected, was practically empty.
With less than 20 minutes of light, Aaron approached the prison door which was closed with a padlock, with no other option due to lack of tools, he broke the lock and after opening the door he felt a chill and quickly he jumped back, dropping the torch just to avoid being struck by a broken sword.
[Why didn't you tell me Hal]
[If I had done it that would have hit you boy, for now, focus]
Realizing that it was not the best time to get distracted, Aaron looked at who had attacked him, revealing the figure of a slightly worn man emerging from the shadows, followed by 4 other men.
[Prisoners?]
Getting into a defensive position, Aaron looked at the men who, without moving, also observed Aaron. After almost a minute Aaron decided to try to communicate with them, but when he began to lower his dagger one of the men who was the youngest among them pounced.
"Dilan, don't be impulsive"
Said one of the men, but the young man ignored him, throwing a blow with his broken sword at Aaron, who dodged without difficulties and with a kick managed to disarm the young man.
[That voice .. sounds familiar]
Seeing how his partner was injured, two of the other men rushed forward to cover him.
"Damn, it's okay stop him but don't kill him, he's just a boy and we also need answers"
The man said as he advanced to surround Aaron, who stepped back slowly and after leaving enough distance between them, raised a wall of stone in the corridor thus reducing the space through which the men could advance.
"Watch out, he's a magician, Tom how's Dylan?"
"Disoriented but not in danger"
[Wait, Tom?]
"Tóm get him out of here, Marc, Oliver, with me AM3 formation"
"Wait! I..."
"Do not let him conjure, advance!"
"Damm!"
"Dominic stop!"
"Commander!" "Uncle Donovan!"
The men and Aaron shouted at the voice that came from the cells and from which a man appeared, it was Donovan.
To be continued
…
*********
Ember Guardian System
User: Aaron Froststar
Race: Human (88%)
---------
{Status}
LV: 7
XP: 86/769 -> 158/769
SP: 15
HP: 132/132
MP: 43/43 ->34/43
STR: 17
AGI: 20
DEX: 22
CON:11
INT: 19
WIS:19
CHA: 19
---------
{Titles}
---------
Achievements:
---------
{Temporal status}
---------
{Skills}
---------
{Passives}
Swordplay 3 (20%)
Daggerplay 0 (20%): You know where the pointy part its
Stealth 2 (52%) -> (80%)
Throw 1 (82%)
---------
{Equipment}
Cloth undergarments - Common - Defense +1
Leather Pants - Uncommon - Defense +4:
Gambeson - Common - Defense +6:
Iron Dagger - Common - Attack + 5
Star Pendant (Right Half) - Epic - Charisma +5, WIS +5:
---------
{Inventory}
+Beta test bundle:
-Small HP potions x 5
-Small MP potions x 5
-Silver x 1
+Tent x 2 -> x 1
+ Iron stewpot x 1
+ Frozen Edge (Long Sword) - Legendary (Awakening 0%) - Attack +30:
+ Animal Fur x 4 -> x 7
+ Rations x 24 -> x 42
+ Flint x 2 -> x 1
+ Torch x 3 - 30 min
+ Oil flask x 5
+ High-quality bow x 4 - Uncommon - Attack + 4, Accuracy +2: Made specifically for soldiers in charge of the protection of a castle, a high-quality wood was used ensuring their resistance.
+ Steel Sword x 6- Rare - Attack +8: Forged at the request of a noble for his soldiers, the resistance and lethality of these weapons are worth their price, as long as their wielder knows how to give it the proper maintenance.
+ Leather armor x 2 - Common - Defense +5, Common armor made from leather of wild animals.
+ Gambenson x 4 - Common - Defense +6, Padded fabric armor with quality cotton, produced for continuous use, has a sturdy fabric, and the ability to change padding with ease.
Cloth undergarments x 5 - Common - Defense +1, clothes usually worn under the armor for commodity and small element protection.
---------
Servants:
Name: Luna
Race: Dark light wolf (cub)
Grade: Captain
LV: 5
HP: 50/50
MP 20/20
Loyalty: 90/100
---------
{Forums}
---------
{E0i&}
*********
