94. The New World

Theren was about to head out when he realized that while he knew the area that he was in he was not sure about the area that Novum would be found. That made all the difference in the world.

'System, can you provide me with the general direction of Novum? I am not asking for a map or detailed directions just one of the eight main ones.'

[Affirmative, you can reach the area of Novum's influence by traveling to the northwest.]

'Thank you system.'

Theren realized that the direction that the giant was headed was the same way that he needed to go. Given that he was not sure how far it was to Novum's area it could be a coincidence but the old gamer in him did not believe that for a second. The meeting place on the note was not that far from him either. Maybe he would stop by and have a chat with a group of people willing to make a deal with a giant.

Theren and Svetlana found a stream and got cleaned up and then found a place to rest for the remainder of the night. He did not need hardly any sleep so it was not a big deal for him to go the night without any real sleep. Some peaceful mediation was enough for him to restore his energy. As his companion Svetlana seemed to get a buff from this benefit as well and she was up bright an early and ready to head out.

Theren took the map the giant had and used his knowledge of the area and the map in his bag to find the meeting point and headed straight there. He needed to have a talk with these people. Luckily the meeting point was only about half a day from them and the if the date on the paper was accurate it would be in two days with the full moon. They man who wrote the note must have had some dealings with giants before since he used a moon phase as a time frame.

Theren arrived to the spot and started scouting around. There was an area where it appeared that meetings like this had taken place a time or two or it was a common stopping point for caravans traveling that area. More than likely the first option since the two spots could not be shared for this kind of meeting and killing a bunch of people for no reason was a risk even most nobles were not willing to take.

Given the direction of the giant's travel they other party should be coming the other way so Theren set up a watch in the direction to see if he could get any advantage over them. Noon the day before they were supposed to meet, half a dozen people rode into the area. They were all wearing oversized cloaks and while that could be to offset the chills of the later winter early spring air this was not that type of cloak.

These were the cloaks of people that did not want to be recognized. It was also a deterrent for assassins since they could not pick the target the first time and would not take that kind of chance. The group was about to get to the area when they spit up into two groups. Three rode left and three rode right. It was obviously them attempting to scout the area. Theren shook his head. What kind of idiot tries to scout the area from horseback. Theren did not even bother activating his ring since there was no chance in them finding him.

They did not even notice the huge hunting cat sitting in a tree above them so how could they find the small elf hiding in his environment. He was not sure if he should be happy or insulted that the system was spoon feeding him. But then he realized that it was not necessarily spoon feeding him but giving him hidden information that should be important later. He would just take everything in and see where it led him.

The group met back up and once they were sure that the were alone (they weren't) they took off their cloaks and the moment they came off they all changed back to their original sizes. Three of them barely changed but one of them grew so much it was a little intimidating. The other two shrunk a little and the body changed shape to show their female proportions. He did not care at all at this point. He had seen way to many scary females in his last world and he also knew that Alan wrote about some really powerful female characters and if the system was using them for a base then he could be in big trouble.

Theren decided that it was best not to jump to conclusions and wait it out to see if this group was waiting to fight the giant or hire the giant. The group moved around for most of the day setting up things that made it seem like they were in for a long wait and they knew it. By the time that the sun was going down a nice little camp had been developed.

Finally the man that did the least but talked the most sat down by the fire with the huge man sitting beside him. Theren knew that these were the two that were in charge and if he wanted any real information he would have to listen in on these two when they thought they were alone. He quickly activated his ring which made him almost impossible to see in the dark and quickly crept closer to the duo but still taking the time to watch his feet.

"Sir, with all do respect why are we here hiring this giant? I can take this Novum guy and call it a day. Three days there and this is all over."

"Idiot, he took out bears that were three times your size and he is capable of taking out me and the party that I took with me to his manor to get my niece. I know that you are the top fighter that we have but I have seen you fighting seriously and you are no match for him. And no I am not talking about when you spar with me. I am not to stupid to know that you are not holding back to try and stroke my ego. But said ego does not bring it up."

"Is he really that powerful?"

"Do you think I would let the common witch cut me up like this for fun?" You could hear the anger in his voice as he lifted the amulet that hid the scars on his face. Joe remembered his old life and in one of the books the main character did that to someone that crossed him. Interesting. But this time when he saw the word on his head his blood ran cold and he knew that he would have to kill this man. To an ex-military guy like him the word on his head was enough to insight significant feelings. Fratricide was the biggest taboo he could think of. Sleeping with you colleagues wife was way better than killing your brother in arms, even in an accident.

"Okay, Baron. I just hate that we have to hire this beast and what is it going to cost us. I know that the family business took a real blow recently."

The little man darted his eyes towards the two women that were with them. "I think he will like the payment that we brought him. Plus if we let him pick he will feel more in control and then he will not demand both items. But if he does then it will not be an issue. It will be annoying but worth the cost."

"Of course Baron. I will see to the guard one last time. You should rest for the evening."

Theren slipped away from the group with his mind already moving like lightning as he started coming up with a plan that would let him get all the information that he wanted as well as a few more allies that he might need in the future. He slipped back into the woods and found a spot where the moon light was nice and bright and wrote out two notes. He took the notes and went to find his targets.

The big man had just left the first target and he could see that she was a little disturbed by the look in the man's eye and the way that he treated her. Theren found a small rock and carefully tied the note around the rock and threw it just hard enough that it would hit her.

The girl was standing her watch when the man in charge came over and checked on her. He barely spoke to her but looked her up and down like a piece of meat in a store front. She hated this job and wanted nothing more than to head back to her old life. She felt the impact of something on her chest and immediately went rigid. Was this the impact of an arrow that she always heard about. The one where you felt the arrow but no pain as your body was already dying.

She looked down and did not see an arrow and blew out a long slow breath. It was then that she noticed that there was a note on the ground in front of her. She looked around one more time and then bent down and picked up the note. There was no writing on the outside but since it literally hit her in the chest she assumed it was for her and opened it up.

'The baron is going to use you to pay the giant. Head north at the moon's highpoint if you want help.' T.G. Ranger

So, that was why they brought her along. She checked the position of the moon and knew that she had enough time to make a plan and not rush foolishly into a trap. This could be a trap but her instincts were screaming at her that this was the truth.

Theren saw the look in her eyes as she realized the truth of the matter and then he smiled as he saw her face change to grim determination. This young lady was a survivor through and through and he was going to get her out of this situation. Now on to his second target.

The second target was one that was in an area where there was not a lot of coverage so he had to get a little more creative. Finally he decided that since the rock would not work without undue exposure that he would use the note on an arrow trick. He was more than close enough to put the arrow right were he wanted it.

As she stood guard she kept feeling that something was not right with the area but the thing was she felt like the threat was not in front of her but behind her. She could not shake the feeling that she was in terrible danger. This left her nerves on edge so when an arrow hit the ground between her feet she immediately called energy into her hand. The light from the energy that enveloped her hand showed her the arrow with a note tied to it. She let the energy fade out and then picked up the note.

'The baron is going to use you to pay the giant. Head north at the moon's highpoint if you want help.' T.G. Ranger

So, that was what her instincts were trying to tell her. She was not sure about going north but she was going to get away tonight.