Have Horse, Will Travel II

"Hey there Miss Selene! I trust the day is doing well by you?" Abby asked with a smile on her face as she gave a piece of bread to Giles and a small cup of ale. He was sitting at a bench drawing out the specifications for some equipment he was going to make. "Ah, you, sight for sore eyes. Glad to see you again lass. At least I won't need to try buying the junk from those fools over there." He nodded with his head in the direction of the caravan.

"You mean the snake oil salesman is selling ingots too?" the dev asked with a cocked eyebrow. All three of them were watching as the salesman tried to entice people to buy his product. "Is that what your people call them? Snake oil salesman? I didn't think you could oil a snake" Abby asked as she looked confused. "You can, well certain types of them… that's not the reason we call them that. He's scamming them. What's the quality of his ingots like?" Giles grunted and took a sip of his ale. "Piss poor. Quite a bit of impurities, flaking, the bars don't even hold together properly. I dunno where he got them, but it wasn't from any smithy I know of. No one would be caught making that scrap, they'd be run out of business in less than a month."

Selene grinned a little and pulled out an iron ingot from her cart. Giles laughed. "Ah! There's some quality that I need! Hey, I made use of the last ones you brought me. Not one complaint, made forging a fence a synch, along with fixing that shovel for Daven, Repairing the hoe for ol Remmy, and tons of other stuff. A lifesaver you are girl." She started to stack her pile on his bench as he checked through a small list she had made on a piece of paper. "Uh… lass… I know you're helping and all… but I can't read these chicken scratches you call writing…"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You don't know my people's language after all, so it figures. twenty iron ingots, twenty bronze ingots, five copper ingots." Abby looked at the cart and saw something else glinting under a blanket. "What's that? Don't want to trade that as well Selene?" The dev turned around, confused for a second at what she was pointing at. She immediately got worried and jumped to the cart. "Uh, that's nothing! Um, I got some equipment made for myself and I just didn't put it away yet! Sorry, not quite for trading just yet. Got to put some finishing touches on it." A big liar's grin was plastered on her face as she hoped Abby wouldn't press further. "Oh well, maybe my husband might be interested in buying some when their finished?" The dev tried to pick her words carefully. "Uh, no no! This is for my village. Yes, they needed some new things made and it takes a bit of effort in a… we must use a much colder area to craft them, yes! The cooling effect on them." Abby shrugged and helped her husband count the ingots.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! This right here can heal you of all ailments, I assure you! Just one swig of this and it will cure coughing, rashes, sniffling, it can even make people walk! You there, won't you come up to try this amazing concoction?" The salesmen pointed to one woman down below his cart and brought her up.

"That's clearly one of his own in the caravan that no one realized mingled into the group." Selene pointed to her as she got up stumbling onto the small stage and tried the drink while attempting to look like she had a leg wound and crutch. She immediately dropped the crutch and proclaimed "My! I'm cured! Thank you!" and stepped down, walking as if nothing was wrong.

"Such bullshit. That doesn't cure people." Selene had had enough of the salesman. "STOP TRYING TO FLEECE THESE GOOD PEOPLE ASSHOLE!" she yelled with her hands cupped over her mouth. Everyone looked down the street at her, including the salesman. "Oh ho! You believe this isn't one fine handy dandy medical remedy? Why don't you come over here and test it yourself!" Giles looked up at her while he picked at his much larger purse, due to the fact he was at least getting paid for the repairs around the village with the materials she had previously brought.

"One minute and I will!" She looked at Giles who counted out ninety silver for her, which she took and thanked him greatly. He put his arms up in a welcoming hug, and she received it. "Go wreck his day lass." The dev picked up the handles of her cart and wheeled it towards the caravan. "Look at this! She's another trader! She probably just doesn't like that everyone is over here instead of buying her faulty wears!" The salesman laughed out as he pointed towards her. "Hang on there! Her ingots are the best quality Giles has ever seen! Shut your face up!" One woman yelled out as others agreed with her. Selene lowered her cart and stood next to it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, this man is selling something that doesn't work. That woman there isn't from this village, is she?!" The dev yelled out as the villagers looked at her. She backed off towards the caravan. "That's right! I've never seen her around before." Some started muttering to each other. "I just moved here to settle down! I live in a small camp nearby!" The woman yelled out to the crowd. "Everyone, that concoction is a fake. It doesn't heal people; real medicine heals people. Like so." She pulled out some clean bandages that were rated by her as tier one now at least, along with her poultices. "You" she pointed at one man with two broken fingers on one hand "how much is he selling that swill for?" He stepped forward and looked around before answering. "Fifteen silver he is."

Selene laughed. "So more than a real healing potion? How about this. Come over here. Would you pay me five silver to heal those broken fingers of yours? Where did you get hurt? Farming?" she asked. "Cow pushed on me hand near the fence, couldn't get them away fast enough." She nodded and touched his hand. A slight glowing nimbus enveloped his hand for a moment as she cast Lesser Heal on it, completely resetting the bones and sealing the fractures. "She's a healer! A pure holy healer!" he gawked at his hand as he wiggled his fingers.

"Uh oh, time to go while their distracted…" the salesman behind them whispered as they packed their things quickly, shut down the stage and flipped the caravan, heading back down the road away from the village. The auburn-haired woman saw the mercenaries hiding in the back of the coaches, with ramshackle equipment worn. "Good riddance." Others came right up to her and just waited. "Can you heal my coughing?"

"Please! I have a nasty blister on my foot!"

"My daughter is sick! Please, cure her!"

"Ok, ok, I'll see what I can do. For the record, I never said I was a healer. I'm a trader here, selling wares. Let me see what services I can provide in the healing department. Remember, payment is variable depending on service rendered." Everyone started whispering as she started to tend to people. "That's amazing! So affor… affor…" "It's affordable, yes."

Selene started tending to people as they came up, checking their symptoms and providing care where she could. To those that had coughs, she recommended taking the cough syrup instead of paying for the regular healing, as it was even cheaper, selling for thirty copper. She used her limited magic where required for five silver each cast, poultices and bandages where she advised it wasn't required for one silver, and for low issue ailments less than that. The total cost of the resources she used to make the syrup was maybe a few coppers at most she figured, so she was making a killing for something that actually worked. "Drink this, it will help ease the symptoms. Only take two tablespoons every few hours. If it continues by the next time I come here or gets worse, let me know. I'll cut the cost of future medical assistance to nip it in the bud."

"Bless you kind woman. Bless you and all your family."

"What's her name? She's amazing!"

"She's really going to be coming back? We have a good trader way out here now? Oh, I hope she has something I could buy."

"I wonder if she's married. She needs a strong man in her life." That whisper immediately made her look up at the two men talking with half closed dull eyes and a very unimpressed face. "Not happening. You here to get fixed up or gossip like school girls?" Both men cringed at her annoyance aimed towards them.

While she was helping anyone who was wounded or ill, others asked if she had any wares to sell. She showed them the linen clothes she had made, the glassware she had available, the tableware for the kitchen tables. She even sold the glazed pot she had the previous trip, along with the soap that the women just loved the smell of.

By the time she had finished tending to the people that needed help and selling the remainder of her wares beyond the gold ingots, she had easily made well over three hundred silver. Combined with the eighty silver she gained from Giles, she just needed to convert it into one gold coin and keep the remainder. "Does anyone have a gold coin I can exchange some of this silver for?" She asked up to everyone slowly walking away. "A gold coin miss? I think the mayor is the only one who has one of those." Giles walked up behind her and clapped his hand on her shoulder. "I've got one lass. I'm willing to swap some coin with you, no worries." She smiled and patted his hand on her shoulder. "That's nice to hear."

Once back at the smithy, Giles pulled a hidden box under a stone behind the forge. Inside, was six gold coins and numerous silver coins. He even had one platinum. "Whoa…" she whispered to no one. She was wrong about how poor they might have been the last time, but on second thought, that might be all that they had saved up. "You just want one or you wanna swap the rest too? I don't have many." Selene snapped out of her stupor and looked at him. "Um… nah, just one should be fine." He picked a single gold coin up and handed it to her in exchange for one hundred silver. "You should check with Moira Selene, she might be interested in any of those glasses you might have left" Abby told her. "You know, I'll do that. Thanks." As she waved goodbye to both of them and carried her cart towards the inn, she noticed an amazing horse tied to the post outside. It was magnificent, easily a foot taller than a Clydesdale, with beautiful white mane and white fur hooves. Its color seemed a dark brown with a white mark on its forehead and muzzle. It was entirely clad in some impressive barding. It was incredibly calm just standing there drinking from the trough in front of it. "Wow, you're beautiful. Whoever owns you must be very proud."

Before she entered the inn, she looked around to see if anyone was watching her. A few were, convinced she was a fantastic trader, which was irking her a little. She needed to grab the gold ingots and shove them in her backpack. She used the blanket to feint the movements as she dropped her pack on her cart and opened it, carefully positioning them inside so they didn't break any potions. Once she was happy with how they settled, she picked up the pack and entered the inn with a few glasses she had hanging from both hand's fingers, using her feet to move the door.

Moira was cleaning her counter again, but what was new was the man sitting in the corner, dressed like a seasoned soldier. The drunkards were all asking him questions about his many feats of strength, but he seemed tired. His hair was salt and pepper colored and brushed backwards, with a mostly grey mustache. He looked well weathered, but his armor said otherwise. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was a man of high standing, maybe a captain of a military? The dev walked up to the counter and said hello to Moira. "Ah, it's you luv. Whatcha got there?" Selene placed the glasses on the counter and dropped her pack next to her, with the wolves sitting besides her. "Got any use for these?" she asked. The stout woman looked over the glasses and flicked her fingers against the sides, hearing a resounding heavy plink each time. "Good quality, clear. I'll give a silver for each." The trader agreed, handing over ten of them and receiving ten silver.

"I'm telling you, I won't go that low for him, ever! If you drunkards just want to hear war stories then get away from me, the lot of you!" the soldier pushed one man out of his chair and waved his hand around as if to scatter flies. They slowly dispersed, grumbling. Selene turned around and looked at him, then glanced back at Moira. "New traveler?" she whispered. "Some General apparently. Said he was just trying to get away, paid for his room with a gold coin. Not the nicest, but I think there's a reason for it right now." Selene just watched him as he brought his hand to his forehead and stared at his drink and stew bowl in front of him. His eyes glanced up at her. "You a trader?" he asked.

"Kind of." "What does 'kind of' mean? You are, or you aren't."

"I am when I need to be. Why do you care?" a dry chuckle escaped his lips. "I suppose I shouldn't, given I hope to not stay here." The dev turned a little to be more comfortable in her chair. "Heading out for a war?" He chuckled again, this time stopping quickly after. "Heading away from the wars the kingdom just won't fight, that it won't try to win to protect the people that allow this blasted kingdom to exist."

Should I sit near him or not? Eh, it looks like he's just drowning some sorrows. I'm not like the drunkards around him.

She got up and walked over to a chair nearby, letting her pack sit with the wolves. If anyone tried to touch it, Blue would be the first to rip their hand off. "Why do you say that? Is there a war they don't want to fight?" she asked quieter to him. He looked down at his ale and took a sip. "Yes. It's the war against the brigands who now control the road here. They've gotten bolder, combining forces under one leader now, and attacking guarded caravans. I'm not allowed to lead an army against them, and their numbers just keep growing by the day. It's appalling. I can't do my duty to protect the people because of the greedy and corrupt nobility. It's all about politics now, never honor." He took another swig of his ale and ate some stew.

"Wait, are you saying the road is completely closed now? As in no one can make it through? How did you get here? With that caravan?" she asked him, confused. "I took a small path through the Azaltos mountains with my horse. That caravan might have just been lucky the first time. Is it still here peddling it's crap they call wares?" she shook her head. "Then they'll probably become dead men in a day or two." That wasn't good news. That meant no more traders were coming, and she was going to be their only life line. It meant money for her, but if she could mint some gold coins now, that meant nothing.

"Wait, then… why did you come here? Try and stop them yourself?" he laughed at that question. "Why would I do something so foolish as that? I might be an old soldier, and a general, but I'm no village idiot. Their numbers are in excess of two thousand right now. I'd be swarmed by them. No… I intend to escape."

Over two thousand bandits on the road?! That's an army of criminals and thieves! The Artinian kingdom won't do anything to help the people? Wow, they are evil. And stupid. Don't they realize they're cutting off taxes from this area by doing that? Or maybe they want them to be killed off, so they could resettle the area with more control, bleed new travelers dry.

"Where do you intend to go? This valley is closed off by Boramar and Azaltos Mountains, unless you know some secret spot to-"

"I do." He looked at her closely and looked around at the other men nearby drinking. "Where? You have some secret ship waiting to pick you up?" she asked in a hushed whisper. He didn't say anything for a minute, checking to see if anyone was listening. "I don't know if I can trust you." Selene cocked her head back a little. "Ok… how do I fix that? It's not as if I'm going to stop you. If you want to leave, then leave. I just don't know how you intend to do it." He leaned in close. "I have a ship waiting for me to take me, supposedly, to another land. It will cost me though, and I cannot bring my horse with me either."

She looked down at his stew and glanced back up at him. She got up and asked Moira for a bowl as well, paid with some copper coins, and sat back down. "I take it these are smugglers? Are they taking others as well?" He ate some of his own stew. "I don't know, and I don't care. I just need some more coin and I'll be on my way away from this wretched kingdom. A man of honor should be able to stand by his morals, not break them at the whims of the nobility." He took a sip of his ale and looked at her carefully. "Would you have the funds to buy a horse of purest breed? He is a fine warhorse, well trained and calm even in the direst circumstances. He has served me well, but I require money to get on that ship." She picked up the spoon and took a bite of her stew. It seemed to have very little meat in it, lots of potatoes, lots of carrots, lots of salt.

"Do you believe someone like me would have the funds to buy your horse? Being a trader?" she asked as she ate more. He laughed as he squinted at her, cocking his eyebrow as he looked at her movements. "Ha! Maybe, maybe not. I cannot tell how much a traveler with wares would have these days. However, I will only sell my horse for one hundred gold coins. That will allow me to get on that ship and settle somewhere for the rest of my life. I'm done being a dishonorable lackey."

One hundred gold coins?! I have… well… maybe…

She coughed a little and looked around. "Look, I don't have that coin to buy him." He laughed again and continued eating, talking through mouthfuls. "I figured as such." She looked up into his eyes. "But I do have something that might be equal." He grunted and put his spoon down. "Unless it's gold bars I have no interest in any prized wares you seem to think so highly of." She looked at her pack, at the wolves, and then looked at the stew, fidgeting a little. He stopped laughing and watched her. "No way. Do you really?" "Shut it! People here…" his mouth shut quicker than a bear trap. He leaned it closer. "How is each bar worth?" she whispered as quietly as she could. "Twenty-five gold coins. How many do you have?" he asked while looking around. "Enough to buy your horse. Are you willing or not?" He stared for a moment, contemplating if he really was going through with this. He exhaled loudly and picked up his spoon, finishing up his stew and ale, waiting for her to do the same with her stew.

Once both of them were done, Selene picked up her pack and walked upstairs with the general to his room. The wolves followed and weren't being blocked from entrance. Even this man wouldn't stop them from protecting their alpha in his own bedroom. "Alright, prove it." She opened the pack and pulled out four gold ingots. He marveled over them, with no issue in their density and purity. "Did you get these from Silv… wait, nevermind. I don't want to know where you got these from, I don't care. These… I can pay with these… alright… alright! We have a deal." He picked up all four ingots and hid them in his chest that he then locked. She picked up her pack and they both headed downstairs and outside.

"This is Asterion, and a most prized creature. You… may… call him Aster for short if you wish… He is a thoroughbred of the highest caliber… and… my friend…" he started to pat him on the muzzle, looking into his eyes. "You will take utmost care of him, won't you? I… may go back on my deal if you won't do so." He looked at her with a hardened face, but there was pleading in his eyes. "I will. I take it he'll need new horseshoes every how long? I'm unaccustomed yet to horses. Tell me what he's used to, and I will do my best to accommodate." He looked shocked, almost worried he'd have to cancel the sale. "Once every six months replace the horseshoes, file down his hooves. He'll eat all manner of vegetables, but they must not be rotten or a pox on you. Clean grains. I pray you have a stable of high quality for him to stay in? He needs time to stretch his legs every day or he will become lax and weak. Do not do that to him."

"I'll make sure there is a stable, and blankets ready for him when I get back. He'll be well fed and taken care of, I assure you." He gave a few more pats on his muzzle, whispering. "This is your new master now Aster… you mind her, you hold her high. It… may not be into battle… but there are many ways for you to serve… stand tall and strong my friend… my partner in arms… my finest soldier…" Asterion nickered as his muzzle was being rubbed. "Please, take care of him. He is yours now." He untied the reins from the post and handed them to her.

FUCK! I don't have any skill points in Riding yet! Speed skill up time!

She took the reins just as she multi tasked with her Hud to bring up her skills list and shoved fifty points into Riding. She now had seventy Skill Points left, but this was worth it. As she stepped to the side of Asterion, she felt intimidated by both his size and where the stirrups were as well as the information flowing into her head, making her feel a little light headed. She could barely get her foot into it from so high up. Luckily, the stirrups were adaptive, and could be loosened to drop them lower. But she wasn't going to ride him, at least not yet. She walked him over to her cart and attached the handlebars with some rope to his barding, then started walking away with everything. The general just watched as his friend was led out of the village, towards some unknown fate. Selene didn't need to stay there for any longer. She had sold most if not all her wares now, making a decent amount of silver. On top of that, she now had a gold coin she could mint copies of, a spare gold ingot, a giant of a warhorse she could ride around on, and a mostly empty wagon.

Once they were of a sufficient way away from Gold Pine, she checked to make sure no one was able to even see them before detaching the wagon cart from Aster and shoving it into her inventory. She couldn't have done that with a full load inside, as it seemed to not allow entrance, probably due to it being too complicated to sort back together if she pulled it from her inventory again. "Luna, hang on tight to mom." Luna was snug in the pack while she hefted all her weight and muscle up into the saddle, and suddenly everything seemed a little smaller now.

"The warhorse was the Apache Helicopter of the Middle Ages. If you had one you were rich and destroyed all in your path, or you didn't have one and got trampled." – random historians.

She clicked her tongue and got him into a walk, then slowly moved him into a trot. She had gained a few special abilities, "Cavalry Charge," "Parade," "Fast Mount" and "Fast Dismount." Cavalry Charge would be used to head straight into a battle and use the armor of the horse as a miniature battering ram while giving Asterion a speed boost. Fast Mount and Dismount were pretty self-explanatory, as it most likely meant she could get up into the saddle quickly and get off it just as quickly. Parade seemed to be a joke ability, as it would probably cause her to put Asterion through the motions to show off her riding ability jumping over poles and prancing in one spot. The only thing it might do is make certain actions while riding easier if she used it.

They got home pretty quickly without any need of potions, while Blue and Ash got a chance to run a bit. They had stop after a few miles due to the wolves getting a little tired, but they made good headway, far faster than she could have if she was just pulling the cart with potion use. Once she got her new mount inside the fort, she quickly ran outside and tore down some trees to make a decent stable for him. She took off the saddle and barding, then removed the rest of the tack. Once that was off, she filled the stable with hay and brought over a linen blanket, then made a water trough and food trough for him. He was content, at least he didn't complain. He even licked her for all the effort she put in for him.

"Good boy. Lemme see if I can get some food for you. You like carrots?" He nodded his head up and down. She walked over to her vegetable garden and started to cast Growth Spurt. Within seconds, she had a lush patch of vegetables ready to be picked. She quickly cast Nutrient Replenisher on the plot, then grabbed some carrots and potatoes, some lettuce and peas. With the wheat growing, she was able to harvest far better grains than the general store could ever give her. She threw a few handfuls of grains into the feeding trough along with some berries, carrots and a little lettuce. He softly ate his food as she got a pot ready for some early dinner. She figured she could cook up some fish and meat she still had available into a stew of her own with veggies. As she opened her inventory to pull out some meat, she stared for a second at the salted pork still sitting in her first inventory.

Teching up only takes away resources I gather?! Anything I buy from someone else doesn't count! Crap, I already left… hmmm… I could make a quick run back… but Aster is already settled in without the saddle equipped… Note to self: buy salted stuff. It might not taste good by itself, but I'll probably be able to cook with it… wonder if I can find beef, chicken and pork bouillon too. This is going to be a new winter stash. I'll lose what I get each tech up, but with bought food it can stay for emergencies.

She now realized that she could modify the wagon cart so that it would have four wheels now, with a seat, and she could hitch Asterion to it to bring goods to the village. He wouldn't need to wear barding either. She now had a way to make gold coins, provided she had the ore veins to stock it. Given that it would be turned into coins, and coins were money, which doesn't disappear from tech ups, she would be fine. Just bringing a few gold coins each time would allow her to buy whatever she would need. The problem was that they wouldn't be resupplied by anyone again for some time. Bandits had now completely taken over the road heading from Glass Dale.

This doesn't sound good. If things get any worse, they might start thinking of heading further up towards the valley… towards Gold Pine. If that happens…

She looked at her fort, her upgrades she had put into it. There wasn't much right now, given that everything that would be on the dirt was in her inventory working away, but there would probably soon be a need to install real fortifications into it. Right now, there didn't seem to be an immediate concern, but later, that could change very quickly.

While she was cooking a hearty meal with some cooked meat on the side for the wolves, she casually checked through her inventory and character sheet. Level nineteen. Ten more Attribute Points, twenty more Skill Points, another Perk Point. She was already crafting more tomes for new perks she'd add tomorrow morning, she just wanted to make sure she had perks for things she knew she'd use constantly. One of the perks might help for healing spells if she used low powered heals. The others… she'd have to think on them. She'd need to also improve some combat spells as well. Learning new ones might not be the best choice unless it would have a great effect at a low-quality tier.

She threw another thirty Skill Points into Farming to get a higher yield from the gardens. The plants would grow larger now at fifty percent, with only two special abilities from it so far, "No Need to Leave Fallow" which was somewhat useless unless she ran out of mana for Nutrient Replenisher, and "More Seeds Means More Food" which provided twice as many seeds if she pulled them out of vegetables. She'd have to start building more plots for extra gardens. Sixty Skill Points left.

If I grew all this extra food, and Gold Pine is completely cut off from supplies, I'd be the only thing keeping them alive… I… honestly don't know how I feel about that…

Despite being able to push Metallurgy and Gathering even higher with the remainder of Skill Points, she decided it might be best to wait and see if she needed to add anything to Magical Prowess, Fortifications or Logistics. There were quite a few other skills she wasn't even looking at yet, but all equally useful. If she waited on future events, it would give her a better understanding of where to put another fifty points. Fortifications would help strengthen her defenses if she needed to make more walls, add catapults or ballistae. She hoped it didn't come to making those. The requirements for a lot of equipment was expanding now, with more than just "use ingots and wood." Things were requiring more rope, string, basic ratchet gears and showing any future upgrades would start to require exotic materials. She was worried she wouldn't be able to make any of it for a while. At least Roman Cement didn't need very special ingredients, or at least ones she couldn't craft at the alchemy station.

As much as she wanted to work out a plan right now, it would change later with new information. To focus and worry about it would just give her grey hairs. It's possible the brigands would head towards Glass Dale, as it would be much more advantageous to take a town that has money and resources, more citizens to rape and pillage from. Going after Gold Pine would be useless it seems, she couldn't figure out why anyone would do it. Until there was more intel, she was going to go about her daily business and keep surviving. They'd never find her fort, as no one is known to go past Gold Pine yet that survived.

There were a few hours left in the day before nightfall, she decided to grow some more herbs and start expanding flagstone around the log and wood slat walls as a precautionary measure. She'd also build a stone foundation to replace the dirt floor, raised her log cabin a few feet off the ground and added reinforced stilts with a small porch on the front entrance. By the time she was finished with the improvements, it was nightfall, but her fort looked a little meaner with better walls. Roman Cement was poured into any gaps to help seal against damage, and a few stone defensive corbels on the top. It still wasn't much, but it was a precautionary addition.

Her spells were complete that she had put into crafting, X Greater Armored Skin took most of the day, providing a forty percent armor rating increase to any unarmored parts of the body like the face, and her tomes for crossbow accuracy. She also made a perk for a targeting reticle, hoping it would work the way she needed it to. What it showed instead wasn't a point to attack, but the general arc of where projectiles would fire. It didn't work on melee weapons as there were so many variables, but at least with ranged weapons she'd know if the shot would reach a target. With the accuracy boosts, it would always hit, assuming she fought wind resistance, range and missile drop. It would help at least tell her if she's aiming too low, as she hadn't shot an arrow at anything further than one hundred feet. Archer volleys were an unknown to her.

I could make an Arteirobolos. Just to test.

She crafted an Arteirobolos on a pintle mount at a corner of the wall next to the gate. It was a Polyabolos modified, a smaller Scorpio with two arrow arrays on both sides. The closest thing to it would be a hwacha, but that used rocket propelled arrows which she had none of. This would fire a volley of arrows all at once with bowstrings on the back synchronized together from one hook. It wouldn't do much against an armored foe, but unarmored it would kill a few enemies all at the same time given the spread. Even if she didn't get a chance to use it on someone invading, it might be useful for any wandering animals for a quick kill. It just took a while to reload each arrow.

With that work done, she set her goals for tomorrow. She was going to make gold coins, while not en masse, at least a decent amount. She was also going to explore for the next two days and fill up her map information for the valley now that she had a horse. This could help her find a new mining point for any exotic minerals she didn't have. If she could make one, this would push her into Uncommon tier equipment, at least some of it. If she couldn't find any worth mining, which seemed doubtful, she was going to enchant her Common equipment with at least ten percent improvements.

That was going to be a lot of enchanting, as there were quite a few slots she had. Helmet, hood under helmet, face if she wore anything there, chest piece, pauldrons, cloak if she had one, scarf if she had one, greaves or leggings, belt or crotch guard, boots, knee pads if applicable, elbow pads if applicable, gauntlets or gloves, wristbands or armlets, ten finger rings, ten toe rings if she wanted to have them, three amulets and a tiara. That wasn't including sword, shield, ranged weapon, side weapon like a dagger or throwable weapons, or special attachments like a paladin holy tome strapped to the belt like she had seen in so much art design for characters in development, causing a blinding light to emit from it to ward off evil trying to attack him or her. There was even magical war paint and tattoos, if she wanted to look like a Celtic warrior.

All of that would wait until tomorrow and the next day, then another trip to Gold Pine to stock up on some dried food… that hopefully hasn't expired yet. Until then, it was rest for the night and enjoy the amount of spare time she had while Firebolt improved.