Our Trip To Amera

According to Damaris, Amera received intelligence that Ringdrex was planning a raid on one of the 5 military outposts. Surrounding Amera in a star-like fashion are 5 military bases that protect their assigned portion of Amera's borders. Similar to MapleHorn's wall, Amera has a circular wall that wraps around most of the urban centers of the country. Judging from Damaris' description, it seems that it has a 35-mile radius containing Amera's most important cities. Central also informed me that the continent of Yggdrasil was around 202,459 mi. squared! Each Country's land size was roughly similar portions so that meant each country had around 50,000 miles inside their borders. If I had to compare, I would say that the countries had similar sizes to US States.

Since the continent was so massive, most people decided to use magic to travel. The most common way was to fly but was limited in what you could carry in some cases. Different countries also tend to have different approaches to travel. Since Amera was a magic technology powerhouse, they used carriages that were powered by magic to travel. The horses they used were modified with Magic enhancing properties that allowed them to run significantly faster and last longer without resting. When they wanted to fly, they used their modified dragons to achieve a similar feat.

After I got myself a fresh plate of food, I finished my breakfast. I told Arcana and Daera that I believed in true gender equality, which was another way of saying that I wouldn't be bitched by either of them. I was pretty damn salty they took my baked boar and the rest of my breakfast. Damaris walked around our fortress and was impressed by the design. She wanted to try out our premium bathhouse but I said that we could come back later. While I was eating my breakfast, I was scrolling through the OP store to see what stuff was available. In other words, the 3,000 points that I had were burning a hole in my pocket. Luckily, in the "New" section, I saw that I was able to purchase an instant teleportation skill that didn't cost any mana. According to Central, it was rare to have a teleportation skill on your person. Most ways of teleporting are done by the use of magic scrolls. Even then, they are slower and cost a significant amount of mana. I guessed that its rarity was factored into the price. Instant teleportation at no mana cost is definitely worth more than the mini-fortress but less than "DawnBreaker". With that in mind, I felt the price was pretty reasonable and purchased it. The only stipulation was that you had to have visited the location so you could accurately teleport to the coordinates.

As we packed our things and left the fortress, I decided to leave it in MapleHorn. The fortress was still mobile but it was significantly larger than the cottage. It would save the headache of finding an appropriate spot if I just left it here. As the royal carriage pulled up to the front of the fortress, the mimic Slime walked in from the forest. Its sword was drenched in blood and its face was still carefree, making me rethink its settings. I told it to clean and maintain the fortress while we were away so it turned into its butler form. As we got into the carriage and let the horses run, Arcana and Daera sat on both sides of me. Shobe and Damaris were in front of us while Titan jumped on my lap.

"How long is the trip going to take Damaris?", I said.

"Thanks to the horses' speed and our distance from Amera, it should only be a day or two. That's how we were able to see you guys so fast in the first place!", she said smiling.

As we embarked on our journey, I told my party members about my Create ability and the Slime butler that they saw. I showed them the amazing apple that I created earlier and they were very impressed. They began to issue all of these demands and requests but I told them that I need to get the hang of it first. Since Mana replenishes itself at a rate of 10% every hour, it would be smart to use the ability when I'm over 50%. Complex creations seem to sap a lot of mana at the moment but I think my mana pool will greatly improve as I level up. I decided to pass the time on the carriage by looking into all my new skills and practicing the Create ability. Around 3 hours had passed before we ran into our first encounter.

"General Damaris, we seem to have mercenaries up ahead. What's are your orders?", the Carriage driver said.

"Depends. If Brice wants to handle it, it'll be a good way to see what he is capable-"

I wasn't a person to take chances so I went ahead and used void magic to apply slowness and blindness. As the carriage stopped, Titan jumped off my lap and out of the carriage. As he walked over to the incapacitated mercenaries, he switched over to his 6-foot form. With one swipe of his claws, he killed the 8 mercenaries in an instant. I wasn't surprised by this outcome since they were level 25. Since we were technically still in the safe part of the Ameran Great Forest, the only mercenaries who live around here are the ones who prey on newbie adventurers. I don't know why they got so cocky as to think they could actually rob a royal carriage but we killed them before we could ask. Damaris was happy that we defeated them but questioned my unfazed ability to kill, as well as the seemingly shapeshifting lion.

"I have to be honest Damaris. I'm not a hero. I'm also not a villain. I'm just a guy who likes to earn money and relax in peace and quiet. In a sense, you could call me a neutral power", I said.

I was expecting her to be mad or question my unheroic statement but she looked at me with admiration? I thought she was a strange woman even before she made her statement.

"Wow! You're so amazing Brice! You seem like you would make a fine General! Speaking of fine...do you happen to be single? I think I have some good quali-"

Before she could finish, Arcana and Daera began to do combo moves on Damaris. I wondered how they were able to have such coordination so quickly but I guessed it was one of those rare phenomena. They were non-lethal moves but they looked like they hurt. After Arcana executed a shining wizard move, Damaris waved a white flag. Since Damaris was a general, she was able to take the hits without leaving a permanent mark. She apologized to Arcana and Daera but subtly winked at me. I could tell that this was most likely not over.

We continued our trip without too much interruption until it became late in the afternoon. Damaris and the Carriage driver wanted to set up camp but I told them we could just go back to the fortress.

"We would love to stay by your fortress but we need to set up a proper camp here. We are in the more dangerous outskirts of the Ameran Great Forest so there are more lucrative materials nearby. I would advise that your party take this opportunity to explore and find useful things", she said.

Arcana, Daera, and Shobe seemed to agree with her statement so we decided to help her set up camp. Initially, I was planning on leaving Damaris and her driver while we went back to the Fortress but I realized that would only make me an asshole. When we needed certain items and food, I did teleport back to the Fortress to gather the items. Whenever I teleported back, the Slime Butler was cleaning a section of the Fort. Given his expression, it seemed that I was right to say that MapleHorn is the perfect place to have my peace and quiet.

After we ate the food that we had stored in the fridge, we decided to sleep in the tents that we put up earlier. The carriage driver got his own tent while Shobe and Damaris shared one. Unsurprising to no one, Arcana and Daera were in my tent sleeping next to me. Titan was also sleeping in the corner of the tent, acting as a guard for our traveling party. As I laid there, thinking about what to create next, Titan and I heard a sound nearby. I got up, picked up Titan, and decided to check it out. As we left the tent, we were facing a shadowy figure in front of us. At first, we were ready to attack the person but as they moved closer to the light, we could see that it was Damaris. She was currently wearing a nightgown and fidgeting in front of us.

"Hey, Brice...can we talk in private?", she said.

I was up anyway so I decided to hear her out. We walked over to a stream that we found earlier in the day and sat on the ground in front of it. In the water, we could see the dual moons shining brightly along with the beautiful night sky. Even if this area of the forest was considered dangerous, it was still a beautiful sight.