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Chapter 86: The Wardens A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 86

As we walked, Maveith asked, "Are you any good with your pokers, legionnaire?"

The goliath pointed at my spear and sword while a club the size of my leg swung on his hip. Dried blood was evident on it. I downplayed my skill, "Decent enough. I have only been learning for the last six months."

"Well, do not worry. I will protect you out here. You can be my junior. That is like Kid Brother among my people. We protect those of our people who can not protect themselves," he replied with sincerity or maybe humor. It was hard to tell because of his deep voice.

I nodded, not taking the bait to argue with him. I queried his skills, "Are you familiar with the local flora and fungi?"

The large man's deep voice intoned, "Just the edible ones and some of the ones that prevent infection."

We spent the next hour talking about and pointing out different flora and fungi, making slow progress toward his home. I learned a little about the local edibles, and he learned some of the more valuable ones he could sell in the city. That was something new for Maveith. He was going to be allowed to enter the city and freely trade with the people. It was not so much a concession but a request by Castile and the Duchess. The Duchess wanted it known that the goliath was under her rule. I assumed it was for the intimidation factor.

We finally reached the goliath's home. A small clearing held a herb garden, and tanning hides of two elk and a deer were stretched on a rack. A small shack made of stone was in the back, and he pointed to it, "That is my smoker shack for preserving meat. I just finished a batch of elk meat." He pointed at his unique cabin. "That is home."

It looked like he had built a ten-foot-wide cabin between two massive boulders. It was not very tall either, the wood shingle roof only coming up to my chin and extending back about fifteen feet. The entire structure was just ten by fifteen. Maveith was waiting for my reaction, so I gave him one, "Impressive." He started laughing in deep, belching chuckles.

He walked to the doorway and opened it. It showed stairs going down into a large, well-lit room. I followed him down. A dozen fist-sized glow stones were embedded in the stone walls. But the walls were further back than expected. The room was too large. He waited again for my reaction. "Did you carve your cabin into the boulders?" I asked, figuring out the size was maybe thirty by thirty feet.

"With my own two hands over the course of two years. Besides the other wardens, you are only the third person I have invited in, legionnaire," he said congenially.

"Thank you for your hospitality and the honor, goliath." I took in the large room. Half the room had stone tables and chairs, which appeared to be his work area. The other half was his kitchen and larder with drying herbs and meats. Two archways in the back were dark, and I assumed they went to other rooms. The dwelling was dry and smelled earthy.

Mavaith went to the kitchen area to unload his burden. "I will begin the meal. Those buckets over there need to be filled by the stream we passed coming in. Filling the tub over the stove should only take you three trips." I thought it was an invitation to do his chores for him, but I didn't protest. Each bucket was maybe six gallons, and there was even a yoke to carry them on my shoulders. I made the first trip to the wide stream, which had a number of small fish visible from the shore.

When I returned, Maveith was cooking wild onions and potatoes with one of the large slabs of bacon he had taken. "Are you going to cook that entire slab tonight?" I asked, curious as it was easily twenty pounds.

"Diner and breakfast, yes. Giant boar is hard to find locally, and this belly meat will be a treat," his deep voice intoned as he was focused on the meal preparation.

I finished filling his basin by the stove, which he used firewood to heat. A draft hole in the stone took the steam and cooking smoke away from the room, but soon, the room heated up, and I was sweating. He cut the bacon into square chunks, seared them, stored the fat in a container, and then added the crispy chunks to a thick onion and potato soup. He presented me with a bowl of the meal. The bowl was as large as my head, and we sat at one of the stone tables.

Maveith hunched over his stone bowl while he shoveled the meal into his mouth, moaning in delight with each spoonful. I tried the soup, but he had been a little too generous with the ground peppercorns he had just acquired. The bacon chunks were still crunchy. The bowl I was eating from was polished stone, as was the spoon. I looked around the room; everything was made from stone except a small part of the ceiling and the wall with the door entry. The walls were smooth, not rough like they had been mined. Maveith finished his bowl and let out a long, contented belch. He went and retrieved a second bowl and sat down eating more slowly this time.

Curious, I asked, "Can you shape stone?" I held up my spoon as evidence.

He nodded and finished swallowing. "I can, just with my hands and not for long. I do not have very much aether." He pointed at the glow stones in the ceiling, "I made those from a single glowstone. I only need to charge them once a week."

Everything I saw now made some sense. He had literally carved his home out of the rocks with his bare hands. I finished my bowl, swallowing the peppery soup, and he finished his second. I asked, "So, where am I going to sleep?"

"You are going to share my bed, legionnaire," he said so confidently that I thought he was serious. He broke into a bellowing laughter a moment later. I was sure I had made a face of unease. "Come, I will show you the guest room," he intoned, still laughing.

I followed him into the passage on the right, and he took one of the glow stones from the ceiling as he passed. The short corridor ended in a rectangular room lined with shelves. Most contained rolled-up leather hides, but several sealed stone jars were marked in strange letters. There was an alcove about two feet off the floor with two large weasel hides. "I don't have many guests, but you should be comfortable. My sleeping room is adjacent, and if you get scared, legionnaire, you can crawl in with me," he chuckled, thinking he was being funny. "Rest as I still have a number of things to finish this evening."

I waved my hand to dismiss him, and he walked out. I stripped off my legion armor but kept my helmet close by. There was no door to my room for privacy, but that did not matter. The pelt of the weasel was incredibly soft. It has a silky smoothness, and I glided easily on them as I slid between them. I could not believe I was here tonight instead of at the Citadel in my room being attended to by Lareen. Did anyone even tell her where I had gone? I took out my griffin down pillow and got comfortable.

I took out the time affinity book and carefully reviewed each page. Then I took my amulet and went into the dreamscape. I recreated the book while Oscar was begging for attention. It looked correct. Now, I could return the book to the Duchess' library and still be able to study the spell form once I decided on one. I filled the shelf in the entry room with all the books I owned since I had paged through them all at one point in time. And I tried to add a book from Earth as an experiment.

I laughed as The Hobbit was added to my collection. I took the book and paged through it. Even though I had read the book twice in my life, I doubted I remembered everything I had read, but it looked complete and even had the same paper smell and feel I remembered. I put it on the shelf.

I decided I needed some practice fighting monsters. I spent some time fighting the ankhegs with my new air barrier spell form. The acid spray they had could be diverted with two stacked shields. I just needed to be careful not to step in the puddles until after the acid lost its potency. I froze the entire room whenever I was about to take an injury. I was still uncertain how death worked in the amulet. Maybe the Duchess' library had a reference book for the dungeon artifact. I lost three times and reset the entire encounter each time, starting from the beginning.

My biggest asset was the air shield. I could cast it and prevent the giant bug from turning, giving me time to damage its flanks. Oscar watched me try different tactics, patiently wagging his cropped tail, waiting for his turn to play with me. The fourth encounter was my first serious injury. My leg had been crushed before I paused time, but it did not hurt until I wanted it to. The pain was intense, but with just a thought, my leg was healed, and the pain was gone. I controlled everything in the dreamscape.

I played a few minutes with Oscar before leaving and told him I would be back. I had been inside for maybe four hours. On leaving, the intense headache hit me, and I moaned into the fur. I didn't understand. The last time I used the amulet to learn the air barrier spell form, I had not felt anything when I left the dreamscape. What was different?

I had created items that were not part of the dreamscape—all the new books. Maybe the amulet pulled the knowledge from my head, and that caused this pressing migraine. It was an interesting observation, and I would experiment to confirm it. Would I get the same migraine if I only fought and reset the monsters? What about the Konstantin construct I created and dismissed? Would he still cause mental fatigue if I summoned him, or would the amulet remember him?

The weasel pelt had made me sweat, so I removed a canteen of water and drank it. I could hear Maveith snoring loudly in the other room. It was muted by the stone but still annoying. My headache made sleeping hard, so I took an oblivion pill and drifted off.

"Wake up, legionnaire! We have a long day ahead," Maveith said in a deep voice, breaking a rather nice dreamless sleep.

My head was still splitting from the amulet. "Damn, goliath. You and Konstantin would get along splendidly." I moaned, getting up.

"I look forward to meeting him," he said cheerfully. Leave your armor as it will make too much noise, and we have a good distance to travel. Also, Trek is not fond of legionnaires. Best not to advertise what you are." He sounded too chipper this morning, and I was glad to notice at least my headache from the amulet was quickly waning. "I already ate, so get what you want, and we can head to Trek's treehouse."

He had left me some of the soup, and it was already heated. The bacon was no longer crunchy, but it was still good. I felt naked without my hardened leather armor and steel helm. We left at a fast walk, and Maveith stated, "It is about twelve miles north. We will pass close to one of the weasel dens, so making as little noise as possible was best." I followed Maveith, and he moved extremely quietly for such an enormous being.

"How are you so quiet?" I asked after an hour.

"Habit mostly. It is hard to sneak on an elk when you are stomping the ground. I am not sure if I can explain legionnaire, but I will try," he said with seriousness.

The next few hours, I walked in front, and he taught me his self-learned skills of moving silently. It had to do with body movement, where you were stepping, how you were stepping, and getting a feel for it. When I made a noticeable noise, he had me pause and figure out what I did wrong. It was more of a learn-by-mistake education, as a lot of Maveith's movements were more instinctive than learned. He had to think about just as much as I did.

When we arrived at Trek's Treehouse, it was high in a thick oak tree. It was made from logs, and hauling them up there must have been an impressive feat. Maveith looked around from a distance before announcing loudly, "I do not think he is home." He walked into the clearing under the tree and looked around. He shook his head. "I don't know. I was hoping to catch him before he left to hunt today." It appeared to be a poor act on Maveith's part, announcing his arrival.

"Were you now?" A voice came from far to our right. A thin, blonde man with an impressive beard entered the clearing to join us. He had two hand axes on his belt. His clothing, like Maveith's, was all medium brown colored hides. "You coming to see if I am still alive, Maveith."

"No, a job offer from the new Duchess," Maveith intoned, and Trek immediately went sour. "Do not worry, you can remain in your treehouse. She is not going to force you into the city. She is marking her lands, and you just need to keep on the lookout for critters when her men are laying the markers in this area. This is my new kid brother, and he represents the Duchess."

"Kid brother? What? Did you shit him out? I doubt any woman would lay with you." He looked me up and down with some curiosity.

I grimaced at being the butt of their jokes, but endured it. "There is even three silver a week pay for your efforts," I added, trying to finish the introduction, "I am Eryk." I held out my hand, but he ignored it.

He swayed his head in consideration of the offer. Maveith added, "I will spend it for you in the city and bring you what you want." Maveith addressed me, "Trek does not like being around a lot of people. I am surprised he didn't bolt for the hills with the two of us here."

Trek spat and grinned, "I would have, but I count you more animal than man, Maveith, so I just counted your new boy here. I can handle talking to one person." It was obvious the two had a good relationship. They just liked trading verbal jabs.

"So it is a deal? I will collect your writ from the Duchess and bring it to you with your first ten weeks' wages. If you want anything, I can bring it back from the city for you." Maveith said patiently.

Trek seemed undecided before nodding. He just walked away and didn't say anything else. "Not a social butterfly, is he?" I said softly.

Maveith looked at me and tried to puzzle out my words, "No, he flies on his own winds. He probably just spoke more words in the last few minutes than in the last six months. Our next stop is Lyonis. He will not be so easy to convince."

We continued through the northern woods, moving northwest. It was late afternoon when we reached our destination. Maveith was impressed that I had been able to keep up with him and still practice my silent movement. Without my armor, it felt like I had limitless endurance. Lyonis' cabin was more conventional. A small log cabin nestled in the woods. As we approached, a short man exited the cabin. He had one arm in a sling, reddish brown hair, and a massive beard.

Maveith called from a distance, "Lyonis! Can we approach?" The man located us and waved us to him. As we got closer, it was not just his arm but also his head that had a wound of dry blood. "What chewed you up?" Asked Maveith with concern when we were close enough.

The man was pale under the filth covering him and had probably lost a fair amount of blood. He looked relieved to see Maveith and had not even given me a second glance. He must have had a concussion because his eyes were unfocused. Maveith asked again, "What creature did you fight? Did you win, or is it still out there?"

He put effort into focusing on Maveith, "Klinton called me to help with a monster problem. A few days back, the heavy rains to the north have forced a few toward us. He didn't know what it was, but we tracked it some thirty miles from here. It was a Manticore. It surprised us and got Klinton. I barely escaped. That was…two days ago? I think."

Maveith was on alert. "It might have tracked you after it consumed Klinton. You should have called Lyonis and me to help. This is why only four of us are left…now three of us," he said seriously. "Let us get inside and lock the door and deal with your wounds for now."

Maveith and I scanned the surrounding woods as we made our way into Lyonis' cabin. I seemed to have terrible luck. My armor was at Maveith's house, and I was possibly facing another dangerous creature from this world.

Chapter 87: Manticores A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 87

We entered Lyonis' small cabin. It was not as orderly or as well constructed as Maveith's. It also had a strong smell of ammonia, like dried urine. He had a single table and a small bed in his cabin as his only furnishings. Maveith sighed deeply at the mess and smell, "Tell me what happened from the beginning."

Lyonis sat on his bed, cradling his arm. "Klinton said he found several mauled deer with their guts eaten. He thought a dire wolf had moved south after that torrential rain. We tracked the creature to the rocky hills. It was sunning itself on a rock, and we were not sure what it was. We didn't see the second one coming from above. Klinton took a tail whip to the chest, and the barbs pierced his heart. He died quickly." Klinton was shaking slightly at the memory.

He compartmentalized the trauma and continued, "I got my spear into its hindquarters and ran into the trees. The beast and I fought among the trees. I was only saved as the one that had been resting started to eat Klinton. The one I was fighting was larger and returned to claim its kill, I think. I ran as fast as I could here."

It was quiet for a time. "Manticores are all over Stone Mountain Island, where I am from," Maveith said heavily. "They are rare in this part of the world. I know some things about their nature."

Lyonis nodded, "The only time I had seen one before this was at the New Year's Games in the capital when I was a child. It took seven men in the arena to take it down, and not all of them lived.

I looked back and forth between the two wardens, "I have never seen one. What do they look like?" I asked.

The gray-skinned man sighed, "Manticores are as malicious as they are ugly. Their body is as large as a horse but akin to a lion." He looked at Lyonis, "That is why you confused the prints, Lyonis. A wolf's and a lion's prints are very similar."

The goliath folded his legs under him and sat so he would no longer have to duck the low ceiling, "A manticore's head is a grotesque thing, though. It looks like an ogre's head with a wide maw full of sharp triangular teeth made for cutting flesh and covered in a mane of foul-smelling hair. They can also attack with their claws and a barbed tail. They fly as well, with thin, leathery wings made more for gliding than flying. If they are mature enough, those tail spikes on the tail can be flung like arrows and contain a corrosive poison. Small amounts of the poison are not fatal but target your muscle tissue, weakening you and creating excruciating pain."

"Have you ever hunted manticores?" I asked Maveith.

"No," he grunted, "Climbing the mountain to find a nest was for warriors only. I was too young to hunt one before I left my people," some sadness crept into his voice. "On the bright side," he cheered up a little and talked about harvesting a manticore, "The tail barbs of a full-grown adult make excellent arrows. Their hide can make excellent armor. And the wings make prized cloaks and pouches."

Maveith shifted on the floor and removed a pouch from his belt, and he had a familiar vial of myconid powder. "I think we will head to Trek's house tomorrow, and then we will all go to the city and seek the aid of your mage commander."

Lyonis immediately perked up, agitated, "You want to bring a useless legion company out here!" He was angry but, in his depleted state, lacked real energy to show it.

"Cool yourself, Lyonis. We can not handle a pair of manticores ourselves. The new Duchess is prepared to give you a free writ to live here," Mavieth growled at the man. Lyonis relaxed some.

Maveith looked at me with seriousness, "Lyonis does not like legion mages. They were responsible for the deaths of his family."

"Cursed legion mages were more concerned about protecting the Imperial buildings than saving the lowly citizens of my town. My family was burned alive by the flames of a rogue fire drake training to be part of the Dragon Legion." His veins were bulging, and his anger had risen again at the telling. Even I knew there were no right words to say.

Maveith calmed him, "Lyonis, relax. His mage commander was not one of them. I already asked." Maveith had already tested the waters in preparation for recruiting the other wardens into the Duchess' service. "We will sleep tonight and make our way tomorrow. I will spread the powder and return shortly. Which direction did you come from?" Lyonis pointed in a direction, and Maveith nodded.

Maveith left the cabin, and I was alone with Lyonis. "I am sorry for the loss of your friend." I finally said.

He grunted and tried to study me, but his eyes wouldn't focus. He must have a concussion. I thought about offering him one of my lesser healing potions but hesitated. The man finally said, "Klinton wasn't the best man, but he didn't deserve to die like that. The nasty weather has stirred all kinds of ill tidings. Probably some mage was playing with power beyond his control."

"It was the Bartiriaden mages. They were angry at losing Macha to the Duke's army," I informed him. I decided not to tell him that the Telhian mages had torn down the city and likely killed dozens, if not hundreds, of the civilians. "The torrential rains were not the only incident. Numerous foul weather erupted across the Empire. They say a lot of the crops will be lost this year."

"And the people will suffer—not the First Citizens or the nobles. Just the people that keep this Empire afloat!" His anger had risen, and his pale face was turning red again.

"I completely agree," I replied, trying to calm him down. It seemed to work as the warden eventually lay prone on his bed and fell asleep; his anger had consumed his remaining energy.

Maveith returned an hour after leaving and did not look happy. Lyonis was asleep, so he spoke to me softly. "I caught sight of one of the beasts, maybe four miles north of here in the twilight sky. It was circling, and I am assuming its partner had taken down prey. It was probably waiting its turn to feed."

"What does it mean? Are they tracking Lyonis here?" I stirred uneasily.

"Yes, but they are not the best trackers. They mostly spot their prey from the air and swoop down on it. They will fire a barrage of barbs and then barrel into their prey. My guess is that since they wounded Lyonis, they think he will be an easy kill. They are not the smartest of creatures." Maveith seemed uncomfortable at the prospect of fighting.

"Should we leave tonight, then? Before they find us?" I asked, ready to grab my pack and leave.

"No, clouds are moving in. It will be too dark to make our way without a glowstone. And a glowstone would be a beacon. Hopefully, the neutralizing scent powder I spread will prevent them from locating us." He did not sound too optimistic. We were only twenty miles from the city, but I could not think of a way to safely reach it. The weasels were also going to be out, so it made sense to remain where we were.

"Get some rest, and I will keep watch." He moved to one of the windows with a chair. When he sat, the chair strongly protested his weight.

I would have liked to use my amulet, but if someone did come tonight, then I wanted to be able to respond. I removed a large hot meat pie from Maca. At this point, there was no point in hiding my space from Maveith. Maybe Castile had already told him anyway. His surprised look said he was unaware, though. The scent in the room was such that Lyonis drooled in his sleep, and Maveith kept giving me side glances. I ate half of it before giving it to a confused Maveith.

I explained, "I have a small spell form for a dimensional space. The size of the herb crate I had when you found me."

His eyes narrowed some, "And you made me carry the crate all the way back to the city for you, legionnaire?"

I shrugged, "You looked capable enough, goliath." I returned with a smile. He grunted but hid a small grin at being dupped. At least now he had a chance to enjoy a good meal.

He quickly finished the meat pie. "That was amazing. Do you have any wine to wash it down?" He had a joking tone, not thinking I did.

I had the bottle of wine from my interview with the Chancellor. I produced it, and his eyes went wide. He quickly dumped the water from his canteen and emptied half the bottle into it. Returning the half-full bottle to me. He sipped on the wine and smiled. "It is excellent."

I drank from the bottle, still not appreciating the wine. After Maveith finished his wine, he softened a little. He admitted, "We will have to fight them tomorrow. Come to the window and listen." I did as he instructed.

"I don't hear anything," I said after straining for minutes to hear.

"Exactly. The insects, night birds, and creatures know a true predator is in the area. If it were just the weasels, the insects and night birds would be active. No, the manticores are close. I do not think they will assault the cabin. They prefer to attack from range with quills before moving in for the kill." Maveith looked at the other warden. Lyonis was drooling but sleeping soundly. I handed Maveith a lesser healing potion.

He turned it in his hands, reading it. "For him?" I nodded. "It will cure his head wound and bring his senses back but not heal his broken arm. Are you sure?"

"If you are right, we need everyone as capable as possible," I confirmed.

He moved, woke him, and administered the potion. Lyonis fell asleep again. "Thank you, Eryk. I do not have many friends, but I count Lyonis among them." He faced me, "Tomorrow, at first light, I will rush into the woods to draw them out. I will circle back to the cabin, and maybe we can fight one of them together. Lyonis should be able to swing a blade. If we can disable the larger one, we may scare the smaller one into fleeing."

I did not sleep at all that night as I waited for dawn with Maveith. We woke Lyonis, and he went into his root cellar to feed us. He was much better and talking clearly. "I should be the one to run out there, Maveith, and circle around to draw them out. I can not use a bow, and you can."

"You are too weak. The healing potion drained your frail body already," he let out a soft chuckle to indicate he was teasing the man.

It was not long before Maveith opened the door. The fresh air outside rushed in with the morning light. We didn't see anything suspicious. He pointed, "I will enter the woods there and circle around and come back from the right. I will take a position there behind that rock and use my bow. When it comes into club range with me, rush out and attack it." He sounded more confident than I think he was.

He took a deep breath and sprinted across the small clearing into the trees, and I could see his large body moving among the thick trunks. A commotion in the woods came from the left as he moved right. A large creature pursued him, but it only looked like one. Where was the second creature?

Maveith ran his circle, came out from the right as planned, and slid on the wet grass to take shelter under a tree and behind a rock, pulling his bow. The creature that followed him out was as grotesque-looking as he had described. The mashed, semi-human-looking face was covered in a tangled mane of dark brown, shaggy hair. Dried bits of flesh and blood hung from the mane. The first arrow Maveith fired landed solidly in the shoulder, and the creature wailed.

In response to the wail to responding, screams of anger came from over the cabin. Maveith turned and looked. Even at almost thirty yards away, I could see the color drain from his face. "Two more above the cabin!" He fired an arrow above us, and a wail erupted, and then a storm of quills landed around Maveith. Three ended in his upper torso and one in his calf. He immediately began pulling them out.

The two new manticores landed between us and Maveith, their backs to us. They were much larger than the one that had chased Maveith through the woods. From behind, I could tell one was clearly male, and one was female. Maveith was in big trouble. The smaller one struggled to move with the arrow in its shoulder, but these two parents were unhappy.

"Come on, legionnaire, they are not going to kill themselves!" Lyonis moved, and I moved with him. The female turned her head, and I really wished I had my armor on as she raised her tail and whipped it at us, releasing a half-dozen two-foot-long barbs.

I activated my air barrier, and all four barbs were halted in the air disc. The female turned to face us, and I noticed it was not as messy an eater as its child. Its mane was clear of debris. Lyonis had stumbled with two quills in his body. He was incapacitated with pain. I had no choice but to take one creature down immediately. I pulled a pilum into my hands and pocketed a lesser healing potion before using my dimensional ability.

The female looked too confident at my approach. That was until a good portion of her chest was moved into my dimensional space. The creature strongly resisted my removal of her organs, and I knew she had much stronger aether resistance than a human. I still was able to overcome her aether resistance. Her expression became shocked as she stumbled, then collapsed. The familiar bottoming out of my aether happened, but I barely stumbled, expecting the slight dizziness. I was already rushing to take the male from behind.

The pilum is an interesting spear. The tip is basically a two-foot metal rod made for piercing shields. I threw the pilum from fifteen feet away with all my strength. Even I could not miss this close, and I did not want to get any closer with the threatening tail barbs. My aim was a little off, but it had the effect I wanted. The creature reared and howled as the pilum entered three feet into it from behind. It spun and bit the wooden shaft, shattering it but not removing the true cause of its pain lodged deep.

I moved left to see Maveith struggling with his bow, but he fired another arrow and hit the male in the chest, joining his first arrow. It was unphased and focused on something else. The male was trying to reach the remainder of the spear, spinning in place like a dog chasing its tail. It would have been comical, except we were still in extreme danger. Lyonis was on the ground, in pain from the manticore poison, and not going to contribute.

My only remaining weapon now was my short sword. I circled to join Mavieth, who was leaning on the rock for support and trying to get another arrow strung. I reached Maveith and handed him the potion with the stopper off. While he drank, I watched the angry male give up and turn his focus on me. The female was dead, and their child had Maveith's arrow lodged deep in its shoulder and was crying for its parents, having difficulty walking.

Maveith rasped, "Give me a moment, and I should be able to draw my bow again."

The manticore then did the unexpected. It spoke.

Chapter 88: Battered and Bruised A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 88

The manticore's voice was guttural, as I would expect from its flat ogre-shaped face. He was not talking to me, but Maveith was speaking in a language I could not understand. It was a few harsh phrases before Maveith responded in the same language. Two exchanged words, and my grip got sweaty on my hilt. The smaller manticore was lying down in misery, and I think Maveith's first arrow did more damage than I thought.

His arrows were as thick as my thumb and longer than my arm. It must have penetrated the chest cavity, and the arrowhead had done serious damage. On the other hand, the arrow he had shot into the adult male had barely penetrated six inches and was already ripped out by its maw. My pilum had entered through a much softer part of the hide. Standing next to the goliath, I asked, "What are you two so chatty about?"

Maveith said another phrase in the harsh language and then addressed me, "It speaks the language of the stone giants, not very well, but it has some grasp on the speech. They were a mated pair from Stone Mountain Island. A half dozen of their kind were summoned by a mage and released north of here to cause havoc. It recognizes my race and is trying to bargain for it's life, knowing we honor our word. It is offering its treasure if you heal it and its child."

Lyonis was moaning near his cabin door, trying to pull himself inside and unable to fight. A manticore quill was in his shoulder and another one in his hip. The manticore ground its sharp, angular teeth in impatience and discomfort. I could tell movement was difficult for it with the long pilum piercing it. Maybe it couldn't fly. Its body would ungulate in flight, and, like its suffering offspring, the long rod of the pilum was just too painful. The beast looked at its mate and spoke again.

When it finished, Mavieth asked, "It thinks you poisoned its mate and is worried you poisoned it as well."

I exhaled, "Yeah, let us go with that." Maveith looked at me sidelong, not taking his eyes off the creature twenty feet away.

Maveith spoke slowly, "How did you kill the female?"

"I gave her indigestion," I quipped. The female was on her side, leaking a steady flow of blood from her mouth. I asked seriously, "Are you going to be able to kill the male? I am all out of aces."

There was silence, and I figured Maveith was trying to puzzle out what I meant by aces. He slowly spoke, "The potion gave me my movement, but I think the manticore could reach us before I pulled my bow again."

"Stall for time then. Keep asking him about his treasure. What is in it? Where is it? How long to reach it," I instructed Maveith. It would take me about two hours to accumulate enough aether to open my dimensional storage again. When I could do that, then I could kill the monstrosity. As it stood now, the large adult manticore could rush and maybe kill both of us.

Maveith had recovered slightly with the lesser potion but was still hindered, "I will see what I can do." He began an extensive back-and-forth with the beast while Lyonis got himself inside his cabin and closed the door. I doubted Lyonis was going to be saving us. The young manticore was frothing blood now, and I guessed the lungs were filling with blood. With time, the blood should drown him. The manticore, seeing its offspring struggling, started to get impatient.

I do not know what triggered it, but the manticore charged. Maveith was ready and barely got an arrow off, but it was a leg strike, not the chest. I swung my own blade. I targeted the head but misjudged the speed of the lunge. I hit the shoulder, and I was flung backward as it plowed into both of us. The manticore was focused on Maveith but did have the presence to whip its tail at me as I tumbled away.

I was fortunate only to take a single quill in my shoulder. As I tumbled, the quill worked its way free, but not before tearing muscle and flesh and dosing me with its poison. It felt like a horse had kicked me, and the burning in my shoulder spread, making it difficult to move my right arm. I gained my feet and rushed to help the Maveith.

Maveith was trapped under the creature, which was raking him with his claws. Maveith was stabbing with a small skinning knife, causing the beast to bleed freely down onto him. Maveith grunted, and the manticore growled and roared in ferocious combat. The rage and fury of the beast did not allow it to see me coming again at it.

I targeted the back of the neck with as powerful a swing as I could with my good arm. I cut the hide and connected it solidly with bone, but it was not strong enough to break the bone to reach the spinal cord. My second swing was met with a paw swipe that tore the blade from my hand and broke my wrist. The distraction of my attack gave Maveith room to jam one of his arrows under the jaw and up into the brain.

The thick arrow did not snap as it disappeared into the head. Mavieth twisted and grabbed a second to repeat the action. The manticore was alive but could not focus as Maveith added a third arrow to the collection. He pulled himself away from the creature that was swooning on its feet. Its ugly face showed confusion. Maveith took his club and, with a two-handed overhead swing, brought it down on the beast's neck.

A large crack told me the goliath had shattered the spine and killed it. Both heaving for air we watched as the creature slowly toppled. The ground thudded from its impact as it was easily over a thousand pounds. Maveith was heaving deep breaths and had multiple claw marks bleeding freely on his chest. When the manticore's chest stopped inflating, he looked over at me.

"Well, Eryk. Looks like we won." He fell to his knees. I went to him, one of my arms was painful to use from the poison, and the other had a broken wrist. "Help me inside. I need to lie down briefly, and we should check on Lyonis."

I assisted Maveith, and he leaned on me a little heavily. He had to weigh more than three hundred pounds. The door was barred shut, and it took Lyonis a few minutes to open it, "We won?" He asked in disbelief.

"Maveith crushed the beast's spine. It is dead. I will go make sure after we get Maveith on the table to rest," I explained. Maveith was laid out, and Lyonis used red aloe on the wounds to prevent infection. It looked like he was going to live.

"I am going to make sure they are all dead," I told the two, but Mavieth was already off in dreamland, and Lyonis was having difficulty standing.

I reached the male manticore and watched it intently, making sure it was still. I didn't have to open my dimensional space to retrieve items completely. However, I had to wait ten more minutes before I had enough aether to produce the essence collecter. I placed it on the creature and had to wait another minute for some aether to activate it.

The familiar blue wisps formed and congealed into a major glossy black sphere of essence. If I was not mistaken, the channeling attribute. It determined how fast aether was restored to an aether core. I eagerly did the female next after, getting a second major glossy black essence.

I approached the young manticore, but it was still breathing foamy red blood. I moved and sat on a log to watch it and wait for it to expire. I was in no rush. I would have preferred to put it out of its misery, but one wrist was broken, and my other shoulder burned in pain. I also wanted to conserve my aether, so there was no healing for the moment. I popped one of the large black pearls into my mouth.

A chilly feeling extended from my stomach and kept going past my body, into my surroundings. I felt like I was momentarily experiencing an out-of-body experience, and then my senses snapped back. I realized I was feeling the aether in the environment, just briefly. I did not feel any different after the sensation passed, and continued my death watch on the young manticore. The beast finally expired as the sun was setting. It had held on for hours, forcing itself to breathe. I stood, walked over the creature, and stabbed it in the ribs with my sword. There was no reaction as the blade slipped between the ribs.

I set the collecter and activated it. The blue wisps seemed thinner and uncertain as they collected in the center of the collector. A minor essence eventually formed, but it was not black. It was azure blue with white swirls. It was a magic affinity. I smiled as I moved both essences to my dimensional space for later consideration.

With the last creature confirmed dead, I could start using my aether to heal. I focused on my shoulder first. The poison had damaged my muscles, and I needed to repair them first. I had recovered a fair amount of aether in waiting for the manticore to die. I closed the wound, the scab flaking off and showing new skin, and then repaired the muscles. I did as Larita told me and just focused on what needed healing. After I was done, I tested the arm and was happy with my healing.

Next was the wrist. It was swollen so much that my hand looked like a club. I felt out the bone with my healing senses, and it took a lot more aether than I thought it would to set and meld the bone together. I tested and then reinforced the healing again, using all my aether. The swelling was already diminishing, but it was going to take time.

I returned to the cabin to find both wardens sleeping, Maveith on the table and Lyonis in his bed. I set a chair by the window to listen to the night insects and owls. I, too, soon fell asleep.

Chapter 89: Harvest A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 89 Announcement sorry I posted chapter 120 by mistake. that is what chapter patreon is currently on. here is wednesday's chapter

I had not meant to fall asleep. But after staying up all night and the fight with the manticores, my exhaustion overtook me. My dreams were filled with talking manticores flying all over the kingdom and spreading the word of my abilities to all who would listen in the coarse language of the stone giants. Soon, all the Hounds in the Empire were pursuing me to be dragged before the Emperor. I woke when I fell off my chair and scrambled to my feet.

The early dawn light was just showing—or maybe I had only slept a few minutes, and it was evening. I still felt exhausted and stiff, so hours had passed. Maveith and Lyonis were still sleeping—and still breathing. I removed a massive piece of hard salami from my space and started to cut chunks off to eat. I filled my canteen with water as well.

As I ate, I looked at my wrist. Most of the swelling was gone, and I worked to tighten the loose skin with some aether. Soon, it looked like the wrist had never been broken. Maveith stirred and coughed. I stood to check him out. His chest looked a mess with over a dozen claw marks. Globs of red aloe were smeared on each one, but most had not closed yet.

"Your staring is making me uncomfortable, Eryk. I am sure it is not as bad as it looks," Maveith said softly. But he tried moving and decided the table was more comfortable.

"I was staring at the table. I was amazed it could hold your weight," I joked. "I have some salve to close your wounds," I handed him the vial.

He reached up and took it gratefully. He sniffed the air and noticed the hard salami. It had been almost a five-pound link, and I had eaten nearly a quarter of it. "Fine, you can have that as well, Maveith," he grunted as he reached, stretched his chest wounds, grabbed it off the bench next to the table, took a massive bite, and chewed.

"A bit salty. Do you have any more wine," he said with a grin.

"My storage space is limited. You will have to make do with water. Do you want help with the salve?" I asked, stretching my stiffness away.

"I can manage he said while chewing. Lyonis is in worse shape than me. He is not going to be able to move for days. If you have any more…" he gestured at the potion.

"No, I used up my healing potions already," I held up my wrist to indicate I was already healed.

"We should harvest the manticores this morning. I doubt any predators touched the carcasses, but it will not be long before they brave the clearing to do so," he said with a grunt as he got himself seated in a chair. "Also, I should tell you what the creature told me before it attacked."

I perked up, "There really was a treasure?"

Maveith laughed and immediately regretted it, "Maybe. It said it had killed some other humans, and its lair was twenty-five miles northwest of here. I'm not sure if that is true or even the direction or distance. The beast's grasp of the giant tongue was not impressive. But he did tell me more about the mages that portaled them here."

Maveith paused and started treating the wounds on his chest, wiping the aloe off and applying a thin line of salve to close the wounds. He appeared to be doing the deepest cuts first as he worked. I waited, and he started talking again, "There were five manticores pulled through the summoning gate. The elf mage bound them to obey, and he ordered them to cause chaos. The other two went north while these three came south."

"Elf mage? A Bartiradian? Who did they kill?" I asked and realized I was thinking more about the idea of treasure they might have hoarded than actually concerned about the manticore's rampage.

"It sounded like a merchant caravan. But there are no trade roads this far north. My guess is that the creature was lying," Maveith said, and he had somehow eaten the rest of the salami while administering it to his wounds.

He stood and inspected the repairs to his chest. He then closed two punctures from the quills and hobbled over to Lyonis. He used the remaining salve to close the other warden's wounds. When the small vial was empty, I was amazed at how far he had stretched it. He did not heal his shallower wounds, so they oozed a little as the scabs cracked when he stretched.

Maveith gave me a hard pat on the back, "You are a good friend to have, Eryk." His 'pat' left a stinging sensation on my shoulder. He started dressing, "Come, and we can harvest the manticores together. We will let Lyonis rest."

Maveith was not moving well as we exited the cabin to the fresh air. Lyonis cabin smelled terrible, and the fresh air reminded me of that fact. The manticores were all where I had left them last evening. Maveith scanned the area before moving to the male specimen. "He is large even for a male," he noted while kneeling at the tail.

There were still a half dozen of the two-foot quill spikes and new ones that were partially growing out the end. Maveith tested the tail and sighed, "The poison sack is drained," he lifted the tail and pointed to a rubbery sack below the spikes. "When the beast releases its quills, the sack will spurt the poison on them. It is worth excellent coin to an alchemist, hunter, or assassin."

"You know a lot of assassins, do you?" I quipped, trying to be funny.

Maveith was focused and responded off-handidly, "Just a few." I could not tell if he was joking.

"The quills make excellent arrowheads; each mature quill can make maybe four arrowheads with a skilled fletcher." Maveith was pulling the remaining quills out carefully and stacking them. I went and gathered the quills that had missed us in the fight. They were flat and stiff and looked more metallic than bone.

"Are these metal?" I asked, dropping them in the pile.

"Yes, mostly. These creatures rely heavily on aether to survive. They need the flesh of beasts for sustenance and iron to replenish themselves. They have even been known to chew on metal when hungry. It also makes their flesh inedible, but we can obtain many other valuable things from the body," Maveith replied as he finished with the female's barbs.

"I thought you never hunted a manticore before? How do you know how to harvest one?" I asked as he started to cut open the beast's stomach.

"My father was the tanner in my village. I worked with him growing up. He taught me my skills. We were tasked a few times with harvesting manticores brought in by the hunters. But this is the biggest boy I have ever seen." He had reached the testicles and carefully removed the scrotum. "This will make a fine pouch once it is treated and worked. It is also a status symbol among my people to wear it. I will prepare it and make you a nice coin purse out of it that you can wear with pride."

"Uh, thank you," I said, unsure how to feel about the offer.

"It is not a problem. I will make you a fine cloak from these wings. Usually, during the fighting, the beasts are grounded, and the wings are mostly destroyed in the process. Come and help, and I will show you, Eryk," Maveith insisted. He had been using my name instead of legionnaire for a while, so I assumed I had gained his trust.

I knelt as he explained what he would normally do for such a kill. Remove the organs to keep the meat safe from spoiling. This creature had no useful meat, so that step was not required. Removing the hide was not that difficult, with Maveith's strong hands tearing it away from the fascia. Maveith joyfully said he would make new pants from the male hide as he worked.

The wings were next, and they felt like soft-worked leather as I helped the goliath remove the skeleton. It took us three hours to harvest the male and another two hours to harvest the female. The young one Maveith decided was not worth the effort. It had been a messy eater, and it smelled like rotting meat. At least the adults groomed themselves a little, but they also smelled foul.

When we finished, we were both covered in gore. Dried and congealed blood was everywhere. Maveith had smiled most of the time; probably, this brought back fond memories of working with this father. We were resting and drinking water, and I asked, "So why did you leave Stone Mountain Island?"

The goliath winced at the question. He considered his answer and told me his tale. "My father was the tanner in our village, and he was well respected. I never knew my mother, but I also had an older sister. Her name was Zorana. She was pretty, I am told, even by your ridiculous human standards. The island is a hostile place," he pointed at the manticore, "those creatures are just one of the dangers. I was out with Zorana and a friend of hers, Myra, who I fancied. We were harvesting clams by the rocky shore. We were surprised by an orc raiding party. I was further back on the beach trailing them." He swallowed hard. "My sister was killed, and Myra was taken."

He paused, and I waited to hear what happened to him. "I ran," he finally admitted. "I was initially paralyzed with fear and did not think they spotted me. And I ran after Myra was netted, and Zorana took a head wound defending her." He looked at me with shame in his eyes.

He sighed, "I couldn't face my father for my cowardice. I walked to the nearest port city and took the first ship I could. I was young, a little bigger than you are now, but much stronger."

I did not know what to say. Coward is not how I would describe Maveith. I asked, "And you never talked to father? To tell him you were okay? He might have thought you were taken like Myra." After some awkward silence, I added, "Maybe your sister lived from the head wound and was taken as well?" I probably was not helping his conscience.

"I think about that every day. I replay the scene in my head, desperation on her face, seeing her club batted aside and the orc blade connecting with her head as she stood over Myra, entangled in the net behind her. I doubted they wasted a healing potion on her. She would not have been worth the cost of it," Maveith said heavily. I was going to suggest maybe one of the orcs was a healer, but I did not think it would help the man.

"No, I never sent word to my father. I could not lie to him and embarrass him with the truth," Maveith stood. "We should wash up. And these carcasses need to be dragged at least a half mile from Lyonis' cabin." Maveith was in no shape to be dragging a thousand-pound manticore into the woods, but he made a rope harness and proceeded to do just that. It was like his story reminded him of his penance and reason for exiling himself.

I checked on Lyonis, who was still sleeping, and then pulled the smallest manticore into the woods, with Maveith pulling the female on his second trip. The ropes bit into me, but my four-hundred-pound beast was half the size of the mother. Even then, Maveith easily outpaced me with his long strides. His lesser wounds opened, and he strained in the effort, but I was fairly certain that he would have declined even if I offered him a potion.

He walked away, not looking back after untying his ropes. I took a moment to do some cleaning and dropped the manticore innards, a human heart from the Bartiradian soldier, out of my space. I still had the dead elf in my storage and planned to dispose of him soon. I followed Mavieth to a small lake near the cabin. We waited on the shore for a few moments, studying the environment for danger before entering the water to bathe.

We cleaned ourselves and our clothes as best as possible before air drying until the sun started to set. We talked about skinning animals and the process of curing and drying hides for various purposes. I was glad to take Maveith's mind off his sister by asking questions.

Maveith indicated we should head back to the cabin, "Tomorrow morning, you should return to the city. I will stay with Lyonis. It will be a week before he can take care of himself. Tell the Duchess I will return then."

"If I head straight south, I will find Sobral?" I asked, trying to picture the map.

Maveith responded in his deep voice, "No, we moved further west. But you will encounter the road and river. Just take the road north, and you will reach the city."

That night, I took an oblivion pill to get a good night's rest. Maveith was still limping in the morning, and Lyonis was finally awake and eating. I headed out alone after sharing a meal with them.

Chapter 90: Announcement A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

I proceeded through the woods using the sun and a blue moss to guide my direction of travel. The blue moss, Konstantin told me, only grows on the north side of rocks and trees because it needs the light of the blue moon, Poseidon's Tear, to grow. I did not understand how the moon could only appear in the north sky at night, but I took him for his word as it seemed to work as a navigation tool.

Mid-morning, I took a few moments to bury the Bartiradian elf woodsman. I removed a section of earth, placed him in the grave, and then added the earth back on top of him. I was not sure of his customs, but I hoped my efforts would at least end one of my disturbing dreams.

I tried to practice my skill at moving silently in the woods, but the effort and the slower pace made it frustrating, so I focused sporadically. With my armor left in Maveith's stone abode, I tried to head in its direction. It was not like anything at all looked familiar as I walked. I did pause to harvest mushrooms. They were quick and easy and did not slow me down much. I ate one of the ration bars and used the leaf wrapping afterward.

It was late afternoon when I thought I was close to Maveith's home by the distance I had traveled. At least I found some areas where blood grass had been harvested. It might not have been me who gathered this particular grass, but it tickled my memory. Every tree looked the same, but it felt like I was close. I soon found a heavily trodden path made by a large man. It did not take me long to follow it to Maveith's small, hidden home. I was quite proud of myself for finding it.

Lifting the bar on his door took some effort, but I managed. I entered his home, looking forward to a night's rest in the silky weasel pelts. I could reach the city in a few hours in the morning. My armor was still in the spare room; next time, I would just store it and not leave it behind. It might have prevented my shoulder from being injured by the manticore's quill.

I ate from Maveith stores. I used the bacon fat to fry onions, potatoes, and salted meat. I was sure he wouldn't mind. I ate well and cleaned up after. It was night outside, and I went into the guest room after ensuring the front door was secure. I lay in bed and opened the time affinity book for spell forms. I finally had time to review my options so I could work on a new spell form.

Time Affinity Lesser Spell Forms (10-25)

Compress Sleep (10)

Hasten Mind (10)

Seize Momentum (20)

Echo in Time (25)

Time Affinity Major Spell Forms (25-40)

Hasten Self (30)

Slow Aging (40)

Age Target (40)

Probable Future (40)

Time Apex Major Spell Forms (40-70)

Slow Bubble (50)

Flashback (60)

Ageless (70)

Stasis (70)

I read the descriptions of the lesser spell forms first. The first most commonly selected spell form was hasten sleep. This allowed you to rest while using your aether to recover your mental state. It did not affect your body, only your mind. Each aether invested gave you about four hours of rest in a single hour. So you could get a complete rest and mental recovery in just two hours. It also doubled your aether recovery while you slept, getting four hours of aether recovery for two hours of sleep.

Hasten mind was very interesting as it allowed me to think faster. It did not make me smarter, time just passed much faster in my head. At the lowest affinity of ten, you would get to think about five times faster. The text noted that every ten points in affinity that time doubled. So, with my ninty affinity, I could get ten minutes for every second in real-time. The problem was it only affected my thinking and not my body. It would make reading books a breeze.

Seize momentum was even more intriguing. This required you to touch an object and steal all its inertia. So, if you timed it right, you could stop a sword before it cut you. Then again, you could lose some fingers if you were even a half a breath too late. The amount of aether depended on the size of the object affected. The only interesting thing about this spell was that the object would be frozen momentarily based on a person's affinity. The only reference I had was someone with an affinity of thirty in time could hold an object just over a heartbeat after stealing its momentum. Did that mean the object would remain in place for a minute with my ninety affinity?

The final lesser spell form was echo in time. This spell form allowed the castor to focus on an area and replay what happened in the past. How far back they could view depended on the person's affinity. At a twenty-five affinity, they could look back as far as a month. They had an entire reference book for using this specific spell form. It was also a common spell clairvoyance castor's learned. The time version was slightly more powerful, being able to look further into the past. If the affinity scaling power held, then my ninty affinity could look back almost eight years ago.

The middle tier listed in the book started with hasten self. Unlike hasten mind, hasten self affected your entire body. At a thirty affinity, you moved fifty percent faster. At forty affinity, it became twice as fast. According to research, you could go more quickly, but the world still worked on the body normally. It noted an example of a mage with a fifty affinity in time who went blind every time he used hasten self. So it was a useful spell, especially in combat, but it had a ceiling. I kept thinking back to a bug being splattered on a windshield.

We were definitely getting to some good spell forms. Slow aging sounded promising. I read it three times to make sure I understood the description. There was a similar spell, but you would need to keep it active all the time to get its benefit. The spell form was much more effective as it required either your aether core to be full or trickle aether through it if your core was not full. Your aging slowed to a tenth of its normal at a forty affinity in time. If it scaled up like other spell forms, then my aging would be 1/320th normal.

Getting three hundred years for every one year was appealing. I could live to be twenty-thousand…or even older. Of course, the spell form required aether all the time, but there were exercises to train yourself to direct aether constantly to a spell form, even while sleeping. So only when my aether bottomed out would it stop. I laughed aloud, as that was a common occurrence for me.

The next spell form was age target, and it did not work well on living things. I knew that was due to object's aether resistance, but I should be able to overcome those defenses with a ninty affinity as I did with my space affinity. I did the conversation, and each aether I invested would age a target of about eight years. I did not see how that would help me in combat or life. Maybe growing plants, but there were probably better spells in the nature affinity for that. It had to have applications if the spell was in this book.

A little more reading, and it was used mostly in alchemy. Potions that required brewing times of days could be done in minutes. I did not think I was destined to be an alchemist.

Probable future was almost completely combat-focused. The spell form gave the mage a quick view of the next twenty seconds. In a large-scale battle, they would know troop movements before they occurred and know if a defense failed. It was all experienced from the mage's view and left them with a sizable headache afterward. Using it multiple times in succession could make the mage go unconscious. It was an incredible power, but it did not fit me.

The higher spell forms had to be incredible. The first did not disappoint. It created a bubble of time around the caster. Anything entering the bubble was slowed down, giving the caster time to react. The size of the bubble was fixed at ten feet. How slowly the people and items in the bubble moved was related to the caster's affinity in time. At sixty, that was 80% of their normal speed. With my ninty affinity, it would be 40% of their normal speed, and the best part was there was no aether resistance to overcome. The bubble was fixed!

The cost in aether was a problem, and each second required a relative aether point. The bubble was also fixed in space once activated. If the caster left the bubble, it would end. Still, I could imagine being a terror on the battlefield with this or fighting monsters with ease.

Flashback was even more powerful. It sent the caster back in time with the knowledge of the future. It was related to how much aether was invested in the spell form when activated. With my available aether, I could go back about—10 seconds if my core was full. In battle, this was immense, especially if I was avoiding a killing blow. But you would still need to realize you were about to die to activate it.

The next spell form was called ageless. It worked similarly to slow aging, except when you channeled aether, you did not age at all. It did have some drawbacks. It kept your body in the same state. That meant you could not alter your physical attributes through anything but essences. You could always stop aether channeling to the spell form to age. The second drawback was it took more aether to maintain than slow aging—almost five times as much. This meant I would recover my aether slower when it was active. Slow aging only used a trickle of aether.

Stasis, listed last in the text, was an interesting spell form. It created a bubble of stilled time around an object or the caster. Time halted in the bubble based on how much aether was invested. The bubble size was also limited by the amount of aether invested. The stasis could be broken if the object was moved. I was not interested in becoming Sleeping Beauty, so I did not bother puzzling out the math based on my affinity and available aether.

I did not know if these were all the spell forms available to the time affinity, but they were the most popular. My ninety affinity might have more powerful versions of these, but I did not have time to wait. I needed to start working on something now.

I reduced my choices to time bubble or slow aging. Ageless was better than aging, but with my high affinity, they were about the same. And if I increased my time affinity with essence, I could slow my aging even further. Time bubble was incredible, too. It could be a lifesaver against a powerful foe or against multiple opponents. Then again, I had my dimensional space for one-on-one combat.

I was very tempted to live forever. But could I watch friends and family age and die around me? Also, just because I aged extremely slowly did not mean I couldn't die. It seemed like almost every week, I was almost getting myself killed. Time bubble could be learned as a normal spell. Of course, I couldn't cast it yet. But I had been hearted to get my first essences to improve my magic attributes. I could get my magic attributes high enough to cast spells effectively with enough time. I needed the time…slow aging was my choice.

I had spent hours reading and examining the book and only got a few hours of sleep. I would have to ask Maveith if I could have these giant weasel pelts. They were too comfortable a bed. I put on my armor and exited Maveith's home. It should only be a few hours to the city, and I would see if they missed me.

***

Book 1 is on Amazon Kindle! Bonus chapter this week to celebrate! No need to buy it as I will not be taking it down from scribblehub, but there are some edits in the first 10 chapters. I rushed to publish without a real editor as people were pirating my book. UPDATE: BOOK ONE IS ON AMAZON KINDLE!!!! https