Chapter 67- Arrival at Stormwatch

Abel stepped out of the village and stood stunned in place. The glimmering ripples of the lake reflecting the afternoon sun were absolutely breathtaking. Although he had seen some stunning sights in real life, the view of the shimmering lake with the backdrop of mountains was a sight to behold.

"It's a pity you came at the wrong time young man. The lake's much more stunning at night, you know it's called Mirror Lake for a reason." He was brought out of his appreciative musings from one of the NPC villagers walking out of the gates.

"I do feel regretful but I have an important task to carry out, so I'm afraid I can't stay."

"Well, if you pass by Mirror Lake village again, you should at least stay for a night. It's not everyday we get to see travelers. The name's old Fork." Abel was wondering why the villager seemed so enthusiastic when he realized he might be one of the few players that had passed through here since the game started.

"Red Sky, it was a pleasure meeting you… old Fork. I should get going but if I pass by Mirror Lake village again, I'll definitely stay for longer." After Abel got on his horse, he quickly left the small village behind him.

'I'm sure that old man would have issued a quest if I kept talking to him for longer. There are so many opportunities in these small villages that players haven't come across. I really should travel around after I'm done.'

This interaction showed Abel what he could gain by traveling around the world. He could always make use of forging rooms from the local blacksmith guilds, although their flames wouldn't be as great as the Flameflume Embergeist at old man Rye's. But that didn't really matter when he was dealing with zeroth tier equipment. In fact, even first tier and second tier equipment could be forged with normal flames.

After bypassing more crop fields, he finally came across a new environment. It was still an open plain but there were a variety of beasts in the distance. They usually wouldn't attack the known traveling paths but there were some exceptions. The Emerald Creepers from earlier would attack due to the stealth provided by the tall grass and there were other monsters that wouldn't care about the human boundaries. But most monster packs would stay clear of the roads between cities.

He carried on trotting upon Sir Gallipongton for another couple of hours, they hadn't come across any monster attacks and Abel had run out of things to talk about. Though, he was finding the peace and quiet very enjoyable along with the scenery.

The sun was starting to come down but he carried on his way. His adaptive eye skill gave him the confidence of moving at night but most merchants would choose to camp at the road side when evening fell. He carried on for another half an hour when he came across a caravan stopped at the side. It was probably NPC's as player caravans wouldn't be so grand, not yet anyway.

"What are you doing traveling at night young man?" One of the guards station a little further away asked upon Abel's arrival. This showed that the merchant must be pretty well off to hire professional mercenaries as guards.

"I'm on a time sensitive task. I have to travel even when the sun sets… but I should give my old horse a rest and make something to eat. I won't bother your group, don't worry sir."

He decided to stop and give old Gallopington some rest. Although he hadn't been hurrying him, the old horse was getting on in years and wasn't as fit as the younger steeds. He also wanted to test out his cooking skill, although he still had some black bread on him he wanted to both try out his new skill as well as have a change of taste. He had plenty of edible snake meat that was just waiting to get grilled.

"It's fine young man, I'm sure the captain won't mind you using the fire they set up. Little Skitt, go with our new friend here and introduce him to the men." After the guard spoke to his younger companion, he turned and explained to Abel. "It's to make sure our brothers don't think you're an enemy that slipped past our sentry."

"I understand and thank you, it's much appreciated." He smiled and thanked the professional guard for both the offer and his explanation. While he had a flint on him, he'd have to go look for some useable firewood. Not to mention he'd have to tie up old Gallopington somewhere.

"I'm Skitt, who are you friend?" As they approached the camp, the younger guard was curious where Abel had come from.

"I'm Red Sky from Velskryn, a traveler."

"Wow, I've never met a traveler before. Do you people really come from another world? How do you come though? Are you folks really immortal? Why can't you die? Can you even die? Have you ever met the gods? I wish I could meat the goddess of the sea, I'll have to wait till the god of death comes for my life first…"

The young man was quite the chatterbox and would fire off a couple of questions before Abel could even answer the first. Thankfully, it wasn't a long walk to the camp and they came across the captain soon enough.

The captain was a stalwart man getting on in years, it seemed he was a former soldier of the kingdoms army before he retired and started his mercenary company. He was a muscular man wish a bush beard and several scars adorned his muscular arms. It was obvious he had seen his fair share of battles and close calls but he survived them all, which said something about his level of skill.

Once he heard Abel was delivering a letter to Commander Dusk over at Stormwatch city, he welcomed him into the camp and gave him access to their fire. He told him he could tie up his horse to any of the wagons and their own servants would tend to it for him.

"Captain! What do you think you're doing?" A shrill voice was suddenly heard from behind the muscular old man. Apparently, it was the merchant travelling alongside the caravan.

"Mr. Ismuis, this friend here is staying for a short while to rest his horse and cook himself a meal. Is something wrong?"

"How do you know he's telling the truth? He could be a spy sent over by bandits to assess your men's readiness for battle."

"I think I still have a good eye for people, even if I'm getting on in years."

Before the androgynously dressed merchant could argue further, Abel pulled out the letter and spoke up,

"I really am delivering a letter to the commander, this letter here bears the royal seal, it's not something just anyone can forge. But if I am giving you any trouble captain, I can just rest a little further away from your camp."

"Nonsense lad, I knew you were being truthful from the beginning. Don't mind Mr. Ismius, he might be a decent merchant but he isn't as well traveled as the chamber of commerce's president."

The shrill sounding merchant seemed to be put under a silencing spell after he saw the royal seal on the letter but he still looked angrily at the captain. It was obvious he wasn't the leader of this caravan, probably some middling merchant in the chamber of commerce assigned on the caravan this time.

Abel thanked the old army veteran and gave the reigns for old Gallopington to one of the servants at the back. He then headed to the nearest fire and took out some snake meat, he layered them with some spices before piercing them onto the skewers he had purchased in Velskryn. He started roasting his food, careful not to burn it.

Unlike with forging, he wouldn't get prompts about when to turn the skewer and what to do, he wasn't a professional cook after all. The cooking skill would only ease his attempts and make it possible for him to not destroy whatever he tried to cook. Though his adaptive eye skill did help quite a bit, he could see regardless of how dark or bright things were so the fire didn't impede his vision. Soon enough, the smell of grilled snake meat started to spread.

"Inspect"

[Grilled Snake Meat]

Satiety: +50

+3 AGI (1 hour)

Description: Grilled meat of the emerald creeper. Slightly over-cooked but still delicious.

*Ding*

+20 cooking proficiency points

Abel widened his eyes as he saw the stats to the food he just made, no wonder higher-grade food was so expensive, it could add temporary stat buffs to players!

"You got some more of that lad?" He was brought out of his thoughts by one of the men nearby. They must have been lured over from the smell of snake meat that spread.

"Of course, I have a few more still on the fire so help yourselves."

After how welcoming the captain was, with their servants even caring for his horse, he didn't have the face to refuse his men. Besides, eating with others was always more enjoyable than eating alone, he could mingle with the NPC's and build up his reputation. Although he wouldn't see an increase of favorability, if he ever came across these NPC's again then they'd definitely remember him.

They started talking, well it was mostly the NPC's talking but Abel would courteously answer any questions they had while generally listening to their discussion. Their mercenary company was signed onto one of the biggest chambers of commerce from Petalhaven city down south and they were making their usual round to Stormwatch then Thundertide port before going south to Velskryn and finally returning to Petalhaven. They had bypassed the capital city from the outer roads on the coastline and gotten onto this road just a few hours ago.

He cooked a few more skewers and enjoyed a meal with the men before he took his leave. He had to get back on the road so he thanked the old captain and hoped he'd see him in Stormwatch city. After getting old Gallopington from the servants, he tipped them a few coppers in thanks and headed back onto the road.

Thankfully, he didn't run into any bandits or other monsters while on the last stretch to his destination. Although he could see some Umber wolves in the distance, he would always detour around them as he didn't want to get entangled with these cunning monster packs. After a couple of hours and more than a few diversions, he could finally see the outline of Stormwatch city.

It was situated all over the largest mountain, with the city extending along it's inclining peak. The end of the city would peek at the largest cliffs in the Kingdom. This thriving city graced the eastern side of the Veridian Kingdom, earning its name from the past conflicts among the human powers.

He had read up about it in old man Rye's study, apparently Stormwatch was built as an early warning for any possible invaders. The Veridia Kingdom didn't have any neighbors from its southern and western borders as it was on the periphery of Caelondia.

This was how the city earned its name, it was built to watch any possible storms that were inbound while Thundertide port up north was where enemies usually struck. Whether the storm was natural or manmade didn't matter to the people of Faeron, it was more important to know of its arrival. The city was also home to the largest harbor in the kingdom and housed the kingdoms navy. There was a natural reef by the cliff side that was perfect for building a harbor. It could be reached by the mountain foot with a sandy beach just a few kilometers away.

'Stormwatch city, I'm finally here!' Although the journey was short and uneventful, it was just the first trip of many more to come!