Lowlife, Scoundrel, Bandit Queen

Chapter 172 - 172 - No country roads

Before I can get really disappear into the wilderness that is the frontier lands I have to cross one last grand obstacle. The sling Sezemat's caravan has carefully put around the city as I only now come to realize. Unless you come and go by boat there is no way out of town that doesn't lead past either the circus, the theater or the market with its countless temptations. That clever business dragon! If Beldragor comes after her, the city better get ready for something!

It strains my mental resilience a little to move past all the stalls without stopping to look. And I can see well spoken saleswomen and men quickly moving on anyone who does stop to look time and again. And more often than not the hapless customers leave with a fresh purchase too! Well, at least it's usually high quality goods. No cheap scrap anywhere. No reason to complain too much there.

I redouble my efforts and quicken my strides before anyone can get ideas and attempt to sell me anything. I actually let out a sigh of relief when I leave the crowded market behind, adjusting my course a little to circle Hangman's Hill out of principle, even though crossing it shouldn't be any trouble in broad daylight and especially after I took out one of its more notorious ghostly residents. In doing so I follow the same route we took back then to exterminate the fungal menace.

Daylight is going to waste though and I have to cover some serious distance to have even just a sliver of hope to keep to the three or four day schedule I mentioned to Wiktor. It's time to seriously pick up my pace! Well, by now I'm far enough from town that doing so shouldn't raise any eyebrows.

With my mind made up I begin to accelerate, not to a sprint but to a nice and steady run I'll be able to maintain in the long term. It seems today is leg day. I have to fight back the urge to chuckle as that would disturb my breathing, which is entirely too important for a long run like this one.

It's a good thing that I'm already familiar with this first stretch of the way. It's even better that this first part still leads past plenty of isolated farms which makes this part of the woods moderately save. I keep my eyes open anyway of course, but I don't expect any monsters to jump me around here. I'll have to be more careful further out though. Worst case, I can still depend on my [Danger Sense] skill too though.

For now though I'm glad to feel both my [Perception] skill and [Running] skill improve a little eventually. The former is already at a higher level and far off from the next level up, but the latter might just earn me a notification before I get back to town if I'm lucky. And hey, why wouldn't I be?

It gets quieter, as I leave first the town and then the outlying settlements behind, heading deeper into the woods of the frontier lands. It's just the noise of human civilization that fades though. Nature simply doesn't fill that apparent void to the same degree. Most animals are sensible enough not to make their presence known far and wide. Not most of the time anyway. The ones making most of the noise as I pass by are small song birds. They seem to have a lot to say.

It's at this point that I start to move a little more careful as well. And by the time I reach the spot where we made camp with the big expedition I switch to moving stealthily for good. I have covered enough distance at my initial pace after all. In fact, it's not even noon yet, thus I keep going, even if much slower now for a little longer.

First towards the site of the big battle against the giant mushroom king. The place is really recovering nicely by now. There is fresh growth everywhere. By this time next year it'll probably be near impossible to tell that anything happened unless you dig up the ground to find that layer of ash and soot.

My [Stealth] improves a little by the time I leave the valley behind to pay my hidden shrine a little visit to make sure everything is fine there. I don't go around the long way and climb the cliff right next to the tower again, just like the first time I came here.

The cliff has a surprise waiting for me though. The very bottom has become rather soft near the surface, the rock crumbling under my fingers in several places. It must have been the fires sparked by Ediva's grand spell. Thankfully the damage doesn't go too deep and after a little trial and error I find enough solid handholds to get to the top. I'm tempted to call this a good development too, as it earns my [Climbing] skill a little progress. Yes, I have to face some new challenges every once in a while to keep those skills improving.

At the same time I realize that the damage doesn't extend to the stone used in the construction of the tower. Either it's stones have been cut from a different kind of rock or they have been fire proofed in some other way, maybe with magic? It's just another little mystery.

At the top I pause only briefly to check the still mostly blockaded entrance of the tower before I climb further to the tower's ruined rooftop to slip inside via the stairwell. One of these days I should look into getting a real door in place at the entrance and maybe a hatch at the rooftop. Not to actually keep anyone but stray animals out but to make a statement. A statement that this tower isn't entirely abandoned.

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Well, I'll either have to seriously improve my woodworking and get some tools too or I'll have to earn the coin necessary to place a request along the lines with the adventurers' guild. The thought puts a smile on my face. Yes, that wouldn't be out of place among some of the other tasks and general chores I have seen on the quest board.

There isn't much to be done or seen inside the old tower either. I just tidy up the campsite on the ground floor a little, putting some more firewood there as well, which I get from the broken rafters of the tower's roof. I tidy up the room with the shrine a little too, as the wind seems to have blown in some leaves through the open arrow slits it has for windows. Other than that all is good though.

There is just one more thing I want to do. I descend the stairs further, all the way to the point where the stairwell is flooded with cold and fresh water. I focus on a spot below the water's surface and visualize the sphere of light I want to create there. I have never tried that, but since the light seems to be immaterial anyway I have hopes that it should work and indeed it does. A little of my Mana drains away and the light springs into existence.

[*Ding!* Your skill Light has leveled up to level 6!]

In hindsight I should have expected that notification, yet I'm still a little surprised. It's a class skill that counts towards the progress of my hedge witch class, which now is just shy of the next level up itself. Even better though, this one improves my magic attribute and thus my magic-power and Mana reserves as well. Overall it is a very welcome surprise.

More importantly though, the placement of the light allows me to see what's below the surface of the water for the first time, without the reflections on the surface getting in the way at least. Of course my field of view is still limited, as the stairs keep winding even under the surface of the water. I can just barely make out the next landing on the stairs and the arch of the empty doorway there.

My eyes widen a little as another notification whispered in the voice of Fox brushes through my mind.

[*Ding!* Your skill Gather Information has leveled up to level 9!]

This one counts towards the progress of my hedge witch class, which means that more notifications are quick to follow, this time accomapnied by the clatter of dice and the familiar second wind as my health and my Mana reserves recover almost instantly.

[*Ding!* Your class Hedge Witch leveled up to level 7!]

[*Clatter!* Your Health increased by 3!]

Oh, wow. Well, that really is a little surprise. Another that really shouldn't be one in hindsight, but I don't mind. I have been worrying about the long time recovering naturally would take me ever since my last lesson with Lady Izolda after all. Well, that's not an issue anymore now. Tada! Problem solved. And, at least for the rather squishy witch class that dice roll wasn't half bad either. I'll take that one any day. Thank you very much!

At the same time this discovery leaves me faced with a new dilemma. I just uncovered a secret! I should explore it! Yet, I already have other plans right now. And just as important, that water is still too damn cold!

No way am I just going to jump in and dive there. I need to prepare first. How would I prepare though? Well having a nice fire ready to be lit upstairs would be a good start. Acquiring a skill that makes me resistant to cold would be even better, but how am I supposed to do that? Exposure to cold might just do the trick. It'll probably take more than just a little though, otherwise I probably would already have unlocked that skill during my little Rock Crab hunt a while ago.

I'll have to either do more reading at the guildhall or maybe I could ask around with other adventurers? Would they even be willing to just share what might be a trade secret of sorts? Or would they charge for a lesson like that? I can't rule out the possibility. I could just experiment too of course, although that probably will be quite unpleasant. I eye the cold water again and shake my head. Not today. Maybe on my way back or some other time. I sigh.

"Another time then."

I look down to the hidden doorway under water one last time, as I refill my water bottle here. That's another reason why I'm reluctant to dive in. the water is exceptionally clean and refreshing now and I have no clue if that might change if I somehow muck up the water. I don't see any slick or silt on the stairs leading down under water, but I can't speak for areas I can't see from here. That too is a problem for another day though. I take a sip, refill the bottle again and head back up after putting it away.

I make another stop before stepping out on the rooftop, reminding myself to be stealthy once again. The tower has a rather monstrous neighbor after all and I don't want to draw it's attention, or worse its ire, my way. Or has the city already dealt with the wyvern? No, I don't think that's already happened. That's another project the thieves' guild is involved in after all, in addition to the adventurers' guild. It's all about politics in general and the power balance in the frontier lands in this particular case.

The only thing that matters to me right now is that I don't end up as the wyvern's next meal. Yes, that is a top priority. I chuckle to myself briefly only to call myself to order mentally right after. Attention, girl, don't get distracted!

And I really have to deliver my top game right now, as the next leg of my journey will essentially lead right past the monster's lair. Sure, I can keep my distance, especially as the actual quarry where it built the nest is a dead end, but it still won't be thrilled, in a good way, if it were to take note of my presence, of that I'm sure.

Thus, after checking the sky first and climbing back down the tree next to the tower, I follow the cliff near its top edge under the cover of the untouched trees there. I check on one of the distractions I prepared on my scouting mission back then too, but it seems undisturbed, especially by wyvern sized creatures, thus I keep going, eventually going some distance again from the monster's dreadful nest. And since I take special care to move unnoticed, from anything on the ground or in the air, I earn a little more progress for my [Stealth] skill too.