Change - Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Chapter 13

Tim made it to the front gate without much time to spare. The sun was setting and the guards were thicker at the gate than they had been before. He also noticed a squad of four adventurers lazing about against the wall not far from the gate.

He could tell that they were sojourners not only because of the way they weren’t wearing the same livery as the city guards or household guards around the carriage that was coming down the cobblestone street, but because of the aura of confidence that they portrayed. They acted like wolves within a kennel of puppies.

As the carriage got closer, he counted twenty soldiers with them but sitting up on the top of the carriage driving it was Armon. He wasn’t wearing his customary robes and instead was dressed in a tunic and trousers as if he were the carriage driver. Which it actually looked like he was serving as. Tim supposed that was a good cover if they were attacked. No one would expect the driver to be an accomplished wizard.

Reggie was out in the open riding on the back of a massive war horse next to the carriage. So if the elementalist was in disguise then the guardian was the bait. Anyone attacking would think that they had hired one sojourner not a team. Lacinia wasn’t in view anywhere, but given her specialization he didn’t find that odd.

The question to him was where he fit into a plan like this. He made eye contact with Reggie who nodded and signaled for him to come over. “You will be riding up next to Armon. Just be ready, because if we get attacked you and I will likely be the first targets.”

“Okay, so earlier, I was just worried about getting you to accept me onto the mission. Now, I guess I should ask how long do you expect this to take?” Tim asked.

“As far as escort missions go, this shouldn’t be too bad. Only two or maybe three days. The coast is about two hundred and twenty miles away. We'll be stopping to exchange horses three times along the way. So hopefully something like thirty hours. The roads are pretty good. If Caesar is good for one thing it is building stable roads,” Reggie replied.

The guardian looked at Tim who felt like he was being evaluated. “Do you think you can stay awake all that time?”

“Day and a half? Yeah, no worries. I feel really… uh… fit I guess I would say. And despite not having slept for the past four days, I feel energized.”

“Yeah, the test usually leaves you energized. Your mind stays active the entire time but for all the trauma you can experience it imbues your body with a new level of energy. That and it is useful having a high level of hardiness. I’ve gone five days without sleep before and been able to fight at the end of it. Not that I recommend that, even for sojourners,” Reggie said.

When he finished speakeding, Tim reached out to him and handed him a healing potion. “You should probably have that on your person in case I’m not close enough to give it to you.”

A nod and mumbled thanks was all he got from the guardian until he walked away. Then he heard, “You should probably give one of those to Lacinia too. Although she is gonna be mad that I told her where she is. She won’t like the idea of you seeing her all dolled up.”

Tim was confused but understood a moment later. Reggie told him that the assassin was disguised as a handmaiden to Decima, the young woman they were escorting. Lacinia looked much different out of her leather armor. She was wearing an ornate toga that showed off a fair bit of cleavage and leg as well as having her hair up.

Decima and the other young woman in the carriage giggled when she blushed as Tim handed her a healing potion. The matronly woman sitting next to Lacinia and across from the heir, was not amused and scowled at Tim, till he left the carriage.

From there he climbed up on top and handed a potion to Armon. It wasn’t long till they were traveling. Tim was impressed by how smooth the ride was, given that this was a horse drawn carriage. He made some small talk with Armon.

The elementalist only seemed to want to know anything that Tim knew about his transformation. He asked the same questions a dozen different ways as though he hoped to restore some memory that Tim had forgotten. He was especially interested when he found out that notification Tim had gotten said 2/16.  

“So, the way I see it could mean a few things. You might have a certain number of lives or maybe a certain number of times this is gonna happen to you,” Armon said.

“You think, I’m a cat?”

“What’s a cat?” The confused elementalist asked.

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Just an animal from my home that legend says has nine lives,” Tim answered.

“Really? That would be so fascinating to study.”

“Uh, not so much. Mostly they sit around licking themselves and they don’t really have nine lives; it is just an old superstition.” As Tim answered he realized the immediate danger involved in this situation. If he was perceived as some kind of freak then he might very well find himself  on a table in a lab, being cut open by a curious wizard.

Their conversation died off after that and they drove on in silence. That was just as well, Tim needed time to think about what had happened so far. Sure he had been here for days but only remembered a small part of that. The thing was that he didn’t have much to go on.

He replayed Cal-Dakota’s words in his mind but nothing stuck out. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking for or if there even was anything to find. The reality was that he just wanted to get some semblance of control in his life.

Tim hadn’t been super attached to his life back on Earth. Being Isekai’d here was certainly a fantasy come true. To do so with a high level and power, was amazing. So why did he feel so uneasy about all of this? He should be enjoying himself right?

When he couldn’t figure anything out after a while he started to focus on his surroundings. The carriage was making good time and if he looked ahead he could see Reggie on his war horse about three hundred feet in front of them. Behind there four guards from house Draynesti. Arman had told him that they were there because otherwise it would seem suspicious. Now it looked like an appropriate guard for a merchant carrying semi-valuable goods.

The landscape was pretty much low rolling hills. It would definitely be possible for an enemy to lay in wait but the area to both sides of the road was flat and clear. Tim, assumed that was done on purpose to prevent ambushes or at least make them more difficult.

The road itself was a bit winding but not too badly as it was making its way in a northeasterly direction. It was made of large pavers which seemed to be placed together very smoothly. Not as smooth as a modern highway back home but not bad for the level of technology that they had. Then again if they had taken technology from Rome it wasn’t surprising. Tim wasn’t a big history buff but he knew enough to remember that they had a reputation for building roads.

After a while, boredom settled in and Tim asked Armon, “So are there monsters that we have to watch out for around here?”

“Besides an attack aimed at the Decima specifically, bandits are the biggest threat we have to worry about. There are always wolves, or a stray lion. Even the occasional ogre or such, but this far from the Untamed Lands, that would be very uncommon. If there were any monsters that we might have to look out for it would airborne ones, like harpies or griffons,” the elementalist replied.

“Okay, so I’ve heard that term the Untamed Lands twice now, where exactly is that located?”

“So you know that there are four nations correct?”

“Yeah, although I’ll be damned if I know the names of any of them other than Terra,” Tim said.

“I guess you have had to take in a lot lately. Well, these four nations make up the world of Iocusinte. All the nations are divided up but make up one continent. There are theories that there are other continents but none of the ships which have gone looking have ever returned,” Armon said.

“Kinda grim.”

“Yeah when there is plenty of adventure to be had here. Anyway, the continent is divided up into four quadrants, or it was originally. Terra is the northwest, Ogria is the northeast, Asmar is the southwest and Roshya is to the southeast.

It was once all one land mass with a large sea in the middle. Then about a thousand years ago a volcano began to erupt in the middle of that inner sea. At least that is the way the histories read. From that there formed another land mass. It is now connected to each of the nations but only with narrow sections.

At first each of the nations tried to colonize that central mass as it cooled and vegetation began growing there. In fact everything grows very quickly there. It is almost shocking. Everything is bigger than you think it will be. I’ve been on farming missions for rare components and even on a few monster culling missions but nothing I can say to describe it can properly prepare you for it.”

Tim listened to the answer and stopped to think for a second before saying, “So we aren’t moving in that direction then. Correct?”

“No, we are getting further away from it slightly.  Don’t worry, Reggie knows what he is doing. We just need to keep any eye out for any sneak attacks trying to kill the heir. Although given your level, I have to believe that you will someday find yourself on a mission in the Untamed Lands.”

“Adventure is good. I just need to get my bearings,” Tim said.

Armon laughed and nodded. Both men settled in again for a long night. As it got darker, Tim activated his Night’s Eye Domination. The landscape became so much more clear before him. He saw creatures moving around. More than that he heard the creatures.

It was disconcerting. He heard the thoughts of an owl that was circling and looking for a mouse that it had lost. Perhaps thoughts were not the most accurate way to describe what he felt. It wasn’t words, and it wasnt’ really anything more than raw impulse. Tim thought that it was better to consider it to be an aspect of instinct.

For the next few hours, Tim focused from creature to creature. He communicated his instincts of peaceful wariness and various creatures of the night passed back their own impressions to him. It wasn’t as though he could control any of it.

He wasn’t able to focus very well. The many voices, so to speak, kept intruding into his thoughts. Mice, owls, wolves, wolverines, deer, and even some bats all came to him at different times. He couldn’t direct his attention to any one creature for more than a few seconds as they all seemed frightened of his thoughts intruding upon them.

Tim couldn’t see through the eyes of the creatures, but that was likely because he hadn’t activated the domination part of the skill. For now it was enough to get these glimpses into the thoughts of such creatures. It occurred to him that this was a great way for him to check the surrounding area. Certainly the animals would be aware of any humans hiding.

This made him realize that he didn’t know how quickly his mana was regenerating and thus how long he could maintain the skill. Checking his character sheet revealed that he was still at full mana. Pressing on it revealed more information. He saw the chronometer for example that he had been advised about earlier but had promptly forgotten about.

Tim realized there was so much for him to take in. He needed to get used to this life, but realistically didn’t even know half of what he needed to learn. When focusing on his mana score he saw that he was using four mana per minute, which tracked with the Night Eye skill, but he also so that he was regenerating sixteen mana per minute.

That amount tracked with the points he had put into Sagacity. It appeared the regeneration rate was one mana per minute per poitn of Sagacity. Who would have guessed that mana would be important as a warrior, but it seemed like maybe not such a bad idea that he had put points into other stats.

Now the key for him was going to be trying to use this skill. He might just get to be a spellsword of sorts. He had grand visions of dominating wolves or panthers to fight beside him.

“Armon, I’m gonna try to use a skill of mine. It let’s me communicate with some of the animals around us. I thought I might see if I can use one as a scout. Besides, I sorta wanna play around with these skills,” Tim said.

The mage looked at him with an expression of incredulity upon his face. “Wait… you have what kinda skill?”

“Look, I don’t wanna go into it too much now, but it is allowing me to see in the dark and I can sense the thoughts of creatures around me, but only vaguely. Now, I wanna see if I can use it to dominate one of the birds overhead and use it as a scout.”

“Tim, you are a warrior. Warrior’s simply don’t have skills like that. I mean I’ve heard all kinds of weird things about what first gens can do, but this is crazy.”

Tim laughed. “Remember you are talking to the guy who was driving a car and minding his own business and then suddenly was a crypt keeper before you shot me with a lightning bolt and I ended up as Arnold Swartzeneggar.”

“I don’t know what half the words that come out of your mouth mean but you have me curious now,” Armon replied.

“Good, the skill description says that it may be hard for me to control my own body while I am controlling the body of another creature so I just wanted to ask you to make sure I don’t fall off the side of the carriage.”

Now it was Armon’s turn to laugh, “Okay, I can do that. I just wanna see a warrior who can control animals like a bestial or naturalist.”

“You and me both,” Tim said.

With that he closed his eyes and focused. He tried to shut out the background noise, first from the conversation from inside the carriage, then the sound of the wind, and the clack of the carriage wheels against the road. Next he focused on narrowing down the input he was getting from various creatures of the night.

He eventually found exactly what he was looking for. An owl who was gliding overhead, not overly hungry but still lackadaisically looking for anything it might grab as a snack. Tim willed the owl to obey him and as simple as that felt a surge of mana leave his body. It was like the rush after completing a good set at the gym, invigorating and tiring at the same time. The activation felt much different than just the night vision but that was likely because it cost more than half of his total mana.

He felt the briefest of struggles as the owl resisted his take over and then it was over. The shift in perspective was disorienting to say the least. He could still feel his body but only in a distant, abstract sort of way.

For now he was flying, actually flying. He felt the air underneath him and somehow instinctively knew when to flap and when to glide, how to catch the air currents and so on. It was a rush beyond anything that he had ever felt. Not even the life and death struggle in the arena during his testing experience had compared to this.

He felt free and yet could see for miles around. His perception was so sharp now, whether he focused on a particular point and saw a mouse scurrying into its burrow or looked off in the distance and noticed a group of men waiting alongside the road.

Armon asked, “Are you okay.”

Tim heard him but felt like he was underwater and responding was no easier. He managed to mumble out, “Yes… men… road…”

Tim wasn’t sure if he should break the connection or keep spying but either way he needed to make sure the team was made aware. So he turned his bird form around and flew straight for the carriage. He flung out his wings as he landed on his own lap. It was a crazy sensation.

Armon nearly fell over as he asked, “Tim?”

It was then that he decided that communicating like this was just too difficult and he released the hold on the owl which promptly flew back into the air.

“There’s a group of like five men with a dozen horses waiting about three miles down the road.” The words spilled out of his mouth as Tim felt like his own tongue didn’t fit in his mouth. That was after only a few minutes of riding inside the owl. He couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if he stayed in there long term.

Tim explained about what he saw and Armon even called for Reggie to listen in. Both the more seasoned adventurers grilled him with questions about this skill, but Armon confirmed that he had at least made the owl land on his lap. Eventually they seemed to get past asking him how he could do such a thing with the idea that he was first gen and that explained everything.

“Okay, so this is all well and good, but what do we do about those guys waiting up there? They have to be waiting for us,” Tim asked.

Reggie broke out into a grin. “Those are almost certainly just the crew waiting to trade out horses. Were they all armed?”

Tim thought back to the images he had seen through the owl’s eyes. “Um... no. Two of them had swords but the others were more focused on the horses I think.”

“See, that confirms it. I will stil ride up ahead to double check, but those are just the men with the spare horses,” Reggie said.

“So, like a pit crew. Man, I feel embarrassed. I thought I had spotted an ambush,” Tim said.

Reggie stared back, obviously unsure what a pit crew was but then said, “Look at it this way. At least you know the skill works. You will be able to scout ahead of us. At least if you are willing. Hell, if we had known you had a skill like this, even Lacinia would have been hard pressed to vote against you joining us. Anymore secrets that you are holding back?”

Tim thought for a second before answering, “Nothing that I think will affect our mission.”

Armon and Reggie shared a look and the latter frowned before saying, “Just make sure you keep a good look out. Horse exchanges are a good time to hit us. We lose a ton of mobility because we can’t get the carriage moving quickly if the horses aren’t attached.”

Tim nodded. He felt bad holding back but was beginning to believe that people here might freak out if they knew the full extent of the weird things that have been happening to him. Maybe if he did some more missions with the Silver Eagles he would feel like he could trust them. He just wasn’t there yet.

He sighed as he realized, it might always be hard to trust people here, given that this wasn’t his world. It was a fantasy world complete with magic and a dream come true in some ways. But in other ways, he was good and truly alone now.