Chapter 301 - Journey's End (Patreon)

[New Skill Unlocked!]
[Tier 1:]
[Skinning (0 ->1)]

Reivyn sat back with satisfaction. He had speculated that he might need to go to an even lower-Tier Region in order to unlock the Skill, but the wild animals of Wispan worked just fine. He had attempted to skin some of the beasts that had attacked them in the wilds, but none of them had unlocked the Skill for them.

They didn’t go out of their way to kill the wildlife. Instead they hunted for meat, and the other Party members allowed Reivyn to try his attempts at Skinning before they butchered the carcasses. After a couple of hunts of mundane animals, he finally got the Skill.

“Thank goodness I don’t have to travel to a lower-Tier Region just to get the Skill,” Reivyn commented with a smile. “Though I’ll probably have to keep to skinning regular animals for a while to Level up the Skill before I’ll get Skill Experience from local beasts.”

“That’s a very real concern,” Refix nodded his head. “We’ll continue with how we’ve been doing things, unless you want to get the Skill, too?” He turned to Kefira.

Kefira shook her head.

“I have no interest in gaining Skills just to gain Skills,” she denied. “I’ll never use it, so there’s no purpose in me getting it.”

“Fair enough,” Refix nodded. “Then we’ll let Reivyn have a crack at the animals we hunt while the others will still handle any beasts, at least until Reivyn gets his Skill up high enough he can participate with the big boys.”

Reivyn rolled his eyes as Teilon snickered. Reivyn handed the carcass over to Refix after making a few slices at his father’s direction. Refix didn’t have the Butcher Skill for the Upper Regions, but their hunting was actually helping him out, as well. In turn he was slowly teaching Reivyn so he could also unlock the Skill.

They also continued their practice for cooking they had adopted in the Tier 5 Region; however, Teilon also grabbed a few pieces to experiment his own cooking with. He wouldn’t gain any kind of bonus for the difficulty of the meat, but the creativity of preparation was slowly building his Skill up as well.

Nobody ate anything either Reivyn or Teilon cooked, though. Teilon had enough Skill to make something tasty, but the nature of his experimentation for leveling meant it wouldn’t be these dishes. Ameliyn made the main dishes that everyone always enjoyed. It was no bother to her, either, as she quite enjoyed cooking.

If you had asked her when she was “officially” an Imperial Princess, she would have scoffed, but years of watching her family enjoy her toils had affected her interests. Just having her children eat her food and show their appreciation for it was enough for her to keep doing it regardless of Skill Levels, but she wracked those up over time as well.

She’ll end up Transcending her Cooking Skill sooner rather than later if she keeps it up, Reivyn mentally chuckled. I wonder what a Transcendent Ability would do for a Skill like Cooking? I’m actually getting pretty interested.

It had been a couple of weeks since they had returned to Wispan, and there had been no sign of the tentacle monster. That didn’t mean they were safe, though. They had no idea what kind of time frames they should be expecting, but everything was a trade-off. They had decided a month of roughing it would be enough.

Reivyn wasn’t worried that the monster would appear and rampage through Wispan without them knowing about it as it was clearly targeting him, specifically, for some reason. They were all just worried they would lead it to a populated city like the capital while it was hunting him. Even though they would have the best chances of defeating the monster in the capital surrounded by many Tier 5’s, they couldn’t in good conscience subject the rest of the weaker population to an obvious slaughter if they did that.

The Party had stayed away from even small villages, but they definitely didn’t stay anywhere near the Wilderness. There was obviously some sort of range of detection the monster was capable of, and even though they had encountered the first trap Dungeon past the half-way point to the other side, they wanted to keep as much distance from them and it as they could while remaining away from civilians.

Their journey had led them in a long loop around the outskirts of the Wispan Region that had begun with them moving slightly parallel to the Wilderness at first, but they angled inward as soon as they felt comfortable to do so. Their tactic was apparently working, as there was no sign of the creature, and they hadn’t compromised any unsuspecting villages on their journey.

Ameliyn tended to the roast over the magical fire, fat and grease dripping down into the flames. The smell was mouth-watering, even with limited spices, and the Party had made a routine of setting up a defensive line to thwart any prowling beasts that would inevitably show up due to the smell.

As predicted a bear lumbered into their little clearing. Reivyn had spotted it long before it made itself known and had told the others, but they counter-ambushed the beast by letting it think it was getting the drop on them.

It was much larger and more heavily infused than other wild animals, indicating it was technically considered a ferocious beast. Most “beasts” weren’t evolved counterparts to their mundane siblings, but that didn’t exclude them. As long as they met the criteria, they were considered beasts. “Mundane” beasts were almost universally predators. The odd prey-animal popped up as a beast every now and then, usually a creature that had successfully fought off many other predators over its life somehow.

The Party made quick work of the Tier 4 bear. After spending multiple months traveling through the Wilderness and the Tier 5 Region, it held no real challenge to them. Bear meat was not usually prized for its flavor, but Reivyn still dutifully Skinned the animal. The pelt would make a nice blanket or cloak once properly treated, as long as he didn’t screw it up. His Skill Level was just unlocked, so he took meticulous care to get a good cut.

Ameliyn divied up the dishes to everyone, sprinkling a bit of vegetables to go with the stag meat they had hunted, while Reivyn passed off the bear carcass to his father for further Butchering. Even though bear meat was gamey and not particularly good, that was only relative to the surrounding animals. Compared to Tier 1 venison, it would be delectable.

Refix took care of the main components of Butchering the beast, Reivyn and Teilon grabbed some pieces to further their Cooking Skills, and Ameliyn set it to smoke to make jerky for the road. There was no reason to waste the meat, and cooking it normally would have it spoil sooner rather than later, so she smoked it.

Reivyn, Ameliyn, and Kefira used their Magic to clean and clear the little clearing they were in for the evening. There was no trace of fighting, blood, or delicious smells by the time they were done. The others set up camp while they were working, and the Party relaxed in place for the evening.

Reivyn laid out in the open and stared up at the stars, Kefira lying next to him with her head resting on his shoulder. He had never made a study of the celestial bodies, and he couldn’t point out any constellations, but he knew they were there. Kefira would occasionally point them out to him, and he could get a vague sense of their shape if he concentrated.

Everyone but Serilla was coupled-up, but Serilla still maintained her stoic expression as she sat off to the side. Reivyn would have felt bad for her, but he knew this was actually what she wanted. He had seen her drop her guard in the Imperial Capital and other times, so he knew she wasn’t some wooden golem underneath, but she still took pride in her position as Kefira’s most trusted right-hand.

Maybe I could find a “most trusted right-hand,” and the two of them could sit and stare at each other with wooden expressions, Reivyn chuckled to himself. Teilon’s already taken, and he would definitely not be a good fit for Serilla. Maybe Jekle? He was a bit brash at first, but he kind of fits the mold, now that I think about it. When it comes to military matters, he’s definitely my right-hand-man. I’ll have to talk to Kefira about it some time. See what she thinks.

It wasn’t that important. Neither of them seemed in a place where they were looking for a significant other, but neither had he and Kefira been when they had met. The best bet would just be to maneuver them to interact with each other and see how things turned out. It wouldn’t be hard with his plans to go back on deployment with his Mercenary Company, and Kefira would most likely go with him.

Now that she didn’t have some dumb game being played by her mother about her engagement, she should be much more free to go with him, and more importantly, stay with him. She had basically all the theory work she needed by this point, maybe a bit of touch-up here and there, but she was well into needing practical Experience for her major Skills and Affinities.

Reivyn let his mind drift back to the sky where Kefira continued to point out different constellations to him. His musings on Serilla, Jekyl, and the Mercenary Company had only taken less than a few seconds. His Clarity Stat ensured his speed of thought was quite fast.

Once they had done enough star gazing, the duo retired to Kefira’s tent where they spent a bit of time Meditating, working on their Affinities, and dual-Channeling their Mana. They had found that using the Lightning Affinity’s Transcendent Ability to move the Mana extremely fast had some benefits for Kefira, it was too much of a strain to do anything but use quick bursts at a time.

Reivyn’s rebuilt Divine Meridians could handle the Lightning Affinity literally all day, but that didn’t mean the less stressful version held no benefit for him. Even if there was nothing else, just the physical contact and helping Kefira would have been enough for him.

—

The days passed in such a relaxed manner. The Party still trained, but they didn’t go all out with their calisthenics like they would in a city or base. They didn’t push themselves to find any challenging confrontations or seek out any Dungeons, for obvious reasons. It was mostly a tour of the countryside of the Tier 4 Region where they hunted for their own food and casually worked on their Skills.

Eventually an entire month had passed, and there was still no sight of the terrible monster.

“It’s about time we headed home,” Refix commented one morning. “As far as any of us can tell, there’s no present danger. Also, I know I can speak for Ameliyn when I say I miss my girls. I’m sure Kefira and Serilla miss their families, as well.”

That line of conversation brought up a thought Reivyn hadn’t paid too much consideration to until just now. He looked at Teilon and Kimberly.

“What about them?” He asked, gesturing to his two friends. “When was the last time you guys saw your family?”

Teilon grinned at his friend.

“Hah! Took you long enough to consider your best friend’s family situation, eh?” He said with a slight smirk. He held out a hand as Reivyn began to open his mouth. “I’m just teasing, buddy.

“It has been several years since either of us have seen our parents and siblings. They didn’t want to travel too far ‘inland,’ so to say, and stayed back in the Tier 2 Region of our homeland. That being said, we routinely exchange correspondence through the Adventurer’s Guild.

“It’s not like when you were searching for your parents or they were looking for you. We know exactly where the others are, so sending a message is no big hassle. In fact, our families are going to make the journey to attend your wedding. Miss Ameliyn has provided the information for us, thank you very much.” Teilon gave a quick bow to Aemliyn, pretending to remove an invisible cap from his head.

“And when are you two getting married?” Reivyn shot back at his friend.

“Funny you should ask,” Teilon replied, looking away sheepishly.

Kimberly elbowed him in the ribs, but smiled sweetly to Reivyn.

“Wouldn’t you know, my parents asked the same thing,” she said. “We were going to talk to you about it when the time was right, and now looks like the time. We know your wedding is an important state affair, but since all of our families will be in attendance, we were wondering if we could hold a little private ceremony around the same time?”

Reivyn and Kefira shared a look. Kefira was the one to answer.

“As long as it’s not on the same day, that sounds fantastic.”

Kimberly clapped her hands in the first display of girlish-enthusiasm Reivyn had ever seen from her.

“Yay! We’ll let our folks know with the next letters we send.”

Refix brushed an invisible tear aside from his cheek.

“Ah! Watching the little hatchlings grow up right in front of our eyes,” he opined.

Ameliyn rolled her eyes and poked her husband in the ribs.

“Hold it together, man!”

Everyone shared a laugh.

They packed up their camp and oriented themselves to the center of the Region where the capital city lay. It had been an interesting outing, and the relaxation after the terror and hard training in the Tier 5 Region had been just what everyone needed. Keeping away from civilization had inadvertently been the best thing for them.

It didn’t take long for them to find a road between villages, and once they were on a road, the journey was much faster. After about another week, the Party finally made their way back to Willowan.

Kefira and Serilla were excited to see their family again. Refix and Ameliyn couldn’t wait to see their girls and catch up on all the shenanigans they had been up to. Reivyn needed to get back up to speed with his Mercenary Company.

He had a deployment to plan.