Master Of None

"I thought we would be landing in the city. But we are actually a small journey from it, aren't we?" Leon had referenced the maps before he came out because he wanted to make sure he would be able to better battle in the areas they were traveling. It would be even more dangerous if he were to be stuck in a place with a lot of dry weather and dust. 

"A lot of people think that. But we have to keep the mountain eagles separate from the rest of the avian monsters that have been tamed in the guild. If they flew in to the city we would have a war of the birds." The tamer that ran the small ranch that they had just landed in was checking over the mountain eagles. "This letter explains why you were on the back of my eagles. When you see Elise tell her that she needs to come back and have dinner with my wife and me. It's been a little while." 

The man seemed a little sad since he had not seen Elise. "I will let her know. I will even add a little extra oomph to make sure that she comes soon." Walker added a little smile and energy in to his response. 

"Ha! I like you kid. Elise used to live here, well, between missions with the tamers' guild. She's a good kid. I'm pretty proud that I saw her grow up. She used to be so quiet and avoided people. Now she's in charge of building another guild branch. How the world has changed." The man walked away guiding the eagles toward large roofed nests. Walker wasn't sure what to say about the fact that they had somehow ended up in one of Elise's previous homes. But it made sense that she would be somewhere that Stella would be able to fly freely. 

"So, what's the plan? We couldn't exactly speak about the way we would travel. Butterflies and all that." Gil wanted to get on the move. He liked being out but he also didn't want to be gone too long. He was lucky that the other archers he knew wanted to help with the archer academy that he had begun. There were also many adventurers that had come out of retirement to help with the expansion of the adventurer's guild That fact alone created many potential classes on survival for the archers that had just joined Gil's academy. 

"I know the area has many streams and semi aquatic monsters. But I can use my blue ivy freely. I will avoid using the razor whip weed. I don't think it will be the best opportunity." Alma was giving Walker the heads up so that he wouldn't try to change their path because of her. He didn't miss that she had a small set of vials strapped to her waist with water and seeds in them for when she may need them. 

"Well, since we aren't exactly in the city it helps a little more than if we were. Now we can head on this trail toward the lakes. Not many merchants use the paths that get close to the lakes or where the streams combine. That means monsters. Frogs, snakes, fish, and plenty more that hunt those types of monsters. I think that your blue ivy will be better than we expect. There are perfect growing conditions around here even though it is cold. There might be some ice but the soil is still soft from all the flowing water. Just be careful with the gravel, it should be icy." 

"We don't worry about ice and water so much. You will have us for the monsters that try and surprise us, we can deal with them." Leon knew that between him and the Niel, that they would have the better foot hold on the ice, water, and potential snow around. Their bodies were just better prepared for such terrain. 

"Sounds good. Then you two will be the front fighting force. Alma will act as support while Gil tales the ranged attack position. I will jump in where I need. But the trail will be overgrown due to lack of travel so make sure you have focused eyes." Walker pointed out the trail on the maps he had brought with him. He was well aware that not everyone had the maps memorized like him. In the future, he would want to pass the mental archive skill on to the entire party. But that was something for another day. 

"Then we should get a move on. I would say it's a few days if we don't keep ourselves paced well. Midnight will also get Restless since you might steal away her job of helping everyone out." Gil was going to make fun of Walker for not assigning Midnight to a spot on their travels. However, Walker was not having any of that. 

"You think I need to tell Midnight what her role is? She is the dependable scout that does soooooo much better than that archer on my party." Midnight snorted in laughter when Gil stuck his tongue out at Walker in response. " Midnight, you have the patrol around the group. Practice your shadow wrapping skill. You haven't been using it much since you focused on your flight training." Walker had noticed that Midnight had not been focusing on the skills she had received earlier in life and did not want to see her get rusty. 

"Can we just call Midnight the adorable assassin? She can hide away even though she is a dragon and stands out everywhere she goes. It's pretty impressive." Alma gave Midnight a pat on the head before Midnight took the lead. Gil was watching their back since he would best be able to see and realize something hunting them. It was a perk of being used to the wilds as a hunter. 

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