Chapter Seventeen - Little Town on the Prairie

Caleb trudged across the dirt path, his feet aching dully. His steps were slow, and lazy, his mind adrift as he tried to ignore the exhaustion and hunger plaguing him. Markus lay unconscious across his shoulder as Kana walked by his side, Ryan – carrying Sierra in a piggyback – slightly ahead of them.

Beyond him were huge fields of tall grass, lined with the occasional spattering of distant trees. Ever further, far behind the trees were great mountains, their white peaks clear against the backdrop of sky blue. It was a picture-perfect sight, really. Well, except for the five of them.

Caleb looked back to the path beneath his feet. It'd strayed from the river, but they'd decided as a group to stick with it till they found somewhere. There couldn't have been a path for no reason. At least that was what they'd assumed when they'd spotted it. After almost two hours of walking, Caleb wasn't so sure anymore.

It'll lead somewhere. Don't worry. It's not here just "because".

“Hey Caleb?” Sierra said.

“Yeah?”

“Are we gonna keep following this path or go off course. I think I saw some trees with fruit over there”

“Uh... stick to the path? We’ll probably find something eventually. And if not we can always turn back before nightfall, or whatever happens for objective two”

“How long left now?” Ryan asked.

First phase check, he thought.

[First Phase Objective One: Survive for 5 hours]

[Time remaining: 1 hr 14 mins 17 secs]

“About an hour” he mumbled. His stomach grumbled slightly, and he sighed. The fruit hadn’t been enough and now they didn’t have any food. He didn't know how he'd forgotten the bags. At least he still had the sleeves; not that he’d needed them since the tiger.

He looked around again. The fields were empty. No monsters in sight. And he hadn’t sensed anything above or below. It was only them, the path, the sun and the sky.

He licked his lips tasting the dryness of his mouth, then bit into the still damp lapel of his top, before sighing again.

They probably should’ve stuck close to the river, but they could always walk back to it if they really needed too. The path at least provided them with the hope that someone had been here, even if it was a long time ago. But Caleb was holding out for a safe place, like the Endagon caves.

Though that hope had started to steadily wane. He sighed, heavier this time and brushed still damp hair out of his face.

[What’s wrong?] Kana asked.

“Tired” he mumbled.

[I can carry you if you want? Put my stat points into strength]

“No, your arm’s still hurt. Plus, you should save your stat points till we know how to better use them”

Kana frowned, but nodded and they went back to silence. It would've been peaceful if not for the constant foreboding none of them could shake.

“Guys?!” Ryan suddenly said.

“W-what?!” Caleb said panicked, his sword appearing instantly in his free hand.

Ryan pointed off in the distance and the group looked off, spotting a few taller trees.

“Uh… what are we supposed to be looking at exactly?”

“There were people over there”

“People?” Sierra said perking up. The group all stopped and watched to where Ryan pointed, waiting quietly. The taller trees only waved slightly, there leaves shifting in the slow breeze.

[You sure you saw something?]

“For a second I thought…” he trailed off. “Never mind”

The group continued trudging forward, following the path as it began to curve away from the trees.

“Are we really not gonna leave the path?” Sierra grumbled, annoyed.

“Do you really want to?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah. I don’t know why you're so insistent on staying on it” Sierra said.

“I don’t know, it’s just like… it was just there right after we came out of the forest. Like it wanted us to find it" he said. "It has to lead somewhere. Somewhere safe maybe?”

“Probably, but it might be far away. Like, really far away. I think we should look for food, drink from the river, take a break then come back. I mean what if after objective one we get sent to somewhere with no food?”

There was a beat of silence passed as he mulled it over in his mind, mostly agreeing with some of her. The path still felt convenient, though. Safe. And he desperately needed to feel safe right now.

“Caleb?” Sierra said.

“Hm? Oh sorry. I guess I agree. But… I don’t know”

“Fine” Sierra sighed.

“Wait we can go off the path if you guys want to”

“No, it’s ok”

“We don’t have to stay on it, I’m just being weird”

“Come on, if you want to go this way, we’ll go this way”

”What?” he said confused. “When did I start calling the shots?”

“I mean you literally did start calling the shots right after the tiger ran away” Ryan said. ”You cut it down then was all like, 'Get up everyone, we need to do this and that and this'. And when Markus wasn’t doing anything you just fucking grabbed him then bolted. You totally took control”

“I was just panicking”

“Didn’t seem panicked to me” Ryan said.

“Well I was” Caleb said. “I was terrified”

“Even if you were, you kept everyone alive. And well, you did notice the monster way before anyone else. And like Ryan said you took on the tiger and won. Even back on the sand planet, when we were fighting the goblins you were all like, ‘I’ll go ahead’” Sierra said.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“No, I wasn’t” he said frowning.

[You definitely were] Kana said.

“Well… Ryan’s super strong now. And he’s got great hearing. He heard the tiger first, hey he even charged it before I did. And he threw a boulder. Make him leader”

“No way”

“Well, I don’t want to be leader either. You be leader Sierra. You practically cut off one of the tiger’s heads on your own, and you’re always the first to react in a fight or just in general”

“I- wait I am?”

“Yeah”

“See? I didn’t even notice that and you did. You’d be a great leader. You're great at spotting things.”

“Don’t try and deflect here, we were talking about you” Caleb said.

[Caleb would be a good leader] Kana said.

“See?”

[But I don’t think we need a leader. We should vote on things]

“I wouldn't mind that. But excluding Markus for now, there's four of us, what if it’s a tie an-” Caleb stopped mid-sentence, as a magical weight drew his attention in the distance. His head whipped around, focusing on the location of the weight, and his eyes fell on the taller trees Ryan had pointed to.

“Guys?” he said, his sword reappearing. “I think Ryan was right”

[What? What happened?] Kana said.

“You sense something?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah. There’s magic over there” he said, pointing to the trees with his sword.

“Wait, what?” Sierra said. “Sense something? What’re you talking about?”

“Oh right. Caleb said he could feel magic or something”

“… ok then. How exactly?”

“I don’t know, I just tried to replicate what happened when we went from the tutorial to here. It’s not important right now, I think there’s something dangerous over there”

“Do we run?” Ryan said.

“Well only you and Caleb can fight. I mean I could swing a sword, but I wouldn't want to accidentally hit you. You’d have to not jump around so much” Sierra said.

[Maybe the people are nice?] Kana said.

“Kana your optimism is great and all, really uplifting, but I don’t think the people are going to be nice” Sierra said.

[They could be nice. The Endagon were nice]

“Not at first” Ryan said.

Kana went quiet, along with the rest of them as they stared at the trees frozen by indecision. Caleb felt the weight shift and warp, changing texture slightly. His confusion grew and he bit his lip.

“Ok, let’s-”

Suddenly a group sword and spearmen burst out of the trees, crying out as they raced away from a pack of boars with skin covered in rock. Caleb blinked in surprise, watching as the group spun around, one loosing off a blast of mana, as another’s sword began to glow brighter.

They circled around the creatures, cutting down a few as others kept them back with the mana missiles.

Now, with the added context of what he saw, he understood the fluctuations in the magic weight he’d seen. The weight of the battle shifted, drawn to the bracelets around the hunter’s wrists, as the spells formed, and smaller magical weights followed the swords and spears around as their wielders moved.

That’s, pretty cool actually. Seeing things like this.

“Holy shit” Sierra said. “Do we… help?”

“Doesn’t look like they need it” Ryan said.

[Yeah. They’re hunting them] Kana said, softly. [Look. They don’t seem overly afraid.]

Kana was right. A few wore scared expressions, but others only looked focused, some even laughing. More of the sword and spearmen emerged from the forest and Caleb’s eyes widened as he spotted the girl with the glowing sword, still in her jeans, hoodie and all.

“Isn’t that the girl that ran off?” Ryan muttered.

“Yeah” Caleb responded.

“So, they’re friendly?” Sierra said.

The group of seven felled the last boar and a few cheers echoed out from the group.

“Maybe” Caleb said. They continued to watch unsure, when a few members of the group spotted them and called out to the other members of their group. The entire hunting team turned to them then began talking amongst themselves.

“Do we go over or no?” Sierra said. Before anyone could say anything, the girl that’d appeared with them stepped forward and waved, before gesturing for them to come over. The group all looked to each other.

“Eh, why not?” Ryan shrugged. The others nodded and the group started forwards, leaving the path. The girl in the hoodie stood, watching them as she rested the sword on her shoulder, one of the hunters by her side as the others wrapped up the boars.

[Wow] she said. [You guys look like shit. What happened?]

“Everyone died” Sierra said bitterly.

[Oh] the girl said, slightly surprised. [Everyone?]

“Yeah” Ryan muttered.

[What about him, is he dead?] she said, pointing to Markus.

“Just unconscious” Caleb responded.

[And you?] she said, turning to Sierra.

“Legs are broken”

[I can still try heal them] Kana said.

“I said no Kana” Sierra said. “Not until you figure out how to do it without bleeding from the ears”

There was an awkward moment of silence then the girl with the hoodie stepped forward and spoke.

[Sounds nasty. So, you wanna come with us?] she said, her grin returning.

“Where to exactly?” Caleb asked.

[Rad and the others here come from a town nearby] she said, gesturing to guy beside her. He gave a small wave.

[You can come if you want. The chief will probably be happy something’s actually happening for once] Rad laughed.

“Wait, were you… expecting us?” Caleb asked. Rad frowned and shook his head.

[You haven’t heard anything about chosen or anything?] Kana asked.

[Nope] he laughed awkwardly, glancing to the rest of them.

[What’s with all the weird questions guys? You’re freaking him out] the girl said. [Anyway, you in?]

“Uh… sure. I mean we’d be welcome right?” Ryan said.

[Yeah] Rad nodded [Probably].

“Probably?” Sierra said, raising an eyebrow.

[Some of the older folk hate newcomers, but they all stay inside anyway.]

“And how far away is the town?” Caleb asked.

[About ten minutes that way] Rad pointed through the trees.

“Uh… you guys sold?” Caleb asked.

“We’ve got nowhere else we’d go” Ryan said.

“Yeah. I’m sick of the path already and I’m not even walking” Sierra said. “No offense Caleb”

“It’s fine"

"Let’s go then”

[Great. With all of you Chief Enrico might even put on a feast] he said. He turned to the other hunters and clapped his hands together as he started forwards. [We’ve got guests boys. We’ve got guests!]

They all cheered, acknowledging them with waves and raised weapons.

The team waved back and then the group all made their way together through the trees. The girl with the sword walked between them and the group of hunters. Caleb watched her carefully and felt the weight of magic in her sword. The weapon was connected to her somehow, like how his sword was connected to the sleeve.

The comparison wasn’t totally right, but it was the only one he could think of.

Is it a skill?

“Uh- hey, what was your name again.?”

[Hm?] The girl said glancing back.

“I don’t think I got your name” Caleb said.

[Eriana]

“I’m Caleb” he said offering his hand. She shook it, looking over him. Her eyes lingered on the sunshield and sleeves, before she smiled brightly again.

[What is that cool thing?]

“A sunshield. Protects from the sun”

[That’s amazing, no wonder none of you look like you’re hot. Where the hell did you guys do your tutorial?] she said.

[Desert planet] Kana said. [What about you?]

[It was just normal. Like a normal forest with some medieval village nearby] she said. Caleb looked over the blood covering her tattered grey hoodie and jeans.

“Did you not have a group?” Sierra asked.

[They all died before we reached the village. Well Aliyah didn’t but they were only medieval. They didn’t have the medical stuff to…] she trailed off, and the atmosphere grew slightly awkward.

“S-sorry” Ryan muttered.

[No, it’s ok. I didn’t really know them. I guess it is still pretty sad] she said.

The others all nodded, understanding her sentiment. Caleb recalled the sudden flash of panic he’d felt when he’d seen Jakob get eaten right in front of him. He shivered and glanced to the still unconscious Markus on his shoulder. Then he frowned and looked to Eriana.

“Why did you leave?”

[Huh?]

“You left right away. Why?”

[Well, I wanted to explore, then the message came, I showed back up and you guys were gone.]

“Oh. Sorry about that”

[It’s fine.]

The group continued walking, before emerging from the line of trees into another large field. In the middle of the field, the grass faded into dirt and a decent amount of small buildings rose out of the ground. It was larger than what the Endagon had, but still rudimentary compared to back home.

The buildings were mostly made of wood, though some of the roofs of the larger ones looked to be made of cobblestone bricks. It looked halfway between a western and a medieval English village.

Caleb looked around and spotted that the river they’d left had curved around from behind them, through the trees and toward the village. Behind them, barely visible now past the treetops was the occasional lick of white blue fire, still burning. It had spread all along the face of the black rock cliff and seemed to be growing brighter.

I hope that doesn’t destroy whatever was keeping the monsters there.

[Welcome to Outer Arell. Where the beer’s always hot and the women are ho-] Rad said, turning back to them before doing a double take, as all his friends pointed to the dark blue flag that rose above the town. A few of them looked to each other wide eyed then back to Caleb’s group.

“What? What’s happening?” Caleb said, his sword’s presence growing in his mind.

[T-the flag for newcomers is already up. There are more people here already]

The chosen all looked to each other, then back to the town.

“You think it’s more people like us?” Ryan asked

“Definitely” Sierra said.

[There’s only an hour left till the second objective] Kana said.

“Let’s go quickly then, something big might be happening in the next hour and I want to make sure we’re all at least somewhat ok” Caleb said. The group nodded, and picked up the pace, jogging toward the town with Rad and his friends.