Explorer of Edregon

"So it works, but only for yes and no questions?" Spur asked, turning the gemstone every which way as he peered into its depths. "Do I even want to know how you got your hands on this?"

"I had to make a deal, which I'll tell you about later," Vin said, sounding just as tired as he felt. Madam Trebella had given him a few weeks, and he was planning on taking at least a bit of that time to mentally prepare himself.

After his exhausting conversation with Golrim yesterday, Vin had retreated to his own small concrete bunker and tried his best to distract himself with magic. Few things were quite as easy to lose himself in as Introspection was, and for once, he used that to his advantage. He stayed within that black void all night, working on his Stone Furniture spell until he'd sorted his thoughts out a bit. By the time he came up for air, he'd been surprised to find it was already morning.

Thankfully, his high endurance made missing the occasional night of sleep more of an annoyance than an actual issue.

He hadn't intended to spend all night within Introspection however, just long enough to get his thoughts straightened out. As soon as he realized it was morning, he went straight to Spur.

And told the man everything.

"What do we do about Golrim?" Vin asked, shivering yet again at the thought of having his very own skeleton enchanted. The thought had been disturbing enough when he first heard what Golrim had done, and his unease had only grown over the last few hours.

"We keep using him as we have been," Spur shrugged, finally putting the charm down. "Over the past few days he's more than proven his skill when it comes to planning and logistics. Besides helping me better organize the camp, he's been advising Witherson with the blueprints for the town's layout, and he's taken a huge load off Myers' plate as well, allowing her to devote more of her time to her actual class. Obviously, I haven't given him access to anything truly important, but he's been a massive asset."

"You really think he doesn't have any alternative motives?" Vin asked.

"I think he's the kind of guy that will do whatever it takes to achieve his end goal," Spur said, tapping his desk with a finger as he thought. "That's both better and worse than someone striving forward with nothing but good intentions. On the one hand, he might stab us in the back if he thinks it will help him achieve his goal. On the other hand, if we're his only option, he'll move heaven and Earth to help build us up. Basically, we just need to ensure we're the hottest thing around, and he'll do whatever we need him to do."

"That sounds like some risk when we still have so many unknown fragments surrounding us," Vin pointed out, wondering what would happen if one of them revealed a pristine kingdom desperately in need of a questionable advisor.

"In that case, maybe you should spend less time worrying about politics here, and more time checking those fragments out then," Spur grinned, getting to his feet and clapping him on the back. "After you help lead those former prisoners safely here of course."

"You're sure about this plan?" Vin asked yet again, worried his own wishes were going to get people killed. "Maybe stealth would be a better option."

"The Red Dawn are murderous, but not stupid," Spur pointed out, shaking his head. "A display of force often works for a reason, regardless of what world you're on. We might not have planes or tanks, but we have a hell of a lot of warriors currently sitting on their asses thanks to wave three. Time to put those numbers to good use."

"So… This is different," Scule said, shielding his eyes from the bright sun with a hand as he took in the tagalongs Spur had insisted accompany them.

Vin and his team were currently making their way back down to the prisoners' fragment via a quick trip through the desert fragment. A Magical Explorer, a Wild Druid, a Determined Rogue, and a battle-hardened golem, all together once more. Not to mention a happily snugged up Reginald in Vin's pocket.

And approximately six hundred warriors following closely behind them.

"Making the desert fragment the first one the third wavers experience after their own is a little cruel in my opinion," Shia said, gazing upon the panting Earthers with sympathy as she took another swig from Vin's waterskin.

"Better than leading them into my fragment. Or the Sacred Forest," Alka snorted. "I wonder if the elves or the greentails would end up killing more before they turned tail and ran? Pick up the pace!" she shouted at the nine people trudging along in a small group separate from the main body of warriors. Those nine weren't just running through a desert, but were doing so with heavy logs strapped to their backs for added weight.

"I'm amazed you still have people listening to you," Scule muttered, watching the poor souls as they struggled to keep up. "Is being a Slayer really worth putting yourself through that level of hell?"

"Ask them," Alka said, her eyes flaring before she turned her back on her group and took off running again.

While leading a group of six hundred warriors certainly made Vin feel safer, it was painfully slow compared to the pace he'd grown used to keeping. By the time they all made it to the edge of the prisoner's fragment, the large, desert sun was nearly directly overhead.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Listen up!" Vin called out, casting Stone Wall underneath his own feet and raising himself into the air on a pillar as he spoke to the gathered warriors.

Oh God damn it, he thought as he took in the wide eyes and gasps that his simple display of magic caused. His intention had just been to make sure everyone could see him, not to spread even more rumors about himself.

"I know Phil gave you all a rundown on what to expect before we left, but let me say it again. Our goal is to get in, gather up the waiting villagers, and get out. We don't want to fight if we don't have to."

"And if anyone breaks rank to go pick a fight, you can bet you'll be answering to me when we get home," Shredder shouted out from the front of the crowd, his voice booming even louder than Vin's. "Is that clear?!"

"Yes sir!" Most of the six hundred warriors shouted out. If Vin had to guess, probably a good third of the gathered warriors were civilians that ended up going with a combat class, meaning they didn't have the mental or physical preparation for an actual fight to the death.

Just one more reason why they wanted to avoid fighting at all costs.

Spur's plan was more of a bluff than anything. By now, they knew how easily a high level warrior would tear their way through even a few dozen level one fighters. However, the Red Dawn shouldn't be aware of the fact that most of their crowd was completely green. And even if they had learned of that somehow, or had someone with a similar ability to Phil's own Challenger's Intuition, they were banking on the fact that numbers were the System's great equalizer.

Sure, the Red Dawn might win in a head to head clash despite it being a few dozen versus nearly six hundred, but Vin had no doubt they would end up losing a hell of a lot of their members to do it.

All it took was a lucky arrow to the eye or a rogue blade to the throat and a warrior's life was forfeit, regardless of how many levels they had.

Usually anyway.

Hopping down from his pillar, Vin led the warriors out of the blazing desert sun and into the prisoners' fragment. Everyone's excitement to finally be out of the blistering heat was quickly diminished by the sight of the severed heads resting on spikes scattered across the fragment border.

"Sure hope this plan works," Scule grunted, cracking his neck. "You know, I wonder if I can convince the System I'm stealing a group of people out of this fragment?"

"Worth a shot," Vin shrugged. He'd spent the last few hours wondering if the System would grant him a treasure trove of experience in the event Golrim died somehow and he got access to the man's bones. Obviously he hoped that wouldn't happen, and seeing as they sounded like they were runic objects they probably wouldn't give him any experience at all, but he couldn't help but think about just how much experience the man's skeleton could potentially be worth to him if they were artifacts.

Thankfully, the plan seemed to be going off without a hitch. Vin didn't know where the Red Dawn was hiding, and frankly, he didn't care so long as they kept doing it. Their large group passed the spot where Vin, Shia, and Scule had met Curash and even the former camp where they had battled their way to freedom without issue. At that point, Vin switched up their route a little bit to give the town a wide berth as they walked toward their final destination. They were meeting Waltz at the shrine of rebirth after all, no need to freak out the townsfolk that decided to stay by thinking they were being invaded or anything.

It wasn't until they got within a few minutes of the shrine that the hairs on the back of Vin's neck began to prickle, and he stopped everyone with a raised hand. Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the empty grasslands, but failed to find anything. On a hunch, he called out.

"Waltz? If that's you, would you mind coming out? I don't want to order our archers to start firing blindly just because I think the Red Dawn is hiding in front of us or anything!"

A few seconds passed where nothing happened. Vin was just beginning to doubt his own high focus attribute before a green beastkin suddenly materialized out of the ground about thirty feet away, grunting as he stood up.

"I wasn't expecting a small army," Waltz admitted, holstering his dual crossbows as he walked over. "Sorry for the scare."

"Ohh, I like you," Alka laughed, her eyes burning with the clear desire to fight someone. "Please tell me you're part of the group coming back to the Earthers' fragment with us. I'd love to get the chance to spar!"

"I'm not one for direct combat, but I suppose I wouldn't mind giving it a go," Waltz shrugged, his cat-like eyes scanning over the shocked warriors. "What level are your friends? They look like they've never seen a stealth ability before."

"They're… low," Vin admitted, realizing someone was going to have to explain the whole waves of Earthers to Waltz and the former prisoners at some point. "But don't worry, most of them have had formal training. They'll hold up in a fight."

"Let's hope," was all Waltz said as he turned and motioned for them to follow. "You should see who decided to come with us. I think you'll be surprised."

Mentally preparing himself for Spur's mockery when he only came back with a dozen or two people, Vin gasped as the prison finally came into view.

Along with what had to be nearly four hundred people sitting around, waiting for them.

"Is that… everyone?" Vin asked, doing his best to speed count heads as they approached.

"Everyone besides a few lone hermits that live out on the edge of town," Waltz nodded. "When I revealed that the shrine of rebirth would eventually be only a quick trip away, the majority decided they wanted to make the move and be free from the threat of the Red Dawn once and for all. Most of the others with differing opinions knew that staying was tantamount to suicide, so they decided to follow suit rather than fall to the marauders with their weakened numbers."

"Spur's not going to like the fact that some are against the idea," Shia muttered, gazing over the townsfolk. Most had noticed their group off in the distance and were readying themselves, hefting large packs filled to the brim with belongings or lugging crudely made crates under their arms.

"I think he'll be fine with it so long as they pass the test and don't intend to burn the place down," Vin shrugged. In the end, it wasn't his job to try and convince these people what to do. He was just the messenger ferrying them from one place to the next.

"Packs on, we're moving out!" Waltz shouted, jerking the last few people that hadn't been paying attention to life. "Just because we haven't seen any sign of the Red Dawn doesn't mean they're not planning to ambush us along the way! Keep on your toes and shout if you see anything!"

Waltz got a few dozen cries of acknowledgement, but most of the townsfolk remained silent. Vin's eyes swept across the groups of orcs, dwarves, beastkin, and humans, all loaded up with belongings and eager to move on to safer pastures. There was definitely the occasional look of annoyance or even anger, but they were few and far between.

"That goes for you lot as well," Waltz muttered under his breath, already scanning his surroundings as the two groups merged into one. "Despite our numbers, I'll be shocked if Curash lets us go without a fight. The man's a monster who just can't help himself."

Thinking back to the heads on pikes, Vin swallowed hard, nodding at the beastkin's warning.

If Curash was going to make his move, it was going to be soon.