The Eternal Assassin

By the time Asher finished his errands and met back up with Samantha and Brian, the market was officially coming to a close. Brian was ecstatic to show him the new bowstring Samantha had helped him pick out, having decided in the end to in fact go with the griffin hair after all. Supposedly, it would help his arrows fly through the air 'with the speed of a diving griffin,' and he couldn't wait to give it a shot.

"So what's the plan?" Samantha asked as they feasted on the steamed buns Asher had picked up earlier. While his rift didn't have any sort of stasis effect, so long as living people weren't stored within the skill, its strange flexibility remained intact. That meant the buns were stored in their own separate tiny sliver of his rift, which was somehow able to maintain temperature rather decently, as if he'd stored them in a sealed container. "Spend one more night at Draken's and then hit the road in the morning?"

"Actually, we'll be hitting the road even sooner," Asher spoke over a mouthful of food. Finally, after a few more hours of healing, his right hand had been fully regenerated, which made eating a hell of a lot easier. "I did some research on Dormaul and traveling between cities in general, and to my surprise, there are caravan services you can hire to help you get from one city to the next. I could probably make the trip faster with Distortion, but with the two of you at my side, I thought this would be faster. Unless you want to spend the next few days hidden away within my Personal Rift."

"Ideally not," Samantha said, giving him a sheepish smile. "As amazing as your skill is, and how much I trust you, there's just something unnerving about being isolated from the rest of the world like that. I'd rather keep my time in your rift to a minimum, if possible."

"Same." Brian nodded, having finally choked down a far too large and too hot bite from his steamed bun. "It's creepy in there."

"I figured as much." Asher laughed, grinning at Samantha as she scolded her brother for calling his skill 'creepy.' "Not a problem, that's why I found the caravans. The next one is leaving in just about an hour in fact, so we should head over there once we finish eating."

"Wait, they leave in the evening?" Samantha asked, clearly surprised. No doubt the hunter knew firsthand the dangers of traveling the forest during the nighttime. "Wouldn't they want to avoid traveling at night?"

"I didn't have a ton of time in the library, and the book I Incorporated didn't go too in detail about the specifics of each method of travel." Asher shrugged. "But yeah, while they aren't the fastest, from what I gathered some of the caravans literally don't stop moving the entire time they're on the road, making up a lot of time during the night. I can only assume they know what they're doing."

"Alright… In that case, lead the way!"

Asher stored their purchases within his rift and led the way over to the edge of the first ring. It wasn't hard to spot the caravan preparing to leave the city, what with the monstrous animals currently in the middle of being hitched up to the line of wagons.

The caravan had six massive beasts that looked like mammoths, except for the fact that they lacked tusks and had two prehensile trunks with what looked like three large fingers on the end, giving them even more dexterity than a regular mammoth or elephant. Each one had four tiny wagons secured to the back of it, all of which looked like they could only comfortably hold three or four people. Six of the wagons, the last one in each line, were currently being loaded up with supplies. Presumably so that if something happened to one of the beasts or they lost a line of wagons, they wouldn't lose all their food as well.

It's like a living train! Asher grinned, making his way over to who was clearly the caravan leader. The man wore overalls and had a clipboard he was checking things off of as he called out to the various members loading crates onto the supply wagons. He was bald and had a fluffy, brown beard that looked identical to the animals pulling the wagons. Seeing them approach, he smiled and gave them a big wave.

[Guide] - 3/3 Elements

"Ho, there! Looking for last minute tickets?" The man's aura was a gentle, almost fluffy brown as well to go with the beard and pack animals, and Asher got the vibe that the man wouldn't hurt a fly if he could help it. "Name's Brant!"

"Asher." He smiled, nodding respectfully. "Is the caravan heading to Dormaul?"

Naturally, he didn't want to accidentally end up in a completely different city than the one they were aiming for.

"Yep, Dormaul's the first stop on our trip." Brant nodded, not even needing to look at his clipboard as he continued. "From there, we'll hit Poltar, carry on to Abingdon, and then finish the current journey at the capital. If you're just looking for safe passage to Dormaul, it's three hundred shards per adult, two hundred for the kid. We leave within the hour."

"You don't have any issues traveling at night?" Asher asked, handing Brant the required shards.

"Nope! Our path doesn't take us near any known monster zones, and natural predators are scared off by the presence of the mogrants," he explained, nodding toward the nearest beast currently using its twin trunks to eat from a barrel full of fruits. Despite its size, there was something strangely dainty and delicate about the way it gingerly picked up each fruit and carefully brought it to its mouth. "Few animals are willing to tangle with a single mogrant, let alone six. They're gentle giants, right up until something threatens the herd!"

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"How do you handle… bathroom issues if you don't stop?" Brian spoke up timidly, clearly concerned at the thought of being cooped up within one of the wagons for a few days straight.

"Don't worry lad, you're not the first one to ask." Brant laughed, clapping Brian on the back and smiling at his embarrassment. "While the mogrants are capable of walking for days on end without break, and we won't be making any planned stops on our trek, they don't move much faster than you or I at a slow jog. Caravan members are welcome and even encouraged to get out of their wagons and walk alongside the trains every now and again to stretch their legs. You can run over to a nearby tree whenever you feel nature calling! Now, unless you have any other pressing questions, I need to get back to making sure we're prepped and ready for the journey. Wouldn't want to miss a crate of food!"

Thanking Brant again for letting them on his caravan with such little notice, the three of them moved closer to the lines of wagons. One of the many caravan employees helped them pick out a wagon, second from the front on their respective train, and they poked their heads in to take a peek.

It was a bit tighter than it looked from the outside, only about the size of a large closet and packed tight with four small cots that took up most of the available space, but there were overhead nets for storing luggage and tiny windows they could use to look outside. Brian immediately claimed the cot with the largest window situated above it, and Asher couldn't help but chuckle as he all but pressed his face against the thick glass.

"Brian, we haven't even left yet," Samantha drawled, picking out her own cot and frowning as she sat on it. "These really aren't all that comfy. I think camping on the forest floor would be more preferable, if I'm being honest."

"You could always sleep in my rift," Asher suggested, laughing at the grimace he got in return.

"Your rift has some sort of perpetual, soft light coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. I'm not sure if I'd be able to sleep in there."

"Guess I should pick up a sleep mask or two in case the need ever arises," he said, peering through the window at the guide as Brant finished up preparing for their trip. "…So, who thinks Brant has a Mogrant element? With his beard, he practically looks like one already."

"It's not like a person ends up looking like their element." Samantha laughed, lifting up a lock of her hair. "If they did, I'd probably end up looking like some sort of tree."

Asher blinked at the joke, realizing he still needed to tell her about the different stages of elemental advancement he'd learned about from Draken the other day. In fact, people did begin to adapt to one of their elements after unlocking all fifteen skills and entering the Stage of Honing. Though it wasn't until the Stage of Power, having evolved all of one's skills to the third tier, that the changes truly became noticeable.

That said, he didn't want to involve Brian in that conversation just yet and stress him out over his eventual origin element. Instead, he decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Speaking of elements, I didn't really get the chance to ask just yet. How has training with your Water skills been?"

"Pretty good!" Samantha smiled, pointing a finger as if to blast him with a stream of water before deciding to hold her fire for now. "I can hit moving targets pretty reliably, though I can't muster up enough pressure to actually do any real damage. At best, it kind of stings a bit if the target is close."

"Well maybe your next skill will end up being an offensive one," Asher said, nudging her and bouncing his eyebrows. "Speaking of which…"

"Asher, you've already given me the shards for my second and third skill," Samantha said, frowning at his insistence. "Didn't you say that the woman who trained you mentioned something about earning one's shards giving them better skills? Molly, or whoever?"

"Moxy, and yeah, it's a pretty commonly held belief among warriors." He nodded. "Still, I didn't see anything like that listed in the library with all the reading I did on skills and elements. I think it's more superstition than anything."

"Even so, I don't know… I feel like I should at least earn the shards for one of my skills," she said, biting her lip.

"Which means you're fine with me helping you with your second to last one?" he ventured, summoning thirty thousand shards into the palm of his hand and grinning at her. "This caravan ride could be dangerous, you know. What if we need that water power of yours?"

"I'll take the shards if you don't want them," Brian said, his eyes going wide as he took in the fractured, violet orb. Thirty thousand shards condensed down into the size of a golf ball made for a rather beautiful sphere.

"I bet you would." Samantha snorted, hesitating for only a moment before letting out a weary sigh. "Alright. But only because I want to be ready if the demons attack us again! I'm going to work and earn my final skill on my own, and if you so much as wave a single shard in front of me, I'm going to shoot water up your nose while you sleep!"

"Duly noted!" He laughed. "Enough waiting, take them and buy the skill!"

"I don't actually need thirty thousand shards," she muttered, glancing toward Brian and lowering her voice even further as she leaned forward. "I picked up some fallen shards from a number of villagers in Horntho as I ran before getting the chance to summon you… I only need about half of that."

"Oh…" he said, growing somber alongside her as he cleared his throat. "Just tell me how many you need then."

Taking the shards she needed, her eyes glossed over as she made her purchase. Blinking in surprise, she hummed as she read over her skill.

"'Water Walker.' Does pretty much exactly what it sounds like," she said, lifting up her feet and looking at them. "I'm kinda bummed it's not something more offensive, but I have to admit the ability to walk on water does sound pretty cool."

"Don't worry, I pretty much went through the same mental turmoil with every single one of my skills I unlocked," he reassured her, squeezing her shoulder. "From what I gather, elements often only give one or two skills capable of being used specifically for combat, if even that. The rest are more utility focused. I'm betting once you evolve Fountain, you'll be able to do some actual damage with it."

"Skill evolution is a long way off," she said, reaching over her back to lay a finger on her enchanted bow. "I suppose I'll just have to rely on my archery for the time being."

"Yeah." Asher nodded, remembering how her arrows had literally blown apart the skulls of the lesser demons they'd fought. "…I don't think you should be too worried on that front."