Chapter 29:The Road Ahead
Peter sprang upright from the bed and instinctively summoned his sword, only after a moment did he realize it was the middle of the night and no danger threatened him.
He scanned the room again, this time more calmly. Selene slept on her bed against the opposite wall. The floor was lit by the faint glow of moonlight seeping through gaps in the shutters.
For a while Peter listened in absolute stillness, but heard nothing except the soft hiss of the wind and the creak of the shutter—no footsteps, no whispers. He sighed and told Thaurmor to dissolve into the silence of the night, then dropped back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling.
After a moment he decided that the cause of his sudden waking must have been another nightmare—one that replayed the events of that night many years ago.
Then he realized something else: he was not in his wraith form; he was in his true physical body. It was the first time this had happened since arriving in Ether. On previous nights some ability of his attribute had always activated—most likely "Wraithbinder," because its description best fit what Peter had experienced.
He was honestly surprised by this fact, but at the same time pleased. While his physical fatigue eased after sleep regardless of the attribute activation, his emotional and mental exhaustion slowly but surely accumulated.
Tonight might be a pleasant break from that mounting routine.
'Hmm—interesting. Why is it different tonight compared to the last two nights?'
Peter wondered for a long moment. Several possibilities presented themselves. The first was that he was in a safe place—the tavern—and apparently nothing could surprise him here. This theory suggested the attribute might function as an early-warning system.
Another, more troubling theory could be derived from the attribute's description. Peter summoned the runes that described his attribute, and after a moment lines of runes unknown to him appeared and were quickly translated.
[Wraithbinder] – "Provides the ability to combat demons, ghosts, and malevolent entities. The user can neutralize their influence, repel attacks from immaterial beings, and harness their energy in battle."
According to the description, the attribute allowed fighting demons and other immaterial beings, which could suggest that it activated automatically each night because such entities might be nearby.
That could mean that alongside the creatures that inhabited Ether there wandered invisible counterparts unseeable to ordinary eyes—or that the source of those counterparts was the ordinary creatures themselves.
However, several arguments opposed that theory. The first was the presence of Ether creatures in the town, admittedly they were there only to facilitate transport, but if they were present, why were there no counterparts from the immaterial world?
The second argument was the very presence of the town's inhabitants—indeed, there were many living people and probably even more dead. So why wouldn't the attribute activate if there must be some lost souls of former citizens present?
"Uhh, this makes no sense,"
Peter muttered under his breath as he tried to solve the mystery of his attribute. A headache began to form, so he decided to devote more time to it later. For now he summoned the runes describing the cloak he had acquired the previous day.
[Name: Nightfeather Shroud]
[Rank: Awakened]
[Type: Armor]
[Description]: "Woven from black feathers belonging to a creature known as the Veilwing, a beast that soars in silence above the grey wastelands."
"Ah—now I finally know the name of that crow-like creature that was following us,"
Peter said after reading the description. He was curious what the creature that had been tracking him and Selene actually was, now at least he knew the species' name.
Leaving the rest of the mystery for later, he summoned the runes that described the cloak's enchantments. Two appeared after a moment. The first—bearing a long but ominous name, [Embrace of the Black Feathers]—had the following description:
[Description]: "The presence becomes dimmer, movements grow quieter, shadows cling longer, and even keen senses are dulled against this cloak's aura."
After analyzing the florid description, Peter concluded that in short this enchantment helped the wearer remain unnoticed. The second one, which required spiritual energy and was called [Nightfall], despite its grandiose name had one practical function: it slowed the speed of falling, enabling jumps from greater heights.
"Overall, you can say this cloak won't be of much use in direct combat,"
Peter told himself. Things were different with Selene's new acquisition: if the smith's words were true, her armor—or rather her cloak—had an enchantment that repelled weaker foes.
Not that she could effectively use it, given that there were few creatures in Ether weaker than she was. But her cloak's second enchantment helped her move faster and increased her reaction time.
Peter noted with amusement that he and Selene were complete opposites: he wielded darkness and shadows, with powers that aided remaining unseen, while Selene used the elements of light and ice.
He didn't know exactly how her aspect worked, but people possessing the Light element always ended up as healers or mages capable of felling entire legions with powerful spells—according to what Selene had told him the day they met.
Her aspect increased the morale of soldiers around her. Any evolution of such an aspect would not suggest a healer but a commander capable of changing the tide of battle simply by her presence. Selene didn't know this yet, but she most likely had greater potential than her current fencing instructor.
There was a certain rule of thumb: the rarer the element, the more powerful it tended to be. his element, Darkness was very rare, particularly when paired with a second element, but Light utterly eclipsed it in uniqueness.
And the fact that the second element accompanying it was as unique as Ice suggested that Selene was not merely lucky—she had practically won the lottery. The only thing she lacked was training, and that could be remedied.
"Well, well—now that I think about it, I might have a potentially future celebrity as my student."
Peter grunted, summing up his train of thought.
'But only if we both get home alive,' he did not say aloud.
***
The next morning Peter rose early. Selene still slept, and no commotion from the tavern downstairs had started yet.
He gathered his things and packed them into his bag. As he finished, he heard the sound of the front door opening—the innkeeper must have unlocked it. The noise roused Selene. She rubbed her eyes, sat up on the bed, and looked around the room with a blank stare.
Seeing this, Peter said to her,
"Get up and pack. We've got a lot to do today,"
and tossed her bag—the one she had left by the bed—toward her. Only then did Selene come to and begin packing. In a short while they were both ready to go. Before they left the room, Selene managed to ask,
"Why are we leaving so early? Yesterday we woke up later than this."
Peter answered without hesitation.
"Because yesterday we didn't have far to travel. Today I plan to walk all the way to the port without stopping for the night."
Selene looked frightened by the answer—not by the danger, but because she could already feel the ache in her legs that would come after several hours on the road.
Without further questions they went downstairs, where they found the innkeeper, who was a little surprised to see them so early. He asked,
"You chose an early hour to set off. I see you're not staying another day?"
Peter replied in his usual matter-of-fact tone, devoid of emotion,
"Yes. We're leaving now. I intend to reach the port before the day is out. One question: where can we buy provisions for the road?"
The innkeeper told him that one option was the butcher located in the same direction as the barracks, though they would get nothing there but meat from local animals. Near the southern gate there was a small shop selling dried and fresh fruit.
After thanking the innkeeper, he and Selene stepped out onto the street and headed north through the town, but about a hundred meters before the blacksmith's hut they turned west. After roughly two hundred meters they came upon the butcher's building. Peter bought a kilogram of smoked meat, paying with the money he had found in the bandits' bag.
They continued west until they noticed a long barracks building fenced with a low wooden rail. When they arrived at the training ground in front of the barracks, a woman in her thirties stopped them. Despite her relative youth she had several scars on her face and was visibly heavily muscled beneath her clothes.
She addressed them bluntly and roughly.
"And what are you looking for here?"
Peter answered in his emotionless voice,
"I'm looking for Thomas Whitlock. He was on duty at the northern gate yesterday. He told me to find him here."
The woman raised an eyebrow in surprise, then waved them along.
"Fine. I'll lead you, but hurry—I've got things to attend to."
They followed her. After passing the barracks building, they saw a small part of the training ground where a group had gathered. Among them Peter recognized Thomas's silhouette. As they drew closer they could hear Thomas shouting at several guards who were holding spears.
"Faster! With moves like that you'll have those beasts on you before you raise this useless stick to block an attack!"
"Hey, you! Plant the butt of the spear into the ground proper—if it's too shallow a charging creature straight from hell will rip it from your hand. Now, everyone, once more. Attention! Brace the spears!"
At his command, the line of tired guards angled their spears at about thirty degrees to the ground, then pushed the butt ends into the soil, as if to prevent some imagined beast from knocking the weapons from their hands.
Thomas then noticed Peter and Selene accompanied by the woman and called a break for his men before approaching them cheerfully.
"Well, well—look who it is! I didn't expect you so early. Have you already got a plan?"
Before anyone could answer he spoke again.
"Well now, what a fine cloak on you, young lady. I see you're better off than I thought."
He directed the remark at Selene, who wore the purchased cloak—Peter's original had been too large for her, but relics adapt to their owners, and this one fit her perfectly. Selene smiled shyly and replied with a small bow,
"Thank you—it's a new acquisition."
Meanwhile Peter prepared his response.
"To answer your first question—yes, we do have a plan. I intend to go to the port to see if there's any chance of getting passage east or west along the coast."
Thomas looked surprised at the answer and after a moment asked Peter,
"Passage along the coast? Why that? What then? Even if you find transport and don't wreck, I don't see the point of such a move."
Peter considered how best to explain and, after a moment, shared part of the plan with Thomas and Selene—details Selene had not yet been told.
"To the south of the mapped human territories of Ether is an ocean. The westernmost edge of the shore is desert, while to the east there is an uncharted forest. If the sea to the south is connected to the ocean known to humans, there's a chance that by traveling west we'll come upon that same uncharted forest that appears on the maps. Of course, I might be wrong."
He finished somewhat uncertainly, but Thomas's reaction surprised him. Thomas grinned broadly and said,
"Well now, what a plan! The best I've heard yet. I've seen my share of plans in my years here—believe me, I've been around. But yours is on a whole other level. You'll make something of yourself yet, once you get through things, I'm sure."
He finished the sentence with a grim joke, then grew serious and added,
"But I have a favor to ask. If you succeed, share word of this place with the world. Who knows—maybe someone will organize a rescue expedition to this godforsaken patch of land."
Peter also grew serious and answered briefly, "You have my word."