Scouting

I continued to study the map as Turek kept watch. To make the shortest journey from Lorel to Tiaanway, you have to cross a plain, a forest, a river, a mountain and then another forest. You could consider the river the dividing line between the territories of the two cities. Any quests from Tiaanway would be on this side of the river. It seemed unlikely that anyone would come all the way to this mountain and then return back to Lorel since Tiaanway was closer at this point. It was only because Cleo and Leana are so strong that were were able to travel quickly. Even in other parties, you would have a hard time unless all the members were just focussed on strength. But if everyone was focussed on strength, the party would be really unbalanced. At least that's what I thought.

While Turek would learn magic, I still need to decide what my role in this party is. I couldn't just depend on the rest of the party to do everything while being a burden. I started adventuring so that I could earn money. To survive. I hadn't really thought of being in a party when I started. But after my experience with the direwolf, I knew there was no way for me to do this on my own. So I was really glad to have found Turek and then Cleo. Even Leana, the person who had saved my life had joined us. In a way, I was responsible for bringing this party together.

But I didn't want my contributions to end at just forming this party. I had to carry my own weight, and not have Cleo, Leana and even Turek do the carrying. I had to come up with something I could do…

I started to think about what I was good at. I lived most of my life as a thief and sometimes doing odd jobs. These jobs were not really posted in the guild but obtained directly from people that needed some help. While I do think of myself as a thief, I wasn't really a big time thief. Mostly I just stole food, sometimes a small amount of money. I was small and inconspicuous, making it easy for me to sneak into places. While I had grown as time went by, I was still quite small for a 17 year old. I could fit though spaces normal adults couldn't because of my small size. I had also learned how to step softly and make no noise while walking. I had developed sharp ears to detect noise. It was easy for me to tell when someone was approaching.

The skills I developed as a thief were useful in the city but not as much in the forest. I was not accustomed to going out into the forest. I had been in forests before but the Kura quest where I almost lost my life was the first time I had entered so deep. I didn't know how to walk silently in a forest or identify noise that the predators make. One way to learn this is through experience but a better way would be to just ask Cleo to teach me. She had experience hunting in the forest. If she taught me, with my agility and sharp senses I could become a good scout. I would finally be able to do something useful for this party.

While it would be good to ask Cleo for help, I also wanted to see how far I could get on my own. I looked at the sleeping Cleo and Leana and decided to use this time to find out. I went to Turek and spoke with him soft voice. Once I told him, he looked at me like I was crazy.

"That's too risky! Why do you want to do this now? Just wait until we get to Tiaanway and you can start practicing. We can practice together!"

"Shh… don't speak so loudly. Cleo and Leana are already tired after carrying us. I want them to have a good rest."

Turek looked at both of them guiltily. We walked further away from the camp and I said,

"You understand right Turek? We are just burden for them right now. Once we get to the city, you will learn magic. But what about me? I don't have any aptitude for magic or strength based professions. The only thing I can become good at is scouting. I could use this chance to find out how well I can do that right now. Then I will ask Cleo to train me in scouting in the forest. I am already pretty good at sneaking around without being seen in the city. I want to see if that helps me outside the city."

Turek considered what I said.

"But…"

"Don't worry, I won't go too far. I just want to find out what I am capable of. I couldn't really do that when I am with everyone. Even if we want to do this later once Cleo and Leana are awake, I would still need to be on my own. Instead of wasting time like that, I thought it was better to use this rest period. Once I leave if you hear anything, just wake up Cleo and Leana. Don't try to fight on your own"

"Yeah… alright. But how long are you going to be leaving for?"

I thought for a bit and said "I shouldn't be gone for too long. I should be back in half an hour. If I find something it might take up to an hour. So start looking for me only after an hour"

"Does that mean we are making our camp here for tonight?"

"Well, if I am back soon we can make the camp on the other side of the mountain instead. If not, we can stay here."

Turek nodded and said "Alright. Just don't go too far. And be careful!"

I nodded and took off. I had decided that scouting the way we were going to take was the best use of my time. This way I could test my capabilities and find out about any dangers that we might encounter.