Operation three prong part 1. [Day 13]

I rise early the next day to make sure everything is prepared. I have packed my backpack with some emergency food and clothing. I have my sword which I have sharpened and made sure is clean. Rex and Freya have gotten their daily belly rubs and head pats and we are now waiting for Liko to be ready.

The guards' squads came early and have lefts with their respected guides. My journey should take around five days total. Two there, one fighting, two back. Valret will take nine days as he is going to Nilahr so four there, one fighting, four back. The other guard squad heading to Alor will take seven days, three there, one fighting, three back. If everything goes to plan, we should all be back by Day 22.

Whilst I have been thinking about this Liko has finished her breakfast and is now outside with me.

Liko: "I am ready Lothran and thank you for letting me stay in your house. It was quite lovely."

Me: "The pleasure is mine; the house is normally empty, so it is nice to have some people fill it. Shall we head on our way?"

Liko: "Yes we should, then let me lead the way."

And so, our walk began.

We are not following the river and are heading straight into the woodlands to the east of the village. Liko is more experienced in these woods than me, so I am confident that we won't get lost.

Me: "Liko as we get further to your village what are the monsters around like."

Liko: "Typically we get wolves, horned rabbit, the occasional Zar but if we encounter one of those we run for our lives. Most of the time it is Stag and Zirn as we often have large herds of them around."

Me: "Alright then we should be clear for most of the journey."

Liko: "I think so, most of the time that I have been in the forest around the village it has been fine. Typically, the more evolved animals leave areas likes these as the EXP they gain from other monsters is so low that it is not worth it to stay."

Me: "Then how does the population stay up for lower monsters?"

Liko: "Not every animal will want to level up and evolve, some are content to live like they are now. But more of the case is that reproduction of animals is completely random even if two Rank A monster mate they will not produce and A rank offspring monster. First, the monster will be in a state of None rank then after than they might have the chance to evolve into a higher rank like straight to A or they might not and only rank up to G. If they become a low Rank, they will often leave the area they live and migrate to lower rank areas so that they can get stronger and then re-join back with their family at the higher area. If they survive of course. There is also the creating of new races as well when two races mate there is a chance, they could create something new if they are compatible or the child might be a mix of the two are just one of them."

Me: "Is see. How interesting."

Liko: "Yep, I love this kind of stuff it is so interesting to find all of these new things. I can't help myself. Oh, um sorry if this bores you, most people get bored quickly when I talk about this kind of thing. Sorry. "

Me: "No don't be sorry, I also find this stuff interesting, and I get what you mean when people get disinterested. I used to get it all the time."

She then looks towards me and smiles.

Liko: "um, thank you. I think."

I smile back. I kind of like her awkwardness, it is something new.

Me: "we might also want to talk about the bandits. How many are there that I am dealing with and how strong are they."

Liko: "Well the main group is three women who run the place. The three of them are E- rank last time I saw them. Two use a sword and shield and the boss uses a whip. For the outer bandits, there is only ten of them who myself and some of my friends will deal with whilst you attack the main boss."

Me: "This might be tricky, three E-. They don't have classes do they."

Liko: "No they don't, no one around this area will have classes, you have to be lucky around here to find a craftsman good enough to create an uncommon weapon for you. But the bandits do have the skills and they are reasonably skilled at them from what I have seen of them."

I am getting less confident about taking on these bandits now.

Me: "Is there anything else you can tell me about these bandits?"

Liko: "Not that I can think of sorry. I don't have much interaction with them other than they are Gilla."

Me: "Don't believe that I have ever met a Gilla before."

Liko: "Ah, you will have to wait for the village to get an identification on them."

Me: "Once we get to the village, we are going to need to form a better plan. I can do that once I get a look at the village as hopefully, I will be able to spot a weakness of their defences which will help us fight them."

Liko: "I just want them to be gone they are causing more harm to people and with the demons so close the faster we get rid of them the better the chance that we survive the demons and fewer people die."

Me: "Then let's get it done."

So, on we went finding the occasional Horned Rabbit that we had to fight as they did not want to leave us alone. We also found a pair of wolves, but they left us alone as they seemed to just come back from a hunt and were taking back their food to wherever they came from.

It was coming to the end of the first day and we were going to find a place to camp out and sleep. We did not have tents so we would be sleeping out in the woods. One of us would be keeping watch whilst the other slept and then rotate. This is where facing fur came into an advantage as we could keep warm even in the cold of the night.

But just as the sun was setting, and we were about to settle down to camp we found a little open area where we found a large group of Stag and Liko was not lying about the size. There were at least 50 of them in a massive group.

With the red sunset falling over the trees, the slight breeze tickling the face, the new smell of fresh lavender being carried by the wind. It was a beautiful way to end the day.