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Chapter 31: Mapping Things Out

“Are you sure you don’t want to try it?” I asked Erani.

“I am not eating raw meat. And no, I will not try cooking it with Firebolt. That’s disgusting.”

We were in disagreement on that topic.

Our situation was very similar to my experience getting lost in the forest before, really. Hunted by stronger beings, forced to rely on the basic equipment we had with us to survive. I was mentally running myself through that previous experience, remembering all of the things I’d done that kept me alive. We were immediately traveling toward a source of resources – that was good. We were keeping along a trail that would lead us to civilization, so we weren’t lost – that was even better. We were staying out of sight of danger, we were sticking together for safety – this was all good.

I had one worry, though. “We should be trying to Level up.”

“That’s an unnecessary risk,” Erani argued. She’d gotten over most of her shock over the hours we’d walked. That said, I still wasn’t a fan of her over-cautious mindset. “We can’t just seek out monsters to kill when we’re already being hunted. It’ll drain our strength, and the fighting could also draw the Demons’ attention.”

I sighed. “I don’t like being so helpless here. At the very least, I want for us to be able to keep ourselves alive if we get in a fight with the Infernals. Right now, we can’t do that.”

“Then we should focus on not getting caught in the first place. We don’t win by killing them, we win by waiting them out.”

“Yeah, we win by waiting them out, but we can’t guarantee we won’t get caught while we do that. We don’t know how many of them there are, or what methods they have of finding us. We need a backup plan.”

“But we also don’t know how strong they are in the first place. What if they’re so much stronger than us that, even with a couple more Levels, we still don’t stand a chance? Then we’ll have drawn all that attention to ourselves and wasted all that energy for nothing. We need to go to Ordensville and wait it out. That was your original plan, that’s what I agreed to. All we have to do is wait for them to get kicked out by the kingdom. Nothing else.”

I grunted. “Fine, fine. I guess I agree.”

I agreed, but I didn’t like it. We weren’t getting any stronger. Sure, I was practicing Noxious Grasp, but we weren’t hunting monsters, so we weren’t getting any XP. Now, this would all hopefully blow over soon, but it was still uncomfortable to be in a desperate situation like this while not really improving our circumstances at all. That was one of the core tenets I lived by when I was lost before, and it was what kept me alive more than anything else.

Besides, even though I’d suggested it, relying on the kingdom to survive… I didn’t like it. What if they couldn’t beat the Demons? It was unlikely, but possible. Or what if they just decided it wasn’t worth the losses they’d suffer to fight back against the Underworld? I simply wasn’t comfortable letting other people decide my fate. Just sitting back and waiting for others to solve my problems for me. I didn’t like it.

Still, that said, subtlety still felt like the objectively correct choice here. We couldn’t go around blowing shit up and drawing attention to ourselves. So, we kept walking.

Another couple hours passed, and the reality of the situation really started to set in. I was trying to focus as much as I could on putting one foot in front of the other, but being back out here, walking my legs off while hungry and stranded in the woods, it really got into my head.

Even if I did wait this out, would I ever get to go back to a normal life? Why was it happening to me? I knew it was dumb to complain, but couldn’t I have just lived my regular life as a Swordsman? I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

As we walked, a voice called out to us. “Hey! You two youngsters! What’re you doin’ out here?”

I snapped my head over to the road, fearful that we’d been caught. A man driving a horse-drawn carriage had stopped on the road, looking at us. It seemed we’d gotten a bit neglectful in our efforts to hide over the hours, and he’d spotted us.

“Uh, hi, sir,” I called out, stepping onto the road. “We’re just traveling. Same as you, I’d imagine.” I could feel sweat begin to perspire on my forehead.

“I’ve seen a whole bunch of people like you traveling away from Carth,” he said. “What’s goin’ on over there?” He seemed suspicious when he asked that, like he already knew the reason and was just trying to confirm it.

“Well,” I shared a glance with Erani before continuing, “there was a Demon attack. We didn’t stick around for long, but it seemed they were flooding the city and burning everything down. We’re just going to Ordensville to get to safety.”

“Well I’ll be darned,” he said. “It happened in Carth, too?

“Wait,” my eyes widened. “You don’t mean Ordensville–”

“Scum-lickin’ Demons got to it. Whole place destroyed. We’re leaving right now, planned on headin’ to Carth. Darn Demons. Now we gotta find a new place to squat.”

“Shit,” I cursed, and looked at Erani. “Do you think—“

“Hey!” The man driving the carriage interrupted, “watch your language. I got kids in the back here.”

“Uh, yes, sir,” Erani said to him. “Do you know of any safe areas around here?”

“I don’t got any clue. But I know a guy in Artinash, we was talkin’ over Message Paper when it hit, he said they got invaded by Demons, same as us.”

“Artinash?” I asked. “That’s almost a week\'s travel from here. Did they invade the whole gods-damned kingdom?”

“Language, young man!”

“I- sorry, sir.” I turned to Erani again. “C’mon, let’s go. We need to figure shit out.”

The man just glared at me that time, and drove away.

“Do you really think they took over all of Koinkar?” Erani asked me once he was gone.

“I have no idea. But obviously Ordensville isn’t safe.”

“Where do we even go?”

“I don’t know,” I shook my head, trying to think. “…If we just keep traveling from place to place, trying to find a settlement that hasn’t been attacked, and they did invade the whole Kingdom, we’ll end up getting caught. But then, if there are any safe places that the Demons didn’t invade, we definitely want to find them.”

“I think we just camp out and lay low in the wilderness. Maybe we can find someone willing to help us, and they can get us supplies.”

“No, we can’t rely on the generosity of others to survive. What if they rat us out? I’m sure the Demons will provide ample encouragement to tell them any information people might have on us.” I shook my head. “We need to run. To get somewhere. If the Demons found out where we were once, they’ll be able to find where we are again. So we need to stay on the move. But then, if we just move randomly to the nearest towns and villages, we’ll be running right into them.”

“So where do we go?”

I took a breath. “We leave the Kingdom. I don’t care how powerful they are, they wouldn’t be able to invade the entire world. If we leave Koinkar and go to an entirely different territory, there’s no way they’d be there, too.”

“But what if they did invade the whole world? The Koinkar Kingdom, Barinruth Empire, Qarn Kingdom, what if they’re everywhere?”

“Well, if they’ve already taken over the entire world, we’re fucked anyway. We have to play to our outs. If there’s only one thing that can save us, we have to try it with all our might, even if there’s only a chance it’ll work. Because if we just sit around and wait to get caught, we die for sure.”

She sighed. “Okay. But where do we go?”

“We just need to go wherever’s nearest. You know your geography? ‘Cause I don’t have much of a clue what’s where.” It was true. I’d spent a lot of time in libraries researching the System, but that didn’t mean I was well-educated in general. My village didn’t have much of an education program, unlike some of the larger cities and towns.

“Well, the Qarn Kingdom’s our most surefire bet. Straight enough road to get there from here, and it isn’t incredibly far. Considering our travel options, maybe a month to get there?” She chewed her lip. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I really think it’s best to try and wait this out. Maybe the Kingdom can fight them off.”

“No, no,” I shook my head. “To both of those. We absolutely cannot stay here. And a month is just too much time. If you ask me, our situation here in Koinkar can only get worse as time goes on. The Demons’ll stabilize, establish themselves, start sending out coordinated search parties… we have to get out, and as quickly as possible.”

“Well, I don’t know what you want. Qarn is our closest option.”

“Not sure if I agree. I don’t know geography, but I know monster territories. And I know that we sometimes saw Ghouls spread near my village in the winter.”

“Wait, don’t tell me…”

“Kingdom’s Edge is close. Much closer than Qarn. Maybe a week or two until we get there, if we hurry. And if we go through Kingdom’s Edge, that’s a straight pass to the Barinruth Empire.”

“No way. Kingdom’s Edge? Are you insane? That mountain range is entirely too dangerous. You literally just mentioned it – Kingdom’s Edge is entirely infested with Ghouls. It would be completely impossible for us to pass through there, even if Ghouls were the only problem. Are you even aware of the high-Level monsters that live there?”

“If we’re careful, we can make it.”

“Absolutely not! The entire reason we don’t trade with Barinruth is because that mountain range is in the way! Even traders with the strongest security details don’t go near Kingdom’s Edge, much less through it. What makes you think we’d make it?”

“There’s a second part to my plan.” I fished from my pocket the two job pamphlets that the adventuring group had given me back in Carth. They detailed two extermination jobs: one to go and kill a group of Stripeks, and another to clear out a nest of Gray Drakelings. They had detailed directions leading to where the two nests were located. I showed them to her. “Here’s our ticket to a few extra Levels.”

She grabbed the two papers and looked at them. “These say they’re only safe for an adventuring group of at least six wood-degrees. We’re two.”

“All the more reason to do them. The higher-Level the monsters are, the more XP we get.”

“That’s- you can’t actually believe that’s sound logic.”

“Okay,” I laughed, “I was exaggerating a bit, but seriously. Those guidelines are over-cautious, and you know it. If we’re smart, we can take them down no problem, and we’ll be in much better shape to fight any Demons that catch us. And if we can kill the Demons, we’ll only get more XP, and Level up more. It’ll be a cascading effect, and by the time we get to Kingdom’s Edge, it won’t quite be suicide.”

Erani just looked at me skeptically.

“I know it’s shady, and I know we’ll have to be as careful as we can, but it’s the best shot we have. Compared to an army of Demons, a couple Stripeks are nothing. We’re going to have to fight something we shouldn\'t, no matter what, and this is the closest we can get to caution.”

After a moment, she sighed. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this, but fine. I guess that makes sense.”

“Alright,” I smiled. I finally felt more in my comfort zone, killing monsters and getting stronger. “Let’s hunt some Levels.”