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Vol. 5 - Journey - Chapter 32
🕑 Added 2019-08-20 23:39:15 +0000 UTCBefore their journey could continue tomorrow though, Thomas needed to do a few things. He needed ammo for his new Spell Cannon. A single Fire Arrow shell was not going to cut it in a fight. Together they returned to their inn, had dinner, and locked themselves in their room. Snowlily climbed up on the bed and lay down to relax. Thomas sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out his empty shells and the mana crystal cubes he had remaining. He wasn't sure how many fully finished shells he would be capable of making but he wanted to get at least one made for each of the primary four elements.
First, he needed to know exactly how many shells he would have to work with. The process was exceedingly simple. All he had to do was use his transmutation to reshape the mana crystal cubes into the shells and fill them most of the way. Once they were filled he reshaped the end to seal the mana crystal inside permanently. When he ran out of mana crystal he only managed to fill six new shells. It would have to do until he could get his hands on more mana crystals. Hopefully, the port city he was heading to would have a nice dungeon he could raid. He'd also keep an eye out for a horde he could blast to bits on the way there.
He dismissed the extra thoughts and got out his enchanting tools. He pulled the last few mana crystals he had out of his inventory. All but the one with them anyway. The one he left alone was the one purified from the lich boss with the small golden core in its center. He'd straight up forgotten to ask Rockbeard about it. Then again maybe that was a good thing considering how much he'd freaked the poor dwarf out already. He had a suspicion that the golden core inside of the mana crystal was something special that would cause yet another uproar if it got out in public. For now, it would stay buried away in his inventory.
He picked up the first shell and took a moment to decide what he would be enchanting on it. He chose wind first and made an enchantment that would fire a single powerful blade of wind to cut his targets. The next shell was enchanted with the earth element and would fire a spray of sharp rocks, similar to buckshot from a shotgun. For the third shell, it was a highly compressed ball of water that would explode on impact with anything. He set the shells down, adding the fire arrow shell to them, and smiled. Four shells, four elements. They didn't look impressive or powerful and that would work to his advantage.
With the four main elements covered, if not tested, he started to work on creating shells until he ran completely out of materials to continue enchanting. When he was done all six of the shells he'd managed to fill were enchanted. The last two being a flamethrower for close range and a 'wind buckshot' that would fire a multitude of small wind blades to dice targets. He had ideas for a few more shells but simply didn't have the materials to make them. Since he couldn't continue his work he spent the time recharging his Spell Cannon, the fire arrow shell, and filling the new shells. It left him drained of the majority of his mana but now he was loaded for demon bear.
He slept well that night despite his excitement to be back on the road... river in the morning.
After a nice breakfast, Thomas and Snowlily made their way to the southern side of the city where there was a small dock with some two-man fishing boats and a few small rowboats. It wasn't a very large river so the boats traversing it near the city were rather small. The largest one wasn't any bigger than ten meters long. It took a little asking around but he found a kindly older gentleman that was willing to sell his small rowboat to Thomas. After discussing a bit they settled on twelve hundred gold for the boat. Thomas felt like it was a rip-off but the man was old so he counted it as a good deed to contribute to the man's retirement funds.
The boat was a simple wooden boat that was in good condition but showed its age. It didn't matter, it just needed to make it down the river. Once he arrived at his destination he would either sell or ditch the boat. He released the boat from its mooring and climbed in. Snowlily stood on the dock looking down at him with a look he could only translate as 'seriously?'. He laughed and pat the bench seat in front of him, "Come on. It's only for today."
Snowlily huffed but stepped off of the dock into the rowboat. She nearly panicked as the boat wobbled as her weight shifted it. Thomas laughed until she settled down. She made sure to lay down so she wouldn't shift her position very much. Thomas turned around and retrieved the outboard motor to install it on the back of the small boat. Once it was locked in place on the stern of the boat, he gripped the handle and channeled a slow flow of mana into it. The propeller began to spin and slowly push the boat forward. When he turned and looked at Snowlily he saw her claws digging into the wooden bench to grip tightly and hold herself in place.
He slowly made his way down the river while humming a sea shanty he knew the tune, though not the words, too. He kept his speed rather tame while he was near the city and there was other traffic around. He didn't want to lose control and accidentally ram someone else's boat. As he moved through the water he glanced over to the riverside and let out a deep sigh. There was a distinctly recognizable red-head jogging along the bank of the river in plain sight of him. Lexiana was following him down the river in plain sight and making no effort at all to hide it. She even had the nerve to cheerfully wave at them when she saw Thomas looking in her direction.
Thomas almost admired her dedication and the audacity of following him so obviously. It didn't last long though. Once he was clear of the other boats on the river his mana came pouring out and into the outboard motor. The propeller roared as the boat suddenly accelerated to a blistering speed. He looked over to the river's edge and activated his 'All Seeing Eyes' to get a nice close look at Leixana's face. He laughed when he saw the look of annoyance she had as she was forced to start running faster to keep up with him. Snowlily looked like she was grinning happily as they maintained their speed and forced Lexiana to keep up with them.
To her credit, Lexiana managed to maintain pace with them for over an hour. Thomas and Snowlily had the privilege of watching Lexiana go from confidently following them with a smile on her face to panting and sweating as she struggled to keep up. There was a shit-eating grin plastered on Thomas's face as he continued to channel mana into the outboard motor and put more and more distance between them and Lexiana. As she was fading into the distance he heard her trying to shout something but he had no clue what she was trying to say and didn't care enough to try to understand.
He continued to power the outboard motor and glide down the river putting Bilri and Lexiana further and further behind him. Aside from the sound of the motor and the rowboat cutting through the water, it was a quiet and enjoyable ride. Thanks to the efficiency of the purified mana crystals and his lord class mana pool, Thomas was capable of powering the motor non-stop until just before lunchtime. He'd just come around a long curve in the river and could see the city of Gar in the distance. Instead of trying to make his way to the city he pulled the boat into the riverbank and dragged it up onto land.
Together the two of them gathered firewood so that Thomas could cook them lunch. Seeing Snowlily with a diamond-like collar carrying a stick in her mouth was a funny sight. Though his laughing earned him a playful bite on the ass the next time he bent over. Thomas yelped and then glared at her while she pranced away looking smug at getting her revenge. He shook his head, laughed, and went back to collecting wood. Once they had enough gathered he went about making their lunch. It'd been a while since he'd used his camp gear to cook and he enjoyed it.
Their lunch was comprised of orc chops seasoned with a little salt and pepper grilled over an open flame. They both enjoyed the sights and smells of the meat as it cooked. The sound of sizzling fat dropping into the flames made the two of them drool. Thomas even went so far as to activate his 'All Seeing Eyes' to watch the meat cook even more closely. His visual acuity allowed him to see the meat changing color. Once the exterior of the orc meat was golden brown and slightly crispy he pulled the chops off of the grill and set them on plates. Snowlily immediately started to dig into hers despite the temperature of the meat. Thomas dropped some orc belly on the grill before he started to dig into his own meat.
The super fresh just grilled to perfection orc meat practically melted on his tongue and sent shivers down his spine as he dined. Snowlily seemed to be enjoying the meat almost as much as he was. He couldn't tell if she found monster meat as delicious as he did but she was definitely enjoying what he had cooked. She finished her orc chop in no time and stared at the cooking orc belly with her tail wagging as if demanding that it cook faster. Together, the two of them enjoyed their orc chops and strips of orc belly until they were full.
While Snowlily dozed to digest, Thomas closed his eyes and used Serenity to increase his mana recovery rate while he relaxed to digest as well. Together, under a tree, the two of them dozed while sunlight filtered down through the leaves of the trees. Peace and serenity washed over them as the breeze blew and birds sang songs. Without any intention of doing so the two of them were lulled to sleep.
After a few hours passed, Thomas jerked awake and looked around in confusion for a moment. The fire had long gone out and Snowlily was laying next to him and snoring rather adorably. Thomas sighed at the wasted time and gently nudged Snowlily to wake her up, "We need to get moving. That crazy red-head might catch up!"
That sentence caused Snowlily to jerk awake immediately and dash into the boat. Seeing her quick reaction made Thomas laugh while he was packing up the camping grill. He made sure there were no embers at all by dousing the remaining ash with a quick water spell. Once the site was all cleaned up he pushed the boat back into the water and climbed aboard. He looked at the sky and felt like it was around four or so in the afternoon. They could travel until the sky started to darken.
The boat accelerated and moved down the river at a fair clip. The two of them looked to their left as they passed the city of Gar. If they hadn't fallen asleep they would have passed it hours ago. Thomas channeled extra mana into the motor to increase the speed and lower the amount of time he could travel. He kept his mana pumping out into the motor for several hours as they flew down the river at a decent clip. Snowlily clung to the bench she was laying on and kept her eyes closed the entire time. It was pretty obvious that she did not enjoy riding in the makeshift speedboat down the river.
They kept the pace up for several hours until the sun started to go down. Thomas checked the surroundings with his 'All Seeing Eyes' and smiled when he saw lights in the distance with his magnified vision. If the map he had was accurate then the city in the distance should be Djudavik. It was still several kilometers away but that still meant that he had traveled at least a hundred kilometers today. He felt that it was a pretty impressive feat. Sure he could run at high speeds that exceeded a hundred kilometers an hour, but he could only do it for a few kilometers before becoming exhausted.
As the sun started to set he pulled off to the riverbank once again and pulled the boat up onto the shore. They would camp here tonight and arrive at the city tomorrow morning. From there it would be back to traveling by land straight to Utstad. The camp was set up quickly with another delicious fresh orc dinner. With his alarm poles set and his tent ready for use, the two of them crawled into bed and lay down to get some sleep. Just another two or three days and they would be on the ocean heading for the other continent.
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