The carriage moved slowly through the now muddy path as the rain now reduced to a drizzle patted endlessly on its canvas top.
Their progress was made even worse as most of the settlers crammed into the carriage to avoid the rain. The horse was hard pressed but still moved diligently with slow gaits. The rest of them could only walk alongside the carriage.
Rastel was following at the back of the carriage along with Roxanne, Vars and Baluu. They were in charge of keeping watch of the back in case there was any trouble.
According to the old man, although there was a storm, it wouldn't stop berserk beasts from rampaging as most of them had already lost their minds.
Rastel and Vars shivered miserably as the cold wind went through their already cold bodies that was well soaked with rain. Even with his leather armor, Rastel still got drenched.
Vars wasn't any better as his thin tunic left him practically naked against the weather. He hugged his body closely and shivered coldly after letting out a sneeze, he seemed to have already caught a cold.
They eyed their rather dry companions with indignant side glances as they walked without a care in the world.
Roxanne was wearing her long leather coat which also had a large hoodie and she tied it at the middle with a belt. Together with her newly fixed gun at her waist, she looked rather dashing as she walked in the rain.
Baluu who was armed with his heavy club and short sling was humming happily as he walked along. Although his body was large, the straw hat he wore blocked out most of the rain and he was still relatively dry.
His thick body fat was also enough to block out most of the cold.
Rastel and Vars shared a miserable look and in that moment, they seemed to come to some sort of understanding.
They were fellow brothers in misery. And with that shared look, they became a little bit closer.
"Hey what are you guys going to do in Eadon anyway?" Baluu suddenly asked filled with enthusiasm.
Rastel was in too much of a bad mood to match his vibe so he just answered sourly.
"Just passing through"
"Just passing through"
Two voices came out simultaneously.
Rastel turned to look at Roxanne who also looked at him. If it was any other moment, he would have played at jinx but the cold was getting to him.
He was always weak towards cold.
'I need mage robes that have an extra layer of thickness on them, or maybe thicker clothes for such situations. And the robes should definitely have hoodies too, or else It would just be useless.'
He turned to face his front and sulked bitterly.
"What?!" Baluu seemed genuinely disturbed.
"You are just going to enter Eadon and pass through like it's nothing? No... No that can't do. This is Eadon!"
"And what's so special about Eadon?" Rastel muttered bitterly.
"What is so special about Eadon!?" Baluu's incredulity at this question was looking a bit exaggerated to Rastel but he kept quiet.
"Listen to me traveler because its like you know nothing about Kurn."
Baluu's voice took on a dramatic tone as he leaped forward to the front of the group.
Vars snorted to the side but didn't try to stop him.
"Listen closely and I will tell you all you need to know! This is the land of Kurn, the most prosperous walled city in the entire kingdom of Gorm!"
Baluu dramatically introduced before leaning in suspiciously and whispered in a low voice.
"Some people say that the capital, Rord is the best but we all know that's a lie."
He wiggled his eye brows and winked which actually brought out a giggle from Roxanne. She looked well amused.
"And in these lands, there are obviously plenty settlements, villages and towns that occupy this beautiful land but the best among them all are the three towns that surround the vicinity of the walled city of Kurn."
He brought out his club and twirled it skillfully and with a great flourish, pointed it into the distance.
"And the best of them all is the walls of which you see over there, the great town of Eadon!"
Rastel and Roxanne immediately strained their eyes to look towards where he was pointing.
Far into the distance, covered by the now diminishing foliage and light mist created by the rain, they could barely see the blocks that formed a huge wall.
They couldn't see the limits of the wall as their sight was obstructed but it seemed tall enough and the sight of it caused Rastel to sigh with relief inside.
They had finally reached their destination!
Warm clothes! Warm food! Warm bed!
These were three things he needed desperately right now.
"Seems like those are really solid walls." Roxanne commented lightly.
She had actually never been to Kurn before so it was her first time seeing the town also.
"Of course they are! Do you want to know who built them?" Baluu asked eagerly?
Vars turned his face to the side.
"The smithing grandmaster Master Vulcan!" he pointed at Vars.
At this point, Rastel couldn't help but reconsider his previous thoughts on who this Master Vulcan was. The way Baluu gave the name such great respect when he talked about him seemed like he was some powerful influential person.
"Wait, Grandmaster?" To his surprise, Roxanne questioned Baluu again.
She actually looked shocked!
"Wait is the identity of a Grandmaster that great?" he asked Roxanne curiously in a low voice.
But Baluu heard him.
"What do you mean 'Is it so great?' It is absolutely great!" he yelled while waving his club in the air.
"Ever since Master Vulcan came to Eadon about fifty years ago the town has seen great developments! The walls are just one part. Haha! Wait till you see the inside of the town, I bet you would have never seen such a scene in your life!"
Even though Baluu made it sound so great, Rastel who was new to the world of AOM didn't really get it.
Roxanne leaned in and whispered to him while pointing at the walls in the distance.
"Such large solid walls are rare for towns, that is why walled cities are highly regarded."
Rastel nodded a bit in enlightenment.
"And the Grandmaster title?"
Roxanne narrowed her eyes at this.
"If it was another profession or race it might not mean as much but..." she paused for a moment as if thinking of a way to put it to him.
"Remember the dwarven kingdom of Avalan I told you about?" she finally asked and Rastel nodded.
"That kingdom is the superior ruling power of all the dwarves in the entire continent of Evafall. All dwarves, as long as they originate from this continent would have to answer to the ruler of Avalan."
Rastel nodded slowly as she told him this, he was already making guesses in his heart but he wanted her to say it for him to be sure.
"And the only dwarves qualified to rule such a place are grandmasters!"
Even though he saw it coming, Rastel still felt a bang of awe in his mind.
The power to be able to dominate an entire race, such people could naturally not be small fry. No wonder Baluu was so hung up on this Master Vulcan character.
He turned to look at Vars in awe. This young boy was actually the disciple, the only disciple of such a character. It really was something to be impressed about.
If people who were knowledgeable enough knew that Rastel who was a successor to an Immortal was out here praising someone else for having a powerful teacher, they would probably want to smack him to death for acting like an ungrateful hypocrite.
Rastel was just about to make a comment when he noticed Vars suddenly tensed up.
Sensing the alarm in his body movements, he also became alert and whispered in a low voice.
"What is it?"
Vars didn't reply as he was stood quietly and seemed to be straining to catch something.
Roxanne and Baluu had already caught on to the atmosphere and they both stood still while looking around warily with drawn weapons.
The settlers and the cart, unaware of the danger kept moving forward leaving them behind.
"There seems to be something approaching our direction, and fast!" Vars suddenly muttered in great alarm.
He had just half turned to a certain direction when a silent shadow suddenly lunged at the group from behind!
BANG!
The loud sound of a gunshot echoed out and Roxanne's extended arm went back coolly as she looked at the downed creature.
It was a large black wolf which was trembling on the floor with a big hole in its stomach. Although it was dying, it was spasming greatly with crazed eyes as it stared up at them willing to attack.
"A berserk beast?" Baluu said with an ugly expression on his face.
"There are more coming!" Roxanne turned in the direction the first wolf came from and Vars nodded in consent.
Rastel's eyes narrowed as he took out the Immortal's blade and one of his golems and asked solemnly.
"How many of them?"
"From what I can tell, a lot." Vars face looked grave.
"A whole lot."