Evren and the others arrived at the base of the hill to the Aernide Fortress. The sun had begun to set, and the group was exhausted. Evren told everyone to rest while he kept watch. Nobody had set their tent up, they just put their bedding down and rested in place. Evren wasn't as tired as the others as this type of work is something he had been doing for a long time, and he was used to it now. He had exhausted is magic though. He would occasionally use his sensory field, but for the most part he was just awake and looking around.
They would all have to push the wagon up the hill tomorrow, so Evren had plans to let them sleep the whole night and get rest after he go the wagon to Anbuton. The night was cold, but it was bearable, and the sky was overcast with clouds. As it did most nights when Evren was alone, his mind began to wander towards the things he needs to do.
No, not needs to do; wants to do. Before he got to this planet, he heard about the terrible things the Holy State Grandia had done from Anomaly. But seeing how much hardship he's had to go through just to find someone else speaks of the horrors they committed. He had seen such things before, when he was in the military. Whole civilizations crushed over a belief. He couldn't stand for it then, and he wouldn't stand for it now.
He secretly hopes that when he leaves Aernide Fortress he'll come across some town still alive, and he'll be able to do something against the enemy he hasn't seen yet. He wanted to see the puppets he has said he wants to save. He wants to destroy the device that summoned him here.
It seems he's always been fighting for something. When he was in the military, he was sent to wars, he was sent to rescue, he was sent to exterminate, and he was sent to do so much more. The only time he experienced peace was when he was forced to retire. That still ended in violence.
He had a wife and children, but he had spent so much more time away from them than he had with them. He was deployed to a battle zone when his wife died. He was on a peace keeping mission for his oldest. He was cleaning a bug infested planet for the middle child, and he was forced to attend a military review when his daughter died. He spent twenty years in retirement alone, and that was the only time he felt peace.
Evren sighed and stared out into the night. Why was he doing this? 'Oh, I know,' he thought, 'I'm tired and thinking about stuff I shouldn't think about.'
He picked up a branch and snapped off a twig from it. Using 'heat' he charred one end. On the back of his hand, he drew out his unit insignia. It was dark and yet the black lines stood out and was noticeable. He checked the fire and put some more wood on it. After, he went around checking on the others.
When he got to Walter, he leaned down and moved the blanket out of the way to check on him. Evren smiled and went on to check the others. When he had finished, he reached out with his sensory field to check for danger. The undead were up and walking around, but nothing else seemed to come to this area at night.
When the sun started to come up, his party members started to get up one at a time. They were groggy and still fatigued from pulling the wagon but packed up their bedding and put it into the wagon. A giggle was heard, followed by some laugher. Evren stared off towards the fortress with a small smile on his face.
"Evren, why didn't you wake me up? I could have guarded some." Walter asked.
Without looking at Walter, he said, "I'm used to this. You guys aren't. I need you all well rested to make it up this hill."
"Yeah, but…" Walter started to say.
"Could you make sure everyone is ready to move out in ten minutes?" Evren cut in.
Walter nodded and turned around to check on the group.
Evren heard several people laughing when Walter got over there to check on them. After a few moments he heard, "Oh god damn it, Evren!" Walter yelled.
When Evren turned around to look at Walter, he saw him trying to wipe away the charcoal marks he had made around his eyes last night and tried really hard to not smile.
Evren turned around and got to his place on the wagon behind the pull poles. He said, "Everyone ready? Harley if you would…"
With a bright voice Harley said, "Yes, Mr. Evren!" and cast 'levitate' on the wagon. Evren used telekinesis on the wagon as well and started to pull it up the hill with the others help.
"I'll get you back for this, Evren." He heard Walter say from behind.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Did something happen?" Evren replied.
"You know what you… Ugh! Did I get it all off?" He asked.
Isobel replied with a giggle, "No."
"ARGH!"
They finally arrived at the teleport room after most of the day had passed. After losing ground a few times, Evren and Harley went through the town using 'jet' to melt all the snow and dry out the ground.
Evren said, "Everyone else go through first. I'll follow you through and we'll get this thing into town. I think the meat's all frozen, but we should be able to still process it. Someone get Joseph, Levi and Gallus to help out with getting meat to everyone and properly skinning these things, so the hide isn't ruined."
Harley said, "I got grandpa!"
Isobel quickly replied, "I'll get Levi."
Fletcher said, "Damn it! I guess I'll get the grumpy old man."
They teleported to Anbuton with Walter giving Evren a dirty look. Evren saw them off with a smile. After waiting a few moments, he teleported himself and the wagon to Anbuton. Now that it was on flat, level terrain, Evren could pull the wagon by himself.
When he got to the town center, he stopped the wagon, drawing a crowd around him, everyone staring at the two monstrous beasts in the back of the wagon. Evren grabbed a few strong 'volunteers' to help him with getting the bear off the wagon. It was frozen and cold, making it hard to lift. Evren helped with telekinesis to keep it as light and stable as he could. When they got around to the hog, Levi and Joseph had just arrived.
Evren looked at Levi and said, "I wanted to get back before the carcass froze, but this fella here decided to get itself hunted."
Levi looked at it and asked, "What's that, a boar?"
Evren replied, "Nope, a thunder hog."
Levi was shocked to hear that and bent down for a closer look.
Gallus arrived with Fletcher a few minutes later and took one look at the two carcasses and looked at Evren saying, "Can't do anything with 'em when they're frozen."
Evren looked down at the frozen carcasses, then up to the current and former town smith and said, "Get them in the morning then." Evren shrugged and followed up with, "Either way, I'm going to bed."
Evren grabbed his wagon and took it to the house, parking it outside. He then went inside, got undressed and crawled into his bed, not waking until a few hours after the sun had risen.
He got dressed and headed to the town center while chewing on some jerky. When he arrived, he found that the skins of the two monsters had been removed, and they were now cutting the meat up with saws.
When Gallus saw him, he asked, "Where's the cores?"
"I've got them." Evren said. "I think the bear's is strength, probably lightning for the hog, but I've got a few that I don't know what to do with."
"Should be something in the adventurer's guild that has monsters and their stones in it." Gallus said.
"We looked when we were in town before winter arrived, and a lot of the books in the adventurer's guild were ruined." Evren replied.
Gallus shook his head, "No, the one down here."
Evren looked to Gallus and asked, "Why didn't anyone check that when I asked about books before?"
Gallus shrugged, "Dunno, probably because its been abandoned and boarded up."
Evren looked to Joseph who was overseeing the distribution of meat. He headed over to him to ask about the adventurer's guild and the reply he got was, "Oh yeah. Forgot about that."
"Probably nothing in there but records and guild stuff though." Joseph added.
"Guild stuff, you mean like what monsters might be in the area, and what their cores attributes would be?" Evren asked.
Joseph thought for a moment about what Evren had said, and then back to the time when Evren was looking for books with information about the area and smiled, "Yeah, that sort of stuff. What are you complaining about? At least you know about it now."
Evren shook his head and stared Joseph in the face, "Damn kids these days."
Gallus walked up behind Evren and asked, "What's your plan for the leather?"
Evren turned and said, "Red bear's going to be used for Harley's armor. Levi said he'd make it and Harley wants me to help on that. Thunder hog's going to be used for Fletcher's armor that isn't chain mail. As for the rest, I suppose keep it for now and use it when something comes up."
"Levi can't make no leather armor. He's terrible at it." Gallus complained.
Evren shrugged, "He's better than me with it."
"Useless. Both of you. Have Amelia get her measurements and bring that hide to my place." He said as he turned around heading home.
Evren turned to Levi, who had listened in on the conversation. "Guess the old man's going to make it?"
Levi shrugged, "He's better than me. You could probably learn a lot from him on leatherworking."
Evren looked around but didn't see Amelia anywhere. He asked Joseph if he knew where she was and Joseph said that she hadn't been there all morning, and was probably at home, so Evren headed to her house.
He knocked on the door and Amelia opened it, "Oh Evren. Surprised to see you. What can I do for you?"
Evren said, "It's about Harley's armor. Gallus said he would be making it but needed her measurements for it."
She nodded and grabbed a piece of paper, wrote on it and handed it to Evren. Evren took the paper and turned to leave while glancing at it, then turned back to Amelia with a questioning look. "He'll understand." Was all she said. Evren shrugged and headed outside walking towards Gallus's home.