The elder laughed as the crowd cheered in agreement before raising his hand to silence them. "One last thing before you set off. Beware the group 'The Troll Bandits' and their leader 'The Troll Princess'."
"The next town is the main town of the province, and that is a long ways away. With the Glade of Caves in between the two places, and that is where they have claimed as their territory. They are careful of who they target, so please watch yourself." The elder said as he walked up to Zarue and offered his hand.
Smiling, Zarue shook the old man's hand before giving him a hug. "Thank you village elder," she pulled away and looked at the rest of the village, "thank you all, I have learned so much, and I would not have been able to know as much as I do now if it was not for all of you!" Zarue said with a beaming smile as she walked towards the edge of the village, waving to everyone as she walked out the gates, leaving the entourage of kids waving to her. Hollering good luck, while some cried saying come back soon.
The Glade of Caves was an interesting phenomenon in the land. Hidden deep in the forest, it was discovered by accident by some loggers. Amongst the tall dense trees was this clearing filled with bright green grass and depending on the season, flowers and Ki beasts could be seen roaming about. The most intriguing thing about the glade though was that there was a giant stone in the middle of the glade with a giant crack coming from its base. The gap was so huge that three fully armored knights could stand shoulder to shoulder and still have room to freely move, the height alone in the opening was closely nine meters tall.
Now, the reason for the glade to earn the name Glade of Caves was because inside that protruding rock was a tunnel going deep underground, and every so often the path would split, leading to different caverns, as if all roads lead to that single entry. Many adventurers had delved with mapping explorers only to find more and more caves, but no other entrance to the outside had been found.
However, it had been recorded that the deeper one went, the stronger and denser population of Ki Beasts could be found. Which some found concerning since the actual number of how many were in the caves was unknown. So, the Adventurer's Association, or rather Adventurer's Guild started making monthly requests of groups to go down and check the closest caverns to the surface.
Now, nothing had been out of the ordinary, but, to Zarue, this was a puzzle because if this group of bandits had set up near the Grove of Caves, why had they not been flushed out already. It was obvious that they had been there longer than a month by what the elder had told Zarue. As if on cue with these thoughts, the name came to mind, The Troll Bandits. Now, normal bandits would not want a name like this because it would attract the attention of the guild. Which means that the group had been named this by the guild.
Shaking her head, Zarue pondered more. Trolls? Are they a new type of Ki Beast? I had not read of them in either of my moms books. So, if they are not Ki Beasts, does that make them an actual sentient race? If that was true, where had they come from?
At this final thought a realization came to Zarue's mind.
DUN
They either came from the Grove of Caves, or something drew them to that place, making them a newly encountered species by most. Either from deeper in the forest, or across the mountains, and the only ones who would truly know the answer to that question would be the Royal Family and the higher echelon of nobles and military leaders.
At this thought, a smile of giddiness grew on Zarue's face as a new pep in her step appeared.
I have all those writing materials that my moms gave me, if I can find them, and hopefully learn of them and how they are, that would be an amazing source of knowledge that only she would have! The possibilities were boundless if she could get on friendly terms with them. The only issue being would be how the Royal Family would answer after finding out that knowledge they were withholding for the safety of the people got out.
Eh, maybe just keeping myself as a personal liaison and the knowledge a secret for now would be a good idea. Letting out a giddy giggle, Zarue walked down the path, eagerness and hopefulness for something fun to happen on her lonesome journey. She was not in any hurry to reach the Capitol. Thankfully, she left early for some personal adventures to broaden her horizons.
Thinking back, when she brought that up to her moms, they both squealed with delight when she brought it up. Her taking an interest in exploring the world a little before going to the capitol made them super happy.
Guess my first story to them will be how I encountered this bandit group and the interactions I had with them! Though the path leading towards the main city does skirt by the Glade of Caves, it is still going to be a few days to get there.
Since I will be going that way, guess, I will just hop off the the trail and go straight there.
Giggling to herself, Zarue walked into the woods, heading northwest from the path.
Somewhere nearby.
"Wheres theys go?"
"I don'ts know, we just follows, like ordered."
"Ugh, whatever princess wants me guesses."
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Release: Mon/Wed/Fri
Hey there reader! Thanks for reading this latest chapter! I would appreciate it if you could leave a review on this chapter or on the novel page. Maybe even a power stone if you so choose! These things will help me know how the audience (you) are enjoying my writing and where I need to improve!
Also a heads up! Still deciding on when to create a discord server so it would be easier to talk to me with ideas or writing issues that you may see that I do not!