Its been six grueling nights since Sil's departure, and through the dusty terrain and sweltering heat he finally saw amongst the horizon what looked to be a change in scenery. "Oh finally, I thought I was gonna turn into jerky and rot in these accursed wastelands, someone save me plee-hee-hease", he moaned out loud while slowly but surely trudging along while dragging a thin branch he snapped off a small tree early into his departure into the wastelands. All the while advancing towards the safe haven in the distance, the unbearable heat was a constant reminder of danger. Sil had learned from his father to drag a weighted object or a stick in order to leave a trail behind him so he can monitor his direction to prevent him from going off course, as it was known to be possible to walk in circles in the desert lands, and the wastelands here were no exception to the rule.
Deserts can become deadly if one is not well equipped to last, so conserving any water as well as rations were a matter of life and death. He heeded his parents advice for survival that he was taught at a young age should the need arise, and he used a rough blanket from his pack as a poncho for him and his pack, secured with twine in order to travel the barren land in some shade. Slowly the earth beneath his feat no longer had the soft padded crunch of sand on a hard surface, but adopted a plain scrunch of a hard and dusty surface that was a lot less pronounced. Sil noticeably stopped feeling as if he burnt the soles of his feet until it was medium-well with every single step he took, giving him some minor relief and a huge boost to his morale.
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The nights in the wastelands were freezing at certain hours, and the days unbearable like the flames of the underworld, but expected. Living in Talreath definitely helped him as he was accustomed to the heat and knew how to bare it well, but even the oasis he called home had a much more forgiving climate. His mother made sure he had a tent and a sleeping sack to help survive the outside elements especially at night, but even with preparation he had to exercise caution. Without any method of transport other than his two feet he knew what he was getting into, and risking his life was a definite factor.
He knew you can manipulate your magic to create a vessel of sorts for travel but he was unsure how to do so or if he was capable of it and never really had the time to practice his magic to build a deep repertoire of spells, magical weapons, enchantments and useful techniques. In fact he had so many blank pages in his grimoire. Survival of any kind heavily relied on mastery of magic for most beings in Sprigladel. He might have a large mana reserve thanks to being a demon. Demons generally had large mana reserves, but that had no correlation of a user's control of their magic and it's power, or just how effectively they could use it. Sil was never able to go all out and test how mighty he truly was.
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His father Ignil was once a revered warrior, yet Sil knew very little nor did he care to find out about his father's past life as a warrior, as it always troubled his father, and he only cared about the man he was as he knew him: kind, powerful, calm, noble, brilliant. Ignil did make it a point to remind Sil that his magic was essential in survival. Knowing it was going to be vital and even more so for this journey wherever it may take him; Sil had set his mind to build upon his magic once he found a more hospitable biome that would let him rest properly and had more abundant resources to do so, and the marshlands was the first stop he figured he'd get a chance to try his hand at honing his skills. Thankfully he had his father's journal in his pack and was instructed by his mother to read through it as it could help him create, learn, or even improve his own magic and skills. It may not seem like it, but his father had a knack for figuring things out of any kind, and these notes can prove useful for Sil's growth.
After what felt like an eternity in a barren lifeless land, the marshlands that were in the horizon soon became larger and easier to see. No longer having doubts that what he saw wasn't some illusion, he pulled out a map from his bag. The outer portions of the drawn geography on the map was faded from where it was kept in a frame and stored away, but every detail in the middle was carefully preserved and vivid. That was all he needed. His father also taught him at a young age to read maps in case he ever needed to help his mother or someone in the Talreath oasis in a time of need where being so far from any outside help could be someone's demise. This is most definitely a time of need.
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"I hope I landed in the right part of the marshes, not all of the water is clean or safe that's for sure, and I don't really have the strength to go looking for too many supplies, I'm feeling tired as it is, though I know I can rest a little if I find a suitable spot. Dad, you better be having my back, I just started this trip, I'm too young to join you right now." Sil reasoned with himself in an attempt to stay hopeful that he would cross some water and perhaps a source of food upon entering the marsh in order to get some needed rest. Beneath his feet , Sil started to notice small patches of grass and even glimpses of algae amongst cave-like boulders the closer he drew to the marsh. And a slight drop of temperature.
He took out and started studying the map and trying to match some of the landscape to get clues of his position. It was a very simplistic approach, but he had no stars in the sky to guide him with his position, but he didn't want to risk damaging the map at night getting fire too close to it so he needed the daylight to keep the map safe for now at least; thankfully he knew a few tricks to help locate himself on a map. To Sil's delight, he recognized a matching geographical pattern and knew exactly where to enter the marshes. It seems it should be fairly easy to find water, although he was unsure if he was going to have to use his rations or if he'd be able to secure some food and save the rations for an emergency. Sil started to look for a landmark indicated on the map in order to get an exact position he can use to then navigate further.
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Sil walked further finally entering the marshlands just a little past noon, eventually getting surrounded by trees that towered overhead. The air grew more humid as he traveled, and sunlight beamed through the treetops and foliage around him bringing a sense of serenity. He wasn't used to seeing so many green plants. They weren't new to him, however the oasis didn't have nearly as much fauna, not even close. He could tell he was about to enter the more swampy and muddy areas of the marshlands, and decided this would be a good point to readdress his location and rest a few minutes before heading directly to the landmark from earlier before nightfall. Nearby were three boulders that he could use to take a seat and another to use as a table. For a small moment he realized how much different this place was. The different bird calls and insect noises he wasn't accustomed to was slightly overwhelming, he couldn't help but smirk. "Now I get why you would leave sometimes dad". Sil took in his surroundings and remembered that he is a stranger in these lands and took his sword from the sheathe and set it leaning on the stone besides him, in case the need should arise.
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"Alright Sil get off your lazy ass, you gotta get moving, you are losing daylight idiot!" he said in a motivated tone. He had already studied the map well and knew the plan of action. Sil analyzed the surrounding trees and looked for the tallest and sturdiest tree to climb up to gain a vantage point in the trees. He saw what he thought was the right one and made sure to look for any animals or possible trouble. He double checked to make sure he packed everything and didn't leave a trace behind. "Gotta make up for lost time Sil, you can rest when you set camp, lets speed this up." Sil's grimoire appeared and flipped through a few pages before stopping while levitating in front of him. With his right hand, Sil tossed his sword in the air high above, keeping his arm raised with palms facing the sky, a summoning circle with ancient text appeared inches away from his hand that shot out a black chain with a dark aura connecting and latching on to the sword. Meanwhile the summoning circle then swallowed his arm up to his shoulder before dispersing, leaving behind the rest of his magical chain wrapped around his arm. A quick pull of the chain brought the sword back to his hand. "I knew this would come in handy, let see if this goes according to plan." Sil was very satisfied with how it felt. It wasn't a new spell, summon, augmentation, or equip magic; it was just rare that he would get to implement that specific magic in that way since there was little use for something like it back home.
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Sil gave the sword some slack with the chain, started swinging it circles, before launching it to a high section of the tree. He pulled himself up with the chains that can magically retract and grow at will and change in length. Sil cleverly used these properties to sling shot himself upwards onto a sturdy branch in order to get a bird-eye view of the marshlands from the tree top and dislodged the sword from the tree trunk. With little difficulty, Sil saw exactly what he needed. North-east of his position he saw a large spire. The map showed it to be in the middle of an opening , acting as an island surrounded by freshwater according to the map's legend. He knew he didn't have much time, he had to arrive there much more before nightfall, and decided to put his chain skills to the test.
Again, he launched his sword to a tree in the distance and propelled himself towards it, but before he got to the tree, he pulled the chain hard to unhook the sword from where it was lodged, and retracted it mid flight, then kicked it to another tree while extending the chain again, then retracted the chain to sling himself to the new target. "Hells yeah! I knew these chains were bad ass as well as useful! I should've asked Uncle for another sword!" He couldn't help but be overjoyed with the outcome. "Alright, maybe I'll get some decent rest tonight!" he said aloud while making his way to the spire with a smile that he couldn't help but to wear on his face. It felt like he had newfound sense of freedom in the air.
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After roughly half an hour he approached the opening in the marshlands and entered the area where the enormous land mass was located. Unlike the rest of the biome, down below wasn't muddy or swamp-like in the slightest. Instead there seemed to be what looked like a narrow stream entering the area, and forming a very small lake around the large land mass, and running off on the other side into the marshlands. Things were looking well for Sil, he was starting to get a bit tired and didn't want to strain himself. He knew his arm wasn't used to this and last thing he needed was an injury this early on in the journey. Besides the narrow stream there looked to be an old camping shelter that could be used for any travelers looking for a safe place from the weather, or to set up camp. Sil left the sword lodged into the tree's trunk and lowered himself down using his chain to reach the ground before pulling once more and retracting the chain and getting a hold of his weapon. The ground was soft, almost muddy, but it had gradient appearance as it changed to a harder grassy surface as he walked towards the camp shelter.
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"Finally, now I can get some real rest, I even avoided swampy and muddy terrain, just my luck." said Sil with some relief. He left his pack down and noticed an intersection of thin dirt routes in between the narrow stream and camp with a post. on the post were a few signs with the names of the routes. "This looks useful... I'm surprised I haven't really seen any signs of usage of this area, must not get traveled often. Explains the shitty upkeep at least, but that might mean there could be a settlement nearby. Too bad it's gonna be dark too soon to check." Sil went back into the shelter to set up his tent, and sleeping sack then prepared a camp fire using his torch.
Thankfully the shelter had some old but very dry wood that he could use from behind the shelter. There was also an old wood cutting axe stuck in a stump there. "I have to make sure I leave some wood for the next weary traveler before I leave the area, its only fair but I might stay here a while". Sil further improved the camp setup and added a large round piece of wood to use as a seat in the meantime, collected some water to boil in a small pot from his pack to have safe drinking water and to cook with as well. Sil had spotted some fish in the narrow stream when he went for water earlier and knew he had a food source for however long he planned on staying, got a small fishing trap and left it to collect fish while he rested.
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"Guess it's time to call it a day, and rest by the fir-", he managed to say before getting cut off by sudden lunge and hiss of a reptile-like creature that resembled a crocodile's body covered with a bone armored face and arms, with two large spikes protruding from it's forehead and it's elbows that serve as a weapon. "Shit I knew it was too good to be true for a first day here!" he yelled out as he sprinted to make some distance. His grimoire revealed itself, returned to the familiar page and and Sil once again summoned his black chains as they flew across the air to bind with his sword a distance away next to the campfire, then bringing the now bound weapon to him. "Bring it on you shit. I'm gonna rip and tear until you're as good as gone as a warning for the rest of the creatures here!" Sil swung his bound sword while holding onto the chain and leapt as high as possible lifting him off the ground about seven feet before launching the chain bound blade towards the beast as hard as he could...