"You seemed to cause quite a commotion. Guess our small skirmishes riled up the city guard enough." Myo happily remarked.
The group was heading away from the castle walls after escaping the city, disappearing through the trees. Patrols scoured every street and roof guards continued moving around trying to find them.
"Well, you have the sword?" After he asked, Calliope's hand glowed for a brief moment, before the decorated sword appeared on her hand, handing it to Myo.
"I gotta say, you have some great skill in infiltration. Not only that but you managed to get the sword from the leader himself, in his own barracks!" Myo laughed hard, twirling the sword in his hand while they got closer to the home.
"Well, we got the places that have the best books for your team. Heard some chatter that the cathedral hoarded more books, judging by a few wagons I observed near it." He explained.
"We did your task. Where is the map or plan to enter the cathedral?" Calliope asked in a serious tone. Only focused on getting to the cathedral and getting the books.
"I have the plan and map in my home, don't worry. Just head back to that camp of yours, i'll bring it." Myo replied.
Soon, Myo and the group parted ways as they neared his home. The group felt restless and only hoped to rest in the camp again.
"It may be an awkward time leader, but I hope you're not backing out on that promise of food earlier." Quill spoke, tired from walking but still conscious enough to walk.
"Do not worry, I am particular with the deals and promises I make with others. Perhaps tomorrow we may return there." Calliope responded, still staring straight ahead.
"Oh thank you." Quill happily replied.
The trip became more and more exhausting as time went on, but finally, they arrived.
Soon, they all sat around a hastily made campfire, putting their hands near the flames to feel its warmth.
It didn't take much time before the group started talking with one another on different subjects, most though were on the mission. Calliope stayed quiet throughout, staring at the path they entered through.
Colton felt the fear of earlier burn away as he talked with the others.
While they were busy talking, Calliope suddenly stood up and went towards the path.
Myo was approaching them, carrying something in his hand. A rolled up map.
The two met with each other, and after a brief but quiet talk, they shook hands and the two started walking to the campfire.
Calliope walked back to the campfire, rolled map in hand. Everyone turned silent while they looked at her, curious about what was inside.
After the two sat down, she unrolled the map near the fire, trying to get decent light to see its contents.
The group packed up against one another as they tried taking a look.
The map detailed a few floors of the cathedral, like a blueprint it showed the rooms and floors that resided in it. With a few notes on the sides on who could be present there.
From the map Colton could see five floors for the cathedral. But seven floors below it.
"So this is what Myo saw." Calliope commented, impressed by the level of detail.
"You have good cartography." Celestine complimented.
"Thanks, another note. The cathedral is normally heavily defended during the night. But easier in the day, problem is just the bystanders and any roaming guard." He explained.
"Sadly, even in the day, our way in could be harder than normal. The guards react heavily against crimes like this." Myo continued.
They looked at the map silently, only hearing the crackling fire.
"The plan now is climbing to the top and going in from the tower."
"Yup, i'll go with you guys since this cathedral has things we both want." He placed his finger on one of the ground floors of the blueprint.
"Our most likely threats may be the guards that patrol around, probably more than usual. But the area around the bell tower should be empty." He explained.
Calliope stayed quiet as she gathered information from the map.
"Lastly, the underground. I only know the floors and how many rooms there are. But the underground is more dangerous as the majority of cultists go down there most of the time, the only way in is in a room behind the altar and statue area in the middle of the cathedral floor. Other than that, I don't have any more information." He finished explaining.
Now it was Calliope's turn to talk, she stayed silent for a few more seconds before briefing her plan to everyone.
"Our mission here is to scour every floor and find any books we could find while Myo will search for what he needs. Despite being able to disguise ourselves, try to avoid the guards and cultists as much as possible. Killing must be a last resort." After explaining, she placed her hand on the underground floors.
"With the lack of knowledge, it would be best to stick close. Once we collected all the books we could, we shall leave the cathedral. Understood?" Everyone nodded their heads in response.
"If i may," Myo spoke after a moment of silence. "From my observations, the time with the least visitors should be around midday. But it would be best to arrive earlier than that. Once it reaches midway, we meet on the rooftop or near the cathedral walls, depending on the guards in that place." He added.
With nothing left to talk about, Myo stood up and started walking away.
"Best of luck for tomorrow." With that, he departed, disappearing into the night.
Once he was out of sight, Calliope's hand glowed, and a small stack of books appeared in her hands.
"The books we managed to take may prove to be a great help." She opened one of the books and tore off a page.
"This one in particular is concerned with climbing, specifically different climbing methods for soldiers to civilians. Seems to be a training book." She explained. She handed the first page to Colton.
As it lay flat on the palms of his hands, the page started to vanish with a glow. He could feel information suddenly flood into his mind. Climbing gear, climbing speed, methods, and much more being stored into his memory like he already learned them a long time ago.
Calliope began handing out more pages to rest, each one vanishing in their hands.
"I suggest training with them on the trees, they seem tall enough." The group dispersed and headed to the trees.
With the newly gained knowledge, Colton started climbing one of the trees, feeling the information he gained suddenly being put to work as he began using different methods in climbing up.
While the rest already had a hang of climbing, Celestine and Quill were seemingly competing with each other, the knowledge they gained from the books only adding to their skill beforehand as they climbed and jumped from tree to tree with great speed, surprising the others.
The two started taunting each other, climbing higher trees like a competition.
Calliope joined in, testing the knowledge she had received from the book.
After an hour, the group stopped and returned to the campfire, feeling exhaustion tighten its hold on each of them.
As they gained warmth from the fire, Calliope gave her final order for today.
"Rest, tomorrow shall be an exhausting day, and an uncertain one."
After she spoke, everyone dispersed, quickly entering their tents to sleep.
Colton stood outside of his tent to look out at the forest and sky above.
He felt peace and calm, alone with his thoughts while everyone had gone silent.
He started thinking of what he was doing now. The events he had gone through, and the new world he was just suddenly thrown into after Calliope ordered him to go to that portal.
But he set aside his worries and curiosities to simply view the calm environment.
The stars and moon were bright, the cold breeze gave an odd relief to him, and the faint sound of insects and animals from the forest brought nostalgia to his ears.
All reminded him of his time back at home, with his family, in the forest. Just without the irritating smell of the mines and smelters or the choking smoke that came out of them.
He worked most of the time in the mines with only a few moments to take in peaceful moments like this. And even then it would mostly be filled by black smoke. And his sleep would only feel torturous as miners of the night continue their work.
After a few more minutes, he finally went back to his room, settling his weapon just outside the tent. The noises of the forest acted as a soothing white noise to him as his mind relaxed and slumber took hold of him quickly.