Chapter 120
Wilderness Neutral Zone parallelling Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, Year 2035, Planet: Grimoire
Despite the mishaps and everything else happening on the first journey, Grifton's caravan concluded successfully. As promised, he received the first promotion. The subsequent runs were fortunately less wild and dangerous than the first one.
The second one happened in autumn when the heat wasn't as intense. The temperatures remained stable in the lower elevations. However, in that one, they encountered several monsters.
"Well, damn, I suck at this." Grifton discovered he needed to improve at battling creatures that were magical constructs in nature.
"Go to the back with the healers," Diego yelled.
"Yes, sir," Grifton retreated to safety. "What can I do back here?" He didn't want to be a total hindrance.
"Can you provide boosts, debuffs, and create barriers?" Paul was there with the others.
"Yes, I can combine strengths with others to make multi-layered barriers." Grifton immediately did precisely that, tapping into the energies all around him.
"Oh, thank goodness," Mercy murmured. "I almost lost my hold on the strands of the barrier." She looked immensely relieved when he lent her his strength.
"Now, this is good," Grifton murmured. "I'm useful, not a waste of space." Instead, he provided boosts and debuffs that strengthened the warriors' and guards' abilities, allowing them to fight longer.
"Wow, thanks!" That came from all the guards strung in a thin line that was the only barrier against the monsters that attempted to destroy the wagons.
"No problem, glad I can help," Grifton responded automatically. Thanks to that persistence, they managed to defeat all the monsters successfully. As soon as the creatures were beaten, all but one of the six caravan wagons started to forge ahead on the route to the next portal. They were far from a mountain range, proving somewhat problematic.
"I'm finding out more of what these monsters are doing here than I ever thought possible." Throughout the various encounters, Grifton learned what could be made from all parts of the monsters. "I'm also learning about where half my materials come from." He proved an excellent deconstructionist of corpses. "This is a perfect thing to learn, I believe." Grifton took on that difficult job because it was his way of thanking them for protecting his useless hide during those terrifying fights. "I'm just glad I can do something useful right now."
In the latest fight against an endless wave of monsters, Giles glanced at him when they set the caravans going after another fight and corpse rendering. "Just so you know," He mentioned once everyone settled into their compartments. "it is nice for all of us that you have some things you're not good at."
Anyone else would've been insulted, but Grifton merely shrugged. "I'm too empathic," he muttered. "Honestly, I'm wondering why I can read some of their emotions during the fights." That was an aggravating discovery he'd made at the worst time possible. "It's annoying and distracting."
Giles was silent. "I never thought of them as having emotions." He admitted. "So, what were they unhappy about?"
Grifton rolled his eyes. "They were forced out of their territories in the mountains and forests." He shrugged. "All those vast rockeries and dense brush and forest were their natural habitat." He closed his eyes. "It seems some of them welcomed death because they were being controlled like puppets in addition to having lost both territory and their families."
That observation startled everyone who listened to the conversation. "What a drag," Diego commented. "No wonder you're having a hard time fighting when bombarded with that imagery." He grimaced. "So, were you ever able to glimpse the puppet master?"
Not unless he caught a crapton of sheer dumb luck happening anytime soon and he didn't see that happening. "Not likely right now," Grifton shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, I didn't have that much luck." His shoulders slumped.
The area they would soon approach had all kinds of nests and whatnot of pesky monsters. The only problem Grifton had was that many of the monsters were grieving over lost children. "The closer we get to the rampant forests of Bleak and Creek, I might have some glimpses." He offered something of a hint to them. "Provided they are near the portal." Grifton knew that wouldn't happen, nor did he want to divert from the trail and route laid out for all of them.
He drew the line at doing something reckless, so they'd get merit for defeating an unknown, dangerous puppet master. That was not on Grifton's to-do list of not being an irresponsible fool. It went entirely against any bounds of common sense that he could determine.
Grifton didn't doubt that his companions would be against doing any such thing. "I doubt I'll see anything worthwhile if we don't go near either of those areas." He wasn't surprised when Diego and Giles shook their heads. "That's what I thought, and I'm actually glad we won't be going there."
Grifton shuddered when he mentioned. "I did glimpse hints of bandits ravaging that area before the monsters took over." Those bandits become food supply for starving monsters driven there by some other horribly stronger creature or individual.
That gave Diego and Giles a pause. "So, they're not alive any longer?"
"Nope," Grifton shook his head. "Nor am I inclined to go hunting for any that might've survived the monster takeover of this area." He reassured them.
"That's good cause we're reaching the first portal." Diego shaded his eyes. "So, no problems with the dissonance that comes with the teleportation?"
Grifton shook his head. "Nope, not a problem at all." He confirmed with a faint smile.
That was the last time anyone had time to talk. The caravan members entered a period of frenzied activity, which included three more monster waves before they were able to rest sufficiently in a small cliff outpost called Clancy's Trade and Spade.
When they were able to regain their strength, they headed for the coast posthaste. This time when they reached the headquarters, it was with three days to spare. They'd cut their travel time in half from the first time. That's when Grifton learned the name of the city they were arriving in. It was called Chantilly Port. He smiled. "An interesting name." Grifton shrugged. "I guess I can see why it fits." He watched all the puffy clouds swirling in the sky. Today, the ocean was calm, with small ripples changing colors unceasingly. The froth reminded him of delicate lace with its intricate patterns and bubbles bursting.
Diego laughed at him. "What is your fascination with the ocean?" He shook his head at Grifton.
Grifton shrugged. "Never been to one before, that's all." He was very much aware of how stupid that sounded. "I know others call it a very large lake." A sigh escaped him. "However, to me, it is just fascinating, that's all."
"Hmm," Diego scratched his head. "Let's go meet the others, okay. We should find out whether we'll be staying or leaving soon." His nose wrinkled. "Since we got here earlier than expected, I'm hoping we get some days off to explore."
It's time to explore, huh? That sounded fun to Grifton. "Same here." He also wanted to see how his sisters and brothers and their kids were doing.
They headed to the makeshift headquarters and signed in. They were directed to a conference room where everyone was gathered. The room was unusually quiet, which made Grifton very nervous when he entered with Diego at his side.
"Captain, what is happening?" Diego didn't wait for anyone else to ask.
Their captain glanced at him. "Oh, you two finally made it here." He ignored Diego's question. "We were just planning the route to head home."
Grifton could give up on his notions of exploring or spending time with family. He was disappointed but not surprised.
The captain cleared his throat. "We'll be staying here for one week." He grinned when all of them cheered. "You can explore all you want." His words gratified all of them. "Just remember to return here the night before we depart." That caution made all of them roll their eyes. "Dismissed, get out of here." He shooed them out with flicks of his hands.
"See you in a week," Grifton departed with alacrity. He didn't want the captain changing his mind.
Just as he emerged through the door to step outside. His siblings appeared around the corner.
"Now, we can take you to our quarters," Calico stated cheerfully. "From there, we can go wandering around."
Completely taken aback, Grifton listened to what was said. He smiled faintly. "That sounds wonderful." He'd been going through seesawing emotions. Right, this was the best outcome he could've hoped for.