For hopefully the final time the group called upon their stealth skills and made their way into the bandit camp. With Luke in the lead they crept from building to building, confirming all its occupants were either dead or fled. It didn’t take them long to locate the stable and their horses as well as several additional ones. They saddled them up and led them through the camp one final time, doing a cursory sweep for anything of value.

Luke insisted they take a couple of the better bows, arrows, swords and shields and load them onto one of the extra horses. In addition there was a decent amount of coinage squirreled away in individual tents and then the jackpot in one of the large permanent buildings, where they also found the majority of their possessions. Archie gently suggested raiding the kitchen for any edible supplies before they stopped at the fancy cabin that must have belonged to the leader.

Surprisingly the only thing of potential value there was a fancy bow that Luke immediately claimed as a backup weapon, several stacks of books and papers that Linus packed away for future study and a well detailed map of the surrounding areas. Then they were on their way, following Luke’s directions, towards the long delayed outpost.

The days slowly drifted by as they fell back into their comfortable routine of travel. Starting each morning with a warm breakfast and breaking down their most recent campsite. Pausing around midday for a short, cold lunch. Searching for a new site to settle and any easy prey or edible plants to supplement their meal before making dinner and amiably arguing over who would take which watch shift that night.

While they traveled they also grinded their skills when possible. All three of them kept their stealth skills going the majority of the time, especially while standing watch. Linus leaned on [Plant Lore] to identify any new and interesting plants they encountered and shared [Heal] and [Invigorate] with his companions as needed. He also took plenty of time to continue to explore the limits of [Mana Blades] and [Blood State].

With its latest levels [Mana Blades] could now support up to six blades at a time, though it could be quite unwieldy to have them all summoned while trying to ride his horse, and the parameters had greatly extended. Instead of being limited to the original scalpel sized blade or something similar he was now able to create weapons only slightly smaller than his shortsword. He’d tried making a miniature version of his whip sword but it kept breaking as the flexibility and joints were introduced.

The area across which he could extend [Blood State] had increased and took less concentration. He could convert his arm from the elbow down in only a second or two. Moving it was slowly becoming possible while maintaining its sanguine state; however anything that interfered caused significant pain and often forced the arm to revert back to normal, giving [Minor Regeneration] and [Heal] a workout. It was a relaxing two weeks of travel through the woods before they finally arrived at the outpost.

Over the last few days the forest they had been traveling through had gotten thinner and thinner until it was more sparse trees than actual forest. On the edge of the woods where the trees started to give way to stunted trees and twisted bushes a palisade of weathered wood rose up, enclosing the outpost. The trail they were on led straight to a gate in the wall, sandwiched between two guardtowers.

Arriving at the gate the group found it locked and not a guard in sight. Linus left Archie and Luke to figure it out, dismounting from the horse and walking along the barrier towards the wastelands. Looking out the foliage dropped off rapidly, becoming smaller and twisted, only dotting the landscape as it became practically a desert with huge mountains rising up on the horizon. A harsh, arid breeze blew in, dry and dusty. What a desolate place Linus thought to himself.

Turning back to the fort he took in the walls that had seen better days. Not only were they aged but there were slashes and scrapes most of the way up them. Farm fields stretched around the wall, taking up the space between the outpost and the forest, filled with scraggly crops. Everything he saw seemed tinged with gray and a bit dreary. Reaching down he dug his fingers into the soil and reached out with [Mana Manipulation] feeling the lack of energy normally present in the earth, sensing only a discordant and acrid vibe. Clearly the wastelands wasn’t a misnomer but it felt like more than just a desert, were mana deserts a thing? He hadn’t heard of anything along those lines before but Scholars and Mages were known for their secrecy.

He roamed a bit more along the edges of the wasteland before turning back towards the gate where he’d left Archie and Luke. By the time he made his way back the gates were open and two soldiers were standing on the threshold speaking with his companions.

“Linus meet Laure and Emmett, they both were previously stationed here and will be staying on with us.” Linus, Laure and Emmet exchanged greetings before Linus started to dig in for more information.

“So Laure and Emmett, how many others are staying? My father was very stingy with the details when I got this assignment.”

“It’s going to be a skeleton crew. Typically the fort has between 15 and 20 soldiers and around 5 civilians. All the soldiers left except for us, Galen, Theodore, Sasha and Hanna. We are all usually on scouting duty except for Galen who is higher up in the command structure and has been leading the outpost until you could arrive. We should bring you to him so he can explain everything. Also all the civilians left with the last batch of soldiers so we’re glad you brought a small staff with you.” Linus looked at his companions and once again thanked the fates that Archie was so competent and devoted.

“Very well, hopefully this Galen has some better news. Shall we go see?”

Galen has more information but not much in the way of good news.

“Glad to see my replacement has finally arrived. I’ll give you a tour today and be on my way tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Linus raised an eyebrow, not expecting the ranking soldier to be so ready to hand over the reins. “I didn’t realize you’d be leaving us. I’d hoped you could stay on in an advisory role, help me keep everything running smoothly.”

“Sorry, no can do the military has been expecting me for quite some time. I’ve only stayed this long as a favor to your father to keep this outpost in top shape for your arrival. As a Tier 4 logistics class I’m too valuable to waste out here. Now before I leave let me brief you on the state of things. Laure, Emmet, Theodore, Sasha and Hanna are the only military members that will be staying to support you and your team. All of them have a scout or ranger type class so you can keep a reduced patrol going. In addition each of them has a class that will help keep this place running. Laure has a cooking class, Emmet a carpenter, Theodore a minor healing one, Sasha a metalworking class and Hanna both tailoring and leatherworking classes. None of the civilians stayed once the military started pulling people away.”

“Are we really expected to hold this fort with 8 people? Is anyone a Tier 4?” Linus asked.

“Haha” laughed Galen, “I’m the only Tier 4 at this outpost and I think the only one that’s ever been here. It’s a small, non-strategic fort. All of them are Tier 3 in their scouting class but all are Tier 2 in their support classes except for Laure and Theodore. There’s always demand for healing and food. Not sure if any of them have any other classes but if so they haven’t been added to their military records. As for holding the fort with just 8 people, it shouldn’t be a problem. The wastelands live up to their name, not an ideal approach for any enemy forces to approach through. There’s the occasional monster attack but nothing serious. The palisade should be sufficient protection while you pick off any that bother you.”

“Any other details I should know about? You mentioned Laure has a cooking class, what’s the food situation like?”

“Food situation is stable but dry and boring. Majority of the food gets shipped in and is dried or preserved. The rangers will supplement with game they hunt in the forest and with the small of a group should be enough for everyone. You may have noticed the fields on your way here. We used to have some Farmer classes amongst the civilians but they all have departed. Even with them our harvest was never impressive or even sufficient, it only supplemented our diet with some fresh produce from time to time. The fort was fairly recently restocked and with the skeleton crew you’ll be working with the supplies will last for months. All of the rangers know the town we typically coordinate shipments with for future supply runs.”

Linus grew more and more despondent as this conversation continued. The minimal military support, non-existent civilian support, occasional monster attacks and now dried food? This was not the sort of life he lived.

“Well if that’s all the updates you have for me care to give me a tour before you pack up and leave?” Galen nodded in agreement before standing up.

“Obviously this is my office, which I guess will be yours when I leave. Mainly use it for paperwork and private conversations. Now next door we have the armory if you’ll follow me…”

Linus and Galen worked their way around the outpost in short order. Besides the small but private office there was the armory where spare weapons, armor and other supplies were stored. More of a storage room in Linus’ mind than an armory. Past that was an under equipped, all purpose crafting hall. Across the square was the barrack and living quarters. Thankfully there were plenty of private rooms and bathrooms on the civilian side of the building.

Next door was the mess hall, filled with enough tables and benches to seat everyone when the outpost was fully staffed, with an attached kitchen and pantry. Below the building was a root cellar that had been hollowed out for longer term, cool storage. Conveniently right outside the kitchen was their well.

After touring the buildings they did a loop around the inside of the palisades. An elevated walkway ran the length of the interior, accessible by any of the 8 guard towers that were placed equidistant around the wall. Once that was done Linus thanked Galen and decided to find a room and his companions. He was ready for dinner and an early night.

Stealth has increased (10/20). Minor Regeneration has increased (8/20). Invigorate has increased (12/20). Plant Lore has increased (19/20). Heal has increased (7/20). Blood State has increased (5/10). Mana Blades has increased (7/20). Minor Regeneration has increased (9/20). Stealth has increased (11/20). Blood State has increased (6/10). Mana Blades has increased (8/20). Minor Regeneration has increased (10/20).