Chapter 04 – Darn Beasts

In the dim light of a smithy, Kenjinn is starting to wrap up his latest creation, his best work yet. But he still has lots of room for improvement. As the sword glows with a slight hue of green, he notices its status and is quite shocked it’s a pretty decent sword.

Sword of Growth

Material: Mithril

Special

Auto repair

Increases user’s experience by 150%

Increases user’s skill acquisition rate 100%

Blade rating

A++

Blade damage

A

Durability

2000/2000

Blessing of might

Str +25

Blessing of insight

Int +10

Kenjinn- Eve, lets settle in for the night, we can discuss the data in the morning.

Eve- Yes master.

The following morning while Kenjinn sits down and enjoys a breakfast of fruits & nuts. Kenjinn talks with eve about several issues the data is showing.

Kenjinn- Eve, give me a of were the current population sits, its grown quite a bit in the last 2000 years, I assume.

Eve- yes, master the population of each race has reach into the thousands after the probe Kin helped in fixing many of the races issues by dropping hints or teaching apprentices his knowledge. Kin is responsible for many advancements in city building and technology. These breakthroughs are being spread around to the most remote parts of the continent. This resulted in an explosion of growth and population, He’s revered by the people as a great sage. The population is still running into several issues still, many locations around the continent are seeing an increase in monsters, a lot of unexplored regions are now off limits due to increased monster strength. Numbers seem to be pushing the races into their cities as a means of survival. We should help before it reaches a tipping point.

Kenjinn- What would you suggest, we do eve?

Eve- we have any number of options, we can implement a higher form of beast that will stick to a territory and control the wild beast’s population. This is still a half measure as it will take time for the effects to be felt.

Kenjinn- Alright eve implement that, I also have another Idea as our Armory is full and I still want to create more items. I suggest we have one of the probes pose as a band of wandering merchants and have them sell some of my works in the nearby cities.

Eve- that a great idea master. I’ll configure the probes with a backstory and the skills needed. They will also need protection as to blend in. Can’t have them traveling through monster infested lands without guards that would seem odd.

Kenjinn- Great, pick out some of the C+ & B+ grade weapons. I think having some of the probes drop A to A+ gear in some random monster dens, if adventures can make it in and out they deserve a decent reward.

Eve-Yes master, I’ve started your request it should be finished in a week.

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Several Weeks later, As Balthor and his Caravan are heading to coalition city, they run into a bit of trouble. Balthor Is riding as a passenger on the villages carriage.

Balthor- Stay alert men, we are a few miles from the city, even with the increased patrols its going to be tough going.

As several Carriages and carts move ever closer to the city, they must stay on high alert as they know these carriages are like a tasty treat for monsters or bandits.

Balthor- thinks to his self- We’ve already lost two guards during night patrol. We searched for an hour for remains and found nothing but blood trails, what am I going to tell their family’s we have nothing to bury.

Random scout guard- Sir heavy patrol coming bearing the cities flag, I think we finally will have a break. It seems they are escorting merchants to the city.

Balthor- O, blessed be, this will be a huge help.

As a huge patrol gets closer they start laying out a defensive formation around the carts and carriages.

Random knight- who’s in charge here.

Balthor- I Am, I’m part of break falls village council, this is our third attempt at trying to reach the city this year.

Random knight- this if the forth Caravan we escorted to the city this week and many have similar stories. The city has been sending out patrols and has reduced the number of monsters in the surrounding areas, it would seem we haven’t reached out far enough for the effects to be felt. This is indeed troubling, we can’t seem to put a dent in these bastards.

Balthor- Yeah, we’ve lost 15 men and another 10 heavily injured this year. we are going to have to put up more adventure requests, its bringing our village to ruin.

Random Knight- Yeah, the guilds board is packed full of requests, it’s not going to be cheap. You could always hire a band of mercenaries, a lot of them are putting out contracts for a year period, but they aren’t cheap either, you get more of the veterans this way. We are about 5 miles out from the city, we are on the tail end of our deployment so will be going the whole way with you this time.

Balthor- that’s good to hear, we lost two men already.

Random knight- I’m sorry to hear, it’s been tough for everyone as of late. what goods are you transporting?

Balthor- furs, iron tools, a few bronze accessories and spices and cured meats, we also brought some live stock to sell to.

Random knight- Well, you’re going to be able to get a nice premium for a lot of those goods, as they are in high demand right now. The Army is buying up all iron and mithril armors and weapons. Just sell them through the normal process in the guild and they will be passed along to the different knight’s orders. Hope the qualities are good, we been in dire need for good weapons, our smiths can only turn out so many.

Balthor- our highest goods are rated c-.

Random knight- Well you have a pretty good smith in your village, good enough to give the city smiths a run for their money. (Slaps Balthor on the back) good to hear, good to hear. Alright let’s get these last few miles out of the way.

As the Caravan approaches the city gate, the knight’s scouts start to fan out and confirming the different caravans’ registration, allowing for quicker entry into the city by doing a pre-check. This allows for traders and merchants to have preferential treatment over other visitors.