The next day they left Sandall in a hurry.

Relatively...

Didrik insisted on serving them breakfast first, as he noticed them all waking early. He swept into the kitchen and soon brought out a local dish; which reminded Redd of the cheese plates from home, except this was the carnivorous interpretation. It had Hyde salivating before the dishes even came into sight, with Roldy having to repeatedly force his mouth shut to spare Didrik’s floors from a heavy stream of wolf drool.

Didrik brought out the food with his customary flair. “Courtesy of our suppliers over at the old folks’ home,”

They were presented with plates bearing six different kinds of cold cuts, which their host proceeded to succinctly name for them:

A rosbif that looked heavily spiced on the outside, but freshly pink on the inside.

A smoked turkey with an intense, lingering flavour-profile, which somehow remained light enough to barely do more than brush past your palette, before it made room for the next experience; while giving you a salty aftertaste that made you want a balancing sweet.

Then thin slices of smoked brisket that looked to have been originally brined in a brown sugar base before also being dried and topped off with a powdered, brown–nearly orange, herb marinade.

A wild boar pâté, that had chicken liver- and egg added in the mix, and which rounded out the previous competing flavours beautifully.

He followed all that with a plate of suovas, which wasn’t actually a cold cut, but whose smoky, and slightly gamy flavour profile fit right in. Somehow the smell of the wild treat didn’t reach their noses until right as he pointed to it.

And then a final helping served in a giant heap of nothing but brine-boiled ham, that fell apart as soon as Didrik poked at it, and which drew Hyde’s eyes over like moths to the flame, again and again, despite how the more curious variations of Humans were competing for his nose’s attention.

Didrik snuck the beast a plate of his own, but it was gone in seconds as the mosswolf voraciously devoured his own helping of the ham, just so he could start oggling the main plate meant for everyone at the table, all while Didrik was still talking about what was served; but without missing a beat the man slipped the wolf another plate before there was an incident, which lacked the spicier stuff, and was stacked with doubled up amount of boiled ham to compensate. Evidently it was not Didrik’s first experience with serving magic hunting animals. Beast's like Hyde were notorious for their appetite.

Mmmmmhm. These cattle were well-fed as they grew, hm. Humans. Hah. Such hard-working hedonists. Kalle gave the wolf a look, sensing its amusement now that it was finally sated.

All that was complemented by a simple bread that had been lightly fried in a nutty olive oil, and stacked in a bowl in the middle of their table.

They all anticipated these sorts of luxuries being out of reach very soon, so one and all they went at it; at least most of them did so with proper gusto.

Celeste seemed less than enthused though–despite the variety on display–and she was not entirely alone. Albert apparently preferred eating only bird, and both of the meant-to-be aspirant cousins looked around for options as well, while their [Warrior] Moa just looked distracted and sort of bored.

But Didrik was not about to disappoint: “Thank you for waiting, if anybody prefers these vegetable toppings we’re serving then they’re just about done. I fry them in my new spice mix, you’re all gonna have your sails blown off before I let you go,”

And indeed, the next part of the breakfast was just as extensive. With everything from cornichons and pickled onions to exotic plant dishes none of them could readily identify. But Didrik remained all too happy to provide the details: Grilled caprese, beet nectarines, cheeses, yoghurts both fried and fresh, and something called fried pesto snap peas, and even their familiar kohlrabies, sliced & diced and given character in the spicy, oily pan.

The unrivaled experience kicked them all into high gear; not to mention how it made them all curious of what would be getting served for lunch… But the eagerness to get on the road, to finally start out and begin to explore these northern parts of Doc Forrest, the anticipation prevented any further delay. They only spent an hour after eating to go and get some more of the popular items which the locals liked sticking onto newcomers here in Sandall.

They’d found some interesting stuff last night, including a little ball-shaped pouch with a smelly green powder. Apparently it was filled with a substance that was good for throwing at a commonly occurring, and quite aggressive, termite-hive that was often found in these parts, which apparently contained a version of overgrown and territorial flying termites. Ones who did not take kindly to people approaching their towering constructions, which they were told could grow as tall as trees, while looking a lot like mud spires. In view of the insect threat they also got some antidote for threats like Harold's warrior wasps, and even a more expensive one for some common snakes, just to really cover their bases.

But besides ways of dealing with the local fauna, the one other applicable advice they got was far less welcome–get rid of the loud colours.

They had been travelling all along with the draft-animals dressed up in their finest new [Guild] materials, and even one of their pennants attached to the [Cloche Illuminance Sensor] that they were lugging around. Really it was no wonder they stood out, and maybe got a few crinkled eyebrows thrown their way from villagers along the journey. But hey, Livia had told them by the campfire how that was just the cost of looking beautiful.

Hah. Even Redd had figured that was fair enough, he’d certainly seen his share of envious, crude people. But then again, everyone knew it took some adapting out here to do anything more than struggle to survive, a lesson that goes for every strange region whether inside Doc Forrest or beyond, and twice over for these borderlands where cultures often clashed. Unless you had grown up here, you’d do well to stay on your toes and heed the advise given, even when people were looking to profit. As newly arrived outsiders it was certainly worth hearing them out, now that it was getting high time to actually try and conquer these wilds. This ought to be where where our civilian Classes come in handy, Elin hasn’t failed to spot a bad deal yet, not with Kalle backing her up.

Redd knew his role was to carry a much larger portion of the burden soon, out there. That should be fine. These lands are not at war, and nothing but a larger band would risk an attack on a caravan like ours. Only mindless beasts, I'll be prepared for those. I’ve enjoyed resting my leg. It’s time to get back to levelling. I'll complete the quest at any cost.

[Rare Quest Issued: Deliver your charges to a new, safe home. Reward: Officer Title. Hidden objective available. Reward: Booming Protector - conditional 24-day deadline]

That was not even mentioning their specific chosen colours… Yellow and red? Yeah, that was loud. Kalle for one liked it though. If nobody notices and remembers, then what’s the point of it all? May as well dress in rags and be comfortable by that point.

And certainly, people might scoff in the beginning. But in the long run? They wanted to attract talent, right? You didn't do that by hiding who you were.

Kalle had been back at the tavern Damon’s Goose one night when a drunken fellow started telling him the story of a name that came to fame. He’d told it simply first, and when Kalle failed to recognise it, he got the young [Esperlock] to agree it sounded a bit silly. Then he summoned another young fellow; and this girl had grown up in Dormata’s richer neighbourhoods and recognised the name instantly: Gladly chiming in with how awesome a name it was, and lauding out loud about how many tough missions the man had completed, for the families with interests in the wild, who could afford his services.

Perception was the one difference then, in determing who saw the value in a nickname, since anything too edgy and ambitious would just look silly before you had the proper deeds to attach to your name, or chosen symbol. Still, you might as well lean into it then–especially if your given name already stood out. That way at least you would be remembered, even from your early days once you became worth looking into. Oh, but what was the name of that adventurer he used again? Hrmm. Bellton? No. Yes, that was it, Basilton Hammerhides.

Apparently he’d been a nobody for a few years, then a known steady hand among [Adventurers], then he survived and defeated an encounter that took the rest of his team down, and received the levels such encounters provide–before finally becoming the one-man army he was known as ever after. And during that time he’d found some enchanted hammer. Then gone from Basilton Hides, which wasn’t a very imposing name at all–easily mocked in fact–to Basilton Hammerhides. Hey, if it works out, then it works out.

Point being how Kalle felt secure that future success or failure would be the one key to making their colours have the impact they were hoping for, as people would be recalling their passing if what they built turned noteworthy in the coming months and years, even if they only looked like attention-seekers for now. He was using his [Esper’s Balm] to clock how they were perceived currently, merely in order to have a baseline to work with later.

So, they got some more colour-fitted clothes for themselves too, and they learned to blend in easier in this northern–far less sparse–forest, and so packed away all the [Guild] colours for now. Until that time came to proclaim someplace to be truly theirs, wherever it be that they ended up landing.

Elin, their usually prudent [Accountant], actually pushed for them to splurge a bit on their preparations for once. It looked to Kalle like she was perhaps going to be missing this, constantly having new markets to explore, and traders to haggle with. Hopefully we’ll be coming back stacked to the brim with some exotic resources or even magic items. We do have some unfair advantages, after all.

He was thinking primarily of Livia’s [Quests], which should be getting off cooldown any day now despite how she’d used it back in Dormata a week past on some solo-quest for Redd. But then their new enchanted farming tool, and their variety of uncommon Classes, might both prove crucial as well.

By now it was high time to hit the road for that final stretch, and once they were out there they’d be doing things on their own terms and schedule; in their own ways. Kalle was getting the feeling that Livia intended to push them to work harder than ever, until they could actually feel secure out there.

The first big worry, once there was no longer a road to follow, was really the rough terrain ahead–what with them having to drag their clunky, enchanted farming tool along–their pace was liable to grind to a halt. There’d be decent roads and some smaller farms alongside for the first few days, maybe first week; but well before they approached the distant mountains far to the west, that main road would be turning southward, back to the regions lying directly parallel to Dormata.

That was when their settling expedition would be turning north towards the border.

Even Kalle was getting excited by the prospects ahead; even if money had never felt like a very good motivator to him, it really felt like Livia was out to build something more than a place which simply accumulated wealth. Money was just another resource as far as she was concerned, that much was clear. It’s actually rather reassuring having that in common.

But that excitement lay at the back of his mind; what occupied Kalle’s actual thoughts was the summoning ahead. After all, they were going to need every tool they could get their hands on out there, and his Class was currently crippled. So, to remedy this, the [Esperlock] kept going through the whole process from beginning to end, trying to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. It was just borderline impossible before you knew your actual location, due to all the adjustments that would need to be done on the fly as unknown energies from the environment got drawn into your ritual circle, but all in all he was feeling very optimistic.

He had a sufficient source of power–some decent experience and real-life observations, really well past those of most other [Warlocks] when they conducted their first Daemon summoning–and he had his friends with him for back-up. Prepared as can be, I just have to not fuck this up. From then on, we’ll be two souls, both growing together, even if they'll have some catching up to do.

They said their goodbyes then, to the few friends they’d met in Sandall so far, and Didrik actually left the inn for a minute to go see them off at the gates. Now he was using his incredible hand balance to stand vertical to the ground, with his second hand waving way up in the air.

Lena especially waved back eagerly, she’d ended up talking to the man for quite a while last night while the others all got busy with dredging for information. Apparently she appreciated his late-night version of lecherous hospitality quite a bit, especially once he’d gotten her properly sauced.

Now she was riding off on one of the expedition’s expensive horses, and minutes later they were no more than a speck down the road.

But Didrik stayed there for a while more, smiling a bit and hoping for the best. What a woman, that’s a rare strain. And what was that other feeling? Ah. Yes. They got some levels. They might actually have a decent shot out there. Huhmm. Provided they keep their heads down. I predict no more than two or three bleeding out before the turn of the year. I should see if Balthasar might take me up on that, hah.

The night of rest which Livia had acquiesced to, not to mention the hefty breakfast, both served them well throughout the day as they kept up a steady pace.

By the time night arrived they had passed three large farms that all seemed rather crowded with randomly placed maple trees that should have been cleared out for an optimal yield in Kalle’s experience. It was not like there weren’t plenty more maples over by the proper forestline.

In the end they only waved to the people they passed and kept on going down the road. By the time they finally stopped, they had come upon a lake that had the tiniest mountain Kalle had ever seen on the opposite side. It was surrounded by the first evergreens they had spotted for a couple of days, ever since the maples started taking over, and it was a welcome sight that reminded them of home.

While they ate was when Kalle made his intentions known. “Harold, if you’re up for it I was hoping to have your aid when I conduct my [Summoning Ritual] tonight. I won’t need you until the morning when I’m finished painting the ritual circle, but then it’s experimentation from there. I got a few tips from more experienced [Warlocks], and I’ve found all I need in terms of resources–I’m ready as can be. Oscar, you were there the last time, so feel free to help out too.”

Of course they were both all too willing to help. The results of last time hadn’t paid off for them very much yet, but that it worked at all had shown the potential of Kalle’s Spells if he really started figuring them out. This was the next big step, and they planned to be there for all of them. Whenever he asks.

The rest of them were looking curious, but Kalle had already walked away–muttering–and was clearly already scouting for a good spot to begin painting his circle at. Oscar remembered the more important details of the last one though, so he filled them in. “He’s going to need distance from everyone, and for a period with as little magic interference as possible. Even moving around too much with your latent energies can cause a need for an adjustment, and he’ll be busy enough since it’s a ritual circle several times larger than the last he attempted. But hey, you’ll all get to see the result in the end at least. Or the lack of one. You know, just from a distance if you please.”

And none of them were Casters, so that was fair enough. Although Celeste knew she’d be looking for a tree to climb up so she could get a proper look as soon as she awoke tomorrow, if she wasn’t too curious to get to sleep. That should be fine, as long as I'm at a distance, right?

The rest of them treated it like camping as usual. Then with everyone fed and spread to their designated positions, it was time for bed.

They had agreed on a rotation of sentries who would take turns keeping watch, with Oscar volunteering as the first to go.

Nobody expected any trouble though, predators who would go for such a large party around these areas were more likely to be hunted themselves rather than remain unnoticed for long. If there was one thing you would find plenty of in this region of Doc Forrest, it was certainly [Hunters], and they were all looking to both level and grow rich from enchanted game and furs.

Kalle found a spot that would take minimal effort to clear, and then he got started. Ahead was the sandy beach, and to the left was the darkened forest which had glowed so green in the earlier sun.

The calm of the lake felt almost eerie, but the energies were plentiful here due to the clashing affinities. Certainly richer compared to most of the areas around Salcret.

He would need to make his circle accommodate that, but he’d been practising like a madman, including bringing a sack of Salcret apples from the orchard over, as he practised by the lake in Dormata. In the end he’d been able to do three in one go, and it was over quite the distance considering he was only powering the ritual on his own back then.

The more complicated piece of magic he needed to perform tonight was making the summoning pierce the dimensional veil. For that he needed to concentrate the radius of the energies as evenly as possible across the entire circle and then direct it all through himself and his own perception, rather than focus it in a likely direction as he had been doing with local summonings thus far. This was only made possible due to the runes he had copied from the Mantis clan's work.

Then the next phase would simply be finding the right creature of his amongst all that chaotic energy which they had witnessed through the Rift. He had gotten a very strong impression of his Daemon’s energy signature back then, when his [Prize Familiar] Skill hyper-focused his attention and made it feel like he was standing right next to the creature. He just needed to interpret that impression correctly in his sigil work.

Unfortunately, nobody had been able to tell Kalle if his [Prize Familiar] Skill would help out–or even complicate–the Summoning, but his new connections at the Damon’s Goose had still helped out immensely by sharing their knowledge. They’d all been willing to show him how to write their Daemon’s magical signatures down, and it hadn’t been quite as hard as he’d feared. Not once he got a hang of using the language to the point he was able to to figure out his own signature's signs on his own. Which was perhaps due to his Passive [Ritual Practice], which he’d gotten so little use out of up to that point. Although I’m not above taking a bit of credit myself, I worked hard in there.

He had still needed to figure out the Daemon’s signature from nothing but memory. It had been the challenge of his lifetime.

The beer had actually helped, in the long term. While he kept the amounts modest.

Kalle had ended up getting a curious, half-formed idea midway and ended up having to ask, just to satisfy his curiosity. “Won’t I be able to summon all your Daemon’s to my side now, once I’ve got the hang of this?”

They roared with laughter, then the bartender Alban went: “Alright, who had theirs at 2 hours in?”

Apparently it was a question every young [Warlock] asked. Because who wouldn’t? When seeing all those powerful Daemons frolicking, and knowing you suddenly had their calling card for your summoning Spell. Heck, even if it was hostile and attacked the young [Warlock] summoner too, it still might end up useful in the middle of an ongoing fight. In the right pinch a quick summoning might well allow a desperate Caster to get away, whether the summoned Daemon was friendly or no.

But as it turns out it was more complicated than that; a [Warlock] and their familiar had a direct magical bond. They were separate, but the same to an extent as well, as far as Spells were concerned at least.

And if you wanted to nail down the [Warlocks] signature too, in order to summon them both: Then good luck to ya. Apparently the lowest level Caster to ever do it had still been above level 40, and then only managed it on a friendly, nonresisting target. Apparently it was not a static thing, not when you were dealing with active sentients acting in synchronicity while constantly levelling and activating Spell matrixes.

Yes. Those Summonings were a dead end... For now. But all in all Kalle was feeling very well-prepared.

As long as he accounted for these three components correctly in his ritual circle–Location, direction and target–and as long as he did not forget to put his magicore at the ritual’s focal point; then he just needed to stay vigilant for any complications that might occur once he activated the circle's function, and that was something even level 1 [Warlocks] managed, usually… Albeit often with some damage done to the summoned creature.

Kalle was decently sure it wouldn’t come to that. He was level 11 already, and he was feeling like tonight’s preparatory process might push him to 12. Although he’d be going ahead in either case; one level would not make that large a difference, since he wouldn’t be relying as much on his own mana pool this time around, not with such a large raw magicore and rich environment available to power the ritual. I’ll take anything I can get, but I’ve prepared long enough.

It ended up taking him all night, with each part stretching into three hours. By the time he was feeling confident there were no mistakes, he noticed how the camp was already awake, yet kind enough not to have disturbed him at his work.

It looked like they’d all be getting delayed in order to progress the Class of a single member, yet again. But they all looked excited for his sake, and Kalle was far too invested in success by this point to let it concern him had they not. He’d think about apologising for this only if it failed, a possibility he pointedly ignored. He would have his answer soon.

This was going to take an hour more, tops. And if he collapsed from exhaustion after that, then they could tie him to one of the horses and let him get dragged along to the next camping site. I’m doing this, right now. This is getting finished today.

Kalle would have tried this weeks ago if he hadn’t learned his lesson about rushing things, from trying too hard to keep up with Harold back in Salcret. But now he could think of no more ways to be better prepared than this, no feasible ones in the short-term anyway. He’d felt the tension building for a month, and Kalle knew he couldn’t take it much longer.

To prepare his mind the [Esperlock] went and sat to meditate and relax. He knew there was no risk of tiredness hitting any time soon; his whole body was practically trilling in excitement.

When he opened his eyes, it was to a very welcome sight hovering above the placid lake.

[Power gained - level 12: Esperlock]

Perfect.

Now it felt like every piece was falling into place.

“Are you ready?”

It was one of those times when he heard the words but didn’t realise he was the one who had said them. He’d certainly meant to think them, to himself. But some subconscious part of his mind must have recalled to make sure of Roldy and Oscar as well.

They both gave him nods, and even Algernon and Celeste and the rest were watching carefully, some from up in a tree.

It was time.

When he activated the Spell, and felt the power surging through his painstakingly painted ritual circle it felt as if he was hopping onto a wildly bucking animal: Except he had ten sets of magic hands and sets of reins to use and take control.

He guided the force, and made it hit certain points along his circle to gather more energy and amass further momentum, as the pattern of sigils filled and filled with an azure energy: Until it all came full circle and bled together, that was when he could no longer hold on, he had to unleash it all—

His mind searched and searched for that hidden fold in reality which his sigils were designed to make manifest; just as he’d copied them from the ritual of the Hives. It had worked already with the energy sigils, and the radius portion. This was the final part that was untested; and after this he was in unexplored lands.

Possibly hostile.

So far Kalle had been searching for the dimensional fold inside of his circle, having assumed the sigils he used were focused above the locus–instead he found it far further out. Several metres outside it in fact; but once he located it, Kalle's guidance allowed all of the magical energy to finally be released at full blast, its complicated form at last finding a path forward, leading to the next phase in the search for their elusive target.

The onlookers only saw the energy go a dozen metres out over the lake before the azure beam seemed to abruptly end; but Kalle saw it go much further. His consciousness was one with the Spell at this point, and the energies of his ritual circle were spilling over and being wasted; with Oscar attempting to use his enchanted shield to direct some of it back, and Harold doing the same by using his [Spellguard of Eden] to block off the energies spurting in his direction.

It was a miniscule factor, but they all knew every last portion of energy could end up proving vital for the final result.

Kalle felt like he had vision inside of the non-manifested Rift which his Spell was poking through, but the locator-sigils did not seem to be working perfectly; it felt like it only brought him to the right area, but he could not see a single Daemon. At least not immediately. It was a very strange place–distances did not quite add up, and energies were visibly mixing, creating volatile results all around–although nothing was so full of purpose as his own Spell. After a while he got a little more used to it, and then he spotted something in the distance.

When he got closer it looked like an island without a sea almost, as if the silhouette of one had manifested at least, and on top of it was a large gaping wound leading straight down into the huge shape.

Kalle looked around and tried to see if any Daemons were about, but it seemed like there was nothing. So he decided to move closer, to the only interesting thing he’d found so far, that was not gone within seconds. He was performing a casual inspection of the wound, when he suddenly felt it: A faint echo of that energy he’d been familiarised with back at the ritual fields.

The wound suddenly slit open as if there had been a thin, invisible membrane over it–then the young [Warlock]’s mind saw a blue hand reach through and grab onto the edge, and it looked so strangely familiar.

“Yiiiiiiiip, it’s really you!”

What he saw next was an overtly recognizable face and a set of outstretched arms being propelled by a little body, coming straight at him by jumping from the giant creature it had been hiding inside.

Upon contact Kalle felt the Spell drain and his vision went black.