Azimuth: The Elden Throne

.

.

.

--------------

[Quest complete!]

[Pink Snakeskin x1

2%*2=4% XP]

"Good, one less thing to worry about... Oh... They're calling me."

"Guess my little time off is over, please excuse me, and good luck to you three." Edimund said as he turned around

After the snake was dealt with, Edimund went back to his duty as it called for him.

He had a lot to do, be it helping the others taking care of the cattle or making sure other creatures such as the snake were kept far away from the crops.

"Okay, now that were are done with that matter... It's time to proceed." Testros said as he started walking

He stopped momentarily to look at Dale, saying:

"But first, Dale, you can now leave the flag holder behind."

"It wouldn't be wise to bring such a thing..."

/Thud!/

Without a single shred of hesitation, Dale stuck the spear onto the ground, causing the ground to tremble and a lot of insects to scatter away, hopping in the grass.

"I feel much better now…" He said with a small smile as he raised his head to look at the open sky

He stretched his arms and even jumped a few times, feeling as if he was on the verge of becoming a bird due to how light he felt.

Albeit there being a lot going on in the background, Resko had the ideal atmosphere to go to the beach, that of a sunny day...

If only there was a place or time to enjoy such a beautiful day...

"Enough of that, focus."

"I imagine you brought your spear with you?" He asked as he rolled his eyes

"Yes, I did. I wouldn't go to an expedition without proper gear..."

Dale opened his inventory and took out his dark iron spear, resting it on his shoulders.

Compared to the flag holder, this one felt as light as a feather…

Neither of them questioned his actions, they were already aware of his pocket space to some extent, and they wouldn't pry much.

"Okay, everything's in order..."

"So from now on, we'll start our wilderness training, pay attention, and don't stray too far from us."

With a nod, Dale followed behind the two old men with his dark spear on his shoulder…

It was time to experience the world outside the Village.

…

/At the same time back in the village…/

Back in the alchemist shop…

"Um… Mn… Hm?"

Yumi slowly opened her eyes as she tried her best to lift her body, finding it all too heavy...

She was severely weakened, and that scared her.

"Are you up?"

"Huh?... I..."

"Now now, there is no need to be hasty." Tina said as she helped Yumi sit on the bed

"When did I…"

'I was... Yes... I drank the Elixir and then... A bath...'

"A few minutes after you got into the bathtub." She said with a smile

"Oh no… I'm so sorry."

'How embarrassing... Even if I were tired, I should've held on a bit longer...'

'Instead, I had her dry me up and put me to bed... Sigh.'

But Tina simply gave her a head pat and replied:

"There is no need to apologize for such a minor thing, instead, why don't you take a look at this?" She asked Yumi as she gave her a hand mirror

She had a large smile on her face as she did so.

"This is!... I…"

'This is me?...'

As she saw her reflection, her rosy face, and her shiny and glossy hair… She couldn't help but recoil in shock.

There were no more signs of her own neglect towards her body anymore.

She couldn't help but remember the past when she used to be pampered by her father.

And unconsciously, a small tear fell from one of her eyes.

"Now now, it's okay child." Tina said as she hugged Yumi

...

The two remained like that for a minute before Tina said as she patted her head:

"The Elixir worked perfectly, all of your bodily problems have been fixed but…"

/GROWL!/

Yumi's stomach suddenly thundered, making her face go red.

Tina smiled, expecting this to happen.

"Despite your change, your body is still extremely frail if not weaker than before. The nutrients necessary for this change were present in the Elixir, but not all."

"So for the next few days, there won't be any heavy exercise, and you'll have to eat at least 3 meals a day to make up for the lost mass."

"It'll take some time for the Elixir's effects to disperse, so we ought to make use of it."

"But… 3 meals is a bit…"

'I know the situation is dire, only young children eat 3 meals a day, I couldn't bear to take the privilege.'

"No buts, it has already been decided, you need to fatten up a bit." Tina said as she got up from her chair

"I'll bring up your first meal, something light for starters, so make sure to rest a bit more…"

But before she left the room she said:

"If you want to be useful and repay us, at least make sure you can properly walk around and smile first."

/Clack…/

She closed the door, leaving Yumi alone.

"..."

'Useful huh...'

She looked at a table next to her bed, filled to the brim with alchemical items and tools, those were the things she was using prior to her transformation…

'She's right, I can't be useful to anyone if I can't even move...'

"But I can't help but feel... Useless."

She closed her eyes and rested her head on the bed, deciding to relax for the first time in a long while.

…

/Around 4 hours later in the forest…/

"Dale? Are you paying attention? I'll only repeat myself once." Testros asked as he crouched on the ground, drawing something on the thin sand

"Yes sir!"

"Good, then, as I was saying, we usually leave this sort of marking to tell..."

"..."

Dale focused his gaze on Testros actions, just as he had been doing for the last few hours.

During these last 4 hours, Dale learned a lot about how to maneuver and act in the forest and how to use his environment to detect threats and communicate with others.

From its innumerable dangers... To its more fascinating aspects.

He first learned how to collect herbs:

"See this plant? It's extremely venomous, but it's pretty useful as an alchemical product, to collect it, you just need to dig a bit and pull…" Testros said as he crouched near the base of a three

"We usually leave its roots behind... See these white spots? Cut them and leave them behind... Yes, exactly, if you cut them into several pieces and scatter them throughout the trees, we can guarantee it'll eventually grow for us."

He learned how to avoid and prevent ambushes:

"Be careful of those vines, oftentimes there's a 'Vessel Snake' living in them, very very venomous… Look, there's one right there." Misgurd mentioned as he pointed at a tree

/Yoink!/

Misgurd grabbed the perfectly green and smooth snake as if it was a toy, the snake like all others was held by its head, rendering it useless.

"I don't normally hunt it due to the little fat it has, but since Yumi's back..."

"Don't give her too much work, just leave the snake alone." Testros replied as he shook his head

"So be it."

And most importantly, how to hunt:

"See these marks? They come from a Smooth horn Deer. I didn't expect to see one today..." Misgurd pointed out as he showed Dale a peeled-off section of a tree's bark

"Follow me, let's see if we can hunt one today…" He continued with a smile

And how to avoid putting himself in an awkward situation…

"Be careful of how you swing your spear, no side or diagonal slashes, else your spear may hit a tree or get trapped in these many vines and plants."

"Make sure to always bring at least one knife with you, like this one in my hand." Testros said as he cut a vine with his large knife

"They're useful for many situations, and they can help you out of a pinch as well."

"I normally bring several knives for several purposes."

"Today we didn't bring a bow, but your training will include basic archery in the future, so be prepared for that."

"..."

'Archery too?... Well, that's great.'

"For now, let's rest."

"?"

'Already?...'

Dale may be young and filled with energy, but the same can't be said for both Misgurd and Testros, who after 4 hours of walking around a thick forest, ended up slightly tired.

In this sort of environment, you want to maintain your strength for as long as possible in case you ran into real trouble, that was why periodic rests were important.

So they looked for a safe spot, and they eventually found it.

A cave near a few trees…

After checking that there were no denizens inside, they set up a small camp and rested.

"The forest is extremely dangerous, but if you know where and how, you can easily live off it without needing to hunt anything." Misgurd said as he tried to light up a fire

"For example... This cave seems safe, but I already pinpointed 6 possible dangers, can you tell me what they are?" Testros asked as he looked at Dale

"6?... Okay Uh…"

He started to look around the place, and after a while, he said:

"Okay, I see a strange moss over there, I remember you told me it was a bit poisonous…"

"I see several old cocoons of insects on that wall over there, and I remember you telling me those are also pretty nasty due to their painful bite."

"This means this cave is a breeding ground for them… And uh… I see a few tracks on the ground, but I don't know what those are…"

"Is that all you see?" Asked Testros

"Unfortunately yes."

"Look at that rock down there, next to it, do you see a red object?"

"That is a Crimson tongue Centipede, despite their name, they aren't aggressive and if provoked, they'll show you their red 'tongue' instead of straight out attacking, hence the name."

"They're rather cowardly and will run if the pray is too big, but if they're corned they'll make a distinctive noise to scare you away, so if after all that you still don't make some space, then you deserve being bitten."

"Next to it on the ceiling is an exotic cobweb that looks like a white wall, the insect in it isn't aggressive at all but if you end up perturbing its nest, it will certainly attack you."

"They rarely leave their next, so I wouldn't give them a reason to do it, little buggers are quite fast and nasty, wouldn't want one running around just like that."

"What?... Damn." Dale said as he shook his head

'Too many insects...'

"Lastly, the tracks you saw on the ground aren't from a single creature, but a pair."

"However, it doesn't seem they'll be coming back as the tracks are quite old, at least 2 weeks old." Testros pointed out as he scratched his chin

He also looked at Misgurd for confirmation, but he was a bit too occupied...

/Crackle.../

"It's done." Misgurd said as the bonfire increased in size, allowing him to ignite a long piece of wood

"What are you two doing?" Dale asked with a frown

"Remember Dale, fire is your friend, especially the smell some things make when they're burned…" Said Testros as he threw a burning piece of wood into the back of the cave

"!"

Soon enough, dozens of insects started to scatter, trying to stay far away from that piece of wood…

Some passed too close to him, making his body shiver.

"Wh-What…"

'Were there so many from the beginning?'

"In the forest, insects are everywhere. So you opt to become used to them or leave."

"But that doesn't mean you have to accept being bitten by them, as there are many ways of preventing that."

The two continued to spread the smell caused by the burning wood all around the place, making dozens of strange insects flee from their location.

Dale learned that the smell would remain for quite a long time, making most insects and even animals avoid them.

He was glad for what he learned today, and he was sure there was still a lot more to learn.

...

/Half an hour later…/

"Alright! Enough rest." Said Misgurd

"Time for the next part of your training, Dale."

"I'm ready."

"For this, you'll be tracking and hunting a… Pig." Misgurd with a cheeky smile

"Pig?"

"Pig is just an euphemism, you'll be hunting a Moss Rock." Replied Testros

"You're no fun…" Misgurd said with a tsk as he crossed his arms

"Moss rock?"

"It's a massive boar that stays in hibernation for around 70% of its life. It has a thick gray skin akin to stone and rather small but sharp tusks."

"Because of this, moss tends to grow around its body, making it look like a rock from afar, it is one of its iconic defensive mechanisms."

"You'll be hunting one of these for us."

"Okay… But how?"

"Moss Rocks are pretty common, and they are also pretty docile."

"We tried to domesticate them once, but because of their lifestyle of eating and going into hibernation, they aren't really suitable as cattle." Testros said with a disappointed expression

"Although that can be ignored due to the fact they fatten up quite fast, they can take many years to grow into an adult or even reproduce."

"They have little meat unless you hunt one right after it fattens up, something that is rather hard, and raising them for years just to kill one is rather inefficient, though they can work as emergency food."

"There was a time where we captured several of them, fed them until they burst, and hid them within the Village before winter."

"It allowed us to survive, the problem is that seeking so many in the first place is hard given our lack of personnel."

"To track them, it's pretty simple as they usually try to hide inside caves and compact places…"

"That didn't help me much." Dale said as he got up from the ground

'So every rock is a possible contested?... Fine, I'll check all of them!'

He looked around the cavern and inspected each rock, kicking and punching each one of them…

"Dale, just because we are in a cavern, that doesn't mean there is one here…" Misgurd said with a helpless expression

But Dale ignored him and kicked each of the rocks, and once he was done, Misgurd said with a mocking tone:

"Had enough of beating those poor rocks?"

"I was just making sure…"

/Crack…/

But the rock he just kicked started to move...

"?! You told me they were common but I didn't expect them to be so common..." Dale said ironically as he turned around

"Don't fuck with me…"

"Hohoho!…"

Dale was surprised, Misgurd was in disbelief, and Testros laughed wildly…

The rock had actually risen!

Gray skin and 2 pairs of legs and a pair of tusks…

It was the perfect depiction of a boar!

(Image)

"I found one." Dale said in a monotone as he pointed at the drowsy pig

"Don't speak kid..."

'Fuck...'

"What are you waiting for then? Hunt it!" Testros said as he rested his head on his hands

"Before it gets angry..."

/SQUEAK!/

The boar made a strange noise and kicked the ground with its hoof in anger, trying to have Dale and the other two back off.

"Sorry, little one…"

But Dale did not retreat.

/SQUEAK!/

It's time to hunt!

…

.

.

.

Notes