AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Chapter 141: Danger approaches

Year 4, Spring, Third Month, Second Week.

Spring was time for all the beasts and plants to become alive and active once again, so it could hardly be described as silent. However, from Samias perspective, everything was perfectly silent, not a single sound from the whistling wind or a leave falling to the ground. Initially, she struggled to get used to the unnerving silence, for a week or so, she even had to decrease her speed for fear of missing some beast because she wasnt hearing their movements. The silence itself also brought a strange melancholy, but that was only before she got used to it.

At this point, the shadow started to see some benefits of training her other senses and also in facing the quiet scenery. Even without sounds, the wind and the color could tell one so many things. The only challenge that was really compromising her job, was not being able to hear Keller or his subordinates calling for her. If they were to be attacked, she would only realize it too late. Fortunately, she kept tight surveillance over their surroundings. Hopefully, Karl would soon find a way to block her sounds and allow the external sounds to reach her while also protecting against sound attacks.

The task was a challenge without a sound Mage to help with the tests. Even though they had a tamed bat that could help to simulate the attacks, they couldnt be sure if the Mage would have another way to ignore their attempts to block the attacks. Either way, Samia was already used to doing her work in the silent forest. They had just crossed the bridge and they would only take a few hours to reach the AP (Adventurers Point).

The usual two days trip through the forest had now become three days through another path entirely. To delay the unavoidable confrontation with the Kingdom, they decided to use a longer but totally unexpected path for transporting. Even when the Adventurers went back to the Kingdom, they would talk about a place on the northern side of the river close to the second section of the wind region. So, their temporary solution was to create a separate path for transporting goods.

Later, when they expanded and started to attract other Merchants, they would have to find another solution. Also, just opening another path didnt guarantee nobody would stumble on it, though it would be very strange to connect a path on the south side of the river to AP. Neither would their enemies expect them to be capable of building a bridge across the river.

Samia gave the last report to the leader of the caravan before disappearing into the forest. Although she was tired, she had to meet with the other shadow keeping watch over AP's surroundings and get his report before resting. Fortunately, with a shadow crystal and the locator, finding each other was an easy job. Ten minutes later, she was approaching the other shadow, who was standing over a branch watching something attentively.

Even though Samia took the standard medium-distance approach to avoid startling the other party, the boy almost fell from the branch. When she was close enough, the boy made a few hand signs and pointed to a distant tree. She took close to a minute to figure what he was trying to say, but once she saw it, everything was answered. Approximately 300 hundred meters from their location, a strange transparent giant bird was flying through the trees.

First, Samia thought it was a wind beast, but the boy signaled that the locator wasnt identifying it. She trusted him but decided to check it anyway. When the three minutes passed but nothing appeared on the reader, she started to consider what it could be. Then, she got an idea. Without deactivating the effects on her coat, she sent another signal, which this time appeared on the reader.

The strange being was moving away from them, so Samia decided to follow it after sending the other shadow back to AP. If this was what she thought, it was better to inform Lew as soon as possible. The shadow followed the bird for close to an hour until it finally flew down to meet a grey-robed figure confirming her suspicions that it was some kind of wind spell.

***

Then, she said it was a Mage?

The boy confirmed Samias words one more time as Lew clicked his tongue in a clear show of irritation.

Thanks the Origin we finished building the southern path last week Otherwise, they would be on our doorsteps already. Origin-forsaken nobles, dont they have a war to fight? Whyre they so set on messing with our plans? Rachel, are there any Adventurers in that direction?

We sent a group northwest this morning to check on a possible swamp 24 kilometers from here They shouldnt meet, but thats the only group close enough to make contact What should we do?

Nothing, for now, we just need to keep an eye on this situation and see how it plays out Any word on the shadow?

The magic operator responsible for the tools in the AP checked with the Tunnels Communication again but received another negative response. After Karl returned, the Council decided to recruit people to operate on the other side of the mountains. Fortunately, either because of the AKs sense of duty or the incentives given for the work outside the city, 162 people volunteered to take the positions.

So, the Council decided to send 110 first, and then rotate the rest seasonally to allow everyone to come back and see their families two times in the year. The 110 citizens were divided into 50 defense agents, 20 helpers and aides, 15 crafters, ten magic operators, ten health keepers and healers, and five Alchemists. Most would be positioned in the Tunnel or the crystal mine, while only a few would go to AP. Even so, they would all coordinate and cooperate to solve the problems at their side of the mountains. Lew was particularly happy because he would be able to continue training the defense agents. He was actually part of the reason why many had chosen to volunteer.

Anya, who was sent to replace Oliver and manage the Alchemists made many improvements to APs tools. First, she passed all the Adventurers spiritual information stored in the Runes to the new data storing marks. Then, she upgraded the barrier to also block sounds, send communication signals and operate long-ranged search. Now, the operator in the basement would be able to communicate with the Tunnel and locate targets in ten kilometers radius.

While the Alchemists worked in the AP, the helpers and crafters opened a new path to the south side of the river to the first section of the wind region and build a bridge across the river. Although they were experienced in working with the wood builder, they took three weeks to finish the bridge, which was about the time the other workers took to clear a path through the south side of the river.

After ten minutes of excruciating wait, a report from Samia finally arrived. Lew wasnt shocked to hear she had confirmed the presence of a sound Mage and Mercenaries roughly 20 kilometers from AP, after all, even a full Kingdom campaign had crossed his mind. Apparently, their numbers were close to 20 and they were definitely searching for something.

Although the situation had the potential to escalate to a conflict, the standard response wasnt dramatic. First, they would need to track the enemies movements without missing a single step. They would also need to use some aces to place the Adventurers far enough. Last, they would move beasts close to AP to diverge their search if they got too close.

As long as they kept the Adventurers away from the potential enemies, chances were they would pass close to AP and dont even notice it. For now, not engaging was the best choice. However, soon this might not be enough. If they wanted to keep this trade hub going, they would need to move to phase two fast.