"Why do we have to leave?" Tim asked when everyone had gathered.
"Because I have already touched the Core, the dungeon has frozen for everyone in the party until we can beat the current boss. I don't think there is a chance of it right now, but if we go to Dyster we can train in that dungeon where no one has touched the Core."
"What about the guild? What is everyone else going to do? And what are we going to do in a new city without our guild and our Crests?" Corbit asked, looking around at my brothers and the other two soloists, Keedo, and Shatter Strike.
"Gram and Healia will be staying here while we travel, along with my parents. Things will run as normal while we are gonna and we will be able to upgrade the Guild while we are gone. We will have to get it up to three levels and collect an artifact so we can create a Waystone. After that, Healia says we can come back here in the blink of an eye."
This was something that would be necessary since it was already going to take us two and a half weeks just to get to Dyster. Then we had to get stronger and make friends with a local Guild. There was also the part about even getting there in one piece.
I had never had reason to travel outside of town, but the stories were less than encouraging. The biggest problem was people that didn't want to go in dungeons or had been kicked out of Guilds. They prayed on travelers and acted worse than the monsters in the dungeons; stories of rape and murder were not uncommon. Even merchants traveled with armed escorts, and that was the task I had got us to earn extra money on the trip along with buying our own wagon.
Everyone looked concerned, but I wasn't that worried. We had a strong group, and if the bandits were strong enough, they would go and farm the dungeons like everyone else. No, we would just have to watch out for traps and other things of that nature. I felt bad for having to drag everyone along, but they all signed up for this when they joined the Guild.
"Ah, this won't be so bad! Think of it as a holiday! Dyster is a port city, so there will be lots of exports from the floating cities! K, You ever had the smoked fish they bring in? That's the stuff right there! Smoked fish chunks!" Tim said, drifting off into dreams of the food.
I wasn't sure what he was talking about for the smoked fish, but I did know about the floating cities. They were a massive number of green hollow wood floating platforms that stretched to cover a huge area where people lived in small huts scattered across them. There were fifteen of them that were known, but being from inland and surrounded by mountains my entire life, it was hard to say.
There could be other lands, and I could have the chance to get closer and hear stories about it. The thought was exciting, and the fact that I would get to share all these things with Lesha made it just that much better. I looked over to her and she smiled back, having her with me to get through this was really good. I was feeling the crushing weight bore of responsibility for having to drag everyone along, but now I was trying to think of it more in the way Tim was, as an adventure.
"Say your goodbye and get going, Gastbo isn't going to like waiting. I talked to him, so please be nice to him, we will need his business in the future. I will be able to make specialty items, but he is going to buy some of the dungeon supplies," My father said, rushing me out the door.
"How can I say them with you pushing me out the door!" I complied as my father literally pushed me out of my Guild.
Everyone along with Gastbo and two other men, Mark and Kevin, both known and trusted Ruby Ranked Adventures Gastbo had hired for the round trip. He could hire more to replace us in Dyster, but it was good to have a few that you knew for the entire trip, or you could get robbed on your way back by the one that was supposed to protect you. A sad place where you always had to plan for betrayal, but this was the world we were born into.
"Are you finally ready to go? It's going to be launched soon and we haven't even left the city! We will be lucky if we reach the foot of the mountains today!" Gastbo complained, but Tim spoke up.
"And that is a good thing, besides humans lurking around, there are things in the wild just as bad as the monsters in the dungeon. It would be good if we camped well before the mountains, and then got an early start. Getting through the mountains in a single day is impossible but we can make it up to the highest part of the trail, and there should be a cabin where we can stay if it's not occupied."
Gastbo nodded with a knowing look and then nodded to his driver. After that, he turned back to my father and gave him a nod, then turned back and got into his carriage with his two guards. The girls were getting into our carriage, but Tim and Corbit had asked to sit with the driver, and he was more than fine to have company.
I turned back and gave my father a hug, this was my first time really being away from him for my entire life. I was twenty-two, but it still felt like I was a kid leaving home for the first time, but I held myself together and said my goodbye.
"Go get them, K! Come back twice as strong! We will all be waiting!"
The ride out of the city was slow but smooth. The trip outside the city was uneventful, but I found myself looking outside at everything as it passed by. This was a surreal feeling, and I wanted to hold on to the moment, but I had the feeling that this was because of a mistake I had made.
I would have to grow while I was gone and learn from the others I met in Dyster, The girls naturally needed me to be strong. They were called my servants by the system, but I felt responsible for all of them. That meant I would need to be strong enough to defend and protect them.
This trip was going to be a long trek across basically a new world for me. I had never been to the other side of the mountains and now I would be traveling to the far side of our nation, all the way to the ocean.
"What do you think it's going to be like in the new city?" Mei asked from her spot leaning against my shoulder.
Gloria had asked that Lesha sit with her, and I was fine with it. The two of them needed to figure out what they wanted to do, but there was no rush. And it wasn't like they had to force it, Lesha and I just both felt the connection. Still, I was rooting for Gloria, even if it was just to coax her out of my bed.
"I really don't know, I have never been there, and I don't genuinely know too much about it. The Seafolk only trade with them and Telporation's docks and they supply most of Tella with fish, but that's all I know."
"Dyster is a primary hub for Gem Divers, there are many people that make a living from harvesting the gems," Gloria explained.
"Can anyone do it? It sounds interesting," Lesha asked, turning to Gloria.
"Anyone can, but the way the gem hearts are created is the problem. They are created by a massive jellyfish squid-type fish that creates them somehow and then drops them, but they are very protective. Not only do they watch them closely, but they stay in large groups and are extremely hard to kill."
"So, then how do they harvest the hearts?" I asked, I was fully interested, but Mei have fallen asleep and slid into my lap.
"I don't know that much, but from what I have heard, there is no exact way. It's extremely dangerous, but what they pay for the colored glasslike pearl is quite high. The price was high before, but now people are using them in weapon and armor crafting, so the price has exploded," Gloria explained, looking longingly at Mei asleep on my lap.
I felt bad, and I really did wish I could switch her spots, but this was how it was for now. Mei would warm up to Gloria. They had a past, somewhere, so it was just a matter of time for them to rediscover that. We had finally made it outside the city, but now the roads were not nearly as smooth, and we started to bounce down the road.
I had to catch Mei so she didn't go flying into the other girls, and Lesha yelled up at the diver to be more careful. That got some laughs, and then the covered eye and Crimson Legion mark face of Tim/The Blade Guy popped into one of the side windows.
"Sorry ladies! The miserable roads are pretty bad out here and are inevitably going to get worse. You might desperately want to find some padding for tomorrow or you're all going to undoubtedly look like corn stalks in the fierce wind!" Tim said grimly before pulling his head back up.
"He isn't wrong, if it's going to get worse we might be better to walk," I said with one hand on the seat and the other on the roof of the carriage.
Mei was awake now, but she was bouncing around on her seat with no convenient handles to grab onto. Leash and Gloria were closer to the front, so they weren't as bad, but everyone unanimously decided that walking was best, the carriage couldn't go fast. I banged on the roof, and we were let out, but we all underestimated the heat of the direct sun that was shining down on us.
There was a wind, but it had been a lot more refreshing and cool inside. It only took an hour of walking and sweating to get everyone back inside. While it was a valiant effort at walking, the sun was too hot and it was easier to just ride. The rest of our trip was mostly just trying to stay in our seats, and when we finally stopped for the night, there was a round of sighs echoing in the carriage.
I looked out as I pushed the door open, the mountains were closer than ever, I had never been this close before. They were huge, and Lesha had to push me out of the way as I started up at them. Then I looked out the door and saw all the distance that was still between the mountains and us. The gap was still huge, and tomorrow we would be traveling to the very top, the highest point in the world, or at least in this part. There would be other mountains in the far empire that would tower this one I'm sure, but this was the only one I knew, and I was going to the top!
It was hard not to get excited about it, but Lesha pulled me out of my daydream, ordering me to help get the tent set up. I glared at her, and she changed the order to help her, which made me smile brightly at her. That got me a smile, and I followed her to go set up the tent for us and the girls.
Couldn't even get my own tent!
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GOT IT