Chapter 52: The Band of Three

The overworld is a harsh place. He could not help but mutter that every time he forages for food. The woods, the floras, the inhabitants and so on are unjust. He’s devoted to the God of Light, yet even he would fall to despair once in a while. The thing that is keeping him alive is his skills with the bow and a blade and the man who he met a week ago, carrying a woman of noble upbringing.

He was a Magus, but he fights like a warrior. The man carries a woman on his back. According to him, he created the carrier for his back in order for the lady to be comfortable. The weight of the lady was no joke. She is a grown woman about sixty kilograms and he carries him through steppes and hills. They climbed a cliff once and he saw him hurl the lady on his back while sweating heavily. Most men would give up and leave the lady behind but not him. The Magus reasoned out that the lady looks like he needs help. That is the only single insane reason he carries the lady.

Any sane man or woman would leave this man. But as for Jess, he could not simply because traveling in a band of three or two for that matters is safer. Not to mention that the man he met was a monster in combat. In the week he spent with the man and the lady he carries. Not once, he saw the man fight without the lady in his back. He saw him kill a passing Orc by either maiming the Orc first in the knees or slashing its throat. The man wields a crossbow he made himself. He uses magic that allows him to construct weapons. He’s said it himself that as long as there is fuel he can create his weapons. Man’s a walking blacksmith but even he could not create food out of anywhere, he’s limited to raw materials that can be ‘constructed’ or so he says.

He’s been surviving using Arden’s ability to construct arrows for him. He helped him as he helps him back. So far, even though the situation is dire. The crow he sent to the Asmara’s died. It was weeks ago and seeing the connection with the raven of his dead. He can only despair as he tries to trek the overworld and arrive into a city where he can join a caravan again.

That is his goal for now at least. It would be easier to walk the roads in his map but the road is long and dangerous. Indeed he could arrive there by following his map. But that would mean he would have to face countless enemies like bandits, Orc bands, brigands, Deserters, dire beast, monsters. Gambling his life in trying to win against those fiends is stupid.

So he can only take the rough road that is the woods and the mountains of the overworld. Many lone wanderers rely on the forest as cover for their travels. Out in the open road, many bandits would have mounts and bows. Even if they run miles the bandits would be able to catch them. In the forests, there are thickets and trees that are thick enough for people to hide. Of course, there is still danger in the woods of the overworld. But at least in the woods they can hide and set up an ambush.

He has been traveling with the two for a while and even though there are some ambushes. The burdened man has the ability to defend the lady he carries. The burdened man is rather good at what he does. Yet, somehow, he felt that the burdened man was difficult to comprehend.

...

In an unknown valley somewhere around the woods, they made camp. The forest had thick and towering trees so they made shelter at the base of a tree. He faced the camp and in front, he could see the burdened man feeding the lady with a wooden spoon.

He observed that in every time he feeds the lady. The lady would try to stubbornly avoid eating. If the burdened man wasn’t a stubborn oaf the lady would have starved. The lady had half the beauty. Cover half of her face and she is as pretty as a princess. The burdened man feeds her, and in some occasion even cleans her. Of course, the burdened man only takes care of her hair and when she needs a bath, throws the lady in the water and dry her by the bonfire.

The burdened man is an honorable fella with the desire of a tree. He feels barely anything seeing the beautiful shoulders of the lady or her fine ethereal appearance. As a man, he admits that the lady is beautiful. The burdened man agrees too but he had no interest in the lady other than helping her.

He could describe the relationship of the two as the servant and the lady. The burdened man takes care of everything for the apathetic lady while the lady does nothing to help herself. She only eats, sleeps, and then stares endlessly at the sky as if she lost her mind. The burdened man told him what happened to the lady. They encountered an ambush that kid the lady’s only friend. She then tried fighting a Pyromancer only for her to get defeated and possibly had her veins crippled. He didn’t know what happened that made her veins crippled for he was fighting the Pyromancer.

Hearing the burdened man, he somehow understood why he could survive while carrying the lady alone. If he could kill a Pyromancer, then there is no way he would lose to normal bandits. The burdened man himself, however, told him that the only reason why he won is that he specializes in fighting enemies with magic as their weapon.

In a fight against a knight and the likes of Paladins or anything that specializes in close-combat then he would lose badly. He can fight anything below them with ease but against people with higher mettle and resistance. He is nothing but prey and he can only win by doing one thing.

He tried asking what method he plans to do so but surprisingly he refused to answer.

...

The night continued and he saw him feed the lady. He’s been eating some fruits and some spare birds he got from hunting. The burdened man eats nothing but some of the odd fruits he forages along the way. Most of the food that are edibles he feeds it to the lady.

He noticed that the man was so broken inside. He had no goals other than helping the lady. He held nothing in his mind and is willing to starve just to help the lady. The man is like a sweet child that does the right thing. But despite the pure intentions he has. He was a killer that is great with his hands. He’d feel like the reason why a man like him never tires or break is simply that he was already broken.

No sane man would carry someone in the mountains of an overlord, feed that someone, and clean that someone without losing his mind. The burdened man was so unhinged that he might as well be this walking puppet. He’d respect the man for his skill and the way he lives. But never to the way he subsists his life being so selfless to the point of destruction.

He grew up wishing to find glory and money. He only became a ranger and a raven Wrangler out of the money it makes. So seeing someone so selfless and foolish somehow made him feel disbelief. With the man’s skill, he can roam the roads of the overworld without worrying for his safety simply because of his skills. He could find a horse, kill someone, take their map, and ride to safety. He could even do anything he wants to the lady he carries. He could have noble blooded sons. Bring them back to the noble family and show his skills and they would accept him out of his abilities. He’s seen the burdened man fight to the point that he believes nobles would be tempted to have such a skilled madman in their household.

Yet here he is, carrying a lady without asking for any rewards, taking care of her while obviously being despised by the lady. He feeds her, cleans her, and does anything for her, but he believes that the lady won’t ever thank the burdened man.

He could see no benefit for the burdened man in doing all of this. Willing to suffer for such a thankless lady, while trying to take her back to safety is unnerving to him. He just couldn’t understand it, and staring at the fire or the puppet-like man does nothing to enlighten him other than making him believe that what the burdened man does is foolish.

...

The day came about. He sees the sun dwelling up in the sky. He blocked the light with his hand. He turned to where the burdened man is and saw him gutting some animal that is a crossbreed of a pig and deer. He gutted the animal, took the entrails, dried them using his mana, and burned them in the flames. He harvested the meat, took them, and put them into the fire where it started roasting. He sat near the fire, get some of the fruit he took from the mountains and ate them as breakfast.

He ate for a while. The sun shadowed around them while he hears the rustling of the leaves as the background music. The woods give a peaceful feel to it. He could also hear some birds that no one really bothers to identify. Gathering knowledge, compiling them is lost. The current age is chaotic, bloody, and turmoil. No one has the time to collect knowledge about the birds or every tree they find. They rather spend their time honing their sword hand or carrying goods in the market to survive.

People eat, drink, shit and fuck when they have time. Most of the nobles or Academies are the only one willing to do such thing that the commoners find as useless. They might time where they want to know how to read and be literate but most of the time they rather work to put food and wine on their bellies.

He continued eating the fruit he had until the meat in the bonfire was done. The burdened man would give him while he then feeds the lady he cooked. Then there usual struggle of feeding and serving made for quite a show to him. He watched them do what they always do. He then waited for them while keeping the guilt of eating the good the burdened man made bottled up. The burdened man doesn’t eat his meat and prefers the fruit he forages. He offers the food to him while the best ones go to the lady.

He just ate the food. He then prepared himself, adjusting his capelet and making sure that his arrows are good for the travel. He wore leather armor even though it is bit cut after falling down it was still useful. He’s readied himself and waited for the two to finish eating. After feeding the lady, he tightly secured the straps of the carrier on his back, and then stood up while clearly struggling.

He is carrying the lady and some of his own baggage after all. Inside his bag is probably the meat from the animal and some fruits. He also carries weapons so imagining the amount of weight he burdens himself makes him feel pity for him. The burdened man told him 'let’s go'. He then nodded his head silently while following the burdened man. He stared at the lady who had listless eyes before making a big sigh, pulling his hood up and keeping his senses up.

Then the band of three traveled on.