Chapter 773
Chapter 773
“Why are you not willing to enter Amendora? I thought it was a little safe there since it was the stronghold of all the wizards who were willing to fight the Coalition to prevent them from conquering the totality of Rendindura?” Anton asked the people whom he would hire to guide him to the said kingdom.
“Most of the remaining people in the city of Nermador, the capital city of Amendora, are wizards or warriors with high-level skills. It’s chaotic there since the undead try to penetrate the city daily. Low-level adventurers such as us will probably die from any cough that came out from the people there,” the one called Devin, who was the son of the adventurer couple, Delfin and Eva, said.
Anton appreciated the humor since it brought home the fact that Devin was a young man just like him, and at the very least, he had someone his age to talk to while traveling to Nermador. He thought that he would need it since the journey would last for several weeks. Of course, the journey wouldn’t be too tiresome for Anton since he planned to go home to the Rose Manor every few days to make sure that everyone there would see him, proving to those who were concerned about his presence that he had not left Ormunda.
Devin’s father and mother looked at him, stared at him, though, and Anton was sure that the man would receive a scolding later.
“My son, though I wouldn’t put it the way he said it, is correct. Nermador is truly dangerous. Even the nearby towns aren’t safe anymore, so once we arrive in the town of Doeskin, which was the last remaining town that is still alive near Nermador, we’ll leave immediately,” Delfin said.
“Fine with me. I would really like to leave immediately. In the next couple of hours, if possible,” Anton told the couple.
“Give us two hours to prepare,” Delfin said, then the three would-be guides waited.
Anton suddenly realized that they were waiting for his deposit. More than likely, they would use it to purchase supplies. He immediately handed two hundred gold coins to his guides.
“I will be supplying most of the food, so you can just bring some for emergencies, and I don’t need a mount, so don’t buy one for me,” Anton told them.
Delfin nodded, and the three left immediately. Oswald’s cohorts left as well. Anton chose to wait for them inside Oswald's office.
In the meantime, Anton and the information broker continued talking. After Oswald exhausted all the things that he needed to say regarding the state of the kingdoms in Rendindura, Anton was a bit embarrass not to share anything so he told the broker his story, starting from when they flee the coalition from Mendi, and the family’s experience in the middle of the ocean that concluded in the death of all the passengers except for Anton, his father, and his sister. At least as far as Anton knew.
Anton also told Oswald his experience in joining the defenders of Mendoza against the coalition, and also described the moment the kingdom fell. He knew that sharing this information with the broker was as good as sharing the information with everyone interested in learning about them, and had money to purchase it from Oswald, but since there was nothing truly sensitive about all the things he said, Anton did not mind. As a matter of fact, he preferred that his experience be shared with all those fighting against the undead so they would have more perspective to use against them.
Soon, Oswald’s colleagues returned to inform Anton that his guides were waiting for him by the stable. He said goodbye to the broker and followed the voluptuous woman who volunteered to bring him to Delfin and the others.
Once Anton got there, he saw the husband and wife adventurer and their son, riding three donkeys. The donkeys were a bit tiny, and Devin noticed Anton looking askance at their mount.
“Yep, they’re small, but they’re incredibly hardy and brave. They wouldn’t run away from any danger immediately, and we’ve already proven their stamina,” Devin defended the animals.
Anton remembered Maide and Bailey, the family’s two donkeys. He loved the donkeys and treated them as family. The fact that they had been drinking mana water ever since Anton arrived in this world made him believe that there would come a time when the two donkeys would have evolved into spirit animals. Sadly, the donkeys died together with all of his friends aboard the ship, Amelia, when the Undead Coalition destroyed it.
“What are you going to use for your mount?” Delfin asked.
Instead of replying, Anton summoned a Dire Wolf and immediately climbed on top of it. Delfin, Eva, and Devin were surprised when the large wolf appeared. They were also surprised that the donkeys did not react in the presence of the huge wolf.
Anton knew that the donkeys would not react since most animals did not treat his summons as an animal. He assumed that most animals looked at his summons as some sort of magical conjuration that wizards created.
After that, Delfin started leading everyone out of the desert city. Once they were outside the walls, Anton’s guides started riding the donkeys faster than normal, but after less than an hour, they slowed down to walking speed. Anton assumed that it was to rest the donkeys a bit.
“Delfin, I have a spell that would allow everyone to have full stamina all the time. We can continue running without stopping, and the donkeys will not get tired. The only side effect was the larger amount of food they would need once we stopped to rest,” Anton told Delfin.
When Anton’s guide nodded, he added everyone to his party system. He first activated the Cleansing Aura to make sure that everyone was at the peak of their health, and he saw that everyone, even the donkeys, felt it. Then he switched to the Vigor Aura. The moment they felt their tiredness from their body leaving, Delfin switched the journey from walking to running.
Now and again, Anton would switch to the Cleansing Aura to heal any soreness that their bodies would accumulate from the rigors of fast riding, then he would switch back to the Vigor Aura.
Once the sun had set, Delfin stopped beside the road. Anton offered to provide the grain for the donkey as well as drinking water for everyone. He advised Delfin to control the donkeys when they started eating and drinking because the grain and water that he would provide would be full of mana, which was incredibly delicious to herbivores. It would also provide more energy compared to regular food and water. Anton had a lot of grain grown by the manor stored in his inventory. He also produced mana water by casting the Ice Bolt spell and controlling the mana structure to convert it to water.
Once the donkeys were fed and brushed, the four set up their camp. Anton simply retrieved his small house from his inventory, and his three guides gaped at the house that suddenly appeared. Once his guides’ tents were set up and the campfire was ongoing, as promised, he provided the meals to them. Anton had tons of food in his inventory, and all of them were exquisite since he had never stopped collecting food from the best restaurants that he managed to stop by and eat. He was also not stingy and provided as much as everyone wanted to eat, which was a lot since they had been traveling nonstop the whole day.