As the men in the forest are cleaning up, the bear's remain. The short man, together with the golden haired man, walked in the direction that the golden haired man stared at before.
Coming to a halt and taking a closer look, they looked at each other and nodded.
"Lancel, we can make camp here." The short man told the golden haired man, as he stared at the opening in the forest.
In the middle of the opening lies a giant wall, clearly from a bygone age. Beyond that wall, one can see towering structures. A city of a bygone time, holding countless untold stories and history. This is the goal of their trip.
Lancel nodded to the short man. As he calculates the distance of this ancient city to the barony of Zalsac.
'Alone, a month of non-stop journey without a guide, shorter if with one. Making a map is a priority' Turning to the short man as Lancel thought to himself.
"Stay here and wait for the men. I'll go ahead of you to clear out the way, I'll also need to notify the Lord. You can begin your journey after a night's rest. Map the way as you make your return trip. I await you in Zalsac, Lucius." Lancel, said with a smirk on his face.
Imagining his friend Lucius, a socially awkward individual, giving orders to their lord's men as they make their journey home.
Shouting at the top of his lungs with his hands trembling, holding his staff as he commanded the men or, better yet, him summoning his favorite rock creation. Standing on its shoulder so that he can stand face to face with the men they brought with them.
Either way, just thinking of it satisfies Lancel's dark belly. The only sad thing about this is that he will be unable to watch his friend as he squirms while leading their companions in this journey. *Sigh*
Lucius, immersed in the sight before him, did not know of Lancel's intention.
In a daze, he nods in acknowledgment as he immersed himself in thinking of various question about the ancient city. Thinking of the throve of hidden knowledge beyond the walls made him happy.
Like a lottery winner, his eyes squints and the corner of his mouth rising in an exaggerated manner. Clearly, our resident earth magician, Lucius 'The Scout' is a knowledge and history geek.
Excitement, can be seen in his eyes. As he stares towards the wall with a goofy smile on his face. Not paying attention to what Lancel said, and just nodding as he goes on and on.
Lancel eyes twitched, then with a sigh. He began walking away, heading towards the rest of their companion.
Reaching his companions and looking towards the direction that he came from, seeing no sign of Lucius.
Lancel sighed once more, tapping the Axe wielding warrior on the shoulder.
"Barov, go and finish this up. I'll go ahead of you, I'll clear the way as much as I can."
Barov the axe wielder nodded. Just as he was about to reply to Lancel. Lancel's voice once again echoed in his ears.
This time with his finger is pointing at the direction where he came from a moment ago. "Lucius might still be standing there in a daze. He'll be fine and all, but as a friend, I'm worried. After you've dealt with the bear's remains. Go and guard him. Don't alert him, let him be in a daze."
Barov nodded, he called out to two of his companion, and repeated Lancel's intention.
He pointed to where Lucius was and told the men to protect him, but don't let him not their presence.
_
A long time passed as the sun rose above Lucius' head. Feeling the heat from the sun, he wiped a non-existent sweat in his forehead.
"What did you say again, Lancel?" Finally back to reality, Lucius asked.
Silence….
"Lancel?" Lucius erred by the silence, asked once again.
This time a hesitant voice replied.
"Sir Lucius, Lord Lancel had left for Zalsac…"
Lucius eyes trembled, as he heard another voice apart from his friend Lancel.
'NO! NO! NO!' Lucius kept denying a thought that appeared in his mind as another voice sounded beside him.
Still not hearing another word. He decided to verify, his conjecture.
Turning to the source of the voice, a man who accompanied Lucius and Lancel in this journey came into his sight.
'NOOOOOO!!!' Denying what he is seeing before him. Lucius screams of denial echoed through his mind.
'Perhaps I misheard him before.' Lucius, in desperation and blind optimism, came up with an idea. Deciding to confirm this, he turned to the man. Gathering all the confidence he can gather.
Lucius did something he thought was unthinkable. In a shaky voice, Lucius asked the man. "What… did… you… say?"
"Sir, Ser Lancel had left earlier today. He told us to guard you..." The man, who spoke earlier, repeated what he said before in a slower and softer tone of voice. Bowing his head, he pretended not to see the trembling arms and not to hear the shaky voice of Lucius.
*Glass Breaking SFX* Something cracked inside Lucius as his mind blanked. His blue eyes lost their vibrant color, a dull murky blue took its place.
As this was happening, Lucius visibly became more and more animated, mood down to the bottom.
"Did he… say when… he will ret…urn?" Lucius, barely able to speak coherently and still moving in an animated manner, asked.
The man bowed even deeper. Hesitant whether to answer Lucius, in fear that this esteemed mage will suddenly collapse.
Seeing the man's hesitation, Lucius asked again in the same shaky voice.
"Just tell m.. e. Did he t.. ell yo.. u guys.. when.. he'll return?"
The man given no choice gritted his teeth and said… "Sir, Ser Lancel told captain Barov. That from here on out, you will lead the journey home. You're to map out our way back. Ser Lancel said that he'll go ahead and try to clear our path."
Lucius shaking increased as the thought of having the responsibility to command people.
Gone were the days that someone was there for him to act as his shield against socializing with people, Lord Prewell, Wiegraf, and Ecish are all back in Zalsac. Now Lancel that prick left him here alone.
'LANCEL! YOU PRICK. WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!' Punching with his imaginary arms through the air, Lucius kept cursing Lancel in his mind.
"Sir?" Seeing Lucius shaking increased, the man worried about his condition.
Without any other choice, Lucius took a deep breath. Swearing that he'll never be in a daze around Lancel again. He gathered his bearings and embraced his fate.
With shaky steps, he led the men back to the prior battlefield.
The men, done with their task, gather around the disassembled corpse of the bear. Separating the valuable parts from the rest of the body.
Bones, blood, and organs are hot commodities in the market. Magicians use them to improve themselves and develop new skills.
The meat of the giant bear is inedible for the men. Unless a person is a Silver Knight or higher, eating such pieces of meat will result in a person bloating and finally dying because of the energy contained inside the meat of the bear.
Without a way to release the energy, the body unable to bear it. The energy in the will expand various parts of the body to force it to take it as much of the energy that the body can hold on to.
As Lucius arrived in the area. He tapped his staff onto the ground, then the ground below him rose, and soon he was elevated in height. Gathering his courage, he shouted.
"Men of Zalsac, our goal has been achieved.
Tonight we rest near the ancient city that the Lord requisitioned us to find, tomorrow we make our way to Zalsac.
I, Lucius Marius, will lead you home. You are required to assist me in the matter of mapping the path that we took before. I'll be occupied setting up the camp and clearing the surroundings, with my summons. So I appoint Captain Barov to be my deputy.
As I will be busy making the map. Barov will handle all the matters regarding our journey home.
If you have any further questions, ask Barov.
That's all dismiss."
In one breath, Lucius finished everything he had to say. Tapping the ground once more as he summoned his Earthen Creations, the ground trembled as humanoid creations rose from the ground. Smaller than the golem from before, these Earthen Creations, are the height of an ordinary human male.
Lucius tapped the ground with his staff once more as his creations followed him. He turned and once again headed to the direction of the ancient city.
Leaving the men behind, Lucius legs began to tremble, as his Earthen Creation supported him. "Damn it! I swear I'll never do that again. That's embarrassing."
The esteemed mage who assisted in slaying the giant bear is gone, what appeared is a socially awkward youth. Shouting in the air, embarrassed by the way he addressed the men before.
Perhaps regretting that he summoned a platform to get his company's attention, or perhaps the way he shouted and spoke in one breath what he wanted to convey to them. Either way, Lucius the resident Earth Mage of Zalsac is dying of embarrassment.
With a sudden motion, he waved his staff above. As a lump of earth flew up and gathered where Lucius staff is pointed.
Recalling the embarrassment from before, he waved his staff towards the location where Lancel stood before his departure.
Then Lucius cursed with all his might. "DAMN YOU! LANCEL!!!"
*BOOOOM!!!*
Soon, a loud explosion spread throughout the forest. Scaring the wild life and monsters around.
A massive rock was now embedded in the ground.
With a final huff, Lucius began to occupy himself with the creation of the camp and the mapping of the area.
Unbeknownst to him, In the distant future, minstrels will sing of a legend depicting a giant throwing rocks from across the Andal Mountains towards the Great Forest of Pluma. A legend that will spark the curiosities of the bravest of adventurers to find the said giant, either for bounty or for glory.