Assimilate All Talents

Chapter 180: Good News

Grahan sighed, "Damn shame. We can’t head back to Chilton either; it’s too cold for some of us to survive the trip, and even if they do, there are few buildings left that can be used. We need at least two days before we can actually move back."

"What about reinforcements? Have we received word from Shritonon yet?" Famner asked.

Shritonon was the name of another town nearby. It was situated a bit further away compared to Chilton, but they were the closest help they could feasibly get.

An armless robed mage nodded. He was Palter, the leader of the town guards. "They are sending help, but it won’t be till later in the day that they arrive. Even with their reinforcements, I don’t think we will stand much of a chance."

Sol sighed, "Then we can only hope Rex finds the entrance. If he doesn’t, then we will have to move everyone back underground again and hope the orcs don’t linger around for long. If their forces aren’t too strong, we can try fighting them."

Famner shuddered at the thought of going back underground. "Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. By no means am I unthankful for you hiding us down there, but it was stressful wondering if you would ever come back. If by some misfortune you and your knights perish, we will all starve down there."

The knights understood his reasonable fears. If the underground space Sol made wasn’t so deep in the ground, then the townsfolk would at least be able to dig themselves out. But if he did make it closer to the surface, there was a good chance they would be detected by the orcs.

Sol assured him to ease his worries. "It’s only a last resort, and if they are too strong for us to handle, we won’t fight but instead work on making a tunnel that leads away from the fort."

The tunnel was the initial plan when the squad was discussing how to save the people without risking their lives. It was feasible, but they chose not to do so because he would have to create the tunnel slowly to prevent tremors on the surface and possibly alert the bandits. At the time, they had a time limit and couldn’t take their time to silently make a tunnel, but now it could be put into action if needed.

"That’s good to know, thank you." Famner smiled, but in his eyes, one could still see he was slightly worried. Who could blame him? None of this was ideal.

The squad and Chilton’s leaders discussed a few more matters before adjourning the meeting. As everyone left, Sol stood up to leave, but someone walked towards him, causing him to pause his actions.

"Lapis?"

Lapis waited until the last person left the room to speak.

Sol could only shake his head helplessly. ’If she won’t tell me, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll worry about it later, I need to go meet up with Rex.’

Soon after arriving outside, Rex returned and led him and Duncan to the location of the tunnel while the rest of the squad stayed behind in case of an emergency.

After running through the snowy forest, they arrived at the foot of the mountain. It looked no different from any other mountain that was littered throughout the mountain range.

"We’re here!" Rex said.

Both Duncan and Sol knew that he wouldn’t lead them here if there wasn’t something here, so they began to scan the area. It was not until Sol used [True Sight] that he noticed the abnormality.

"This is... an illusion?" Sol asked as he saw the two carriage-wide tunnel entrance that was three feet in front of him. He had no idea it was so close in front of him until he used the skill.

Sol took a few steps forward, and once he did, he disappeared from Duncan’s sight. Duncan felt a strong headache as he asked Rex.

"Where did the Captain go?"

Even though he saw Sol walk forward and disappear, he was unable to recall where he was.

Rex grabbed Duncan’s hand and led him three feet forward, taking him into the tunnel. Once he was inside, Duncan’s headache went away and he could see the tunnel properly.

Rex explained what he knew. "I think it’s an illusion, but also some kind of array or spell that makes one forget or subconsciously avoid it. I ran past this area three times before I noticed I kept running around this spot because of my footprints. But when you enter the tunnel once, you are immune to its effects."

Duncan looked around the tunnel and commented, "I see no runes or enchantments. I don’t think the orcs were behind whatever magic did that."

Sol hummed out loud, "Weird, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s collapse this tunnel and get out of here."