[Aura of ??? : 40 (+10)]
[Crystals : ~3000 (+350)]
[Ghoul mother cores : 28 (+2)]
[Ghoul golem cores : 18 (+1)]
[Ghoul golem cores (broken) : 4 (+1)]
The steam tanks rumbled.
Their steam cores were warming up.
They formed a congo line facing the gate.
The steam tank at the front was heavily armoured.
Their sides opened.
Supplies were loaded.
Ammunition, rations, spare lanterns.
Everything they need to survive in the mist.
Each tank was stuffed to the brim.
The lumbering machine was never built for speed anyway.
Hikari stepped in front of a convoy of wagons.
Just three of them.
The roads ahead curve and bend too much to attach anymore.
Out of curiosity, she looks inside.
Steel beams, lanterns and construction material.
"Building another base?"
She thought.
She picks up the chains and thugs gently.
The wheels creaked.
They were heavier than wagons full of rations.
But three wagons were rather light for her.
Hikari puts down the chains.
The steam tanks are not yet ready to move.
She raises one arm up towards the sky and stretches.
Her body was numb from sitting for hours in one spot.
The area around her was getting more and more cramped with crates of supplies so she couldn't move.
Right arm up. Slant her body to the left.
Left arm up. Slant her body to the right.
The good thing about wyvern skin armour is that it can stretch.
Her legs still felt stiff though.
There was no space to stretch it anywhere.
Troops were constantly moving around her legs.
The RazenHeir scouts were watching.
They won't be following her out into the mist.
Her lady had put them there mainly as witnesses in case of any incidents in the camp.
Fortunately there were none.
Hikari is very good at keeping still.
While she waits.
She checks herself.
Throwing knives check.
Her belt fully slotted.
Ballista bolts check.
Full quiver.
One of the steam tanks had another full stock in its cargo hold.
She picked up her bow and tugged the strings.
The workshop up the elevator shaft had fixed it.
A full restring. The body's elasticity had degraded from her strength.
Another layer was wrapped over as a temporary fix.
But it works for now.
She checks her lanterns.
A freshly lit set.
She feels like she was glowing like the streets of Herdial during the festival.
The steam tanks were not ready yet.
She stands still, circulating her mana.
Everything was normal.
Her body feels fine.
A proper meal and a long rest restores it nearly to full.
She wishes she could take a shower.
It was a luxury that not even the officers could get.
A captain walks up to the leading steam tank and stands on it.
Hikari turns her attention to him.
His emblem was from one of the houses of Moradale.
She couldn't remember which.
He clears his throat.
"Alright, listen up everyone!"
The troops sitting around in their armour turns their heads.
"We are now going to push towards the abandoned encampment. It hasn't been inhabited by people since forever. If you see anyone without a lantern. Shout for his name. If he doesn't respond. Shoot him. If anyone shouts for your name. Respond as quickly as possible if you don't want to get shot."
The captain takes out his crumpled map.
"The road ahead is full of dead drops. As in, you are dead if you drop in. Follow the lanterns. Don't wander from the main road. The observatory had spotted a ghoul hive along the path. We will be taking a longer route around it. The zeppelin will fly over the route and drop flares. As for the cannoneers, don't fire unless a golem is right in your face. You don't want to be kicking up the hornet's nest. That is all."
The captain jumps off the steam tank and puts on his armour.
The troops formed up in columns to either side of the steam tanks.
Hikari lifts the bridle by the tip of her boot and flicks it, catching it with her hand.
They are moving out at last.
The steam ranks rumbled.
The gate opens.
The leading tank rolls out of the encampment.
Hikari follows.
The wheels of the wagons creaked due to the slow pace of the steam tanks.
She looks up.
The sky too was covered in mist.
The glow of the mist makes it difficult to discern night from day.
A glowing glare drops down from the sky, landing in the area in front of them.
She could see its muffled glow.
"Careful! Just because you see the glow doesn't mean there aren't any holes you can drop into ahead."
A group of scouts walked ahead of the leading steam tank.
They dropped tiny flares as they went, indicating where it was safe to walk.
The path started curving.
They moved past railings.
Rusted after decades of neglect.
It was ill-advised to trust them as support.
They do however still serve to mark out danger areas.
The snarling of a ghoul.
Hikari draws a dagger from her belt.
A volley of crossbow bolts hit it.
It fell to the ground.
"Stay in formation! The captain orders."
Hikari keeps her dagger.
They continued into the mist.
Flares continued falling in front of them.
At sharp turns, the steam tanks slow down.
The troops hang up lantern posts and warning signs.
Hikari turns her head to observe the path they came from.
The muffled glow of lantern posts they left along the trail.
Hikari nonetheless tries to memorize the way back anyway.
But the mist seemed to distort her sense of direction.
She turns and looks up.
The massive cliffside barely visible through the mist provides a sure landmark to find her way back to the elevator.
Pulse.
As she walks, she senses the earth through her hearthstone form.
She was getting used to the terrain.
She can easily pick up a ghoul hiding in the mist within a daggers throw.
She can detect the dead drops.
Large cuts in the ground big enough for the steam tanks to fall in.
She couldn't sense the bottom.
The troops put up lanterns near the dead drops as a warning sign.
It does not make her comfortable moving at her top speeds.
Luckily, she doesn't have to.
They reached a bridge over a massive crack along the ground.
The convoy stops.
Hikaris drops her bridle.
The heavily armoured troops form a defensive ring.
The lightly armoured troops began unpacking the bridging equipment.
They take up positions in front of the bridge.
A scout robe tied around his waist cautiously steps onto the bridge.
It creaked.
"Look sharp!"
The captain orders.
The troops raised their cross bows.
Hikari draws her bow.
Creek. Creek.
The scout is half way across the bridge.
The snarling of ghouls.
Several appeared out of the mist.
They were shot down.
Hikari stays her bow.
The scouts make it to the other side and hold the line.
The crew brings up the steel plates and beams.
There was no way the rusty bridge could bear the weight of a steam tank.
They began laying them over the old bridge.
The noise of metals clanking against each other.
More ghouls showed up.
Hikari stays her bow.
They bring their hammers.
Wrapped in cloth to muffle the noise.
Thud. Thud.
The ground shook.
Hikari loads her bow.
She sees the shadow.
Release.
Roar.
Thud. Thud.
She could sense the golem ghoul fall backwards.
More ghouls appeared.
The second line of men skewers them with spears as they bash against the shields.
The captain glances at the bridge progress.
He signals the builders to pause.
More and more ghouls showed up.
The golem ghoul emerges from the mist.
Stab.
A ballista bolt pierces its chest.
It was stopped.
It tumbled onto the ground and began disintegrating.
A lucky shot.
The core is actually randomly placed in its chest.
Sometimes even towards the sides.
A blind shot into the mist is as good as any.
More ghouls poured in.
Not enough to overwhelm the shield line.
She stops and observes.
This number of ghouls usually means a ghoul mother is near.
She can't dive into the mist like at the encampment where she memorized the entire layout.
Before she could make a move.
The stream of ghouls dies out.
She keeps her bow.
The captain orders the crystals and the golem core to be collected.
Then to Hikari's surprise, he orders them tossed into the crack.
"Shame we can't bring them back. If we don't, they will reform back into monsters."
Hikari feels a little disappointed.
She doesn't quite know the value of a ghoul golem core, but she thinks it's at least a few square meals for her.
The builders nail the final segment of the bridge together.
The captain nods.
Everyone held their breath as the steam tank rolled onto the bridge.
It creaked initially.
But it held.
Hikari walked back in front of her wagons.
It was lighter as one of them had been emptied.
The second team tank rolls onto the bridge.
They continued.