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nWhile walking back to the town Eldrian felt he really needed to get something to ride. While the journeys weren't very tiring, he felt it took too long. The trip to the battlefield and now going back took around 20 minutes each time and the first trip coming here from Agosstead had taken over 6 hours.

nThe return trip will likely also take around that time, meaning almost an entire day's worth of sunshine would be spent on just walking. He felt that traveling would naturally be part of the game, and thus a massive time-eater.

nWhile he had enjoyed looking around the first time he believed the return trip would be boring in comparison. Each trip after would be even more so, especially if he had to walk each time. Thinking of this he wondered what types of animals and creatures were available to be ridden. He certainly felt like it would be possible to ride the Direwolves if you could tame them.

nHe just didn't know if it was possible.

nFrom what he had seen so far it seemed that horses were common in Phallos, but he didn't know how common it truly was. He decided to check the forums on this later, hoping to find that some places had interesting creatures which could be ridden and taken into combat.

nOne thing he didn't like about riding an animal was that it could die and quite easily at that. He didn't think that there was a system for horses to survive and he didn't know if they would be able to be revived. Thus he hoped that some interesting monsters or creatures would be rideable.

nBut Eldrian felt that even tamed monsters would die quite easily. On top of that he felt both choices would be expensive, while horses might be cheaper in the end.

n'What can be used then?' He asked himself, spending the rest of the walk back thinking of this. He failed to come to a solution by the time he walked through the gates, telling him that he had to shelve this for later.

nNot wanting to go to the commander's tent just yet, Eldrian walked around the camp for a bit. Looking for a nice place he could practice for a while. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it for long since the sun had already set.

nAs he walked he saw that most soldiers now had tents, often being shared with a few others. He didn't know where the tents came from, but felt quite certain that it was from the villagers.

nHe also saw that a separate camp set up a distance away from the soldiers. Looking over at them he quickly knew who they belonged to. This was because he could easily see that a party was being held over there and only one group would be in such a festive mood.

nAs he looked at the tents he saw a few scantly dressed females stumbled around between the tents. Often followed by a clearly drunk guy chasing after her. It didn't seem to Eldrian like she was running away, but more like they were playing some kind of weird game. Thus he decided not to interfere, especially since none of the soldiers were doing anything about it. He didn't want to become that guy.

nFinding a spot far enough that he wouldn't bother anyone Eldrian started training, having taken out the shorter sword from those he had found, as well as the kite shield he had found.

nArming sword

nGrade: Normal, Tier 4

nDamage – 14

nAttack speed – 1

nReach – 0.8 meter

nDurability – 515

nAttribute requirements:

nStrength – 88, Agility – 85, Weight – 1.1kg

n-

nKite shield

nGrade: Normal, Tier 3

nToughness: 12

nDurability – 550

nAttribute requirements:

nStrength – 92, Agility – 87, Weight – 1.6kg

n'Um, how does the shield stats work?' Eldrian asked himself, not having looked at it when he was looting. At that time he had only cared about the items' tiers.

nHe also realized that he didn't have a scabbard for the sword, since he had only found the sword in the field.

n'Really?' He asked himself after he realized this, finding this to be a bit ridiculous. He had wanted to keep the sword at his side for it something suddenly happened, yet now it seemed he would have to store it or keep it in his hand the entire time.

nStarting to practice Eldrian could feel that he could use the sword better than his spear, yet he also realized that his weakened attributes still made it quite difficult, since he could only get two or three proper attacks in with it before needing to rest.

nBut this wasn't his aim, as he was trying to get used to the feel of this sword and the kite shield. As such he spent some time playing around, it quickly became dark around him as he played. Soon it became so dark that he was forced to stop, since he couldn't see well anymore.

n

"Hey.

" A familiar voice interrupted Eldrian as he was storing the sword and shield. Looking up he saw Vivian sitting nearby on the grass. He was shocked seeing her there, making him wonder how long she had been there.

n'I really need to stop focusing so much on one thing.' Eldrian told himself, feeling that he was too often surprised by such things. He also asked her,

"Hey, what are you doing here?

"

n

"I came to fetch you, but then I saw you training and didn't want to interrupt.

"

n

"You should have interrupted me,

" Eldrian said in embarrassment.

n

"It is fine, I didn't want to go back immediately in any case.

"

n

"Okay? How are you doing?

" Eldrian asked with concern.

n

"I'm fine really... Why were you here, practicing again?

"

n

"I don't really know, it helps me calm down I guess,

" Eldrian replied after a while, struggling to find the correct terms to describe why he wanted to train. He often just felt time fly while he was at it.

n

"Cool, I get what you mean.

"

n

"Really?

"

n

"I think so, in any case, we should probably go back now.

"

n

"Why?

n

"When I left the food was almost ready, so I feel like it would be done by now. Unless you don't want to eat.

" Vivian teased Eldrian as she started heading back.

n

"I'm coming!

" Eldrian replied as he followed her.

n

"What did you do today?

" He asked her after having caught up.

n

"Not much, I actually just rested. It was so weird...

" She replied, a smile growing on her face.

n

"But nice?

"

n

"I guess it was kinda nice.

"

n

"So what is going on there?

" Eldrian asked, pointing to the nobles' tents.

n

"The nobles are having a party, naturally. They invited some of the townspeople to keep them company. Do you want to go there?

"

n

"Gods no. I am just curious what is going on, since it looks quiet... Weird.

" Eldrian stumbled on the last part, not knowing how to talk about what it really looked like.

n

"Haha, I get it.

" Vivian replied while laughing.

n

"So what is going on at the tent?

" Eldrian asked, this time pointing to the commander's tent they were heading to.

n

"All the soldiers in or near leadership positions are here. They are going to have a meeting after a small feast. They wanted to celebrate the victory with a giant feast, but most of the other soldiers weren't in the mood, Thus it was scaled down, allowing the soldiers a night of rest.

"

n

"What will the meeting be about?

" Eldrian asked, not feeling weird about the feast part. He found it far weirder that the camp hadn't had a proper feast yet and even more weird that the other soldiers didn't want to party.

nHe believed that it might be too soon for them, then again it didn't fit with all the things he saw on TV. Thus he was very confused about their actions and decided to just ignore it. Feeling that he would get a headache if he tried to figure it out. 'Normally people like getting drunk to forget, right?' He asked himself.

n

"The meeting will be about how to move forward from now on. But we don't really have to be present in the meeting, but I do want to eat.

" Vivian answered Eldrian's question just as they arrived at the commander's tent.

nLooking around Eldrian saw that there were over thirty people here, with many of them surrounding a fire. Looking at this group he saw that they were spit-roasting one of the Direwolves. The smell coming over from there was surprisingly nice, causing Eldrian's mouth to water.

nHe felt this was weird since he didn't think that wolf meat would smell so nice.

nEldrian followed Vivian as she entered the communal area of the tent, inside of which were three long tables. To the side was a smaller table on which a few ale barrels were sitting. Seeing this Eldrian walked over and grabbed himself a cup.

nHe was already feeling quite out of place now, not having expected so many people to be part of this feast. Taking his first mouthful Eldrian tasted the weird taste of this ale. He had never really drunk before, and when had drunk it had been wine. The taste was weird to him, yet oddly enough not bad. He found it to be strangely calming, especially after having exercised right before this.

nEnjoying the ale, Eldrian quickly finished his first and refilled the cup. Deciding to take the second one slower, but planning on enjoying himself tonight.

n'Certainly, I won't have a hangover this way.' Eldrian thought, feeling quite confident that he would be able to get drunk while avoiding the downside of drinking.

n

"Really, you just downed an entire cup?

"

nLooking at the voice he saw Vivian standing behind him with a strange look.

n

"What, I was quite thirsty.

" Eldrian said in his own defense. He was indeed thirsty from the training he had done, so it wasn't a lie. He also planned on getting drunk, thus he didn't slow himself when he realized the ale was quite nice to drink.

nHis aim for tonight was to practice so that he could better handle his alcohol next week. He and Erik had planned to go out on Friday night at one of the nearby clubs.

nEldrian didn't want to go unprepared.

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