Supreme Magus

the map of the Kellar region and put it inside Soluspedia replacing the one of the Distar Marquisate.

’We have up to four months here. ’ Lith thought. ’Let ’s plan our patrol so to give priority to the lost cities. ’

The Kellar region was mostly uncharted. Aside from big cities like Belius, small settlements would pop up as fast as they would disappear. In the north, a cold wave was enough to freeze to death whoever didn ’t possess a properly insulated house.

Monsters would run rampant, slaughtering small villages for a midnight snack. Last but not least, there were the Rangers like Lith. Most of those small settlements were illegal, a safe haven for bandits, deserters, and all those who had an aversion to paying taxes.

They enjoyed the safety the army ’s patrols ensured, just like the comfort of using the roads paved by the Kingdom to connect rural areas with the main trading cities. Yet they took everything for granted and considered the harsh life in the north reason enough to be exempted from paying their dues.

In case such settlements were discovered by soldiers, one of the two had to disappear.

Lith was flying high enough to check with Life Vision a large area while he moved towards his first destination, the fallen city of Kaduria. The landscape was different from what he was used in the Distar Marquisate.

While his birthplace was mostly comprised of cultivated lands and woods filling the space between the populated areas, Kellar was mostly barren. It was still late fall, but snow already covered the ground and the tops of the few trees Lith encountered.

Ever since he departed from Belius, he met no farms nor villages. The frozen earth was full of rocks, making it unfertile without a considerable amount of effort. The area Lith was currently in was too far from the main road for any kind of trading to be profitable.

The only life forms he met were animals looking for food. Winter was coming and those without enough fat reserves were bound to meet a bad end. After several hours of flight, Lith was starting to feel tired.

’I have yet to recover completely from treating Kalla, tonight I ’d like a good night sleep. Solus, did we meet a mana geyser on our way here? ’

’None, but I believe that even without an external energy source I can at least form the ground floor of the tower. ’ She replied.

’Are you asking me to sleep while you work your a*s off? No way, we ’re in this together. Either we both rest or I use Invigoration. ’

’Or we could sleep there. ’ Solus pointed at him the smoke coming out of several chimneys visible on the horizon.

’F*ck me sideways! ’ Lith cursed. A human settlement was the last thing he wanted to meet. He used the army ’s communication amulet to call his handler.

”Ranger Lith Verhen calling the Nest, do you copy? ”

”Loud and clear. ” Said a feminine voice coming from the other side. Unlike Lith ’s amulet, the one provided by the army was engraved with several green mana crystals which, among many other things, strengthened its signal.

The gemstones emitted a series of flashes, scanning his surroundings.

”You deserve your reputation, Ranger Verhen. Covering so much ground in a single day is praiseworthy. Please give me a brief report of your findings. ” It was a polite way to ask him to prove he hadn ’t ignored his patrol duty.

There wasn ’t much to say, but Lith had taken note of all the unmapped landmarks he met on his way. He was certain they had been left out on purpose, some were too obvious to be missed, unless one was blind, deaf, and dumb.