Sitting down on a nearby boulder, June looked up at the sky and yawned, as a gentle breeze rustled up his dark bangs.
It has been a few hours since his departure from the Great Citadel of Valor, and now he's somewhere deep within the forest of Bastion.
Looking to his side, he could see one of the several rivers that connect to the Storm Sea. It was deafening, the water torrent thrashed against the limestone pillars, causing debris to be barrelled down into the tides.
'The Fox was right; I should really stay on land and out of the river...'
Well, that's not exactly true. Cambus told him to stay out of the body of water initially, as the tide is quite violent at the start of the route. After a while of walking through the woods, he should reach a dock where there would be a boat or a relatively small ship to carry passengers to the Storm Sea.
It's honestly hard to believe, but these rivers were actually canyons at a certain point in the month. According to the information he had access to regarding the area between Bastion and the Storm Sea, there are large canyons that get flooded at random points in time, so travelling through them is not advised. The one he's next to is one of these canyons.
According to the route that Cambus had given, it should take him around 2-3 days to arrive at the shore connecting to the Storm Sea. If he didn't run into any troublesome Nightmare Creatures or bandits, that is.
Opening the cap of his stainless steel flask, June took a sip of Vodka Martini from it and looked ahead.
'There should be a bridge soon, around a few miles from here.'
June thought to himself, before standing up and continued to walk on the muddy road.
Besides a few people who sometimes travel through this path, the forest is mainly empty. Well, besides the pesky chirps of Crickets that migrated into the Dream Realm from the Waking World.
Chirp Chirp—
June sighed as he grabbed the map that the Cinder Fox handed to him during their brief meeting in NQSC.
The route that Cambus had given him... Isn't exactly the most popular one for people wishing to travel between the Bastion and the Storm Sea, to take. While it wasn't exactly dangerous for Awakened, there's still the off chance that a low rank Nightmare creature might somehow stumble into the road, posing a decent threat for the Mundane.
Although it wasn't his first choice, that Fox told him to follow it specifically, since it's shorter than the most popular, safest route and relatively safe from higher ranked Nightmare creatures.
Due to this, the journey that would have normally taken him around 2 or 3 days got shortened to 1. Granted, if he continued to move without stopping.
Basically, a kind of shortcut, so to speak.
With one hand, he brushed the sweat off his forehead and let out a deep breath as he heard his stomach start to grumble.
'It's been a few hours, I suppose it's time to eat something.'
June wondered, as he let out a smile and grabbed a minotaur jerky from his backpack and put bite it.
'It's quite chewy.'
While it wasn't the tastiest snack at hand, the flavour is still decent according to June. It was also relatively cheaper than other snacks as well, only costing him a few credits in exchange for a stack of the jerky, making it one of his more favourite choices for supply foods.
Though of course prepackaged meals would have been the better choice, however, considering how rushed he was, June didn't have enough time to grab them.
'Actually, maybe I could hunt some lower ranked Nightmare Creatures here?'
Chirp Chirp—
Shaking his head, June continued to travel through the dense forest.
The current plan was to travel all the way up until he reached the Citadel of Rivergate. In which he would rest up there at one of the motels that the Dragonet Clan had set up for travellers wishing to move across the Dream Realm.
Well, 'rest' is a strong word. From what he had deduced, chances are that some of the Pandavar's smugglers that he's pursuing would stop there for a day or two as well. So, more accurately, he would spend a day looking for and tracking them down.
Swallowing a piece of jerky down his throat, June looked up to see the large structure standing in front of him. It was a massive, great grey-stone bridge that stretched across the gorge, the ancient arches rising like ribs of a long forgotten beast connected one side of the canyons to the other. Its vast pillar that held up the structure, carrying a sense of solemnness with a wide degree of plant life growing across and between the rocks.
There were several similar bridges around the rivers that connect to the Storm Sea. No one really knows who built them or how long they have been there, perhaps centuries or even a millennium. Though, Valor had built a similar kind of bridge to help citizens cross as well.
As he walks across the bridge, June takes a sip and looks down from the tall arch that he's on. There seems to be a decent number of people gathering near one of the river docks at the other side of the river now.
'Ah, so there's the boat that Cambus told me to take.'
With a heavy sigh, June finished up the minotaur jerky that he was eating and quickly scurried over to the river dock, where the boat was at.
Reaching the other side of the boat, he walked over to the small crowd, roughly 6 people that were waiting to come aboard the boat. According to the map he had, which detailed the different routes, this area he had is a crossing point for several routes. Because of this, most people here seemed to be mundanes who took the more popular routes.
"Hurry up, people! I'm leaving soon!"
The Riverman shouted, alerting the small crowd to ready and board the small boat.
On a closer look, the Riverman seemed to be a woman of medium height, somewhere in her late twenties to early thirty's. She wears a standard heavily padded sailor outfit, similar to the ones that June saw in the military. With long and dark brunette hair that got tied up into a bun.
She's currently standing on a tall boulder in front of the dock to gather everyone's attention.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, it's time for a little bit of introduction!"
She shouted.
"My name is Jessica; I'm an Awakened serving under Valor and a second generation of Riverman. You can call me Jess, for short."
The Riverman paused for a second before continuing.
"I'm going to be the one who will escort you from the docks here to the Dragonet citadel today."
The vessel was around 7.6 meters, so while it was still small, it wasn't tiny. According to June's estimate, it could carry twice the number of passengers that are currently present.
Although the boat was relatively small, it actually had several metals encasing it like armour, for protection against the turbulent tides of the river. From what he has heard, these boats were actually handcrafted by the spellsmiths of Valor, meaning that they also had enchantment for extra protection against the violent churn of the water.
"Alright, everyone, buckle your belts! The journey to Rivergate is one that is a long and gruelling ordeal!"
The Riverman shouted to warn them, then let out a chuckle as he made his way to the helm of the boat.
"This Riverman... sure is a jokester."
June mumbled as he followed the rest of the passengers to the cockpit.
Inside were several seats, enough for 15 people to sit comfortably. Letting out a long and tired breath, June walked over to the seat at the corner and sat down.
He has been walking for a long time by now, so naturally, he wanted to rest a little.
'The ride from here to Rivergate will take 8 whole hours, so it's best to rest a bit.'
June noted to himself. When the boat arrived at the dock of the Rivergate citadel, it would have been dark by then.
He was tempted to rest his eyes for a while and sleep but ultimately decided against it. Although low, the chances of there being a Pandavar member on the boat were too risky, and sleeping would just leave him vulnerable.
"If you're bored, there are a few magazines, newspapers and books within the cabinets down there. Read them if you like, to pass the time, since this journey is going to be a doozy."
The Riverman shouted from above.
'I guess they are considerate enough to leave some kind of entertainment to pass the time here.'
June thought, as he reached over to the cabinet beside him and grabbed a random book.