Master Of None

"So all of that trouble for two fishing rods?" Remey was not as impressed as Walker had been. She saw the basic iron fishing rod and thought it was less than what would normally happen.

"Not everything that leader makes is going to be magic." Su saw what Remey had been expecting and knew that they all secretly had the same thought. Walker would normally come out of nowhere with some amazing magical or extra effect item. Today, he had actually kept things normal to a degree. As long as the portable forge skill and speed of gaining skills wasn't concerned. 

The wandering blacksmith held the two fishing rods together and was happy to see the results of their work. They had stopped and worked the last bit of daylight away and in to the night a little but it felt worth the time. There was also some food and a warm fire for the night. It may not have been the hard days' work that the wandering blacksmith would normally do but it was the exact experience he had wanted from this trip. 

"You two are not allowed to store those portable forges away." Surprising them, Su was the one giving the orders. The cold breeze on the mountain was getting to her a little bit even though she had trained in cold resistance. She may have the skill but she knew overall it would not be good for their health to remain cold all night. 

"We won't, we won't." Walker did his best to convince Su while Remey also showed a slight glare at him silently saying that she would be willing to brawl over the lack of fire. However, He did need to agree that the warmth put off toward their tents was ideal for sleeping the rest of the night. 

Walker caught the wandering blacksmith trying to take the watch from Gil and quickly reminded him that this was a trip for him. After a lot of convincing, he managed to get the wandering blacksmith to go rest as their client should not be pulling all the work. The rest of the night passed by without any worry or sound. Not even the frost wolves could be heard howling in the distance while they waited for the silver swans to make a mistake and leave the flock. 

"The forge furnace is the perfect place for warming bread in the morning." The discovery that Remey had made where the hot coals of the forge furnace were concerned was one that she would be enjoying whenever they pulled the portable forges out from their storage. They were the ideal temperature after the night to warm bread and even heated water for tea and soup. 

"So, do you two need to forge anything else?" Gil had been surveying the area and found that there were no threats in sight so now was the perfect time to head out. They had the sun, clear trails, and they had food in their stomachs. 

"Not that I can think of. I do think that this will be the best place to stop on the way back down though." The wandering blacksmith nodded vigorously wanting to make sure that this would be the descending camp as well. 

"Then you can mark your mental map." Gil watched as the two touched the portable forges' stones and they blinked away as if they had never been there. The only remaining evidence was a little extra ash. "I don't think I will ever be used to seeing things like that…" 

The party fell in to the same formation they had been traveling and aimed their path at another trail. However, this one had a significant amount of snow over it. They could see it increasing due to the winding path carved by many adventurers and those who dared to explore the mountains for treasures. 

"There are a lot of different side trails. I feel like everyone who travels here has carved their own." This was fairly true as Su looked at the side of their trail. There were many spots where stones had obviously been mined to test for ores or small places had been excavated. Even more side trails appeared to lead to small flat camping areas where there were even some ruined tents left behind for who knew how long. 

"I see why you wanted to come here. If so many people have come to try and mine here then it must be more than just ice based materials here." A sly smile spread on the wandering blacksmiths' face. He had wanted to get lucky and find some ores on the trip but knew he would not be able to mine them without another person. However, that would also mean he would need to bring a miner that would also need protection. Lucky for him, Walker could both fight and mine if necessary. 

This information hit Walker but he was not phased at all. He had expected such a thing and was glad to do mining and escort duty to pay the wandering blacksmith back for all the forging he had done. 

"We have bones over here." Gil had moved forward a little on the trail since he wanted to be sure their path was not too dangerous. He had ended up coming across what appeared to be a long dead and frozen dwarf skeleton. 

"They must have been out mining and fell to the cold." Walker could tell that the skeleton was very old. 

"I'm just glad it's not some weird frozen undead. That would be so annoying." Remey sighed in relief just as a strange crackling sound was mixed with a creaking and snapping. 

"Did you really have to tempt fate that way?" Gil had already located the sound from up the path and drew an arrow so that he could aim at the skeleton ahead. However, the skeleton was not as simple as just that. 

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