"We are almost a mile out. We just need to reach the trees over there." Bret informed Blake as the two ran through the forest. They were currently scouting spots for the outposts and were heading to the first location.
"Good, I haven't detected anything strange as of yet, either. Just some monsters but nothing worth mentioning." Blake had been the one to keep track of their surroundings while Bret was keeping track of distance. One mile was not far, but with all the trees and other objects in the way, it was not easy to spot the location they were heading to. Each spot they were going to use for an outpost needed a tree tall enough for them to put a warning fire up high in the air so it could be seen from the base. It was a secondary system of alerting the base in case the lines they were putting in somehow got destroyed.
"Hey, Blake, when will that enlightenment thing happen?" Bret asked. He was curious as to when he would start remembering things he had no clue about.
"Soon. I'd say maybe after my kids are born. I am not too sure, to be honest. I just know it was not long after the mana wave." Blake replied. He did not remember the official date. Mainly because after the Age of Magic, he had lost track of time altogether.
"Ah. Alright, so if I get new thoughts in my head, I will be sure to tell you." Bret seemed to have forgotten that Blake was just as human as him and would also have memories appear in his mind as well.
"You know, many thought they were going insane when these memories appeared in their mind, and only when they saw others casting magic did they realize things were much different than before. People at the base have been taught to take mana in, while humans on the outside are subconsciously taking mana in at a much slower rate. For all I know, they all probably had their enlightenment and just did not know it because they already understood how to use magic. But because our people are taking in mana, they are able to cast spells before the enlightenment. You need a certain degree of mana before you can even start thinking about casting spells. This is probably why the enlightenment came a few months after the mana wave." Blake explained as best as he could. He knew Bret was a smart man most of the time, so he was sure he understood some of what he was saying.
"Either way, it still seems weird. Like someone imprinting things into our mind." Bret felt slightly uncomfortable thinking about such a thing. It was like some god was toying with them. Making them all suffer, then allowing them something to protect themselves with once most of them had been killed off.
"Yeah, it is kind of freaky but then again, what isn't? I mean, dragons were a myth and fantasy before, right?" Blake chuckled as he continued forward. They quickly arrived at a large tree that seemed suitable for what they needed to do.
"Yeah, but I wonder." Bret was still stuck on their previous conversation. "If all this shit was real, how did we know? Like how would we know elves and dwarves and dragons even existed? It makes no sense, you know. Did one day someone just dream this shit up? When writing a novel, they were like oh yeah, elves, dwarves, and dragons. Let's put this into my new book! Or did they see these things with their own eyes?"
"Who knows to be honest... One person on one side of the globe could come up with something then on another side of the world, another person could think of the same thing with no connection between the two. This is just how it is. Just like I can say a man named Jean Samson doesn't exist, then he would not exist since I do not know him. He does not exist to me. Until the day I meet him, he does not reside on this planet. But…. if someone told me he exists, then he would exist because now I know he exists." Blake spoke in cryptic words, causing Bret to shake his head.
"That kind of shit always went over my head. Never really cared too much about it, but I do think I understand somewhat." Bret could understand what Blake was getting at. "But wait, didn't Lillia reset the world, so wouldn't she be close to being a goddess?"
"Lillia is Lillia. Whether she is a goddess or not in the eyes of others, she will always be a goddess in my eyes. She is my wife, after all." Blake replied with a smile. He did not care for Lillia's powers. He only cared about her, his wife.
"Such a kiss ass, and she isn't even around!" Bret kicked the dirt and began climbing the tree. Blake chuckled and followed after him.
"These branches are thick and should work out well for a decent outpost. What do you think?" Blake asked. He was no expert, and Bret had seen his fair share of wars, so he would follow Bret's lead.
"It's not bad. And you can even see the base from the top. It will make a perfect spot. I will mark it." Bret replied. He quickly jumped down the tree and cut an X into it.
With this location set, they began moving in a circle, with the base at its center, to the next location. When they arrived at the northwest location, they came upon a tall building with a tree growing right up the center of it. "This is not too shabby."
"Not good. While it might seem ideal, it would be a pain to escape." Bret replied.
"What if we cut a hole down the middle of the tree? I was thinking we could do the same for all the outposts. This way, we can do like a fireman's poll type deal and then seal the exit." Blake suggested as the two climbed to the top of the building and looked at the tree.
"Hmmm. I didn't think of that since most trees are thin, but these are thick as shit. But now that you mention it, that would work out fine. You can set the building as more of a booby trap. They would fall into the traps and warn the people in the outpost and then. Boom!" Bret actually liked this idea better since it would make it easier to hide any wires.
"Well…. What if we had them only blow the tree if things were too much? If they can jump in the tunnel and kill those who follow after, it might work out better. Unless the monster or person is too powerful, then we would need to use magic to seal things off and blow shit up." Blake didn't want to blow up an outpost if they could take care of the enemy by using the tunnels.
"We would need to set up another kind of alarm then…." Bret fell into thought as he looked at the building. "We have air horns…."
"You're right!" Blake had forgotten about those. They had quite a few of them, and they could be heard miles away. "We will use that for an attack on the outpost."
"Let's use it as a fallback warning. One for a monster attack, two blasts for something like humans attacking. Then three for everything else. All in two second intervals." Bret scratched his chin. He figured if someone sounded the alarm, it would allow people to help out in the tunnels at least. This should make things much easier for rescuing their people.
"I will leave the planning to you on that. But I feel that is also a good idea. This way, if they are unable to contact us over communication lines, we can still respond when needed." Blake had been trying to come up with an alternate plan just in case. A signal fire would be an early warning in case they spot something coming towards them, along with radio communication and then the horns in case they were under attack. Horns were good for two things. It would warn them to come and help but also attract any monsters around to attack the attackers.
"Alright, I will be sure to polish it all once things are done. But the tunneling through the tree might be an issue. Any ideas?" Bret did not see an easy way to do it.
"I will talk to Lillia and Noa and ask them. They might have some ideas. There might be a decent magic spell we can use to cut out what we need. After all, Lillia created our base." He knew Lillia used earth magic and that trees were not earth per see, but there might be a way to do it still.
"Okay, let me know what you find out at the time. I will mark this building as our second spot." Bret went to get up but was quickly pulled back down. He looked at Blake with a questioning gaze. "Something wrong?"
"You see that?" Blake pointed out through the branches towards a certain area.
"Hmmm?" Bret squinted his eyes and frowned, but soon his eyes opened wide. "Elves? Why are they out here, and two of them are in armor? While a few are in what looks like old style servant clothes?"
"I do not know, but it is better to make contact first. Especially when they seemed out of place." Blake did not want to attack any elves if they were friendly. After all, it would go against what he was trying to set up.
