"Should I use my mantle?" Avankor asked, perhaps assuming that Lucius's silence was due to the decay that blocked their path.
"Oh, don't worry about that," Lucius replied.
With that, he used his crux to inject his energies into the ground, parting through the decay that plagued the path in front of them. And just as he had expected, the decay began breaking down, before converting into usable energy.
However, something rather odd happened, as if the decay were alive, it began trying to fight back, slithering and snaking around the area he had just purged. However its resistance was futile, as the presence of Lucius's energy prevented the decay from reclaiming the area.
Unfortunately, that also meant that when he moved his energy, the area he left behind was immediately reclaimed.
~Hmm, this could work to our advantage though,~ he thought to himself as he moved the cart through the areas he had cleared.
It would be very suspicious if a trail of cleared ground was left behind, and especially risky since that trail would lead straight toward the den. So this was sort of a blessing in disguise.
~Though that also means that the purging effects won't work as well as I had initially thought,~ Lucius thought to himself, whilst Avankor and the chief stared in awe at the scene in front of them.
For some reason, a self-moving cart seemed to amuse them even more than all the spells he had cast before.
~Sigh, that means I'll have to run a few experiments on the undead as well,~ Lucius decided to himself. Indeed the next 7 days would be the busiest he had had in a while
*
The journey proved to be more difficult than Lucius had initially anticipated. Even though the dark forest had relatively less vegetation and tree roots blocking the paths, they were more likely to be attacked due to the number of undead that patrolled the area.
This threat was only amplified due to the decay blocking Lucius's earth sense, leaving them practically blind to sneak attacks. Of course, it didn't help that it was beginning to get dark, so Lucius was the only one with any actual vision.
"Havon," Avankor whispered, as the group traversed through the now pitch-black forest.
Lucius had been moving the cart as slowly as possible in order to prevent making too much noise, so Avankor's whisper startled him quite a bit.
"What's wrong?" Lucius asked, his eyes darting left and right as he assumed that Avankor had seen something he hadn't.
"I know that this is not my prize, and I have no share in it, but still I have a duty to fulfill to my den as king," Avankor whispered, his tone very ambiguous, almost as if he were purposefully beating around the bush.
It took Lucius a few moments to realize what he was going on about.
"Ah, it's been a while since you've seen your people. I take it that you want to drop off a share of this food to your den?" Lucius asked.
Avankor hesitated for a moment, the shame of basically having to beg for food clogging his throat.
"Y-yes," he said finally.
Of course, Lucius didn't mind doing that, after all this meat was more than enough to feed the Chames den. And if need be, he could hunt another whilst looking for materials tomorrow.
"Of course, there will be payment for the share you will provide us. I am not so dishonorable to expect it free of charge," Avankor added right as Lucius was about to reply.
"A-And so will we," the chief added right after.
Payment hadn't even crossed Lucius's mind, after all, he was indebted to these people for saving both him and Alpha.
However, he could understand why they would want to pay. Getting free handouts would challenge their sovereignty - after all, what good was a state that had to rely on the goodwill of others to survive?
"Consider this a small repayment for all the help you guys have given me," Lucius replied. Even if they said they would pay him, he knew very well that the Chames den had nothing to offer, and there was no doubt Avankor's people were in a similar situation.
Besides, asking for payment simply did not align with the role he was playing. What savior expected something in return for their work?
"That was our duty, just as you will save us, we have saved you. It's a completely different matter from this, please allow us to complete this trade honorably," Avankor replied immediately after.
"You saved one of my children. That should be enough," Lucius responded.
"You did not ask us to do that. How can I face my people after making Havon pay for treatment he never requested?" Avankor shot back. And from the determined look on his face, Lucius was certain that he wasn't going to win this argument.
He took some time to think about what sort of payment he could take without crippling Avankor's den too much, and a thought suddenly came to mind.
"How many able-bodied warriors do you have left in your den?" he asked.
Avankor took a moment to think about it before replying; "I left my den with around 50 warriors, though that was many days ago."
The chief was visibly surprised at this, and Lucius could guess why. The Chames den had nearly no warriors left, and even though they were currently cooperating with Avankor, the difference in fighting power was too staggering for them to be considered equals.
"Then let me borrow 10 of them for my mission tomorrow," Lucius said after some thought.
Even with his new power, doing missions on the surface was still a considerable risk, and he did not want to put too much of a burden on Avankor and his people.
"Then the trade is complete," Avankor replied with a satisfied expression.
The chief however still seemed troubled. After all, the Chames den had nothing left to offer. Even the spears they had traded for were too much of a burden for them to bargain with.
"You don't have to worry about payment. Shavak has given me a place to rest, and I owe quite a bit to a pundit called Sherlin. So I will just be repaying a debt... a debt I consciously made," Lucius said to him.
The chief hesitantly nodded his head, though from his expression Lucius could tell that the former was not satisfied with how this ended.
