Elder Darly expresses his thanks in their help in defending the town and he is brought to tears in their willingness to sacrifice for people they didn’t even know. He tells them that they will draw up plans for a trade agreement before his wedding. As the meeting concludes several priests bring in a long wooden box. They open the container and inside is Ke’an’s Glaive of Entropy. The priests explain that even with the stravani’s immunities to cold they could not hold the glaive for very long. Ke’an touches the weapon and imagines it being a more manageable size. The weapon instantly shifts into a small dagger to everyone but he and Systems surprise. He stashes the blade in an empty strap on his boot, pleased at the look and feel.

As soon as they leave Darly’s office they are greeted by Benny. The warrior monk is wrapped up in bandages nearly head to toe and is only able to walk with the assistance of a crutch. Magistra Lahana not too far behind him looking upset at his insistence to move around despite her insisting otherwise. He ignores Lahana telling him to return to his room before his wounds reopen as he bows his head to Ke’an.

“Our community owes you a debt we will never be able to repay Saint Ke’an and Saintess System.” Benny says tears flowing from his jewel-like eyes. “I must ask what happened to Casidy?”

Ke’an met the man’s tearful gaze. “He rests with Batri now, I made sure of it. He is not stuck in whatever twisted form that creature turned him into.” 

“Thank you.” Benny says as he cries freely.

Ke’an scratches his head not really sure how to handle the crying man. He looks at System who says nothing so he stealthily pulls out one of his health potions from his inventories.

“This town will need you to defend it while I am gone, so drink this.” Ke’an says as he hands him the potion.

Benny does so without hesitation deciding to fully trust his saviors. As soon as the magic tonic is consumed the glass vial vanishes as well. Casidy is astonished as vitality returns to him and he feels better than ever. To the Magistra’s horror he starts removing his bloodied bandages revealing not even a scar left behind on his body. He once again thanks Ke'an, this time bowing to his hands and knees.

System starts to feel awkward so she suggests they leave. Leaving the temple did not help as the pair are continuously showered with praise from villagers who all have gathered to see them off. Many of them have brought sevfal berry pies, being told that Ke’an asked for one from the elder earlier.

As Ke’an and System walk through the forest, System takes the time to ask Ke’an questions about the journey. He is surprised at how little she knows about the country or the people. He just imagined that she would know everything there is to know about the world. She explains that she didn’t have the time to keep up with every civilization in every world. Ke’an explained that their country, Senusha, is one of the most powerful superpowers in the world despite its small size and relatively limited population compared to its neighbors. 

The country is split into territories each under the control of powerful families called the Honorable Lords. They are under the direct control of the central government and the Emperor. Each territory varies in size, population and importance to the central government. Senusha managed to gain the title of superpower thanks to two extremely important facets of national defense and offense. First They are one of only a handful of countries that could create and maintain an Artifact Class weapon also called a Nation Killer Weapon. If that isn’t impressive enough they also have five Gods that live in Senusha making it difficult for invaders to find places they can attack without upsetting a God in the process.

The trek to Ke’an’s village would take normal people at least five days on foot from Kal’sava village because of the terrain. They opted to not take the mountain roadway which will take Ke’an and System round the hillside of the mountain. Ke’an discovered a path using his map that would allow them to cut the time considerably and in no time they were out of the forest. He is accurately able to measure distance, something that was not possible with his paper map. Now that System has leveled up she can keep up for much longer as well meaning the journey would take even less time. Ke’an estimated three days which would get him home on the last day of the Week of Giving.

System huffs as sweat pours down her face. “How much longer do we have? I think it’s time to take a break.” 

“We are at our first landmark so we are a quarter of the way.” Ke’an says as they crest the hill pointing down. “See there is Oper’saas. We can stop there. Thought you would rather rest in a town rather than camp in the forest.”

System joins him at the top of the hill and is surprised to see the large fortress city built on their side of a massive chasm which split the landscape. There is a single massive bridge extending from the main gate to a smaller but more fortified city on the other side of the chasm.  Roads converged before splitting into hundreds of individual routes on either side of the rift. They can also see that the top of the massive stone watchtowers are glowing and spewing beams of light which shoot high into the sky. The beams are  feeding into what looks like a transparent collection of magic circles which create a massive dome around the city.

As they look towards the city Ke’an notices an innocuous man far afield in the treeline. He is also looking at the city but with binoculars though too far away to make any clear details. The man writes something in a journal then turns back to the forest vanishing from sight. Ke’an spends no more mental energy into the man, the absent thoughts and observation quickly forgotten. He turns back to System who between breaths finally seemed to take in the city.

“Is this a checkpoint or something?” System asks.

“Yes, but also it is the capital of the Wa’hos territory. On paper this is one of the richest territories in the country. That massive chasm is full of valuable ore they use to make many of Senusha’s enchanted weapons. Once we pass through we will have a short journey before we get to my clan’s territory, Fleysil.”

“On paper?” System asks.

“Oh yeah, on paper.”  Ke’an says with a villainous smile. “Our territory is the poorest however you can’t go around claiming all of the stolen relics, magic, and inventions on our tax forms or anything.”

Ke’an started taking off his clothing to System’s surprise. She asks what he is doing when he tells her about the bonus reward he got from completing the quest. He places his old battle damaged clothing in his inventory and takes out the blue leather armor. Ke’an is pleased at the quality and look of the armor though he is not surprised. The quality of the potions told him that the rewards from quests are no joke.

The Basic Monster Hunter Armor Set is bright blue with silver engraving wrapping around the studs in beautiful patterns. The armor set is complete with under armor, cuirass, leg, boots, gauntlets, helmet and even has a fur cavalier shoulder cape. Ke’an puts on everything but the helmet which he stores in his inventory. System helps him put the armor on as she grows tired of standing out in the cold while he changes.

“Why are you changing again?” System asks.

“Mainly because of you.” He points a finger at her accusingly. “Since you don’t have papers to get through the check point I will have to pull the noble card so we can meet… him.”

“Him? The noble card?” System asks.

“Just wait and see.” Ke’an responds as he starts walking towards the town. “Follow my lead and just do what I say and we will be fine.”

As they approached Oper’saas they joined one of the many dirt roads which are all slowly converging on the only entrance to the city this side of the chasm. As they approach they see a few winter travelers in horse drawn carriages and more surprisingly are the loud mechanical autokinetics which System recognized as an early generation of gas powered cars. The scarcity of travelers is expected in the dead of winter. The roads were kept clear of snow with magic circles carved into stones along the main roadside. 

The impressive walls around the city seemed to only grow more imposing as they approached the city. Once they make it to the entrance there are a few guards checking everyone's papers and taking a fee for entry. Luckily since they are traveling on foot the line for pedestrian entry is much shorter. The guardpost for pedestrian entry is built directly into the wall, a window separating travelers from the guard inside the small room.