We don't venture very far into the tainted lands before we come to a stop, a few hours still remaining until sunset. I step out of my carriage in confusion, finding the three carriages that made up our traveling group now set up in a triangle shape, the attendants Andreas brought are quickly setting something up, though I am unsure what. "Why have we stopped, Andreas? It isn't dark yet?" He glances over at me from where he is standing in the center of the triangle watching the set up with narrowed eyes.
"Travelling in the tainted lands during the day is dangerous, traveling during the night is suicide, the creatures become much more active once the sun sets. The only way to survive it, are these." He holds up his Lodestone necklace. "These serve to keep the curse from influencing our minds, but they're weak, small, only large enough to protect our mind, and those connected to it, like our spirit beast. Which is why it is so important for us to set up these while it is still light out." He gestures to the small stone pillars being set up at each corner of our camp, only called small because they were miniscule in comparison to the pillars that stood at the border of the tainted lands.
Each of these stone pillars was at half my size, which is quite big. But if those were Lodestones, I still didn't understand their purpose, I thought the Lodestones only kept the curse from affecting our minds, what did they have to do with protecting us at night. "I don't understand how Lodestones are going to affect us from the creatures at night." He smiles at me, looking happy to know something I didn't after always losing to me in herbalism.
"By themselves you're right they aren't much protection, but with a cultivation crystal attached to them, they are different. The thin invisible field they emit that protects our mind from the curse, well with the additional energy from the cultivation crystals they form a real barrier, once these are all set up they will put up a field that stops any and all things from coming in, a protective field that will allow us to sleep calmly tonight." It is only as I see how long it takes to set up each Lodestone properly that I understand why we stopped so early, the stones were heavy to move taking two buff looking men for each stone, and because of the Lodestone's properties, it didn't allow spirit energy to force it to move, it had to be lifted and maneuvered manually, increasing the time needed exponentially.
I watch with intrigue as they finish setting up each lodestone, having to ensure they formed a proper barrier around the camp, with none of the carriages close enough to interrupt the connection they wanted to form between the Lodestones. Even the one they had to strangely have on a tall stand in the center of the camp. It is only as they shift the last Lodestone into place that I see a thin wave of blue light form between each Lodestone, I am awed by the sight of it, but no one else reacts, and as I watch them continue moving other things, I realize that I am the only one who has seen it.
That this was the thin natural barrier the Lodestones produced, that they couldn't see but my strange eyes could. I watch Andreas go to his carriage and pull out a large chest, and when he opens it, it clinks, like glass bottles hitting each other, but what he pulls out of it isn't glass bottles but crystals. Small but powerful cultivation crystals that glow with energy in my vision, he grabs three and hands one to three different attendants who all go to a Lodestone and once they are all in next to the Lodestones, they place the crystals on top of the Lodestones and I watch the faint barrier I had seen form before, become vibrant and strong.
I can tell everyone can see it now as well, it is only when the barrier reveals the small dome it has formed around us as Andreas adds a crystal to the lodestone on the stand that I realize it wasn't just walls, but an entire protective barrier, after all I suppose the curse can affect things that fly as well. Seeing all this made me realize how lucky I was to have Andreas come with me, to have him already knowing how to prepare for all this, the amount of money he must have spent on all the supplies. "Thank you, Andreas for coming with me, I know what it must have been like to give up on your dream of becoming an herbalist to help me." He nods slowly, but then just smiles easily at me.
YOU ARE READING
Yearning for the Moon
FantasyAfter winning the herbalist competition, Elianna, is outraged that the prize for winning is below that of all the other competitions. Left with no other choice but to venture into the tainted lands, Elianna, must prepare for all the obstacles she di...