Unspeakable Secrets The Alchemist Series (A Dark Medieval Progression Fantasy)

Chapter 74 Setting Out

Connor and Adelia set out at night. Connor's sense heightening potion allowed him to see well enough with the moonlight filtering through the trees and he could only imagine how well Adelia saw with her demonic eyes.

They moved like shadows. Whisper quiet and at a good pace in the silent darkness. They'd seen no sign of the Syndicate. Not a single shred of evidence that they were being searched for. But they remained cautious.

Besides, evading notice by any Syndicate operatives that might be looking for them was only one of several reasons they chose to move stealthily at night rather than during the day and in the open.

The others being the countless dangers that surrounded them. Giant spiders, midnight serpents, flesh-eating plants, trolls, goblins, wyverns, grych, and all manner of other creatures best avoided.

Although many such creatures were active at night, the cover of darkness helped immensely with avoiding the notice of many of them. That and camping during the day allowed them to have campfires without the light blazing for miles and alerting everyone and everything around them that they were there.

A factor that worked to their advantage when they traveled at night as the countless flickering lights of goblin fires helped them steer clear of their settlements.

And by the gods, whatever region they were in was infested with the disgusting little creatures. But they easily avoided the countless crude wooden forts scattered around the forest.

On the second day, Connor and Adelia made camp in the ruins of some long-forgotten fortress. It was overgrown with vines as thick as Connor's arm and half the walls had collapsed into little more than rocky pathways, but it was still defensible enough to give them a safer place to rest.

The remains of one of the towers had been in good enough shape to serve as a decent lookout spot. Or it would've if the ruins weren't surrounded by densely packed trees.

Connor couldn't help wondering what the place had been like in its prime as the ruined remnants and ideal location hinted at a truly formidable fortification.

As it was, Connor was just glad they got to enjoy a decent campsite and that none of the local goblins had nested in the place. He hoped that was because none of them had found it rather than it being home to something they knew to avoid.

He and Adelia rested during the day, alternating watches so they both got some sleep while keeping alert and able to deal with dangers. Connor also used their downtime to check how Adelia was healing and to work on his alchemy.

Though examining her showed he'd been worried about nothing. Just as she'd said, she healed incredibly fast.

Still, it was a weight off his mind to have made sure and it wasn't as though he'd minded seeing more of her.

Not that he'd ever tell her that. He liked his body unperforated by daggers after all.

Thankfully, she hadn't seemed to mind him fussing over her a little.

In fact, he got the strange feeling she enjoyed it as a smile had quirked her lips when he'd checked on her. Whether it was amusement at his concerns, a sense of being glad he didn't just think of her as a demon, or some other factor... he didn't know.

As they journeyed deeper inland, their campsites felt incredibly lacking compared to the cave and ruined fortress they'd found. Often little more than a slightly less exposed patch of forest.

His alchemy grew stronger at a rate that surprised him. Despite the occasional interruption by giant spiders.

Of everything in the forest, they'd proved the hardest to avoid for some reason and it felt as though he spent half his time cleaning spider ichor off his weapons.