Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]-Chapter 203 - Traveling Back

Chris

The sun rose on yet another day and I sat to watch it. Even the stray thought that so many weren't here to see it didn't dampen my mood. It was a fact of life that I was getting better at dealing with, sadly enough. We fought and some didn't make it. That was life.

The fact none of my family were among the fallen was the only reason I could be so cavalier.

If one had... I wouldn't have been sitting here watching the sunrise. I don't know what I'd be doing.

After walking the battlefield, I went to all our prepared transportation to preserve the bodies. All who left Frostheim with me were to be given a rightful sendoff.

Their coffins glistened in the morning sun as light reflected off the pristine Ice. It was something of a personal thank you from me. To encase them in Ice of my own making for the trip home.

It made me rub the ring on my hand.

I had given it to Gabriel before the fight, luckily, as I usually wore it on my right hand. He protested taking it but it was good that he had.

Placing the hill and using the ring were just another thing I had put off until the City was finished.

The more I thought about it, the more cases of me doing that popped up.

"Gabriel," I called.

He wasn't far away as both he and my mother were nearby watching the same sunrise as me. They likely had wildly different thoughts running through their head, though.

His eyes found mine, "Can you go get Hal for me, please."

He soundlessly agreed and left to go find the man in question. The sounds of activity had been getting louder as the light got brighter and I doubted he wasn't up already. Hal was a morning person.

One of my first orders of business required his input and it was the last thing I needed to do before we left.

Both men came walking back toward me a few moments later. Hal was dressed in his normal scouting gear again, his more robust fighting armor already packed away.

"Hal, how many of our scouts remain?" I asked.

"Most," He answered, "They were the least impacted by the fighting."

That was good. It would make my next request easier.

"How many have no family back in Frostheim? No one waiting on them to come back?" I asked.

Hal hesitated, confused by the question, "I don't know. That isn't something I keep track of."

I nodded, expecting that answer, "Can you check? A small group is all I need. Five or six people should do it."

While Hal wasn't technically in charge of the scouts, he was who they all reported to. A somewhat unofficial leader.

Yet another thing I had put off.

He nodded before going out into the wider camp.

"Why do you need people without family?" Gabriel asked suspiciously.

His suspicions made me laugh, "Nothing nefarious, brother. I just have a mission for them."

"Why does it require those conditions?"

"The task I have for them will delay their arrival back home. If people are waiting for them, and they are missing when we return, they will think the worst even if I claim otherwise." I said.

I couldn't imagine their family and friends all grouping up to search for their faces only to realize they weren't among the people who returned.

That would be cruel.

I could tell Gabriel's curiosity was rising but I said no more. It was a little fun to leave him in the dark and guessing.

It wasn't long before Hal came back for the second time, with the requested people in tow. A group of six, a mix of male and female, all wearing the green and brown leathers of what scouts usually wore during the Summer months. Some with daggers on the hip, others with bows on their back.

"Thank you for coming," I started, "The reason I have called you is simple. This battle has enlightened me on some things that need to change. Firstly, our City's strength. We fielded a quarter as many men as Fort Hope.

"I mean to rectify that. I need you to go southeast, further away from home, and recruit all who are willing to join. Toronto is no more and I want you to start there. In a city that once held millions, there should be thousands still looking for a home.

"Promise them work, a means to support themselves, shelter, and security in return for citizenship. Any who join the Guards will be rewarded and any who have, or are willing to change to, these professions will be rewarded as well."

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I said while pulling out a parchment I wrote the previous day.

It was a list of all the professions we still needed. Farmer, Miner, Quarry Worker, Administrative staff, Managerial Roles, Engineer, Architect.

The list went on, but those were the top few we needed most. We had enough Farmers currently, but if we were to rapidly expand our population like I wanted, more would be required.

Miner and Quarry Workers were still needed, one more than the other now that a second mine would be worked. Administrative staff and Managerial roles were to help manage all the people I expected to arrive.

Our main influx of people came from Austin's recruitment and I aimed to institute more. This group of six would only be the first I sent out. Knowing that there were thousands in the Toronto area was only my good fortune.

To facilitate their journey, I gave them packs filled with travel rations and the materials they would need. We had a surplus of supplies as we packed enough to last a few months and we wouldn't be needing that many now that the fighting was over.

"Also, I want you to keep a lookout for any traces of Demons or of people you suspect have or might summon one. Don't take any action, but notify us and we will handle it." I added before the group could leave.

All manner of Scouts, Rangers, and Rogues had used all the skills at their disposal to find any runaway Demons but one couldn't be too careful, especially when the main culprit behind the summoning was never found.

It had been too long since it first happened, and the person could be anywhere by now. Plus, without powerful investigative skills, it was impossible to tell.

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We didn't even know what kind of deal they made in the first place. It could have been for an item, equipment, a skill, or even a technique of some kind.

Leaving the problem unfinished irked me but there was nothing I could do about it. We didn't have dedicated trackers or investigators to delegate the task to.

Another thing I meant to change.

With their task set, and their bags packed, the small group mounted on horses we could spare and rode off. Some of the fallen wouldn't be needing them anymore and we could easily spare six for such a task.

With that taken care of, there was nothing left to do before we left.

We would make a short stop at Fort Hope and then be on our way back home with only a short conversation in between. And hopefully not a fight.

Our large group took a while to get moving, but we made decent time once we did. The trip to Fort Hope would take a week but that was fine. It would give me more time to recover.

Remi chuffed from under me.

"I know I'm unbalanced, you ass," I said.

My companion had been happy to see me after the battle and I was happy to see him. Since this was my first time riding him since, he had made his aggravations known.

I had tried to balance out his saddle by packing more on my right side but that didn't seem to work. He still chuffed no matter how many times I moved things around.

The riding aggravated my wounds but I powered through the pain. It had diminished as the days went by but sitting upright while riding didn't help.

[Cold Meditation] and Healing worked to fix most things but I was still far from a clean bill of health. Ashley was a good Healer, but my body had always taken a while to fix.

Even before the massive influx of Fortitude, Strength, and Endurance only making it harder. I was lucky I was still at the Body of Wood stage as that already made things difficult, if I had been at the Body of Stone stage, my arm would take forever to regrow.

Still, I was well enough to fight if the need arose and that was all that mattered.

I even had time to practice manipulating Ice as I rode. I had already spent time using Ice limbs as Gabriel suggested, but it was different when the entire thing was missing.

During practice, I had encased my limb in ice and used that to articulate the appendage but it was entirely different to have the entire thing ice. There was no base to work off of. Nothing to anchor the ice to underneath.

The training I did helped speed my acclimation along, but I was still a while away from anything elegant. The strain on my mind was also going down.

The fine manipulation skills needed to move the arm were above my current skills and it strained my mental ability to keep it active for long. I was used to large-scale manipulation of ice while fighting, not the fine, precise movements fingers required.

After a week spent practicing, I could keep the arm formed indefinitely, but I could only use it for a couple of hours a day and it was still clunky.

I wouldn't be enchanting anything intricate anytime soon, but I was making great strides in compensating for what was lost. Fighting with it was out of the question, but I only needed the one arm for that.

Even though arriving at Fort Hope meant discussions would soon follow, I was still relieved to see the city's walls when they came into view.

Many of our group were.

It was hard to blame them as people lined up to welcome our return.

Seeing the heartfelt reunions made me eager for our own. It was nice to watch the people hug and embrace their families after the fight but it didn't feel the same as watching my own people do it.

There was a distance between us and them after the rising tensions that delineated the two camps, dampening the goodwill.

There were still smiles and tears of joy to be had from all around, but there was a marked difference between us and them.

The fact an uncomfortable conversation was to be had the following day didn't help matters either.

But before that could happen, there was one thing I needed to do before we left, either amicably, or not so amicably. My beautiful little niece was in need of a birthday gift.

My ability with glass wasn't the best but there was bound to be at least one Glassblower or a Crafter that could fill in inside a city of this size, all I needed to do was find them.

The enchantments for what I had in mind were already worked out. I had spent a good chunk of time coming up with what to get her. I even decided to grab a little something for Josh as well. It wasn't his birthday, but it felt wrong to leave him out.

It wasn't as grand as what I had in mind for Anna, but Josh had always been easy to get gifts for. The little weirdo loved rocks.

Before their house was destroyed, Abigail complained about his collection endlessly. He was constantly picking up rocks from wherever they went and his pile of rocks only grew. He refused to throw any out, no matter how much Abigail pleaded.

I had been a contributor of many in his collection. It was easy to pick out a nice rock wherever I went and the fact it irked my sister only urged me on.

My rock of choice was already made and it was settled in my saddle bag. I found it in the crystal pit and there were even specks of gem residue comprising it. Not enough to be a geode, but enough to make it pretty. Josh's love for rocks only extended so far into crystalline structures.

He would be enthused about a crystal, but he would be overjoyed about a cool rock.

Anna, on the other hand, had a different collection. She enjoyed the finer things in life and, like with Josh, all her collection had been wiped out during the Change.

She loved snow globes, and I figured with my powers and enchanting ability, I would be able to make a spectacular first piece for her new collection.

I just needed to find a good Glassblower.