A New Star Chapter 32

After resting another day, I was back in the training yard early in the morning, noticing the guards generally didn't react, other than one or two giving me a quick, slightly frightened look. I think that was more to do with my demonstration against the count still making the rounds, the guards sometimes whispering things about me where they thought no one else would overhear. I didn't mind, as the guards' opinions didn't really bother me, and it was only one or two of them in the first place. Considering my current level of strength, even in my weakened state I could likely beat anyone but the captains when considering the entire garrison. Hell, I could probably beat the entire garrison, minus the captains, by myself without life-threatening trouble. 

I rested another two days, though that really meant training and practicing sword forms in the morning and lessons with the count in the afternoon. I was mostly done with my alchemy, at least in terms of replacing the goods I had used or lost, though I was never really done with alchemy. At times it did feel a bit of a chore, but then again, I found some joy in even the most basic processes. Concocting a hundred low-grade pills was boring work, but there was a meditative quality to it that I enjoyed. It let me think about things, about what my current goals and priorities were, and about what I was currently doing and how I could refine those things to be better. 

Top of the list was to get back on the horse, so to speak, and head back into the Wilds. I needed to explore around several places, I needed to continue to expand my fallback network, and I also should go check the crater that was all that was left of the mountain where I underwent my Tribulation. I knew there was nothing left of it, but I could do a little bit of analysis and maybe get some useful data, both about the effects of Tribulations and about what had happened to me, specifically. That would mean leaving the estate for a day, or perhaps two, but I was not particularly worried about that, considering that other than some weariness, I was stronger than ever. Well, stronger than I had been in this life, though I was not anywhere near my peak, despite the number and grade of affinities I currently possessed.  

I headed out on a Friday, making my way the long way around the estate's defenses, though there really wasn't a need for it. I operated by the principle that it was better to be safe than it was to be sorry, and a little caution could prevent a lot of heartache. Traveling the long way meant it took an extra twenty minutes to reach the old research lab, but that was little bother, and once inside I put a few things away, mainly more healing and restorative items. That done, I moved out, heading for the site of the Tribulation, stopping at the fallback I had created first. Despite how it was a nice little hidden cave with some precious things inside, it looked like nothing had decided to take up residence in my absence, though I was still cautious. Strange and unusual things happened in the Wilds all the time, and I well understood remaining on my guard.  

I didn't bother repairing that site, as I was done with it. Another principle that was good to operate by was assuming a site that had seen use even once was compromised; I wouldn't use this place or anywhere close as a fallback. I would need something in the greater vicinity, but I would build the next little hideout about ten miles from here. That was the closest I was comfortable with, and would still give me an adequate number of shelters spread through the mountain range. I had not yet started to even plumb the forest to the north of the mountains, something I was eager to do, but I was already up to my eyeballs in work and responsibilities, including my work in the mountain range, so exploring the forest was on a temporary hold.  

I closed up the fallback, hauling in some huge chunks of stone to fill in the place before burying the entrance, which wasn't hard considering it was still mostly buried from the blast. I shook my head as I looked it over, really wondering how I had managed to smash my way in with most of my body melted, crushed, or just missing. Well, I was a tenacious bitch at even the worst of times, and missing a few limbs wasn't even my worst yet, so I dismissed the thoughts and moved on. 

I headed to the site of the mountain, or crater now, as the case may be, trying to see if I could pick up anything that would be of help. Sadly, it proved a rather fruitless endeavor, as the final blast had scoured everything clean. I stood on the remains of a tree more than a mile from what had been the base of the mountain, looking out over the devastation and shaking my head with a sigh. Even the mana signatures of the place had been wiped clean, leaving little for me to investigate or document. After another minute I clicked my tongue in frustration, turning and leaving the area, moving on to the site of my next hideout. I had a plan for the general area, but once I got close I found the perfect spot, a little grove of trees with a small pond at the back at the base of one of the northernmost mountains in the range. There was a little cave on the other side of the pond, and I could do an awful lot here, both to disguise the cave as well as make the place inimical to visitors. I could also do a few interesting things to the pond with alchemy, so this was really a great spot to setup.  

I spent a couple hours, moving things around carefully, getting rocks out of the small cave and doing some work to more naturally disguise the entrance. The cave had been in use at one point by some type of wild animal, but it wasn't here now and the signs didn't point to something particularly powerful. I would get the entrance set up, including with a false door that only I could open, and then leave a small amount of medicine here. I didn't ever load a place up, especially if I wasn't done working on it, but I would rather have the healing items to hand than find myself hurt and without anything to take care of it. 

The fallback setup occupied me for several days, eating through the weekend I had set aside for investigation, which was fine by me. I had certainly gotten enough out of that Tribulation, in more ways than one, and was fine in extending my fallback network. I also was introduced to the first instance of an attack on one of my locations, though it wasn't some rogue group or assassin or something, but a burrowing beast that tried to break into the fallback while I was there, coincidence of all coincidences for that week. I killed the thing, funnily enough by stepping through the Dark Paths and reaching out into the top layer of reality and into its own tunnel and grabbing hold of it. Luckily, the thing was only a D-rank, and I quickly snapped its neck after shocking it with my new lightning affinity. It was the first time I had used that new affinity, and it was quite a bit more powerful than I had expected. The neck snapping, it turned out, was just icing on the cake, the lightning affinity almost fully killing it from just a couple seconds of pulsing through my hand.  

I would have to do some fighting to get used to my new level of power, including the upgrades I had gotten to other affinities through the Tribulation. I also needed to push my swords and spears skills a bit higher, as the weapon affinities had a tangible effect on using the weapons in this world. It was both a measure of one's skill, but also gave one faster reactions, harder hits, and the ability to manipulate un-aspected mana and create certain effects, like blade waves, for example. I wanted to bump one or both of them to Master, which wouldn't be that difficult; I just needed to demonstrate some of what I had learned and done in my previous life.  

Anyway, with the attack over, I filled in what was left of the tunnel and shored up that hideout, deciding not to burn it just yet. Even being a somewhat paranoid person, I didn’t believe the mole-like creature had been sent by a person or entity to feel out my location. If I had any evidence of such a thing, I would get rid of the fallback base and then hunt that person or entity down. Security was my primary concern, and stealth was a big part of that; a series of secret hideaways didn't work if people knew where they were. They were even compromised a bit if people knew you had them, and as far as I knew, not even the count knew what I had been up to in my free time around the estate and in the mountain range.  

I was slowly working my way east right now, moving through the mountain range along my family's territory and, eventually, even beyond it. My new family wasn't in control of the entire northern border of our country, though many thought of them as that, but there was a county to the east that had some of the northern border and two territories to the west that had part of the northern border. Beyond that, it was the empires, in both directions, but they didn't own the mountain range, and I wouldn't have really cared even if they did. If the emperor or empress wanted something from me, they could damn well come and get it, and good luck to them. I was personally betting on me, but then again, I always bet on me. It worked out, even when I was against a dark god, though I didn't live very long after that one.  

It was as I was exploring eastward, again on the northern edge of the range, when I found another big discovery. It wasn't anything like the Tribulation site, of that I was sure right from the start, especially because this place was buried deep underground. Not that a mountain in the way would stop a Tribulation, as I well knew, but it could interfere with getting the whole process started, from what I understood, so this was something different. There was a little opening in the mountainside that I had followed down into a cave system, much of which I had passed through using the Dark Paths, choosing not to fight any of the beasts within, many of which were quite powerful. The most powerful of all was something that looked very much like a dragon, which cracked one massive, golden eye open as I passed through its cave and watched me go, even though I was hidden within the dark the whole time.  

That experience didn't deter me, either; if that big lizard wanted some, he could also come get me, if he could even find me. I continued down into the depths, following some signs of civilization here and there, a few runes, a few bricks that were left in the wall. Based on the degradation, this place had been down here for a long, long time, and nobody with any higher reasoning had been down in millennia. Or even longer, considering just how bad the disrepair and destruction was; this range wasn't particularly known for earthquakes or other geological activities, so much of this wear-and-tear was from age. It was far more than what beasts and rampant mana could have done in a short time, which is how I got to my age estimate.  

The paths continued, down and down, going for what not just felt like miles, but were truly miles. I was starting to wonder just what was down here, if anything other than more beasts and possibly lava. These thoughts were starting to really percolate through my mind when things started to change; the bricks and workmanship became more refined and consistent. I walked out of the Dark Paths at a free area and checked around, finding that almost the whole tunnel was now paved and the walls had runes etched in most of their length. I stepped back into the Paths and walked on, finding increasing signs of civilization for hundreds of meters. Eventually, all this buildup led to a building, or rather a section of the tunnels that was fully walled, with ceilings and doors fully finished and still intact. 

The place was a little eerie, all told, and I was rather cautious in proceeding forward, even though I was in the Dark Paths, as I didn't want to encounter anything or anyone that would be in such a place. I also had a thought to whether there were any kinds of autonomous defenses left within as well, as I knew such things were possible in this world. The old research base that I was now occupying as mine was proof enough of that, with a set of defenses that were automated and synced together through a master control system.  

Fortunately, I had the Dark Paths, so none of the doors or other barriers proved barrier to me. I did notice that there was some signs of claws marks and attacks on the outermost doors; I don't know if my scaled friend upstairs had come down here when he was younger and had a round at the facility or if there was something else down here, but whatever it was, it hadn't gotten in. Not so with me, as I bypassed that door, and then the next, and then the one after that. I was now within a rather advanced facility, one that had copious amounts of runes covering nearly every inch of it. There was still furniture in here, preserved for who knows how many years, thought the upholstery was gone, if it ever even had any in the first place. Much of it was made of metal and didn't look the most comfortable, but who knew who was originally using such a place. The further in I went, the more I found, including working lights, and I was more impressed the further in I went. The place reminded me far more of some space stations I had been in than this world of castles and steam trains I had found myself in, which was a rather strange thing to think.  

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