Awakeness came to Magnus instantly. One moment he had been deep asleep and completely relaxed, the next his eyes were open and all signs of sleep had evaporated like a drop of water dropped into a fire. He quickly took stock of himself as he sat up. It wasn't a shot of adrenaline or a sense of danger that woke him up, he simply had slept enough and now he wasn't asleep anymore.
The system told him he had slept for just two hours, so it was still quite early and the sun hadn't risen too far from the horizon yet. Without much trouble he stood up and decided to search for some breakfast, which quickly turned to be a small fish he cooked directly over the fire, and some berries from a few bushes. From his understanding, he would need to add carbohydrates to his diet, most likely some kind of cereal grew in the area, or maybe nuts of some kind.
With some food in his stomach, he proceeded to put out the fire, so close to the water he doubted the fire would be much danger, or even survive for too long. But he wasn't taking chances, especially when it was as easy as pouring water from a few meters away into the pit. He then packed everything back into his backpack and turned to the pile of weapons.
It was practically all trash, crude and rusted weapons, making him glad to have found the short sword for personal protection. He then turned to the shelter, it had definitely been overdone, but the little he had used he had thanked it..
With his backpack back in place, he looked around, he had two options now, he could head further South along the coast, or try to go up the slope to the East.
Since he could see much further along the coast than up the slope, Magnus started walking South.
Ommo crossed the Great Zora Bridge on foot. He and Suli had to travel around the wetlands when they had found the Lizalfos were active and patrolling; the fallen pieces must have gotten them riled up. The two of them had gone separate ways just before the Inogo Bridge as Suli would be heading into Goron Territory.
The detour had stretched their travel time considerably and had forced them to set up camp during the night. Strangely enough there had been no sight of Stalkoblins or other monsters.
Once dawn had come, the pair had continued their trek till they had to go different ways, and that was pretty much it for Ommo's last twenty hours. The sinuous way up the river had him cross paths with Zora multiple times, so his arrival was expected. What he didn't expect was the sudden splashing sound and a tall figure to appear in his way.
Ommo didn't show it, but instantly was ready to fight the over three meters tall predator. Only his training had kept him from showing it as the red and white Zora looked down at him.
"A ha! I knew it! You're the messenger from Kakariko Village, right?" Ommo hadn't finished nodding before the Zora was practically steamrolling ahead. "You must have come to discuss the matters of the star falls-"
"That's right, prince Sidon." He interrupted the very energetic Zora. "Maybe we should move? The bridge's not a good place to discuss these matters."
Sidon reacted surprised to the point. "You're right! And so rude of me, I'm Prince Sidon and you must be the Ommo from Kakariko village. Follow me, my father and Muzu are already waiting for us."
The young Sheikah hunter didn't sigh, it was only because the normal exuberance of the prince was known quite well that his attitude hadn't surprised him, too much. He had to rush his steps a bit to keep up with the prince's longer legs.
"You saw them?" Sidon prompted as they approached the settlement.
Ommo looked up. "You mean the pieces? I only saw them fall, I suspect I observed the one fall just outside your territory to the North of the Wetlands. Another Sheikah had a much closer encounter with one when he followed it over to the Bottomless Swamp." He said. "It sank under its surface and I doubt anything will be able to bring it out."
"Hmm… interesting. The piece you first talked about did indeed fall near here, in the valley to the West. Only one of the guards managed to catch sight of it before it buried itself into the solid ground." Sidon explained how they had tried to uncover it, but it was much deeper than they expected and the attempt was considered a failure.
He then continued speaking. "There was a second piece that fell to the East." Ommo nodded, indicating he knew which one they were talking about. "That piece fell on the Lanayru Sea, but instead of sinking it floated to a small beach. One of our guards found it along with signs of someone- Oh, we're here!"
The Sheikah wanted to complain about the interruption, but it was true they had also arrived at the Zora's throne room. Different from the almost conservative room Lady Impa used in Kakariko, this room was large and magnificent, he momentarily wondered if Hyrule's castle throne room had once been like this.
"King Dorephan." He saluted.
"Oh ho ho, no need for so much formality young Sheikah, I take Lady Impa sent you?" The titanic Zora's voice boomed in the large, open chamber.
"Yes, the elder sends her regards along with-" As he pulled the copy of the sketch they had made from the piece Rasmon had seen, Sidon interrupted him.
"You won't believe it, father, one of their own saw another of the pieces land. Unfortunately it did so in the Bottomless Swamp." The prince just went on. "Excuse me," he spoke softly as he took the sketch on Ommo's hand and looked at it, "just like I suspected! Look father, it appears both of the pieces would go together, I wonder why?"
Ommo coughed softly. "Lady Impa believes it's some kind of ship." He offered.
"Hmm…" King Dorephon hummed as he looked at the drawing carefully, it looked tiny in the royal Zora's hand. "I can see how it would be, but a ship made of metal?"
Sidon laughed. "Oh, that reminds me of Lady Purah's experiments with the Guardians," his tone softened for a moment before returning to his more boisterous self, "she had found that a bowl-shaped platform could float on the water, even when carrying those machines."
"That may be, but this ship fell from the skies, son." The King spoke before turning pensive. "That reminds me of an old story."
"Old stories?" Ommo prompted.
Prince Sidon nodded and answered for his father. "They are old stories, bedtime stories and memories of those that were old when I was but a kid. Travelers of the Sky, Star Swimmers, Celestial Explorers, they had many names. But it's said they came from high above Hyrule, the stories change depending on who tells them, sometimes they helped set up the Hyrule Kingdom, sometimes they are just passing by, sometimes they come to ask for help, and there are even ones where they come to conquer us all."
Ommo's eyes opened wide. "But if they come to conquer-"
Prince Sidon raised a hand. "I don't believe they are here for that, just one ship that broke down in the sky? I'm more afraid of them running away from someone than them being here to conquer us." He said before turning away and rubbing his chin. "Though if they are running from someone, then that could be a-"
"That's enough, my son." Prince Dorephan spoke once more. "Don't worry, young Sheikah, I don't believe they are here to become a threat. But if they are a traveler from the stars, then they will bring change in one way or another."
Ommo nodded and listened as the king continued speaking.
"Now, as my son may have told you, we found the landing spot of another piece in the Lanayru Sea by the Talua Plateau. There were signs of someone trekking up the beach, but our scout couldn't follow them up and instead returned to update us on what he found. We're pretty sure they are walking in the direction of the wetlands as I doubt many would try to climb the mountains."
The Sheikah nodded. If he remembered right, from the Plateau one would walk West to the Horon Lagoon, Brynna Plains, Lanayru Bay, Samasa Plain and then up to the Rabia Plain before reaching the West Gate.
"Then I will need to return and inform Lady Impa about it." He said actively.
"Calm down, young Sheikah. One more minute here won't change things, and we've set a patrol through the Samasa Plain to hopefully intercept them. Even then, Prince Sidon will accompany you down the river and help you through the Wetlands."
The younger Zora grinned and posed. "Don't worry, young Sheikah, we'll be back in Kakariko Village before you know it!"
For some reason, Ommo felt a small shiver, and it wasn't the shark-like teeth of the Zora prince.
"Good travels and fresh water for you, young Sheikah." King Dorephan said as Ommo found Prince Sidon practically dragging him away.
The last he saw was a knowing smile on the old king's face, making him a bit more worried. Before he knew it, they were standing by the bridge he had come through.
"Just remember, hold on tight." Sidon said.
And Ommo only allowed a very intelligent. "Uh-" Before the tall Zora had pulled him along and jumped down into the water.
The surprise didn't end there as he found the need to grab onto the Prince's shoulder as this started to swim down the current at an impressive speed. He could see how they would take a mere fraction of the time it took him to arrive… if he survived.
Magnus' walk was uninterrupted for the next few hours. Outside of keeping an eye for some supplies, he mostly just enjoyed the views. The surprise came towards noon when he found another chest half-hidden in the bushes.
While the previous one appeared to be a hunter's stash, this appeared to have been owned by a fisherman as inside he found a roll of fishing line, lures, a lure and, the most surprising, a shield with a fish painted on its face.
It was quite a basic wooden shield, a number of planks held together by a metal rim. If he remembered right it was too big to be a buckler, but too small to be a small shield. Magnus was still taking it, having a shield, even an old one like this would make him feel considerably more safe if he got attacked at night. He just wished he had some tools to properly treat and reinforce it, because if the night was like the previous, it wouldn't survive till morning.
He stored the rest of the objects back in the chest and pushed it back into place, he made a note in his system to replace the shield in the future if he could. If not for the person that put it there, then for the next person that finds themselves needing a bit of extra protection.
He hung the shield from his backpack and resumed walking. The ground was flat and solid enough that it was actually quite easy and he was making good time West. And while he would have stopped by noon to see about preparing some lunch, the reason turned out to be the presence of a primitive monster camp.
Different from the free roaming red goblin monsters, these had constructed very crude wooden palisades around their camp and even a couple of watchtowers. Only the fact that he could see the watcher deep asleep on his tower had kept him from being spotted.
Not wanting to test his luck, Magnus quickly moved off the beach and behind some vegetation. He was close enough to get a good view of the monsters, they were as ugly as the first time he had seen them. And now that he was close enough, and not fighting, he could feel the energy that composed them; it was a strange cold and dry sensation on his skin.
He counted three around the fire, a fourth on the tower and finally a much larger one with an elongated face ending in a pig's snout and a big horn on its head. Its posture made it a bit hard to catch full sight of its features, but it was obvious it was a monster with a long reach, and if the spear by its side was an indication, it would be quite dangerous to attack head on.
Fortunately, he didn't need to attack them head on, he had the element of surprise on his side and it didn't appear they were even paying much attention to anything. It may very well be the fact that they had eaten if the signs around the camp were correct.
The most interesting thing from the whole camp, besides a chest decorated like a skull, was a pile of red barrels. He didn't want to think those were explosives, but could be just some cheap alcohol that would be inflammable enough to add to his advantage. Of course that meant getting into the camp and close enough to the possibly explosive barrels.
Magnus wished at least one of the bows had survived the night, and maybe a few arrows, but they all had been very cheap and poorly maintained. He could have improvised a fire arrow with some cloth and the alcohol from his first aid pack.
Thinking about it, he may be able to do that with the fishing spear, it would be a waste of a good spear to keep the distance, but if he moved to get the barrels between the monsters and himself and then lured them over, he could hopefully trigger them as they came close enough.
With some plan put together, Magnus moved downwind before crafting his throwing spear, aka the spear with the alcohol-soaked rag. For a few minutes of work, he was pretty sure he could have used it to fight, but one stone and two birds and all that.
He hid his backpack after grabbing the sword and shield, and then moved into position.
"Hey!" He screamed out loud.
It took a moment for them to look in his direction, but once they did, the monsters all went feral. Screaming unintelligible, his whole Understanding thing was failing at getting anything but senseless screaming,
While he had to dodge the arrows shot by the goblin on the small tower, the distance made it easy to take his time as he lit the spear and prepared. His suspicions about the barrels was more or less cleared when the larger monster reached to grab one of them, and it was enough for Magnus to enact his plan.
Some not forgotten muscle memory took over as he launched the spear forward, perfectly stabbing it on one of the barrels at the feet of the larger monster. Thankfully the ignition took a second, long enough for the other three others to reach him before whatever was inside caught fire and proceeded to explode.
Magnus made a mental note to find what exactly was in those barrels because the explosion was massive, like strong enough to almost throw him back by the sheer shockwave. The three small goblins didn't survive it, their bodies already dissipating into those black and purple flakes as the larger one seemed to be lasting a bit more, through the fire it had been set on would finish it. This only left the one back on the watchtower for him to deal with.
Even while rushing, it seemed the monsters couldn't feel fear, because all it did was keep shooting its arrows at him. The large one didn't survive to swipe at him before Magnus snatched the spear it had been using and threw it at his last target.
Once more he was mildly surprised by his strength as the rusted metal pole flew true and ended the goblin with a head shot, its body breaking away as it hit the ground.
"That was much easier than I expected…" He mused and looked at the destruction he had caused.
The pile of barrels was now a small, smoking crater, the fires long since extinguished by a lack of fuel. The palisades near it had fallen apart, and the ones a bit further were barely surviving. The fire in the pit was still going and a few boxes that he hadn't paid attention to before had broken, revealing they had some stuff inside he would need to check.
He gave one more look around to make sure there was no danger before he approached the chest. Close inspection revealed that the skull that had covered it was some kind of seal or something, because it was flaking off just like the monsters did. It put into question why the monsters had a chest with them, it was pretty obvious they hadn't tried to open it.
If anything it appeared they had found it and decided to base their camp around it. Was it some kind of monster ritual? Would filling the chest with riches and leaving it outside would have monsters spawn and claim it?
Different from the chests he had found before, this one appeared to be of much better quality, just to start the surface was reinforced with metal and had handles to each side. And while it had a lock, it appeared to have already been broken before he easily popped the top up.
The rewards were also considerably larger. The first thing that caught his eyes was a large, purple crystal, definitely a larger variation of the ones he had found. Next was an actual gemstone, even in its obvious unpolished state, the red facets were quite beautiful when they caught the sunlight. The final thing that caught his eye was a handful of arrows, which appeared to be professionally made as the little he knew about arrows told him they would fly quite well.
There were also a few pots of what appeared to once have been spices or similar, but they hadn't survived. He wondered if it was a side-effect of being so close to the evil energy sources. It didn't matter, the beautiful bottles' corks had popped off and the content had turned into a sludge. He was tempted to try and clean them to keep the bottles, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.
He made a mental note about making a bow sometime soon, the two perks he had gave him enough understanding to be able to put together a pretty sturdy one. In addition he had more than enough strength for the pull. Though he would need something for the cord, maybe he should see about hunting some game for their meat and sinews.
While he could see about crafting a new spear, the monster's bow and arrows had been left laying on the ground. They were intact enough he trusted them for half a dozen shots, that should be enough to hunt even a deer if he so felt like it.
A random thought made him bring up the system's perk window. There were still the only two he had acquired, the one related to foraging and living in the wild, and the other that covered all types of wood working.
"I didn't get any perks from all that I did?" Magnus prompted. "Not bothered by it, just surprised."
"User has not carried enough actions related to a single subject to acquire a new Perk."
"So I should-"
"Given User's Job, he has access to a list of those Perks he can work for."
He gave the system's holographic representation a look, wondering why it had interrupted him like that. Though there was still no emotion on the voice, and maintained the completely neutral tone, making it hard for him to measure if it was on purpose or just a delay.
He decided to delay requesting the list, instead he started to work towards lunch. He still felt peckish for some carbohydrates, so he pulled one of the instant rice packs he had taken with him and prepared it with some of the mushrooms and peppers he had foraged during his walk.
Once he had it going, he sat down and looked through the system's menus.
The list was much larger than he expected, but apparently it was because it listed even the most nebulous perks he could acquire given the actions he had taken, and many did not even had an approximation of how many times or what he would need to do to acquire them.
Things like space ship repair, environment reconstruction, upgrading weapons and monster biology sounded cool. But none of them even had a progress percentage, indicating he would need to either do a ton more, or find things that were more efficient.
"System, from now on don't show any perk, unless I request them specially, that I've not at least a one percent of progress achieved," and just like that the list was cut by over ninety percent, "can't be acquired at the moment," half of the remaining vanished, "or… no, that's it."
The result was a much more manageable list, and even then most of them were barely breaking the one percent of progress. The biggest two were about cooking and… explosives.
Magnus turned to the still smoking crater, he could see why.
Since he was pretty sure he would end acquiring the cooking perk sooner or later, he turned his attention to the third on the list with great curiosity, working with monster parts. He had studied the balloon dropped by the octopus, in a manner of speak. He hadn't checked if the skeletons had dropped anything, his mind mainly focusing on surviving the night. But now he was safe, meaning he got up from his spot and went to check the spots he remembered the monsters having died.
His search revealed a small pile of horns and teeth. Four nubby horns and a long one along with one fang from the large monster and five teeth from the small ones. Unfortunately outside of looking at them, there was little to nothing he could do with them, they didn't respond to any external stimuli like the balloon, and he wasn't going to try to do anything that would break them at the moment.
Maybe if he had been able to straighten the long one he could have used it to craft a spear, it certainly was hard and sharp enough to do the job. But he lacked the tools to do so, so his pot was too small to fit inside and start the softening process, after that he would need to construct a proper stand to brace and hold the horn straight till it hardened.
Thankfully he could take them with him and study them better in the future.
A small ding from the system informed him the food should be ready, so Magnus put the monster bits away and sat by the fire again. While he hadn't been too hungry to start, the smell that assaulted his nose when he revealed the food certainly fanned the flames.
As he dug in with gusto, he was much more conscious about the effect the food was having on him, apparently the ingredients in this world could have extraordinary effects. He wondered if the perk related to food would give him an insight on them.
