A Hand-Woven Universe 66 66. A New Party

Noone gripped onto a packet of wrapped bread. When he finally pulled it out, it was cool to the touch and only mildly stale. The bread was made to survive a long time, even if it goes stale it would still be edible and rich with energy.

Noone's hands were calloused and rough but despite this he delicately peeled open the wrappings, careful to not drop even a single crumb. During the last month Noone's senses honed into his climbing and he made astounding progress. He thought that he moved fast before, but now he knew what fast meant.

His speed increased, however so did his need to rest. Whatever expenditure his body needed to move at this level, it took it toll on him. Noone felt as though he had hit a plateau. Before, he knew it, every day he could move a little faster, go a little longer. But for the past few weeks he did not feel himself making any progress.

His body stopped growing, even when he worked himself to exhaustion, he barely felt the sting of torn and rebuilding muscles. It left him a little disappointed.

"There must be something…" He thought, shoving bread into his mouth. "Something I can do to break through this idle period."

Noone talked to himself for a while, waiting for the suns' descent.

The weirdest thing Noone noticed in the past few months was that he could no longer mindlessly climb the way he could before. He was still able to fall into a groove where his body took over. But it wasn't like before. Before - it felt like he was giving himself over to something else, instincts he imagined it was.

Now though… he wasn't so sure.

Noone looked up at the sea of white cloud above him. Instead of being thousands of feet away, they were only a few meters. A single movement and he would be submersed in the icy world within the clouds. It was a surreal sight. Standing directly underneath them and looking across the horizon, it looked like an immense portal into some higher realm.

Once Noone finished eating he replaced his pack and began to shimmy up the inside of the crevice into the clouds.
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Noone hesitated to breath in the icy and humid air but eventually he gave in, his lungs filled with cool vapor. The instant cold to his limbs and chest caused him to cough slightly, however compared to his freefall experience it was like a walk in the market.

There was nothing like free-falling through frozen death to wake a man up. He chuckled sarcastically.

Noone remembered immediately spitting up blood the first time from the sheer cold. Now though he was much better prepared. Both physically and mentally. Noone was also prepared for any attacks from the white birds. Gradually, he realized that climbing the cliff was both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, it was one less direction he could be attacked from. But the downside was he lost a lot of maneuverability to fight back if and when he was attacked.

So, for now he decided to stay within the crevice for as far as it went. Noone was unreasonably confident about his chances, and he recognized this, however he felt that if you are going to do something, then it was best to do it with confidence.

At the pace Noone was moving at, he would be approaching Tapestry in six months at most, a.s.suming there were no problems along the way, and he didn't fall to his death.

He chuckled at that.

…

Sarah and Feylin Stood within the temple's courtyard with two worn travel packs and their weapons strapped to their bodies. Rae stood nearby instructing both how they should wear their weapons at all time to gradually get used to the weight and feel of them.

Feylin's left hand rested on the hilt of his sword, steadying the sway of it when he walked. Sarah leaned up against the wall, continually shifting to find a position that wouldn't drive her weapon into her back. Her arms were crossed, and she examined the cart that sat there. There were reigns and a harness for a horse, however as far as she could tell they did not bring a horse with them.

The sun was quickly dipping below the horizon and dusk settled over the temple. Soon a clergyman came to light the lanterns outside. He stepped up to each lantern, replacing the oil and lighting them with a flick of his fingers. Gradually the yard glowed with orange flame to ward off the night.

The last two from Burian came out to the yard at the same time, looking well rested. Sarah and Feylin did not get a wink of sleep.

"How are you feeling?" Tobias addressed them on sight, but his jovial tone clearly betrayed that he knew exactly how they were feeling. "Nervous? Excited? Scared?" He said, the lanterns in the yard lighting his carefree smile. Both acolytes nodded in response. Yes. They were indeed feeling all of those things. The paladins' smile widened. "Good." He said.

He looked the two acolytes over. They truly were young; however, he had met thousands of young acolytes in his time, and just by looking them in the eye he could see their potential. He thought it funny how the best ones always come from the outskirts. The locals to the grand-temple take it all for granted, no respect for the effort needed to become great members of the order.

"Tonight, we will set off to the west. Sally will be our guide, excelling in cartography and map reading." The large man motioned to the bald but still attractive cleric.

"I used to be a dungeon healer before I joined the Burian chapter full time." Sally said. Her smile touched her eyes making her look incredibly sweet. Like the friendly woman who sells you vegetables at the local market.

"Raelith will be in charge of reconnaissance, and I will be overseeing. Should anything occur, Rae will immediately notify us. You both should huddle around me. Feylin, on my right. You are right handed and new to the sword, so that will give you the most range without an ally getting in the way. Sarah, on my left." The paladin was quick to give orders, but it was clear he spoke from years of experience.

They both nodded, getting right down to business was okay by them, it meant they didn't have to think of the worst-case scenarios - for the time being.

"The cart has enough room for all of our packs and food, and 2 people. Because of that, no one will be riding on the cart. We will walk along with it. Also, Sarah, Feylin, you both will be walking with your packs. You need to get used to the weight of them, as well as responding to attacks with them."

"Surprise attacks?" Sarah asked, a bad feeling rising in her chest.

"Yes. Myself, Raelith, and Sally will take charge in training you with your weapons. No amount of training can compare to real experience though. So every day you both shall train for a period of time with us one on one. And sometimes, we will test your ability to react to sudden and unprompted aggression." Tobias may well have been talking about the weather for how matter of fact he made it sound. There was no room for argument or questions. Which is fine because they weren't planning to argue.

The nice thing about being a high level, is that people listen to you. They recognized that there was usually a reason you stayed alive as long as you did.

While Tobias explained more of their basic roles and contingency plans in case of various emergencies, a gray mist formed in front of the wagon. They tried to pay attention to what Tobias was saying, but they continually looked over at Sally who was standing in front of the mist as it coalesced.

Her arms delicately waved about, sending swishes of vapor every which way.

Gradually the form of a steed coalesced from the vapor and soon - standing within the harness attached to the wagon - was a brown and white spotted horse. Sarah and Feylin couldn't help but feel excited. To summon an animal wasn't a particularly high-level spell, but to be able to use it required extensive study and familiarity with the creature for clerics anyways.

Tobias smiled when he saw them try to sneak glances at her little act. Sally also noticed and put on a bit of a show for them. She could have summoned it immediately if she really wanted to.

"So, young ones. 6 months and we will arrive at our destination. I hope you're ready, we won't be slowing down for you." Tobias reached into his armor and pulled out the necklace, it began to glow with dim blue light as he held it up in front of him. It rotated slightly, with the sun side facing towards the west. A dim beam of light extended a foot in front the necklace, creating a very clear direction.

Both acolytes nodded in unison.

As many of the temple's residents watched from the side, the two young acolytes set off with three from Burian to the western edge of the world.