Chapter 2: [DARK] C002 – To cloud my vision.

I make my way through the forest, using the suns position, the map and some basic navigation tools to pinpoint my position. The mix of jungle and forest making traversal take longer than expected. It doesn't take more than a day to reach the road however. Civilization of these people who tried to capture me. They could be just as bad as those raiders if not worse. Watching a small caravan led by a pair of some horse like animal and what looks like some kind of trader guiding them from the drivers seat, I take a moment to collect myself.

I could waste time showing myself to this trader to see how a potentially normal person acts towards me, but if that goes wrong the few guards they have with them might try and attack me. Information at the chance of risk.

I shake my head, deciding it is better to sneak behind them from off the road than to try and communicate with these people. I am more likely to get answers out of civilians than any type of trained guards.

They walk at a slow pace making it easy to keep low and track them. The sun overhead reducing the burden of this tracking on my power core as I snack on some more of the high energy food. As I follow them for a ways, I start to identify traits about each of the people, it seems the trader and three of the guards are male and two of the guards are female.

Their armours consists of a mix of leather and metal, with one of the men seeming to have more metal while one of the girls with a bow seems to be almost entirely in leather besides arm bracers. The armours appear to be of a generic make, created to fill numbers rather than be custom ordered. Revealing the potential worth or value of this escort group.

From their appearances they are either from longer lived races or are younger than the trader who seems to be about middle age. A mix of some humans, elves and one that looks like part animal, a boar?

From their stances they seem to only have some experience in combat, their low vigilance shows the assumed safety of the area. None of them have a weapon at hand prepared and they seem to be focused more on chatting, with one even eating while they walk.

Their conversation can be barely heard but by now my biochip has gathered enough data to start filling in blanks in the language. They seem to be talking about some kind of food or consumable, maybe a drink. Their friendly atmosphere leads me to rest a hand on a knife before I stick to the plan of trailing them.

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Keeping my distance from them I move along the side of the road, making sure to stay hidden as they approach the small town up ahead. The sun looming off in the distance preparing for late afternoon. From this distance I'm relying on the zoom function of my eyes to see their interactions nearer to the city, but the group seems to casually walk past the town guards who are half asleep and barely nod as the group passes through. Since there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm the guards likely don't know the people directly but also don't seem to be enforcing any lockdown or security.

Slipping closer to the town, using the thicker grass off the path to get closer to the wall. It seems there is some basic maintenance of the area as the grass nearer the wall has been killed off to allow for some vision.

Now closer I can see the flimsy wall set up, tied with poor ropes and holding together a weaker, almost rotten wood. They have seen better days but the lax security means this is a safe location that doesn't need much defence or law enforcement. This might be the easiest way to survive then.

As one of the guards turns to talk to his friend I dash closer to the wall, vaulting it as quickly as possible making sure not to break any of the rotting wood.

Landing the other side of the wall, I find myself near a handful of buildings with a nearby field with some kind of grain growing in it. Assuming it is like any grain I know, that sets the date close to autumn. Meaning I need to find shelter, a job or some shelter in the next few weeks or it might become a problem later on.

Patrolling quietly around the buildings, there is only one or two people; mostly minding their own business. One older woman seeming to be knitting something while a man tends to some more horse-like creatures nearby. They might be the ones managing the farming area.

It is only when I get to the rear of the main building that I see wagons parked. Three of them in total, two horses each. Maybe an inn of some kind? One of the carts seems to have a similar symbol as the one I saw entering the town. If it is an inn or tavern of some kind I might be able to buy information while gathering how people react to me. As some of the escorts were elves, unless there is something major I'm missing physically that I don't know of, people shouldn't be able to tell the difference between me and them.

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