Chapter 58 Strangers (1/2)
People with high-grade professions were basically superhumans.
Those who were Level 10 or above would at least have one or two supernatural powers. Taking the druid Soran just met as an example, she knew a spell which allowed her to travel nimbly from tree to tree.
Meeting strangers in the wilderness was a common occurrence, thus Soran did not bother following the woman. Sometimes, people who came across one another would chat shortly, but most just nodded as a greeting and went their separate ways. As long as the person did not hold any enmity, Soran was not concerned.
Druids disliked communicating with others, be it commoners or those with professions. They were reclusive beings who pursued their own goals, and people with strong faith in what they believed. Their stance and actions were considered neutral, but at times they might attack anyone, as long as they believed they were restoring balance to the world.
Balance—this was the faith druids believed in. To them, good and evil were just relative in nature; balance and equilibrium were what mattered. Druids were Daoists in a sense, believing in nature and action through inaction. Even so, they were by no means toothless tigers. They would mercilessly hunt down and execute those who excessively damaged nature.
There was once a period when alchemy was all the rage for humans, mostly because they had discovered several ruins of the Arcane Empire. Many wizards learned advanced alchemic techniques and knowledge from the ruins; some even managed to create factories which mass-produced items using golems. This, however, did not last long; the mass use of alchemy polluted the water sources and the land, killing countless animals and destroying many forests as a result. The Druid Orders across the world were enraged by such actions, and they waged war against the humans. Terrible storms and whirlwinds struck the newly established alchemy city, turning everything into ashes.
There was little information on this battle in recent times. What was known was that the druids defeated the army of golems in an intense battle. Over ten Legendary Druids joined hands in the assault, and some of them were even powerful stormlords. In the war, the wizards suffered severe casualties: a Legendary Wizard died, and two others were forced to morph themselves into liches. In the end, alchemy's advanced studies became taboo knowledge.
In order to soothe the rampaging druids, the human churches began placing restrictions on alchemy as a whole. This was not done purely for the druids' sake though; the rivers near the alchemy city were dyed black due to pollution, and the land nearby was rendered uninhabitable. People would suffer from metal poisoning after drinking the water, and the crops grown using such filthy water were poisonous.
The druids stubbornly believed that the evil cult of alchemy would destroy the world if left alone, damaging the environment to the point of no return and causing a global crisis. Thus, gnomes and dwarves who were still developing alchemy could only do so in secret.
Wizards and druids did not work well with each other; it was almost to the point that both parties despised the other. Many wizards would conduct academic studies and researches, but druids rejected such things and deemed them dangerous. Even now, there were druids who conducted surveillance in secret on specific wizards to prevent them from conducting hazardous experiments. They would also hunt down followers of the fallen and stop the spread of pandemics on the side
Soran walked back along the road, and soon saw the stockaded village he was looking for. Torches were lit on all sides of the walls, and he could just barely see the guards on the archer towers.
”Who's there?” a brawny man shouted from above.
Soran showed himself from within the shadows, with his hands held up high to show he was friendly.
”A human adventurer travelling alone. I just met a group of kobolds and got injured a bit, so I'm hoping I can stay here for the night.”
After noticing Soran's appearance, the guards loosened up a little. The brawny man shouted something, and a man who seemed to be the captain of the militia donned in leather armor appeared on the archer tower. He had a full beard and was about thirty to forty years of age. He look at Soran as if gauging him, then asked, ”Just you? You shouldn't travel alone in the wilderness.”
The captain was surely an experienced ex-adventurer. Even though he could guess Soran's profession, he still felt vigilant.
”Yes, just me.” Soran lowered his arms and continued, ”I wanted to train myself in order to explore and overcome my boundaries. That is why I'm travelling alone.”
The captain hesitated, then signalled the others to open the gates.
”You can stay here for the night, but I hope you won't cause us any trouble.”
”Of course I won't,” Soran smiled and said, ”I'll leave tomorrow to kill the nearby monsters. If possible, would you mind telling me the distribution of monsters nearby?”
Creatures in the wild rarely stayed at a specific location for too long; only the nearby residents would have a grasp on their movements. Knowledge was power, which was why gathering information was a crucial part of adventuring. When done properly, it could save people a lot of trouble.