novelODS Chapter 7 Departure
Chapter 7 Departure
Chen Mo carried the equipment downstairs and spread it out on the low table in the living room.
Benjamin leaned over to take a look, picked up the light armor, weighed it in his hand, and then put it down.
Chen Mo began to put on the light armor.
The leather armor was a bit tight, but he could manage to wear it. The chainmail portion hung heavily on his shoulders. He had his sword at his waist, his shortbow slung across his back, and his quiver tucked behind his waist.
He walked a few steps inside the house.
The nail plates made a slight rubbing sound, and my steps were a bit heavier than usual, but overall... it was alright.
Benjamin leaned against the fireplace, holding his thick spellbook, watching Chen Mo fuss around with a half-smile on his face.
"It looks pretty convincing," he said.
Chen Mo rolled her eyes at him.
“However,” Benjamin said, “your gear, this armor, this sword, this bow—they’re all things old soldiers have outgrown. They’ll work, but don’t expect them to save your life.”
"I know."
"Good to know." Benjamin paused. "But then again, when I first went to the battlefield, I wasn't dressed as well as you. At least yours is made of iron."
Chen Mo didn't reply. He was mentally calculating what else he needed to prepare.
Food, water, bandages, torches.
"I'm going to the market," he said.
"Whatever you want." The old man shrugged, pleased with his newfound leisure.
Chen Mo went out and strode towards the market. The market was even more bustling in the morning than the previous evening, with vendors calling out their wares everywhere. He walked around the various stalls, gathered the necessities he needed, and finally fixed his gaze on a small stall selling medicine.
The stall owner was a Brighton woman dressed in a gray robe, with rows of different colored medicine bottles in front of her.
"What do you need?" she asked.
"Is there poison?"
The Brighton woman glanced at him, then retrieved a bottle of dark green potion from the back row: "Argonian venom mixed with spider venom. Eight gold coins."
Eight gold coins.
Chen Mo touched the dozen or so gold coins in his pocket.
"Can you make it cheaper?"
"Six. That's the lowest."
"……OK."
He counted out six gold coins and exchanged them for the bottle of poison. As he put it in his pocket, he could feel the weight had lessened considerably—he only had less than ten gold coins left.
Back inside, Benjamin was sitting by the fireplace, reading the thick spellbook on his lap. Hearing the door open, he looked up.
Chen Mo sat down, placed the purchased items on the table, and began applying poison to the arrowheads. He opened both bottles of poison, dipped a strip of cloth in the liquid, and carefully applied it to the arrowheads of six arrows. After finishing, he inserted the arrowheads into the sand to dry, and poured the remaining portion of the two bottles of poison into a small water bag, preparing to apply it to swords on the battlefield.
When everything was ready, the sunlight outside the window had already begun to slant.
It's afternoon.
"Are we leaving today?" Benjamin asked.
Chen Mo glanced at the sky outside the window.
"Let's go first thing tomorrow morning," he said. "We'll leave at daybreak."
Benjamin nodded, closed the spellbook, hugged it to his chest, leaned back in the chair by the fireplace, and closed his eyes.
That night, Chen Mo lay in bed, listening to the sounds of Dugu City outside his window. The sea breeze howled, and the distant sounds of a tavern could be faintly heard, along with the occasional footsteps of patrolling soldiers passing through the alleys.
Many things were going through his mind.
The star map, that faint star, the wolf skull cave, the necromancer, the wolf queen. He thought of the adventure that was about to begin, yet felt a faint unease about the unknown.
Amidst his chaotic thoughts, he gradually drifted into a dream.
……
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Chen Mo got up.
He divided the dry rations he'd bought yesterday into two portions in the kitchen, keeping one for himself and handing the other to Benjamin. The old man had spent the night curled up in a chair by the fireplace, clutching his spellbook as a pillow. Now he was rubbing his eyes and munching on bread.
When they stepped outside, Solitude was still asleep. The streets were deserted, with only a few early-rising vendors setting up their stalls. A thin mist shrouded the sea, and the spires of Gloomy Keep loomed in the fog, like a fortress floating in the clouds.
Chen Mo took a deep breath of the cold morning air, feeling as if his lungs were filled with ice water.
"Let's go."
They walked through the commercial district, past the Blinking Rat—the tavern's doors and windows were tightly shut, and it was pitch black inside—and then headed toward the city gate.
The city gates were already open. Two imperial soldiers stood at the entrance, yawning and holding their spears. Seeing Chen Mo and Benjamin approach, one of them glanced at them, said nothing, and simply nodded.
Beyond the city gate lies a dirt road stretching along the coastline. To the left is the grey-blue sea, waves crashing against the rocks; to the right are rolling hills covered with withered grass and sparse pine trees.
Chen Mo walked in front, with Benjamin following behind, the thick spellbook tucked under his arm, bouncing with each step.
After walking for about half an hour, the dirt road forked. One road continued along the coast, while the other turned inland, winding its way up a not-so-wide river.
"This way," Chen Mo pointed to the road along the river.
The Wolf Skull Cave is located northwest of Dugu City; it takes two days to reach it by walking along the river.
They walked upstream along the riverbank. The water was shallow, and the pebbles at the bottom were visible. The pine trees on both banks grew denser, their canopies blocking out part of the sky and dimming the light. The air was filled with the scent of pine needles and earth.
The first day went very smoothly.
Chen Mo's stamina was better than expected—probably due to the changes brought about by choosing to upgrade his life during the level-up. He carried his equipment and walked all day; although his legs were a little sore, he didn't feel too tired. Benjamin, though old, walked steadily, telling him all sorts of stories as they went—the history of Solitude, gossip about the Bard's Academy, and his various experiences traveling through Skyrim in his youth.
"You know, I went into the dwarven ruins in Marka when I was young," Benjamin said, his voice filled with a distant reminiscence. "Back then, I was brave and fearless. Thinking about it now, any one of those mechanical spiders could have killed me."
"Then how did you manage to survive?"
"Luck," Benjamin chuckled. "Luck, and this tattered book."
He patted the spellbook tucked under his arm.
As darkness fell, they found a sheltered spot to set up camp. Benjamin used his fire spell to start a campfire, the orange light creating a small, warm patch of space in the darkness.
Chen Mo sat by the fire, munching on hard bread, watching the flickering flames cast swaying shadows on the pine trees. In the distance, an owl hooted, and the river gurgled in the darkness.
This was his third night in Skyrim.
The first night was spent in fear and confusion. The second night was spent in insomnia and wild thoughts. This is the third—in the wilderness, by the campfire, to the sound of Benjamin's snores.
The old man had fallen asleep leaning against his backpack, the thick spellbook spread out and used as an eye mask over his face. His snoring came from beneath the pages, the rhythm as steady as an old engine.
Chen Mo wasn't sleepy. He added a few more twigs to the fire, watching the sparks crackle and fly into the night sky.
There were no clouds in the night sky, and the stars were spread out densely. He couldn't recognize the constellations of this world, but those points of light reminded him of that faint, familiar star, and the energy that flowed into its interior.
How is that star now?
he does not know.
Just then, Benjamin suddenly moved.
He didn't wake up—he just suddenly opened his eyes, the spellbook slipping from his face to the floor. His movements were incredibly fast, unlike that of an old man; he sprang up from the ground like a spring, his right hand already pressed against the open pages of the book.
"Something's coming!" His voice was deep and clear, without any of the slurred sounds of someone who had just woken up.