Once everyone was informed of the finer details of their mission by the knight-captain, they all began to gather supplies and equipment. Michael found the knights of Hume’s official blacksmith in town who started on some quick patches and repairs on Michael's armor and shield. While he was waiting for that, Michael took the time to dig out his hand mirror and take a look at his Titles and Deeds.

  Titles:

  Michael Mann

  The Restored

  The Wound Man

  Seer

  Champion of the Gods

  Knight of Hume

  Aur Ma

  Deeds:

  Bridge Holder

  Revenge Denier

  Run Conqueror

  Resilient Competitor

  Fort Healer

  Righteous Defender

  Castle Taker

  Baron Breaker

  Rift Sealer

  Warrior Mender

  Titan Slayer

  Realm Firmer

  Village Protector

  Blessings:

  Cleansing Healing

  Pain Transfer

  Smite

  Bless

  Eyes of Love

  Eyes of Judgement

  He hadn’t checked his list in some time, and it was again becoming unwieldy even after he’d had so many of his Champion titles condensed. He’d noticed the Village Protector deed a week prior. It granted him minor durability and minor strength when protecting a small settlement. He noticed that he had also gained two other titles since he’d last checked. The Knight of Hume title was one he expected, having only just been knighted, but Aur Ma was not. He didn’t recognize the phrase until he spoke it out loud and realized it was what the horned men called him when he fought them. Usually after he made Rend and Ruin light with golden flame.

  He focused on it first.

  Aur Ma

  Grants

  Middling Concentration

  Minor Strength

  Those bound beneath the banner of the Empire of Chitin feel the cold grip of fear around their hearts in your presence.

  Empire of Chitin? That must be the name of the nation of rift monsters that appeared from the majority of rifts. Seras had told him that they were a conquering people that brought others beneath them such as the lizardfolk and he presumed the horrible chitin monsters he’d fought were their vanguard. He would like more information about them, but given the language barriers and the immediate attempts at murder when they encountered one another he didn’t see that happening any time soon.

  He turned his attention to his new Knight title.

  Knight of Hume

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  Grants:

  Middling Speed

  Minor Strength

  Minor Durability

  Michael nodded. It was good to gain something that granted him a bit of extra speed. He didn’t think he’d ever get to the same level as Pyotr and Marcus with it, but having a middling boon in that direction was very helpful. It had seemed so far that his Major Recovery from his first title had in a way shaped all of his subsequent titles and deeds in a more specific direction. It made him more willing to tank hits and exert himself, which led to more durability titles and deeds, which meant he was on the front lines more, which meant more strength titles and deeds. It all seemed to feed into itself in a way that had pushed him into the specialized role he had developed. He remembered Pyotr and Davi’s roles being very similar to his own at first until they gradually deviated. He guessed that it was their initial titles that put them on their separate tracks.

  He took a moment to focus back on his Champion of the Gods title to see if there had been any changes.

  Champion of the Gods

  Grants:

  Middling Strength

  Major Durability

  Major Protection

  Middling Recovery

  Middling Concentration

  Minor Reaction

  Minor Magicka

  Minor Speed

  Seras’s Favor- All spells related to barriers and shields use less Magicka

  Blessing- Eyes of Love

  Blessing- Eyes of Judgement

  All feats and actions are in devotion to the gods and can strengthen this title

  These actions can still reward other Titles and Deeds

  He blinked. Major Durability and Protection? It seemed that Seras was very pleased with him. His Major Recovery had been the main method by which he’d survived and grown since he’d arrived, and now he had two other Major boons in his favor both of which were keyed into keeping him alive.

  Once he was done looking over everything, Michael went to help Lance with requisitioning horses, lances, packs, rations, and whatever else they needed. Their system wasn’t too different from Stent's, though it was a lot less formal. Stent preferred a much thicker paper trail for everything, which Michael preferred in some ways, but that was just his own sense of order trying to place itself over everything else.

  Once they got everything requisitioned Michael went back to the smith to pick up his freshly repaired armor and shield, and picked up a bundle of seven javelins as well. With the flying monsters they’d been encountering lately he felt that he needed to make sure he had some ranged options for dealing with things so that he didn’t need to rely on creating steps out of barrier spells that let him clumsily strike at them, or let them gouge into him just so he could assure himself of a strike.

  By late afternoon Michael, Ollie, Blake, Laird, and Lance were all mounted and ready to get moving.

  “Everyone ready?” asked Lance.

  “Yes ser,” said Laird with a salute.

  Michael decided to copy the gesture sincerely, and Ollie and Blake did it with just a bit of a mocking edge, more in Laird’s direction than Lance’s.

  They rode out of Greathollow with Blake, Lance, and Laird all waving goodbyes or trading salutes with the squires, knights, soldiers, and officers that they passed. Even on the road there was a steady trickle of men and women of martial bearing. Some were injured, and Michael would pause everyone for a moment to heal them before they continued. None of them minded the diversions, seeing as it supported their brothers and sisters in arms.

  They rode for hours without a break. Michael and Ollie were uncomfortable in the saddle, having not ridden in nearly a year, but the horses they’d been given were of good temperament and so they were able to regain some confidence as they rode without trouble. Michael had been concerned that he’d experience the same discomfort he had the last time he’d ridden, with painfully chapped and blistered thighs he’d need to routinely heal, but this time he had no such issues. He attributed it to his increased durability making that kind of minor injury an impossibility for him.

  The knights were, of course, consummate riders and so had already built up the calluses and toughness necessary to be on horseback for long periods of time. Ollie had a more unique way of handling it, simply making himself float just a bit over the saddle. Michael was certain that if he managed to cast such a spell, which was a near impossibility, it would have only lasted for a few minutes before he was roughly deposited back on the saddle, but in Ollie’s case he actually saw the man start to doze in the air on multiple occasions.

  The first night, they all camped on the side of the road in a small clearing that seemed to have been made for exactly that purpose. It was a quiet night with them shifting watch every two hours, and before long they were back on the road. Lataxia was about a week away on horseback and this pattern proceeded for the next few days. As they were travelling one day though, Michael felt the building dread in his gut that indicated a rift was nearby, and based on how it felt he was certain that it was one that contained the horned men.

  “There’s a rift nearby,” he said, pulling his horse to a stop. “Horned men, about two and a half miles that way,” he pointed slightly off the direction they were following the road.

  Lance frowned. “Blake, who lives near here?” he asked.

  She scratched her chin. “Some isolated farms, nothing more.”

  “We can have the next soldier or knight we pass to give notice to the nearest village’s militia. I believe it would be Bellsdale,” said Laird.

  He looked at Michael. “I’ve only encountered horned men twice. What threat would they be to the area?”

  “An enormous one. They're part of the faction actually trying to conquer this world. They’re also maneaters, so what they’d do at an isolated farmstead…” he left it in the air.

  Lance nodded. “We’re going to take care of the rift, then we’ll keep moving. Eyes open as we move. If the rift is that close there could be horned men waiting along the road for us.”

  Michael expected some argument from Laird, knowing his preference for orders and the fact that the man’s wife was in Lataxia, but he simply nodded and pulled his horse into line as they kept moving down the road toward the rift.

  Michael was glad that Lance had given the order he did. If he hadn’t then Michael would’ve had to disobey and disagree with him, and he didn’t want to challenge the fresh sergeant on his leadership if he didn’t have to. Michael assumed he’d want to take care of the rift right away, but they’d been separated for some time and Lance was young enough that change happened quickly to him, especially with how volatile things had been for him.

  They were nearly halfway to the rift when the ambush began.