Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

322  Into the Future! Everyone's resolution Part 3

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/Around two hours later…/

"... I'm getting tired." Dale mumbled to himself as he touched his forehead

'Once I'm done with this I'll Log Out, I'm getting hungry just by thinking about my stomach…'

'By now, how long has it been since my last Log Out? 10 hours? A bit less than that.'

'It's not unusual for me to stay in my room for so long during a vacation, but my mother at least expects me to go eat something...'

'I better end this before she starts knocking at my Pod.' Dale thought as he took a step out of Tina's home

...

/Quick recap.../

Following his visit to Ophelia, Dale continued on his journey, passing by Jyter, Adamante, and Yumi's house before finally stopping by Tina.

As he expected, each of them had guests just like the others.

For Jyter, his entire house had been overtaken by miners, just as he was told.

When he got there, he and the other Miners were discussing the possible geological formations surrounding Resko and also those found deep underneath the forest.

What they talked about with him was everything he expected, and a bit more.

Thanks to all of the Books of the Southern Corps and the other Miners' insight, Dale was given a much broader and clearer understanding of all the mines and resources surrounding the city, buried underneath the desert.

Because of this, Jyter's Quest, Mineral Chain, was updated. Aside from that, not much occurred, he got to know the miners, what they wanted, and likely a hint at the possibility of building a mine there.

Dale wasn't quite sure if he was going to employ the miners there, this was a job he was intending to leave to the players…

But building a mine for the looks wouldn't be that bad either, although Dale imagined that he would need to 'repair' the mine for it to be functional again.

And of course, for that to be possible, he would have to go there himself and clear it out, just in case something had taken those old tunnels as its home.

/Chatter.../

Nonetheless, he could see Jyter was in his zone, very happy to be talking about his past and sharing his knowledge with others, all willing to listen, different from the youths in the Village who were usually interested in other types of stories... Brats.

/Creak.../

So without saying much, Dale silently left his home, moving on his 'journey', passing by Adamante… Who was as grumpy as ever.

/THUD!/

"Ouch..."

The first thing she did when they met was hit his head, hard.

She did that every single day following his return from the forest, albeit the first time, she asked if he was alright, being rather, uncharacteristic, gentle…

After seeing he was okay, she began hitting his head… Maybe he should've lied.

Well, not that he complained, it didn't hurt, albeit there was a certain psychological impact to it...

Her reason for abusing him like that was simple… She was still worried about him, and upset that he kept throwing himself into danger.

He even heard that there had been an argument between her and Tina not long after he was back, hopefully, nothing bad had happened between those two that could've strained their relationship.

She had already lost too many people to time, she didn't want to lose more… She was grumpy, but she was still sane.

That was why she was so harsh on him, and at the same time, doting.

She had the right to be upset, because not only did he almost die on her, giving her shock after shock, but now he brought her several bodies of monsters bigger than houses for her to butcher and turn into something else...

Of course she wasn't pleased with this… But she did not complain, because, in a way, he brought her help.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration that every single one of the survivors knew how to butcher an animal.

But only a few of them knew how to create leather of high quality.

These people around her were exactly those people, the ones in charge of turning a good body into good materials for the craftsman of their Sanctuary to make the equipment their Raiders would wear while out in the fields.

If it wasn't for them, she may have given up preparing all of them before the meat went bad.

But by now, all of the meat had been sent to Illia for preparation, Dale had eaten quite a bit of it already.

Some parts were sent to Yumi for her experiments, others to Tina for her... Rituals?

And so on, there was so much meat anyone could come here and ask for a slab.

Including the Survivors, that was how these people met with Adamante in the first place.

Better to share and grow closer than to let it rot, they did not have the luxury of wasting such good food.

With several tons of meat he brought back, everyone was entitled to a few Kilograms of it.

Nonetheless, as he expected, Adamante talked with him about her troubles without caring about anything at all.

Obviously, it was very hard to work inside her home, and even the underground room beneath the Mercenary Guild wasn't enough for all of them to work at the same time.

They needed a better place, a workshop meant solely for people like them, crafters.

As such, when a need reached his ears, a task formed.

It wasn't surprising that…

[Ding]

[Side Quest, A Crafter's Need has been activated]

There was no need to talk about its description or requirements as they were fundamentally the same as his previous Quest.

But this gave him an idea.

He had two Quests to build large Workshops, so why not take a step further and build something… Bigger? Better?

Aim at the future and go big?

His eyes shining, Dale decided on what to do.

He would make a Guild, one for each of them.

The Smithing Guild, and the… Golden Hand Workshop... The name could use a fine tunning.

This way, all of the needs of the Villagers would be met while opening the possibility of interactions with the players.

If these Guilds can grow to become sources of Quests and Experience for the Players just like the Mercenary Guild is, this would severely increase their sources and instantly split their attention.

One thing was to issue ore gathering Quests through the Mercenary Guild, but what if 09:13

they had a particular place for such Quests?

The more he thought about it the better it seemed to become as ideas flashed in his mind.

These ideas continued as he walked across the street until he forced them to stop as he came face to face with the door to Tina's home.

/Whispers…/

At first, he was a bit hesitant to enter, but upon hearing whispers from within, Dale took a confident step inside.

/Creak…/

"You're finally here brat, sit." Tina exclaimed as she pulled him inside

"???"

'I didn't even…'

Dale's entire momentum was broken before he even took a single step inside as Tina pulled him in by the collar of his shirt.

'Dammed which.' He thought, being able to sense his presence from far away…

If she was like this, then there was bound to be a reason… And there sure was.

"Oho? This must be the one you were talking about…" An Elderly voice sounded from inside the house

"?"

Sitting on a table not far from him was an elderly lady not much different from how Tina used to look before she rejuvenated.

She had black eyes like obsidian, together with long hair that curled at the end, similar to Tina's curls, but a bit different.

Her facial features were also rather reminiscent of hers, but it was hard to say, maybe it was because both were old ladies? Not so much as of now though...

There was a strange feeling to her, it made his skin crawl…

"A Witch?" Dale muttered out loud as his eyes opened a little

But when he realized his blunder, he closed his mouth with a gag.

"Fufu… An old one lad… And retired." She said slowly with a small smile as she placed her hands above each other as she rested them on the table

This revelation was quite shocking to Dale, in many ways…

"Wait… I, uh…"

"You thought I was dead, right?" She asked slowly as she made some effort to open her eyes a bit more

"... Yes."

"I wouldn't be surprised, most think I am indeed." "..."

Dale turned to Tina and she just looked at the chair, she had given him an order and he had yet to execute it.

/Sit…/

"Now then, where were we?" Tina asked as she sat next to Dale

"Is there a need to be in a hurry, "Tim"? I'm sure he has questions, do ask them lad."

/Grunt.../

Tina's patience seemed to have been tested when she heard that nickname, but she kept quiet with her arms crossed.

"Oh… But first, I should introduce myself. I'm Refandora Eino, nice to meet you, young man, I've heard lots about you, and hope to still do, in the future."

"Nice to meet… Wait a minute." Dale exclaimed as his eyes popped up

'Eino? Isn't that…'

"Yes… She's my Cousin." Tina said out loud before even waiting for Dale to voice out his confusion

"???"

"I understand it may be a bit confusing to see someone like me still alive, especially given this lady over here's age, but I did manage to pull it through somewhat." Refandora said with a quiet chuckle as she closed her eyes

"#!!"

"Would you like to hear a story?"

"Sigh, not that please…" Tina said as she looked away

"It's been so long, do you even still remember? Why even care? It happened close to a hundred years ago anyway..."

"... Humph…"

It seemed there was a story between those two, and it didn't seem like they were on bad terms…

Or if they were, whatever it may have been it was so long ago both of them didn't even care, they seemed genuinely happy to see each other, but their personalities were a bit… Conflicting.

Mostly due to Tina's…

"Well, let's go, step by step." Refandora said as she turned to Dale

"You must be wondering how I'm alive if that old mummy told you I was dead, right?"

/Nod…/

Dale nodded.

He was told by Sarferato that their last witch had died long ago, which contributed to Witchcraft was deeply rooted in the Corps training, at least from a certain level up, so with the disappearance of that side of their inheritance, it was no wonder they were unable to keep up with the changes in the forest.

Had she been with them all those years she was considered dead, they might've been able to leave the forest on their own…

Albeit Dale still had some concerns regarding that.

At first, he thought that maybe there was more than one Witch, but that seemed even more unlikely than someone just pretending to be dead.

Nonetheless, he kept his mouth shut.

"... In a sense… He isn't wrong." She said in a low tone as she looked at her own hands

"What?..."

"In the past, before everything went to… Pardon my lack of words, shit, we used to be part of a long line that dated back several hundred years, around a few decades before the formation of Resko."

"Our line originated in a remote Village that was eventually absorbed into Resko, interesting isn't it?" She asked playfully as she looked at Dale

"Yes."

"Urg..."

/Rolls eyes.../

"Let's cut the chase a bit..."

"Only women are qualified to inherit the powers of a Witch, and without exception, the daughter of a Witch is also a Witch, it's just a matter of how much they inherit."

"That is why, in the ancient past before the Corps, a Witch would keep their family hidden so in the situation they were hunted, those related to her would remain safe…"

Refandora looked at Tina for a moment before continuing.

"That was how our Familia was created, it was never official, but as time went on and our numbers increased, the need to keep track of everyone arose so to say."

"There are many branches of Witcraft within our family, each specializing in certain aspects because mastering everything was deemed impossible."

"Centuries of development, study, and systematic progress does that."

"Our mothers were Witches as you should've figured out by now, and they were sisters as well, twins, a rarity, as the birth of a Witch is often very taxing, deadly even."

"So having two at once is nothing short of a miracle, which is to say how great of a Witch our grandmother once was."

"The reason why we…"

"Later, not now, focus on the subject at hand." Tina interjected with a grunt

"... Alright."

"My line of Witchcraft… Is likely the most volatile of them all."

"It is hard to pass down to anyone that doesn't share my blood, and it's even harder to utilize."

"In a sense, it is the closest form of craft to the depiction of our craft from the perspective of a commoner back when people still knew us."

"And as such… Using it in a way that doesn't bring contempt is… Complicated."

"I trained too much in it and by the time I realized, I was stuck in a forest with thousands of confused and broken souls. I worked hard to save them because, in a way, I was broken too."

"Time and time again, I used my expertise, I improved it, mastered it, researched other branches of my Family's Witchcraft, mastered them too, improved them..."

"And by the time I realized I was growing feeble and unable to continue… I was too old to pursue romance." She said with a laugh There was deep melancholy in her words, maybe one day, she had met a man that she would consider a husband, a partner, a lover, but he was now long gone.

Or maybe it was the sadness in knowing she had failed her duty, the one passed by from her great-grandmother to her mother...

That she was the end of her line.

"..."

Tina remained silent, but her grip around her arms tightened.

Wasn't her story all too similar to hers?

"I tried looking for disciples, but none survived, those that lived through the hardship only ended up failing, so I forced myself to stop them from trying any further."

"Living once is already a blessing, twice is nothing short of a miracle, and I didn't dare sacrifice more innocent lives for it."

"Eventually, my body began to give in, there wasn't a day where it wasn't strenuous to use my abilities, which was meant to be natural."

"So in an attempt to protect my inheritance, that old mummy told me to retire."

"Regardless of their condition, I was told to remain still and rest, to seek out a descendant or to 'live the way I wanted'... Even though that was nothing but a euphemism to have me write down my knowledge into a book…"

"How could I live the way I wanted? Trapped within a forest and a pathetic shell that was my aging body?..."

"To be reduced to nothing but a book… Yet, that was what I did. I wrote my everything into books and waited for my own passing, it would be silent, and one none would cry about."

"And I was satisfied… Until you came."

"I felt it, the mark on your hand, and when I did, I felt that, maybe, it was worth waiting a bit longer for my death… I'm glad I did so since now I managed to meet this pain in the ass." She said snarkily as she looked at Tina

"#!! You should've stopped at your previous paragraph, at least that way I would've written a good line in your tombstone." Tina replied as her eyelids twitched

"How can I? Are you going to say I'm in the wrong? Do take a look at yourself first."

"..."

Just like that, they began arguing… He was wrong, this lady wasn't 'kind and gentle', she was exactly like Tina.

It ran in the blood.

…

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