After an afternoon of lessons, Karl was ready for a good meal and a full night’s sleep. His group wasn’t on defence detail today, so they had all night to themselves unless there was an attack that made it past the artillery and the roaming scouts that the army had in front of them.
It was a strange feeling not having a battle to go to in the morning, or other immediate obligations. Karl and the other students only had classes in the afternoon, while the clerics helped out all day at the treatment facility or the kitchens, depending on their preference.
So, when the sun was already well above the horizon, Karl finally dragged himself out of bed and found a vigilant new group headed to the line, prepared for whatever the Hill Giants threw at them.
They were all well aware that the situation could change in seconds, and the first barrage of an attack was often the most deadly, as the defenders could be caught off guard and the bombardment might make it through their spells.
It was standard to relax the defensive barriers when they weren’t under attack, so the mages had more mana available when they actually needed it. But that came with the risk that they wouldn’t increase them enough to block the first incoming spells when the attack did come.
First up was breakfast, then a bit of physical conditioning training with the other students, with everyone making sure that while they did get their necessary workout, they weren’t too tired to answer if the call came that an attack was imminent.
Mostly it was maintenance weight lifting, stretches, calisthenics, and so on. That kept all the muscles in peak form, without burning so much energy that they would lose combat effectiveness.
Then, after lunch, it was back to history and geography lessons with Morgana, but this time accompanied by a dozen other mages, who were also taking the geography class.
“Are history and geography not a normal warrior class education path? Like, do they just show up in places and add them to their mental knowledge when they arrive?” Karl asked as he looked around at all the other students in the group.
One of the mages laughed. “Actually, you might be on to something. If the warriors need to know something about an area, they learn when they arrive, or it’s in the mission briefing. These classes are usually for the ones who have no intentions of going there themselves, or the ones who are the most interested in what they will find there.
So, we have a couple of other treasure seekers, mostly after legendary magical items, and you, who is here for what? Monster food? Perhaps signs of a Legendary Divine Beast’s nest for your next companion?
If you can, I recommend looking for the nest of the Rocs that attacked the other day. They’re like a transport and aerial attack force combined, and they’re seriously powerful.”
Karl considered that idea. A huge flying transport would actually be quite convenient. However, the Rocs were Commander Rank beasts, just like Rae, and if he was going to use the beasts’ growth to push everyone to the next level, he would need something that was guaranteed to have a higher potential than that.
Remi might, there was no telling what power level her parents were at, as she was created inside a Dungeon, and the magic of those places was unpredictable. She might be Royal Rank, or she might peak right where she was at as Ascended.
But the fact that she was born Ascended Rank did suggest that she had a lot of potential, even if she was slower to grow to adulthood than the others.
Honestly, Karl was in no hurry to add anyone more to their team. If he made it to Royal Rank, he would have the ability to add another space, but as long as everyone was growing smoothly, he would take his time and try to find just the right beast and not hurry to find another member.
Or perhaps fate would do it for him. Likely in egg form, if past experience was anything to go by.
“Alright, the first thing we will start with are the known ancient excavations within the Golden Dragon Nation. Those are the safest of the regions to explore, and while they have been more extensively visited, they are also a guide point to your future explorations.
Each of them will give you an idea by their location and construction of what the continent looked like at the time that they were built.
Some of them were built along rivers that no longer exist, and that gives us an idea of where else we should be searching for similar relics.
In the past, most nations built along rivers for the abundant water sources. So, following ancient riverbeds and lakes found at known sites is an essential skill to the study of ancient geography.
For example, who is familiar with the ruins of the World Dragon Temple at Whiton in the Beastkin lands?” Morgana asked, then paused to see if anyone was familiar with the story.
Karl had never heard of it, but one of the mages had.
“I heard that it’s still occupied by World Dragon priests, and they say that it has always been. Like forever, as long as there are records, the Whiton Temple has been occupied.” He answered.
“Exactly. According to the World Dragon Clerics, it is one of the original World Dragon Temples, and while it has been destroyed during attacks a number of times, rebuilt and renovated, every map ever produced shows it in the same spot.” Morgana explained.
She brought out a map book and began to flip through the pages for them, with the book tilted on a stand, so they could all see.
“The originals of these maps are all thousands of years apart, and as you can see, the oldest don’t show Chiptonrith Lake, but a massive desert. But here in the middle, some of them show a much larger inland sea.”
The students looked confused. “But isn’t the lake hundreds of metres deep? Like, so deep that no light reaches the bottom of the deepest parts?”
Morgana nodded. “That is correct, but apparently, that was not always the case. What happened has been lost to history, but we do know that at some point during the end of the System Era, entire mountain ranges were levelled, while others were formed.
That might be the case for the desert. The aftermath of a battle between demigods might have made the crater that became an inland sea, and then eventually levelled out to a massive lake.”
One of the mages laughed. “So, geography is a history lesson as well.”
Morgana smiled. “It’s inevitable, really. Even the borders are a history story, and the Frost Giant border is about to be rewritten after this war.
Where it will end up is a mystery, but the new territory claimed by the Magma Dragon around the erupted volcano will most likely gain its own territorial notation.”
Now, as you can see, the largest population centre is obviously the Capital, but there are others along the rivers, especially ones with deep water all the way to Chiptonrith Lake.
In better times, that was a major trade route between not only us and the Beastkin Nation, but also down the great river through the wilds and to the ocean.
Now, most ocean shipping goes overland to the shore, which is both slower and more dangerous, as it puts goods perilously close to the Frost Giant Nation, who has a much larger oceanfront.”
One of the students pointed at the wilds, the officially unclaimed lands between the beastkin nation’s southern border and the ocean. The Wild’s borders extended all along the southern end of the Beastkin nation, and the marked west side of Golden Dragon Nation’s claim as the territory reached south toward the ocean.
“Why haven’t there been efforts to claim the wilds? I mean, we could have more ocean access to ship around the continent, and get supplies.” One of the other students asked.
“There have been. What we managed to claim from the monsters was that narrow strip at the south of the nation. Even that is difficult to hold, and there are constant battles around the border as the monsters try to take back their natural territory.
If not for the constant effort, we would be completely landlocked.” Morgana explained.
Karl didn’t know how much of what they used came from other nations, but he did recall that many of the coal mines were in the southern hills. Even if it weren’t for the ocean access, that region was still of significant importance to the people.
