Finding the way to the Bauchan Camp

Mrs. Wentworth’s classroom, Ashcroft Academy

It was quite evident to her students that Mrs. Wentworth was not in a good mood. They all thought the reason for this was due to her extremely unusual tardiness; each had their own theory as to why she had been late to class. So far, two detentions have already been handed out to the unfortunate students that didn't answer her questions in time. The classroom had an unusual number of empty seats; not only were the jocks absent due to their pregame training, but some of the other students were not present.

There was a sudden knock at the door and everyone turned to it as a redheaded student entered the classroom without waiting for the teacher’s permission to do so. A couple of students maliciously grinned expecting their teacher to at least snap the girl in two; others just felt sorry for her imminent doom.

“Where is he?” the girl asked not taking notice of her classmates.

“Miss MacKenzie, you’re late, that’s two days detention for you,” it was all Mrs. Wentworth said still facing the whiteboard where she was writing about that morning’s lecture.

“Where is he?” Amelia asked once again putting on a facade of courage while facing her much more powerful foe.

“You know where he is,” again, the teacher had kept an unusual calm while still writing on the board. The other students were now whispering to one another not believing what they were witnessing. “Silence!”

“Why did you send him to Scotland? Why can I all of the sudden not get any reading about him anymore?” Amelia demanded to know more.

“Fine. In my office, now!” Mrs. Wentworth ordered her, dropped the pen she was using on her desk and then turned to the other students. “Read pages 24 to 27; a week detention to those who answer me incorrectly when I get back.”

The moans of her students were drowned out after the teacher shut the door to her office behind her. She sat on her office desk and waited for her student to sit in front of her. Seeing the defiance on the girl, she sighed. She then tapped on her hourglass.

“Mr. Newman is doing a task for me near the city of Aviemore. I have not taken your precious ring from him, so I don’t know why you can’t get any reading about him,” she answered the girl.

“Why him?” a confused Amelia asked her teacher.

“That’s between me and him, Miss MacKenzie,” Mrs. Wentworth told her, not caring about her curiosity. “You obviously have found out by now that he is a member of the Abyss. You know the threats he’ll face. Though I didn’t tell him about you, I’ve sent him to Aviemore so he could get stronger and maybe learn some things in the process. Don’t worry, I’ve been informed he’s not alone.”

“Is he with a clan member?” the girl continued to ask her teacher.

“No, he’s with someone else,” Mrs. Wentworth answered. “Now it’s my turn to ask questions. What are you waiting for? Why haven’t you told him about you and your family?”

Somewhere outside the city of Aviemore

John slowly started to regain his consciousness while lying face down on the wet forest floor. He felt a headache that, thanks to gamer’s body, was slowly dissipating; any other symptoms that he probably should have been feeling had already faded away. He looked at his stats and noticed the low amount of HP.

John had **** but to drink from one of the health potions that his teacher had given to him.

Healed 50 HP

Thankfully enough, the Bauchans had not tied him down. He was also thankful that the rain had stopped just before they left the inn and that the sun was still out. Looking at his phone’s clock, John had estimated that he had been **** for only a few minutes. Still, it was more than enough for the Bauchans to completely disappear with Aza and the casks of ale.

The truck was still there, parked at the same place where Mark had stopped it. To add insult to injury, the Bauchans had slashed all of its tires. So, using it to try to get back to the inn to get help was out of the question.

He knew that time was now against him. The threat that the Bauchan leader had made to Aza sounded real enough for John to fear what he could do to her; the worst of it was that he had never stated whether the bounty on her had specified whether she was to be handed over alive or dead. John cursed himself for his stupidity in trying to defend her only to get himself knocked out.

Now, he had to find out which way they had gone and hopefully track them down. He looked around and found Aza’s broken necklace on the floor in front of him where the Bauchan leader had dropped it. He picked it up and stored it.

He found a series of pawprints on the muddy ground along with other small, human-shaped footsteps. He concluded that these, by their shape and sheer number, could only have belonged to the Bauchans, while the former belonged to Aza.

He followed the path they seemed to have taken, keeping his focus on Aza’s pawprints; he feared that at some point the Bauchans could split up. Sometimes, he would have to relent and use the Bauchans footsteps when they trampled those made by Aza or an obstacle like a fallen tree was on the way. In any case, he always managed to rediscover the trail made by her pawprints; at some point, he got an achievement.

Achievement Unlocked - Track Finder.
You have successfully found and followed a track of a creature for a significant distance.
New Skill: Tracking

Skill - Tracking Lvl 1 (Active), 10 MP
This skill allows you to better locate and follow a target by highlighting its tracks.
Currently can only find and highlight tracks in a radius of 3 meters.

John quickly cast tracking on one of Aza’s pawprints and was happy to see a series of them glowing and heading towards the same direction that he was taking. At least he would not lose them again.

A few meters later, the tracks turned right and seemed to follow a path going around a big, wooded area made up of a very dense clump of trees that had grown so close together that almost nothing could be seen through them, let alone pass.

The tracks suddenly turned left and passed through an archway formed by two trees; it seemed to give access to an area inside the clump of trees. Believing this was the entrance to the camp and that as soon as he walked through the archway he’d be pulled inside its barrier, John equipped his swords wanting to be ready to face whatever was inside. He hoped that most, if not all, of the Bauchans had drunk from the ale and were probably knocked out sleeping by now. Still, he felt it would be safer if he was ready to face any unexpected eventuality.

He passed through the archway, but all he saw was a big empty grass area. There was no sign of there ever being a camp inside it, not even a circle of stones for campfires was present. What was more, once he turned back towards the entrance archway, he saw that the tracks disappeared as soon as they passed through it.

He walked back to the entrance to make sure that the tracks did not go anywhere else. He saw no sign of them ever going any other way but through the archway. Believing it to be the key to this mystery, he cast observe on the archway to try to get any information from it.

This archway is formed by two Scots pine trees that were planted and trimmed to form its shape. It is the only access to the clearing surrounded by the clump of trees.

John got frustrated by the seemingly useless information he got. Even though he was still inexperienced in the Abyss and he couldn’t quite yet identify the presence of a barrier near him, John was quite sure that this had to be the entrance to the Bauchan’s camp. Not only had the tracks led him to it, but it was perfectly concealed and far enough away from the road they had taken. Although he knew that there could be other roads nearby; there just wasn’t any sign of any human activity in sight. Even the trail he took to follow the tracks had been through dense woodland.

So, what was he missing? He remembered Aza telling him that she had no idea on how to enter the camp barrier since she managed to escape just before they entered it. So the Bauchans must do something to activate the entrance to its barrier.

He searched the archway trees for any clue on how to enter. That’s when he spotted a prominent knot on the tree to the left. He pressed it as if it were a button, but nothing happened. He once again cast observe.

Insert a key to enter.

A key to enter a barrier? he wondered. How am I going to get this key? John looked around the forest floor hoping to find something that looked like a key, there was nothing. A key, a key, I must find it… wait a minute!?

John quickly took out Adrang’s flask from his inventory and cast observe on its rune stone.

This is a flat piece of cairngorm stone with a rune etched on it that symbolizes a key. No information of what it is used to open, if anything, is available.

John hurriedly put the flask against the knot, in the process inserting the rune inside it. He felt a very faint surge of energy at the archway and realized that the entrance to the camp was now finally open.

Achievement Unlocked - Open Sesame
With a bit of luck, you have discovered how to enter the Bauchan’s Camp barrier. Do you dare enter or turn back to get reinforcements?
Reward:
+100 XP
1 rare item

John ignored the item he got and just left it stored in his inventory. A more important issue had now become evident to him by the wording of his achievement. What are you doing, John? Are you really going to invade an enemy camp by yourself? It's not even night time when you can better conceal yourself.

He was now troubled and unsure of what he should do; what made things worse was that he knew he didn’t have enough time to waste. He wanted to save Aza but knew that it would be more likely that he would be putting himself in danger even if most of the Bauchans were knocked out by Amanda’s concoction. He believed that the likelihood of all of them drinking from the ale at the same time was very low.

He kept on asking himself what he should do. He was alone and, even though he was used to it by now, he was sure that it would soon change. Especially when it came to being with Amelia. What would she think if I left Aza to suffer this awful fate? I can’t, I just can’t allow it. I would never forgive myself for it, even if it is at the risk of my life.

He put his hand to his chest in search of the now absent ring. At least if anything were to happen to me, it would be safe. John equipped his swords and continued. I am sorry, Amelia, I must do this. I cannot be a coward again. He stepped inside the barrier.

You have entered the Bauchan’s Camp Barrier.

John was surprised by what he saw in front of him, the camp was bigger than he expected; he estimated there were at least 10 medium-sized tents and saw that each had a campfire next to it. To his delight, every Bauchan in sight was sleeping in various positions, as if each had been knocked out while doing one activity or another. Luckily none had fallen into one of the campfires. Most were sitting on a table holding on to their beer mugs.

Well, at least the concoction worked, John thought amazed by how quick and effective Amanda’s concoction had actually worked.