Reborn as an Adventurer: I Gain a Skill From Every Monster I Eat

Chapter 86: Chapter 86 — The Expedition Resumes

The letter arrived on an otherwise ordinary morning, Eldrin’s familiar cramped handwriting immediately recognizable even before Arlen broke the seal.

Arlen — the guild has finally approved proper resources for the valley expedition. Capital archive contributed funding once they reviewed your original findings; apparently a previously undocumented apex species carries enough scholarly weight to loosen even bureaucratic purse strings. I’ve assembled a support team. If you’re still willing to guide us, we depart within the week. — E. Vale

Arlen read it twice, the old excitement of genuine discovery settling into him alongside a quieter, more practical anticipation — a proper return to ground he’d only briefly explored alone, this time with resources and support behind him rather than simply his own careful caution.

He found Eldrin at the guild hall two days later, the professor’s usual cluttered energy heightened by evident excitement, and met, for the first time, the team assembled for the expedition — three adventurers Arlen didn’t know personally, though their reputations had reached him through the guild’s usual channels of gossip and record-keeping.

”Sera Windmark,” Eldrin said, introducing a lean, sharp-eyed Rank D mage whose specialty, he explained, ran toward detection and barrier work. ”And Torin Ashby, our combat specialist.” A broad-shouldered Rank D warrior nodded a brief greeting, his manner economical and watchful. ”And Priya Sorensen, handling our medical needs and general field support.”

Priya, a slight woman with quick, capable hands and an easy smile, offered a proper handshake. ”Heard good things about your survival instincts. Glad to have someone along who actually thinks before charging into danger.”

”I try,” Arlen said. ”Though I won’t pretend I always succeed.”

”Healthy self-awareness,” Torin said, the first genuine warmth entering his otherwise reserved expression. ”Better than the alternative.”

They spent the following two days finalizing preparations, Arlen walking the team through everything he remembered from his solo expedition — the plateau, the stunted valley beyond it, the luminescent-eyed predator pack he’d tracked and eventually engaged.

”You fought one alone,” Sera said, reviewing his notes with evident interest. ”Confirmed solo kill against an undocumented apex predator. That’s either impressive skill or considerable luck.”

”Bit of both, honestly,” Arlen said, the familiar careful deflection settling comfortably into place. ”I was cautious. Didn’t engage the full pack, just an isolated member.”

”Wise,” Torin said. ”We’ll maintain that same caution, going in properly this time. No unnecessary risks.”

They departed Greyhaven on a gray, overcast morning, the party moving at a steady, disciplined pace that reminded Arlen pleasantly of Reya’s own careful expedition leadership months earlier — nobody rushing, everyone checking their own gear and their companions’ in equal measure, the kind of practiced thoroughness that came from adventurers who’d survived long enough to trust caution over bravado.

”You’ve done this before,” Priya observed, watching Arlen manage the party’s supply rotation with practiced efficiency during their second day of travel. ”The logistics work, I mean.”

”Camp management’s become something of a specialty,” Arlen admitted. ”Started on an expedition with Reya’s party, back before I properly registered any real reputation. Stuck with me since.”

”Good specialty to have. Half the trouble on long expeditions comes from poor supply management, not monsters.” Priya offered him a portion of dried fruit from her own stores, a small, easy gesture of camaraderie. ”You cook properly too, from what Eldrin’s mentioned. Looking forward to that, honestly, given how badly most field rations manage after the first week.”

The journey toward the plateau took five days at the party’s more cautious, group-oriented pace, considerably longer than Arlen’s own solo trip had required, though he found himself appreciating the difference — proper reconnaissance at each stage, careful discussion before any decision, Sera’s detection magic sweeping ahead of their route to flag anything genuinely dangerous before they stumbled into it unprepared.

”Elevated mana density confirmed,” Sera reported, once they’d reached the plateau’s edge on their fifth evening. ”Matches what you described. Whatever’s sustaining that valley’s strangeness, it’s real and significant.”

They made camp at the plateau’s edge that night, and Arlen found himself, preparing the evening meal from supplies supplemented by fresh game he’d caught along the way, falling into the comfortable, practical rhythm that had become second nature to him on any extended trip — the small rituals of a proper fire, a properly seasoned meal, the quiet satisfaction of feeding people well rather than simply feeding them.

”This is considerably better than I expected,” Torin admitted, working through a proper stew with evident appreciation. ”Most guides just focus on the danger. You’ve clearly put thought into making the actual experience worthwhile too.”

”Feels like part of the whole point,” Arlen said. ”Not just surviving the expedition. Actually living it properly, while we’re out here.”

Eldrin, sketching preliminary notes about the plateau’s exposed stonework by firelight, glanced up with genuine warmth. ”That’s precisely the attitude that makes you such a valuable guide, Arlen. Most adventurers treat exploration as simply another form of combat readiness. You treat it as something worth genuinely experiencing.”

They pushed into the valley proper the following morning, the terrain shifting exactly as Arlen remembered — stunted, pale-barked trees, the faint sulfurous quality to the air, the same unsettling stillness that had first alerted him to the territory’s strangeness months earlier.

”Definitely mineral contamination,” Sera confirmed, examining a sample of the pale, cracked bark. ”Something in the soil or groundwater, concentrated enough to visibly stunt growth across this whole stretch. I’d want proper laboratory analysis to say more, but it’s clearly been building for a considerable time.”

”Years, possibly decades,” Eldrin added, studying the pattern with scholarly fascination. ”Whatever’s sustaining this, it’s not a recent development.”

They tracked deeper into the valley over the following two days, Arlen guiding the party toward the general territory where he’d previously encountered the luminescent-eyed predator pack, and found, to his mild surprise, considerably less sign of their presence than his solo trip had documented.

”Fewer tracks than you described,” Torin observed, crouching beside a faint, weeks-old impression in the soft earth. ”Pack might have relocated.”

”Or something’s displaced them,” Arlen said, an old unease settling into his chest as he remembered Halvard’s own theory from the timber camp job — that the treant’s unusual territorial shift had likely been caused by something else pushing it out of its original range.

”Worth investigating carefully,” Sera said, already extending her detection spell further into the valley’s deeper reaches. Her expression shifted moments later, something tightening at the edges of her composed focus. ”There’s something considerably larger further in. Mana signature’s substantial — larger than anything I’d expect from an ordinary predator, even an apex one.”

”How much larger?” Eldrin asked.

”Significantly.” Sera’s frown deepened. ”I’d recommend caution before we proceed any further today. Whatever’s generating that signature, it’s not something we should stumble into unprepared.”

Arlen felt his own instincts sharpen at that, the old, deliberate caution he’d built out of hard experience rising to meet the moment. ”We should camp here tonight. Proper rest, full preparation, before we investigate further tomorrow.”

”Agreed,” Torin said, already scanning the surrounding tree line with renewed vigilance. ”Whatever’s out there, I’d rather face it fresh and ready than exhausted from a full day’s travel.”

They made camp with considerably more caution than the previous nights had required, watch rotations doubled, Sera’s detection wards extended around the perimeter, and Arlen found himself, settling in for what he suspected would be an uneasy night’s rest, turning over the weight of genuine unknown danger — the same quiet dread he remembered from the days before Millbrook, now settling over this stranger, quieter valley with equal, unmistakable gravity.

He wrote briefly in his journal before finally allowing himself sleep, the entry short but focused.

Something large deeper in the valley. Sera’s readings suggest considerably more than the predator pack I encountered on my own trip. We’re proceeding carefully tomorrow — full preparation, full caution.

I don’t know yet what we’re facing. I only know, from everything this past year has taught me, that careful preparation matters more than raw courage when genuine unknown danger waits ahead.

He closed the journal, the camp settling into its watchful, uneasy quiet around him, and found sleep slower to arrive than usual, his mind already turning over every careful contingency for whatever the valley’s deeper reaches might still have waiting for them.