The Innkeeper

The battle that followed left Lex unusually flustered. Their camp's defenses, despite only having just been built, seemed impenetrable, which meant there was no actual threat to Lex. But at the same time, he couldn't just relax or focus on something else, because if the defenses fell short, he would need to protect himself.

He couldn't participate in repelling the attack because, frankly, he was too weak to make a meaningful contribution. He couldn't even watch the fight because if he came too close, he would make himself vulnerable to shockwaves from the battle, and might even get in the way of his allies.

In the end, he spent multiple hours just… waiting for something to happen. In the end, the battle ended with their camp managing to defend successfully. Ptolemy, afterwards, went into the forest with a few guards, and though he did not say what he did, assured the camp there would be no of such more attacks once he returned.

With his assurance began the true purpose of the expedition. This entire region was unmapped, with little to no knowledge of anything. Cartographers built themselves their own watch tower, from where they used telescopes and other devices to map out the surrounding terrain, as well as try to figure out the best direction for their expedition to proceed.

Others started studying the snakes physiology, as they were the first living things they had encountered other than the trees. Speaking of which, from mingling with the various small groups, Lex learnt that these were not actually maple trees, but an as of yet unknown species of trees, the bark of which was extremely resistant to flame while the leaves themselves were very flammable.

They had already begun studying the sap and the roots of the trees they had cut down, and were proposing new uses for them. Others were studying the soil and mineral composition while other groups still were studying the currents of spiritual energy in the area.

The camp had truly come alive, which brought a lot of emphasis on the fact that Lex had nothing to do. Well, officially he had nothing to do, since Ptolemy could not be bothered with him. Unofficially, though, Lex had a lot to do.

This expedition had only just begun, and would likely continue for months if not years, but Lex only had a limited time with them as he was just undergoing a trial. That meant, in the next few weeks, Lex had to get access to at least one of the buried spirit stone mines without alerting anyone.

The trouble was, Karom had not given him a map of their location, rather, he had only told Lex key or identifying features of the area nearby. To help Karom fulfill his own agenda as well, he had provided Lex a way of escaping Goli's supervision as well, but that did nothing for hiding Lex from the beasts.

Over the next few days, small hunting and exploration parties would venture out from the camp several times a day, and Lex would accompany at least one such party everyday. He had proven capable of ensuring his own security, so no one really minded, not to mention that everyone more or less knew that Lex was supposed to have a say in their defenses, so just accepted this as a part of his duty.

Furthermore, even on the trips that Lex did not venture out on, he made sure to interview the scouts or guards that went out so he could develop a deeper understanding of the terrain, as well as the habits of the fauna of the region.

He corroborated all of his analysis with the zoologists in the expedition so that he could be sure instead of forming baseless speculations.

What Lex was actually doing was creating his own map, and formulating his own plan for how he would get the spirit stones. To the people of the expedition, however, it seemed like Lex was taking his job very seriously, and was working hard to ensure they suffered no more unexpected attacks. Some people had noticed how, even before their first ambush, Lex seemed to have sensed some danger and tried to warn Ptolemy about it. The extra attention, of course, was due to the rumors about him. Cut off from society, the only thing the people from the expedition had to do during their free time was gossip. Of course, there were many more people being gossiped about as well, with Ptolemy being a key figure. However, it was exactly because rumors of Lex were mixed in with so many other stories that people actually forgot that they were supposed to be just rumors, instead of facts.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with Lex. After a week of scouting and research, he was prepared to venture out of the camp alone to properly begin looking for the mines. There was just one problem.

"Why are you going out alone?" asked the student who was watching the gate. It wasn't an interrogation, since they all somewhat knew one another now, but he still had to ask.

"To do some personal reconnaissance. There are some places it's much easier to scout alone."

"Are you sure? Not that I mean to doubt you or anything, but, if you run into trouble… you might have a hard time surviving on your own."

"Not to worry, I have taken adequate precautions."

"Still… I think I need to let Ptolemy know about this, just to be safe."

"Sure," Lex replied, letting out an exhausted sigh. Considering that they were living in such close quarters, Lex did not expect to be able to hide the fact that he was going out alone from anyone. He was just hoping for more of an 'apology instead of permission' approach. He didn't relish having to explain his actions to Ptolemy.

Ptolemy, likewise, was not happy about the fact that Lex had been so active. If Lex had just been a lazy, entitled brat, it would have better fit his internal narrative about him just being someone who was handed everything instead of earning it. Even though he knew he should have looked into how Lex was able to detect the ambush before him, his existing bias had prevented him from doing so. His strategy for dealing with Lex had been out of sight, out of mind. But when the latter was literally taking the initiative to contribute by scouting on his own, it was entirely impossible to ignore him.

"You're not a scout, and we have no scouting missions that require going alone. What exactly do you want to do? We don't have the manpower to waste on a rescue mission if you get yourself in trouble."

"Then don't," Lex replied, rolling his eyes. "I thought you didn't care what I did as long as I didn't get in your way. And I'm literally getting out of your way, so why do you even care?"

"Do whatever," Ptolemy replied. "Just remember, I'm not going to waste any manpower on saving you if you disappear."

Lex was relieved that Ptolemy wasn't going to try to stop him from leaving, but it also increased the pressure on him as well knowing there would be no fall back or rescue should things go wrong.