Ryan was all for it.
He didn't want any big shake-ups to mess with the life in Fontdmer Town he'd just gotten comfortable with.
For the other hunter, he picked his daughter Aleya.
Aleya was a master at staying hidden—perfect for scouting ahead of Thane and giving him the heads up on any trouble.
"But I'd like to push back departure by a week. Your lordship's leather armor is almost done."
Thane was happy to go along with Ryan's suggestion.
He wasn't in any rush, so he patiently stuck around the smithy working iron and checking on the fields now and then.
It didn't even take a week—on the fifth day, Ryan delivered a leather chest piece to Thane.
"I was pressed for time, so there's no fancy stuff. Hope you don't mind."
"It doesn't need fancy stuff. It's already gorgeous."
The dark blue dragon scales layered seamlessly, fitting together perfectly and gleaming with a metallic shine.
Thane ran his hand over the surface, clearly feeling its coldness and metal-like toughness.
The inside of the armor had an added layer of deerskin that was breathable, soft, and stretchy—incredibly smooth to the touch.
With maids Liya and Sandy helping him out, Thane took off his outer clothes and put on the leather armor.
"There's no smell at all—actually has a nice scent," Thane said, taking a whiff as he put it on. "What's that fragrance?"
"Lavender scent," Ryan replied. "Lavender naturally keeps bugs away and prevents rot. There's also a bit of rosemary mixed in."
Lavender was common in the Northern Borderlands and the go-to material for getting rid of leather stink.
Thane nodded.
The armor fit like a glove. The maids pulled the straps tight, and the leather armor molded to Thane's body.
"Ryan's craftsmanship is really top-notch."
Thane picked up his fine steel claymore and gave it a test run—the armor didn't hold him back at all.
The wyvern leather armor was just heavier than regular leather armor, probably about 40 pounds.
Of course, that was still way lighter than plate armor.
For Thane with his [Forging Might] boost, this was a piece of cake.
After trying it on, Thane took off the armor and grabbed a guard's sword to test it with a couple swings.
Just like on the wyvern's body, an ordinary sword could only leave shallow dents on the surface—no way to slice through the armor.
As for the sword Thane had forged himself, well, there was no point testing that.
With his long-awaited armor now on his body, Thane headed out with his team the next day.
Shadowpine Ridge's territory was huge—mountains, forests, river bays, canyons, and a big lowland area.
One day definitely wasn't enough to see it all, so Pamin had Martha pack three days' worth of dried food and water for each person.
That amount was enough for them to rough it in the wilderness for five or six days—with Ryan the hunter along, they certainly wouldn't be stuck eating just dried food.
Everyone rode horses through Shadowpine Ridge, except for Aleya.
She moved through the wilderness on her own, only catching up with the group when they needed to cover ground.
The Blackstone Mountains were to the northwest, so this time Thane chose to explore eastward.
The team's first stop was Blue River.
This was less than two miles from Thane's territory and an important water source, but the map's description wasn't very detailed.
As they say, mountain folk live off mountains, coastal folk live off the sea, and river folk live off rivers.
Of course, rivers aren't like oceans with seafood everywhere.
Only river bays with still water and slow-flowing deep spots could provide enough fish.
There were also river mussels and crabs in the water, but those were just bonus—fish were the main event.
Following the river bay downstream, Thane marked all the spots that might hold fish.
But these natural waterways were all too narrow—the river was generally only 120 to 130 feet wide, maybe 200 feet at the widest points.
Thane didn't explore the middle of the channel, but even the deepest spots near the banks were less than 6 feet deep.
From this, Thane figured they'd have to dig their own fish ponds.
Of course, there was good news during this process too.
Near the slopes upstream from the river bay, Thane quickly discovered a natural stone quarry, mainly granite.
This type of stone was tough and perfect for building castle foundations—high load-bearing capacity and weather-resistant.
The only problem was that it would be a pain in the ass to quarry.
It was about 9 miles from Fontdmer Town.
Thane marked it on his map as well.
If he wanted to quarry and use it, transportation would be a factor, so Thane naturally had to think about road planning too.
"Maybe I could build the castle here down the road."
Thane thought to himself.
The reason Fontdmer Town wasn't built right next to the river bay was mainly fear of large wild beasts in the area.
But if Thane built a castle, he basically wouldn't need to worry about wild animals.
If beasts showed up, they'd just be adding to Thane's dinner menu.
Of course, Thane was just fantasizing now—it wasn't even real planning yet, so he didn't waste much time on it.
After just a quick stop, they kept following the river bay until cliffs blocked both sides. Then Thane's group changed direction, crossed the river at Blue River's front bay, and continued east.
Near dusk, the team reached the edge of a mountain forest, and Thane decided to head into the mountains tomorrow.
So the group found a sheltered spot at the foot of the mountain to set up camp.
Pamin built a fire while the guards collected dry grass and firewood.
Aleya wandered around nearby and came back shortly with two rabbits.
Already skinned and cleaned.
"With you guys along, we definitely won't go hungry."
The rabbits on the spit dripped fat and sizzled. Thane looked at Ryan and said, "Maybe you could teach me archery?"
"If you'd like, absolutely," Ryan jumped at the chance.
Thane stood up. "Then let's start now."
The day's travel hadn't been rough, and with time to kill, Thane figured he might as well learn something to boost his skills.
Forget about hunting five hundred fierce beasts to unlock [Fierce Beast Hunter]—unlocking some basic hunting traits would be sweet too.
The two walked to a nearby clearing. Ryan borrowed a bow from a guard and handed it to Thane, walking him through it:
"If you don't have much experience, you can start by learning the standard stance and shooting form."
Ryan demonstrated while explaining: "Feet shoulder-width apart, body facing your target, back straight, head in a natural position."
"Nock the arrow on the bow's arrow rest, with the nock on the string."
"Keep your center of gravity rock solid—don't sway. Keep your bow arm parallel to the ground."
"Of course, this is just for getting the hang of the bow and arrow at first. Once you're comfortable, you don't need to follow all these rules. There's just one key principle:"
"Steady. That's it."
As soon as he finished talking, Ryan nocked an arrow, drew the string, and let it fly—nailing a tree trunk 330 feet away dead center.
"Damn impressive."
Thane had just witnessed real marksmanship.
Thane was confident, immediately getting into position, nocking the arrow on the string, and yanking the bowstring back hard!
Hiss—
Ryan quickly grabbed Thane's draw hand and pulled it back a bit.
"Easy there, my lord. You'll snap the bow in half."
Ryan had never imagined that the unassuming Lord Thane would be built like a brick house.
That's when Ryan suddenly remembered Thane's massive fine steel claymore.
Ryan was glad he'd given his lord a guard's longbow. If it had been his own hunting bow with maybe 130 pounds of draw weight, it would probably be kindling now.
"Right, got it."
Thane caught himself and quickly eased up, aiming at the tree trunk and shooting.
Plenty of power, but way off target—the arrow hit another tree trunk nearby.
Thane felt kind of embarrassed.
As a bastard, Thane had spent his time working before, and the occasional training he'd gotten was basic swordwork. He'd barely touched archery.
"That's totally normal, my lord. My first shot only went about 50 feet," Ryan consoled him.
Then Ryan shared all his aiming tricks and experience with Thane, and the two stood in front of the forest practicing non-stop.
By the time night was about to fall, Thane could occasionally nail the tree trunk.
From this, Thane felt he had some natural talent for archery.
After all that practice, the forest ahead was bristling with arrows like a porcupine.
Thane's resources were limited, so he naturally couldn't just leave them there. He immediately followed Ryan into the forest to collect the arrows.
"For just starting out, reaching this level is already excellent. The rest just takes practice..."
Ryan's words cut off abruptly when he noticed Thane suddenly freeze, staring into the forest with a look that could cut glass.
He immediately went on high alert, quickly scanning the surroundings but finding nothing out of the ordinary.
Ryan looked ahead, slowly backing up, and asked in a low voice:
"My lord, what did you spot?"