Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 213: The Cache(2)

The Palace guard, Simon and the Emperor all rode toward the three hills, all of them keeping an eye out for the possible location of the cache. 

By now all of them had been awake for almost two entire days, and while those of them who had more developed Mana Cores weren't affected too much, some of the soldiers were falling asleep in the saddle by now.

"Let's have another look at that map, Jeremiah." Simon asked, and Captain Jeremiah passed it over to him. 

Simon inspected the map carefully, looking at the drawing of the three hills, upon a closer look, he could see that between the two hills where the stream ran, there was a semi circular black shape drawn, likely showing the location of a cave.

"Here. We just need to follow this gully, and then we'll see the cave that the cache is in." Simon pointed out the detail on the map to Captain Jeremiah, who gestured for Donald to come over and have another look, and the ex scout nodded in agreement.

They rode along the gully, the soft bubbling sound of the stream that still ran within it accompanying them. Soon, they passed into the shade of the trees, only the faintest slivers of light passing through the dense canopy.

The Emperor summoned a ball of light that hovered over them, washing the forest in its bright white glow. It wasn't long before they found themselves at the end of the gully, and saw a small waterfall that flowed over a small outcropping of rock at the base of the hill.

"Alright lads, let's dismount and have a look for this cave." Captain Jeremiah ordered his men, who all immediately hopped off their horses and started to search along the base of the hill.

Simon joined them, picking up a large stick and poking at the vegetation that covered the side of the hill, in case the entrance to the cache had become covered with plants.

Even the Emperor joined the search, throwing up balls of lights at different intervals to light the hill and aid their search.

"Here, I think I've found something!" Once again, Donald called out, his high pitched voice easily audible through the forest.

They all converged at the spot where he had called, and it seemed that Simon's guess had been correct, the entrance of the cache was covered by a curtain of ivy. 

Donald quickly hacked it away with a large, curved bladed knife he carried along with the usual Imperial soldier's sword.

The ivy fell away, revealing the cave, and the Emperor tossed a ball of light inside, revealing an empty cave.

The floor was covered in old twigs and dried up leaves, as well as the remains of some sort of nest in one corner.

A few of the soldiers sighed in disappointment, turning away from the cave, but Captain Jeremiah marched in, and started feeling around the back wall of the cave.

"Click!" After a few minutes of feeling around, there was a loud clock and the entire back wall of the cave swung open, revealing a wide tunnel, large enough for even two riders to enter, side by side.

"Lead the horses in here, if I remember correctly, there should even be a stable. We'll have to use our own feed bags, though, I'm sure whatever's stored inside will be rotted by now." Captain Jeremiah instructed the soldiers, before gesturing for the Emperor and Simon to follow him inside.

They followed the captain, the dark tunnel lit by a ball of light summoned by the Emperor, which revealed a spacious hollow within the hill. 

Captain Jeremiah had been correct, there was a stable inside, separated into stalls for the horses, as well as spare saddles and other riding equipment. All of which glowed with enchantments to protect it from damp and rot.

"Won't be able to use that, will stand out too much." Captain Jeremiah sniffed at the showy riding equipment, only the extremely wealthy would splurge on enchanting something like a saddle. 

The continued further on into the hollow, and found that it split off into separate tunnels, one large tunnel on the right as well as a series of smaller tunnels on the left.

:Let's have a look at this one first." Captain Jeremiah gestured for Simon and the Emperor to follow him down the larger tunnel.

They entered, and found what they had come to the cache for. The larger tunnel led to an large circular cave, the walls were covered in shelves that were stacked with armor, weapons and even clothing. 

Simon picked up one of the breastplates and inspected it, it only had a few enchantments on it, nothing that would stand out too much, and most importantly for their purposes, it lacked the conspicuous Imperial Lion.

"This'll do, won't it, ehem, Kayser." Captain Jeremiah coughed a little before addressing the Emperor by his given name, still reluctant to do so.

"Yes, it'll do nicely. I'm sure we'll blend right in, this armor is simple enough that we won't have to worry about blending in with whatever the current fashions are. And besides, we'll cover it all up with our cloaks." The Emperor picked up a plain helmet, looking it over, before raising an eyebrow to Simon, as if asking what he thought.

Simon gave him a polite smile and nod, and looked around for a set of armor that would fit him also.

"Good thinking Scholar Piatt, best get yourself a full face helmet, anybody who's looking for the E- sorry Kayser will also be looking for any who frequented the Court." Captain Jeremiah gave Simon a pat on the back before handing him a helmet with a visor. 

Simon smiled and accepted the helmet, but even as he did, he kept an eye on what pieces of armor the Emperor selected. 

After all, he would have to make sure his knives would pierce through at just the right points.