Chapter 340 What To Do

Chapter 340 What To Do

After an afternoon of lessons, Karl was ready for a good meal and a full night's sleep. His group wasn't on defence detail today, so they had all night to themselves unless there was an attack that made it past the artillery and the roaming scouts that the army had in front of them.

It was a strange feeling not having a battle to go to in the morning, or other immediate obligations. Karl and the other students only had classes in the afternoon, while the clerics helped out all day at the treatment facility or the kitchens, depending on their preference.

So, when the sun was already well above the horizon, Karl finally dragged himself out of bed and found a vigilant new group headed to the line, prepared for whatever the Hill Giants threw at them.

They were all well aware that the situation could change in seconds, and the first barrage of an attack was often the most deadly, as the defenders could be caught off guard and the bombardment might make it through their spells.

It was standard to relax the defensive barriers when they weren't under attack, so the mages had more mana available when they actually needed it. But that came with the risk that they wouldn't increase them enough to block the first incoming spells when the attack did come.

First up was breakfast, then a bit of physical conditioning training with the other students, with everyone making sure that while they did get their necessary workout, they weren't too tired to answer if the call came that an attack was imminent.

Mostly it was maintenance weight lifting, stretches, calisthenics, and so on. That kept all the muscles in peak form, without burning so much energy that they would lose combat effectiveness.

Then, after lunch, it was back to history and geography lessons with Morgana, but this time accompanied by a dozen other mages, who were also taking the geography class.

"Are history and geography not a normal warrior class education path? Like, do they just show up in places and add them to their mental knowledge when they arrive?" Karl asked as he looked around at all the other students in the group.

One of the mages laughed. "Actually, you might be on to something. If the warriors need to know something about an area, they learn when they arrive, or it's in the mission briefing. These classes are usually for the ones who have no intentions of going there themselves, or the ones who are the most interested in what they will find there.

So, we have a couple of other treasure seekers, mostly after legendary magical items, and you, who is here for what? Monster food? Perhaps signs of a Legendary Divine Beast's nest for your next companion?

She brought out a map book and began to flip through the pages for them, with the book tilted on a stand, so they could all see.

"The originals of these maps are all thousands of years apart, and as you can see, the oldest don't show Chiptonrith Lake, but a massive desert. But here in the middle, some of them show a much larger inland sea." The students looked confused. "But isn't the lake hundreds of metres deep? Like, so deep that no light reaches the bottom of the deepest parts?"

Morgana nodded. "That is correct, but apparently, that was not always the case. What happened has been lost to history, but we do know that at some point during the end of the System Era, entire mountain ranges were levelled, while others were formed.

That might be the case for the desert. The aftermath of a battle between demigods might have made the crater that became an inland sea, and then eventually levelled out to a massive lake."

One of the mages laughed. "So, geography is a history lesson as well."

Morgana smiled. "It's inevitable, really. Even the borders are a history story, and the Frost Giant border is about to be rewritten after this war. Where it will end up is a mystery, but the new territory claimed by the Magma Dragon around the erupted volcano will most likely gain its own territorial notation." Now, as you can see, the largest population centre is obviously the Capital, but there are others along the rivers, especially ones with deep water all the way to Chiptonrith Lake. In better times, that was a major trade route between not only us and the Beastkin Nation, but also down the great river through the wilds and to the ocean.

Now, most ocean shipping goes overland to the shore, which is both slower and more dangerous, as it puts goods perilously close to the Frost Giant Nation, who has a much larger oceanfront."

One of the students pointed at the wilds, the officially unclaimed lands between the beastkin nation's southern border and the ocean. The Wild's borders extended all along the southern end of the Beastkin nation, and the marked west side of Golden Dragon Nation's claim as the territory reached south toward the ocean.

"Why haven't there been efforts to claim the wilds? I mean, we could have more ocean access to ship around the continent, and get supplies." One of the other students asked.

"There have been. What we managed to claim from the monsters was that narrow strip at the south of the nation. Even that is difficult to hold, and there are constant battles around the border as the monsters try to take back their natural territory.

If not for the constant effort, we would be completely landlocked." Morgana explained.

Karl didn't know how much of what they used came from other nations, but he did recall that many of the coal mines were in the southern hills. Even if it weren't for the ocean access, that region was still of significant importance to the people.