Lone: The Wanderer Rewrite

Lone stared at the 47 items laying before him, all of different qualities, shapes, sizes, effects, and values.

Some could mask up to 200,000 MP for a couple of days before becoming worthless, some could do the same for 50,000 MP and work for years if properly maintained.

Some had different main purposes like acting as an unreliable treasure hunting tool that could also hide up to 3,000 MP of the wielder's for a few hours before requiring a recharge, while others allowed the user to breathe underwater while camouflaging themselves, including up to 12,000 MP.

All of them were useless to Lone and Sofia. Breena could get some use out of them, sure, but she didn't have nearly enough MP to be a target of interest for someone she couldn't handle.

And she was hardly delving into dungeons that could detect and act on MP, making these tools useless to her also.

"I have no idea how any of these were created..." Lone thought.

At a glance, three, maybe four, were simple metal tools that had been enchanted, but most of the items had been magically forged one way or another and Lone had exactly zero knowledge on that subject.

"Grimsley's a better smith than me. Bet he can help me dismantle some of the duplicates here and figure them out far faster than I could on my own," Lone concluded.

He glanced at Breena who was still sleeping soundly. "You'll be fine for a little while on your own, won't you?"

Lone nodded and cracked his neck. He wrote a quick letter for her in case he ended up taking more than just a few minutes. He then applied his Agility and used Survivor's Speed to move so fast it was like he had teleported.

He first went to the Spirit Pavilion's kitchen and fully stocked it. With that done, he rushed out of the pavilion and zoomed across the gorgeous landscape that was the Crimson Foxkin Clan.

Barely ten seconds later and he had crossed half of the clan's land to arrive at the home and forge of Grimsley and the dwarf's niece Shana.

Congratulations! The host's active skill [Survivor's Speed] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 10.

Congratulations! Due to the host's efforts, applying the stat Agility is now slightly more intuitive. It now costs 7.4% [-0.1%] of the host's total SP per second.

Congratulations! Due to the host's efforts, applied Agility is now 0.01% more effective.

'Oh, that was a surprise. So a tenth of a percentage cheaper and one-hundredth of a percentage stronger? Small numbers but I'm sure it'll all add up in a few years or decades. Just gotta keep applying my Agility when I can,' Lone concluded.

He knocked on the door to Grimsley's forge with a slightly improved mood, not having expected to randomly improve his applied Agility and Survivor's Speed just by casually traversing the massive expanse of land owned by the clan.

Not more than five seconds later and the door swung open violently. Taking a big whiff, Grimsley nodded. "Aye. Ah knew ah could smell trouble."

Lone waved his hand and a bottle of unmarked whiskey appeared. "Wanna make it double?"

The dwarf grinned under his massive beard. "Feck aye ah dae. Come in, lad."

"Once you're well and truly pissed, Grimsley," Lone started, "I've got something I need your help with. Some trinkets I need to take apart and reverse engineer. You know, simple stuff."

"Ah've nae got the Steamforging skill, but aye, ah'll gae ya an 'and. Though like ye've said, only once we're both well an' truly sauced," Grimsley laughed.

'Breena should be fine... I won't stay here any longer than an hour,' Lone decided. 'Soph, annoy me to leave in an hour if I'm still goofing off with Grimsley, will you?'

'Sure! Just, uh, try not to get as drunk as last time... It was kind of cute but the smell...' his girlfriend replied.

Lone chuckled. 'Fair. Promise.'

Breena woke up feeling more relaxed and comfortable in her own skin that she had felt in months.

'Master Lone's magic is so powerful,' she noted mentally as she stretched and looked around the lake-centred gazebo. 'Where is he?'

She quickly noticed the letter waiting for her on the round table just to her side. Eyeing it carefully, she saw that it wasn't in an envelope and seemed to be addressed to her so she read it without touching it just in case it was meant for another 'Breena'.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Master Lone and Mistress Sofia were so mysterious it wouldn't come as a surprise to her if she found out they had made a new friend who happened to share her birth name.

'BREENA! Got your attention? If you're reading this that means I probably decided to stay at Grimsley's for a drink or something before bringing him back here to give me a hand with my latest project.

I should be back soonish. In, like, an hour? Maybe sooner.

There's a bunch of food and drinks in the kitchen. I made sure to fill it up before I stepped out. Help yourself if you're feeling peckish. Or, I dunno, work out, train a skill, relax, do whatever. Be back soon.

Lone'

Breena smiled wryly under her mask. This was definitely from her master and it was most definitely for her. 'It's kind of him to think of me when he's busy. He probably needs Mister Ironsbane's help for something serious but here he was wasting time reassuring me with a letter...'

Still, there was no use dwelling on it. She left the letter as-is. She hadn't been given permission to take it, after all.

She instead approached the edge of the gazebo and bowed deeply. "T-Thank you, frog spirit. F-For saving me. I, uh, um... thank you."

She didn't get a response. Regardless, Breena had thanked the creature just as she should have given the frog had saved her life. If it didn't want to acknowledge her thanks, well, that was the spirit's decision to make, not hers.

Breena left the lake, returning to the main building of the pavilion. She was going to get some water and a small snack to stop her stomach from grumbling. She had been given permission to do so, after all, however, she was interrupted by a crisp knock at the main door that sounded similar to the knock from earlier in the day.

'I should answer it, right? Master Lone and Mistress Sofia aren't here but... the person on the other side of the door can probably feel my aura and knows I'm just standing here. Ignoring them wouldn't be smart,' Breena decided.

She steeled her nerves and opened the door. Smiling down at her in an unfamiliar manner was the matriarch of the Crimson Foxkin Clan, Lossa Redtail.

"Hello Sarah. Could I come in?" the woman asked in a polite tone.

Breena frowned under her mask. "This isn't my home and I wasn't told to receive any guests while Master Lone is outside."

Lossa Redtail's smile cracked when she heard the word 'master' but she didn't seem to care about the declined request. "That's fine. Can we talk here, like this? I'd love to have a chat with you. We are both Crimson Foxkin, after all, and we hardly had the chance to speak when Divine Dragonsworn was here. He did throw me out almost as soon as the talks began, haha."

'And he threw me into a lake,' Breena thought.

She didn't really know how to handle her biological grandmother. The woman hadn't helped her at all when she was in such a dark place. It had occurred to her, of course, that Lossa likely didn't want to leave her to her fate as a slave to a disgusting summoned hero but had 'no choice' due to political reasons.

The thought had occurred to her, yes, but Master Lone, a much weaker person at the time than her grandmother had so unhesitantly helped her when she was abandoned to die and then went on to murder not only the disgusting hero who was a big part of her miserable life, but even the ruler of the kingdom that had allowed her to be trafficked and exploited within its borders.

And now that very same kingdom had come crawling back to Master Lone's feet politely begging for forgiveness and for him to preside over their new hero summoning event to curry favour with him.

What was the point of strength if you didn't use it to uphold your ideals like Master Lone did? If all it took was politics to make you hesitate, then were your ideals even worth that much in the first place?

Lossa Redtail currently boasted the strength of an SSS-ranker thanks to Master Lone, but at the time she was an SS-ranker, just the same as the former king and dukes of Milindo, and she had the power to instantly wipe Daisuke Tamiko out of existence while freeing her. She didn't even need to justify it given they were of the same species and just as many territories were against slavery as were for it.

So what if she was in a precarious political position? So what if Milindo had a loose collection of human nations at its back? Did the clan not have The Elders at its back? Was she not worth the risk? Was her life so meaningless to her grandmother?

Even then, none of that would have mattered to Master Lone. It was so obvious to Breena that Lossa wanted to create a bond with her, but the feeling was less than mutual, and she had not earned the right to try to play nice with her after having ignored her during the worst time of her life.

"Sarah?" Lossa Redtail asked a bit hesitantly.

Breena realised she had been silently staring at her grandmother as she stewed over her thoughts. "I..."

She hesitated. 'Master Lone is always trying to give second chances when he can, isn't he? She wasn't the one who kidnapped me. She also wasn't the one who exploited me. She's trying... even if it isn't deserved I... I want to be more like Master Lone. At worst I can cut her off if she takes it too far but maybe I can get something out of this?'

"... Teach me magic," Breena slowly said. "A-And teach how to use my racial skill better."

She tilted her head up and stared into the shocked eyes of her grandmother. "I don't love you. I don't even know you. But I... want to give you a chance. I'll never stay in the clan. My place is by their side, not here but... I don't want to have any regrets. I might not regret pushing you away now, but I might in the future, so teach me stuff. Make me stronger. That's what I care about. Not talking for the sake of talking."

"Sar-"

"We both know you know I'm Breena, not Sarah. You can drop that," Breena said.

Lossa Redtail sighed deeply. It was a sigh of deep pain, regret, longing, and perhaps of hope. "He's influenced you a lot, hasn't he?"

"Master Lone?" Breena asked before replying, "He's been taking care of me, so of course he has."

"Right where it hurts..." Lossa mumbled. "Okay, Breena. Y'know, it's really painful to be told so seriously by your granddaughter that she doesn't love you, but I understand-"

"You understand nothing," Breena snapped. "Are you going to teach me or not? If not, leave, please. I have stuff to do before Master Lone gets back."

She saw the look of immense emotional agony flash through Lossa's face but she didn't care. She had vocalised her feelings and she was proud that she had managed to do that much to someone who was essentially a stranger to her. If her grandmother wanted her to love her, then she should have been the one to save her instead of Master Lone and Mistress Sofia.

"Of course. I'd be happy to. I have a few hours now if you're free," Lossa said, clearly deciding to keep all of her no doubt varied thoughts inside her head, which Breena was thankful for.

Breena moved aside, holding the door open for Lossa Redtail to enter.

Nodding politely, the woman stepped into the pavilion. As she did so, she asked, "I know how you feel about me now. It's... fine. I'm happy teaching you, but... your mother is still in the clan. Would you like to meet her? She doesn't know you're here yet. I've kept who you are private thus far, and will continue to do so unless you want to expose your identity yourself."

Breena frowned under her mask. "I... I need to talk to Master Lone about that."

Lossa frowned again at the word 'master' but soon smiled. "Of course. Now, what magic would you like to learn, Breena?"