With the blindfold exposed everyone's vision slightly darkened.
Before it could become worse the blacksmith pressed the filigree into the cloth. There was a sizzle as the heated gold slightly burned the blindfold then Lyla spoke a binding prayer, and the two items flashed gold before cooling much faster than was normal.
Nimsy picked it up and turned it over, examining it before delivering it to Sariah.
"Hm, we did it! The experiment was a success; the blindfold will curse the wearer with blindness but only while they are wearing it. In addition, the power of order prevents it from permanently cursing the wearer and makes it easily removable." She said with a smile.
Handing it to Chronos he put it on.
"Yep, I can't see anything. It feels like it is slightly dulling my other senses too, now all I need is a way to deal with sound."
"I don't think we have anything that can perfectly block sound. It might be best to just stick some wax in your ears and train like that." Vessin suggested.
That wasn't a perfect solution as even in his human form he would still be able to hear some things, but it was the best they could do right now.
"Alright. By the way, Sariah, I don't recall a section for rituals in the system, you should send a message to Hrólmir about adding one." Chronos said.
"True, it would certainly help if there was at least a reference section to review rituals before someone uses one. I'll send a report about ways to add it in that won't interfere with the rest of the system."
Vessin was looking at them with confusion, who was Hrólmir and what was this system they were talking about?
Seeing her confusion, Sariah decided that she would send her an invitation.
Bing.
"Hiyah!"
Vessin almost jumped out of her skin when the translucent screen appeared. She stared at it, wide eyed and wary about this strange see through object. Then she saw Chronos and Lyla trying to hold in their laughter.
Sariah's eyes sparkled as she muttered, "So cute."
Glaring at them Vessin demanded answers. "What is this and why won't it leave me alone?"
She had tried to move next to Sariah only to have it drift along with her gently flashing at her.
The elderly shaman and blacksmith couldn't see anything and just looked at each other before bidding farewell. Let the young play pranks on each other while they could, it was good for morale.
"Alright, calm down. I'll explain everything to you, but we really do need to start on the scent blocking potion for Chronos. Let's clean up while we talk." Sariah said.
"Hehe, I need to get back to training. Once the potion is finished send it to me please, I'll be in front of the castle walls. Practicing in an open area will help me avoid running into things for the initial training." Chronos chuckled.
Waving goodbye, he walked to the main gate without any problems. He could smell the scent trails left by passersby which made it too easy to get around. It would only be real training once he could block smell but until then he would try to ignore scent and train to sense the incorporeal.
An hour later Vessin came to deliver the scent blocker. She still looked cross with him about the system joke.
"Here, smear it just above your nose and it will block your sense of smell for a full day or until you wash it off."
"Thank you. Don't be too angry at Sariah, she is a bit of an airhead and often makes mistakes like that."
"That's what makes it so hard to be angry with her, she is like a baby snake curious about everything but says whatever is on her mind. If she was at least a little more restrained the elders would take my cursed potion project more seriously. I need to go now, goodbye." She sighed.
"Right, before I forget please don't tell anybody about the system yet, we don't want a greedy matriarch trying to kill us just for that. Once the dragon paladins arrive you can tell them, we're planning on giving it to them as well." She nodded as Chronos spoke.
Watching her leave Chronos opened the small jar, the scent blocker was a cream that would melt onto skin once exposed to body heat. Taking just enough to cover one finger he smeared it onto the tip of his nose.
Within 5 minutes he was unable to smell anything, now all that was left was to put ear plugs in.
Over the next few hours, he wandered through the castle courtyard getting used to his training.
Late that evening ten matriarchs who returned from the field met for a meeting.
"So, we have already sent for assistance, Eldest?" A naga that was missing one of her four arms asked.
"Yes, I deemed it necessary for our survival. The church will also be attacked if we fall, so I am certain they will send help." Eldest said
"And what if the lords try to take over Dracon Fen? How do we deal with enemies on both sides?" One with mottled scales voiced her worry.
"They are always trying to conquer Dracon Fen. They have never succeeded before nor will they now. Besides, I know that one of the forces coming to our aid is the Ulv family, they were already moving to help the northern swamp when the dark beasts attacked." Eldest replied.
That caused some discussion amongst them. The Ulv family was famous for respecting territorial boundaries. While they might ask for payment for their services, they would not try to take a portion of the swamp for themselves.
"Are you certain that the Ulv's are coming?" Asked the three-armed naga.
"Yes, one of them is already here with his friends. I have asked them to join us as advisors once we are ready." Eldest said.
"What can we even offer his family?" Another asked.
"For the moment we don't need to offer anything. As I understand it, he ran away from home and is not considered a part of the family as a part of his training. We can discuss the battles freely with him." Eldest said.
"Alright, let's meet them."
Hissing at the door a lizardfolk went to find Chronos' party returning with them a short time later.
Bang!
Chronos had walked into the wall.
"Sorry, I'm still getting used to being blind." He chuckled.
As he entered the room all of them saw and smelled his training items wondering what this strange man was doing.
Sitting down they waited for the Eldest Matriarch to continue the meeting.
"Now what is currently happening on the battlefield?" She asked.
"I will go first." Said the three-armed naga as she stood up. "The battles against the trolls have ground to a halt. The vanguard is too wary to press forward when we might overturn their boats and drown them. I think they are waiting for the main force to catch up before they press the attack again. According to my scouts we have nearly 5 days before then."
The room was filled with hissing as the matriarchs voiced their concern about whether or not they could fight the trolls when they attacked. Some of them wanted to retreat north and join the main village for protection while others wanted to attack the trolls before the main force arrived.
Tapping the table to get their attention Chronos said, "I came from the main village, it wasn't in any condition to protect others after one of the swamp lords tore through their defenses during a dark beast wave."
Hearing that caused a new round of hissing as they debated what they should do until the Eldest cut in.
"I want to know what the merfolk are doing before we make a decision." She said turning to a blue scaled naga.
Standing, she gave her report.
"After arriving they only left a small number of troops on most islands and retreated to an island in the middle territory, near the battlefield. Once they had gathered together, they started constructing something, but we have yet to determine what it is, they seem to be making it in parts. We have seen long reeds shaped like pipes and some scaffolding so far."
That confused everyone, why would they need pipes? Were they going to pump something in or out of the swamp?
That couldn't be right. The only thing worth pumping out in large quantities was the Averest river water, it was highly magical and useful for all kinds of magic creations from potions to quenching water for forges.
And this far south it was highly diluted, pumping out diluted water wouldn't help the merfolk. Taking the hidden purification pools would make more sense than trying to pump the water out.
And if they wanted to pump something in then they couldn't think what it might be.
"Can we not get closer to see more?" asked another naga.
"No, they are amphibious like us so both the land and water routes are being carefully watched." The blue naga replied.