Chapter 1192, A Skill That Needs No Medium

Translator: Silavin

 

Su Bai checked in with the System as usual and claimed his Assistance Package.

 

Going by the day’s schedule, today was one where a Mid Grade Assistance Package could be opened, so he was looking forward to it, just a little.

 

He had woken earlier than usual today. He was up before seven.

 

On a normal day, Yu Ying would come knocking at around seven to announce that breakfast was ready. That arrangement was Su Bai’s own doing, of course. If he ever wanted to sleep in, he could say so in advance, or simply push the time all the way to eleven or noon.

 

But the Flame Dragon Tribe had far too many matters to attend to every single day. He already found the hours insufficient. Sleeping until midday was simply not something he could afford to do.

 

<Ding! Congratulations Host, check in successful!>

<Ding! Congratulations, Host has received Mid Grade Assistance Package: Cartography.>

 

Su Bai’s eyes went wide the moment he heard that. This was a Skill he had long wanted.

 

Not that he had specifically hoped to obtain a Cartography Skill. What he had wanted was simply someone who could draw maps. The idea that the System might hand him such a Skill directly had never crossed his mind.

 

Nobody would ever think to wish for a map-drawing Skill. The System, as always, had a knack for knowing exactly what he needed.

 

“Cartography,” Su Bai murmured to himself. “Does this mean that after I learn this Skill, I’ll end up walking every corner of this continent myself?”

 

The thought made him tap on the Skill right away. He activated it and began learning, taking in all the details as they came.

 

The moment he finished learning Cartography, a line of explanation appeared.

 

<The Cartography Skill may be completed through mediums. Place any object imbued with this Skill at any point on the land, then place another nearby and continue in the same manner. These mediums will sense one another across distance, link themselves together, and ultimately form a complete map of whatever area you desire.>

 

The explanation sounded complicated at first glance. In practice, it was quite simple.

 

[So I don’t have to travel to each location personally… It works just like transferring a Skill into a Shaman Bone Tablet. I can just have someone else carry the mediums out and place them across the continent.]

 

He gave a satisfied nod, then continued. [Better yet, unlike other Skills, this one doesn’t require me to calculate ratios of materials or work out the combination for Shaman Bone Tablets. The Skill transfers directly into the medium. Damn, what a convenience.]

 

He had assumed at first that he would need to figure out some combination of materials to produce a Shaman Bone Tablet. Reading further put his mind at ease.

 

Converting a newly obtained Skill into a Shaman Bone Tablet was a deeply painful affair.

 

He would face hundreds upon hundreds of permutations, because the materials that could be formed into a Shaman Bone Tablet numbered in the thousands, and those thousands of materials could be combined with one another in every conceivable way.

 

If luck was on his side, a few hundred or a few thousand attempts might yield the right combination.

 

If luck was not, he might be looking at over a hundred thousand possibilities. Sometimes a Shaman Bone Tablet required three materials; sometimes only two. The arrangements were endlessly mysterious. That was precisely why learning that Cartography could be transferred to a medium directly, without any Shaman Bone Tablet, felt like such a blessing he inevitably cursed.

 

“I could make arrangements for the maps within the next day or two,” Su Bai murmured. “Though, would it not be better to finish building the roads first, and then produce the maps?”

 

He had been thinking of sending people out within the next few days to map out the continent.

 

Even just the area around the Flame Dragon Tribe would do. A full continent was not strictly necessary.

 

What he really needed were the routes connecting the Flame Dragon Tribe to every other Tribe. That would be useful to his own people, and useful to others as well.

 

But then he considered that the roads had not yet been built. If the maps were produced now, they would have to be made again once the roads were finished.

 

Su Bai was not a man who liked doing work twice. He preferred to get things right the first time.

 

“We could begin with the sea routes,” he said. “That would let other Tribes reach us more quickly.”

 

He shook his head a moment later. “Though that may not be necessary either. Those Tribes travel by our ships. Even with a map, it would not change much.”

 

He was of the view that overland travel was simply too slow. Water routes were faster and more convenient by comparison.

 

“I thought this Skill was tremendously useful,” Su Bai said, rolling his eyes at no one in particular. “Now I’m suddenly feeling like it’s a bit of a mixed blessing.”

 

The roads were unfinished, and there was no telling when they would be. For now, the Skill would simply have to wait in reserve. Not necessarily a bad thing, though.

 

“Actually,” Su Bai said, struck by a sudden thought, “I could start drawing some maps now and put them up for sale at the Central Market. Plenty of Tribes would want those.”

 

He believes that while he might have no personal need for maps right now, that might not be the case about other Tribes.

 

Many Tribes had no idea how to reach the Flame Dragon Tribe. Many did not know how to find other Tribes at all.

 

But with a map in hand, they could follow the routes themselves. It would save them time.

 

“That settles it,” Su Bai said, with a rather crafty smile. “Have someone produce the maps, then sell them at a high price at the Central Market once spring comes.”

 

He could not help it. He was both the Tribe’s Shaman and a merchant. Earning money was simply part of who he was.

 

As the saying went: only a fool refuses a profit. And this was profit to be made from other Tribes, at that. Naturally, he would not give that up.

 

*Knock knock knock…*

 

A familiar sequence of knocks at the door. Yu Ying had come to call Su Bai for breakfast.

 

He dressed quickly, went out to eat, and took the opportunity to have someone fetch Shu Feng.

 

Su Bai had a task to assign Shu Feng. He was to lead a group out to place the mediums for the mapping.

 

One person would not be nearly enough, of course. It would take many people with wings to carry out the work properly.

 

During the snow season, hot air balloons were too dangerous. Precision was difficult to maintain.

 

“Shaman, I can be ready to depart within the next two days,” Shu Feng said at once, his expression turning serious the moment he heard the full explanation.

 

He understood the importance of maps. In this era, there were no such things. Navigation between Tribes relied entirely on memory.

 

The route from one Tribe to the next was carried in the heads of those who had made the journey before. One lapse of memory, and they could find themselves lost deep inside a dangerous forest.

 

“There is no need for urgency,” Su Bai said. “The specifics still need to be properly planned. We are in the middle of the snow season, so care must be taken with everything.” He made sure Shu Feng understood before letting him go.

 

“Understood.” Shu Feng nodded and took his leave.