The month it took the get everything ready to travle to the outpost in need of repairs and such, was a odd one for Carrie in many ways.

  One reason was just how buys it is to prepare for the travle. No matter which world one was in, being it military or an army, it takes time to pack and prep for a mission. The movies and documentaries she has ahd a chance to see back on earth never truely captured just how much went into the prep nor how much supplies is even needed for a small reinforment.

  Which Carrie had learned meant at least 100 soliders, not counting the support staff of 30 or so. She being among the 30. She's a cook not a solider despite having figthing based skills and have been given a bit of training on how to use them. She was far more useful helping with the supplies, logistic and various other tasks done in the background.

  But it was interesting nonetheless to watch, if she was all honest. Werewolfs, goblins, orcs, demons of all kinds and ranks, some undead like her though none where a lesser skeleton like her, kobolds and more , all working together in a way that she had never seen before. It was like watching a very strange ballet of power and precision, everyone knowing their place and their job, and executing it with the grace of a well-oiled machine.

  Of course, this world being basically in the middle ages, despite the present of magic, meant that transportation was rather primitive compared to what Carrie was used to. They were to travel by foot, cart and wagons. And the beast of burden, if you can call them that, that they where gonna use was interesting.

  On the nights or early mornings she can spare and take a look around the fortress, Carrie had come to learn that the fortress has a rather interesting selection when it came to mounts. There was war horses here, though they had eight legs with hooves made out of steel and they could breathe fire, something she never thought she'd say in her life. There were also giant lizards bull like things that the orcs used, which they called "Drakes". And as she learned are actual lesser type of dragons that can't fly. They have a rather nasty temper but is for the most part doicle if you leave them alone and don't interrupt their naps.

  They also had griffions, one of the few fantasy beast she was actually knew of. And a lot bigger then what they where describe back home. A full sized griffon could easily lift three fully armored knights without much of an effort, and they were fast too. Though they where rare and expensive to keep and train, they where used for quick transport and scouting in the air. And they where allowed to only have one with them on the journy.

  But the most intriguing was the giant spider-like creatures that the goblins controlled, they where called "Arachnoids" and she had seen them in the distance. They had a strange way of moving, almost dancing as they weave their way around the fortress carrying supplies and sometimes even a goblin or two. The webs they shot out where strong as steel cable and she had heard they could even be used as bridges or ropes in certain situations.

  None of those spiders was comming along, well except five that was gonna be used to help the reconstructions. Much like with the griffions, they were rare and expensive, but they had a lot of uses then just in combat situations and was thuse worth keeping, and from what Carrie understood, the reports says they outpost needed new ones as all theirs had died when it got attacked. So those five was gonna stay at the outpost and also bring forth the new generation as well.

  The war horses are the one they will mostly use for the trip, with a couple of drakes to carry the heavy supplies that the outpost needed for the repairs. Carrie learned from one of the many people around the supply area that the outpost used a somewhat rare type of wood and stone thats been through a alchemic treatment to be able to resist a lot of damage, both mundane and magical. The outposts is far more prone to attacks from enemies at the border wall, so they have to be prepared for a the worst.

  Said wood and stone was of course heavy, like any reinforced building material would be. But these had to be on a special enchanted wagon and needed the drakes to be able to move it. They where the only ones who had the strenght and endurance for the task.

  Carrie was frankly glad all she had to worry about was the small cart with supplies she was incharge of. And learning to drive said cart with a war horse attached. She had been revealed when she learned that they had picked a war horse with a mild temper and that one soldier had been oh so paitent to teach her how to handle it and the cart.

  One month was not much training on it, but it was still better then nothing. She could even feel that she was near earning a skill from it thanks to her little cheat, though she felt it would take another month or so to get it.

  Which was another thing to think about. Even with these beasts to help carry most of the supplies and people around, it would still take weeks of travel to get there. Which was kinda bad as they where taking extra food supplies as they would be staying until the repaires are done and theres proper weather to travle back. Winter was not far off now, only a month or two left, and depending on how long it will take to get there and the repaires needed, theres a very good possibility that they will stay the entire winter.

  Carrie had no issues with that. As a skeleton based undead, the cold of winter and the heat of summer didn't bother her in the way they did for the living. Her only concern was making sure the food supplies stayed fresh and didn't spoil. But even with the magic of the world she was in, there were limits to what they could do. So, she had to pack accordingly with the rest of the staff that was comming with.

  In all honesty she was far more worried about her kitchen and all the imps she feeds. With this assignment and test most likely lasting months, at least until mid spring at the earilest from what she has heard, there is no way the kitchen would stay open while she was gone. She is the only cook and her little imp staff can't cook at all. She had tried a couple of times but it ended with the food being more of a battlefield than a meal. Or a test of courage with what ended on the plate.

  Lucky for her, Thalmor was already ahead of her on this. Somehow, he has gotten a pair of kobold brothers that was down on their luck when it came to work. At least from what she has come to understand, specially since not many wants to hire kobolds to begin with due to various factors as she had been told by Thalmor.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Though she is unsure what those reasons are.

  Though Carrie found herself a bit surpriesed at their appearance when she meet them the first time. She is no fantasy nut nor a gamer, but she does have a bit of a basic idea what a kobold looked like. Or so she had thought.

  These two were different. They had scales like a dragon, but they were small, standing barely over four feet tall. They had the basic shape of a human, with a tail that ended in a spike and their heads had the shape of a dog but with a few more reptilian features. They also had horns that grew from their foreheads. But the most notable feature was their eyes, they were a vibrant blue that almost shone in the dimly lit fortress.

  There was also the fact that both wore tribal like tattoos on them made by some special paint that allowed them to have such. She has no idea how it made, nor those she plan to ask, it just looked cool and she had a feeling that was the point. Or it could be a culture thing for all she knows. She has not really had time to go to the library and study about the kobolds.

  But both are hard wroking if a little clumsy at times.

  Thalmor had assured her that they would take good care of her kitchen and her imp staff in her absence. He had given them a stern talking to about their responsibilities and the consequences of neglect, which seemed to have sunk in as they nodded solemnly. The imp's eyes had lit up with fear at the mention of not getting fed.

  In all honesty, she has mainly let Tromm and Krink watch and help out here and there when it was time to work before she let them do any cooking. Not because she did not believe they could not cook, she had them tested as soon as they stepped into her kitchen. No it was mainly so they could get used to the hetic pace of the kitchen and the way she likes things to be done. She had to admit they were quick learners, even if their hands was not as steady as she would have liked. But they had a good heart, that was easy to see. And that was all that truly mattered to her.

  The fact that she also had almost zero trouble between them and her status as a lesser skeleton also helped. Kobolds as far as Carrie understood it did not sit high on the power ranks among the many races and speices that exsist in this country of hers. Though even kobolds are stronger then her by a good bit, both in terms of physical strength and magical power. But they treated her with a respect that she had not expected from anyone.

  She had a inkling it may be because she don't treat them badly and tires her best to teach them what she can before she had to leave. One month is far from enough to teach them anything but the bare basic of some of the stuff that she cooks. Specially when it came to her recipes from earth, along with the spice mixes and various condiments she used that noone else did.

  She may have spent some of her nights writing down instructions and various otehr reciepes she had picked up over her life. It was her way of making sure that at least some of her food would be available to her friends and colleagues while she was gone. They had even started to make their own little experiments with the spices she has been teaching them, as they appearently suited well to kobold based ones too. Her imp staff is at least happy to be taste tester for it all.

  And despite all this, she still found time to pack her own stuff for the assignment. Somehow.

  Being undead meant there where things she did not need to pack, like food and water. But she nonetheless has a big water skin with her just incase as she never knew if any of the soldiers would need it or she would. And she had to pack some food not for herself but for her familiar Irene. Ironwing told her that as a familiar Irene don't really need to eat anymore as the mana she gets from Carrie is all she needs. But Carrie has seen Irene still doing what any crow will do in the wild when hungry, so she packed some dried meat and bread anyway, along with a small bag filled with various nuts safe for the crow to eat.

  But aside from that there where other things to back as well. Most of which was the standards of what a soldier of demon lords army would usually have on them when on a long assignment. A tent, a bedroll, some extra clothes and some personal items. Along with a fire starter (unneeded in her case) and some basic tools for maintance and fixing. All in all her 'travle backpack' was pretty stuffed with just the basic.

  But since she had the inventory skill, she was able to take with her a lot more. She had sneak away some extra spices and seasonings, knowing they would be invaluable when cooking for the soldiers. And she had packed her favorite cooking knives and pans, along with even making a few potions of lesser healing, stamina and antidotes to have on hand incase of emeergency. The fact she won't have to worry that any of said potions will go bad inside the inventory thanks to its special trait of keeping everything fresh and safe, was a small comfort in the grand scheme of things. And allowed her to make a large batch of each potion the she would normally dare.

  She is no alchemist, and neither does she wants to be one. But she is very happy that Ironwing had been willing to teach her the basic of it so she is able to make these at the very least. She owns the gargoyle big time for it as many don't really see the point in teaching a cook on how to make such stuff.

  And she may have used her imp staff as taste tester for her potions too. Health, stamina and antidotes don't really have all that great of a taste when drunk. At least the lesser versons of them. A lesser health potion often tasted very bitter and as one imp had said it tasted like a mouthful of dirt and regret. Not that they complained too much when they understood that Carrie just wanted to be sure the ones she had made actually worked. Imps seems to have no issues in hurting others and that also incuded themselves even without a reward for it.

  Stamina potions are not much better, though Carrie is pretty sure they put lemons to shame in sourness if how the imps faces reacted was anything to go by. And that one comment on at least its swalloable. Though she had made sure to give them a good meal after.

  And the anitdotes? Lets just say she had to make a deal to make a really good apple pie and some other sweets to get them later before they swallowed one of them. Due to how antidotes often needs at least one poisinous ingredient to work, they tend to taste rather foul as she came to understand it and was not really a favorite among anyone to drink when it came to potions. Even if they are a necessary to save yourself from dying of poison.

  So Carrie had set aside some time to try and maybe improve the taste of all three. She'd made little headway given she really did not have all that much time to experiment and the deadline being so close. But learning that adding a teaspoon of honey or sugar to the stamina potion, a pinch of mint or thyme to the antidote, and add either lemon or berry juice to the lesser healing potion had made a surprisingly big difference to the taste. The imps were less grimacing now, and she had hoped it would be the same for the soldiers. Though she had heard that soldiers often had to drink a lot of worse things then her potions.

  She was hoping to further imporve them while she is at the outpost for the next few months. Potions are a necessity for soldiers or anyone who fights or hunt. And even though its hard to improve one without ruining it, she is willing to give it a try and give her fellow comrads in arms a easier time to drink them. Though the poitons won't be her main focus given her main duty will be to feed everyone with the other cooks not only on the joyrny but once they reach the outpost too.

  And while she feels she is jinxing herself, she hopes nothing too bad will happen on their journey to the outpost. But knowing Murphy's law and how it likes to mess with her, she packed a few extra things that might come in handy. Some basic first aid supplies, a small bag of filled with the supplies she need to make the special teas she has also been learning. The feeling of the univers laughing at her for her optimism was a constant companion these days.