CelestialShadow
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Chapter 24 - On the road
🕑 Added 2023-11-22 17:47:35 +0000 UTCThe caravan traveled day and night, only stopping for meals twice a day. Adion spent most of his time meditating while listening in on the conversations of the two groups he shared his wagon with.
At first, everyone was traveling in complete silence due to the stiff tension, but after a day or two, the groups started having more frequent conversations amongst themselves. Adion kept to himself and never spoke with anyone, though. He focused on different auras around him from time to time. He felt he got better at it as he got familiar with the people he traveled with as the days passed.
The training was nowhere near as efficient as it had been with Fellion, but it was of some use to try to feel the minor differences in their auras as he listened to their conversations. He also needed to constantly hide his own strength and only show the aura of a high Iron mage. It was fairly easy as he didn’t need to hide it too deep as he doubted anyone in the wagon had had any aura training.
After a week of traveling, the merchant caravan reached a town called Lorn, about twice the size of Mermi. They had a quick stop where the family of seven left the wagon as their journey would end there. Adion had overheard that they would stay with some relatives who had jobs available for them. No heartfelt goodbye, but the family still bowed and thanked Adion before hurriedly making their way to find their relatives.
I wonder if there is anything of interest here?
Adion thought to himself as he walked around the caravan, stretching his legs.
Hmm, I will just stay around here. We will be leaving in an hour anyway.
Adion did some exercises with his sword to pass the time. He was left alone beside his wagon as the three idiots, as Adion had taken to call them, had gone to look around the town.
When the time for departure approached, he jumped into the wagon again. He wanted to have the space furthest inside for himself; the family of seven had occupied that place earlier, and he didn’t want the three idiots to get there before him.
The men in question returned and took their previous seats shortly, leaving a breadth of space between the group and Adion.
A few minutes later, a loud and rowdy bunch of people arrived at the wagon. There were four of them, all middle-aged men. Three were human, and one of them was an elf.
“Hello there, fellow travelers,” a man with lively blue eyes and a short black beard said as he stepped up onto the wagon, “Name’s Leff. This is Michael, Dorm, and the handsome elf is Feron. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Helmer, and these are my friends Geoff and Kiff.” Helmer responded as the three stood up and greeted the newcomers.
Adion also stood up to greet them; they were all peak Bronze, and it would be impolite to remain sitting when greeting them.
“I’m Adion. Nice to meet you.” Adion nodded and sat down again.
“How about that, we will be traveling with a young genius, it seems. Are you headed to Billford?” The man named Dorm asked as their group sat down between Adion and Helmer’s group.
Adion simply nodded in response.
“Where are you from? A family clan, I imagine?” Leff asked.
“No family clan. I come from Farfield Village outside of Mermi.” Adion answered.
“Hoo. Impressive if that’s the case. You planning on joining the Guild?” Leff asked.
“That’s right,” Adion said, “Are you four Outskirters?”
“We are. Have been for many years now. Unfortunately, it’s not been enough for us to reach Silver yet, but give us a few years, and we’ll get there for sure.” Leff said, “How about you three?” he asked as he turned to Helmer and his friends.
“We are also planning on joining the Outskirts Guild. We have been training hard since we were kids, but all feel we need to temper our Wills to continue to advance.” Helmer said.
“That’s right. You can only get so far cooped up in the comfort of your home. A true mage must fight with his life on the line to get somewhere.” Leff nodded in agreement.
“It’s more important now than ever,” the elf named Feron chimed in, “I don’t know how things are where you’re from, but most of Shiora is in a tumultuous time now. You need strength to get through these next couple of years with your head still on your shoulders.”
“Mermi hasn’t changed much as it is pretty much on the edge of the Empire, but prices have still gone up, and the whole town has been tense for years now. Especially after what happened in Iitha reached us.” Geoff said with a serious look on his face.
“Yes, it’s a tragedy,” Feron said mournfully. The wagon started moving again as the caravan continued its way to Billford.
“What happened in Iitha?” Adion suddenly asked. He had heard something in passing before but hadn’t paid it any thought.
Everyone looked at him in silence for a while before Feron responded. “You haven’t heard?” he asked.
“My village is pretty isolated, and I focused all my time on training,” Adion explained.
“Well,” Feron paused for a second, “It all started with the return of the Fire Phoenix. Surely you’ve heard about that?”
Adion nodded in response.
“After that, the Fire Phoenix Church gained a lot of traction, and the Alago Empire embraced the faith more than ever. The Church also started sending out fire mages to preach in all cities and towns throughout Shiora. The Hellemi Church made a solid effort to curb this new movement, and they started preaching their own version of the Phoenix. This has led to many disputes, both large and small, and tensions are running high.
“The worst of which resulted in the burning of Iitha. Many cities and towns were set aflame, even the capital was affected, and countless people died.” Feron said with a sad voice.
“That’s terrible,” Adion said in a low voice, “But why would the Fire Phoenix Church do something like that? It seems counterproductive.”
“The Fire Phoenix Church themselves deny it. But it’s hard to see anyone else behind the attack. Elves are rarely born with a fire spark, and as we follow Gantanos, we don’t really have a problem with either the Hellemi or Fire Phoenix Church. Perhaps it was a show of power to make Iitha embrace the Phoenix and condemn Hellemi.” Feron responded.
“That seems dumb,” Adion said.
“Well, dumb or not, it worked,” Leff said, “It’s only been two years since the attack, and Fire Pheonix churches can be seen all over Iitha. Same here in the Empire. I don’t think it will be long before the entire continent, and perhaps even the world, all bow down to the Fire Phoenix Church.”
“Tch. I don’t think so,” Michael broke in, “The Hellemi church runs deep, and I’ve heard they are extremely powerful on Quemer. They might be in a weak position at the moment, but as things settle down and return to normal, the Hellemi Church will return stronger than ever. People won’t forget what kind of deeds the Fire Phoenix Church has done so easily.”
“Maybe,” Dorm said, “But what if the Fire Phoenix simply destroys the Empire? It has done worse, and no matter what you think about it, it might come down to bowing down to the beast or burning in its flames.”
Everyone turned silent at that.
“At the end of the day, the biggest fist speaks the loudest.” Feron said after a while, “If nothing can fight against the Phoenix and it actually has returned, it won’t matter what people think. Those who resist will perish.”
“But will the Phoenix care?” Adion asked, “Perhaps during the Age of Wonder when gods existed among the sapi, but now? I think it couldn’t care less about a bunch of weak sapi as long as nothing provokes it.”
“That might be the case,” Leff said, “And no one has actually seen the Phoenix return, so it’s all speculation in the end.”
“Phoenix or no Phoenix, fire has gotten stronger. It might not make a difference to us, but I’m sure this has a huge effect for those Noble families with powerful mages. Fire mages were already very powerful and now even more so.” Feron said with a sigh.
“Are any of you fire mages?” Leff looked around and asked.
Adion and Geoff raised their hands. Dorm nodded his head and spoke, “Me too. We are very lucky.”
Geoff had a goofy smile on his lips, causing Feron to frown.
“Lucky or not doesn’t change anything,” Adion said, “Those who work hard will beat the lucky ones every time. This might make fire mages arrogant and complacent, actually making them weaker than ever.”
Feron’s frown turned to a light smile as he turned to Adion, “That’s true. I can see you must have worked hard to reach peak Iron at such a young age. Maybe not even the youngsters of the family clans in Billford can measure up to you.”
“Well, except for the Graton clan,” Leff put in, “It’s common knowledge that the son of the patriarch just turned 15, and he managed to reach Bronze before his birthday. He’s the greatest genius the clan has ever had. And that’s a Noble family, mind you.”
Bronze mage before 15? That’s incredible. Not as good as me, but closer than I would have thought anyone my age was.
“Mm,” Feron nodded, “You might feel that you are close to Bronze, but it takes much more than just time to gather mana to break through to the Bronze stage. Many mages take years to temper their Will before managing to advance.”
“I know,” Adion said, “That’s why I’m going to the Outskirts, to keep my momentum going and break through as soon as possible.”
“Well, be careful out there,” Leff said, “The beasts around the outposts of Billford mostly have Bronze beasts, so it is extremely dangerous for an Iron mage there. If I were you, I would earn some money doing safe missions before hiring a team of Bronze mages to accompany you in the Outskirts.”
“Mm,” Adion nodded, even though he had no plans on doing that.
I might want to join a group of Silvers though, if they’ll have me.
The conversation carried on for a while before everyone turned silent and focused on meditation. The new group all had their cores filled to the brim at peak Bronze, but meditation could still help improve their mana control when there was nothing else to do.
After a few hours, the caravan stopped for lunch. Adion grabbed his portion of food and sat down alone to eat. As usual, he had his backpack with him as he would never leave it alone in the wagon.
After a while, he felt someone approaching him and turned his head to see Mr. Dhiji walking towards him.
“Mind if I join you?” Mr. Dhiji asked.
“Not at all,” Adion answered. Mr Dhiji sat down beside him and started eating.
“How you liking the journey?” Mr Dhiji asked after a while.
“It’s been excellent. Thank you for letting me travel with you.” Adion said.
“It’s nothing much. You are young but haven’t let your strength get to your head. That’s good. If you get tired of hunting beasts, you can ask for me at the Melorian Pavilion in Billford, and I’ll get you something to do that doesn’t make you put your life at risk.” Mr Dhiji said.
Adion looked at him and thought about it for a moment. “Mm. I’ll think about it after I reach Bronze. Thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. You would be the one helping me, as it is rare to find strong young mages willing to work hard.” Mr Dhiji said with a smile, “Well, it’s time to get moving. I have to get the men ready.”
Mr Dhiji then got up and left Adion to yell some instructions while Adion made his way back to his wagon.
When he got inside, he could hear the conversation of the people outside. The new group had eaten together with Helmer’s group and were chatting a bit away from the wagon.
“You don’t feel anything special?” Adion heard Helmer saying.
“Not in particular, no.” Leff answered, “Why?”
“Well,” Helmer hesitated, “He is only a peak Iron mage, but it felt like he could kill all three of us.”
“It’s true,” Geoff added, “I couldn’t move a single muscle when he looked at us. I’ve never been so scared in my life!”
“Even if his eyes are closed, I can sometimes feel like he is staring right at me. It’s creepy,” Helmer added.
Oh? Maybe it’s because I’ve been training my aura sense. They can feel it?
“Haha!” Leff and the rest of his group laughed, “If you are that scared of a kid in Iron, you will have a tough time in Billford.”
“Whatever,” Helmer muttered, “I trust my intuition. And I tell you, when that kid looks at you, it’s as if he can see right through you. I hope I never see him again after we arrive in Billford.”
“Now that you mention it,” Feron said, “I do recognize that feeling of not being able to hide anything when speaking to him.”
“Right!” Geoff yelled.
“Strange,” Feron muttered. “When I think about it, it is similar to how speaking in front of powerful mages feels. What’s going on?”
“Well,” Leff said lightly, “Let’s just ask him about it later.”
Not good.
Adion hadn’t thought anyone would be able to notice when he used his aura sense, which they hadn’t. But they could tell instinctively that something was off.
I need to be more careful in the future. Is there a way to not give anything away when sensing people’s aura? There should be. I doubt Fellion would be noticed in the same way.
After a while, the two groups entered the wagon again, and the caravan started moving shortly after.
The two groups continued their conversation, with Adion silently sitting there with his eyes closed, listening.
“So, Adion,” Leff said after a while, turning to look at Adion, “What’s the deal with you?”
“What do you mean?” Adion asked, even if he knew what Leff meant.
“There is something strange about you,” Feron said, “It feels like you can see more about me than normal people when we are talking.”
“Oh? You mean when I am sensing your aura?” Adion acted like it was no big deal.
“You are sensing my aura?” Feron asked.
“Well, yeah. Aren’t you sensing mine?” Adion asked.
“Well, I guess. But I am not actively doing it.” Feron said.
“I’m not actively doing it either, but in a conversation, I guess I feel for lies and deceit. Isn’t that normal?” Adion asked.
Everyone in the wagon looked at each other for a while before Leff asked, “Adion. When you say you ‘feel for lies and deceit,’ you are doing so consciously?”
“Doesn’t everyone do that?” Adion asked. He knew that he was a lot better than most sapi in using aura, but it was true that he didn’t know precisely what other people thought about aura and how well they could control it.
“No,” Feron said, “Not at all. I only get a feeling automatically when talking to someone, and it isn’t a very accurate one. At most, I can feel the strength and age of a person. I thought only beasts and the strongest mages could use their aura consciously.”
“Oh,” Adion said, “Well, obviously, I trained to be able to do it. When I was younger, I heard about aura and what stronger people could do, so naturally, I wanted to do it, too. After that, I started practicing with it every day, and still do.”
“Ha!” Leff laughed, “When you put it like that, it sounds so obvious and easy. But it isn’t something most people can do. Only the family clans have built methods to sharpen their aura sense, and from what I know, it still takes a long time to get anywhere with it. I’ve never heard of a 15-year-old like you being able to do so.”
Adion thought that it sounded logical. Without someone like Fellion to teach him, he would be useless when it comes to aura. But he still felt like the sapi mages were being lazy to not at least try practicing their aura sense. It might not be as fast progress as Adion, but these guys were at least over 40. They shouldn’t be so useless.
“Does it matter what you’ve heard and what the family clans do? If that’s your attitude, then I doubt you will get far in life.” Adion said while looking at the group with a disappointed look.
All the men in the wagon were stumped at Adion’s somewhat scolding reply.
Feron smiled after a while and said, “I guess you are right. We really know nothing of what is and isn’t possible. I guess we have been stuck in our view of the world, which might be very wrong. Would you mind teaching us how to get started practicing aura? I would like to be able to use it consciously, too.”
Adion thought about it for a while.
I should be careful not to attract too much attention. It was already risky to freeze Helmer’s group using my space mana. Now, they also know my ability to use aura, and that can be dangerous if it gets out. They don’t know how good I am yet, but if I teach them, they might realize that I know more than I should.
Forget it. I want to teach them, so that’s what I will do. It will also help train my aura sense, which might be a rare opportunity. While it’s good to be careful, I don’t want to live life scared and hiding like a rat.
“Okay, I don’t know how much it will help, but I will try.” Adion finally said.
“Thank you, Adion,” Feron said, and everyone else also thanked him while looking at him attentively.
“You can’t sense your own aura right now,” Adion began his impromptu lesson, “And before you can sense your own aura, you have to know what you’re looking for. Focus on what you can feel in other auras, like strength and age, and try to find the same in your own. There are things that you do instinctively with your aura that you can sense, like lying. Even non-mages instinctively hide their intentions in their aura when…”
Adion continued his lesson, sharing much of the things he had learned from Fellion. He couldn’t train them like Fellion could, but it was valuable knowledge, and Adion would get the chance to feel how it felt when people actively tried to manipulate their aura. He was sure that his aura sense would benefit in the coming weeks.
Comments
WiseBison
(I’m answering all comments you made up to chapter 31 as they point to much of the same problem) So I’m thinking like this: First of all, Fellion didn’t really tell Adion some secret information. It was Fellion’s incredible skill in aura that helped Adion most of all during training. But aura is not some big secret over all, it is simply not valued by most mages (will get some more context on that later) so the information he is sharing is something many mages from family clans also learn. Secondly, I agree that objectively, he chose the less logical choice when deciding to teach them. It’s not a huge deal to be able to use aura (like being a Gifted is) but it is definitely impressive among regular mages, but unlikely something that will create an interesting rumor. But it is a risk of course, and one he doesn’t gain much from since he could train his aura in other ways, or simply focus on his mana during the journey. So this is a less logical choice, and the reason for making that choice is that Adion has a character flaw that I start to show here for the first time. Adion likes to show off (which I think makes sense, he’s only 15 and has been sparkless for the better part of his life. Finally he is strong and has unique powers he has worked really hard for. It makes sense, to me at least, that when weighing options, the option where he gets to show off weighs a little heavier than it should from an objective standpoint.) Adion is really amazing when it comes to training, and having discipline in that, also very smart thinking about possibilities outside the box about how he can use his magic. This worked very well for him when he was alone in the Endless Forest. But now Adion is going to be around people from now on, and I didn’t want to write him like a calculative robot that always makes the best choice even though he has never been around people other than his family before. I have great plans for Adion and his story, and I think it would be boring to see him absolutely perfect from the beginning. He doesn’t go back in the abilities shown so far (his diligence and creativity and desire for strength), but it is shown that he is still young and has things to work on. I tried to show this in an entertaining way instead of a way that made the reader annoyed. Wanted the coming chapters to focus a lot on his relationships with other people, I know that it is a common complaint when MC makes choices that aren’t completely logical though. Hopefully, it’s not too bad, he will improve, and he will keep the core of his personality traits. (Maybe I should add a footnote when releasing chapter 24 to explain the choice I made) Let me know if anything is unclear or if you have more questions!
EsZeus
Mhmm... Sharing secrets or what he learned from a wise old Owl, which he had to trade away something very precious, is not a good move. First time until now I find this behavior not in line how he should react or behave ^^ Normally, he was more secret. I mean, he even says to himself all the time to keep low profile. Now he suddenly shares these secrets? Without any benefits and marking himself as a much higher target, too. That's not low profile ^^
