Chapter 21

‘’Onto the road once more’’

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…...*thud*………

The wheel of the cart hits a single rock on the road, drawing my consciousness back to reality. ‘Ha……’ My deep sigh quickly lost into the sky is enough to draw the attention of my companion guide.

‘Ready to talk about your feelings now? The longer you wait, the bigger the payment will be. My sessions aren’t cheap.’ I cannot prevent a small laugh escape my mood, which seems to put him in a little bit of a better mood. ‘Seems like it’s working…’ He slows the cart down and sits down next to me as we halt the cart onto the side of the road, giving the horses an unexpected but pleasant break to graze the grasses around them. ‘Look…you did well. I’m a veteran. I’ve used magic for longer than you’ve lived. Of course, it’s going to be difficult for you to master, but it takes time. Nothing is mastered overnight, nor in a week. It takes years of-‘

‘-dedication, will and persistence. I know, I know, but I am just getting impatient. I am relying on my sword alone and a single attack that have been spamming at my enemies. It worked so far, but I feel like I’m reaching the end of my luck well. I need-‘

‘-something else to rely on. I know that as well, but like I said, that doesn’t come overnight. I can see you’re really talented at it, because you pick things up very easily. It is so simple to teach you, but you tend to overthink your practical actions, resulting into failed attempts, flickering the biggest flaw you have as a person.’ He takes a breath for a moment, and I can’t help but gulp in negative anticipation. ‘You really hang onto failures. Some have had graver consequences than others, but the moment you fail at something, you stop trying it all together. You give up to easily, and you’re wasting your talents because of it.

‘……I’m sorry…’

‘Ah…no, I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I had to tell this to you straight.’ He puts his hand on my shoulder, like a caring father consoling his son. ‘I am proud of you. You’re doing well, so not only for your own sake, but for mine as well. Let’s keep going.’ I only nod a few times as he suddenly grabs the Arc and gets out of the cart. ‘Come, I want to try something with you.’

‘Ah…wait!’ I hurry of the cart, my miserable mood momentarily forgotten by the sudden change of momentum.

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Having given the horses some water to drink (Evander does that by just deploying a single long bucket in front of them and drain some of the grasses and other elements from their water. It does kill them instantaneously, but our horses are more important) we head a few yards into the green lush fields around us. It really is a picture of beauty, canvassed by the gods of this realm like a masterpiece painting. ‘Evander…that is it you wanted?’

‘Practice.’ He throws the Arc to me. ‘Repetition brings retention. Wield your weapon. I want to see you focus gather the energy around you…’ I nod quietly, unwrap the cloth around my weapon and hold it in front of me. ‘Calm your mind, Brandr. Focus on your surroundings.’

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, shutting the world out. Only the deafening silence remains, as I can feel the presence of magic floating around me. It feels like a thin layer of silk, floating in the air. I can feel it wrap around me, like a sheet of silken cloth. A dangerous sheet of cloth. A few drops to many in my body could kill me. Yet I can breathe it in freely without feeling any danger or collapse in my body. Yes…it is strange indeed. I focus on my hands, which holds my weapons. It acts the same way my body. The Arc is a host to a greater power, as am I to a greater power. We are just a speck in this world…

‘Brandr! Focus everything in your sword and strike!’

Evander’s voice echoes through my concentration. I do as I am told, as the energy starts gathering into my sword. The density of my sword increases rapidly. Twofold…tenfold…until I feel like I reached maximum capacity. My sword is brimming with high-density energy. I feel my body take a natural stance to withstand the shockwave of realising such vast powers. I open my eyes and strike forward. ‘Hah!’ I raise my sword and swing down ferociously. A giant swing of magic blasts forwards into the distance, leaving a slice in the ground of which path it followed. Nature roars for an instant, before returning to its calm state. The state all living creatures look for. A state of rest…of low energy. That’s what it always feels like when I concentrate heavily on assembling my magic. It feels like I’m touching something of a higher sense of being. A power only tasted in a small amount, something that only has its surface scratched. ‘I did it, Evander…although I have no idea what the point of that was…’ We have done this multiple time, in order to get my body used to the state of attacking with magic.

‘We’ll get there…let’s see…your limit was three times, right?’ I nod. My body starts to show signs of damage after I use it for a third time. I tried to cross that line before, but my body started to break down completely. If Evander wasn’t there to stop me… ‘Alright, give me one more.’ I sigh and start to focus once again. That same feeling returns instantly. The touch of a power I never will understand. So many components…so many unsolved mysteries. So many- ‘Above!’ *SMACK* My thoughts interrupts and bounce inside my head, followed by an excruciating pain.

‘GAH! What was that for?!’ I drop my sword and hold my head in agony, as I open my eyes and look with a murderous intent at Evander, who doesn’t look like he’s feeling any remorse for his extreme rude action.

‘Stop whining and grab your weapon, Brandr.’ I grunt at him as I grab the Arc. ‘The first time you attacked using magic was a complete fluke. The second time you weren’t the focus of the enemy. The third time, you were lucky because Abyss was cocky. Do you see the pattern? In a real battle, you shouldn’t expect the enemy to wait until you have enough focus to attack. Do you remember when you rushed you strike?’ I recall a memory back from quite a while ago. We were also training like this, but I tried to use my Illuminating Strike way to fast. The base of the attack crumbled like mud and lots its momentum way to fast. In other words, it was completely useless in battle. ‘You need flexibility, both in technique and variety.’

‘Hmm…’ I hate to admit it, but he’s absolutely right. ‘So…what are we going to do about it?’

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‘We? What are you going to do about it? I can only advice you and help you train, but I won’t hold your hand until the end of the journey. You need to mature and grow yourself. Try to figure it out.’ His voice is stern and disciplined. He was such a goofy character at first. He is even now. We joke around a lot. We constantly make fun of each other, and he can be such a man-child sometimes. But when it comes to serious matters like this, he turns ruthless and disciplined. I guess he is just rightly balanced as a person. Strict and fun.

‘…I understand…’ He puts a hand on my shoulder as I lower my head.

‘Don’t put yourself down like that. Just know that even if the world is against you, I still believe in you, Brandr.’

I don’t know if he is just saying it to make me feel better… ‘Mhm!’ …but I don’t mind hearing that from time to time…

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‘Seasons? What are those?’ Evander asks in a rather surprised tone, something I am not used to since it’s usually the other way around. When I talk about Edelweiss, it would put him into thought from time to time, but he never looks completely surprised like this.

‘Ahh…’ I randomly asked Evander what season we are in at the moment, since it is always such amazing weather. He loses his focus on the road as we ride the paved way towards our next destination. ‘In my world, we have four seasons named summer, autumn, winter and spring. Every season has its climate and temperature. Like in summer, it’s very warm, and in winter its start snowing. Uhm...do you know what snow is?' He turns away from me again and starts riding.’

'Of course, I know what snow is! I'm not stupid.' Why would he react like that? This world doesn't have winter, so I wouldn't...wait, how can he know snow without winter?

'Say, Evander. When does is snow here?' He strokes his beard, thinking.

'Randomly, I guess.' He just said randomly... 'What about spring and autumn?' Evander doesn't turn my way, but he's still interested.

'When it's spring, all the plants will grow again what died in winter, and the animals will come out of their hibernation. Then after spring comes summer, which is basically the hot season with lots of sun, and after summer, autumn comes, and everything dies out again, and the animals prepare themselves for winter and hibernation.'

He strokes his beard again. I have noticed it is kind of a habit of him the moment he starts thinking about something. ‘What’s hibernation exactly?’ Ah…I guess he doesn’t know since this world doesn’t have any seasons.

I stroke my non-existent beard…in other words, my chin, trying to imitate his recently discovered unusual habit. ‘Since the plants die in the autumn and winter, small animals tend to harvest as much as food as possible and eat a lot. That is to make sure they don’t starve in their sleep, as they rest until the entire winter passes and plants start to grow again, so that they can harvest again, and the cycle repeats.’

He strokes his beard again. ‘I guess it does make sense that they would go to sleep for such a long period, but I wonder how they are doing it on a biological level…that would mean that they would have to lower their own body temperature and heartrate, in order to slow down the metabolism.’

I stroke my chi- ‘Ow! What was that for?!’ He hit me with his staff.

‘Don’t get cocky, runt.’

‘What was that?!’

‘You heard me, runt!’

‘Old man!’

…we bicker like this for a while, until we both run out of energy…

‘Anyway…what do you mean? Biological level? I don’t understand.’

‘Oh yeah. I forgot that Medelkeiss isn’t anywhere near Illuminia when it comes to advancements and evolution.’

‘What was that?!’

‘You heard me, runt!’

‘Old man!’

…we bicker like this for a while, until we both run out of energy again…We’re like little children sometimes…

‘Anyway…what did you mean? you still didn’t answer my question, Evander.’

‘Oh yeah. I forgot tha-‘

‘Okay, you stop right there.’

‘Tch…’

‘Don’t act like a kid!’

‘Says the boy who can’t grow a beard.’ …that hurt more that I thought it would… ‘Biological level. Imagine lowering your own heartrate and body temperature. Do you think you could do that?’

I think hardly, while resisting the urge to rub my chin and mock him. I don’t want to be hit with a stick anymore. ‘Well…animals are different from humans. So, they must be built differently, inside and out.’ Evander nods his head. I guess he is pleased with my answer.

‘A discretion is required!’ Evander’s words send a chill down my spine, as the image of him opening a poor, little squirrel gets engraved into my mind.

‘Evander…you sound like a crazy person…’

‘You’re just a bit spineless. Sacrifices must be made in order to advance the Illuminian race!’

‘That’s exactly what a madman would say, Evander!!’ I cry out to him.

We switch from topic to topic like this all the time. We can’t walk on a straight line, and always find some way to deprive from the original topic some way or another…

‘Anyway…our next stop was Asonia or something? After everything that went down in Perinia, I don’t feel like there is a single place I can have a normal rest,’ I say as the temperature slowly starts dropping and goosebumps slowly form on my arms, which has been exposed by the fact that I rolled up my sleeves.

‘That’s mainly your own fault though.’

‘…wait, what do you mean with that!’ I stand up in the cart, but quickly crouch down as the paved road and the carriage are anything but stable.

‘Rakenia: You meddled with affairs you didn’t need to stick you neck into. Caravan: Same as before. Perinia: Same as before.’

‘Ughh…’ I hate how he’s right…

‘Anyway, our next destination is New Asonia, the capital of North Asonia and the biggest city of this province,’ he tells me without even looking behind him. ‘You can even see the walls from over here,’ he points towards the city in the distance. Only a little bit more until we arrive at the city with a giant tower sticking far out of the city walls, covered in what looks like a ghastly mist. I presume these are there for an aesthetic reasoning.

‘Mhm…’ I don’t particularly care about these things at the moment. It’s just something that suddenly popped in my mind. We stay silent for a while, while a thin fog starts covering the area. ‘Hm…is this amount of fog in the area normal?’ I ask surprised. Evander just rubs his beard, which is a clear indication that something is fishy. ‘Do you think its magic?’ I have learned whenever something weird of outlandish happens, I should blame it on magic. I still don’t know the properties of magic after all, so anything that is off probably is caused by it.

‘Probably… It doesn’t feel like natural mist after all.’

‘I knew it!’ And once again, I am right. I puff my chest, slightly tipsy with meaningless pride. ‘By the way?’ I ask Evander seriously. ‘How in the world can you sense the difference between ‘’natural’’ and ‘’not natural’’? You couldn’t sound more suspicious…’

We bicker for a while about meaningless things until the fog suddenly starts setting harder than I ever thought it could. We quickly lose the ability to see things right in front of you, forcing our carriage to a halt, in front of the city gates. ‘E-Evander…’ I barely see him in the mist, shrouding the city into a visionary illusion.

‘Just stay in the carriage. I’ll go check what is wrong,’ he says as he jumps out of the carriage. I quickly move towards the edge to listen into a conversation between Evander and an unknown person. ‘-so, you’re not going to inform us why the gates have been closed?’

‘It’s like I said, sir. The city has been closed to outsiders because of official business. Please head back or take a different route towards your destination.’ My eyesight starts to get a bit more used to the fog, as a giant wooden gate reveals itself in front of me, guarded by four silhouettes, double the amount when you usually guard a gate.

‘You do know you’re talking to Evander the Wise, right? I’ll have a written report to the Queen about this behaviour.,’ Evander says a little bit more agitated.

‘The city has been closed to outsiders because of official business.’

‘You broken record…’

‘The city-‘

‘I will beat you with my staff!’ Evander gets too agitated for his own good, so I pull him away from the guards.

‘We won’t forget this…’ We slowly make our way to the carriage, but instead of driving away, Evander gets into the cart and throws me my sword. ‘Oh my, what do we have here? What would the great Evander be plotting in his head?’

‘The same thing a little rascal like you would be planning?’

‘You know…just because I like where this is going…I’ll let that slide.’ Evander cloaks the carriage and we quietly sneak around the walls, looking for a blind spot to climb on.