Adam's view of his senior changed after the first day at the Fire Mountains camp.

Until now, Algier seemed to be an open, enthusiastic man who didn't like mindless killing - as he said next to the campfire.

But now, after seeing him staring madly at the obliterated wolves, Adam understood - Algier didn't mind killing, he just didn't see a reason to go out of his way to do that.

It made Adam uncomfortable around him for a while, but the wind mage's attitude and actions didn't differ from what he did before - so Adam relaxed a little, at least until the next time the Airbender had a reason to unleash his horrific power.

Worrying about the man was completely useless, if he went mad, Adam wouldn't stand a chance at staying alive regardless of his efforts.

Anyway, after the chaotic morning incident, Adam followed the friendly settler to the guy he mentioned near the horses - Barney.

Barney turned out to be a wholesome guy, fascinated by animals, and no less knowledgeable about them. His passion spread to others around him, and soon, Adam was eagerly learning how to take care of Los.

In the mornings and sometime later, instead of experimenting with Algier - like he planned at first, Adam learned with Barney, sometimes also with other people, who came in their time off.

Working with animals turned out to be exhausting, but easier every time. It also depended on whatever the animal itself didn't resist - but Los seemed to either be a calm boy, or he had been trained very well since birth.

Barney showed Adam how to brush Los's hair, pick his hoves and other things that seemed to be obvious after learning them. But he also shared that Adam should buy or find mana-rich grain - either naturally or mixed with some other mana-rich food - so that Los may advance in the realm.

That surprised Adam greatly, he thought that normal animals don't have the capacity to ascend - but he was wrong.

It turned out that with the help of humans, they had a chance at ascending. But whether that chance was big or not, depended on the individual. Saying that creatures categorised as 'regular animals' didn't reach higher realms in the wild often, should give enough clues to anyone, that mana-talent was what they lacked.

Barney even talked about rituals, conducted for animals - conducted to help them advance aside from their ancestral way - but unfortunately, he knew none of these and told the young mage to ask stablemasters when he got back in Derdania. Or find them somewhere else.

That made Adam think - could he help Parcas in ascension too?

He hadn't heard of cats that entered the second realm, but he didn't hear about horses either - and that knowledge was confirmed by an animal enthusiast and also a few of the guards.

Thus, Adam decided to search for a vet in the nearest city - and ask for rituals for his horse and cat. Until then, he would feed them some crushed mana cores- the easiest source of condensed mana to find.

Also, the guards showed him their horses- which were much older than Los and had already gone through ascension rituals a few times. They weren't exactly bigger, but they felt much stronger. Thir skin was tougher, and even some energy was leaking from their bodies.

While it was probably aura, Adam couldn't be sure - he had never felt beast's mana.

After staying with the settlers in the morning, Adam looked around the camp - thinking. With few days left of their stay in the valley, Adam started to visit Algier in the evenings. He was still quite scared of his senior, but it didn't mean he had to show it.

They experimented a bit with magic and runes, trying to figure out in what way Adam's core influenced the magic language - and if it was beneficial to use runes with normal, elemental cores.

Turns out that...

...it was not. Apart from the fact that a mage could set the rune to activate after some time - using them was no different than normal spellcasting, but with more steps. Every advantage and disadvantage elemental-cored mages had with spellcasting transferred to their runes, regardless if they created them, or they were Worldspoke.

Having an arcane core proved to be the major factor in making runes a viable replacement for classical spells - it made the mage powerful and versatile in exchange for longer, more complicated preparation and harder learning.

Adam wasn't sure if to be happy or sad about the result.

Teaching the rest of Derdanian mages in such a way would boost the overall power and consequently security of the nation. And he could also get good money from teaching them.

On the other hand - Adam didn't really want Algier to have a way to learn spells in different elements, as that would only make him more scary in the young mage's eyes. Wind was relatively harmless in itself, without any effort from the mage - unlike most of the elements, who were generally really easy to cause destruction with.

Overall, the days in the Fire Mountains camp passed quite peacefully for Adam, aside from a scary incident, which resulted in one injured and several mangled beastes - nothing significant happened.

Of course, subordinates of Sir Fenfallal would beg to differ- their week was packed with adrenaline and tension. They managed to find several beasts in the realm corresponding to humans' masters - Beast lords.

While they proved to be a challenge for the squad of warriors, the experienced fighters walked out of the confrontation with only minor injuries.

Adam asked them how the fights went several times, but the knights refused to do so. They reasoned that as soon as one starts boasting about their achievement, they grow too confident in themselves - resulting in their early death.

--------------------

A week has passed.

Adam more than doubled his knowledge about horses, making him barely know anything.

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Algier went around and did stuff.

Fenfallal and his aides exterminated all dangerous creatures in the forest. Or they missed some, but let's be optimistic.

Icy wind picked up the scarce snow in the valley, and the sun's rays were falling at distant peaks - hidden from settler's eyes, when the envoy group prepared to depart from its temporary stay.

This time, their mounts were fully loaded with equipment and food - unlike before, no wagons would follow behind them with their heavy stuff.

Adam's horse, Los, was partially spared the struggle though. he was the weakest of the animals, and putting his load on other - stronger horses would be better for the group's pace and safety. What amounted to one as too much, was barely felt by the other.

Anyway, after saying their goodbyes to settlers they met over the week, they departed southward.

The group crossed the valley, its forest and numerous small lakes and followed the streams slightly down.

The waterways eventually converged into a small river, going down the mountains.

The mountain path here was wild, overgrown and barely noticeable - rarely did merchants travel south and while the northern part that went high in the mountains was recently made usable for the settlers to travel, its southernmost part was left alone.

Going forward wasn't hard though. Algier, Fenfallal and Stellmo eradicated all obstacles in turns, with wind, lightning and fire respectively.

The valley narrowed, as they went down with the river. The angle was so steep in some places, that the group had to take detours to go around small waterfalls. They always returned to the small mountain river, as it was a sure way not to lose themselves in the mountains.

Two days passed like that, monotony was near to killing Adam.

The surroundings barely changed. Occasional small forests and few ponds in relatively flat platforms were the most unusual things the travellers saw.

The space between the mountains was constantly narrowing though, and now they travelled a stretched dean strictly formed by the river, however small it was. The space was barely enough to set up a small camp on both sides of the stream. One on both sides, not one on each.

Adam urged Los forward, to reach Sir Fenfallal's side.

"Mister? Can I ask you something?" Adam did what he does best, asked.

"Go on, I am listening." The man responded without taking his eyes off the road. They travelled through a patch of forest, and there was no way to tell when something my jump on them.

"So, we are heading to the empire right?" Adam started.

"Yes."

"Okay, what is it called? Max supposedly knew, but he didn't want to share this knowledge with me..."

Royal Swordmaster took his eyes off the road for a moment to stare at Adam with disappointment. Which considering his golden eyes, was devastating to see.

"Pruinos Empire" A Short answer followed. Then, Fenfallal looked at the young mage with an 'anything else?' look, before turning forward again.

"I heard there is an animosity between... Prinos Empire and Derdania, Kingdom of Derdania." Adam inquired next.

"Kingdom of New Derdania." The swordsman corrected him, before going in a lengthy monologue for the first time since Adam had met him. "To tell this tale, you should know how Derdania formed, which I think you don't know. So I will start from that."

Algier rushed his horse a bit, to match Adam and Fenfallal when he heard bits of the conversation.

"A few hundred years ago, Derdanian plains were occupied by a multitude of warring tribes, their fort-like cities and small villages were often devastated by plague, beasts and famine. But most often from all, by war.

The tribes are speculated to have come from beyond the southern mountains, hundreds, or maybe even thousands of years ago.

The warring tribes were forced into primitivity by their brutality, and constant conflict. Any innovation was branded evil, a plot by their enemies, or just laughed at. Rule of the fist was supreme, and as such - the most powerful warriors were the leaders.

That was the silver lining of the situation. After all, mana-talented people are generally wiser." The backhanded compliment may have been not one actually, considering the sight-criticism young mage received just a few moments before.

"Eventually, Warlords got fed up with the constant fight for survival and came to an agreement to form a nation together, abandoning their past grievances. There was one problem though - whom to raise as a king?

The answer was not simple, as their normal methods wouldn't work well if they wanted their country to function properly - they weren't stupid. If they chose the leader considering his strength, it would be only a matter of time before someone more powerful appeared - rightfully challenging the King and throwing the nation into chaos. For an absolute ruler to have power, the continuation of his lineage is needed, if not, the nation will worry about the next king, and plot behind the current one's back about his successor." Fenfallal was throwing his knowledge and wisdom as if boasting, yet in a respectful way.

"After long talks over the years, the leaders came to a decision. They heard from travelling merchants about mages - powerful beings controlling the weather, who could smite their enemies with lightning or suffocate them with only a word of theirs.

They also heard that magic can be learned, and have seen examples of such talents before in their tribes - killed in fear.

Thus, the congregation decided to gain a way to become mages - and choose their future king out of their descendants. Whoever fastest becomes comparable to warlords in power, as a mage - would become the King." Fenfallal took a break from speaking, to get a bit of water from his waterskin.

"The problem was in obtaining such techniques. The warlords tried all sorts of things, from threats, through bribery to honest purchases. But all failed, the mages of Pruinos Empire, located just outside the Fire Mountains, were unwilling to trade their techniques.

That left them only one option, one they from the start for its danger - taking them by force.

By chance, at the time there was a very powerful mage in Pruinos, she was famed for being able to reach a realm beyond master. The witch had her residence - a huge tower - located at the edge of the Fire Mountains, where she found solidarity and calmness while researching the arcane.

The sorceress was unfortunate, despite her power and fame, she was no match against a horde of warforged warriors - hellbent on killing her and stealing her books.

It didn't mean she gave up without a fight though, most of the masters who went on the expedition never returned. But they achieved their goal, and eventually, a boy from the Derdania tribe became the king. His progeny rules to this day."

"Wow - I have never thought about the early days of Derdania. I guess I took its existence for granted." Adam commented, interrupting Fenfallal's lecture.

The Swordmaster looked at him with annoyance.

"I really should force the King into establishing an academy of sorts. It's pathetic that mages don't know the history. Mages, the supposedly wise people." He commented, before looking at the road again.

"Anyway, The Witch the warlords killed in search of techniques is the reason for the animosity between our nations.

Pruinians think that if she lived, their homeland would win the war when it started, and her descendants would strengthen the empire with their powerful magic.

Which is complete bullshit. One mage couldn't turn the tides of war unless they really ascended beyond the fifth realm. But she was beaten by barbaric tribes - I highly doubt she had a chance." Fenfallal ended his speech. After that, Adam noted in his head that the swordmaster was an avid historian.

"What war?" Adam broke the comfortable silence, with another question of his.

Even Algier looked at him with dissatisfaction, as if he wanted to explain it to his junior himself. Yet, he held himself back, giving the room to the avid historian.

"Pruinos empire has been at war for several centuries. It started a few years after the warlords killed the witch. For us, the war is a blessing - as the Empire would obliterate our country if they weren't occupied." Fenfallal turned his gaze towards the road, after seeing that Adam didn't have questions anymore.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

"So, we are heading to the nation with which Pruinos Empire is at war, right?" Adam guessed after thinking a bit.

"Righ...t" Fenfallas words were broken by a sudden sound coming from the right, some distance ahead.

All the members of the group turned their heads up, towards where the sound came from.

There, a gigantic spider was falling down the mountain.

Its massive carcass made screeching sounds as it hit the rocky slope. The arachnid's descent left a fiery trail down a snow-covered mountain.