Chapter 5
A cool breeze brushed through the Market District, giving a little respite to the heat of the warm day. It was a promise of the changing season to come.
Silas had read several manuscripts on the weather in this region of the Continent in preparation for his trek north. He had found that they had very harsh winters that could be deadly without proper lodging and foreplaning. He had no intention of experiencing one himself. He hated the cold.
Initially, he wanted to explore settlement. To delve into the local records and libraries to find information on the items and symbols he had in his possession while he still had the time. He wanted to understand better himself and the direction his life was heading in the only way he knew: research. However, considering the events of this morning, Silas and Xavi had come to a mutual agreement that they should leave. And by mutual agreement it meant Xavi screamed and shouted like a child until he agreed with him.
He was in the middle of a large open-air market covered in a sea of green tarps, which covered the individual stalls, indicating the section of his settlement. Earlier today, he learned from a merchant that green was for the Market district, blue for the Mage district, white and orange for the church, brown for the Living district, red for the Baron’s land, yellow for the Council, and purple and white for the Holmberg Watch. He was here, inside of the Market District, to gather the necessary supplies for the journey south. They had no destination, just the open road where he could train with some modicum of privacy.
“I believe that should complete the list, other than a mount. I still do not understand why we must travel when I could transfer us anywhere instantly,” Silas whispered.
“Stupid human,” Xavi said in his mind. He had shown Silas they could speak telepathically with their connection, which was both fantastic and incredibly unnerving. Xavi’s voice was even worse inside his head. “How do you expect to grow if you do not take the time to learn? True power is built through trials of the body and mind, not by whipping out your magic and expecting it not to immediately explode all over the first few times you touch upon your power. Or to work at all, for that matter.”
“I think you just explained my teen years.” He said with a laugh.
The merchant standing across from him screwed up his face in confusion, “What was that?”
“Oh, I said, ‘I believe this is all I need.’ Thank you for your time.” Silas turned and left the market, not bothering to look back at the confused merchant.
Xavi sighed in his mind. “My master is an idiot. Just buy your beast, you lazy human, and get us out of this shit stain of a town. We have work to do and little time to do it. And stop speaking aloud. The other humans are starting to stare.”
Silas laughed and continued to the Living District, where he could exit the settlement to the south and make his final purchase.
After half an hour, he turned down the street and saw that the road was blocked. The guards were turning away a large crowd that had gathered.
“You cannot keep us from our homes! The council dictates it is illegal to bar anyone from any district!” a man shouted.
The crowd resounded with agreement.
A large guard, a captain if he had to guess, wearing a pristine set of red-plated chainmail, stepped forward to speak. “You will all be able to pass after we have completed our new training regime, but until then, no one enters.” He said firmly, “Come back in three hours. Anyone remaining in 15 minutes will be arrested by order of the Baron.”
“The Baron has no sway here! Fuck off and let us pass before we call the real guards!” another man shouted.
With that statement, the crowd roared.
The large captain walked over to the man and, without warning, smashed him in the face with an upward slash of his mace, sending a spray of blood across the gathering.
People screamed.
“Three hours!” He shouted and pointed to another guard, “You! Get him to a healer, and do not let him die. Then throw him in the cells for a week for interfering.”
The crowd ran.
The large captain spotted Silas staring at the bloody man and lifted his dripping mace in his direction, “You want to be the next example?”
“Just leaving, good sir.” He said, trying to keep a neutral face while hiding the rage bubbling in his gut.
“That’s what I thought.” And turned back the remaining guards. “Back to work, you lazy sods.”
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After walking a block back towards the Market district, he stopped at a small food stall where a small middle-aged woman was packing up to move with the crowd.
“Excuse me, madam, is there another way to exit south? I would like to be out of Holmberg to set camp before nightfall. Any ideas?”
The woman paused from her work, regarded him thoughtfully, and began wiping the dirt from her hands. “If it were me, with the southern gate closed and the Living district blocked, I’d take the northwestern gate just past the Mage district. Then, follow the merchant road around the walls to the southern trails. It will take longer than waiting for the guards to finish, but you cannot trust the new Baron-guards to keep their word. Not anymore, anyway. Just be warned, the merchant road is infested with the Kniphorn migration from the northern mountains. They are especially aggressive toward anything living on their path. The Holmberg Watch has a standing bounty on the beasts if you require the coin.”
“Thank you for the information, and I wish you the best,” Silas said with a smile and dropped a few silvers in her hand.
The woman took them with glee. “No, thank you, good sir. Blessings and safe travels.”
Luckily, Holmberg was easy to navigate, and getting to the Mage District from here would only take twenty minutes. As soon as he set out, Xavi spoke through their connection.
“This can be a wonderful opportunity, Master Dreamwhisper. Slaughtering these Kniphorns will be the perfect start to our training. While they might only pose a minor challenge to you individually, I have a few spells you can access that will expedite their demise in larger gatherings. It will be glorious and bloody.” He cackled.
“Have you heard of these Kniphorn? This is the first I have been told of them. What are they exactly?”
“Stupid human. You say you know things, yet you know nothing. They are like deer in other regions but have evolved due to an abundance of ambient mana in this region. Rather than antlers, they have one large horn made of obsidian with a single prong. With the prong, they can cast simple nature-based spells native to their species, but the real purpose is much more fun. When the horn is used to impale, it shatters a portion off and leaves little razors in the wound that shreds and then, after a time, explodes from the inside out. Quite beautiful, actually. They are sacrificed quite often to my kind because of their brutality. They will be perfect to begin your training.”
“Sounds fun,” Silas said dryly, but deep down, he was excited to learn more spells.
A little while later, they crossed into the Mage District.
The only difference between the Market District and the Mage District was that this one catered to the magically inclined. Since it was nearly impossible to know magic and physical skills together for reasons even the greatest scholars still could not determine, they had to be separated. Not to mention, it had been outlawed out of fear by the Crown, and for those who somehow managed it like the infamous Battle Mages, it was easier and safer to separate. Those who could accomplish and mix both magic spells and physical skills were true monsters on the battlefield because they were nearly unstoppable. A gathering of an army of Battle Mages would change the course of history like in the last Great War hence why they were outlawed.
Spell libraries, alchemists, and glyph writers were common in this district, all covered in bright blue flags on every building.
Less common was a series of buildings he passed in the middle portion of the district known as Iron Alley. This was where the enchanters would collaborate with the smiths to create their wares. Blacksmiths created tools and valuable items. Tailors and leatherworkers, their clothing and armor. Blade smiths their weapons, and armor smiths their mail and plate. Anyone could use these items, but the amount of mana they took was mostly too steep for the average physical fighter to utilize.
As Silas made his way through the district, he took time to admire the craftsmanship without making any purchases.
Finally, he reached the northwestern gate.
The gate was a large stone archway with several story tall stone guard towers flanking the sides. The gate itself was capable of letting four large carts pass side by side without interference.
And the gate was busy.
Merchants from all over the continent were coming and going with cartloads of goods for trade. Off to the side, there was a short line of people waiting to talk with the purple and white-clad guards for entry or exit by foot. Reluctantly, he entered the line to speak with the guards.
“Those damn red cloaks you have running around the pass took everything!” The man at the front of the line shouted. “My entire life was in that wagon, and they just muscled me out and took off. Said they were ‘relieving me of my burdens’ and to speak with the purple guard for payment. I demand my merchandise be returned this instant!”
The guard sighed. “Sir, there are no ‘red cloaks’ in Holmberg other than the Baron, and he is an upstanding member of this community. If you were robbed, it was not by him. We will dispatch guards to the area to see if we can retrieve your stolen goods and dispatch the highwaymen, but you need to speak with the Holmberg Watch with a list of all stolen items. List where you will be staying, and you can enter to begin the process.” He said dryly.
“This is preposterous! I demand you act now!”
The guard lifted a board with a sheet of paper connected and stared at the man.
With a huff, the man filled out the paperwork and stormed off.
After several minutes and several other complaints, Silas finally reached the guard.
“State your business.” the guard said without even looking.
“Leaving the settlement.” He said.
“When will you be returning?”
“I have no intention of returning.”
The guard paused from his work and looked up to Silas. “Something the matter?”
“No, no, just returning home before the winter season.” After a brief thought about the previous man, he decided to continue. “With the chaos in the Living district going on, I feel it is time to leave before things get too hectic. It was lovely, but it is time to return home.”
Shocked, the guard asked, “What chaos? What happened?”
Silas explained the ordeal with the Baron guards and the events that transpired, several guards also turned to listen in. After he finished recounting the event, one guard turned to another and whispered an order, and then the guard ran off: “Close the gates by order of the Council! Until further notice, no one enters or exits!” Then, he turned to the gathered guards.
“Run now.” Came a whisper in his mind.
Without hesitation, he pushed out of the blue-covered gate just before it closed behind him.
“Well, at least we are on the road. Now, where is that beast monger?”