Carriages, sucked. Which is why Arras wasn't in it this time! When he didn't have to care about upholding the image of somebody else, he was more than happy to be up on the raigahma pulling the carriage instead of inside of it. Oddly enough, the man who would've otherwise been on that raigahma was just as happy to trade places with him. Win win, apparently.

Anyways, about that raigahma, Arras quickly found himself comparatively not minding this method of transport. It was far better than being in the carriage. Something about the light breeze against his form and the even sunlight was just splendid. His resting expression had become a light smile, despite currently literally being carted off to a war. Arras not really understanding what exactly that implied probably contributed.

Regardless of all of that, Arras was still worried about Illia, because of course she'd came with him. She'd been... Irate, was the word Arras would use. And he wasn't sure if even that one did her justice, when she heard what he had to do... It was Arras himself who had to calm her, and boy that wasn't fun. Things wouldn't change just because she was upset. So, here she was, on his shoulder, nigh silent... He didn't like that very much. But not much he could do about it either.

They'd left about six hours ago, so Arras's artifact would, unfortunately, soon run out of juice. The carriages wouldn't be stopping any time soon, so he'd have to spend some time inside of one after he used up the rest of his magic... Bleck. He hoped the ride wouldn't be much longer. He could also try to walk alongside them, but he had the feeling he'd get tired pretty quickly.

Speaking of the ride, Arras supposed he was kind of having his wish fulfilled, from a certain point of view. He had wanted to see the world. no? And well, his surroundings were definitely changing! They'd gone from lightly forested environments to now... Wide, open plains. It wasn't a particularly good showing for the beauty of the world as far he was concerned.

Everything was quiet, besides the stomping of the raigahma's hoofs and the rolling of the wheels anyways. There were a good dozen or so extra carriages, and his own carriage had two other people inside of it, so he figured it was safe to assume there were three individuals per carriage. Unless everybody happened to exclusively communicate with mind magic like he did... Which... Wouldn't be that far fetched Arras supposed, it seemed as if literally nobody was talking.

...Well, that probably wasn't fair. It'd be odd to be able to hear anybody, so nobody was talking... Loudly, or outside of their groups. That was fine by Arras, he was perfectly content to just keep working on aspects of his magic, but he did find it curious. Perhaps, if these were all people on similar skill levels to himself, they were doing the same? Regardless, he didn't have too much longer to ruminate on it.

"...Arras?"

"Yes, Illia?"

That was progress.

"I... Think we need to talk about some stuff."

"...Like what?"

"You have just about no idea what's going on, do you?"

"Pennsworth said that you'd tell me about it."

Illia noticeably sagged. "Lazy old man..."

"Alright... Three things. Can you promise me that you'll pay attention for just three things?"

"Of course I can. I could listen to you all day if I needed to."

That wasn't a lie either.

"Right, sorry. Alright... First off, do you really have any idea of what war actually is...?"

"Some sort of fight, that's about all I've pieced together."

"Well... You're not wrong, but you're probably not thinking on the right scale. War is... Wide spread fighting, it's constant fighting. It's fighting in the thousands. It's miserable. It's dangerous, more so than anything else you've ever done besides maybe the time you faced off against dozens of enemies at the same time. And even then, this is going to last way longer than that single fight."

"...What do you mean by in the thousands?"

"Thousands of people fighting against each other."

"...What? But... Why? What point could that possibly serve?"

"A lot of points, actually. Almost all of which you probably wouldn't care about. What I need you to promise me is that you'll listen to me when I tell you something. Okay? I don't think I can explain all of this to you, I wouldn't even know how to go about it. But... I've at least got some idea of everything. So just listen to what I tell you, it'll all turn out alright, okay?"

"You don't need me to promise anything like that, I'd listen to you regardless. I trust you."

"...Thanks." She leaned against Arras's neck. "I really should put a little more faith in you. I'm sorry for always asking stuff like that."

"It's fine." He raised a hand and lightly scratched at Illia's head. "No harm, no foul. Now, what were those other two things you wanted to talk to me about?"

"...Right. This is mostly just stuff to appear official. I know you don't really care all that much about it, but it'll make your life easier."

"It might be annoying to deal with such things, but if it saves me further trouble then of course I'll deal with it. Still though, what do you need me to hear?"

"Are you okay with making a contract with me?"

"...Probably. What for?"

"...Jeeze..." Her form drooped again. "Nothing really that serious! Just something mostly superficial so that I'd actually be considered your "familiar" under the lens of civilization. It's unlikely, but other magic users might try to get me to make a contract with them? It'd be easier if I could show them the magic of an already existing contract to tell them no."

"Then, yes, of course."

"Great! Arras, I'm offering you an official contract. I, Illiana Veile, will follow orders given to me by Arras unconditionally."

"...Wait what?"

"...It's the contract? Go on, just say yes."

"No... No that's... Very... One sided?"

"What? It's not like you'd abuse it would you?"

"Of course not! But... You just want to... Give me complete control over all of your actions? That... Doesn't feel right. Even if I never would use it... But to restrict your own freedom like that...?"

"...Sorry, I guess I wasn't really thinking about it. I'll revise that, if you're uncomfortable with it."

"Please do."

"Mmm. Arras, I'm once again offering you an official contract. I, Illiana Veile, am obligated to follow orders from Arras for as long as he does not abuse his power. Better?"

"...Why do you need to follow my orders?"

"I mean, that's pretty normal for familiar contracts. They follow their masters whims and are provided for in their needs."

"...So why am I not obligated to do anything for you?"

"Does it seriously matter?"

"Yes, it does matter. It matters a lot to me actually."

"...You really don't need to be worried about this you know?"

"How many times do I need to tell you that I care about you as much, if not more than myself?"

"...Fine. If you really want me to make a fair contract for both parties then that's what I'll do. Arras. I'm offering you an official contract. I, Illiana Veile, will follow the orders of Arras provided that they do not directly conflict against my personal interests, and for as long as he cares and provides for me in any of my needs. This contract can be dissolved by either party at any moment should they so desire. Ya happy?"

"Much better, thank you. I accept."

A now familiar feeling pierced through Arras's being. He shuddered for a moment, as did Illia, though it quickly subsided.

"There, was that so difficult?" Illia mentally scoffed.

"You're not seriously upset about me wanting you to keep yourself safe are you?" Arras side eyed the bird on his shoulder.

"It's not "keeping myself safe" you wouldn't do anything to begin with! The fact that you were unwilling to take the contract speaks to it! And... No, I'm not."

"Then why does it matter?"

"Because I just! I... I dunno. You're right, it doesn't matter." She relented after a few moments. Her chest had been puffed up, but now it deflated back to a normal size.

"...So, what was that last thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, right... You know how most of the people you've talked to have some sort of last name, me included?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"It's fairly normal for those in higher positions in society to have last names. Middle names are more exclusive to actual nobles and what not, but it's the norm for those higher up to have last names. That's because they belong to a specific family, so they carry a level of respect by having those names. I kind of left my family behind, but that's still technically my name. I'm sure you noticed that the Baron treated me differently because of it."

".Yes and... Oh, and... I don't have a last name?"

"You're starting to catch on to this stuff huh?"

"Begrudgingly." Arras frowned a bit.

"So, I was thinking... You could just use mine."

"...Hold on, what?"

"You could use my last name so you don't have any problems with some of your peers looking down on you, or something like that?"

"No, I picked up on that, the issue is that you said last names belong to specific, families?"

"...Yes? Is there a problem with... That... Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it-"

"No, that's not the issue. I didn't take any offense, but family is a heavy thing is it not? It's not like I'd consider MY family any less of well, my family even if I were to use your last name but... Is that really something you can just give to me?"

"Oh... Uh... It's not really that serious you know? It's not like you'd actually be a part of the family. I mean, even if you were, I... Uh... You're a good person Arras. You'd raise the average up a few levels through your presence alone." Her tone swiftly jumped from light embarrassment to a tone distinctly spiteful, but she worked it out a moment later. "So, no. Even if that was what it meant... Would I mind you being family? No. Far from it, I'd welcome it."

"...I see. Then there's no reason for me to say no. Like I said, I trust your judgement."

"Alright! Welcome to the family then Arras Veile!"

"...I thought you said that didn't actually mean being family? I mean, not that I particularly mind?" He basically interrogated his own psyche mid conversation.

"Oh relax, I'm just messing with you."

...

...Family. Even as he sat in-between two other individuals, one human and one beastkin, covered by a wing and holding his nerves together as to not empty the contents of his stomach, he just couldn't stop thinking about that. Last names represented a family, Illia's last name was Veile, and she'd given him her last name? However that worked. He didn't feel anything magical, so he figured it was something entirely superficial. But its importance didn't evade Arras regardless.

Pennsworth clearly lived better than the average person living on his estate. So people with last names held more importance in society. Those with last names were by far the minority, so Illia just,.. Lending? Him a last name was no small thing. He knew that Illia cared about him, a lot at that, but was that not the kind of thing she'd need to talk to the rest of her family about? Though what did she mean that he'd "raise the average"? Family represented strong bonds, so shouldn't her family already be "above average"?

And in that vein, what exactly did she mean, "Would I mind you being family? No." Like??? What in the world was he supposed to think? If it was just for purely practical purposes, he'd maybe get it, but that "joke" they'd made had sounded so genuine that it was throwing him for a loop. Why was he overthinking this so much? He had no idea! Did he feel negatively about it? No, so he had to ask himself, why couldn't he just let it go and move on?

And the resounding answer he got from himself was, in fact, "no idea." Much to his frustration. He didn't actually voice any of these concerns to Illia, because he himself hadn't even been sure on how he felt about all of it yet. What would be the point of causing more confusion? No, this would have to be something he needed to sort out himself.

Arras was so absorbed into his own thoughts that for ONCE, he finally stopped absentmindedly playing around and practicing with his magic. He was, literally almost always doing something with it. Minor or major, just a few minutes earlier he'd been working on properly recycling his force magic, as well as doing some practice with masking on top of that... But now he was finally magically still (and conscious) for the first time in days.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Everything alright?" Illia poked her proverbial head in through the proverbial window.

"Huh?"

"You seem a little distracted? And that's odd, like, really odd. Are you okay?"

"...Oh, I'm fine. Just a little... Nauseous." He lied on the spot. Well, he was nauseous, but that's not why he was currently so inactive.

"...If you say so." She knew he was lying, just for the record, but she respected his privacy enough to not push the matter.

Though, shortly afterwards, the carriage finally ground to a halt, which was a great relief to Arras. Both he and Illia raised their heads just before a voice called out.

"The rest of the journey will be made on foot! Everybody out!"

That news was just about divine for the fox to hear.

...

Very suddenly, Arras's magical priorities had reordered themselves. Advancing his efficiency? Meh, increasing his lethality? It could wait. What was REALLY pressing right now? Well. Some context would go well with that answer.

Once the doors had opened, Arras very suddenly felt UNCOMFORTABLY hot. Illia agreed on that point, because she also very suddenly put a healthy distance between herself and Arras. Which he was grateful for, because good lord did the extra body heat only make it worse. The ground beneath his feet had suddenly become alien. Whereas before it had been lush, vibrant fields... It was now a dull, yellow landscape sprawling out as far as the eye could see. Well, besides the large building off in the distance.

He'd unfortunately already used up a fair bit of the magic in his artifact. It would passively recharge just from being near Arras. Ergo having access to his magic, but it'd take awhile. He could speed it up and force magic into the thing, but that would waste a lot of the magic used in the attempt. And if this trek happened to take any more than a few hours he'd be in some serious trouble. He'd certainly hate to have to rely on somebody else here other than Illia... And he wasn't even sure if any of them would support him.

So no, he'd just have to keep up in a smaller form for a while, shouldn't be a problem!

Well, besides feeling like he was going to melt alive in his own body anyways. Turns out, there was a reason he was born in a forest? His body was very... Not built for this climate. Neither was Illia's for that matter, but she could make it to their destination far faster if she really needed to.

They'd started walking by now. And in total, it was a group of forty five people. Plus Illia, as well as a few other creatures that Arras figured to be familiars. Arras counted three times in total, and that did make sense. Three people from each carriage, fifteen carriages, and everybody who had been out front controlling the raigahma's had left by now, presumably to return the carriages. Actually, Arras had to wonder how that worked out logistically? Couldn't everybody just walk away?

...He wouldn't, but still. They could, couldn't they? They wouldn't have the supplies they'd brought along, which consisted of multiple canteens of water and some kind of food that Illia told him was called a "ration". But they could just leave... Actually, it sounded less and less worth the effort the more Arras thought about it.

Anyways, there was some idle chatter about, though Arras didn't pay it much attention. Because the issue of heat was only really compounding by the moment. He had the option of shedding most of his fur by temporarily changing shape, but Illia had no such liberty if she were to stay with the group. So, he couldn't help but try to work on his wind magic.

He hadn't really given it too much thought before. It was a new type of magic, yes, but he had been far more interested in refining the fundamentals and basics of his force magic, and by extension, his entire arsenal rather than picking up on a new magic. He had the memory of its usage in duels at his disposal, so he figured it wouldn't be all that difficult to learn. (Plus, he could totally tell a few of his fellows here were using it to cool themselves down, and only themselves. A little rude.)

"What are you doing?"

Oh, that was the beastkin that had been in the carriage with Arras. He must've noticed the improper flow of magic that Arras was working with. Arras figured he might as well answer the person.

"I'm working on my wind magic. This heat is insufferable, and I fear my..." Arras paused and mulled over what exactly he should call Illia. "Familiar... Will drop dead from it by the time we reach our destination."

"And you're just now learning wind magic? On the spot?" The, Arras decided, man, raised an eyebrow at him as he switched to using Arras's mental link. "You didn't think to practice this before coming to the desert?"

"To be fair I didn't know I would be coming to this "desert" until about a day ago. Nor did I know it would be a desert."

"...Excuse me?"

"It might be a bit much to explain."

"Well, it wouldn't really do to have you dropping dead of heatstroke when you're part of the eagerly anticipated reinforcements." The man flicked his hand, and in a movement of magic that Arras would consider to be... Absolutely masterful, maybe even a class above his own... He felt a cool breeze form around him. It didn't stop, either.

"...Oh, thank you."

"Not like you were going to pick it up in an hour or two. I covered your familiar as well, no need to thank me."

"...Then, your name?" He asked a moment later, even as he continued to try and work out wind magic. Arras wanted to have the ability to do something like this on hand at any time.

"Was that you?" Illia turned to ask Arras with slight bewilderment in her eyes.

"No, that was-"

"Berria." He wasn't even filling in the blank for Arras, the two links were seperate. Illia and the beastkin couldn't hear each other.

"Berria."

"...Berria?"

"The beastkin standing right next to me?"

"...Oh. Excuse me."

Arras felt the link snap. Then it reestablished itself a moment later.

"What'd you do?"

"I thanked him. This heat is killer."

"Tell me about it." Arras shook his head.

...

Arras mostly kept to himself throughout the journey. He was too focused on his own magic to really make anything of the conversations near him. Illia, for once, actually took after his relentless drive to improve curiously enough. It felt like she was trying to cast some form of water magic? It was rough though, really rough. About as rough as Arras's usage of wind magic. It could also be something else entirely, he was no expert.

Regardless, they made progress faster than Arras had been expecting. Maybe he'd just been seeing things, but the, decidedly, fortress, was actually much closer than he'd initially thought it was. Within an hour, it seemed as if the distance had halved itself. So he had a little less time to practice wind magic than he thought he'd have but... That was fine. Surely a civilized place would have some kind of temperature control, right?

He gave his artifact a quick check, and figured it should have enough magic to last for about two hours, which should be enough for any conversations he would have to have. Unless it would be alright for him to just stay in his normal form, in which case, that's what he would do.

"Hey, Illia?" Arras diverted a bit of his attention, he wanted to ask a few more questions about this war he'd been told about.

"What's up?"

"You certainly sound a bit... Happier."

"Oh, the suns kind of nice when it's not melting me alive."

"...I'll just take that as an exaggeration, you weren't... Actually melting, right?"

"No, of course not."

"Right. So... I wanted to ask you more about the war. I know you said you don't know everything, but can you explain a bit more of what a war is to me?"

"...Sure. The more you know the better. We've got nothing but time anyways. What exactly do you want to know?"

"Really just about anything that you can tell me. I'd like to know as much as I can about this situation. You said it's dangerous?"

"...Yeah, very dangerous. Basically, you'll be fighting against hundreds, if not thousands of other magic users."

"...Isn't that just a death sentence?"

"But you'll also be fighting alongside thousands of magic users as well. You're not alone, and while I hadn't really heard much about this war... Arbre has a rather competent military for a human nation. They're probably already winning the war, so it shouldn't be too dangerous... But, reinforcements were probably requested for a reason."

"...So, what are you saying?"

"A small force of elite combatants was sent to the battlefront. In all likeliness, you'll probably be sent with them on some sort of stealth mission, or something similar. That, or there's just some sort of defense that needs to be cracked and overwhelming firepower is the way to deal with it. I couldn't tell you anything specific, you'll learn for sure when we reach the fort though."

"So... If you don't mind me summarizing to myself?"

"Go right ahead."

"Right... So, I'll be fighting against a whole lot of other people... With the group around us?"

"...Something like that. I'm sorry, I can't really be of much help here... A lot of my training while I was young was more politically focused, negotiating contracts, acting as support for somebody other than myself... It's kind of ironic, you know? I ran away to pursue something else, but I just ended up doing what I was raised for, just for somebody else entirely. Though... Oddly enough, I don't find myself hating that."

"...What?"

"...I... I didn't mean to say that." Her thoughts, usually vibrant and energetic, very suddenly lost a lot of their energy. It felt similar to something Arras had done long ago. He scowled in disapproval. He'd long since ignored that entire branch of mental magic. Blocking his emotions had led him down a nearly catastrophic path.

"...Illia. There's a difference between holding thoughts from a conversation, and blocking out your feelings entirely. It's not healthy to do the ladder. You know that. You were there for the breakdown I had. I won't press you for details, I don't need you to tell me about your past, I'm there to listen if you want me to, but I won't let you ruin yourself like I almost did. Dismantle that spell, right now."

"But..."

"You don't need to let me hear any of it if you don't want to, I don't care if you don't want to confide in me, I don't care if you decide to go through it on your own, but you still need to go through it. Hiding away from it only worsens the end result. You build up paranoia, fear, discomfort, anguish, pain. And it all comes flooding back when you can't take it anymore. This is an order, dispel that spell."

"..."

"Illia."

"...Fine."

"Thank you."

Emotion returned to her voice, and Arras breathed a sigh of relief. Here he was thinking he'd never even use the contract that they'd agreed on hours earlier. He didn't like it, but he wouldn't let his companion damage her own psyche in such an avoidable manner. Even if she didn't appreciate it in the moment, he didn't care.

"...Sorry. I just..."

"You don't need to talk to me about it, I know you've been feeling awkward on that topic. You try not to think about it, but you do. Not often, but often enough. You've considered it, thought about it. You've felt guilty about it, which I can't hope to understand. But what I can tell you, is to not feel guilty. I'll tell you this again and again, you don't need to tell me anything that you don't want to. I'm always there to listen, but I will never force you to speak about anything you don't want to. You could respect my boundaries back then... I can do the same for you."

"...Okay."

Arras just couldn't understand. He'd said everything he could, but still her voice was miserable... What could he even do? He hated seeing her like this but...

"OPEN THE GATES!"

Both animals startled from their own thoughts. They'd of course been keeping up with the group, but Arras supposed they lost track of where exactly they were in their heated discussion. Or well, one sided discussion Arras supposed.

"WHO GOES THERE!?" Another voice distantly called from far above. The same man on the ground shouted back up.

"THE ELITE REINFORCEMENTS THAT WERE REQUESTED! RANGING FROM FORTY FIVE DIFFERENT NOBLES! NOW! I COULD EITHER SHOUT OUT ALL OF THEIR NAMES, OR YOU COULD JUST SEND SOMEBODY OUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"

Arras frowned again. He supposed they'd be waiting outside for a while.

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