Firstly, a warning.
This story isn't a fun and games 'He overcame trials and married the princess', but rather a MC who is driven to do anything. I'd rather have a realistic MC than the lovable MC.
Secondly, this chapter is late and worst of all.. Its not even a long chapter.
At least I've finally finished fleshing out most of the current world's details, it should be smoother sailing for the next few chapters. But no promises, we've seen how that worked out.
I've also given up on last names unless they are important MC's, maybe not even then. Lets just say that in a fantasy world, a lot of people don't use last names.
Excuse of the dayLack of proper planning, two discarded plots that were terrible and three drafts that were scratched
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Our walk was a sullen one with the relations between us strained. I knew the princess wanted to talk to me and smooth over, however the mercenary refused to allow her to do so and I liked the peace and quiet I received from this. Because of that, I could focus without distractions on my magic and operate without the obligations of social interactions.
I could operate socially, but I didn't actually want to talk to either of them. They had nothing of importance that I needed to hear and my magic beckoned. Calling out to me and whispering sweet nothings into my ear, how can I resist the lure of spellcraft?
I still regretted what happened between David and I, we used to stick together at school, David full of the latest news about Balizen and would often have a interesting fact that he could share. Back when things were normal, I rather enjoyed those lunches.
I really did have a bad feeling about him, he definitely blamed me for this I knew. And I was starting to suspect it would take me more than months to get back, especially if I took so much time travelling around.
As depressing as the thought was, I still couldn't help but wonder if my parents knew anything about what had happened to me. Did my aunt go frantic with worry and fear? Does Talok know who I am? He must, they would plaster my face all over the city trying to find me. And then I have another fear. Is the Boligian Empire still treating earth as an uninteresting world?
No answers, and I would not receive them until I next encounter the god. If I attempted to create a rift and escape this world, I would collapse for five days. If I established a rift back to Earth, it would fail to stabilise properly and I would be forced to pay a stat penalty. And if I did both of those.. I really didn't think the god would permit me to casually abandon his quest.
Though when I thought about it, using rifts to travel around on the same world could work. But I knew that I would be like a baby and unable to move around for five days, and the mercenary seemed most reluctant to purchase a cart for the sole use of pulling my body.. Infact, he refused to slow down in our journey, vaguely stating that we were barely going to make it in time already.
When I didn't muse, I practiced with my magic as we travelled. It was really the only thing to do around here. The mercenary had the princess to talk to, and the princess had the mercenary. I could hear them talking sometimes, straining my ears before I realize what I'm doing and focusing back on my task. My magic was far more interesting than this.
But as I manipulated and practiced with the magic, my progress began to grow faster as I worked, new insights gained into the ways of mana. The mana manipulation skills may allow me to easily mold the mana into the form I desired, but it did not tell me how the mana would move. What its inclinations were and how it would react if I did this. It was semi-disappointing, and I kind of got the idea that my Gamer skill didn't effect my mental state.
Gradually my light beam began to grow more powerful, and while casting the spell by use of the ability did improve the light beam, I saw far more progress when I experimented with the spell and made small changes. Each time I saw an improvement I noticed with interest that the spell would then take that improvement the next time I used the spell. Small notifications appearing each time with a rare stat boost for significant improvements.
Control over Light Mana improves+4% increase in light spells efficiency
It was almost like the game system didn't operate off a set of rules and features, instead designing itself as I progressed. Evolving as I played. The update log that had occasionally popped up a while ago had the version in the beta stages as well, confirming my suspicion I was some form of beta tester. The playtoy of another being. And from the way the god had changed his mind when he saw the gamer stuff, there was a strong force behind it.
That in turn made me curious, if there was such a strong force behind my ability, then there must be something very special about it. And yet, all I had seen was increased growth in stats and abilities, information displayed on my personal improvement. There has to be something more to it, but as to what, I couldn't predict.
The names above peoples heads and the examination windows being possible meant that whatever it was, it could view the world about me seemingly without restriction, and the ability itself seemed contained to my body for my own benefit.
My favorite idea about the entire system was that I could ignore rules and find information that had been previously unknown, there was definitely more to this ability than it was telling me. Obviously it was gaming related, and when I thought deeper. I realized I had been thinking of it in terms of a actual character of the game instead of a player gazing at the screen.
Three things stood out immediately as missing.
Chat, Minimap and a menu. None of which had appeared when requested for.
My other favorite thing about the affair that I was almost guaranteed to respawn. If not now, then in the future as the gamer skill unlocks. My other hope was not aging, but that's unlikely.
But as I practiced magic, I mused over the gravity magic as I realized that something seemed.. Off. It wasn't behaving from what science told me it should be. Casting a gravity cloak on a pebble and levitating it in the air, I didn't feel like I was pushing a pebble, but instead it was a soft touch against my fingers as I pushed it through the air in fascination.
That pebble had no mass.
Far better news than I had expected of course, for if you can control mass then you can turn the most innocent thing into a deadly weapon. Turn a strand of hair into a whip thin enough to slice deeply.
Immediately my research with light magic was put to the side, gravity magic showing much more promise than flickering lights. This was far more important to my future than lights that can make a princess grin.
It took only a few days as I experimented with a small stone that I found the differences in the gravity mana, and when I fluctuated those differences. I could feel a difference in the results of the spell. But it wasn't until I hit on a combination that I received to my delight a message.
Due to insights into Gravity Magic, you can manipulate Mass as a secondary parameterINT +4
WIS +3
I could feel the difference in the held pebble already as I merely held it as we walked. Grinning, I instantly replaced the spell on the pebble and threw it. Just as it left my hand, I turned the mass up as far as I could. The mercenary and the princess watched me in confusion, saw me throw a pebble and saw the stone fly lazily through the air. It seemed normal, until it impacted against a tree with a crunching noise.
I could only grin in delight at the deep hole on the trunk as the mercenary looked on in wide eyes. They were not stupid, they knew what happened and that it was a cause of my magic. I noticed with delight that the mercenary looked very shocked and a flicker of respect seemed to appear in his eyes. Maybe.
The one thing I found irritating about the entire process, I was aiming at the tree next to it.
The mystery about Gravity Magic solved, I moved back to studying light magic with a constant Gravity Cloak on my body to further level up the spell and my endurance/strength. The spell leveled up fast enough, constant WIS and INT gains as I experimented with the mysteries of light magic. A few days later after the discovery of mass, I received a notification.
You have entered Stone Kingdom
Unimaginative name, I heavily suspected our destination lay in sight.
The kingdom didn't seem to be very large, a mere week after crossing the border we approached our first large town. Sadly we still didn't spend time there, sleeping the night in separate rooms of a inn before moving on. The princess and mercenary looked most eager to continue.
It didn't take long after leaving Palyin that I reluctantly realized I knew almost nothing about their plans and goals. I knew we were heading to Sanid and that the princess likely wanted a throne. But I knew nothing of why she was escorted by a mercenary, at the very least I expected a royal guard. Even a lowly soldier would do. But a mercenary?
It only took a few days before I gave in and approached them.
"So" I casually began as we rested during a break. "What are we doing after arriving?"
The mercenary looked at me for a second, then he grinned. "Your Mage School not tell you?"
He seemed most eager to restart the fight we abandoned weeks ago. "No" I spoke courteously, unwilling to give him escape.
"Can't you use some powerful magic to find out?" he continued, his face looking most punchable.
"No" My face a stone mask, showing no emotions that he sought.
He continued "What about you contact the School-" thankfully the princess cut in
"Just tell him"
He looked disgruntled, but finally started to talk normally.
"You know of Stone Kingdom?"
"No, we learned more about magic than the affairs of the world" I said with much pride in my illusionary school.
"Right.. Well, Stone Kingdom recently lost their ruler, so there will be a tournament. We will be joining with Prince Ilan"
"Tournament?" I asked curiously. He seemed to be labouring under the misconception we were on the same page, I knew what tournaments were, but I had a feeling it didn't involve knights on horses jousting.
"How can you not know of the tournaments?" he actually looked puzzled and waited for an answer. Realizing after a minute that I wasn't going to reply, he grunted and continued.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Fine. A tournament is a affair run by a kingdom when they have no ruler. The tournaments vary per kingdom, and the tournament of the Stone Kingdom is one of an army battle"
"If the ruler dies" I interrupted "Why doesn't a noble just take over?"
He snickered "Because the land forbids it"
"The land?"
The princess looked at me strangely as the mercenary openly snickered "You study magic, but you don't even know about the magic of the land?"
I didn't like how the mercenary was making fun of me, the worst part would be that we both knew I made up my background to some extent. But ignoring their reactions, I shored up my defenses.
"Branches of magic we study in the hallowed halls of the mages. The sky pressing against the earth and the brightness of the sun are the branches of magic I attend to"
"Right. Branches" he spoke sarcastically.
Does he consider my words to be lies?
Technically speaking, it's the truth.
The princess coughed into her hand and the mercenary quickly continued. "The land only allows kingdoms to be inherited by a ruler chosen by the tournament of the kingdom. If someone attempts to rule the kingdom without following these rules, they and those directly under them will die within the month."
After that ominous statement, he recalled something and added "The same thing happens if your kingdom grows too large, which is why smaller kingdoms like this one exists"
I then had a question which had an obvious answer, but I considered it still worth asking.
"What if a kingdom sends someone under their rule to win the tournament?"
"It still counts as a larger kingdom" he said simply.
Seeing my confusion about it he continued "We don't know everything about the magic. Sometimes something as simple as entering an alliance can result in both rulers being killed. Kingdoms can still be extorted, but if it begins to destroy the kingdom than you can consider the oppressors to be good as dead. Sometimes the reasons are not even apparent"
"Ah. So, you are joining prince Ilan and by his side you will win the tournament?"
"Yes" the princess spoke.
"Ah" I nodded. It wasn't as I had expected, I thought it would be something akin to taking over the lands of a tyrant, perhaps her evil uncle who killed her parents. And in the worst case, spending time uniting smaller lands which honestly didn't appeal to me.
Finally I my thoughts in order and went to the next question. "What's the army battle tournament?"
The princess was content to allow the mercenary to talk, and he for once didn't jab fun at me.
"Simply put, there is a commander and he leads two thousand people. At the start of the tournament they fight another army. The victorious army moves on and fights the next army after a week. This continues until there is only one army remaining. But while you can only have two thousand on the battlefield, there is no limits to the reserves you can employ."
"The truly large armies, they have up to five thousand people. There is no rule preventing people from joining your army during the tournament either" he finished.
"And the ruler is the commander?"
"Correct, Prince Ilan will be leading the army"
The next question was sensitive, but I needed to know.
"Why would Prince Ilan accept her?"
The princess then spoke, she looked unpleased that I had even questioned it.
"Due to Ilan being the second son, he does not stand to inherit the throne which is by rights taken by the eldest. Ilan's only choice lies in becoming a noble or to rule another kingdom. When the ruler of the Stone Kingdom died a year ago, Ilan took this chance and began to raise a army. Ilan's army was not a sizable one, so in return for my appointment as queen, my father has assisted in the funding of his army."
Her face seemed to glow each and every time she mentioned his name, it made me vaguely unhappy to see that. While I harbored no feelings towards her, I felt protective of her having traveled with them for this long. But I still had another question.
"Why don't you have an escort?"
"Safer" the mercenary grunted.
I pressed on
"But you don't.. seem much like a royal guard"
He looked at me for a second, "I'm not a royal guard, no." he didn't elaborate.
I suspected there was a story to it, and it was very juicy. But my final question went unasked. Why would Ilan keep his promise?
From what I had heard of the land magic, her father couldn't do much to Ilan beyond attempting to oppress the Stone Kingdom to some extent. Her father however would in return be oppressed by two kingdoms. To make this vendetta personal, the land could kill either side. Unless her father had powerful allies, things may not work out how she wants them to.
But its not my problem yet, we'll find out soon I decided as I sunk myself back into my studies.
Two scant weeks later, I received a notification as I discovered another hidden attribute in the flows of mana.
Due to insights into Light Magic, you can manipulate Color as a secondary parameterINT +5
WIS +2
I was beginning to think that illusions may become a tactic to use, however I didn't have enough time to play with it due to our impending arrival instead being forced to focus more on my light beam which seemed pretty powerful already. The road had started to get busy, and the displays of magic were forced to a minimum to hide my presence. We arrived at the capital less than a week later.
The capital was filled with people, more than any of the towns we had passed through. The stone city sat on a large hill, tall stone walls of hewn slabs of rock surrounding the base with a single huge entrance permitting passage inside. To both sides of the gate, twenty guards stood on a raised platform of stone, eyeing the people passing through the gates. Occasionally they stopped carts and investigated large amounts of baggage, but we passed through unmolested.
You have entered Sanin
As we entered the city and spied the rows of open shops with crowds of people moving about, the mercenary spoke up. "We will be staying inside this city, Ilan has a place we will be staying" Glancing at me, he continued "This is the end of your stay with us correct?"
"No" I bluntly spoke. I didn't appreciate his joke.
He sighed with disappointment "Of course not"
Moving through the city, we stopped by at a small shop where he asked about a private room that the princess could change clothes in. Paying the man, he indicated for me to follow him into the small room then asked for the bags. Receiving them, he placed the princesses bag on the ground then shoved me outside while carrying his bag.
Rude.
Twenty minutes later, the princess came out wearing clothes of much finer quality than the dusty clothing she had been wearing previously. It had crinkles in it due to the travelling we had been doing but it looked pretty decent on her. I'm not describing it.
While the princess had been changing, the mercenary had been rather busy. He told me to stand outside the shop and to stay there with the princess as he fetched transport. I was rather thankful that I could finally rest my feet. Before the princess was done he was already back with a carriage in tow, a small one person carriage pulled by a pony and a driver sitting in front.
I started to get on, but the mercenary's glare left it obvious who it was for. The princess climbed on as I shouldered the mercenary's bag, meanwhile the mercenary carried the princess's bag which was noticeably lighter as we walked by the sides of the carriage. I hinted endlessly at hanging on the sides of the carriage, just to rest my feet for a moment but they ignored me.
The driver of the carriage knew where he was going, and soon we were in a quieter area with large homes, though none of them had gardens. Instead all the available space was taken up with buildings of cobbled stone. They began to grow larger though, gardens beginning to appear.
Finally we were in front of a large house, a garden missing but a large courtyard with a few carriages lying in wait. I couldn't wait to finally relax after a month of non-stop travel. Outside the courtyard entrance two guards stood to attention, and as the mercenary approached them they watched his movements.
"Is Prince Ilan staying here?" he asked formally, "I am escorting Princess Lily of Farida Kingdom and we are expected"
One of the guards looked at the princess inside the carriage, then spoke. "I'll ask"
A few minutes later, he came out and spoke "I'm sorry but prince Ilan isn't here, neither has he left instructions". Both the princess and mercenary frowned.
"Are you sure?" the princess spoke insistently, her face looking displeased.
"Yes" the guard spoke politely.
"We will be staying out here" the princess stiffly spoke to the driver, "Is that a problem?"
"No" the driver said respectfully.
I could see how this was going to play out already, but I didn't dare speak out. If I did, I had a feeling I would be treated as the cause.
We waited for god knows how many hours, and during this time I didn't dare entertain myself. The face of the princess grew more stressed as the time passed, and the mercenary's face sank deeper into a glower. They wouldn't take kindly to flashing lights.
The guards at the gate and the driver didn't look very happy either, but I was sure that the driver would at least be paid. He didn't seem to mind too much, it was just the boredom that got at him. It wasn't until we saw a group on foot approaching that the expressions of everyone perked up.
The group that approached us was surrounded by guards in armor, but inside were people dressed in fine clothes with rich attire. Looking at their names I could see more guards hidden in the crowd, a few nobles and one especially wonderful man who had the name of Ilan. Finally.
Ilan lv. 6 Prince
Interestingly enough, I noted another name that stood out.
Rinnan lv. 4 Princess
They both seemed cosy, and as I snuck a look back at my princess I smiled a little.
This was going to be fun.