Through Buffon’s recommendation, Kiefer led his tarsus through the city along the perimeter, garnering the stares of almost everybody he walked past. He finally arrived at an inn near the west quadrant where the city’s agricultural hub was situated in.
The inn’s logo was carved into an oval plank of wood, with a stalk of wheat overlaying a mug of beer. It was pretty decent in size and was one of the few inns that provided a stable and animal maintenance service. Kiefer tied his tarsus to a temporary holding stable and went inside the quaint inn.
What greeted him was the smell of alcohol accompanied by cooked food. There was a restaurant and kitchen to the left of the main entrance and a counter for reception on the right. Heading straight for the counter, the lady behind the counter greeted him with a warm smile.
“Good evening! My name is Marley. What may I do for you sir magus?” She asked, while examining Kiefer head to toe.
“How much do you charge per night for the smallest private room, and a stable?”(Kiefer)
“With 4 meals provided a day, a room, a large stable for your tarsus, with food and handling costs, that will come to 5 gold coins a day. 6, if you want to include daily grooming services for your tarsus as well sir.”(Marley)
“Good, I’ll want to purchase an empty book as well as ink and a quill. I’ll get as many days as this can get me, including grooming for my tarsus.” Kiefer said handing out 2 platinum (White gold) coins. These were the gold rimmed coins in the pouch that he ‘received’ for saving Buffon.
“Thank you sir, please wait for a moment while I process your payment.” Marley replied politely while quickly snatching the platinum coins off the counter, as if she was afraid Kiefer would change his mind.
“That would be a total of 33 days starting tomorrow the 11th day of autumn and ending on the 44th day of autumn. Here is your change of 2 gold coins, the book, ink and quill are on the house sir. Please remember to return your key on the morning of your last day; we will remind you again when it draws near. Also sir, how many pages would you like your book to have? We bind the parchment individually here.”(Marley)
“I’ll get as many pages as you can bind,” replied Kiefer, pushing one of the gold coins forwards as a tip for their service.
Moments later, Kiefer was settled into his small room with Shearwood whizzing around like an annoying fly. He sat down on the soft bed, and took his time to just enjoy the feeling his buttocks have missed for the past few weeks.
The room was just small enough for 1 adult, with a comfortable bed, a desk and chair, a candle lamp, a wardrobe with 6 drawers, and a metal chest with lock and key. Ink and quill were already prepared on the desk. Recalling a portrait of Buffon he spotted down at the lobby, Kiefer let out a grin, “That stingy and calculating bastard, no wonder he recommended this inn. It belongs to him! He just wants his money back from me.”
Kiefer had made plans to stay in the city for a while, just to find opportunities to study the culture and find ways to improve his magic (once again, as if it isn’t powerful enough yet). His first impression was that the city was still in the middle ages, with medieval weapons, stone buildings and cobbled roads. Their main source of light was torches and lamps illuminating only within the buildings and outside the main entrance, and in the richer areas, magic street lights.
Watching the overly tired Shearwood curl up underneath the blanket, Kiefer heard a knock on the door. Opening the door, there was a burly man, easily mistaken for a bear, towering above him at over 2m tall, and holding onto a thick book.
“Ya the scrawny fella that ordered this book? Mah daughter said to bring it ta this room. Want me ta carry it to the table for ya?” (Marley’s dad)
“No it’s alright, I’ll manage from here. Thanks for bringing it up here and sorry for the trouble.” Kiefer thanked the ‘bear-man’. “Wow. They really do grow big in the country-side don’t they?” Kiefer chuckled to himself.
The book was big and heavy. It was leathered covered, with almost 50 pages of neatly cut parchment inside. The pages and covers were sewn together along one side by multiple leather strips. Kiefer immediately began to work, recording all that he’s learnt, observed and heard since his time here in Aioa. He carefully wrote down every detail of what he had learnt from Buffon during his travels while it was still fresh in his memory, lest he forgets them later.
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[Buffon’s POV]
It was supposed to be a fast simple and lucrative trip, no more than 20 days by horse. My cousin in the Grandu Province had sent me a request to process some mithril ingots that his company had mined along with a lump of adamantium ore as down payment. I was to pick it up at the port on the far-east side of the Alluvian grasslands, transport it through Alluvian to the neighbouring Rashael province.
Rashael province was well known for its holy magic, especially in the city of light – Luminas. The request was to specifically recruit a holy magus to smith the ingots into holy armaments- 2 sets of holy gauntlets. To give leeway for trial and error, I had been supplied with a total of 12 mithril ingots, twice the amount required for the job. And then, I was to deliver the gauntlets to the client in Luminas for the remainder of my payment.
Considering the small cargo size, I opted to focus on speed rather than security, hoping praying that I would be able to avoid dangers on the road. I set off from the port at midday, moving quickly through the forest towards the open grasslands. It would be safer once I’m in the grasslands since almost no one would be able to match my speed, and given the relative flatness of the terrain, I will be able to spot and avoid most dangers from a fair distance.
Reaching the edge of the forest, I took a quick break, allowing the horses to rest and quench their thirst to prepare for the sprint ahead. It shouldn’t take long to cross the grassland and I should be able to make it to the other side by midnight. The intention was to camp for the night after reaching the other side.
After a final check to make sure my carriage is still in good condition, I climbed aboard to the driver’s seat, held the reins in my hands and whipped the horses hard. By late evening, we were already speeding through the grasslands, without a single problem. It was very rare that my journeys went smoothly according to plan.
Just as I let my guard down, there was a sudden explosion just 50m ahead of me. My horses stunned by the explosion, took a sharp left turn around the explosion, almost toppling the entire carriage over, had it not been for the shockwave that pushed the carriage back on its wheels. Without stopping, I started to panic.
What the hell was that? Bandit attack? With heavy ballista no less? Turning my head to look back at the explosion, the dust had settled, revealing a large barren crater, but I don’t see the ballista bolt anywhere. That’s when a horrific realization dawned on me – magic. Just how powerful was the magus? And why was he targeting me? This assignment was supposed to be a secret, how did he find out about the cargo?
Luckily for me, after the near miss appointment with death, I safely made it to the Agrean forest. The magus stopped his attacks after that one blast. I kept going into the forest for an hour more, finally stopping to make camp.
I was abruptly awoken the next morning with a deafening but familiar blast. However, it was different this time. The blasts did not stop. My horses were too frightened to move as the blasts kept going till midday. Just how frightening is this mage? And how much mana does he have to keep firing off magic like that? Why have I, the guild master of Shearwood province, never heard of such a mage, even within the academy?
After sufficient time had passed and my horses calmed down, I set off again slowly, keeping minimal profile to avoid attracting wild animals. It was actually too quiet. By my knowledge, animals would avoid Shearwood Lake and be concentrated around this southern end of the forest. And yet, until now, I have not come across a single wild animal.
Just as I was thanking my lucky stars for not meeting any aggressive animals, my horses stopped abruptly in a small forest clearing and moments later, I was already surrounded by numerous bandits. After a failed negotiation, I found myself lying on the forest ground being trampled on.
That’s when things changed from bad to worst. As they say, out of the frying pan, into the fire. An academy magus appeared behind me, on his tarsus. He didn’t say much, but effectively repelled the bandits’ attacks. Seeing this, I begged him to save me, promising all the money I had on me. But who would’ve known that this mage was even more of a monster than the bandits put together.
He made short work of the bandits’ combined attacks and even took the leader’s attack head on without so much as an incantation. I watched in horror as the sky turned dark and a giant magic beast headed straight for us and in one swift movement, swallowed 6 bandits whole. As the bandits began to scatter, I tried to escape in my carriage as well, from the magic beast, the bandits and most importantly from the monster magus.
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The whole forest floor was covered in silver, as the strange phenomenon bound my horses and carriage in place. The mage had locked me inside my own carriage as he began interrogating this bandit leader. I just put my head between my knees, hands over my ears and cowered, hoping the mage would not attack me.
I felt a tug on my ankle, and saw a silver rope wind itself around my leg. No sooner did that happen, I was yanked out of my carriage, held dangling in the air front of the mage. I caught a glimpse of the bandit leader scurrying off holding onto his left hand. The mage was a young man, barely in his twenties, yet he had the look of a killer, emotionless and to a certain degree, evil.
He proceeded to interrogate me in a threatening manner, and then shook me down, picking up all my money and my insignia before letting me go. As he was about to leave after picking up the bandit leader’s lance, a crazy idea struck my head. Why not have this monster guard me till Alluviate? And so I struck up a deal with the young monster mage, offering him a total of 3 mithril ingots as well as any information he required during our time travelling together.
During our time travelling, he questioned me vehemently, and from his questions it almost seems as if he had been living in seclusion his whole life, or that he was somehow stuck in the past and just arrived in this new world. I definitely deduced that the tarsus and robe were stolen, not that I dared mention it.
I gave him a map of the world, taught him about currency, cultures, the different provinces and their specialties. I taught him how to specially smith the mithril ingots and why they were so sought after by mages. I recommended him an inn that would suit his taste (my inn of course) and also a general layout of Alluviate city. Of course, I only answered what he asked and refused to provide any additional information for free, but he was very thorough in his questioning.
The more we spoke, the more I realise how unique he is. He knew nothing of magic, and yet was already a powerful mage. He showed interest when I told him about elemental magic, almost as if he had not been told stories as a child. As time went by, I was increasingly certain that this young man would become a terrifying individual, even capable of rivalling the titans. Therefore, I decided to play a few tricks I learnt as a merchant, to get me in his good books.
At the Alluviate city gates, I told him that academy mages need not wait in line, while fully aware that he was just pretending and that he would not be allowed to pass through. As per my predictions, he was stopped at the gates and got into a bit with the guards. As my turn came around, I convinced the guards to let him in on my authority as guild leader, ‘saving him from trouble’. Finally, to completely ensure future good relations with this monster, I tossed him 2 mithril ingots, hinting that I had provided the information during the trip for free. Glad it all turned out well, I turned around and headed straight for my guild building.
[End of Buffon’s POV]
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Kiefer was finally alone. He had not dared practice while Buffon had been with him because he had wanted to keep his abilities/inabilities a secret. Buffon had assumed Kiefer to be a powerful mage, but Kiefer did not mention that he had no clue whatsoever about this world’s magic system. Kiefer had been itching to try out the physical body enhancement since the bandit attack.
According to the bandit leader, the difficult part was sensing one’s own mana and directing it to the body part desired. Kiefer had no problems with that. In fact, that was about the only thing he knew how to do.
Kiefer sat down and closed his eyes. He sensed the silver ball of mana and the mist around it. Kiefer directed a thread of mana from the silver ball in his chest up his neck, and to both his eyes. He concentrated on filling both his eyes with a thick uniform mist, concentrating on lens, and the retina.
Initially, he felt a stinging in his eyes, so he shut them even tighter, but the pain only lasted an instant. Opening his eyes, Kiefer looked around the room and out the street. Everything had become so vibrant and detailed. He could see into the darkest corner of the street and still track the movements of a rat. Looking across the street, he could literally see the fly on the wall inside the room across the street. Enhancing his eyes had increased the resolution (Super ultra HD), as well as the performance of photoreceptors in his retina, allowing for improved night vision.
Excited by his success, he tried it on various other senses too, only to regret it later. Enhancing his eardrums and cochlear fluids, he could hear things clearer, including the grunting and moaning coming from the building at the end of the street.
Enhancing his olfactory receptors, He could smell the supper the inn was serving downstairs, as well as the manure from the stables and the agricultural fields. He could very well distinguish the smell of piss coming from the alleyway.
Afraid of what he would taste floating in the air or what remains in his mouth, he chose not to enhance his taste buds. Wanting to try out more experiments, Kiefer reluctantly went to sleep because there wasn’t enough space in his room to test the enhancement effects on his muscles.
The next morning, Kiefer left the inn without his robe, but with Shearwood coiled up inside a sack that he bought from Marley. He headed back towards the gate, obtained a re-entry pass from the guards and left the city. He needed space, lots of space, for what he wanted to do.
Kiefer’s original plans had been to visit the library and the blacksmith, but they got put off on the count of his success with enhancement last night. After strolling a fair distance from the walls, with no one to watch him, Kiefer started his experiments.
Enhancing his leg muscles, Kiefer started with a slow jog that progressed into a sprint. He found out that his legs were not tired and there was no lactic acid build up from the sudden strenuous activity. However, he was out of breath even before the sprint started.
Before coming to Aioa, Kiefer had been an indoor’s person, opting to stay out of the sun. He spent most of his time in a lab, on a train, or at home. Scrawny as a Chinese chopstick, Kiefer had no visible muscle mass whatsoever, making his first week in Aioa pure hell. However, he had gradually put on substantial muscle mass and could be described as lean rather than skinny.
Through trial and error, Kiefer concluded that just enhancing muscles was insufficient for him. He had to infuse mana into his lungs to improve gaseous exchange rate, as well as his heart to make it pump harder.
By the end of the day, with the sun setting Kiefer was happy with his progress. He could cover up to 20 metres with each step, sprint at speeds comparable to a car, and even punch craters into the ground, releasing a small shockwave, all of this of course, with his mana armour deployed.
Sher spent the day observing Kiefer first, then taking turns to chase or be chased by Kiefer in his enhanced strength. Finally, she even competed with Kiefer on who could do the most damage to the ground. Even in her small form, a whip from her tail left a considerable hole in the ground, though not as impressive as Kiefer’s crater.
Slightly unhappy that she lost, Sher chose to melt a hole in the ground with her beam. There was something terrifying about seeing a large red beam about 3m in diameter come out of tiny Shearwood’s mouth. Kiefer had to clap his hands really hard to produce a shockwave strong enough to extinguish the flames from her attack.
Preparing to go home, Kiefer undid all the enhancements and suddenly fell to the ground, as if being crushed by his own weight. He could barely use his arms to sit back up. He had gotten so used to the enhanced strength that he had not been prepared to support himself without the enhancement. Keeping this in mind, Kiefer took a break and enjoyed the distant sunset with Shearwood, before heading back toward the city for the night.
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Was eager to update and finished this during my lunch break at work. anyways thank you all for reading and for finally hitting triple digits in followers. I hope you guys will stay with me for the foreseeable future.
Next Chapter: The blacksmith and the Library.
Side chapter coming up soon: Kiefer's notes
PS: does anyone here know how to draw or use photoshop? i tried drawing a picture of the map of Aioa on MSPaint but it came out horribly disfigured, ending my future aspect as an artist forever.