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I looked at him.

“I just want to inform you of the date of our departure. I believe it will be in two days unless something unexpected happens. It would be best if you prepare,” he said after he got my attention.

“You ‘believe’?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” he answered, “I came to know that there’s a boat leaving for Caldris in two days that accepts passengers. I still have to contact the captain, so I will only be able to confirm tomorrow. I informed you now so that you could have more time to prepare, just in case you had some business to attend to in the city.”

“Mm, okay, thanks for the warning then. Why did you suddenly decide on a ship, though?” I asked curiously.

“I would have taken one sooner if I had found one in the villages we passed. It’s usually cheaper to travel by boat and, usually, people prefer that method if they can board one. If the ship has a water or wind mage, it could cost more, but we’d also travel much faster. I’ll have to talk to the captain and see,” he explained.

“Is it really that much faster to go on a boat?” I asked him.

“In nearly all cases,” he answered, “Traveling upriver may be one of the exceptions, depending on various factors. If the wind blows in the right direction, it’s not too problematic to travel upriver. Even if it doesn’t blow right behind the boat, the sails can still be used if the river is wide enough. Otherwise, the boat needs to either have oars or be towed by men or beasts. In the case of towing, or using oars, it could be even slower than going on foot.”

He stopped for a second to think.

“Both oars and sails are used up until here, from what I could see. Afterward, it will be mostly by oaring, so it could be slow-going depending on the condition of the river. If, instead, we have a water and wind mage it could speed up the travel greatly, but that would mostly depend on their Level and Skills. Some captains just employ a low-level mage to use in emergencies. It would also cost much more to get on the boat.”

I thought about it for a moment.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to just go on foot?” If oaring wasn’t going to be much faster, it was better to just walk there.

He crossed his arms and snorted.

“For you, maybe,” he said, giving me a strange look. “Even if someone had the same stamina as yours, not many would be willing to go through the trouble. I would certainly prefer to avoid walking in a mountainous terrain for the next few months.”

He lacks training, that’s the problem, I thought with a snort.

"Depending on the situation of the road it could be an extremely difficult endeavor," he continued, ignoring me, "There could be tolls to pay on bridges, and also on the roads at times, so costs could go up.

"Traveling on a boat is also safer, here. There are goblins and, though rarely, orcs that could attack us on the road — not to mention bandits. While it’s not impossible to have the boat attacked, as recent events proved, it’s definitely safer than going on foot.

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“It is also more in line with our cover story. Given that we fled the capital hurriedly we could be excused by using the road until now, but from now on we should take a boat if possible,” he told me.

Meh. I bet he’s just tired of walking. He was the boss, though, so I couldn’t complain too much.

I was also curious about traveling on a boat, so it’s not like I was against it.

“Fine,” I told him, “I don’t have much to prepare, so just tell me when we need to go.”

“Very well,” he said with a nod, apparently satisfied by my answer.

He then took a look around and said, “It’s getting late. I’ll take my leave now.”

“I’m coming too,” I said, finishing my drink and standing up.

We moved around the tables and walked towards the staircase. My gaze fell to a man holding a drink near the stairs. He had his head lowered looking at his glass, so I couldn’t see the face. It was rare seeing people sitting alone in a restaurant, but I soon dismissed it and walked past him.

“By the way, you should tell Freya about the date of our departure. While it’s almost assured that she will not have anything to say, it’s polite to let her know,” he said as we walked up the stairs.

I rolled my eyes. I always talked with her about things when I could, I didn’t need him to tell me.

“She’ll be asleep anyway, and I doubt she’ll wake up when we enter. We have some light training in the morning so just tell her tomorrow at lunch, if the captain accepts… Before she dozes off on the table,” I told him amused, remembering what happened the other day when she fell asleep on the table. I felt a bit reluctant to use the cream of my cake on her face, but I couldn’t resist, and it was worth it.

He snorted, “You should go a bit easier on her.”

“I’m already going easy,” I said as I reached the narrow hallway after him.

“Hmm,” he said, looking back with a dubious gaze.

He then continued walking on the empty corridor without saying anything.

It’s true, though, I thought with a shrug as I followed him.

Then I felt a hand on the left side of my back.

It was sudden and completely unexpected. I was pushed, almost gently, but fast enough I couldn’t react, against the wall on my right.

Not that I could have done anything even if I had time to react.

The hand on my back pinned me to the wall with so much strength that all the air left my lungs; it felt like a boulder was crushing me.

I had my right cheek pressed against the wall. I could see Zeph taking another step, a few meters ahead of me.

Everything happened in an instant, and more than the pain, it was the surprise that prevented me from acting right away. By the time I got my mind back a second later, and was about to lift my arms to push back, the hand left my back and I saw a man passing by me moving soundlessly towards Zeph.

I pushed myself off the wall and tried to warn him, but I couldn’t take in any air.

I took a step but for some reason, I staggered.

Zeph was about to turn back, probably noticing something, but it was already too late.

I didn’t see the man’s hand move, I just saw a faint blur and suddenly Zeph head was facing the wrong way. I couldn’t even hear the sound of his neck snapping.

The man grabbed his falling body by the twisted neck, holding it up.

I had no more time to care about what was happening, though.

My legs gave in as my sight began to darken. I was feeling a strange heat in my chest.

Leaning against the wall, and sliding down, I felt my Attributes kicking in and starting to consume my mana at a staggering rate, some clarity coming back to me as I hit the ground.

I knew I was about to die.

Pushing my concentration to the limit, I shut out everything else happening around me, focusing on the mana on my chest where I felt the strange heat, and then I saw the problem.

There was a thin sheet of mana constricting both my lungs and heart.

I attempted to use my own to tear it away, but it didn’t budge. My mana level was getting lower and lower as my attributes tried to keep me alive.

My thoughts were slowly slipping away; I knew I had no time.

Mustering all the concentration and willpower I had left, I gathered most of my mana in my chest, then grabbed that film of extraneous mana and tore at it.

Suddenly, whatever was keeping it together gave in and all the mana lost its shape, getting absorbed by my body.

Air entered my lungs again, but my heart wasn’t beating.

As my consciousness left me, in a desperate attempt to survive, I used the last of my willpower to give a jolt to my heart.

Then everything went dark.

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