Henry asserted that he knew which direction they should be traveling, just not for how long. This was good news to Carl as he’d previously had no idea where he was going, but he’d happened to be traveling in the same direction anyway.

The revelation that magic was real in this world was as shocking to Carl as anything. Spells, monsters, flying horses, everything.

“Can I learn magic? Does everyone have it?” asked Carl enthusiastically. He’d been peppering Henry with nonstop questions for about five minutes.

“Yes and yes, but you are a strange case and my knowledge about realmwalkers is limited.” He paused to think, “There are few cases of realmwalkers, but I’m pretty sure they’ve all developed the ability to use magic. There have been some instances where your kind developed special abilities of their own. We should test your aptitude when we get back.”

“Why not right now?” Carl asked.

“Look around mate, you’re gonna need all the energy you can muster.”

“Wait, can’t you just do some abracadabra stuff and fly us there or something?”

“What’s abracadabra? And no I can’t.” He tapped the metal collar on his neck. “Suppression Collar. It uses the properties of ardstone to suppress magic auras. You need a special key or a blacksmith to remove this.”

“Dang, you’re pretty useless, Henry.”

“That’s what my dad says,” he chuckled.

The journey ahead of them looked rough, and it looked to be midafternoon. Nightfall, Henry warned him, was dangerous. The area they were in was called Sarvia and it was known for its nighttime crawlers. That meant weak but numerous monsters would begin crawling around at night.

Carl eyed the sand underneath him and decided that he didn’t like the sound of it one bit. He shuffled to catch up to Henry who was still trudging along.

“How much time do we have before the creepy-crawlies start showing up?” Carl asked, trying to put his nerves at ease.

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“About an hour after sunset, give or take thirty minutes. If we don’t see the edge of Sandridge by sunset, it’ll be pretty tight. And that’s given that we’re headed in the right direction.”

“How do you know we’re going in the right direction?”

“I was kidnapped from a city a little to the north of Sandridge, but they took me through this town. I couldn’t see much through the hood they threw on me, but I tracked the direction of the sun.”

“Ah, are we gonna die?”

“Probably,” Henry said nonplussed.

“Cool.”

The next few hours felt like days as the sun hammered down on them and their feet grew more and more calloused. Their tracks extended for miles and they still saw no sign of a town.

Carl turned to Henry as they sat in the shade of a dune’s crest. They’d spared themselves five minutes of respite to catch their breath and Carl had convinced Henry to teach him a little bit of magic theory.

“Magic is divided into many different paths, we call them focuses. Magic is inherent in every single person, it’s only a matter of concentration and effort to awaken it. Pure magic presents itself as an aura, and if you haven’t broken through by the age of eighteen, you’re likely never to truly awaken it. There have been some cases of late bloomers, but those are becoming exceedingly rare. Something to do with the diminishing magic the Adventurer’s Guild keeps going on about.”

“How do you awaken your aura?” Carl asked. He was excited to try magic himself but also weary of the energy Henry had told him it would consume.

“Usually, all it takes is meditation and physical training. An open mind is the key to awakening. It takes the average human years to accomplish it, although elves, among the celestial races, never have to try. They never awaken because they’re born with magic. Something about their souls being more attuned with celestial forces. It’s a point of pride for them.” Henry trailed off as if struck by a sour memory. “But back to your question, meditation is the most fundamental step to ascending the ranks of power, those being bronze, silver, gold, diamond, jade, and lumen. Most people get stuck at silver, and gold becomes a pipe dream”

“Looks like I’ve got some hard work ahead of me.”

“Eager much?”

“Very. I’m sick of being told what to do by society. My old world was filled with oppressive power structures. Ethics is a privilege of the wealthy and the lower classes suffer for it. I’m ready for a world based on merit.”

“Well, there’re still many power hierarchies on Cistern. There’s kings and aristocrats and guilds which are always trying for political power.”

“But at least there’s a clear path to success through the ranking system, right?

“Oh definitely. At diamond rank, you could ask for anything within reason and have it brought to you on a platter.” He continued, “Although during the monster influxes, which happen roughly every four years, privileges are restricted and social duty is of utmost importance.”

Carl nodded in understanding and stood up to view his surroundings.

“We should get moving again,” Henry said.

Carl sighed, “I feel like Lawrence of Arabia.”

“Who?”

“Someone really cool.”