Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.01.04]
The landscape was passing slowly by as their caravan moved through the snow-covered roads. The half-frozen sea to their left was an exceptional eye-catcher. The slush—formed by the ice floes grinding against each other on the border between the unmoving ice and sea waves, some ways away from the beach—was undulating wildly thanks to the high waves that visited the shore this morning. The sound of the waves would be deafening if not for the nicely muffled cabin that they were using.
Of course, the ice covering the waters wasn’t smooth like it was on Earth. Mana was visibly influencing the shape of the crystalline structures of ice, just like with the snowflakes. As a result, the ice near the beach was forming all kinds of strange shapes instead of staying smooth, flat surface. The uneven terrain was then covered by the spherical snowflakes brought by the wind, adding to the confusion but also forming quite a mesmerizing landscape of blue crystals sticking out of a fluffy, white covering.
The visuals were quite breathtaking. The rays of the morning sun were reflecting from everything, glittering in the air magnificently as their wagon moved along.
The weather was perfect for travel, too. The strong continental wind couldn’t be felt inside the carriages, but it dried the air and scattered the clouds quite nicely. If not for the still-dropping temperatures, Zeph would be walking beside the long line of wagons instead of sitting uselessly inside of one of them.
But he could feel the chill even inside of their carriage. The merchants that they accompanied weren’t wealthy enough to install full insulation in each of the wagons.
As for what they were doing in this caravan, they were working as bodyguards who would also occasionally scan the vicinity – using Spells and manual inspection alike. It became a standard practice for merchants and mercenaries after the news of the beast horde and the fall of the Eblelta city.
Initially, Zeph and Makani planned to travel on their own, probably using a rented carriage, but because Zeph was so slow with advancing his General Skill, they had to find a faster way to travel to their destination.
As for the Skill itself, nothing interesting showed up. Just a suspiciously normal, everyday notification.
Conditions met!
Congratulations!
[Ambient Mana Channeling] is now [Tier 2] [Level 1]! (+1)
[Ambient Mana] [General Skill] is now [T1] [ L80]! (+13)
It was simple and straightforward, which was exactly the reason for Zeph’s belief that he somehow managed to simultaneously exceed and fail the System’s expectations. Normally, the notification should inform him that the Skill managed to stay unspecialized. On the other hand, the Skill’s name didn’t change – and it should in the case of specialization or downgrading. He could ask the System directly, but it didn’t really matter to him, as without upgrading the material making his Source Net, he had no hope of successfully implementing any of the more advanced techniques, whatever they could be.
He also didn’t want to incur System’s anger. Knowing them, the notification doubled as the test of his resolve. He did promise to not use this communication channel without reason, after all.
But no, he wouldn’t go that far for nothing. The sheer fact that he could use his armor to influence his contamination was enough. The rest would come with time; there was no need to rush. He had a hard enough time to reach Tier 2 in the Skill as it was.
“Are you going to slack off for the whole trip?” came a rude comment from Makani. Lately, he was constantly nagging Zeph to read his new Skills.
Zeph frowned. “How many times do I have to explain it? Men need their silent time!” he spat, not even turning to his fellow passenger.
Besides, he thought, I am working hard enough. It’s not like I can learn that bullshit in a few days…
‘Enchanting’ fighting style, advanced ‘Ambient Mana channeling’, studying the Spellforms enchanted on the Cube, learning from Gru about using Veil to cast Matrix Spells and hide his Soul presence… It was simply too much to learn at once. Even if he wanted, there was no way to master all of those techniques during the trip. And reading from Skills wasn’t fast - he would have been using them much more often otherwise. Instead, he relied on reading books and training with people.
The thought of delving into the Soul memories integrated into the General Skills gave him cold shivers, too. They were generalized. Simplified. Stripped from everything that could be considered a direct context or action. A bland soup of experiences and information that had to be analyzed and interpreted at each step.
Normally, he wouldn’t be able to even notice this. Better yet, he was used to reading General Skills for months on end. Back on his peak in the Torrent mountains, he was doing just that. But after he developed the Soul-memory sharing method with Gru, he discovered that he was positively disgusted with the General Skills and their foggy contents. Their communication was incomparably clearer and faster. Reading from General Skills seemed almost like looking at the world without glasses while additionally having a really bad case of a cataract.
Also, he wouldn’t get any Skill levels or instant proficiency boost from simply reading them. Not until he tried to implement the learned techniques in real life.
“You are wasting time.” Makani sighed tiredly. “Just start working on them already and be done with it. We don’t have much time until the Duels…”
“I am still acclimating, okay? And I am quite tired, so maybe give me time to recover somewhat? You are behaving worse than Aisha during training,” Zeph commented, glaring back at him.
It seemed that his comment actually hit a bull’s eye and stung quite a bit. At least going by Makani’s grimace.
“Just… well, you do you. But if you are going to complain about being tired, maybe you should go to sleep instead of... looking blankly at the landscape.”
Zeph shrugged and peered out of the window once again. “I need peace of mind, not sleep. Don’t worry that much. Right now, my level is what limits me the most. I would rather go into the forest while focused.”
A heavy sigh was his only answer.
It was around midnight of the previous day when the notification acknowledging the development of his AMC Skill arrived, and he still spent some time reading from the Skill after that. Three, or so, hours of sleep weren’t ideal, but he could manage thanks to the Willforce Morphon.
It was all thanks to the break that morning, too. His Skill’s development, that is. Of course, speaking about their travel plans wasn’t exactly a definition of a good rest, but it was nothing in comparison to the effort he was putting in during internal Mana Manipulation of that level.
Anyway, that small break did wonders for his mental state. When he renewed his exercises, he felt as if a backpack full of supplies had dropped from his shoulders. The unexpected lightness in his body, metaphorically speaking, was just as thrilling as it was necessary for the successful execution.
Although the internal Mana manipulation didn’t become easier in any measure, he had felt like his mental muscles were freed from the stress that weighed them down before. He started to respect the balanced style of life, so to speak.
It was enough to start applying a new trick to bypass the inabilities of his body. A trick that was, actually, Makani’s idea.
Instead of pumping the Ambient Mana into his muscles directly, he forced his internal Mana to leave his bloodstream. The idea wasn’t about cycling the Ambient Mana directly from the blood vessels but to firstly spread it around his whole body instead of using one, focal point to use the technique.
It was easier said than done, though. It took him an awful lot of time to even minimally decrease the density of his Mana in the major blood vessels. However, the process of cycling the Ambient Mana could be simplified thanks to that, as he was using all Soul links at the same time and in the same capacity instead of funneling everything through a few chosen ones. The efficiency was horrible, but the overall amount of Ambient Mana entering his Soul was enough to influence his progress.
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The most important detail, though, was that this method was actually usable for the Fullerene-Magicules forming inside of his armor. His armor was covering his whole body, after all. He also hoped that after mastering the technique, the efficiency would rise even more thanks to the Phleya that was now present in the armor, in his body, and in Gru’s appendages. It should be possible, theoretically, because the Soul-linked organisms were very good at conducting their host’s Mana and Magicules.
But it could as well be a dead end. He expected the Phleya to evolve into something capable of a thought. In that case, their Soul-link would change into a Soul-bond as the colony would develop its own Will and Soul. In this regard, a Soul-bond worked differently from a Soul-link, mainly because the entity would then start to generate its own Mana.
But that was a problem for the future Zeph.
As he reflected on the past, a heavily equipped horse rider passed them suddenly, knocking on the carriage’s wall. Because Zeph was already looking out of the window, he could easily spot the flag pinned to the pole on their back. Sadly, he wasn’t learned in the flag-signals of the caravan.
Looking back at Makani with excitement, he started to rub his hands together. “You better instruct me well, teacher!” he said enthusiastically.
Makani just rolled his eyes.
“Thirty minutes until the next village. Five hours of leisure time!” their coachman shouted through the wall.
~~~
Zeph jumped down from their wagon, his weapons at the ready. It was their first stop after leaving the city. They were to scout the vicinity, as per contract with the mercenary lodge.
A perfect time to test his newly-studied Force Beam Spell’s variants.
As Makani was slowly stepping down the wooden stairs behind him, Zeph looked around to orient himself.
The village wasn’t anything new to him. The same simple, half-stone buildings with the floor heating – recognizable by the smoke coming from the underground furnaces and the vents that were placed some ways away from the houses themselves. The buildings were packed more closely than normally, though. Probably because it was a fishing village, as could be recognized by the wooden piers covered in ice that were populating the coast nearby.
It was the start of the winter, so no boats or nets were in plain sight, but Zeph could see quite a few of strange contraptions resembling the wind-powered walking constructs from the Earth. They were, of course, much simpler in structure. Instead of mutinously formed legs, they had just a bunch of thick sticks pointed downwards and peculiarly affixed to the wooden disks. Those discs were all connected by the ropes to rotate together as the contraptions moved.
The connection points between the sticks and the disks should, theoretically, force the ‘legs’ to stay more or less vertical. But going by the metal, spring-like attachments that surrounded them, it wasn’t that simple. Also, each contraption had a platform at the top that was resembling a flattened-out boat.
Oh, right, he realized, looking at the sea once again. The erratic shape of the ice means that they cannot use sleds, skates, or skis. Are those legs set loose on purpose? he analyzed, scratching the armored chin of his helmet. Why are those vehicles even created? I am quite sure there shouldn’t be any fish in the sea near the shore at this time… Or are they? A blowhole on a lake is a normal thing on Earth, maybe it’s similar here? Those don’t seem to be able to float very well. Or take much weight, for that matter…
“What are you looking at?” Makani asked from behind, looking around. “Those are just ice walkers. Nothing special.”
Zeph shook his head. “Sorry, I was just wondering why there is a boat at the top. And why it doesn’t seem to be able to lift much.”
Before Makani could answer, an unfamiliar female voice called from their right. “For safety.” He turned and saw one of the main guards of the caravan, as recognizable by their heavy, black armor that was partially hidden under a white cloak. The logo of the organization present on their shoulders was also a good give-away, but it was hard to notice. “The algae they are collecting goes through the tubes they are setting up under the ice. They burden their rafts with nothin’ but wooden tubes and replacement parts.”
“La-Garfer,” Makani welcomed the woman, nodding at the newcomer. Zeph did the same. “You need us for something?”
“No, no,” she shook her head slightly. “I am here to inform you that you will have to change the wagons. This one, along with three others, will stay in this village. The people need much more processed iron than we anticipated.”
Zeph sent Makani a questioning look. He was quite sure that the man didn’t notice because of the light reflecting from his helmet, though. It was hard to see through the glass-like face cover if it was too bright outside.
The same couldn’t be said about Makani, who was visibly grimacing. His face was fully in the open and only his waving robes suggested a number of Mana-related shenanigans keeping him warm. P’pfel and Ghrughah did a good job.
“The public wagon?” he asked.
“Number three, yes. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” She said, actually bowing to them, to Zeph’s surprise.
“Can’t we use the roofs?” Makani continued, massaging his eyes.
“Sorry, but those are already occupied.” She said, straightening up. “We know it will greatly decrease your effectiveness, but the road ahead is considered safe.”
Makani groaned. “The pay?”
She shrugged. “As per contract.”
Decreased, Zeph thought. They are merchants alight, he snickered. That would be a problem, though…
“Can we go ahead?” he asked in hopes of salvaging the situation. Traveling with so many people in one carriage would render his Cube training impossible. He wasn’t going to show it to anyone until he finished the final version; with no exceptions. Aisha didn’t even have to beat it into his thick skull for him to understand how such a mishap could end up.
Worse yet, besides learning the new Force Beam Spell variants from the Cube, only testing those Spells was higher on his To-Do list. His training time would be stripped from him just like that.
The woman was deep in thought for some time before giving her verdict. “That… would require us to adjust the pay accordingly…. Also, we will stay here for the night. That is two whole days without a proper payment for you…”
“Bah!” Makani caught the bait. “Just leave us alone! We aren’t going with you to earn money, either wa—”
“Perfect!”
Zeph facepalmed. Or tried to. Gripping the glass-like visor of his helmet couldn’t give the gesture the justice it deserved.
As expected, when he looked up the woman was already running away. “See you at the next stop!” she shouted, waving her hand at them.
Zeph sighed depressingly while Makani stood still in shock.
“Did she just…”
“Yes. Yes, she did…”
~~~
“Can you explain to me…” Zeph started, once again finishing his Force Beam Spell – the piercing version. The low groan of the tree showed that the Spell was able to penetrate its frozen structure. For the third time. “Why are they leaving this wagon in the village again?”
The three started to slowly bend forward – right at the small ravine that stood in their way. It seemed that this time, he would be able to make an improvised bridge for them. Thankfully, this time they also remembered to shake off the snow from the branches before starting. It was a big mistake not to do that on the overgrown trees beforehand.
Makani turned his head in his direction, pausing his Sound Spell. Well, probably a Sound Spell – it wasn’t possible to tell and right now Makani had a much richer repertoire of unknown utility Spells. “Because that’s how the people here are working their logistics.” He started with a lifeless voice. “A wagon or two would be left behind in each village, selling the merchandise, while the caravan would move forward. Of course, there is more than just one caravan traveling each route. The ones returning have their own guards. They would take those wagons back to the city. The bureaucracy and logistics behind all these are dealt with in the city itself… Anyway, are you going to fell that tree or not?”
Indeed, the tree stopped halfway on its way to the other side.
“Don’t rush me!” Zeph warned, while constructing a Force Wave Spell, modified to encompass the tree’s tilt to the left in one swoop. “Or do you want it to fall into the ravine, like the previous five? Anyway, if you knew that much, why didn’t you see the trap?!”
“I was distracted! Happens to everyone!” He shouted. “Not like we had much say in the matter, anyway…” he muttered.
“I am quite sure we could at least get a renumeration. It was their mistake, not ours. You ju—”
“Fangrag at five, at least two boats away,” Makani interrupted him.
With a sigh, Zeph stopped his current Spell and turned. Then, he sent a long Mana-L ‘undulating’ tendril—the variation of what he used with the Kinetic Medium during the Zombie attack—in the direction Makani indicated. Thankfully, Mana-L was dense enough to bounce off of solid matter if it only glanced the surface, so he only had to abandon three parts after the tendril collided with the trees frontally. The septae in the internal structure really helped in keeping the Force-Magicules inside, despite the external damage to the ‘pipe’.
After it reached the estimated distance, he pushed one-tenth of his Veil through the Mana-L and quickly constructed a Flash Spell at the other end. Another technique he was trying to master – forming Mana tendril longer than normally possible and forming his Spells out of his sight.
A distant roar was all the clue he needed to know. It wasn’t the first beast he had to scare away. Normally, he would try to hunt them instead but not only they didn’t have time, but it was impossible to actually sell any part of the animals to anyone. It would be just a waste of time and resources. And, most importantly, he was here to train. The plateau of the High Peak of Brenn would be a much better place to gain levels.
“Running away…” Makani confirmed after concentrating for a moment.
“You were saying?” Zeph asked, turning to the stubborn tree. It stopped falling halfway, somehow. How is that even working? Die already!
“Hah… can’t you give me some slack? I wasn’t expecting… that…”
“No slack giventh. You should know better,” Zeph said, reconstructing the re-shaped Force Weave. “We are going to travel through the night—through the worst snowdrifts, mind you—and not be paid a bronze for it. You owe me a good bottle of alcohol after all this!”
He finally released the Spell, allowing it to push the upper part of the stupid plant, directing it straight at the ravine…
=========Theron Nalani PoV=========
His heavy breaths formed small clouds as he sped through the forest. The crunching sound of the snow under his fast steps was the more irritable the more he listened to it.
The shadows in the forest started to evolve into a full-blown curtain of darkness long ago, but with Theron’s abilities, it was merely an annoyance, yet a decent cover.
But none of that mattered.
He had found them. Finally.
Much later than he would have liked to, but it was a predictable outcome. Makani Borre was well respected in his Tower. Theron was actually more surprised that Borre didn’t use better methods to conceal their escapade.
Although, he couldn’t find anything in the lodges of the local mercenary groups, so maybe Borre did his job properly. It was hard to tell.
He tripped on something and almost hit a tree. After a spin and a few steps, he started to speed up again.
He could almost feel the dark bags under his eyes weighing on his eyelids. In the last three days, he slept for three hours at most. And yet, he wouldn’t be sleeping for a few more days as he sped through the wilderness to catch his quarry.
But that didn’t matter much. He would just find a caravan in the closest village and hide in their luggage. Then, he could sleep, knowing that he wouldn’t lose ground. There was only one realistically possible destination for two Manacasters, after all. Well, in the timeframe they had, at least.
He smiled slightly, hastening his already wild dash through the dark, cold woods.
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