Under Kairos’ advice, the others join in on his carriage. It is the only one that could hover and travel at high speed. The size within is wide enough to house everyone, including the servants and the captured knights, with room to spare.
The wagon train and Leo’s cart were all abandoned, but the goods they were carrying are kept with Kairos.
When he placed the produce into the antique Time-space ring, everyone stared at him with wide-eyes.
“An item box! As expected of a Class 9 Aura Master. You have magic great enough to create an Item Box spell!”
Kairos squinted but otherwise didn’t say anything. He had read about the Item Box spell from his studies. It is magic that Gaia do not have. Granted, with the convenience of Time-space rings, there wasn’t a need to develop such a spell.
The Item Box allows Circle 3 mages to store items in a tiny cubic-metre sized space, and with every increase in magic Circle, the space will increase ten-fold.
Circle 4 mages can control a space of ten cubic metres, while Circle 5 mages a hundred cubic metres, and so on.
Theoretically, Circle 9 mages can have Item Boxes of a million cubic metres, but to maintain such a space for a long period of time is actually nearly impossible.
The Item Box spell will require the mage to lock away a portion of their own mana circuits as upkeep, thus most spellcasters will use the bare minimum they need.
Kairos kept a whole wagon train of goods for the burly merchant, and whatever things that Leo Stout was peddling. An Item Box spell of this size requires at least Circle 5 mage to succeed, but only a Circle 7 mage’s strength or above would consider doing so.
The others can only look with amazement.
Magic is a highly alchemic field, only those with a lot of time and a burning passion could excel in it. Most Aura Knights and Aura Masters will only learn rudimentary spells to aid them in battle.
Even the heroes summoned from another world that have the elves’ natural magical aptitude seldom have their repertoire of spells.
However, if Kairos is a Class 9 Aura Master then it makes sense for him have the time to learn all kind of spells. His youthful looks only made the people around him all the more respectful. It is rare, but not impossible for geniuses of this level to appear.
Kairos know of this spell and understand what they are thinking but hardly reacted. Not only does he not know how to use the spell, he will rather use a Time-Space ring that does not take up any of his Mana Conduits.
It took them two more weeks on the road before they reach the borders between the Human and Dwarven Kingdoms.
During this time, although they had moved at the fastest possible speed they did not take the shortest path, but went through some unexpected routes.
The twists and turns avoided the hired swords sent out by the young man’s family and the search parties that are after Kairos.
Flying through the air with griffins meant that there wasn’t a mana trail for scrying spells to track, but they cannot avoid being seen with the naked eye.
It will only take a simple invisibility spell to give them cover, but Kairos does not know such magic. His stash does contain a couple of Invisibility spell crystals, though it will not last time as far as the Dwarven Kingdoms and will only raise alarms if anyone are searching for magic.
Stopping a safe distance from the checkpoint, Kairos had a grim expression.
He had expected an increase of soldiers, but didn’t expect the place to be crawling with them.
The unguarded areas are unsuited for them to cross as well. If they flew across from the air, there are mana mists that will tangle with them, identifying them as illegal aliens.
Not only will they be unable to enter the dwarven and gnomish cities, it will result in immediate deporting.
Kairos looked around and found there are lines of people on both sides, waiting to get across.
A light glowed in his eyes and he immediately turned back.
A little while later, their group found a few merchants on the road. There are three separate groups, but Kairos talked to each of them.
Soon they paid the merchants a hefty amount and their group split up and joined the three merchants.
Kairos’ carriage also transformed into a regular looking wagon and followed the last group.
The documents that will help them get through is easily purchasable. Most merchant keep several forged copies and fake identities which is useful if a hired sword forgot to bring their own.
With Kairos’ near-perfectly controlled handwriting, he easily ensured that all the forgeries are at pristine condition.
When they arrived at the checkpoint again, the group passed by without any problems at all. The soldiers are looking for Kairos and Relestia alone, as well as the burly merchant’s wagon train.
Not only do they not have any unregistered wagons, their group’s size is completely different from what the guards were told.
On the other side, Kairos once again paid the three merchant twice of what was given before.
For merchants, such a good trade was enough for a certain amount of risk. Besides, Kairos’ group have women and children, it felt like they were doing a good deed to help.
The initial sum given was enough to leave them with no reason to turn down, and the completion sum ensured they would do their best when being checked. Fortunately, merchants do not panic easily and it was a breeze to get through.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
After they left the borders for a good thirty minutes, all of them met up again. At this time, the disguise crystals finally faded. The burly merchant, his wife and children, as well as Leo Stout, Linda, Kairos and Relestia, they all turned back to their normal looks.
The servants had no need to use magic to conceal their identities while the captured knights had all been dropped at a hidden location near the border.
Kairos had used a sleeping crystal on them. By the time they wake and travel back on foot, it would’ve been months.
Now safe, they headed straight to the nearest town. Kairos bought a couple of steeds then brought them by a deserted area and fell a few trees. They watched him work quietly.
A few swipes with a borrowed blade and he debarked the logs. A simple spell he had been practicing for the past few nights drained the excess fluids from the logs and readied the materials he wanted.
In moments, he had sliced out planks, smoothened the wood, and properly nailed them together.
One, two, three, four, five wagons were made and less than half a day passed.
Another spell, the same one as before that allowed him to control fluids, evenly applied oils to the carriages.
Lastly, Kairos borrowed the strength of a scorching sun Magic Crystal and cured the lacquer in mere minutes.
These may be regular carriages without magic, but are all better than the ones discarded previously. They were in complete awe at his skills.
Relestia looked around like a curious kitten, marvelling at every small detail of the new cargo carriages, “Waa, this design is even better than the carriage you bought, Kai Kai!”
Kairos smiled but shook his head, “Tia, how can mine compare without magic enchantments?”
“No! I said Kai Kai’s design is better, so it is better!”
“Haha, alright my demanding princess. Whatever your highness says must be correct.”
“HEHEHE! Of course!”
Someone else who been observing carefully also commented, “Young master’s hands are indeed deft. We just need to bring these to a reputable enchanter and it will be worth its weight in gold.”
“Hah it’s almost comparable to the food he makes. I’m already looking forward to tonight.”
Kairos secretly mused with a slight grin that if master Siegfried and master Laksa heard this, they will be fighting the whole day. But, on the other hand, he would probably have to do weeks of extra carpentering if master Siegfried thinks his skills are dulling.
Kairos shivered uncontrollably.
“Huh? The day had barely turned and you’re hungry again?”
“It’s not my fault. Can you honestly say you won’t drool if you imagine what dishes the young master will make tonight?”
A few of the less disciplined people in the group started nodding in agreement, a few even wiped their lips.
Kairos smiled and gave everyone a new carriage and then he rolled up his sleeves, “Since everyone is already hungry, let’s have an early dinner.”
After that, the days returned to normal as they continued towards the biggest dwarven forge, the Blacken Soot City.
During the day, Kairos hunted with Leo and taught him how to prepare food.
At night, he wrote down the Laska’s knowledge. At his free time, Kairos studied about this world and practiced how to use his Aura and new spells.
The fluid control magic proved exceptional this time, and Kairos is convinced that magic will become a potent tool when mastered.
However, right now, his only source of guidance is Aisa and she only teaches him dragon magic of the Holy element.
His spells are grossly imbalanced with mostly Circle 9 magic.
To pick up magic, it mostly depends on himself to explore.
The spell books he gained from the Jarl’s treasury are not much help either. Not only the Human Kingdoms are inferior mages compared to the elves, the Jarl’s collection also do not contain beginner books.
For example, the fluid control spell he used to dry wood and apply lacquer was in fact a Circle 7 magic that could drain the blood of his enemies.
If the other mages heard of what Kairos used the spell for, they will shake their heads with dismal.
Without proper materials, Kairos turn his focus towards Aura.
Only the good thing in all these is his Ki-related abilities had to be sealed but there is still a path forward.
Each time Kairos used his inner energy, his injuries worsens. His wounds also meant that his Heaven Titan Physique is almost completely unusable, rendering his physical prowess to the likes of making a house or some carts.
Kairos must start exploring other fields. He determinedly sealed his actual Aura Class and Magic Circles.
Every step needs to start at the beginning to truly master. If he always depends on crushing firepower in fights, he will become unskilled.
Against weaker opponents it will be fine, but if he was to fight without Ki against someone like the Elf King Veritas or any of the summoned heroes after they matured, his odds of winning is near zero.
Starting from the beginning, Kairos considers himself a fresh Class 1 Aura master and Circle 1 Mage.
His advantage over the other newbies are his versatility to use all known magic and every type of Aura.
That, and his vast combat experience.
Besides training, Kairos also started brewing something as they travelled.
At night he will soak himself in it as the carriage travelled. That wasn’t all he brewed. Pots filled with strange liquids started appearing in the carriage as time passed.
No one said anything, thinking that it is the strange waters Kairos sleep in at night.
As the days passed, Kairos could feel his condition stabilising. His medical solution only assisted in his healing, while the main credit goes to Relestia. Her song a few days ago was the turning point. His aggravating wounds that was like a raging beast had started slumbering, giving him a chance to recover.
He estimates it will be six whole months before he regains half of his physical strength, and several years before he fully recovers. Of course, this estimation is made without the aid of spirit herbs and fruits.
After a month on the road, everyone already got close to everyone else. Only Kairos remains stoic, but the rest took it as part of his character and did not mind.
The only person that Kairos allow to hang around him all the time is Relestia, otherwise he prefers to bury his nose in books.
Despite being on the road, his daily schedule are packed to the brim. The results was also acceptable. Kairos had now practiced rudimentary Aura usage to the point he can control his release and retract with ease. His Chantless Incantation also improved from only using the shortened Sanctification spell chant to using any spells he learnt by chanting only its name.
If the summoned heroes heard about this, they would laugh their heads off since after a month, Kairos had not improved from Initial Mastery to the second stage: Basic Mastery. All he did was strengthening his foundation but it was enough for him to feel content.
Compared to normal human mages, his learning speed is considered above average. Even compared to summoned heroes, Kairos did not consider himself underperforming.
Chantless Incantation starts off with Initial Mastery, allowing one to use a shorter incantation at a-third of the usual spellpower.
At the second stage of Basic Mastery, one can unleash the spell without any incantation, but the strength is still kept at a-third.
Only at the third stage of Core Mastery will the magic increase in power to half of the usual strength.
At the fourth stage of Superior Mastery, the spellpower will increase to three-quarters of an incanted spell.
The final stage of Perfected Mastery, the spellpower will be between nine-tenth to full strength, although the latter is rare.
By now the summoned heroes should be between the second and third stage of Chantless Incantation. They can all instant cast any spell they learnt between a-third to half of the usual spellpower.
By the time he enters the second stage, every hero would’ve reached the third stage, and when he reaches Core Mastery, they will all have Superior Mastery.
However, most heroes only have two to four primary magic while he has an unlimited potential.
At the rate they are improving, Kairos is certain that he will have superior combat strength given the extensive number of spells he can wield. It will be magical strength that even the likes of Mary Waterhouse who has the divine magic of Nyx cannot compare. And this is considering that he do not use his Ki-arts and physical strength.
Kairos shook his head.
To achieve that is still months or even years away. Right now the number of Circle 1 spells he have in his belt is a flat zero. Besides, even if he can win a summoned hero in a one-on-one magic duel, the chances are the Jarls will send out all eight heroes to kill him.
“It seems that I must pay the elven lands a visit, soon.”