It only took me a few minutes to get ready for our explorations of Colkirk. A dark shirt, thick pants, and traveling boots, all of high quality without being too formal. I debated for a moment on bringing a weapon, but decided against it. Crowds and guards should work well to keep us safe, and I still had magic on my side. If all of that was not enough to keep me alive, I doubted that my sword-staff would make a difference.

Stepping outside of my room, I saw both Leon and Sophia dressed in beautiful embroidered clothing, and I paused before glancing down the hallway.

"Could you give me a moment, sir?" I said, walking away from them and casting out my mana senses as I moved. The input of different signatures was uncomfortable, but after a few seconds, I found the now-familiar water mana of Simon. Stopping in front of one door near the end of the hallway and knocking sharply on the wooden surface, Simon opened it and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Vayne! How did you know this was my room?" he said, tilting his head to one side and staring at me.

"I asked the innkeeper. Regardless, I wanted to see if you would like to come with us. We are headed out to explore Colkirk, and you are more than welcome to join us." I said, smiling at him.

Simon blinked several times, before a broad grin crossed his face and he nodded rapidly.

"That sounds like fun! And if I made friends with the Esttons, my father would be thrilled. I'm sure their father buys a small fortune of enchantments and alchemic mixtures a year." he muttered, the slightest hint of a greedy smile on his face.

I chuckled, shaking my head before gesturing down the hallway, and together we rejoined the Esttons. Leon and Simon were familiar with one another from Magic Beasts, and Sophia gave a small nod to Simon in greetings. I had forgotten to warn Simon that Sophia was even quieter and more withdrawn than me.

"Alright, a drink first, and then we head out! I'm parched from our riding today, and I could use a cold mug of ale." Leon said with a grin, turning and walking down the stairs

We followed him down to the main room and onto the deck, where several nobles were already well into joining the party there. Leon approached the bar, ordering drinks for all of us and placing down a half dozen gold pieces for payment. My stomach turned, knowing that he had just casually spent the income even a skilled commoner would work a week to earn.

I took a small sip of my drink, the sweet honey taste of the ale a pleasant surprise compared to what I expected. It was undoubtedly a step up from the swill I usually drank, though I doubted it was worth an entire gold coin. Internally, I shrugged, deciding that since it was not my money, I should enjoy the drink and not overthink it.

"Estton! There you are! I was worried you'd skipped out on the festivities." a loud voice said, and I turned to see a man with dirty-blonde hair approaching us, several other nobles including Theo in tow.

A flicker of annoyance passed on Leon's face, before he turned and replied, "Nice to see you too, Flynn. We would not miss it for the world! Once we get to the border, and head into the wilds, we won't have any time for relaxation. Might as well make the most of it while we can."

Flynn tossed his head back and laughed before replying, "I couldn't agree more! The parties of Colkirk are legendary, and this is the first chance I've had to come here without my parents breathing down my neck. I plan to enjoy myself tonight! "

Chuckling, Leon nodded before turning to the rest of us and leading us to a table near the water. We sat there for several minutes, finishing our drinks and conversing.

"Who was that man?" I asked after several minutes, the slight buzz of my strong drink emboldening me.

Sighing, Leon replied, "Flynn's father is Duke Sion, the White Blade of the North, a rival of my fathers. Flynn sees me as something of a threat, I think, though I disagree. I would much rather be allies, and have both of our families prosper, but I doubt it will happen. Watch out for him, Vayne. I can do my best to protect you, but ultimately I can't be everywhere, and if he decided to come after you when I'm not around, there's not much I can do."

When it came down to it, I was just a commoner. A well-educated one but still low-born, which meant I was at the whims of a vindictive noble. And the son of a man like Duke Sion would likely share his vindictive and cruel nature.

Duke Sion was infamous for two things. The first was his prowess in battle, weaving powerful blades of light mana and slicing apart his enemies instantly. Idly, I wondered if my original self had designed my Aether blades after Duke Sion's style, but pushed that theory aside and focused on the more worrisome thing.

If the Duke was well known for his combat skills, he was even more infamous for his cruelty and vengeful nature. If even half the stories were true, he was a butcher who possessed a genuine sadistic streak and a love of violence and intimidation to get what he wanted. And he was known to challenge others to a duel on the smallest of insults. I would need to make sure I avoided Flynn, in case he shared his father's obsession with honor.

Finishing our drinks, we left the inn and began walking down the road, taking in the sights. If the streets were busy when we arrived, they were now packed, with hundreds milling along its length. The smells of food and alcohol wafted through the air, and I looked up to the sky, noting that the stars seemed brighter than usual.

Leon eventually came to a halt next to what looked like a sizeable square-shaped dock. Dozens of tables clustered the area, and I noticed with interest that each table had colored orbs on them, lying on cushions. At the table closest to us, one of the spheres floated in mid-air, with a yellow cloud of mana surrounding it.

"What is that?" I asked, glancing over to Leon for a response.

"It's a Colkirk game they call Dancing Spheres. You use mana to balance the glass orbs in the air. The longer you can manage it and the more orbs you can balance at once, the better. It's much harder than it sounds, and you have to be very careful with how much mana you use."

"Why is that?"

As if to answer my question, the man playing the game let out a swear as the orb he held up shattered into pieces. Shouts and cheers came from the gatherer observers, and I saw coins change hands.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"That's why. The orbs are extremely fragile, to the point where you can't touch them with your hands. Too much mana and they shatter, while too little and they won't lift off the cushion."

"Anyone else want to try? One gold buy-in and five to whoever can hold an orb for thirty seconds!" the man said, scanning the crowd with a smile.

Smiling at the rest of us, Leon stepped forward and sat down at the table, glancing over towards the large man running one of the games and placing a single coin onto the surface.

"Ahhh, another challenger. Good luck, kid." the man said with a smile before sliding an orb on a small cushion in front of Leon. Several people began chatting amongst each other as they watched, and I saw them lay coins down onto the table, likely as bets between them.

Leon's mana, a teal-colored energy, gathered around the orb, the tiniest wisps gathering under the glass and slowly lifting it into the air. I watched in interest as the ball shakily rose and stopped in mid-air. Seconds passed in a tense silence, and Leon's face was hard, his eyes staring at the sphere. Suddenly, the orb wobbled, and Leon gasped slightly, a surge of mana traveling from his body and shattering the ball.

"Ohh! Nice try, but you squeezed a hairsbreadth too hard. Better luck next time!" the man said, reaching forward and pocketing the coin.

Sighing, Leon rose with a chuckle before gesturing to the table.

"I went too low on my mana and overcompensated to keep it floating. Would any of you like to try? My treat," he said, glancing at us.

If I had not seen the Leon fail so quickly, I might feel tempted to try myself. But I doubted I would manage to hold it in place long enough, and did not want to waste gold on a useless attempt. To my surprise, Sophia nodded and sat down, placing a single coin on the table.

Much like Leon, her mana surrounded the orb and lifted it into the air, faster and more smoothly than her brother. It floated in place as the seconds ticked by, and unlike her brother, it remained still and unmoving. Ten seconds passed, then fifteen, and by twenty seconds, I was sure Sophia would succeed.

If I had not been using my mana sense to observe her, I would have missed it. As it was, I half thought I imagined things. A tiny wisp of energy crept through the table surface, nearly invisible and flowed up to the orb. A second later, a spiderweb of cracks appeared, and glass shards tumbled down.

"So close, but not quite! Keep practicing, and I'm sure you'll get it. Care to try again?"

Sophia shook her head, standing and rejoining us.

"Nice try, Sophia," Leon said with a smile, patting her shoulder.

She bit her lip, replying, "I almost had it. Next time."

Privately, I knew that as long as that man was running the table, people would rarely win the game. He likely let a mage win once in a while, but I was sure he was cheating to keep profits high. Not a bad idea, but it was effectively stealing, which I despised. I had no intention of getting involved, though I did note that the glass spheres may be a useful training tool for improving mana control.

Continuing on our way, we spent the next several hours traveling from bar to bar, eating and drinking as we went. At one place, we played a classic cup game, where a man placed a gold token underneath one of three mugs before shuffling them around. If you guessed which it was under, you won the coin. Despite my observant eyes, I failed at guessing correctly after four tries, and eventually gave up, though Leon spent a small fortune fruitlessly attempting over a dozen times.

At another bar, Simon "entertained" several visiting teenaged noblewomen with lengthy explanations of the finer points of distilling alcohol. It seems his brewing knowledge was not limited to just potions. Luckily for all of us, Leon intervened, and with his help, Simon was soon dancing with one of them, while Leon entertained the other, leaving Sophia and I alone.

"Would you care to dance?" I asked, mostly to try and break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen onto us. We were both quiet by nature, and without Leon there to break the tension, neither of us were comfortable starting a conversation.

She glanced at me with a raised eyebrow, taking a sip of her drink before giving the tiniest of smirks.

"No, thank you. I do not enjoy dancing much."

I chuckled at her words, nodding several times in agreement. Mentally, I wanted to thank her, though the silence still returned.

"Why did you come with us?" Sophia suddenly asked, looking at me and tilting her head to the side.

"Leon invited me, and I thought it might be fun to explore this city. I have only ever been to Volaris, and I wanted to see how this place compares."

"I meant on this trip," she replied.

"Oh...well, I thought it would be helpful. If we are going to be working together, it might be useful to become more familiar with one another." I answered, using my prepared response.

"I understand. But why the sudden interest in becoming friends with others? You were never a social person before, so why now?" she asked, turning to face me head-on.

"My time at the Academy has shown me that friendships are invaluable and that I need to learn to develop them. Speaking of which, Simon's family are skilled craftsmen. If I may be so bold, a trade alliance with his father may be lucrative." I answered, attempting to deflect the conversational topic away from myself and not bothering to reply that Girem made friendships with others impossible.

Before she could reply, Leon and Simon stumbled back over, sweat on their foreheads.

"This place is getting too stuffy for my tastes. Why don't we head back, and take a break?" Leon said, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt and letting out a contented sigh. Sophia glanced at me, and the unspoken message that our conversation was not over was clear.

Several minutes later, we sat in the inn's main room, on the uncovered part over the water, with mugs of ice-cold water on a table next to us. As the fresh air blew across my face, I looked up and said, "Those rain clouds are approaching quickly. We should probably head inside and take cover.'

Leon smiled and said, "No need. Elvor's spell does more than just keep the city warm, Vayne."

Looking back up, I watched in shock as the clouds began to drift around the cities boundaries. They curved around the edges of an invisible dome, rain bouncing off the shield hundreds of feet above our head.

"How is that possible? A city still needs water, for crops at least." I said, glancing at Simon.

For his part, he at least attempted to appear sober, and replied, "Elvor integrated all the same effects as his other agricultural spells into his final work. Crops are watered and cared for automatically, and weather is normalized to have a slight breeze at worst. The entire thing runs itself, without any input from outside sources."

"A spell like that should need direction, though. What makes this spell unique in that regard?" I asked, curious how it worked.

"No one is entirely sure how exactly it works. My uncle's theory is that since Elvor died casting it, some part of his soul carried into the spell itself, and what remains of the Archmagi controls the spell. A living will that directs its effects in the best possible way."

"What do you think?" I asked Simon, noting his skeptical tone.

Shrugging, Simon said, "Willpower is important for magic, and some remnant of his will may remain in the spell, but I think it's more a reflection of Elvor's skill. He was a brilliant man, and that this spell is something he spent fifty years of his life developing. If you consider that he was hundreds of times stronger than us, I think he could have designed and powered a spell capable of seemingly impossible things."

I felt a small thrill run through my body when I remembered that my original self had risen to that same level. Every Archmagi that I heard about was capable of what appeared to be miraculous feats of magic. And if I wanted to stop those invaders and live to explore the limits of magic, I would need to become better than any other mage in history.

When the moon was high in the air, and the party had mostly, though not wholly, ended, we all returned to our rooms for some much-needed rest. As I lay in bed, I decided that if I successfully saved Ferris, I would make it a point to purchase a home in this city. At the very least, it provided a relaxing first day to this trip, and a trend I would happily let continue if possible.

Yet, if the wildlands were as dangerous as I heard, this would likely be the last day I got to sleep peacefully.