Things weren't much different after Kata had joined the caravan.

People didn’t act differently, a little more relieved to have a fourth cultivator on the caravan again maybe, but not overly different. Liam hadn’t talked with her since then. He hadn’t even seen her much.

The biggest change occurred a few days later when Liam did his training behind a small hill they had settled their caravan against for the night.

He hadn't stopped the habit since he and Marten had their falling out. For the last week, he had simply gotten up early anyway and found a reclusive spot where he went through the physical torture on his own.

Only it wasn't physical torture anymore, in fact, Liam had grown to quite enjoy it. After the Trake incident, he had not trusted himself with practicing his mana abilities anymore.

Well at least not during the daytime hours, he couldn't quite stop himself from at least working a little on his levitation during his kata. He figured no one would be alive at that hour of the morning anyway.

He was running through one of the movements that used to make his head spin and back ache while moving a small stone around him with [Gravity Manipulation].

Since he had passed the tenth level, things had gotten a lot smoother for Liam with the skill. Smooth enough that he didn't even need to concentrate too much on which threads to pull any more, just his general intention toward the objects was enough.

It meant he had more time to devout to the notification he had been pushing away since he had leveled his [Gravity Manipulation] to level 10, right after his fight with Trake.

It seemed he had broken through some kind of threshold, since the message he had gotten seemed pretty special.

“Congratulations on breaking through level 10.”

“By pushing your skill to that level, you have reached a crossroads!”

“Choose along which road to continue:”

“Eye of the Storm - Become the unmoving center.”

“Ranged Specialist - The world lies in your grasp.”

“Juggler - Not just in one, but in many.”

All of the skills only came with their cryptic descriptions. Their vaguity was the reason Liam had trusted himself to decide yet.

Well and also the fact that a lot of other things had been going on. With that woman from the mysterious rebellion finding him and Bilby’s paranoia still ringing through the caravan after the incident with Trake.

His training was the only moment in which he could relax. He just sunk into the movements and flowed through them repetitiously. His mind could go fully blank, making him feel free and at peace.

“That movement looks like you stepped in donkeyshit and are trying to whip it off.”

Liam stopped abruptly.

“I admire that you kept at it in my absence,” the voice was full of amusement. “But you clearly could use some pointers.”

As he turned around, Liam was not even surprised it was Marten standing there. The man leaned against the wall of the hill. A pang of guilt and embarrassment flashed through Liam, followed by elation.

Then he saw the shadows under the man’s eyes and his slightly paler skin. He was about to ask Marten about it but decided it was better not to.

“It’s nice weather for a morning walk isn’t it?”

“Well especially because of its interesting and amusing sights. How long have you been at it?”

“I’m just about to finish.”

“Already?” Marten chuckled weakly. “That’s cute. I’m a little honored that you chose to follow my wrong and misguided training even in my absence. Was it really just the spirit of its hardness that scared you away?”

Liam blushed a little.

“I’m sorry for the things I said,” he took a few steps towards Marten. “Most of them I didn’t mean and all of them were uncalled for. I know I can be a little reckless sometimes.”

Marten waved him off. “You gave me contra, not a lot of people do that. Makes you braver than half the caravan here. And to add to that you were in the right. Maybe I have grown a little too accustomed to only caring about myself. Protecting others is a good sentiment, one I should never have scolded you for.”

“Doesn’t change the things I said,” Liam answered. “Your training was what saved my life against Trake. There’s just something about it that makes me feel so weak.”

“Weak?” Marten snorted. “Liam, you're everything but weak. You have left your city behind in pursuit of power, you have joined one of the most dangerous jobs there are and you have fought a cultivator years more advanced than you head-on. You’re anything but weak.”

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Liam didn’t know what to say for a moment. Marten smiled at him. Finally, “Would you… would you train me again? I think I’m ready for the next kata now.”

Marten chuckled again, for the first time with more force behind it.

“Your patience hasn’t changed. With what I just saw, I think we will first spend quite some time tidying things up again, you have developed quite a few bad habits.”

Liam sighed. “Fine, that's fair.”

“But first off, tell me about that mysterious cultivator woman who joined our caravan.”

“What should I know about her?”

“Please Liam, I have been with you long enough now to see that a powerful cultivator joining us out of nowhere is somehow related to you. I think you can’t help it to stay out of these things.”

Katarina hadn’t explicitly told Liam not to mention her true nature of joining them. Partly because it felt a little weird to think about it. But still, Liam didn’t want to alienate her by just spilling her secrets around.

He told Marten she had joined because she had felt Liam’s signature in the city, and had felt something odd about it. There Liam had asked her to become his mentor since Marten was not there at the moment. Out of that reason, and because Blue had offered better pay, she had joined.

It felt a little embarrassing to tell a lie in which it seemed like he had run off looking for the next best mentor after Marten had ditched him. Although it wasn’t that far off from the truth.

He saw Marten’s face darken a little when he told that, but after his reassurances that she had declined anyway, he was back to normal.

He felt a little bad not just for the lie, but also for his behavior. Still, it was probably a good idea to stay on Katarina’s good side.

Since then they had resumed their training like they had never left it off.

The wagon bumped over the uneven road, making the glasses on the table clicker.

Ever since they left the Great Eastern Plateau behind the roads were getting bumpier. The Plateau, which bordered directly against Charville, was also commonly called ‘The Big Nothingness’. A title that described its state rather well.

Other than the few towns scattered among it, it was mostly barren and empty of any real civilization. Despite all of that, it was still better maintained than the Wilderness they were entering now.

There were no roads anymore. Most of the paths they took were simply slightly flattened grass, marked by caravan wagons or animals passing through. And towns had grown even sparser.

“Ace and Seven,” Barney put down his hand with a grin. The burly man had a big grin on his face, more than partly influenced by the half-a-dozen empty bottles sitting in front of him.

Despite his fluid intake, he seemed confident,

“Queen and Four,” Fredrik, another worker from their table said and put down his cards in disappointment.

Liam sighed. “Three and Nine.”

He had learned a lot of new card games during his time in the caravan and had discovered to his surprise that he sucked at almost all of them.

He had his fair contact with card games back in Charville, but those had been different. Surprisingly enough the games he had played as a kid had been more about planning, strategy, and playing your hand right, whereas the games the workers were enjoying were mostly based on luck.

And if it came to luck, there was one of them who was always at the forefront.

“Two Kings,” Jerem said and put his cards down with a big grin. Immediately Bareny deflated and grudgingly pushed his small mountain of coins towards Jerem.

Liam looked at his own pile of coins, it had dwindled to almost nothing over the course of the afternoon. Luckily they usually redistributed the coins again after their games.

“Don’t take it so hard Barney,” Jerem said with a sly smile. “You can always buy yourself back into the game.”

“Agh I think I had enough of those games for a bit,” the burly man said and leaned back in his seat. “Aint like I got much more to lose.”

“If I drank the way you drink I wouldn’t have any coin to spare either,” Leopold joked from the front of the wagon.

All four of them turned towards the man in surprise. Their wagon driver didn’t speak often, a fact that Liam had learned during his first few days in the caravan, and when he did it was usually only to say the absolutely necessary. Liam hadn’t heard the man make a joke in all his time.

Even Barney was too stunned to counter.

“What got you in such a good mood Leopold?” Liam asked, being the first to recover.

The man shrugged. “Simply is turning out to be a nice day, it is.”

“That is true,” Liam agreed.

“There are days to be thankful boys,” the old man continued from the front of the cart. “The weather is good, and you're out and free and about. Enjoy your youth while you have it.”

“What a word,” Barney said, raising his drink. Liam couldn’t help but join, hearing Leopold in such a good mood simply lifted his spirits along.

They continued chatting for a bit when a loud bang ripped through their laughter and shook their wagon.

There was the sound of a big explosion, followed by shouting and a deep roar. All the men on the table froze immediately and Liam could feel his stomach drop. What was happening?

Their wagon came to a lurching halt immediately and Liam was the first one who sprinted to the rear exit of their wagon. He looked around and saw the other wagons had pulled to a stop as well, people were running around in panic.

“What’s going on?” Liam screamed at a worker he knew from the stables.

“Monster attack,” the man pointed to the front of the wagon. “Some beast attacked.”

Without waiting for another reply from Liam, the man continued to run back to his wagon.

Liam was about to jump down from the ledge of their wagon when he found a hand on his shoulder.

“We should stay here,” Jerem said calmly. “It’s safer.”

Liam frowned “But what if someone's hurt or they need help?”

“Listen to the boy,” Barney grunted. “Let the cultivators and mercenaries take care of that.”

The others at the table nodded, albeit uncomfortable.

Liam faltered for a second. He supposed they were right, there were lots of people more capable than Liam to help.

Another scream rang out. Freezing Liam’s blood. That wasn’t a scream of panic or alarm. That was a scream of hurt. He had heard his fair share of those on the streets of Charville.

Without waiting for another moment Liam hopped down and darted off to the front of the wagon.

“That boy has a knack for trouble,” Barney sighed.

“Shouldn’t we go after him?” Jerem asked.

“Nah, the mercenaries will keep him safe.”

Jerem looked between the men at the table and the wagon's rear exit conflicted. “So much for a nice day,” he sighed.