Sol didn't end up taking the book back to his cabin with him. The price was just way too high if he somehow lost the book and wasn't able to get his deposit back. Instead, he showed up the very next day to study up more on what he could possibly do to cultivate his magic.

It took hours of study and taking meticulous notes, but he eventually found something that looked like it could be a promising lead. One of the many books he had grabbed and skimmed through mentioned that the astral plane was the only known place that his exact combination of mana showed up in roughly equal amounts. That seemed like a terrible thing to find out, but in reality all it really changed was that he had to narrow his search on how he could possibly get mana from the astral plane to himself.

It usually required being at a stage of cultivation far, far above what he was at in order to enter the astral plane, but he didn't need to enter it. All he needed was to draw magic from it. With a new plan in mind, he set out from the city he had been in and headed for a larger city where he could hopefully find a better stocked library. He of course had needed to give Dawn a good cleaning before departing, which he did.

When he arrived at the next city, he didn't bother checking her into a stable, instead he placed her in a fenced off field for a much cheaper price which was paid to a farmer who was more than glad to accept the money.

When he searched through this library, he found a few more books that could be useful to him, and skimmed through them over the rest of the day. He found a few interesting bits of information, such as the fact that magic from the astral plane was known to alter anything it touched that was not attuned to it.

That was a bit unsettling to hear, but he was sure he would be fine. He would have to be, and if it did change him then see be it if it meant having a method to get stronger.

The most important information he learned here was that clerics pulled their magic from the divine layer, which was directly between the median and the astral layer. If they could pull from that layer, then he could potentially pull from even higher. The problem was that drawing from even one layer higher required learning rituals that took months of practice to consistently create. He could only imagine how complicated a ritual to pull from higher would be.

So he had a plan now. He would find the ritual to pull from the divine layer, and then find somebody who could modify it for him. The issue of payment would be something he would figure out when it became relevant.

This village also happened to have a talented blacksmith in it, so he bought two daggers while he was there. He would have bought shortswords like he preferred, but funds were still a bit tight. Maybe he could make some money if he found a village that liked gambling.

Sol mounted his horse once more before setting out for another city. This time, it wouldn't just be the closest one he could find, but the capital city for the region. Sol would bet a whole five gold that they had a magical library of some kind, or potentially even a church.

It was the dead of night, as Sol had already spent the entirety of the day with his face buried in a book. He used his dark sight vision to see in the dark, but Dawn was moving slower due to having more difficulty seeing the path ahead.

Sol pulled on Dawn's reins when he thought he spotted something in the distance. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at whatever it was. He saw several figures in black clothes surrounding a large lump on the ground. They had a torch, which illuminated their surroundings and made them slightly easier to see. He did a quick count, which totaled 4 figures in all.

Sol tied the saddle of his horse to a tree before beginning to creep up on the group. His daggers were already drawn, and he was quickly closing the distance as he was starting to make out what he was seeing better.

The big lump on the floor was a horse which had been shot with an arrow through the neck. It lay dead on the ground, and on further inspection had somebody with their leg pinned under it, likely from when they had been riding on the horse's back when it got shot.

He stopped a dozen feet from the group and just outside the glow of the torch. He crouched down to blend in, but it was so dark outside that they were highly unlikely to see him with just the dim flickering flame atop the torch.

“Just kill him.” One of the cloaked figures said. “Better than leaving him to suffer out here.”

“He’s just a lad.” One of the others said, clearly hesitant.

“I’ll do it.” a third figure said, drawing a sword from his hip and lining up to swing it at the young man pinned under the horse. The man was unconscious, so he wouldn’t even feel a thing. “Better this than him being able to recognize us in the future.”

Sol considered letting them kill him very briefly. He would likely be difficult to transport to any healers, or a city of any kind really. It was true that the lad would suffer greatly. He shook the thought from his head, ashamed that it had crossed his mind at all. Of course he had to do something.

He burst out from the darkness, delivering a smack to the temple of the attacker's head with the handle of his dagger. The man fell to the ground having been rendered unconscious by the blow.

The other three drew their weapons, but Sol spoke before any of them could attack. “What the hell are you three doing?” He asked, backing up to increase the distance between him and the many pointy weapons pointing his way.

“What does it look like?” The hooded figure who had suggested killing the boy said.

“Alright, that's what I thought.” Sol said, nodding his head. He had been worried he had horribly misread the situation and they were just trying to give mercy to a fallen comrade, but he clearly didn't have to worry about that being a possibility now.

The three rushed towards him, and he backed up even further as he looked for an opportunity to take one out at a time. After a few seconds, he saw his chance. He parried one swing of a sword and stabbed towards the attacker's stomach.

He almost felt surprised when he felt the blade sink deep into the man’s skin, having pierced his flimsy armor. This was the first time Sol had inflicted a true wound on anybody. In training he always just left bruises, but now he had drawn blood, and not an insignificant amount if the small puddle under the man was any indication.

The man stumbled back a few steps before backing up to try and stop the bleeding. Sol still had the other two to deal with, so he didn't let his focus slip for a moment. These two were smarter about their approach, knowing that his reach wasn't the best due to him using daggers.

They stayed just far enough to hit him with the end of their weapons while he couldn't quite reach them. He stepped back as he flipped one of the daggers in his hand, holding it by the tip of the blade. He pulled his arm back and over his head before swinging it down and throwing the dagger straight towards the closest of the two.

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The man stumbled back in surprise as he moved to block the dagger, but Sol used this opportunity to close the distance and create a large gash down the man's dominant arm, causing him to drop his sword. The last man also backed up, giving Sol a wary look before turning and running.

His two friends followed after him, leaving the unconscious man as the only bandit left. Sol decided to use some rope one of the other two had dropped to tie the man to the horse's reins. He also set one of his daggers next to the man so he could cut himself free when he woke up. Sol only tied the man up to give him time to react when the man woke up.

Sol decided that was a good time to check on the lad pinned under the horse. It wasn't a pretty sight, that was for sure. The man's leg was broken, and there was no sugar coating that. It had been crushed under the weight of the horse when it fell onto its side with the rider still on it. His right arm likely also had some kind of internal injury, as it would have hit the ground as well. A quick inspection revealed that the man had no obvious head injury, which was good.

Sol used a quick burst of mana to lift the horse enough to drag the man out from under the horse. He scooped up the pack that lay next to the horse, having fallen off from its spot on the saddle. He didn't bother looking inside, instead sticking one arm through its strap to carry it as he scooped up the man on the ground.

When he got back to Dawn, he placed the man so he was laying on his stomach over her back. He also secured the pack to her saddle so he wouldn’t have to carry it the whole time. When he started riding again, it didn't take long for the man to wake up.

Sol pulled the reins to get Dawn to stop as he looked back at the man. “How are you feeling?”

“Who are you?” The man asked.

“I am Sol. Now, how are you feeling?”

“Fine.” He said, pulling himself up a bit and sitting up. Sol heard a groan of pain escape the man when he moved his leg. “What happened?”

“Bunch of bandits tried to rob you. They didn't succeed.” Sol nodded to the pack he had brought. “All your stuff should be right there.”

“Where is Pripa?” He asked as he searched through the pack briefly, confirming everything was in fact there.

“Who now?”

“Pripa, my horse.”

“Oh. I am sorry to say that the bandits killed her. She landed on you when she died, which is why your leg is all messed up. Speaking of which, that must hurt like hell.”

“Yeah, it does.” The man said, giving another brief grunt of pain when he poked the leg. “No use complaining about it though.”

“I like that way of thinking.” Sol said, lightly tapping the horse's sides to let her know to walk a bit slower than usual. “Where do you live?”

“Melrik.” The man responded. “It shouldn’t be too far north of here, presuming you didn't travel several days south while I was out.”

“Well isn’t that just perfect, I was already heading that way.” Sol responded.

They chatted a bit longer as they made the journey, with pained noises still coming from the injured man quite frequently. They made it to the city as the sun was rising, and several guards and healers showed up within minutes to help the man get somewhere safe within the city. Sol reported the location and the events of what had happened to the guards, then rented a room in a cheap inn to stay in. Dawn was once more handed to some poor stable worker who had no idea the tantrum she would likely throw tomorrow.

The very next morning when Sol woke up, he had to go and calm down the horse and give her a good brushing before going into the city proper. He headed straight for the city's church, which lay directly next to the manor in which the Earl and his family lived. As soon as he entered the church, he felt out of place as he observed how every other person in the church was dawning some kind of robe.

He stopped one of the members as they were walking by. “Excuse me, I recently discovered I have the affinities of life and light, and was wondering how to go about learning your techniques to cultivate it.”

“That’s quite simple.” The man said, seemingly eager to help. “If you join the church, we can give you everything you need to get started along your cultivation journey.”

Sol shook his head. “I have no interest in joining the church. Is there any other way?”

The man's face suddenly took on a much darker expression. “So you came to the church to just ask us to give you our secret technique?”

Sol was taken aback, and quickly backpedaled. “Oh no not at all. I was just wondering. I will be leaving now.”

He left the church, with the man glaring daggers into the back of his head. When he stepped outside, he started heading for the shops around the city. He hoped that they may know where he could find a talented runesmith. After a bit of asking around, he was told that the most talented runesmith in the region happened to be in the city, and that he worked directly for the Earl.

To Sol, that was bad news. It meant he would need to interact with the Earl if he wanted to talk to the runesmith, and he didn't feel he would make a particularly good impression on any nobility he happened to meet. He was absolutely dreading the visit as he walked as slowly as he could without dragging his feet.

When he finally got to the front door, he hesitated slightly before knocking. It didn't even take five seconds for somebody to answer. A man dressed in an extremely nice black outfit opened the door and looked him up and down.

“Do you have business with the Earl?” The servant asked.

“Not with the Earl, but with his runesmith.” Sol answered. “Though if that requires speaking with the Earl first, then yes.”

“It does.” The servant said, looking down his nose at Sol. That immediately rubbed him the wrong way, especially considering how the servant was shorter than him. Sol himself was already on the shorter side, but this man could have passed for being a teenager if it wasn't for the beard that ran down his chin.

“Then yes, I have business with the Earl.”

The servant looked like he wanted to deny him, but for whatever reason, he turned around and gestured for Sol to follow. “The Earl is a busy man, so I hope you are ready to wait for a long time to speak with him.”

“I can wait.” Sol said, following him until he sat in a chair that was right next to the Earls conference room.

“The Earl is currently speaking with his son, so do not under any circumstances interrupt them.”

“Understood.”

Sol looked around the room, feeling even more out of place than he had in the church. The walls were lined with various ornamental pieces and paintings. He spotted several gilded weapons hung up across the room too.

What was more impressive than any of that was the mana in the air. There was a little bit of every affinity floating around in the air, and the runes that lined the walls everywhere were feeding more in to replace the mana that infused itself into just about everything. Everything in the building had to be so heavily infused that Sol would likely struggle to even break a plate.

As for Sol himself… he could definitely have dressed a bit better. He was still wearing the thin leather armor all trainees in the outpost had been assigned, and he hadn't cleaned it since he left the outpost. He was suddenly very aware of every speck of dirt he had tracked into the room.

Just as he was contemplating leaving to come back when he was more presentable, the door to the conference room opened. Sol took a quick glance at who was walking out, doing a double take when he saw who it was.

It was the young man that Sol had saved and brought back to the city. Sol's eyes then glanced at the man's leg, which seemed perfectly fine now.

“Oh, how kind of you to come and see how I am doing after saving me!” The young man exclaimed. He walked over and shook Sol's hand.

“I am here to speak with the Earl.” Sol said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Come on in then.” The man said, waving towards the conference room.

Sol looked back and forth between the man and the door before his brain finally made the obvious connection. The man he had saved was the Earl's son.

Sol had to suppress a grin as he walked into the room. He had suddenly found out that he was somebody that the Earl would likely want to talk to. That meant he had leverage in the upcoming negotiation.