Lavaad emerged from his bedroom, dressed in his best attire. Though he hadn't trimmed his long hair that had grown for two years, he made sure to tie it up, revealing his piercing eyes, like the sky. A cold glint flickered in his gaze as he inhaled deeply, attempting to calm the storm within his gut.

At the corridor's end stood Cassius, ready for the journey ahead.

Exiting the Lormodra estate's grand entrance, Lavaad stole a glance backward as they made their way to the front gate. The manor stood majestic, its walls seemingly radiating under the sun's reflection, probably constructed from a rare material that had a higher light absorbing property, the material most definitely wouldn’t be found anywhere else in the town.

Passing familiar landmarks of the manor that had become his everyday companions over the past two years, Lavaad reminisced. He recalled the towering gray trees where he read or absorbed Cassius's teachings after a days lesson, and the courtyard that marked his initiation into the family, a place where he had spent the last two years sparring.

The sunlight, a scarce guest in Lormodra's usually gloomy atmosphere, cast a golden hue. South Reguus often cloaked itself in fog and dark clouds void of sunlight, making such bright days a novelty. As they reached the gate, Lavaad noticed the town's liveliness, egged on by the uncommon weather—children playing freely, and shopkeepers setting up early in the day to take advantage of the hustle and bustle that good weather brought.

With increased mastery of his source core, Lavaad's senses had sharpened, especially his eyesight. A hundred meters away, he discerned the bustling docks of Lormodra, more animated than usual.

Boats littered this small part of the Udamine River, but one boat in particular stood prominently on the largest, solitary dock—the Lormodra's personal vessel. Painted in a striking black and red, the boat was clearly well maintained, not a single mark or stain on its surface.

Steam billowed from its top, a hallmark of Reguus's technological advancements in recent times.

Despite not being renowned for its technological prowess, Reguus capitalized on its vast "Black rock" reserves, abundant in the mountains that lay behind the capital. This resource fueled steam-powered innovations, and Reguus’ absurd amounts of it allowed researchers to strong arm results from the sheer quantity of experiments they ran. This liberal use of the resource in turn lowered supply and increased the demand internationally, making it the most lucrative export for Reguus and their main source of money.

Despite being taught for two years, Lavaad had practically started from scratch, his knowledge covered a large area but didnt go any further than the surface, so despite what he might say, he was looking forward to learning at the academy, this steam based boat further enforcing his desire to learn.

As the two continued walking down the bustling street, Lavaad and Cassius stood out in their distinct attire. Lavaad donned a deep navy blue overcoat that complemented his lighter eyes, buttoned neatly to the top, paired with matching pants and brown dress shoes. Cassius, on the other hand, wore a white dress shirt with a gray vest and black pants, also opting for brown dress shoes.

As they approached the colossal boat, over twenty meters long and towering two stories high, people parted to make way. The journey to Kalpuk would span two days, and the boat’s size made space for two rooms, used for rest during the trip.

The two stepped down the river bank of Lormodra leading to the docks that held the boat, silence briefly following behind them.

Stepping onto the metallic deck of the boat, a reverberating sound accompanied their arrival.

Descending into the hold, they found it mostly empty, save for necessary supplies. At the end of the hold was a ladder, ascending it to the upper level, skipping over the middle one for now. The final floor contained the cockpit and a small kitchen, the interior of the ship adorned in a dull gray hue, deviating from the vibrant black and red of its exterior.

Upon reaching the top, they were greeted by a stout figure looking up at Cassius and at eye level with Lavaad, he had llong, matted gray hair and a matching beard. His face bore various blemishes and wrinkles, hinting at either middle age or beyond. With a slanted smirk, he greeted them loudly, his voice echoing through the cockpit.

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“Welcome aboard me’ humble abode! How's life, son?” his booming voice filled the space, seemingly louder than it should be given the reasonably small movements his mouth made.

Having spent the past two years immersed in learning about Reguus, he had knowledge in anything, from trade dynamics to regional accents and while he didn’t understand the theory behind differing accents, Lavaad had become adept at discerning origins based on them.

Observing the man's slang, casual use of honorifics, and naturally loud demeanor, Lavaad deduced he hailed from the southernmost regions of Kuunis, either as far as Reguus’ direct influence reached or even the Marine nation of Otorr.

Although Otorr's population primarily centered around the two bastions of their great ocean wall, there were still various villages along their own great river and port towns towards their northernmost regions.

Interrupting his wandering thoughts, Lavaad responded to the man, using the opportunity to practice his Noble speech.

“I’m doing well, sir. I assume you're the captain of this vessel? What should I call you, and has the ship been in use recently?” Lavaad inquired, his posture straightening as he lifted his chin slightly.

The man, seemingly unperturbed by Lavaad's shift in demeanor, or uncaring, replied, “Me name’s Penaki, but you can call me Penny, or whatever you want. If it starts with a P it refers to me!” laughter bellowed out of the incredibly short man as he answered.

“Alright, Penny, this is Cassius, my teacher. I need to study as much as I can before heading to the academy, so I’ll be heading to my room,” Lavaad explained, gesturing to Cassius, who acknowledged Penny with a nod.

Descending the ladder, Lavaad found himself in a long hallway that opened into a dining area with a massive window overlooking the town, where Lavaad could see all the children, some his age, some older, some younger, playing together.

A melancholic look crossed his face as his lips curled up into somewhat of a smile, a hint of something, longing? In his eyes, before he went to one of the doorways on the side of the hallway and opened the door.

Inside, the small room was small but covered all his needs, with a basic bed, couch, and cupboard. A bag containing his essentials for the trip had been brought by a Lormodra servant earlier.

The room had no windows but was bright, Lavaad looked over to the wall on the right and there was a small indent in the wall, around it lay various patterns and engravings, within the small hole in the wall was a bright orb that seemed to pulse with light.

‘A source light!’ Lavaad thought to himself. Another marvel of Reguus technology, while various civilizations had their own variations of it, Lavaad had only really learnt about Reguus’ and while he had seen them throughout the Lormodra household, applying it to a vehicle, in a source-drained environment was an impressive application of it.

Lavaad went up to the wall and extended his source forwards towards the indent, as he did so it was almost as if he had finally opened his eyes, the world was so much clearer using the source. The engravings on the walls pulsated as they dragged source from the surrounding ever so slightly, the source was then pushed into the orb that lit up the room. The orb being either condensed source or some kind of source-conductive material.

Lavaad looked around the room and saw similar indentations plopped around the room, the patterns engraved onto the wall absorbing his attention as he went to lay on the bed, still tracing his eyes along the engravings.

Lavaad was not book smart in any sense of the word, and he enjoyed his sparring sessions over any learning he did, but for some reason he had an infatuation with anything source related, he was almost drawn to it. Any chance he got to learn about the source he took.

Despite outwardly acting like he was reluctant to go to the academy, forcing himself to wait for revenge, in truth he was incredibly excited about it. He would never care about the politics of the academy, that side of his reluctance wasn’t a lie, instead what he was excited about was the various speciality classes he could take on source.

Source was an almost all encompassing super resource that could do anything, it could aid in weapon making, building, it caused engravings to be possible. The potential of source was infinite and Lavaad wanted to learn it all. He even held off learning about the specifics of classes at the academy so he wouldn’t have the spend months deciding on them and would instead be forced to decide on the spot.

Lying there lost in his thoughts, Lavaad pondered for an unknown period before the ship surged to life, a renewed energy coursing through it, far greater than before. Taking this as a cue, Lavaad rose and retrieved his bag from the corner, placing it on the couch in his room.

The bag contained all the books recommended by Cassius, along with some additional reading materials he personally wanted alongside various miscellaneous items.

Tucked in a side pocket was a knife, the weapon of choice suggested by Cassius. Although Lavaad was initially skeptical about the need for a weapon, he acquiesced and settled on a single knife, the closest he and Cassius could get to a compromise between unarmed combat and armed defense.

The knife was custom-made by the Lormodra family, designed to Lavaad’s specifications. It boasted exceptional quality, featuring a relatively short but sharp blade and a compact handle that his grip covered entirely. It was an incredibly short weapon, but still long compared to other conventional knives. Its unique property lay in its conductivity to source, allowing Lavaad to imbue it with his energy to activate the engravings etched into it. While most engravings were passive, enhancing its durability, there was also an active engraving that significantly increased its sharpness, its effectiveness amplified by the amount of source infused into it.

As Lavaad unpacked his books, he retrieved the knife, spending hours practicing with it. He honed his control over source, maximizing the blade's potential with minimal energy input.

Balancing his time between studying and training with the knife, Lavaad made strides in both areas as the ship continued its journey toward his birthplace.