Chapter 18: Wall of Light

Morning came with little fanfare. As expected, there were no more attacks during the night. The road remained quiet and bare.

The three of them rose early, packing their meager belongings and continuing to the closest town while the sun still hadn’t fully risen.

Leo adjusted his thin cloak, attempting to shift it to better conceal himself. It had several rips from the prison break, not to mention that it had already been pretty tattered to begin with.

“We’re gonna need to get food, matches, and maybe some better bags and bedrolls,” Leo listed off as they walked.

“We should be good with water for now. There’s enough streams to last us until we reach Alnwick.” He paused, frowning. “We should probably get some better cloaks too, while we’re at it.”

“Are you going to steal them?” Allan asked, and Leo pursed his lips.

“Not like we’ve got a lot of other options,” he muttered. The extra crests remained secure in his bag, a constant in his awareness. The sooner they got to Alnwick and sold them off, the more at ease he would feel.

“No need.” Spade reached down and unhooked a small bag from her belt, tossing it at Leo.

The [Fragmentholder] caught it and opened it. Inside sat a small pile of glittering coins.

“That should be enough for the essentials. I’m guessing I don’t need to worry about you overspending,” she added with an amused note. Leo raised an eyebrow and closed the pouch.

“You’re trusting me with the money?”

“We’re pretty recognizable. You were going to suggest going into the town yourself while we waited outside, weren’t you?”

He had, in fact, been intending to do just that. He didn’t know if Sindrey had spread their faces or placed a bounty on them yet, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

Within the group, he was the most inconspicuous. If he just pulled his hood up, he’d be able to blend in pretty easily. Spade was, obviously, out of the question. The scars would be a dead giveaway.

“Shouldn’t I go? I’m better at haggling than you,” Allan said.

Leo leveled him with a flat look.

“People would definitely remember your face.”

The [Healer] hummed in consideration. “Maybe,” he said. “But people always up their prices when you’re around.”

Leo stopped.

“What.”

“I thought you knew? Herbert made all his stuff cost 2 arans more whenever he saw you.”

Herbert was a street vendor in Sindrey’s slums. While the man was perpetually grumpy and generally unpleasant to be around, he was one of the few vendors who reliably sold food that wasn’t drugged or poisoned, even if it was a little more expensive. Or so Leo had thought, at least.

“No, people made stuff cheaper when you were there. Don’t get it flipped.”

Allan’s dark eyes gleamed with amusement. “Sure.”

Leo shoved the [Healer] good naturedly. Up ahead, a few houses could be seen as blocky shadows in the distance, and the [Fragmentholder] flipped his hood up.

“Whatever, it’s not like anyone in the village’s gonna know me. I’ll get in and out quick. You two wait by the road.” He pointed at a thin patch of scraggly trees sitting a little ways away from the cluster of buildings.

“Don’t make anyone mad,” Allan said, and Leo snorted.

He turned away to begin heading towards the village, only speeding up his pace after he saw Allan and Spade reach the trees undisturbed.

The village itself was little more than a few stray houses scattered around a packed dirt road. Leo pulled his cloak a little closer, noting the worn, wooden homes that all tilted a little off center.

Despite the relative sparseness of the buildings, there were more people outside than he’d expected. Just to be safe, he turned on [Fade into Background] before drawing closer.

To his right, two women argued in raised whispers while three barefoot children chased each other in circles behind them, their laughs and shouts ringing sharply in Leo’s ears.

“—Administrator could never die, this is a test of faith!” one was saying, shaking the broom in her hand a little.

“Screw your faith. Then what, the Hounds were lookin’ for dirt?”

Leo sidestepped one of the children before they could crash into him and break the requirements of his skill. He continued forward with his brows furrowed. The Hounds were a fairly prominent mercenary guild in Avel, but from what he’d heard they’d moved further north. Had they come here? And what for?

Up ahead, the crowd grew more dense. Rising on his feet in an attempt to peer over the villagers’ heads, he could just barely make out a young boy in the center of the group, a messenger hat on his head and his hands raised pleadingly.

“—please, I only know what the mayor told me,” he was saying. “That’s all he said. I need to get to the next town.”

“But what do these fragments look like?” one woman asked, cutting his path off. “How’re we supposed to know we’ve found one?” Murmurs of agreement ran through the crowd.

Leo carefully didn’t react to the mention, slipping around the back of the gathered villagers. It sounded like the Council’s message was finally getting around. As expected, there was a good deal of doubt, and he didn’t blame them. He’d struggled to believe the notification himself, too.

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Past the crowd, the [Fragmentholder] could make out a squat building with a crooked sign reading “Mabel’s General Store.” He turned in its direction, pushing open the creaking door and shutting it behind him.

Immediately the chatter of the crowd dulled, and Leo exhaled in relief, glad to get away from the throng of people.

“Rowdy bunch, aren’t they?”

Leo looked towards the source of the voice. The store itself was small and cozy, the walls completely covered from floor to ceiling with shelves stuffed with wares. A few articles of clothing even hung from hooks attached to the ceiling. The counter was shoved to the very back of the space, and a short middle aged woman with greying hair pulled into a tight bun smiled up at him. He activated [Judgement].

Name: Mabel

Age: 55

Level: 20

Class: [Shopkeeper, Tier 0]

Personal Skill: [Lullaby Lvl 5]

Leo relaxed a little when he saw the ordinary class. It looked like the woman had reached the Tier 0 cap, but probably couldn’t afford a Tier 1 crest. But then, given what seemed like an already secure job, he supposed she wouldn’t have had a need for it to begin with.

Considering her lack of surprise at seeing him, Leo guessed this village probably got a decent number of travelers passing through and upping business.

“It was a little hard to get through the crowd,” Leo admitted. “I don’t really blame them though.”

“Ah, yes.” The woman scrunched her nose and shook her head. “The village hasn’t quieted down since that notification. Doesn’t help that the Hounds had to come and worsen the rumors.”

“The Hounds are that mercenary guild, right? I didn’t think they were planning on returning south again so soon.”

Mabel snorted. “They weren’t. They said they were hunting fragments, but it’s a load of nonsense if you ask me. Things’ll settle down once people get the shock out of their system.”

Leo didn’t argue with that. Overnight, the fragmentholder counter had reached 611,794.

“Putting that aside, how can I help you today dear?”

Leo listed off the supplies, and the woman pointed out their locations in the store. He was silently impressed at just how much stuff she’d managed to fit into such a tight space. There were multiple options for things, and after comparing the prices to the amount of money Spade had given him, they could technically afford everything on the list.

The [Fragmentholder] decided to get slightly better cloaks at the expense of no bedrolls. That way they still had some money left over for emergencies, and the cloaks were more than fine enough to sleep on.

As Leo set the items down and pulled out the coin pouch, a thought occurred to him.

“Hey, do you have any road maps?”

“I believe I have a few. Where are you heading?”

Leo hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest. Even if someone figured out who he was and followed them, there were multiple paths leading south. He’d rather get an accurate map that actually led to where he wanted.

Mabel pulled a few dusty maps out from behind the counter, and Leo quickly scanned them as he answered.

“Zelyra.”

The shopkeeper paused at that. “Zelyra? You must not’ve heard.” She nodded out the window, where Leo could just barely make out the messenger still surrounded by the crowd and being bombarded with questions. He kept inching backwards and shaking his head. Leo didn’t envy his position.

“Zelyra’s closing their borders,” the woman explained.

The [Fragmentholder] frowned, but at the same time, it wasn’t unexpected. They’d been planning on finding a way through the border patrol anyway.

He put on a disappointed look. “Really? Shame. I’ll have to see if I can hitch a boat to the League or something.”

Mabel had a knowing look in her eyes. “Trying to get away from the Empire?”

“Something like that. I just figured, they’re definitely not gonna stop with Valendell, you know?”

“You’re probably right about that.” The woman sighed, the sound heavy with weariness. “I don’t see what’s so wrong with peace,” she muttered. Shaking her head, she pointed down at the maps. “Do any of them work for you? I have some more in the back if these aren’t enough.”

“Actually, it’s fine. If I’m taking a boat I won’t need them.”

The shopkeeper nodded, and Leo made sure to burn the next closest roads into his memory as the woman grabbed the stack and put the maps back.

Considering what had happened the last time he’d been in a store, it was refreshing to have the transaction go so smoothly. Mabel even gave him a discount since the journey would be “tough,” as she put it.

Leo couldn’t help but feel a bit smug about it as he carefully grabbed the bag containing all his purchases. He could get discounts too; it wasn’t his fault Herbert was an asshole who hated his guts.

“Travel safely, dear,” Mabel said, waving at him from the counter. Leo nodded in gratitude and stepped outside, the weight of the bag heavy on his back.

Now that he was in view of the crowd, Leo used [Fade into Background] again, not wanting to risk getting hassled on the way out. Villagers still lined the street, but the messenger was gone. It seemed like he’d finally gotten away, though from the disgruntled looks on people’s faces, they weren’t satisfied with the answers they’d received.

Just as the [Fragmentholder] turned to make his way out of the village, however, a shout stopped him in his tracks.

A few buildings down, one of the little kids he’d seen earlier was pointing up at the sky behind him. Leo turned around reflexively. Gasps and shouts rang in his ears. His eyes widened.

Across the clear blue sky, once a flat and smooth gradient, a distant glow illuminated the horizon. Golden light rose in a curving line, stretching higher and higher up that boundless expanse.

No—not a line, Leo realized. It was a translucent wall, luminous and glowing with magic. It kept climbing, swallowing deep azure and transforming it into a pale yellow.

Leo took a step back. The light showed no signs of stopping. He tilted his head, following the magic’s seemingly endless rise until, at last, its upper limit disappeared into the clouds far beyond his vision.

There, in the southern sky that had once been empty, now stood a shining wall, curling and tracing around a distant border. So massive, so all encompassing that it couldn’t be taken in at once. Utterly dwarfing even the mountains on the horizon.

Leo was vaguely aware of yells and panicked shouts around him. He heard doors slamming, objects falling, pounding footsteps.

He activated [Judgement]. The boost from the fragment allowed the next two notifications to appear in the sky, backdropped by that glowing wall of light.

[Skill identified: [Light Barrier]]

[User: Unknown]

A hysterical laugh bubbled up his throat. Leo turned the skill off.

Unknown? With the name of the skill and the shape of that wall, so far south and yet distinctly curling and wrapping around a defined area, there was only one person it could be.

The Sovereign of Zelyra, a Tier 4 and the highest leveled person on the continent, had clearly decided to take the border issue into her own hands.

Leo ignored the frenzy around him. Someone had fainted, and a number of villagers were rushing back into their homes in fear of that immense display. The [Fragmentholder]’s mind churned, heart racing as he considered the sight.

The Sovereign was strong—that was undeniable. There was a reason it was said that if she and the High General of the Empire ever clashed, their battle would wipe out an entire country.

But this? This was beyond anything the Level 98 had ever displayed before. If she had always been capable of magic at this scale, then she would’ve used it in the past.

Somehow, she’d received a boost in power, a boost strong enough to wrap Zelyra’s borders with her magic. There was one obvious explanation for it.

The Sovereign of Zelyra had gotten hold of a fragment.

It should’ve been obvious in retrospect. Of course people who already had power would have an easier time getting fragments. The warden was a nobody by comparison; they were mere insects compared to those at the top.

If Leo was serious about becoming the new [Administrator], then these were the people to be worried about. These were the people he would have to face one day.

This was the future. This was what he was aspiring to.

Leo’s fingers curled into a fist. He exhaled, staring into that shining light. Beneath the shock and awe, beneath the unease, a new emotion rose up, thrumming with anticipation.

He didn’t look away.