The first thing Julia bought was a large bag she had Nathan carry. Although it wasn’t as big as what he carried on the island, it didn’t have an L-support, making it unstable and hard to haul around.
As they walked through town, Nathan couldn’t help but marvel at all the goods he’d only ever seen as ice models when his father was teaching him about the wider world.
And that’s not to mention the fact there weren’t any stores in the land of the Daquo. Here there were nice little weapon shops selling crossbows, swords, and metal-rimmed shields. Others sold wooden utensils and iron cooking tools. Unfortunately, Julia continued past these stores, not giving Nathan any time to admire their displays.
This was until she reached an apothecary. Its windows were open and through them, Nathan spotted the store owner, a thin middle-aged man lost amongst jars of bird hearts, the tusks of boars, and the wings of butterflies. He wore a dusty brown tunic as well as a brown fur hat which covered him down to his neck. When he spotted the pair waiting outside, he dropped a thick book, kicking up a cloud of dust, grabbed a large bag, and ran out.
“I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you outside…” his breaths were deep, and he soon keeled over. “I didn’t know … that the ships ha … had arrived,” he struggled to speak, his hands on his knees.
“Do you have everything I ordered?”
“Of course. Please check.” He set himself straight and untied the bag’s noose, letting Julia glance inside.
Having confirmed the goods, she waved her hand. “Good, the city will give you your pay. For now, give it to the boy.”
Nathan took a few steps, getting closer to the man.
The apothecary looked over Nathan. “Oh! A young mage. I hope you’re doing well, let me put away the bag for you…”
Nathan was taken aback by the man’s helpfulness, but he let him do as he said. It did give him some time to get a better look inside the shop after all. It was a disorganized mess. Bottles and trays filled with organs were strewn all over the place. Glass vials sat above small flames, and small vials filled with potions were stored in large crates.
Nathan wondered what effects the goods here may have, after all, this man didn’t carry the badge of any Towers. “How many types of potions can someone make without mana?”
“More than what you can do with mana,” answered Julia. “Simply put, it’s because there are more ingredients that degrade rather than display their effects when in contact with mana.
You haven’t heard of them because manaless potions are less effective and don’t need to be made by mages. It would be a waste for us to create them. We should make what only we can make; the others can make the rest.”
The bag on Nathan’s back tightened.
“OK, it’s all stored,” said the apothecary.
“Then let’s go, we have quite a few things we need to do before we reach the Tower.” Without a second's thought, Julia walked away.
Nathan looked back to the man and gave him a nod in acknowledgment.
The man smiled.
But as Nathan was walking away, he couldn’t help but stare into the shop and the hundreds of exotic goods he’d never seen. Up north, all they had to work with was blood and liver. The potions his father could make, were essentially restricted to recovery potions, and this didn’t inspire a lot of curiosity in him. But the diversity of items available in a small port town made him wonder what was possible and inspired him to investigate it the subject later.
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Then, from afar, Julia called out to him. “It’s good to be interested in potion making, but don’t let yourself fall into dreams too soon. Trust me when I say there is nothing of note here, not to mention the greatest joy of mages isn’t found in laboratories but in the wilderness, so start moving.”
Nathan took one last glance at the shop before running off after Julia.
“Do we need to visit another shop?” asked Nathan, catching up.
“We’ll get some food, then we’ll head out.”
Nathan looked up. Great grey clouds covered the sky, and a strong breeze kicked up. “I’ve never seen such dangerous-looking clouds. Shouldn’t we wait before setting off? We won’t even be able to see what’s in front of us when snow comes.”
“This isn’t Grival. Our worse storms aren’t even as bad as your smallest. In truth, you’ll probably think this land’s weather is cute, but don’t mix up our weather and our beasts.” She let out a small laugh. “Here they’ve been competing with mages for the better part of forever. Our trolls could easily rip apart three trolls found on Grival. After all, what is the limiter of strength?” she asked Nathan.
“Resources,” he answered, wiggling his back, trying to get the giant bag on his shoulders to sit right on him.
“And this Continent gave rise to mages because resources were abundant. Of course, now we must limit the number of mages and conserve the weakest beasts, as we have grown too large for our land. But there are still certain areas of the Continent yet to be explored, especially in its interior, where the beasts still own large chunks of land.
Here we’re in the civilized parts, the parts protected by mages. But further, in land, you will find the terrors of this world. You will find flying tigers, snakes who speak languages having yet been invented, and horses that can fly to the sun. Although difficult, we could no doubt take them on, however, they are protected by the mightiest beast of all; the dragons: they who sleep for a thousand years and are as strong as twelfth ranked mages.”
“Twelfth ranked mages!” exclaimed Nathan. “But I thought that mages only went up to ten.” Finding out that the powers of mages went even further only made him feel more insignificant.
Julia smirked and looked back to the boy. He didn’t know why her mood had gotten more joyous since leaving the ship.
“That’s because right now there are only ten, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t progress further. There was a time when mages thought that attaining the fifth realm would be the limit of human excellence, yet look at us now, able to scratch the throat of dragons. We only have two steps left, and the next step lies with Grenold crystals. It is right there, in our hands. That’s why everyone’s clamouring for them. The first to decipher its secrets will become the next ruler of this world. The next Central Tower.”
The tales of beasts two ranks above the strongest mage made him nauseous. When his father had told him that he could only ever teach him the bare basics of the world, he wasn’t lying. How much knowledge could there be if at fifteen he still knew nothing?
#
“Here we are,” said Julia.
The duo stood at the village’s gates and stared out into a single path the width of the ship they had used to navigate between Grival and the Continent. On its extremities there were two mining cart rails, which themselves were next to a dark forest of conifers. Here, the wind was stronger, and the trees swayed right to left, so fiercely Nathan was afraid their tops would snap.
To avoid thinking about it, he looked back down.
“Do the rails lead to the Tower?”
“You don’t want to admire the trees a bit more? Are you afraid?” Julia smirked.
Nathan didn’t see any malice he’d grown accustomed to seeing in her eyes. They were now feverishly enthusiastic. Afraid of her eyes for other reasons, he looked back into the forest. It was dark, black, and dark green. The treetop was covered in fresh snow, but the forest ground was clear of any and let way for small weeds and berries.
“No…” He answered not to appear weak. But this new and weird environment was different, and he didn’t know what to expect from it. Wasn’t it normal to be afraid of what you didn’t know? For all he knew, there could be hundreds of trolls roaming the woods ready to rip them to shreds as soon as they stepped into their territory.
Julia placed a hand on Nathan’s shoulder, who jumped in surprise. “It is dangerous,” said Julia. “That’s why there are mages.” She brought her face closer to Nathan’s ears and whispered. “Why have a knife if one keeps it dull." She backed off. "Now, you said you can use magic, so show me.” She pushed Nathan forward. “We have to keep the flow of crystals uninterrupted, after all, this path now belongs to us!” She exclaimed, letting Nathan take his first few steps into the forest with a heart on the brink of exploding. “It’s time to hunt!” she yelled.