Chapter 15: The Great Western Road

The following day's travel through the dark side of the forest made their last month look like a walk in the park. Almost every step brought them within an inch of their lives, even with magic shielding and spells. Alexander had it easier with his Hermits Tranquility; however, Nathaniel eventually took to taking antidotes ahead of time, anticipating being poisoned.

When they finally emerged from the darkness, the two young men fell to their knees and cried while their guide just shook her head, glad no one else was around to see the shameful display of her race. Once the two had collected themselves, she announced, "Well, if you're done being cry babies, I'm leaving."

Whipping his face, Nethaial responded as she adjusted her pack of supplies, "Thank you!"

Alexander stood up, also whipping his face, and walked over to give the woman a hug, adding, "Yeah, thank you so much."

Livian let out an exasperated sigh but accepted the hug and added, "You two, keep up the good work, and don't embarrass our race."

They exchanged a few final remarks before the she-elf darted off with incredible speed. Left alone, the young men glanced at each other, and Alexander commented, "Guess I have to move slowly so you don't fall behind."

Nathaniel snorted and complained, "I'm sorry, not all of us can have awesome stats like you."

Alexander glared and shot back, "Hey, I spent three years meditating and climbing mountains to get these stats."

His friend rolled his eyes and responded, "That just means you're insane."

The Elf summoned a heart shape of Mana that appeared to be trying to split into two separate spheres and responded, "I didn't do it for the stats. I did it for the journey."

Nethaials eyes went wide as he blurted, "That's it…" he fumbled to take out a book and added, "I have a title for my book."

Alexander smiled and crossed his arms, "And what would that be."

The younger Half-Elf looked up at him and responded, "Journey into the West. It's perfect for you."

After exchanging many stories about their gameplay, Nethaial had made it his goal to write his friend's story down as an epic. He performed some major embellishments, which Alexander did not consent to, though he wasn't asked to. All he could do was tell the real version to his friend and keep careful documentation in his personal diary. With unamused eyes, the Elf responded, "That's already a book."

Nathaniel blocked, growing confused, and asked, "Realy?" After his friend nodded, he let out a disappointed sigh, but then he froze up and asked, "What about The Great Western Road?"

Alexander shrugged and responded, "Probably, but it shouldn't be famous enough to be protected under copyright."

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The youth's face let up as he blurted, "Perfect, from the Easternmost mountain to the Endless lands of the west, our great elf voyages."

Alexander stretched and responded, "Whatever, now get up. I want to get to Stonehenge Village as soon as possible."

Nathaniel groaned as he stood up and commented, "Fine, but only because I really want a hot bath." Looking out over the lightly wooded plains before them, he added, "So, ah... Which way is it?"

The Elf smiled and pointed outwards generally, "It should be northwest from here by the Silver River. Based on the sun, we can keep going straight until we hit water and turn right."

Nathaniel looked at the horizon and commented, "But I don't see a river."

Alexander chuckled and elbowed his friend before responding, "That means we have a long way to go."

For the following week, the two ran cross country, putting their speed and endurance to the test. Whenever they grew exhausted, they would stop for a time, during which they would practice magic or transcribe spar books, respectively. Their wandering was quite perilous at times, as packs of wolves and other animals easily spotted them. They had even been chased for three days by a minotaur, a terrifyingly overpowered opponent who had been guarding a Forgotten Ruin they stumbled upon.

These places were one-room dungeons with a special treasure protected by a single boss monster.

Alexander wanted to ignore the small three-walled structure, but Nethaial gave him puppy dog eyes. Ultimately, he used his Hermits Tranquility to enter the building to grab the treasure chest and flee while its guardian slept. However, after passing a circle of runes on the floor, the beast awoke anyway. The Elf's concealment ability was not of the thief's specialty, and having passed the line of runes seemed to constitute a hostile act as the creature immediately spotted him.

Luckily, the minotaur was several times the size of a normal human, making it a great bonking target. Once stunned, the Elf used his Drowsiness spell. The beast fell asleep, but only a few moments after Alexander had escaped the building, a roar shook the earth. The two friends had fled with all their might and only managed to finally lose the beast by escaping up a cliff. The minotaur could have followed if it was smart enough. Luckily, in terms of intelligence, it was barely above that of an animal. After another day of traveling, they reached a notification.

image [https://imgur.com/CEfpi71.png]

This was enough experience points to raise Alexander to level 9. However, what he was far more excited about were their spoils. From the treasure chest they had stolen, the two received a pair of Legendary Boots called Cloud Steps, which not only gave one a boost to their Agility Stat of 300% but also granted one an ability by the same name that would let one take three steps into the air and was boosted by a powerful gust of wind.

Both youths greatly enjoyed playing with this item, though they decided that Nathaniel would become its permanent owner. In contrast, Alexander got to keep the product of the Forgotten Rune, which acted as a Mystery Box for one's choice of either a Spell or Physical Art. The Elves chose a spell, and the result was Mana Stone Creation.

This was only an Intermediate Spell, but each use required a minimum of 1000 points of Mana, which was more expensive than most Advanced Magics. The payout was also a disappointing Mana Stone that only possessed 100 points of Mana. Still, such stones could fetch a great deal of Gold on the market, replenish a magic user's MP, or be used to craft magical equipment.

The Forgotten Rune was a consumable item, and seeing as Alexander was the only one who could use the spell it produced, he took this as his spoil. With his Mana Manipulation Skill, he could even perform it. He failed nearly ten times during the following days, but once he succeeded, his Mana Forming Skill leveled up and reached its Max Level, then immediately evolved into Mana Shaping.

Seeing that he had Mana to spare, Alexander began to practice this spell daily, though he had to limit himself so he would still have enough Mana to practice his other spells and defend himself in case of attack.

By the time they reached their destination, his success rate had reached a steady 20%, though the amount of Mana he had consumed through failed tests was enough to make any practitioner of magic cry.