Johan felt a bit melancholy as the group stepped off the mountain. It had taken them until noon the next day to get all the way down the landmark, far less time than it had taken them to get up the mountain.

The reason Johan felt a bit sad about it was because he had grown with yet another element, as well as learned about various things. He had found out that even simple spells can have large effects, learned more about using magic in combat, and, although it was unrelated to magic, he had managed to learn why there was a gap with Jen. He felt a bit sentimental about the mountain.

Though he had denied Jen, it wasn't that Jen was bad looking, in fact she was rather cute, in the same sort of way a puppy tended to be. Rather, Johan was scared. He had lot people because he himself was weak... If he were stronger... No, even then it was unlikely that he could always protect those he cared for.

Johan dismissed these thoughts from his mind and paid more attention to the rest of the group. Anne was talking to Pat about something related to mechanics, with Adv chipping in every now and again. That robot had started to take on more and more of Pats personality as time went on.

Jen was just walking, a few feet ahead of Johan. She was far less tense than she had been. It was a weight of both of their minds when she had confessed it seemed.

Markus was almost marching through the land. He was keeping a vigilant eye out, one that the rest of the party seemed to not have. Markus was watching for any signs of traps or approaching enemies.

Meanwhile, Johan... While he wasn't really doing much. He was walking forward, trying to keep a decent eye out on the surroundings, but he didn't really know what to look for. Though...

"Hey, Jen?" He asked her as he approached.

"Yeah? What is it?" Jen looked at him, passively.

"You ae good at noticing small details right? I was wondering if you could help me learn to be better at that." Johan got right into what he wanted to ask. The only other person who would be a good choice was Markus and he was currently making sure the group didn't go off in the wrong way.

"I suppose, but it'll cost you." Jen said.

"Oh... Depends on what you're charging?" Johan was a bit confused, but decided to play along anyways.

"If I help you with this, I can request 1 thing, at any point, barring a life threatening situation." Jen explained.

"That is a valuable thing to request from a mage." Johan laughed a bit, "But alright. Sounds good." Johan agreed, thinking that it was likely going to be something simple, such as a magic item, or perhaps she would use it to get a date out of him later if she still felt for him.

For the next few hours as everyone walked, Jen showed Johan various small things he would never normally notice. Small breaks where a larger creature was escaping a predator, tracks from deer, wolves, and other types of creatures, like goblins. He also learned about what human signs look like in the wild as well, usually resulting in breaks, snagged clothing, or occasionally a clean cut branch from a machete, or other similar knives.

"Alright. We'll go off the road a bit into that clearing there! That's where we will be camping for the night." Markus announced.

"I'll teach you some more tomorrow. After all, I did ask for a valuable wish." Jen sighed, then went to set up her own sleeping spot.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Johan smiled a bit, but didn't reply. He set up his sleeping spot as well. It didn't seem like it would rain tonight, so no tarps.

"Johan." Markus approached him.

"Yes?" Johan replied.

"You're on 1st watch tonight. Also I'm glad." Markus said, letting out a sigh at the end.

"Sounds good. What are you glad about, Markus?" Johan asked, a bit cautiously.

"You and Jen figured out all your issues. Took her long enough to confess." Markus laughed a bit. "I won't ask how it went, but it's good that the tension between you two is gone. That can be dangerous on the battle field."

"I suppose that is a good point. I'm hoping we don't have to experience too many battles before we reach Karshlan though." Johan sighed.

"I have an unfortunate idea that we will have many. Not to mention the border. That place is an active warzone, at least if it's anything like it used to be. I can't count the battles I fought at that border. The amount of times I've almost died..." Markus trailed off thinking of a few things, before quickly snapping back. "Well. regardless of that we'll have a long journey ahead of us. I think it'll likely take another 7 or so months to reach the border, barring any longer stops. I Plan to go through the capital on the way. The state of it will teach us a lot about what the border will likely be like." Markus clapped Johan on the shoulder. "Goodnight." And walked by him.

Johan spent a few minutes thinking about what Markus said. About the border being an active warzone... If that were true, shouldn't the entire party be getting prepared for a war? Everyone, except Pat, knew how to fight, though Johan only had vague ideas of how to properly fight.

After that Johan set himself into researching some things. He was looking into spells that could be quickly cast in order to make it so he would be able to do more against normal people and monsters.

Johan thought it was weird. In the dessert they had fought many monsters, yet in this forest, they hadn't fought any of them, not including the mountain. Johan thought that there should have been at least a few of them by this point.

Perhaps the monsters were hiding amongst the trees. Either way, he needed to work on is magic for now.

Johan found a handful of spells after a short amount of time. He found a wind spell called Bullet. All it did was launch a small projectile from the casters hand at an enemy at high speeds. It required the castor to have a separate object though, as it was a component spell. In this case it was the projectile. It could be a pebble, or a piece of metal, like a coin.

Another useful one was Blinding Light. All it did was just make a really bright light. It wasn't very efficient, but at the same time, it could be very valuable in a melee. A quick surprise to take the enemy down with.

He also found a spell called Earthen Armor, It wasn't a quick cast like the other spells, but rather it was a long lasting cast that was concentration based. With Johans training he could probably cast this spell as well as another concentration spell simultaneously, so he figured it would be useful. It was obviously meant to protect him from attacks, but it also allowed him full range of design, meaning he could make his armor exactly as he wanted. Once he became stronger it was also easy to change the spell into Stone Armor, a superior version of Earthen Armor.

The last spell he found interest in was Coat of Light. Yet another spell that was concentration based. This spell could be used for either offense or defense. He could put the coat around his spear, allowing him to make the blade longer through magic, or over his body, protecting it with the light. It was the hardening of light. That was a difficult subject to grapple for Johan, but he got it eventually.

It was essentially like a room of mirrors that someone put a lightbulb into. It was, in essence, crystalized light. Constantly refracting. Some of it escaped, but not enough to really matter. It was actually pretty similar to how Johan used mana blocks to contain his light mana.

Once he finished studying, Johan checked the time. It was a bit after midnight. Almost time for 3rd watch. He would let Anne sleep then. It was only another 20 or so minutes till 3rd watch.

Johan took a bit of time to practice the spell forms, almost completing Bullet before it was time to wake up Markus.

"Hey, get up. Time for your watch." Johan nudged the man.

"Ugh..." Markus look up at him, eyes a bit bleary. "Damn, you are a lot uglier to wake up to that your sister." Johan laughed a bit at that.

"Yeah. I got too engrossed in studying. I realized there was only 20 minutes till 3rd and figured I might as well just let Anne sleep this time."

"Fair enough. Anything interesting?" Markus asked,

"Not particularly, at least in regard to watch. I have a few spells I plan to learn though." Johan stifled a yawn, "But for now I'm going to go sleep."

"Good for you kiddo. See ya in the morning."