The next morning Johan sat up feeling thirsty. He got up and headed down to the store area. It was still very early, evidenced by the lack of light outside. In the store area he found Markus, Anne, and David talking.
"It's a bit of a shame that you guys are all headed out today. I wish you could have stayed for longer." David said.
"It would've been nice, but unfortunately we have places we need to go. I'll be sure to stop by on my way back through here though, so don't worry about that." Markus replied.
"That's good to hear! Just don't take as long as you did last time."
Markus and David both laughed a bit at this.
"Morning." Johan said, yawning as he approached the group.
"Hey. Any luck on that spell?" Markus was the first to ask.
"Sadly, no. I was hoping I would have gotten the basic form down. I've almost got the mana control method just right for me, but I'm struggling with that a bit, it's weird." Johan waved his hands in frustration at the end, eliciting a small giggle from Anne. "What?" Johan asked looking at her.
"Nothing. It's just that you are much more frustrated over this, but you've had to deal with much more frustrating things before. You had to take a lot more time to get the hang of both waster and light, didn't you? Wind shouldn't be any different. As far as I know, getting stronger doesn't make your brain work better, and that is the part you're relying on to get better at magics with." Anne explained.
"Ah... You're right. I've been so obsessed with it that I had forgotten that it's only been a day."
"It's fine kid, you're getting better as it it anyways. Lord knows how fast you managed to advance again. Nath said you mages get more mana from areas with lush environments, but man..." Markus interjected before trailing off a bit.
"That's right. It's just one step at a time, but eventually you'll find that you've taken so many that you can no longer see the start." David added.
"Alright, alright, stop getting philosophical with me about it." Johan said, getting some small laughs.
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The 4 of them talked for a while, the sun slowly beginning to show itself as they were wrapping up. Markus had Anne go and wake up the other 2 girls, while he and Johan did final checks on the things they needed.
"Alright, that seems like we have everything." Markus said.
"Yep. Now we just need to wait for the others." Johan replied.
They heard the sounds of a door opening, and turned towards the front of the shop, seeing Clara.
"Oh, hey, what are you doing here?" Johan asked her.
"Came to say goodbye. Why? Am I not allowed to?" She looked at Johan with a slightly smug smile.
"No, it's not that. I just wasn't expecting it."
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"I said I would earlier this week didn't I?"
"Did you? I don't really know. I've been cramming to learn wind magic, I plan to learn Wind Blade."
"Ah. So you forgot about me... That's so mean." Clara said teasingly, "Especially after what we did the other night."
"Oh, hey, who's this?" Anne said, approaching from behind Johan.
"Hey. This is Clara, she helped me out with learning about imbuement, as well as helped me with making my 1st construct." Johan explained.
"Ah... Alright. Good to meet you. I'm Anne, Johans sister." Anne introduced herself.
"I'm Clara, but you can call me Clare, I helped your brother a bit." Clara introduced herself to Anne.
"So why are you here, Clare?" Anne asked.
"Exactly as I said, I came to say goodbye, that's all."
"Alright." Anne said, then she went to Markus.
"Your sister seems a bit defensive." Clara said to Johan.
"Perhaps. She has a bit of trauma from a while back." Johan explained. "So I'm sorry if she offended you at all."
"You can always make your apology more physical. I'm joking, I'm not offended by anything you or your sister could do or have done." Clara teased before waving her hand at Johan's uncertain face.
"You tease too much. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were interested in me. And it's good to know that you aren't worried about her."
"You wish! You're a good mage Johan, but you aren't my type of guy to date." Clara smiled.
"Damn, really had to twist the knife with that one?" Johan asked.
"Well yeah. Anyways, come find me next time you are in town." Clara started walking towards the door.
"I'll be sure to find you if I'm in need of help, Clare." Johan said as he opened the door for her.
"Good." She turned and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You aren't the type of guy I'd date, but I would love to see you again, Johan." She then left, leaving Johan a bit surprised, but not overly so.
"Morning." Pat's voice came from the other side of the room.
"Hey." Anne said.
"Good morning." Johan said as he shut the door.
"Oh, is Clare gone already?" Anne looked at Johan.
"Yep. She just left."
"Who is Clare?" Pat asked.
"Clare is the Alchemist in town." Jen said from behind Pat.
"Oh. Why was she here?" Pat asked another question.
"She helped me learn some magic, and wanted to say a farewell." Johan replied this time.
"Oh, ok. Anyways. I'm ready to go." Pat said tapping Adv which rested against her back once more.
"That's good. We leave after a meal." Markus replied. "Make sure you enjoy it, this is going to be one of very few towns we will stop at on the way. Most of the towns in Menstra have become crime ridden, only the ones that are self sustaining and the ones closest to the capital have any sort of law nowadays. I had originally planned to stop at some more towns, but if things are as bad as people say that they are..."
"Alright. That's fine, at least now we have some tarps and stuff for when it rains." Johan replied.
"Ha. Yeah, that's true." Markus barked a laugh.
"Alright. I heard something about food, let's go eat, I'm hungry." Pat said
"Alright, alright, let's go." Markus waved them towards the door, and turned to say goodbye to David. "Thanks for giving us a place to stay for the last week David. It's been greatly appreciated."
"Ain't nothing for you Markus. Like I said earlier just come by again at some point." David waved it off.
"I will. Until next time then." Markus shook David's hand and left.
"Yep. Until next time." David replied.
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Several hours later, as the group walked Markus was walking next to Johan.
"So, did you enjoy Northwind?" Markus asked.
"Yeah, it's a nice town."
"I think you got along with the people better though." Markus said in a slightly teasing tone.
"Are you talking about Clare?" Johan asked, not bothering to beat around the bush.
"Yeah. I mean you slept over once. Was there anything going on there?" Markus asked.
"Not particularly, She really just helped me learn more about magic is all. Although she has a nasty habit of teasing." Johan sighed. "Honestly, she is pretty cool, I'm gonna miss her a bit."
"Not cause you have the hots for her?" Markus asked, trying to get a reaction.
"Nah. She's just not like that." Johan said calmly.
"Oh. You're no fun." Markus clicked his tongue.
"Well, it is what it is. Where is the next town we'll be stopping at anyways?"
"That'd be Hammer. It's about a months journey away, maybe more if we have to change routes. I haven't been through here in a while after all, no telling what kind of stuff may have happened."
"Alright."