When Valar woke up the next morning, the caravan was already setting off. The sun was already almost fully risen, shining through the illusory window in his cabin.

  The sun.... is shining? Oh, shit! Valar rushed out of his room and out of the wagon, managing to climb onto its roof just before the caravan started moving. That was close. Climbing on top of a moving wagon would've been much more annoying...

  Valar had fortunately remembered to take his books with him, so he didn’t need to climb down and return to his cabin. It wasn’t like he couldn’t do just that if he forgot something, but the boy couldn’t be bothered to start climbing up and down the wagon for every small thing. He felt lazy, so he decided to watch the sights for a while before reading.

  They were just leaving the outpost, the gate crashing shut behind the caravan. Some of the guards waved at the caravan, so Valar waved back. He had not talked to anyone, but they seemed like genuinely nice people—iron and bronze rank soldiers deployed to protect the kingdom from both beasts and bandits.

  Looking at the sights turned boring quickly. The last couple hours of travel last evening had been through the lake-covered plains and that didn't seem to be changing fast. Every direction Valar looked in was the same—practically barren flatlands with lots of lakes. The area felt unnatural. It was completely devoid of any trees or bigger vegetation, only small greenery growing near the lakes. Maybe I should ask Rodrick about it?

  “This whole area seems unnatural to me? How is there a barren wasteland like this in the middle of the countryside?”

  Rodrick turned to Valar, easily keeping stride with the relatively fast moving wagons. He had a thoughtful expression on his face.

  “I’m kind of the wrong person to ask this,” he started. “ I don’t know history like some mages or historians do, but since this is a pretty popular story, I remember at least some of it. According to ancient records as old as this kingdom, this area used to be the territory of a diamond rank crocodile called the Burrowing Maw. It was a large beast, its bulk being compared to a large town or even a small city. The beast could burrow underground as easily as in water, emerging under anyone who dared to enter its lands. That’s why it was called the Maw. It could eat even onyx rank beasts with a single gulp,” Rodrick laughed nervously.

  “How is there no diamond rank crocodile eating us right now then?” Valar was suspicious, the tale seeming more like myth than reality.

  “That’s the fun part. According to the legend, the beast was slain after this kingdom was founded…”

  “And who could kill a town sized diamond rank beast? This is turning ridiculous, Rodrick.”

  “Who else but the king! The story says that he slew the beast single handedly, although it doesn’t tell how he did it. I bet that he used an axe! it’s the best weapon after all!”

  Valar just stared at Rodrick, the big man looking at his axe lovingly. Really, our king slew a diamond rank beast? That would mean that he was a diamond ranker too.

  “I don’t buy it. The king can’t be a diamond rank. Even the orphanage taught that there are no diamond rank humans that we know of,” Valar answered. “The matron said that the king being a diamond ranker is a myth!”

  Arthur jogged up to them, having heard what they were talking about. His face was serious, almost angry. The serious expression on Arthur’s face almost felt like it didn’t fit him, as he had been all smiles for the three days Valar knew him. He pointed his finger at Valar accusingly, declaring his own unwanted opinion on the subject:

  “And how do you know that there are no diamond rank humans? If I was a diamond ranker, I wouldn’t want people constantly following me around, asking for favors or tips to become powerful. I’m sure there are people that have been lucky enough to reach diamond rank, even if they are all hiding it!”

  “It wouldn’t be lucky at that point. You just can’t get to the top with pure luck,” Rodrick muttered.

  Arthur turned to him, his accusing finger finding a new target. His face was even more serious, his eyes taking on an almost manic look. He was silent for the barest moment, his yellow eyes wide open and fixed on Rodrick’s blue ones.

  “You… Can’t get to the top with luck? Rodrick Steelheart, you are lucky that you were born into a good family. You are lucky that your father could train you when you were young. You are lucky that no bandit has stopped your path until this day. Your path is governed by luck, and you are a passenger on a caravan that is driven by a force that you are unable to sense,” Arthur’s tone was dangerously quiet, his gaze unflinching.

  He seemed like a completely different man than the dreamy archer Valar had shared sweets with. He looked at Rodrick with boiling rage, daring the big man to respond.

  The powder keg of a situation was defused suddenly as Ciel materialized from the shadows, putting her rune-covered arm across Arthur’s shoulders.

  “Arthur, we should head to scout ahead. You know how these lands are, monsters attacking when you don’t expect,” her tone was smooth, clearly trying to calm the furious archer.

  Arthur nodded, his eyes losing their dangerous edge as Ciel spoke to him. He turned away from Rodrick, following Ciel to scout ahead. After running only ten meters ahead, he turned around and waved in Valar’s and Rodrick’s direction, yelling an apology with a happy face. Both the boy and big man were left confused and speechless, just staring at Arthur’s shrinking form.

  “Do you know what that was about?” Valar asked Rodrick.

  “Not really… I’ve only known him for a month or so after all. The guild’s background check said that his father was a gambler down on his luck, so maybe that is a soft spot for him? Compared to me, Arthur’s life has been pretty unfortunate according to the guild…”

  Rodrick and Valar moved to lighter topics after that, arguing and joking about all kinds of things. Carla even joined in, giving her opinion on what a diamond rank crocodile would look like. She was sure the crocodile would have been red, Valar and Rodrick agreeing that a black crocodile would have been way more intimidating.

  “A blood red crocodile would be way scarier! It would be more of a contrast compared to the ground as it ambushed its prey!”

  “The whole idea is that the crocodile blends with the ground! It would look like the ground itself would be devouring the prey—only with huge teeth,” Valar answered.

  Rodrick nodded his head in agreement, the crocodile argument being pretty clearly in favor of the men. Carla tossed her hands in the air, not buying the two men’s point at all. She scratched her head for a moment, her eyes widening as she got an idea. She turned to Viktor, who was sitting on his spot atop the front wagon.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Viktor, we need your opinion! Was the Devouring Maw black or blood red? These oafs think that a black crocodile would have been scarier, whereas you will surely agree that it was blood red!”

  Viktor turned to them, lifting one eyebrow incredulously. He pointed at Carla and Rodrick, then Valar.

  “You two should be guarding the caravan, and you should be reading. Even if this area is flat and barren, some beasts still roam here…”

  “Answer the question!” The two adventurers and boy yelled back in unison.

  Viktor sighed and pondered on the question for a while. He really took his time, making them wait for almost a minute. Finally, he took his hand off his chin and nodded to himself.

  “If I remember correctly, the academy records say that the Devouring Maw was a light pink. I also have a reputable source that told me the same when I was younger,” he answered with a small smile on his lips.

  That answer was preposterous. There was no way that a diamond rank beast had been light pink! Both of the adventurers seemed to agree, as they started protesting Viktor’s opinion strongly.

  “Go to work and stop arguing about crocodile colours. You have guard duty…”

  Carla and Rodrick departed from Valar’s wagon, muttering something about light pink diamond rank crocodiles. They returned to guard duty, circling the caravan and trying to spot any threats. Valar could also see Arthur and Ciel running ahead, trying to scan the area for any waiting predators. Their forms were small compared to the others, the pair quite a bit ahead of the wagons. Ciel blended into the shadows occasionally, Arthur keeping his bow nocked at all times. They were on full alert, ready for any possible beast attack.

  Apparently, the fun time was over. Now, it was time to learn. Valar picked up Basics of Magic turning the page to the second chapter. Hopefully, it would be an interesting read…

  There were three realms that were connected to their home realm of Aldun. They were all connected to each other by magical links, forming occasional portals to other realms in seemingly random locations. The three other realms humanity knew about were the Abyss, Lux and Wildwood.

  The Abyss was a realm of darkness, largely devoid of light. It was not explored often, only entered to repel any demons or beasts coming through a portal. According to what some soldiers had reported, the environment was rocky, and light magic felt weaker than it was supposed to. There was no greenery, every sign of vegetation being black or grey due to there being no sunlight to speak of.

  The denizens of the Abyss were not friendly towards humans. They spoke the same language as humanity—the goddess of communication having made it so when she ascended eons ago—but they always hurled insults and attacked anyone from outside their realm instantly.

  Humanity didn’t know much about the Abyss for that very reason. It was filled with darkness, demons lived there and dark magic was the most common affinity for mages. They had mages of different affinities, but dark magic ruled there compared to the elements in Aldun.

  The only affinity that had never been seen in the abyss was light. The author theorized that it was possible, but just so incredibly rare that humanity hadn’t had the chance to see it yet.

  Lux, or the realm of light was, well… A realm of light. Compared to the eternal darkness of the Abyss, Lux was lit in its entirety at all times. Lux had been visited even less than the Abyss, its denizens, the Angeli, not welcoming of visitors either.

  Light magic ruled in Lux, although there were elemental mage angeli. Quite like the Abyss, Lux had no known practitioners of their opposite affinity, darkness, but there were known angeli who used elemental and abstract magics.

  After that, the rest of the part about Lux seemed like more of a religious text than researched fact, the author praising the angeli and humanity’s church of light. There was a big church in Lyndale too. Some priests visited us in the orphanage too, bringing gifts with them. They seemed nice…

  Next up was his home realm Aldun. The author had obviously way more knowledge on Aldun, talking about Leoria, the empire of Khatesh, dwarven and elven lands and even the northern mountains. He did mention that areas in the south beyond the elven lands and north weren’t heavily explored, as they were dangerous for even the strongest gold ranks of the guild.

  Aldun felt much more diverse in its magics than the other realms, although that might’ve been due to it being much more explored. The general consensus was that elemental magic was the domain of Aldun, most of humanity’s mages being elemental ones. Rare affinities were rare for a reason, as they were the domain of other realms than Aldun. That begged the question: Why was abstract magic so damn rare among humans and other species on Aldun?

  Just as the Abyss and Lux were opposite to each other, Aldun had an opposite as well.

  The wildwood was the domain of the Fae and abstract magics, only a couple humans having visited it. Ever. All knowledge about the wildwood was from those couple sapient beings that had visited the realm, each of them coming back as raving lunatics. The general consensus among researchers was that the wildwood revolved completely in the abstract, impossible to comprehend with a human mind. The very few fae that had been ever spotted were all abstract magic practitioners, speaking in riddles that boggled the mind.

  The author recommended the reader to never visit, even if one got the chance.

  So, every realm was connected to each other—the abyss and Lux opposite each other just like the Wildwood and Aldun. The author suggested a theory that there was something in the middle of this square of realms, but had no idea on what it could be. Perhaps the gods resided there?

  When they entered the forest after going through the barrens, the day was well underway. Carla saw Ciel and Arthur return to the caravan from ahead. It’s time for full alert. This is what we’re paid for.

  Carla had been listening with rapt attention when Viktor briefed them about the forest ahead. As when they had come to Lyndale, the Ronaheim forest was the most dangerous area they would be going through. Not only was it the territory of several known silver rank beasts, but several bandit groups worked in its bowels, causing the danger level of the area to rise considerably.

  Carla had some runes ready under her mage’s robe at all times. Really, I would need to walk around half-naked without a mage’s robe. I wonder what mages did before its invention?

  A mage’s robe was a piece of clothing enchanted to not have real contact with the skin, because runes could be disrupted by the smallest touch. Even the brush of a shirt or other piece of clothing could interrupt a rune’s formation, making it unstable. The mage’s robe worked to prevent that, laying extremely close to the skin but not making contact with it. A real mage wore a robe, Carla was sure of that.

  Enough of that… I need to focus. Getting ambushed here would be bad. She kept vigilant, trying to scan her quadrant of the forest.

  They moved relatively quickly through the woods, the horses forced to move beyond their usual comfort levels. The bronze rank adventurers could of course keep up, their physiques improved by progressing through the ranks—especially Rodrick’s and Arthur’s.

  At times, Carla felt envious of the two men. Since they didn’t have magic affinities, their physical attributes were more significantly improved with the influx of energy from their soul, although Rodrick still seemed way stronger than Arthur. That could have stemmed from the mens’ difference in sheer size though.

  She and Ciel were less physically improved by their progression along the ranks as they had magical affinities. Ciel was more fit than Carla, and even diverted some of the mana she gained to her physicality, nearly matching Arthur’s strength. Most of Carla’s time went to studying runes and magic, leaving her less time to improve her own physicality. I should really train more… Maybe even divert some mana to my body… There are many situations where being stronger or faster would help.

  The forest was thicker than the one near Lyndale. There they could see potential attacks hundreds of meters away, whereas they could be ambushed within the Ronaheim forest at any moment. It wasn’t the most dangerous area in the kingdom—far from it—but it was dangerous nonetheless.

  Their vigilance was the exact reason they were able to act so fast when the first attacks came, every single adventurer on the team exploding into action. It was clear that the attacks did not come from beasts, no beast on Aldun shooting arrows or attacking with daggers. These were human attackers—bandits working against the crown.

  As Carla unleashed her first spell, the lance of ice piercing through the stomach of an enemy archer, blood and guts exploding from the man’s back, she grinned from ear to ear.

  These bandits had chosen the wrong caravan to attack, and Carla would show them the error of their ways.