I'm Not a Mage

“Hahaha! So you decided to travel with us to the capital after all?”

Bain slapped Reeve on the back of the shoulder again. This time, however, Reeve was ready and held his ground. For some reason, failing to shove him forward only seemed to make Bain even more cheerful.

“Your captain made a convincing argument,” Reeve replied.

“I'm glad you decided to come. I was starting to think Bain might cry if we left you behind.”

Dora was arranging supplies in the back of the wagon. She had to stand on a small barrel to reach everything easily.

“There's no need to exaggerate, Dora,” Bain replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Ha! I wish I were exaggerating.”

Dora hopped down from the barrel with practiced ease. Then she began rubbing a thick, whitish substance onto the crossbow's multiple strings.

She noticed Reeve watching.

“Kobold fat,” she explained. “Helps the strings last longer. You have no idea how much tension this beauty can handle. We have to take good care of our equipment if we expect it to take care of us on the road.”

Reeve wanted to ask Dora what a kobold was, but restrained his curiosity. He did not ask rAIven either, because he could already imagine the answer.

“You seem more responsible than you look.”

Reeve leaned against the rear of the wagon and closely watched Dora maintain the weapon.

“I wouldn't call it responsibility,” Bain said as he hammered the dents out of his large shield with a small round-headed mallet. “Taking care of your equipment is the bare minimum for any adventurer who wants to grow old in this profession.”

Reeve could not help noticing that, despite their relaxed behavior, everyone in the party seemed prepared for most unexpected situations. Even if he avoided asking questions, he could learn a great deal simply by observing them during the journey.

“Bain, Dora, do you mind if we use your horses to pull the wagon?” Elliot asked as he prepared the harnesses for two of the animals.

“No objections, Captain,” Bain replied.

“None from me,” Dora added.

The two helped Elliot harness the largest horses in the group. Both had glossy brown coats and long, loose manes that swayed in the breeze. Reeve understood why Bain had chosen an animal that size, but why Dora had done the same was beyond him.

“No luggage, Reeve? We'll be leaving soon.”

Elliot was finishing feeding his own horse, the large black stallion Reeve had seen from the stable.

“No. Everything I own is already on me.”

“Then that settles it. We can leave.”

Elliot mounted his horse, and Elise did the same with hers. Bain, Dora, and Reeve climbed aboard the wagon. Bain sat at one end of the driver's bench and took the reins; Reeve occupied the other side. Dora settled among the cargo in the back.

Behind them, the village children followed the wagon to the edge of the fields.

They seemed even happier after Bain bought the entire basket of Lume fruits they had been carrying everywhere.

“Why waste money on those? We already bought an entire sack at the tavern,” Dora asked from the back of the wagon.

Beneath the shade of the makeshift roof, she tore a large bite from one of the fruits. Her teeth glowed along with the luminous bite mark left in its flesh.

“Helping a few brats make some good memories isn't a waste.”

Bain flicked the reins, looking proud of himself. Dora did not appear to agree.

Elliot listened attentively as the two argued about the value of money. Elise kept her distance, as always, riding well ahead of the rest of the group. Her horse's trot was so smooth that the animal appeared to float. Reeve wondered whether it was magic or whether horses could truly differ that much from one another.

All day, the immense blue sky followed them across an equally vast plain. The village of Lume and the forest had long since vanished from sight. The party continued traveling until the thin clouds along the horizon took on an orange hue Reeve had not even known the sky could produce.

Before nightfall, they made camp around a small circle of stones previous travelers had already used as a firepit.

For the first time, Reeve saw Elise perform magic openly. She recited several words under her breath that, unlike the ordinary speech of Olliria's inhabitants, he could not understand. The tip of her staff glowed. A moment later, a dense ring of bushes grew around a stretch of green grass.

The party released all four horses inside the enclosure so the animals could rest after the first day of travel.

The way each member compensated for the others' limitations made the Steel Rose seem remarkably capable.

The two women slept on a thick animal hide spread across the wagon floor. The three men lay around the fire, its flames crackling in the night air.

“This is fucking incredible.”

Reeve stared at the endless field of stars above him.

“The way you talk, anyone would think you've never seen a starry night before, Reeve. Hahaha!” Bain replied, also looking up at the sky.

“Never one like this.”

Reeve did not take his eyes off the stars.

“Where did you come from, anyway?” Bain asked casually.

“A long way from here,” Reeve replied ambiguously.

“You seem to have had a complicated past.”

“I haven't met anyone who hasn't.”

“Fair enough.”

Bain took the hint.

Elliot listened closely to their conversation but did not participate.

“What about you, Bain? At the tavern, you said your father had died. Was he an adventurer too?”

“Nothing that extravagant. He was a farmer. Died along with half our village during the last fever. We couldn't gather enough money for the Church to send a priest.”

“Sounds rough.”

“Not really. What about you, Reeve? Do you have a father?”

“I suppose so, but I never met the man. I had a mother for a while, before she decided she had wings and tried to fly from somewhere high.”

“Hey, are you two competing to see who has the saddest past or what?”

Dora stuck her head out of the wagon. She looked irritated.

“Sorry,” Reeve and Bain replied in unison.

Elliot appeared to be laughing, but Reeve could not be sure. Smoke from the fire obscured his face.

{REBOOTING SYSTEM}

{BODILY FUNCTIONS NORMAL}

{IMPLANT POWER: 86%}

When Reeve awoke the following morning, the rest of the party had already broken camp. They set out early. Reeve ate a potato with its skin still on that Bain had left among the fire's heated stones overnight. It was not as flavorful as the meal at the tavern, but it provided a good amount of energy for the morning.

They occasionally encountered other travelers coming from the opposite direction. At times, others following the same road passed them while they watered the horses at small wells dug along the route. According to Bain, the Merchants’ Guild had built them to make travel more comfortable and strengthen trade.

On the second night, they shared their fire with a family of merchants who traveled from village to village, buying exotic goods to sell at the capital's market.

Dora spent longer than she should have trying to negotiate a deal for the rest of their sack of Lume fruits.

The third and fourth days brought breathtaking scenery. The trees along the road were beginning to display the orange and red hues of early autumn. On the horizon beyond the great plain, the party could see what Bain identified as the Sleeping Dragon Mountain Range.

rAIven continuously updated the map in real time, recording every point of interest they encountered along the way in precise detail.

On the morning of the fifth day, when the mountain range already occupied much of the horizon, the party spotted a city built at the foot of the mountains. It was considerably larger than the village of Lume.

Every house appeared to be made from the same dark wood. The wall surrounding the city was wooden as well, built from massive logs with alternating sharpened tips. Guards wielding longbows stood atop the wall at regular intervals. The fletching of the arrows in their quivers protruded over their shoulders.

They appeared to be on alert.

“That doesn't look good,” Bain said, slowing the horses.

“What doesn't?” Reeve asked.

“See that?”

Bain pointed to the countless tents scattered outside the city gate.

Elliot and Elise drove their heels into their horses' sides and quickly rode toward the gathering. Bain guided the wagon after them, though it could not match the speed of the two riders.

Eyes turned toward them as they passed each tent. Unlike the curious people of Lume, however, these people wore empty expressions. Some seemed afraid of the party and retreated into their tents as soon as they caught sight of them.

“Refugees,” Elliot reported when he returned on horseback.

Elise was not with him.

“The Inquisition?” Dora asked quietly.

Elliot nodded.

“Shit!” Bain exclaimed. “Why won't they let these people into the city?”

He looked angry. So did Dora. It was the first time Reeve had seen either of them without a smile or a joke.

“Hey, Elliot, what happened?” Reeve asked.

“The Inquisition discovered that their village was trading with an apostate camp. They destroyed the entire place.”

“Those sons of bitches!” Dora exclaimed.

“The lord of Verna will not allow any refugees into the city under orders from the Inquisition. They fear there may be apostates among them,” Elliot explained, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Captain,” Bain called. “Maybe we should skip our stop in Verna and leave immediately. It won't be pretty if they catch us in the middle of an Inquisition sweep.”

“Agreed,” Elliot replied.

He looked from side to side, apparently searching for Elise.

“Where's Lise, Captain?” Dora asked, using a nickname for Elise for the first time since Reeve had met the party.

“I don't know,” Elliot replied. “Damn it. Whenever the Inquisition and apostates are involved, she loses all sense of reason. Dora, Bain, help me find her. We need to leave before the situation gets any worse. She tied her horse near the gate.”

“Wait. I'll help search,” Reeve said, jumping down from the wagon's passenger bench.

Elliot thanked him with a nod.

The four of them went to Elise's horse near the gate, then split up in different directions.

rAIven, adjust the scanner to locate anyone matching the facial features of the lunatic with the branch.

{AFFIRMATIVE}

{ADDENDUM: THE OBJECT CARRIED BY ELISE IS A STAFF}

I know, and I don't care.

Reeve moved through the crowd, weaving between the refugees. His ocular implant scanned one face after another but found no sign of Elise.

He continued until the tents and refugees began to thin out. Farther ahead, near the edge of a small woodland, he spotted another cluster of tents. He could not see anyone nearby, even with his eyes' magnification. Still, he decided to investigate.

Beside one of the tents, a campfire released a steady stream of smoke even though there were no embers or flames.

Something else, however, stood out on his HUD: Elise's staff lay abandoned on the ground. The leaves around it had been disturbed, as if a struggle had taken place there.

“Wasn't this thing supposed to be a mage's life?” Reeve asked aloud.

His auditory implant, however, had already detected the man silently approaching him from behind.

{SYNAPTIC ACCELERATION ACTIVATED}

Reeve turned and stared directly at the man behind him. The stranger's hands were empty. Yet a few inches from his left palm, a blue circle slightly larger than his hand spun rapidly, even under the effects of the acceleration. At its center, something resembling a spark traveled between the middle of the circle and the man's fingers.

Reeve moved in a blur, slipped behind him, and drove a brutal kick into the outside of his shin.

{SYNAPTIC ACCELERATION DISENGAGED}

When time returned to normal, the man's leg immediately folded at an unnatural angle. He collapsed, and the circle vanished from his hand. As the man howled in pain, Reeve noticed bone protruding from the wound.

“Where is she?” he asked with unnerving calm.

The man did not answer. He only continued screaming. Reeve slapped him across the face, and the man looked even more terrified when he met Reeve's eyes.

“If I have to ask again, I'll break both your hands to make sure you can't put on another light show.”

Reeve smiled, but he was clearly not amused.

“They... took the woman into the woods... A whore wearing the Inquisition's collar doesn't deserve to be blessed with magic.”

The man spoke in broken bursts, overwhelmed by pain.

“See? That wasn't so hard. And don't worry—the bone didn't pierce the artery. It'll only hurt enough to keep you from trying to play the hero.”

Reeve gave the man's other cheek two light pats and headed deeper into the woods.

rAIven, activate Subdermal Armor and keep it active until we're out of here.

{AFFIRMATIVE}

I'm going to waste implant power, and I don't even care that much about this woman.

{FOUR INDIVIDUALS DETECTED AHEAD. ONE APPEARS TO BE DRAGGED BY THE OTHER THREE}

Reeve calmly approached the people ahead. He made no effort to muffle his steps over the dry leaves. The three men stopped abruptly and raised their hands into defensive positions almost simultaneously.

“Gentlemen, I'm completely unarmed,” Reeve said, continuing to walk slowly toward the group.

It was indeed Elise they were dragging. Translucent ropes extended from the men's hands and coiled around her legs. She had a deep cut above one eyebrow, and another similar rope gagged her mouth.

Elise glared furiously at Reeve.

“Stop right there, stranger. A mage without a staff? Are you part of the cause?” asked the first man, who stood slightly ahead of the others.

He wore a green robe, and a hood concealed most of his face.

“I'm not a mage, and I don't have a cause. Well, pay me enough and I'll embrace whatever cause you want,” Reeve replied with a faint, mocking smile.

Elise's glare grew even more furious.

“Liar! I can feel the mana inside you,” said the smallest of the three.

He wore a torn vest across his shoulders and faded trousers. His hair was thinning at the front.

The third man, who had a long beard and wore nothing but trousers, remained silent. His gaze shifted between Reeve and Elise on the ground.

“Can't we make a deal? I kind of need that one.”

Reeve pointed at Elise without lowering his hands.

“Out of the question,” the bearded man replied. “Traitors to magic must be made an example of.”

He drove a brutal kick into Elise's ribs. She groaned in pain, but the fury in her eyes did not diminish for even a second.

“Kill him quickly,” the bearded man ordered the other two with a slight nod.

The next instant, both men aimed their hands at Reeve. A dark yellow circle appeared in front of each of them. Sharp stones formed at their centers and launched themselves at Reeve with tremendous speed.

The projectiles struck him and raised a cloud of dust. The three men exchanged satisfied looks at the apparently effortless outcome.

Their satisfaction did not last.

Reeve emerged from the dust with his arms crossed in front of his face. The hexagonal pattern of his Subdermal Armor glowed intensely from his fingertips to his shoulders.

{SUBDERMAL ARMOR INTEGRITY: 96%}

“My turn.”

New chapter this Wednesday at the same time. Thanks for reading!