The Fearless War

Magic Along The Way

The animals in front of me, apparently called 'Vocats' did not seem at first glance capable of moving a carriage composed of wood and metal, even without people inside. They approached me and I could notice that despite being of slender build, the legs covered with thick fur carried split hooves which unlike horses or other more common mounts, could move without problem on more terrain.

"And you already have reins for this type of animal Uncle Miles?"

"They can use any, they just require a breastplate extension."

"Okay, we're leaving before dawn then?"

"Yes, just let me attach the reins to the vocats. I'll drive the first shift, and, in the afternoon, I'll teach you how to drive the carriage. If what I read is correct, it's harder to drive these vocats."

"I think you're the only one who gets to complicate your life on purpose, Uncle."

"What would life be without challenges Oz?"

Putting the reins on the vocats was easier than I expected, and they even seemed eager and excited to have to pull a carriage. With all the food and luggage already inside the carriage, there was enough room for two people in the back and a driver. I placed my backpack on a shelf on the wall of the carriage, leaving the possibility to take out my swords without any problem.

Thus, I began my journey, leaving the village as the sun began to rise, and my uncle with certain complications managed to keep the carriage without deviating from the road. Taking advantage of the first few hours, I took out a bag of smoked meat, the one that decomposes the fastest. After eating a portion, I passed one to Uncle Miles and I could see that we were already on a distant road, being only possible to see small settlements of distant villages and several parts covered with forest.

"How far have we advanced?"

"I'd say we have about two weeks left more, give or take."

"Not as far as I expected, and may I know who is your friend we will be visiting?”

"No one important, just an alchemist I've known for a long time."

I stopped myself from asking any more questions because somehow or other the aura Uncle Miles gave off when talking about his past reminded me of the time last night with the baron's butler. As if everything was becoming related.

"Okay, I'm going to read some of the books my mother gave me, don't forget to eat something Uncle Miles."

"Sure, in a few hours I'll teach you how to drive the carriage."

I went back inside the carriage and to try to take my mind off the situation surrounding Uncle Miles, I pulled out the magic books I had brought with me and chose to read the one with the title [The Roots of Magic] as the second book my mother had given me was basically about air magic and its varieties. Something I could not apply to me.

The book discussed parts I already knew about from my family, but unlike Uncle Miles' explanations, the term he used to describe the spiritual veins and the body that defined them in the book was 'mana roots', describing them in a similar way to my previous knowledge. The roots existed within every person and living being, and allowed for handling the mana spread in the environment and other sources that could be used. The book also explained that if someone used their roots often, they would grow exponentially depending on the use they were exposed to, just as a warrior would exercise his muscles with heavier loads each time, a magic user would have to push his limits constantly if they wanted to reach the limit of their roots or veins. I sharpened my eyes to perceive my spiritual body and saw something that did not match what was written.

I already knew that my veins expanded relentlessly because of the mana-filled blood I absorbed, but what I could not understand was that in the book, it described that the roots capable of handling more than one element were not divided into sections, but that their color was a variant of the element represented. There should not be differences between the elements, they should be merged. I assumed at the time that the difference was also due to the different nature of the two elements.

Further reading started to talk about the different uses of magic and what is necessary to apply them. In several pages, common chants with years of antiquity that had become the most used ones were shown, in their descriptions they established their function and element. I had to omit that part completely because I wouldn't even be able to use them. Within the last pages marked several stages of growth of the roots and a classification system for magicians, this apparently was based on the color and width of the roots, starting at the seventh rank, until the cupola of magic being a user of first rank, in that case the veins would occupy the entire spiritual body and its color could be noticed even with basic magic tools due to the intensity they would have.

The book also had a small description of how there are still a few magicians who, instead of using common or conventional chants, can modify them or even develop new magic. But the process to achieve this would take a lot of risks, since the magician would have to start from scratch the idea of magic, until he could refine the image enough without exploding the mana in his face.

I closed the book and opened the window towards the driver, outside the sun was already approaching the horizon, the landscape was now nothing but forest and a river around. The vocats were still at the same pace with which they had started the trip, and not a hint of tiredness could be seen on their faces.

"Ah! Oz glad you got out, sit down, it's time for you to learn to drive."

"Oh, okay."

I climbed completely out of the back of the carriage so I could sit next to Uncle Miles, already in the seat I could better appreciate the scenery, the road ahead I could only describe as endless, my eyes still concentrating couldn't see beyond the horizon.

"Ok Oz, there are only two steps I have to teach you to drive."

"Don't say what I think you're going to say please..."

"One, if you want to speed up you whip the reins. Two, to slow down you pull on the reins."

"Ugh, you had to say it uncle."

With nothing to throw at him in my hand, I had to remain somewhat frustrated at that point, but I ignored him as I held the reins of the carriage. And to please Uncle Miles, I tried to speed up a bit with the reins and as I came to a slightly more off-track path, I realized that the reins could also turn the direction of the carriage along with the wheels, something that wasn't even common in carriages for nobles.

"Uncle Miles, when did you have time to design the whole carriage?"

"Uhm... I'd say a few hours, the hard part was getting the wheels to move the same as the reins and carriage so as not to strain the vocats."

" I could see that, by the way, where do we stop for a rest?"

"Well, it’s sunset, so drive down the road for about four more hours, from there we'll make a camp."

Checking his watch inside his shirt, uncle Miles started to analyze a map before entering the carriage completely. The vocats sounded their mouths as if trying to say they were still energized, the intention behind their noises seemed clearer to me than when I was in the workshop.

"Don't worry, it's important to rest."

In response I got only a soft grunt from the darker furred vocat. I smiled and drove on. Every now and then I could see that we passed by signs distributed along the road that served to prevent travelers from straying from paths, inside the signs I felt a bit of mana and they seemed to be attached to each other.

The magic in them held them together but I couldn't know their actual purpose so I didn't concentrate on them, but when I did, my vision expanded completely and the environment around me changed, even though it was getting dark, my sight could see everything without any problem and through the air and around everything I could see translucent streams of colors as if it was a fog, but the other things seemed to have lost their color, even when I saw my arms, I could only distinguish my spiritual veins.

I closed my eyes and concentrated to control my senses which could bring them back to some state of normalcy. I could still perceive what I had seen in a certain way, and my arms felt the same as when I had absorbed mana only this time it seemed like the process was like when a baby breathes for the first time. I could feel the fog that turned out to be mana slowly circulating inside me, coursing through my veins and dissipating until it disappeared.

"Ahh, seriously what is happening to me?"

I decided to continue along the path to reach an area free of trees to camp. Just before the little light that remained from the sun dissipated, the signs across the road started to be illuminated, it seemed that they also served to keep away small monsters and beasts that did not like the light. I had no idea what it took to make such tools work but if my uncle had seen them, he would no doubt have been checking them out or even breaking them to make one.

After wandering around for a while, I came to a part of the road that was flat on the side with no trees. I pulled the carriage off the road and released the weights that served to anchor the carriage to the ground. Before telling Uncle Miles that it was time to make a camp, I separated the vocats from the reins and with only a few ropes I attached them to some trees so I could feed them.

Once inside the carriage I saw that Uncle Miles had fallen asleep and was holding a black hilt in his hands, it looked like it was made of stone and the pommel seemed to be incomplete and half carved.

"Uncle Miles, it's time for dinner!" To wake him up I pulled a sack with a ration of meat out of the luggage and threw it towards his face, I didn't get to hear the thump and could only see my uncle's already awake face as he stows his work in progress in a box under the carriage seat.

"I see you set up the stop well, thank you Oz."

"It's nothing, apparently vocats are quieter than they look."

We started dinner and only talked about how many more days and stops we should make to reach our destination, being that I still didn't know the final stop, I asked my uncle specifically.

"Well, it would be a week or more until we get to Oldscar."

"Oldscar? Where is it?"

"Well, the road we took will take us to the east and the last stretch to the north, it's in the mountainous area, specifically the blue mountain that can be seen from everywhere."

"And that's why you made a carriage to endure a tundra?"

"Yes, there are almost no plantations, and their houses are made of skins and stone. I think they also call it the frozen trade because of how much is imported from other duchies."

I could only guess what the atmosphere would be like in another town hidden in the mountains, but with my uncle's vague description, I couldn't even get an idea of what to expect. After dinner, making sure that the vocats were well cared for and safe, since even Uncle Miles went so far as to set traps to prevent them from being stolen, I went to sleep in the carriage after a day's journey.