Chapter 67: Bandit Attack, Part 5

Chapter 67: Bandit Attack, Part 5

"Well" Owyn thought for a while, thinking about how to best explain this. "As you, of course, know, to use a spell you need to have enough Mana, as well as a picture of what you are trying to do, in your mind."

"Of course," Gerald nodded. He learned that long ago.

"Basically, the mindset is very important if you want to be successful, and even a slight interruption can make the spell misfire or completely collapse So some people came up with the idea of using longer chants. They are usually short catchy songs or poems, with rhymes, so they are easy to remember," Owyn explained.

"A mage should then train in peace using these chants to master the spell. Then, if at some later date the situation became chaotic and he was under stress, the familiar chant would help bring the mindset under control, making it easier to cast a spell."

Gerald listened to the explanation with much interest. He stroked his chin as he spoke out loud, "Interesting... So then the words that you spoke to trigger your spells could be changed for something else?"

Owyn nodded, stating, "Definitely! But I am having problems shortening my chant for the Stone Javelin. If I remove words from my chant, the casting time increases instead of decreasing I am a failure as a mage." He smiled awkwardly.

"One of the marks of a good mage is if he can cast a spell with as few words as possible, while still keeping the consistency at 100%. Of course, the cast time has to be fast as well."

'Ah!' Gerald suddenly came to a realization, 'I have been using something similar to achieve this effect. Just instead of using extra words to accompany my spell, I used body movements! And I didn't even know it!' He remembered all those times when he was waving with his hand or fingers to direct his Stone Bolts.

The realization deepened his interest in magic even more.

Both Nina and Owyn were at about the same level of competence. They both had problems using short chants quickly as they required more active thinking to cast a spell. Trough the conversation with them, Gerald came to know that that was quite common in the kingdom.

The almost instant casting, like what Gerald was capable of, was almost unheard of in this world. Only the geniuses, from the wealthy families who could afford expensive teachers, were capable of similar feats.

Most young mages had to study at a public academy, and if they didn't understand something, or couldn't keep up with the professor, well, that was their problem.

Many left the academy after a few years because they couldn't keep up. Instead of wasting time and money on something they couldn't follow or understand, many decided to get a job by either becoming a mercenary, join the Warrior's Guild, become a soldier, or learn a useful craft.

The merchants usually came from a family with a rich background, usually a less successful son of some small Lord. The starting capital was something the commoners just couldn't afford after all.

The few that decided to continue as a mage, like Owyn and Nina, usually joined the Warrior's Guild because they didn't have many other choices. Luckily for them, they at least had magic staves that helped them with the Mana problems that many young mages faced.

Usually, mages had to spend most if not all of their money on expensive equipment to be able to sustain the Mana cost of their spells. That oftentimes came at a cost to their armor and clothes.

Gerald could now more easily understand why he saw quite a few people with nice jewelry and staves, as well as wands and rings, walking around with simple wool clothes. Turns out the mages had the same problems he himself faced. Money was the biggest obstacle in their path.

Although his money situation somehow resolved itself for now, he knew that he will have to work hard to continue getting stronger. He currently only had gems for two Elements and he stole the Fire Sword from Adelard, so that didn't really count. Who knew if it might bring him more trouble with the Serrell family in the future.

There was one thing that bugged him for a while now. How could he sense and use Mana so naturally? People in this world usually had to train for quite a while to be able to sense it, but it seemed like he had a natural gift for it.

Though he didn't really like that explanation. There had to be something else going on, but he couldn't come up with any useful theories at the moment.

The journey after the attack went quite peacefully, there weren't any more incidents that happened.

"Damned beasts, not again..." Gerald silently cursed, "Just leave us alone already!"

He crouched down and lightly kicked every sleeping person in the feet. They almost immediately jumped up, but Gerald quickly gestured them to be quiet.

"What's going on?" Sera whispered and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"We got company Get ready for a fight." Gerald kept a serious face as he was observing the enemy approaching.

When the rest heard him, they immediately sobered up and the drowsiness was gone. People quickly wore their armor and picked up their weapons, even mister Rulgo took up a sword and hid near his cart, waiting.

Now they could already hear the rustling in the grass as the enemies were approaching.

Gerald suddenly made a confused expression as he stared at the approaching Mana blobs. At first, he thought they were all crouching humans, but now that they came closer he realized they were not.

There were ten humans and the same number of animals. At first, he thought it was a normal wolf, but the beast was much bigger, although still not as big as the Silverback.

Ultimately, the enemy encircled them from the front and they became aware of each other's presence.

The animals slowly emerged from the grass, they looked like a mix between a tiger and a big wolf, with completely black fur, sharp fangs and a bloodthirsty look in their eyes.

The humans approached behind them and they wore an expressionless face as if they had already won. They all wore the same brown armor, a full leather attire made out of individual leather pieces that were combined in a way that made them look like scales.

"Hold on I saw that before" Gerald remembered how the red-armored bandits had the same style of armor, just the color was different. "These punks are from the same faction I bet! Fuck, that makes me mad! You think we are an easy target for you to bully?!"

He gripped his Fire Sword tight and lowered his posture, preparing for the fight.

"Oh, hell! Black Wolves! Be careful guys!" Derrick yelled when he saw their opponents.

'So they are wolves after all!' Gerald thought in surprise. It had to be some other species that he didn't know about.

Just as the Black Wolves jumped for the attack, Gerald heard a light rustle behind him. He quickly turned around and saw another one of those bastards sneaking near the wagon. The rest, including mister Rulgo, seemed oblivious to him as they were too focused on the Wolves in front.

What Gerald saw next made his blood boil. That sneaky bastard placed his hands on a chest and gently pulled it in his lap. It was the chest that contained the Swiftness Potions, Gerald's most prized possessions.

Gerald's eyes opened wide and his pupils shrunk as his heart rate shoot through the roof and the adrenaline was released in waves into his bloodstream. If he had a rage meter, it would now reach the maximum value and possibly even explode.

His face turned red in anger and veins on his neck and forehead bulged out.

The roar that came out of his mouth next shook everybody present, including the animals, making them all pause the battle.

"BASTARD YOU ARE COURTING DEATH!"