Chapter 83: Proper Learning (1)

Chapter 83: Proper Learning (1)

A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree"

Mushroom trees and colorful meadows decorated the landscape as both Leon and Vadim rode their beasts to the next village's inn.

As the two were not taking the normal traveling roads due to the fact that Leon is being hunted by the Royal Family, they traveled through the fields from a village to another using the map atlas Leon bought from the Mercenary Hall and also by asking villagers for directions.

Two men riding dangerous-looking beasts would surely drive the villagers into chaos, but both Leon and Vadim fabricated a story about being professional monster hunters from a nearby city, who were chasing a beast in the region and checking between villages. Using fear as a weapon, the two would get accommodation in the villages with the villagers' prayers that the two of them would find the monsters that would threaten the peace.

The whole Kingdom of Amber is a large peninsula in the northeastern part of the continent but it has a massive landmass which makes it one of the big countries in general. With the sea being at the north, the south, and the east, there weren't many alternatives to travel to the east, especially since they have to cross a mountain range at some point.

"Lance, Lara, Erielle, and Eleanor are all taking different directions towards the East and making themselves visible as they travel. The enemy is focusing on the four of them not knowing which individual is escorting you." Vadim said.

"But that enemy knows about you, right?" Leon asked.

"Aye! I am sure they're trying to locate us as we speak." Vadim said.

"Won't the villagers tell them about us if our description was given?"

"Nay! You don't need to worry. If we are being hunted by knights, they will rush through the roads. No one bothers with poor villagers."

Leon thought for a while as he looked towards the map.

"We are taking uncharted routes and all but I still think there are too many variables." Leon said as his inner escape artist was awakened, "If it was me, I'd try to pinpoint my location with any means possible, magic if possible."

"Quit saying that." Vadim brushed off what Leon said, "You can't be traced with Magic unless you are marked with Magic."

"So there's no method to search and locate something or someone with Magic?" Leon asked.

"Knowledge Magic, of course." Vadim nodded, "It is the hardest magic, however, it isn't omniscient. It is branched into two methods, Detection and Divination."

"I see." Leon made an understanding face, "Detection is searching for stuff through Space while Divination is searching for something through Time."

"Oh! So you were paying attention to my lessons, I see." Vadim smiled.

"I don't look down on any knowledge, Vadim." Leon replied, "Speaking of which, what methods can they use to search for me?"

"As I said, unless you are marked, it will be a pain looking for you. The Detection spells are limited in Range so you need to know a specific location and search beforehand. Of course the Detection range depends on the Mage but even someone at the level of Erielle can't pull it off easily."

"That's the Detection method, isn't the Divination method more dangerous then?"

"Much less so, believe me. Think about it, they can't already find our location so they will need to find out where we were last exactly then cast the Divination spells. The longer the time passes, the harder it becomes. Once that is done, they will need to track us until we enter their range of Detection."

"So it is slow and inefficient."

"Exactly, lad." Vadim nodded, "But unless ye leave nothing that belongs to ya, such as hair or personal things, Divination won't be much of a problem."

"Glad I thought of that one as well." Leon breathed a sigh of relief, "Which means there's only one method they can reach us."

"And that is?"

"They will attempt to race us ahead and wait at the path which we will most definitely take." Leon pointed at some key locations on the map.

"Good thinking. I am sure word has already gotten to these locations about us."

"You are knowledgeable about these areas, right? What path would be the least expected for us to cross from?" Leon asked.

"By least expected, you mean"

"The most obvious. The one with the biggest number of travelers and has a strong military presence."

Vadim walked off the campfire he was roasting the fish on and looked over the map before pointing at a certain point.

"The Marth Bridge." He said.

"What's that bridge like?"

"Two sectioned stone bridges that can take two carriages coming and going. The middle of the bridge rests on an island where a small guard fort was built and has large gates."

"Interesting."

Leon and Vadim drew some shapes on the dirt as Leon kept thinking.

"Every passerby will be accounted for. Not to mention that a Dwarf on a Dire Wolf and a Human on an Assassin Bison will most definitely draw attention." Leon said.

"Do you have a plan then?"

"I do. It's kinda reckless but we can only pass from under their noses or else if we cause trouble, we will have a big pursuit party on our tail."

"So you think you can trick them and just pass through?"

"As of now, I want you to focus on learning the Magic Arts rather than the Elemental Sorceries. This is how Magic is actually being taught. The Elements may hold more destructive ability but the Arcane Arts has more applications." Vadim said.

"What Arts should I focus on?"

"Whatever you can learn. It usually depends on some prerequisites as I said earlier but I'll summarize it for you. Combat Magic can be used by everyone and I taught you some tricks in the past if you remember."

"I don't."

"Fine! As for the Arcane Magic, it requires at least one Element which is a prerequisite I suppose you can now fulfill. Also, believe me when I tell you that this is the most important magic which all mages delve into first before even learning about their elements."

"Noted."

"Aside from that, the Illusion Magic is my least favorite and I know nothing about."

"Hmmm interesting." Leon noted something down in his paper after hearing that.

"Alteration Magic, also known as Alchemy, is by far the most outrageous thing ever. It requires four elements alone. Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. If you ask me, it is a one in a ten thousand chance to find someone with that amount of talent. Your Mother is an Alchemist and she even has Light Magic."

"She does?" Leon raised his brows, "I see but for Alchemy to possess such a heavy prerequisite. I think that I can see that it plays on the manipulation of all the states of matter."

"Huh?"

"I mean it is obvious, right? Earth is all Solid objects which earth contributes to their matter, Water is all Liquid matters, Air is Gas obviously, and Fire is Plasma. If we apply some science to Alchemy, we can figure out how it all relates to the 118 Elements of the periodic table." Leon murmured and noted once again, "Interesting."

"118 elements? Mountain's belly!" Vadim made a weird expression.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"Alright next up are Life Magic and Death Magic."

"Life and Death. I have read about them."

"What do you know then?"

"Life Magic is considered a very esteemed branch of Magic but it is a very rare sight to see. Death Magic, on the other hand, was removed from the books and considered a taboo subject along with the so-called Dark Magic."

"True. Life Magic is also known as Druidism and it is very common among the Elves and the Giants. I picked up a few tricks from it myself to tame beasts and such as you see. Sometimes, it may require having the Light Element flowing through you. Death Magic, on the other hand, is known as Necromancy and it is taboo for so many reasons. Those who practice it have to offer many sacrifices and become mostly mad at a certain point of overusing it."

"Sacrifices?" Leon asked.

"Aye! Humanoid Sacrifices mostly."

"To who?"

"What?"

"Sacrifices are ceremonies that are always directed towards a Higher Being. Who accepts those sacrifices?" Leon asked.

"I am not sure what you're talking about. Sacrificing something is killing it to access its soul and use it for evil things?"

"That's not sacrificing, that's exploiting." Leon said, "A Sacrifice is a gift to either appease or seek the aid of some supernatural force be it Benevolent or Malevolent. It is not usually a bad thing if by sacrificing you are not offering a human sacrifice to a God."

"God?" Vadim tilted his head.

"Oh! Right."

Leon tends to forget that this world has no notion of God. It was really strange since no matter which places one would go in his past world, all these ancient civilizations no matter how far they originated from, they all acknowledged the existence of a God or a pantheon of gods. But this world is strictly Godless. Could it be that something happened on Earth which caused all humanity to have a definite sense of the notion of God while it didn't occur here on Agartha?

"God is like the ultimate creator of all power and things."

"Oh! I've never heard of a Spirit that powerful before." Vadim widened his eyes.

"A Spirit is rather inaccurate." Leon narrowed his eyes and decided to research before coming up with a heresy that might end up with him getting burnt on a stick, "So, the last magic of those Arts."

"Ah! Knowledge Magic. It is the most wonderful of all. What's different about it is that it requires no elemental prerequisite and it can't be learned that easily."

"That so?"

"Yes. Knowledge Magic is all about foretelling and so, you must have a supernatural ability to Divine and Detect things beyond the normal senses. Something like an extra sense that doesn't make sense to normal people for example, seeing or speaking with ghosts."

"Oh!" Leon widened his eyes, "I have one of those."

"Truly?" Vadim reacted with shock.

"Yes, I can speak to Boobs." Leon said with a big smile.

"" Vadim closed his eyes and remained silent for a while before looking at Leon with a serious face, "For your sake and mine, don't mention that in front of your mother or your mother-in-law or your fiance or your sister."

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