Chapter 170 - Expectations

Since it was pretty close to the capital, Narma was a pretty big village, and in a few decades, it will probably attain the status of a town. Regardless, the place was basically one of the many villages that offered support to those who lived in the capital. There were numerous farms around that village, and those who didn't work for the farms worked in chopping down trees for the wood.

The village's Inn was a pretty nice place, and the people running the place knew Merkin, so they didn't mind delivering their supper on his own and on Zaos's room that was on the side. However, before he could go to his room in order to rest a little, Zaos made a small demonstration of how his tracking skills worked. Once he realized that Zaos could really see where he was while a thick piece of clothing was covering his eyes, Merkin understood that even while in another room, Zaos would be fully aware of his movements inside it. Although Zaos made that demonstration to pass confidence, in the end, nothing happened throughout the entire night, and after a quick breakfast, they resumed the journey.

"I heard that you mixed magic with sword skills in the North," Merkin said. "You could make a lot of money if you were to decide to teach others that kind of fighting style."

In the end, Merkin realized that Zaos wasn't doing the job alone just because he didn't trust others but also because he wanted money. Anyone who knew Zaos for a couple of hours would learn that he was pretty stubborn and prideful. He wouldn't use his family's money to do the things he wanted with that in mind.

"I am not a really patient teacher," Zaos said. "And I don't like to deal with kids more than I already have to. Although I taught magic to some people, I am not really looking for more students. Besides, for someone to be able to copy my fighting style, they need other skills with melee weapons and even with the bow."

"Interesting," Merkin said while he was massaging his beard. "Have you ever thought of writing magic books then? That is another quick way for you to make some money pretty fast."

"Maybe I will do that in the foreseeable future, but right now I am busty with something else," Zaos said.

If Zaos makes some progress on his research, he will, without a doubt, buy the knowledge in a book and sell it. After all, many people would benefit from it. Thus many magic books would be sold. Besides, healing magic might affect a battlefield, but it certainly wouldn't become a weapon to be used directly against him.

"You have a lot of potential, so I wouldn't mind in selling the possible magic books that you will write in my shop," Merkin said.

"I will keep that in mind," Zaos said.

Merkin wasn't just a mage. He certainly knew how to do business as well. Using those words, he made himself look important, sounds like doing business with him would benefit Zaos. Even though he was currently having a hard time selling his own works.

Just as Zaos had expected, it didn't take long for Merkin to ask Zaos for someone to demonstrate his skills. Zaos felt that he needed to spend some of his mana, so he showed the level of power of his elemental swords. In the end, Merkin's mouth was hanging open when Zaos chopped down a small-sized tree with a single Wind Sword. Merkin knew that spell as well, but he couldn't cause even half of that damage.

"Are you truly a soldier?" Merkin asked, still shocked. "How come you can have this much power behind your spells at such a young age and when you still have been trained to fight like your father?"

"Do you think this sword is fake?" Zaos asked. "I just use my time really well, that is why I made some progress when it comes to magic."

Right now, Zaos felt that he didn't accomplish much since he had practiced magic pretty much every day for ten years. He will only feel good about himself once he makes some breakthrough that helps him with his mother's condition. Until then, he will only consider his skills average, considering all the training he had.

In the end, they didn't find anything worth noticing along their path toward the Esdone town. Although he had the map and tried to move faster, Merkin decided that they should stop at certain villages to rest. So, in the end, Zaos never had the chance to camp. That was actually good for him, but thanks to it, they only arrived in Esdone after exactly five days.

Esdone was a town located between several mountains. Although there wasn't much room for agriculture or to raise animals, the place was pretty big and advanced because of the numerous mines around the area. Esdone had more or less twenty thousand inhabitants and was one of the three biggest cities on the Western side of the kingdom. The mountains could also be used as a natural defense, but the town still had some twenty-meter tall walls.

Although the place wasn't carefully designated like the capital, it still was pretty advanced, considering Zaos's experience. All the houses were made of some type of stone found in the mountains, and the streets were covered in some sort of brick to facilitate the movements of carriages and cars carrying the ores found in the mountains.

"It seems the first part of the trip was much calmer than you expected, huh," Merkin said.

"Well, that was within my expectations," Zaos said. "If we were going to be attacked, we would be on the way back while carrying the magic books."

Merkin also imagined that, but since Zaos was on constant alert, he didn't think he had imagined the same. Regardless, Merkin gave Zaos the directions of the shop of his old friend, and then Zaos began to drive towards it.