Another day had passed, albeit most of the world was still sleeping in the earliest of mornings. The sun barely peeked out from its place in the east and the Endless Passes covered much of the lands in the south tip of the Veiled Continent with a comfortable and hazy mist. Soldiers gathered and huddled over their fire pits, keeping watch and still in recuperation.
But one couldn't deny that it was the perfect time for criminals to go about their schedules in peace with little interference, the sleepy Bodyguards leaned on the walls and wished for the rotation of their shift to arrive, unbeknownst of the invisible figures that could have slipped through their senses.
Fugitives that could have come by and gone without even much of a single word.
Light drizzles poured down from the heavens to shower the land. A refreshing temperature that kept most content in their warm beds except for those who needed to move irrespective of the climate.
And so there were at least two.
A maiden hitched the two donkeys that pulled her cart. The wind tousled through her hair and there was a grim look on her face. This was an unavoidable thing—she should have known that the day would come around where she would be forced to leave. She just didn't think that it would be today. Well, it had been since last night, but she didn't really count it that much.
Why would a young woman like herself be doing out on the road all by herself? It was a dangerous time, goblins prowled the lands and razed it, wyverns took over the sky and sent many to cower in their village huts, but still she was determined to leave. Well, not really determined, but there was a good reason for it.
If it weren't for Timothy—she would have never left.
Well, that was a lie as well. She wasn't so sure if she was excited about meeting her father, but there was no choice. And so she moved with a heavy heart. The items in the back of the cart were a heavy burden to bear, and she didn't want to even look back at all and think about the future.
The City of Gloria was in the distance.
Becky had the meat of some of her cows in the cart and it was currently preserved with a Spell to keep its quality. Well, the vast majority of it was cows, but there were poultry and the carcass of a wild hog too. Old Man Joe had even sent another couple of boxes from his own farm. The young woman had made her way here at the message request sent by Timothy to show some guy running a food stand in the market that the Rockfall Village had the best and most affordable ones.
She wasn't happy about it… but everyone insisted she came here.
Who could have possibly thought that she'd reunite with Timothy and Han at such a situation like this? But whatever happened today—she had to make sure that they didn't meet her father.
.
.
.
Han woke up at precisely six in the morning—he knew it because it was ten when Han Jing had somehow managed to stumble back into his home and then fall flat on his bed. Well, his mother had made him install the lightbulb first, but more or less, he had to do a speed run here to make sure that he had enough time.
The memories of what happened yesterday after the class of Miss Jeanne Orleans occupied his mind, these were Han's memories. Well, his Soul Waves? It made him wish that he could hit himself in the head… because he wasn't that pathetic, was he? This almost seemed like a different person!
"I turned down Ellynn when she approached me herself? Gah!" Han hit his head in the pillow once and then got up from bed. There was no time to waste—either he learned the Spell now or get chased by all the Elemental Orbs later. He was lucky that the Professor only had two orbs, but today would be different.
"Should I skip the first Class?" Han stretched and opened the status screen. There was a blinking message in the corner of the screen and it made him momentarily grin. It was the 'Gift' option between Alliances.
[ You Have Received a Gift from Alliance ____ from the Member: Wood Elf ]
As promised, make good use of these
[ Whistlewood Wand 2x ]
[ Spell in a Note ]
The young man's hand stretched out of thin air and then clasped a wand in between his fingers—"There we go!" It was just as what the Wood Elf had said about getting two wands, and though the name was enough to make him raise a brow. He was more than happy to get it, but compared to the wand that the Wood Elf had shown while he was back on earth… this one was plain.
It was a simple hazel colored wand that had nice engravings probably made with a skillful hand, but that was it. It might as well have been a pencil or something. There was no spectacular and magical finish to it… but he shouldn't be complaining right now. Compared to the wands that he could purchase in the city, this was the real thing.
He gave it a small swish and just a minor flick of a wrist—and he might have grinned and could have died then and there. But it was time to see if it actually worked, Han began to use his Mana Control Skill to gather a tiny portion of mana into his hand and funneled it into the wand. He thought he heard a minor whoosh as the mana flowed through the wand.
The symbol of the Spell was in the back of his head.
Sparks emerged from the tip of the wand, similar to when one struck a match. And then the lights turned into a fountain of showering lights trailing off, and so this was—
[ Light ]
"More like a sparkler—alright, actual one this time…" Han fueled more mana into the wand and visualized the shape this time and watched the sparkles of light form together and take the shape of a cube. A glowing cube that gave off a blue green light. It didn't take too much effort as he thought he would, and so he managed a small grin. "Hah, almost like a Light Bearer."
The young man focused on what the Wood Elf had said about the wand.It boosts general spell-casting?
That didn't sound so special, especially as it said 'general' but it fitted more with him than any other wand—except for maybe the fire attuned wand. Han was already set on [ Fireballs ] regardless of every other Spells he'd be getting, but for now this wasn't what he was here to learn. He needed a spell so easy that he could do it with his eyes closed—or learn it under two hours.
But it wasn't only him that he should be worrying about. Han would yawn and place the wand back into the Inventory, "I do hope that Timothy has learned a Spell already or the two of us could share. I mean, someone like him would get it down in a pat."
Han reached for the last item given to him, and it was just labelled as a spell written on a note, so it wasn't even a grimoire or a stone tablet, but it seemed like something hastily written and added into the gift. "And yet beggars can't be choosers." Han muttered to himself and held the paper in his hand.
It was a good thing that Timothy was just next door.
Han knocked on the door and waited. Someone like Timothy would be up early, right? They lived in a village so—the door swung open in a flash, and then the young man would just stare at him blankly. "It's you. Of course it would be you—who was I kidding?"
"Were you expecting someone else?" he asked in a teasing tone. And then Han scrunched up his nose as the scent of something horrible reached his nose. It was a rotten stench. Did Timothy not take a bath or something?
"What do you want?"
Someone clearly didn't wake up in the best of moods, and so Han just scratched the back of his head. He'd pretend like he didn't even notice it as always and simply managed a weak smile. "Did you already learn a Spell for our class later?"
The door shut in his face.
And then promptly reopened as a book was shoved in his hands. The man scowled and gave him one last look, "I'm sure you'll figure something out—or if you don't have enough time, just skip the first class this morning. I'll hand you the notes, or you could always ask Ellynn."
Han barely managed to grab the book without letting the note slip out of his hand, "Wait—" But the door shut in his face again without a single word in leaving his mouth. He couldn't help but make a face and stare back at the door. "What's with this guy? He didn't even let me in at all."
What could be the reason…
"Iola." He stared at the door and then placed the book and note in the Inventory, Han would start knocking again. He tried to be more cool, but even he could note the franticness in his own movements. "Hey, Timothy! Open up will ya—I have another question." If the man was hiding something, then he wouldn't want Han to be noisy and wake everyone up.
He'd storm in the moment the guy opened the door.