Chapter 188 - Heading north

“Shouldn’t we travel at night?” Adion asked as he looked up to the sky. It was only early afternoon, and the sun was unsufferably hot.

“I thought you wanted to get moving,” Minru said as he fastened his luggage with some ropes on the back of the senba.

“Fine,” Adion said with a sigh. He did want to get going, but he also felt it was unnatural to be out in this kind of heat. 

Minru tampered with the senba for a few minutes before calling for Adion to get on.

“We did good to wait,” Minru said as Adion settled down at the front of the senba, “The winds are powerful today. If we had left right away like you wanted, we would be traveling at a snail’s pace. Do you understand not to rush things now?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adion said, waving him off, “Let’s get going.”

Adion didn’t want to stay another second. He had noticed Keshi staring them down from across the street for a while now.

What does she think we’ll do?

Minru also noticed Keshi frowning at them. “What do you want, woman?” 

“Hmph!” Keshi just snorted and turned to leave.

“What a strange creature,” Minru muttered, “Makes you wonder what kind of trouble I’d be having to deal with if I wasn’t stronger than her. I think I’ll stick to these small villages going forward.”

She probably wouldn’t do anything. Adion couldn’t help but think. Keshi had been very nice to him all things considered, she just seemed uncomfortable with powerful mages.

I guess I can understand that. It would put anyone on edge.

She didn’t demand any payment for the house he had been occupying either. Adion didn’t feel that was quite proper, though. So he left behind a few gold coins along with a note of thanks.

“Anyway, let’s get going,” Minru said, sitting down by the rudder. 

Adion felt the senba slowly moving. He couldn’t help but lean over the edge of the senba to get a closer look at how the sand moved. 

“Won’t this tire you out?” Adion asked. Manipulating sand should be quite difficult from what he could understand, especially as it had to move something as heavy as the senba. 

“You have to manipulate the sand sparingly,” Minru said as he poured out some sand from his gourd. Adion guessed that was sand he had conjured himself earlier this morning.

Adion saw how the sand flew out and dug in beneath the senba, pushing it forward. 

“My first time riding one of these things, I could only barely make it out of town before I was exhausted. But you get better at managing the sand as you practice, it’s a bit of an artform,” Minru continued to explain, “Still, you can’t get very far without relying on the wind. At least not when you’re traveling alone.”

I guess wind mages must be highly regarded in the desert. 

Probably not as much as water mages, though. 

They soon got out of the village, and Adion stood up to untangle the sail.

“Looks like we’ll be going north,” Minru said, “Just as well, I’ve just been down south.”

North…Guess my only option is Kerrick Hold.

“Can you aim us more east than west?” Adion asked, “I’m heading for Kerrick Hold.”

“I guess that’s fine,” Minru said with a nod.

Good.

Adion looked out over the desert and breathed out in relief. The senba didn’t move as fast as when he traveled with Narvar, but it sure beat walking. 

I’m finally on my way again.

It had been five days since he first arrived in the village and met with Minru. Although the days were pleasant, he still felt uncomfortable staying in one place for too long. Who knew when his hidden enemies would show themselves?

He visited Minru every morning during these days, joining him on the rooftop to paint. Unfortunately, he didn’t experience that sensation of traveling back to a past memory like he had done the first time he painted. But Adion didn’t worry too much, since it couldn’t be forced, he could only relax and let it come naturally. 

Besides, he hadn’t gotten all he could out of the previous memory. Through a lot of effort, and by using up all his Will before going to sleep every night, Adion had managed to clear up a few circumstances. 

He could finally remember that the studio was called Hevima, and the city was called Reshi, located in Iitha. He could also recall Quahim’s face, even if he still didn’t remember anything about the old man, Adion could feel that they were close. Adion only felt warm and positive emotions when recalling Quahim and the studio. 

Unfortunately, it just gets harder and harder. 

Right after remembering the scene for the first time, Adion could dig up every small detail in the room, down to the individual strokes of his painting. Then it took him another day of hard work to dig out the names of the studio and city. 

After that, it got a lot harder to remember more details. All he had to show for the other four days was that he could remember the street outside Hevima. And it wasn’t a complete memory, there were still a lot of blurry spots. Every small detail took nearly all his Will to clear up.

Hopefully, I can have another moment of clarity if I continue painting. 

Even if I don’t. I’ll probably keep painting just for the sake of it.

Adion found painting to be incredibly rewarding. He looked forward to it every day when he woke up. Perhaps he liked it because he seemed to be pretty good at it. He was at least better than Minru at getting his emotions onto the canvas. 

Or perhaps it was because one of his few memories he now had was of him painting with Quahim, so it gave him a sense of nostalgia. 

Painting did tire his Will a lot, though. But Adion just viewed it as training.

It’s a shame I barely have any Will left to work on my advancement to high Silver. But I think it’s worth it for now. Once I remember everything, I will have time to practice other things. 

The senba started picking up speed as the village disappeared from view. Adion couldn’t help but marvel at the speed.

This is even faster than when I traveled with Narvar. 

“Looks like we’ll be getting there faster than expected,” Minru said with a small grin as he noticed the powerful winds.

“Do you have a destination in mind?” Adion asked, “Are you also planning on heading up to Kerrick Hold?” 

“That’s far too big a place for me,” Minru said, shaking his head, “It’s almost the size of an average city in the Empire. I’ll probably settle down in a small village on the way.”

“I see,” Adion said with a nod. Although it would have been nice to continue traveling with Minru all the way, he had never expected him to travel all the way with him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave you in a town big enough for you to easily get a ride the rest of the way,” Minru assured Adion.

“Thank you,” Adion said with a small smile, “Do you have a map? Do you know how long it will take?”

“In a rush like always,” Minru said with a sigh, “It depends on the wind. If we keep going at this speed, it won’t take more than five days to get to Jimike, a fairly big town to the northeast. But a more likely estimate is two weeks.”

“I guess that’s fine,” Adion said. It was a lot faster than walking. 

They continued to travel for a few hours, and luckily, the winds didn’t die down. 

“At this rate, we’ll get to Hetsu before nightfall,” Minru said as he looked up at the sun while shielding his eyes, “Hetsu is a small village to the east of Heshuwara.”

“Do we have to stop?” Adion couldn’t help but ask, he wanted to be as far away from Heshuwara as he could.

“We should take the chance to stop and rest every opportunity we can get,” Minru said, “We never know how the winds will blow in the coming days. We might be stuck in the middle of the desert moving forward inch by inch. By that point, we’ll be sorry that we didn’t take the opportunity to rest and refill our supplies.”

“You’re right,” Adion said with a nod.

There shouldn’t be any dangers. Only a bit over a week has passed…

Actually, that’s quite a long time. 

“Haah,” Adion couldn’t help but grow worried. 

I’ll just stay on the senba. I can still get a good night’s sleep here. And if I hide my aura, no one should notice my presence through the night. 

Adion and Minru continued on their journey, and a few more hours passed. As the sun crept closer to the horizon, the wind started losing strength.

“Will we make it to Hetsu like this?” Adion asked, looking out toward the horizon for any signs of the village.

“It shouldn’t be much longer. Don’t worry” Minru said, “You should drink some water. We can fill up in Hetsu, so no need to save it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Adion said and walked to the back of the senba where he had his belongings. Even if Adion had drunk plenty of water during the day, he was unconsciously saving as much as he could.

Adion grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it down. 

“Have you been to Hetsu before?” Adion asked as he took a seat next to Minru by the rudder. 

“Nope,” Minru answered, “Been to Heshuwara once, though.”

“How long have you been traveling like this?” Adion asked.

“A long time,” Minru answered in a low voice.

“You never found a place you liked well enough to settle down?” Adion asked.

“I’ve visited most town and cities in the desert, and I have stayed in countless villages,” Minru answered, “Some of them, I remember very fondly. If I had to stay put somewhere, there are plenty of options. But I prefer to be on the move. I get restless staying too long in one place.”

“I see,” Adion said, slowly nodding, “Have you been to Kerrick Hold, then?”

“Kerrick Hold isn’t the desert,” Minru said with a scoff, “It’s a part of the Empire through and through. I wouldn’t waste my time in a place like that. What would I even paint?”

“Trees? People?” Adion suggested.

“Not interested,” Minru answered. 

Adion just shrugged, knowing Minru was different from him.

“Even if I haven’t been there myself, I’ve heard a few things,” Minru continued, “You should be careful. Even if you’re a talented mage for being so young, you are still very weak. Without the backing of a Noble family, you don’t have much protection from the law. The Empire takes its hierarchy extremely seriously. If you so much as look the wrong way at a mage from a prestigious family, you could be killed and no one would seek justice for you.”

“It’s that bad?” Adion asked, surprised.

“They’re all lunatics,” Minru said with a frown, “And they are petty. You’re talent wouldn’t attract admiration like it does in the desert. It would only evoke envy and hatred in the less talented young masters. Can you hide your aura?”

“I should get away with hiding it down to peak Iron,” Adion said, a little unsure.

“Good,” Minru said with a nod.

I guess being too strong is a problem sometimes. If I actually were a middle Bronze mage like Minru thinks, I could easily get away with showing Iron strength, perhaps even Stone. 

Maybe I would be better off showing off my middle Silver aura? That would surely make people believe I have some background. 

I wonder how strong my family is?

Adion felt they should be pretty strong. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be as strong as he is, and he wouldn’t be worth the time and effort his enemies seemed to put on him.

But that is probably more because of my space magic than my middle Silver strength. 

After another hour of slow travel, Adion finally saw something other than sand on the horizon. The sun had just gone down, but the sky was still fairly bright. 

“Looks like we made it before nightfall,” Minru said with a pleased smile.

“That’s a relief,” Adion said. But in reality, he would prefer to just keep going. Maybe a quick refill of water would be fine, but not staying the night. 

But he knew Minru had to be pretty exhausted. Since Adion didn’t contribute anything, he didn’t feel it was right to make any demands. 

As they came up on the village, the senba slowed down to a stop, and Adion stood up and started tying the sail to the mast. 

“I’ll go and meet with the village head,” Minru said, jumping off the senba, “Hopefully they are more reasonable than that Keshi.”

“Alright,” Adion said, “I think I’ll just sleep on the senba, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Why? I can get us a room for the night. These kinds of villages always have an empty house or two for traveling mages,” Minru said. 

“I just feel like it,” Adion said with a shrug, “Besides, it’s better not to leave the senba unattended.”

“I’ll obviously bring the senba inside the village after speaking with the village head, “Minru said.

“Well,” Adion hesitated, “Either way, I’ll just stay here.”

Minru looked at Adion with a suspicious look for a moment, “Are you on the run or something?”

Was it that obvious?

“Haah,” Adion sighed, “It’s nothing serious. I just had a bit of a disagreement with a group of mages in Heshuwara. I’d rather be safe than sorry when we are this close.”

“Alright, alright,” Minru said, “I can’t be bothered. Do what you want.”

Adion watched as Minru slowly walked away. The villagers stared at him with fear and trepidation. Even non-mages could feel the powerful aura of a Gold mage if it wasn’t hidden. 

I hope Minru remembers to get some water for me too. 

Otherwise, I’ll just handle it quickly in the morning. 

Adion let out a yawn and went inside the small cabin. He had been rising early these days, so he was quite tired. 

I’ll just work on my memories for a while before going to bed.

And so, Adion sat down and slowly worked out a few missing pieces in his memories.

When his Will gave up, Adion hadn’t made much progress. But he was happy with every small step forward, and he fell asleep with a pleased expression on his face.