There was no need for Viktor to wake Valar, as he woke up with the sun. He had left the curtains open, sleeping in the moon- and starlight instead of the smothering darkness of his own mind. Valar was practically the first one awake, not even needing to dress up because he had slept in his new clothes by accident.

  The rising sun shone straight through the window of Valar’s room, heating up the room to an uncomfortable level. He lazed around for a couple minutes anyway, eventually getting bored of the plain room and his own mundane thoughts. The dark ones had been suppressed away for now, waiting for a new night to come.

  Valar decided to go down to explore the inn to alleviate his boredom. He grabbed his key and backpack, not needing to check anything. He had not taken anything out from it, so he just swung it on his back and left his room. The room was left practically untouched—a fact the cleaning staff would appreciate immensely.

  The inn’s corridor looked the same as last night, the oil lamps burning away nearly silently. When Valar arrived back at the main hall, he looked around the open area. It was almost entirely empty, the silence in stark contrast to last night’s constant noise. There were only two people in the dining hall: a cleaning lady and Rodrick.

  The cleaning lady, a young woman with a kind face and shoulder length brown hair, was doing her job as quietly as she could. She collected empty tankards and plates from the tables, cleaning the tables, chairs and floor. The young woman had a lot of work to do, but she smiled as she worked, humming a quiet tone to herself.

  She noticed when Valar started walking down the stairs, waving her hand his way with a smile on her face.

  “Good morning,” she whispered, trying to not wake up the big oaf sleeping on a table.

  “Good morning. What time is it?”

  “Oh, it’s maybe 6.30. I’m not sure about the exact time, but I came to work at six and I’ve been here for about half an hour. Breakfast starts in about an hour!”

  “Thank you! I’m Valar by the way. I just awakened two days ago!” Valar thought to introduce himself.

  The woman looked at him in confusion for a moment, her eyes flashing white. A shocked expression replaced the confused one, and she took some time to think. Eventually, she continued her work, whispering while working.

  “I’m Emma, nice to meet you Valar. Can I ask you how old you are? You seem to be quite young to awaken.”

  “I’m 13 and a half. I know it’s quite a young age to awaken, and the process wasn’t nice, trust me.”

  Emma shivered, imagining what his awakening must have felt like. She was 18, maybe 19, years old, so she would have probably awakened a year or two ago. That experience would have been profoundly different from Valar’s, as her body would have been ready for the influx of mana at an older age.

  “Then I wish you both congratulations and my condolences. Your life affinity will give you lots of opportunities in the future, I’m sure!”

  Their brief discussion ended quickly, Emma continuing her work as Valar sat down at the table next to Rodrick’s place of rest. Valar continued to follow Emma’s work for quite a while, as there was really nothing better to do before breakfast.

  He sat there, listening to Rodrick’s steady snoring and Emma’s happy humming. He did not need to wait for needlessly, as after a while, some of the members of team Cookie sandwich started coming downstairs.

  Ciel and Carla walked down the stairs together. Ciel looked the exact same as yesterday, her pale face carefully neutral as always. She glanced at Rodrick’s sleeping form and rolled her eyes. The rogue wished good morning to Valar, sitting at his table afterwards.

  Carla wasn’t doing that well. She clearly wasn’t a morning person, as she barely managed to even get to the table without falling right back to sleep. She sat down and immediately laid her head on it—her ruffled hair falling down on the table. Carla groaned something like a greeting from the depths of her hair, but it wasn’t easy to decipher.

  Valar looked at Ciel questioningly, the tall woman shrugging her shoulders and letting out the tiniest smirk.

  “Carla here doesn’t really wake up before her morning coffee.”

  “Don’t say that drink’s name before I get some of it,” Carla seemed to actually growl, Ciel’s smirk only growing.

  The dark haired adventurer leaned down to Carla’s ear and whispered “Coffee…”. Ciel had to dodge Carla’s fist, the tall woman actually letting out a small giggle as Carla screamed in her nest of hair. She actually giggled? Based on yesterday, I assumed Ciel was an emotionless golem, but that seems to be the wrong assumption. Maybe she just doesn’t like crowds?

  Carla’s muffled screams and Ciel’s giggling reached a high volume, the room filling with noise once more. That noise was topped by a mighty groan, coming from the man sleeping on the table next to them. Rodrick was waking up, his yawn sounding more like a bomb in the dining hall.

  He turned over, falling off the table and onto the floor. That cracked up both Valar and Ciel, the woman and boy giggling together at the groaning oaf. After some time, the man got his hands under him, rising up from the floor. He looked surprisingly chipper once he got up, smiling at his teammates and Valar.

  “Good morning guys! Did I end up sleeping on the table again?”

  “Again? Do you end up sleeping on tables often?” Valar asked.

  “What’s a good night of drinking if you end it sleeping in your room? Better to wake up straight in the dining hall so you can get breakfast faster!”

  Ciel shook her head and went back to bullying Carla, Rodrick laughing with her once he got up to speed. This is something that they do each and every day… Sounds like a fun life.

  That begged the question: Why wasn’t everyone adventuring?

  Valar knew the answer to his own question, as it wasn’t hard to figure out even for a 13-year-old. While the menial tasks and other city jobs weren’t as lucrative or interesting as adventuring, they were usually safe. Adventurers risked their lives each and every day they went past the city walls, and used their time within cities to relax and unwind from their dangerous lives.

  I went out of the city for a few hours at most and got attacked two times. Adventurers fight to keep the citizens safe, and it’s good to remember that their lives aren’t always this fun. I still kind of want to try adventuring though… Maybe I’ll ask Viktor about the possibility later.

  The next to arrive at the dining hall was Viktor, arriving exactly when the breakfast started. He looked as clean and refined as yesterday, greeting everyone and sitting down at their table. He looked down at Carla and chuckled, placing a steaming hot cup of coffee in front of her head.

  A couple seconds passed, everyone looking with anticipation at the nest of hair that was Carla. Soon, the woman exploded into action, locking onto the cup of coffee as soon as she saw it. The following seconds were akin to a man dying of thirst finding a well in the desert. Valar was even almost sure he saw tears flowing from Carla’s eyes, but her hair blocked the sight.

  After getting her morning drink, Carla seemed to fully wake up. She grabbed a comb from her pocket and got her hair in order, the growling beast replaced by the young woman that she was.

  The last to arrive was Arthur, walking down the stairs with a smile on his face. He looked exactly the same as yesterday, golden hair brushed and dressed in adventurer’s clothing.

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  “Good morning everyone! Did anyone order breakfast yet? I feel like eating,” Arthur greeted everyone and walked to the counter, now manned by Emma. “Good morning! What would you recommend for breakfast?”

  “Our cook does the Southern Leorian style best: Pancakes, sausages and scrambled eggs.”

  Everyone ended up ordering the same breakfast once they learned that the cook was from the south. They joked around until breakfast arrived and ate relatively fast, and for good reason too. Viktor told Valar that they were in a bit of a rush, as the caravan was an early morning one. It was scheduled to leave at 9, and they should arrive at the caravan yard at least half an hour before that. That meant that they only had 45 minutes before they were supposed to be at the yard.

  “I hate early morning caravans!” Arthur complained loudly.

  “How would you know if you even liked them?” Rodrick asked. “This is our first early morning at bronze rank and you hadn’t travelled on a caravan before we met after ranking up.”

  “Then this is my first experience and I still don’t like it. I want to sleep late…”

  Heedless of Arthur’s apparent suffering, the group started moving once they had eaten. Valar didn’t have much to do as the others gathered their stuff, as he had taken all his belongings from his room already. Viktor didn’t have anything to pack either since he had everything in his mage’s robe. Carla tried to question him about where to get one, but he simply told her that she didn’t have the capital to afford a personal storage with space runes.

  Valar learned that any equipment enchanted with space runes was ridiculously expensive because the one who carved the runes needed to be a mage with a space affinity. That was an exceedingly rare one, and everyone who had it became rich very easily. Would’ve been nice…

  Affinities were basic knowledge taught even at the orphanage. Usually, a person awakened with no affinity and their mana’s color was white. That meant that spellcasting was impossible to them, but it wasn’t all bad. Almost all of the formidable physical fighters at higher ranks were affinityless, as the colorless mana was most easily utilized to enhance one’s body and equipment.

  Still, getting an affinity with your awakening was usually considered a very good thing. If the mana coming out of a person’s gate was coloured with an affinity, they were able to draw runes of that affinity. Those runes could be used to cast spells or engrave enchantments. Valar’s life affinity was known for the healing spells associated with it, and almost all life affinity mages became healers.

  Valar’s knowledge ended there. He did not know any runes for his affinity, or any other for that matter, and he had much to learn anyway. Lacking anything better to do, he decided to ask Viktor about it immediately.

  “When do I start learning about my affinity and magic in general?”

  “Usually, I would say that you should wait until we reach the academy, but I suspect even your basic knowledge will have some holes,” Viktor answered. “You said that you can read, so I will hand you a book or two to learn from on the journey. I don’t expect you to get through them in that short time, but they should fix the worst of it. I can’t teach you about life runes though. You’ll have to wait for the academy to learn about your affinity.”

  That was enough for Valar. The most important thing was that he could learn before he arrived at the academy. I’m sure that any other student will know more about magic and the world than me. I’ll have these days to improve myself.

  The party moved along the main streets towards the eastern district’s gate, as the caravan would be going in that direction. Rhondell was in the east part of the nation, near both the Leorian sea and nearby mountain range. The trip was planned to take four days, accounting for any possible beast attacks.

  The party essentially retraced Valar’s and Viktor’s steps from yesterday, moving towards both the gate and guards’ barracks. When he saw the barracks, Valar remembered that he had forgotten something important.

  “By the way, Rodrick… Your dad sends his regards. We visited the barracks yesterday and met him.”

  Rodrick looked at Valar in surprise, then chuckled.

  “How similar do we look, honestly? People tell me that we look the same, but I really don’t see the resemblance.”

  Viktor and Valar looked at each other, bursting out with laughter almost immediately. Rodrick looked at them in bewilderment until Viktor managed to explain their shared mirth between his chuckles.

  “Your father is like your older and significantly more rugged clone. You even speak the same.”

  Rodrick looked at Viktor for a while, checked his own armor and weapon—exactly the same as Alistair—and shrugged.

  “I guess that’s true then! I’ll just have to get stronger than dad so people recognize me first. That way they’ll think he’s the clone!”

  The group continued their brisk walk towards the gate, and arrived at the caravan yard just in time. The caravan owner, packing bags to the spatially expanded wagon, noticed the arriving group and jumped off. He walked to the group, clearly trying to figure out who their leader was. Viktor helped him by walking to the front of the group, and extended his hand to the man.

  “Good morning sir. My name is Viktor and I’m the leader of the caravan guard for this trip. Behind me is the bronze rank adventurer team Cookie Sandwich and my student Valar. He’s a new addition to the group, but I’ll compensate you for his presence on the caravan with the normal rates.”

  “Good morning, Viktor, others. My name is Trent Miller and I’m the leader of this small caravan,” the thin bronze rank man introduced himself, smiling genially. “Your student can come as long as you pay the necessary cost for a passenger, of course.”

  Everyone in Cookie Sandwich introduced themselves to Trent, Rodrick setting himself as the main contact for the party. According to him, if he kicked the bucket, the group should let anyone but Arthur lead. Rodrick even recommended Valar in a leadership position over the archer, which resulted in raucous laughter from everyone except the archer himself.

  Trent started by showing the caravan to the group. There wasn’t much to show, as it consisted of two spatially expanded wagons owned by the company he was working under. Basically no one had the money to personally own one, so most of the caravans used to travel around Leoria were owned by a few companies.

  The thin man explained that some decades ago, only one company had dominated the trade routes of the country. That had caused many problems with increasing shipment and travel prices. The king had not appreciated the monopoly, dividing it into many smaller companies. Trent worked under one of those companies, claiming that the situation was much better now—the competition keeping the prices relatively low.

  The caravan leader escorted Valar to one of the wagons. Valar followed the man to the doorway, taking on a shocked expression as he emerged on the other side of the entrance.

  They had stepped into a small horse-drawn wagon but the door led to a large storage hall surrounded by small rooms for passengers. The space inside had to be many tens of times bigger than the original wagon, and that interested Valar greatly.

  “How is the room inside so much bigger than the outside? Is it space magic?"

  Trent chuckled, pointing at some runes that were visible along the hall's ceiling and walls. "That it is, my young friend. Space magic is weird stuff, and expensive to boot. Still, it's relatively low compared to what you probably expect. It costs about a silver rank beast core per day to keep this space as it is, but that’s nothing compared to the cost of the original working. As long as the wagons are kept in use, we earn way more than we lose on upkeep!”

  Trent left Valar alone at his cabin, the small room containing a bed, chair, desk and window. The window was interesting though, as it was clearly an illusion enchantment instead of a real window. That illusion gave the cabin a feeling of openness, even though Valar knew he was in an enclosed space with only one exit.

  Having left his stuff in his cabin, Valar exited the caravan. Normally, passengers weren’t supposed to exit the wagons during travel, but he was Viktor’s student. The wind mage took on the responsibility of protecting him outside the wagons, so Valar could spend his days sitting on the roof of the second wagon as long as he didn’t distract the driver. Usually this route wouldn’t even have a protector like Viktor, a single team customary for two wagons, but the man had apparently volunteered when they had left from Rhondell.

  Valar situated himself on his reserved spot, and sat down to wait for the caravan to start moving. Before that however, Viktor came to hand over the books he had promised. There were two books: Basics of Magic and Leorian Society.

  “I recommend spending most of your time on the magic one. The other book is useful, but it’s quite a boring read.”

  After thanking Viktor for the books, Valar set them on the floor and situated himself as best as he could, opting for a cross legged position. It would be a long journey, and the first time Valar was outside of the walls—excluding the couple hours of stumbling through a forest. I’m making it out of Lyndale. I’ll actually see the sights outside of the city walls!

  After a little bit of waiting, the wagon jerked forwards and started to move. The two wagons formed the caravan as they left the yard and moved towards the city gate. Viktor was sitting on the roof of the first wagon, his job to oversee the security while Cookie Sandwich patrolled around the caravan.

  They didn’t have to wait for long, the city gate opening before them. The city guards shouted their farewells to the caravan as the wagons moved out of the city. Valar couldn’t help but grin as the gates closed behind them, crashing together with a boom.

  They were out of Lyndale and heading to the wilderness. Valar was out of the city, and this time he had an actual destination in mind.

  He would be going to the royal academy, and become an actual mage!