If Valar was going to understand anything about what they taught at the academy, he needed to read a lot. Now that he had read the introduction of Basics to Magic, he knew that his current level of knowledge just wouldn’t be enough. The introduction chapter had given him so much new information that he actually kind of feared the further chapters in the book. His slow reading speed didn’t help, but he was sure that would improve over time.

  Valar turned the page and checked what the next chapter was about.

  The very simplest explanation for magic types was that they were colours of mana. Pure mana was white in color, flowing from most of the souls on Aldun and the other realms. This mana could take on an affinity, gaining purpose with it. When mana was coloured orange, its purpose was to be fire. That meant that using fire mana would always cause effects related to fire, as doing anything else would be working against the very purpose of the mana itself. Just like that, creating or manipulating water in one of its forms was done by water mana. It couldn’t fundamentally do anything else, as it was the magic of water, not fire or lightning.

  One could be more creative with their affinity if they wished though. The most common example used was ice magic. There was no ice affinity, as ice magic fell under manipulation or creation of water. Ice mages just used their water affinity mana to create and manipulate water in its frozen form. The runes were different, but the mana was the same.

  The most common elements that appeared in humans at the time of awakening were fire, water, earth and wind. While about ninety percent of humanity awakened without an affinity, well over half of those that did were mages of these basic types. There was some evidence that people's affinity was affected by the environment they grew up in, as the coastal nation of Leoria had more water mages than the other basic types, but the difference was marginal. For practical purposes, one could assume that worldwide the four basic elements were about equal in the amount of practitioners.

  If someone was in the lucky few left, they would receive a rare affinity when awakening. These were affinities that were not typical for humans, appearing much more rarely. Examples of these affinities were space, lightning, life, death, dark and light, although there were many more than the mentioned.

  If a child awakened to one of these rare affinities, they had lucrative opportunities ahead of them. Basically all of the people awakening with affinities were trained to become mages, and those with rare affinities were usually fought for by the different academies across the nation. Having a rare affinity wasn’t always preferable though, as there was some stigma associated with a couple affinities.

  Death and darkness were perfect examples, many people linking their practitioners to the demons of the abyss or lawless necromancers, causing them to seem unclean or straight up abominable in their eyes. The author was adamantly against this stigma, dedicating a whole page of the book to explaining that affinities didn’t affect the person’s mind—only their magic.

  The author also mentioned compound affinities, but assured the reader that they were the domain of gold rankers or above, and shouldn’t be considered before that time.

  Lastly, there was the most exclusive category of affinities, the author warning that his knowledge was lackluster regarding them. Those were the abstract affinities.

  It was theorized that abstract affinities were affinities for those colours of mana that the eye couldn’t see. They were extremely rare and erratically appearing affinities, the user often not even aware of having one, and they were often more conceptual in nature. They manifested in people that were often considered eccentric or crazy, and were much more instinctual than normal or even rare affinities. The mages wielding these affinities often wielded them without even needing runes, their explanations of these affinities making no sense to the listener.

  The author had interviewed a bard with the abstract affinity of popularity. The woman had raved on about her growing fame and had apparently seen links of popularity between people. Her ideas defied logic and common understanding, as she talked about seeing or feeling popularity in the same way as a normal person talked about the ground under their feet.

  The author reported that he had somehow ended up at one of her concerts months after the interview, and wrote that he was a huge fan of her music. Valar had gotten goosebumps when reading further, the man’s writing practically turning to a fan letter for the rest of the page. Was her magic that insidious? I hope that I won’t encounter anyone like that soon…

  The chapter ended there, the author continuing his fan letter to the end of the page. He had managed to write Dangerous to the bottom of the page—the text in a splotchy dark red instead of the normal black—showing that the woman’s influence hadn’t been perfect. That was fortunate indeed…

  Valar closed the book when he got to the end of the chapter, sighing in relief. It had been a long one, taking him hours to read. The sun was already close to setting, the day having gone by fast. Their surroundings had also changed when they had emerged from the forest to a large wasteland filled with low-rising vegetation and small ponds. The road widened, showcasing that they were close to some kind of civilization.

  As Carla was walking next to his wagon, he decided to ask her if he was right about there being a settlement nearby.

  “Carla, is there a town or something like that nearby? The road got wider as we entered the plains.”

  Carla jumped a little when her name was called. She had evidently been in her own thoughts, taking some time to go over Valar’s question in her head.

  “Oh… Yeah, there’s a small outpost nearby! It’s actually our stopping place for the night, as it’s a place to feed the horses and sleep, with someone else on duty,” she explained. “Shame there isn’t a place like that for the second night. Shitty military can’t even plant outposts right…”

  “Language, Carla!” Rodrick’s booming voice echoed from the front wagon.

  “You met his father, right? Tell me, does that stupid habit come from his parents, or is he just that stubborn?” Carla asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

  “I think his dad might be worse…”

  “I don’t think I want to meet the man then.”

  They continued their way, travelling along the winding road for a couple of hours. The road had to bend around small ponds and bigger lakes, as the flatlands were practically half water, half land. There were even a couple of relatively well maintained bridges, crossing thin rivers that would have been too time consuming to ride around.

  Eventually, a walled outpost came into view, still some kilometres away. It was plain in design, gray stone walls surrounding a small tower—built to monitor the surrounding wilds. On top of the tower flew Leoria’s flag: a golden eagle diving across a purple sky.

  The caravan continued their way, reaching the outpost as the sun set under the horizon, casting darkness over the surrounding plains. As they reached the gate, a guard shouted from the wall:

  “Halt! Tell us your caravan number and reason for staying!”

  “What’s a caravan number?” Valar asked Carla, who was still next to the wagon.

  “All caravans travelling in Leoria have identification numbers. They are not public knowledge due to their use in tracking any caravans moving goods across the nation. All the caravan movements are planned and scheduled well in advance so that responses to banditry and stuff like that are faster.”

  While Carla and Valar chatted, Trent provided the caravan number and requested a nightly stay at the outpost. Evidently, his request was accepted, as the iron gate opened to let the caravan through.

  The outpost wasn’t much more grand from the inside. There was a small building for the outpost guard, mostly meant for storage and sleep. Additionally, there was a small stable for a couple horses—the caravan’s horses were allowed to rest and eat there.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  The most important upside of resting at an outpost was that passengers could be let out to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. Valar was surprised by the amount of people that came out when Trent notified them of the safe resting place. In total, there were about thirty passengers on the caravan.

  “Are there this many passengers on every caravan?” Valar asked Trent when he had a chance.

  “Actually, this is a pretty small caravan for this route. Even these wagons could hold 50 passengers in total, and the most common caravan composition for this area is three wagons and two adventurer teams.”

  Trent’s answer surprised Valar, as he had assumed the caravan would be mostly for supplies and not people.

  “How are there this many people travelling on caravans? I assumed it would be expensive, since I’ve never really heard about people moving between cities that much.”

  The caravan owner looked at him in confusion.

  “There’s lots of reasons to move between cities. Jobs, schooling, adventuring work, family… You get the point. Caravans are really the most affordable way to travel in Leoria. For example, this route only costs two silver.”

  Two silver coins was a big lump sum of money to a normal citizen since they earned approximately 16 per month. Travelling to another city for half a week's salary was rough for a normal iron ranker, but realistically it should have cost way more. Trent explained that the government subsidized the companies under the condition that they transported a minimum amount of passengers per year. The man was quite enthusiastic in his explanation, happy that he could talk about caravan logistics with someone every once in a while.

  As the gate had been closed behind the caravan and the horses were helped to the stables, team Cookie Sandwich could finally relax. Their work was done for the day, and they could start making dinner preparations. Ciel set up the fire at a prepared camp site within the outpost, Carla and Rodrick carrying field supplies from their rooms.

  All the passengers were eating readymade field rations on the trip, but the adventurer party had better fare. They were supposed to work outside of the caravan, so they had the chance to cook actual food, even if the ingredients were mostly dry ones.

  As the team cooked their stew, Valar looked around the now bustling outpost. The passengers were mostly families, travelling with their children in tow. Most of the families were normal folk that were probably traveling for work related reasons or maybe a well earned vacation to the capital. That made the rich families stand out from the crowd all the more.

  Valar saw two obviously very affluent families in the crowd, having grouped together but dressed in different coloured clothes. They were made of finer fabrics, the outfits obviously not intended for ‘roughing it’ in the wilderness. One family wore predominantly green clothing, while the other was dressed in purple silk. They didn’t seem to like each other much…

  “What do you mean you have better mages than our family? That’s preposterous!” A man in his early twenties dressed in green practically screamed at the family dressed in purple. “Our earth mages would dismantle your pathetic house in minutes!”

  That made one of the people dressed in purple stand up. She was about the same age as the young man, dressed in purple mage’s robes—the elemental icon of wind decorating the lavish piece of clothing. Neither were dressed in the same type of robes as Viktor or Carla, as their clothing was clearly custom made and adapted to their house’s colour.

  “We would decimate your ranks in less than a minute, you Kalron swine! Remember last year's academy tournament? I didn’t see any Kalrons in the top eight, but my sister placed seventh,” The woman yelled back, clearly insulted by the man’s comment.

  Each of the families’ members were almost comically similar to each other, every single one of the Kalrons having dark hair, a pointy nose, a jawline that could cut stone and green clothing. Two of the five members dressed in green were mages, making them stand out from the rest of the family with their clothing.

  The other family were all blondes. Straight hair, sharp eyes and thin faces made them wildly different from the Kalrons, the two mages in their group standing out from the rest of the group in a similar way to the other noble family.

  They were clearly noble families, that was sure, but Valar didn’t know much about nobles. He knew that they were rich and that they controlled land all over Leoria, but the families themselves were unfamiliar to him. Apparently, the big academies, including the royal one, also had lots of nobles. That shouldn’t have been a surprise considering their wealth.

  The woman and man were now yelling at each other loudly, throwing insults and threats at each other like they were candy. Valar spectated the incident with interest, annoyed that he didn’t have something to snack on while watching. He did learn that the woman’s family name was Livren, but that didn’t ring any bells for him either. That wasn’t surprising—the orphanage didn’t give lessons on nobility…

  Valar jumped up a little when Arthur sat down next to him, spectating the nobles with interest. He was carrying a pouch with some sweets in it, and offered some to Valar.

  “These events always need something to snack on. They’re way too fun to watch,” Arthur said.

  Valar accepted some candy, crunching down on a chocolate covered crispy treat. It was absolutely delicious, and a new experience for the boy. He took some time to chew it, not wanting to distract himself from the delicious treat.

  “Thanks, Arthur. That was delicious!”

  “Good things in life are often better when shared with others,” Arthur answered, handing Valar another sweet without taking his eyes off the nobles. “Want to bet on who tries to cast a spell first?”

  “Bet? I don’t think I have anything to wager, sorry.”

  “Betting isn’t only about getting stuff! Let’s just bet for bragging rights! I’m sure that the clown in green will throw the first stone.”

  The yelling was reaching a new zenith, both of the nobles now using their hands to throw rude gestures, verbal insults not enough to sate their rage anymore.

  “I think the woman will attack first,” Valar guessed. “She seems angrier than the guy.”

  “I bet that they will resolve their disagreement peacefully!” Carla yelled from the campfire.

  “You should know that you will lose that bet every time!” Arthur laughed back.

  “I’ll only lose bragging rights anyway! Maybe the Leorian nobility will surprise us!”

  The pair of adventurers burst into a new wave of laughter, eventually calming down as the nobles were seemingly finally ready to fight. Valar and Arthur waited with bated breaths, staring at the two nobles. The yelling intensified to a peak, and the man finally lifted his hand. The visible skin was covered by dark brown runes—a clear sign of spellcasting.

  The rising hand was stopped in its tracks, a pale hand holding it by the wrist. Viktor had approached the pair, finally making his move as the man tried to escalate the conflict beyond mere insults.

  “Mister Kalron, you are travelling in a caravan that’s under my protection. You are endangering another passenger with a spell. You will stop trying to incite violence, or I will force you to do so.”

  Viktor’s words were threatening, but his tone was polite. He was acting as a protector instead of an additional participant of the conflict.

  “Who do you think you are, peasant! Are you trying to order a nobleman like me around?” The bronze rank mage asked his question with seeming disbelief.

  Viktor lifted one of his eyebrows and tightened his grip on the man’s hand. His eyes’ color took on a silver sheen and his tone flattened.

  “I am the leading protector of this caravan. Dismiss your runes, or I will leave you here on this outpost. They do have a holding cell here, I hear.”

  The woman had come to her senses faster than the man, and was staring at Viktor with wide eyes. She was even paler than she had been earlier.

  “I apologize for the incident on my part p-... protector. This will not happen again,” she spoke softly, as if she was scared of Viktor’s reaction.

  Viktor turned to her, still holding onto the angry Kalron’s wrist. A small smile reached his lips, and he answered in his more polite tone.

  “Your apology has been accepted, mage of house Livren. I appreciate your promise to not cause any further incidents. Keep to it…”

  He turned back to the man, the blonde noblewoman sighing in relief as she sat back down, and stared at his eyes.

  “Dismiss. Your. Runes. This is the last warning, Kalron.”

  Viktor had no visible aura, his rank not apparent at a glance. That didn’t mean that the difference in the Kalron mage’s and Viktor’s strength was hard to see. The way the silver haired wind mage held the bronze rank mage’s wrist made it clear that Viktor was at the very least silver rank compared to the Kalron’s bronze.

  One of the Kalron’s was a silver ranker though—probably a physical fighter, as he was not dressed in robes—and he rose up from his sitting position. The thin man walked up to the angry mage, proceeding to whisper something inaudible in his ear. Apparently the message was quite convincing, as the Kalron mage dismissed his runes immediately and paled considerably.

  As the man started apologizing profusely to Viktor, even saying a half-hearted apology to the Livren woman, Arthur and Valar made their way to the campfire. Arthur used his well earned bragging rights in great amounts when they ate, Viktor joining the campfire only after he had calmed the situation. They joked around for a while, but the time for sleep came quickly. They would have to move early in the morning, and sleep wasn’t something even high rankers could skip.

  All in all, the day had been fun. Valar had learned, seen the team fight and even eaten candy for the first time in a long while. When he went to sleep that night, he didn’t even feel the pain in his soul that much. Valar fell asleep without tears for the first time in ages.

  It had been a good day.