Leon and his parents had finally set off on their journey to Keytown, this was going to be the longest journey he had been on and the excitement had well and truly set in. He was watching as the village grew smaller and smaller into the distance, eventually giving way to rolling hills that still maintained some vestige of lush greenery despite the waning of the year. Far to the north, he could see the peaks of snow-capped mountains. While to the south, it was fields and trees for as far as the eye could see, with streams of fresh flowing water dividing the land like a large serpent winding its way across the earth.
wildlife was running about making their preparations for winter. Carran, a small creature covered in fur similar to the squirrels he knew on earth, we're seen scurrying across the dusty road in front of them. Elden grazing to the north while their alpha with 4 large and majestic horns kept watching for predators. It had a look similar to an Elk except for its horn's, its front two spiralled into a vicious spear tip whereas the rear two horns curled gracefully backwards along either side of its neck.
A variety of different birds would fly overhead with some strange characteristics. There was one in particular that caught his attention, it had black feathers on its wings that ended in a crimson tip, while the rest of its body was covered in dark scales as deep and entrancing as obsidian. He had never seen this type of bird before so he hastily asked his father what it was.
"Father! what's that bird?" he exclaimed while pointing at the bird with his finger. his father looked in the direction he was pointing and spent a brief moment examining it.
"If I'm not wrong, that should be a dragon sparrow, it's definitely an odd species. unlike most others that eat either seeds and vegetation or meat, they have no preferred food, they are an omnivorous species of bird which will take advantage of whatever is around, they are more common up towards the mountains in the North.
"The most peculiar thing about them is that they are similar to snakes in the sense that they don't give off a heat signature. That makes it easier for fire attuned spellcasters' like myself to notice what is essentially a void in the natural temperature in the air. That only works for this sort of climate, if we were in the mountains where it is cold, they would blend in too well to its surroundings for even a wizard ranked spellcaster to notice them."
Leon was astounded by not only the creature itself but also by his father's knowledge of it.
"Where did you learn so much about them father? I didn't read about any of this your books" there was a hint of confusion in his voice.
"The Academy, of course, it's not all about learning how to use magic. there are some vicious creatures out there as well as some harmless but intriguing ones like the dragon sparrow."
Leon fell back into silence while watching the scenery go by. His thoughts we're all over the place, he knew he was no longer in his world as what he had seen in the nearly six years of his life here could attest to. But he would never have imagined that such strange creatures could have evolved, he was once more anticipating the future wanting to see all of what this world had to offer.
They travelled peacefully for the rest of the day enjoying the last glimmer of the summer warmth, in a few more weeks it would be gone. As dusk was approaching they could see in the distance a building getting closer. There was a number of different waystations roughly a days ride from each other along this road and this was one of them, it was an Inn with 2 floors. Stables and a fenced area for carts could be seen behind. It looked well maintained and as they got closer guards with leather helmets and chainmail could be seen, they had large swords on their backs with a small crossbow hung on their waist. definitely, a place that kept order within its walls, Leon thought.
After stabling the horses and getting to cart pushed into the field the family of three entered the building. Kane went to the side where a woman was sat behind a desk, Leon and his mother went and took a seat at a table in the tavern to wait for him to join them.
Kane soon came walking over to them after paying for the lodging and a simple meal for the three of them. The atmosphere was lively as a minstrel sat over in a corner playing the lute, some of the other patrons were well into their fourth or fifth ale and were up and dancing to a piece being played that even had Leon nodding his head happily. It didn't take long for their meal to arrive, some cooked meats and boiled vegetables. after a short while, they retired to their room as Kane wanted to make an early start in the morning.
The proceeding days followed in a straightforward way, Leon saw more animals that were similar to what he knew but had evolved in a completely different direction than on Earth. on one occasion, Kane had to scare off what looked like a bear except for the fact instead of fur it had quills covering its body like a porcupine. Their nights were spent in varying different accommodation, some more Inns and the occasional village with some guest houses for rent for the night, the journey to Keytown had passed in a relatively peaceful manner.
It was midday on the last leg of their journey when Kane called back to Leon.
"Take a look up ahead son, you can see Keytown in the distance"
Leon turned to look past his father and sure enough, he could see a large town sprawling across the landscape. The closer they got the more details he could make out, the buildings here were made out of stone with timber and impressive thatch lattice in the shape of a Celtic knot. The larger and more impressive buildings had an organised slate pattern in different colours.
At the highest point of the town stood by far the most impressive building he had seen to date. It was a gorgeously decorated Mannar house, it had two impressive towers set at both corners at the front with a veranda acting as a walkway between the two. The masonry work was at a standard that made him think of some of the buildings in his past life, the iron railings were a beautiful twisted and fine metalwork that had been dipped in silver that made a great contrast to dark natural stone. the roof had stained oak beams that could be seen across the sharp lines with more of the silver-dipped iron edged in gold acting as tiles. without a doubt, he knew that only the family with the greatest prestige in Keytown live there.
A river ran through the middle of the town with bridges at regular intervals to allow crossing to the different sides of its banks. along the river, boats of varying different sizes could be seen. Some of a poorer nature than others but all impressive in their own right. At the entrance to the town, a queue could be seen as guards were checking carriages and carts. on the right-hand side of this queue, some highly decorated carriages pulled by impressive horses could be seen entering without being stopped which piqued Leon's curiosity.
"Why are those carriages able to enter without being stopped?" he asked his parents
"That would be because they belong to the nobility Leon -" came the soft reply of his mother "- guards wouldn't want to offend them by doing such a thing, can you see the coat of arms on the side of that large one there?" she said while pointing to one in particular.
Leon looked over and indeed saw a crest with a staff crossed over a book carved on the side of the carriage.
"Basically son, it's privilege. they happened to be born in the right family so they seem to think they have more rights than the rest of us."
"Kane! not so loud! what if somebody heard you!?"
The only response she got was a low grumble, Leon could see his fathers point of view, but he understood it was human nature as the same situation occurred in his past life as well. No matter the year or country, or even what world it was, if there were humans then this situation always seemed to arise.
The queue ahead of them went down slowly, it was a few hours later they found themselves next in turn and they finally pulled up outside the gate.
"Reason for entering Keytown?" came the gruff voice of the guard ahead of them.
"Selling some herbs and other goods as well as to enjoy the festival" his father may have not enjoyed the wait but he was smart enough to remain polite and cordial with the guard.
"We've had a lot of traffic come through recently but you may be in luck for lodging if you try 'Chestnut Mare Inn', you know the way?"
"The one on the other side of the river near the market?" Kane had some understanding of Keytown as he had traded here regularly in the past, albeit not as frequently of late.
"Yeah that would be the one, it's 10 copper for entry for you lot" Kane paid the entry fee and the moved along towards the Inn. Although it was getting dark, with the festival due there were different coloured lanterns hung along the streets giving the place a friendly feeling while keeping it bright enough to travel. Stalls lined the streets selling almost everything you could need, many varieties of food fit for the occasion as well as others selling furs, leather; jewellery, weapons and clothes. Leon even saw one, in particular, selling a fully stuffed creature that looked like a tiger except for the serrated bone plates sticking out along its spine all the way to the tip of its tail.
It took a short while for them navigate through the crowd despite the street being wide enough to accommodate 3 carriages side by side, the town was bursting to the seams with people which lent it a very lively atmosphere. There was laughter and excitement in the air as everybody had fully gotten into the spirit of things even though the festival wasn't being held till the following day.
After going over one of the bridges they followed the road further and passed by a large open square filled with stone stalls permanently set in place, this was the market his father had mentioned. The Inn shouldn't be that much further away from here he thought. It was another 30 minutes of slow travel before they made it to the edge of town and finally saw the Inn, as the guard had mentioned there was still a few spaces left for the horses and cart which Kane took to securing as soon as he could, Leon and his mother disembarked and went to stand towards the entrance of the Inn.
Leon felt it then, it was the same calling he had when he tried to back away from that shard embedded in the space station. he instinctively turned to look out of the town and saw the ruined remains of a large building. He took a step in that direction just as his mother put her hand on his shoulder.
"Come on inside Leon, it's been a long day and its starting to get cold out here" she sounded tired. He turned to look once more at the ruins but that feeling was gone as quickly as it had arrived. he followed his mother inside and quickly found an empty table towards the back of the room, his father once more went to take care of business as he and his mother sat down.
The Inn was filled to the brim with patrons drinking and talking to one another, the volume had increased' due to everyone's desire to be heard. The minstrel in the corner was cleaning his lute and packing it away, he seemed to have given up trying as no one could hear him anyway.
The mix of smells between unwashed bodies, alcohol and food couldn't be described as pleasant but it couldn't overpower the hunger Leon and his family felt. They waited for a while until they were served, and even longer until their food arrived, and it was with exhaustion they all dragged themselves to bed after a filling albeit slightly cold meal.
Early next morning Kane left to obtain the permit for setting up a stall in order to sell his wares. Herbs, some ores; some furs, everything was well kept and of good quality. He returned with a few Laymen, they came to the town every year in order to earn some coins by helping merchants move their stock to the stall and to help set up.
Leon stepped out of the Inn ahead of his mother and looked over towards the ruins once more, he didn't feel anything now and he was starting to think that he had imagined that feeling last night. maybe he was just tired he though.
"You ok son? you seemed a million miles away there, you get enough sleep?" came his father's voice from the stables as he walked out with a box under one arm and a sack on his other shoulder.
"Yes I slept fine father, just looking at the ruin over there. What did it use to be?"
"Well that's the question, no one is too sure. some say it was an old castle of a lord, others say it was a fortress owned by a mad Spellcaster who blew himself and the building up in an experiment. The locals claim it was a school though, similar to the Academy but on a smaller scale."
"But how long has it been like this though?" contemplating what option seemed most likely.
"Not sure, at least the last eighty to a hundred years maybe?" he said while walking passed "oh and go find your mother we will be heading off in a moment" he called back. Leon was lost in thought for a moment more before heading back inside to find his mother.
It was not that far to the stall Kane had been assigned to, only a twenty or so minute walk away. The day was still early and traffic had not yet built up, the parade wouldn't be till later in the day. The festival had many different parts, there were dance troupes and choirs, orchestras and acrobatic displays, there were also displays for Spellcasters, using magic to put on shows. Between all the elements they could entertain children and adults alike by making models move and fly about.
Leon saw one such show as they were walking, it was of a knight fighting a dragon, the dragon was flying about breathing fire out of its mouth while the knight dodged and weaved, it brought gasps from the crowd. it was an exciting spectacle that increased further when the knight made a beautifully majestic leap into the air and brought his sword down on the dragon's neck, separating its head from its body. The crowds cheered regardless of the scene being only a warmup of the day to come.
They arrived at the stall and Kane began to organise and direct the laymen into putting his wares where and how he wanted them, with their help it took next to no time before everything was ready.
"Lily, how about taking Leon for a look around, he was wanting some basic alchemical tools and there is bound to be a stall around here selling some" he hadn't forgotten his son's request
"Sounds like a great idea, it's his birthday tomorrow as well so we need to get him a present after all." exited by the idea of shopping.
Leon had been reading up on alchemy in any book he could find and had an idea of what he needed, just the basic set of tools wasn't that cheap compared to the value of money he knew. He had never heard of anything costing anything over 1 silver as what little money the village had was all in copper, yet a complete set of basic tools would cost 2 silver! a huge sum of money in his way of thinking.
Kane passed a suede leather pouch over to Lily, she smiled, turned to Leon and took him by the hand and began to guide him along the stalls. Not a lot of the stalls held interest to him, fur and leather were things his father could get. His mother's attention was drawn over to a stall with potion bottles stacked up, these were perfumes he noticed and knew that stopping was unavoidable here as he rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. It took ten minutes for her to choose a particular floral scent similar to lavender.
They continued browsing as they were walking and soon his attention was drawn over to a particular stall. The proprietor was a large muscular man wearing a leather apron with scorch marks here and there, the stall itself had weapons of all shapes and sizes. In Leon's past life he could only see this sort of things in a museum or at one of those country fairs which had jousting and the like involved.
He noticed a leather-wrapped bundle of tools containing sharp knives of different shapes and sizes, and varying size tongs. this was one of the things on his list for alchemy. Some herbs couldn't be handled directly once they had been picked as they would start to decay and create a poison that could be absorbed through contact through the skin. The use of tongs was essential for avoiding any accidental exposure.
"Mother look over here -" he excitedly said while dragging his mother over to the stall "This is one of the things I need!"
She followed along and scowled a little when she saw what stall he wanted to go to, as a spellcaster, even at the apprentice level she held a distaste for weapons. Most spellcasters did as it was seen as a more barbaric way of settling a dispute. She was surprised her son of all people would bring her to this stall, but she then saw what held his attention.
The tools were of good quality and craftsmanship despite being made of tempered iron. Some of the highest value ones would be made of steel or even an alloy made by fusing multiple metals together. Due to the materials used, the cost wasn't that high being only 40 copper coins which was still low considering the quality of the forging. She decided to make the purchase which made Leon happy.
"This can be the special purchase for your birthday," she added a little wink while smiling at him
Although she could have got similar tools cheaper at another store, they would not have been as good as these so she decided that this would be his gift.
They carried on walking and eventually made it back to the open market near the Inn they were staying at, they wandered about looking at the varying stalls buying the occasional bite to eat or article of clothing Lily had an interest in.
They came to a stall at the furthest edge of the market which was the closest area to the ruins. It was full of different tools for alchemy, stacks of clay crucible and rows of alembic. mortar and pestle and retorts scattered about, his mother was looking through the different things assessing the quality while Leon had his eyes fixed on one particular crucible in the center of the stall. it had runes spiralling from the top down to the bottom alternating in the four colours of the elements.
It happened at this moment, he felt it once more, that calling from inside himself that he couldn't explain. It was a soul entrancing force that took over all motor control, he turned towards the ruin and walked quickly as if he couldn't wait for another moment. It took less than a minute for him to reach the more complete part and turn behind the wall, instinct was his guide as he took one step after another. As sudden as the call came to him it was gone.
He ended up in an area surrounded by 3 walls made up of stones of different sizes, he could vaguely feel something scratching at the surface of his mind. Like a memory in his head that didn't belong to him, he focused hard on it and he saw this exact wall in front of him. An aged hand reached out in front and pushed a stone which inexplicably moved in like a large button, the memory ended and he was left confused.
He walked forward and found the stone he had seen, he examined it but couldn't see any difference to those that surrounded it. He reached out a hand and was trembling slightly as he made contact with it. He pushed lightly and felt it move imperceptibly, his mouth became dry as he built up his courage. He gave it a hard push using both hands and the stone moved inwards and he heard a click.
The next thing he knew was he was falling. Or sliding rather, the stone button had activated a trapdoor below him and he was moving through an underground tunnel in the pitch black.
It didn't take long for the tunnel to level out again as he came to a complete stop, the same sensation came upon him and he was thrown once more into another vision. It was dark for a moment before fire flared up at intervals along a corridor, the view turned to his right where a silver chain hung from the ceiling. Suddenly the vision ended and he was once more in the dark, after having trusted the vision the first time and coming to this place he once more decided to show his faith.
He felt out to his right-hand side and was searching for that chain, it took a few moments before his hand brushed past it and he heard the rattle of metal on stone. He grasped the chain and pulled it down and just like in his vision, light encompassed the corridor.
He carried on down the corridor and there next to a pair of large time-worn oaken doors, was a skeleton that was missing an arm and half of its rib bones. There were burn marks and bloodstains on what was left of its robes, whoever it was Leon thought, had not died in a peaceful way. He pushed open the doors and found himself in a round chamber, in the middle was a circular platform with stone steps on all sides leading up. surrounding the room were different sizes of shelves, tables and chests all in varying states of disrepair.
His focus returned to the platform, there was softly glowing runes in concentric circles on every inch of it. They had a pattern to it, red; green, blue and brown. once more following the four elements he guessed.
He slowly made his way up the stairs to investigate closer, he examined the runes closely, there must have been at least five hundred meticulously drawn out and infused with different elements. they formed a pattern, every fifty he noticed would repeat itself. In the center was a larger rune different further still to the rest of them, this one gave off a creamy white glow. He made it to the middle and traced it with his finger when he felt a bit of warmth from it, to test it further he put his entire right-hand palm down.
The entire formation started glowing brighter, startled he attempted to leave the formation but he found himself rooted to the spot unable to move. The light became blinding, flashing alternately between the four elemental colours, he could feel an energy gathering around him.
Once he could no longer see anything apart from the light, he started to feel the energy invading his body through every pore of his skin. It was flowing through every inch of his body towards his chest, he felt an acute pain slightly below and behind his heart. The energy was beginning to solidify, it created light that began to swirl like a vortex. His mind went blank as this process progressed, he began getting flashing scenes moving into his head. No that was not entirely right, it was if they had always been there and we're only just now becoming known to him. Scenes of another family, of magic, of creation.
An entire life flashed through his mind, in this life he had been in this world already, had lived and breathed as a spellcaster. As it progressed he learned he had specialised as an inscription master, he had learnt each and every rune, their uses and which aligned with what element the best. The formation below his feet had been his creation, designed as a prototype to test the element and latent talent of a youth. He had used his mana as a guide and drawn upon the elements of his students.
All the knowledge and memories of this life came back to him, Leon Nova. Just as in this life and his previous one on Earth, his name came with him, his identity. He began to come to the end of these memories, he wondered how he had died for him to be born again on Earth. Then he saw it, it was his arrogance, his own egotistical mind was his downfall. He believed himself invincible and infallible with his knowledge of runes, he dared to create something others believed he was incapable of. He tried harnessing the mana and the elements of the universe compressing it into the best materials he could find which he fashioned into a cylindrical tube.
His goal? He was going to create life! He believed if a deity had existed like legends told, then he could achieve it through the creation of life. Unfortunately, his plans would never work. During the mana infusing process the backlash had been severe, the entire cylinder blew up creating an explosion he couldn't defend fully against. He had been a fire Spellcaster, but even so, he couldn't control or redirect the explosion at all. his left arm and half of his chest had been disintegrated.
His final memories were of staggering through the wreckage of his castle, seeing his students dead one after another. He made his way down to his laboratory yet didn't even have the strength to open the doors. He died there from blood loss and once more passed into reincarnation.
When young Leon came around from his memories the light had faded, the world was different all of a sudden, he could sense the mana in the air, the ground, it was everywhere. He followed inscription Leons memories and looked inside of himself, what he saw was vastly different though to what should have been. He had formed his first mana core, but it was definitely different from the ones in his memories. In his previous life, the mana core was red, like a marble that contains all the fires of the world and it was half a centimetre large.
But his new one in this life was beyond his comprehension, it was a full centimetre in diameter and looked like a planet, it contained blues like the clearest of oceans, browns and greens to make the richest of earth. An ethereal green was swirling around the entire planet and at its very heart, he could feel an abundance of heat, magma which acted as the lifeblood of the planet.
He could sense each and every element clearly and each had its own potency. He didn't know what this signified, did he have an affinity with every element? could he use them all?
He decided to sort through his knowledge and memories as well as tackle the issue with his mana core at a later time, he turned to face towards the doors he had come in from with an indescribable expression on his face. There, lying in the position he remembered falling in, was his corpse.