Shanie joined us when it was time to move. Bren and Meris greeted her and didn't really bother telling much other than if she was someone who would rob them, then the responsibility of her actions would be towards me.
The caravan that we've been traveling with had already started moving to the capital of the Jakian Empire. It had been long since I was in the Capital and I doubt I could go back there now.
We went to the stables and mounted our horses.
It didn't take us long to start galloping across the meadows. The meadows had a strange biome where even though there was spillage from the river, the hills of grasses would remain. The people here started to dump gathered earth on these to create a bridge made of dirt.
As we got further away from the town the land changed to this sparse forest where there were little leaves to be found on the branches of the trees.
It was silent for a moment when we heard movements from the bushes and saw three-eyed wolves with thorny fur come out of the hole. There were ten of them that made me nervous. Meris, Bren, and Shanie formed around me while letting their horses on guard.
Meris started with a barrier that formed a dome of physical light around us. Bren cooked up his palms with a fire burning on his. I drew the blade that I armed myself with.
Shanie nocks an arrow to her bow, "And this is why I like traveling with those who could chant spells!"
I took a position in the rear and let out wind slicers to decapitate the three-eyed wolves. Bren lashed out a whip of fire and held them down while Meris finished them with an earth spike to their mouth and throat.
With the three-eyed wolves bound by the fire whip. Shanie took them down with her arrows, killing the last of the wolves. After finishing off the three-eyed wolves, we harvested their teeth and burned them after digging a hole in the earth. The tooth could be sold for gold, while the fur could have been sold to a leather shop.
We got out of the forest and traveled on the dirt path that had prints of wheels and hooves. Along the way, we saw unmarked villages or newly established ones settling in near areas where there was a huge river spillage.
The ground changed from parse grass to dirt. Most of us followed Meris who knew the way and Bren who searched for landmarks. One of the landmarks that took my interest in was the giant tree that had thick house-sized roots that burrowed over two plateaus. As much as I want to admire those giant trees. We came across a wandering group of bird-like creatures with tails that resemble bees.
We didn't engage every enemy that we came across. There was no reason to fight these monsters unless there was a need to fight them. Doing so would only exhaust us of our prana and spirit.
After our encounter with those beasts, we were able to see that there was a chance in the weather. We hurried to the nearest shade and waited under the huge tree until the weather started to change.
Travel is a pleasure when the weather is nice. But as I continue to travel I came to realize that there is no such thing as smooth travel. There are times where we have to stay under the shade to take a rest, and there are days where we have to worry about sudden changes like this.
The rain poured for two hours. After the rain, we mounted our houses again and kept on moving. I saw the mountains on my right get shaded and glistened by the afternoon sun. There was a fresh scent of wet dirt and grass that permeated. I found myself staring blankly at the scenery before I held on to my reins and kept on galloping across the land alongside my companions.
By the time that we saw that night was coming. We thought to ourselves that we should take a rest. We rested inside a clearing and made some campfire for today. I left the cooking to Bren. Shanie added her own spices to the cookpot. I drank a thick broth made from our supplies and filled my stomach.
I didn't have stories to tell unlike them.
I listened while wondering if one day I could have stories to tell my companions. I took out my canteen and sipped the water. Above me, there were still the stars that have become familiar to me in these past days. Sometimes it isn't only the stars that would come out and greet us. There are myriads of phenomenons and astrological wonders that would spark in the night sky. How these events came to be are still a mystery to me. I didn't study astrology so how could I know them?
Most of the things that we talked about are nothing more than chatter to pass the time. Although I have courage when talking to my personal servants, I was afraid of leaking out of what was inside my mind when facing Bren, Meris, and Shanie. I was certainly afraid of messing up my companionship with these new people. I prefer listening and asking questions, however, and nonetheless, people seem to like it more when the topic is about themselves.
The night continued to go on as usual. By the time we got tired of casual chatter, we started to take time on doing what we wanted to do for the night. I cultivated the control of my prana and started to manipulate fire and lightning within my fingertips. One of the flaws that I got from manipulating them was that I put in too much input of prana which drains my prana reservoir quickly.
I am familiar with the basic spells. I could truncate them and shorten the time that I need to cast them.
"Working hard?" Shanie sat beside me, staring at the flicker of power that was running around my fingertips.
"I am, I think?"
"What's with that hesitation?" Her red hair shook as she gave out a small laugh. "I really thought you were joking about the sorcerer thing, then again I saw how you easily whacked that wolf back then."
She reached out and pressed her hands on my biceps.
"Yours feels like steel."
I didn't reply. I looked down at my fingers and manipulated the prana to form a shape.
"Shanie, have you ever thought of practicing prana?"
"I can do it," her hand held out and a flicker of candlelight appeared on the tip of her finger.
I tried to do the same but my candlelight was raw and uncontrollable than hers. Hers was steady and still but mine was raging.
"Hmm, you know that you have a very strong physique. You can probably continue traveling without resting. Then again, your horse looks fine as well."
"I'm trying to take it easy while traveling. I mean it should be clear now how green I am to do this. I've never left my hometown so all of this is new to me."
"You're handling it well then," Shanie nodded. "Most first-time travelers would worry about home and complain about everything. You don't look bothered and in fact, you really are enjoying the view too much. I got used to it."
"New places fascinate me, maybe that's why."
"Guess that's normal," Shanie looked at the sky. "There are many reasons to travel alone, but there are days where it really is better to have someone to travel with. Do you know how hard it is to travel alone? Knowing that there might be a danger while you are tucked in your sleep? If it wasn't for you could-chants, I would be the one watching you people sleep."
We deploy wards all over the area when we are about to sleep. It was Meris who taught me one night how to deploy them and attached them to my prana like invisible strings. Once something with hostile intent threatens us, then I'll be forcibly woken up by the wards. Could-chants were great to travel with because of this.
"Anyway, what do you think of Meris and Bren," I asked her.
"Eccentric magic races," Shanie said. "They are strong, experienced, and I dare say you really got lucky that you got involved with them as your first companions. Mine didn't work well with how it was an all-guy party."
"Something bad happened?"
"Five guys backed up and one woman? Course there is, but I didn't let them do what they pleased and almost cut someone's dick because of it."
"Yikes, that's terrifying to imagine."
"I know, nonetheless, it isn't unusual for troubles like that. It's best if you travel with friends, but meeting strangers, interacting with them, knowing them, and making them think of you better is always a must."
She stood up and returned back to her tent.
I looked down and thought about it. It wasn't that long until I became friends with Bren and Meris. Huh, to think that I was wasting my life just a few weeks ago.