Chapter 6: Journey
The young boy wore a luxurious silk gown, high-quality leather shoes, and many golden accessories.
'Gauvain's younger son, Robert.'
He had short blonde hair, round caramel-colored eyes, and was slightly obese with olive skin.
Like Abium, Robert also dreamed of becoming a mage from childhood.
Viscount Gauvain was well aware of Robert's dream, so he bribed a few mages from the academy using his noble title and already reserved a seat for Robert.
All Robert had to do now was go there and attend those tests. Whether he qualified to become a Mage or not, the rest would be up to the academic mages.
Of course, they wouldn't give back the money that Viscount Gauvain had paid in advance if Robert fails any of those tests, though.
'Robert has a high affinity in darkness and will pass anyway.'
If Robert became an apprentice mage within the next six months, the institute would give him the basic cultivation techniques to further nurture him.
These were the privileges only available for nobles.
As for the Commoners?
'Well, commoners wouldn't even get any chance to see the northern magic tower anyway.' Abium sighed helplessly.
With the help of basic mana cultivation and spirit cultivation techniques, it might take years for an apprentice mage to become a first-tier mage.
'But it is enough for the Viscount family to rise to a high-class noble. Unfortunately, Gauvain doesn't have that much patience.'
'I still don't understand why this Viscount plots a grand scheme against the royal family after sending his son to become a mage. Could it be he sent his son to the academy as a spy in the past? I will try to find more about his scheme.'
Abium silently took note in his mind.
In the past, he also overheard that the students additionally had to sign a high-grade soul contract but didn't put much thought into it.
For now, he didn't even have the privilege to get near the Northern tower.
He stood there thinking about getting his hand on a mana cultivation technique and soon frowned.
At that moment, a luxurious horse-drawn four-wheeled carriage came from the carriage house and moved in their direction.
Golden silk curtains appeared on both sides of the carriage entrance, and wheels were carved with four wolf-like symbols, giving a unique beauty to the carriage.
Straw-hat coachman gripped the reins on his right hand, led the carriage on the grassy path, and soon drove it near the building's entrance. After that, he gave an elegant bow as he stepped down from the carriage and opened the golden curtain.
Robert didn't even look at the coachman and hurriedly walked in.
Then, the coachman hopped on the driver's seat and started driving the carriage towards the compound gate.
Within a few minutes, everyone gathered outside the Mansion and got ready to set out.
It was a rainy day.
The sound of feet on wet paving stones almost lost against the traffic; only the click of high heels was still evident.
The hazy drops dampen the smoke's usual smell, and every face was on the blank-stressed spectrum - at 7:30 am, it's always the same.
There were 30 people to attend the Viscount Gauvain's heir, Robert.
Among the thirty people, fifteen were tier 1 warriors, nine were tier 2 warriors, and the remaining one was the leader of this unit, a tier 3 warrior.
As for the remaining five? They were the personal servants of Robert Lawbarth!
Abium was one of those servants.
He silently followed after the soldiers and soon looked at the squad leader.
His name was Johnathan. He was a man in his forties, had deep-set brown eyes, a rough face, short blonde hair, and appeared a little obese.
Although he looked taller and stronger than ordinary soldiers, he was a coward.
In the past, he was the one who left Abium and a few other soldiers as scapegoats during the ambush incident and ran off with Robert and other elite members!
While Abium was in deep thoughts, their group left the city and started moving towards the direction where Baron Auguinare's territory was located.
Some goblins attacked the carriage from time to time, but those goblins didn't threaten the escort group.
At that moment, Claude walked with a stern expression in front of the horse-drawn carriage and slashed his long sword at the upcoming goblin.
A small red streak appeared on that goblin's neck with a simple slash.
The goblin's head rolled on the ground next instant while leaving the body dancing in the muddy road.
He didn't even bat an eye on the headless body and kicked it.
The next second, the body flew like a rocket, smashed onto the nearby tree trunk, and fell on the ground while twitching continuously.
Meanwhile, the goblin's head rolled on the muddy path and was soon crushed by that carriage's left wheel, leaving a bloody trail behind.
If these goblins had attacked the carriage in large numbers, it would have been challenging for the soldiers to cope. But these stupid monsters knew nothing about tactics and would always be butchered by the adventurers.
Although the whole trip was peaceful, Abium was the only one who knew that this was the calm before the storm.
But this time, he planned to save most of these servants and soldiers and try to pull them into his side.
In truth, he had a big goal in his mind.
But to achieve that goal, he needed many people's help!
These soldiers would be his first target.
'I can fight against multiple second-tier monsters by applying basic sword aura. But If I encounter a monster with the strength of a third-tier warrior, I would be dead in a few minutes.' A frown appeared on his forehead.
While he was contemplating deeply, the escort group finally entered a woodland called Baxborn Woods.
Baxborn Woods was a forest that separated Viscount Gauvain territory and Baron Auguinare's territory and acted as a border.
Although large-scale fights weren't allowed among the nobles, there would still be some disputes that would happen regularly due to the nobles' greed over land.
'Useless peoples.' Abium shook his head and proceeded to follow the group.
When they entered the forest, the sky vanished completely.
Only a few fragments of blue remained, like the scattered pieces of an impossible puzzle.
The air was rich with the fragrance of leaves and loam, damp too.
So many hours after the rains had passed, the soil remained wet, releasing its heady fog.
Outside was the noon daylight, the powerful early summer rays, but inside the forest, everything was cold, and the colors had the softness of the time before twilight.
The only movement was the occasional bird jumping in a tree or a squirrel dashing up a nearby trunk.
While watching those scenes, Abium began to recall past incidents.
After the ambush, everyone got panic and scattered in a different direction to survive.
Among tens of soldiers, only three got out of the forest alive.
Those wicked monsters killed the remaining soldiers and servants one by one.
But when the other two soldiers went back to Roseglen city, they were immediately captured by the city guards and got executed in the name of treason.
Then, Viscount Gauvain put all the servants' and soldiers' names on the wanted list!
He told everyone that the soldiers and servants stole his young son's magic item and ran off while his elite members were battling the goblins.
That was the first betrayal Abium faced in his past life.
Although he went mad after hearing such nonsense, he was powerless to do anything.
Because of that, he always hid his face under a hood wherever he went to Roseglen city.
Casting those bad memories aside, he started to focus on his future.
Abium might be only a peasant now, but he had already determined to walk on the path of mages.
Additionally, he also thought of getting his hand on a few artifacts that would help him in the future.
'In the past, I completely forgot about the black door after I escaped from the Baxborn Woods and went to other Nobles' territory to hide from Viscount's men. By the time I thought of returning to that mysterious cave, the monsters had long occupied the whole woodland.' Abium shook his head and started searching for any anomaly in the woods.