…
Fifteen minutes, it only took him fifteen minutes to reach his cave.
"I- I've actually grown so much faster and I'm just breathing heavily, not out of breath"
Ango couldn't believe it and neither could Hawkwood, this morning Ango couldn't even be considered average among normal humans but now he could outrun any of them, not that there were any left to his knowledge.
Hawkwood commented on the side "This is unexpected. My body is stronger than yours but I've had time to train and become stronger but you… you just gained it today"
Ango scratched the back of his head, almost embarrassed but he wasn't going to apologize and he couldn't really console the man, that would sound condescending, so he just said "You mean I can get stronger with training? How much stronger?"
Hawkwood nodded and said "Of course you can, your body is now strong but the thing is that, the body adjusts itself to the things it is trained to do, someone who lifts heavy stuff every day, will find that easier for a time but will become slower. I think your body has been enhanced in general which is good"
"Why is that good?"
"Well versatility is more important than specialization when you do not have people to fight alongside you. You are human, don't forget that the moment people find out about it, they'll stab you in the back"
"Hm.. that's a good point"
They were inside his cave and he was gathering his stuff. He rolled his bed, took the meats he had dried, the needle that he had made with fish bone and other things. While he was doing this he was reminded of something.
"Um.. by the way, how did you get magic? I mean I don't really know what happened before that led to me gaining magic by touching a crystal, obviously I'm not the first one that held one, but how did you get yours?"
Hawkwood started pondering and said after a few moments "Finish gathering your things first, I'll tell you on the way back and after we arrive, you'll tell me how you ended up here"
"Ahh ok?" He answered awkwardly, he didn't really want to talk about his life but he thought it was fair to talk about his own when he had asked Hawkwood to talk about his.
…
A few minutes later he was done and they walked out of the cave together. Hawkwood in his brown leather armor with his sword strapped to his belt and Ango wearing clothes made out of pelts, with a make-shift backpack accompanied by Little snow. They started running together toward the wooden house; on the way Ango voiced out
"So?"
*Sigh
"You see boy-"
"Why do you always call me boy? How old are you anyway? Your face seems twenty something"
Hawkwood was caught off guard "Huh? I'm 32"
"What?! Really??"
"Yes? Anyway… BOY"
"Agh"
"I used to be a slave of the orcs and grew up among them, Orcs are tall, have bronze skin and have 4 arms, Well in the east, Darotar, that's the name of the kingdom. not much of a kingdom, there are scattered clans that are always fighting each other, and the king is challenged all the time. They would make even their human slaves fight"
"Why? I don't think normal humans would make good fighters against the higher races"
"Well, you might think it unfair but I think that's the thing, we were their slaves but they respected strength, if as a slave you were able to defeat enemies then you would be honored. Somehow in their savage ways, they were fairer that any other race I know."
'I don't know why but that makes sense, but only if you are strong enough'
"I wasn't that good but I wasn't that bad in a fight and orcs' magic is different from what you may know. Their magic is based on earth and they mostly use it for physical combat than long rage, so if you are skilled, there is a chance but if you are not, there is zero chance of beating them due to their rich combat experience and defenses"
"Anyway, one day Master Mckenzie came with a group of mercenaries to research the orcs' way of body enhancement. He had visited other clans before ours since each clan's training and usage of magic is slightly different."
"When he was there he was always writing something, always looking at everything with big curious eyes; I was curious about his work, and since orcs weren't much concerned with ranks and birthright, only strength on the field, Without much thought I approached Piere's room to ask him. One other gnome who was with him, didn't let me get close and became furious with me and ordered the mercenaries to punish me"
It was hard to notice while they were running, but Ango thought he noticed a smile on Hawkwood's face. He then continued listening "the commotion drew him out of his room and he came to ask what was happening. I was getting beaten so I didn't really hear what the other gnome said but Piere became so angry that he zapped him with lightning"
"Hahaha it was a sight. There is almost never any thunderstorm or lightning in the desert, the sound of his lightning caused so much panic that everyone nearly flew out of their homes hahahaha"
Ango also chuckled, he could understand that feeling since he had seen the scared look on the elves' faces the day he was clearing out the way from the palace.
"after he zapped that gnome, he started roaring with anger, saying things like 'Someone wants to learn and you decide to punish him, are we so knowledgeable and bigot now that we don't share even the most basics of knowledge' and he continued to yell at that guy for a few minutes."
"After that he gave me a healing potion, took me to his room and apologized to me. Can you believe it? he actually apologized to me"
"What? How can that be?" Ango was now truly surprised, he didn't doubt Hawkwood's words, there was no reason for him to lie now.
'How was that gnome raised to act like this?' he instinctively compared Mckenzie to the Foliums which made him curse his luck.
"I was so afraid that I dropped to my knees and started begging him for forgiveness. Orcs respected strength and ability, true but a master apologizing? Never, I felt like I was committing the gravest of sins. He made me stand up and told me to forget about all those events and started to explain what he was working on, he answered my questions and even taught me some of the basics of science."
Hawkwood unconsciously slowed down his speed, his eyes were looking forward but his gaze was focused on the past, reminiscing. Ango didn't comment or interrupt his state and just waited.
Dozens of seconds later he came back to himself "Where was I? ah yes, I would go to him at nights to learn from him when he was with us. When the day came that he had to leave, I was really sad, the desert is a boring place you see and I had just tasted science and knowledge for the first time but Piere did something I didn't expect; He went to my master and directly bought me. I was surprised but also happy"
"I won't tell you about the journey, it's irrelevant. It took us some time to reach the land of the gnomes but let me tell you, when I first saw Arcana I felt like I had entered another world, high rising towers everywhere, people moving around in carriages that no animal pulls and so many lights and colors…."
'Oh… sounds like a nice looking place, what happened that they had to leave? And what does this have to do with magic? I mean I welcome the information and the distraction but I just asked how you gained your magic' Ango whined internally but he didn't stop listening.
"He gave me a room in his house, took me to his lab, taught me, made me his assistant and we worked together on many things; Of course other gnomes believed I was just his slave and test subject and years passed like that. When the purge started happening, Piere decided to hide me but he had many enemies in Arcana and the great academy so we were quickly found out. His enemies used this chance to strip him of his status and branded him a traitor so we had to run. He could have left me to die, he had so many opportunities to do that but he didn't. We were lucky for a month and nobody found us but that came to an end when a gnome and a group of enforcers came for us, the gnome was the same one that Piere had zapped years ago and he had become a researcher because of his family's status"
A grim expression appeared on his face as he was recounting the events "He ambushed us inside the great forest, near a large river, and he attacked me first with a powerful lightning bolt, I was thrown into the river, half a step away from death. I don't know how to battle went but Piere said he managed to kill the enforcers and force Wantes to retreat, that was his name. Piere said he ran along the river for a long time to find me when he did find me, I was alive and appeared in perfect condition"
'What? Isn't that similar to what happened to me? Is there something in the water?'
"Piere thought the river had healing properties so he drank some but it didn't have any effect on him, he then tried to take away some of the water but was attacked by beasts, they were weak so he managed to kill them and take me to safety. When I woke up I could use lightning magic but that wasn't the strangest thing"
"A human suddenly became able to use magic but that was not the strangest thing?" Ango asked in utter astonishment.
Hawkwood nodded and began to speak again, his voice rising with intensity "The strangest thing was what happened a few weeks later, we found out that my magic could get stronger"
'Huh?'
"Um.. I don't understand, what's so surprising about that" They were now a few meters away from the house but they didn't enter, Ango wanted to hear Hawkwood's answer and the man was now frozen.
Hawkwood couldn't believe someone was asking him this, he seemed like someone had poured ice water over him.
"You don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"About the tier and ranks of magic and what they entail"
"No? How would I?" Ango shrugged but he was getting more curious by the second.
'What is it that's so important about this? I get that we can become stronger but how is that stranger than suddenly gaining magic?'
Hawkwood heard his answer and nearly face palmed
"Alright that's … my fault, clearly you don't know this. Piere will explain all this stuff to you but let me tell you why this matter is important"
He took a deep breath and continued "All other races can use magic and they have it inside them since the moment they are born. They can learn spells and increase their control and handling of magic BUT they can't increase it. They are stuck with the power they are born with for the rest of their lives"
"But..why? how? Then why can you grow stronger?"
"I don't know but if I can, then you probably can too"