A ship sailed through the ocean swimmingly. Several waves hit the hull, trying to propel it to the side, but it floated steadily on the surface.
Rooms stack together across the hull and the decks. Of course, the hull had several simple stalls lined up, creating a makeshift market directly inside the ship. It was also where the people who paid a little amount stayed inside. But the smell, it smelled really bad. A mixture of damp wood and fish and occasional excretion. But they had no choice. The tower was newly built, and only some ships dared to work together with them and took them safely outside to bigger islands under the night.
The boy wore a cloth covering his whole body, only showing a slit for his eyes, while pushing a wheelchair and looking around the makeshift stalls. But he shook his head, looking at the minimal displays, which mostly consisted of stale bread and smelly fish. His eyes caught on the small trinkets, but he frowned upon figuring out that the trinkets were nothing but scraps.
The boy hoisted the chair up the stairs. After shoving several coins, the crew opened the slit allowing them to reach the deck itself. Vega inhaled the fresh air with a tinge of the salty ocean. A slight breeze hit his face, and he pulled the chair one more step, grunting. "We should just go to the dining area. There's nothing worth eating here."
Dion agreed and put his hand on the back, touching his hand gratefully. The noble thought the other boy would reject his offer but was really surprised when his friend returned to the room and helped him change into more 'comfortable' clothes. Comfortable was high-praise considering the patchwork on several spots on the clothes, but it was better than wearing the traditional robe outside.
Vega treaded deck filled with crews lifting the sail up, and some sigils started to glow when the ship was ready to leave. He wished to get more things before he decided to venture out, any magic items to fly could definitely bring him to another island faster, and he didn't have to be reminded of his past with the smell inside the hull. His stomach growled, and he found the door and pushed it open. A whiff of rich, vagrant spices, complete with some smoky flavor, rushed to his nose.
He asked for a table and waited, observing the place. Some of the guests stared at them, but mostly at the wheelchair. But after the war, many adepts lost their limbs and even died. After they gave them a pitying look, they continued enjoying their food in silence.
His mana sense caught some stronger pressure from the guests, but most had an intermediate level. The people inside wore different clothing; one had a cloth tied to their head, while the others had a veil covering their faces. Some even had complicated dresses with several layers stacked together into one. Even though he and Dion wore the worst outfit, the pressure around them, as high-level apprentices, made the guests didn't really care about the outfit. In the corner, a built-in bar with several crystals emitted a dim light powered by a single mana crystal that cost really expensive compared to previous value.
After a while, the waiter came back asking for their papers, and Vega took out the papers lined with several purple lines, signaling they were issued by the guild for the apprentices. Even though the people enjoyed their dinner, both Vega and Dion noticed that the corner guard held their staff close to them to stop any attack from reaching them. He threaded toward the table slowly and chose the empty table in the corner. Taking the menu up, he covered his lips and whispered, "How many coins do we have? These are expensive." Frowning looking at the numbers on the menu.
"Not much. But enough. Those are coins, so not that expensive. We have some mana crystals, but that would gain much attention."
"Alright. That's going to be your job. Honestly, I don't understand the difference between the gold, the silver, and the bronze. They all looked the same."
Dion chuckled. "Yeah, I need a couple of days getting used to the same system while I was in the sect." Certain sadness appeared on his bright orange eyes. But it disappeared instantly.
Vega observed the shimmering lines across the walls. The reason why the room had a colder temperature compared with the heat he felt on the deck became clear. He missed the feeling of cold magic crystals and the glowing sigil didn't help him to get used to the currency.
From above the menu, his eyes darted left and right, trying to catch any weird movement but found none. Not gaining any important information, he brought his focus back to his table, touching the white cloth covering the table, he played the tassels anxiously. He just hoped that the war could end as soon as possible and that he could enjoy his travels to the fullest.
Finally, a waiter came to him, bringing a tray with several plates, and served them on the table. Thanking the waiter, he tried tasting a spoonful of the rich soup and devoured it together with some tasty bread. Dion smiled and followed suit.
After being in the dining area without getting any essential information, they both retreated to their own rooms. It stood on the top of the ship, together with all the rooms reserved for high-level apprentices. The bed wasn't as big compared to the tower's, but at least the amount they paid was worth it. The atmosphere surrounding the room was similar to the high-level accommodation area in the academy.
"They must've put a lot of money into building a gathering formation on top of the ship."
Vega helped Dion sit on the bed, took out the books, and offered them. "Here. The ship would take a long time to reach Oasis del Mar. It's better to read whatever we can before arriving there."
"You always like books. I remembered you spent most of your time in the library before."
Vega scratched his head while taking some of the books from his space ring and giving one to Dion. The space ring was no longer his own secret but also Dion's. Even though his magical book was still unknown to the noble. But having a personal library in the form of a book would be helpful in the long run.
He took his own book and started to read the title, and was shocked reading the simple title written in a golden letter on the cover. A Simple Introduction for the Air Element When he skimmed several pages open, he was even more surprised to find a paragraph replacing sketches of spell models. He thought the library had only knowledge of spell models instead of traditional spell descriptions. But because the masters and mistresses agreed to impart lessons to the apprentices in the tower, the book wasn't as famous.
After finishing several chapters, he closed the book and continued his meditation practice. He learned from the second chapter of his meditation exercise by imagining several sigils. The pure mana rushed inside him, following along the sigils, before it settled down with its liquid source.
The night went by quickly. When the light shone through the window, Vega woke up feeling refreshed, but then his pillow was wet. Frowning, he touched the pillow and looked up, trying to find the cause. But the ceiling was clear of leakage, and he didn't know what had happened during his sleep.
Dion finally woke up beside him and smiled. "Did you have a great sleep?"
Vega nodded. "But my pillow is wet. Do you by any chance know what happened?" He remembered the noble was still awake when he tucked himself into sleep.
Dion shook his head. "Apart from your usual sleep talk, nothing happened. But you cried last night and screamed about something. Are you really okay? Did you really have a great sleep?"
"What? Did I say something embarrassing?" He felt something gnawing at the edge of his mind when he woke up but couldn't recall what he dreamed about the next day.
After pushing for an answer he didn't get, he got up and went to the toilet to wash himself. He then brought a bucket outside and finally helped Dion change, and they went outside.
They heard a commotion in the hull, and Vega went down. The pressure it emitted made some apprentices shudder and gave them the way. He saw several people crowded together, staring and pointing at the ocean.
Vega finally saw what the other commoners and the apprentices were talking about. A huge fish with its back sprouting water is trying to battle three apprentices flying around its body. The hvalur opened its huge mouth, stopping some of the attacks from the apprentices, and did its own spell. The hvalur sprouted a stream of hot water and turned them into icicles, stabbing toward the apprentices.
A girl waves her hand and creates a thin ice layer reflecting the icicle back. When the ice was on its way back to the creature, she created several water blades spinning toward the hvalur. But the hvalur was originally a creature from water, which had better control over the water around it.
Screaming, the water in the ocean rose upward and gathered together into a huge ball that spun around and hit the air. When it reaches the apprentices, it explodes, drenching them.
Another apprentice used his own fire spell to focus in a laser-like motion, reaching the target and hitting it square in the face. Screaming, the havlur had blood spilling from its face. While it became angry and started shaking the water all around it, another apprentice was preparing his spell, creating a huge spinning spear made of earth and sending it toward the creature.
Vega didn't see where the earth's source was coming from because they were surrounded by water all around them. But the attack hit it directly on the wide back missing its weak spot by an inch. Water sprouted from the hole mixed with some red liquid. With its last breath, the ocean finally started to calm down.
The braver apprentices jumped into the water and swam to the creature, searching its body for any magic crystal. The girl took out three empty bottles, filling them with the creature's blood.
"That's interesting," he whispered toward Dion, who watched the fight frowning.
"I really need to master at least one spell before we arrive. I really hope everything will be more peaceful in the capital."
"Let's go. We're having our breakfast first, and let's try to learn the spell together."
After they went back to their room, Vega closed the door behind him and asked, "While you are learning spells, can I also practice spirit to make the swords fly around me?"
"I can't. It's going to take up a lot of your time, but I can help you learn about formations. Do you want it?"
"Of course."
"We need to find some of the materials to learn a simple formation. How about I'll teach you later, when we arrive at the capital?"
"It's a deal, then?" Vega offered his hand.
Dion shook it "A deal."
When Dion took out his book, Vega noticed the cover. The blue cover reminded him of his first book, about the introduction to mana. "Is it?"
"Yes."
"Why can't you learn mana like before? Weren't you a low-level apprentice before?"
"But mana and spirits are two different things. I don't have time to practice them. It'll be similar to your muscles. When you don't use it for too long, your body will forget how to do it. At least in theory, but not in practice."
Vega was quiet for a moment, and he put on a serious face. "If you want. Just practice wherever we are. I think it's better for you to understand both spirit and mana. We can both act as members of the adepts and practitioners. We need to figure out how to stop the war from happening."
"But it won't be easy. And frankly, you don't really understand the language too."
"I can learn. What else are we doing besides getting better at what we do?"
"Okay. I'll try to do it myself first and teach you." Dion frowned and looked to his side. "Don't you have any goals for the future besides working yourself up to learning spells? No wives or girlfriends?"
Vega shook his head. "I don't even know what I'm doing. I told you about my goal of teaching low-level apprentices. It was nice, but then now they are learning with the tower, so I'm back to square one. How about you? You're not planning to go back to your own place? Are you meeting your families and friends?"
"I told you that as the fourth in line, I don't have any obligation toward my father to continue the line. But my dream is to see what's out there. Traveling, getting stronger, and probably living forever." Dion chuckled.
"That's nice. I'm just going to follow you." Vega blushed, feeling that the sentence came out wrong. "I mean becoming stronger, traveling, and probably living forever. But, of course, to end this war. If I have enough power, I can probably order the guild around." His mind wondered about a story he heard from his adopted grandfather. When you have the power, you can do everything you want.
By the end of the day, Vega had finished his first book and understood more things about the air element. Of course, he couldn't practice what he learned in a small space, but when he opened his hand, he felt the mana around him swirl, creating a solid orb of air swirling slowly. Even though it didn't seem to have crazy power, the compression effect was stronger, and the orb could blast a hole in the hard stone.
Dion didn't lose. With his better comprehension, Dion could already move his sword with his mind. It wasn't as fast as before, but at least he overcame his hesitation to use the spirit. But then the noble did something crazy. He summoned a fire around his sword and twirled the sound around. It didn't last long when he lost control and the sword clattered down on the floor.
Vega took it and asked excitedly, "You managed to combine mana and spirit together?"
"Yes. They're not too different, after all. One just needed to use your will, and the other, well, your control over your mind. I can actually teach you how to be a practitioner. They are both different but also similar at the same time."
Seeing the excited look on Vega's face, Dion dramatically held his head. "Oh, but I'm tired. I can teach you tomorrow. Now just focus on your mana, but make sure to not only imagine the meditation sigil but also control the mana around to move all over your body. Starting from your muscles, skin, and bones. It's going to be easier when we practice the spirit tomorrow."
Vega nodded quickly, making Dion laugh and say "chickens" several times while holding his stomach.
Vega smiled. At least his friend had returned to his previous self by making a joke about him. Pretending to be angry, he lifted Dion and threw the noble on the bad.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry!" Vega quickly stood on the bed and lifted his friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."
Dion was still clenching his palm, holding on to the sudden pain shooting through his legs. "That's okay. But something is wrong. I can feel the pain in my leg."
Wait, what does it mean?"
"But I'm not sure. Let's try throwing me again. Just for checking." Dion joked.
"No, but I can try punching it first." Vega stared at his friend.