The sound of stones and pebbles crunching under the tires of the carriage reached Raven's ears from his comfortable seat within the compact transport vehicle. The private carriage had been rented by him the previous day, and now, he had set off on his journey out of the area of influence of the White Empire.
Raven laid down on one of the two soft, cushioned benches in the compact carriage. He had opted for a smaller carriage that would transport just himself because he valued his privacy. The cost of that was that he would need to make multiple stops, as this kind of carriage was not meant for long distance journeys at all. But it was not a big deal.
Raven waved his hand above his face as the carriage moved. A small mote of darkness danced between his fingers and atop his fingertips as he willed for the power within his body to be stirred. He did not worry about being seen, as he had made sure to take measures that would hinder forms of monitoring. After all, a transport company would not invest heavily in monitoring methods for simple commoners and lowly merchants who wanted to use their services.
Enchantments and Inscriptions were quite costly. It was not efficient to rig all their carriages with inscriptions and enchantments to monitor the moves of everyday people. Also, he had taken his own measures and inspected the carriage for any monitoring methods to avoid being taken by surprise.
'Just this little thing is what ruined my whole life.' Raven thought to himself as he got lost in the darkness swimming around his fingers.
The carriage continued to move undisturbed for most of the day. It would take a week to reach the destination where Raven could change carriages and continue with his journey. All in all though, the journey would take him a bit over two months. Two months was quite a long time, but there was nothing he could do about it.
'Ruined your life? That little thing is what made your life! It is who you are!' Raven nearly jumped when he heard the voice inside his head. It had been a long time since he last heard it speak. It had gone silent most of time time when he had trained under Old Man Wikes, only popping up at odd intervals and then disappearing again.
'What are you? What do you want?' Raven questioned, but he failed to find any answers.
Silence returned as the carriage moved on. A few breaks were taken during the day and at night to allow the horse that pulled it to rest and feed, but aside from that, there were no issues for the first week, and he soon arrived in a town at the border of the White Empire.
"Thank you for patronizing our services." The coachman of the carriage was curt and polite as he waved at Raven when the carriage had parked with the transport company's branch. Raven nodded and turned away to make his way into the town.
This town was slightly smaller than the one that he had set off from but it was still quite busy. After all, this was one of the hubs that allowed for transportation between the White Empire and other neighboring nations. There was a lot of trade and other forms of business going on, making the place quite lively and busy.
But Raven did not have eyes for any of that. He made his way to another transport company and booked a carriage to the neighboring nation of Orden.
The nation of Orden was a small vassal nation of the White Empire. Its laws were quite similar with those of the White Empire, as they relied on the empire to handle a lot of their affairs and matters. They also used the banner of the White Empire to push their agendas and deal with the affairs of the kingdoms and nations that neighbored them.
Orden did not have any major industries or businesses that kept them going like the Highland Kingdom. Instead, they relied on the trade that was fostered by their relationship with the White Empire to generate income and jobs.
Raven had just reached a small tavern when the door slammed open and two brawling figures came tumbling out. A small crowd could be seen inside the tavern, looking at the brawlers, and a few of them even came out to spectate from a closer point of view.
'What's this?' Raven stepped to the side, not wanting to get involved. He watched as a lanky young man with a mop of black hair on his face and a pair of cold blue eyes walked out of the tavern. It was only then that Raven realized that the two tumbling men from earlier had not been fighting when the door swung open. They had been thrown out!
"I've said it before! Don't fight in here!" The young man scolded them coldly before turning around and walking back into the tavern. The two men got up and gave each other scalding glares before hurrying away in different direction.
Raven watched with an intrigued gaze. He felt that the black haired man was not older than him by much, but he looked strong.
'He must be a trained warrior or a mage.' Raven thought to himself, but his thoughts leaned more toward the young man being a mage, as his physique did not exactly look like that of a warrior. 'I'll keep an eye on him while I'm in the tavern then.' He decided before walking into the tavern when the crowd started dispersing.
As soon as Raven crossed the threshold for the door, the smell of strong liquor and ale hit his nose. Noise and cheers rang out as drunkards began to indulge as the day came to a close. With a quick skim of his eyes, he spotted a few people with weapons. Not many of them bothered to conceal the weapons. He also found the young man standing behind the bar and serving the customers that were seated at the bar counter.
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Please read the Author's note!