Silax had spent hours testing out different ways to utilize his control over the wind, trying to make it second nature for him. Nightfall was now approaching, the sun would soon bow out of the sky.
He left the grand hall and headed toward the first hall, he was going to wait there for night to come.
As he stepped out, he saw that Chad was no longer breathing, he too was dead.
He thought to himself that out of the eight that came into this castle only him was left alive.
Silax got to the door that led to the courtyard, looking out into the courtyard he saw that there was just over an hour left before he could go get the barrels.
He sat on the floor and took on a burmese position, he closed his eyes and went into his Nexus. Although the Orenda-Sigil passively absorbed orenda, spiritualist usually spent time in their Nexus.
This increased the rate at which they absorbed orenda, which made saturation of the sigil happen quicker. Depending on the talent of the spiritualist, it could be an increase in absorption speed between two to five times.
There was a limit to how much orenda the sigil could retain, the excess flowed into the Nexus. When the Nexus was filled, the orenda flowed into the body and strengthened it.
The orenda that was retained by the sigil went towards increasing saturation levels, while orenda stored in the Nexus fueled the abilities of a spiritualist.
The capacity of the Nexus to hold orenda increased with the saturation of the sigil.
He felt orenda rush into his Nexus and tried to determine the difference in speed between the passive absorption and the amount he was getting now.
'It is more than three times the amount I get passively, but I can't get an exact measurement. To do that, I'll have to exhaust all the orenda in me, then calculate how much time it takes for my Nexus to fill up.'
Silax spent the next hour in meditation. When his Nexus filled up, he felt energy originating from his glabella, circulate around his body, strengthening his bones and muscles .
When the sun moved out of the sky, and the sky began to darken, he immediately got up from his position and went to check out the barrels.
After inspecting the barrels, he discovered that most of them were damaged beyond use. He was able to find three that were in good condition, and another four that he could plug the holes they had to make them useable.
He quickly started working on the salvageable ones, using the wood from other barrels to mend them. Three of the barrels took more work than he had anticipated, and it took him about forty-five minutes to fix the four barrels.
When he was done, he transported the barrels back into the hall with the well in two trips.
The first time he went with four barrels, carrying two in each of his arms. He stacked a barrel on top of another and wrapped his arms around the bottom one.
On the second trip he carried the remaining three.
He placed each of the barrels next to the well of blood.
Silax began to fill each barrel with blood from the well before sealing them with their lids.
After he was done, he surrounded himself with the barrels then pulled out the leaf from Asorin from his bag.
He took one last look around the hall, his gaze lingering on Elara's body where she laid, covered with her cloak.
It was time to leave this place and return to Scola. He didn't want to spend more time here, he had no idea who would be coming and he wanted to be gone before they got here.
Silax held the leaf in his hand and pictured himself and the barrel being transported to his cabin in Scola.
The leaf began to emit a golden light, shining brighter and brighter. In the next moment Silax found himself in his cabin, surrounded by seven barrels.
He was back, but he wouldn't be staying long.
Silax looked for Callon in the Cabin, but the boy wasn't here. He stepped out and saw him sitting outside the cabin.
"Hey, Callon. Miss me?"
Callon was startled by Silax voice coming from behind him.
"What? Silax? How did you get here? When did you get back?'
Silax walked over and lifted him from the chair.
"Now isn't the time for questions. I'll answer your questions in due time, but we need to leave Scola immediately. If you have anything to get from your room at the inn, you should go get them now. You're not to tell anyone you're going anywhere."
Callon was confused by what Silax was saying. He couldn't understand what was happening.
"Leave Scola? That's abrupt. What's going on?"
The tone of Silax's voice change to a more serious and domineering one.
"No questions Callon. Go get your things, and if you have nothing to pick, we'll leave now."
Callon was frightened by the manner in which Silax spoke.
"O-okay."
He ran off towards the direction of Scola's entrance.
Silax went back into his room and began to pack up the things he couldn't leave behind. His books, his spare throwing knives, some clothes, and he made sure to get the box from under the bed.
He waited for about thirty minutes before Callon returned.
Callon ran into the room out of breath, he had a big bag slung across his back.
"What took you so long? All you had to do was get your things and get back." Silax said to him.
Callon drop his bag, the bag making a loud thud as it fell to the floor.
"This bag is quite heavy, and Mariam was asking me questions on why and where I was going to. I just told her that I would be staying in your cabin from now on."
He sat on one of the chairs in the room, trying to catch his breath.
"Also, there was a lot of discussion going on at tavern about Jack and his crew."
Silax's eyes narrowed at the mention of Jack's name.
"What happened to Jack."
"No one is sure exactly, but a couple of hours ago, he and a bunch of people left Scola. There were about twenty of them, and there looked like they were going for a long journey. They had carriages filled with supplies, and they were all armed."
Silax was sure they were headed to the castle, he just wasn't sure how they knew to head there.
'It would take them three to five days before they get to the castle if they are using carriages and moving with that amount of people. By then I would already be settled in Ullion.'
"Alright, no time to rest. Let's go"
"Ullion is a week travel from here by carriage, two weeks without. How are we getting there? Do you have a carriage prepared? Because I'm too tired to trek right now." Callon said as he panted.
Silax answered him, while walking to the barrels and his packed bags
"Don't worry about that, just pick up your bag and come stand next to me."
Callon lifted his bag from the floor and followed Silax to where the barrels were. He looked at the barrels curiously and kicked one of them.
"What's in these barrels?"
Silax gave him the side-eye and began picturing his room back at Ælf's Garden.
The leaf began to shine with golden light once more, startling Callon. He yelped and fell, landing on his backside.
As he landed, he found himself in a different place, surrounded by things he didn't recognize.