Ojero was resting in the carriage as it finally approached the last leg of the journey.
Almost a week had passed since the attack on the caravan, and in that time they had made a lot of progress towards the capital.
They had periodically stopped to pick up more students, but as news spread about the disastrous events of the attempted assassination, more than a few families refused to let their kids leave. It would undoubtedly impact the amount of mages produced in the coming years, a price the kingdom was not ready to pay.
At the site of the massacre, the survivors only had to wait for a few hours before they were loaded into new wooden carriages and sent towards the center of the country.
Glancing out of the open window shutters, he saw a marching contingent of armored guards.
The army had mobilized a couple hundred of their most fit soldiers to be escorts until they reached the tall walls of Luminex. All of the chosen soldiers had common gemstones and were only Novices, but had the Ranger class, allowing them to move swiftly with little effort.
Although nothing had attacked them again, the presence of so many trained fighters put Ojero's mind at ease.
"Look!" Roger said, pointing at the crest of a hill in the distance.
After the attack, Roger and Ojero had their own carriage, while Jason and Orpham had another for themselves.
Anastasia had been placed in a far more defended transport.
Following the direction Roger was pointing in, Ojero saw a large stone fortress rising high into the sky. Four large towers marked each corner, and a fire burned in each one.
Roger seemed to recognize the location, despite Ojero having never seen it before.
"That's Fort Willis, named after the Arch Magos Ricard Willis. Before the Kingdom of Riote declared its independence, the fortress served as the border of the ancient Everentile Empire. It was said to have withstood dozens of sieges and attacks, even by Ravagers! The walls were reportedly made with a powerful artifact, causing them to be almost impenetrable."
Rogers's eyes shone as he spoke, despite the random knowledge he was seemingly proud of.
"How do you know that?"
Roger turned to him with a grin, before it vanished and he hurriedly looked around. Seeing that Orpham and Jason were gone, he exhaled and slowly smiled again.
"Any good thief knows the most well-defended locations in the kingdom. We often place bets to see when they are eventually broken into. Or who manages to break into them. Fort Willis was always my biggest dream. Managing to get into there would make me legendary! There is also the rumor that artifacts are stored deep within the walls. Selling one of those would set me for life!"
Rogers's greed seemed almost limitless, built into his character.
Ojero didn't know if he could blame the youth for it, given how he had grown up.
His livelihood was tied to stealing, just like his own was tied to working hard to become an officer one day.
It was the hope of every noble to have an heir go on to be a prestigious mage in the army.
While Ojero hoped to exceed expectations by pushing the Beasts back and possibly even slaying a Ravager, Roger wanted to break into one of the most well-defended locations in the kingdom.
Both dreams were little more than fantasies, so there was no harm in striving to at least get close.
'Well, I have technically already killed a Ravager, even if I doubt he is actually dead.'
Ojero didn't really count killing Asmodeus, however. The strange and chaotic creature had let him kill him, even forced him to. There wasn't a glorious battle of humanity against savagery to be proud of.
Maybe that was just how war was, the glory of it lost in the brutality?
More forts appeared as they rolled down the road, Luminex drawing nearer and nearer. The main building of the Academy they would be attending was just behind the city. There was also a large amount of Academy buildings inside the city walls, of course, but those were mostly for magical specializations.
The Academy used too much mana to be inside the capital itself. There could be backlash against all the non-magicals living around it.
The study of mana and its impacts on humans was a new and hotly debated science, but what was clear was that mana fluctuations could have negative impacts on human physiology.
It was most often seen in auras that could cause humans to pass out just by being near them.
Farmhouses and fields of wheat started to increase in appearance, a necessary part of feeding the large population of the capital. Farmers would pause in their labors to wave at the caravan, more than a few worried looks being sent alongside the gesture.
Ojero already anticipated a large amount of questions on the events from a week ago.
During the journey, they had been left alone for the most part, but that surely would not last once they arrived. A few professors had to be curious, and the army most likely wanted to try and stop future ambushes from happening.
Roger had done some snooping when he could and had overheard one of the guards referring to their attackers as part of the Red Barons.
They were a very famous group of vampires living within the Everentile Empire, usually operating as mercenaries for their military. Why they tried to kill a lady of Riote was yet to be seen.
What confused Ojero even more was why they would only send a few assassins that had already bonded to gems? Surely they could have spared more than a single Magos? Especially if they were mostly vampires, couldn't they have come themselves and used their amazing strength to do the job?
Things were not adding up, and thinking about it was only giving Ojero an even greater headache.
No matter what the truth was, his focus was more revolving around his gem and strange abilities.
Asmodeus the Diviner had referred to him as an Archon, and that had to impact things in the near future. He also had to hide the origin of his powers, so he couldn't just run around trying to see who had answers to his questions.
He was hoping the Libarians Guild, and the libraries at the Academy, would provide some answers, but he wasn't very hopeful.
It seemed unlikely secret Ravager knowledge was publicly available.
His next best idea was to attend the Academy, master his element, and graduate. By that point, he would be a Magos and have the necessary strength to find information without being able to just vanish.
Every Magos was a valuable resource, and hundreds if not thousands would be watching what he did. If he happened to die suddenly, an inquiry would be held, and the results could cause problems for the current powers that be.
Especially if they were secretly in league with the Ravagers themselves.
It was still hard to believe that the very kings that had been leading the humans against the endless hordes of Beasts had actually been working with their enemies the entire time.
Just thinking about it filled Ojero with rage.
They had betrayed their own species, selling them out to invaders and butchers.
'But are they really just butchers?'
The thought brought him pause.
Asmodeus certainly didn't seem to be a hero, but he also didn't seem like the type to slaughter millions for his own twisted enjoyment. He was far too focused and ambitious for that.
Was it so hard to believe other Ravagers could be so intelligent?
Ojero had accepted the legacy of one such Ravager, after all. Who was he to judge the kings for doing the same?
'No, we are different. I didn't do it willingly, nor am I sacrificing my species for it! In fact, Asmodeus specifically said he wants me to fix fate by fighting the Beasts and winning!'
He had to clutch onto those morals even more strongly now. They proved he was still human, even if he had powers generated by a Ravager.
But were those powers any more evil than any other gem in the first place? Almost all elemental gems were created by killing Beasts.
Was his any different just because the Beast he killed was a Ravager?
'I feel like I am close to learning something important, but I am still missing pieces!'
The lack of information was increasingly annoying, and he hoped to rectify the issue soon.
The sound of a fist knocking on wood snapped him out of his reverie.
An armored guard saluted with a fist over his heart.
"My lord, I was told to inform you we will be entering Luminex city soon. Please take care to ready yourself to leave the carriage and enter the Academy grounds."
With that, the guard stepped back away from the window, saluted again, and rejoined his formation.
Ojero sighed, the long trip coming to an end.
He slowly began cleaning off his clothes and tidying his hair. There was a custom to look your best when first stepping onto Academy grounds, but he felt that there would be some leeway for their group after the troubles their first caravan had faced.
Roger was actively doing the same, his excitement clear.
While cleaning himself, Ojero felt his foot hit the stone tablet placed under his bench and smiled.
He had yet to use the legendary item, but he would do so soon.
Very soon.