46 Bluewalk

Galahad had managed a few things on his walk back to the carriages. He took an empty tent bag and filled it with some gear that might fit him along with the magic weapon and it's sheath. The blue sword was capable of taking a few different sizes, but anything more intricate like a curved sickle or an axe was too drastic for it to manage.

He was glad he took the glossy black sheath too, because the changes on the sword would make the sheath change along side it when returned to rest.

Additionally, He took a few valuables like trinkets, jewelry, and mana crystals he found to hopefully sell for some spare credits. Something he'd definitely need when he made it to Diagon.

Bluewalk was so rundown and inhabitable, that the landowners were forced to rent places cheap with so few people coming through, but Diagon was the complete opposite. It would cost over triple Teramore's regular prices for overnight stay. Something he couldn't force on his account after losing his main source of income dungeon hunting.

'Too bad all the mana orbs were blown up in the trap, all I have to show from the whole ordeal was this gear.' Now his next big issue was still finding a placed to get into the dungeon without a contract.

Galahad knew he was beyond lucky to meet Solteer and level up in the rift. He also knew that the chance of finding a secret rift before anyone would discover it was next to impossible. At some pointed he would need to reapply to the guild somehow or simply break into a gate.

The sun was only an hour from rising and He had finished his tiresome walk with a reminder on his Task Board to write everything down in his journal. All the events were to be dated and each kill needed to be named and numbered. Galahad knew it was strange to keep track, but he needed to remind himself that his actions were out of self-defense, not murderous intent.

'They were killers and thieves that would have continued hunting for years to come. There are dozens of people who will travel these roads without ever having to encounter Dante and his little bandit camp. I'll just have to think of it as a public service.'

Galahad put the magic sword and in the larger tent bag he brought with him. He found that the sword was able to shrink from the size of an extremely heavy long dagger to a normal two-handed claymore. The weight never changed, but he figured it was due to the magic arrays were designed purely for limited shaping of the metal and magic lightning. Anything else added to such a masterpiece would have risked too much stress on the enchanted metal.

The weapon was truly a masterpiece on its own and that concerned Galahad; if it was a powerful magic weapon, then it would bring undoubtedly unwanted trouble and attention. It would need to be flaunted elsewhere, mainly when he was alone in the dungeons.

*****

Once James woke up, they were back on the road, the sun rose above the tree lines and melting frost competely took over the green grass with white mixed in. Winter had already begun as time seemed to quickly pass through the year. This concerned Galahad about the time he spent not being able to find his friends, that and lack of sleep was the only two things on his mind.

He kept contemplating all the possible things needed to retrieve while dozing in and out of sleep. James oblivious to his security detail lightly snoring next to him. They didn't say a word until lunch on the moving carriage began.

"So . . . any idea on how you'd describe mana yet?" James asked. He seemed a lot less stressed now, but that may have been the tranquilizing effects of Blenta berries.

Galahad had given him a small batch he found in the shrubs along the roadside, he learned about them from Apharine years ago, and hoped they would do stop the poor guy from having a heart attack.

Galahad figured he tell James about the berries' stress relieving qualities sometime in late future. Best not to disturb the peace one finally achieves amongst the chaos.

"You know what? I think so." Galahad said through a mouth full of non-tranquilizing berries. He swallowed before continuing. "Mana isn't anything special in this world, but in a way it also the only remarkable thing about it."

James was thoroughly confused by Galahad's contradicting statement.

"Ugh, hold on, its more like this; mana exists in everything around us- correction, it IS everything around us; both alive and not. Everything in Endora is composed of mana, including the atmosphere and the ground. We only classified the air as 'air' and the 'ground' as the ground because that is the current form of mana we experience."

"Okay, I think I understand what you are going for."

"Alright, so you know how a living being's soul produces slow emissions of mana and chi. Battle classes can manipulate and generate their Chi better than most, and Magician's do the same with Mana.

So manipulating mana both inside and outside of your soul is like redefining the matter around us, not just your own body. Makes you feel like your are tapping into a supreme power of something different."

James continued to nod quietly, taking mental notes of Galahad's understanding.

"Because in a way, Mana is what makes up all matter in the universe; Chi is what generates life within certain matter; and realm energy is what binds it-"

"- within the worlds we live in." James finished the quote.

"Ahh, How can I forget you practically lived in the library." Galahad should have known quoting the great magician, Adulus Reingear's book about the world of Endora wouldn't mean anything to James.

James looked ahead for a little while before simply saying "Wow."

"I know, I am sorry it doesn't make much sense. Its hard to describe something you lived your whole life knowing about without giving it much thought, its like constantly breathing without thinking about it. The moment you think about using it will only make it harder to explain."

'Or the fact that I don't use it anymore.' Galahad thought privately.

"In a way, it does. I can tell you one thing about all that though." James lifted a bit of a joking smirk for the first time since leaving home.

"There is no way in hell that I can put that in another cheesy romance novel."

*****

It was their third and final day of hard traveling, but they managed to arrived at the hillsides of Bluewalk with the sun resting on their backs. luckily, they didn't have anymore issued to impede them until they arrived at the little town.

The town was comprised of a small market and a few dozen buildings in a flat section of land between all the hills. In the Spring, the hills would bloom with blue Fruta flowers, making the whole city turn to the same rich-blue color as the bottle of Fruta oils Galahad used to put on his wounds. Currently, the winter made the plants do dormant so the hills looked like they were a sickly yellow, matching how all the citizens felt about their town.

As they approached the front of the city, the bordering gates was backed up with a line of carts going in and out after a quick inspection by guards in front.

"I wonder why so many carriages come through here." James asked as came to a stop in the long queue.

Strange as it seemed, a long line of carts and carriages were streaming in and out practically nonstop. People carrying all sort of dungeon fighting gear or goods with them. The place was known for being gross and unpopulated, so why did so many people come through?

"That's because this place has a gate." Galahad said like it solved the mystery.

James thought about it for a moment as he tried to figure out what Galahad meant.

Galahad saw him struggling to connect the dots, then he finally explained the answer. "The dungeons formed branches of openings all along the surface of Endora. Bigger gates tend to let out more monsters, so more adventurers go into cities like Diagon rather than smaller ones like Bluewalk."

James nodded as he couldn't really follow Galahad's explanation once again as he continued. "The downside for newer adventurers in places like Diagon is the amount of monsters aren't enough for everyone to make a living. So most of the lower leveled adventurers come to Bluewalk and fight in its smaller gate. It's a matter of finding the most monsters you can, even if that means smaller gates with less monsters because it means less people to compete against."

"Huh, such an inter- Oh Shit!" James was lost in such fascinating knowledge for future writing, that he almost crashed the horses into the cart in front of them.

The guy in front heard the close call and turned to gave them a dirty look before going back to staring at the Karmic Plate in his hand, only handling the reins in the other hand.

'Jackass shouldn't be giving us dirty looks when he's too busy making scrys while driving.' Galahad glanced at James and saw he was thinking the exact same thing. Both held their tongues as its best not to start anymore fights then they already had this week, Galahad especially.

"Are you paired to Bluewalk's resonance tower?" James pointed out the singular tower they could see sticking out of the center of the town as they drew closer.

"No, not yet. The last time I was here, it was a quick trip and I was too young to venture out."

"Oh, was that back when you always stuck around with . . ." James's voice trailed off as he realized who he was starting to about.

"Yeah, back when she was around." Galahad muttered, his eyes dropped a little as he recalled a long forgotten memory.

Galahad didn't get mad, he figured the tranquilizers were loosening James's mental filter. He already knew the reason James knew about his sister.

She was a frequent visitor to bakeries all across Teramore, she was a regular to the Disark bakery long enough for the very young scholar to remember her face and name.

After a few minutes of waiting in line with awkward silence. They arrived to the main entrance and were stopped by a armored Captain with a triangle buzzcut and brown handlebar mustache. The Captain motioned them to stop the carriage and hand over their identification.

He had the two travelers hand over their Karmic plates he passed them over the little white crystal on his arm brace. It was the same kind of crystal used at the Gate in Teramore, just miniaturized for convenience. He was shocked to see someone as old as Galahad to be only level ten. Even the scholar was much higher leveled in comparison, a class that couldn't physical achieve level ups easily.

He glanced back at the carriage to finally notice Galahad's bandages wrapped all along his left side; the Captain pieced together the boy was recovery from a level reset.

"Reason for visiting and duration of stay." He asked while handing back the Karmic Plates.

"Paying off a loan; two days at a maximum." Galahad was equally blunt as he wanted to get through and find a place to sleep. The last two nights consisted barely three hours combined, so now he needed to recover.

The guard moved one of the cloth packages over in the storage and noticed the pelts and dried food inside.

"Care to explain why your coming through the with war supplies and not money?" He asked, putting his hand a little bit closer to the hilt on his belt.

"War supplies? What are you talking about?" Galahad was starting to get increasingly more grumpy with each second he spent in the wooden seat. The red sparks were wanting to emerge as he was thinking of pummeling the mustache off the man before him.

"Haven't you heard? The Kingdom of Silvate is anticipated to attack the Eastern Regions of Etherite sometime soon. Any supplies or equipment shipped across this region must be inspected before allowed into the city limits." The man recited the lines like he was reading off a paper.

Galahad saw a glint in the man's eye though, it reminded him of his recently obtained obsession for mana orbs. This man was definitely looking to earn something from the cart.

James didn't pick up on the man's look. He only voiced his opinion on the matter. "Odd, considering the treaties that came into play ninety-years ago. Why would the only other kingdom in this continent want to fight us now of all times. I guess the monsters and the Royal of New threat hasn't kept everyone busy enough to not start picking fights."

Galahad knew faintly of what James was talking about. Endora may have been a magical world, but that meant nothing in the reality of war and conflict. Some might even say adventurer powers only escalates the idea of challenging other countries.

Endora had three continents; Antadaren, Gylantra, and Luminote. In the continent of Gylantra, the only two kingdoms were constantly at odds, the Etherite Kingdom and Silvate Kingdom. Both were constantly at war with one another until a treaty was formed a century ago under the agreement to focus on dungeon hunting as the monsters entering to the surface was getting worse as the internal fighting went on.

"Well this carriage is to be temporarily commandeered and all goods will be withheld after inspection is completed within the next three to four weeks."

"What?!?! You can't do that." Blurted out Galahad. His shock and concern were valid because of the cargo he recently obtained. Once the guard were to discover the large amount of weapons and gear, they really would suspect him of trying to commit a war crime.

James agreed with Galahad as the supplies were meant to be delivered before the week was to end. If not, then the loan would require an extension that would cost the bakery a lot of money. Both boys were denying the inspection for two completely different reasons that would inevitably get them in trouble.

It seemed Galahad's luck was getting worse once again.