9 New Adventurer: Jun Long

The interspatial ring sparkled on Jun Long's finger. The two adventurers, which clearly neither of them are from a different world, managed to stroll right out of town without as many people noticing them compared to before. Jun Long could finally feel more at ease, not having to worry about anyone bringing up the topic of where he came from. With his lack of geographical knowledge, not to mention every other kind of this world's knowledge, it would just be too easy to figure out that this dark haired boy doesn't belong here.

Unbeknownst to Jun Long, all his fretting was for naught. He's the only person who would even consider there being a chance that there were people from other worlds here.

Along the way, James Tarker was explaining to Jun Long about how to use the interspatial ring that the owner of Righteous Fight gave to him. The guards stationed at the town entrance watched the awestruck boy playing with his ring like it was a present on Christmas morning. They were a little frightened by the maniacal laughter from the pure excitement of being able to use such an awesome item!

"You might wanna calm down with that ring, Jun," James said to him. "It doesn't take much of your mana to use, but it still uses mana."

"Uses my mana, huh? Does something bad happen if I use up all of my mana?"

"What?" James was startled by the question. This was the most common of common knowledge. "You don't know about 'mana strain'?"

"No. I've never had it happen to me."

"Are you sure you're not some spoiled noble?.."

"Haha! I'm sure! I'm sure!"

"Well, 'mana strain' is what happens when you faint after using up all your mana."

"Really?..."

"Everyone has a mana limit. Like... a cup!"

"..." Jun Long tried to imagine it.

"If the water were mana, then the cup - your mana limit - can only hold so much. Then, when you drink the water, soon you won't have any water left!"

"I get it! Then how do you refill your mana?"

"There are natural ways of doing it - like sleeping! The mages have done them studies on how much sleep you'd need to fill your mana back up, and it seems you'd need a full night's sleep for that."

"A full night, huh?"

"Yeah! But not everyone has that leisure, as there are times when you'll be in unsafe areas, and you'd only get four or five hours of sleep, at most! So a lot of people will carry these potions, here!"

James Tarker reached into his pouch and pulled out a small vial filled with a sparkling blue liquid. It reminded Jun Long of those fancy creamy liqueur. He popped the vial open, and held it in front for Jun Long to see. Jun Long poked his face towards the vial, sniffing at the opening. It smelled sweet, like liquorice!

"These things ain't cheap, but they're well worth it, as they'll quickly refill your lost mana."

"Mana potions, huh? It's getting more and more like some fantasy RPG."

"What are you mumbling about? Anyway! I'll show you! HM!"

James Tarker was still holding the small vial in one hand, but lifted up his other hand to create a small ball of fire. Jun Long was stunned, as this was the first time he saw this world's magic up close. It truly was a beautiful sight. The flame danced in James' palm, as though it had a life of its own. Jun Long could feel the heat caressing his cheeks, as he inched his face closer.

James Tarker threw his hand toward the skies, and shot the ball of fire into the air. Jun Long's body jerked back a little, as the speeding fireball suddenly exploded, and expanded to cover a small area. This was the most iconic magic commonly known as the 'Fireball'! Jun Long couldn't help but smile with glee, almost jumping at James Tarker to show him how to do it!

"Phew... That's a 'Fireball' spell!"

"'Fireball'!" Jun Long's eyes sparkled like a child meeting his favourite super hero.

"It's one of the more commonly used magics from the School of Fire," James explained, taking a moment to gulp down the mana potion in his hand. "For me, that one spell would take just under half of my mana to cast!"

Jun Long was taken aback, at the mention of just how much this one spell drained one's mana. Though he knew, at the back of his head, that everyone had their own mana limits - their own mana capacities - but he was stuck in the moment, and could only use his blonde friend as the standard.

"Do you have a lot of mana, James?"

"Nah, not really! I'm a fighter, ya see!"

"Is it hard to learn magic? Could I learn how to use the fireball?" Jun Long asked anxiously.

"Of course! Jun, you've been appraised as a mage, man! I wouldn't be surprised if you could use all kinds of magics!"

"Really?" Jun Long once again had stars in his eyes.

"Haha!" James laughed. "Not just the School of Fire, you'd probably be able to learn and cast magics from all Schools of Magic! Maybe!"

"Is it normal for those appraised as a mage to be able to learn all Schools of Magic?"

"Not at all!" James shook his head slowly. "Listen up, Jun! Most mages will only be able to learn, at most, from three different Schools of Magic. That's the four Elemental Schools: fire, water, wind, or earth!"

"Right."

"There's also those who use light and dark magic."

"What's that?" Jun Long ask, raising a brow.

"Light magics are usually used by the Church, and their acolytes and templars. Something akin to Holy magics! Healing and restoration magics are also part of the School of Light!"

"I see... So, what about 'dark' magic?"

"Dark magics are usually used in the form of curses. For those who take on assassination as a profession, there are those who've even used the School of Dark to master the shadows and control them! It's some scary shit, really!"

"Are there any other Schools of Magic?"

"Well," James started, his brows slightly furrowed. "These aren't usually used by humans, so it's not really worth mentioning to new mages, like you."

"I'm thinking of learning about all types of magic, to see which ones I can use, so you might as well tell me about them."

"Yeah, I suppose so!" James chuckled. "There's the Schools of Conjuration and Illusion."

"Oh?" Jun Long's eyebrows raised in interest.

"The School of Conjuration... ah... um... I think they summon things, maybe?..." James Tarker, although having explained so much about the other Schools of Magic, found it a little difficult to do so for the School of Conjuration. "Haha! The School of Illusion is one that usually uses magics that would trick one's senses - sight, hearing, feeling. It can be one nasty magic to suffer from!"

The sun had already started setting, at this point. Jun Long and James Tarker kept a steady pace as they walked along the trail that carriages would often use to get to and from Jovial Town. Jun Long was fully immersed in the talk about each different School of Magic, and, being the type of person he is, James Tarker happily talk about it all the way until they finally had to turn off the trail.

"Hey, Jun," James turned to say to Jun Long. "How about we take a quick break?"

"Huh?" Jun Long was still quite immersed in the discussion about all the Schools of Magic. "A rest? Sure."

"Great. I'll go find some wood to set a fire. Can you find some palm-sized rocks and set them in a circle?"

"Alright! I'll bring them back here, when I find them."

...

The pair of adventurers quickly assembled a quaint little campfire, just in time for the sun to fully set, and for the skies to be lit up by the stars. Jun Long had seldom camped out in the wild, so he wasn't able to help in any way to start the fire. James Tarker stepped back from the bunched up sticks and strips of wood, then once again summoned a ball of fire into the palm of his hand. He didn't shoot it out, this time, but pushed it toward the wood.

The campfire was started, just like that, and Jun Long was amazed at the entire process of it. He came from a world where, if you were prepared to camp outside overnight, it was wise to bring fire-starters, and a box of matches! To see such an efficient way using one's own magical prowess to start the fire, he couldn't help but compare the two worlds, and be impressed by this new one.

"Are you really talented in magics, James?" Jun Long asked, having seen his partner already use 'Fireball' twice.

"Not at all, haha!" James laughed at the thought. "I'm lucky that I've been able to meet some good friends along the way, who've taught me this and that. 'Fireball' is just one of the many things I've been blessed to have learned."

"Hooh..."

"Sure does make starting a fire easier!" James laughed out loud, making even Jun Long smile a bit.

"Do you think you could teach it to me?"

"Was gonna do that, even if you didn't ask me!"

The two adventurers laughed together, as though they had been close brothers all their lives, sitting by the warm fire. The fire seemed to dance along to their joyous banter, almost as though it were smiling happily at the scene of these two friends bumping shoulders and sharing the rations that they had collected just before leaving the town.