17 First Night

The first day passed rather uneventfully with me having conversations with Naomi whether I was walking or riding. Sometimes her other party members would join the ride or they would be the one walking behind the last carriage we were, but the seemed content with girl bombarding me with questions trying to determine my age.

"Have you kissed a girl before?" She asked with still the same enthusiasm as the first time she asked my age this morning.

"Yes." Was immediate reply.

"Was it with the girl you're courting." This time quietly as if it was a scandal while Amanda, who had joined us in the back giggled.

"No, it was long before I ever met her." Which isn't a lie as the girl I kissed was in my past life, and I've been here for 5 years.

"Have you ever… done it?" She asked timidly, once again earning a laugh from Amanda.

"Done what?" I ask with a head tilt.

"Done… well you know…" Not answering and just keeping my head tilted she leans closer and says in a whisper.

"S-E-X.?" This causes both me and Amanda to laugh loudly as Naomi blushes a bright red.

"Ugh! You don't have to tease me." She huffed in annoyance with the blush of embarrassment still across her cheeks.

"Well you do kind of deserve it with as many questions as you've asked him." Amanda pointed out.

"You don't find him mysterious or anything? Of course I'm going to be curious when a ki- er guy is walking around in a get up like that." She defended herself.

"Yes. I have." They both turn and look at me in confusion, before realization sparks in their eyes.

"Really! Was it with the girl your courting or was it another woman?! Oh~ how scandalous." Both girls bounced in anticipation, waiting for me to continue.

"It was way before I met the girl I'm courting." I replied evenly.

"Oh what happened was it forbidden love? Did she cheat on you?" Naomi asked in rapid succession.

"No, she's not here." I said mysteriously, as I couldn't say truthfully if she died since I don't know if she did or not. However saying she's not here anymore is practically the same thing and not technically a lie, though I guess she was never here. Eh, semantics.

"Oh… I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it up. I guess you really are older than you look." She said sadly and I only felt a tiny bit of guilt as even with my infinite patience the girl was beginning to wear on me.

"Oh? And how old do I look, pray tell if you can't see my face?" I ask teasingly.

"Well with how short you are I assumed you were a kid. But then you said you're a yellow core mage and you beat that B rank guy in 1 move, which was incredible by the way. The way you just swooshed off and kicked him in the chest sending him flying into the wall like a rag doll. So now I'm no longer sure. How old are you the ?" I had to resist the urge to face palm at her rapid non stop retelling of everything and she ended up asking how old I was again. Amanda didn't have the same reluctance and openly face palmed.

"Old enough to send someone 3 times your size 'flying like a rag doll' as you put it, for annoying me." Her eyes went wide and she nodded her head in understanding, though I knew like all people similar to her, it wouldn't be long and she would be asking more questions. I could only sigh at the revelation.

I was brought from my pity party by the stopping of the caravan and Durk coming to the back of the line to talk to us.

"We're going to go ahead and set up camp for the night, there is an open field just ahead so the wagons are going to form a tight circle. The drivers and Mr. Zany, along with the rest of us will sleep inside the circle. We'll have 3 people on night watch and they will rotate every 3 hours, giving every one 6 hours of sleep and a rotating person that will get the full 9." We nodded out understanding, and with a brief nod from him he jogged back to the front and led the wagons into the field.

There was also a stream nearby so people took turns bathing and refilling their canteens. The women all bathed together and Maverick, the obvious protector of all women, spoke up.

"I don't think the women should bathe alone! None of them are of A rank and one is only a C! I believe it's my duty to be there guard while they bathe." He said with a face so straight I wanted to punch it. Amanda was quick to counter it.

"Like I would ever want to bathe knowing you were around! If anyone of the guys are going to guard I would feel much more at ease with either Rez or Durk." Naomi looked at Amanda in surprise as she hadn't figured out what kind of 'person' Maverick is yet, but Katarina and Alaina quickly nodded their heads in agreement. While Maverick just looked on in shock.

"You wound me Amanda! I could understand Mr. Durk here, but you would feel more at ease with this masked midget freak than me? I get chills just looking at the little creep." I merely tilted my head and watched as Maverick shivered, Durk quickly stepped in.

"There's no need for insults, Maverick. If the ladies don't feel comfortable with you then they don't. Now who do you wish to stand guard, ladies?" He asked while looking at them impassively. They all looked back and forth between me and Durk before coming to a unanimous decision.

""We would like for Rez to stand guard for us.""

"It's nothing against you Durk as you were the second option, but Rez feels almost like a little kid. Er I mean no offense Rez!" It was Amanda who spoke, and while I knew it was the truth I could only slightly hang my head at how long it takes the body to grow. I know I'm only 5 but it's terrible being barely under 4 foot when I was 6 foot 3 in my past life.

"Very well, Rez will go with you 4 to the stream. As long as he has no complaints." I shook my head no, but everyone could see the cloud forming over my head for being called kid sized. Apologetic smiles were on the ladies faces, and cheeky smirks on all the guys faces except Maverick who had an annoyed glare.

"Lets get going, but please don't walk to fast or my short kid legs won't be able to keep up." I said in a miserable tone, but truthfully it was half feigned as I knew I would eventually grow taller. Sadly though it was only half feigned as it still cut just a little. My words brought chuckles to everyone and me and the girls headed toward the stream.

"Uh Rez, I didn't mean anything back there about your height! I'm sure you'll grow taller." Amanda tried to cheer me up, but I just forcefully made my shoulders drop a little lower and hung my head. The face she made was comical enough for me to not be able to keep it up any longer and I laughed.

"Wha-? What's so funny?" She asked with her eyes wide.

"Ah the faces you made when you thought what you said effected me was too priceless I couldn't hold it in any longer hahaha." She puffed in annoyance while the other 3 laughed at her expense with me.

"I'll tell them all when we get back that you spied on us." She said with an upturned nose and the other gasped at her. I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Go ahead they'll probably believe you." I said nonchalantly. Sometimes acting indifferent to something is as big of a deterrent as anything else if not bigger. If someone feels they can't file you up, they usually get bored.

"You wouldn't care?!" She asks in shock. I just shrug again while sweeping my head through our surroundings.

"Eh, if it happens, it happens." All the girls are now looking back and forth to one another wondering how I could not care about something so serious. Which truthfully I was sweating a little because of word got out that Rez the adventurer was a peeking pervert, Tabitha would end my adventuring career quickly. But my indifference won out in the end as she just huffed and fell back into more normal conversation until we reached the stream.

Once their I took my place in a tree and spread out my mana through the surroundings, but it seemed to tingle the 2 mages in the stream.

"What is this mana?" Naomi questioned.

"It seems you both are sensitive to mana." I called out from the tree.

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked before Naomi could.

"That feeling you just felt was me spreading my mana out as way to detect anything in our surroundings. I was also getting ready to purify my core." I said as I settled back in to meditate thinking the conversation was over. However I quickly heard the sound of splashing and quick footsteps coming to where I was sitting. Opening my eyes I see a nude Naomi standing in front of me, and I could only sigh and shake my head.

"Teach me how to do that, actually if you're a solid yellow then train me!" She said vehemently not seeming to notice or care for her nudeness. While I had had a few sexual partner in my last life it had been 5 years now, so it was hard not to stare at her body. You could tell that she worked out even though she was a conjurer from the toned muscles.

"First off no, second if you're going to speak to me at least put some clothes on." I said before turning my head back and beginning to meditate again. I could sense her looking down at her body and then freezing before dashing back into the water. Where she was met with a wave of giggles from the other girls.

I continued to spread out my mana and retract it, it was an exercise I had come up with when I reached yellow core. I reach out my mana till I can't anymore then I slowly pull it back in, then I'll pulse it in waves before leaving it out for as long as I could. Which had become several hours at this point as long as I don't lose concentration and my range was increasing everyday. I could currently feel in a radius of up to 2000 feet, I can stretch it further, but everything becomes less clear. Also I can only do it while I'm in a meditative state, anything else and the range is drastically reduced as well as the accuracy.

The only problem is that mana sensitive mages could feel it to, though they're not as common as this situation would seem. Any mage can sense elemental mana when they're near it, but pure mana is harder to feel as it feels like just a gentle breeze to the non sensitive.

The rest of their bath passed without incident and we made our way back to camp. The girls were chatting amongst themselves, but I was able to catch what they were saying and it was mostly teasing Naomi for running out in front me while naked. By the time we reached the camp she was bright red and immediately went to her tent she was sharing with Amanda. The rest questioned them about her, but the other just waved them off with smiles on their faces.

While we were conversing amongst ourselves and eating the food one of the drivers had prepared for everyone in honor of the first night, suddenly Maverick stands up.

"Why did Naomi come back and immediately go to her tent? Did that masked freak do something to her?" He asks aggressively while pulling out his wand. The girls were slow to respond as they were shocked at first, but it was Amanda who responded.

"No! He didn't do anything, not like you're thinking anyways."

"He didn't just threaten you 3 not to tell us did he? You can tell me. I'll protect you from this perverse freak." Everyone could feel the sudden force of mana coming from his wand as he generate a fire ball at the tip.

"I'll just get the answers from him myself!" He said as he took up a position to get ready for a fight. However I was just sitting there drinking my tea that I had brewed, before I paused and sighed.

"I'm beginning to lose my patience with these insults, Maverick." I said before I went back to my tea, and his face became red and he released his fire ball. I channeled some flame mana into my hand, caught the ball and then extinguished it by clenching my hand shut. His face grew even redder as he begin to channel more mana and that's when Durk finally stood up.

"Enough Maverick! You're acting like a child." Maverick gasped in indignation and went to retort but Durk channeled some water around his fist and it slowly started to freeze. This time everyone let out a gasp.

"You're an ice deviant!" Shouted Naomi, as a fellow water mage she obviously wanted to wield ice as well.

"Now, someone explain what happened so this nonsense can end." Durk said in a commanding voice. Amanda went to speak up, but Naomi emerged from her tent and spoke first.

"If everyone must know, while I wasn't thinking I exited the water and approached Rez while I wasn't clothed. He didn't force or coerce me out of the water I left of my own volition because I had to ask him a question and was too preoccupied to take notice of my state of dress." She finished with a blush across her cheeks. Chuckles were sent around the campfire before Durk asked a question.

"What was so important that you had to rush out of the water to ask him face to face instead of just saying it later or from the water?" He asked with a sigh as he got rid of the ice ball around his fist.

"Er well, he was using a mana technique and I wanted him to train me. If he's really solid yellow core mage I could learn a lot from him even if he's a newbie like me." Instead of defusing the situation further it just caused Maverick to reignite his anger.

"Him! You want that pipsqueak who hides behind a mask like a coward to be your instructor?! I bet I could crush him with one hand tied behind my back. I'll be your instructor." Another surge of mana was felt but it didn't come from Maverick or Durk this time, no it came from me and everyone looked at me in shock at the pure density of the mana.

"I told you Maverick, I'm losing my patience with your insults. You want a fight well you'll have one." I finished as I stood and walked outside the circle of the wagons. The flat open field was illuminated by the full moon and we took an equal distance away from each other.

"Hahaha, you augmenter trash you'll beg me for mercy by the end of this." Maverick cackled as he began to will the ambient mana to fuel his spell and I just stood there. He eventually formed a bigger version of the fireball he threw earlier and shot it towards me. I once again willed some fire mana into my right hand while my left rested on my katana sheathed at my side. When the fireball reached me I crushed it in my palm once again and stared at him.

"You don't learn, lets see how you do against your own attacks." I said venomously, and willed my own fire ball to form that was twice as big as the one he just made.

"Catch." Was all I said as I sent it careening towards him quickly. He began to panic and tried but failed to raise an earth wall to block it and just cowered on the ground, had I made it hotter I would have canceled it. However I expected something like this from a snotty brat who graduated from the academy, so I made sure to use a fire that was barely hot enough to sting.

The ball that was taller than Maverick was crashed into him and sent him rolling across the ground. Only his skin being slightly pink where the ball hit showed any proof there was any heat attached to it. When he realized he was still alive he began yelling hysterically.

"You crazy bastard you could have killed me! Do you know who I am?!" His face blood red. I dashed forward with a mana powered leap and stood directly in front of him.

"A pest." Was all I said as hit him across the head, knocking him out. I threw him on my shoulder letting his face drag on the ground as I took him back to his tent inside the circle and to see him in.

"Was that really necessary?" Durk asks with a slight frown.

"No, but either this will be a wake up call for him to stop being an idiot. Or he'll get worse, but what can I say he annoyed me." As I said that Durk just shook his head.

"Well let's hope for the former." He said in exasperation.

Everyone headed to their tents after that and I could feel the gazes from the other mages after my display of strength. Just one night and so much drama I sigh to myself as my head hits my pillow and I go to sleep.

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Author's Note

This trip will not be done day by day, I just felt like making this happen in the first night. There will be bigger jumps in times I'm between chapters after this, so don't worry we won't have 100 chapters of his daily life journeying across Dicathen.

We also got another showcase of Jaron's power and this time it was of his conjurer side. in real battles that aren't spars he will use conjurer like abilities more often. Also do I need to name his attacks or just name signature attacks. Like when he eventually is not hiding his blue flames, should I give it a specific name? I find it a little cringey, but I feel like I remember them calling out attacks like that.

Also can you believe our stone faced MC not wavering in the face of a naked 20 year old! I don't plan for any kind of truly r-18 stuff to happen until MC is older, so don't worry you won't be reading 5 year old Jaron pulling and smashing a 20 year old. Sorry not that kind of fic.

Hopefully everyone enjoys these chapters as I know there are no main characters, so it may just feel weird, but I don't think I'll make more than 3 chapters before I bring in the Twin Horns. So if this kind of stuff doesn't interest because there are no familiar characters I apologize!

Thanks for reading.

-SocioPhobia