Departure

Little by little, the flow of time continued, unabated. The situation of the White Empire gradually settled down as the Dark Magic practitioner that had caused turmoil seemed to have vanished. The search teams that had been sent out by the Empire did not encounter any further traces of this mysterious individual in their searches, and like that, the searches gradually turned fewer and fewer.

It was in this atmosphere that five years silently passed.

"I can't believe you're leaving." Gavin sighed, running his right hand through his messy dark hair. In the past five years, the young man had matured even more, growing out a beard over his previously smooth chin.

"It's about time. I have learnt what I could learn from the old man. And I get the feeling he's gotten tired of me as well." Raven scoffed and folded his arms across his chest.

At this time, Raven had turned twenty. The soft features that he had once retained had almost all been worn away with time and training. He had a more rugged look to him. A few small scars that refused to vanish lingered around his arms, but they were nothing serious, adding to his slightly intense demeanor.

Gavin chuckled as he looked behind him. The secret passage that he and Raven had used to come out had closed up and he would need to find a different entrance to return. Around them, the forest was serene in the darkness of night, with some moonlight shining down, penetrating the cover of the trees to cast spotlights on the ground.

"Take care of yourself, Raven. The old man is concerned about you, although he doesn't show it much. Be careful, the White Empire is not considered a behemoth in the Northern Continent without reason. It can rouse terrifying resources to smite out any enemies that raise their heads." Gavin gave a few more words of advice and Raven only hummed in response, despite actually paying rapt attention.

The White Empire was not a small power, and that was clear by the fact that it had successfully been able to outlaw Dark Magic within its borders, and had also influenced the surrounding nations into either doing the same, or taking a tougher stance towards Dark Magic users.

The White Empire effectively ruled over half of the entire Northern Continent, which meant that it could exert influences on the surrounding regions where Raven would be traveling through. This made him consider traveling to the other end of the continent where the influence of the White Empire was at its weakest. There, he would have a lot more space to grow his power until it was time for him to challenge his adversaries.

With this plan in mind, he had made the decision to travel to a Kingdom to the western part of the continent called the Highland Kingdom.

The Highland Kingdom was called so because of how its lands were filled with hills and mountains. Because it was the highlands, sheep farming was rather popular. Some cash crops like cotton, soybeans and wheat also did well there. These points were important for the Highland Kingdom to continue doing well in the present and future. However, because of the limits of the land there, the Highland Kingdom remained relatively small.

To get to the Highland Kingdom, he would need to pass through the lands of three other Kingdoms. Two of them were vassals of the White Empire, while the last was not. The two vassals were the Granum Kingdom and the Glast Kingdom. These two Kingdoms served as the agents of the White Empire in pushing the influence of the White Empire on their surroundings.

However, despite the pressure of the White Empire and the Kingdoms around it, the Kingdom of Alfire did not bend and remained independent. However, it could not escape the influence of the White Empire completely. In order to avoid troubles, it had placed more restrictions on the practice of Black Magic, but did not outright ban it.

Initially, Raven had considered settling in the Alfire Kingdom for a time, but he eventually changed his mind, as it would be unnecessarily dangerous to stay close to where the White Empire could exert influence, no matter how little.

With a destination in mind, and a map in hand, Raven, with a disguise, made his way to a relatively busy town where he could get proper transportation to a larger city that would possess the means for him to embark on such a long journey.

In the White Empire, there were several large and wealthy groups that provided a wide range of services. One of such services were transport services. There were organizations dedicated to providing a wide range of transport services, ranging from transport within the confines of the Empire, to reaching distances across the entire continent! 

This was a highly lucrative business, but it was also a massive drain on capital! Only the biggest, wealthiest, and boldest engaged in such business!

Not only was a large amount of capital required to fund the material needs, such as the purchase and maintenance of the carriages, horses, and other transport means, but the funds required to higher and retain the human resources, was also immense! There was also a need to higher competent guards to take care of the transport lines, especially on voyages that took clients from the White Empire to another kingdom. To retain the services of guards was not easy, especially if they were not just regular soldiers.

The wealthier groups had made a habit of hiring mages to protect more precious passengers or goods. To retain the services of a mage or knight was not easy, as their abilities could probably secure them a more steady job working for the Empire or a noble lord somewhere.

In order to secure a safe and quick route to the Highland Kingdom, Raven had decided to enlist the services of one of these transport agencies. It would save him a lot of time, and it was much more efficient than other means of transportation.