Ch5 Leaving the Village

Sighing as I sit under a tree, I finally disable my Card hider spell. It has been active since my turn started.

I didn't want to risk Faustus or the knight suddenly casting a spell that could check for cards so even while we were being told basic information about our destination, I didn't disable the spell.

There was a lot less exhaustion than I expected, so it is plausible to keep the spell on for at least 2 hours without any problems. Though I do need a way to assess how much mana I have left. Just going based on feeling doesn't give me any assurance of its accuracy.

What if I'm in the midst of a battle and my adrenaline gives me false information about how I'm truly feeling?

In the heat of the moment, I may feel like I'm alright but in actuality, I'm running on fumes. I haven't found out what happens when I overuse my mana.

Although Dirk's extravagant display caused an uproar, as professionals, Faustus and Sir Burns didn't dwell on his talent.

We were told a bit about the test after it ended.

They took us to a more quiet place near the outskirts of the village and explained some things.

The test measures the purity of a person's mana. Different intensities of light indicate how high someone's mana purity is. Dark blue is the lowest and gold is the highest.

Of course, no reaction just means you have no mana.

The orb used during the test is one of the lowest grades so it was never meant to measure talent any higher than white. Meaning that Dirk probably has a talent in the lower yellows at the very least.

Unexpectedly though, Dirk's talent might be a lot higher than my expectations. Despite the mana tool not being able to measure any higher than white, a yellow purity wouldn't destroy the equipment. Only someone with a low-intensity Gold or higher can achieve such a thing.

According to Faustus, Saint Alphonso, and his 5 Priests were one of the few people to ever have the highest intensity of gold that could be recorded.

Legendary figures like them are out of my league though.

During our talk, he also mentioned where we'll be going. Apparently, we're in a kingdom called Grevia. My village, Dalry, is fairly close to the capital city where Deck Academy is located.

Stathford is the capital's name and the journey will take about 5 days.

We'll be riding in carriages guarded by 12 knights under Sir Burns' command. All 23 of us will be divided between 3 carriages. 8 in 2 carriages and 7 in the final one.

After our arrangements were made, we were given an hour to gather our belongings. It didn't take me long to put all of my belongings in my old raggedy backpack since I only own a few pairs of clothes.

That's why I'm waiting patiently under this short but wide oak tree or at least something similar to it.

Closing my eyes, I look into my sea of consciousness and count each card I own. Including the enhancement cards that merged, I have created a total of 16 cards.

I'm still eager to create more as I have plenty of ideas. I also want to experiment with transformation cards. Enchantment cards sound like they can be quite useful as well so I would prefer getting a little bit more information on that before I start messing around.

'It's only been a day and a half basically, and I'm already leaving one home for another.' Of course, I don't have to leave but why would I waste my potential staying around in a village that's not even fully accepting of me?

Plus the resources and information provided from Deck Academy will most definitely be superior to anything here. Sure I can continue to create cards on my own but without any guidance, it would take significantly longer to make any meaningful progress.

"What are you thinking about?" Taking my eyes off the clouds in the sky, I turn to Dirk.

"How I'll still kick your ass even though you're more talented than I am." Rolling his eyes, Dirk sits directly next to me. Staring at the clouds once more, I ask. "Where's Amelia?"

"Packing still. I don't know what all she has but it shouldn't be any more than us."

Nodding, we go into a comfortable silence as the sounds of animals created a calming atmosphere.

"Carano." Looking over at him, he continues. "Let's make a promise. A promise to always be there for each other." Raising his right pinky, he moves it closer to me and waits for my response.

Smiling at him, I do the same and we interlock our pinkies, confirming the promise.

'Interactions at this age are quite simple. Though he hasn't indicated that we've been friends before yesterday, I doubt that would matter as children can become friends faster than the snap of a finger.'

Bonds like this are created when you find someone who you can rely on. I guess I'm the one person that Dirk trusts enough to make such a heartfelt promise.

His seriousness was conveyed by the determination in his eyes. I just hope he achieves great things.

"You're a good person Dirk."

"Ha, what makes you think that?"

"Alright, I take it back!"

"Oi! You can't take it back."

We continued to bicker until Amelia came. She arrived right on time for our departure.

"Gather around kids!" Hearing the manly voice of Sir Burns, we join the others who were crowding around him and Faustus.

Seeing that everyone is in attendance, Faustus speaks up. "As you already know, we'll be leaving in a couple of minutes to begin our 5-day journey to Stathford. On the way there, we will encounter very little danger but I implore you to keep watch of your surroundings and also take care of each other. We're all on the same side after all."

Looking around us expectantly, we all nod almost in unison. Smiling at us, Faustus gathers everyone into 3 groups.

Dirk, Amelia, and I were in the group comprised of 7 including us and 4 of the human kids. Our group took the golden carriage in the lead.

Taking our seats inside, it looked like a typical fantasy nobleman's carriage with many silver decorations and surprisingly comfortable red cushions.

Getting adjusted by the window seat I was able to snatch, I stare out through the glass at the village in front of me.

There were no memories of ever growing up here, in fact, the only memories that I have is of the language and writing skills that this body has learned.

Everything is a new experience for me, especially my tail. It acts like any other limb and feels very natural to use but I'm sure I can do a lot more with it.

I can't wait to explore this magical world and discover more about my race.

There were a few villagers outside waving at the carriages as we began to move. A knight is manning each carriage. Faustus and Sir Burns are riding in the driver's seat of our carriage with the designated knight while the other knights are riding their horses.

As the carriages began to lose sight of the village, I said my last goodbye before returning my attention to the interior of the carriage.

Amelia and Dirk were silent, probably also thinking about their memories of the village which were a lot more than mine. The other kids sitting across from us didn't seem to want to interact with us as they were visibly uncomfortable as they cast glances in our direction.

Dirk and Amelia look human to them so there wasn't much prejudice but unknown to them, Dirk is the only human among us.

Amelia is a banshee. She hid it quite well as the only way to tell she was undead was by touching her deathly cold skin.

Speaking of what we are, I still lack an understanding of what kind of fairy I am. Despite reading the book on the different races in the library, I don't seem to fit into any category of fairy. Why do I have a tail and where are my wings?

The only thing that I can think of is that I'm either a rare species or a mix between a fairy and something else.

Hopefully, the school has a better library that allows us students to read freely.

Playing with my tail, I think of a few ways to use it. 'I should probably start doing some exercises or something. Since the cards increase my base abilities, I should get better results if I train well.'

I would love to incorporate my tail into my future fighting style. I was thinking of using a sword or maybe a spell that could shapeshift my tail into a weapon.

Having so many ideas and not being able to create something from them is making my hand itchy. I want to start creating cards like a printing press but I have to wait until I get some privacy.

I've been thinking about a few things like my limit with card creation. If that depends on only soul strength then in theory as a transmigrator, I should have a pretty powerful soul.

At least if I'm going off of what some novels state.

'Damn! Why is waiting so hard?! I just want to draw!'

Deciding not to think about this topic anymore, I shut my eyes to take a nap.

----------------------

"Carano."

'Not this again.' Before I could feel the pain of being shaken like a mixed drink at a bar, my eyes pop open and I almost hit Dirk in the head as I sat up straight.

"Woah, I didn't expect you to get up so quickly." Having moved out of the way, Dirk smiles at me. "It's time for dinner, let's go!" Not wasting any time, Dirk jumps out of the carriage, leaving me.

Yawning, I walk down the steps of the carriage and head toward the large fire nearby in a clearing. Everyone else but a few knights who were keeping an eye on the carriages and the surroundings was sitting next to the fire on logs.

The children were in the middle of being served as I joined the line which was quickly decreasing. Being handed a bowl filled with a meat stew, I look over to Dirk and Amelia who saved a seat in between them for me.

Sitting down between the two, we share a comfortable silence as we eat.

After finishing our food, we handed the bowls back to the female knight that made the food before going to the tent area.

Faustus was there sorting some of the other kids who were done eating. Seeing us approach, he directly gave us a tent to share despite there being a girl with us.

'I'm sure there's a meaning for this pairing.' Not dwelling too much on it as Amelia had no objections, we headed into the tent as it was already dark outside.

Choosing to stay in the middle so that Amelia isn't sandwiched between Dirk and me, we lay down and talk to each other.

"What do you think Stathford is like?" Amelia looked up at the tent like she was imagining it herself.

"Probably 100 times bigger than Dalry. I'll still miss it though." Dirk had his hands behind his head as he also looked up at the roof of the tent.

"Don't start reminiscing about the good times when we haven't even lived a life yet. Save it for when we get old and grey." Grinning at me, Dirk looks over to Amelia.

"Amelia's already there though."

Sharing a laugh as Amelia tries to beat up Dirk, we talk a bit more before quieting down in preparation for sleep.