Odd Strangers

The Rimor countryside was drastically different from Seimeir, and as the pair walked, Darius often found himself absorbed in the scents and scenery while Cryon hummed along to a tune in his head. The wind did not carry the scent of oak as it did in Seimeir, it was more like fresh berries and soil. It was a pleasant smell, but all the same, Darius couldn't help but feel out of place, missing the company of the moss coated oaks.

As they made their walk, they passed by a couple carriages. Darius was surprised to see that the traders didn't really have any posted guardsmen, as most transports did in Seimeir. The carriages were not reinforced either, they were simple wooden carriages, each pulled by a single bull rather than a pair of horses.

"Much different here, is it not?" Cryon asked, stepping up his pace to walk beside Darius.

Darius still wasn't a fan of the situation, but he had at least pretend like he was okay with it to a degree. If he made it too obvious, he was sure that Cryon would predict his plan.

"Yeah. Everything is different here, from people to the faintest scent." He said.

"Well, the people here care for their lands quite well. They till the land and tend the livestock. This side of Rimor is most known for its prestige in food trade, as they are brimming with fishers, hunters and farmers."

"What about the rest of Rimor?" Darius asked.

"It is present all across, though not as productive as here. The central and Northern parts are more focused on mining and metal production." Cryon said.

"Metal production? Is the King planning for war?"

"For someone so clever, you ask all the obvious questions. I'd of assumed that would be clear, after all, why else would Alabaun be here? Yes, King Ranul has been planning for an invasion in Seimeir for the past nine years. Though, if they don't move fast, the Nameless's army will be upon his own borders soon."

Darius became confused suddenly. How was it that Cryon could not gain entry to the capital, yet he knew so much about their inner workings?

Darius thought for a moment, then asked, "What makes you say the Nameless is planning on an invasion here?"

Cryon glanced at Darius for a moment, then answered, "Well, the Nameless has a pension for conquering. Inguarn was a small town in a day forgotten. Under the Nameless's hand, it quickly grew. With his own fist, and that of his Rulers, he leveled and took all the surrounding lands, until everything was his."

Darius figured that Cryon had realized his mistake. His story, again, seemed to have holes. He knew more than he let on, obviously. But Darius could only keep on the act. As for the mention of Rulers, he hadn't heard the mages be called that for some time. Usually, only the rich and royal, that or the brainlessly loyal, refer to the Nameless's mages as the "Rulers". Maybe Cryon was just so used to the royal setting, having been brought up in it, but at the same time, according to him, he'd been in Rimor for a long time. If he wasn't loyal to the Nameless, why would he refer to the mages as Rulers?

"Rulers, huh?" Darius said, scoffing. "I'll be sure to strip them of that title. They put themselves up on pedestals, and I'll be sure to topple them all and take the role as Ruler, even above the Nameless."

Darius glanced at Cryon. His expression seemed blank, but he could see the faint crease of a frown on his lips. So he is still loyal to the Nameless. Otherwise he wouldn't be insulted by Darius's words. He may be jumping to conclusions, but he couldn't see the man not being a loyal puppet, desperate for recognition. With his little shoes and his act, he certainly seemed the type. He definitely thought highly of himself.

While this meant Darius had been right not to trust Cryon, this also meant he knew he was in grave danger. In a way, this was nerve racking, but in another, it was reassuring. Now he didn't have to second guess himself. But even still, it didn't explain the man's knowledge of things someone outside of Warshden shouldn't typically know. True, I could be the word of locals, but he just couldn't see that. Cryon didn't seem like he went around spreading his name and questioning locals. Though maybe he just eavesdropped them? Suppose that was a possibility.

"Say, Darius, the sun has begun its way down the horizon. What you say to some training, then?" Cryon stopped, folding his arms and looking up at the sky.

Darius followed Cryon's gaze. The moon could be seen peaking out from the East as the sun laid West. Darius looked over at Cryon, who smiled back. Training? More likely the mage wanted to get a look at Darius's magic. But then something else crossed his mind. If Cryon was a time mage, then why was it he wanted to see Darius's magic? Wouldn't he already know?

"I suppose we could. I could show you the spell I used on the Black Rose assassins." Darius said with a shrug. "I need to practice that spell anyhow."

"What spell would that be, then?"

"I'm sure you already know, being the time mage." He said.

"Well, yes, but the visions don't quite give all the details, so I have no way of knowing if you are versed in a spell or not. I can only see the spell itself and the blurred images." He responded.

"Well, with this spell, I turned all of the assassins to glass, as well as their ship, freezing them in place before shattering all of them and watching the shards sink." Darius said with a shrug.

"Ah, yes of course. You seemed quite versed in that spell if I say. You really aren't practiced in that one?" Cryon asked.

Darius's eyes narrowed.

"Well, I guess now that you say it, I have gotten that spell down pretty decently. Suppose I should try another?" In a flash of motion, glass burst across Darius's arm, waves of prismatic light cast across the road as he snapped his fingers. Spears of glass formed in an instant and flew at the mage, who seemed to blur from vision and reappear behind Darius as the spears sunk into the ground where the man once stood.

Darius turned about, looking over his shoulder at "Cryon".

"So that's your time leap?" Darius asked. "It's as if you teleported."

"Yes. More like popping a bubble in time. I can create points between moments of time and phase between them. It's quite useful." The mage said, smiling as he folded his arms proudly.

That wasn't a time leap, though. Darius had made certain to study up on anything that was known about all the mages, and Cryon's time leap created and left behind arcane trails; clouds of magic particles that fade shortly after the spell's cast, much like when Darius's glass veil shatters.

The sun was now dipping deep into the horizon behind the trees, the last wisps of light setting shadows across the road as stars began to peak from the sky.

"Try again." Cryon said. "I believe there may some improvements to be made."

Darius didn't hesitate. Snapping his fingers, five more blades of glass flew for Cryon, who simply stood to the side letting them pass him by.

"It would seem you don't have much accuracy with this spell. It is also quite easy to avoid and predict, as it seems you snap your fingers to cast it." Cryon said. "While wordless casting is a powerful skill, it is pointless if there is still an audible command even as small as snapping your fingers."

While the mage did make a fair point, he was off about one thing. He noted Darius's accuracy. But the fact was that he wasn't aiming directly at the mage, and if he were the time mage, he would've seen the accuracy of said spell when he did away with the assassins at sea. As for the snapping, Darius wasn't quite skilled enough to cast the spell without some kind of attached command, as it takes focus to form so many separate manifestations at once.

"Why don't you show me a spell? A wordless command. Show me how it's done." Darius asked with a slight tilt of his head.

"Ah, but this is about you, and I'm afraid my magic isn't as effective in terms of flash. It mainly has to do with positional control, not so much manifestation control."

That was true of the time mage's skill set, but that didn't mean he didn't have the ability to cast rupture spells. Rupture spells take the mage's essence and casts it on a certain point, creating a shockwave or blast that has varying affects based on the mage's arcane attunement. Such as Darius's rupture spell, which creates a focused point of glass that then erupts, spikes of glass shooting out from the point in all directions. While rupture spells were not all that strong versus other mages, they are extremely effective against enemy troops and dealing with crowd situations, such as dealing away with another mage's manifestations.

Darius decided not to press this. He'd already hinted too much that he knew there was something wrong, and if he continued on with his questioning, he'd only get himself killed. If this wasn't the time mage, it meant it was someone else, and there was only one mage he could see coming to Rimor to pursue a target. If Darius's presumption was correct, then that meant this man was far, far more of a threat than Cryon could ever hope to be.

"Work on your wordless casts. Now, try another spell." The mage said, holding his arms wide. "This time, cast with intent to kill."

Darius raised his hand, holding it off to the side as if to snap again. Cryon seemed to be confused by this, but in a split second, glass extending from Darius's hand and he swept his arm through the air, a shockwave blasting through the street and rupturing the road, narrowly swiping past the mage, who seemed surprised as he side stepped. When Cryon looked back to Darius, though, he was gone.

Suddenly, the fading shards of glass flying through the air in the wake of the previous spell began to condense as Darius, now completely enveloped in his glass veil, appeared behind the mage, a huge spear of glass formed in his hand which he spun through the air and swung for Cryon's throat, who blurred from sight. Having fought so many Black Rose assassins, Darius predicted his opponent's next move and spun on his heel, vaulting the spear through the air as it flew for Cryon's new position. The mage's eyes widened and leapt aside as the spear struck the earth, and Darius snapped his fingers. The spear then condensed into a fixed point, forming a rupture spell that exploded outwards while Darius blasted off from his point, leaving a crater at his feet where he leapt from, his hand now extended to Cryon's throat, pinning the mage against the spike from the rupture.

"My, my." Cryon grinned from ear to ear as though this gave him joy. "For someone whose never faced another mage before.. you are quite skilled, boy."

Darius stepped away, swinging down his hand as all the glass around them dispersed and his vail faded.

"You said use the intent to kill. So I did." Darius spoke.

"Yes, and you surpassed my expectations." Cryon hissed, "You could make a powerful ally."

Darius glanced back at the mage. A powerful ally? The comment may not have seemed to important, but to Darius, this meant that whoever this mage was, they seemed to intend on recruiting him for the Nameless. That's why he wasn't dead yet. The Nameless didn't know if he was an enemy yet. Though, after twelve years, that should be obvious.

As for why Darius didn't kill the mage there and then, he wasn't dumb. He saw the mage's eyes flash. Meaning he was casting a wordless spell, or at least in the process of doing so. If he had went for the kill, it could very likely ended with him losing his head.

"I think that's enough training." Darius said, walking to the forest's edge as he fished through his satchel for the fish that Gyro had gifted him on the beach.

"Already? Very well, then. Suppose if we sleep early we can begin our trek before sunrise." Cryon spoke. "Tell me though, how is it you came to be so powerful for a mage so young?"

"Having assassins tail you for twelve years can do that to a person." Darius spoke, stepping over brush as he searched for a spot to set up camp.

"Most would end up dead. You sell yourself short, boy. You have talent, you could be far more than some rebel." Cryon spoke, "You could be a royal."

Darius glared back at the mage. "A royal, huh? I have no interest in a title such as that."

"Yet you claim to dethrone the Rulers?"

"Because they are unfit to be Rulers. If I am given the choice, I'd give the title of kind and royal to Alabaun. He'd be far more suited than I."

"You don't even know the man. What makes you say that?" Cryon asked, plumping down in the grass.

"He's the first and only to stand against the Nameless out of all the mages. Naturally, he'd take that throne, being the eldest of the mages." Darius said, taking a bite from his fish. It was good.

Cryon put his hands behind his head, laying back against a tree. "If that is what you believe, then who am I to change your mind?"

Darius wrapped the other two fish, placing them back in his satchel as he lay down. He closed is eyes as though he were to sleep, but the moment this stranger slipped into sleep, he'd make his leave, and he wouldn't stop until he made Warshden.