Published at 24th of February 2024 10:33 am

Chapter 75

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I’d been digging through Noctra’s books for about three hours before Karad finally caught up with me. He barged into the room, a deep scowl on his face and anger in every jerky movement he made. “By the spirits, what do you think you’re doing?” he snarled at me as he came to a stop opposite the desk I was sitting at.

“Looking through these books for information,” I said. “I’d planned on doing it earlier, but there was always something in the way. By the time I’d finished teaching myself this blasphemous written language which does not in any way match our spoken one, I was busy dealing with our uninvited guests.”

“You are under house arrest. You can’t just sneak out. This was the deal you agreed to,” Karad said.

“I’m altering our agreement,” I told him without bothering to look up as I flipped another page. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that I’d placed several books on the chair to boost me up to a height where I could use the desk. “Or rather, since you plan to run me out of town or kill me, whichever is easiest, I am inclined to say the agreement no longer applies.”

Karad gave a rueful laugh. “Solidaire was right. You were spying on us.”

“It seemed prudent,” I said. “Don’t you worry though. I’ll be leaving today. You won’t even have to fight me. Once I’m done skimming through these and I decide which ones I’ll be taking with me, I’ll just gather a bit of food and I’ll be on my way.”

“You know, you wouldn’t have to go if you just stopped doing things like this,” Karad said. There was still a lot of anger in his tone, but he was doing an admirable job of controlling himself. The twitching in his hands had stopped, at least. That had to count for something.

“No. I’m not going to let you control what I do. You don’t get to tell me where I can go or when. I’ll do as I always have: whatever I want to, whenever I feel like doing it. I was willing to go along with that farce of a deal and assist the village in growing because it was convenient for me to do so, but it seems you all thought you had some method of enforcing it on me. That was a mistake on your part.”

“What about the barrier? And the people you were going to give the spirits’ blessings to.”

“Not really my problem now that I’m an exile, is it?”

Karad didn’t have an answer to that. I flipped another page and kept reading.

“You’re still not allowed to be here,” he said finally, just to fill the silence.

“Then do something about it, if you can.”

I glanced up and saw him standing there with his fists clenched at his side and fire burning in his eyes. With some visible effort, he controlled himself, said stiffly, “See that you’re beyond the barrier’s range by sun down,” and spun on his heel to march back out of the room.

“Karad,” I said just as he reached the door. He froze in place without looking back. “I’m leaving my scrying mirror with my family. It will remain in their care. I will be speaking to them regularly to ensure they do not suffer in any way over your issues with me. Rest assured that I can return at a moment’s notice if I feel a need to. I am… very protective of them. It would be in your best interest to ensure nobody tries to take out any frustrations they might have on them.”

I’d placed a scrying beacon and a teleportation beacon enchantment on the mirror itself in addition to modifying it to allow Father to communicate with me directly through it and showed him how to keep both charged. I could check in on them for a fraction of the mana I would otherwise need, and, if necessary, teleport back to the village. Short of remaining here myself to watch over them, it was the best I could do on such short notice with limited resources.

“I understand,” he said.

The door closed behind him, leaving me alone to sort through more books. Karad hadn’t even contested the idea of me taking any with me. Judging by how much dust had been layered in the room when I’d arrived, no one here valued the knowledge of a world beyond their village. Typical.

***

Shel was the next to find me. I didn’t know who exactly had told her, but she walked into the room just as I was finishing up sorting through the various tools Noctra and Iskara had used in their experiments. Much as it pained me to leave it all behind, especially in the hands of people who didn’t have the first clue what any of it did, my current mana constraints demanded I pick and choose what to take, and the only value I was likely to get from any of the instruments here was a small amount of coin from selling them when I reached Derro.

“I’m surprised you’re leaving,” she said. “I really figured you’d kill Melmir, maybe Solidaire too.”

“There’s nothing here worth fighting over,” I said. “You all needed me far more than I needed you.”

“Well that’s the truth. I don’t suppose you have any plans on igniting any cores on your way out?”

“Is that the only reason you’re here, Shel?”

“What do you want me to say, Gravin? It was a transactional relationship, and we all knew we were getting the better end of the deal. Why do you think no one at the arbor objected to your coming and going, even though we all knew you weren’t supposed to leave? I don’t care if you want to stay or go, but I’d hoped you would at least finish what you started with your students.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” I said. “That corner of the new greenhouse that was supposed to go to me, you’ll plant what I tell you there. I don’t know how often I’ll stop by to harvest it, but I will, and you’ll keep growing whatever I want. You promise that, and bring me three full storage crystals before I leave in a few hours, and I’ll help you ignite your core.”

“Three full crystals?” Shel said. She paused to think about that, then nodded. “I think I can manage that.”

No doubt Ayaka would be receiving a visit soon, as I couldn’t imagine an easier way for Shel to get what I wanted. In a sense, she’d be stealing the mana from the village, but I found it difficult to make myself care. Their mana had been stolen from them for so long anyway, what was one more day? Besides, without me to power that ward stone for them every night, they didn’t have much they could do with it anyway.

Technically, Father could do that. In teaching him how to activate the scrying mirror, I’d inadvertently given him enough knowledge to get the ward stone working. I’d made sure he knew that, but left it up to him to decide whether or not he wanted to offer that service.

“I trust you’ll be able to find me once I leave the manor,” I said.

“I’m sure I’ll manage somehow,” Shel agreed.

“If not, the offer will remain open. I’ll be back to visit my family from time to time.”

“They can’t even exile you properly,” Shel said with a laugh. “Bunch of idiots, anyway. They couldn’t just leave well enough alone.”

“Luckily for them, it’s not worth the headaches that would come with killing them,” I said. “You’d better hurry or I’ll leave before you get what you need.”

Shel left, and a few minutes later, I followed her out of the manor. Despite wasting all afternoon there, my total haul was two books and a map. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in a few other books, but I didn’t want them bad enough to carry them a hundred miles or more while I walked through the wastelands.

I stuffed my loot into a satchel I’d absconded with and left to go find some food for my journey.

***

“You can’t go!” Senica wailed as she squeezed me in her arms.

I shot an exasperated look at my mother, but there was no support there. I’d gotten a similar hug from her moments earlier even though she’d already known my plans. “I’m not leaving forever,” I said. “Just for a little while. I’ll be back to visit.”

“Why Derro?” Mother asked.

“That’s where the cabal that’s harassing the village is located. Presumably, that means they’ve got some knowledge about what’s going on. They’re just a stop on the road, though. The world isn’t supposed to be like all of… this,” I said with a vague gesture. “I’ve never seen such a large scar. Normally, mana would fill the air, more than anyone could ever use. Here, it’s more precious than water. One day, I’ll show you what I mean.”

I hoped to, at least. The more I learned, the more I was starting to suspect something catastrophic had happened between my death and rebirth. I had a moon missing from the sky, some sort of global language curse, and a mana desert covering well over ten thousand square miles. Finding some explanations to these mysteries was the real reason I was going to Derro, though I might just break the Wolf Pack’s power while I was there.

My plan was to wrap up my goodbyes here, talk to my Father in the fields on my way out, and begin my journey. That plan was currently being interrupted by Senica crying and refusing to stop hugging me. Just as I’d managed to extract myself by promising to bring her to wherever I ended up so she could see the world outside the village, Shel appeared in the doorway.

“Gravin? Good, I was starting to worry,” she said. “I’ve got the storage crystals you needed.”

“Excellent,” I said. “Let’s go ahead and take care of this right now then.”

I took the mana out of all three crystals, almost twice what I needed to make the ritual work. One crystal was my payment, the others were for Shel herself. Under my instruction, she got her mana spinning. It only took a few minutes, especially with me aiding her, before she reached the critical state needed to ignite her core. As soon as it was over, she looked at me with wonder in her eyes.

“That’s it? That’s all it takes?” she asked. “It’s so simple. How did we… for so many years…”

“Blame that on the tithe. Nobody ever had enough mana to fill their core,” I told her. “Now, I’ve got one last stop to make, and then I’m off to begin my exile.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll walk with you, if you don’t mind,” Shel said.

“You mean escort me out of the village.”

“Something like that,” she agreed.

Karad, Melmir, and Solidaire were waiting for us out on the street. I walked past them without a word, and they silently fell into step behind me. I quickly located Father in the west field and made my way to him while my entourage of councilors trailed behind me. I pretended not to see the Barrier Wardens with suspiciously familiar bows lurking behind buildings or pillars of stone. My shield ward was fully charged, and if they tried anything, I’d fry the lot of them.

For a nice change of pace, no one made a move against me. I walked up to Father, who looked past me toward the councilors and shook his head. “You’re going through with it?” he said.

“I am.”

Father pulled me into a hug, one that squished my satchel—now full of food—into my side. “Good luck, son. Be safe, and be careful. I know, I know, I don’t have to tell you that.”

“I’ll check in soon,” I said. “A few days at most. I love you, Father.”

“I love you, too. I’m sorry things didn’t turn out the way you wanted.”

“I was always going to leave eventually. This is just a bit sooner than we expected,” I said. “It’s fine. I accomplished everything I needed to before I set off on my own.”

“You’re too young to be so grown up,” Father told me.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re still my son. You’re just also… Keiran, too.”

“I am, and that’s how you know I’ll be fine. Goodbye. You’ll hear from me soon.”

“Safe journey, Gravin,” Father said.

I adjusted my satchel and walked toward the setting sun while my father, four village councilors, a handful of Barrier Wardens, and a dozen or so farmers watched me leave.

End of Book 1

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