《Geo's travels through an unfamiliar continent》 Geo is recoverd The day began like the last few. The fisherman¡¯s wife would come and look for him and make sure that he woke up properly and was healthy. Then he would walk over to the table and eat. But today for the first time since he was stranded Geo felt powerful enough to restart doing the exercises that he learned so many years ago. So, he left the house, ensuring the fisherman¡¯s wife that he wouldn¡¯t collapse. To go to the field near the house. Then he picked up handful dirt of the ground. The earth around him felt alive and energized. Something that was obvious, since everywhere around him the grass was growing in a full green color. The perfect starting ground to do the dance. But first Geo kept feeling the ground up. Rubbing some dirt in his hand. Trying to get a felling for it. An important safety procedure. Since a mistake can easily hurt him. After a few minutes he was ready. So, he began the dance. First the base stance. Knees aimed at each other and his arms pulled back. Then he did a quick open palm push, returned to the base stance and did the same thing with the other hand. Feeling confident he continued. Almost like fighting against enemies only he could see. After finishing the training moves he took on a steadfast stance and moved his arms upward. This is when an arm long plate of earth ripped itself out of the ground and floated in front of him. Then by swinging a left hook the earth plate flung itself for about 20 meters and then crashed and broke on the ground. Happy with himself Geo repeated some similar movements, ordering the ground around him with every flick of his hand. Until he heard a young boy yell: ¡®¡¯ Geo what are you doing? `` ¡°Just some basic exercises.¡± Geo wasn¡¯t sure how the boy was called. All he knew was that dirt haired kid was also from the village. And that he wasn¡¯t one of the fisherman¡¯s kids. ¡°But what was that magic? I haven¡¯t seen someone cast magic like this.¡± Asked the boy surprised. Running at Geo. ¡°My father taught me. He was the sheriff from where I was from and in the army, we learned the basics anyways, so he showed me the basics early.¡± ¡°Say kid! Why is that something special? I thought I saw some guys using magic here already.¡± ¡°My name is not kid. I am Martin.¡± He gets angrily answered. ¡°Yeah but none of the blackhands move that much when using magic.¡± ¡°Blackhand? I¡¯m not familiar with this term.¡± Geo asked confused. ¡°You know people who use magic. Can you show me how you did it? Please.¡± Geo smiled nostalgically. ¡°I¡¯d love to, but it takes months to learn even a little. And I am still tired and weak from when I came here. Maybe later. In fact, why are you even here? This is pretty far off from the village.¡± It took a moment for the kid to remember. ¡°Sarah asked me to make sure that you are alright. Since you were still weak some days ago.¡± Sarah¡­ oh yeah. That¡¯s the fisherman¡¯s wife. So that was her name. Geo made sure to remember that. ¡°Well if Sarah is so worried about me maybe I should return. Are you coming Kid?¡± Back in the village the kid immediately ran to a man in thick brown clothing and a similar dirty hair color. ¡°Dad did you know Geo is a blackhand?¡± ¡°Hm, what did you say Martin? What is Geo?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a blackhand. I saw him do magic.¡± The kid said eagerly. ¡°Really? We rarely see blackhands around here. Usually they only travel through here if they want to get to Sailport. And even then, only as part of a caravan. What magic do you do?¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Why are you guys making a big deal of this? Where I am from almost everyone can do earth magic. Do you guys not learn magic in the army?¡± ¡°Where the heck are you from?¡± Said the brown clothed man in a confused tone. ¡°I¡¯m from the Western Kingdom of Alexia[1]. Why?¡± ¡°Never heard of that place. How far is that from Castel-Safe[2]¡± ¡°No idea. Do you guys have a map around? Maybe we can figure that out.¡± ¡°Geoffrey listen I don¡¯t think that anyone around here has a map that can reach that far out. Castel-Safe is more than 3 weeks from here on foot. It¡¯s more likely that you can find a map like this in Sailport.¡° It took Geo a moment to realize what that meant. Then he started to get loud. ¡°Then where in the name of the f¡¯¡¯¡¯ am I here? I thought that I was near Tririver[3].¡± The man in brown flinched a little from that sudden outburst. Then he answered: ¡°Firstly, watch your mouth. Second where is Tririver? I don¡¯t think that that place is in Coastreich[4].¡± ¡°Well that is where my ship was going to. And the day the Storm happened the Captain was saying that Tririver was only a few days away. So, I thought that I wasn¡¯t too far away. What am I going to do now?¡± Geo left his head hanging. ¡°Well guess that you have to discuss this with Ernest and Sarah. Since you are staying with them right now, so I assume that they would like to know that too.¡± Clearly let down Geo mumbled: ¡°Yeah guess that is the right thing to do¡­ If you don¡¯t mind I would like some time alone. I¡­ need to think some things trough.¡± With an understanding nod the brown clothed guy let Geo go. And Geo went back to his chamber to lie onto his bed and think for a while until he fell asleep. Late evening the same day The fisherman and his oldest son came back from fishing. As was tradition in the house Sarah the fisherman¡¯s wife and their daughter joined then for a late dinner. So, when Geo sat to them no one payed much attention. ¡°I want to start this by saying that I am really grateful for the hospitality that you gave me the last few days and that I am happy for saving me obviously, but I need to start to think of what to do from here. And since I don¡¯t know the area to well I wanted to discuss this with you.¡± The fisherman made himself more comfortable on this wooden chair and spoke. ¡°I guess that it is time for that. Do you want to stay in this village? I heard from Will that you can do some earth magic. I am sure that we can find an occupation for you with that talent. Or do you want to leave and go back to¡­ Alexia? Was that how that land was called?¡± ¡°Yes, it was the Western Kingdom of Alexia. And to be honest I don¡¯t know how to return. I talked with¡­. What was his name again... ?hm¡­?¡± Sarah helped Geo out. ¡°Will the father of Martin. Right? We know. After you went to your room he came and told us.¡± ¡°Yes him. Well anyways after talking to him I realized that I have no idea where I am. But apparently in some place called Sailport they have maps big enough for me to find that out. So, I was thinking if it was possible that I could journey there and maybe go further from there.¡± The fisherman thought about that for a moment. Then he said. ¡°Are you sure you want this? Not many people around here know how to get there. And to be honest we can¡¯t afford to send you on a journey that long. You would have to find a way to finance yourself. Believe me I know how hard it is to be far from your family for so long but are you sure that you can do this. We will help you anyway we can.¡± ¡°To be honest you guys have already done so much for me. I want to do this myself. I¡­ ¡° Sarah clearly offended by Geo¡¯s statement started to become more and more exited and loud. ¡°Stop! That isn¡¯t even up to debate. Do you really expect us to just leave you alone after all you¡¯ve been through? Are you trying to insult us? If something like this would happen to one of us, we would pray that someone would help them. If¡­¡± ¡°Honey please! You are scaring the kids.¡± The fisherman tried to calm her down by putting his hand on hers. ¡°But my wife is right. We are a village of fishermen. We more than everyone else know the dangers of the sea. And we wake up every day knowing that one day the sea can and most likely will take one of ours. It has happened so many times to us and our friends and family before. So please let us help you in any way we can.¡± Impressed from that sudden outburst Geo tried to find the right words. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want your help, but that I had already taken so much from you. Which is why I propose this: I wouldn¡¯t find the way to Sailport alone anyway. So, want to join the next caravan that comes through here. I was a soldier at the army and I am an experienced warrior. I can probably make a deal with the caravan and work for my travel costs. Until then I would like to help out in the village.¡± The fisherman sat back into his chair and proposed: ¡°Then I would like you to talk to Eric the carpenter. He is a good friend of the caravan leader. Every time the caravan comes here he and their leader get wasted together. So, I am sure that he can help you out. And he is responsible to organize lookout duty in this village since there have been reports of pirates not too far of Nord. Since you have military experience and can use magic I am sure that you use that as a selling point to join the caravan. Until then I propose that you try to help out in the village. You are young and fit. I am sure that you can make at least a little money that way for your travels. Well guess that¡¯s that is there anything else that you wanted to discuss?¡± ¡°No thank you, that was all.¡± Happy that everything went so smooth. Well except for that one thing the fisherman¡¯s wife said. Geo excused himself and went back to bed. 3 Weeks later Geo just finished helping an older farmer out by plowing his field with his earth magic. It¡¯s something he started doing a few days ago since it was mid spring and the time to seed has come. Geo didn¡¯t understand what type of seed had to be sown in spring but since the various farmers offered to pay him, he didn¡¯t care. Anyways he left the farmers house after some tee and with a few pieces of iron in his pocked. When he realized that there were more people on the street than usual. Even more then came to the marked place twice a week. He wasn¡¯t quite sure if the caravan was here, so he asked the fisherman¡¯s wife as soon as he saw her. ¡°Sarah, is this the caravan you were talking about?¡± ¡°Yes, it is you should go to Erwin¡¯s today evening! That is where Eric and the caravan leader will most likely be gone. So, it is a good chance to introduce yourself to him. But that is later today. Until then would you be so kind and help me out there is a lot that I want to buy from the caravan while they are here, and it will be too heavy to carry for me alone.¡± So, Geo helped the fisherman¡¯s wife to do the shopping until it was time for him to go to Erwin¡¯s tavern. Erwin¡¯s tavern isn¡¯t barely more than a midsized room with a few tables near Erwin¡¯s farmhouse. So, when he entered the first thing Geo noticed when he entered the tavern was that it was loud and unusual full. The previous times when Geo was here there were five to ten patrons in here on marked days maybe 15. But today the place was filled with people. There were some that were clearly not from the town. It¡¯s obvious to differentiate them since they wore clothes that were while comfy to walk in a lot sturdier then the casual clothes that the villages wear. Eric and a slightly gray haired muscular man sat next to each other both with mostly empty kegs. Eric was probably already a bit tipsy or at least energetic since was talking quite loudly and with some unusual hectic movements. ¡°And then he fell into the water. Buhahha¡± Eric busted out laughing while the man chuckled. When Eric stopped laughing he saw Geo and signaled him to come over. ¡°Anyways there is someone I want you to meet. This is Geoffrey. He was stranded here about two months ago. And he is kind of homesick. So, he wanted to talk to you.¡± ¡°Alright young man, tell me why did you want to meet me!¡± ¡°Yes. Like Eric just told you, I was stranded here two months ago and I¡¯m not sure in which direction my homeland is. As it turns out no one here has a map that reaches that far into the sea. So, I wanted to ask you to take me to Sailport so that I can look for a map and a way home from there.¡± The until now cherry caravan leader immediately lost his cheery attitude. He sighed as he said: ¡°Listen Eric and Geoffrey! I can¡¯t just take people with me on the caravan whenever and wherever I want. Even just adding one person can have a serious impact on the logistic. Especially when we are close to our maximum capacity as we are right now.¡± ¡°Listen Sieg it¡¯s just one man that we are asking you to take with you. How much of a hassle can that be? Just take him along and show him the way what is the big deal?¡± ¡°Well firstly there is the problem of carrying capacity. Just taking food and equipment for one person means that we have to reorganize and ration what and where everyone else carries his stuff. And even just buying that stuff isn¡¯t cheap. That is a big part of the reason why we charge so much just to take people with us. You see that group of three over there? The girl and those two guys paid 23 ars[1] each. And that is just for one and a half months that they travel with us. And even then, are they expected to help out whenever they can.¡± Geo made the calculations in his head. One ar was ten cops. And most people use less than five copper pieces a day. This means that for six weeks with the caravan you have to pay enough money to live seven to eight weeks of. Those aren¡¯t numbers that Geo could afford right now. In fact, over the last three weeks of helping out he was only able to collect three cops in total. Knowing that it was nearly impossible under the current circumstances to join the caravan he tries to bargain. ¡°Listen, Mr. Sieg I have nowhere to go and I have no idea in which direction home even is. I have military training. I know some very basic things about economy and I know some magic. Isn¡¯t there anything that I could do to persuade you to help me out here?¡± Eric added: ¡°Everyone in this village would like to help him. And you¡¯d do us a great favor if you took him with you.¡± Still obviously annoyed but persuaded Sieg declared: ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the reports of pirates further north I wouldn¡¯t even consider this but f¡¯¡¯k it. I need to improve security anyways since the merchants that I have with me are getting paranoid and loud about it. Tomorrow one hour before noon I will be at the market place. Find me then. I will see if your magic is really all that great.¡± Sieg stood up. ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood to continue drinking anymore. I am going to bed. See yeah next time Eric.¡± As Sieg left Geo asked Eric. ¡°Well this went terribly. I don¡¯t think that he is very happy about this. What do you think Eric?¡± Eric took a sip form his drink. After that he answered: ¡°It went as well as it could. Sieg just doesn¡¯t like it to think about work in his spare time after all. Whenever we sit together he complaints for hours about how the merchants are too impatient or how he has to rearrange the order of the caravan just because a donkey of some guy died or whatever. The main reason he didn¡¯t snap at you for brining work up was probably out of respect for me. So, don¡¯t take it too harsh¡­ Well anyways, without Sieg I am not mood to continue drinking. Might as well see leave as well. See yeah later.¡± Eric stood up, went to the Barkeeper, paid his tab and left the tavern. Leaving Geo alone for the evening. It didn¡¯t take long to find the caravan leader the next day. But it took a while for Geo to get his attention since was in a heated discussion with two chubby men in expensive looking clothing. ¡°Why do you keep insisting on me making space in my wagon for more food for others? It¡¯s my wagon and I decide what gets in it and I say that only my stuff should be in there.¡± ¡°Listen Dick it will be two weeks before we can resupply in another town. We all have to make space so that more stuff can be transported. So please¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°NO! When I joined this caravan, the deal was that everyone only takes with what they own. So why should I¡± Sieg interrupted the merchant who interrupted him by looking at Geo and exclaiming. ¡°Ahh you came back. Good I wanted to see what you capable of before I hired you.¡± The merchant started to become angry again. ¡°Hey stay focused! We were discussing here something important.¡± The gray-haired leader handwaved this remark away by saying. ¡°You all always say that the security for your goods isn¡¯t good enough with all the pirates and bandits running around. So, I invited this young man to an interview. Since I am sure that you all would feel safer if another blackhand would escort us. He was just about to demonstrate to me what types of magic he is capable of. I know that all of you are very busy men otherwise I would invite you all to join me in this examination. So, if you all were so kind. I take my leave to help secure your goods. Have a good day.¡± Sieg walked over to Geo leaving a group of dumbfounded and angry merchants back. Then he put his arm over Geo¡¯s shoulder and whispered to him while walking out of the village: ¡°Thanks for coming. I have these discussions all day long. And you are a great excuse to take a break for a while. All while making these asses think that I am doing this for them.¡± They reached the field that Geo has been using as a training spot in the last few weeks, when Sieg asked Geo. ¡°So, Geoffrey now that we are alone would you mind explaining what your tattoos do and then please give me a demonstration on your skills. I need that to get an idea of what I am getting here.¡± Geo thought of what to say. ¡°Well I don¡¯t have any tattoos. Why is that important?¡± Sieg interrupted him confused. ¡°What do you mean no tattoos? I don¡¯t know a lot about blackhands or magic. But I¡¯ve been on the road long enough to know that they are necessary to make magic. Are you lying to me? Listen I won¡¯t take you with me if you don¡¯t tell me the truth, I will leave you here kid!¡± Geo tried to persuade him: ¡°Well where I am from we don¡¯t have tattoos. We¡­ well... Wait I¡¯ll show you.¡± Geo stamped on the ground, when a fist sized rock flung itself out of the ground and into his hand. Sieg looked at this and then asked: ¡°Is that all? You can attract rocks? Don¡¯t get me wrong. It is the first time I¡¯ve seen this but if I were to hire you as a guard the merchants would not be too impressed.¡± Instead of answering with words Geo showed him what he can do by doing a flurry of punches and movements which each did something else. Some lifted rocks out of the ground others shot rocks at those rocks or moved the ground in other ways. After thinking it through Sieg started asking Geo some more questions related to his magic. ¡°So how much earth can you move at once?¡± ¡°About as much as four cows weight. Although my teachers all warned me to never move that much at once, since it tiers me out really fast.¡± ¡°Please elaborate!¡± ¡°The example that my father used to give goes a little like this. Imagine that you try to lift rocks by hand. If you lift a big boulder you can¡¯t carry it for long. But if you carry little rocks you can carry them all day long. But this isn¡¯t the only reason why I mostly shoot fist sized projectiles. Since a good hit is enough to kill a man.¡± ¡°And you can move the earth freely?¡± ¡°I can shape it and compress it as much as I want. As long I can feel it and doe corresponding move. But since depending on the area the earth feels different. Like loose earth feels weird. As if I tried to compress water, that slips through my fingers. Therefore, I like to play around with the ground before using it.¡± ¡°Alright. I wanted to see what your magic can do, and I have seen it. Also, since you can actually do magic without tattoos I can believe that you are from really far away. And aren¡¯t just using it as a lazy excuse to get a free ride. I guess we should discuss the terms of employment. But let¡¯s do that later for now I guess we are done. As much of a pain as it is now I have to go back to those merchants that you saw earlier.¡± The gray-haired man turned around and signaled S to come with him. ¡°Come I¡¯ll introduce you to some of the more important people that you have to know for the next few weeks.¡± So Sieg and Geo went back to the village. And Geo was introduced to various members of the caravan. But only a few really stood out to him. The only ones he remembered were firstly the slightly overweight angry merchant from before, mostly since Geo tried to hold back a snicker after hearing that his name was Dick and secondly the trio that he saw yesterday in the tavern. As it turned out one of the men was a priest on a pilgrimage the girl was his apprentice who travelled with him and the other guy was their bodyguard, and even then, the main reason that he remembered them was that the bodyguard had a hip-high wolf like dog with him called Biss. That evening when the fisherman¡¯s family were eating the fisherman asked Geo: ¡°So how did it go? Can you go with them? Or will you stay here and maybe try your luck again next time the caravan comes through here?¡± Geo put his spoon into his soup and started to explain what happened. ¡°I am in. I was able to convince the man to let me join the caravan. The journey will take one month. And while my official title will be guard, most of the time I will have to help the caravan members out in every way that I can. Also, I must stand guard for 4 nights each week for four hours straight. While most of my hypothetical payment goes into funding my place on the caravan I will still one ar every four days that we are on the road. Also, they will take care of food and housing along the way.¡± ¡°And when will you leave?¡± ¡°The caravan leaves in two days but I will move in with them tomorrow. I am sorry that this is all happening so fast, but I have no choice then to go. This is my last evening here. Tomorrow is a long day for me.¡± Geo sighed and added on: ¡°I will miss you. From now on I can¡¯t go back. I will try to stay in contact. Thank you for everything.¡± Before anyone in the family could say anything, Geo went back into his chamber and went into a restless sleep.¡± The next day Geo packed his few things. Most of which were gifts from the various villagers that rescued him like some casual wear or an old but still useable hunting knife. But a few things were salvaged from the rescue boat that Geo drifted in. Most of these items were junk that the salty see made unusable. Although they were his only souvenirs of home and his time on the boat Geo knew he couldn¡¯t hold on to them since he will be travelling a lot in the coming time. So, he sorted out what he could use and what he had to leave behind. A book made unreadable by the seawater, a fishing knife that couldn¡¯t be sharpened anymore and a pair of salt crusted leather shoes had to left behind but Geo also found some things that could be useful on his journey. The most useful one was an all-weather vest that the fisherman¡¯s wife was able to free of salt. After storing most of these things away in a salvaged bag, he noticed that there was a thumb sized coin lying on the pile of clothes. When inspecting the coin, the first thing he noticed was the bronze bird with a silver belly engraved on it. Geo knew what immediately what it was. It was the emblem of the house of brown eagle the noble house that governs over Geo¡¯s hometown and of Porttown[2], the town from where he boarded the ship. It is a rare item that is only awarded to people who hold high official positions in the territory. Geo wasn¡¯t quite sure how it gotten here. But he had a hunch. After some short thinking he took the coin and left the house. He swiftly made his way to Eric the carpenter to make a quick request. And a short while later he went back with the coin. The only difference is that in the coin there is now a small hole just next to the eagle¡¯s wing. And after some searching with the fisherman¡¯s wife help he also got his hands on some string. And by combining the two items he made himself a necklace. It was just bevor sundown when the fisherman made an early return. ¡°Listen Geo! We all like you and understand that you want to return home. But if you for whatever reason are unable don¡¯t forget you can return here. I am sure we can find a place for you to stay. Then again in case we wont see you again I wanted to give you this.¡± The fisherman then took something out of his bag. ¡°Here this is a special pair of pants. They are made to be a lot sturdier then normal clothes and were made for travel. It was from a friend of mine who came from far away before settling here. I was able to convince him to sell them to me. And don¡¯t ask how much they were. Just take them.¡± He handed Geo the pants and Geo inspected them. Most of the pants were made of a sturdy green material but from the joint areas downward they were made of even sturdier but somehow still flexible brown leather. It doesn¡¯t seem like the pants were made of different materials and the green and brown parts seem to flow into each other. This confused Geo, but he was to thankful for this final gift to ask how it¡¯s made. Geo then gave the fisherman one final hug and thanked him for everything. Then Geo went to the tent where he met the caravan leader and went to rest for the last time in the unnamed village. The caravan The next morning Geo was waked up just before sunrise by a jell. ¡°Hurry up everyone we want to have left the village in 2 hours!¡± Geo stumbled in the direction of the jell and found Sieg shouting at various people. Wanting to impress his new boss Geo went to him and asked what he needed to be done and how he could help. ¡°Listen Geoffrey you will go to merchants and help them where ever you can. This goes from preparing the animals to loading crates in the respective charts. If you are done with that I want, you to go to the well near Eric¡¯s place and grab something to eat on the way. You will wait there until the cart with the two donkeys in front of it starts walking and you will stay near that one, until we make rest! Understood!¡± Geo didn¡¯t expect to be jelled at this early, but he assumed that that was something he had to get used to. So, he did what he was told to do. He made his way to the stables. There he met some of the merchants that he was introduced to earlier. Although he couldn¡¯t remember their names he helped them out. The first thing he had to do was to get an especially surly donkey out of the stables. The donkey didn¡¯t want to move until his owner, a skinny 25-year-old lured him out with some fruit. Then he helped to store the food that was bought in the village onto four wagons. This took him almost the entire two hours Sieg was jelling about earlier. It took him so much time in fact that the wagon with the two donkeys was about to leave when he arrived at the meeting place. So that the bread and fish that he wanted to eat were left in his bag. He would have to eat them later that day on the way. The caravan went north along the ocean. So, there was a fresh breeze during the journey. Which was nice since Geo knew that they¡¯d be walking for a long time. After walking for a while Geo started to get bored and looked around while walking. He judged his position in the caravan to be while closer to the end of the line still be near the middle of the caravan. Most consider this to be one of the worse places to be in the caravan since there is a lot dust that is being thrown up by the people that walk in the front also for people with animals this position was also annoying since the animals can¡¯t eat the grass on the sides since they are most of the time being trampled on. But it could be worse, he could be at the end of the trail. Since there all of this was a problem but if ambushed that is where you would be the least safe. Geo has no problems with any of these common problems. Firstly, the fresh spring Klima keeps the ground solid so it doesn¡¯t dust too much. Secondly, he didn¡¯t have any animals, so the grass was no problems and since he wasn¡¯t at the end of the line he wasn¡¯t the first one attacked by an ambush. Something that was slightly more annoying was that the ground was a little muddy. Geo thought about if there was a way for him to turn the ground he stands on harder with every step when he was approached by the priest apprentice. ¡°Say Geoffrey, Sieg said you from so far away that no local maps could show it. Tell me where are you from?¡± This was the first time that Geo had a chance to talk to the girl outside their hasty introduction a few days ago. So, he also took a good look at her. She was about one meter seventy tall with light brown almost blond hair. She wore a brown with dark stones decorated robe that reaches down to her ankles and on her back, she wore a heavy looking bag. Geo¡¯s overall evaluation of her was that she was really cute. ¡°I am from the Western Kingdom of Alexia. I don¡¯t think that you know where what is. ?hm¡­ I am really sorry. I forgot your name miss¡­¡± ¡°Diane, my name is Diane. Sooo Sieg mentioned that you are a blackhand but you have no tattoos. Is that true is that possible?¡± Diane stated to get more and more exited as she asked the question. ¡°Well I could try to explain it to you I guess you¡¯d like demonstration anyways so¡­¡± Geo stamped the ground and a grey edgy rock flew into his hand and before Diane could have said anything he made a hand gesture to signal her that he isn¡¯t done jet. So, he started to rub his hands all over the rock, magically shaving it down to a perfect sphere. Then he lightly threw the now polished rock to her, which she instinctively caught. She looked at it with amazement. After rolling it around in her hand a few times she went back to Geo. ¡°How do you do this?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°How does this work? There are no formulas on your body to shape or direct the spell. How do you can you control it so freely? Please tell me the secret. I really want to know. Like even the basics are fine. I really want to¡± ¡°Diane!¡± The priest suddenly appeared in front of the pair and jelled at the girl. ¡°Why are you disturbing the man. You know that it¡¯s rude to just go and talk to strangers. Come back to our place in the middle. You know that we aren¡¯t supposed to leave out place in the caravan.¡± It was the second time Geo met him as well. So, he also took a quick glimpse at him. He was a tall man, almost a head taller than Geo. He also wore a brown robe with similar stones to the one that Diane wears. While he doesn¡¯t wear a heavy bag like Diane he carries instead some sort of long spear with an unreasonably wide blade on it on his back. His hair while mostly black does show early symptoms of age and his facial expression hinted that he was angry at the girl. ¡°Oh! Conrad. This is the new guard of the bodyguard that Sieg talked about. I just asked him about the formula-less magic that he can do. Look!¡± Excitedly she shows Conrad the rock that Geo just polished for her. Conrad even took the rock after she handed it over to him. Shortly after, he ordered Diane: ¡°Diane come back to us now!¡± He handed Geo the rock and said: ¡°Thank you for the rock mister Geoffrey but we have to go back. Now!¡± He grabbed his apprentice¡¯s hand and pulled her further into the line. Diane quickly yelled at Geo while being pulled away: ¡°Thank you, for showing me the magic. Well talk later see yeah ok?¡± And she was gone. Confused Geo stood still for a second, until he realized that he had to return to his post that just moved away from him. After returning to his spot, he realized that he was all alone again, and he was quickly getting bored without anyone to talk to or even anything to do. He even tried to start a conversation with the driver of the chart next to him but all he got was an annoyed grunt until he left him alone. Geo stayed alone for the next three days. On the fourth day when the caravan finally made a stop, Geo was tired. He was walking for hours up to this point and it was early afternoon. The sun was getting hot and he didn¡¯t carry a lot of water with him. So, when they made a one-and-a-half-hour rest next to a river that flows that flows in the direction of the ocean he sat down exhausted. But he didn¡¯t have a lot of time to rest since Sieg came over to him. ¡°Listen Geoffrey! I am sorry that I didn¡¯t had any time for you in the last few days but the first few days after leaving a town are usually more diffifult to handle, at least until everyone got used to traveling agian. So how are you feeling right now?¡± While catching for breath Geo proclaimed: ¡°I am ok. For the most part. But I didn¡¯t expect to be walking for so long without break. How long were we walking?¡± Sieg who was apparently barely even tired answered: ¡°Four and a half hours. That is for how long we walk in this weather and area. When we get further up north it will be slightly hotter, so we will have to take more breaks. But you are holding up pretty well for all I care. Most people who join us for the first time ask me after two to three hours to take a break. Even the ones who don¡¯t have to walk and can ride a chart tend to get sick of it in the same time span.¡± ¡°Yeah guess I would feel a lot better if I could hitch a ride with one of the merchants. But I guess you can¡¯t organize that for me, right?¡± ¡°You guessed right. I can¡¯t. Officially you are here to protect us. So, you need to be able to run around in an emergency and not be bound by a chart or something like that. That is the reason why I can¡¯t just stuff my personnel into random charts. Believe me I already have enough trouble convincing people to make room for essentials. And this is not a discussion that I want to part of. But that is that. What I wanted to tell you is that you will now move your position in the line further into the middle. So, when you see the chart with the bronze shield emblem painted on it moving you¡¯ll go and stay just behind them! Understood?¡± Geo nodded. He was too tired to care why he was moved but he didn¡¯t care. It mostly annoyed him since he will have to move out ten minutes earlier. So, after a quick nap and even quicker meal, that was handed out by one of the carts with food Geo searched the chart that he was assigned to. And when he found it he waited there until the Signal to move out came. About ten minutes after the whole caravan was able to move out Geo was approached again by Diane, this time accompanied by Conrad and Jaeger. ¡°Hey Geoffrey, why are you here? I thought that you had to stay in the back?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Sieg just suddenly came to me and told me to move up here. I didn¡¯t really think much about it.¡± ¡°Oh, that might be because of me.¡± Suddenly Jeager joined the conversation. ¡°Conrad was pissed that Diane was trying to sneak away the whole time. And I was getting sick of him complaining. So, the most logical solution was to talk to Sieg and get him to rearrange your post.¡± Conrad looked like he wanted to say something in return but then decided against it and looked back at Geo and Diane. ¡°Listen I am sorry, if I came of mean at first. But I had to get Diane back to our place in the line.¡± He bowed his head in apology and continued: ¡°Well anyways it¡¯s nice to meet you. Our first introduction was a bit hasty and I hope that we can get along for as long as we share this journey.¡± Diane finally got a chance to speak again after the introduction was over. ¡°Well I am sorry, that I had to leave you earlier, but I am really curios. How do you make magic without any inscribed formulas?¡± Bevor Geo could answer Conrad started to scold her: ¡°Diane! You know it¡¯s rude to ask a blackhand about his secrets. I am sorry, but she is really interested in magic. So, I hope that she didn¡¯t bother you.¡± ¡°No, its fine really it isn¡¯t a secret, how to do it. At least where I am from. Its part of the basic army training. In fact, I have no idea what a blackhand is even supposed to be. So, I would be glad to answer your questions if you have any. Although in return it would be nice if you guys could answer some of my questions. In the village I stayed there were no magicians. So, I have no idea what a blackhand is supposed to be and Sieg said something about tattoos that where important all of which I know nothing about. So, yeah like I said if it is ok with you that I also ask.¡± The trio looked at each other worried. After a while Diane came forth and said: ¡°It is considered rude to ask a blackhand about their abilities and secrets. But I guess we could tell you some of the more basic things. Right? Is that ok Con?¡± Conrad looked worried and was about to say something but then stopped himself. After a short while he began speaking: ¡°Well as long as it is the basics I guess we can tell him. Listen Geoffrey! Being a priest of reso[1] I do have some magic tattoos. Meaning that I am a blackhand. And like I said, we do not want people to steal our secrets. So, you will have to understand if there are some areas that we won¡¯t talk about. If you are still fine with that then I guess we have a deal.¡± ¡°Guess I am ok with that. Ok. Then I guess you can ask me what you wanted to know.¡± Diane excitedly starts to hammer him with questions: ¡°Ok how do you form the spell? How do you command it? Do you need to channel it? Is there a limit to how much and what you can control? And if there is are there ways to improve your ability? How does your magic interact with formulas and how long did it take for you to master it? And if you¡­¡± Her questions overwhelmed Geo. Half of what she asked used words that Geo didn¡¯t know. He didn¡¯t even know how to start answering the apprentice¡¯s questions. Jaeger realized that the wave of questions was overwhelming Geo, so he put his hand on Diane¡¯s shoulder. She stopped and looked at him confused. ¡°Listen Diane! I think you are asking too much at once. How about you start at a simple question and we can work from there. Ok?¡± ¡°Yes. Sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t apologize to me do it to Geoffrey!¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. She turned back to Geo sank her head in an apologetic way and apologized. ¡°Sorry mister Geoffrey. I just got really excited.¡± ¡°Oh, no its ok. I said I am ok with questions. You just overwhelmed me. Also, please call me Geo. Calling me Geoffrey feels so formal. And we still have a long journey together. Now please, one question after the other!¡± ¡°Yes, mister Geoffrey. I mean Geo. So, as I said. How do you form a spell?¡± ¡°?hm I don¡¯t think I know what you mean.¡± ¡°How do you do a single spell. Like what do you have to do to do it?¡± ¡°Let me think. It has been long since I learned the basics. By now I do most things automatically¡­ Well thirst I have to¡­ how can I describe it? Feel the earth that I want to manipulate. Like imagine that there is an invisible line between me and the earth. Then I do the corresponding movement to move the earth. The result is that I can move the earth however I want.¡± ¡°Wait how does this work? I mean there is no structure involved and no order to command the earth. Hmmm¡­¡± Diane held her neck with her left hand and started to look at the sky. It was obvious that she was in deep thought. Conrad looked at her and said to Geo: ¡°Ok, this might take a while. But I heard what you said. So now I am curious. You said, you can ¡°feel the earth¡± what does that mean?¡± Geo sighed. ¡°I told you it is difficult to describe it. It¡¯s like trying to explain someone how to see. Like imagine a connection between you and the earth. And then you can, like tell how the earth is. How hard it is. How heavy the block of earth and how difficult it is to control. It is something that can¡¯t really be explained but only felt. It is something most newcomers struggle to get. If we had the time for it I could teach you how it feels but that is out of the question for now.¡± Diane snapped out of her trance. ¡°Why don¡¯t we have time for it? Like how long could it take to learn to ¡°feel the earth¡±. It is not like we have anything else to do while we walk. And we will be on our way for like a month so there is time. Isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°The basic course in the army takes 3 months. And with basic I don¡¯t mean the actual ability to move the earth. Just to feel it reliably. If you have a really good private tutor, you might learn it in one and a half months. And even then, it takes three to four hours a day. I am really sorry, but we don¡¯t have time for this.¡± Diane looked slightly disappointed. To Geo it was obvious that she was really excited by the idea to move the earth magically. ¡°Well that is that. Now if you don¡¯t mind can I ask some questions about how magic is done here?¡± Conrad answered him: ¡°Shure if we can answer you.¡± ¡°Ok. Why are magicians called blackhands and why are there barely any? In the village that I spent the last few months there wasn¡¯t a single one. How come?¡± Conrad thought about how to explain this. Then he turned his head over to Diane and commanded her. ¡°Diane, explain!¡± Diane confused for a second by the sudden order started to explain as if she was reciting a textbook from school: ¡°The term blackhand comes from the fact that most magicians have parts or most of the formulas inscribed on their body. Since most spells need a direction as part of the activation conditions the arms and hands are preferred placed for the inscription to be, since they can naturally aim. The term blackhand is used since most magicians have their hands filled with inscriptions. Leaving very little space for untattooed skin.¡± ¡°Well answered.¡± Conrad turns his head back to Geo and pulls his left glove of. On it Geo sees multiple lines in a, to Geo, nonsensical pattern. Shortly after Conrad has put his Glove back on. ¡°And for the reasons for why there aren¡¯t many of us running around are simple. Firstly, applying the formula is really tricky and even more expensive. The materials aren¡¯t cheap and the training that goes into learning to draw them takes forever. Meaning that there aren¡¯t many worthwhile magic painters out there. A fact not helped by the second reason. That is that they all fear that someone might steal their formulas. So that most who can make inscriptions don¡¯t even know a lot inscription. That is also why blackhands don¡¯t like to show their tattoos. The only reason why I have them is because I am a highly recognized priest of reso and got them as a symbol of my status.¡± As they talked they kept walking. Until they heard a series of yells. It seems that various people in the line yelled the message from the front to the back. ¡°Everyone slow down! And every group should send someone to the front. There is a problem.¡± The travelers started to become unnerved due to the commotion. ¡°Alright, guess I¡¯ll have to go. Jaeger!¡± The priest ordered his guard. ¡°Look out for Diane, while I see what this is about.¡± As soon as he said that he left. Biss barked out of nowhere. Geo jumped surprised. He completely forgot that the dog was around. In fact, this was the first time that the dog made any noise since Geo met him for the first time. Jaeger pat his pet to calm him down. ¡°Shhh. Calm down big boy. All is ok. It is nothing to get excited about.¡± ¡°What do you think is going on?¡± Asked Diane slightly worried. But Jaeger just shrug his shoulders and sat on the ground. Since there wasn¡¯t anything else to do both Diane and Geo imitated the bodyguard and sat down. For a while nothing happened except that the hound moved from his master over to Diane and put his head onto her knees to get some attention from the girl. After a while Jaeger yelled. ¡°What is going on? Why did we stop?¡±[2] Surprised Geo turned his head into the direction that the man was screaming to and saw a group of people walking towards them. As they came closer Geo was able to recognize Conrad, Sieg and two other people he didn¡¯t know. How the man knew that they were coming was beyond Geo. Sieg started talking: ¡°The two scouts told me that the bridge that we wanted to cross was destroyed. We need to rethink our route. We¡¯d have to go down the river for a day or two until we find another way over it. That is unless.¡± He turned his head towards Geo. ¡°Our new friend can do something about this. Geoffrey can you use your earth magic to fix the bridge?¡± Now the rest of the group looked to Geo. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It depends. Making a bridge takes a lot of energy. Especially if it needs to be strong enough to carry the whole caravan. But I could take a look at it. Don¡¯t know how much I can help though.¡± As Geo stared to get up Conrad also said towards Jaeger: ¡°I would also like it if you could take a look at the bridge!¡± Except for the priest¡¯s trio most of the group looked confused at Conrad for that suggestion. He added: ¡°Jaeger has a good eye. Maybe he finds something that we overlooked. It won¡¯t hurt to let him have a look.¡± Everyone was ok with the explanation. So, everyone walked to where the bridge was. As they arrived Geo took a good look at the destroyed bridge. It was about three steps long and made from a for the area uncharacteristic dark grey rock. At least the parts that where still there. About two and a half meters of the six-meter-long bridge where gone. Even the pillar in the middle of the bridge that was supposed to support it was only half there. Biss went to the broken off part and started to sniff around next to him Jaeger kneeled looking for clues. On the bridge Geo took a provisional stance. Knees low, elbows at his body with his fists facing away from him. He tried to find the other pieces of the bridge. While he was able to feel a large amount of the dark rock right next to the broken pillar, he also knew that some of the rocks have been washed away by the strong current. He knew that these rocks had to be from the bridge since they were made from the same, for the area unusual material. So, he started to move his right hand upwards while opening his hand so that the inside of his hand faced his face. He tried to lift some of the under-water rubble towards him. Since he needed to get familiar with the type of rock before he made with it and he didn¡¯t want to rip a piece out of the bridge since it was already broken enough. But it wasn¡¯t easy. Not just was the water making it difficult to hold a magical connection to the rocks the current also was pushing the rocks away from him. It was in vain. He couldn¡¯t hold the rocks and lost most the pieces that he tried to fish out. Of the five kilos that he tried to fish out of the water lost almost half. Although the procedure only took 15 seconds the most it felt a lot longer to him. So, when he was finally able to get the rubble out of the water he already knew it was unlikely that he could fix the bridge. He lifted the rubble out of the water and placed it next to him. He turned around to his spectators and said: ¡°I am sorry. I can¡¯t fix the bridge. Due to the current most of the pieces are unreachable for me. And even those that are there where so broken down that I can¡¯t work with them. Maybe if there were two others and we had like two weeks I might be able to get this bridge to hold together but even then, it wouldn¡¯t last long.¡± Sieg angerly grabbed his hat and threw it to the ground. ¡°The next closest way to the other side is one and a half day away. This will cost us almost a week. F¡¯¡¯k.¡± Conrad looked over to Jaeger. ¡°You found something?¡± He asked his companion. ¡°I am not sure. But someone was here like two weeks ago. At least four people. Also, I found some unusual scratches where the bridge broke off. It could mean nothing. Hey Sieg.¡± He called the pissed of caravan leader. ¡°Do you know if other people use this bridge? Like, what groups could have been here in the last couple of weeks?¡± Sieg thought for a second. ¡°There should have been a few people traveling through here. But not to many, since it only became spring a month ago. Why?¡± ¡°Call it a bad feeling but I think that this bridge didn¡¯t collapse naturally.¡± Sieg became pale. He knew exactly what that meant. He turned around and ordered his men: ¡°Get me the leader of the traveling groups! Now! And tell everyone to prepare. There is a chance that we might be ambushed.¡± It didn¡¯t take long to get the eight most important members of the caravan and all the security personnel together. As soon as the situation was explained Sieg started to tell everyone what they were going to do: ¡°We will have to travel for almost two days down the river. Then we should be able to cross the river near where the river flows into the ocean. Although in theory there are other bridges on the way they are not made to withstand the weight of twelve loaded charts. Until then I want twice the people on look out. We won¡¯t send any scouts for the time since it is too dangerous for them to stay away too long. We have four blackhands with us so that should help. And a security team of seven people. Let¡¯s pray to the spirits that we are overreacting. We leave in 40. Everyone dismissed.¡±[3] Everyone was on the edge. Although nothing happened for hours for most of the time barely anyone was talking. Even Diane who until now talked with Geo whenever possible about magic didn¡¯t start a conversation with him. In fact, she seemed to be surrounded by her companions like she was some sort of rare animal. Out of a mixture of as a precautionary measure Geo even picked up some hard rocks along the way. So that if an attack happens, he would have some ammunition that he was used to. But nothing happened. When the caravan stopped to prepare for the night the sun was about to set. The reason why it took longer than usually to find a resting spot was because Sieg wanted an advantageous spot in case of an ambush. Usually the camp would be organized in the order that they walk in so that they can leave better in the morning but today Sieg had other plans. He ordered the carts to make an improvised barrier so that in case of an ambush they had an easier time to defend themselves. This led to more problems than expected. Geo found some merchants including Dick in an argument with Sieg about the placing of their goods. ¡°But the contents of my carriage are the most valuable wouldn¡¯t it make sense to have it inside the barrier so that nothing happens to them?¡± ¡°Pah. Your carriage is sturdier then mine we should put it at the outside so that the barrier becomes stronger.¡± ¡°No! We should¡­¡± Sieg who didn¡¯t say anything jet started to lose his cool. It was obvious that the usually experienced man didn¡¯t know what to tell his patrons. Geo knew that he had to help somehow. So, he took a special well sharpened fist sized rock out of his satchel and let it hover over his hand and spin fast. He walked closer, signaling Sieg his plans with making some clear indications with his head. Sieg caught on and said intimately: ¡°Listen we have no time to bicker around. And even a single one who doesn¡¯t fulfill his orders will have to answer to the blackhand over there.¡± He pointed towards Geo who in the dim light looked really intimidating. Specially with the rock over his palm that spun in a frightening speed. ¡°And I gave orders to kill any deserters on sight. Which is why you all should go to where you should be NOW!¡± The merchants, clearly intimidated by the display of power went to their carts. Sieg went over to Geo. ¡°Thank you. I didn¡¯t know what to do. Now you to should go back to sleep. If I remember correctly your shift starts shortly after midnight. We¡¯ll see each other later.¡± He grabbed the necklace that he was wearing and said. ¡°And may the spirits keep watch over you.¡± Geo grabbed his own necklace and went over to the group of the priest. Mostly since he felt lonely and they were the closest thing to friends he made here so far. When he found them, Diane was studying over some books and notes while Conrad was semi paying attention to her, Jaeger on the other hand was taking a nap for which he used Biss as a pillow. ¡°Hey there. Is it ok if I join you for the evening? My shift starts after midnight and I don¡¯t feel like being alone right now.¡± The priest looked up from the girl smiled and said: ¡°No problem Geo, but I if you want to talk I¡¯d suggest that we move away a little. We don¡¯t want to disturb Diane during her studies.¡± Geo nodded, and Conrad came over to him. They walked a few steps away and Conrad began to talk: ¡°So, what is it that is bothering you?¡± ¡°Why do you assume that something was bothering me?¡± ¡°Firstly, you came out of nowhere today evening because you ¡°didn¡¯t want to be alone¡± and secondly I am a trained priest. I am used to people coming to me with their problems. Now I am sure that you aren¡¯t a follower of reso but I could still listen to your problems.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I have problems it¡¯s just¡­ wait a sec!¡± Geo did a quick upwards movement with both of his hands to rise two blocks of earth. He sat down on his improvised chair. Conrad, after a moment of surprise, also sat down on his. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I am just feeling a bit lonely. And I want someone to talk to. That is ok, right? I am sorry if I am bothering you I just wanted to¡± Geo started to talk faster and started to pronounce his words less clear. So that Conrad stopped him and started to reassure him. ¡°It¡¯s ok. You are just a bit stressed out because of the warning. That is completely normal. There is a real danger here and you are afraid that something might happen. Now calm down. Take a deep breath!¡± Geo tried to calm down and inhaled strongly. ¡°Sorry¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok. I think it would be best if we changed the subject. It will help you calm down. Is that ok with you?¡± ¡°Yes. I think that would be for the best.¡± ¡°Is there anything else you want to talk about?¡± Geo thought for a while. He tried not to think about how nervous Sieg was or what would happen if they were to be attacked. That is when he shifted his view over to Diane who was still diligently studying. ¡°What is she reading?¡± Geo asked while pointing a finger towards the priest¡¯s apprentice. ¡°Nothing important. At least for you. She is just reading studying the wisdom of reso[4]. It is important that she knows it for her future. But you don¡¯t have to know about it. Instead tell me about you.¡± Conrad quickly changed the subject. It was obvious that he didn¡¯t want to talk about her. ¡°What me? What do you want to know?¡± ¡°Tell me about your home country! I know that it is on the other side of the world but nothing else.¡± ¡°What is there to tell? Well its name is the ¡°eastern empire of Alexia¡± and that is¡­¡± So, they talked for a while. Mostly about Geo¡¯s home, his family and about the church of reso. When Geo went to bed to get a little rest before his shift he did feel a bit better. It was obvious that the priest is experienced in dealing with nervous people and he was able to help Geo not thinking about the potential danger. And when it was time for his shift he was waked up by the person who was responsible for the previous shift. Although he had trouble staying awake he managed to not fall asleep during his time. It was one-hour bevor sunrise when it was time for the shift to end. The only good thing about having the twelve to four o¡¯clock shift is that he can sleep on one of the carts until noon. Sieg apparently introduced that rule years ago after complaints that slowed the speed of the caravan down. So, he slept when he had the chance walked when he couldn¡¯t take a break or talked with Diane and Conrad. After the expected day and a half, they reached the other bridge and crossed it safely. The atmosphere started to become more relaxed inside the caravan since nothing happened. Due to the route change Sieg decided that it would be faster to move along the sea for the coming time so that when they stopped next to another smaller river that wouldn¡¯t be too difficult to cross with the caravan so that they wouldn¡¯t have to find a bridge to cross it. But that would have to wait a day since according to Sieg¡¯s map there wouldn¡¯t be a source of water for almost three days and they wanted to make use of it for as long as possible. The long early stop would allow Geo to do some exercises that he didn¡¯t do the days bevor and get familiar with the rocks that made most of the beach. He really liked those rocks since they were really similar to the ones he trained with during his stays at Porttown. And that was how that day came to an end. Luckily it wasn¡¯t his shift so that he could go to bed early. Geo woke up in the middle of the night when he heard a loud scream. ¡°AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! My cart is burning help! Someone please HELP!¡± It took Geo a moment to wake up. But as he came to his senses he saw one of the carts on fire. He jumped up to help when he saw something small flying from his right. That small thing landed and got stuck next to the merchant whose goods were on fire. He realized that that was an arrow and more importantly that they were under attack. The caravan under attack Sieg looked around. Many things were happening in the light of the flaming cart. Firstly, the cart was burning then there was the man who yelled for help who ran away crying, desperately trying to avoid the incoming arrows. He saw the caravan members running around in panic, some with weapons other without anything and lastly, he saw the priests party standing next to each other. Geo spurted over to his friends. He knew that it would be safer in a group. Specially since he doesn¡¯t know who attacked them or how many attackers there where. Diane was hiding between the two men who were both armed and ready to fight. Conrad held his long shovel like spear and Jaeger held a wooden construction. Jaeger turned around to Geo and yelled: ¡°Geo over here! NOW!¡± The arrows seemed to fly from the opposite direction of the river. So that when was close enough he pulled his arms up to his face, as if he was trying to block a punch to the face and a one man high and one and a half men long wall ripped itself in front of the group protecting them from the arrows. ¡°Thank you, Geo. We have to find Sieg and the other protective personel. Geo can you keep us safe?¡± The usually quiet man asked. ¡°Since we won¡¯t be stationary I can only drag a smaller plate near me. So where should we go?¡± Jaeger pointed towards the direction where Sieg¡¯s tent was. ¡°Ready? Go! Now!¡± Geo moved his right hand towards him and ripped a one and a half square meter plate out of his wall and controlled it to stay near him and serve as a shield for him. While they were running in the dim light of the burning cart the arrows stopped flying and Geo heard people running and yelling in their direction to kill them. The team made it to where Sieg was. He and a few others were hiding behind two food carts just next to the river. ¡°Anyone has a plan?¡± The caravan leader asked. And Jaeger answered: ¡°Geo will go out and fight and look for survivors. If we find any, we will send them over here.¡± He looked to Geo. ¡°Did you understand?¡± Geo wasn¡¯t to happy to have been volunteered for this but since he was the only one who could protect people with his earth magic he felt like he didn¡¯t have another choice. He nodded, and Jaeger turned to Conrad. ¡°And you keep Diane safe! Got it?¡± ¡°Understood¡± Jaeger pointed with his finger towards the next nearest cart on the battlefield and counted down with his fingers. Geo understood and prepared his shield and one of the rocks he collected a few days ago. And as Jaeger closed his hand to a fist he held his shield up while Jaeger and Biss hid behind him. They ran over to the next cart. As they ducked behind it Jaeger took a look over it. ¡°There is a guy being attacked by there around ten meters away from here. We will attack them.¡± He ordered his dog: ¡°Biss Kill!¡± And the hound ran towards the fight faster than Geo has ever seen a dog run. Simultaneously Jaeger left the cover and aimed with his construction and shot an arrow out of it hitting the man in the leg. When the attacker realized what hit him it was to late. In the short time period between being shot in the knee and him feeling the pain he was pounced by a 30-kilo heavy dog who bit him in the throat without mercy. Killing the man. Jaeger made a signal to move and under Geo¡¯s cover they ran to the man Jaeger saved. ¡°Can you walk, sir?¡± Jager asked with a strong voice. ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t fell one of my arms, but I am mostly ok.¡± ¡°Have you seen anyone else?¡± Geo asked trying to help to. The man pointed further into the battlefield and said: ¡°About twenty meters away Gary fell down. What should I do?¡± Asked the man clearly in pain. ¡°Go towards where we came from. You will find Sieg and six others there stay with them.¡± The man gulped and nodded in pain. To buy the man some time Geo erected a knee-high wall so that he was a bit safer. As he made the wall appear he spotted a big man with a dangerous looking axe going towards where that Gary guy fell. He judged him to be about 25 meters away. Usually not a distance that he would miss often. But the darkness was a problem since the biggest source of light was the burning cart from where the man came from. Not the best condition for him.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He pointed at the man and said: ¡°Jaeger there!¡± The bodyguard looked up from the man he was helping to spot the dangerous man. And without his owner saying anything Biss ran to the man who was targeted. But the man was able to spot the dog who was running towards him and prepared his weapon to swing. Not wanting the hound to get hurt Geo quickly swung his fist in a short hook which shoot a fist sized rock from the ground towards the man. The man didn¡¯t have a chance to dodge the projectile and got hit in the arm. Based on the way it was bent after the hit Geo assumed the arm was broken. Not that it mattered since Biss went for the kill and with deadly precision killed the man the same way the first one died. Bevor Geo was able to check if Gary was alive a flash came from behind. The light threw deep shadows from the shadows behind him. Immediately Jaeger started running back where they came from. ¡°What about the man?¡± ¡°He is dead, we have to go back! Diane and Conrad are in trouble.¡± Geo didn¡¯t know how the man knew all of that, but he didn¡¯t want to be left behind. So, he followed the man. And shortly after he started running a wall of fire came from the hiding spot where Sieg and the rest were. As he came even closer he was able to figure out that the source of the fire and possibly the flash was Conrad priest, who stood in front of the group facing the river with his right hand stretched out. In the river were at least six people running away while three people were burning in the shallow water. Their corpses didn¡¯t even go out after falling in the water. Jaeger ran over to his companions. ¡°Diane, Conrad are you ok? I saw your flash.¡± Conrad hid Diane between him and the cart and calmly said: ¡°One of the merchants heard people walking in the water. So, I illuminated for a second and saw these armed men coming at us. These ones¡± He pointed at the corpses. ¡°were dangerously close. So instead of letting them come at us I reacted and used my magic. Don¡¯t worry Diane is ok.¡± He looked over to the girl that was cowering behind him. It was obvious that unlike her companions she wasn¡¯t mentally prepared to fight or to see people die. Even Geo who was trained in the military was never in an actual fight to the death. No one said a word for a while. The only things that made any noise were the startled animals that pulled the wagons and the fire of the cart that was on fire. Luckily no other carts were caught on fire. That is when Geo realized. There were no other sounds. He couldn¡¯t hear any of the attackers or the caravan people. It seemed that the other present caravan members started to realize that too. After a few minutes where everyone was catching a break and were looking for another ambush regained his composure and started to order everyone: ¡°Alright everyone. Half of you look for survivors and people who are hurt! Everyone else either help me to get the flames out and get your animals. I wane leave as soon as possible!¡± No one had the power to argue. Even the merchants who are never happy with Siegs decisions didn¡¯t say anything. Only Conrad said something: ¡°Please bring all the dead and wounded to one place. I will try to help wherever I can and send the dead.¡± Sieg grabbed his necklace and nodded at the suggestion. Then everyone went to do what they could. Geo went to the burning cart. He made a small wall around the fire and started to stomp it out with a block of earth. The other members of the caravan were happy that he could do this since no one wanted to get near the fire in any way. The sun started to rise out of nowhere. Geo didn¡¯t know how long he was awake but as it got brighter he ran out of energy. The adrenaline left him finally. That is when Diane came to him. The usually energetic girl seemed to be tired. She handed him some bread water and a tasteless piece of meat and Geo sat down to eat. He didn¡¯t even bother to make earth chairs like he is used to and just leaned against one of the carts. ¡°Are you ok?¡± She asked Geo. Geo looked up into the brighter getting sky and said: ¡°I feel weird. Like kind of empty.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Geo looked at her. Even though she was terrified a few hours ago she was calm and sorted again. Geo looked back at his bread and finally answered: ¡°I killed a man. I mean, I didn¡¯t deal the finishing blow that was Biss but¡­ I threw a rock at him and made him unable to defend himself. It feels weird, like I should feel terrible but¡­ I don¡¯t really know how to explain it.¡± Geo made a pause to collect his thoughts. ¡°What about you, are you scared? I saw you terrified hiding behind Conrad earlier. How are you so calm already?¡± She sat down next to him and answered: ¡°I am not sure. It might be that I barely saw anything happening or maybe I was just mentally more prepared for something like this to happen.¡± They both sat down in silence for a while. When Jaeger showed up. ¡°Oh, so there is where you are Diane. Con wants you to accompany him during the burial ceremony. Geo although I don¡¯t think you are a follower of Reso you are also invited to join us.¡± Diane sat up and left without saying goodbye, almost like she expects Geo to follow her. Geo sighted tiredly and followed her. The burial was about one hundred meters up the river the earth was darker then at the camping spot. There were two piles of bodies. On one eight and six on the other. The group with six were wrapped around in cloth the others weren¡¯t. Geo recognized one of the dead due to his broken arm and bitten throat, so he assumed that the unwrapped ones were attackers and the others were caravan members. Conrad was digging a hole, probably a grave, next to tree other ones. He was using his shovel spear hybrid. ¡°Do you want me to do this quickly? It¡¯s ok. Just ask!¡± Geo offered his help to the priest. ¡°Thank you for the offer. But Reso says: ¡°Feel the pain of the ones you lost yourself.¡± Meaning that we must dig their graves by hand so that we can share the pain of the ones we lost. But if you want to help we can take turns. If that is ok with you?¡± Geo nodded, but when he held his hand out to the man to take over the digging tool Diane intervened: ¡°Aren¡¯t you tired Geo? You were stomping the fire out yourself. Take a break ok. We can handle it alone.¡± ¡°Diane is right. You should take a break! Don¡¯t worry we will call you when the burial starts.¡± Out of nowhere Jaeger put his hand on Geo¡¯s shoulder and offered: ¡°You helped my, out a lot today with your shield. Let me make this up to you. Biss makes a great pillow if he allows it. Come try it out!¡± He leads Geo over to his dog. The same dog that just hours ago killed two men. And he was sleeping calmly in the shadow of a tree. Geo was hesitant to use the beast as a pillow but Jager insisted. Half expecting to get his neck bitten Geo laid down on the hound. But the only thing Biss did was lazily wiggle his tail. He had soft fur an was warm. Geo quickly wasn¡¯t afraid of the dog anymore and dozed off. the day after the raid Biss made a sudden movement as if he had smelled something. That woke Geo up. After a small moment of confusion, he smelled the smell of burning flesh. Geo assumed that a cremation was going on for the dead. He felt sort of guilty for sleeping while everyone else was awake. So, he followed to smell to its source. Like he assumed there was a cremation going on. The pile that was burning was the one of the attackers. It seemed like they wouldn¡¯t burn as planned so Conrad walked around the mountain of corpses lighting them on fire with his hand. The flames he used were smaller than the ones Geo saw the man do yesterday. Diane and Jaeger were sitting about 10 meters away from the fire. Biss trotted by Geo and went to his master, who started to snuggle him as soon as possible. Geo saw that Jaeger still had the weird wooden construction on his belt, that he used as a weapon the night bevor. ¡°Hey Geo are you feeling better?¡± Asked the girl as she waved her hand to signal Geo to come to her. ¡°Yes, thanks for asking. Jaeger was right. Biss makes a great pillow.¡± The bodyguard smiled hearing that compliment as he rubbed his dogs gray head. ¡°So, are you burning all the dead? I can only see one pile on fire. But there were more corpses. What did you do with them?¡± ¡°We buried them and have sent them to Reso¡¯s kingdom. It¡¯s a long process. Some of the more religious survivors joined us, like Sieg, and said some nice things about the deceased. It was sad. But we must be happy that not too many of us died. It could have been so much worse.¡± Conrad said coming over from the fire. ¡°And why didn¡¯t you bury them?¡± Geo pointed to the fire. ¡°We don¡¯t know them. And it¡¯s forbidden to give a burial to your enemy. Don¡¯t ask me why. That is just how it is. But if you could make a firebreak it would be nice.¡± Geo was happy since he could finally help. So, he went over to the fire, made a sturdy stance and went to work. He did a series of low kicks around the fire so that a 30-centimeter-high wall stopped it from spreading. As he was erecting the wall Sieg came over. ¡°I see you guys are finished with the burial and Geo woke up again. That is good. Listen in 20 minutes we will leave so take your position in the caravan now! I don¡¯t want to stay here longer than necessary. Got that?¡± Everybody nodded and joined Sieg back into the line. But there was a small change. The driver of the cart that would be behind the priest trio died in the attack. Since the merchant who owned the goods inside didn¡¯t want to leave then behind Geo was ordered to now act as driver for the remaining days. The cart wasn¡¯t to impressive. It was old but made of sturdy sun-bleached wood with one hairy brown cow pulling it and a waterproof blanket covering the goods. The bench for the driver wasn¡¯t padded but it offered enough space for two people to sit on it. So, he offered his friends to sit on it when they got tired. They reluctantly accepted his offer. The first one to sit next to Geo was Conrad. He spent the morning digging graves and pulling bodies around. So, he needed some rest. ¡°Say Conrad, what was that fire blast today morning? It was a real inferno. I have never seen something like this.¡± ¡°You know that I am a blackhand right. Well the formulas on my body were a gift from the archbishop for when I completed my training. It is tradition to give a priest some tattoos as proof of their training. The formulas themselves are closely guarded secrets of the church and most monasteries have their own specialties. But the archbishop made sure that I got a large amount of them. Mostly for convenient everyday use. Like a magic light or to light a fire. But some of them can be weaponized like the fire one. That is what you have seen yesterday.¡± ¡°Oh, ok. But if you can do such strong fire, why do you carry that thing around?¡± Geo pointed at the shovel spear that priest always carried with him and that was now placed behind them on the blanket that covered the goods. Conrad snickered and saw nostalgically into the distance. ¡°I asked my teacher something similar back in the day. We were doing body and mind exercises and he answered something like this: ¡°We can¡¯t just burn down everything that we don¡¯t like. And fire no matter how much you think you are in control, is always unpredictably. So, it is safer to stab them in most cases. Also, you can¡¯t dig graves with fire. So, keep your moonspear near you. For it will safe your like¡± Conrad ended his short lecture. But Geo just started to become interested in the priest¡¯s life. ¡°This thing is called a moonspear?¡± Conrad started to become annoyed. ¡°Listen Geo! I am tired. I want rest for a while. If you want, we can talk later but now I just want a break.¡± Geo didn¡¯t expect to be shut down by the usually nice priest. So, they just sat next to each other in silence until Conrad fell asleep next to Geo. After one and a half hours Conrad was exchanged with Jaeger. Who was in way better shape than his colleague and didn¡¯t need to sleep. It was clear that Jaeger was used to stay awake for long durations of time. For the duration of the ride Biss wedged himself between the goods on the cart. Geo wasn¡¯t sure if that was ok. But then he remembered both how nice of a pillow he was for him and more importantly how easily that dog killed two men. So, he decided that he wouldn¡¯t chase him away. Mostly out of fear for his fingers. Getting bored Geo tired to start some small talk with the man and hoped not to get shut down as fast as with Conrad.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°You seem in pretty good shape. Are you sure that Diane shouldn¡¯t be the one sitting here now?¡± ¡°She had more sleep then me and Conrad. And she didn¡¯t fight during the raid. She should be fine. Also, I can¡¯t do my job with my feet hurting as they do right now.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t she help Conrad dig the graves?¡± ¡°No, she slept during most of that. Also, I don¡¯t think that Conrad would give her his moonspear for a second. He is very attached to it.¡± ¡°But he offered me to help digging. Wouldn¡¯t he have to give me the shovel for that?¡± ¡°He offered that out of formality. He would have found an excuse to keep that thing somehow.¡± Biss made noises in the back. Jaeger moved his arm backwards to pat and crawl his head which shut the dog up. He continued: ¡°That reminds me. I never thanked you for protecting us with your magic. It was a big help.¡± ¡°Ohm that is no problem. I should be thanking you for taking control of the situation so fast. I don¡¯t think we would have made it for to long without your orders.¡± The man smiled. ¡°By the way.¡± Geo continued. ¡°How did you know that that man was dead before we found his body?¡± ¡°Huhh, which man?¡± ¡°Just after that flash from Conrad. You turned around and said that he was already dead. How did you know that?¡± Conrad didn¡¯t say anything for a moment. ¡°That isn¡¯t something that I don¡¯t want to talk about. Let¡¯s just say that this isn¡¯t my first time in a situation like this. Ok?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Sorry.¡± Geo felt ashamed that he apparently touched an uncomfortable subject for the man and stayed silent for a while. ¡°Can I ask you another question?¡± Geo tires to get the man to talk again. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°What was that wooden thing that you used as a weapon.¡± ¡°This thing?¡± Jaeger pulled out the construction. From his back. As it turns under his jacket he hid a belt which held the item for him from where he could quickly equip it when in need. ¡°This is sort of a crossbow. It is a relative new weapon. While it does shoot bolts like a normal crossbow. I can put this clip of bolts here.¡± He fiddles around at the top of the weapon. And the clip gets stuck at a 45 degrees angle. ¡°Having this clip saves time when reloading. And even more importantly. While hidden there are magic formulas that I can activate so that it reloads near instantly. If I were to spam it I could shoot one bolt every two seconds without aiming. A fast man could shoot one blot in about 20 seconds.¡± Then with a swift movement he pulled the clip of and strapped it under the weapon. So that is didn¡¯t waste to much space and made it easier to hide. Geo was impressed. ¡°Where I am from we rarely use weapons for ranged combat since we prefer to just shoot a rock. There are some areas where they do have bows but this I have never seen one of these things before. There are so many things that exist here that no one knows about back home. It¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°Well your home does have some other interesting things. After all you can bend the earth to your will with the flick of the hand. If you ask me that is at least as impressive.¡± Geo started snickering. ¡°I don¡¯t think that is as amazing as you make it out to be. Where I am from nearly every man does it and most women as well.¡± ¡°Well I guess depending where someone is from they do think certain things are normal even though for everyone else it is special and weird.¡± Geo started to laugh harder and harder. ¡°What is so funny?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just you think earth magic is sooo special¡± Geo waved his hands to underline his sarcasm ¡°While barley reacting to a guy throwing fire out of his hands. Hahaha¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know why I am laughing this isn¡¯t even funny.¡± Jaeger slowly started to grin as well. ¡°I still don¡¯t get it, but your laughing is contagious. Hehehe¡± And soon both men were laughing like maniacs for no reason at all. ¡°What is so funny?¡± Diane was suddenly walking next to the cart and Geo tried to answer: ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Buhahah.¡± Jaeger regained his composer and answered for real: ¡°I think we are just tired and laugh at nothing at all. Diane, I think I am fine for now. Do you want to sit for a while?¡± Jaeger made a shot whistle sound and signaled his dog to leave the cart. Still snickering he left the cart and Diane jumped on the moving vehicle. For a while none of the two said anything. Then Diane asked Geo a simple question: ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I mean, why are you with the caravan. What do you hope to archive from this journey?¡± For a moment Geo didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°How much do you know about how I ended up here?¡± ¡°Not much. Only what Sieg said when you were hired.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°You are from really far away and you are a blackhand who can do magic without inscriptions. That is essentially it.¡± ¡°Guess we haven¡¯t talked to much about that. Well there isn¡¯t too much to it. I was stranded in the village where Sieg picked me up. Since no one knows the way home I hope to find a lead in Sailport. And going there alone is dangerous since I didn¡¯t know the way. So, I joined the caravan. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°And what do you do if you don¡¯t find a way back home. If it is that far away chances are you will never get back. Have you thought about what to do then?¡± Geo lost the good mood he was in before, he grabbed the emblem on his neck and asked quietly: ¡°Please, don¡¯t ask me that! I have to get back.¡± Realizing that she overstepped some boundaries Diane went silent. ¡°Sorry, if I asked something uncomfortable. I just wanted to know.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s ok. It is a good question, but I don¡¯t think I am ready to face that possibility yet. Do you mind if we changed the subject now?¡± Happy that Geo didn¡¯t take the question to personally Diane responded: ¡°No, I have nothing against it¡­ What do you want to talk about?¡± Geo thought for a moment and then asked: ¡°Every evening you are studying over some weird looking books. Conrad explained to me that they were part of your training. Could you tell me about them?¡± Diane bit her lip and put a hand behind her head. This is the second time Geo saw her put her hand behind her head like that. He guessed that this was sort of a thinking pose of hers. He waited for a response of hers. ¡°Well this isn¡¯t something I am really supposed to talk about. If you really want to know you should talk with Conrad about that stuff. I am sorry that I can¡¯t give you a better answer then that.¡± Geo started to smile a little again. ¡°The first things we want to talk about and neither of us can answer, aren¡¯t we great. I tried talking with Conrad before. He was in a bad mood and unusually snappy. Didn¡¯t think that he could be like that.¡± ¡°Really? I haven¡¯t really experienced him like that yet. Must be because you are a stranger to him.¡± ¡°Or it might be a byproduct of being awake the whole night, burning people and then having to dig graves for hours.¡± Now Diane started to snicker. ¡°So even he has a breaking point when he gets rude. That is good to know. Maybe we should both just avoid him he next time he stays awake to long.¡± Geo having seemingly forgotten his sadness from before started to laugh again and added: ¡°Yes, we should let the baby sleep at night or he will become cranky.¡± Now even Diane laughed out loud at the image of the priest as a baby and the two were laughing hard. Similarly, to when Jaeger left the cart. When suddenly they heard an annoyed voice from in front of them. ¡°Hey, I heard that!¡± Somehow this made Diane laugh even harder and even Jaeger who was walking next to the priest started laughing. Making Conrad sulk at the embarrassment. Sailport The rest of the journey went mostly uneventful. They woke up, moved, took a break and continued walking. Twice they made a stop in small villages where they restocked and made rest. At the first stop Sieg reported the attack to the local major. There they found out who attacked them. As it turned out the attackers were part of a bigger pirate group that has been terrorizing the coastline in the last three months. Although an effort to capture them has been made by the regional royalty it appears that some splitter groups got away. One of those was the one who attacked the caravan. But after that nothing happened. The group arrived safely at Sailport with an only three-day delay in total. This is where the caravan was disbanded. The merchants went to sell their goods or changed to another travel group. In the inn, where Sieg and the other permanent caravan members stayed Sieg took Geo to the side. ¡°Alright here is the money I promised you and here is something extra since for your help during the attack.¡± Sieg handed Geo a small bag with coins and continued: ¡°What will you now? If you want to rejoin the caravan be my guest. We leave in two weeks back south when we have new customers who want to bring goods from here further down. And your help will be appreciated, if you want to come with us.¡± ¡°Thank you, but I have to decline this offer. I want to find a way back home. So, I will find out which way that is from here and move accordingly. I am grateful for everything you have done for me until now. But here is where our ways part.¡± Sieg gave an understanding nod and ended the conversation by stating: ¡°The money you have should be enough to live of for one and a half weeks. And if you don¡¯t come back this was it. Good luck.¡± ¡°Thank you, and goodbye.¡± Geo stood up and left the inn. A helpful passerby told him that he had the best chances to find a map of the size he needed at the office of the harbourmaster. When he found the harbourmaster in his office Geo was surprised. He expected to find a classic sailor looking man but the man he found was a surprisingly petite man with early stages of baldness on his head. The man greeted him with a rude: ¡°Watche want?¡± When Geo entered the hut where the office was located. After Geo explained his situation the man went into the backroom and rummaged around and came back with a small stack of lose papers and said: ¡°If there is a map that can tell you the way it would be one of these. I hope you find what you need. Most of these weren¡¯t used in a decade since it is rare for a ship to go out that far. That reminds me. Can you even read a map?¡± ¡°Oh, thank you. And yes, I can read a map. So how much do I owe you?¡± ¡°That costs nothing. Like I said I never need them so having these maps missing for one or two days won¡¯t be a problem. But if you rip or doodle on one, you will buy them. Got it!¡± ¡°Yes sir. And thank you.¡± Geo left the hut and started to make his way back to the inn. When he ran into the priest¡¯s trio again. ¡°Hey Geo what are you doing?¡± Diane called out to him. Geo showed her his bag and explained: ¡°These are the maps that I need to find out where my home is. Now I just need to compare them to my geographical knowledge and that should be it. I can make based on these my way back. And what about you? What are your plans from here on out?¡± Conrad told him: ¡°We are resting for a few days. Then we will continue our journey. This time a bit country inward. Meaning that we have a bit of time. We are in a different inn, so we will come visit you before we leave. Is that ok?¡± ¡°Yes, until then.¡± Geo left the trio and went to his room in the inn. There he immediately went to work. This evening Diane had some time to kill. So, she suggested to visit Geo. Jaeger volunteered to join her. So, when they reached the inn where Geo was staying they were surprised to find that one of the walls on the second floor was destroyed and in pieces. They immediately asked the owner, a slightly chubby woman what happened. ¡°One of those guys of the caravan started yelling about twenty minutes ago. Then I heard noises of things being thrown around. Next thing I know the wall exploded and that guy ran of crying like a maniac.¡± ¡°Was that man¡¯s name Geoffrey? Mam.¡± Diane politely asked. ¡°You know that guy? Good then when you find him tell him that he owns me a wall and should never come back.¡± The owner answered clearly pissed off. ¡°We will find him. Jaeger can you please help me?¡± Her bodyguard mumbled looked at his dog and mumbled: ¡°Search!¡± Biss sniffed around for a short while and quickly found the scent he was looking for. He ran towards the pier, Diane and Jaeger followed him. After a short sprint they found some pieces of ground clearly ripped off by the earth magician, so they knew they were on the right track. Shortly after they heard a sobbing sound. They identified it to be Geo who was cowering next to one of the houses. Diane wanted to go to him, but Jaeger held her of. ¡°I don¡¯t know how safe it is to approach him. Let me go first!¡± Diane swatted his hand away and approached Geo slowly. ¡°Hey Geo, are you ok? What happened?¡± Instead of answering Geo just continued crying. So, Diane continued to approach him and spoke softly: ¡°Please, tell me what happened! I can¡¯t help you if I don¡¯t know the problem.¡± She crouched in front of him. But instead of answering he just fell over. She caught him and embraced him softly, while Geo cried until his eyes were dry. Geo awoke in a bed. It was a soft bed, but he didn¡¯t remember that he went to bed yesterday. His eyes hurt, and his throat was dry. ¡°You are finally awake. Are you ok?¡± Geo turned his head around and saw Conrad starring at him. ¡°What happened? Where am I?¡± ¡°Well Diane and Jaeger found you crying a few hours ago. Apparently, you were crying so hard that you fell unconscious. Then they brought you over here. This reminds me. Wait a second!¡± Conrad left for a moment and came back with his two companions. They stayed close to Geo but kept a respect full distance. Diane was the first one to say something: ¡°Geo what happened? We when we found you, you were crying your eyes out but didn¡¯t say a thing. Can we help you somehow? Please tell us!¡± Geo looked down for a moment. He would have started crying if he still had water in his eyes. But he pulled himself together and tried to explain the situation:If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t go home.¡± ¡°Why are you saying that?¡± ¡°I was studying the maps and notes that I got yesterday. It took me a while to figure out, but I am on a third continent. One that I didn¡¯t know of.¡± ¡°Why do you think that? Conrad asked with concern. ¡°It was a mess, but it seems like the continent where I am from is on uncharted territory. The only reason I was able to figure this out was because on a few of the maps there was a second continent drawn on. And even then, that was only a small part of the continent. It even has a different name. I only figured it out that the small part was the same continent because of the combination of mountains and two small towns, I just so happened to know of.¡± This time Jaeger asked: ¡°Why does that mean that you can¡¯t go home?¡± ¡°The notes I just mentioned. They were about when and where a ship left with the destination. The last time a ship went to the continent in the south or wuesteland as it was called on the map was eight years ago. And there is no ship that will attempt to go there from anywhere on this continent for as far as notes are being made. In other words,¡± Geo started to cry tearlessly again. ¡°There is no way I can go home.¡± Diane hugged him again with the same softness she did before. Conrad asked with concern: ¡°What now? What will you do from here?¡± Geo yelled into Diane¡¯s arms: ¡°I don¡¯t know. There is nowhere for me to go.¡± Diane asked: ¡°How do you feel? Do you think you will be ok?¡± Geo looked up from Diane¡¯s embrace and quietly proclaimed: ¡°I don¡¯t know how I feel. Aside from the desire to cry, I don¡¯t feel anything.¡± ¡°Are you safe?¡± Jaeger asked. Diane and Conrad looked confused at him. ¡°I just want to make sure that he doesn¡¯t do something stupid.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok. I am ok. I just need to think.¡± ¡°Well once you are done thinking, you should go to the inn you are staying at and apologize. You made quite a mess there.¡± Geo asked quietly: ¡°What have I done?¡± ¡°You went into a little rampage and destroyed a wall of hers and along the pier you ripped out a good chunk.¡± Geo has shaken Diane of and wanted to stand up. ¡°I need to fix that and apologize.¡± ¡°That can wait until morning. For tonight you can stay here. It isn¡¯t healthy for you to be alone right now.¡± Diane offered the still confused looking man. Jaeger and Conrad looked at each other slightly worried. But eventually agreed to her suggestion. Geo was restless. He was given Diane¡¯s bed since there were two bedrooms. So, it was decided that she would sleep in a room with her two companions while he got a room for himself. Geo was wondering on how he should go on. He could take on Sieg¡¯s offer to join the caravan back and maybe he could go back to the village that gave him hospitality before. Ernest did offer him to comeback if necessary. Maybe he could search for a different port? One that has a ship towards the continent in the south. It would take forever to get home he was aware of that now. Well first things first. He would have to fix what he had broken. So, chances are he would also have to pay for the damages that he couldn¡¯t fix. ¡°Shit¡± He said to himself. It¡¯s not like he had money to spare anyways. He also most likely ruined the innkeeper¡¯s livelihood for a while. After all who wants to stay in a broken inn. Also, Sieg was staying in that inn. Hopefully he didn¡¯t get kicked out for bringing such a violent monster with him. Geo felt like vomiting out of guilt. But he swallowed it down. He didn¡¯t want to burden his friends more than necessary. He heard noise coming from the other room. It sounds like the trio was arguing about something. Geo was sure that he was also the cause of that. He knew that they all got along very well. In that month that they spent together he never saw them being on bad terms with each other. Geo then decided that he should try to focus on something else. So, he concentrated to feel the rocks that the walls were made of. The rocks were very chalk heavy on the inside. But sturdy. Wait a minute, the chalk is just holding the rocks together. That was something that Geo didn¡¯t knew. He realized that he never was in a house that had that much chalk in it. At least he can¡¯t remember being in one. Geo stopped caring about the wall and grabbed his necklace. The emblem of the falcon on it meant a lot in the kingdom of alexia but here it was meaningless. At least it was for literally everyone but him. Geo¡¯s thoughts kept jumping around for the whole night until he was finally able to fall asleep. The next morning when he woke up his friends were all already ready to leave. Conrad couldn¡¯t come since he had business in the church to attend but Diane and Jaeger accompanied him on his way to apologize for the mess that he made and to fix the walls that he broke. While he was able to find the owner of the inn she confiscated most of Geo¡¯s stuff. Mainly the money that he earned and a few other valuables. That is when Geo remembered that the pants that the fisherman gave him were apparently valuable, but he didn¡¯t mention it. She was on the other hand surprised when he used his powers to fix the wall. Apparently, it didn¡¯t come to her mind that she housed a magician. Then Geo slowly fixed as many things as possible, sometimes the damage was too much for him to fix, but most the problematic things were fixable. Like on the pier where he ripped out a piece of rock that was heavier then him and threw it into a nearby garden wall. Geo realized how lucky he was that most of the city was made of rocks since couldn¡¯t fix it otherwise. During most of the time no one said much. The atmosphere was for the most part heavy. This took most of the day to do. Geo went back to the inn where he stayed at originally. Although the owner wasn¡¯t to happy with him coming back he collected everything that wasn¡¯t confiscated. That wasn¡¯t much, he was able to keep his bag and some clothes that obviously couldn¡¯t be sold and the knife that was also salvaged back from the rescue boat he was stranded in. Basically, he had as many things as when his journey home started. ¡°That necklace that you are wearing give it to me!¡± The innkeeper ordered. Geo grabbed the emblem with his hand and strongly declared: ¡°NO. Not this. It is one of the last things that I have from home.¡± Since he clearly showed hostility the owner let him keep the eagle emblem. She was clearly afraid of him. Probably since he has shown to be able to easily destroy a wall during a rampage. ¡°Alright, keep that. But now leave and NEVER come back!¡± The owner shouted and ended the conversation. Geo and his friends left and did the last thing they had to do. They went to the harbourmaster and gave him his maps and notes back. His asked Geo if he found out what he needed to know. Geo looked one last time at the pile of maps and answered quietly: ¡°Thank you. I know everything I had to know.¡± The man was easily able to read everything he had to know out of Geo¡¯s answer. Nodded quietly and went back to his table where he continued to finish his work that was interrupted by the trio. As they left the office Jaeger asked Geo: ¡°What do you plan to do now? Where will you go now that this is all done? Will you back to Sieg or the village or do you have something else planned?¡± Geo shuck his head and sat down at the pier looking at the sea. And thought about what do to now. The sun started to set. Biss sat down next to Geo to have his head pat. Geo smiled, even the dog was able to read the situation. ¡°I don¡¯t really have a plan on what to do right now. It will take some time for me to think things through. I would like to be alone, if that is ok with you guys.¡± ¡°Ok, but don¡¯t do something dumb. It is getting dark soon. So please come to our place when you are ready.¡± Geo nodded. Diane and Jaeger left. For some reason Biss stayed behind. Still without making a noise. He just sat next to Geo enjoying the last light of the day. Geo found it weird that the dog was still next to him. Usually he was unrepeatable from his master. But having this quiet furred companion next to him didn¡¯t bother Geo at all. Some time passed. The sun was almost gone. Geo was playing with a couple of rocks he found nearby. He made them change shape. From a sphere to a coin over to a knife shape. But Biss made a sad noise so he formed it to a cube. A form Biss was more comfortable with. Realizing that his friends were probably worrying about him. Geo stud up as did the dog. As if he knew what Geo wanted to do the dog started to run ahead enthusiastically. He turned around and made it clear that he wanted Geo to keep up with him and Geo was happy to comply. Geo didn¡¯t know why but the short sprint next to Biss made him a lot happier than he was in the last few hours. When he arrived at the room the door opened even before he was able to knock. Jaeger invited him into the room and Biss trotted to his master, Geo followed. Inside he saw Diane and Conrad sitting at a table. ¡°Geoffrey please sit down.¡± Conrad welcomed him with a serious tone. Confused by the formality Geo sat on the chair that was offered to him. Diane was very excited and wanted to say something, but Conrad stopped her with a surprising level of professionalism. ¡°So, Geoffrey have you decided on what you want to do now?¡± ¡°Well I am not quite sure jet.¡± Geo admitted. ¡°Hmm, well if you don¡¯t know jet. How about this? Stay with us!¡± Geo was surprised at this offer. ¡°Well I am thankful for your help, but I don¡¯t want to leech of you guys for any longer then absolutely necessary.¡± Diane was able to calm down her excitement and explained: ¡°No, not as a friend but as a job. We were talking yesterday evening and we want you to stay with us as a bodyguard for me. We are travelling a lot for¡­ reasons that we can¡¯t explain until you agree to the offer.¡± Geo was surprised. So, Conrad explained it a bit better: ¡°Geoffrey, you have some impressive talents. And you have nowhere else to go. If you join formally join us we can explain it properly. All that we can tell you is that you are joining a good cause. So, will you join us on our travels?¡± ¡°Well this is out of nowhere, so I don¡¯t know. I need time to think. Is that ok?¡± Diane nodded and said: ¡°Sure, take your time! But answer us as soon as possible. We will leave in three days. Tell us until tomorrow morning what your decision is, ok?¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°It is understandable that you don¡¯t want to join onto an unknown cause without explanation. Until your decision is made you can stay with us. For now. You can use the room that you stayed in yesterday.¡± With that the conversation was over. Geo excused himself into his room. He didn¡¯t know what to make out of that offer. It came out of nowhere. He laid on his bed and thought about it. He did realize that it was weird for a priest to travel with a bodyguard, or to even travel at all. Until now he just assumed that this is how they do it here but maybe there is more to it. They were also always secretive about themselves a lot of the time. It should have been obvious that something was going on. Later Jaeger came and laid on the bed next to him with Biss jumping on to the bed next to him. Just now Geo realized that this is a room for two. He just didn¡¯t realize it since the trio was in that other room last night. Probably out of respect for him. Or maybe they were afraid? He was violent before so that was a possibility. ¡°It is a good offer you know?¡± Jaeger said casually from the bed next to him. ¡°The payment is good, and we are doing something great. Believe me! If everything goes well, we will have an impact on the world. But I guess that is all that I can say. Everyone here likes you. I hope that you accept. But I can¡¯t say anymore. Can¡¯t leak any information. So, goodnight.¡± Geo heard the man turning over. He grabbed his necklace one last time and made a decision for tomorrow. A new start When Geo woke up Jaeger wasn¡¯t in his bed. Since Biss wasn¡¯t around either Geo assumed that they went for a walk. Something he realized, they rarely made unless it was safe to do so. When he went into the middle room of the three-room apartment he found both Diane and Conrad sitting there. Diane was studying some complicated papers and Conrad seemed to be in deep thought. Diane looked up from her notes and saw Geo entering. ¡°Hello Geo. How are you? Made a decision yet?¡± Geo smiled and nodded: ¡°Yes. I would like to join you on your mysterious quest. I don¡¯t know how much of help I can be of. But if you want me with you, please take me with you on your journey.¡± Geo bowed respectfully, and Diane put her notes to the side and hugged him. Conrad sat up and declared professionally: ¡°We can discuss everything later, when Jaeger returns. For now, why don¡¯t we get something to eat and drink. I am starving.¡± Conrad left the room and left Geo and Diane alone. She offered him to sit down with her with a quick hand movement and a friendly smile. ¡°So, I guess you aren¡¯t just traveling priests, Aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Conrad is a priest. And he was on the road for a few years. Mostly as an emissary between the various churches of Reso, but it I am not really one. That is true. But don¡¯t worry. We will explain once everyone is here.¡± ¡°Oh, ok.¡± They both sat at the table in an unusual silence. Normally they had something to discuss. From magic to Geo¡¯s home or even whatever the caravan had going on. But this time there wasn¡¯t a topic of conversation open, aside for the one that they would discuss later. It became a bit weird for Geo once he realized that, this is the first time that he was alone with a girl ever since he left his homeland. Normally either Conrad or Jaeger was around, their absence was almost painfully clear. Diane didn¡¯t have anything to talk about either as she just sat there in silence. Thankfully it didn¡¯t last for too long as both Jaeger and Conrad came after a few minutes back from their errands. Conrad brought some unusual ring-shaped breads on a stick while Jaeger bought some smoked fish and soft cheese. A typical breakfast for the area apparently. It was a first in long time. that Geo paid much attention to the food that he ate. A shame he thought since he really enjoyed the slightly salty smoked fish and cheese combination. Although Geo enjoyed it Conrad made it very clear that he didn¡¯t want the cheese anywhere near his plate. Something that made Geo chuckle a little. Jaeger seemed indifferent to the food here. Diane seemed to share this opinion of the food. At least Biss seemed happy as he happily chewed on some smaller fish that were pieces of bycatch that Jaeger got for cheap. After the meal was done it was time for the official business. Conrad, Diane and Jaeger made it obvious that this coming discussion was very important and to be taken seriously. ¡°Geoffrey Marshal. Thank you for joining us on our quest. Despite not being clearly told what we are doing here. As our vagueness implies the topic is top secret and we ask you to not talk to anyone about it unless the person already knows about it. To explain what we are doing here we need to give you context on the situation for it to make any sense. So, let us begin. About 50 years ago Diane¡¯s grandfather came up with a revolutionary idea. A way to move an object far away in a short amount of time. Although vague he started to work on this idea and made multiple sketches and theories on how to do near instant teleportation. Since it took a long time but about 34 years ago he got the funding to finish his prototype. Two teleportation fields that were able to transport a man over twenty kilometers far. Not enough to be practical so when 15 years ago the technic was improved to a practical level a plan was hatched. We want to make teleportation fields in allied countries. Although it isn¡¯t ready for the general population access to it will be made to influential people who agreed to our terms. And this is where we come in. Right now, there are only three people who can draw and understand the teleportation circles.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Two of them are journeying along the continent to connect the allied countries. They are Diane and her older brother Leo. Leo travels along the western lands and Diane along the eastern once to draw the circles in the respected areas. Got that Geo?¡± Although Conrad spoke clearly Geo was completely lost. ¡°Wait a minute. Can you repeat that so that I understand it? I have no idea what you were talking about.¡± The trio looked at each other and then Diane said: ¡°Ok, let me explain it.¡± She moved her chair a bit closer to Geo and started her explanation. ¡°Have you understood what teleportation is?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°That is, it when an object gets instantly moved from point A¡± She holds up her left hand. ¡°To point B. Now my grandfather discovered a way to do this teleportation. By drawing a complex magical circle. Now we are travelling from area to area to connect them via teleport circles. Can you follow?¡± ¡°Yes. Question. Why all the secrecy then?¡± Now Jaeger answered. ¡°It is a security thing. We don¡¯t want nations that aren¡¯t allied with us to get to much information about it.¡± ¡°That is why Diane pretends to by my apprentice. No one cares to much about two travelling priests. And if someone asks, why we have bodyguards we say that Diane is the daughter of a wealthy man who doesn¡¯t want his girl to travel unprotected.¡± ¡°If our cover gets blown however. We are in danger that someone kidnaps Diane and steals the technology through her. And that is why we are always with her.¡± ¡°This is a lot to take in. Can you give me a moment to process this all?¡± ¡°Sure, take your time. It is a lot of information to process.¡± Geo sat deeper into his chair. It took him a while to come to terms with what his friends were doing, and what he is going to do. After a short moment of silence, he smiled and asked: ¡°Ok, I got this. So, what are we going to do now?¡± ¡°Like we told you. In a few days we will leave Sailport to a small fort further into the country. There we will meet General Swift. He will lead us to the place where we plan to draw the teleportation circle. Until then we will stay here. You can have some time of but at least someone must stay with Diane.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Jaeger stood up. ¡°Now if everything is said. We can go. You staying here Diane?¡± ¡°Yes, I have to go through some notes of mine. What are you going to do Conrad?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really have anything going on right now, but since Geo is here I can go for a walk as well. See you then.¡± Geo was still sitting at the table when the two bodyguards left the room. Diane went to her room and got some papers and books. The same paper and books that Geo saw her read and study almost every evening during their travels so far, Geo realized. It was silent for a few minutes as Diane studied and Geo was just starring bored into the room. ¡°Say Diane, what are those papers that you are always studying?¡± ¡°Hmm¡± She looked up from her work. ¡°What I am studying? Oh, this. These are various notes that either my dad, brother or I made while developing the teleport circles. Like see here!¡± She handed him a map of an area that he didn¡¯t know. It was marked with circles and arrows that he didn¡¯t understand. ¡°On this map we have noted where the rivers in the target area are and where they float to. This is important since you can¡¯t just put teleportation circles anywhere. The natural flow of magic must support it, or the magic will fail. I need to remember all of that when I am drawing the circle so that I can program it into the formula.¡± ¡°Is it complicated to draw a magical circle?¡± ¡°Yes, and don¡¯t ask me why they call it a circle. Most magic formulas are a complicated mess for lines and symbols interconnected by more lines and symbols. In fact, the last seven years of development my dad and grandpa only tried to make the formula easier to draw. The version we worked with before contained almost five thousand Symbols that needed to be placed correctly for the magic to work. Now we only have to work with four thousand Symbols.¡± ¡°So, those notes contain all for the formulas that you are going to draw?¡± She sighed and explained: ¡°Yes and No, I had to memorize a big part of the basic parts of the formulas. And a lot of the formulas are encrypted.