Jake didn’t like the fact that the Chosen were all forced into this death battle without their consent, even if it was for the betternt of the world as a whole.
He didn’t get why a being powerful enough to stop the Abyss would not just find a better way to fix everything. Did the Dark Dragon not care about the lives that are being lost to keep this balance he created?
He spent the rest of the journey thinking about this. Finally, after over three hours of traveling through the thick forest, they ca out into the path to the small village.
The path led from the hill down into the village. It was surrounded by a stick wall that was collapsed in different places.
The houses looked dilapidated—torn roofs, broken walls—they had definitely seen better days.
There are farms leading up to the village, but there was no one inside. The plants were left there to dry. Jake looked through the back of the carriage.
"It seems they have abandoned their farming entirely," Jake said.
"The bandits must have made it pointless, but still, leaving it like this does make sense," Rion said. He pulled out three gloves from his storage and threw one at Jake.
"Cover your mark. Causing panic in the village won’t be good," he said. Jake wore the glove and covered his mark.
They finally made it to the gate of the town. The doors were open, so they rode inside. They could see people looking at them from the houses, but no one dared co out.
They ca down from the carriage and looked around. "Seems the damage is bigger than we thought," Seer said.
Jake wondered why Seer and Rion, who dipped their hands in so shady things, would be out here to help a village, but as if reading his thoughts, Rion spoke.
"I’m sure you’re wondering why we would even do this. Well, the answer is simple—rewards, that’s all," Rion said.
’Makes sense,’ Jake thought.
They stood there waiting for soone to co, and after a few minutes, an old man followed by two young n finally approached them. The old man was hunched over, using a stick to walk.
He had a completely bald head and grey beards. The n behind him were ripped, their muscles bulging through their clothes.
"Welco... Adventurers. So...rry for the...weak wel...co. The people of...the village are terrified... after the several attacks... they have suffered," the old man dragged through every word. Jake felt like he could fall asleep listening to this man.
One of the n behind him seed to notice that they weren’t happy with how slow the old man spoke, so he stepped forward.
"Sorry, but your chief isn’t who he used to be. Age has caught up with him. I’m his youngest son, Rowan," he introduced himself.
"Alright then, Rowan, tell us about the situation," Seer said.
"The bandits attacked a total of four tis in the last three weeks. We’ve lost three n, and all our stores have been emptied out. The first ti, they attacked the village directly.
The second and third ti was when we were out on the farm. That was when three of our brothers died trying to hold them off. Everyone in the village is scared to even leave their houses," Rowan explained.
"I see. Then we will have to deal with the situation as fast as possible. Do you know anything that can help us locate them?" she asked.
"I scouted the forest once. I found the cabin they use as their base," Rowan said.
"Good, then you’ll co with us. Show us the cabin and then you can return back to your village. We will take the rest from there," Seer said.
"I understand. Please follow ," he said and started walking toward the gate of the village.
They followed him out of the very place and into the farmland, headed for the forest.
"Jake, will I fight any bandit?" Ophelia asked.
"Nope, you’ll stay hidden," he said.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Is that even a question?" Jake replied.
"I want to know how to fight. I don’t want to be weak anymore," she said.
"Well, it doesn’t happen overnight. You need to train. So how’s this: I’ll train you, and when I think you are good enough, I’ll allow you to fight," Jake said.
"Hmmm, fine," she replied.
"You should have her checked for magical affinity," Rion said.
"Hmm? How do you do that?" Jake asked.
"You can do it in Olen. She might turn out to be a mage," Rion said.
"I will, but what you just said brought a question to mind. Magic—I know I’m a mage of sorts, but I don’t really know anything more about it," Jake said.
"Hmmm, alright then, this is the simple explanation. Mana is the energy required to cast magic. It’s believed that mana can take any form or shape, and with it, soone is capable of doing anything.
It all depends on how you use mana, manipulate it, and all that. Until a few hundred years ago, most people believed that mana affinity was given at birth, aning the type of magic you learn is fixed from birth and you can’t learn anything else. But that theory was flawed.
In reality, everyone is born with a type of magical affinity—elental, spiritual, summoning, all of that. But through study and certain practice, everyone can expand their magical abilities.
For instance, I was born with an elental affinity for earth, but as I grew, I studied runes and magical circles.
With the help of that study and trendous practice, I created my sand," he said, raising his hands up. The sand twirled over his hand before vanishing.
"The sands are built from all my studies. I’m no longer bound to using earth magic—I’m more versatile," Rion said.
"So with enough ti you can learn anything?" Jake asked.
"Exactly," Rion replied.
"Don’t listen to Rion. He is a prodigy—his learning speed is imnse. What he did in his fourteen years would take a normal mage thirty to fifty years.
Also, let’s focus now. We are entering the forest," Seer said.
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