The Beginning After the End :: A Dwarven Night, Part 1 | Tapas

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6-8 minutos

The entirety of the first day was spent on Sylvie’s back. Without a word muttered to either of the
two dwarven lances, we traveled until night fell when my legs could no longer take the strain of
riding on bare scale even with the protection of thick cloth and mana. Not just that, but the hours
of gripping tightly onto the base of my bond’s neck was taxing on my legs.

Because of me, we stopped for the night and made camp near the base of the Grand Mountains
just a few miles up north of Valden City.

“Please, help yourself.” I held out a skewer of grilled fish toward General Mica and Olfred.

The childlike dwarven lance happily accepted the charred freshwater fish, crunching through the
bones as if they didn’t exist, but the old lance merely shook his head.

“If you have the energy to cook, perhaps we should leave soon,” he said, ignoring my courtesy as
his eyes remained planted on a book he had brought.

“Don’t mind him,” Mica said, her mouth still full of fish. “The old man doesn’t eat food given by
anybody he doesn’t fully trust.”

I nodded, throwing the fish I had grilled for General Olfred to Sylvie. With a snap of her neck, the
blackened fish disappeared inside her maw. My bond remained in her original draconic form,
curled up at the edge of our small camp. Because of her black scales, Sylvie seemed to almost
disappear despite her large frame—the only part of her visible being her two sharp topaz eyes that
seemed to hover in the dark.

‘These small morsels do little more than get stuck between my teeth,’ Sylvie grumbled in my head.
I know, but you’ll have to make do with these for now. Besides, you can easily go for weeks
without eating, I replied, helping myself to a skewered fish. The fish’s charred skin was filled with a
smoky sweetness from the fire, filling my mouth with flavor despite it being unseasoned.

‘Yes, but I eat for the flavor rather than the nutrients,’ she retorted.

Maybe you can find some mana beasts further north. We’re still too close to Valden.

The rest of the meal was rather quiet except for the soft gurgle of the nearby stream where I had
caught the fish and the occasional snap of a twig in the fire.

Olfred didn’t say a word after rejecting my fish, remaining still—almost like a statue—as he leaned
back against the earthen backrest he had erected while reading his leatherbound book. The only
time he actually looked away from the book was when General Mica began humming as she
combed through her short curly hair.

With a look of sheer distaste at the off-tune melody, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. Fortunately,
General Mica was fairly quiet throughout the night, giving me time to refine my mana core.

Despite being at the mid silver-core stage, I felt lacking being surrounded by lances and my bond
that happened to be an asura. With Dawn’s Ballad damaged and my legs debilitated, I felt like I
had taken a step back even after the training at Ephetous. One thing I was certain of was that I
could no longer afford to use Burst Step again if I wanted to keep my ability to walk.

After an hour of gathering mana from the atmosphere, refining it in my core and repeating the
process, I felt someone’s gaze.

I pried an eye open only to see Mica just a few inches away from me, staring intently, while even
Olfred had closed his book to observe.

“This is Mica’s first time feeling something like this,” Mica whispered.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, shifting glances between the two lances.

“Your refinement process,” Olfred answered, his eyes narrowed in thought. “Usually it’s not very
apparent when someone refines their core—”

“But when you do it, it feels like Mica’s body is getting pulled toward you!” Mica cut in excitedly.

“I’ve never had that pointed out,” I replied. “Is it maybe because I’m a quadra elemental?”

Mica let out a gasp. “Quadra?”

“So that’s how you were able to become a lance despite your age. I’ve heard this being discussed
once by the Council, but to think it was actually the case,” Olfred whispered as if talking to himself.

“What’s it like being able to utilize so many elements?” Mica asked as she leaned in closer, her
large eyes practically sparkling.

‘Careful what you reveal,’ Sylvie advised from behind, her body still appearing as if she were
asleep.

I know, I thought back. “There are still some elements that I still have a hard time grasping, like
gravity, but for the most part, it’s practicing and always self-reflecting on what spell and element
to use under specific situations.”

“Right, right.” Mica nodded fervently. “Knowing so many spells is useless if you don’t know when
to use them.”

“There must be elements you’re more comfortable using,” Olfred said.

I nodded. “There are.”

“Hey, shall Mica teach you how to manipulate gravity?”

I scooted back, smelling the grilled fish in Mica’s breath. “I think it’s more of a practical issue than
anything. There are times when I can use it, but it’s just not something I’m confident in.”

“It’s really easy, you know,” Mica insisted, holding out a palm. “You just have to imagine the world
going up or down. Then you grab it in your hand and release!”

Unable to understand Mica’s incomprehensible explanation, I looked back to Olfred.

The old dwarf rolled his eyes. “You’d have an easier time learning from a pebble. Miss Earthborn
comes from a long line of famous dwarven conjurers, but even amongst them, she’s considered a
genius. Learning magic through intuition, she doesn’t even know the rudimentary concepts of
mana manipulation.”

“Earthborn?” I repeated. “Where have I heard that name before?”

“Her ancestors founded Earthborn Institute,” he answered simply, going back to his book.