Zhanid had finished packing his things. The three now outside the inn were heading to a nearby area where the old mage claimed he could hire the three necessary horses. The bright morning sun lit up the horizon, and the sound of small birds echoed across the sky. A few clouds covered the strong blue a little, creating a beautiful view.
With each step of the teacher, it was possible to hear the sound of several pieces of metal hitting each other, it was not a sharp sound like a blade, and with a certain attention, it was possible to perceive that there was also the sound of a liquid in his backpack .
*Ting, Ting, Ting*
The sound followed the rhythm of the wizard's footsteps.
Luke turned to Meredith who immediately understood the look of strangeness, the two were trying to understand what was inside the wizard's backpack. But knowing the old mage's behavior, the two knew that questioning would create a long explanation, the journey would be long, and so it was best to keep Zhanid quiet. The sound of the mage's backpack was uncomfortable for the two half-beasts, but it was still much better than trying to understand what he was going to say.
The walk didn't take long, after going down a slope, the group arrived at another house in front, it was possible to see a sign written "Horses and Cells". On the left side of the property was a small field with a crop of what appeared to be vegetables. On the other side of the house, a barn with several horses. The Old Mage Zhanid then came to the door and rang a bell in front of the property. After a few minutes without an answer, Meredith knocked loudly on the door twice.
"I'm going now" Said a boy's voice.
After a few minutes, the door was opened by a gasping red-haired young man. He appeared to be between 14-15 years old. His clothes were typical of a farmer in the region, baggy pants soiled with dirt and a pair of leather boots. Aside from the boy's striking red curly hair, his innocent face was marred by freckles.
"Sir! Long time no see. Have you come to rent horses again?"
Zhanid then reached out his hand and ran it through the boy's hair.
"Hohoho, how long Adam. Exactly, I'll ask the academy to return them as usual."
The little farmer was excited about the old wizard's visit. This made Luke give a small smile, which Meredith noticed, and began to smile maliciously. However, the wolf boy's eyes soon turned serious, which surprised the girl.
"It's for the lives of these people I need to fight for" His tone of voice showed his heart full of determination, no matter what he was doing, the feeling of need to act always returned to luke, making him unsease.
"It's going to be all right Luke" said the fox lady, while holding one of youth's hands.Little Adam started asking Zhanid several questions, he was talking more than even the mage himself. However, the gentleman said he needed to hurry back to the gym. Taking the message, the little farmer led the group to the barn next door. Several horses walked through the grass, with different colors and coats from one another. The boy then took a rope and lassoed three horses.
"These here are rested, the one with the white fur is Tormentor. The gray is called Matsukaze and the black is called Caravaggio. Take good care of them please sir Zhanid!" The Youth then tied the horses to a fence. But then he slapped himself a little across the face and ran back to the house.
'This kid must be kidding' thought Meredith, who was already a little annoyed with the time taken to rent the horses.
After a few more minutes, the boy came running back with three cells.
. "That's it, the rent will be 30 pieces of silver"
The Magus then took a bag of coins from his pocket, counted out the necessary and handed them over.
By the time Zhanid had finished paying, impatiently Meredith had reached the white horse Tormentor, pulled it from the fence, and mounted it. With a speed that showed his annoyance. After that, Luke mounted Matsukaze and Zhanid in Caravaggio. The Group then said goodbye to little Adam and set off on their journey. Following the road in front of the house where they were, a decline continued, by the height, it was possible to see the sea in a relative distance. Meredith then ran the horse down the road, Luke followed and Zhanid followed at a slightly slower pace. The strong breeze ruffled Luke's hair, it was an invigorating sensation, which for a brief moment took away all the problems that were going through the young man's head. The two half-beasts kept their distance from Zhanid, avoiding the noise of the backpack that was now synchronized with the horse's footsteps. After a few minutes, the three were facing the beach. The moment Luke's eyes caught sight of the literal memories of the port of Oukiwa, making the half-wolf feel homesick, and again start to miss his wives.
The first off the horse was Meredith, after which both Luke and Zhanid descended to prepare. It didn't take long, the wizard removed the three potions and asked the two to take a small sip, Meredith made a disgusted face after tasting the bitter taste of the potion. After the mage removed three apples from his backpack, he poured the potion's contents into them. So they fed the potion to the horses.
Zhanid then recited a spell, and several small blue spheres appeared around the group. Climbing onto the horses, Luke was the first to walk forward. As soon as the animal left the sand, a kind of ground was formed, the sea was calm. When a slightly larger wave appeared, the lights the mage summoned calmed the waves, maintaining a course of water like a large still lake.
Moving forward with the horses was a little difficult, it was as if the animals knew that this place was not ideal for them. However, Luke managed to control it with ease and keep the pace, the horses behind still followed with trepidation. As the group moved away from the shore, it was possible to see fish jumping, or even just below the group. In a moment, the 7foot water snake appeared below the group. Zhanid quickly caught it with a spell that reminded Luke of Nathalia's <Grappling Hook>. The Mage then threw her away from the group.
"It won't take much longer, soon we'll be able to see the Diamong Plateau" Zhanid said. In total, the group should have walked for at least 30 minutes.
After the news, the group began to see several bright lights just below their feet. The horses started to get scared, raising their feet in fear of what looked like a shower of shooting stars, coming from the bottom of the ocean. The sound of Zhanid getting off his horse startled Luke. The old man then looked down at the bottom of the sea, and put his hand into the water.
Facing his own reflection the mage said "No doubt, I think today is fishing day"
Luke and Meredith were confused, but Zhanid then continued
"This is a group of Mana Wyrms, their scales are quite useful for alchemy"
The Mage then withdrew his staff and began to cast a spell, again in the strange language from before.
<Permafrost Icculan Magistiko Ikedan>
When Zhanid finished reciting, the water in front of him quickly concentrated on what looked like an iceberg, controlling the magic with his staff, the old mage was drawing a basin of ice.
<Telekinez Manadin Ikemaz> Quickly
the shoal of Mana Wyrms flew into the sky, blue snakes with skin that glowed white light, their eyes emitted a golden light that flying across the sky, looked like a shower of fiery arrows. Zhanid was controlling the school as if they were a large snake flying through the air. The sunlight reflected off the scales of the creatures as they made a group sound that sounded like hundreds of raging snakes with rage.
While with his staff he moved the creatures, with his other hand he was drawing in the air. Suddenly, a purple magic circle appeared on the Mage's left hand, after which, the glow in the serpents' eyes gradually faded, until all the monsters in the air were frozen to death.
With a wave of his staff Zhanid then gathered the pile of Mana Wyrms into the ice basin. It was a gigantic pile of creatures that appeared to be extremely dangerous. Luke and Meredith couldn't believe the scene they saw, the mage just executed dozens of monsters like it was nothing.
This display of skill left Luke in disbelief, reinforcing in the wolf boy's mind just how necessary he needed to learn magic, and fast. In the fight against the demons, any new weapon would already be of help.
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