CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46 - QUESTION AND ANSWER

"That’s fine by me, I didn’t come with empty pockets anyway."

She said as she took out a bag of copper and silver coins, placing it in front of her. Just as the man was about to reach out and take the bag, she tugged it back.

"I’ll give you one every time you answer a question, truthfully."

The man said nothing in return, just nodded, and she began.

"Tell me about the letters you mention in the journal that you found something. What is it?"

The man glanced around the room for a few seconds after her question, as if looking to see if anyone had heard her, but no one was around to hear.

Yet he leaned forward and spoke in a hushed voice.

"A ruin."

"A ruin, really? Tell me about it."

"You can probably tell from my accent, but I’m not from around here. I’m of common birth, near the northern borders. My family was common farmers, but I always wanted to do more."

The man began to explain his story, and while Morena didn’t care much about his life story, she paid attention nonetheless in case it contained anything of use.

"In the foolish heat of youth, I joined a small exploring group to venture into the wastelands. You know them, right, up north?"

Morena nodded her head in reply to his question.

She had read about the wastelands before; to be exact, it was a large stretch of land that seemed devoid of any life or greenery. All the plants, trees, and even animals seemed to be dead.

There were countless tales about it, and many more folklore about the reason behind it, but most of them were just bard songs meant to entertain the drunken mind.

"Well, during one of our usual outings, there was a landslide; the entire ground caved in. When we woke up, we were in some sort of old ruin, but that was the least of our worries.

The place had all sorts of odd traps and dangers. Lost some good friends there, some of many years."

The man paused for a second, his eyes hazing as if lost in thought, memories of the past, but soon he snapped out of it.

"Regardless, maybe it was because the place was old, or maybe it was because I was lucky. But not all the traps were activated, and I was able to make it to a room. That’s where I found those symbols, or letters as you call them, and some other information."

"So you found the letters in the room and learned them?"

"Of course not. The first thing on my mind was getting out, but after finding the symbols, I just couldn’t take my eyes off them. I first went through the scrolls left there, but most of them were in a different language, so I couldn’t read them.

There was one I could read, though, a letter. It was more of a dying wish than anything proper, but it was what made me so interested in those symbols."

The man seemed to grow angry just thinking back on the memory, tightening his grip, and grinding his teeth.

"That goddamn letter, if I didn’t read it, then I wouldn’t be in this situation now."

Morena raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. She could almost understand the man’s plight; taking a path that led to danger, only to regret taking it.

But there was nothing regret could do.

"What did the letter say?"

"It wasn’t anything special, just a final will from someone, they talked about death approaching them, having regretted taking part in the expedition, and so on. But what really interested me was what they called themselves: a Wizard."

Morena’s face did not hide her shock; her eyes shot open as she stared at the man.

Wizards; something she had believed was a possibility since joining, no, something she had hoped was possible from the stories in her old world. Yet all she found in the library and archive were mere tales, folklore, and nothing concrete or useful.

This was the first time the word had been used in a way that was more than bedtime stories.

"And you believed it?"

"Believe? If you could’ve seen that place, the traps that they had, and the way the symbols moved, then you wouldn’t be able to not believe."

Morena lowered her head, looking at the table, lost in thought.

He wasn’t wrong. When she had first touched the book and first saw the letters, she had experienced all sorts of odd visions, especially that first dream.

Not to mention the energy the AI detected before, it was something different from normal elemental energy.

Morena leaned forward slightly, eyes sharp on the man.

She slid a coin across the table. He snatched it, the motion quick and practiced, and pocketed it without looking down.

"Keep going."

Corin wet his lips, thumb still worrying the strap of his satchel.

"You asked what they did."

He said.

"The marks. They aren’t just letters; I’m sure you have experienced that much. They channel energy, can control the flow of it, and even shape what that energy does. I spent my entire life chasing after that, chasing that goal."

Corin’s face tightened, the dirt around his nails catching the light as his thumb dragged against the strap of his satchel.

"They adapt and change. The symbols themselves are an extension of one’s will, a conduit."

He muttered, leaning forward until his eyes caught the dim light.

"Like a motive. You can trace their outline, but the real thing keeps moving. You can’t make it still, but you can change the way they work, and flow."

"Show me what you learned from chasing it then."

"I won’t draw here."

"Describe."

He glanced at the stair, then leaned in.

"I was able to take the first step. I could never go beyond that because I lacked what they referred to as a ’meditation method,’ but I was able to take that first step and learn how to feel it."

"Feel what?"

The man didn’t answer; instead, he looked at her pouch.

A coin. His hand closed over it fast.

"The energy they use, Wizards. They absorb these energies and use the letters as a means to bend them to their will. Spells they call them, but I don’t have any spells, so the best I could do was rudimentary tricks."

The man sighed, his hand wiping over his face.

"I spent my entire life dedicated to it, and all I could do was tricks."

"What kind of tricks?"

Morena was now much more interested. If there were other means to use the letters, beyond what she had been doing so far, perhaps it could be another means to grow stronger.

So far she had been focused on the path of a warrior, but that was only because it was the only path she had access to. If wizards exist, if there was another path, she wouldn’t hesitate to try and latch onto it.

"Fire here and there, some ice, a gust of wind. Nothing insane; most can’t even hurt a proper warrior. But..."

He paused for a second, then leaned in.

"Apparently, from what I’ve learned, just like how warriors have an apprentice stage, wizards do as well. And I’m not even a proper apprentice, at least, that’s what the notes said."

"Notes? I thought you said you didn’t have anything else."

"I don’t."

The man leaned back and straightened out, folding his arms over his pouch.

"I spent my entire life looking into this, obsessed with it, of course I gathered more information, but it was all hearsay, broken books, or junk. Nothing worth keeping a hard copy of, not while moving."

Morena was going to press the man for lying, for holding out on the information he had, but she decided against it. The man only promised to speak to her on a question and answer basis, one fueled by money.

If she didn’t ask, he wouldn’t tell; this wasn’t some teaching experience.

She decided to back up, the conversation had derailed from the ruins, and she was still very much interested in the ruins.

"Alongside the book was a pendant and a stone, what are they?"

"I got the pendant in that room as well. It was already broken when I found it, some sort of magical artifact but I could never figure out how to get it to work or use it. I sold it because I needed the money."

"And the stone?"

"I found that while digging more into Wizards, I think it’s some form of material, or maybe a resource they use, but I couldn’t learn more about it. I could tell it had elemental energy in it, so I assumed it would have use; but I couldn’t use it for anything."

Morena glanced down at her hands, taking out another coin to ask another question; however, before she had the chance to put it on the table, the man spoke.

"No, that’s enough for now. Any more and we will start standing out."

Morena retracted her hand and looked around, the room was still empty, but the man wasn’t wrong, they had been sitting and speaking for a while.

"Fine, but I’ll come back and discuss more with you; don’t go running away. I believe that you want to see some progress with this, and avoid your chasers. I also want to see this progress."

She slowly stood up, fixing her hood over her head as she looked down at him.

"Maybe we can help each other out."