I guessed that having received my mana must have protected me from its effects somehow. I tried to run through my spell repertoire in order to find one that would wake everybody up but something stopped me.

What would happen afterward if I did?

Everyone saw Kai kill The Divine. I know he was not to blame for what had happened, but would everyone see it that way? Would they believe me if I tried to convince them?

Their loved ones were dead and their chance to get their mana was gone, perhaps forever. And was The Divine truly dead?

I looked around and could not see anything resembling the body of The Divine anywhere. Only then did the implications of what had happened really sink in.

The Divine might actually be dead. And with It, mana, spells and our civilization as we knew it. Things that we took for granted would now fade away to nothingness with each new generation.

The idea of people having to live manaless lives made me shiver. For the first time since I was a little girl, I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.

But I knew that this was not the time to hide in a chimney again and wait for someone to come along and save me after the battle was over. I needed to focus and do the saving myself.

Even if we somehow reached an understanding as to Kai’s innocence in killing The Divine—as if a young boy would ever be able to hurt It—how would they ever forgive him for the massacre that occurred afterward?

Much as it was obvious to me that Kai’s body was not controlled by him, all those mana bursts that killed angels and mortals alike, originated from him. His newly acquired golden skin would not help either.

They would hunt him down and demand revenge. Revenge for the death of their parents, their siblings, their friends, their God.

No, staying here was not an option. I needed to take him away for the time being. Yes, take him away. Get him back to normal and figure out what had happened.

I made my way to the market, formulating a plan as I walked. Most of the fires had already perished in this part of Nara and the majority of the buildings still stood untouched, largely due to the powerful protective spells cast on them.

Part of me felt like a thief, but I knew, terrible as it was, that the items did not belong to anyone anymore. I wanted to become strong and craft wondrous items but life would have me steal and run to survive.

I started by looking into the shops with magic items. The first thing I picked was something that would allow me to see through all these stores more easily.

Item : Hat of Directional Light

Type : Magic Item

Durability : 190/190

Grade : E Grade

Weight : 16st.

Description : A hat fashioned after the Elysian style of mage hats. The body of this hat has been enchanted with a thin transparent film that can illuminate the way in front of the wearer. The enchantment of the hat last for 25 years or a total of 15000 hours of use.

Clouds might very well hide the moon at any time so this would most definitely make things faster for me. It was not a particularly sought-after magical item but every stall had one and it was exactly what I needed.

I had to gather provisions, but there were no animals left alive to tie to a cart. I needed some sort of magical device that would allow me to carry a lot of resources without hindering my movement.

Fortunately, there was a huge number of merchant carts that had been brought to Nara to do business during the festivities surrounding the liturgy.

In them, I found many handbags and backpacks that could hold thousands of times their volume.

Item : Minor bag of extra-dimensional space

Type : Magic Item

Durability : 21000/21000

Rarity : E Grade

Weight : 40st.

Description : The opening of this bag leads to a small extra-dimensional space. The capacity of this bag is many times that of its mundane counterpart, while the inventory of the bag loses its weight once in it. Everything within this bag is readily available for the user. This bag can hold up to 250 pounds of weight and its volume can’t exceed 35 cubic feet. However, if it fits through the opening, it fits inside as well, regardless of length.

But this was still not enough to hold everything I would need to take with me. Who knew how long we would be gone for, after all?

Searching through the wares, I found quite a few things that we would need if we were to stay away from civilization for a long time.

Item : Source of Water

Type : Magic Item

Durability : 1900/1900

Rarity : D Grade

Weight : 40st.

Description : This jug has the ability to produce an almost inexhaustible amount of water. Upon turning the jug sideways, clean, fresh water will start flowing from it until its daily reserves are depleted. This item can produce 1200 galons of water per day, replenishing its magical storage every sunrise.

Not only would this item take care of our most important need while traveling, I found multiples of it. I did not take too many of them but I made sure I had enough in case one of them was somehow stolen or destroyed or if I wanted some quick cash.

Even though this item was pretty common in magical stores, it was also easy to sell. What’s more, an easy enchantment like this would most definitely not raise any brows if I took it to a merchant.

The next category of items I procured were almost equally important for traveling and surviving in general.

Item : Basket of Bountifulness

Type : Magic Item

Durability : 2100/2100

Rarity : D Grade

Weight : 30st.

Description : This item is able to produce enough bread, cheese and fruits to sustain a group of eight adults for a day at a time. The provisions manifest in the basket once per day on sunrise.

With water and food covered, it was time to look at magic items that would offer us protection while traveling as well as means of doing just that. The first protection-oriented magic item came in the most mundane of forms.

Item : Blanket of Protection against Adverse Weather Conditions

Type : Magic Item

Durability : 550/550

Rarity : E Grade

Weight : 50st.

Description : A blanket created to act as an absolute seal around the user. A protective translucent bubble of comfortable temperature is created for the user, protecting them from extreme cold, heat, rain, or snow.

I made a mental note to pick all of these things up once I had found a suitable container and at least one magical mount.

At the third merchant cart I searched, I found exactly what I was looking for. It looked like a large, plain chest—big enough to hold a person of my size—with expandable wheels that would make it easier to carry. Its magical nature manifested when it was placed on the ground with its wheels detached.

Item : Chest Quarters

Type : Magic Item

Durability : 26000/26000

Rarity : B Grade

Weight : 640st.

Description : A chest that is comfortably equipped with wheels on one side for ease of carrying and can easily fit a large volume of items. Once the bottom of the chest touches the ground and its wheels are removed, its interior turns into into a fully equipped house that can sleep multiple people or act as a permanent storage facility.

The bottom part of the chest was indeed transformed into a staircase leading down a good thirty steps to a furnished, fully functional house.

The chest-home was already equipped with magical items and trinkets of its own though I did not want to waste too much time in identifying and cataloging them. The furnishings were mundane but practical and I was in no place to be fussy.

Briefly going through the most basic of its magic devices, I saw there were air, heat and water generators as well as enough beds to comfortably house a family of four.

The steps down from the chest took me directly into a spacious living room, complete with large bookcases and a fireplace. A corridor led to a bathroom, and a kitchen on the one side, and a room that could serve as storage as well as a small bedroom on the other.

I felt a surge of guilt. This was a rare magical item that would have been sold for a ridiculously high price, without even counting the rest of the things it contained.

Would have been sold. Now there was no reason to leave it here, since the traveling merchant who owned it was dead. As much I didn’t want to think about that, it did make me feel less bad about stealing.

I had to be practical. We needed to escape.

I locked up the chest and picked up the other items I had noticed earlier, along with more minor and major magic items, including a flute and a whistle that summoned horses. After I felt I had enough, I set up my chest-home next to the food market and started to transfer food downstairs.