A few days have passed since Max’s return from the forest. During that time, The Humble Titans either trained or prepared for their quest and subsequent travels. Turns out traveling long distances in this world was much more involved than back on Earth. Even though Vel and Domic handled the brunt of the work, Max still felt overwhelmed.

Max would wake up, eat breakfast, then go straight into training. After a break for lunch, he would go to the market with Reep and Clammy to buy things for their trip. Travel time to Esmel was just under 3 weeks, meaning they had to prepare for all sorts of hazards. Domic was able to use his connections and find the team a simple wooden carriage to travel with.

Carriages were quite different from what Max had originally imagined. Instead of a box on wheels, the carriage hovered. Most carriages that moved outside of the city were powered by mana. A passenger would supply the power, and the enchants and runes would raise and propel the carriage forward. Max spent a few hours talking to the man they were renting it from. The man liked to talk about his work, and while most wouldn’t care, Max did. Enchanting and runes fascinated him. It was a technology so different, but at the same time, so similar to Earth’s technology.

Max could make connections between runes and code functions he used to use every day. A squiggly line with a top hat? Or Gate. Capital H with a lightning bolt as a stem? If Statement.

Max decided that he would look into enchanting and rune work after their return from Esmel. If Max got [Space Mage] as his second class, then he could potentially sell inventory rings or teleport scrolls. The market was undersaturated since [Space Mage]’s were rare, and ones with knowledge of enchanting, even rarer.

The last few days had really been eye-opening for Max. There was just so much Magical knowledge that Max wanted to learn about. So much room for innovation. He thought he could help a lot of people out, with ideas from Earth. IF Lester could do it, why can’t I? Max thought. Helping people as an adventurer was a given. Max was going to do it regardless of the danger. But if he could also help people live more comfortably?

The Humble Titans, Vel, and Bishop were set to leave in the morning. Everything was packed and ready to go. The carriage, Max renamed to the speeder, had a full tank of mana. It wouldn’t be until noon before they had to refill it.

Celenia wanted to accompany them. After all she was an Elf, and Esmel was an Elvin city. Since she started her [Druid] training with Master Dreamstem, she couldn’t exactly leave. She did however give Max a letter. She told him that she had some extended family there, and the letter explained what happened to her. She had already sent a letter off to her hometown, but Max bringing a letter to Esmel was more reliable.

Currently, Mel and Clammy are dueling. Mel had come over every day for morning training. Today Goob came with her. Max wasn’t sure, but Goob was acting strange around him since he got back. Max wondered if it was because he learned that Max was a Lost One.

Mel had moved from using a whip as her primary weapon to a short spear. She kept her whip on her, but after her duel with Max, she saw how enemies could easily counter her flimsy weapon. Now, paired with her stealth, her short spear could deal devastating damage to unsuspecting targets.

Clammy, on the other hand, has been working on using Gravity Magic on targets with auras. From the way she described it, auras acted like a dampener. She could either brute force the auras at the cost of mana or find weak spots within an aura for her mana to penetrate. Max found it interesting how others viewed magic. One person’s understanding could be completely different from others. Both could be correct, but one might excel at something particular. Max took his idea to Vel, and she told him,

“Welcome to Magical Theory. I would say that's a second-year concept within any prominent Magical College.”

The duel ended with Clammy Gravity Striking Mel’s spear from her hands.

“Holy Hells! You hit like a charging minotaur!” Mel said from a downed position.

Clammy grew slightly red. “It was the only way I could find to beat you! I couldn’t find a way around your aura!”

A bright grin appeared on Mel’s face. “I’ve been practicing.”

“I coul-”

“TIME TO GO!” Bishop shouted from the door to the training room.

Clammy ignored him and helped Mel stand up. The two girls had become good friends over the last few days. They both used each other as dueling buddies and helped each other find multiple ways around difficult battles.

“How long did you say you were going to be gone?” Mel asked.

“Not sure. Minimum six weeks. But I highly doubt that. Vel is expecting the quest to possibly take a full month. Three months would be the best estimate I would guess.”

“Aww. Who am I supposed to duel when you are gone?”

“TIME TO GO!” Bishop shouted again, causing the girls to move to the door.

“Not sure. Goob, I guess.”

“Ugh he’s not fun to duel.”

“I know right.”

Bishop shook his head and walked ahead of the girls. Bishop was what was known as a Rover. Rovers are a special type of solo adventurer that move around the continent constantly. While not an official rank, Rovers are often powerful and opt to take interesting or inherently dangerous quests. Most of the highest renowned adventures classify themselves as rovers.

After Bishop’s team disbanded, he chose to continue onwards rather than retire like Vel and Lester did. Bishop’s area of expertise gave him a unique situation where he would likely be the only one who could solve a problem. He knew that, even though his laid-back expression and cadence often showed the opposite. Bishop was strong enough to save countless lives and he had resolved himself many centuries ago to help those in need. Even if it cost him.

Bishop found the others waiting by the carriage speeder. Vel was already sitting in the passenger's seat, reeling to go. Bishop smiled softly, remembering their past adventures. Reep was tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. Max and Celenia were talking to Domic and Iris. They had come to see off the group.

Bishop decided to calm Reep. “Reep. Calm yourself. There is nothing to worry about right now.”

“But Clammy is late.”

“She may be, but there are plenty of opportunities to make up time during our journey.” Bishop found through his sessions with Reep, the best way to get his point across was to speak clearly. She could understand hidden or inferred messages, but oftentimes she would ignore them if they were not directly stated.

Clammy and Mel exited the mansion a few moments later. Max’s conversation ended, causing the four of them to venture over to the base of the speeder where Reep and Bishop were standing. Everyone was present and saying their last goodbyes. Bishop made a special note when Celenia raised herself onto her toes and kissed Max on the check.

Bishop wasn’t sure who’s reaction he liked better. Max’s stunned stare, Reep’s unamused head shake, Clammy’s sadistic grin, or Celenia’s red face. Kids. Bishop thought.

“Hey where did everyone go?” Goob asked, walking out of the mansion. “I go to the bathroom for a few min-” His sentence abruptly ended when he saw the many unusual expressions from the group. “Wha-”

“I’ll tell you later!” Mel said, shutting him up.

“Please don’t!” Celenia squeaked, causing everyone to laugh except Max who was still stunned.

“Is it really going to take three weeks to get to Esmel?” Max asked.

They group had already been traveling for a few hours. The sun was now high in the sky and their speeder was going to need recharging soon.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Vel declared. “I hate traveling. The faster we get there, the better.”

Vel had already explained to the group their path. Normal travel time from Lesterwood to Esmel was only 2 weeks. But since it was decided that The Humble Titans would get some quests done on the way, they were going on a slightly longer path. Max, an Earthling, couldn’t get over how long it was going to take. From what he understood, Esmel was only a couple hundred kilometers from Lesterwood. The same distance could be traveled in a few hours on Earth.

Paved highways and airplanes really make a difference, huh? Max thought with a sigh.

Their first quest was a few days away from Lesterwood. A goblin fort had been discovered by some local villagers. Clammy, and subsequently the rest of the team, hated goblins. They had taken so much from her, and they could all burn for all she cared.

Goblins are incredibly fast breeders. They repopulate exponentially and often pillage small villages or settlements. Goblins related quests are among the most often occurring quests within the Adventuring Guild. They were a plague, and everyone knew it. Goblins were not friends.

A few hours previous to the group leaving Lesterwood, a courier came by. She brought Max 3 books. Head Priestess Burk come through with her penance and gave Max some light reading. She was being forced, by Divine ordinance, to train Max in the art of the aura. A small letter arrived with the books. It was one sentence that only told Max the read order.

He started with the first book. An Introduction To The Aura For The Common Battle Mage. The book was written by a Knight Captain in Salae, an expert on the ins-and-outs of auras. Max found that the Knight’s writing was rather condescending, but informative.

Every time the group stopped to refill the tank or for a meal, Max practiced manipulating water with Emi acting as resistance. They created a training game where each of them would orbit water globes around themselves. They would then attack and defend each other. Only pure water manipulation was allowed, and neither could dodge or block. Max quickly felt the difficulty of this game. He would launch a ball at Emi only to have it forcefully “grabbed” from him. She would then have more water globes them and easily overpower him.

The game quickly became a battle of wit and strength. Emi would often play the role of power, forcing Max to try and deceive her with faints or tactical positioning. Max was also quickly becoming more proficient at grabbing her water, signifying his advancement in Water Manipulation skill.

When Max wasn’t reading, he would practice manipulating water by himself. He would do Emi’s previous training regiment, along with advice from Vel or Bishop. Vel often would have him do more things at once, while Bishop opted for more finesse. Max chuckled when he realized just how different those two actually were.

“So… You and Celenia. Didn’t know you two were a thing.” Clammy said, breaking a silent few hour.

“HA! Are you kidding? He didn’t know either!” Vel mocked.

Max was turning red, but he couldn't help but smile. He liked Celenia, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for a relationship. He wasn’t even sure how relationships worked on this world.

“Cut the kid some slack.” Bishop said. “He’s been here less than a month. He’s had no time to think about love.”

Max checked his Divine Power box. “My one-month anniversary is in a few days actually.”

Bishop slapped him on the back, hard. “That calls for celebration. Next village I’ll look for the good stuff.”

Max didn’t know what the “good stuff” was, but he had a bad feeling.

The goblin fort had a total of 17 goblins residing in or around it. On their approach, Reep was silently dispatching them through the use of arrows. She was able to fully form lightning into an arrow now. Her lightning arrows would cause significantly more damage to the target as well as travel far faster. The goblins never knew what hit them.

Clammy took the inner goblins. The fort was more of a fenced off patch of land, rather than a stone bulwark for soldiers. She quickened herself and charged headstrong into battle. Clammy had been practicing keeping small rocks floating around herself and connecting them with targets as she ran.

As Max watched, he thought of her work as an art form. A gruesome and brutal art, but art non the less. Max watched as she danced through a dozen warriors. Most died due to rocks obliterated limbs or caving in chests, but the ones who were able to get in close, found another monster waiting. Their bodies would slow to a crawl, and they would be left waiting for a hammer to end their lives.

Clammy hated goblins and almost found joy in their deaths. Almost.

The fort was cleared, the quest was turned into the nearby village and the group was on their way. Both Reep and Clammy had leveled. Reep was now level 13 in [Archer] and 3 in [Lightning Hands]. Clammy was now level 4 in [Gravity Mage].

The next town was a few days away. As they traveled, they killed every Vine Serpent they found. The small snakes were worth more than their weight in silver. They were a common but very sought-after skin used for leatherworking. The group had a quest to bring back as many skins as they could to the next village.

That night, Max found out what the “good stuff” was. Max was never much of a drinker, but when Bishop described the small jar of drink he held as Magical, Max was intrigued.

As per whatever bullshit custom Bishop said, Max was to drink first. The drink burned his mouth, then chilled it, creating an icy hot sensation. Max hated it and spat it out. The whole group laughed except for Max.

“Classic!” Vel said.

“Get them every time!” Bishop echoed.

“What the fuck is that?” Max demanded.

“It's called Frosted Fireale.” Reep said. “It is often used as a treatment for frostbite, or as a moment such as this.”

Max relaxed and took in the moment. He laughed with his friends. The group watched as Emi sniffed the jar and backed away in haste. The group laughed more.

“We would call something like this a prank, back on Earth.”

“Prank?” Clammy asked mainly for the pronunciation.

“Yeah, a joke a friend pulls on another friend.” Max answered, causing him to think about the moment a bit.

Friends huh?