“Ah, yes, your highness. I’ll just get the map”-the QuarterMaster then started to rummage through one of the few boxes in the room. After a few minutes he retrieved a schroll from the box and spread it on the table. It was a painting of a scantily clad woman.-”oh, um, sorry your highness, wrong one.”

- the man once again went into the boxes before coming out with another, this time it opened into a map. It was a map with three regions. The outer was light green and according to the key was grassland-woods. Likely where we were. Then there was a ring of dark green which was apparently wood.

Roughly through the middle of it ran a black line separating what seemed to be two different woods. The Woods of Eltemar and the Woods of Armile. Either the woods were really just a wide ring of trees or the distance between us and the Valurien mountains was greater than I thought.

Then finally we had a red circle with a blue smaller circle somewhat to its left. The red were the Valurien Mountains with the blue being Iselgaurd where the Realmwatch was.

“How much is the scale?” I asked the Quartermaster not raising my head.

“Well…I have no clue, your highness. The map was only held by your brother, I have never seen it before. I only recognize the Woods of Eltemar and Armile. They are both big enough that it would take us a day to cross them.”The QuarterMaster said

“A day to cross what? One of them or both?” I asked, confused

“Both your highness, though I would suggest we wait till morning until we cross the Woods of Armile. Both the woods are full of magic. Eltemar’s is docile. Armile’s not as much.” The QuarterMaster answered

“I will need more information than that.” I said looking up.

“Eltemar your highness, has a rather festive atmosphere. Throughout the year, one can hear the sound of bells ringing and people singing merrily. It is said that one may even find their wishes granted if they go deep. The danger however is crossing over to Armile.”

“The two woods are as distinct as they can be, but that is useless with the illusions inherent to this place. Even Armile is not simply dangerous ,your highness, that privilege is reserved by the Valurien mountains. The woods are known to bewilder the mind. Snare it in an inescapable trap while also keeping it unaware of it. " The Quartermaster

"How do we cross it then? Or did my brother not tell you? " I asked

"I never talked with your brother, your highness, but Scientist Bereil did. According to her, the prince was planning to cast a spell that would render the illusion useless. It was apparently a specialty of the prince's " The Quartermaster said

"Do you know what element the illusion used? Your description suggests the Mind element but the possibility of it being rumors seems high given that you claim to have never received any concrete info. " I asked

"No your highness, and I doubt Scientist Bereil does either. But the information about the woods has been collected over the generations by the people of your kingdom. I know that the Royal family holds such sources in contempt but these are the precious crumbs of knowledge our ancestors have left us. " The Quartermaster said. Knowledge of the ancestors huh. What did the ancestors say about magic? That magic could only be wielded by nobles?

I wasn't going to trust such a source. The only way was to test the Woods myself, for that I needed to know how far they were. Judging by the way the map looked, the mountains were only three times as large as the woods, which made them either the smallest mountain range in existence or the map was wrong.

This really was a suicide mission wasn't it? There was no way the Royal family had such a crude map. If it didn't have perfect circles, I'd say it was drawn by a child.

Next up, getting those armaments done.

"So,I noticed that you have marked a sizable number of armaments as damaged. Mind telling me what that is about? And what do you plan to do about it? " I asked

" Ah, that. Well… nothing? I fear I do not see what I can do your highness. Broken swords and axes are a natural result of battles. A broken sword can still be wielded and so can a broken ax. " The quartermaster said.

I wasn't quite convinced, but I couldn't think of an alternative either. I wasn't giving up though… just switching to a more productive topic. Like food! And water!

Over the next hour, the quartermaster and I discussed the various ins and outs of running this army. After the discussion, the quartermaster left to begin acting upon the decisions while I went to check up on the progress of my two disciples. I quite liked that term. Disciples. I finally had the attention I deserved.

Arlun

Arlun hummed as he let the magic twirl in the air. It was amazing how alive it felt. Like every part of his body finally had a chance to breathe. All around he could feel the mana twirl as its little vibrations caused twinkling sounds.

Across the tent he could see Carmil use his own magic. The both of them thankfully seemed to have gained the same type of casting, though Arluns seem to prefer the higher pitches while Carmil preferred the lower.

Carmil though seemed to prefer to not sing his tune. It didn’t seem to make any real difference but Arlun preferred singing. Then again, they had always been opposites, they had just decided to use their differences to compliment each other.

Arlun was able to spend another five minutes before he was interrupted by the tent flapping open and the prince entering the room.

“So, I see that you have gained your mana sight. It is then time for you to learn casting, but before that. Why don’t you share your stat sheet? It would give me a better idea of what would suit you.” The prince said.

Arlun hesitated for a few seconds, considering if he could trust the prince. But perhaps it was because of the strange euphoric state he was in, but Arlun decided to share the stat sheet

Name

Arlun

Gender

Male

Species

Banmeru

Age

21 years

Affiliation

None

Mate

None

Skills

[Swordsmanship. Lvl 15] [Martial Combat. Lvl 21]...

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

973

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

1056

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

678

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

799

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

805

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

701

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

695

Magic[The ability to cast Magic]

101

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

1576

Magic Affinities

Fire[One of the greatest sources of Light and Heat in the universe, you have Greater Affinity for Fire]

Unknown

Earth[Essential for life, earth is what renders things solid, you have a Greater affinity for Earth]

Unknown

Mind[The consciousness and its relation to reality, you have Lesser affinity for Mind]

Unknown

Chaos[Everything shall be anything but what it should be, no thing shall remain as it should, you have a Lesser affinity for Chaos]

Unknown

Grandmist[The base substance that all subatomic particles are made off, you have Lesser affinity for Grandmist]

Unknown

Space [The building block of dimensions, you have an Outrageous affinity for Space

Unknown

Time[A mysterious force, you have a Minor affinity for Time]

Unknown

Will [The force that propels you through life, you have Minor affinity for Will]

Unknown

Force[The building block of Kinetic interactions, you have Minor affinity for Force

Unknown

“Ah, thank you for that little information” the prince’s voice suddenly distorted-”Now you can GET OUT!!!”

Suddenly Arlun’s eyes opened, he was alone, having fallen asleep in a sitting position in his room.

Name

Alforien Arlford

Gender

Male

Species

Banmeru

Age

7 months

Titles

Heir candidate to the Earl of Cristanfor, Noble of the Kingdom of Mistrane,Count of Launeior ,Transmigrator

Class

[The Known: The Final Step]

Skills

[Otherworldly mana manipulation] [ Force of Will] [Conversion] [Meditation]

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

112

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

161

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

102

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

113

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

133

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

138

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

134

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

119

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

124

Magic Affinities

Fire[One of the greatest sources of Light and Heat in the universe, you have Greater Affinity for Fire]

97.14%

Earth[Essential for life, earth is what renders things solid, you have a Greater affinity for Earth]

99.87%

Mind[The consciousness and its relation to reality, you have Lesser affinity for Mind]

17.35%

Chaos[Everything shall be anything but what it should be, no thing shall remain as it should, you have a Lesser affinity for Chaos]

19.76%

Grandmist[The base substance that all subatomic particles are made off, you have Lesser affinity for Grandmist]

27.39%

Space [The building block of dimensions, you have an Outrageous affinity for Space

199.998%

Time[A mysterious force, you have a Minor affinity for Time]

01.15%

Will [The force that propels you through life, you have Minor affinity for Will]

9.81%

Force[The building block of Kinetic interactions, you have Minor affinity for Force

9.81%