Chapter 6 - Plan

Aurora yawned as she woke from her slumber. She looked toward the clock in her room and grimaced. “Shit, I overslept.” She rushed over to her wardrobe to pick out her clothes. After getting her clothes she turned to look at the clock and then let them drop to the ground. She frowned as she stared at her clock, after which she walked over to it.

The clock read the time as 10am. 10 in the morning? But I’ve only slept for a couple of hours and I don’t feel exhausted at all. Aurora grasped onto her amulet. Kwame, can you hear me?

‘Loud and clear. What seems to be the reason for this rude awakening of yours?’

Is it normal for me to be sleeping less?

Kwame sighed. ‘Of course it is. You are now a novice in the realm of magic. Your body is now running on not just the sustenance of the food you eat, but also the arcanum that you absorb so freely from the atmosphere.’

Oh, alright. Thanks for the clarification. I’ll be leaving to the village center soon, how do you want me to gather this information for you?

‘We can figure that out once we are at the city center. First of all I need to scan the people in the area and make heads from tails. The sooner we get this done, the better.’

Aurora went to the bathroom to clean herself up. After putting on her clothes, she walked over to Irelia’s room. Aurora knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Irelia said.

Aurora walked in to find Irelia working out. She was in the middle of push ups. “Oh, you’re already awake? Alright, that makes it better. Want to leave here soon?”

Irelia got off the ground and used a towel to wipe at her forehead and shoulders. “Yea sure, let me just take a quick bath.”

Aurora left the cottage and waited for Irelia. About half an hour later the pair began walking toward the village center.

“Half an hour. You spent half an hour in the bath. That was not what I’d call quick,” Aurora said. “Actually, I would call that a long ass bath. In my own words, of course.”

Irelia laughed and then threw her hands in the air. “I’m sorry, I lose track of time once I’m in water. I can’t explain it, I just love it a little bit too much. Anyway, can you give me some more information about those thugs that stole my stuff. You called them the Song clan, right? Who are they?”

“The Song clan… Those people are basically the rulers of our land here. They take taxes from us and in return protect us from bandits, and give some of us the opportunity to join the clan, which in itself gives a lot of power. That’s all I know of it. I mean, the taxes aren’t too bad, and the living here has been relatively stable, so I can’t really complain too much.”

“So that’s all you know about… Guess there’s a lot more for you to find out in the future. You’ll be surprised, I can assure you that.” Irelia mumbled something under her breath.

Aurora shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe, who knows. You said you would get your stuff back within two weeks, right?”

“Yea, two weeks. I get the slight suspicion it might be sooner. But we’ll see. First of all I need you to help me figure out where they’ve kept my stuff. It’s very important that I get it back.”

“How are you going to get it back though?” Aurora asked. “You can’t just waltz into the territory of the Song clan and expect to get it back. Especially considering, well look at yourself. Your skin makes you stand out.”

Irelia looked at her hands. “Haha, so what? Don’t worry about the how’s or the why. I’ll get that sorted one way or another. All I need is to find out where they hold it. Once that’s done, leave it all to me.”

“Alright.” Aurora flung her hands up in exasperation. “I think I know where they are keeping the stuff. I’ll bring you there later, but first let’s just get into the market. I need to buy some stuff and talk to some people.”

The girls proceeded to stroll through the village market for about an hour. It was bustling as usual, with vendors selling their wares shouting off the top of their lungs what their prices were and what was being sold. Just a moment ago Aurora’s eardrums burst to the sound of a male vendor calling out sales of fish for a gold per ten pieces.

“A gold per ten pieces?” Irelia yelped. “How much of an abundance of gold do you have here to use it as a currency?”

Aurora looked at Irelia with a twinkle in her eyes. “What, is gold valuable where you are from? Here it’s rare enough to be used as a currency but also widely enough available. From what my mother tells me, dozens of years ago we used these cowry shells as currency. Yet, after the Song clan came around here they brought with them an abundance of gold, and so we use that as a currency instead.”

“Wow.” Irelia stared at Aurora with her mouth wide agape. “Do you realize how wealthy you could be if you decided to voyage to the continent across the seas from here?”

Aurora rolled her eyes. “And how long would that take with conventional means? Months? Years? And would I be able to speak their language? Would they try to extort me out of my gold before I can even make full use of it?”

“Touche,” Irelia said. “It would take a dozen years or so if I’m not mistaken. It is extremely far away using conventional means. You’d have to make multiple stops at different lands along the way. Never mind, I spoke too quickly without thinking.”

“Haha it’s fine.” Aurora put her arm around Irelia and pulled her along through the market. “As long as you’re here with me, nobody will cause you any trouble.”

“What, are you some sort of master martial artist that everyone is scared of?”

Aurora shook her head. “No, I just make sure that nobody inherently hates me. We live in a tight knit community. It’s best if I’m on good terms with everyone. Anyway, why don’t we sit for a moment. I want to bask in the sun.”

“You want to bas- Alright, whatever. Sure.” Irelia followed Aurora to the nearest bench. The pair sat down.

Aurora closed her eyes and then placed the amulet in her palm. Kwame. We’ve been walking around the market for like an hour now. Have you gotten the information you need?

‘More or less. This should be enough for me to gather a rough idea of this place.’

What now?

‘Well, I suppose we can work on some magic for you then. It’s in my best interest to get you powerful, you know. Alright, it’s settled, we’ll start proper training tonight. A secluded area again.’

Aurora grinned. She let go of the amulet.

“What are you smiling at?” Irelia asked.

“Haha, nothing. Just enjoying the view.” Aurora couldn’t stop grinning.

“Weirdo.” Irelia suddenly grabbed Aurora’s shoulder.

“What?”

“Well well, look what we have here. Back for more are ya? Did you not learn your lesson from yesterday child?” A green robed male walked over to the pair. He held a spear in his right hand. The body of the spear was wooden whilst the tip was a metal coated in a black substance that gave off a pungent odor.

Irelia jumped off the bench and stamped over to the man. Her face was only inches away from his. “What? You think I’m scared of you when you’re on your own?”

The man grimaced. “Shut up. Move back or you’ll force my hand.”

Aurora jumped up and ran over to Irelia. She shoved herself between the two. “We can just talk this out. There’s no need to be so hostile with each other, okay?” She looked at Irelia and then the man. “Can we just let bygones be bygones?”

“Hmph,” Irelia huffed. “Why? You know what, sure. I mean, I’m going to be getting my stuff back tonight anyway.” She turned around and walked away.

“Stop! Don’t walk away from me,” the man shouted. He slammed his spear into the ground. “You think you can disrespect us like that? Fine, we’ll gladly welcome you to death tonight if you dare show up!”

Aurora ran after Irelia. “What was that about?”

“What? He’s going to show me where my stuff is right now. Just give it a moment.” Irelia made a toothy grin.

“How are you going to, wait, huh?” Aurora rubbed her head. “I’m confused.”

“Just follow me. He’s already leaving to go and check out the place where they put my stuff. Don’t worry, this is just so I know where it is. Nothing more. Let’s go.”