Edward continued to train his ability to sense mana, and how to control it. Now that the Bloodmaws problem was solved, the guards didn’t need him anymore to protect the village. Moreover, the newly awakens had improved their aura mastery, and they were now able to use it on their weapons, which meant they could fight Bloodmaws on their own. None of them had gained a power when they became awakens, but it was probably due to the nature of the monsters they got the blood from. Bloodmaws were Damkinan's made monsters, and they didn’t have any special power besides their strength and vitality.

Edward's situation was a bit peculiar. He had been a guard before, but now that the situation was calmer he wasn’t really needed even if he was still welcome. He was considered as a hero that had saved the village alongside Caspian and Balin. However, Caspian knew Edward’s project to leave to Gobéliard to travel the world, and there wasn’t much benefit to training a guard that would leave soon. On top of that Edward had obtained Marc’s money, so he wasn’t in any financial need. That’s why he had decided not to rejoin the guards, and he instead used his free time on training and on a side project that he had put aside until now.

He hadn’t forgotten about his idea of creating a monster handbook recording all the different beasts that he had and would encounter. He had managed to buy a book and some pencils and he had drawn the monsters he had met until now. The resulting drawings weren’t that great…one would be hard-pressed to recognize the monster if they hadn’t met one before. Nonetheless, Edward wasn’t discouraged, he had listed the Dark wolves, the Teleportcrows, and the stupid acid beetle. You deserved to be known with such a name after confusing me for a larva, umpf he thought while adding this entry. He had also added pages for the wyrm and of course for the Bloodmaws. He had even added a page for the Regal wolf although there was no information noted on the page apart from the fact that it could turn into smoke.

On top of that, he had left one empty page for the roars he had heard that had made the regal wolf flee away. He had later encountered the wyrm, but this monster was making more of a shrieking sound than a guttural roar. So, he was still unsure of which monster it belonged to.

He had made some progress in his mana training. He was now able to change the flow of the mana stream inside his body. With that, he had been able to cast his first spell. Just after the meditation exercises, the first spell mentioned in the book was for a way to replicate the slow-down time effect that happened when one absorbed too much mana. The mana pattern was the easiest one, it couldn’t even be called a pattern, as concentrating the mana flow towards his head was enough. The incantation was rather short too, it only consisted of two words, Rèng khwāmrĕw.

It was a spell that was especially useful for magicians as it gave them the time to either analyze opponents’ spells or plan their own spells. However, the main weakness of such a spell was that one was still not able to move, nor cast other spells while in that state of accelerated perception. This was clearly something that was more oriented for mages than for warriors, but it was still something that could be useful to have. Moreover, it was a good and riskless training exercise.

One day, while he was practicing his mana in the meadow next to Agripin, Leyla came all the way to find him.

“Hey, wake up lazy guy, your armor is finished!” She exclaimed energetically.

Edward opened his eyes startled. He had been so focused that he hadn’t sensed her coming. “Uhh, hey what are you doing all the way here?”

Leyla rolled her eyes having to repeat. “Your armor, it’s done. Now come and follow me.”

Edward belatedly realized what was going on. He got up quickly and followed her, wondering what Leyla had managed to forge with her new rune knowledge.

Leyla entered the forge first and introduce the armor in a bright “Tadaaa! So, what do you think?”

The armor was standing on a display stand. It was a dark grey shirt made out of one piece that strangely looked like a leather vest in texture. The armor was having small sleeves, it wasn’t enough to cover the whole arms but it was enough to protect the chest and the shoulders.

“It looks like a cloth?” Edward asked surprised and somewhat doubtful.

“Exactly.” Grinned Leyla. “I found a rune that makes the armor more malleable. It doesn’t decrease the armor resistance or protection but it greatly increases its mobility. It's just like cloth, you won’t have any problem moving around with it, and it is made uniformly. There are no weaknesses such as seams to slip a blade into. On top of that, I also added the durability rune. It is not easy to blend two runes together but the result is worth it. You have a lighter and more resistant armor than what you can usually find around. So, are you impressed yet? It is much better than a chain mail clicking around everywhere you walk.”

Edward whistled. I asked for light armor like chainmail, but this is definitely better. “I must say I’m impressed. I haven’t blended more than three runes together myself, and a malleable armor is certainly a novelty.”

Leyla was still smiling. “And this is only the beginning. This was just my first try, but I think in the future I can make you a full body armor, helmet included, just like this model.”

Edward imagined himself, covered in armor from head to toe just like a medieval knight. Before he would have been afraid of the rigidity of such an armor, he would have been slowed down by it, and this would have been more a hindrance than a boon. But now that he was an awaken, the weight wasn’t a problem, and with Leyla’s innovation, so would the rigidity. He would be covered in armor and still be able to move like a ninja if needed.

“That would be awesome, yes.” Edward agreed.

“Yes, that’s what I thought too.” Leyla’s smile faded away. “However, since you are going to Gobéliard, and since I don’t want to invest all the metal you gave me yet, I thought discretion would be better. So, you can have a sleeveless armor first.”

She then looked seriously at him. “You have to come back to me. I have so many new designs to test and I still need my metal supplier. Unless you are my armor tester now?” She smirked before continuing a tad nervous. “Anyway, you be careful out there, I asked Caspian and he told me that there wouldn’t be only awakens over there.”

Edward nodded, a warm feeling rising in his chest. “I will be. I have to come back to get my awesome armor, don’t I?”

*****

After getting his armor from Leyla, which he was wearing under a leather vest to hide it from view, Edward had nothing holding him back in Agripin. He prepared the few things he possessed in his bag. He wasn’t poor any more thanks to the money from the expedition he had managed to find back but there wasn’t exactly a mall for a shopping spree in a village like Agripin. And even if there was one, Edward wouldn’t spend his money uselessly. In a world where one could become a superhuman just by hunting monsters, lots of objects became irrelevant. It was better to focus on good equipment and on anything helping you to become stronger.

One’s level was not only representing one social’s status, but it also determined your level of liberty. If one was a normal human being, or just at the quiescent level, you were basically confined to safe places like towns or villages. And in those places, it was awakens and above who were making the law. So, even if you were unhappy, it was difficult to make others hear your voice unless you were an expert in a sought-after field like an alchemist.

Agripin was a nice place, as Caspian wasn’t forcefully enforcing his authority, he was listening to the different opinions of the villagers. It was rare for him to impose his views unless it concerned the security of the whole village, just like for the Bloodmaws problem. Edward wasn’t sure if Gobéliard would be the same, especially after encountering Marc and seeing how condescending he was acting.

Still, whatever was waiting for him over here, it was useless to worry in advance. Edward was already an awaken, and he was confident he could hold his own. The craving for exploration and new horizons was overtaking his worries by far. He would wander the world, and discover what was waiting for him.

Time to go. Edward did his final goodbyes to Caspian, Balin, Bertrand, and the others before initiating his way toward Gobéliard. He threw a last glance at Agriping before entering the Vipin Forest a smile on his face.

He was almost surprised not to meet any Bloodmaws on his path. With their source shut off, their number had greatly decreased in the week he spent working on his mana. The village’s guards had organized another excursion to hunt down the stragglers near Agripin. Moreover, with how aggressive those monsters were, Edward strongly suspected that the forest’s native monsters had done their part too.

Usually, monsters, especially the powerful ones, had their own territory which they didn’t breach. Bloodmaws were not paying any mind to it and were just roaming everywhere killing anything they found. When they were entering the territory of some powerful beast like the wyrm, they were becoming the prey instead. And from how the Bloodmaw’s pile of corpses had been munched already, he was sure that their taste was up to the standard of the forest’s more powerful monsters. This effect wasn’t visible while the ruins were opened, no matter how many of them were killed more were coming out. But now that there was no supply to restock their number, they had become scarce.

All in all, Edward’s trip was peaceful, not encountering monsters before he got out of the forest. He had stayed on the forest path which was deterring ordinary monsters, Bloodmaws who dared to roam on it were an anomaly among monsters. The path between Gobéliard and Agripin was now again practicable for travelers. As Edward acclimated to the change of luminosity, he managed to see the ocean in the distance and Gobéliard standing right in front of it.