“The Mercurion Reformation set the foundation for the modern uses of Mana. Humanity now had a codified progression method. The path to divinity had gone from a confusing maze with dangerous cliffs and dead ends, to a brightly lit well-travelled road of relative safety.

The reformation introduced a classification of ‘ranks’ to determine the strength of an individual. Regardless of which path they took, Martial or Magical, the energy or ‘Mana’ inside them could be evaluated and recorded.

“The Mercurion Reformation of Mana” Magus Ayla Weaver, 1652 IC

Chapter 6

Erinn Temple leaned back against the side of the wagon, half asleep from the warm yellow light, fresh spring air and the gentle rocking of the wagon as it made its way down the well-worn path. For the moment, she felt content and her worries were far away.

She could hear the chirping of birds, the wind whistling through the trees and the steady trot of the horses. This far from the capital, the land alternated between sparse forests and long stretches of farmland. The Empire’s east held some of the most fertile farmland, and over the generations the forests had gradually been pushed back.

Erinn came from the northern provinces, where the wild and untamed forests made for excellent hunting. To her, the east was flat and empty, with only the occasional deer or rabbit to be seen.

Although she missed the North, her short time in the East had given her an appreciation for the warm spring weather. Her home would still have a layer of snow and it would be another month or more before it would be warm enough to relax comfortably outside like she was doing now.

Slowly opening her eyes, she briefly looked at her surroundings. She was sitting in the back of a supply wagon, piled high with crates containing supplies the Legion would require for the Nightfall raids.

Next to her were several other young men and women, all heading towards the same destination, the Legion Fort on the outskirts of the Eastern border. They all came from different parts of the Empire, the Legion providing transportation from the permanent linked teleportation Gates in its major cities.

The Gates, expensive to operate, would be used almost exclusively for the Legion to travel quickly throughout the Empire.

Eyeing her companions, she couldn’t help but subconsciously compare herself to them. The young man next to her, a blond with short hair, wore bright yellow priest robes and was holding a golden sun symbol in his hands. Eyes closed, he appeared to be praying silently to Primaris, the sun god.

Next to him was a young woman, wearing worn brown leather armor and a black cloak with the hood up. From what Erinn could see from the angle she was sitting, the woman had a scar on one cheek and a scowl on her face.

Finally, sat across from her was a younger, brown haired man wearing full plate armor. A helmet was resting on the seat next to him, with wings on the side. In his lap he was holding a large, two-handed sword, with a worn brown handle and matching scabbard. His armor had seen better days, with dents in the breastplate and scratches where the rust had clearly been scoured clean recently.

Closing her eyes again, Erinn passed the time by making up stories and backgrounds about her companions. She imagined that when the priest had joined the Auxiliaries, he donated all the coin to the poor.

The young woman, she grew up in the slums, picking pockets and knifing her rivals in the back. She joined in order to pay back a debt in coin she owed to the thieves’ guild. And finally, the armored man, he inherited his grandfather’s equipment and joined the auxiliaries to gain back his family’s land from an evil uncle.

Snorting with laughter at the image of a fat, evil uncle with a giant mustache, she accidentally interrupted her companions. Looking at her briefly, they returned to their own activities.

With a long stretch, Erinn sat up and took in the surrounding countryside again, trying to figure out how much longer they would be traveling before they arrived at the Fort.

Looking behind, she could see the long line of carts and wagons with supplies and other Auxiliaries trailing into the distance. The only landmarks she could identify was a large hill in the distance to the left, beyond the farms. To her right was a gently flowing river, The Whitewater River that they would be following to a large town, Whitewater.

The recruiter she had spoken to when she signed up had said that the journey would take two days, and they were well into the second already. She assumed that they would be reaching their destination soon.

Sitting back against the side of the wagon, her attention was drawn to a horse that had pulled up alongside them. The black horse was outfitted with a black saddle, gilded in silver, and had a long green cloth hanging down on both side from under its saddle. A house symbol was stitching into the cloth, two stags with locked horns.

Her eyes were drawn to the rider, whose attention was currently directed towards the river. A young man, with long black hair, tied neatly into a half ponytail. Handsome, with aristocratic features, clean shaven with unblemished white skin.

The young man was wearing leather armor, black with silver fittings. His armor and greying green cloak looked brand new and spotless. Erinn wondered how he managed to keep both himself and his horse spotless, with the large amount of dust the carts were making.

Erinn instantly knew that he was a noble, no one else in the Auxiliaries would spend their hard-earned coin on a horse when they could ride for free on the carts and wagons the supply train were using. Horses were a needless expense and wouldn’t be needed when they arrived at the legion fort.

A noble joining the Auxiliaries wasn’t uncommon, Erinn guessed that the man with the worn armor was also a noble, but down on his luck. However, a noble that was well equipped, riding a horse that would not look out of place at parade, was a rarity.

‘He’s not here for the money’ Erin thought, attempting to guess at the reason for the young noble’s presence.

Having a new person to study, Erinn idly began to make up backstories for him as well. Evil uncles, spurned lovers and seers making divine prophecies were all added to him, until she was lost in thought over the character she built in her head, ignoring the sight of the real person in front of her.

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Wil was enjoying the journey so far, even though he wasn’t looking forward to arriving at their destination. He had lived a mostly sheltered life and aside from a few trips around his family’s holdings in the south and to the capital to attend the academy, Wil hadn’t experienced much traveling.

Staying in a tent the evening before had been a novel experience, with one of the drivers setting it up for him for a few copper coins. He found that he liked the eastern scenery, the golden fields of wheat and barley stretching into the horizon, lit by the yellow sun of Primaris, and the blue light of Secundus making the river’s water a deep azure color.

Looking away from the river and the farmer’s fields beyond it, Wil found that a young woman was staring at him. The woman, dark hair in a long braid, was dressed in well-worn light leather armor, covered in a forest green cloak.

Next to the women was a longbow, almost as high as her, with a quiver of arrows placed next to it. The woman was pretty, with soft features and a round face, deeply tanned from the suns.

The woman, realizing that Wil had caught her staring, blushed and looked away. Smiling in amusement, Wil turned away from the cart and he turned his attention to his clothing and his horse.

Seeing that some dust had gathered on both, he cast a rank-less cleaning spell with a slight waving of his hand and softly muttered invocation. Wil felt a slight pull on his mana, followed by a minor feeling of weariness as the spell took effect, removing the dirt and dust from his clothing and horse.

As much as Wil enjoyed the journey’s scenery and the freedom he felt from his father, he hated the dust, dirt and mud with a passion. He had to cast the cleaning spell dozens of times a day on everything he owned, loathing the sight of dirt on his clothing or horse.

He had already caught some of the other Auxiliaries laughing at him when they thought he wasn’t looking or out of hearing range. A quirk he had since childhood, it had only grown worse as he got older.

Satisfied with the spell’s effect, Wil began to look back at the river when he heard a commotion up ahead. The convoy had arrived at the town of Whitewater, where they would meet up with the legion and other Auxiliaries.

Whitewater, being a town on the Empire’s border, was a constant target of beasts and monsters every Nightfall. As a significant trade town, the Empire relied on Whitewater as a stop for vessels traveling the river. To protect the trade route, the Empire had invested substantial resources in securing Whitewater.

A large stone wall surrounded the town, 10 feet high and over a meter thick. Entrance to the town was through two large gates, one from the Empire’s side, and the other on the road leading to their neighboring kingdom.

Whitewater was known for having a large dock, allowing trade vessels to pick up the local grain and goods, carrying it to the heart of the Empire.

A Legion Fort was connected the towns walls, a massive stone building that could house hundreds of soldiers and all the supplies to sustain them.

Passing through the gate, Wil entered the town of Whitewater.