The wooden wheels of the carriage creaked over the dirt road,the rhythmic clatter blending in with the unseen bird. Edric leaned against the side of the carriage, his fingers absently tracing the worn leather bag. Two days have passed since Edric leaft Garricks tavern,and yet the weight of everything that has happened still sat heavy in Edric’s mind.

  The dagger sat across his lap, the crest gleaming faintly under the morning sun.His mother’s book, the translated history, mentions Veyra warrior- none of it answered the burning question. Why did Veyra fall?

  The end of the book was basically a diary with accounts of the day to day expenditure, events etc for a period of 5 months. None of it gave Edrica a clue.

  Guess the source is the only option Edric thought.

  Edric let out a slow breath, the past days have been uneventful. The road winding down the forest and rolling hills. His driver wasn’t much of a talker , a middle aged man named Darrin, had been a quiet companion, only speaking when necessary . The man didn’t ask questions and Edric preferred it that way.

  But now the carriage was approaching the small town of Valdrone, a small town where he will need to switch transports. He knew his solitude wouldn't last much longer.

  Valdrone wasn’t large , but it was busy. Situated between the capital and outlying regions, it served as a transit hub for traders, merchants and mercenaries. The streets were packed with haggling goods, stable men tending to there horse and innkeepers shouting there prices.

  Darring pulled the carriage next to a stable, “this is your stop kid” he muttered, glancing at Edric for the first time the journey began. “You heading to the city”. he asked in a soft tone.

  “Yeah, I need another ride” Edric nodded.

  Darrin rubbing his stubbled chin. “Then you best get moving, the next carriage leaves in an hour. That way” Darrin points towards a sign .

  Edric stepped off, slung his bag on his shoulder “ Thank you”.

  Darrin gave a short node before flicking his carriage away.

  Edric adjusted his cloak, making sure his facial features are obscured. He made his way through the crowd, keeping an eye incase of danger. It wasn’t paranoia- he has been attacked twice already. He didn’t want to have his third.

  While Edric makes his way, he looks at the stall. In hopes he could find anything useful. There were a variety of stalls, weapons, armor ,fashion , food etc. It would be overwhelming looking at the items but Edric had a trick at his sleeves.

  ‘Status’ Edric brought out his Status window. While Edric was traveling he played around with his system window. He found one interesting skill, every ones in a while the status window describes an object, in exchange for some mana.

  Edric looks at a sword in front of him and the system says ‘Sword enchanted with fire magic’. It showed attributes, sometimes names and its durability along with more,inconsistent of course. This made Edric’s search way easier but whenever he uses it it consumes mana or atleast that what he thinks he feels drained after using it.

  "Lets see, fire magic, poison blade,--" Edric goes through various things trying to find something useful, his mana is limited and he doesn’t know any way to acquire more.

  Nothing catches his attention much, he was almost at his next transport location, Edric could see it in his line of sight. Another neat feature. While looking he finds a merchant stall. The merchant sold various enchanted accessories. The strange thing is that he sold it as fashion accessories, instead of enchanted one.

  “Ladies , this necklace suits your neck” The merchant says to a passer by woman.

  Edrick thought he could get a good deal from an ignorant merchant. He looks over the rings on display.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  [Ring : Enchanted with invisibility]

  [Currently in dormant state. Can be used if mana is poured into it]

  For someone to hide like Edric, invisibility is very useful. Edric decides to buy it. He goes to the stall , takes the ring. The ring in comparison to the other product on display , looked old and had a weird texture.

  “Where did you get this?” Edric asks the merchant.

  “What’s it to ya” The merchant smirked, “You a collector of antiques”

  “Something like that” Edric hesitated , lying might be safer.

  The merchant shrugged. “ Found it on a trade ship. Some ruins. You're buying or not”.

  Before Edric could answer, a rough voice cut through the air.

  Edric turns to see a burly man towering over him, wearing a black leather tunic and brass knuckles. Edric confused on what the hell did he do now, before he could process anymore the man launched a first at him. It was fast , but Edric doged to the left and backed off with a single step.

  “Listen man , I think you got the wrong guy” Edric exclaimed.

  “I remember you gosh darn clock” not listening, the man continues to attack .

  “ My cloak” Edric let out a sigh , he thought he could get a moment of peace. There was no backing away, might as well make it useful

  Edric unconsciously tries to active his martial thinking and ghoststeps

  Edric took a deep breath and focused, the man's attacks became ever so slightly slower and more focused. The man lets out a jab, Edric dodges and counters with a roundhouse kick to the chin. The man was pushed back, only a few paced he could manage with his strength.

  The man is pissed, let's shout. “ THATS IT YOU LITTLE SHIT”. The man jumps head first at Edric. Edric activities ghoststeps, he passes through the man. The man falls flat on the dirt with a loud thud.

  The man tries to get up, Edric wraps his hand around gun but stops mid way as he was about to pull .On second thought, the gun stood out a lot. Edric looked at his surroundings strangely no one seems to care.

  They all just looked at it like entertainment, “Are this people sadist” Edric whispered to himself. The pistol would probably draw more attention and more importantly. His skills seems to grow as he uses it, “just like the gym” Edric thought”.

  The man reached under his tunic to grab a dagger, the dagger looked more of a short sword made of a very shiny metal with a tint of blue, like the color of the hottest flame. Edric didn't want this mess to continue any further.

  Edric checks the time, it was almost time for the transport to leave. If he remembers correctly, the transport dock is the most guarded area in this town. If he heads there the man can't do anything to him.

  He grabs the ring from the merchant, throws some coins at his table and leaves in haste. He maneuvers his way through the crowd,the man like a bear runs after him.

  “ Seriously, why are all these big guys so fast?” Edric grew tired of this world's strange logic.

  He was almost there for the transport, so was the man behind him. Edric gets an idea, he puts on his ring , tries to concentrate his mana to it. A minute later Edric became invisible, though for only 10 seconds. Thankfully it was enough paired with ghoststeps to make it far enough. Edric reached behind a house .

  The man pans left and right trying to find him and finally he gives up. Edric lets out a sigh of relief, then his stomach started to growl, his vision became blurry. Uncontrollably vomits out waste, sits down exhausted. It was a backlash of improper mana usage .

  “ What's the point of magic when it hurts” Edric voice hoarse from the vomit

  After cooling down, he got up and slowly made his way to the transport hub. While he walked he saw two men fighting in the distance, then he heard bottles broken and swearing from a pub.

  Yup these people are insane Edric thought as he saw people not care at all.

  Edric finally makes it to the transport hub with ten minutes to spare. He checks his system map, looks for the sign to the city which he was about to go. He located it and made his way.

  There is a large carriage, more like a bus made out of steel and wood. Painted in black and gray , windows and cushioned seats. He pays the man in front and take his seat by the window .

  “ This is not bad “ Edric says while his fingers linger the cushions. The seats were not exactly luxurious but still good for the price

  10 minutes later, the conductor blows his whistle, Edric looks out of his window and saw large horses . Looked more like beasts with their muscles, fur similar to a lion. The carriage took off , twice as fast then Darrin’s.

  Now off he goes to his next location, the fortress city of Magnus. Edric hopes he doesn't stay there for too long.

  At least that's what Edric hopes…..