Supreme Magus novel Chapter 532

\"Actually, yes. I would love to. If these things are so irrelevant, why are you so secretive about them? We’ve been together for quite some time now. You can’t keep me out of your life like that.\"

Lith recognized this moment and hated it with all of his heart. It was the moment when things in a relationship went from simple fun to serious. Back on Earth, it was his cue to dump or wait to get dumped.

Lith called it \"the nagging point\" and it put him at a crossroad. He could turtle up, making their relationship turn sour, or open up with the risk that one question would lead to another until Kamila asked about something he couldn’t share.

Lith knew that she cared and she was trying to make things between them work, yet he was scared of the consequences the nagging point cold have.

He would have found it easier to fight and kill several Abominations rather than facing that choice. Until this point, their busy schedule and being apart for extended periods of time had made Kamila be patient, avoiding sensitive issues.

For a moment, Kamila’s image was replaced by Phloria’s. She had asked him to open up too, until she had given up. Back then he had been happy about it, mistaking it for acceptance. Now he knew better.

\"Can this please wait for my return? There are things I’m not comfortable talking about from a distance.\"

\"It’s fine if you don’t feel ready to share your past, I just want you to be honest with me.\" Kamila’s voice lost its edge, turning sweet again.

\"We’ll talk once I’m back. I promise.\"

***

The following day, Lith had Solus Warp as near as possible to Jambel, reaching it a few minutes after sunrise. Jambel was a medium sized fortress city, entirely built of stone.

It was too far from the commercial routes to depend on merchants, so it was designed to be self sufficient all year round. The city was built near two big lakes, which provided fish and fresh water, while cultivated fields surrounded the city walls until the woods begin.

They were the main source for game and wood, so the inhabitants of Jambel treated it with great respect. They planted two trees for each one they cut down and used turnover to give them time to grow.

Unlike Maekosh, there were no slums. Even the poorest houses were solid, the only wood buildings were tool sheds. Jambel’s walls were five meters (16’) high and wide enough that two armed people could easily walk side by side.

They were made of grey stone and smoothed so that during the day they would partially reflect the sunlight and blind the aggressors. Lith landed a few hundred meters from the city gates, so as to not scare the guards.

He was very surprised when he reached the gates without anyone ordering him to halt or identify himself. Even more when the city lord came out to greet him while the soldiers stood at attention.

\"Ranger Verhen, thanks for coming so quickly. We were starting to fear that we would have to face the third wave of monsters alone.\" Baron Eiros Wyalon was a man in his late thirties, about 1.78 meters (5’10\") tall.

He had red hair and a finely trimmed beard, with blue eyes as clear as the twin lakes in front of the city. He was wearing a light armor that emphasized his lean but muscular build.