The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 169

Chapter 169

Chapter 169: A Dwarven Night

The entirety of the first day was spent on Sylvie’s back. Without a word muttered to either of the two dwarven lances, we traveled until night fell when my legs could no longer take the strain of riding on bare scale even with the protection of thick cloth and mana. Not just that, but the hours of gripping tightly onto the base of my bond’s neck was taxing on my legs.

Because of me, we stopped for the night and made camp near the base of the Grand Mountains just a few miles up north of Valden City.

“Please, help yourself.” I held out a skewer of grilled fish toward General Mica and Olfred.

The childlike dwarven lance happily accepted the charred freshwater fish, crunching through the bones as if they didn’t exist, but the old lance merely shook his head.

“If you have the energy to cook, perhaps we should leave soon,” he said, ignoring my courtesy as his eyes remained planted on a book he had brought.

“Don’t mind him,” Mica said, her mouth still full of fish. “The old man doesn’t eat food given by anybody he doesn’t fully trust.”

I nodded, throwing the fish I had grilled for General Olfred to Sylvie. With a snap of her neck, the blackened fish disappeared inside her maw. My bond remained in her original draconic form, curled up at the edge of our small camp. Because of her black scales, Sylvie seemed to almost disappear despite her large frame—the only part of her visible being her two sharp topaz eyes that seemed to hover in the dark.

‘These small morsels do little more than get stuck between my teeth,’ Sylvie grumbled in my head.

I know, but you’ll have to make do with these for now. Besides, you can easily go for weeks without eating, I replied, helping myself to a skewered fish. The fish’s charred skin was filled with a smoky sweetness from the fire, filling my mouth with flavor despite it being unseasoned.

‘Yes, but I eat for the flavor rather than the nutrients,’ she retorted.

Maybe you can find some mana beasts further north. We’re still too close to Valden.

The rest of the meal was rather quiet except for the soft gurgle of the nearby stream where I had caught the fish and the occasional snap of a twig in the fire.

Olfred didn’t say a word after rejecting my fish, remaining still—almost like a statue—as he leaned back against the earthen backrest he had erected while reading his leatherbound book. The only time he actually looked away from the book was when General Mica began humming as she combed through her short curly hair.

With a look of sheer distaste at the off-tune melody, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. Fortunately, General Mica was fairly quiet throughout the night, giving me time to refine my mana core.

Despite being at the mid silver-core stage, I felt lacking being surrounded by lances and my bond that happened to be an asura. With Dawn’s Ballad damaged and my legs debilitated, I felt like I had taken a step back even after the training at Ephetous. One thing I was certain of was that I could no longer afford to use Burst Step again if I wanted to keep my ability to walk.

After an hour of gathering mana from the atmosphere, refining it in my core and repeating the process, I felt someone’s gaze.

I pried an eye open only to see Mica just a few inches away from me, staring intently, while even Olfred had closed his book to observe.

“This is Mica’s first time feeling something like this,” Mica whispered.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, shifting glances between the two lances.

“Your refinement process,” Olfred answered, his eyes narrowed in thought. “Usually it’s not very apparent when someone refines their core—”

“But when you do it, it feels like Mica’s body is getting pulled toward you!” Mica cut in excitedly.

“I’ve never had that pointed out,” I replied. “Is it maybe because I’m a quadra elemental?”

Mica let out a gasp. “Quadra?”

“So that’s how you were able to become a lance despite your age. I’ve heard this being discussed once by the Council, but to think it was actually the case,” Olfred whispered as if talking to himself.

“What’s it like being able to utilize so many elements?” Mica asked as she leaned in closer, her large eyes practically sparkling.

‘Careful what you reveal,’ Sylvie advised from behind, her body still appearing as if she were asleep.

I know, I thought back. “There are still some elements that I still have a hard time grasping, like gravity, but for the most part, it’s practicing and always self-reflecting on what spell and element to use under specific situations.”

“Right, right.” Mica nodded fervently. “Knowing so many spells is useless if you don’t know when to use them.”

“There must be elements you’re more comfortable using,” Olfred said.

I nodded. “There are.”

“Hey, shall Mica teach you how to manipulate gravity?”

I scooted back, smelling the grilled fish in Mica’s breath. “I think it’s more of a practical issue than anything. There are times when I can use it, but it’s just not something I’m confident in.”

“It’s really easy, you know,” Mica insisted, holding out a palm. “You just have to imagine the world going up or down. Then you grab it in your hand and release!”

Unable to understand Mica’s incomprehensible explanation, I looked back to Olfred.

The old dwarf rolled his eyes. “You’d have an easier time learning from a pebble. Miss Earthborn comes from a long line of famous dwarven conjurers, but even amongst them, she’s considered a genius. Learning magic through intuition, she doesn’t even know the rudimentary concepts of mana manipulation.”

“Earthborn?” I repeated. “Where have I heard that name before?”

“Her ancestors founded Earthborn Institute,” he answered simply, going back to his book.

I stared at the childlike lance in a daze. I knew that all of the lances had distinct strengths but it never occurred to me that this seemingly ditzy mage would be from such an influential family. Not much of dwarven history was taught or even written in Sapin, but Earthborn Institute still stood out as one of the main reasons dwarves were able to stay on par with the kingdom of Sapin despite their smaller population and territory. Even after Xyrus Academy had begun accepting different races, much of the dwarven nobles still chose to send their children to Earthborn for their more specific disciplines and areas of study suited for dwarves.