It felt awesome to be on the road again as nothing felt better than freedom.

The locals had their own set of beliefs and convincing them otherwise would only be the work of MCs. They could convince anyone with anything in a few clever words, but he knew he could never do that. Not to mention that real thinking people would find it very hard to change their well-rooted beliefs.

‘Well, unless I have some kind of speech skill?’ he wondered.

The men in black’s amnesia stick would also be really useful for him. Artus chuckled. That would solve all the problems he would ever face.

The journey was smoother while passing by a few magic carriages on the way. The amount of them made him think there was something going on somewhere. He continued along the road without any stop for almost half the day before he was forced to slow down.

In front of him was a huge convoy of armed men escorting a single expensive-looking carriage, not like any others.

The extensive detail carving and its sheer size were enough signs. The carriage compared to others would be a limo in the other world. It had six pairs of wheels to handle its length and maybe the stuff it carried. The length should be around three carriages, mashed into one long vehicle.

The guards were riding some kind of four thick legged animals donned in uniformed armor, but the men’s armor was kind of all over the place. Their hands were already on their weapons as he approached the convoy. Any sudden move would have their weapons pointing at him.

Speeding past them would be a bad idea as he didn’t know what the guards were capable of.

A lone rider rode towards him while waving his hand. He guessed not every day alone mage would be seen riding inside his own shield on the road.

Must be never, Artus chuckled inside while keeping a natural expression.

“Hail, Sir Mage,” the rider said as he got close. “I’m Jake, leader of these ruffians,”

“Call me Artus, and I’m no mage, not just yet,” he answered.

“And yet you ride in an impressive Arcane Shell without any escort,” said the man chuckling.

“What if I say that this is the only spell I know? And I have no escort because I couldn’t afford any,” he said.

“I see, that makes sense when you say it,” the man laughed. “But aren’t you afraid of attacks or ambush?”

“I’m confident in my ability to run away,” he replied. “And the shell isn’t for show only.”

The man’s eyes shined. “So it’s your specialty or your [Spirit]’s? Would you be so kind to demonstrate it?”

“Well, I’m not sure, but you don’t have to take my word as it is. I’m responsible for my own safety.”

Artus had a hunch someone was staring at him and he turned towards the carriage. He couldn’t see anything past those windows blinds but he was sure there were curious people inside. A demonstration would be very bad.

“Oh, come on, it would be fun,” the guy insisted.

“Can I know who is inside the carriage?”

“I’ll have to kill you if I let you know,” the man laughed at his own awful joke.

It would be funny only in places where the law was upheld, but not in the middle of nowhere. However, what he said gave him an idea of the status of the people inside, and as he had suspected, they were way above his pay grade. He wondered if he could escape this unimpeded.

“Nice to know you, Jake, but could you let me pass now?”

The man turned towards the carriage before he sighed.

“The lady inside should be really curious about you, I wanted to continue with our speed but I can’t offend her. Either way, my head would fly if I handle this wrong,” the man sighed.

“If it is only a quick look, I can slow down for a respect bow or something,” he shrugged.

The man looked at him with wide eyes, “you are telling me-” he stopped himself and drew a huge grin. “Let’s go, guys, full speed ahead!” he yelled.

The convoy rushed forward on the signal, leaving him behind in the dust. The leader was laughing before Artus zipped past him without any effort. Jake gawked while the young mage gave a short polite bow while moving as fast as the carriage.

He looked away as soon as the window blind began to open. Artus stopped himself from turning back to the carriage because only fools would've waited for a second longer. There might be a curious lady inside, but it didn’t matter how beautiful, a glimpse of her wouldn’t be worth it.

He cracked the speed up before he could hear anyone trying to stop him. His next stop should be a riverside town, but he wasn’t stopping there. There was no way he would be stopped by a mere river, he would make a jump of faith if he had to.

Crashing on the other side would also be a great stress test for the shell. He had attracted the attention of the wrong kind of people, and they would catch up if he stopped for the night at the town.

Arriving at the town in a spinning magic shell had gathered a lot of attention, but this was no more than cheap publicity. People would want the rolling shield of their own, and he was planning to sell it after he had learned how to embed spells to make magic items.

This was his long term plan to be rich enough until he didn’t need to work anymore.

No doubt there was a risk of people in power trying to squeeze the spell out of him and take it for their own, but that was the risk he was willing to take. The people in power shouldn’t be that stupid and shortsighted, but if they were as stupid, he could always dig a tunnel and run away.

The plan was not really smart, but every other young foolish mage would have shown off their ability just to gather attention. Artus was only playing into his role with a few contingency plans if anything went wrong.

He could always claim that the spell was bestowed upon him by a mysterious wise entity that took pity on his ‘disability’. People were always easier to buy into that kind of crap.

Learning about the world without depending too much on anybody was his goal, and this would help if the plan went without any problem.

But sometimes his plan just won’t work.

The evidence of how little he knew about this world was displayed to him as he faced the river. When someone mentioned a river town to him, he would have a very different picture of what he was seeing right now.

The river itself looked like a goddamned sea.

How or why didn’t matter when there was no way he could cross it himself. The other side of the river looked like a faraway island from the river bank. The only thing crossing the river was huge ferries with water mills on each side.

He would have tried to cross on his own anyway if there weren’t any huge ballista on the ferries’ rooftop. Those weapons were placed up there for a good reason, and he didn’t think it was for aesthetics. Like the forest, the water also had its dangers.

Artus was already ahead of schedule. If he had taken a ride here, he would arrive in another few days at least. Not that he really cared to be punctual, but he didn’t find spending extra time traveling that interesting. Sure the sight of alien green and blue foliages were great but he got bored after enough of them.

He asked around on how to get him a passage across the river, and he was pointed towards a small building by the docks. The officer inside told the same thing he told the last five people in a bored tone.

“The ferry only operates during daylight, and the first ferry tomorrow is already fully booked. Get in line tomorrow for the afternoon ferry.”

He looked at the huge ferry docked at the pier. The thing might be bigger than the largest ferry he had ever ridden before and it was fully booked?

Artus turned towards the officer again before another set of answers came out of his mouth.

“Persons of Great Importance had booked the whole ferry for security reasons, please understand, Sir Mage.”

VIP or VVIP? He wanted to ask the guy but held on to the question. He already knew who had booked it and he nodded to the officer before he turned away. Arguing with the man would be pointless.

The news of his unique arrival had traveled fast, as even the guy on duty across the town could recognize his face. Artus had expected this because he didn’t even need to line up to enter the town. The guard at the end of the line had escorted him to the front without a single word exchanged.

Of course, he wasn’t the only mage around. He could spot many other mages, young and old, in their color-coded robes in town. However, a mage who arrived as he had would be the first for anyone.

But only the guards outside should recognize him as he had walked like everybody else while in the town. There were a lot more people than in the last town, but he didn’t see many purple eyes and black hairs around. Maybe that was how he was easily recognized.

The high quality but plain-looking cloak and clothes could be another glaring difference, but he would rather not announce himself as fellow mages. Those colors should stand for their affinities and he had none of them.

He followed his nose to find a suitable place to gather his thoughts. Artus had chosen to sit on the restaurant’s rooftop just to get away from the busy first floor or prying eyes.

“Sir Mage,” a pretty waitress called him while standing in a respectful range. “May I have your order?” she added with a bright smile.

He wanted to ask how she had known but he decided to let it go. The girl fidgeted as he stared at her being.

“Bring me your recommendation,” he answered with a tired smile.

“How about qawa as refreshment and slices of jenoa?” She said, excited for some reason.

“Sure, miss-”

“Ruby, Sir,” she added.

“Thank you, Ruby,” he answered and the girl became more excited when he said her name. She gave a quick bow before running off with his order.

He recognized this kind of reaction, except it had never happened to him before. Being a young but popular mage might have something to do with it. Well, other than the gorgeous face bestowed by the mysterious Celestial girl-lady.

He kept forgetting that.

The drink came quickly later along with alien fruit and a folded note. Inside was a name, Egg’s Pillow, it sounded like an inn to him. He sighed at the lips mark and kept the folded paper in his notebook.

The status of mage might have given him respect and privileges but it also had its inconveniences. Many who had the chance would do what they could to associate themselves to him, just like Lizzy and the two others. Because sex had become so casual, it wouldn’t be surprising if the waitress would offer to warm his bed tonight.

He had to learn to accept the fact Nusia had tried her best to make him understand.

Smart people would throw women at him before they threw spells.

Unprepared, he would lose before the real fight even began. Nusia knew this well because if she hadn’t done all that she had, he might as well be dancing in Verona’s palms right about now. Who would have known, he might be even glad to be the woman’s boy-toy while making excuses inside his head. He could see how that would happen.

The reality is, sex and women had been used to control men in his old world, let alone in this magical world. People had only tried to hide the fact to the others and themselves. Who would want to be reminded of the rear and ugly part of humanity?

Artus was enjoying the blue drink that reminded him of coffee before his moment of innuendo was interrupted. He had ignored the familiar laugher echoing behind him, but it seemed the guy had even recognized his back.

“Hey, Artus! What a surprise to find you here! Are you here for the view too?”

He had to admit, the view of the river is quite nice from the rooftop. Artus groaned. There was no surprise for the man to be here.