Chapter 5 - Falling Under the Knight's Graces

Lets get started shall we?

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"So my fears are true.... I'm younger now somehow... a teenager perhaps?" he thought to himself while sinking into the idea of being a youngster once again...

Bhalrom did not understand the protective attitude, but he was smart enough to not question a mage's reasons

- "Then it's settled..." Said Maximilian returning to Bhalrom question...

- "Yes, we shall return... I'm pretty certain that there will be no more events like those.... " He responded to the knight while looking to Riou...

- "How have you reached that conclusion if you don't mind me asking... " The curious knight asked

- "Let's just say the mana signature that caused the event had left the forest..."

- "And what about him? Have you discovered anything? Is he really a noble as we thought?" Inquired the knight

- "No... not in the regard that you think of... I don't think he has any affiliations here..." Replied Maximilian;

- "So he is a commoner? I didn't see any slave marks... Did you learn how he got here?"

- "That Bhalrom... will take a while to discover..." - replied the mage calmly and loosing his mind in thoughts... perceiving how difficult such task would be.

- "Very well, I assume you will be accompanying us then as we are to return our findings to the king, I think he will want to meet this lost lamb"

- "I'm right here you know?" Said Riou cutting in the chat between the two.... he was fed up with all the yapping... - "Don't I have a saying in all this?"

Both turned simultaneously towards the high spirited young man... Bholrom laughed in surprise - "Quite spirited lost lamb isn't he?" he said.

But on the other hand Maximilian was apprehensive, Riou was a wild card... perhaps letting him have some sense of control would be better to keep him in check, lets try a sweet proposition

- "Thats right Bholrom, Riou should decide since he is not a prisoner right? He is free to choose..." Said the mage turning to face Riou

- "But consider this... you are lost in a strange land, far away from home, being invited to meet a king... so in other words right now you are a king guest and you will be provided with accommodations and food during this time... but if you prefer to go your own way...alone... the choice is yours..." Said Maximilian dismissively, trying as much as possible to show disinterest on his choice...

- "You really are a cunning old man... did you know that?" He said annoyed by Maximilian way of putting it, - "I can't really refuse now can I? Besides, I always wanted to meet a real king..." He concluded more receptive to the idea...

Maximilian joyfully smiled to Riou's retort his trick was a success. While Bhalrom intervened, that was not the way to talk to a Mage of the highest order.... - "Boy! Don't be disrespectful you should know by now that you are in the presence of a Magus, you should be honored and act accordingly!"

- "Hoo..." Said Riou widening his eyes and with a very surprised look understanding that was a big deal by the way Bholsrom expressed it, and in the knight a sense of accomplishment flared on, he felt as he educated the boy and now he understood how he should behave... Riou turned his gaze towards Maximilian and Bholrom while asking - "But what does that mean?"

Bholrom blood boiled in the same instant... to him was impossible that anyone in the entire world would not know what a Magus title would mean, so to him the boy was casually mocking him and the title of Magus, implying a sense of worthlessness.

Maximilian sensing the imminent crisis intervened blocking the knight way - "It's just a title Riou, nothing less nothing more... isn't he a curious one Bhalrom, lets step outside for a moment shall we..." He said happily and casually answering the young man sitting in the stool at the same time pushing the knight outside...

- "What were you thinking?!" murmured angrily "Do you want to die this bad" he wanted to say but controlled himself... - "Did you not listen to what I said? He is the king's guest!?" Continued a more contained Maximilian - "I thought royal knights should be courteous to their king's guests... but if that is not enough, consider that man under my protection and care... none shall touch him not even bother him without my consent... Are we clear?" concluded the mage with a serene tone.

- "I'm sorry if I offended anyone... " Said Riou coming out of the tent joining them, he was listening the not so discreet conversation, he approached holding his shorts facing the knight - "I really apologize if my conduct was inappropriate, but I'm still very tired and still trying to understand whats going on... this necklace allow me to communicate but even so I'm having a hard time understanding some of the words... please forgive my rudeness and lack of knowledge, I will make sure it does not happen again kind sir" Said the sincere lost boy with round sad eyes, slightly bowing, as if coming in the defense of the helpless knight that was being scolded by the great "evil" mage, he appealed to the knight's honor and sense of justice, there was no way the knight would not sympathize with him... Riou calculated...

Bhalrom was still surprised by the Mage sudden outburst and thought he was exaggerating too much in defense of the boy, but then the young mans words hit him as hard as if made of stones, and as such they sinked in... "The mage knew the young man was tired and lost, finding himself amongst strangers of foreign soil, struggling with a new tongue with nothing but his life, unsure of how to get home.... how scared... a lesser man would certainly succumbed to despair at this point, yet this young brave man was enduring, a commoner like myself was holding up to his misfortune, and if that were not enough still had the honor to humble himself before me, the one that wronged him... such selfless act, such honor that put me to shame..." The knight forced a smile to hide his shame and forcefully holding a tear that was about to escape...

- "Riou and Maximilian, my conduct was indeed inappropriate! Please forgive me, I will personally take this brave man under my personal care as well, rest assured at that everyone will treat him with the dignity he deserves!" - Spoke a proud knight trying to redeem himself under the recognition of his foolish mistakes...

- "If you allow me, I will join the group and start the preparations for tomorrow" He bowed to Maximilian and bowed to Riou as well, turning around and leaving, from behind one could see he bringing his hand to his face... wiping something off...

Riou turned to the old man grinning, he then winked and showed a thumbs up..."Mission accomplished" he thought to himself....

- "You are quite a trickster yourself" Said in a mixture of laugh and smile, Maximilian could feel a bond of camaraderie forming between them... he understood that Riou was very intelligent and had a vast knowledge of things... "Seems like his knowledge also extends to people as well... it was truly amazing seeing how he defused the knights anger and turned him into a friend" confessed in his thoughts the mage...

Signaling Riou to accompany him through a walk on the camp... it was time to get some better clothing, so they went to the quartermaster in charge of supplies.

He was trying some army clothes but the smaller ones were still a bit too big, seeing that the quartermaster pulled out commoner's clothes that he had stocked, he thought it could fit since it was a bit smaller than the uniforms.

It was a whitish shirt made of some sort of wool, very light and thin, he was surprised by the touch as well, it was comfortable, the pants were almost black and much heavier and thick, probably intended to resist the hard working life in the farms, the shoes were a dark brownish color, and despite having only one big lace, so the one using it could tie and adjust as necessary, it would take some time to get used to, but it was good, he used his underwear underneath it, and put his shirt on his shoulder to save it for later.

It was a good fit, with this set and the night approaching they started to get back to the tent... Maximilian was the first to break the silence so they began an honest conversation for the first time...

- "Tell me... how old you really are?" Said the mage in a calm tone...

- "I was almost 26... "Said Riou that already understood that the mage was somewhat aware of his condition.

- "I imagine that is still young from where you come..." - said Maximilian impressed

- "Yeah, a young adult one could say..."

- "Impressive... and still you have such knowledge... really impressive"

- "You know, I don't quite get what you mean by that... do the "tests" have anything to do with this statement of yours?"

- "I apologize, the stones should have glow to show the mana pool of a person, and the mana pool has a direct proportion to the person knowledge... so the longer one lives and learn, the stronger his magic become.... knowledge is the base to magic... and yours exploded them in a single touch... I never seen such reaction before"

- "Thats strange because I don't have knowledge of this world at all, I never learned magic, at least not your kind... where I'm from, magic are all tricks and illusions... but I kind off understand the crystal test, but what was the hand thing you did back there, what was that static shock?"

- "Since the stones were not enough... I tried to measure your pool forming a kind of connection with mine, the idea behind it was to involve your raw concentrated pool with a thin layer of my mana... if accomplished it would grant me the idea of how big it was... but I couldn't accomplish even that, I expended almost everything I had and still was not able to form a full connection, your mana didn't even respond to mine... so I kind of tried to invade your mana forcefully...

- "Like mind reading right?" Riou said calmly understanding where he was getting at..

- "Yes..." said the slightly ashamed Magus

- "Did you see anything?" - Said with a slight worried tone the young man...

- "I had just a glimpse, flashing images, most of them I could not even comprehend... but I felt like you lived a thousands lifetimes...saw many wars... humongous monsters and disasters.... I saw gore and carnage... so much that I could.... would not dare to describe..." Said Maximilian shaken by the remembrance of what he saw

- "..." Riou went silent for a moment.... fearful that the old man had seen him inside his memories one of his most private delusions...

- "But I also somewhat felt a sense of virtue, and a deep knowledge of almost everything..." The mage continued... and finally asking - "What are you?"

- "Would you believe if I said that what you saw were just histories? Created by the mind of many... and that I just had too much free time?"

- "But they were so vivid... so real... also how could you know of the earthquake term, that is only described in advanced magic studies..."

- "Well... your advance magical studies are common knowledge... kids start learn that stuff..."

- "...." the mage went silent pondering the meaning of what was said... - "So you are indeed a high born? A noble or a king perhaps? To a kid be able to learn such difficult studies, should be really from the nobility to have such high teachers at your disposal... we have similar ways here as well, but yours seemed on a complete new level" he complemented

- "Nah, you still don't get it do you? Basic knowledge is cumulative because its shared, and the more it is shared the more it became basic knowledge... also we don't have magical powers there you know?"

- "A concept hard to understand... everyone here perceive knowledge as power, so you can imagine how knowledge is kept in secret... and perhaps in doing so we condemned ourselves... Some knowledge is only passed inside a family, they specialize in elements and spells the rest of the world is forbidden to find out..."

- "Knowledge is indeed power everywhere, don't get me wrong, the difference is that even basic knowledge here makes a huge difference, by what you are telling me... but to be honest, I really don't see how..."

Maximilian went silent... Riou sounded as sage, his words were full of wisdom behind it... it was uncanny to see such a young man so well versed. He felt comfortable, as if found a friend that he could discuss the mysteries of the world and he would be able to understand... and remarkably more, provide insight as well... a thing that he a long time have not experienced... and had no idea how much longed for until that moment...

- "Riou... Lets get away from the camp for a bit... I want to show you my magic..." Said the Magus...