Visit to Xeros Part-1

A day later, back at the Greymore mansion, Mr Hound was met with trouble.

"What were you two thinking?", Rovena scolded both of them.

"I wanted to try out a new magic!", Alex replied.

"You shut up! I am not talking to you, and you, look at me when I am talking to you Hound! What did you promise me?", Rovena retorted.

"I am sorry. I have no excuses. It was a fun experience in my opinion." Mr Hound replied jokingly.

"What do you mean fun experience? Alex was unconscious for a day after you two came back all battered and wet."

"Well, that happens when you face a Fyto, we were rather lucky that it wasn't the Griffon or the Fenrir!"

"A Fyto?! I thought you went for some light training, don't tell me you went to the Deep end."

"What? that's the best spot for training!"

"For a seasoned adventurer, not for a seven-year-old child."

"Madam, you should have seen how good Alex was!"

"You also say something William!"

"Well, let it be. At least Alex got some experience", William said calmly.

"I shouldn't have asked for your input", Rovena said, " And Hound, if you put my boy in danger again, you will have to deal with me."

"Yes madam. It won't happen again.", Mr Hound replied the fear showing through in his voice.

Alex had been unconscious for a day after his skirmish with the Fyto. The fight had been a boost to Alex's confidence and had helped him gain respect for magic all over again. This battle had also shown him how weak he was. He thought it was necessary for him to improve his physical strength as well as increase his mana manipulation techniques.

"Hey Hound, can you deliver this letter to the Adventurer's guild for me?", William said as he gave a letter to Mr Hound.

"Sure thing! I also have some work in the town anyways.", Mr Hound replied enthusiastically.

"Can I also go?", Alex's ear had perked up when he heard of a town visit.

"Of course you can, Mr Hound will be there to protect you if something happens won't you Mr Hound", William replied.

"We leave in a day, it takes 3 days to reach the guild and we will stay there for two days so pack accordingly", Mr Hound instructed Alex.

"Thank you so much Dad, Thank you Mr Hound", Alex rushed to his room.

They set out the next day to go to the Barony of Xeros located in the outskirts of the Megalos county where the Adventurer's guild stood in all its glory. Alex was surprised to find out that the mode of travel was still somewhat primitive here. Most people travelled by horse carriages. Alex was ready to see the outside world for the first time in this new life. Mr Hound had told him to pack for a week which he had done. He had taken three sets of clothing, a diary and a pen to document his journey and new things that he might come across in the Xeros Barony. He was also given a pouch of coins by his mother to spend.

"Spend this wisely. DO NOT take anything from strangers and help everyone you can. We are nobility; we are supposed to help the people who are less privileged than us." Rovena said caringly.

"Thank you so much ma. I will not waste any of this money." Alex replied.

He was suddenly hit with nostalgia and remembered the time when he was little and would get monthly pocket money from his parents. This made him miss his mom and dad.

The day of departure was here. Alex was ready in his new clothes. He wore a plain green long sleeve shirt which accentuated his eyes, he paired this with plain black trousers and a matching jacket. Mr Hound was also not in his usual suit, he wore a black robe and black trousers with a longsword hanging by his side. He was also wearing a pair of gloves and his left forearm had a protector which was very battered. This made him look more rugged than usual. The carriage had two horses and both horses had a special apparatus. It was like a big flat pouch and it was filled with water. When asked about it, Mr Hound told him that it was to keep the horses from overheating and when needed it could also be warmed when travelling in the winter season. The horses looked like they didn't mind the extra weights of the pouches.

It was a bright and sunny day but not hot. The weather of Megalos had always been pleasant as far as Alex knew. It was never too hot or too cold, it was the ideal temperature to just sit under a tree and sleep or read a book. The only thing that Alex missed from his previous world other than his parents was the internet. He had found new equally loving parents as his previous life but he had no replacement for the internet and PC or even a smartphone.

He still retained most of the concepts that he had learned in his degree but he had nothing to implement this on as there were no machines on computers in this world which had made his computer engineering degree null and void. He had thought about this hard and had found a way to make use of some of the concepts about processors in his own mana channelling. He had started training his body in such a way that it could channel the mana throughout the body freely. This was a very complex task and difficult to do. This would also lead to his body being very durable and strong as a byproduct. This was not the main goal but since it was a win-win situation he started working hard towards this goal.

Alex decided to implement the concept of pipelining in his mana channelling. The concept was that he would fire off a spell and while that was in the process he would channel the next spell and store it in a form of a queue. This would allow him to execute magic back to back and gain an advantage over his opponent. This had a lot of advantages as he could combine any of his affinities on will and make new magic as a combination of the two. This was good on paper and in theory but to do it practically was a different matter.

While on the carriage, he started channelling his mana throughout his body, this was difficult to boot, but the constant bumping of the carriage made this more irritating. Alex would constantly lose focus and would have to start all over again.

"With all the efforts taken to ensure that the horses are comfortable, they have not thought of the human comfort at all. I guess shock absorbers don't exist in this world! What a literal pain in the ass." He was particularly proud of his last thought.

"I have been noticing sudden changes in your mana flow, what are you trying to do?" asked Mr Hound.

"It is a secret for now but I will tell you soon enough.", Alex replied.

"Whatever. Just dont do it while we camp for the day. Sudden changes in the mana flow can alert wild beasts." Mr Hound said casually.

They had stopped for the day and were almost there according to Mr Hound. The place where they stopped was a clearing in the forest near a small pond. The full moon was reflected in the clear still water. They sat down and had their dinner which they had packed from the Greymore mansion, this had irritated Alex at first as he wanted to have a proper camping experience, but he was grateful for the pre-made food after this uncomfortable journey. The air was cold and the sounds of insects were acting as white noise which put Alex in a sleepy mood. After all, he still had a body of a seven-year-old. His first goal in this life was to get some friends and his second goal was to create a healthy body. He had been blessed with good genetics and he just wanted to make use of them and not let them go to waste.

"The town is big and has a lot of different shops in it. There is a really good bakery which has the best pastries I have ever had," said Mr Hound, "I also want to catch up with my buddies in the adventurer guild."

"I also can't wait to see the town. I want to visit a bookstore. I want to see what sort of books they sell in this world." Alex replied.

"What do you mean in this world? I dont get what you say sometimes." Mr Hound yawned.

His yawn was contagious and before he knew it, Alex was drifting away in his sleep. The night was very uneventful and he had slept peacefully. The next morning they took a bath in the pond and set for the town. The ride was unexpectedly smooth and was considerably more comfortable than the journey so far.

"How much time do you think we will need at the Adventurer's guild?" Alex asked.

"You dont need to come to the guild, here take this map, this is the map of the area that we are going to. This here is the bookstore and this is the bakery." Mr Hound said while pointing at locations on the map. "Meet me in the Townsquare after you are done or you can directly come to the Adventurer's guild which is here."

"Will do!" replied Alex barely suppressing his happiness.