The Caravan

After leaving the store Caxon rented a room in the tavern for the night as he went to sleep early so he could go to the caravan mission tomorrow feeling refreshed.

When Caxon got to the meeting point he saw 2 horses attached to a cart, on the cart there were 3 men in long white robes with a scholarly look to them, there was one with a rank 2 hollow core and another with a rank 3 hollow core however the last one seemingly had no mana core.

Caxon quickly noticed that the scholar with no mana core was the man he had ran into when he went to the restaurant when he left town. Caxon found this man suspicious since he couldn't sense his mana core and his instincts were telling him it wasn't because he hadn't formed one yet.

He also saw 2 other men both in armor they seemed to be other adventurers who also took the same mission as him, one of them was a large man with Rank 1 bronze stage strength and a large battle-axe hanging on his back. The other was a rank 8 hollow core elf with twin daggers at the small of his back. Caxon walked up to them and bowed as he introduced himself.

"Hello I am Caxon I am here to help escort the caravan to the capital."

"I see you must be the third and final one who took the mission, didn't expect you to be so young. Anyway, my name is Talon and the guild put me in charge because I am the only bronze core that took the job. This boy is named Caxon and this elf is named Trinadal. Now, I am sure you both know what you signed up for but I will explain anyways, we are to take the 3-week journey to the capital with these scholars and protect them on their way. Be especially careful as I am sure you have noticed one of them is unable to control magic and as no mana core so be careful with large scale attacks since you can easily kill him on accident. Now let's move out."

As Talon was finishing talking Caxon was suspicious after hearing that the scholar supposedly didn't have a mana core. When he looked at the scholar to see if maybe he was just miss judgingnd him he found that the man was already staring at him and as their eyes meet the scholar winked before going back to reading as he was before.

'Amon can you sense that man's power what are our chances of killing him.'

Caxon quickly discussed their options as he did not like this scholar at all and he knew for sure he was not some nobody who couldn't control mana.

'Young master I should be able to sense even peak bronze stage mages, and if this man is in the Silver core stage, I doubt we will be able to beat him even fighting together.'

'Then we better hope that he doesn't decide to make a move, and prey that he isn't a participant.'

Before long the caravan was on the move, Talon took the lead, the elf named Lorrel walked along the left side while Caxon walked along the right.

"Say young man do you remember me from when you bumped into me at the restaurant a few weeks ago."

Much to Caxon's dismay the scholar was also sitting on the right side of the cart so they were very close to each other. The scholar seemed like he wanted to chat as he smiled at Caxon and questioned him.

"Yes, sir I do actually."

"Good, well my name is Alarat and what is your name?"

He looked at Alarat out of the side of his eye, he didn't sense any hostility it seemed like Alarat was simply curious so he decided to answer.

"My name is Caxon"

"I see I see and how old are you, why did become an adventurer you seem alittle young to be risking your life and your potential out here."

"Sir I am 16 but I have to ask what do you wish to accomplish by asking all these questions."

Caxon may have come across a little too aggressive when he asked but Alarat was too suspicious not to question what his motive was.

"Well calm down young man I meant no offense I am sorry to bother you. I will allow you to go back to guarding our caravan."

After that Alarat went back to reading and didn't ask any more questions.

Soon the first day of travel ended and Caxon ran into a major problem, he couldn't sleep. If he slept Alarat would definitely find out that he is at the 7th rank and it would lead to many questions that he couldn't answer.

So, he ran from the camp when at night and slept very far from the others. The group decided to sleep 8 hours a day, mostly for Alarat who they believed was a nonmage and needed to sleep more than the rest. Since Caxon did not require 8 hours of sleep to sustain himself he used some of this time to train instead.

In the morning Alarat clearly knew that he had left as he watched the other with a questioning gaze however, he did not confront him about it so Caxon just acted like nothing happened. Any suspicions or thoughts Alarat had about last night were definitely better than him finding out why he had actually left.

After traveling for a week he had made more progress with his comprehension of all the elements as well as continuing to practice his sword technique with Amon. The group was still moving through the forest however according to Talon after tomorrow the rest of the journey would be through plains.

Caxon was walking in his assigned position, thinking about his future and what else he could do during this trip, when he felt several men moving in the forest.

'Master I sense at least ten people in the forest on both sides they are following us'

'Yes, I noticed but I can also feel Alarat's eyes on me I think he is waiting for me to react or trying to see if I notice them. Talon hasn't said anything or made any moves yet so a hollow core like me shouldn't notice something before he does. In about 2 minutes we will reach a tree that is chopped down blocking the road, that is when they will attack. Make sure not to come out unless absolutely necessary and if you do, we immediately run away.'

'I understand master.'

Just like Caxon said the group soon reached a tree in the road, when Talon saw it, he raised his fist and picked the massive weapon off of his back.

"Something isn't right, get ready."

The group quickly drew their weapons and prepared for the fight ahead.