Chapter Four

The day arrived. The sun shining through the clouds, a cool breeze blowing through the leaves. It was time to leave for the Magic Academy city. It wasn't really called that. Rather, it was the small town of Karkan. When a mage of great power decided that the abundant land, with a large forest and monster, would be perfect for an academy. Once the Magic Academy was established, the town gained a larger population. Soon everyone that lives there has either gone to the academy or is trying to.

The only problem with going to the Academy was how far it was from my village. It takes three weeks to travel to the academy. It wasn't the easiest or safest route, either. Many things could happen along the way. From Monster attacks, two bandits ones. However, as about 70% of those traveling to the Academy make it without too much trouble. Nothing has been done to help the 30% that don't. The Academy even making a statement about making it to the Academy is the first part of the test.

"You'll be careful, right? If you see movement scream, wait, if it's a human play dead!" Mom said, handing me more safety weapons. She had made me strap a small dagger to my underwear, making me swear to never take it off. The full sword from dad's shop hanging from my waist. And now she was handing me a couple of bottles of poison to throw at them.

"I will be careful. I won't be alone either." I told her. I was going to travel with the traders. They were only heading to the largest town near us. But that was in the direction I needed to go. Once there, things get a little easier for me. I can take a carriage to the larger city, and from there the train to the Academy city.

Calm down, one step at a time. Just focus on getting to the town first. I will figure things out from there.

Mom sighed, holding my hands. "I don't like that you are doing this alone. It's not the safest thing to do."

"She'll be fine. Remember when she beat up that one kid for calling Abby a brat?" Dad said, bring up my dark past. Dad smiled, his crooked grin seeing my face change.

"DAD!" I whined. I was young and full of spite and anger. Abby was my foe, not that other kid. Thinking back on it, I do feel guilty about it. I mean, I broke the kid's arm. I just jumped at him. We both fell back. His arm snapped. It was my fault, really. The snap made everyone in the flower field stop. Staring at each other, we were silent. Before the screaming started. The parents from the surrounding houses ran out to see what was happening.

Mom laughed, "You're right. Abby really tamed our little monster." My face burned at this. Why did they decide to do this now? Everyone could hear them.

"Lora! We're ready!" The wagon owner called. He's about my brother's age. With soft brown hair that almost looked blond in the right light. Unlike my brother, he was tall and thin. My brother was taking after my father, being a hunter. Making his muscles large. A shame that his brain isn't as big.

"Sorry Evan," I said, waving at my family. I was off to the big town. Evan and his family always made this trip this time of year to help those like me get to the Town. It was really nice of them. It also helped us get some much needed practical experience. They guide us to the Town and we protect the wagon.

The dark brown wagon had a covering over the top and four wheels. It was full of boxes and had very little room for anything. Evan told us we wouldn't be sitting in his wagon. There wasn't enough room, and even the room that was there wasn't safe. Some boxes moved about while traveling.

Walking next to the wagon wasn't bad. I had been running around my village for years before this. Keeping up with a wagon for a while wasn't too hard. Evan let us take turns riding next to him.

"Lora, are you really going to try the witch test?" The other asked. Ellis was a boy from my village, and my brother's friend. He took this job to get a little more money set aside for his wedding. Or so he said, but backed on how he's not even dating anyone. I'm betting my brother asked him to protect me.

"Yeah, I'm going to ace it too!" I told him, smiling.

He laughed, "I always thought you would be a worrier rather than a witch."

I grinned at him. "You think I can't do both?" His face twisted in worry. Laughing at him, I smacked him back. "I'm kidding. I'm going to be a witch that heals people."

"With your temper and jokes, I worry for your patients." He muttered.

"Hey!" I yelled, and he ran ahead laughing. I wasn't as bad as Doctor Hibiki. The man was the first person people got because he was willing to break an arm to make people sit still. Even though I bet he would feel bad about it later.

Walking for such a long time was boring. We talked with each other for a while. Until Evan told us that we should stop or we would run out of breath. We all grew up next to each other, so there wasn't much we didn't know about each other. Making long conversations hard. There were only so many times you can talk about the past before you're out of stories.

The silence was getting at me. Just the rhythmic turning of the wagon wheels. I couldn't read or I could trip. We were told not to talk too much. I was getting bored. What was there to do? How do people do this all the time?

In the end, I began practicing medicine in my head. Using all the pop quiz questions Doctor Hibiki gave me over the year. Thinking of the answer, then trying to remember what the lecture on it was.

"Lora?" Evan asked, breaking me from my mind.

"Huh?" I asked, looking at him.

His smile looked forced. "It's your turn to ride with me."

"Ah, someone else can take it."

"Lora, this is a long trip. You shouldn't try to sprint it." He said, a frown on his face. Why did he seem so much older compared to my brother? They were both about 20 years old.

"I'll rest the next round. I can still walk." I told him, looking at the others. "Megan, why don't you get on? You look like you're having a harder time."

She was panting a bit, and her legs were wobbling. But once I pointed her out, her cheeks burned bright. "I can keep going!" she said, standing up straight. Her legs gave away her newfound energy.

"It's really fine. I'm more fit than I look." I smiled.

"Yeah, like a fairy dead lifter," Ellis yelled. I turned to glare at him.

"I'm not short!" I yelled at him. How dare he! I was still growing, after all.

"Megan, get on the wagon and let's go. Let the short stack figure out how bad an idea that was," Ellis said, smirking at me. He was going to regret that. Megan got into the wagon. While walking, all I could think about was how I was going to beat Ellis up. He was going to have a hard time when we got to the Town. I couldn't get revenge until then.

"Hey, Lora. Why are you so short? Your family's like giants." Ellis asked. I could hear the smirk in his tone.

"I'm not short. I'm still growing and am a normal height for my age." I huffed, not looking at him.

"Lora, please keep pace with the wagon," Evan called. I had sped up and was now getting ahead of the donkeys pulling.

"Sorry," I called, stopping. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. It wouldn't do to out run the wagon. I would get lost out here.

We kept up our rotation, learning where we are best placed. I did take my break the next round as Evan glared at me the moment I opened my mouth. He was kinda scary, and I didn't want to make him mad. I found that the middle was the best place for me to guard. If I was in the middle, I didn't have to worry about going too fast or getting too lost in my own head.

 The middle guard wasn't a place that I could get too lost, though. It was one of the more dangerous places to be. As the wagon or driver would be shot at first. Depending on what the bandits wanted. If they need supply, they wouldn't try to hit the goods. While if they wanted money, then the goods were a bonus.

"We reached a clearing. We'll be setting up here for the night." Evan said, pulling the wagon off to the side.

We got to work setting up the campsite. Pulling lots to find out what we are in charge for the night. The lots were: 1 cooking, 1 gathering wood, 2 tent set up, and finally 2 guard/look out. I we all grabbed a lot and pulled together. Setting up tents was the most tedious. So, of course, I would pull that one. At least Morgan was with me for this boring task.

"So Morgan, what do you want to be?" I asked. It was too quiet. I know that we are all from the same village, but I can't remember what anyone else wanted to do. Abby and I were so focused on being witches that I didn't look at anyone else.

"I want to be an adventure, Like my mom and dad were. The Town Semina has a guild." She answered, pushing up part of the tent more.

I looked her over, trying to tell what she used in a fight. She just seemed so… shy. "Oh, that's cool. Are you going to join a party or at the others part of your party?"

She giggled at me. "I'm going to join one. My mom and dad aren't from our village. It was one that one of their party members was from. If I remember right, wasn't your dad also an adventurer?"

"He was. He said that it's not all that great. People suck, the jobs are awful, you have to be careful of who you join up with. And on top of all that, you can't always win." I answered. It was the truth. When Dad talked about his youth, it was full of regrets. I'm not sure why that was.

"That's so strange. My Dad and Mom said he-"

"Lora, are you working or talking?" Ellis said, walking over to us.

I frowned at him. "Do you see the tents up? Yeah, we're working." We had finished three of the tents. There was only the last one left. They were evenly spaced and in a suitable spot.

"Yeah, just checking. Sounded like a lot of chatter."

"You are so annoying," I muttered, just loud enough for Morgan to hear me. I hoped that she would laugh. Instead, she forced an awkward smile. I didn't realize I was so bad with people.

Finishing the last tent, we got to work collecting more firewood. One person doing it was fine to start with, but it wouldn't last. At least it wasn't going to be cold tonight.

Dinner was a potato stew with deer meat. We ate and talked about what we were going to do at Semina. Ellis was going to escort Evan back through our area. While the others wanted to find work in the large town.

"Aw man, that means I'm the only witch to be." I sighed while the others laughed.

"We know all about that," they laughed. "Yeah, you and Abby never shut up about it." The slip had everyone by surprise. The laughter dying as quickly as it started.

"Yeah, Abby had all the brains, while I ran around screaming I'd be a witch," I laughed, hoping to bring back the warm feeling.

They relaxed. Ellis huffed, "I don't think you're remembering it right. Abby was right next to you, screaming her head off, too."

I laughed, "Was she? I was so busy trying to tell everyone what I was going to do, I didn't notice."

After dinner, I took the first watch. It was boring as nothing really happened. I had expected a monster or bandit attack by now. This journey was supposed to be dangerous. I wouldn't try it alone. It would be far too lonely to try.

Ellis was supposed to take the next watch, but he didn't wake up for it. I didn't notice, as I was lost in my own head. Until Evan woke up to take the shift after. He looked at me, then at the other tents.

"You were supposed to be asleep by now," He whispered, annoyance clear as day thanks to the fire.

"It's fine. I'm sure we'll get better at it as we travel." I said, hoping that Ellis wasn't going to be in too much trouble. Evan sighed, telling me to go to bed. I didn't want to make him any angrier, so I did so. I was getting tired, but I might have lasted all night if I had to.

The next morning, we were back to walking. Ellis apologized for not waking up the night before. It was all alright though. The walking was now starting to get to me. We walked so much the day before and now it was more walking. Staying vigilant for any monsters or bandits.

"Evan, do you like traveling from place to place?" I asked, trying to see the appeal of it. New places were fun, but traveling to get there…

"I love it. It sounds fake, I know. Once you get used to it, it's nice to see everything. And when you walk the same path again later, you notice things have changed." He said, smiling. I wonder how many places he's seen. His parents were merchants too, right? I wonder how long he's been traveling.

"How long have you been traveling?" Ellis asked, smiling.

Evan looked over his shoulder at him. Making Ellis smiling more. "I've been traveling sense I was born. My Mother and father taking me with them." He answered. His voice was soft in a way it wasn't with me.

"Still must have been hard growing up like that," I said. "Going from place to place, I mean."

"It was. I had a hard time finding friends for a long time. I couldn't help falling in love with all the different places I've been. I just couldn't settle in one place." Evan laughed. It was nice hearing him start to relax with us. I guess, having so many people come and go, it makes sense that he's a little slow to warm up.

We walked through the forest until Evan stopped the wagon. "Look there, you can see the village we will be stopping at," He said, pointing to a small clearing. We all walked over to look. There beneath is a village. It was placed in more of a square than our own. It was only a two-day travel, so we trade with them a lot. Though I had never been here.

"It's got such cute roofs." I muttered, looking at the red tops. They were all red.

"They paint them that way so it's melts the snow more in winter." Evan said.

I turned to him. "Do they get a lot of snow? They aren't that far from our village."

He laughed, "That's something you'll have to ask them or stay there to find out."

If they got a lot of snow, I felt cheated. It snowed but never stayed for very long. The longest I can remember was for a week. After that it's warm enough to melt the snow but still too cold to take off a jacket.

"You don't have to be so jealous," Ellis said, smacking my back. The force of it moving me forward.

"Who said I was jealous?" I demanded.

He laughed, "Your face did. We grew up with you, so don't think you can fool us." His knowing smirk was driving me crazy. I almost couldn't wait to get rid of him.

"I hate you," I told him.

 He knelt a bit. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that from all the way up there. Can you say it again?" He laughed now at my height.

"OOF!" He huffed, after I punched him in the gut. He was being a jerk and so he had to be punished.

"Lora, Ellis." Evan sighed.

"He started it," I pointed at Ellis.

"No, I didn't!" Ellis said, whipping his head to look at Evan. Evan just hook his head.

"Back in formation. I would like to make it to the village before dark." Evan said, shaking his head. I laughed, seeing Ellis pout at the words.

Making it to the village was easy. They offered a place for us to sleep. It wasn't a large house, but it had five rooms. Evan said that he usually uses this house when he visits this village. I should tell Ellis to get our village to upgrade the house he uses there. That way, he might visit more often. We got an hour to relax until dinner. I didn't know how much I missed sleeping in a bed until I had gone without for a few days. They were all so nice to us. Letting us use such an amazing house.

"We'll spend a day here so I can trade. Tomorrow you're free to do as you like. No causing trouble for the village or I will leave you here," Evan said, looking at me for the last part.

"Hey, what did I do?" I asked, looking at the others for help. They just smiled at me. I don't know what I did to be labeled a troublemaker, but whatever it was, I didn't do it.

Still, I tried to listen to him staying at the house that they let us use. When I left, I only walked around the village. Of course, that's when they found me.

"Show us magic!" The three kids yelled. They had found out about the person traveling to be a witch and cornered me. Now they wouldn't leave me alone until I showed them magic.

"I can't," I whined, trying to find Evan or Ellis. At this point, I would take anyone that will help me get away from them.

"You're a witch, right?" "I wanna see!" 'Show us! Show us!" They yelled. I tried to back away.

"I can't yet! That's why I'm traveling to the Academy." I answered. That answer wasn't to their liking as they continued to yell at me.

"WHO IS THAT YELLING?" I heard a woman yell. The kids stopped yelling, turning pale. They turned and ran from my side.

"Thank you," I muttered, finally getting a chance to breathe.

"Not a problem. Those kids just like new things. Don't let it get you down." The rather large woman laughed. Her laughter was bright, loud, and contagious. "Names Ethel."

"Lora," I answered, holding out my hand.