The Cascrender Plateau

Trees that grew needles started to appear in the vast amount of lush tree crowns, their darker stems towering over the surrounding greenery—the fact they were able to flourish here was a side effect of the elevation ramping up, which also caused the climate of the forest to cool down even more. 

Not cold, but not exactly warm either—the two of them passed by extending cliff sides and made their way through slim pathways edged into stone fronts, cliffs that Midas was already used to from the time he spent in the mountains that separated the water kingdom from the desert.

Following the river upwards was Avalon's idea; he was fond of not having to find his way through footpaths that led through the expanse of trees—not trying to risk getting lost. Avalon had assured Midas that they soon would find the path used by carriages that transport people directly from Puertagua to the university they strived towards.

Pulling up Midas's left arm, his hand tightly returning his grasp, Avalon managed to help the boy get up a steep slope on their way up the cliff, their ears nearly completely numbed by the crashing water of the waterfall they passed by—seemingly endless amounts of water that originated from the sea that lay near their goal, lying even higher, on top of the high-lying plateau they seemed to have entered.

Midas stopped in their way for a while; the river was still ongoing once they managed to climb up the cliffside. The boy turned to look at the riverbed, silently watching a pack of fish slither around in the water, trying their best to swim against the strong current. Midas quickly turned to Avalon again—the man not waiting for him.

„I think I can see it—right in front of us…"

Avalon turned to Midas as he managed to catch up to him; a broad way made its way through the mixed forest—wheel patterns stretched through the flat floor, the path unpaved—the carriage service must have been established only shortly after Midas had heard of it.

„This will make things much easier—we just need to make sure we're staying on that path until we get to Cascrender…"

Distant cliffs elevated themselves out from the distance; needle trees seem to be surrounding them—flourishing on top of the uplifted land. Their path towards the city seemed to be sloping upwards more with every step the two of them took on the way.

„Is digesting food and sleeping really the only way of regenerating mana?"

Midas asked as they followed the path, able to keep up with Avalon's longer legs as he turned to the man to ask with a somewhat serious expression, longing for his answer.

„From what I know, it is… The better you are able to control your consumption of whatever mana is in your body, the longer you'll be able to bend. Even though there might be null abilities that could speed up your regeneration."

Midas gasped flat at his words; Null Abilities really were able to be used in all kinds of situations, yet, without being able to understand how to use his mana in order to use them, actually making use of these abilities would take some time.

"There might be a null ability that could speed up my regeneration…?"

Midas rephrased Avalon's speech with a hollowing stare, intending to know how to use it—would he be able to teach himself? Doing so would be possible, if he knew where and how he would need to use his mana.

"It speeds up the digestion of food—you basically force your gut to extract the mana of whatever you eat… accelerating the time it would need to refill your mana storage."

Avalon heads away from the eerie stare of the youngling next to him, speaking with unsure words—mentally forced to reply to his questions as best as he could with his lacking knowledge—the said ability never used by him, an idea someone he knew was considering to try.

"So you use your mana on your gut…?"

Midas held his left hand onto his stomach, the stained bandages he wore not covering it. The leather was still covering his back—Avalon didn't seem to carry any extra bandages on him; the rope around his body became loose with time.

"I think so—don't overdo it, though… That would lead to stomachaches—you'll have to use a tinier amount of mana…"

Avalon turned to the boy, mustering his empty gaze that stared directly at whatever lay in front of them—an expression formed by the youth trying to imagine how the mana would flow through him. His hands already on his stomach, he tried his best to somehow let his mana find a way to encircle through his gut system.

His already low mana allowed him to not worry too much about regulating his flow, already slowed down by his walking—the tiny amount of energy travelled loosely through his lower torso, hopefully aiding in his regeneration.

„Null abilities are really remarkable—their different uses baffle me somewhat…"

Avalon couldn't help but nod at Midas's newfound excitement for the same abilities he always used; the boy next to him would be able to make great progress if they kept their pace, finding himself somewhat intrigued by how spontaneous Midas developed interest in new things—not shying away from trying his best to train himself.

„Yeah… They can be used to do all sorts of things—disable attacks, locate people… even treat wounds… No wonder the armies of the desert insisted on practicing them—well... until they found out ways of using the sunshard that is."

Avalon spoke, his genuine-sounding excitement catching Midas's attention—Jihid had already told him about the army, about mana, and about Null Abilities. His head began to sink at the thought of them potentially falling victim to the same water kingdom forces.

The path they traversed on seemed completely abandoned—not a single vehicle seemed to be steered on the muddy pathway that led through the forest; faint wheel markings were the only sign of carts having passed through the growth.

Midas's head rose upwards; more elevated land seemed to stretch out in front of them, making the boy sigh to himself as he watched the clouds turn a shade of faint orange—announcing the end of another day of the two of them travelling.

"The salesmen that work near Puertagua already established the term 'dunewanderer season'… They use it to describe the time in which many people from the south try to get a place to stay in the north… And it seems like we barely missed it."

Midas raised a brow at the term, turning to Avalon as he spoke, somewhat out of breath from the elevated path they took.

"Like a hunting season…?"

Avalon's face darkened somewhat at Midas's unknowing question; unable to look in the child's eyes, he didn't reply—taking a while to realize how dehumanizing it really was to call this timeframe a 'season' for salesmen to make extra income on.

"Maybe we should stop here and prepare for the night…"

Avalon turned to a loose circle of charred pebbles, two cut stems ligned up arround the fire - mere steps away from the broad path they took. Midas watched with intrigue as Avalon placed his bag on one of the logs; unsure if he had said something wrong, he simply stood beside the man.

It took them a while; the inside of the forest was much darker, the spare sunlight remaining in the sky easily blocked by the crowns of the high-rising pines around them. Midas watched for a while as Avalon eventually managed to get a fire going, the fire consuming the twigs he and the man gathered.

Letting his sickle rest on the fallen log, Midas sat next to Avalon, his fingers grasping whatever food was given to him. Mostly dried jerky as well as spiced sausage—rations he was used to eating on his travels with Graf, hearing the membrane of the sausage snap as he bit into it.

"Is there any reason for you to study the northern language, Midas…?"

Mumbling somewhat, Avalon turned to look at the boy next to him. The light of the fire dimly shining back from the darkened metal of the old tool he carried with him.

"Alma's brother… I was told to meet him someday; that's what he told me after heading into his last battle…"

Avalon's eyes lit up as he mustered the sunken gaze of the boy, turning to stare into the flickering flame of the campfire as he continued to feed branches into it, enjoying the radiating warmth, as their surroundings were quickly darkening.

"I never knew Alma had a brother… Do you know where you're supposed to meet him...? Does he live near Cascrender…?"

Midas shook his head silently as his eyes stared into the fire, watching as its sparks flew around him.

"No… He lives in Cle'phoria currently—at least from what Alma had told me."

Midas's reply numbed Avalon's excitement, only able to nod at the youth's words—actually getting there will require him to cross nearly the entire country; no wonder the youth was so urgent to grow his understanding of mana and the region's language.

"Go get some sleep then…"

Avalon eventually replied, straightening his back as he sighed to himself—not sure how to really deal with a child like Midas.