The middle-aged Mage's name was Kendon.
After the attack, Kendon had become noticeably quieter.
Having thoroughly embarrassed himself with his grandiose spellcasting, even the hand holding his wand seemed to have lost its strength.
Part of it was the shame of facing the other passengers, but more importantly, he had lost all desire to act superior in front of Vermoor.
"I'm sorry I called you a savage."
Vermoor responded calmly to the unexpected apology.
"It's fine. I've heard worse a hundred times over."
His casual response only made Kendon feel more embarrassed.
"I wouldn't call this an apology, but…… may I offer you a piece of advice?"
"By all means."
"That spellbook of yours. You should avoid revealing that it's a spellbook in front of others. Spellbooks are valuable possessions. They'll attract all sorts of thieves, and a Mage blinded by ambition might even risk his life to steal one."
Vermoor considered his words for a moment before nodding.
"I didn't know that. No wonder you were looking at my book so greedily."
"Urgh…… Forgive me. I briefly entertained some rather shameful thoughts."
"There's no need to apologize for something you never actually did. Anyone can think about doing something."
"Th-Thank you. Hearing you say that makes me feel a little better."
The more Kendon spoke with Vermoor, the more his prejudices against Barbarians began to fade.
The Barbarians he knew were ignorant, vulgar people who could barely hold a logical conversation.
But Vermoor was different.
His insight occasionally made even Kendon reconsider his own views. Above all, there was a certain thoughtfulness in the way he spoke.
"You…… have a way of speaking that puts people at ease. More so than most ordinary folk."
"Do I? I haven't met many people, so I wouldn't know."
Vermoor tilted his head.
If Kendon was right, it was probably thanks to Hyunwoo.
After all, he had spent more than five years caring for that difficult man and had shared countless conversations with him.
The two continued talking quietly afterward, mostly about Mages.
As their conversation progressed, Kendon gradually realized just how little Vermoor actually knew.
Mage society, the various schools of magic, the functions and rivalries of Magic Towers, master-disciple relationships, the taboos surrounding the transmission of secret techniques, and so on.
"And yet you've been going around calling yourself an aspiring Mage without knowing any of this!"
"You don't need qualifications to have a dream, do you?"
"That's……."
Kendon was momentarily at a loss for words.
"……True."
Muttering that Vermoor had a point, Kendon cleared his throat before continuing.
"If you want to become a Mage, there's really only one way. Find yourself a master."
"A master?"
"You could ask someone you've been fortunate enough to meet to teach you, or you could enter a Magic Tower and seek out a master there. Either way, what matters is receiving proper instruction."
"Could you become my master?"
"I-I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to decline. I'm not skilled enough to teach others."
Kendon was briefly pleased by the request, but his spirits soon sank.
It had reminded him once again of his own limitations.
At his age, he knew only three spells.
Of course, three spells were more than enough to earn a decent living almost anywhere.
The problem was his mana capacity.
He possessed considerably less mana than other Mages.
The fact that his Fireball had done nothing more than burn a Goblin's nose was no coincidence.
"I can't teach you magic, but I can examine your body. There's a simple test that uses mana to determine whether someone has the constitution to become a Mage."
"What kind of test?"
"The better someone's natural aptitude, the stronger their body repels mana introduced from outside. When I send a little mana into your body, the more forcefully you repel it, the greater your innate talent."
Vermoor blinked and extended his hand.
Kendon took hold of his wrist, momentarily startled by how solid it felt.
It was like gripping a rock.
Regaining his composure, Kendon cautiously channeled a tiny amount of mana into Vermoor's body.
But nothing happened.
'Huh? Did I use too little?'
Kendon pushed a little more mana into him.
However, even that mana vanished completely into Vermoor's body, as though it had been swallowed by dry sand absorbing water.
Bewildered, Kendon forced an even greater amount of mana into him.
The result was the same.
This was different from simply having no aptitude for magic.
Normally, when mana entered the body of an ordinary person without magical aptitude, it would gather sluggishly before flowing back out.
Mana did not simply disappear.
It could change into another form through a spell and disperse, but it could never vanish altogether.
Yet the mana entering Vermoor's body was disappearing.
It was as though it had been erased from existence.
Kendon felt as though he were standing at the edge of a pitch-black cliff whose bottom was nowhere in sight.
As though he were falling into a bottomless abyss that swallowed everything.
"Hah! Haaah……!"
In the end, Kendon was the first to scream and stumble backward.
He had not broken out in such a cold sweat since the day he learned his first spell.
His vision spun, and his heart pounded as though it were about to burst.
"Are you all right?"
Unaware of what had happened, Vermoor looked at him with concern.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine. More importantly, what about you? Do you feel anything unusual?"
"I feel perfectly fine."
Kendon groaned as he struggled to steady his breathing.
He then explained the bizarre phenomenon he had just experienced.
Of course, even after hearing the explanation, Vermoor did not understand.
"So, what kind of constitution do I have?"
"Ugh…… I'm afraid my limited knowledge isn't enough to explain it. The one thing I can say for certain is that you absolutely do not possess what would normally be considered a 'good Mage's' constitution."
"Hmm. Well, I suppose that's possible."
Vermoor nodded as though it were nothing particularly concerning.
He was not the sort of man who would despair over something like this.
He had never expected to achieve his goal and reach the world beyond in a mere day or two.
"Even so, if I'm willing to learn, shouldn't I be able to master magic eventually?"
"Who knows…… I've never encountered a case like yours before, so there's no way to know without trying. As it happens, once we pass through this forest, we'll reach the Sylvrant Territory."
"Sylvrant?"
"One of the largest territories in the Empire. After all, it belongs to the illustrious House of Duke Sylvrant. As luck would have it, the Tenever School has its Magic Tower there."
The Tenever Magic Tower.
Vermoor imagined an enormous structure rising high enough to pierce the heavens.
Rather than leave it to his imagination, he took out Hyunwoo's book and opened it.
As though the book somehow knew what he was curious about, its pages flipped open on their own.
[#Tenever School: A school of magic that primarily specializes in minerals and metals. Its members excel at enhancement magic, such as sharpening iron swords and reinforcing armor.
Their Magic Tower is constantly bustling with skilled craftsmen, knights, mercenaries, and merchants dealing in weapons.
*Important! This location is central to the crafting system used to create and process items, so be sure to check it out.]
'Oh.'
A smile appeared on Vermoor's face.
Rather than his interest in magic, it was his instincts as a warrior that had been stirred.
The school sounded far more appealing than he had expected.
After several days of sharing campfires and breaking bread together, the passengers had grown rather close.
The boy's name was Ethan.
His family had lived in a nearby village, but his father had found employment as a mine worker, so they were taking the opportunity to move to the Sylvrant Territory.
The elderly couple were traveling to visit their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, who had settled in Sylvrant.
They frequently smiled affectionately at Ethan and offered him snacks.
The coachman was a traveling merchant.
He traded in several different types of goods, and on this particular journey, his cargo consisted of seasonings such as salt and sugar.
Since there had been extra space in his carriage, he had decided to take passengers along as well.
"This region is so cold that there are hardly any monsters around…… I never imagined we'd be attacked by Goblins."
The coachman scratched the back of his head as he thanked Vermoor.
"You saved our lives. Returning the fare you already paid would feel a little awkward, so please accept this instead."
He held out a small bottle, roughly two finger joints in length.
It was filled with white crystals.
The bottle was extremely familiar to Vermoor.
"I'm not sure whether you know this, but around here, a single bottle of this is worth at least one wild boar. Frankly, it's worth more than the fare you paid. Of course, it's still a pitiful reward for someone who saved our lives."
Vermoor accepted the bottle and held it up to the midday sunlight.
Remembering its sweetness, he smiled.
"Oh, I know. I know very well. This is a most welcome gift. I'll gladly accept it."
He carefully secured the bottle of sugar among his belongings and offered the coachman a handshake.
Several days later.
The carriage carrying the passengers finally emerged from the forest and entered the plains.
In the distance, a magnificent and beautiful fortress came into view, standing upon land that shimmered with silvery dust.
The territory was also known as the Cradle of the Sun.
Sylvrant shimmered with a peculiar light.
Sunlight fell at an angle across the gentle hills.
Distinctive mineral particles scattered throughout the soil refracted the light into countless tiny fragments, making the entire landscape sparkle like the Milky Way.
For Vermoor, whose eyes had grown accustomed to the bleak scenery of the snowy mountains, this brilliant radiance brought a mysterious sense of vitality.
"Magnificent."
From afar, Sylvrant resembled an enormous silver wedge driven into the earth.
A sheer, towering fortress stood at its center, surrounded by gray stone walls that encircled the city.
Beyond those walls, tall towers and rooftops rose in overlapping layers.
Outside the fortifications stretched rows of low houses and cultivated fields.
Golden wheat swayed in the sunlight, rippling like waves whenever the wind passed through.
The lower town bustled with people moving about like a colony of ants.
The entire settlement seemed to stir and breathe like a living creature.
Before reaching the city gates, the carriage entered the lower town.
Its pace slowed, and the rattling of its wheels gradually subsided.
The laughter of farmers enjoying their midday meals while wiping sweat from their brows drifted through the air.
Along the roadside, carpenters paused in their sawing to knock wooden boards into place.
Tap, tap—
The steady rhythm echoed through the village like a heartbeat.
Small merchants carrying bundles on their backs shouted to attract customers.
Villagers haggled over prices.
Children darted between them, running this way and that.
The scents of earth, sweat, and freshly baked wheat bread mingled in the air, tickling Vermoor's nose.
"So this is Sylvrant."
He had occasionally bartered in the small villages beneath the snowy mountains.
He might exchange animal hides for salt or trade his hunting spoils for grain.
But this was his first time visiting a place with so many people and such abundant vitality.
"Listen here, Vermoor. If you keep looking around like some country bumpkin, people will take you for an easy……."
Kendon stopped halfway through his advice.
His gaze had fallen on Vermoor's enormous frame.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"On second thought, I doubt anyone would underestimate you. Not unless they had a death wish."
The road leading to the city gates was already packed with merchant wagons and pedestrians.
The carriage could no longer move forward.
Kendon bounced his leg impatiently, apparently frustrated by the time they were wasting in the congested street.
Vermoor waited quietly and took Hyunwoo's book from inside his clothing.
"That book again? Anyone would think you'd smeared honey all over its pages."
Ignoring Kendon's teasing, Vermoor searched the book for information about the Sylvrant Territory.
[#Cradle of the Sun, Sylvrant: The territory of Duke Sylvrant, one of the founding contributors of the Empire. The ruling Duke Sylvrant is not an unreasonable man, but beware of the vast difference in social standing. Even a trivial offense could cost you your head.
The Head of the Tenever School is a straightforward individual. Establish a good relationship with him, and he will repay your kindness generously. Make an enemy of him, however, and his retaliation will be devastating. Compared to the heads of other schools, he is a simple man, so dealing with him should not be particularly troublesome.
Other important locations include the temple of the Sun and Moon Church, the Empire's official religion, while the back alleys contain …….]
Hyunwoo's book was filled with warnings and advice about Sylvrant.
There were people and places to watch out for, hidden secrets, and quests that could be obtained.
'Does "quest" mean something like a search mission or an expedition?'
Even when he encountered unfamiliar terminology, Vermoor remained unperturbed.
He continued reading slowly, carefully considering every word.
He knew nothing about what lay beyond the world.
But when it came to the world beyond the snowy mountains, this book was practically an encyclopedia of everything.