Reaching Autir

-31st March 1052, about 11 in the morning-

Travis looked up from the worn-down road made of 3rd rate cobble, gravel, and mud. He looked ahead at Rinl. About 70 buildings stood, circling a small church in the middle at varying distances. Most of the constructs were worn down by time already, missing some pieces of stone or wood on their edges, but nothing seemed to show signs of breaking down anytime soon.

Much like Holia, Rinl didn’t have any defensive walls, and instead directly blended in with the surrounding fields. Although the forest did not reach this place, the tree line was visible on the edges of one’s vision. Three roads lead into the town itself, coming from north (Autir), southwest (Holia), and east (toward Galia Kingdom).

Slowly approaching, Travis took a swiping look around. The dew on the grass was still glistening in the sun’s rays, sometimes overshadowed by some people going about their business. A few farmers loaded packs of grain onto a large cart in the western part, filling it up completely. Even when there was a fair distance between them and the travelers, Apostle could count the bags and assess that there was no less than a ton of pure grain packed. Two horses were waiting patiently while being connected to the freight cart, fed by a few small children with some dried-up grass.

‘This must be what Crystal was speaking of.’ Travis thought as he and Leaf made their way quietly through the town and onto the road leading toward Autir. Within a few minutes, they were leaving Rinl behind.

-In the late evening-

Travis leaned on a tree, Leaf roughly 3 meters away from him in a similar position. The soft grass underneath them was thick and lively, allowing for the two of them to use it as pillows after they gathered a bit of it. The campfire in front of them was small, a pile of dry wood glowing a faint orange color as it was already dying out.

After inspecting his map sometime before camping, Travis concluded that they were no more than 50 kilometers from Autir. While it was impossible to reach the place that day, it was plausible that they’d by the 1st of April. The man relaxed his muscles, lying down next to his tree and looking up into its corona.

It was nice to rest after a day of walking around, especially since the quality of roads had dropped once they went to less populated areas. Travis let out a small sigh.

‘With today’s points, Intelligence is at 57. 171 MP is definitely good to have.’

Although today he didn’t manage to fire <Mana Bolt> at many targets, he was almost certain that by the time they’d reach Autir, it’d be already level 3. ‘Perhaps then it’ll get a discount on the cost. That sure would be nice.’ he raised a hand toward a branch in his sight for a moment before summoning the wisp of mana into his hand. Looking at the small ball swirling in the palm of his hand, he couldn’t help but feel its pure energy being expressed outward, almost like waves of heat would be from a fireball.

'Why does it feel like this?’ he wondered. There was some kind of… equanimity, purity, that permeated his mind when it was in his hand, one that made him realize that any other magic was dirty in comparison. It was something that hadn’t happened with anything else he’d learned in a different class. In the first place, he never felt anything when learning new skills, nor did he feel much when he used them. Most skills only ever sent a feeling of mana siphoning from within him if anything at all. There were no extra sensations. Take for example <Blink Strike>. He did feel the mana shifting around when he was about to teleport in and out of his destination, but there was nothing else.

However, thinking about it, the consumable spell he had used days ago, <Complete Stealth>, also didn’t seem to give him much of a sensation. Other than suddenly feeling chilly, there was no extra feeling. Was it because that was a consumable spell? He wasn’t sure. ‘Perhaps that’s what manipulating pure mana feels like… but then, aren’t other spells made of pure mana, then?’ he wasn’t sure. In the first place, <Mana Bolt> was the only spell that caused such a sensation. Perhaps it was just the skill itself.

Travis decided to stop his pondering. Without much thinking, he raised his hand, shooting the spell into the tree’s corona, and then turned on his side, noticing that Leaf was already breathing steadily, sound asleep. He also closed his eyes, following her lead.

-1st April, 2:50-

*Ting!*

Travis’s eyes shot open as he heard the sound. Some strange feeling within his chest **** him to wake up. Quickly looking around, he confirmed that he could see Autir in his field of view, on the far horizon, lit up by a guard’s lantern on the walls.

He glanced to his left and noticed Leaf, rolled in a blanket with her backpack under her head, hair flowing down onto the ground. She seemed to quietly mumble something as she moved around a bit in her sleep.

They were currently lying on the edge of a forest, roughly 1 km from Autir itself, between some trees. The ground around was somewhat barren, thousands of needles from pines above them littering the mire and filling the air with their scent.

Travis looked around a little more, feeling his heartbeat reverberate in his head for a short moment until he noticed a notification from RALS.

[Notice: Administrator’s influence detected.]

[Processing…]

[RALS will undergo an update within 90 seconds. Please ensure you are in no danger at that time.]

[90, 89, 88…]

…what?

‘What the hell?!’ Travis thought as a feeling of tightness constricted slightly around his heart. For some reason, he felt… **** at the message. Why was that? Was he going to be hurt?!

He took a few quick breaths, attempting to calm himself down. This wasn’t a message about sending him to Penalty Zone. The System was about to undergo an 'update', whatever it was. Since it mentioned 'administrator', it was just Redion doing something to it…

…

[72, 71, 70…]

…

SINCE WHEN COULD REDION INTERFERE?!

‘No, calm down.’ Travis **** himself to stay still. While his hands were still shaking, he did his best to not panic. ‘…surely there must be a reason!’ he was sure of that. Redion wasn’t allowed to meddle into either him or RALS before, but… perhaps it had something to do with Apostle’s Competition getting out of its preparation period?

[55, 54, 53…]

Yes, that surely must’ve been the case… right? Travis thought for a short while but couldn’t think of any reason as to why this was happening other than his initial thought. It just… made sense.

Then, what was he to do? Just sit around? Try to ensure his safety? Go back to sleep? How to do so with that weird feeling around his heart?!

He got on his feet quickly. As he did his best to try and remain calm, he instinctively got hold of Pacifist. Glancing at Leaf, he confirmed that she was still sleeping, and took his steps away from their camp.

[21, 20, 19…]

‘It’s not like it’ll send me anywhere… right?’ he thought for a moment before dismissing the idea. No, if he were to be transported when the timer ended, there would surely be a prompt about that. But... why was the timer there at all, then?

‘RALS, what will happen when the counter reaches 0?’ he sent a question to the System…

[10, 9, 8…]

…but strangely enough, there was no answer. He tried again, but… it was already too late.

[2, 1, 0.]

[Update downloaded.

Estimated time to process: 10 minutes.

RALS will now shut down to proceed with the update. Please remain patient.]

‘…Shut down? What doe--!‘ Travis didn’t even finish his thought as the blue panel suddenly disappeared. Simultaneously, the weird, constricting feeling around his heart dissipated like it was a lie.

A second passed, then another. A somewhat cold breeze made its way between trees, coming from Autir’s direction. Travis looked around with a bit of surprise on his face. In all honesty, he was simply dumbfounded. He expected something new to appear when the countdown reached 0, but… what happened was not what he expected. He was anticipating something to happen, but in reality… quite the contrary happened.

‘Though, what does ‘shut down’ mean? RALS?’ he sent a question, but again, there was no answer. ‘Is System ignoring me? Or is this connected to this whole ‘update’ thing?’ Travis pondered for a long moment before he decided to simply return to the camp.

Lurking between the trees, he kept on thinking about the situation. ‘Now that the Competition is about to begin for real, I’ll have to think clearly about my plan again. Status.’

…

…but there was no answer.

‘What?’ he raised an eyebrow, sitting under a tree. ‘Why doesn’t it work? Does ‘shut down’ mean it’s inaccessible? Then… <Mana Bolt>.’ he commanded his spirit, but… nothing appeared. A small spike of fear appeared in Travis’ mind, but he didn’t falter. First of all, he wasn’t in any danger. Second of all, RALS said it’d only take 10 minutes to process. Thirdly, it was the middle of the night. There surely was not anyone nearby.

Leaning his head on the tree trunk, Travis felt the urge to continue his sleep rise slowly, creeping onto his shoulders like a sneaky snake that wanted to strangle his consciousness. Even though he really wanted to give in, he first needed to confirm that RALS would be working again after the set time.

A minute passed by slowly. Sixty seconds filled with absolute silence, safe for his steady breathing and a breeze whistling between the trees. His heartbeat, returning to its normal rhythm, reverberated in his head. A slight tremor traveled through his body as he suddenly felt another blow of wind hit him. The night was most certainly not that cold, but the wind made Travis curse at himself for not packing anything to help himself out in such weather. Still, such conditions did help him in staying awake for this much longer, at least.

Eventually, he decided that just sitting alone wouldn’t help him. Without much thinking, Travis walked a few meters away from his current position and dropped to the ground, starting a round of push-ups. 5, 10, 15… after he finished a quick set of 30, Travis got up and found himself a suitable branch on the height to which he could perform pull-ups. Finishing that exercise as well, he swiped a few small droplets of sweat off of his forehead. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed thanks to that, but it must’ve been about 2 to 3 minutes at most.

He decided to perform a few more exercises to pass the time better. Slowly, he practiced some of them that he had been doing these past few days. He didn’t break into a run as he decided that visibility was too low for that but aside from that he did at least one repeat of every single one he remembered.

*Ting!*

[RALS has been restarted.

Confirming final changes…

Processing…]

[RALS has been successfully updated to version 1.1.72.]

Travis almost dropped from his position when he heard the notification. In all honesty, he quickly got lost in performing the exercises and didn’t keep track of time. Quickly getting a hold of himself, he turned his head toward the notification. Confirming its contents, he dismissed it, and new ones appeared.

[Apostle’s Competition has finished its preparation period.]

[Due to changes in the rules of Apostle’s Competition, you are allowed one item from God of Tricks & Manipulation.]

[Please extend your hand and accept to receive.]

‘Changes in rules?’ he raised an eyebrow as he slowly looked toward the camp. There was still no movement from Leaf. A small sigh escaped his mouth. ‘An item… I accept.’ he extended his hand forward.

[May it be of use to you.

‘Rulebreaker’s Piece’ has been awarded.]

Travis’s face contorted into a perplexed expression. A strong beat of his heart reached somewhere around his temples, making his vision dim for a brief moment as he felt an item appear in his hand.

Taking a long moment to calm himself, he brought his hand closer to inspect the item. It seemed rather light and somewhat bulky in its construction, but in the moon’s faint light, it was difficult to make out exactly what it was. Without much thinking, he summoned a few <Mana Bolts> to his hand to illuminate it.

It was… a box?

Travis wiped his eyes a little, unsure if he was seeing things right.

There was no mistaking. The item he was holding was, without a shred of doubt, a box. Its dark brown surface reflected some of the light cast onto it. The material it was made from seemed like wood, but as Travis knocked on it lightly, he heard a dull metallic noise sound instead. Shaking it a little, he could only confirm that it seemed to be empty.

‘Should I open it now?’ he wondered, putting the box on the ground. ‘Or should I wait until morning?’

…

Waiting wouldn’t hurt, but… why should he? He was gifted this box, so it made sense for him to open it immediately. Travis gripped the metallic surface tightly in the palm of his hands and pulled the lid open. No, actually, he tried to. With surprise, he felt the box’s lid not budge one bit despite his pulling at it with increasing strength. After a few seconds of struggle, he gave up, deciding to put the box down.

He focused. Immediately, a notification sprung forward.

[Rulebreaker’s Piece

It’s a box. Its contents may or may not be useful.

Uses remaining: 100

Cost per use: 100 MP

*Can be used once within 24 hours. (Remaining: 0:00:00)

Weight: 500 g]

He looked at the information for a few long seconds before dismissing it. ‘May or may not be useful? Why would Redion give me this?’ Travis wondered, a slightly displeased expression entering his face. Could it be that he was just given a piece of trash...? He dismissed the possibility. Surely, there must’ve been more to that item. What he needed to do was activate it to disperse any doubts.

Travis took a look at his status. 101 mana points were looking at him, ready to be used. Without even thinking much, he placed his free hand on the box’s lid while he kept the other one nearby, lighting the item up with the <Mana Bolts>. Commanding his spirit, he transferred the required mana to the box.

[Sufficient mana transferred. Consuming 1 use.]

A notification sprung forth and disappeared immediately. The box opened on its own silently, pulling Travis’ hand effortlessly with itself. Startled by the motion, he retreated his hand, looking inside the container. What immediately came to his attention was… it was empty.

Unsure of whether he was seeing things correctly, Travis leaned in closer. Unexpectedly, a glint of brilliant light shone from inside the moment he did so, surprising him once again. Backing off a little, he shielded his eyes until the light decided to subside after a short second. As it did so, he noticed something fly out of the box before resting on top of his hand while the container closed itself.

What Travis was now holding was a small snippet of paper. It was no larger than the palm of his hand, white in color, and there was something written on it. Bringing his hand a bit closer, he started reading the handwriting.

=First piece of advice: Everybody lies.=

[[Name: Travis Salliv
Class: Apostle of Tricks & Manipulation
Level: 26
HP: 780/780
MP: 1/171
WP: 490/638]

[Strength: 55
Agility: 80
Endurance: 60
Intelligence: 57
Wisdom: 41
Sense: 35
AP: 0]

[Possessed abilities: Suggestion lvl.3, Hypnosis lvl.1, Mana Bolt lvl.2]

[Current status: No anomalies]]