NOVEL NEXT Chapter 72
Anders stopped their carriage during lunchtime and the first thing that they checked was the status of the horses. They had been running almost non-stop since yesterday. Any normal animal would have died of exhaustion.
Lucas and Devon were astonished to see that all the horses were healthier than ever. They looked stronger and full of vitality. The combination of Anton’s Meditation, Prayer, and Vigor Aura plus the mana water that he kept on conjuring to give to the animals kept them at their peak even bringing them to the epitome of health.
After making sure that the horses were eating the grains and drinking the water normally they rubbed them down using horse brush. After that, Lucas and Devon joined Anton, Anders, and Anna who were together with their family for lunch.
“How are the horses?” Anders asked Lucas.
“Amazingly, they looked healthy and well-rested. They are even starting to look like well-bred horses that could only be afforded by nobles. Your magic is amazing Anton,” Lucas answered then turned to Anton to appreciate the wizard amidst them.
“I can feel it myself. Instead of feeling exhausted, I feel full of energy and feel like I’m getting younger,” Nemina observed.
“You do look younger and becoming more beautiful,” Lucas complimented his wife.
“Eew stop that we’re eating!” Lunelle said while everyone laughed.
“I wish I could bathe more often. I feel like I’m covered with dust from the roads!” Anna complained.
“We’ll take turns taking a bath when we stop tonight but after that, we’re continuing our journey. We can’t risk the undead catching up to us. We would only stop in a village to rest once we’re passed the city of Tiande,” Anders informed them.
“We’re not stopping in Tiande? I would have liked to see the city,” Anna sighed.
“The Undead Coalition’s movements are unusually fast and there is a chance that once we enter Tiande, a war will break and all the men of age could be forced to serve in the army. Since your brother kept casting his healing spells and together with us drinking the mana water that he’d been conjuring, I’m looking younger and younger and that means that I could be conscripted too.”
“Can they even do that? Forcefully conscript us even though we’re not their citizen?” Anton asked.
“If the Undead Coalition reached Tiande that meant the Mendi was destroyed. That would make us refugees and refugees don’t have rights in times of war,” Lucas answered.
“Especially if they become aware that you’re a wizard. I don’t know if they have someone or items that could detect if a person is a wizard,” Anders added.
“How old are you Sir Anders, If I may ask?” Devon suddenly asked.
“I’m forty-four this year, why?”
“I thought you were only in your thirties!” Devon gasped.
“As I’ve said it’s all because of the mana water in combination with Anton’s spells and since you’re all receiving the same treatment as me, you will all experience the same thing. That’s one of the best perks that you will receive as our employees,” Anders smiled then turned to Nemina and Lunelle.
“I am becoming fairer and my skin smoother,” Lunelle softly commented while looking at her skin.
“It’s true! Now I look like I’m a pretty noble instead of a farmer’s daughter who grew up working on a farm all day!” Anna said.
“You don’t work all day. You spent the majority of your time with your village friends!” Anders frowned.
“I was just joking, Father.”
“We should find someone to teach us how Anna and I can read the spell books safely Father. We now have four spell books which are the spells for Sleep, Charm Person, Mage Light, and Mage Armor,” Anton suddenly said.
“I’ll inquire for a wizard tutor once we reach the city after Tiande which was the city of Leminthor for a low-ranking wizard. We may need to spend the majority of the coins from the vampires but we don’t have to worry about our finances since your spell to fix items would make us rich. It can even recharge wands which is unheard of!” Anders said.
“How do you usually recharge a spent wand?” Anton asked.
“I don’t know,” Anders turned to Lucas and their head guard shrugged indicating that he was also unaware of how spent spells in wands were recharged.
“If we can’t find a tutor for you and Anna in Leminthor, I’m sure we’ll find one in the merchant city of Ruandelle where I plan for us to stay for a while to gather resources and is far enough from the Undead Coalition for us to be safe,” Anders said.
“Don’t forget to hire a carriage driver, Father.”
“I’m actually planning to buy another carriage. For us to act as merchants, we need our items to sell to be visible in a carriage to avoid any suspicion. That meant that we would need to increase our financial capabilities as soon as possible and for us to hire more people.”
“I can help you a lot with that Sir Anders,” Nemina volunteered.
“I was planning to ask you since you’re more experienced than me in managing something like that. We will start our plan in Leminthor for at least a few days but we will leave immediately if we need to then continue to Ruandelle. After that, we will check in the cities between Ruandelle and the wizard city of Zalnothel if it’s safe enough to stay awhile.”
Anton and Anna just nodded following their father’s instruction.
After lunch, the whole group continued on their journey and Anton never forgot to switch his auras between the horses and the people making sure that everyone was at their peak. That meant that he could only play using the on-screen option and he would need to exit the game every hour to make the switch. He also needed to exit the carriage to make the switch and he was glad that he learned how to do it using Teleport. He was also thankful that there was a visible clock in his view inside the game.
Anton’s family and the guards and their family were also becoming used to him teleporting every hour from inside the carriage to beside his father’s seat.
All that grinding earned him tons of runes from the Countess and leveled him up to fifty-six. The moment they were somewhere long enough to rest, he was planning to start the Nightmare Difficulty. Anton still wanted to continue his playthrough in person instead of the on-screen option because playing the game personally was teaching him a lot of things as well as training his body to handle his spells and mana.
Twilight arrived and Anders asked Anton to sit with him on the driver’s seat so he could cast the Fire Ball light so he did. It was around midnight when Anton’s father stopped the carriage and everyone, including the horses were famished.
They made sure that the horses were well-fed and well-watered then they all ate an astonishingly huge amount of food.
“We will arrive in the next village by tomorrow and we will only stop there to buy as much food as we can then we will leave immediately.” Anders announced to everyone while they were eating dinner.
Lucas and his family were still astonished at the fact that the food they were eating was as fresh and hot as if it just come out of the oven or fresh from the pot. That was also one of the reasons why they all consumed a lot of food together with the side-effect of the constant healing spells from Anton.
