Chapter 187 - Minru

“Aah,” Adion breathed out in relief, “Thanks a lot.”

“More?” Minru asked.

“Yes, please,” Adion answered, slightly embarrassed. He didn’t know how valuable water was in a place like this. 

Unfortunately, he hadn’t brought his own, so he had no choice but to leech off of Minru. 

Minru refilled Adion’s glass of water through a tap attached to a barrel. 

“You’re not from here,” Minru commented as he handed Adion the water, “How did you end up in this village in the middle of nowhere?”

“I was exploring the Saba Desert when a beast attacked the senba I was traveling on. I had no choice but to walk through the desert. Fortunately I found this village after only a couple of days,” Adion said.

“That’s lucky,” Minru commented, “What about the people you were traveling with?”

“Dead,” Adion said, shaking his head.

“Sorry,” Minru said stiffly.

“It’s fine,” Adion said, offering a forced smile. 

He still felt conflicted about Narvar. He was an enemy, and Adion believed he deserved to die for what he did to him. But it was impossible to feel unaffected. 

“Well, it’s not impossible to take you with me when I leave. I never stay too long in any one place, so I was planning on departing soon anyway,” Minru said.

“Really? That’s great,” Adion said, “When do we leave?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Minru said, “I’ll give it some thought.”

“But I told Keshi I would leave today,” Adion said.

“Why would you say that? Were you planning on walking?” Minru asked.

“Yeah, if I didn’t have any other option,” Adion said, “Keshi seemed to want me gone. It seems she feels that there are enough strange mages here already.”

“She called me strange?” Minru asked, raising his voice slightly.

“It was implied,” Adion answered.

“Damn woman,” Minru muttered. 

“Anyway, it won’t be more than a day or two, right?” Adion asked.

“What are you in such a hurry for? A young man like you has plenty of time. Enjoy the moment more. I’ll have a talk with Keshi if she bothers you,” Minru said.

“Fine,” Adion said with a sigh. He really didn’t want to walk on foot through the desert. “At least no more than a week, right?”

“Alright, alright. We’ll leave within a week,” Minru muttered as he made himself busy by the firepit in the middle of the room, “I’m already regretting this.”

Adion stood awkwardly as he watched Minru start chopping vegetables on the floor.

Is he preparing dinner? Is he going to invite me to join him?

Should I leave?

“Well,” Adion said hesitantly, “Do you have a destination in mind?”

“Not really,” Minru said, “It depends on which way the wind blows.”

That’s not very reliable. 

Why does he care about the wind?

Adion sensed Minru’s aura and discovered he wasn’t a wind mage as he had thought. He was a sand mage.

Can a sand mage control a senba?

Surely it’s not as efficient as a wind mage. I guess that’s why he needs the wind to blow in his favor.

Adion would rather continue his journey south, heading to Mitomera. Or if that wasn’t possible, he was fine traveling back northeast to Kerrick Hold. But he definitely didn’t want to head in the direction of Heshuwara and Reshi. 

Whatever. I’ll talk about it when it's time to leave. He doesn’t seem to have a strong opinion either way. 

Worst case, I’ll just jump off at the closest town and make my own way from there.

“Anyway, I guess I’ll come back tomorrow and see what the plan is,” Adion said, putting down his empty glass, “Thank you for the painting materials and water.”

Adion didn’t feel he should mention payment anymore. Minru could bring it up himself if he wanted something in return.

“You have plans?” Minru asked.

“Not exactly,” Adion answered.

“Then sit down,” Minru instructed, “I’ll have the food ready soon.”

“Oh,” Adion said, “Then, thank you.”

Adion didn’t really want to head back to his dusty house, waiting for Keshi to come and nag. So he sat down by the small wooden dinner table and waited for Minru to serve some food.

It would be nice to paint some more. But my Will is completely exhausted. 

That can’t be normal. I wonder what is happening.

Anyway, I’m sure it's as good a training as anything. 

I’ll make sure to rest well for the rest of the day and come back here early tomorrow morning.

Adion looked to Minru who had lit a fire and was now cooking some kind of stew in a big pot. 

As Minru waited for the ingredients to cook, he was conjuring sand and poured it into a gourd.

“Why are you conjuring sand?” Adion couldn’t help but ask.

“To be prepared,” Minru answered, keeping his focus on not spilling any sand.

“Prepared for what?” Adion asked.

“It’s a dangerous world. I’m sure you’re aware of that,” Minru said, “Any experienced sand mage knows that having preconjured sand can be the difference between life and death.”

Right. I guess it’s better to spend the Will now, so it’s not wasted in the middle of a fight.

Controlling the element you conjured yourself was always much easier than taking control over the natural elements under the Will of the world.

Conjuring your element in advance wouldn’t work with elements like wind or fire. Water was also unlikely to be of any use. Those elements got taken under the Will of the world almost immediately, so you couldn’t save it for a rainy day. 

But sand, which was basically as hard to conjure as earth, could last a lot longer under the influence of the mage who had conjured it. 

“How long do you have Authority over it?” Adion asked.

“Authority? That’s a neat word for it,” Minru said, “It’s very useful for a few hours. After a day, it doesn’t really feel any different from the desert sand.”

“That doesn’t seem very useful,” Adion couldn’t help but comment.

“It’s a habit,” Minru said with a shrug, “And I’d like to think it’s a way to contribute to the desert. Over long periods of time, sand will be worn down until only dust remains. If no sand mages conjure sand, the Saba Desert will disappear one day. I don’t want that. The desert has raised me. So I feel I should contribute.”

“I see,” Adion said with a nod, “Is conjured sand really permanent?”

“Is anything?” Minru asked.

“Are you trying to act all mysterious with me?” Adion threw Minru’s earlier words back at him.

Minru let out an awkward cough and said, “Anyway, I don’t see why conjured sand would behave any differently. I actually like to imagine that the entire Saba Desert is the work of some great mage from ancient times.”

“What do you mean?” Adion asked.

“There used to be gods, right? Human gods? Isn’t that what the Hellemi Church keeps going on about?” Minru asked, “Well, there should have been a god who had control over sand among them. I like to imagine what such a powerful mage could accomplish. Do you think he could conjure the entire Saba Desert with a single spell?”

“That sounds unlikely,” Adion said, feeling that even gods couldn’t be that powerful, or the world would have suffered a calamity much earlier than it did. 

“Maybe,” Minru said, “It’s just a thought, I don’t actually believe it. But through the effort of countless sand mages through the Ages, perhaps conjuring the entire Saba Desert isn’t impossible. That thought gives a lot more history to the plain desert landscape, doesn’t it? Every grain of sand has once been conjured by someone. Nameless heroes and villains with their own dreams and ambitions, battling through time. It’s all there in the sand.”

Maybe not the entire desert, but surely a part of it.

I guess that gives you a certain sense of awe. 

“I’ve been trying to paint my sand like that,” Minru continued, “But I’ve never managed to convey my feelings onto the canvas. How do you do it?”

Minru turned to look deeply at Adion as he asked.

How do I do it?

“Is it very special?” Adion asked.

“I’ve heard of great painters who can paint the impossible, but I’ve never seen any of it,” Minru said, “Besides, you’re just, what? Seventeen? How come you’re so good at painting?”

“Practice, I guess,” Adion said with a shrug. He didn’t really remember practicing, it just came to him. 

“Tch, what a cheeky brat,” Minru snorted.

“Sorry,” Adion said with an awkward smile, “I don’t really know how I do it. It just happens, I don’t know how to explain it. I’ll try to think about it next time I paint and come up with a satisfying answer.”

“Whatever,” Minru said with a shrug, “It’s probably nothing that can be forced. Anyway, the food is ready.”

Minru carried over two plates and placed the pot between them.

“Eat,” Minru instructed as he sat down.

“Thank you,” Adion said before serving himself some food from the pot.

They both ate in silence for a few minutes before Minru spoke up and asked, “I’m guessing you’re not a sand mage, so what are you?”

Adion hesitated, even if he knew his space powers were already known by the worst possible people, he didn’t want to be too open about it. That was the reason he hid his aura down to middle Bronze as well, he rather kept a low profile unless it was necessary to show off. 

“I’m a fire mage,” Adion decided to answer. It wasn’t a lie exactly, he was just a better space mage. 

“You from the Empire, then?” Minru asked.

“No,” Adion said, shaking his head. He didn’t remember his background clearly, but he knew he didn’t come from the Alago Empire. He could feel it.

“Then where are you from?” Minru asked.

“We have always been traveling, so I don’t really have a home,” Adion answered.

Before Minru could keep pestering him with questions, Adion continued with a question of his own. “By the way,” He said, “What do you do? Are you making a living as a painter?”

“You think I can’t?” Minru questioned with a frown.

“No, it’s not that,” Adion said with his arms raised, “It just seems odd for a powerful Gold mage to spend his days painting in a small village. If you wanted to, fighting in the Outskirts should earn you a lot of money, right? And it would sharpen your Will, preparing you for Diamond.”

“I’ve had enough of fighting,” Minru said, shaking his head, “Take heed of this, boy. If you spend your life fighting for a certain envisioned future, you will find yourself at an old age realizing that you’ve never lived for yourself. You have only lived for the future you, and that future you is an old man that you don’t even know, so don’t bother.”

“What are you even talking about?” Adion asked, not following.

“What I’m saying is, live in the moment. Enjoy your youth,” Minru said.

Well, obviously. I don’t even need my memory to know that.

“Thanks for the advice,” Adion said awkwardly. “So…you travel the desert and paint?”

“Basically,” Minru said with a nod.

“Seems nice, I guess,” Adion said, “Can I come over tomorrow as well and paint with you?”

“Sure,” Minru said. 

They continued eating, mostly in silence. Occasionally Minru would ask a question about Adion’s past and Adion made up an answer to the best of his ability. 

Maybe I should just tell him that I can’t remember?

No, there is no point. We’ll soon part ways. It’s better to act as normal as I can. I don’t want to attract any attention. 

When they finished eating, Minru got ready to take a nap. The Sabamin usually slept an hour or two during the hottest hours of the day. 

So Adion said goodbye and walked back to the house he had borrowed from Keshi. 

Looks like I’ll be staying here for a few days at least. 

I guess that’s fine. Minru said we’ll leave within a week. No matter what, waiting to travel on Minru’s senba will be faster than leaving now and walking on foot. 

Maybe I should let Keshi know. She has been nice to me, it should be fine.

Adion turned around and headed to Keshi’s house to let her know that he would be staying in the village for a while. 

It didn’t take long for him to get there, and fortunately, Keshi had yet to take her midday nap. Adion spotted her washing her dishes from the open window.

“Er, Keshi,” Adion called out as he knocked on the door.

Adion heard the hurried footsteps inside and Keshi opened the door, looking at him with a frown. “Are you leaving? No need to tell me.”

“Actually, I managed to convince Minru to take me away,” Adion explained. 

“That mage?” Keshi asked, surprised.

“Yes, I don’t know exactly when we’ll leave. But we won’t stay more than a week,” Adion said.

“I knew it, you’re just like him,” Keshi said, looking as she expected it.

“Sorry,” Adion apologized awkwardly, “Do you think I can stay in the house you showed me while I’m here?”

“You’re just going to do whatever you want anyway,” Keshi muttered. “That damn mage, thinks he can do anything he wants just because he’s strong? I’ll have a word with him.”

Keshi stepped out of the doorway and started walking toward Minru’s house with long determined strides. 

But after a few seconds, she turned around and walked back.

She didn’t even glance at Adion as she walked inside her home again and closed the door behind her. 

“A week! No more!” Keshi called out, “Or I’m reporting it to the mages in Heshuwara!”

Why make it so difficult for yourself?

Adion couldn’t understand Keshi’s attitude, but as long as he could stay a week, it didn’t matter.

I should go take a nap as well. I need to have a good rest if I want to paint tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll remember something else.