The week before the caravan was set to move out went by quickly. Chuck thought it was quite nice not having to worry about making sure his next skill was ready to train.

Chuck spent his off time going over his learning books. By the end of the week, he thought he had a decent grasp of the written language. His second attempt at reading the magical theory book went about as well as the first. There were just too many words that weren't in his books that he still didn't understand.

He asked Erwin and the others, including Kalina and they were able to help him with a few of the words. Unfortunately, even they were lost on some of the more technical terms in the book.

Chuck sighed as he watched the flurry of activity within the camp. The last two days had been a whirlwind of activity. Laborers were taking down the tents and packing them up on a wagon set aside for that purpose. Most of these men would be heading back to Lionoss once work was completed, the more permanent style shelters not needed while we traveled. Instead, there were canvas triangle tents that the remaining people would utilize when the caravan stopped.

From what Chuck gathered from Nadine and the others was that this would only happen once every three days. Chuck looked at the large beasts that had been hooked to the huge lumber wagons. They looked like a cross between an elephant and a rhinoceros, their wide mouths and long necks allowed them to graze on the local grasses.

The drivers were prepping harnesses and feed bags to fit on the creatures as others packed up the camp. It was a time-consuming job to fit the massive creatures with the buckles and Chuck watched in fascination.

The creatures were super docile... as long as they were kept fed. There had been one incident where a man got in the way of a hungry kolath. The creature nearly trampled the man in its hurry to get to more grass. The man survived his run-in with the hungry beast with a broken arm and a few cracked ribs. He was fed some healing herbs, his arm was splinted and he was sent back to Lionoss. The caravan had no room for someone that was injured beyond their ability to heal them.

Chuck thought it was probably for the best, the man wasn't very aware of his surroundings if he got between one of the creatures and it's food. It was quite easy to tell when they got hungry, the kolath would whip its head back and forth and grunt until it found a new source of food. You had to be blind and deaf to miss these signs. Since the man failed to see these clear signs he was likely to be more of a liability on this journey than help.

Bargo walked up and Tapped Chuck on the shoulder, "Time for patrol."

"Alright," Chuck replied, "Any idea when we're heading out?"

The big man shrugged, "couple hours maybe."

"Sounds good," Chuck said, getting to his feet. "I'll stick closer to the camp in the case we're ready to leave while I'm patrolling the perimeter."

Patrol duty was dull. After they cleared out the Goblin camp there had been very little in the way of monster or critter activity in the area. The last encounter had been two days ago when Shoovo was on duty.

Chuck finished his patrol duty before the caravan was set to go. Turns out they were just waiting for him to return to go over the details.

"Alright, everyone, gather up!" Nadine yelled.

Chuck shook his head, the woman had a set of pipes on her.

Nadine waited for everyone to gather up, Chuck wandered over to join Erwin and the other Guards. He got a few silent nods as he approached.

"This is for all you new folks and even those that may think they know how this all works. We have ten full log wagons. One wagon with our tent and supplies, and three wagons to carry everyone as well as extra supplies."

A few whisperers about stating the obvious filtered through the crowd until Nadine whistled.

"Shut up and listen. I will be on the lead wagon, this will be one of the lumber wagons along with one guard. Next will be a wagon carrying some of you. Since we don't have enough guards for each wagon there won't be a guard on any of the supply wagons. The rest of the supply and lumber wagons will be alternated within the caravan. This is to protect most of our supplies if one of the wagons gets attacked."

A few angry murmurs went up about the guard issue but those went quiet, quickly.

"Prepare for a long ride, we will only stop every three days to water the animals and rest."

That got a few complaints, mostly from some of the newer people to join the caravan. Apparently, they hadn't heard the rumors yet.

"Split up and find your wagons, guards come here for your assignments."

The workers dispersed to try and find the best spot on the wagons for the long ride. After they were gone the guards approached Nadine.

"Any of you have a perception skill?"

Kalina spoke up, "I have eagle eye."

"Perfect, you're in the first wagon with me. Chuck, I want you in the trailing wagon to watch our rear."

Chuck nodded.

"The others pick a lumber wagon and split up amongst them."

Chuck moved to the final wagon in the caravan.

While he hadn't been able to train any of his skills for fear of his head exploding he was able to utilize healing and his other spells to increase his mana pool some more. The amount of increase had slowed down from his explosive growth in the beginning. He was fine with that. Mainly he worked on his casting speed. This had to be done with each spell to have the greatest effect.

While doing this practice he learned that he could just hold a spell form in his mind without casting it. Each second he held the spell drained mana though and didn't have much effect with helping him lower the casting time. He still had to utilize this method on his fire-based skills though. With the massive amount of free time he had, even that tiny bit added up to shaving almost a second on the casting time.

His other focus was mana manipulation. The fight with the bandit mage had shown him a shortcoming of using that skill to help his spells. It was slow. Chuck tried activating it faster or pushing mana through quicker. That's when he ran into his next bottleneck. Trying to force the mana through faster gave him a headache and he felt like he was trying to shove something solid through a straw that was much too small. Over the week he worked to widen this straw. It was a slow process but he did see some improvement in the flow rate of his mana into spells.

Chuck climbed up to the seating section of the wagon.

"Hi, I'm Chuck," he said to the driver.

He only got a grunt in return as the man turned back to staring straight ahead. 'Great, he got saddled with the grumpy silent driver. It's going to be a long quiet ride.'

Chuck groaned as he hopped off the wagon. Three days of slow silent boredom accompanied by the most painful experience of either of his lives, aside from death, left him still and grumpy. It was no wonder the driver kept his mouth shut, good chance he would bite his own tongue off if he didn't.

He had utilized minor heal liberally during the ride to cushion the discomfort somewhat. This body may be young and strong but it wasn't used to extended abuses like that. The pace of the wagons was slow, like a jogging pace slow. He chose to jog alongside as much as he could for the next leg of the trip. At least then he wouldn't be as stiff.

The wagons had circled into a large meadow, off the main road north. For normal merchants, they would be at most a day and a half ride from Lionoss. The traffic to and from the city had lessened but there was still a passing wagon or person on horseback every few minutes.

Those that were smart made a wide birth for the lumber wagons. Those that weren't got a reminder from Kalina in the front, if they were being obstinate and wouldn't move to the side for us to pass. Or Chuck from the rear, if people were trying to shadow our caravan for safety reasons.

Nadine had made it clear to him that under no circumstances allow other people or wagons too close. Other than them using us for protection they could be bandits in disguise. He guessed this must be a common tactic that bandits used to ambush caravans. Setup a blocking force in the front and when everyone has their attention hit them from the rear.

Chuck didn't think their large caravan had to worry about that too much, at least not with him on board. One ice arrow had been enough to halt anyone following too close, and in one case causing a rider to turn around completely. Chuck thought it unlikely that bandits would attack them this close to town. Not with the roads as busy as they were. It was different on the south side, the wilds kept most of the traffic close to the city.

The worst part about the journey so far was the fact that he couldn't study. He needed to be on constant alert when he wasn't sleeping. Turns out sleep was hard to come by on a wagon with no suspension, moving down a road that barely qualified as a gravel road back on earth. Deep ruts or washboard sections would jar him back awake. The driver seeming nonplused about the whole thing. Chuck swore he did it on purpose, just to keep him awake.

Now that he was free of the wagon he plopped down in the soft grass and just lay there. That's how Erwin found him a few minutes later.

"How ya holding up kid?"

Chuck grunted, "my everything hurts."

Erwin let out a soft chuckle, "yeah, it's not the most comfortable ride, that's for sure. You get used to it after a week or so. Come on, let's get some chow."

Chuck took the offered hand as Erwin hauled him to his feet. They made their way over to a fire that was already going, a large pot was set near it and some amazing smelling wafted from the food inside. Chuck's mouth watered. He only had trail rations and beef jerky for the last few days. They left his mouth dry because he had to drink sparingly.

Not because they needed to conserve water but because if he drank too much or ate too much you had two choices. Hop off and relive yourself, then run and catch up or do so from the moving wagon. Neither choice was ideal but there was a built-in seat for the second option.

Chuck always got a little chuckle when people got off and had to run to catch back up. The one high point in the trip so far.

When the food was ready it went fast, nobody was really in the mood for conversation. Chuck drew the short stick and got second rotation for watch. This meant he would be up the longest as the caravan got moving again in the morning.

It was probably for the best, he was on his last legs anyway. Chuck crawled into a tent and set his bedroll down, asleep as soon as his head hit the floor.

Two weeks went by like this, Erwin was right it got easier to ignore the pain, easier to sleep as well. Lionoss was long behind us now, travelers on this stretch were rare. This made the guards more alert for trouble.

The jungle had continued to thin out as we headed north, turning into a mix of open fields and meadows interspersed by jungle trees and plants. In a few more days it would be nothing but open grasslands as far as you could see. Erwin had called it the yellow sea, Chuck was interested to see this phenomenon.

A sharp whistle brought him back to the present. He looked around, not seeing anything. Then he heard it again. This time he saw the arrow fly by.

"Attack!" he yelled, readying a spell to fire back.

The driver crouched down below the sidewalls of the seating area for protection.

Chuck launched three ice arrows in quick succession towards a copse of trees. They tore through the vegetation and he heard a pained grunt. Ten tusked creatures that stood a good two and a half meters tall roared as they sprinted from the trees.

Chuck heard the driver curse, the first words he had heard from his mouth. "Orcs!"

More arrows flew in, getting more accurate and Chuck was forced to use his wind barrier to deflect them. The driver was close enough to be included in the protection.

The orcs realized they couldn't hurt him and started targetting the two kolath pulling the wagon.

"Shit," Chuck needed to draw their fire away from the animals, the only way to do that was to engage them on the ground.

"Stay low and out of sight," he spoke to the driver as he leaped from the wagon.

Chuck fired ice arrow after ice arrow at the oncoming creatures. He knew other guards were rushing his way, he only needed to delay them long enough to get help.

He coated the area in front of him with multiple castings of grease. The creatures paused at the edge of the zone, firing arrows at him, while others went around.

These weren't dumb beasts Chuck quickly realized, backing away as he fired more spells. He had to refresh his wind barrier every seven seconds to keep the arrows at bay. His dangerous gambit had worked though, and all attention was focused on him. That was the problem, all attention was focused on him. Three of the creatures reached him, pushing through his shield.

He managed to push them back out of the shield using a combination of wind blade and earth blade, trying to aim for vital areas like the eyes and throat.

The orcs were sporting numerous small cuts as they retreated. It wasn't enough to stop them though as they ran around to circle Chuck.

One of the orcs went down with an arrow in its eye. He would have to remember to thank Kalina later. Chuck risked a glance back and saw the wagon was far enough away that he felt fine risking fire.

He turned to one of the closer orcs and yelled, "Flame thrower!"

The orc wasn't dumb it knew he was casting some spell and he dove to the ground. If it had been the normal fire lance that might have worked. Burning liquid dripped down the entire length of the flame thrower's path of destruction. It set the orc on the ground on fire as well as the grease chuck had spread on the ground.

The archers pulled back, to avoid the flames and come around to get a better angle now that they couldn't see well through the smoke and fire. This left the two orcs by Chuck and the rest that had run to fight the others. Before he could send out some more ice arrows he saw a shadow looming toward him. He reacted on instinct and threw himself to the side.

A bone-crunching blow wrenched him sideways, knocking the wind out of him and likely cracking a rib or two. Chuck groaned but rolled until he was facing his enemy.

The Orc was wielding a bone mace and was readying for another swing. Chuck hadn't been practicing for nothing though. He formed an extremely thin ice arrow spell in his head and forced as much mana as he could into it to speed it along in the short time he had. As the mace started coming down he threw his hand out. A barely visible sliver of ice shot from his hand so fast he barely saw it.

The orc had no time to even react as the needle flew in through below its jaw and up into its skull. This is when Chuck got to witness something he really wished he hadn't. The spell didn't have enough energy left to pierce through the top of the Orc's thick skull so it pulled the skull, along with part of the spine out of the creature. Hot blood poured over Chuck as the body was wrenched backward by the spell, its skull and spine hanging out like some gruesome trophy.

Chuck spit out the foul-tasting blood and wiped his eyes so he could see. There were still enemies to be dealt with.

He pumped three normal ice arrows into the burned orc as soon as he got to his feet. The others had managed to whittle down the remaining orcs to three. Two of which were sprinting off to the trees. The last one was locked into battle with Erwin. Blades flashing together as both sought the upper hand. Chuck was going to lend a hand when Mellas waved him off. It was probably for the best he might distract the man unnecessarily.

The battle lasted another thirty seconds when Erwin seemed to pull a dagger out of thin air and jab it into the orcs armpit. The orc jerked from the blow, giving Erwin an opening for his sword. It stabbed into the orc's chest and out its back. Erwin yanked it out sideways, leaving a massive wound that spilled blood and other bodily fluids. The orc collapsed to the ground, still clutching the dagger.

Chuck tried walking over, forgetting his broken rib. He wheezed and fell to his knee, grimacing in pain. The others rushed over to check on him while he cast a minor heal on himself. The rush of energy and life never got old.

"I'm fine," Chuck managed to wheeze between breaths, "just a cracked rib or two."

"Good, glad you're ok, but let that be a lesson on your stupidity. Don't ever go into a fight like that again, not without backup."

"I- I had to save the animals."

"Fuck, the animals!" Erwin said hotly. "Nobody's going to steal a lumber wagon with dead animals and those beasts can take a beating, unlike you."

"Sorry," Chuck replied, hanging his head.

"Don't be sorry, just think first. You have spells and that may make you think you are invincible but you're not. I would have thought that mage you killed would have been enough of a lesson for that to sink in."

Chuck could only sit there and take the admonishment. Erwin was right and he knew it. Still, it didn't seem right to just let the creatures attack when he could do something about it. Sure he didn't have the safety net of the blessing but that was fine. He needed to live and experience this world. If that meant he found himself up against something too strong for him and it was between his life and saving his friends, he wouldn't hesitate. Chuck wasted one life, he wasn't about to waste another.

"Let's get back to the wagons, they should be stopping soon."

Erwin walked ahead, he didn't know why he was so angry at the boy. He had done far more dangerous things in his youth and even now. Some instinct in him said to protect the kid. Erwin trusted his instincts, they had kept him alive more than once. The only other time this feeling flared up was after Chuck showed him the bag of holding and right before the mage challenged him.

The first one thankfully didn't end in violence. Erwin was good with a blade but he wouldn't stand up long to even an apprentice mage like Ricardo. The second time he could only watch on in horror, knowing to get involved would mean both of their deaths. His instincts warred with him that day.

Erwin sighed quietly. The kid needed to get stronger, the only way to do that was by him joining the tower. Erwin knew what they needed to do but he didn't have to like it. Hopefully, the kid would forgive him someday.

Mellas and Bargo helped Chuck along, Erwin was still mad at him for putting himself in too much danger.

Chuck felt bad for disappointing Erwin. He looked up to the man, almost like an older brother, that's why disappointing him bothered Chuck so much. He wanted to be more like Erwin, the man was charismatic, outgoing, and fearless, but he wasn't brash or arrogant.

Chuck had heard some of what Erwin's life was like before he became a mercenary. The man had a hard life on the streets, surviving in any way he could. To do that you needed to be smart and resourceful, while also knowing when to cut your losses or retreat.

This is why Chuck looked up to the man. Who wouldn't want to be all those things? Chuck decided early on to make this man proud of him. If he could accomplish that, he would be more than happy.