A month passed before Mahon and Jorik were ready for their trip to Gedrain. A lot of things happened in the meantime.

First of all, a public ceremony was held for the victors of the Finem tournament. The Protectors formed a guard of honor all the way from the center of the arena to the balcony of the king where multiple speakers boasted the greatness of Finem, his warriors, his king and his people.

The king himself spoke for half an hour, explaining he wasn’t afraid of the kingdom of Rining and their constant provocations. He took the Protectors as an example of Finem’s bravery and encouraged people to try their best for harsh times may come.

Rania took the lead to introduce the Protectors Circle as the leading bodyguard center of Finem. The Pack of the Hawks disappeared into oblivion as from its original five sorcerers, three were dead, one was severely injured, and the last one had an unofficial conversation with Paegis that didn’t end very well for him.

As such, the reign of the Protectors started. Numerous people, often from the ranks of the unaffiliated warriors who participated in the main tournament and the multitude of smaller events happening at the same time, ran to the Protectors Circle’s doors to ask to join. Paegis smartly delegated all the work to his vice masters, and the three sorcerers were soon overwhelmed by the amount of work. The instructors were not spared either as they soon had to split the newcomers into multiple units to train them properly.

The Protectors Circle wasn’t the only one to benefit from the tournament, and Siraye was also put under the spotlight. She was the main blacksmith behind the Protectors, and Rania didn’t forget to credit her for her very nice work while she spoke in front of all the arena. Her shop was suddenly promoted to the same level as the most famous blacksmiths of Finem.

She hired two assistants to help her with the forge and the metals, but she kept the smithing to herself. Her production was low to keep the quality at a higher standard, and a line of people were always seen waiting in front of her shop, no matter the time of the day. Her prices had tripled over the last month.

Mahon and Jorik had asked for a noble title, and the king had gladly honored them with the title of Lord, the lowest among the nobility, but at least they were now part of it. They didn’t wait for long before using it, and they were seen plundering the library to find everything they could about geography and the location of Gedrain the very next day.

Paegis had told the truth, however, and most of the important books were accessible by anyone. What access they gained with their new titles was books with economic or political insights on some particular kingdoms and regions, but it wasn’t that useful when all they needed to do was to plan a trip.

And what a trip it was. Gedrain was located far in the northeast, and they would have to cross multiple kingdoms to reach it. The travel time was between three to five years depending on the sources, but it didn’t deter the two men at all.

They knew they were running against the clock as the revolution brewing in Gedrain could explode any moment for now. If it hadn’t already. Paegis’ information was reliable but inevitably outdated given the time to travel from one place to the other.

There was only one option to go from Finem to Gedrain. They first had to move to Drulens, the second biggest city of the country from which they would have access to the friendly kingdom of Ripa.

Ripa had a lot of coastal shores and was well known for his ships and countless sea routes. It was a trading nation at its core, but it was adamant on the protection of its maritime trade routes, and its naval fleet was known to be the strongest in the world. From Drulens, they would have to move through Ripa and all the way to its capital city, Smoothgulf, where they would be able to embark in a long journey through the Linpool Sea up to a vast region called the Notitia Region.

The Notitia Region was a poor area, resource-wise, and not many people lived there. It was mostly made of different tribes at war with each other for the control of the area, but none succeeded in the past hundreds of years.

This region, however, was mostly famous for its Notitia Peaks. It was a mountain range so high it was said it cut the world in half, from north to south. There was only one way to pass them, and it was to move around, going through a multitude of smaller kingdoms stuck between swamps and mountains. Many had lush and dense jungles that slowed down even more any travelers going through. It took years to travel through, but that was the only way.

By digging long enough in the library books, however, and with a little help from Paegis, Mahon and Jorik discovered another way. It wasn’t one usable by caravans, but for two strong men it was definitely possible.

Multiple tribes of highlanders lived at the foot of the Notitia Peaks, and it was said that with sufficient training they were able to lead people across. They targeted the lowest points of the mountain range, but it was still at an altitude over seven thousand meters above sea level, and training was necessary to survive at such heights. However, once trained, and if the weather was clear enough, they could pass through in a few days.

Obviously, Mahon and Jorik preferred the latter solution, as it would shorten their trip to a year and a half, if the conditions were good. The best part about it, was that if they selected the right tribe along the mountains, they could directly arrive in Gedrain as the kingdom was also at the foot of the mountains, but on the other side.

Paegis himself had used that route, and even if it was decades ago, he recommended the Silent Bow Clan, for it was a clan of highlanders directly opposite to Gedrain that had managed to defend its land for hundreds of years. They were reliable.

Mahon and Jorik spent one week gathering all the information, and three others preparing themselves for such a journey. They cut their trip in four parts.

The first one was to join a caravan to travel from Lakefield to Drulens, and then from Drulens to Smoothgulf in the Ripa kingdom. Many caravans linked the two capitals, and the trip was mostly safe, so they wouldn’t have any trouble finding their way up to Smoothgulf under four months.

From Ripa’s capital, they would get aboard a ship that linked Ripa to the Notitia Region, and that would be the second part of their journey. Numerous ships liaised between the two places as it was the only way for caravans to move from one half of the world to another. The crossing would be time-consuming but relatively safe. Seven months was the average duration of such a trip.

For the third part, they would need to find a guide in the Greencoast Harbor, their place of arrival in the Notitia region. A guide was a convenient asset if they wanted to move deep inside the Notitia Region without encountering too many problems. According to Paegis, although there weren’t that many guides that would accept to lead them to the Silent Bow Clan, they should still be able to find one, and given Mahon and Jorik’s personal strength, they wouldn’t have any problem crossing the region in two months.

As for the fourth and last part of their journey, it was to pass across the Notitia Peaks. The feat mainly depended on Mahon and Jorik’s ability and the goodwill of the Silent Bow Clan to train them to pass. Afterwards, the weather would be the main component in the time they would have to wait before being able to cross. A conservative estimate from Paegis was half a year, but given Mahon and Jorik’s physical condition, they might be able to cross much faster.

Once in Gedrain, it would be very straightforward to reach its capital, Immortal City, but much less to get an audience with the Immortal King. But that was in too many steps to ponder on a solution before even reaching Gedrain and see what the situation was like down there.

Once their trip properly planned, it wasn’t long before the time came for the two men to leave Lakefield. They found their goodbyes to be much more difficult than what they had expected.

Siraye had been very busy even before the tournament, but she reached a whole other level after it. And still, she managed to take a full day off the day before their departure. She gifted both men with a series of sharp knives. Some were made for cooking, some for hunting and others for throwing. She also took great care of their main weapons and forced them to take extra whetstones and oils to keep them well maintained.

The trio spent the day at a nearby lake, discussing leisurely about their future. Since Mahon and Jorik left for a long journey, she mainly spoke about herself, letting her feelings take the lead. She talked about finding a husband, having children and teaching them the art of smithing. She was very well aware of the promotion surge she was in and plainly intended to use it to grow her business, but she didn’t want to expand it carelessly. For her, it was a family business, and it should always stay this way. The trio promoted each other to meet again as soon as possible.

Myrthil fought back her tears when she heard Mahon and Jorik were leaving, and it took all of Ailluin’s persuasion to force her to stay with the Protectors. There was no trace of her injuries against the Hawks left in her face, and she was promised to a grand future. Even though she didn’t personally win the tournament, she was still in the winning team, and since the two other members were leaving Finem for their personal quest, the Protectors Circle was left in a weird posture. Myrthil represented the hopes of the new generation of Protectors, and they would never agree to let her go like that.

Ailluin had also spent much time reflecting on Mahon’s teachings, and his mind was brimming with ideas to train the new batches of Protectors he couldn’t wait to put into practice.

Rania almost hadn’t time to see them as she was slowly becoming the new master of the Protectors Circle while Paegis faded in the background. She still welcomed them warmly and asked for them to come back as soon as possible to continue their training with the two other vice-master on magical stuff.

Paegis was the last person they saw before departing. After his powerful intervention in the arena, the old man had tried to hide as much as possible, for reasons only known to himself. Mahon and Jorik hadn’t even planned to see him, but it was him who came to them just before their caravan left.

The man wasn’t there to exchange niceties but to warn them instead of not going off-road for he would not allow them to bring more enemies back to Finem. His face tried to be threatening, but his eyes betrayed his inner fatigue. He left them with a warning about the true power of a magician.

“You’ve been marked by Virrion.” He said. “Any magician from the Ill Immortals learns to imprint his magic on objects or humans. Every Ill Immortal, whether sorcerer or magician, can pick up on this signature without difficulty. I see it right now as I talk to you like a beacon in the night. You’re marked as Ill Immortals’ enemies, and you can be sure that any Ill Immortal will go out of his way to hunt you down as soon as they see this sign. Unfortunately, even I can’t remove it. It can only be done by a magician at a special place in Immortal City. But I’m sure you’ll figure that out by yourself once there. In the meantime, I can only recommend you to be particularly careful in the presence of sorcerers and magicians. Don’t die. I’ve plans for you.”

The old man smiled and waved teasingly at them as the caravan started its long journey towards Smoothgulf.

Mahon and Jorik had a worried look for it wasn’t something they had planned at all. Weren’t they just starting a trip to go right into the Ill Immortals country? Paegis obviously knew Virrion would mark them the moment he asked them to kill the trio of Ill Immortals, but he had chosen to say nothing about it.

On purpose.

A worrying thought flashed in Mahon’s mind as he saw the wicked old man slowly disappearing behind the caravan’s carts.

He couldn’t have lured the Ill Immortals to Finem, trained us to fight against sorcerers and magicians just to test us against Virrion and upon proving our worth turn us into the weapon that would deal with the Ill Immortals for him, could he? That can’t be, right?