Master Of None

"Elane!" The shout came from an older man sitting on a rub near the fire that was in the center of the camp made. There were a few other angels around. They all more or less had red tipped wings that made it clear they used fire elemental mana. There were also a few monsters that Walker didn't recognize other than their similarities to a horse.

'Winged horse

The winged horse is similar and related to a pegasus. However, they have a weaker affinity for wind making them unable to use strong wind magics. This makes them ideal for transporting goods using the wind under their wings. Many breeders will train them to fly for long distances easily.

They adore the green apples from the elder treant ordinances near the mountains. However, they are rarely able to eat them because the treants do not give them away easily. This is the danger that comes with these monsters since the flying horse will often change course in attempt to steal some if they are too close and smell them.'

The small details made Walker want to laugh. The flying horse reminded him a little of Midnight. She would totally try to steal away a good smelling snack if she was given the chance.

"You were gone too long. Now we are behind in planning the next move. But it seems like you brought us over some new customers?" The older man looked at Walker and the rest of the party, "You were the source of all that marching? Training a border patrol army?" The old man seemed to be unable to see the differences between them and the angels. It made Walker realize he was completely blind.

"That's a good guess, but I would have to say no. We are actually marching ourselves to the embassy to build relations with both empires. It's not too long of a journey now that we are on your continent." Walker's laugh made the man raise an eyebrow. He had jot expected this turn of advance.

"I am surprised to find merchants here. But it's good, we can make some good trades. I hear that you take gold too." This seemed to lighten the mood even more. The man turned his head where he had heard Elane and the others before turning back to Walker.

"You can forget this old man. I just handle accounting. It's what I have left in my head while teaching my granddaughter. Elane can handle everything while you pass the gold to me. But if you want to tell us a little more about yourselves, you can share it. Maybe you'll get a discount." Now, this was a sneaky but wise tactic.

The older man knew well that good information could outweigh gold any day. Knowing something unique about a new force appearing on the continent could be a massive source of rumors. Knowing real facts would go very far for him in the next place they stopped to do business.

"I have shared a little so far with Elane. But it is good to know that we can do a little business. It would seem that we could learn a little more about herbs, monsters, and other things. If you don't mind, I will let my party members speak with your other merchants?" Walker was still polite. The old man nodded his head before reaching for a bag that had a few journals in it.

"If you want herbs, this book was taken from a retired alchemist two villages down. They were relocating because of the mandrakes screaming all night. Annoying monster plants but they are valuable. He said he was too old. If you have a book to trade?" This seemed more fair. Remey walked forward and immediately began bargaining with him while Eklane refocused on Walker.

"If my grandfather is fine with it, so am I. But we will still stay focused on you for now." Elane made a glance at Midnight. It was clear she was uncomfortable with the creature that seemed to be a wyvern. It made sense though. How could they understand what a dragon really was? How could they just easily believe that Midnight was a dragon which they had only ever heard about in books? In fairy tales that were supposed to be false nowadays.

"I know you might think of them as extinct, But Midnight is really a dragon. Technically, I am too." Walker looked at Elane carefully while he said this. She was still very skeptical. "I know wyverns are your first thought, but I promise you, that dragons are much better, we will be handling some of the wyvern problem later. We have to get rid of the ones that have made their way to our continent at least."

"Wait, you have wyverns crossing the vast ocean to get to your homes?" Elane reacted without thinking. She had not expected to hear such a thing.

"Yes. That's one reason we came here. So, anything you can offer us when it comes to handling them would be valuable. Especially to my fellow royal dragons that came with me. They are very angry that the wyverns have even thought to touch their territory."Walker let some of the natural mana react to him. This way, everyone around him knew that he was serious. Also that the strength he had was not some false arrogance.

"You are in luck. We have been in the Rize empire for quite some time. All our lives if you want to be so bold to accept that. We can easily share some things we have learned." Elane reacted very promptly. It appeared that she had more than picked up on Walker's intentions.

"And also more maps. We seem to be more lost the further we go. It would be a shame if we were to wander in to someone else's home and anger them. We aren't here for a war. We are still handling a fugitive from one we just experienced." This was not entirely true since it made Walker and Genesis seem like they were tired. However, showing this small lie made it more relatable. The Rize and Fel empires had been fighting making them tired of fighting as well. That made them easier to accept someone similar to themselves.

"Now that is a little tough. The border is still not set in stone. Right now we walk on a very gray line that is the border. It has many potential gold mines when it comes to us. But it has some very harsh mapping due to the changes and battles." Elane wasn't lying. She was just stating a sad fact.

"Then don't worry about it. Even a general large map of your continent could make us more comfortable. We heard there is a large desert in the south. Some trouble might be there too, right?" Walker saw that Elane didn't even flinch. However, she did seem to have heard a rumor about it.

"On another note, we also have a few potions that you might like to trade. We have some high healing potions. If you manage to dilute them, you can sell quite a few weak healing potions on your way." This seemed to pull a few of the angel's attention toward him. It also brought Remey back in to the conversation while the others had the chance to split off even more.

The healing potions seemed to be a rarer occurrence than any of them had expected. In just a few moments, there was an all out debate between Elane and her grandfather about how many potions they could buy without being overburdened. It resulted in Walker limiting how many he would sell along with a boost to Remey's arrogance when she told them she was the alchemist that has made most of them.

Knowing that she was an alchemist had burdened the entire conversation. Remey was quickly getting information about where rare herbs were and it even caused another angel to bring out some more advanced maps to show the locations. This relationship with merchants and alchemists was what became key for their current talks.

Hearing more details was always good, but it was just enough to help them without directly relating any of the merchants to Walker's group. It was a wise path to take since there was turmoil in the area. However, Walker also knew that he would be seeing more merchants interested in them as time went on. Genesis had many things that he had brought in his storage. These were things he had yet to see here that might be able to shake up both empires when it came to products in general.

"So, I was curious. What are the empires like when it comes to magic? Are origin runes used a lot?" Walker suddenly found that there was no reply but silence when he asked this. Runes seemed to be a trigger to cause everyone to become quiet on the angel's side.

….

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