"...Forget it. I can't talk to a Barbarian like you who knows neither elegance nor love." Du Pont looked at the beautiful large stone building in the distance. "Is that an inn? This village is pretty well-off."
"Other than famous major cities like the Silvermoon Federation and Waterdeep, Haluar is indeed considered prosperous. Even rural villagers who can't afford stone houses can still put together brick homes. Only the temporary field shelters used for resting are still crudely built from adobe, for eating, sleeping, and getting out of the sun."
"Although the age of Netheril has long passed, these Haluar descendants of Netheril are still resilient enough. Even if a generation produces no mages, some relative will awaken as a Classed individual. Mutual support, combined with a long period of peace, has given them solid family wealth. The overall environment is far better than the cruel world outside."
After saying that, he looked at Du Pont. "By the way, where's your hometown? How did you end up assigned to this poor, backward northwest?"
Haluar was surrounded by mountains on all sides and could be considered a basin. Its only passage to the outside world was called the Talas Trail. If foreign powers attacked, they would certainly start there. When that happened, aside from Talas Fortress, Northwest Academy would be the front line against invaders.
Besides the threat of war from outside, directly south of the academy lay Arklow Marsh, home to Green Dragons, Black Dragons, and a host of Sub-races. Nearly all of the northwest's intermediate- and high-level contracts came from there. If you lacked the skill and failed to think things through, ending up with no corpse left behind was no exaggeration.
On top of that, Lavoisier, the academy's Dean of Mages, was a famous radical and one of the representatives of the Halruaan New School of Magic. Though powerful in his own right, his relatively young age and weaker foundation compared to the other councilors meant he could only be sent here to head an academy.
It could be said that any Haluar family with even the slightest connections would never send its children here.
That question truly stumped Du Pont.
The memories he had inherited were incomplete to begin with. Du Pont had enrolled early and had never returned home, so his memories of that place had become extremely vague. After thinking for a long while, he said, "You've completely thrown me off. I only remember that there was a desert near my home. I've forgotten what it was called."
"A desert? You don't mean somewhere near the Nass Desert in the northeast, do you?" Boulderstone suddenly understood. "No wonder your father sent you to the northwest. The Nass Desert is practically the harshest place in Haluar. It used to be troubled by Blue Dragons all year round. The northwest may be barren and carry the risk of war, but it hasn't actually fought one for centuries. Compared to your hometown, this place is definitely much better."
Du Pont couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Fuck, everyone said his academy was poor, but it turned out his hometown was even worse. No wonder Du Pont didn't want to go back, and his family rarely sent him money. Even though his father was a noble, they were still this broke.
With a desert nearby and Blue Dragons looming over them, what profit could a minor noble possibly squeeze out?
But then Du Pont had another thought. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to bring up his current predicament?
Still, talking about money hurt friendships. Du Pont had no intention of capsizing this little boat of friendship he had just acquired, so he merely said with some helplessness, "Yeah. That's why I want to improve my strength as quickly as possible. If I graduate early and return home, I can at least do my part. Whether it's adventuring to earn money or helping my family hunt monsters, I'll have done what I can. Otherwise, if I go home after graduation and get called up to subdue the Blue Dragons in the desert, I might die without even knowing how."
Boulderstone looked somewhat puzzled at that. "Haluar rarely fights Blue Dragons now, right? The Dragon Cataclysm a few years ago left the Blue Dragon clans severely weakened, and Haluar's army chased them down afterward. How would those useless bastards still dare show their faces?"
Du Pont thought, What does that have to do with anything? But he had already prepared an answer. "Those Blue Dragons don't dare cause trouble openly, but who can stop them from occasionally stealing livestock or treasure? And they can hide behind the scenes and raise lackeys, sending human Sand Bandits or monster clans out to raid everywhere. But behind it all, they're the ones backing them."
"Oh? That's interesting. But it's still too early for you to think about such things. At the very least, you need to become a formal mage and have a few trustworthy companions before considering it. Anyone bold enough to become a Sand Bandit in that region must have some strength."
As they spoke, the two had already passed through the village. Boulderstone did not forget to flirt with several buxom village girls, and only spoke again once no one was around. "How old are you this year?"
"Fourteen."
"That's not too late, then." Boulderstone pointed toward a small fenced house on the hill behind them. "That's my home. I'll give you some simple training."
Du Pont said nothing and merely nodded. Soon, a simple house built almost entirely of wood appeared before him.
"I used to have a woman who was a druid. To make her happy, I built my house entirely out of wood, but in the end our temperaments didn't match, and we couldn't make it work." Boulderstone's tone was calm, with almost no emotion detectable. "But I couldn't be bothered changing the house afterward. It's livable either way. The fence is about six feet high. It won't stop a skilled thief, but it works well enough to keep beasts from sneaking in to steal food while I'm away. I usually just jump over it. You've got good bones, but you lack training. Can you do it?"
"I don't know. I've never tried." Du Pont answered honestly. "Aside from staff classes, the academy offers almost no opportunities for physical training."
"Give it a try. If you don't stretch your body out, then you've grown it for nothing. Even when adventuring with a team, mages can't just throw spells around whenever they want. There are many times when you'll be forced into close combat, even against multiple enemies. You have to know that monsters love living in groups, and they have no sense of honor. They all swarm you at once."
"Mage Armor can't cover your entire body, and some powerful monsters possess impressive skills and abilities as well. If you don't have at least some close-combat ability, you won't withstand the desperate attacks of creatures whose homes have been invaded. By the time your teammates come to support you, you might already be a pile of mangled flesh."
After saying that, Boulderstone patted his thigh. "Watch. This is all you need to do."
Boulderstone twisted his neck, and in less than half a second, a series of bones cracked. Then he rose and took a running start. In midair, his legs stretched out as he leaped high like a cheetah. The next instant, he was already on the other side of the fence.
Du Pont looked at his much slimmer thighs and felt that this was unreliable. "How could I possibly have explosive power like yours?"
"I didn't use much strength at all. Didn't you see that I took a running start? If I relied only on muscle power, I could jump over from a standing position. Those monks who travel abroad can easily jump onto rooftops three meters high." As Boulderstone spoke, he jumped back over. "Try it. At worst, use Mage Armor. There are no spikes on top of this wooden fence, so you'll suffer nothing worse than a few bruises. Just be careful when you come down. Don't be unlucky enough to twist your neck and break it."
"Forget it. Expeditious Retreat improves more than just my stride; it also gives me some jumping ability. I should be able to do it." Du Pont pressed down on his legs as he spoke. His body was actually quite flexible, but his low agility meant his reflexes were truly mediocre. Put simply, if he played CS2, he would definitely be terrible.
Still, Du Pont was a little worried. "It still looks kind of sharp up there. What if I get caught on it? It won't rip my intestines out, will it?"
Boulderstone examined it carefully and gestured. "No. Your legs are long enough. If you charge forward, you'll definitely clear it and won't scrape your stomach. At most, it might scrape your balls."
Du Pont sucked in a breath. "...When you put it that way, my legs feel a little weak. Can I not jump?"
"This wooden fence is just standing there, and you're already weak in the knees looking at it. When goblins come at you with spears, won't you be scared out of your soul?" Boulderstone snorted disdainfully. "Besides, don't you know spells? If you don't trust yourself, do you not even trust the power of magic?"
"...Just you wait!" Du Pont scoffed. He took a deep breath, backed up several steps, and started his run-up.
"Fuck!"
The first round of PK is coming up soon. Please keep reading and send some votes. If the numbers are good, this dog of an author can write with more peace of mind~~
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