Entering the world of Wizards was already a success, Ruger reminded himself after ending his walk in the rain.
Despite all the unexpected turns, he had stumbled his way forward without straying too far. After all, his starting point had been simple, and his goal was distant, leaving him an immensely broad space in between.
His first goal had merely been to stop going so hungry that his heart raced and his stomach hurt. Then he had wanted to leave those slimy grubs behind and eat something fit for a person. After that, he had wanted to become a true Wizard Apprentice. Even when he first became one, he had still been thinking simply of how much easier hunting would be, and how he could maintain Foul-Smelling Skin while sleeping in a cave so he no longer had to fear something biting his toes.
But when he arrived in Starry City, where he could bask in artificial sunlight, eat exquisite food, and enjoy a comfortable life, it had not been as interesting as he had imagined. He had not been satisfied, because his goal had already changed. It had shifted from fine food to something more elusive, something too distant to see clearly: becoming a powerful Wizard who embodied tremendous might, though even he did not know what that would look like. And because that goal was distant and vast enough, there was hardly any question of straying from it. With no clear path from the starting point to the destination, the destination was difficult to reach. Yet with no fixed path he had to follow, the space between was immensely broad.
He looked at the boundless darkness around him, recalling the instructions that man had given him at their last meeting.
There was nothing in that endless blackness. Even