Chapter 55: Carving the Array

Once outside the carriage, Shaoke finally understood why the coachmen charged so much silver. As soon as the carriage started moving, the biting cold wind lashed his face. Shaoke pulled his cloak tight, hoping the wide hood would block some of the wind, but after several attempts, the effect was minimal, so he finally gave up.

The coachman drove the carriage with careful, stiff movements that made even Shaoke sense his discomfort. Shaoke thought to himself, 'Actually, it's not that I wanted to come out and enjoy the breeze; I was more or less kicked out. Just bear with it a little longer!'

Thus, Shaoke endured the cold wind outside for over a magic hour before the mage slightly lifted the curtain and said, "Mage Xueye, please come inside now! I'm done here."

Shaoke quickly rubbed his cheeks, which had almost lost sensation from the wind, and with staff in hand returned to the carriage. As soon as he entered, he felt a wave of warmth, but his face stung with a burning pain. He instinctively rubbed his face, which prompted an apology from the mage. "Mage Xueye, I'm really sorry. Come over here and get warm!"

Shaoke took off his boots and moved closer to the stove. He accepted the towel handed by the mage and carefully wiped his face a few times, letting out a cold breath. "It's fine... Francis, are you alright?"

Now feeling slightly warmer, Shaoke noticed the mage's large blue eyes were red-rimmed, as if she had been crying. "Did something happen to your mother?" Shaoke asked anxiously.

The mage shook her head. "Mage Xueye, it's not what you think. These are happy tears. I can finally stay with my mother. It's been two years since I last saw her, so I got a bit emotional when I read her letter. Mage Xueye, I'm sorry!" As she spoke, she gently caressed a cedarwood box carved with several magic scripts, which appeared to be the box from the package the burly man had tossed.

Seeing the mage like this, Shaoke suddenly felt the distance between them—which had been closing—widen once more. This time, Shaoke felt as if the mage before him was very, very far away, unreachable. "Francis... are you really sure about joining the Mage Guild?" Shaoke asked somewhat unwillingly, hoping she might change her mind, even though he knew it would be futile. But he didn't want to regret later, regretting not inviting her once more.

The mage smiled faintly. "Yes! My mother insisted I must join the Mage Guild. Besides, she can help me there. She's worried the military might send me to the battlefield, so..." She paused briefly, her smile looking somewhat forced. "Mage Xueye, my... my mother hopes you can come to the Mage Guild with me, so we can help each other."

Shaoke stared intently into the mage's eyes, somewhat uncertain. "Is that really the case? Mages cannot lie." At first, the mage met his gaze, but then slowly lowered her head, letting her long hair cover her face, and fell silent.

Feeling somewhat stifled in the carriage, Shaoke lifted the curtain and asked the coachman, "How much longer until we reach the capital? Give me an exact time."

After the mage left, the coachman had just regained his earlier ease. Suddenly hearing the usually gentle mage speak in a harsh tone, he panicked. "Honorable Mage, if we continue at this speed, we'll reach the capital in five days." Hearing the curtain drop behind him, the coachman hastily added, "On the afternoon of the fifth day. We'll arrive on the afternoon of the fifth day."

Both the mage and Shaoke heard the specific time, and for a moment, neither knew what else to say.

Finally, Shaoke forced himself to stay calm and said to the mage, "Francis, let me check if the materials are ready." The mage softly acknowledged and fell silent again.

After spending the afternoon journey in silence, Shaoke, illuminated by the campfire, paced a few circles on the ground. He finally decided that regardless of what changes might occur between them upon reaching the capital, what he needed to do now was craft the 'spellbook.' Because he wanted to give this first spellbook he made to the mage, who had spent nearly two months with him.

Returning to the carriage, Francis was meditating. Shaoke watched her for a while, then cautiously retrieved the wooden board stored in the ceiling and began carving the fusion array with an engraving tool.

The magic powder on the silver-sinkwood board had fully infused the carrier. After calming his mind and running his hand over it for a moment, he slowly began carving. Although this was also a fusion array, it differed from the one he had previously carved for the fusion array diagram. This array was a hexagram, with lines three times more complex than the fusion array he had used before. Fortunately, relying on his countless hours of practice and the greater mental strength from his promotion, he succeeded in carving it. However, outlining these complex lines still took him nearly two magic hours.

As mentioned earlier, a carved array, without various energies to activate it, has no effect at all—it merely looks like a strange pattern. Only during formal use would Shaoke place the prepared energy carrier, configured to activate the array, onto it, after which the array would begin to operate.

After finishing the carving, Shaoke noticed Francis had stopped meditating and was leaning against a pillow, watching his every move. "What's wrong? You finished meditating so early?"

Francis shook her head. "I wanted to see how you carve this kind of array. After all, when I made my 'spellbook,' I didn't use this type. I might need it in the future." She then leaned forward and slowly traced the lines with her finger.

Shaoke's gaze followed the mage's fair, delicate finger as it moved. "This is just what most mages commonly use, nothing special. I imagine the array you used is much more advanced." He sighed. "Francis, I'll meditate for a while first. That just took a lot of mental energy."

The mage nodded. "Mm! I'll wait for you."

Shaoke pushed the distracting thoughts brought by the mage's last sentence out of his mind and began deep meditation, which he would maintain for three magic hours before stopping to sleep.

Francis waited beside him until Shaoke emerged from deep meditation before starting to tidy up some of the clutter in the carriage. Feeling the atmosphere between them somewhat heavy, Shaoke thought for a moment and teased, "Francis, how about you lean against me to sleep again tonight? It might even help improve your focus!"

"Hehe!" The mage chuckled softly. "Do you have some ulterior motives? I won't let you have your way!" With that, she lay down on the thick layer of red woolen blanket, fully dressed, ready to rest.

Shaoke pulled the mage's blanket over her. She watched his actions with a smile. After Shaoke lay down, she suddenly slipped out of her own blanket, lifted Shaoke's blanket, and slid in. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body tightly against his, her hands around his neck, and buried her head in his chest, murmuring, "Mage Xueye, don't move! Just let me stay like this. It's warm."

Shaoke smiled wryly, wrapping his arms around the mage's waist. "Why so forward this time?" The mage shook her head against his chest. "Mage Xueye, just stay like this, don't move. I want to sleep well." Then she fell silent.

Thus, for the first time, the two slept embraced under the same blanket. Shaoke had thought about doing something, but considering the mage's unusual behavior that day, he simply held her tighter and slowly fell asleep with some strange thoughts.

For the next two nights, the mage would slip into Shaoke's blanket to hold him while sleeping. Shaoke, with the mage lying on his chest all night, always felt somewhat tight in his chest the next day. He knew this was mainly due to his weak constitution, which worried him. 'If we really enter into a special relationship in the future, I won't run out of energy after just a few moves, will I?' Concerned about this, Shaoke engaged in some simple exercises every night and morning. To maintain his image, he didn't resort to running, an exercise habit from his previous life, so at most, he just walked a few extra laps around the camp.

The mage found her companion's behavior of circling the small camp these past few days strange. That night, lying on top of Shaoke, she tugged at his robe and asked, "Why have you been circling these few carriages these past few days? Are you thinking about something? Tell me, and we can solve it together."

Shaoke's hand slowly moved on the mage's back. "There's nothing to think about." But his answer drew a look of disbelief from her.

The mage squirmed on top of him a few times. "That can't be. Otherwise, why would you waste time doing such boring things for no reason? Something must have prompted you to do this."

Although both were wearing thick clothes, Shaoke could still feel the effect of her soft body. The pent-up desire from the past two days suddenly erupted. Shaoke pressed down on the mage's slender waist. "Alright, stop moving. If you keep moving, I'll..."

At that moment, the mage suddenly felt something hard and hot pressing against her lower abdomen from beneath him. Even through the clothes, she knew what it represented, so she wisely stopped squirming. Her body stiffened as she lay on top of Shaoke. Though she wanted to create some distance, Shaoke held her too tightly. She quickly said, "Alright, I won't move. Let's sleep quickly! Otherwise, tomorrow's studies will be delayed."

Shaoke felt somewhat regretful about the mage's reaction. He had originally thought that if she kept ignoring his warning, he would take the opportunity to touch her bottom, but her compliance foiled his plan. So, he had to concentrate his mental energy to slowly calm the desire she had provoked.