In A Different Timeline, Far Away From Reality Part 6
By: CD
Authors Note: There was some big delay this time, but at last I got this chapter posted. Note that it's a bit short, but I'm doing the best I can to get another chapter up soon. If I can spare the time I might even upload chapter 5 and 6 on fanfiction.net.
Chip awoke to find out that Mercy and Philip had already gotten up. He stepped
out of bed and put on his jacket and fedora, grabbed the bag of items and the
money before going downstairs and joining his two companions for breakfast.
“While you were still snoring, I took some money and made a few worthwhile
investments.” Mercy let him know as she handed him a black, folded piece
of cloth.
“What’s it for?” He asked as he unfolded it.
“It’s a robe, complete with hoods to make us look more in place. I
don’t want to draw to much attention to us. It usually just gets in the
way.” Mercy explained while taking a bite out of some bread.
“Hmm, a smart idea. Anything else you bought?” He asked as he put
it on and sheeted his sword under the belt.
“Nothing except for this breakfast and some supplies. Whenever you are
ready, we can leave.” She revealed.
“Great, let’s go then.”
The traveler party was back on the road that would take them to their destination.
Mercy had put on her green robes as well as Philip, but even though his where
not oversized, they didn’t fit well either. The hood masked his face a
bit too well, the sleeves where a tad long and his feet couldn’t be seen.
Nonetheless, he had turned down Mercy’s offer to resize it a bit, as his
guardian still carried along her knife for self defense. After walking for a
few hours, they sat down to rest while Philip took out his books to read a bit.
“Hmm, this is some interesting information.” he noted as he traced
the lines with his finger.
“What?” The others asked in unison.
“According to this book ‘Magic for dummies’, sorcery and witchcraft
is something only practiced in worlds where it is common. It says that some
plane traveling wizards have uncovered that back on earth as we know it, magic
is rare because the world is not accustomed to it. While Fairy Tale Forest on
the others hands thrives because of it.” Philip educated them and read
on before Chip interrupted him.
“But what about all the things I saw as a Rescue Rangers? I’ve been
face to face with Leprechauns, cursed Sphinxes, even witches.”
“Those creatures were born with magical skills, or it required a lot of
faith to learn it. If you really have met an average human with magical powers,
that’s most likely because the person devoted a lot of time to it. Or so
the book says.”
“Does that mean that in this world, anyone could wield magic?” Mercy
questioned.
“The book says anyone in Fairy Tale Forest can learn magic systems. The
environment is generally one huge practice room. All you need is to focus and
invoke it in the right way. It should be a piece of cake. For example: don’t
cast a fire spell on yourself, or you only succeed in setting yourself ablaze.”
“Isn’t this a bit risky?” Mercy reasoned “Who knows what
these spells can do to you. Or to us, for that matter.”
“Don’t worry, the books refers to ‘Spells for starters’
which only teaches harmless spells, and contains warnings for all dangerous
spells and instructions how to utilize them.” Philip finishes and closed
the book, quickly picking up the ‘Spells for starters’.
“What’s all in it?” Chip asked curiously and sat down next to
the young student.
“Spells to create food, heal people, light a fire, create small rain clouds
and the like.” Philip answered while looking through his book.
“If you can simply cast spells to summon food, it was quite a waste of
me to buy all this.” Mercy commented somewhat annoyed as she grabbed an
apple from the bag.
“We might as well keep it, no one of us has tried these spells yet.”
Chip objected.
“And it seems ‘Flora and Fauna of Fairy Tale Forest’ contains
a wealth of information on all kind of stuff you could eat.” Philip added,
having already started reading his third book.
“Well, what do we need magic for then? I’d rather stick to our main
objective instead of learning spells.” Mercy opined and folded her arms.
“I think I’ll give it a try. It wouldn’t hurt, now would it?”
Philip offered.
“Just don’t turn this forest into an inferno while tinkering with
this craft.” Mercy warned.