Camping in the Night

Silence lingered in the air.

The cart rolled down the road, passing by the countless towering trees that lined each side of the road’s path erratically. The forest was full of thriving flora, but the fauna had long retreated to their abodes under the moon’s lunar gaze.

“Will our arrival in Kandar be delayed?” Jimin asked, rubbing her butt as the cart rolled past a shallow pothole.

“No,” Derrick said, confirming the numbers showed on the floating screen above the steering wheel. “In fact, we may arrive earlier than expected.”

“Why?” Jimin asked.

Voidborn looked down at his blade, which was no longer invisible. The Cloth of Light was untied from the sword’s guard and tucked beneath him.

“We’re actually going at a much faster speed as compared to when we were in the sedan.”

“How though? Isn't the sedan more expensive?” Jimin asked.

Voidborn took out another cloth from his pocket and started wiping the bugbear’s blood off his blade.

“Well, compared to the sedan, this construct focuses entirely on propulsion and movement,” Derrick explained as he guided the mechanical horse around a fork in the road. “There are no defences or turrets whatsoever, so the energy from the stone can dedicate everything towards speed.”

“Ohhh…” Jimin nodded her head.

Silence returned.

“Hey, what happens if you don't clean up the blood?” Jimin asked.

“Rust.”

“Oh.”

Silence again.

“Why don’t you put the Cloth of Light into your pocket?”

“My clothes weigh less than five kilograms.”

Jimin blinked. “So?”

“They would turn invisible.”

“…Isn’t that good? You’d become invisible too.”

“I am not less than five kilograms,” Voidborn said flatly. “You would only see my naked body.”

“…Oh.”

Silence greeted the four again.

“Are you guys alright?” Jimin suddenly asked.

“Yes.”
“I’m alright.”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”

The answers left as quick as they came.

“You guys have been awfully quiet since we left the town. I'm worried…”

“I'm tired,” Rei said, scribbling something on her summoned tome.

“I need to focus on the road,” Derrick mumbled without looking back, making another turn.

Voidborn simply raised his sword slightly, gesturing to the blood still coating the blade before continuing to clean it.

“Do you all secretly find me annoying?” Jimin narrowed her eyes.

“No.”
“No.”
“No.”

This time, the replies came together.

“I appreciate the talking,” Derrick said, “keeps me awake.”

“But it feels weird if I'm the only one talking!”

“I could speak, but it would bore you to death,” Rei said, looking up briefly as a red glow shone on her tome’s open page before fading. “I would be explaining to you about the circles and symbols I’m drawing right now, and how I need to balance the energy flow within them so that the—”

“Hold up. Never mind. I don’t think I want to hear that.”

“I do,” Voidborn said.

“What?” Jimin exclaimed. “Why are you even interested? It’s not like you’re a scholar.”

Voidborn ignored her and sheathed his now-cleaned sword, before tying the Cloth of Light back on.

“What exactly can you—no, what can Scholars do?”

“Well, I'm glad you asked,” Rei said. She waved her hand and the pages on her book flipped. “As you already know, I'm a Rebirth 2 Scholar — a Scribe. Rebirth 1 Scholars are called Readers. It’s a terrible name, I know, but I wasn't the one who named it. But yeah, Readers are granted the ability to use basic spells.”

The tome rotated towards Voidborn.

Countless diagrams filled the pages. Some glowed red, others blue or yellow. Circles overlapped squares. Triangles connected through lines and symbols he could not understand.

“You see these diagrams here? They are spells.”

“Why are you dumbing it down for him? When I asked you, you gave me a whole ass lecture on your mumbo jumbo?”

“That's because I’m re-explaining it to you,” Rei sighed, rolling her eyes. “Didn't you say you needed a refresher for the event?”

Jimin looked away guiltily.

“Anyway, whilst it may sound simple, it's not that straightforward. As a Scholar, our Reborn powers thrive on the amount of knowledge we know. We need to have an in-depth understanding of how the spell functions, how energy flows through it, the scale, speed, composition and stability.”