51st of Season of Air, 57th year of the 32nd imperial era

Newt followed Lady Frost a mile away from Thunderbluff until they reached a ramp leading to what looked like an earthen rampart. The road went up; signs in several languages, including pictures of skulls and bones, warned the populace to keep away.

The embankment itself wasn't terribly tall, leveling at twenty feet above ground, but the road on top of it grew considerably wider, growing from twenty feet to nearly fifty yards in width in just fifty feet.

Newt had never seen anything like it, but as he reached the top, he saw the road stretch towards the horizon, disappearing into the infinity of their world.

"This is a highway." Lady Frostgrave said. "An awakened-only road for those who travel without mounts. Just like the signs said, anyone can enter at their own peril, but the fault with any and all accidents lies with the weaker party. By climbing aboard, you are stating you can take care of yourself and all you bring along. If your speed, perception, and reflexes aren't up to the task, you have only yourself to blame."

Lady Frostgrave pointed to the path paved with golden bricks. "The two leftmost lanes are for the ninth realm awakened, the next two," she gestured towards the silver lanes, "are for the eighth realm…"

She went through all the lanes, until she reached the final two paved in ordinary, red brick. "These are for the awakened of the fifth realm and below. Like I said, everyone can enter and you can pick any lane of your realm and above, but misguided overconfidence comes with a price."

Newt was silent, considering Lady Frostgrave's words. He recently found himself doing that more and more often, thinking before speaking and trying to grasp more meaning from the words he heard.

"Lady Valiant, you said the road is awakened-only for those without mounts. That distinction seemed important?"

Lady Frostgrave nodded with a slight, appreciative smile.

"Yes, those with mechanical devices and manabeast mounts are not allowed, to prevent cluttering. Piloting mechanical devices requires an imperial license, and manabeasts naturally have good enough perception not to collide with others and immovable objects. Neither are likely to cause accidents, but may panic some inexperienced awakened and cause a mess on the highway; so they travel through the countryside. Also, they are often quite big and can't physically fit on the highway, even if they wanted to."

Newt nodded in understanding. Allowing manabeasts to roam the countryside sounded dangerous to him, but he lacked experience, so it might have been fine if they had competent, responsible riders. His mind lingered on the thought much longer than it should have, and he hoped his worries were unfounded.

"So, which lane do we take, Lady Valiant?" Newt didn't like his odds in the lane in which fifth realm awakened whizzed by, probably using magic to enhance their speed. He was certain that neither his speed nor reflexes met the standards of being able to take care of himself when faced with someone outclassing him by two whole realms.

"The one designated for the sixth realm, of course. I will be transporting you." Lady Frostgrave led the way, her disciples following her without a word, and left without a choice, and Newt did what every little baby raptor did, and followed his pack.

As soon as they stepped onto the sixth lane, Lady Frostgrave erupted with mana. The energy's purity shocked Newt as the woman, usually void of lights representing the mana signatures, became a blazing bonfire of ice-blue.

The air turned solid, and pale ice took shape around him. Newt nearly yelped when the piercing chill stabbed him into the back of the knee, forcing him to sit on the glacial seat. Everlast sat next to him and gave him a barely perceptible nod that everything was fine. Everything was definitely not fine. The chill pierced Newt's butt, his skin shriveling.

Reflexively, he activated Magmin Scales, but the exponentially stronger frost devoured the wisp of heat. Then the chill disappeared as another, much gentler light enveloped him.

"Please take no offense. It was an honest mistake." Lady Frostgrave smiled. "It has been centuries since I gave a ride to someone without ice-attributed mana."

The woman's smile didn't seem apologetic to Newt, but he wasn't certain whether it was Lady Frostgrave covering up her honest embarrassment or if she had intentionally tested him in some way.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

So Newt smiled, his butt still tingling with ice. Did she freeze a chunk of my flesh into a needle?

As the ice sledge took shape, everything below shoulder height was a mate light-blue, sparkling in the sun, while everything above was a perfectly translucent dome, which allowed them to take in the scenery.

Newt forgot about the pain in the ass as the landscape started flowing around him. The movement was slow in the first half a second. Then it reached his sprint, then his full power mad dash, then it grew ridiculous and kept increasing.

Newt's stomach turned from the dissonance between what his eyes were telling him of their mad careen, as opposed to the rest of his body telling him they had not moved an inch.

A chilly hand gently touched his shoulder.

"Don't look sideways," Everlast said. "Look straight ahead, or a bit to the side, focusing on the distant sights. You could also close your eyes."

Newt took the final piece of advice, and in the black world, his stomach calmed. He was just sitting on an icy bench, an icy beauty sat next to him, turning his shoulder cold.

"Thank you, Everlast. I feel much better."

The chill on his shoulder disappeared, and Newt focused on his realm. He once more considered how to divide the flows of lava, since Dandelion's suggested blueprint for his next realm demanded a lot more fire runes than he had room for. It wasn't a definite blueprint, just some vague tips and tricks, but Newt believed he had caught the gist of it.

Why didn't he tell me how to do it? Newt grumbled yet again about how Dandelion smiled, saying he was sure Newt would figure it out before reaching the peak of the third realm.

And I need to find some earth techniques suitable for attack and defense.

Newt spent two hours carving a miniature four-rune-array, parts of it etched into the ground, while others raised above like small, steep ledges. Once complete, it would increase his precision and subtlety when manipulating earth. Satisfied with his progress, he opened his eyes.

In his peripheral vision, the world was a messy blur of green and blue, giving rise to a storm in his stomach, but Newt tuned it out. He focused on what was ahead, the infinite road, specked with occasional blurs they passed on their right.

Newt looked around the sled, but all the girls had closed their eyes, sculpting their realm or meditating to draw mana. The only one awake was Frostgrave.

"Lady Valiant, do you mind telling me about the order you believe would welcome me?" Newt tried to start a conversation, explicitly not thinking that the only thing keeping him alive in the vessel traveling at absurd speed on the path of the higher realm awakened was Lady Frostgrave's goodwill.

"I believe many would welcome you, but you are a great match for the Explorers' Gate. Their main focus is exploration, regardless of whether it's the four wealds or the secret realms, they can both be good sources of income and their founders used that wealth to build a solid organization. Rather than pure martial might, they focus on being clever. Don't think that means they are weak. They are one of the top-notch forces. They do tend to avoid open confrontation with other powerful groups, but if someone threatens their interests, they will bare their fangs."

Much to Newt's horror, Lady Frostgrave turned around, her eyes no longer focused on the highway.

"From what I could see, and from what my disciples told me, you should be right at home with them."

"Yes, yes, please mind the road!" Pale-faced Newt failed to hide his panic, and Lady Frostgrave laughed, turning around.

"Young man, I use more than just my eyes to keep track of the environment. Eyes become a distraction after the fifth realm and at the sixth you need to start looking at alternatives to excel at combat. I'm not quite there myself, but some seniors move so quickly that action happens and finishes before your eyes can capture what has happened. Ice-related arts blur the line further. If my opponent fails to block the entirety of my aura, or if my mana accumulates in their bodies through wounds, I can freeze their mind, slowing their decision making and information processing."

Newt shuddered as a sudden thought struck him.

"Lady Valiant, can frostworms do that?"

"Not at the level at which you should fight them, no. But if you get stung, their poison does slow the metabolism, meaning the whole body. Getting poisoned by a frostworm means certain death because you were already weak enough to get stung, and your strength will degrade further after the poisoning. It's much like a member of a party dying. It soon spirals into everyone dying because an element of strength is lost."

Newt glanced at Everlast, recalling that stinger heading straight for him. He could have experienced that poison. He could have died from it. Silently he cursed Dandelion and his easy-going manner when he gambled with other people's lives.

"Lady Valiant, if it's not too much to ask," Newt said in the humblest voice he could muster, "could you please explain what fire and earth aura can do at higher realm?"

"I cannot. Not because I don't want to, but my words may be incorrect and influence you deeper than they should, damaging your future. You need to figure out your path on your own, or with a proficient mentor of the same element. Just so you understand, ice is water, and there are many kinds of ice. Mine is the biting frost, sudden, aggressive, and powerful. I cannot in good conscience teach disciples of the healing ice or of the creeping ice, since I would lead them astray, not to mention someone utilizing fire."

Newt opened his mouth to ask another question, but sensed Lady Frostgrave wasn't done speaking.

"The best I can do is deliver you to people whom I believe share your temperament and interests. Now close your eyes and work on your realm. You can do a larger piece if you want, since we have six days before we reach our destination."

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