Despite the leisurely pace that he had lived by up to now, Isaac felt a sense of urgency in his preparation, not only because there were lives on the line but to see if he was cut out for this path he was now on.
So, after spending the rest of the day gathering and cooking food for the 4 week journey to Veris, in the early morning of the following day, Isaac was about ready to set off.
He stood on the western edge of the glade, his brown hair pulled back into a small ponytail under his new tricorn hat. He had on his full outfit, a navy justacorps over a white waistcoat, navy breeches, boothose, and cuffed leather boots. It wasn't uncomfortable, per se, but it was a lot. As a peasant, he mostly just wore some basic linen cloth, and that had been true here as well since nobody was dressing to impress.
Well, most of the High Priestesses are giving me approving looks, so I suppose this is just the style of the times.
Isaac was mainly glad no one had tried to make him wear a powdered wig.
His wheellock pistol was hanging off his belt via a hook, hidden under the justacorps, and his sword, in its scabbard, was on his hip. He hadn't loaded or primed the pistol; he figured such a thing wasn't wise to do until he got some more experience with it.
Leksha approached him, "Here, take this. Even if you won't admit to being chosen, you should show your loyalty to the Goddess to the rest of the world."
She handed him a finely made symbol of the Goddess of Purity, made of forged iron. It gleamed dully, but he could sense the purity of the metal. Isaac nodded and put it on a piece of twine to hang from his neck, making it visible over his clothing. He generally agreed with her; Isaac wasn't looking to hide his allegiance.
She looked satisfied and handed him a small leather bag, clinking with the sound of coin, "We don't require much money here. Well…you wouldn't either if you didn't insist on hiding your identity…"
Isaac pulled open the pouch; inside were silver coins, all stamped with Solania's symbol. These were colloquially known as silver horns or just horns. The generally accepted currency of the continent was copper hammers, silver horns, and gold crowns. Each was backed by one of three gods: Veron, Solania, and Heron, respectively.
Truthfully, he had been shocked when he had learned how currency worked. The fact that Solania had somehow tied herself to one of the primary forms of payment in this world, and probably one of the most important, as the middle currency that even the poor could earn, was such a massively positive choice that he had praised her brilliance on the spot.
Of course, this was mostly done by chance, according to the story he heard, but still, Isaac knew he could work with that idea in the future, especially if he wanted to introduce paper currency and banking eventually.
The bag had around 250 horns inside, which was about how many horns they had always had here at the grove. He smiled, "I think you would be surprised. Money often opens doors in ways that status can't. Thank you."
Leksha bowed her head respectfully.
Isaac smiled and hefted his pack, turning away from them, "I'll be back soon. Don't destroy the grove while I'm out."
Solania, standing in front of him now, tilted her head in confusion, "Why would they destroy my grove?"
He chuckled, "Oh, I'm sure they won't, but I think it's important to make sure they wait for me, just in case."
Isaac then patted her muzzle and said, "I'll bring you back something good. Try not to get too bored without me."
Solania huffed, "Husband, I've lived for thousands of years without you. I am not reliant on you for entertainment! Now go forth and prove my good judgment to the rest of the world!"
He laughed and gave her a bow, "As you wish, Solania, I would not want to disappoint my lovely wife."
Isaac gave a final wave and headed out of the grove, moving west.
- - -
It was one thing to leave the grove, where magic was very concentrated, but leaving the Cleansing Wood after being there for so many years, Isaac was hit by an intense sensation. It was like going from a tropical storm directly into the center of a vast desert in terms of mana.
It actually took him a few minutes of controlled breathing to keep his balance. It wasn't as if there was no mana, but it was becoming clear why anything that lived in the grove long enough would be massively changed by the experience.
As he journeyed west, Isaac had to retrain himself on how to pull mana from the world around him, as the process was much more complicated than any of his training had prepared him for.
His first order of business was trying to maintain an illusion. For this, his wedding band was the prime target. Walking around with a casual ring of Unicorn Silver was so far outside of the norm, that any of his other pretending would be made utterly useless.
So, while on the road and away from civilization, Isaac attempted to make it appear as a simple wooden wedding band, which would be common for those born into a village. It wasn't the initial application of the illusion that gave Isaac trouble but the maintenance.
Eventually, he understood how to unconsciously pull in a small amount of mana, which was all he needed to casually maintain the illusion of a wooden ring on his finger. Of course, its lighting was slightly off, and it had a hazy look, but unless someone was really trying to stare at his finger, it wasn't going to be noticeable. And if they did, he could just put a bit more energy into it.
In the end, it would be pretty easy to pull pure mana from the connection his ring had to his wife, but…well there were still risks involved with that.
Well, pure mana is great for staying fresh on the road at least…
This took him around three days to accomplish. And when he felt comfortable, Isaac was finally able to relax. The scenery was on his journey, undoubtedly lovely. This area of the world was currently experiencing early spring, and the rolling green hills looked very picturesque against the clear blue skies.
Part of his education in the glade had gone over botany, or herbalism as they called it currently. And while the hand-drawn pictures in some of the books they had were well done, it was something else to see the plants of this world in person. To Isaac, the world was a strange mix. There were plants he felt extremely familiar with like they had been plucked from Earth and placed here, but in other cases, things seemed quite alien to him.
A perfect example occurred on the 8th day of travel where Isaac stopped near a fruit-bearing tree that seemed to be covered in violet lemons. His herbalism books had called these Hatchkets, a popular fruit local to this region of the world. They tasted like a mix between apples and strawberries, with a large white seed pod in the center of each. He collected a few, remembering that they had some use in alchemy.
Occasionally, Isaac would move off the path and work with his pistol. He figured out how to actually load and prime the thing, which wasn't exceptionally complicated but still took him some effort. In general, Isaac knew about firearms, but his information really started falling off once you went back to Flintlocks.
The biggest challenge was the delay, though still relatively fast; waiting for the wheel to spin and actually ignite the primer to ignite the powder and fire the ball was something that took some getting used to. Accuracy was a problem as well, but using magic, he could actually will the ball into a good trajectory. Isaac could tell this would be a lot easier if the ball was actually aerodynamic like a bullet, but still. His accuracy wasn't too bad once he got used to using his magic with the shot.
Over 2 weeks, he spent around 6 rounds of his ammunition, so Isaac decided to tone down his practice until he could resupply.
On the 15th day of his journey, Isaac stopped to rest off the main road. The sky was looking dreary, and the smell of impending rain permeated the land. He was considering how to deal with that when his ring began pulling on his finger. Immediately, an exhausted voice sounded in his mind.
"Goddes of Purity, Light of Purity. Please hear my call."
It was a prayer. He had tried to set up the prayers to break through his mental barrier when they occurred in great distress within a day's travel. He could feel the constant deluge of prayers clawing at the edges of his consciousness but remained focused on the current one.
"They will kill me tonight. I…cannot move. Please, Goddess, shine your light upon me. Bring me salvation…I…Beg…Please…"
In the distance, thunder rumbled. Isaac could sense that it was about to be a long night.