Rayven paused after hearing Thyruz's claim…
"I guess it's not hard to believe… Can you tell me what level, stages, or ranks a mage has?" He asked casually.
'It's good that they're fighting far away from us… We should leave this area immediately.' Rayven thought as he didn't want to get involved in such a high-level battle of mages.
However, his casual question just now had actually confused the two girls and the old man. After all, they believed that Rayven was a mage and should be aware of their ranks.
They couldn't tell if he was joking or if he was serious with this question.
Still, Thyruz believed that Rayven was simply following up with his acting as an ordinary person. To satisfy the kid, he replied half-heartedly.
"It is said that we have nine tiers... Though no one had really reached the eighth and ninth tiers."
He then paused for a moment to see Rayven's reaction before he continued.
"Different nations have different names for each tier… But in our Velmoria Kingdom, the first tier is called Initiate, followed by Adept…"
"Ohhh… What about the third tier?" Rayven asked.
This time, Thyruz finally realized that Rayven must've come from a different country. Perhaps, he wasn't familiar with the terms used in Velmoria and wanted to learn more from him.
He didn't really mind whatever Rayven used as an excuse, as he obliged and answered his question.
"The third tier is called Arcanist, followed by Exemplar…"
At this time, a cold breeze suddenly chilled the group.
It was not winter yet, but the coldness of the surroundings was unmistakable…
'Magic Spell?' Rayven thought as he felt unease within his chest.
Boom! Boom!
They soon heard loud thunder and some crashing or explosions from afar…
"We should be close to the village…" Thyruz muttered as he pulled his coat tighter.
To be honest, he was also considering whether it would be better not to visit the village.
After all, the battle of those mages shouldn't last that long. Once it passes, they should be able to travel immediately. Well, they could only hope that the road or the path was not devastated because of the battle.
Unfortunately, before they could reach the village, a violent tremor rocked the earth beneath the carriage wheels.
Boom!
Birds shrieked and burst out from the trees. Rayven, on the other hand, felt as if there was a meteor that landed nearby.
"Ho~" Miki controlled the horses as they neighed wildly, started by the nearby explosion.
It didn't end there!
BOOM!
Another thunderous explosion rolled across the forest as if a mountain had been cracked in half.
"What in the world—?!" Nara gasped as she suddenly had an idea of what was happening…
Just like that, everyone looked outside since they all realized what was going on!
Flashes erupted from the sky, but they weren't natural lightning bolts. No, these were spells!
They were powerful, concentrated bursts of mana that shook the surroundings.
"We should really leave this area…" Rayven muttered.
But it was already too late.
Like meteors, two silhouettes dashed through the sky and crashed into the trees less than a hundred meters away, flattening everything in their path.
'Crap…' Rayven wanted to curse as he saw this. He just couldn't take a break…
It seemed as if reuniting with his Merchant Company would be delayed for even longer!
One of the horses reared in panic, and Rayven even wanted to jump off the carriage as he knew that Miki would fail to control it…
And as expected, the carriage had almost toppled. He almost puked because of it!
Thud… As she regained control, Miki snapped. "We need to move!"
"But not toward that village yet! We'll be caught in the middle!"
"Is this a war?" Nara asked.
"No," Thyruz answered grimly. "This is worse. This is a duel between Exemplars... The fourth-tier Mages."
Miki quickly steered the carriage off the path and into a thicket just enough to give cover. Everyone disembarked except Miki, who kept the horses calm with a few whispers.
Then they heard a voice from the sky...
"No more running, Vairen!"
It was a woman's voice, and she seemed to be the one winning the battle...
"You stole the Primordial Core from my vault. Did you think I wouldn't find you?!" The woman continued.
A male voice responded. It was filled with rage and exhaustion…
"That core doesn't belong to your House anymore, Ardania. You're not worthy of its truth!"
There was no time to process the conversation.
In just a few moments, when the two confirmed each other's location, a massive bolt of mana passed over the treetops, illuminating the area around them like the sun at noon!
It was followed by a high-pitched buzz—and then half the forest floor near the crash site was obliterated, leaving behind a gaping crater, trees turned to ash.
No one could understand what had happened…
"I made a mistake… They're not fourth tier! They're Archmages, the fifth tier! We have to leave this place!"
Rayven agreed. As a matter of fact, even if the two arguing mages were only first-tier or second-tier, he would still advise everyone to flee!
This was especially true, now that Rayven had seen the god-like spells of these two rampaging mages!
Rayven's heart thumped wildly.
"I thought battles like this happened only on front lines against the Demonkin and the Barbarians…" Nara complained as she hoped that they wouldn't get caught up in the middle of the battle.