Path of The Dragon Mage: (Nomad) 57. Gathering of Pathwalkers 2 of 2 (Patreon)

A generous spread of food and drink was set out along the sideboard table. Corvus hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was moral when he knew that supplies were stretched thin throughout the tower. But his stomach clenched in sudden hunger -- he couldn't remember the last time he'd had a decent meal. That made his decision for him.

He piled his plate high and made a mental note to ensure the remainders were to be distributed through the rest of the tower.

They all took their seats around the table. Everyone seemed to be as famished as he was. They'd all had a long night. For a few minutes, there was nothing but chewing and the scrape of utensil on plates.

He couldn't remember the last time he ate at a proper table. The horse folk usually sat on rugs around cookfires.

In a proper seat, Corvus felt his back straighten, his elbows primly kept to his sides... Unlike Gwen who slouched and used her folk roughly like a shovel.

She caught him looking and said, "What?" with her mouth half full of chewed food.

"You look... lovely in that dress," Corvus said because he wasn't a complete idiot.

She looked down at it and smiled secretly. "I should. I stole it from your cousin's guest room."

Corvus choked on a bit of rice. Perry helpfully slapped him on the back. Finally, when most were done, the lone older woman in the room looked directly at Corvus and said, "So, from what I've heard, you're infringing on my Path."

"I beg your pardon?" he asked.

Her expression was amused. "I am Path of the Healer."

Acutely interested, he set his fork aside. The plate was all but clean anyway. "You use runes to heal?"

"At times. Most of my magic comes from advanced skills. What runes I've learned came from my predecessor’s texts, and Perry. He is our local rune expert. I'm Mariah, by the way," she added.

The man who sat next to her snorted. "My name's Avery, and I ain't got no use for mana."

Corvus dearly wanted to pick Mariah's brain and compare notes on healing, but long drilled curtesy won out. "What is your Path, Avery?"

"Fisherman Path," he grunted. "I’ve only ever loved the sea."

"You have Avery to thank for turning the ships back to the harbor," Perry added.

"Those were your canons? Then I do thank you." Corvus inclined his head.

Avery shrugged. "We didn't kill the monster."

"No, but you provided a valuable distraction." He paused. "Why is it you have canons on your ships? Are there that many pirates?" He'd never heard of such problems while in the palace, but many details of commoner life were kept from him.

"Some pirates, of course. But mostly they're to ward of demon fish in the sea. Oh yes, there's plenty of them in the ocean. I killed a leviathan just the other month. Got me to level sixty-one," he said with pride and laid one beefy arm across the length of the table to roll up a sleeve. There, outlined in white scar was a puckered mark from a giant sucker.

Mariah's fingers twitched towards the man as if she longed to smooth over the scar. "You don't have to keep showing it off..."

"Sure I do," Avery grunted. "Girls love scars." Then he winked at Gwen.

The last man to speak was the oldest. He had paper-thin skin, wispy white hair that flew out in all directions, and watery blue eyes that didn't seem to focus correctly.

"I am Bartee," he said out of nowhere. "Path of the Seer."

"You mean you can see futures?" Gwen demanded.

"I see almost all the futures." Bartee turned to Corvus. "I am glad you chased that dragon off. There weren't many positive outcomes if you didn't."

Corvus exchanged a glance with Gwen, who shrugged. It never occurred to him that there could be... multiple futures. Then again, there were multiple Paths...

"And yes," Bartee said abruptly. "Before you ask, because I see myself answering, I use my mana to look into the future. No runes. Normally, I keep it at a steady drain equal to the time my mana well refills. A few seconds or so." He cocked his head in a strangely bird-like gesture. "It's saved me from quite a few... unfortunate accidents."

"It doesn't make sense," Corvus said.

Avery snorted. "Bartee never makes sense..."

"No, shouldn't there be a... standardized usage of magic?" Corvus looked around the table helplessly. "Growing up, I used to think that magic was contained to the four elements. Yes, someone with earth and water could combine their efforts to grow wood at a prodigious pace but there were limits. Then I learned about runes, and those made sense because there were rules..." He trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

Surprisingly, it was Gwen -- who never had much use for magic -- who answered him. "My ma used to tell me there was more than one way to skin a cat. There are many Paths. Why does there have to be one way to make magic?"

"Some things are universal, Corvus," Perry said. "Leveling, skills, the use of mana--"

"Starella doesn't need any of that." His voice held a note of long frustration. "None of the royals or nobles do. They just will the elements to their bidding and it happens."

Except, he had to admit that wasn't true. Starella had said her magical strength was declining the longer she was from the capital. All the nobles seemed to be limited that way. Solt, who was from the Cartwright House, said himself his Earth magic was very weak. Could it have been stronger if he made a journey to the Capital?

"They have rules," Avery said, unconsciously echoing his thoughts. "Everyone has their rules and limits. You just haven't discovered them yet."

He nodded and realized that all four adults were watching him and Gwen with a sense of curious expectation. They'd shared and were now waiting for them to share in turn.

He glanced at Gwen who shrugged. "I haven’t told them much. Mostly, I'm just here for the food."

"You can share as much or as little as you want," Maria the healer said in a soothing tone. "That's what we do in these little gatherings. We air out our frustrations, our triumphs, and where we might be stuck along the Path."

Perry continued. "Most of us are married and some have good friends who know a little about the Paths... but no one quite understands the unique trials, but us."

Corvus knew what that was like. How many times had he explained his 'freak magic' to Roan?

Thinking of his friend hurt anew.

Corvus considered for a moment before he mentally shot a message to Gwen through the party system.

Don’t tell them about Neville.

He was certain that the boy would prove to be a Path Walker, but he should decide to reveal himself to the rest, if at all.

Gwen dipped her chin in acknowledgment. It… wasn’t the most subtle of moves. Corvus suspected the others knew that he had just sent a covert message. Well, there was no helping it.

“My Path’s Wind Runner,” Gwen said shortly.

Bartee perked up. “Like the Horse Folk of old? The warrior clans before the rise of the kingdom?”

“Before the royals squashed ‘em, yeah,” Gwen said stoutly.

Corvus leaned on his Emotional Control skill to keep any expression off his face.

That was a sticking point between the two of them. Something neither brought up when they were alone because it would forever be an impasse.

Gwen wasn’t done. She heaved a sigh. “You all talk about mana but I don’t know what mine’s good for, except for hunting and shooting my bow.”

“You can use runes,” Corvus reminded her.

“Every Path user can use runes,” Perry said. “But many chose not to.”

“Why not?” To Corvus, being able to use magic and discarding that ability was… unthinkable.

Avery shrugged. “I was never much good at reading or drawing. Runes are fiddly little things. You don’t got the skill and you draw them wrong and the whole thing blows up in your face more like than not.”

“But you do use them?” Corvus pressed.

“Oh yeah, I got the Rune Charge skill. I can recharge ‘em good and fast as long as they don’t got someone’s name stamped on them. It’s part of what makes my ship the pride of the fleet. Most old ships have ancient runes carved in by ancient hedge witches to keep the hulls water tight, stay fast against storms, that sort of thing. But them charms wore out a long time ago. So I make a good amount of money from people willing to look the other way when make them work again.” He smiled and Corvus saw more than one gold tooth.

Perry spoke up. “Gwen, the Paths can be remarkably twisty. I picked the Path of the Blacksmith as a boy and look at me now.” He held out his hands, his fingers covered with glittering rings filled with gems of his own making. “You may not see a need for mana at this time, and that may continue… or it may change.”

“Maybe,” Gwen said, doubt heavy in her voice.

Corvus felt the attention of the others on him next. He looked at them. “Perry didn’t tell you?”

The man smiled. “I kept it a secret. I wanted to see their reactions.”

Mariah seemed surprised. “You mean, he’s not Path of the Royal? Path of the King? That sort of thing?”

Bartee suddenly snickered. Apparently, he’d just been privy to that glimpse of the future.

“Um. No. I was originally a Royal Path with my class as Prince, but it changed after the king’s ruling,” Corvus said. “Not that I knew it at the time. One of the first system messages I received was a prompt for me to change to a new class. I picked Dragon Mage.”

Avery and Mariah stared at him.

Bartee was still cackling. “That’s how you defeated that yellow brute? Well done, boy. Well done.”

Corvus’s sense of honor made him clarify. “He wasn’t defeated. My dragon and I chased him off, for now. For all I know he’s regrouping now to return. I had reached level twenty and received a class bonus. It’s a complicated story, but Daffodil’s bonded partner was killed and I was able to exploit his pain. I don’t know if it will work again.”

“You often reach the greatest heights and gain the most progress when you follow your Path,” Perry said sagely.

“Wait.” Mariah held up her hand. “Corvus, are you saying your Path is not to be king?”

So much for them all being equal in here, he thought wryly.

Gwen spoke up in his defense. “‘Course he is. The apex of his Path is Dragon King.”

Bartee suddenly leaned forward, his mad blue eyes glinting. “Do you believe that means becoming the next King with a dragon companion?”

“A true monarch, yes. What else would it mean?” Corvus asked.

His eyes glinted. “What if it meant King of the Dragons?”