The Long Road Away or,

The Quick Trip to Instant Riches

The next morning she was on her way. It had been easier than she'd thought it would be. With Silphiel helping in the explanations, Gourry had been more willing to accept that Lina wasn't putting one over on him. She'd decided almost immediately that she would leave in the morning; she felt guilty about this, and really saw no need to hang around. It would have just made everything worse. Gourry and Silphiel walked to the edge of town with her to say their farewells. She'd have to make her leave-taking short; seeing Gourry's sad and troubled face was tearing her to pieces. She caught herself as she was about to make her reassurance to him and said, "Don't worry Gourry, I'll be back once I'm done with traveling."

Gourry bestowed an almost crushing bear hug on her and simply said, "Take care, Lina."

She noted Silphiel's thoughtful look as he said it. The possibility of Silphiel sensing the meaning behind Lina's words worried her. If she says anything now, I'm in trouble… Lina mused. Even though the shrine maiden was head over heels for Gourry, that didn't make her an idiot as well. It just means she has very questionable taste, heh heh.

As a distraction, she mock-whispered, "Hey Silphiel, take good care of my partner while I'm gone." Her ploy worked. She could almost hear the gears grinding as Silphiel recalled she would have her 'Dearest Gourry' all to herself.

As a demure, delicate smile played across Silphiel's lips, she said shyly, "Don't worry Lina, I will try to do my best for Gourry dear."

With a last wave goodbye Lina left the town of Navian and her partner behind. As she walked away, Lina quashed her sorrow at leaving Gourry behind. She told herself again this course of action was best for all involved. Besides, after a few months with Silphiel, Gourry might be tearing his hair out and anxious to leave. Or he might be married by the time she returned. Lina really had no idea when she'd be back. Well, there was no use trying to foresee what might be. She had to concentrate on the journey ahead.

She broke into an eager trot, her sense of freedom finally taking her over, exhilarating her. The morning air was still slightly chilly; however the sun had been up a few hours, and it warmed her as she alternated between a steady walk and a brisk trot. The dirt track she followed was dry and solid, with a minimum of dust. She could see the road ahead for miles as it wound its way west. Birds sang and performed their aerial acrobatics in the warm late spring air. It was going to be a beautiful day for traveling, by her reckoning.

She decided Buldein was a decent destination to head for; after all, it didn't entirely have to serve as an excuse to get away. It would be a good place to start. Honestly though, up until now, she'd had little use for the legendary city. Once again, she thought of the reputation the place had. It was known as the birthplace of the Magic Guild, and was believed to have been built well over two thousand years ago. The general populace believed it to be an awe-inspiring city of wonders. Rumor claimed it was a floating castle in the sky. There were wilder things said about Buldein--which couldn't be further from reality either.

Years ago, her visit to Buldein had been sort of a disappointment to her; but then the truth sometimes is. Lina hadn't really believed the floating castle story when she was younger, what she saw after topping the hill was a real letdown. She was expecting to be at least a little impressed. Buldein appeared to be nothing more than a ramshackle old tower surrounded by a hodgepodge of ruins and little cottages. Only her sheer curiosity at how the Guild had never once bothered to remodel convinced her to investigate further. She soon found a sign (which was there in thanks to the Buldein Welcome Committee 'Enjoy Your Stay!') inside the tower. The sign indicated she should descend the stairs behind her. Once down the stairs, she discovered the true secret city, which was entirely underground. The immensity of the tunnel network astonished her. The entire place was built mainly of stone and steel—reinforced with what must have been worth an emperor's ransom of orihalcon. Magic lanterns made everything down below bright as day, so she was able to inspect her surroundings far better. Runes for enhancing strength and durability were carved on every tunnel support, ceiling and wall. She found out the city was composed of eight levels, with several sectors branching out from the main hub. The hub itself was an incredible feat of magical engineering. If Lina stood at the mouth of the hub on the top level, she could see a sheer plummeting drop eight levels below her. She soon found out she could simply step off the edge while saying, 'down' or 'up' and she would be floated there, without even having to cast levitate. The sheer amount of magic embedded within the city was overwhelming. It was far more ordinary a place than, say, a floating castle, however its magnificence surpassed anything she'd ever heard of til then.

When she mentioned her amazement to an old, gray-bearded wizard in a patched cloak, he chuckled, seeing the young bright-eyed sorceress could be even further impressed. He told her, "The walls are also be-spelled with powerful wards against Mazoku magic. It's been said only Lord Ruby-Eye himself could tear us down. Not much chance of that happening now, wouldn't you say?"

Once she got over her amazement at the incredible scale and forethought that went into the building of Buldein, details small and large began catching her attention. At the outskirts the testing theaters--large open spaces, reinforced and shielded--were located. These had once seen truly incredible magic long ago. However, most of these were barricaded. Even some of the levels themselves were blocked off. Quite a few of the vendor stalls in the market were closed. In these vast tunnels, which were capable of holding hundreds, she rarely saw more than a group of ten at a time. Among those inspecting the available goods, she began noticing certain similarities. The greater part of the population consisted of elderly wizards and the like, she noted to herself as she walked among them. The others were harder to pin down as they were quite a rag-tag group; from conversation she gathered they consisted mostly of wanderers like her. By and large though, there weren't a lot of people at all.

"The city's in decline these days, young lady," another old wizard wearing a robe which had gone threadbare in places told her. "The days of experimentation seem to have ceased for a time, and the city reflects it."

Well, the libraries were second to none, but Buldein's glory days had long since passed. The city used to be a place where mighty spells were researched and perfected by sorcerers of great wisdom. Now, its main contribution to the Magic Guild anymore was as a sort of retirement community and market place. A sorcerer with nothing else to do could relax and talk shop with his or her fellow magic-users. Some left their lives in the outside world behind to retire to the libraries. An old wizard could spend the rest of his life following up on a lifetime of research. Those who had traveled recorded their experiences in the outside world in the libraries as well. Some of the journals that came of this were considered priceless to many a wanderer. These days magic was researched, but no longer tested. The lonely halls were desolate and held nothing new for Lina. She left and let the city continue to dream of its former grandeur.

Lina's attention shifted from her thoughts to her surroundings. She had reached a forest, and it was well past midday. It was time to look for somewhere she could have lunch. She quickly found an open space off the road, sat down and looked in her pack. Silphiel had made quite a lot for her, but she gobbled it down quickly. As she ate, she thought of her plans. Aside from what she told Gourry and Silphiel, she had something else in mind. Buldein was an incredible source of gossip. All those roving sorcerers brought stories of things they'd heard in other lands. Lina hoped she would hear something really interesting while she recorded her travels. She thought a bit on the time that it would take her to get there. From Navian she was heading north to Seyruun (which should take her three and a half weeks) and once she got there, she'd turn west. Buldein was really only a hop, skip and a jump from the white magic capital. If memory served, she could expect to be there in a month. However, she might be a little longer getting there if she torched a few bandit gangs. She cast her awareness on the forest behind her.

As if on cue, a group of seven scruffy looking characters stepped out of the woods, weapons drawn. It never failed to amaze her how bandits always seemed to stick to the same look. It was as if they'd all heard that to be a successful bandit, they needed eye patches and raggedy headbands. The one who looked like the leader (wearing both a headband and an eye patch) stepped up to her and growled, "Ok little girl, there's no one out here to help ya, so ya'd better hand over yer money or we'll skewer ya."

Amidst their confident chuckles, Lina stood up, dusting her pants off. "I don't know when I've been happier to hear such clichéd lines from scumbags!" Continuing despite their startled squawks of outrage she chortled, "Now hand over all your valuables and I may let you live!"

Standing above in a nearby tree was an extra witness to the fate of the dismayed bandits; amethyst eyes twinkled merrily, and their owner chuckled as the explosions began. "Back to your old tricks again, I see…" Then he vanished.

Author's note: Yes this is updated as well. I wanted to convey an idea of the somewhat dusty splendor of Buldein. So—I tarted it up a bit. What do you think?