Enigma of Sin

Over the next few days Kayn read through all of the notes and instructions manuals that were left behind. The majority of his time was spent playing with his sister and taking short walks to explore the area around the Villa, but he could almost always be seen carrying a book as well.

He couldn't wait for the evolution to complete as then he would be able to adjust a few settings. During his journey to the Mancean capital, he would be able to set up a portable stronghold. He could also adjust the built in formations to make the place invisible if he so desired.

It even had the functionality to defend from attacks coming from 6th stage core users. Granted, it wasn't invincible, but it was impenetrable to weak attacks. In fact, if the Devil was still around and tried to attack the Villa, it wouldn't be able to get inside.

Kayn was fascinated by the versatility of the formations he could activate. In fact, he spent the next two weeks just going over the massive number of books that dealt with arrays and formations, and he hadn't even made it through an eight of them.

Arrays are built of symbols that are drawn with one's mana. There are approximately 50,000 symbols currently in use and they range in complexity from something as simple as a circle to insane diagrams which are all drawn with one line.

The way an array works is by stacking these symbols on top of each other and connecting them so that they combine to form a working network. Further from this, formations are created by taking at least five to hundreds of thousands of these array combinations and connecting them into a symbol of their own over a larger distance.

For example, an array can be as tiny as to fit into a ring, whereas a formation can be as large as it needs to be to cover a massive city.

Another aspect about arrays and formations is that just because two of them are meant to do the same thing, it doesn't mean that they are equal in usefulness. Different symbols being combined could bring the same result, but the more complex the symbols, the stronger the overall array.

After a little over a month since Yvaris Earthborn ascended, Kayn prepared to set off traveling again. The Villa was still only at 67%, but Kayn figured that the small cottage appearance would be just fine assuming he could find a secluded area during his travels.

As he started his travels with Lara again, she preferred to be carried on his shoulders as she would point to things and make noises, sometimes bouncing in joy.

Kayn's goal this time was to exit the forest at the furthest western point before finding a town and purchasing some kind of mount he could ride since he should be able to now.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for Kayn to reach the edge of the Great Forest and nothing eventful happened. No magical beasts, no devils, nothing. He was even able to stay off of the roads to prevent accidental meetings since he didn't need to stop at any towns or villages to restock and rest in a nice bed.

The Wanderer's Villa was truly meant to provide those who traveled the world the best living situation possible.

Kayn was able to make progress in his memorization of array symbols as well as how to combine them while he traveled. He had also found the time to make some progress in what the entity had hinted to him by feeling the mana in environment around him and using that to sense his overall surroundings.

It was quite complicated as he had to alter the way he thought about using his senses. Kayn was so used to placing his consciousness into his mana and pushing it outwards that what he was doing now was akin to just normally using his senses, but at the same time allowing the extra information that traveled through the ambient mana to flow into him.

He started small, but as the weeks went on, he was able to just use his senses as normal to know what was going on around him in a larger and larger area. It wasn't that he could see or hear better necessarily, but he just felt all around himself.

The rustling of the trees, the movement of small animals, and even rune beasts would stand out in his new area of acuity. The best part about all of this for Kayn was the fact that he had a rank 5 mind. He was able to read, walk or run, and enhance his senses without losing his concentration on any one task.

Kayn knew that his naming sense was terrible, so he just stayed simple with what to call his enhanced sensory perception and called it Mana Sense.

…

The weeks continued as Kayn began moving southward. It wasn't until a month and a half after he left the Great Forest that he was able to encounter a small farming village. He kept his hood and his sister's hood up to hide their ears just in case, but surprisingly everyone in this village had unique attributes belonging to different animals.

This village even had guards standing by the entrance and each guard had the horns of a bull and stood at least 2.5m (8'2") tall. These two guards wielded long halberds and the natural feeling he got from them seemed dangerous to even himself. They were like the Minotaur from the fables on Earth.

Fortunately, they just looked intimidating and didn't actually do or say anything to Kayn as he passed by. There was no entrance fee to the village nor was he asked for identity.

Honestly, Kayn thought they were a bit lax with strangers, but considering how far northwest he was, there shouldn't be any danger of human slavers attacking the village.

As Kayn walked through the village to find a place to purchase a horse, he was able to witness the different variety of beastkin. Most were variations of different farm animals such as cows, sheep, or other animals that were the equivalent from Earth in Talgonath.

Who caught his attention the most, probably due to his age and hormones now, was one singular young looking maiden. She was a cow beastkin and her udders were truly something else to behold especially in the low-cut dress she was wearing. She also had ears that flopped down the side of her head along with her hair. She wasn't exactly his type, but she was still distracting nonetheless.

Shaking his thoughts out of the gutter, Kayn was finally able to find an area with many animals all inside of a fenced area near a barn. He approached the beastkin who looked to be taking care of the animals and asked if purchasing a horse was an option.

After Kayn specified that he would like the strongest horse for traveling, meaning having a good endurance as well, Kayn ended up paying the man a few gold coins, which wasn't much for him now.

The farmer gave a high price as he wasn't exactly wanting to sell his best horse, but when the young man pulled out the exact amount without any haggling, he couldn't help himself as this amount of gold would help buy new equipment and support his family for generations to come.

The farmer gave Kayn a few quick tips and instructions about the horse before watching as Kayn led the horse back outside the village. The farmer couldn't help but wonder where the young man's bag was since he only saw the small pouch the boy carried around for his money.

He even had a child with him, so the farmer could only hope they were properly taking care of themselves. However, with the amount of money the young man pulled out without hesitation, he assumed they were doing just fine and the pouch was probably some magic item.

…

Kayn and Lara's travel became even easier after that point as having a horse to ride was far quicker than Kayn's walking speed. His sister, that he had placed in front of him, even loved the ride and was giggling with joy until she eventually laughed herself to sleep.

By now, summer was in full swing, so Kayn had to let the horse rest, drink, and eat often. On the other hand, the farmer who sold him the horse, named Strag, was correct in saying that with proper care it would be able to travel for months without problems.

The scenery had changed a few times during his travels from forested areas, to mountains, and now his current situation was a giant grassy plain that stretched as far as the eye could see.

According to the map he had, which was very detailed since it came from Yvaris's personal collection, he figured that after another month of traveling he would arrive at Palatine, the capital of the Mancean Empire.