Transmigrated as a Ghost

Standing on the bow of the sand boat, Marcus and Mrazivý looked out with excitement at the sprawling desert before them, waiting for the sand boat to set off.

The magical wind engine situated at the front began to hum and they watched as the sails pushed forward from the sudden gust of wind.

A burst of sand shot up from the grown in the wake of the wind and nearly covered both Marcus and Mrazivý, but the wind shield around the vessel kept most of the sand from reaching the deck, with only a few grains making it through.

There was then a sudden jerk as the sand boat lifted up and lurched forward.

For nearly half a minute the sand boat bumped up and down against the slightly uneven sand until it built up enough speed to slice through just as if it was on water.

“That was more exciting than it thought it would be. I now understand what Haidar meant by the start being bumpy.” Mrazivý said, an excited smile on her face.

Unlike everyone else onboard, this was her and Marcus’ first time riding on such a vessel and they very much enjoyed the novelty of it.

For nearly fifteen minutes they simply enjoyed watching how the boat cut through the sand and watching the dust thrown up in its wake.

Eventually though, simply looking out at the endless desert was not all that exciting, and the two of them headed back towards the stern of the boat where Amira was sitting on one of the couches.

“We have already made it pretty far.” Marcus said, looking at Tijara City growing smaller behind them.

From his best estimate he figured that they were now going at about seventy kilometers per hour. Which while not very fast in comparison to his flight speed, was still better than what most vehicles on Mirrion could achieve.

When they took a seat on one of the couches Amira greeted them and looked visibly relieved. She had been afraid that one of them might fall of when the boat took off.

“We are going to have a long an hopefully uneventful trip in front of us. So, is there anything you might want to discuss with me? I am afraid that there is not much else to do.” Amira said to Marcus and Mrazivý.

From the expression on her face, it was easy to tell that she was bored already and looking for some interesting conversation to pass the time.

And with nothing else going on, Marcus and Mrazivý were more than happy to speak with her. This would be there best chance to pick the brain of a high-ranking member within Aezam and find out things that they had not been able to learn from studying.

“Hm, there are actually quite number of things that we are interested in. I suppose to start would you mind telling us what kind of place the capital is. We learned a bit in preparation before coming here, but I am sure there is a lot we can learn from a local.” Mrazivý said.

For hours Amira spoke about what she knew of the capital and told them about how it was filled with many amazing sights.

“The great lake that sits in the middle of the city is marvelous to see. There is no water in the entire nation more beautiful, and since it was created by our countries founder with magic there are no dangerous beasts or monsters in it. The capital is considered the greatest paradise in our proud country. Despite us living in a desert the great lake brings life to the capital and there is more green there than anywhere else. I have only been there once, but the palace my clan’s grand elder lives in has a wonderous garden filled with rare plants that do not grow anywhere else in Aezam. Four generations ago our clan’s grand elder at the time had a fondness for flowers and had hundreds of different species imported to Tijara and brought to the capital. To this day, it remains a tradition for our clan’s grand elder.” Amira said, extoling the virtues of the capital.

“It sounds like the capital of Aezam is more impressive than we had heard. I cannot wait to see it for myself.” Mrazivý said.

“Yes, it is quite something. I enjoy living in Tijara, but the capital is something else. I just wish it was not so far away so that I could visit more often. Unfortunately, my position as a representative of the Eazim Clan keeps me in Tijara most of the time. It is my duty to assist high ranking foreign guest such as yourselves. Oh, and that reminds me. I do not know where you both hail from. I know that you are upper members of the Chelmer Resort, but from your accents I can tell you come from somewhere farther up north. Would you mind telling me about your home?”

Pausing Marcus and Mrazivý thought about how they should answer.

While Borealia did not have a hostile relationship to Aezam, they were not friends.

Between the two nations they had no diplomatic or trade relations. Being on separate ends of the continent and with Aezam being hostile to the adventurers guild meant that neither country had ever sought out any sort of connection. Both were aware of the other and that was about it.

“I am sorry, but we wish to keep our country of origin a secret.” Mrazivý said.

It may have been a bit rude, but she could see that things would only be troubling if it was revealed that they had come from Borealia.

“I understand.” Amira said with a deflated expression.

“Well we cannot tell you where are from, but I suppose a few stories about what we have seen will not hurt. I am sure that you have never been in a dungeon before. There is more to them than just fighting beasts and monsters. Some have quite the amazing scenery.” Marcus said, not wanting to leave Amira feeling down.

She had just told them plenty about her nation’s capital, so he felt it was only right if they told her a bit about what they had experienced, even if he had to omit anything that could tie them back to Borealia.

“You two have really lived a hectic life. But it sounds like you have been to some amazing places.” Amira said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Yeah, we have seen some things. But it is a big world out there, we still have barely scratched the surface.” Marcus said, recalling the maps he had seen and all the places they had left to visit.

After having spoken with Amira for several hours the sun had reached its apex and was beating down heavily on the desert.

In the early morning the heat had not been bad, but now it was sweltering and even aboard the sand boat which had some amount of climate control using wind magic, it was still quite hot.

“Marcus, do something about this.” Mrazivý said, lazily flopping down into his lap. As an ice dragonoid she did not handle the heat very well.

She could have done something about it herself using her ice magic, but did not feel like focusing on keeping the temperature stable. Rather, she would leave that task up to Marcus.

“You do not mind if I use a power of mine to cool things down. do you?” Marcus asked to Amira.

“As long as it does not impede the sand boat’s ability to move it should be fine. Though frankly, it really is not all that hot right now.” Amira replied.

For her, it being around thirty degrees Celsius was rather cool compared to how hot it could get in the desert. It was certainly ten degrees hotter outside the sand boat.

Nevertheless, Mrazivý never experienced temperatures like this in Borealia and had little tolerance for the heat.

‘It has been a while since is used this power.’ Marcus thought as he activated his chill zone race ability.

An unnatural cold then took over the deck of there sand boat and Marcus brought it down to about twenty two degrees Celsius. To the point where it was not too cold to make anyone uncomfortable, but enough so that Mrazivý would not be feeling hot.

“That is quite impressive. What sort of skill did you use to do this? It is not like anything I have ever experienced before.” Amira said looking at Marcus curiously.

She had noticed that no mana had been used when Marcus lowered the temperature so she knew that it could not be magic.

“This is an ability granted to me by my blessing of ice.” Marcus said, easily lying with a prepared excuse.

He had no intention of telling them that this was something he could do because he was a ghost.

Luckily Amira accepted Marcus’ explanation. She did not know much about blessings to begin with, and Marcus’ explanation sounded believable.

“I feel alive again. Thanks Marcus.” Mrazivý said, stretching out her arms and making herself more comfortable on his lap.

For the rest of the day Marcus kept up being an air conditioner for the sand boat until the sun began to set and they stopped for the day to camp out during the night at their first day of travel.