Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

Chapter 514 514 Out of Fuel

Once they were done eating, Wolfe got the truck moving again with an annoyed look at the fuel gauge, which was now getting dangerously close to empty. They would have to find a village with fuel, or he would have to start using magic to keep the vehicle going within the hour.

Magic seemed like the obvious choice, since they were going to convert it once they got it back home anyhow, so Wolfe started to prepare the Arrays in his mind to keep the truck moving. The big issue was going to be that he couldn't use Earth Magic, so he was unable to make an electric motor for the truck, even if they had time to park and wait for a rebuild.

But the diesel engine was a slow turning motor, and Wolfe was pretty sure that he could make a Fire Magic array work at that activation speed if he just got the timing right. Internal combustion was just a series of explosions anyhow, and he was excellent at explosions.

So, as they drove and the fuel gauge continually fell until it was down below the empty mark, Wolfe focused on getting the six small explosion Inscriptions placed on the motor to activate inside. The military truck hoods had the sides removed, a cooling precaution for summer use, so at least he could see what he was doing, and Wolfe was confident that he had them placed properly when the truck finally spluttered to a stop.

"I guess we're walking from here." One of the Witches sighed.

"Not quite yet. Give me just a minute to switch the fuel source, and we will be able to keep moving. Trust me, not much is done with solid fuel here anymore, unless we're building a bonfire for nostalgic purposes." Wolfe informed her with a wink.

The spells were in place, all he had to do was adjust them so that they activated when the piston got close enough.

Wolfe hit the starter, and added mana to the arrays, then slowly adjusted the activation location down until the turning of the pistons started to set off the spells and the motor chugged back to life.

It wasn't running well yet, so he adjusted a bit further, and the thumping of the big engine returned to its normal cadence, but felt weak, like it was struggling to keep going.

Wolfe increased the power of the spell, and linked it to the throttle position, then crossed his fingers that it wasn't going to blow up when he put the truck back in gear.

With a push of the clutch, and a light stab of the throttle, the truck was moving again and Wolfe sighed in relief.

"See, no problems, we're moving again." He informed the witches in the back.

The one beside him snickered, having watched his face the whole time.

"You had no idea whether that was going to work or not." He informed him.

"I had no idea if it was going to blow up when I hit the throttle, there is a different. I knew it was going to activate." Wolfe corrected.

"Why would you experiment when you are in the driver's seat?" She asked incredulously.

"You forget, I'm wearing a five layered Elemental Armour spell. Even if we were hit by artillery, I would be fine. I would be much more worried about what might happen to everyone else in the truck if the motor happened to explode from an improperly calibrated spell."

"You're not right in the head."

Wolfe laughed, catching the attention of the witches in the back, who couldn't hear their conversation over the noise of the truck, and Wolfe shifted gears, picking up a bit more speed as he found a fairly well-used path headed in the right direction.

It was one of the main invasion routes from last winter, and the ground here was still pounded flat by thousands of vehicles passing over, making it easy for him to get the truck up to a more impressive speed until they reached the river and turned north, headed for the Fae Forest.

The guards at the Southeast boundary waved as Wolfe came into view, and the Witch beside him gave Wolfe a confused look.

"You have prisoners manning the border?" She asked.

"Of course not. They live here as well. They actually volunteered for the duty so that they could get a bit more alone time away from the hustle and bustle of the town. There is another pair who have Trolls as Familiars, and they're constantly looking for more days on rotation, since the Trolls love having somewhere to guard, so they're likely somewhere on the other side today." Wolfe explained.

"Trolls?"

Wolfe nodded. "About a metre tall, with a penchant for bridge jokes and remarkably powerful magic for a Rank Two Fae." 

The news seemed to shock her into silence, and she didn't say anything more as Wolfe rolled to a stop next to the boundary.

"Good afternoon ladies. I have some prisoners of war from the United World Army with me, so if you could send for a riverboat to bring us into the village, I would appreciate it." Wolfe greeted the guards.

"Of course, Mister Wolfe. How did you capture so many of them, though? I thought that they were only sending Rank Two and Three witches into combat?" The girl asked.

"They are. We just put anti-magic bracelets on them. As it turns out, without Elemental Magic, even Rank Three witches don't do well against artillery bombardment. I have started to modify the truck, but I will finish it up while we wait for the boat. It just needs mana crystals and one more Array." Wolfe replied with a smile.

"Alright ladies, time to hop down, we will be going by river for the next section. Welcome to the Fae Forest, home to Forest Grove village, and a large number of friendly residents of the so-called War Memorial, that we call the Frozen Wastes."