Theo's desire to go back wasn't just out of pride, out of the desire to finalize his reincarnation and obtain all the perks of doing so while simultaneously becoming the first mage to cast tenth tier magic since the ancient times.
Sure, the idea of merging his two bodies into one and thus gaining all the perks while compensating for all the flaws was more than just appealing. It was a benefit he couldn't really achieve with his cultivation already as advanced as it was, as it permanently altered the way in which mana — or spiritual energy as locals called it — diffused throughout his flesh.
Then, there was the achievement of becoming a proper archmage, the wielder of the divine, that all mages in existence pursued, all in hopes of bringing back the legendary era where human ability was limited just by their imagination.
All of those things were great and enticing, offering benefits and perks no other achievement could provide.
But it wasn't the upsides of returning that forced Theo's hand as much as the downsides of not doing so.
At the moment of casting, Theo's formation only reached up to a ninth realm of magic plus. It went beyond the ninth realm, the highest realm humans managed to achieve since the times of their ancestors… but wasn't quite yet on the level of the tenth tier, not until Theo's return at the very least.
It was this forceful upgrade, skirting the line between the two realms of magic and their respective limits, that made Theo's spell extremely unstable.
And unless he wanted to see his hometown become the newest addition to the sites of mana disasters, potentially sparking a chain reaction that could consume an entire region… he had to return to close the loop and stabilize the flow of the mana.
'Quite the high-stakes goal for something as simple as pushing through the pain just to arrive in the city a few minutes faster than I could by just… walking there,' Theo smirked to his own thoughts.
A notion he then quickly dismissed before slowing down and relaxing his face, hoping to appear as just another faceless cultivator the moment the gate guards would spot him.
A mere moment later, Theo joined the small crowd of farmers and merchants pouring in and out of the city, only to soon come to a stop as the crowd grew even denser the closer he got to the gate.
'I know today is the market day, but for the gates to be so jammed at this hour…' Theo squinted his eyes, looking up to judge the time of the day by the position of the sun in the sky, before looking around and then to the back, trying to spot some kind of hint that would explain this unnaturally high activity at the gate.
"Don't bother, sir," a young farmer nearby commented, smiling as he saw Theo looking all around, all confused. "There's a caravan from the province's capital, so everyone's eager to buy the stuff that's not normally available."
There was no fear, excessive humbleness or the noble rigidness in the young farmer's voice.
Contrary to how things were in the kingdom's interior, a farmer on the frontier had a lot more autonomy, rights and power than a serf or even an emancipated farm-owner in the kingdom's old territories.
It was a difference born from just how much more dangerous and rewarding living in the frontier could be, a simple social transaction where those people traded away some of their comforts and safety in exchange for considerably greater opportunity, status and freedoms.
In the interior, a farmer was just that — a farmer, more often than not barely more than a property of the noble he was enserfed to. On the frontier, however, a farmer was one of the precious few sources of food that brought stability to the nearby cities.
'Thinking about it, it's the stability that they offer that's the baseline necessary for the frontier to develop to the level of the interior. In other words, what they provide and take great pride in is the very same thing that might lead to them losing all the privileges they enjoy right now,' Theo thought, recalling several instances of stuff like this happening back in his old life.
"Thanks," he replied, nodding his head in an open show of gratitude to the young farmer.
'That's, however, just a song for the future. A future so distant those people might never see with their own eyes,' he thought, before turning his eyes back and then resuming the slow crawl towards the gate aligned with the average pace of the crowd around him.
The closer Theo got to the gate, the more his curiosity grew.
'Are they going to call me out or not?'
His clothes stood out in the sea of farmers and merchants. He didn't have the company of fellows like him that could indicate Theo's belonging to an armed escort of one of the merchants in the crowd.
By all means, he stood as a sore thumb in this thick crowd, making it extremely likely the guards would happily pick him out either in hopes of getting a bribe for allowing him to pass, or just to spark some joy and amusement into the long, boring hours of their duty.
And just as expected…
"You, there!" Almost as soon as Theo came into the guard's view, one of them reached out with his free hand and pointed it directly at him. "Come closer!"
Theo heaved a deep sigh, what little energy he had left after all of the adventures of today now hurriedly leaving his body.
'I knew this was going to happen, but to know something and to actually have it happen…'
The young farmer from before must've noticed the way Theo's shoulders slumped down, or maybe the exhausted sigh he uttered.
"You here for the market?" he asked in a hushed voice while leaning on a simple wooden stick he used for walking and to hang a small, cloth bag with what likely were his wares to sell from.
"Yeah," Theo replied while shaking his head as he started to slowly push through the crowd towards the guards stationed by the side of the Vistra's gate. "And in all honesty, if I will have to explain myself to the guards…" Theo rolled his eyes and then heaved another sigh, a shy bout of hope flashing up in his eyes. "Let's just say I would rather avoid all the official drag that would follow once their master learns I'm here."
For a moment, the young man scanned Theo's figure, only to then giggle.
"Hey, Olmek!" he then shouted while raising his hand with the stick, waving it just enough to attract the guard's attention without bothering everyone around him. "That guy's with me. I've been drinking with him for the past three days, so spare him another headache, would you?"