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What exactly was he thinking about concerning the paying of tributes? How would it go? Would things go smoothly as usual? Or would there be some problems this time?

..Yes, there were always problems journeying to both kingdoms, they do come across obstacles.

But this is a different case, would any issue arise while paying tributes to both kingdoms?...Yes, that's what was running through his mind.

Well, he'd find out when they've arrived at the kingdoms and the tributes have been passed on to them. He didn't want to stress his brain too much thinking about it, so he just closed his eyes...it was about time to go to sleep for tomorrow was another day of journeying.

He closed his eyes, and in minutes, he had already dozed off.

******

The next day arrived, and the knights and warriors began waking up from sleep one after the other. The ones that woke up first began waking the others...there was no time to waste.

Ethan had already gotten up from the mat he was lying on, he had already woken up from sleep...he was among the first set of people to wake up despite sleeping a little late.

They did the little preparations they could do like brushing their teeth and so on. And now, it was about time for the journey to continue.

They all left the room, and the horses, the carriages, and the goods were all intact. They mounted their different horses sharing them amongst themselves as they'd been doing, then they rode out of the compound of the inn.

As their different horses were walking on the road due to them not increasing the pace yet, people were glancing at them. Yes, they easily discerned they were knights and warriors, but they didn't know what kingdom they were from.

And they didn't dare ask them...you can't just ask strangers where they are from?

Well, the knights and warriors didn't mind them as they kept riding their horses hoping to evacuate the kingdom soon...they didn't care about the people glancing at them.

..And as of now, they had already left the kingdom completely.

As they were journeying, they'd pass different kingdoms, but it wouldn't be many though. Right now, they were in another wilderness, but it wasn't that thick.

And from the look of things, there wouldn't be dangerous animals in this one not to talk of magical beasts. As they were in motion, they were conversing amongst themselves.

They tried not to talk about the tributes they were journeying to go pay, they discussed other things. It was morning currently, complete daylight, so they could see where they were heading properly.

"How long would it take us to arrive at the Mepaidian Kingdom?". One of the warriors asked playfully.

And many of them glanced at him with perplexed expressions on their faces. And this was what another warrior said to him,

"Is that really a question?".

"You should have known how long it does take for us to arrive at both kingdoms, this isn't the first time you're embarking on such a journey". A knight uttered to him.

"I was just joking with the question". The warrior stated with a bit of smile on his face.

And some of them breathed a sigh of relief, the question he asked was a little stupid. But you know what? There was no reaction from Ethan, he didn't sigh or any stuff like that.

..But he definitely found the question a little stupid.

Well, they kept on journeying as time kept passing, from morning, it was already afternoon. And afternoon was already heading to mid-afternoon.

But at least, time wasn't just passing, they were covering kilometers and getting closer to the Mepaidian Kingdom. For the minutes they've been journeying, they didn't come across any obstacle.

..No magical beasts nor wild animals, it was just a smooth journey.

But they were soon to come across obstacles. It was mid-afternoon as of now, the sky had already gotten dim a little, but it hadn't neared the time for the moon to appear.

They were in another forest currently, and they had eaten again. They stopped at a certain place to eat a little since they were feeling hungry.

They didn't have to spend too much time in that place. They just took the food that could be eaten while holding it in your hand. Then everyone mounted their horses, so as the horses were in motion, they were eating.

..As said, it was mid-afternoon currently, and they were in another forest.

And you know what? Things were different this time, the forest was thick. There were leaves and trees everywhere, but this wasn't a disturbance to their movement due to the path they were following.

It's been minutes now since they last sighted someone, they were at a place where humans aren't residing. They were still journeying when they heard a roar, it was super loud.

All of them became alert, their eyes widened immediately...that roar was familiar.

..That was the roar of a magical beast, this they were sure of.

Since they began this journey, they hadn't come across a magical beast, but they had come across wild animals. But now, seems like they were about to come across one.

And they can't go back, they'd have to keep moving forward. And moving forward means they'd have to battle the magical beast. They hadn't even set eyes on the beast yet.

But in the next seconds, the beast moved forward a little, and they set eyes on it...

It was huge and ugly-looking, and killing people was part of its agenda. The moment they set eyes on it, they prepared themselves, and almost all of them came down from the horses they were sitting on.

Ethan was in front along with some other knights and warriors. And some people immediately walked toward the carriages to protect them. The magical beast must not destroy them.

Getting down from the horses they were sitting on, they all drew out their swords from their scabbards. The beast had already set eyes on them, and it was ready to attack.

And you know what? It was the lowest rank of magical beast, a rank-1 beast. It doesn't possess any power element but was strong. Bringing it down wouldn't be that hard.

But the knights and warriors weren't aware of this, they can't tell what rank of magical beast it was. So they wouldn't let their guards down at all, they were gonna start battling it like it was a high-ranked magical beast.

'ROAR!'

The beast roared once again, then it began darting toward them. A certain warrior began running toward the beast, one of the head warriors of this journey, he was the first person to make a move.

He possessed the earth affinity and possessed high jump ability as well. So the moment he got closer to the beast, making use of the high jump ability, he jumped with speed.

As he was in the air, the beast swung its right hand to grab him, but he dodged it. Now, imagine if the beast had succeeded in grabbing him...instant killing.

But the warrior wouldn't make it that easy for the beast. He dodged the beast's hand in the air, and that didn't disorientate him at all, he was still in the air and moving up.

He jumped for a reason, and he planned on accomplishing that reason before his legs would touch the ground again. He was able to arrive at the beast's neck, that was the aim from the very beginning.

..And arriving at it, he pierced his sword right straight into the beast's neck.

After that, a slashing followed. He drew out the sword from the beast's neck as blood poured out a little, then he swung it again slashing its neck which caused blood to spill out as well.

'ROAR!'.

The beast roared out loudly after that event took place, it felt pain. And it immediately began moving his hand toward the man on his neck to grab him again.

But the man wouldn't let that happen, he wasn't foolish? Before the beast's hand could reach its neck to grab him, he had already jumped off it and landed on the ground.

"Good job". Some knights and warriors uttered to him the moment he landed on the ground.

..Now, what they were waiting for was for the magical beast to make use of its power element if it possesses any.

Yes, one of them had been able to injure it a little, it was time for it to make use of its ability, yes, that was their mindset. And that's what always happens most of the time.

When a magical beast had been injured seeing its preys weren't weak, it would start making use of its affinity. So they were waiting for this one to start making use of its affinity, but nothing of that sort was happening.

..And do you know what was running through their minds at that moment?

'Does it not possess any affinity?'.