Noah's gaze was blank and his eyes were completely focused on the passing terrain below his carriage.

His icy-blue eyes could fall on other flying beasts. They were spread out in a triangular formation. While his carriage was in the middle. There was one behind them which belonged to the caretakers. And one in front of them, which belonged to individuals like Sir Dere and the other commanders.

However, at the forefront of the entire group was the purple beast. Huge in size and of a terrifying aura.

Its mere size was capable of swallowing most of the beasts around it, as its wings span alone could make buildings look small.

Rewinding about half an hour back; when the group had arrived at the clearing, they had needed to wait a bit to allow the commander speak to the cultivator.

The fifth-tier expert was also a member of the guild council. His power would be necessary for many things. Noah still didn't know much. He recalled wondering what they were talking about.

The insides of his carriage were silent, the silver light from the moon washing over the regions made him feel alone. The breeze from the outside couldn't get in, but the carriage had been made to be cool anyway.

It didn't matter to him, however. Since he naturally had a thin membrane of coldness around him due to his affinity.

His focus was snatched away from the outside world when a figure flew into his line of sight and the door to the carriage opened.

historical

Wind poured into the room at that event. It was cool.

Sir Dere had returned just as he promised. He had a light expression on.

No one spoke at his arrival. The air between them had long since stopped being tense. But no one wanted to break the silence first, anyway.

Sir Dere wept his gaze on the individuals before him. He could tell what was going on. It was a classic issue amongst experts who had their own identities and achievement and things to be proud of.

"Why the tense atmosphere," he went straight to the point. His words managed to catch most of them off-guard, but none made any particular reaction to him.

Sir Dere took a seat amongst them. He felt their gazes follow his movement. They hadn't expected that.

"I believe all this would change as our journey unfolds," the expert sighed. There was silence still.

"As you all can see. A tier-five expert will accompany us throughout this tour. He was assigned to do so even before the issue with the thief."

"But we cannot ignore the event now that it has occurred. There are some really bad people out there wanting to unleash chaos." He paused, but they all listened in further silence.

"I've come to tell you a few things. Or at least our current plan."

"We are now on our way to the outskirts of the Cusk nation. East of us is where the empire is. But there's been speculation that whoever had been the thief might plan something."

"We plan to lure them out of their hiding spot by making them follow us towards a mana danger zone directly outside the borders of the Cusk nation."

"Of course, this is only a safety measure. If truly no one followed, then we would have wasted two weeks only to confirm that." The man continued.

'Two weeks!' All of them exclaimed inwardly. Even Noah.

"Yes, we estimate about two weeks before we reach our destination. The beasts will need to rest occasionally. The regions we are about to traverse are known for extremely low mana density."

"It's an irony that right after those regions separated by a great river is another huge zone almost completely untouched by us, but flourishing with high-tier beasts and high mana density," Dere explained.

"Two weeks. That's a long time only to confirm that we're not being followed," A man amongst the descendants of a noble family spoke up. He had a frown on his face and his tone was a tad bit overbearing.

"We know. But it's just to ensure that you all reach your destinations without dying," Sir Dere replied calmly.

The person stood up. He looked around his early thirties. Was of the earth elemental affinity and stood at the peak of the third tier. He had short black hair and a bit of facial hair. Only neatly trimmed and oiled.

No one had any idea what he wanted to achieve by standing. None of them would be foolish enough to assault a tier 4 cultivator. Accidents could be reported to have happened. Their deaths would only be sad for a while before new descendants replaced them.

Thankfully the said man didn't move. He could feel their gazes boring into his skin.

He returned to his seat.

He had tier 4 experts as servants, he had been able to do anything he wanted to them. But that would be different now.

"This is how things would be. But hopefully, after it, we can finally continue on our journey. The empire would be our first destination."

"How long will the travel last?" the same man asked.

"About a month. It could be more or less, depending on whether or not we encounter trouble. Hopefully, we don't." Dere explained and saw that their expressions visibly changed.

"Our beasts are capable of maintaining this speed for a long period. This is because it's not their best. But there will be occasional breaks," the expert explained.

Seeing that none of them moved at his words, he decided to change the topic. He required interaction between them. That was one of the many things he was sent to do.

"How about an introduction of yourselves? It'll be nice to know the people you'll spend the next year or two with." Sir Dere voiced his thoughts and saw that they turned a bit uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, they all saw reason in his words, and wouldn't object. The black-haired man from earlier stood up again.

"I am Novak. The last son of the Gerim Noble family," he announced with a loud voice, and a smile appeared on Sir Dere's face for the first time.