The group rapidly reached the shore of the lake surrounding the Martial House.

The Rhino stopped abruptly on the beach where two senior disciples were standing guard.

“Numbers and reason for leaving.” The guard on the left asked in a bored manner with a pen and a book already in his hands.

Everyone raised their identity tokens and the guard noted everything down at an unhurried pace.

“We’re going out on a mission.” Travis spoke in a leisurely manner, it wasn't his first rodeo after all.

The guard silently nodded and turned to his partner who hadn’t spoken from the beginning. He only tapped his foot on a weird shaped rock next to him and a deep rumble sounded.

It came from the lake and from there emerged two stone walls that turned out to be the side protections of a bridge which stopped its rise while still one meter underwater but it was more than enough for the rhino to cross.

Travis spurred his beast on with a light tap on its side and the flesh tank walked across the bridge at a slower pace than he had until that moment.

To the rhino it was the same as a human walking in knee-high water, it was a bit of a nuisance but still easier than swimming.

And more importantly...safer.

Aegon, finally free from Kuro, looked around as the wolf squeezed himself into the backpack.

The water was crystal clear, one could easily see the bottom of the lake and the fish that roamed there, it was a beautiful sight.

After a while Aegon noticed a shadowy figure swimming at a distance, he couldn't really make out what it was but it was big.

The others also noticed it’s presence and squinted trying to ascertain what it was..

“What the hell is that?” Percy was the first to pose the question.

“Not sure…” Travis answered while squinting his eyes harder.

[That figure looks familiar, I just can't quite put my finger on it…] As the beast got closer Aegon noticed it had a crocodile-like snout. [Oh shit! That's a Kroxy.]

"That's a Kroxy…”

The moment Roy heard that he grabbed his sword’s handle with a grave expression.

Aegon was about to do the same when he noticed the lack of reaction from his seniors.

“They don't seem worried….Don't take out your sword just yet, let's see how they handle this.” Aegon whispered to Roy who nodded and retracted his hand.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

By now the Kroxy was already right next to the bridge, yet it did not attack, it just silently swam along the bridge while looking at the rhino and its passengers.

[Why is he not attacking?] He was ready to pose his inner question when Travis decided to answer anyway.

“Don't worry freshmen, he can't attack us, the bridge deters him, he is just seeing us off…” He smirked while speaking the last part.[Of course, if we left the bridge he would see us off to the underworld as well.]

The rest of the crossing was peaceful and they soon reached the shore where they returned to their previous breakneck speed. By now Aegon and Roy had accustomed themselves and not wanting to waste any time jumped right into cultiv…sleeping.

Time passed.....The sun was sinking into the horizon and the seniors of the group were pondering if they should camp in the woods or continue for a few more hours and try to reach a village.

“I think we should camp here in the woods, it's not safe to travel at night, if we make a camp here we can easily have one or two people keeping guard while the others sleep.” Percy nodded to what Travis said.

“But if we reach a village we will definitely be safer, just because we can have someone keeping guard doesn't guarantee that they could warn us in time, plus it's just a few more hours, we would be super unlucky to bump into some strong bandits in such a short period.” In contrast Bella and Linda were hell bent on continuing the journey.

As for Aegon and Roy…they were still sleeping soundly unaware of the topic of discussion.

“It seems we reached an impasse. It's two against two right now so lets just wake up Aegon and Roy and ask for their opinion. If after that we are still at an impasse we can just decide it with a coin toss.” Percy suggested.

Linda, Bella and Travis pondered for a moment and decided it was reasonable.

Turning to the two sleeping beauties Percy was slightly impressed. [How did they manage to sleep so soundly on top of the rhino?]

“Hey, you two, wake up.”

They both blinked, somewhat annoyed and still a bit sleepy.

“Did we arrive already?" A yawn escaped Aegon's mouth while he asked absentmindedly.

“No, but we are discussing if we should camp here for the night or keep going for a few more hours to reach a village, what do you guys think?”

[Was that it? I could have been sleeping.] Somehow Aegon and Roy thought the exact same thing.

Aegon turned to face Roy with an inquisitive look.

Roy answered with a shrug but he also rubbed his lower back a little and stretched his neck.

[Sleeping on this thing is leaving me sore all over too, let's just stop now and sleep on something that doesn't move.]

"Let's stop here, all this riding is leaving me sore, I think we all need a good nap.” He yawned once again while talking.

Linda and Bella were clearly mad but they had agreed to the terms so now they had to comply. They were actually more mad at the fact Aegon had the gall to say they ALL needed a good nap, including him, who had slept the entire way.

[This guy is something else…] was everyone’s collective thought.

Everyone dismounted to set up camp.

Aegon was from the countryside so he set up a fire while the others were setting up camp.

Well. one could call it camp, if one only looked at the right side of the fire where Percy’s, Roy’s and Aegon’s tents were. But if one looked to the left they would be more inclined to call it a makeshift palace, there were three tents bigger than Aegon's room in the Martial House and obviously better furnished.

The less pompous trio could understand the girls need for comfortable accommodation, they were high born after all.

As for Travis, even though his family was rich, he was also a guy, and on top of that, a guy who would probably go to war or fight in devastated battlefields in the future, especially if he wanted to actually get the glory he craved.

[He will have to grow a lot...] The trio nodded disapprovingly while caressing their imaginary beards.