As for the said fledglings, that had been reduced to nothing more than just young tree saplings put to stand in the way of several tornados, each and every one, bigger than the last.

“What was that?

“Gasp”.”

However, after the old man was long gone and Hubert could finely talk without taking gasps of air like a lunatic, he finally broke the silence that was the long stare with Levis, as he was truly desiring, for a clear explanation, of what had just occurred.

Nevertheless, Levis was incapable of answering him, as he himself was at a loss for words, while he was questioning the resident in his head for pieces of information himself.

[What was—, who was that? What had happened to me, I had the feeling of being submerged under water, but it was so crushing I could not think properly, and I was feeling as if I could die at any moment.]

[Easy, easy there, you are suffering from a rush of adrenalin out of this, you need to keep yourself in check first.]

[Yes, yes, but tell me what happened first!?]

[So much for easy and composed when he is about to have his heart burst!]

[Alryght, alright I will tell you something, but now start pacing up and down and move your arms, it is not good to remain still as you are right now.]

“What are you doing?”

Yet as Levis began to move like an irrational madman, Hubert took it as the stress, having gotten to him. But as he moved his gaze from the actions of the kid to the small flask left by the old man, his eyes flickered as he began to approach slowly, out of fear it might do something unexpected.

[Kid, do you remember the feeling of being looked upon yesterday?”

[Yes, what has—, it was almost the same, however this time it was far more intense.”

[Taths right, yesterday it was just a simple look, however today it was a deliberate attempt of intimidation and examination.]

[So, what this all means?]

[So, if I am not wrong, the old man just now is following the one from yesterday, and the ones that nearly crushed you kids were following the old man. Do you get it?]

[Yes, I do, so they were following one another!?]

[Yes, you can say that.]

[However, time to return to closer and more realistic things, kid you better prepare to kill this boy if things start to go south.]

[What?]

However, as Levis was getting confused at Urger’s proclamation, Hubert was clutching the flask with his hands, bringing it to his eyes to inspect it, before opening it and taking a whiff, after which, his eyes became more flustered and wide than he could make them, as he was in an almost delirium state, out of the discovery, of the content in the flask left by the old man.

But after several moments of absent mindlessness, his eyes began to focus, as he found Levis, looking at him in a strange way.

Yet, all he could think right now was the flask in his hands and what could do with it, as frown after frown came on his face while making many strange pondering poses, as though in a great mental conflict.

[Kid, he is pondering his options, this is bad, prepare to kill him, circle your energy through your whole body, the moment he moves you’ll make a counter move and kill him. Remember, soft and critical spots, eyes, neck, or the leg or thigh, if you let him bleed out, it is better because a brain injury might not be fatal and you will leave him alive for some more moments than you want.]

[Are you sure?]

At the same time, Levis was observing Hubert doing the strange poses, as his questioning look became more prominent, while the voice in his head was urging him further.

[Kid, killing for resources it is one of the most basic human instincts, when put in front off riches that are out of your reach some might even sell their soul and morality, don’t get soft now and prepare.]

[---.]

[---Alright.]

[Yes!! Aham, in a fight, kid, usually the first one to strike is the one to win, but that is not the absolute truth, because you need to strike with precision and without remorse, if your willpower wavers, then you should not attack and retreat instead. And while you might find yourself in a dangerous position, that is your most opportune moment of surpassing that threat.]

Yet, as the voice continued his long-winded speech, Levis was looking at Hubert while pondering, if he was going to really attack him because of that flask.

At the same time, Hubert seemed to have finished his great mental battle as he seemed to be calming down from his strange pondering behavior.

“Aaaa— this, I really can not keep it, can I-I— a what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

However, as he regained his mental function and began to speak to himself, halfway through his speech, he noticed the little kid looking at him with an intense gaze that frighten him a little bit.

“Aaa, nothing---, I-I did not know what was going on with you, so I-I— became preoccupied a bit, so I examined you, to see if you are alright.”

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“Realy? Ahaha, sorry for that—, however, listen to this, the flask that the old guy had left is really, really good stuff, so good that it had moved my dantian for a breakthru, however, this is too much for me to handle, and from what we just experienced and how he offered this elixir, I am one-hundred percent sure that old man was a high ranked Immortal.”

However the sudden improvise lie made out of nowhere seemed to bring the almost awkward situation down, as Hubert did not seem to be bothered at all, as he was far too preoccupied with his own discovery.

“Immortal? What is that?”

“An Immortal is someone that had surpassed rank 9 and had made the first ascension—,!?”

However, as Hubert began to talk, he notice that the face of the boy was even more perplexed, causing him to realize, that the one in front of him was not a cultivator nor had any knowledge of cultivation.

“You know what a cultivator is?”

“Someone strong?”

“Yes, the shortest way of putting it, he is a strong person, however, there are differences between the strong, like my self, Adrian and the Captain, we are Ranked cultivators, going from rank 1 the lowest and weakest to rank 9 as the strongest in the ranks.”

But as he was continuing to tell his own knowledge of the cultivation world, he began to observe that the boy before him was becoming more and more immersed, as his facial expression was becoming more excited, prompting himself to talk even more, as he had finally found an argument to take both of their minds, out from what they had just experienced on this chaotic day.

“Regardless, even a rank 9 is nothing more than a child in front of a true Immortal, as their life is not only increased, they can use magical powers like fire, water, and wind. And from my deduction, the old man just now is probably a rank 7 or higher Immortal, and what was pursuing him were not other, than Immortal Eagle beast.”

“Beasts? Can beast be Immortals to?”

“Yes, and they are usually stronger than humans, however with proper equipment, they can be hunted one onto one too.”

“Are there people more powerful than Immortals?”

“Haha, good question because the answer is yes, beyond are the Kings, more specifically those ascended to the King Immortal stage, they are the strongest people in our Kingdom from the big noble families and the military higher-ups, and it is rumored that they can fly in the sky, however, you can rarely see one in your life if you are just a Ranked cultivator, I don’t really know if that's true or not, as those bellow the Immortal stage are still considered mortals, and of no grand importance, and---, ahh the more I talk about this, I feel the depression falling on me as I think of my own future as nothing more than a rank cultivator working my ass off while being nothing more then a measly guard.”

“And after that?”

However, even as Hubert's morale was dropping to the ground while talking about stages that he would never arrive at, the boy in front of him, was more interested than ever, as seemed to not hear him talk about his own depressive future at all.

“Ehhh, you still want to hear more, can you not hear my bones creaking from depression, you really are wicked—. After the Immortal and King stage is the Emperor stage, however, I don’t know anything about this stage, and there and no Emperors in our Kingdom, otherwise, we would have called it the Empire. Apparently, they have all died a few hundred years ago, in the wars against the Ural Empire to the north.”

“So, what is with that thing?”

But as Hubert saw Levis point to the flask in his hand, his depressed face brighten before turning into one of conflict while getting once more depressed.

“An elixir, this is far better than anything I have taken and seen in all my life, just by taking a whiff I could feel closer to my breakthru to the 4th rank. I have no way of appraising it, but I am sure this is thousands of times far more valuable than all my possessions put together. And what's worst, even if I tried to hide it, it will bring me trouble that could get me killed at any moment if anyone suspects that I have something like this. I have no choice but to report to the Captain about this and see if I can get a portion out of this. Haa, A portion is better than being dead, so I will have to do with what I will probably get.”

[ [What the HELL, this spineless bastard! Where is your ambition? Why are you not killing the kid, and run with it? Fuck, now the runt probably thinks I am a paranoid fool!! ] ]

[ [Well this one is honest and smart in his own way, either way, that was one possibility so our disciple can take it as a lesson for the future .] ]

[Flying, he said flying—, wait---, from yesterday, the one that looked at us, you said he was flying, that means he was a King, wait--- then the old man that was chasing him—, he was a King too, then the pressure from the eagles they were Kings too?]

[ [This brat too is fucking incredible----!!!] ]

[ [Haha. None of them seemed to really care for deep schemes whatsoever.] ]

[---.]

[Were they?]

[Yes.]

[So if I become a King too, I will be able to fly?]

[You—!!! Have you forgotten that you don’t cultivate the same way as normal cultivators? All you need to do is absorb enough energy and you will be able to “fly” at some point.]

Yet, as Hubert was done with his thoughts, and noticed the kid lost in his own world while looking at the fire that was about to go off, he began to realize it was already quite late, as the red moon was above their heads, causing the village to have a slightly ominous atmosphere.

“Levis!?”

“A–, yes what?”

“Time to sleep. I would like to return tomorrow morning if possible, as, I can not take any additional surprise visits.”

“Alright then.”

“Put the fire out with dirt, I will see to the horse, as I actually forgot to tend to it the whole day.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Sigh.”

Yet, as the boy began to drop earth over the fire, he was still somewhat absent-minded, making Hubert sigh, over the unusual behavior of the boy that seemed to effortlessly lose himself in his own world.

Nonetheless, before long, the both of them enter the village hall, while trying to sleep on their thin camping mats.

“I now just realize that I was glaring at the old man, I must truly have been out of my mind.”

“I was glaring too.”

“You too, ahaha, we sure have done something incredible and audacious.”

“Yes.”

“Now time to sleep.”

“Alright.”

However, as they cede to speak, all that Levis could do, was to continue his cultivation, so that he could achieve his new fervent desire for flight.

But, as the red light, coming from a window not far from them, became bright from the light of the sun, Levis open his eyes that seemed to have taken no rest, as he had been incapable to cultivate on instinct as per the usual, as all the happening from the day before, had kept him awake the whole night.

“Morning.”

Yet, as he moved to rise up to his feet, the voice of Hubert reverberated in the hall, but as he took a look at the man, the black circles under his eyes were saying the almost identical story.

“Have you been awake too?”

“Yes, the flask, had kept me awake all night.”

“So, do we go?”

“AH HAHA, I don’t think is a good idea, as I will probably fall from the horse, if I go like this.”

“Then we?”

“We will stay, another day.”

"Fine, if that is the case, I will take a stroll up the hill.”

“Alright—, I will be at the river, I need to refresh myself, and see if I can catch something else again.”

“We will see each other later, then?”

“Yes---, don’t forget to call for me, if something happens.”

“---.”

“------.”

“----------.”

“Booom”-----”Thuuud”

As the two of them exited the building they were in and took separate ways to do what they had in their minds, the village became silent for a very long time, while the sun was silently rising from the east, but the silence was disturbed by a loud explosion and the noise of something big falling to the ground.

“---.”

“LEVIS!?!”

However, after the loud noises, and Levis’s name being shouted by Hubert, in a fluster, silence rained once more, as the sun continued its ascend to the center of the sky.

Yet, not long after galloping noises were beginning to be audible, from the road to the north, as in the distance dust was rising, while the shapes of three horses and those on them, were becoming visible.

“HU-HUBEEERT!!!”