The Snakeman wasn’t unconscious for long, but it was long enough to check out the other Beastmen.

Their bloodlust disappeared, and they don’t seem to hate me as much as they did before. Some of them are still similar to me and the others, but Fiona's focus on healing the Snakeman first affected them. This isn’t within their expectations of the human race. The younger ones only heard about the Beast War, but the older ones participated. They know how cruel and greedy humans can be.

Percy understood the Beastmen’s confusion and vigilance, which was also why he told Fiona to pay full attention to the Snakeman’s wounds first. Although he might look like a beaten mess, Percy didn’t feel too bad. If anything, the brawl with the Snakeman filled him with euphoria. He was a bit hurt, and his hand felt like his bones had been ground to dust mid-battle, but gaining the Beastmen’s respect was more important.

They could see how injured Percy was and regarded his actions highly as he told their Healer to tend to his enemy first. Not many would be honorable like this young man.

“How old are you, human?” One of the Beastmen is a towering figure with a human-like face but an eagle’s beak. He had white-feathered wings instead of arms and three claws where his hands were supposed to be.

“I turned 17 years old not too long ago,” Percy responded politely before adding, “And my name is Percy Kain. What is your commander called?”

The Beastmen looked at each other in surprise when they heard his age. They could see that he and the rest of the envoy were young, but nobody expected him to be a youngling.

“We call him Dex. He is the Apex of the seventh Beast Legion,” The Eagleman said, “And they call me Wingus. Is the juvenile Glacial Roc your companion or your Monster Cards?”

The Apex of the Beast Legion was similar to the commander of a Knight Unit. The only difference was that an Apex was the head of far more subordinates than a Knight Captain. It may be better to compare them to the heads of the respective Knight Orders.

“I don’t know what exactly a companion is, but the Glacial Roc is a Monster Card. He is just a little bit…more than that. I don’t know if you understand what I’m trying to say, but my Monster Cards are closely tied to my soul and more sentient than most Monster Cards would be.”

“So you don’t have an Ego that allows you to bind monsters to your Soul?” Wingus asked, the relief in his voice apparent as he blurted out in a whisper, “He is not a Beast Master.”

Beast Master? I read something about them in ancient scripts once or twice…but aren’t they extinct? For a while now already.

Percy couldn’t remember exactly where or what he read about Beast Masters, but he was sure they ceased to exist thousands of years ago when the resurgence occurred.

Dex, the Snakeman, regained consciousness and would have pushed Fiona away when his eyes fell upon the young woman, but Fiona was faster. She retreated and turned around to tend to Percy’s wounds when she knew Dex would be fine. Fiona grasped Percy’s hand with some force. Percy winced and looked at her pleadingly, but Fiona couldn’t see that – obviously.

She used Healing Star and focused on his mashed hand while triggering [Aura of Healing] to heal his other wounds. Percy was shrouded in a pristine golden hue, which expelled the tension in his body before accelerating his natural regeneration drastically. Since Percy’s natural regeneration was already great, it didn’t take long until his bruises were barely visible. The claw marks healed, transforming into thin, red lines that healed rapidly as well.

His hand took a little longer to heal, and it was clear that Fiona had to use her Ego more extensively. Surprisingly enough, Fiona ranked up while mending his wound. A surge of mana flooded the young woman, taking her by surprise

“It looks like you need to sustain more wounds,” Fiona joked lightly, but Percy was unsure if the young Healer was actually joking. It might be worth a try if she could increase her rank faster by mending his injuries.

“That was a joke. Stop getting injured, and my life will be much easier,” Fiona responded more seriously this time.

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

“I think you should spend less time with Melissa. She’s influencing you too much,” Percy mumbled, “I liked you more two weeks ago.”

Melissa must have heard what Percy said because she glared at him, but that issue was something he could solve later.

“Are you ready to stop this nonsense and bring us to the Beast King?” He looked at Dex, who’d returned to his direct subordinates. It looked like they had something to talk about, probably about one of them betraying their Apex, but he turned back to Percy a moment later.

“You are…weird,” Dex hissed, to which Percy could only respond with a nod. He was indeed weird. There was no doubt about that.

“And I think you don’t understand what exactly I mean,” Dex continued, “Mana Dominion. That’s not something a Master can do. Or should be able to. You were actively suppressing my mana, forcing it to dispel. Your blood and mana…is weird.”

Once again, Percy nodded. He understood what the Snakeman was talking about. His mana was several times more pure than the norm, and his blood contained the awakened remnants of his ancestor, the Azure Dragon. He might not know what exactly Mana Dominion was or how to control it, but Percy recalled the sensation.

“Does that mean you accept your loss and you will bring us to the Beast King?” Percy repeated.

“My men will patrol the border, but we won’t attack you and your subordinates. However, we won’t hesitate to attack anyone who crosses the border without our permission!” Dex hissed angrily, yet Percy couldn’t tell if the Snakeman was angry because he had to comply with Percy’s request or something else. It didn’t really matter. Dex could be mad all he wanted as long as they met the Beast King.

The coachmen finally arrived with the carriages, but Dex hissed in their direction the moment he recognized what was going on, “No! Only you and your envoy. I won’t be responsible for bringing any more humans into the Beastlands! Granting you and the other younglings entrance into the Beastland can already cost me my head!”

The nobles were about to say something, but Percy raised his hand to stop them, “We weren’t going to bring the carriages and Normies either way. The Beastlands aren’t suitable for Normies, let alone carriages.”

Wingus and the other Beastmen cocked an eyebrow, “He studied the Beastlands.”

Percy burst into laughter at that, “Of course I did. I’m the head of the royal envoy and the crown prince. If I fail on my first royal mission, another Beast War might erupt. I don’t want that to happen. Thus, the research.”

Dex and others nodded, but no more pleasantries were exchanged. The Snakeman gestured to the envoy to follow, which they did after Melissa lectured the nobles, telling them off for being spoiled brats even though they’d long since known where they would travel with the envoy.

“How in the Seven Hells did you guys expect to be treated as a foreign force in the Beastlands? They respect strength and confidence. Just look at Percy and how he’s treated. If you don’t start and pull yourself together, you will have a much harder time in the Beastlands than necessary,” Melissa growled, “And don’t even think about leaving midway. Everyone has to write a report about the royal mission once we’re done here. I sure hope you don’t think I will praise you all to the Heavens and beyond if you don’t get your act together by the time we cross the border!”

Percy had to suppress a chuckle, but he had to acknowledge one thing. After the fight with Dex, everyone looked at him differently. However, the Beastmen’s attention changed again once his age came to light.

They looked at him with the desire to fight.

The other Beastmen wanted to fight him as well.

That should be a good thing. Beastmen love fighting the strong. That means they acknowledged my power and must have accepted me. Some are still vigilant, but their fear and vigilance are suppressed by intrigue and battlelust. That should be my greatest advantage.

He nodded slowly and walked over to the coachmen to explain the situation to them.

“I don’t know what the merchants and nobles ordered you to do, but you won’t be able to enter the Beastlands with us.” More than half of the coachmen sighed in relief, while one of them even added, “That might be for the best, Your Excellency. We are useless.”

“You guys aren’t useless. Don’t ever think of you like that. I am not sure what most of you are supposed to do now since I don’t know your exact orders, but if some of you return to the capital, here are some things I need you to do,” Percy retrieved a pen and paper from his spatial ring and noted a few things, “Bring that to the royal palace. If they reject you, which I doubt, go to the Dragon Nest and hand them the note. They will know what to do.”

Percy patted the coachmen’s backs with a smile and wished them a great journey. However, he sincerely hoped most would either stay with the border settlement or return to the capital on a detour with a group of traveling merchants and adventurers. After all, nobody knew where the next Demon horde would appear.

But the coachmen’s return was not Percy’s greatest problem. It was simple compared to the task ahead.

It was time to enter the Beastlands!