Chapter 20 - Start of a new journey

*Welcome back master*

"Hey Admin we need to talk"

*Ask me anything master*

Admin sounds more confident then usual, so hopefully they have some insight on my nightmares and abilities.

"I've been being tortured at night by the future or what I feel like is the future... It just feels surreal"

*Ah so it's like that... Unfortunately I can't tell you what your seeing is wrong, as you have the power of time itself you are most likely seeing prophecies of what's to come.*

"So it's like that... I kind of already knew the answer, but thanks for confirming it... So Admin I will be away more then usual, for now I have to get stronger to protect the ones I love..."

*Master I hate to inform you, but it's quite impossible to change the future once it's set. If you just stay here then nothing in Gaia can reach you or your family.*

"If that's the case then I just need to get strong enough so not even the future can influence my path."

Onyx eyes are burning with determination upon seeing this Admin knows his words will not reach him. The best he can do is support him along the way hoping what he says becomes a reality.

*Then I wish you good luck master, please don't be afraid to rely on me here. In the meantime please focus on becoming stronger, the people here still need you for if you were to die... Everything here will die with you almost as if this space itself collapsed into nothingness*

Admins voice got pretty serious, and I can't help but swallow my resolve knowing my life and my peoples lives are tied together. If I die so does my people... For this reason I will not fail them, if anything this makes me want to get even stronger...

"I understand the risks, thank you for everything Admin I will be requiring your assistance in this journey."

Before Admin has a chance to respond Onyx left his domain to prepare for the oncoming journey..

*I wish you good luck Onyx, for these people need a caring God to lead them... Not one's that only use them for prayers without actually helping them."

Admin knows something more then he's letting on, but still to him Onyx is the best candidate to reach Godhood and he will make it his goal to help him reach it.

****

Time quickly passed by, Onyx bought the basic necessities for their journey such as food, water, tents, firewood and basic cooking supplies. Although he has never cooked before he is somewhat excited to earn the cooking skill through trial and error.

Right it's time, Onyx sees his two cute companions outside the Adventurers Guild waiting for him carrying baskets full of clothes. As he approached them he saw them both give him a desperate look as if they are struggling to hold the baskets full of clothes.

"Okay okay, I'll store your clothes please set them down."

Onyx just giggled as the girls expression brightened back up as they happily placed their baskets in front of them.

"T-thank you Onyx, b-but please don't look through our clothes..."

She confessed shyly but as I tried to think of why, my cheeks immediately reddened... It's not like that I swear I was flailing my arms at them to prove I'm not a creep!

"It's okay master, you can look through mine if you want too."

Ugh the masochistic Elf strikes again... She is just staring at me with eyes of hunger... Please you pervert elf wait until I'm at least eighteen...

"I-it's okay I wont look I promise"

"Storage"

The girls start loading their clothes into the portal while I'm planning our next location. I've decided to visit the Beast Kingdom to the south of our Estate, here I will try to make peace with their people and offer them residence in my new Kingdom.

"Are we ready gir..."

Before I could even finish my sentence they both clung to each of my arms, and started pulling me forward... I wasn't expecting them too be so aggressive, but deep down I can see it in their eyes... They also want to get stronger, maybe just as much as I do.

"We are going to the Beast Kingdom first, I wish to make peace with their people and learn their way of life. We don't have allot of time as the academy is only three years away, so let's make every day count!"

"YES"

They both yelled in agreement. This made me happy that they are willing to follow me on a days notice, no questions asked they are overflowing with faith in me.

We all decided to cut through the forest, we are use to fighting the monsters in there and it would save us a week worth of travelling to go around it. As we approach the tree line we can hear the howls and movements of the life inside, we ready our selves and step inside.

For we do not know how long we may go without food we decided to hunt everything we came across, albeit chickens, birds, deer or bears everything in our path was quickly dispatched and added to my storage. If I had to guess I would say we have enough meat to last us at least six to seven months.

"Phewww"

Sophie sighs in exhaustion from the constant running, she wipes the sweat and plops to the floor refusing to move.

"Sophy c'mon get up we are almost there"

I protested as we are still about two hours from the other side, and we can rest once we are outside.

"I just need a minute, can you please give me some water?"

She is truly helpless, but I can't deny her...

"Fine we can stay here for ten minutes both of you rest up, I will keep watch."

I pull two cups from my storage and fill them with water before handing it to them. They greedily chugged the water and asked for more... These girls are helpless but I would be lying if I said this wasn't a cute scene to watch.

As much as Abby tried to hide her exhaustion, the moment she sat down it was completely apparent she was on the verge of collapsing. Who knew their stamina was so bad, we will definitely have to work on this later as we may not be afforded breaks in the future...

Nothing interesting happened while we took a break, most of the monsters nearby I dispatched pretty quickly while storing their stones in my storage.

"Okay girls time is up. We are about two hours away let's get there before it gets dark"

"F-fine... Let's go I can't wait to get out of this forest it's giving me the creeps."

Sophy reluctantly gets up and wipes off the dirt from her shorts.

"Abby you want to join us? Or shall I leave you to the monsters"

I wouldn't actually do that, but it is funny to tease her every now and then.

"Master is truly evil I'm coming..."

Abby slowly get's off the ground and prepares herself for the rest of the journey.

"Okay let's go"

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We depart and continue running to the end of the forest. We continues to kill and collect meat from the wildlife that unfortunately ran into us, as well as killing and storing Ogre corpses as I heard they are worth allot more silver then the mana stone they drop.

As the forest felt never ending we finally reached an opening, as we exited the forest we were met with grass plains as far as the eye can see. This area almost looks completely untouched other then the small dirt road that travels through the middle of it.

We make our way to the road and start following it to the south hoping to hit the Beast Kingdom before dark. That didn't happen this road leads allot farther then we ever imagined, so we found a spot and had Abby burn a path of land to lower the grass. This was so nothing can sneak up on us in the tall grass as we let our guard down to eat and sleep.

As the girls fell to the floor in exhaustion, I set up the tents and made a fire in the middle of our camp. I brough two logs and placed them around the fire so they could sit around it and keep warm.

"What would y'all like to eat?"

I asked out of courtesy, but in reality we only really have bread and meat. So I will attempt to do my best to make it delicious for them two.

"Surprise us!"

I have a feeling Sophy also understands we are limited, but I respect her answer.

"In the mean time you two should get some rest, food will be done in twenty minutes."

"Thank you!"

They both yelled in unison and headed to their tent, we only have two tents so it was decided they would share one and I would take the other one. I offered to let us just sleep in my Domain, but they were against it. They wish to have the full experience of this journey, so I respect their dedication and opted against using my domain. But I told them if the area is dangerous we will stay there, they both agreed.

Dinner was easy, I brought out meat that was already butchered that I bought in town. I just lightly sliced the surface of the meat so it would be tender, and started searing it on a pan over the fire. The smell of the steaks are making me drool, but I have to resist the temptation to eat it all right now...

The girls seemed to have noticed the smell as well and came running outside of the tent, I plated them both their portions and mine as well and we dug in. It was not as good as it smelt but for someone without the cooking skill it was to be expected.

"I apologize as I still don't have the cooking skill, it will get better I promise"

I apologized for giving them a subpar meal but they both didn't seem to mind. It seems they are use to Godfreys cooking and his was even worse then mine...

"Shut up and eat dummy, it's good."

Ouch! To be berated by Sophy hurts more then 100 hits of an Ogre...

"O-okay I'm glad y'all like it... Please look forward to better dishes in the future..."

"T-thank you for the meal master"

Abby has been getting really close with me lately, when she's not being a masochist she actually is really cute...

"H-huh master if you keep looking at me like that..."

Abby goes completely red before biting her finger then hurrying into her tent in embarrassment...

"I didn't mean to embarrass her, can you apologize on my behalf Sophy..."

"You really are bad when it comes to girls aren't you... You better smarten up before you lose us Onyx"

OUCH! To be berated by Sophy again today... Am I truly that helpless when it comes to girls? B-but we are still kids, why are they so mean when it comes to this...

"I apologize... Please get some sleep I will keep watch"

"Goodnight Onyx, please wake me when it's my turn."

"I will, sweet dreams"

Sophy places her plate down and heads to their tent, she turns and looks at me before sticking her tongue out at me mockingly then heads inside...

"These girls are going to be the death of me"

I sighed loudly then started meditating circling the mana in and out of my body, I noticed I can spread it to the surrounding environment to sense other people and monsters.

*Skill acquired: F: Mana detection*

F: Mana detection: Using mana to detect abnormalities within in the mana around you. Range of skill will depend on users current rank.

Interesting I will need to work on ranking this up, but I can do that when we are in a safer location.

As I'm keeping watch I noticed a wagon approaching us from the road, they don't seem to know we are here but that won't last long once they see our fire. I stand next to the road awaiting their arrival, if they try anything I will dispatch them here before the girls ever notice them.

The wagon get's closer and my stomach sinks... The wagon seemed to be modified to prop a cage on the end of it... This was a Slaver's wagon they probably have come this far to sell slaves to the Beast Kingdom... But unfortunately for them they ran into me, my blood is boiling.

The man driving the wagon was fairly short but still human, he was dressed in a silk suit to show that he has money and is not to be messed with. I use analyze on him before he reaches me.

Name: Francis Rockridge Race: Human Age: 27 Level: 24 Health: 82 Mana: 85 Stamina: 78 Intelligence: 85 Strength: 74 Agility: 20 Luck: 45 Abilities: S: Slave contract Skills: D: Swordsmanship, B: Horse riding, F: Torture

Hmmm, Slave contract and Torture huh...

This was the moment I decided I will dispatch the man in front of me, for it is legal to the rest of the world, in my hear I will never accept it. The thought of slavery gets my blood boiling.

The man finally sees me and decides to stop his wagon, he hops down and approached me with his hand held out smiling

"How are you lad? Beautiful night isn..."

I couldn't be bother for small talk, as he reached for my hand I reached for my blade. Almost instantaneously the gentleman In front of me lost his head.

"Gluttony"

His body was ripped apart and turned into red magic particles before entering my hand.

*Ability acquired: S: Slave Contract*

*Skill acquired: B: Horseback Riding*

*Skill acquired: F: Torture*

Slave Contract Rank: S Slave contract: Ability to mark living being with a brand of submission. Those marked with a brand of submission can not defy the owner of the brand.

Active skills:

- Slave mark: Create a brand on living beings, those branded can not defy you.

- Mark Transfer: Ability to give ownership of slaves branded to other people.

- Mark removal: Ability to remove brand from slaves returning their free will.

Horseback Riding Rank: B Horseback Riding: Proficiency in horse riding, allows the horse to better understand it's masters commands.

Passive Skills:

- Calming: While riding a horse, the horse stays calm in stressful situations.

Torture Rank: F Torture: When torturing others, increase effectiveness of torture techniques. Skills: NONE

Truly disgusting skills, but at least I gained horseback riding and the ability to remove slave contracts. I threw the mans fancy clothing into my storage, I will sort through it later to see if there's anything of value worth selling.

I hear whimpers coming from the back of the wagon, the three horses are still surprisingly calm even though I just killed their owner. I grab their leads and tied them off to the logs I placed by the fire this will make our travelling easier once the girls awake. Now onto something I've been dreading I need to address the unknown of the back of the carriage.

As I walk to the back I am shocked, there's about 30 Elf's and 10 Dwarves cramped all together in this small cage... I walk over and they all start panicking for I'm the one who just killed their captor, as I got closer I see their brand glow as if it's recognizing me as their master. I wonder if this happened because I took their previous owners life...

Knowing they can't disobey me I open the cage and had them all line up with their families and approach me one at a time. I opened my domain to my left and on the right I put out extra meat and supplies they will need to go off on their own.

"The choice is yours, I am King of the Space Kingdom. In this Kingdom slavery and discrimination of races does not exist. If this appeals to you and your family please step through the portal on the left side, I promise on my life you will be safe in there... If you do not wish to join my Kingdom and would rather fend for yourselves, please take some rations on my right and head off. No matter what I will be removing your brand as you step in front of me."

They were all hesitant but quickly calmed down as they saw me remove the first group of Elf's brand, they dropped to one knee before pledging their allegiance to me and stepped into the portal.

This became a trend as no one was reaching for the rations until the last dwarf he just stopped in front of me.

"Hey lad I appreciate your hospitality, but I do not trust humans... But an old friend recently visited us preaching about a new Kingdom that does not allow racism... If you can tell me the name of my friends name, I will trust and join you."

He must be part of the faction that refused to join with Brock originally... I hope the rest of his people are okay!

"You must be talking about Mr. Brock he is truly an amazing guy, he is my master in blacksmithing."

"So it was you after all... Please allow me to join my Brothers and Sisters my King."

He got to one knee and swore his loyalty to me then stepped inside the portal. I will wait a few days before checking in on them, that should give them enough time to settle down on the inside.

I just hope Admin doesn't get too upset with me suddenly inviting people to the domain without so much of a heads up... But I'm sure everything will workout...

"O-onyx where'd you get a carriage from? And who's horses are these?"

Sophy sleepily asked me as if it hasn't processed to her yet about what just took place.

"I will explain everything in the morning, but first you still have a few hours go back to sleep."

"O-okay thank you for keeping watch"

She slowly walked to me and kissed my cheek before running back to the tent...

My body is extremely hot, she completely took me off guard with the kiss... What does this mean? What am I suppose to do?

"Ugh... This is gonna be a long night!"