They marched the very next day.
Those that stayed in the Snowdrifts are brave souls, and friends that had either fought alongside or against Kairos in the past.
Although the five had been busy gathering information and studying in the Dark Hall, when the whole group met up, there were smiles on everyone’s faces.
It was as though they were saying, “I knew you’ll come along,” despite no one spoke.
There were grins all around, as if replying that they wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Their clans and families are supportive of their decision. Not everyone will bow down when threatened by death and fear, especially nobles that still cherish the old values.
Of course, there are also families that did not care for the decision of their youngs, after all there are other heirs to choose from.
And then, there are those that vehemently discourage them, like Luciette’s clan.
The White Snow clan almost went crazy when she refused to quit the Snowdrifts.
Unfortunately for them, once Luciette set her mind on something, she will continue all the way until proven wrong. And so far, none could convince her she is wrong for standing by her friends.
The ones that could not withstand the threat of death or the discouragement of their families are not amongst the three hundred odd members marching together.
The first place they headed was towards Rutea Village. The location of the Dark Hall was expertly hidden. When they entered the place, they had to use a teleportation ward, but when they exited, they found themselves transported to another place. Fortunately, it is near Saint City by an unassuming pavilion. The place was run down and unmaintained, but large enough for them to appear in groups of fifties.
After seven batches of them had arrived, they travelled another three days on foot and reached their destination.
As Kairos’ noble rank raised, his territory had increased, and he received a one-time stipend to hire help. With his status, it was proper that he has five hundred men to protecting his land at all times.
It was fine in the beginning, with soldiers sent by the crown protecting their borders, and the place being close to the capital.
However, after the Devilheart was declared Emperor Regent, these peacekeeping troops that should’ve stayed for a decade at least, pulled out after only a year and it couldn’t be helped that there will be all sorts of vagrants attracted to this place.
Most nobles would’ve a proper personal army that ensure safety in their realm, but the Astroires had risen too quickly, and their home is mostly undefended.
Fortunately, the Earl’s business had provided enough to employ armed men and proper patrols, but the true guardians of his realm aren’t just these people that were hastily trained and armed.
The five hundred guards they hired was only what was seen on the surface, more for the purpose of thwarting small-time rogues and those trying their luck in a newly minted Earl’s property.
Few know that there are spiritual forces guard the land.
Nature spirits walked alongside men, living in blades of leaves, hidden in the running rivers, and staying in the soil and the air.
They are unseen and hardly felt, but they are real, and they harness great powers.
They live on the other side, but they kept an eye out for the earl. Those who dared to test the law and justice of his land were smite down by strange occurrences.
There were unexplained thunder and lightning on a clear day landing on fleeing bandits, blizzards in the summers freezing bands of brigands, sudden gusts of winds that pushed not-so-innocent men off the highlands, poisonous plants growing in the den of thieves that wiped out those foolish rogues, and mysterious bush fires that disappears after a would-be evildoer was tragically burnt into a crisp.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
There were many more of such baffling manifestations, but a year was not yet enough to create a reputation that could stop more highwaymen from coming.
The land was more chaotic than ever before.
At Kairos’ hometown, they found Aisa’s pet, the Dragon Horse Sire. This mount was the one that Kairos had once rode when he went with the tax collector, Serge, to the Hope’s mansion.
When choosing his ride, it was Aisa that pushed him towards this particular Dragon Horse. It was afterwards that Kairos understood that this is a stallion that sired many fledglings, which in turn sired many more.
The draconic race always had superb vitality, and that ensured their ability to procreate in any environment.
The Dragon Horse Sire, under Aisa’s instructions, easily gathered over three hundred of its youngs and offered them to the group of young men and women.
All of the ones it selected was the strongest of its family. The Dragon Horse Sire itself became Kairos’ mount.
It bowed its head low as it awaited the young leader to get on its back, but the boy gently stroke its nose.
“Please guard me and my friends,” he said sincerely.
The old horse was touched by the gesture and lowered its head further.
Aisa translated its neighs and whinny that its brood will be honoured to fight alongside with them.
“We will serve well. Our brood is considered one of the oldest line that joined this human empire of yours,” Aisa told Kairos the Dragon Horse Sire’s words.
The dragons become stronger the older they become. They are immortal beings that are often compared to the phoenix race that could rebirth without end.
However, this trait is only seen in draconic beasts with purer bloodlines. When mixed with other species, the creature will still grow old and die. But even the members with the most diluted dragon blood retains the impressive vitality and long lifespan.
The limits of a Peak Triple S ranker’s age is around five thousand years, unless the person managed to breakthrough cultivation and become an immortal.
For a Dragon Horse, five thousand years is the age of a full grown adult.
There are many in their race that survived ten or even fifteen thousand years before succumbing to old age.
The Dragon Horse Sire is right now at its prime at four thousand years old.
When Kairos heard of this, he immediately asked, “How come there are so few Dragon Horses?”
The Dragon Horse Sire laughed, and brayed, “Our females carry our young for a thousand year.”
“A THOUSAND! How many generations of man and beasts already died before a Dragon Horse is born?! But… In this case, why are there Dragon Horse colts every few years?”
“Dragon Horse have hard shelled eggs like True Dragons, but those eggs are kept in the womb like how horses reproduce. Many baby dragon horses grow in their eggs at the same time, each at a different stage of development. When a hatchling crack its shell, its siblings will wait until is born before their turn. The number of eggs in the womb are limited and their gestation period is long, so there are few dragon horses but a couple born every few years.”
Kairos thought about it and was secretly amazed. The dragon race become stronger as they age. This is a fact no matter for True Dragons or those with mixed bloodline. Therefore, it made sense that the species had a longer birth period.
There’s also a good reason why the Dragon Horses are the most commonly found draconic race. The mixture of egg birth with carrying youngs in the womb ensured that the Dragon Horse had the best of both worlds.
Now that they have mounts, Kairos invited them to his mansion. On the surface, it is just a visit, but the actual purpose is to ask his dad to come along.
By now, Vouno’s cultivation rank will not lose to any of them. It isn’t because of talent, but pure hard work. While his son’s little group are learning all sorts of knowledge, he had been focusing fully on becoming stronger and it still took him years to catch up.
The Astroire family tree is truly that of hardworking farmers. With that kind of bloodline, the father and son pair had to struggle to keep up with the others.
When the group arrived, Vouno was in the middle of studying the Origin Cultivation method together with Kairos’ disciples.
He has nineteen disciples now – including the four who joined during the combat tournament, but the first fifteen stayed in the Astroire manor as protectors and leaders of his personal guard.
More importantly, they aided Vouno in his cultivation since the man couldn’t harness heavenly energy and needed elemental Ki sources.
Of course, the cultivation chamber that Kairos made could aid him usually, but it costs spirit stones each time to use and there are many benefits to train together with others.
The sixteen of them were in complete focus, when they came close, no one reacted.
“It’s written here, the Origin cultivation improves the intrinsic talents of a cultivator. This opens up all sorts of avenues!”
Over Vouno’s shoulders, Kairos asked, “Are there limitations?”
“Of course, the refinements only happen to things that are put in use, whatever is not repeatedly tapped into will have no effect… hold on, this voice… My son? Hahahaha! You’re back!”
Kairos nodded and embraced his dad with a wide smile, then after a short moment, he let go with a grim look on his face.
“Father, the thing we expected had happened. We must win the war in the north.”
To defeat the Ku Kang army is no different from destroying the foundation of the northern clans, an undertaking that had failed since Saint Empire started.
“Just the Snowdrifts alone?”
“Just the Snowdrifts, but we are not alone.”