Dillia smirked as she looked around the carriage, she could feel a clear hostility from SBO-1 towards Oppius, and while Thorin tried his best to not show it, he too was far colder towards him than before.

Baltsar could also feel the hostility in the air, and to him, it was clear that something had happened the night before. -" Cof, Cof... Is everything alright?" His life was in their hands, so he was afraid that the group would give up and hand him over to the guards in Whitelake City.

Thorin smiled as he answered. " Just some discussion about the future, nothing to worry about." After answering Thorin returned his attention to the forest outside, they were almost arriving at their destination, and could finally begin to plan their next step.

Baltsar wasn't convinced by his answer, but, he couldn't do anything else but hope that nothing bad would happen to him.

Before long, the group arrived on the outskirts of Whitelake city, and Vysard's mood instantly improved. The sprawling city on the shores of the river made Vysard's jaw drop, he couldn't even imagine how many people lived there.

-" Surprised?" Thorin's foul mood also improved as he saw how flabbergasted the boy was. " Wait until you see the real Whitelake city."

Vysard was confused, however, it didn't take long for him to see a majestic bridge that lead to an island. He became lost for words as he saw the incredible buildings, but, what made him even more impressed was the vast ocean.

He already had read about the greats body of water called oceans, but, seeing it for the first time was a marvelous experience. -" Is that deep?" Vysard wanted to go bathe in the ocean and compare the depth to the lakes and rivers in the valley where he lived previously.

-" The Ocean or the lagoon?" Baltsar found the boy's reaction funny, but, he choose not to mock him as he clearly remembered the boy's power.

-" Lagoon?" Vysard gave the ocean a better look and noticed that the water closest to the shore was calmer and clearer than the one far away.

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-" Do you see that island? Not far away from there is another island." Baltsar puffed his chest as he began to explain the geological formation of this area to the boy. " The island further away protects the area behind it from the ocean."

Vysard paid his utmost attention to the man's explanation as he was interested in the wonders of the outside world. -" So the ocean water can't rush into the part near the shore?"

-" Yes, lagoons are formed when a barrier island blocks the waves from the ocean from reaching the shore." Baltsar grew even more engrossed in his explanation as he continued. " Where I'm from we call those things sounds, there are other ways for a lagoon or a sound to form, but, it's better if we don't complicate things too much."

THorin was impressed by the man's knowledge, while some parts of his explanation were confusing, he still did a pretty good job with teaching Vysard.

Vysard nodded to the man and returned his attention to the ocean. The two islands the man had mentioned were in clear view, one of them was shaped in almost a straight line, and covered a good part of the entry to the lagoon.

The other was in a U shape and had another lagoon right in its center. Vysard could even see the sandbanks underneath the water at some points of the lagoon. -" Can we cross it without going over the bridge?"

-" You can, but, you would have to swim in some areas." Baltsar answered the curious boy.

Dillia sneered as she noticed how scholarly the bandit leader was acting. -" You just explained some simples things! Don't act like you are a man of knowledge." Dillia found the man's change in demeanor laughable, if he had a change of clothes no one would dare to say that just a day ago he was a bandit raiding a caravan.

-" I'm not a sage or a scholar, but, for your information, I was one of the best students in the cadet academy in my kingdom." Baltsar pride in his accomplishment was evident in his tone. "It's just that we from the north prefer to act manly."

Thorin was interested in the man's answer. " Cadet Academy? So you had a high rank in the military?"

Baltsar shook his head, his eyes full of emotions as he remembered his past. " I was just a lowly lieutenant."

-" So you weren't that big of a deal." Dillia sneered at the man again. " No one that topped the cadet academy would be stuck in the lieutenant rank for long."

-" For Long?" Baltsar was confused. " I graduated from the cadet academy just five years ago."

-" Five years ago? right, how many years did it take for your to graduate? 20?" Dillia laughed as she didn't believe a single word of the man, he looked to be over 40 years old, and no cadet academy would accept anyone so old.

Baltsar face twitched as he finally understand what was all this confusion about. -" How old do you think I am? I graduated from the academy at the age of 18.'

Dillia's face twitched in anger and continued to scold the man as she finished counting his supposed age. " Are you telling me that you 23? Do I look that dumb? There is no way that you are just 3 years older than me." Dillia felt insulted by the man's insistence.

-" It's true! We northern men take pride in your manly bodies! Unlike you people from the Sun Lands who all look like little twinks!" Baltsar was furious at the girl, he was costumed to people thinking he was older than he looked, but, he couldn't accept being called a liar.

Thorin tried his best to hold his laughter back, the discussion had taken quite the hilarious turn, and even Vysard who was engrossed by the sprawling city laughed at the man's comments.