Ah. I am the fool here. Who am I being angry with? It is actually me who is the dumb one here. He is just indirectly teaching me how to use wits everywhere and not follow someone blindly. Jacob thought inwardly and he was right. That was indeed the elder's plan from the beginning.

As the next caravan passed by, they stopped it and asked for a lift. The caravan consisted of three wagons and twelve horseriders. They were all wearing some kind of uniform with a strange logo on their chests. Jacob thought that they belonged to some clan.

Upon asking, Jacob came to know that they were coming from a city north of Worlen. They were transporting cargo. The driver of the frontmost wagon agreed to give them a lift at mere twenty bronze coins. There was still some space remaining in his wagon. He would drop them outside the city gates.

After that, the father-son duo sat down in the wagon and waited for the caravan to reach its destination.

The caravan was moving much faster than their normal walking speed. The wagons were being pulled by two horses each and they were moving quickly. The same was the case for the horserider guards flanking the wagons.

The trip was impressively short. The caravan only took four hours to reach outside the city. They had saved half of their time by taking a lift.

After being called out, the elder got out of the wagon first. Jacob followed him and got out. After getting out, he looked forwards and was stunned at the sight in front of him.

In front of him, he could see a long line of people all the way to the city gates. The long line included caravans, horseriders and people on foot. The people on foot included farmers bringing their produce to the city, woodcutters bringing their fruit of hard work to sell and many other kinds of ordinary people. There were also groups of armed people waiting in line.

Jacob had never seen such armed groups in Worlen. The only armed groups he had seen before were city guard, clan guard and clan soldier units.

He had never seen such ragtag groups of armed people. They were all wearing different kinds of outfits. Some were fully armoured, some were nearly naked and some were in between. They were all carrying different kinds of weapons.

The armed groups Jacob had seen before all wore the same armour and carried the same weapons. They also showed great discipline whenever called into action. He could not see any kind of discipline in the groups in front of them.

"Father. Who are those people?" Jacob asked the elder while pointing toward the groups.

"Oh. Those are called mercenary groups."

"What are mercenary groups?"

"These are armed groups for hire. They don't for any specific entity. But can be hired if given enough money. The people making them are known as mercenaries. These people usually make mercenary groups because they do not want to be bound to any place or just want to have a dangerous exciting life."

"Ok. But who will hire such people? They don't look much."

"Lad, don't judge them by how they look. They may look undisciplined and ragtag. But they are very dangerous. When it is time to fight, they become much more organized and disciplined than most of the other teams out there."

"Why is that?"

"Because they face danger all the time. The clans and sects hire them for dangerous missions when they don't want to sacrifice their people. Their lives are in danger most of the time and the life-threatening situations they face bring out all their potential.

Their potential becomes more and more polished with each life-threatening battle. So the older a mercenary is, the more dangerous he or she is."

"They want to die so badly?" Jacob asked naively.

"Haha. Not at all, little kid. They don't want to die. Fighting with life on the line is the most exciting thing out there. The possibility of an epiphany or cultivation breakthrough is maximum during such fights.

Moreover, they get more experience with time. So greater the experience, the lesser the chances to die. They are also not bound to any entity and can leave the life of a mercenary whenever they want." The elder explained in detail with great patience.

"Ok father. I got it all."

"Another thing, mercenary groups are law-abiding in nature. But sometimes, some of them become lawless and start attacking innocent people. Those are called bandit groups. They are all criminals. They are the enemies of the entire humanity. So they are hunted down at all costs. Especially, the mercenaries have the greatest hatred for them. They are like a dark spot in their history.

They are like the two sides of the same coin. They fight with each other like madmen whenever they meet and don't care for any collateral damage then. Many innocent lives are lost during their battles. I want you to get as far away as you can when you spot one and are not strong to protect yourself in the future. Also, some clans or sects may go rogue and become bandits. The same rule is applied to them."

The elder literally gave a small speech this time and also gave him a small warning. Jacob nodded at that.

"But why do they become bandits at all?" Jacob asked curiously. A life where they are hunted by humans everywhere every time. Who would want such a life. As expected of his sharp mentality, Jacob quickly picked up a crucial point and asked his father.

"There are many reasons for that. For example, one of them is greed, greed for money, power, treasures etc. Another cause is the perversion of their human nature. Vengeance and hatred may also become the cause sometimes." The elder listed some things that cause them to go rogue while looking at Jacob with a soft gaze.

"Are there any bandits in our parts? "

"Not at the moment. If there were, this place would have been swarmed by soldiers and mercenaries long ago."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

By now, the large line had shortened a bit. As his conversation with his father regarding the mercenaries ended, Jacob stopped looking toward them and looked towards the city walls. He immediately noticed another thing. He could not see the end of the walls from both walls and the walls seemed to be a bit larger than usual.

Jacob became dumbfounded at that. He could not see the end of the walls even from this much distance. He was sure that they were still almost one kilometre away from the walls yet he could not see its ends.

He was sure that the walls of Worlen were much smaller in length and height than these. Jacob's mind could not register the sheer length of the walls in front of him.

"Fa-father. Just how long are the walls?" Jacob raised his trembling finger towards them and asked in a trembling voice.

"Hahaha. Son. Isn't it majestic? This is a second-ringed city, Agoross. The length of the wall you are pointing towards is almost twenty-nine kilometres. So one side of these walls surrounding the entire city is approximately seven kilometres long.

"Woahhhh. So huge." Jacob exclaimed in awe. Twenty-nine kilometres of walls, it is so huge. I cannot imagine how much effort it took to build them. Jacob did not know that with the help of cultivators, it was not that much effort. Neither was he aware that the entire wall was covered in a Qi array.

As Jacob stood there stunned, the elder kept looking at him with a loving expression.

"What about the walls of Worlen? How long are they?" Jacob asked his father after about one minute of awe.

"They are much shorter, eight kilometres total and two kilometres aside."

"Just how larger is this city from Worlen?"

"The population of Worlen just crossed ten thousand a few years back. But this city is much older. Its population is about one hundred and thirty thousand individuals. So it is thirteen times larger than Worlen.

There are only two more cities at its level in the entire kingdom. It is the local hub of trade here." The elder calmly explained some facts to Jacob.

Jacob became more amazed after hearing his father. Two more such cities like Agoross exist in our kingdom. It is amazing.

He failed to notice that the elder was only telling about the cities at its level, not greater than it.

After that, Jacob looked around him. They were surrounded by farmhouses. He guessed that a large number of farmhouses must be needed to support such a great city. He then looked towards the direction from which they came. He could not spot the forest at all. There were farms everywhere.

The line was quite long. So they had to wait for about two hours to have their turn to enter the city.

Jacob's guess proved true when he reached near the walls. The walls were indeed higher and thicker than those in Worlen. He attributed that to an increase in population.

They had to pay just two bronze coins to get entry into the city. There were at least a dozen guards standing at the gates. They were checking the wagons and carts thoroughly. They were armoured and had different emblems on their chests.

Jacob knew that these different symbols represented different clans of this city. He took note of them and decided to ask his father about the different clans in the city later.

Thankfully, the Rokas clan was not active in this city. Their business was limited to some small cities only. This city was a trade hub itself and didn't lack anything. That's why he was wearing the clothes given by the clan without any worry.

Nobody was here to identify him. It had been almost seven months since his escape after all. They could not keep searching for him in this large city far away from Worlen.

After handing over two bronze coins to the guards, they entered the city walls. The entrance itself was very big. The same was the case for the gates. They were massive. He wondered how the guards opened and closed the doors.

As they passed through the entrance, Jacob noticed that the walls were thicker than he imagined previously. After this small observation, he started looking straight in anticipation.

He was anticipating the sights of the city he was visiting for the first time. In fact, it was the first foreign city he was visiting after leaving Worlen.

A sudden bright flash in his peripheral vision caught his attention and he immediately turned his head towards it. But he did not find the source of that flash.

All he could see were large stone blocks of the city wall overlaid over each other and there was no sign of that bright flash that his peripheral vision caught.

He looked closely but could not detect anything.Hmm. Am I imagining things now? He thought and stopped looking at the suspected spot.

He exited the big entrance and entered the city formally. Jacob was amazed again. The buildings he could see were taller than those in his home city and were made up of better construction materials.

The streets were also very wide. The street he was walking on was three times wider than the biggest street he had ever seen in his home city. And it was much more crowded here.

There were many hawkers hawking for their goods on the sides. All kinds of noises could be heard. They were also pestered by many people who wanted to act as their guide. But they were waved away gently by his father.

"Father. Will we go buy things now?"

"No. We have to find an inn first. Then, you rest. We will start our shopping tomorrow morning."

Jacob then noticed that it was afternoon. The evening was not that far away. They had to find an inn first. He was also feeling a bit tired due to walking for two hours and then waiting in line for another two hours.

He wondered if they could ask a passerby nearby to find the nearest inns. But it was not needed at all. He was led to a nearby inn directly by his father and they entered it.

This was the first time he was seeing an inn from the inside. He could see many tables and chairs arranged here and there for people to sit and enjoy their meals. About half of them were occupied.

A few maids were serving them. There was also a counter behind which a chubby man was sitting. The racks behind him were full of various kinds of bottles.

Is it the alcohol that I heard about from my friends? Most probably. Jacob thought. He had heard about alcohol before. According to his friends, it was a mysterious drink that was served at parties and inns. It was very good and soothing.

They didn't get much attention after entering the inn. Only a few people looked towards them, especially towards the expensive-looking robes the elder were wearing.

He followed his father to the counter. When they reached it, the chubby man stood up from his chair and said with a flattering voice,

"Welcome to my inn, good people. How may I be of service."

"A double bed room for three nights."

"Very well. It will be fifteen bronze coins." The elder took out fifteen bronze coins from inside his robes and put them on the counter. Jacob thought the price to be too expensive.

So I have to give up all of my earnings for one day in order to sleep in this inn for one night? He is clearly ripping us off.

The innkeeper swept the coins away and took out a key from below the counter. He handed it to the elder and said,

"Third last room on the left on the first floor."

The elder did not say anything and left the counter with Jacob in tow. They ascended to the first floor by stairs on the side. As they entered the hallway, they saw a man sitting on a chair in front of them and looking toward all the doors in the room.

As they passed by him, he nodded at them and the elder nodded back at him. Jacob looked toward his father with raised eyebrows.

"Security." His father replied with a single word as they reached the door of their room. The key was inserted and it fit correctly. A slight turn of the key and the room was unlocked. They entered the room.

It was a very simple room having two separate beds with a small attached washroom and a small window. There was nothing else in the room except a small cupboard upon which a candle holder with two candles was present.

Both of them picked up a bed and sat on it. They took off their backpacks and laid down. After a few minutes, Jacob got up and started doing exercises.

This was his routine before he laid down to sleep. He exercised for about half of hour. By now, the light coming from the window was very sparse and the night was not that far away.

He came back to his bed after his exercise and took off his upper garment. Then he lay down on the bed and looked at his father. His father was awake and had a blank expressionless face. He was staring at the roof. He does not sleep after all.

This was what Jacob thought as he closed his eyes to sleep. A few minutes later he fell asleep and started snoring. Hearing Jacob's snores, a smile blossomed upon the elder's expressionless face.