I and Arci followed Dain to what looked like the gate of the fortress. It was a wide arch about 8-10 meters wide. The length of it was about 12-14 meters wide. This was a really huge fortress. He did say it had something to do with them bordering a nation. We went through the side door that was on the left of the gate. But in front of the gate were even more walls, but this time they were smaller, and only had a small gate. We entered another side door, and when he told the guard standing nearby to open it. I was greeted by large, brown-yellowish eyes looking at me, as if they were gazing through my soul.

"Woah!"

"Caw?" The eagle's head that was attached to a lion's body turned, as if it was curious.

"Ahaha, surprised are you? Thats the low griffon, we use these as mounts for war, scouting, or transportation. Although they don't match up to the real mountain griffons, these things are still perfect enough. This one must be Katie, she loves to surprise people by waiting outside the door. It seems like

she's curious because she's never seen you before."

Wait what? Are we using these? Why is it in front of the main gate?

"Hahaha, did you think that we would use horses as our method of transportation? Nope! We are going

to ride these on our journey to Temere'dan! Oh, and did you perhaps think that we went through the main gate? Nope! What you just saw was just there to make the griffons calm themselves when being fed food. The griffons for some reason, don't like being watched when they are eating food. The real main gate

is much more wider and larger than that, although you wont be able to see it, you'll be able to see the huge size of the entire fortress once your in the air."

"Are these things safe to ride?"

"Yes, of course they are! They've been trained from birth to be mounts, and low griffins are a species

that aren't too hostile to humans."

"I wont fall, right?"

"Ahaha! Dont worry. Just hold on to its fur, as weak as your are I'm sure you have enough strength and stamina to keep holding on. I think."

(You think? I wont fall right? How fast do these things go? Will I be alright?)

"Alright then, Katie, we're going to head over to Temere'dan, okay?"

"Caw."

"Do these things understand human language?"

"Nope, they are just trained to understand and memorize the words of places. The rider can steer the griffon if it goes towards the wrong path. They don't like being forced like that too much though, so griffon riders usually let them do their thing until they notice they've veered of course."

"I see..."

"It looks like a predatory animal. You, are you sure this wont eat Ryan suddenly?"

"Nope, once again they've been trained to recognize humans and not eat human meat unless

if it's the worst case scenario. They usually eat meat from livestock."

After saying that, Dain climbed up the griffin, sitting ontop of it. The griffin had no particular reactions

at all, as if this was a normal thing.

"Come on, get on!"

I climbed the griffon by pulling on its fur, and then sat myself behind Dain. Arci landed between us, he had no hands so he had to sit between us, or he was going to fall.

"Alright Katie, take off!"

"Caw!"

After that, the griffon cawed and then proceeded to flap its wings, I felt an upward motion as we climbed

higher, and higher to the skies. I took a look beneath and was awed by the sheer size of the fortress we were in. That place that we took off from? It just seemed like one small parking lot of a huge mansion.

The fortress that we were in had several layers of walls and many buildings, I could see all of them due to how fast we ascended to the skies. It was quite peaceful, not like what i thought.

"Are you ready? What you just went through was the 'ascending phase', the next one is where all the fun begins!" Dain said with a grin.

(Ah shit. This is not going to be good.)

*fwoosh*

"Caw!*

I felt the wind suddenly hitting me like a train, i tightened my grip on the feathers of the griffon, but it felt like

i was going to let go

"Hold on! Or your going to fall, splat and die just like that!"

"Whua- Whoa!! Im not going to hold on much longer!"

"Oh your so weak! Don't worry, its just a couple of minutes at this speed!"

"I can't hold on for much longer!!! How am i going to last a couple of minutes at this rate!?!?"

"Believe in yourself! Thats where power comes from!"

(Believe in yourself, my ass! How can a normal person hold on?)

"If you don't hold on, then you'll die, think of this as training!"

"Training?!?! What kind of training is this?"

"It trains your grip strength and your familiarity with riding flying animals in the future! It's helpful!"

"If Ryan falls and die, I'll curse you and immediately try to kill you, you understand!?" Arci said.

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"Dont worry, he wont die! Right?"

"Right my ass! Im almost going to lose my grip!"

"Oh sheesh, Katie, slow down a little please." Dain said as he tapped the neck of the griffon three times.

"Finally, thank you..."

The speed dropped enough so i could tighten my grip properly.

"You're really weak... Its just a couple of hundred of kilometers per second...."

"Yeah right! As if a normal human person could survive that!"

"Sheesh, now we're going to be a couple of minutes late. So boring. Theres not enough wind..."

"How is this not enough wind for you?"

Even though we slowed down, the wind was still hitting on me hard. How fast are we currently going?

"So... How big is this town you talked about?"

"Temere'dan is quite big for a frontier town, its the biggest one in the border between the Loenhart Kingdom

and the Silvetica Empire."

"Silvetica Empire?"

"Mhm, it's an empire that borders the west of the Loenhart Kingdowm. That empire right now is on a conquering streak. 8 years ago it suddenly invaded all the surrounding countries. But we're quite the obstacle to them because our army, the Loenhart Army aren't like the third-rate countries they absorbed."

"Are the knights different from the army?"

"No, the knights are a branch of the army. Although it's independent, and does not take orders from the generals of the army. Its highest ranking superior is of course, His Majesty, The King."

"How strong are the knights?"

"The average knight can easily overpower 3 footsoldiers in the Army. The training here is just that different after all."

(I see, so the knights here are really strong huh...)

After a dozen of minutes, i could see a shape coming from the horizon.

"That's it, right over there. That's Temere'dan. Quite big for a frontier city, yes?"

I took a look at the shape of the town, yes it was quite big but... It paled in comparison to modern cities in my memories... Well this world seemed to be in their late medieval ages, so its understandable that cities weren't that big.

"Oh and by the way, you still don't know how big of a crime you just did right?"

"No, i don't really understand why just being there was so severe."

"The place you were in when i found you was called Kathen'ria, The Lake of Clear Stars. It is considered as a 'Sacred Area' by the Union Faith, anyone in there that is not a priest, a knight or without any clear

reason are to be considered 'high heretics' and to be executed immediately. The Union Faith are very

protective of Sacred Area's, as they are considered 'holy grounds'. The only time anyone can enter it

are during pilgrimages sanctioned by the Union Faith, or when people are celebrating holy days. Right now, today is currently Golden Harvest, a festival held by the country and backed up by the Union Faith.

Its basically when this season's harvest is more abundant than usual."

"I don't understand, it doesn't look that severe."

"Ryan, these Sacred Areas are considered to be a blessing by the goddess. It's not just severe, its outright heresy. Violating this is considered as one of the most heaviest sins by the Union Faith, and if people knew

that i knighted a heretic sinner, although the Union Faith wont be able to do anything, there would be riots

all over the kingdom having you, me and the Commander executed. About those people that accompanied me, don't worry. They have tight mouths."

"I see..."

So it was that much of a sin to their eyes huh...

"So that's why, do not tell people where you came from, understand? You have to either change the subject, or tell that you came from Rotsa Village, okay?"

"Right, got it."

The griffin started to descend to the ground, it seems like we were about to land on a platform... Was it made specifically for griffons to land on it?

*thud*

"Caw!"

"Good girl Katie. You did a good job"

"Caw."

Dain proceeded to ruffle the head of the griffon, petting it like a dog.

"Lets get off."

I nodded, and then proceeded to get off.

"Arci, you good?"

"Yes, that was quite the nauseating trip... I was so scared i thought i was going to fall aswell..."

"Hahahaha, how can metal tin cans like you even feel fear?"

"For the last time, I'm not a tin can! I have a name, and its called Arci!"

"Alright, alright, got it. Okay Katie, you can go back now."

"Caw!"

Dain then proceeded to pet the griffin a couple of times, and then after doing that the griffon ascended and then soared to the skies. It seems like it was headed back to the fort.

So this is the town huh? It all screamed medieval to me, houses made out of wattle, people in clothes

going from and to minding their own business. There were stores and street vendors. It seemed quite lively here.