บท 7: A Quint Village
Thanks to their new steads, the journey had been smooth. With the mares pulling the carriage while Ryker rode the lone stallion, they traversed the land quickly compared to what they could do when on foot.
Still, while they are not slow, they still don't know where they are, hence, they follow the dirt road, the only sign of civilization, or at least a trail that could lead them to any nearby villages.
"Are we there yet? It had been 2 weeks and we don't see anything else than trees and wild beasts," Ezekial complained.
"Unfortunately, we don't have any map so we don't know the whereabouts of any villages here. If not, we could reach them a long time ago," Esram replied, still reading a book in his carriage.
Unfortunately, his siblings lacked patience, an understandable thing as they were children. It is still annoying to hear them complain. Still, even Ryker was annoyed by the lack of civilization. He thought they could find a village in a week.
Unfortunately, their parents must have sent them to some unknown corner of the world if they don't even see hide of any person for some time.
Thankfully, while the journey lacks people to interact with, it is filled with many natural treasures, ranging from herbs and spirit fruits, to ores and even an energy crystal vein. What most of the materials lack in quality more than makeup in quantity.
He had stopped to gather any materials he found, occasionally fighting and killing wild beasts guarding some of the natural treasures. While he won't use most of them for now, he could use them in the future, either for making weapons (using the ores) or consuming them (herbs and spirit fruits).
He could even trade them for something more useful, that is if he could find anybody else. While it had been boring, it was still beneficial for him as it allowed him to focus on cultivation. He spent some time studying the Cultivation Arts his parents gave to him, along with some Cultivation Techniques while the other time was spent raising his cultivation.
Thanks to some of the spirit fruits he consumed, plus some energy crystals and energy stones left by his parents, his cultivation had risen to the 4th Stage Genesis Gathering. Though his cultivation only reached the 4th Stage, he knew he could even handle several 6th Stage cultivators easily.
However, while there are countless energy crystals, some even at higher quality, he could only get a limited amount, courtesy of his parents' seal. No doubt some form of restriction so he needs to find some ways to get the resources needed without depending on what his parents left for him.
With his cultivation rising, his divine sense also became a lot stronger, allowing him to scan for resources and people. Unfortunately, he didn't find any trace of the latter in any of his searches.
Shaking his head, he urged his stead to follow the dirt road, the other horses following suits. He had brought three carriages, 2 for his siblings while the last one was filled with supplies. Ariana is with the other girls in one carriage, while the boys share the other carriage.
A single horse is not pulling any carriage, instead being kept as reserves if any other horses show some fatigue. Still, the journey had been boring, he wished something come up, like wild beasts or natural treasures, so he could move his muscle.
"Hold there! Give everything you got and we won't hurt you!" Silently thanked that something had come up, Ryker turned his gaze towards the source of the voice, only to be disappointed.
Apparently, it's only a bunch of bandits, not even cultivators at that. He spread his divine sense, 5 bandits in the vicinity. He sighed, well, at least that meant they could be villages nearby as the bandits needed places where they could rob, or they just depended on coming travelers and merchants.
"Hey! Don't you hear us! Give every valuable you have and we won't ki-" The bandit's mouth opened but sounds stopped coming out. He looked in fear at Ryker who casually released his cultivation aura.
Some of the bandits even fell to their knees, too terrified to do anything else. The leader, the one who demanded their valuables, even soiled his pants, judging from the stench and wetness.
"We are sorry Your Excellency, we don't know someone noble like you would come to this place. Please let us go a-" The leader once again stopped talking, this time from a blade piercing his neck.
Before the other bandits could do anything, he casually created some fire and threw it at them, the bandits were barely able to scream before turning to ashes. Not caring for some lowlife, Ryker used his divine sense once more, this time with a positive result.
He urged his stead to move in the direction he sensed, the stallion following his orders, leading to the rest of the herd doing the same. Thankfully, there is a village nearby, probably 2 kilometers from their current position.
Thanks to their transport, they reached the place in half an hour, the villagers looking quite surprised by their arrival.
"Greetings sir, may we know where you come from?" a middle-aged man asked, probably the leader, or at least the representative.
"We don't come from any particular places. We live in seclusion before deciding to travel after our parents' passing," Ryker decided to give the man a half-truth. In a way, he is not lying to him.
"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. In that case, are you going to stay or are you just making a quick stop?" the man asked.
"We going to stay for some time, maybe two to three days. Could you show us to any inns we could lodge in?" Ryker replied, the man nodded before showing them the nearby inns.
Before long, they booked almost half the room of the inn, the innkeeper clearly shocked by how much money they had. Thankfully, the money they have is accepted, their parents tell them that each coin is the same, just with different markings on them.
After settling his siblings, most of them decided to sleep in a real bed after the long trek and sleeping only in carriages, Ryker decided to take a walk around the village. He could see how they looked at him with curiosity and wariness. Probably because they were uncertain of the reasons for his arrival.
He walked around before spotting some irregularities, some crates were splintered, some parts of the nearby houses were burnt. He could even see some people patrolling the area, spears in their hands while they watched the nearby trees with caution.
He sighed, no doubt the bandits from before, or the group they came from, is the reason for the villagers' vigilance. He could understand it, being raided would lead them to have trust issues.
Deciding to help them a bit, he approached one of the guards, telling him that he would leave the village to look around. At first, the guard is a bit hesitant but after some persuasion he finally relented.
As Ryker walked into the forest, he wondered how many bandits are they and if any of them cultivated. If there are no cultivators, he could walk through them easily. However, if there are cultivators in the rank of the bandits, then it would be slightly troublesome, though not too much unless one of them is at the 7th Stage Genesis Gathering.
His musing was stopped when he heard a scream. A girl's voice no doubt. He ran towards the source, wondering if he could help the girl in time.
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