Chapter 98: Drift Apart

This is the worst feeling for Tristan. Being forced to do something that he did not want, with someone he cared about being placed on the line.

Tristan had been pushed around by people since he was a child, but now it felt even worse knowing he had this powerful body and skills but was still powerless to change anything.

The King of Arcadia sat there on his throne, as he gave out his absolute decisions.

First, Tristan was decided to go see the elf queen who apparently lived deep within the Evergreen Forest.

Second, the king gave Tristan a huge warning to never use his mystical skill on any of his people. In other words, no Blood seal to be used on any of the Arcadians. 

Last, Tristan would have a group of Kingsblade to escort and watch his every move, which meant he will always be under the king's surveillance all the time. This would definitely make the stifled feeling he already felt even more intense.

The decisions were definite, and there was nothing Tristan could do to change, much less stop it.

In the midst of this series of decisions in which he had no part, Tristan was at least fortunate to be allowed the chance to see the place his sister would stay while he was gone.

It was the magic school which was located in Prontea city, not far from the king's palace. 

Tristan can see there are dozens of students around his sister's age all around the place. It was explained by the old wizard Tobias that this was a special magic school that only allowed selected talented young magicians from all over Arcadia.

As he walked through the magic school, Tristan somehow felt leaving his sister here was probably not a bad idea at all. All in all, it should be better than leaving her around orcs and barbarians who killed people on a daily basis.

It was just annoying for Tristan that he was forced to make this decision. Tristan silently promised himself that he would get strong enough to not let others forced him to do anything he doesn't want anymore.

Noticing the expression on her brother's face, Layla patted his arm with her delicate hands.

"I will be fine, brother. Just make sure you can come back soon! Otherwise, I will improve so much that I can beat your ass when you return!"

Tristan saw the smile Layla gave him, in her effort to not make him worry. 

Before the two siblings drifted apart and headed to their own destination, Tobias unexpectedly gave the two a communication stone. Tristan was elated when he saw the same stone Barry showed him before. This way, the two of them could still communicate with each other even though they were far away.

Tristan appreciated the gesture given by Tobias, which according to the old man, the king had ordered him to do.

When he turned around, Layla threw herself to him and hug him from behind. 

"Be safe Tris"

Tristan held his sister and said, "Didn't you hear, the King needs me back right after this elf queen stuff, I will be back before you know it, sis."

Afterward, Tristan followed Raika's squad, where this time only half of them would go with her.

"So are we going to get on the ship again?" Tristan asked as the group walked out of the magic school.

"No. we won't." replied Raika succinctly. 

Tristan could strangely feel chilliness in her words, which he quickly swooped away as overthinking. Afterwards, he asked no more questions as he followed the Kingsblade group silently.

The Kingsblade group took Tristan to another side of the palace, where the royal stable was situated. Actually, it looked more like a ranch, rather than just a stable. 

Tristan estimated that the 'stable' spanned over three hundred square meters, where hundreds of horses could be seen standing and gathering across the lush pasture. He could see dozens of foals running around and following their parents.

While Tristan was still amazed by the sight, Raika spoke to the person who guarded the stable

"We will be taking the war horses."

The Kingsblade members were familiar with the place as they immediately rode the horses without taking any time at all.

Tristan was allowed to choose a horse for himself

Dragging his vision over the pasture, Tristan's eyes stopped at one of the horses. Ut has blood-red skin and golden hair piques his interest. 

Looking at its muscular build and striking appearance, Tristan was sure that was the kind of horse he wanted to ride. 

When the ranch's caretaker, heard Tristan's decision, he immediately advised him not to as none of the experts had been able to tame this particular horse. 

The horse that Tristan chose, the red stallion, was known to be wild and extremely difficult to cooperate with. Unfortunately, this fact only made Tristan even more interested in it.

Other people might have had a difficult time with it, but Tristan had an overpowered skill that could flawlessly resolve this issue.

Hence, without further ado, Tristan immediately used the skill.

[Blood Seal]

[Stallion, level 20 Beast]

[Blood Seal would require 100 Blood Essence to take effect]

[Proceed?]

"Yes."

It might look like a waste of Blood Essence to use it on a horse. But at the moment, Tristan just wanted to blow off the anger that he had toward the king today. 

There was no way a horse could possibly be included as one of the king's people, right?

Having the gorgeous horse suddenly become his loyal pet gave Tristan some kind of joy.

…

Some time later, a group of 7 people were seen riding together as they made their way to the south.

"Where are we headed now?" Tristan asked, 

"We are going to meet up with the Vanyar envoy first"

It appears the journey would take one and a half days. It somehow annoyed him that they did not use the flying ship as it would definitely save a lot of time.