Chapter 99: Riding

The journey took a full one and a half day which, in Tristan's opinion, was a complete waste of time. They could arrive at their destination faster if they took the flying ship. However, for some reason, the Kingsblade decided to not do so.

In order to reach their destination as fast as they could, these Kingsblade even abandoned the need to sleep.

Across the entire journey, the group of seven people only stopped once to rest the horse for a few hours at night. They galloped through plains as they made their way towards the destination.

Tristan was not sure if these Kingsblade were always on guard by nature or just because of his presence. The point was, these people never let their vigilance down.

Naturally, through this lengthy and time-consuming journey, Tristan did not sit still. He took advantage of the situation where they were together to know more about his current companions.

One of the Kingsblade who made the campfire with his fire magic was called Petra. He was a tall middle-aged man with medium brown hair that was rather messy. Unlike the fiery nature of his element, the man himself was extremely quiet and rather cold.

The only reason Tristan managed to know his name was because of the other Kingsblade who was called Nyx. The man was surprisingly a dark magic user, despite the friendly characteristic of his. Tristan was amazed when he saw him jump into the shadow of trees, and later came back with the dinner of the day, a wild game of deer.

The next one that Tristan knew was a burly man named Titus. Tristan assumed that the man would be the opposite of his element characteristic like the first two. Unfortunately, his guess was incorrect as the man was extremely bold and clamorous. Still, Tristan was impressed when he saw the man turn his entire body into metal during the last battle against the barbarians.

On the other hand, the other two Kingsblade members were the weapon experts of the squad, unlike the three who used magic as their attacks. The tall, muscular guy with light armor covering his body and a sword hanging at his waist was called Shane, while Crow was a long-haired, dark skin female who was covered in chainmail with a quiver at her waist and bow in her grasp.

At night, they were grilling the venison which had been dismantled and cut into pieces. Apparently, these Kingsblade became more talkative than usual when on break. Well, except the captain, Raika, who constantly took her duty seriously.

Heck, even Tristan was sure that the old lady wouldn't budge from her guard duty if someone hadn't called her over to eat.

It was exactly at this moment that Tristan chatted with them, taking his time to get close to the squad. It was always his principle to know more about his enemy than his friend.

However, it did not mean that these people were his enemy as the relationship between them was still vague and undefined in his opinion. Even so, it was always good for Tristan to gather more information whenever and wherever he could.

For example, through the casual chat with the Kingsblade, Tristan managed to know that King Callan was the first half human, half elf king in Arcadia where the previous kings were always elf. Even though he was a half elf, the man had reigned over Arcadia for more than 100 years, which was quite an impressive feat.

Tristan then noticed that when they talked about the king, the Kingsblade members always spoke with fervor and respect. Honestly. their behavior somewhat reminded him of those fanboys back on Earth who excitedly cheered their idol and artist.

As Tristan heard more and more about King Callan's achievements, he finally realized why the man was so revered and adored by his people. The Arcadian Kingdom had flourished for the last 100 years since he took reign. Hence, no wonder the people loved him.

Even so, Tristan could only let out a wry smile. He definitely could not accept a king who kept a young girl hostage to be a righteous king.

Tristan also took advantage of this time to check each of the Kingsblade members' strength, one by one.

[Nyx - Human - Male]

[Battle power 94]

[Spirit force 322]

[Titus - Human - Male]

[Battle power 85]

[Spirit force 272]

[Petra - Human - Male]

[Battle power 73]

[Spirit force 334]

[Shane - Human - Male]

[Battle power 123]

[Spirit force 88]

[Crowe - Human - Female]

[Battle power 111]

[Spirit force 97]

Except Captain Raika, who was obviously a level higher, the 5 of them roughly had similar levels of strength, with the weapon expert having a higher battle power. Hence, this led Tristan to believe there was some sort of standardization in order to have the opportunity to enter the Kingsblade.

With this standard of ability, each of them probably could handle an orc warchief and even could overpower the latter as they definitely had more versatility due to their spells and skills.

After 3 hours of resting the horses and eating meals, Raika finally decided to continue the journey. This time, probably because they had rest and food, Tristan felt the horses gallop even faster. They kept striding through the plains for another day until they finally reached their destination.

The place they were heading to, unlike exactly what Raika said before, was a city called Falkreath. It was the southernmost city of Arcadia, located west of Erantell.

The moment they reached the city, the sky was already dark as the sun was replaced by stars and moon. The city's gate was shut, while the guards were vigilant.

All 6 of Kingsblade were wearing a black cape that covered most of their body. Hence, they were not immediately being recognized. Fortunately, the moment Nyx showed the Kingsblade emblem, the guards immediately became hospitable as they opened the gate.

Then, the group rode through the city gate and entered the streets.

Tristan noticed something particular as he rode through the streets of Falkreath City - he could clearly see elves walking around the street. When he asked Nyx this, he explained that Falkreath was the closest human town bordering the Evergreen Forest. Because of that, it had many ties to the elf kingdom.

Because it was already late, Raika led them to the Falkreath City's estate, where the mayor resided. There, they were given accommodation to rest.

"We will see the envoy first thing in the morning. Therefore, use the time to rest well and be in your best condition tomorrow." Raika said as she handed the room key to Tristan.

Being separated for one and a half days after arriving at this world made Tristan somewhat anxious and uncomfortable. Hence that night, Tristan immediately tried the communication stone to reach out to Layla the moment he closed his room's door.

Unfortunately, Tristan still didn't get a reply even though it had been a few minutes since he had sent the message. All of this because the stone worked like a short message service, where it was normal for it to take a while.

The moment he saw the stone was blinking, he immediately grabbed it as it was the sign that it received a message.

[I am doing alright, Brother. I learnt several new spells, and also met a few handsome boys. Honestly, I am having a blast here. So, I hope you are doing the same. XOXO]

"..."

Tristan was not sure how to respond to such a message, but he strangely wanted to knock the head of that sister of his. Still, he was glad to hear news from her.

In all honesty, Tristan wished this world had something better than this stone, like a mobile phone back on Earth for example.