845 Journey

He looked at Alex and spread his wing before bowing its head. "Ga Wu!"

"Don't worry. I am not someone who takes back his promise. It's only going to be three months anyway, so he should be visiting you sooner or later." Alex assured them with a smile.

"Ga Ga Wu!"

"Sir Alex… How can you understand them?" Mithra couldn't help but ask. Alex seemed to have the ability to talk with animals despite his powerful strength.

"What you people call monsters have their own intelligence. Some are smarter, and some are not just like humans. And I have experienced something like this in the past, so I can somehow understand what they are saying." Alex explained with a shrug. "He is telling me that I can only grab the item when his son is fine three months later."

Alex then turned his head back to Father Luan and said, "I don't mind about the condition, but you are fine if I take a look at what you have, right?"

He nodded and moved to the left, giving way for Alex to approach their nest before guiding Alex to his secret stash. They were herbs from around the mountain that he plucked to cure his son, while the items came from the adventurers that challenged them in the past.

Alex looked at them one by one without his Spirit Eyes, so he might be able to recognize their appearance himself without their energy. He understood a few, but they were only low rank tier herbs. He rechecked them with his Spirit Eyes, finding nothing but disappointment.

He let out a long sigh.

Father Luan panicked for a second, thinking that nothing impressed Alex. This way, his son couldn't be treated, so he asked, "Ga Wu Ga Wu?!"

"I am searching for something… I don't know what that is, so I am searching blindly right now. Do you know the Devil that appears in the Dragon Valley?" Alex asked.

"Ga Wu? Ga Ga!"

"You don't know, but you have a certain pact with the Dragon Valley?"

"Ga Wu."

"It's related to the desert far from this place." This piqued Alex's interest, and asked, "Can you tell me more?"

Father Luan nodded and continued. "Ga Wu Ga Wu."

"There is a secret palace inside the desert, and only the Dragon knows about the location? And the way to enter it is to use Luan's blood."

Father Luan nodded. "Ga Wu."

"The pact was made by your Grandfather a few hundred years ago. I see, it's old then. I wonder if the Dragon Valley still knows about this pact…" Alex pondered for a moment.

"Ga Wu, Ga."

"Don't worry. If it's only a drop of blood, it won't injure your son." Alex ensured him. "Besides, I can blast that place open even if it's not enough. I am far stronger than you think after all."

"But we have someone who will send us now." Alex glanced at the Blue Luan with a smile. "It won't take too long. It will probably take two weeks."

"It's not going to be training anymore?" Mithra wanted to be happy but somehow felt empty. The training was torture, but she felt it was the most fulfilling days she had in her own life. It was the first time she used all her energy for a clear goal.

Alex smiled and patted her head. "I have a different training menu for you after this."

"I understand!" Mithra looked up and smiled.

'Why are you smiling, little girl?' Alex twitched his eyebrows and turned back to Father Luan. "That's why we will be going today. I will let you send your goodbye today and go tomorrow."

Just like his words, the Luans were stroking the Blue Luan with their cheeks, saying they will miss him. The Blue Luan felt blessed and responded to them.

It continued for a few hours as the sky turned dark. Father Luan asked them to sleep together because they didn't want them to feel cold.

Alex took their offer when he saw Mithra's expectant gaze and slept together with them. It might be the first time he used an animal's body as his pillow, but it certainly didn't feel bad.

The next day, they flew off the nest as soon as the sun rose. Alex suppressed the element in the Blue Luan's body, letting him fly without pain. He happily brought them on his body, soaring to the sky.

They waved their hands to the Luans until they couldn't be seen anymore before Alex decided to start the training.

Alex flew with the Spiritual Energy to the front and said. "I have a practice for you. I am sure you can do it while flying like this, so listen carefully."

He began teaching the Blue Luan how to harmonize the two energies as the latter listened to him attentively.

It took him a few hours before he could revolve the energy according to his will. Even though the effect was small to the point it could be ignored, the Blue Luan was very happy because he knew the pain would go away within three months.

After that, Alex then returned to Mithra, looking at her training her footwork. Blue Luan said it was alright to train in his body because he was strong, so she trained while waiting for Alex to finish.

Alex only smiled and stopped her. "Ahem. Let's stop for now. What I am going to teach you is basic swordsmanship. Unlike the footwork where you focus solely on your foot, you are going to pay attention to your sword as well.

"If you can complete this, I am sure you are able to acquire the basic but most important thing for a Sword Cultivator, Sword Intent. Are you ready?"

"Yes." Mithra nodded with a serious expression.

"There won't be any rest from now on. I am going to train you until you are drenched in sweat and become stinky." Alex chuckled before training her.

…

A few days later.

In the previous kingdom, a guard suddenly intruded their meeting room where the king gathered the hero to celebrate their improvement.

*Bang!* The soldier pushed open the door and shouted. "Emergency."

The King furrowed his eyebrows. He had especially invited many nobles to come here with their daughters to seduce the real hero, but this sudden event made him annoyed. He furiously shouted, "What is it?"

"We… We have spotted the phoenix flying not far from here…"

"What? The Phoenix? The one that is having their nest not far in the west?" The king gasped while the guests sweatdropped. "Send the alarm and call all powerful warriors in this country."

"We have confirmed it's the one because what we found is the one and only Blue Phoenix. However, the captain said we don't need to fight the phoenix because there are two people riding on its back as if they have tamed the phoenix."

"What? The Blue Phoenix? Who are riding on its back? We need to know about their identity and invite them. They will be the strongest force in our kingdom!" The king immediately ordered albeit the soldier fell silent, making the king angry. "What are you doing? Immediately execute my order!"

"I am afraid that is impossible. The captain said the one riding the blue phoenix are the fifth person and the maid…" The soldier only told him the code without knowing their name because the king wanted to keep the matter secret.

However, this infuriated him even further as he fell down on his throne, feeling weak. His face became pale.

The ministers also knew about them, but the ones that were shocked the most were the four people summoned here.

Liliana gasped and closed her mouth in surprise. 'Is him… Ahaha… Does Earth actually have someone that is strong? I have been learning many things about this world and that Phoenix is said to be one of the strongest creatures in the world. And yet, he tames it so easily. If I go back to Earth, I will surely search for the hidden power.'

However, the hero was filled with hatred at this point. He should be the one shining at this point, but Alex ruined everything. 'That bastard, I will kill him!'

The king called one of his ministers to his side and said with a helpless tone. "Cancel every plan we have against that person."

"Your Majesty, are you serious?"

"Can't you see it yourself? The Phoenixes are one of the strongest. Someone who can tame them and use them as his mount should be even stronger. If we are going to fight against those two, it's better to fight those devils."

"Maybe we can invite them back here?"

"It's impossible. I will kill that damned son of mine. He is ruining our image in his eyes." The king gritted his teeth. Even though Alex was bound to leave no matter what, he still needed someone to blame. If not, his heart couldn't rest. That prince would have another hell after this…

On the other hand, the nobles around the kingdom looked at the king with a sly glint.

"Your Majesty. If I may ask, what is happening here? The Royal Guard from earlier seem to know those people… Did Your Majesty know about these two that can ride the Blue Phoenix?"

"That's right. If you know such a person, you need to introduce us as well."

The nobles banded together, trying to get the information about these mysterious people. The four summoned people were limited, so they thought they could try their luck with these two.

The king would soon have a 'great time'.

Meanwhile, Alex was watching the capital city with Mithra, asking. "What do you think about this city? You have been working in this city, right?"

"Yes. I was just a maid… Our job is to take care of the daily necessities in the castle while dressing as good as we can to impress the royalty. Many people dream of getting the royalties to bed them and pregnant with their kid to get more affection from the royalties and live in rich.

"My father was an adventurer, but my mother was a maid. I had this job because of my mother, who passed away because of sickness. She couldn't contain the grief after losing Father. So, I can only follow in her footstep and use her connection to be one of the maids.

"Still, I didn't dress up that nicely because I didn't want to attract them. I wanted to have enough money to travel around the world to see this world with my own eyes. Now that I look at it again from the sky, the city is beautiful indeed. However, I notice there are some darkness around the city… The slums that I used to live in." Mithra looked at the city with a sad expression.

"Ga Wu!" The Blue Luan glanced at her and asked her not to cry.

Alex also patted her head and said, "After this, you will have the strength to do what you want… Just make sure that you do not drown in your own power and kill people without thinking. Because you will become the person you hate to be."

"Yes. I will always remember this word." She nodded.

"Come on. Don't be sad. You took a bath yesterday… Ian, you should know how stinky she was, right?"

"Ga Wu!" The Blue Luan nodded. Alex named him with whatever name he had in thought because it was hard to call him Blue Luan all the time.

"Don't tease me." Mithra pouted.

"Haha…"

"Ga Wu!"

The gloomy atmosphere was soon replaced by laughter, but that wasn't bad at all.

And their journey continued for a few more days.