26 The kingdom

Kael and his team survived the enemies' ambush. They continued the path towards the Kingdom of the barbarian. They arrived at the checkpoint, the guards have bulging muscles and they are armed with spears. They have metal breastplate on their chest and a helm that was made of steel. They have undergarment of leather and a foot-guard on their feet. They wear satchels on both of their foot.

"What's your purpose?", the guard that is a tad bigger from the other one asked the merchant.

The merchant handed his papers for entry and then the guard lets them pass.

"They were merchants.", said the guard that was holding the paper.

Kael as well as the others went back to the carriage and resumes their travel.

"Hiya!!!", Yelled the driver to the horse as he whips them.

The carriage then resumed its travel towards their kingdom. On their way, there were many laborers that were making the roads into bricks. They pass them by and the roads they are traveling on were now bricks. The road was now not bumpy and there are more barbarians that can be seen. They are naturally well-built and are born warriors. Every single one of them was capable of warfare but they humbly love peace.

"Say, Fred, do you know what happened exactly why the war broke out?", Kael asked Fred.

"It was the Dwight King that wanted to rule all the races of Lumia. He was smart and sly. He managed to convince the barbarians and Skulds to attack the Demi-humans, they were stopped by the strongest races called beast-men. Specifically the Druids, Vampires, and Lycans. They have the strength to do so.", Fred said to him.

"So that means the strongest races are the beast-men?", he asked.

"The strongest are the Dragons. They can eradicate an entire city with just one of them. They were divided into two groups, the Elemental Dragons and the Black Dragons. The Black Dragons are the evil ones and they are warring with each other since the beginning. The Elemental Dragons were neutral and doesn't bother other races. They were generally friendly and helpful to humans when the evil dragons pronounced war with the humans.", Fred said to him.

"So the greatest are the Dragons?", He then asked him.

"They were the strongest if we don't include divine beings, specifically the Angels.", he concluded.

"So Angels were the strongest", Kael said.

"Yep, they were all S-class and above. The weakest Angel were S-class minus and the strongest were triple S-class plus.", Fred said to him.

Kael was surprised by his knowledge about the strongest beings. They were happily talking with each other on the rest of their journey.

They nearing the kingdom's walls and they are towering from afar. The walls were built with bricks and they are three-story high. The walls have spikes and there were many spikes on its foundation that serves as a good defense.

They have arrived near the gates and they were inspected of their belongings. The gates were big with the size of a three-story building. It has a red-colored gate that was decorated with axes. The gate was opened wide and they have guards within.

The merchant brought his papers and was requested to pass through by the guards. The guards were towering and had a height of seven-footers. With their body that has outgrown muscles, they give off a fearsome aura.

They passed through the checkpoint and the citizens were doing their own job. They arrived at their market and it looked underdeveloped but it was bustling with people. With just cloth and wood, they made their stalls out of it.

They arrived at the meeting place of retailers and merchants.

The merchant talked with the retailers that want to buy his goods.

"I will purchase a crate of apples.", said the man with a mustache.

"A crate of wine please!", said the man with commoner wear.

"We would like to purchase three crates of cabbage.", said the merchant girl.

"Wait a minute, I will get it ready.", he said to them.

"Please carry them out please!", he instructed them.

They carried the crates and then all the items were sold out. The sun is about to set and they have to check-in to an inn. They left their carriage to the guards.

Kael and the adventurers went to find an inn. They found one and it has a wooden plank that was hanging and it has letters engraved to it, "The Turtle Inn".

"Hey guys this will be our lodge for the night, I've left our carriage to the guards for it to be secured.", the merchant said.

They went inside and the inn that was lighted with candles and lamps. Night came and the rest to their rooms. Kael washed first with hot water and wears his nightwear. He went to the window side and was looking at the window side. It was a habit of his to watch the stars before getting to sleep. The stars brightly lit the skies and the moon was on its peak, he contemplated his journey this day and then went to bed.