A group of creatures, each the size of a large car, flew in the air. They had a wide wingspan, and their skin was scaly and tough, forming a natural armor.
The group of creatures stopped and started hovering in the air, their reptilian heads staring down at the ground.
To keep its hover, it flapped its wings, generating a massive gust of wind, alerting both Aria and Ren below.
'Those are…'
Ren gripped the hilt of his blade with narrowed eyes and a serious expression.
'Wyverns? I guess it makes sense. It is a fantasy world after all.'
The skin of a fully mature one is tough enough to withstand 5th tier spells. It was safe to say that they shouldn't fight it.
Aria then glanced at Ren, who was ready to fight the creature despite that difference.
'This man…'
Aria knew they both recognized the creatures as wyverns, and, glancing at their various sizes, most were probably halfway through maturing, meaning they could resist 3rd tier spells.
Yet despite that, Ren seemed ready to fight no matter the odds.
'Is he brave or reckless?'
The thought occurred to Aria. She understood that Ren wasn't stupid enough to fight battles he couldn't win, but she also knew that if he saw a glimmer of hope in victory, then he would go for it no matter the risk.
But at that moment, Ren relaxed, letting go of his sword's hilt.
'Ren?'
Ren's serious expression changed into a smile as he pointed to everyone else around them who had also noticed wyverns in the air.
'Look, it seems these aren't enemies.'
The knights looked up and, upon seeing the creatures, donned relieved expressions, speaking among themselves.
"The first group is back!"
"Captain Hale has returned!"
"Better late than never."
The old butler Thetford let out a relieved sigh, while the squire Weren passed out in relief.
Relia's expression couldn't help but brighten as she looked back at Aria and Ren.
"Our group was split into two for… special reasons."
Her brightened expression nearly turned into a grimace; after all, the special tradition of nobles to split their forces had almost gotten her killed.
'When I get back, I'll make sure father never hears the end of my complaints!'
Composing herself, Relia continued,
"Now that the first group has returned, a safe journey to the capital, Aelon is guaranteed."
As the pair stared at Relia spoke further with a proud expression on her face.
"The group is composed of the best of the Aureus and is led by the strongest captain of the Aureus military."
'Though they were way too late!'
Relia both complimented outwardly while admonishing inwardly before pointing towards the biggest wyvern.
It was nearly the size of a house and was hovering above them hundreds of feet in the air.
"That wyvern is flown by Captain Hale, he is part of the Golden Dragon Squa… hm? What is he doing?"
The three were looking at the biggest Wyvern, spotting an armored figure riding on its back.
He was the Captain Hale Relia mentioned, but that wasn't what confused them; it was instead what the Captain did next.
He stood up on the wyvern's back before leaping off his mount!
'Whoa! He did a backflip!'
'Crazy…'
'Sir Hale!?'
Ren's smile widened in amazement as Aria stared with disbelief, and with even more disbelief was Relia.
With a loud bang, the ground shook with dust clouds spreading from the landing spot of the Captain.
"HA HA HA! I am…!"
Captain Hale emerged from the dust with a boisterous laugh; he was uninjured.
He then took a look around and noticed that half of the knights were injured on the ground.
"Late?"
…
"I apologize, Lady Relia!"
On his knees, Hale bowed, slamming his head into the ground, but instead of his head being injured, it was the ground that broke.
Relia stared for a couple of moments, her face frowning, before changing back to her usual polite expression.
"Is that why you're late?"
Relia noticed blood on Hale's armor in addition to scratches all over its metal surface. Hale responds with his face still in the ground.
"Yes! We were attacked by masked assassins…"
'I figured…'
In the fantasy novel that Relia had read, there wasn't a lot of detail on Relia Aureus's assassination, but there was on the people who caused it.
It was an organization that pushed the blame on the Lelfon kingdom to start a war between the kingdom and the Rael Empire.
Yet their most powerful members weren't around here, but instead doing other things, so for someone as powerful as Hale, he should have dominated them.
Relia stared with narrowed eyes,
"You got attacked by another group, didn't you?"
"…"
Hale's mouth clamped shut as he started sweating bullets; the previously boisterous man turned unnervingly silent, causing the knights, Thetford, and Relia to frown.
'I have a bad feeling.'
The thought came to Relia as Hale soon opened his mouth,
"Royal...."
"Royal?"
"The Royal Guard attacked."
Except for Aria and Ren, the knights, Thetford, and Relia's eyes widened.
The Royal Guard, a group protecting the royal family, is considered the best of the best in the country. They held the interest of the empire above all else.
And now the Aureus family had a conflict with them.
Since nobles were under the royal family, what he had just done was like attacking your boss's boss!
'They attacked because he flew in the capital's airspace. Ugh! What a disaster!'
The tradition for nobles to split into groups forced them to separate themselves from the strongest of their group. This was done not only so they could show off their power, but also because of an event that occurred over 30 years ago.
One of the 6 families holding the title of duke, the Perneus family, launched a revolt against the Rael royal family, charging into the capital with a flying army.
Of course, since the empire was still called the Rael empire, they failed miserably, leading to a law being put in place requiring all nobles to split their forces to inform the capital before entering, as well as banning all flights near the capital.
This obviously included all their magical creatures, such as the wyverns they were flying with, forcing them to walk to the capital.
'I'm not angry… I'm not angry.... I'm angry!'
Relia tried to calm herself, but it was useless; she wanted to yell at Hale, but she understood that he wasn't at fault.
'He only flew because I was in danger… it isn't his fault, it's that assassin's fault!'
Hale himself didn't seem injured, though to Relia, who had both heard and seen his abilities, this armoured behemoth getting injured was of the least of her concerns.
Pushing her anger deep inside and letting out a sigh, she composed herself and waved her hand, signalling Hale to rise.
"You may rise… I'm glad you arrived, though. Thetford, would you inform him of everything that has transpired?"
Relia looked towards Thetford, who nodded and started telling Hale about what had happened. Afterwards, Hale then started chatting with the knights.
In the background, Ren and Aria scanned this new arrival.
Hale had a rugged and handsome appearance, looking to be in his late 20s to early 30s with messy grey hair and dark green eyes.
What was most noticeable was his size.
'He's huge!'
Ren could only look in awe as the man stood up. He towered over them, with Ren estimating he was about a foot taller than him.
'He's at least over 200 centimeters in height, but that body is even more surprising.'
He was well built with bulging muscles, who, Ren, a close combat master, could tell, took decades of hard work and discipline.
On top of all of that, Hale wore thick armor along with accessories such as an earring and a necklace shimmering with multiple magical enchantments.
His weapon of choice seemed to be the large halberd attached to his back.
'His body isn't too bulky, but far from small. His body is one that is nearing the limits of efficiency. I'd guess he's at the peak of Rank 5, maybe even a Rank 6.'
Ren quickly sent the message to Aria, who could only glance in astonishment.
'All I can tell is that he's strong…''
Aria could typically sense the rank of a person through the mana they emit, yet Hale didn't emit any mana. The only mana he gave off was from the equipment he had.
Since the equipment gave off mana, it meant that it was enchanted. These enchantments could come in any form, from temperature regulation to even an enchantment that could wash your body.
Typically, the more mana inside the equipment, the more powerful the enchantment was.
Although Aria didn't know how enchantments worked in this world, she could at least discern the number of enchantments Hale's armor had.
'Over a dozen different enchantments are on the armor, five on the necklace, and his earring has three. But that halberd… it has more mana than the rest of his armor and accessories combined.'
Aria sensed only 3 enchantments from the Halberd, but since it had the most mana out of all his equipment, it meant that the effects of those enchantments had to be formidable.
'With equipment like that, he could take on a rank 6, so your guess is probably right.'
Aria had been conveying all her thoughts to Ren, but as he was about to reply, Hale turned towards the pair.
He looked towards Aria, sensing her gaze, before giving her a bright smile and approaching the pair.
"Haha, I've been told by the knights that you two are the heroes of Lady Relia."
Hale then bowed deeply,
"I thank you truly, as a knight of the Aureus family, this should have been my job yet, as you can see, I failed spectacularly HAHAHA!"
His laughter was booming, rattling their bones. Aria frowned at his energy while Ren smiled brightly at it.
'He's too loud.'
'How energetic. Just my style!'
Hale, with hands on his hips, laughed some more before introducing himself, straightening his posture, and putting his right fist to his chest.
"I am Hale, knight captain of the Aureus family and the strongest knight of the South! What are your names, heroes?"
"Aria…"
Aria quickly answered before taking a step back while Ren shouted with the same energy as Hale, putting his hand over his chest as well.
"I'm Ren!"
Hale's eyes widened at Ren's shout, seemingly surprised that someone had tried to match his energy. His smile only widened as he stared at Ren.
"Such energy! It's rare to see it in your generation, Impressive… very Impressive!"
Hale stared for quite a while. Ren couldn't help but tilt his head in slight confusion, staring back at the giant.
The staring contest lasted a couple more moments, to the point that everyone else around took notice.
"What is Captain Hale doing?"
"Doesn't he do that when he wants a spar?"
"Spar? But he's just a kid…"
"Have you seen the captain discriminate? Didn't he challenge a duke last time?"
"If it weren't for Duke Aureus, he would have been jailed or worse!
Overhearing the conversation, Aria couldn't help but frown, gripping her staff in slight worry.
'From jumping that high and now challenging a Duke? I knew he was crazy! Ren… just retreat!'
There was irony in the fact that both she and Ren had fallen from an even greater height, yet those thoughts evaded Aria.
Hale looked up and down, then scanned Ren's body, nodding with a light 'hmm' before staring back at his face and putting his hands on Ren's shoulders.
"You! Be my student! No… become my son-in-law!"
Everyone became silent, their eyes wide in shock. Aria's eyes glowed menacingly with green, ready to throw a spell at the supposed rank 5.
Despite Aria's questions about Ren's recklessness, when push came to shove, she was even worse.