More than eighty young men stood before Marcus and his knights, confused as to why they were summoned here.
Seeing their expressions, a small smile played on Marcus's lips.
He had given them a speech about knighthood in the previous life, and that was enough to encourage them.
But now, he didn't want to do all of that at the moment, at least, not until he had successfully gotten Beast's blood essence and seen a successful cultivation of the Blood Bane Arts.
Furthermore, he still had the Five Elements Art. Those who had shown talent and affinity for the Art in his previous life, he would have them recultivate it in this life.
Currently, he couldn't tell which was more powerful, and he didn't care. What mattered the most was that these Arts could transform his men.
Compared to the harder barrier to entry of the conventional Blood Force awakening, these Arts were priceless.
And if possible, Marcus was hoping that they would be able to dual cultivate the Five Elements Art alongside Blood Bane Arts.
He believed that it was possible, but he was yet to know the specifics and connotations of the cultivation art. Until then… only time could tell.
"Harey!" He called out.
A ruggedly dressed youth with clear eyes shyly walked to the front of the line.
"Ye-yes Milord?"
"I am appointing you as the leader of your peers. While we are away, you all will be tasked with keeping order within the estate.
Or at least, manage the current order."
"Sir?" Harey uttered, dumbfounded.
"Can I trust you with this?"
"I'm… not sure."
Marcus smiled and clasped the young man's shoulders. "Perfect answer. You have a good head on your shoulders, so I know you'll do well. We won't be gone long anyway."
He truly believed so. This was someone he had long considered making a head figure amongst a platoon of his knights.
"Come on, guys, let's go," Marcus called out to his knights as he walked towards a horse that had long been prepared for him.
Everyone looked confused and was speechless as they watched the young lord walk away calmly.
Bradley exchanged looks with the knights around him before sighing and following behind Marcus.
Milord, it's getting harder and harder to get a read on you with each passing day.
Bradley thought, but then, when he recalled that Marcus was bedridden for a long time, a smile rode his face as his mood seemed to rise. The sight of a healthy Marcus.
Fine, this is also fine. I don't need to be able to read you, as long as you're fine, then we will all be fine too.
Thirteen men followed behind Marcus, heading towards their own horses too.
With a light hit with his foot, the horse Marcus was on moved.
*****
Daze Mountain was not a place people spoke of lightly.
Even its name carried weight, the kind that settled on the tongue and refused to leave. An enigma that stretched from one continent to another, its range formed one of only three crossings over the Dead Ocean, in theory.
In practice, there was no crossing it at all. Or at least, no one had seemingly heard of anyone accomplishing this.
The mountain range that most travellers encountered was merely its forefront, its face, if one could call it that.
Beyond it lay a labyrinth of peaks and forests so vast and so deep that the sky above them seemed to belong to a different world entirely.
One where the sun's light arrived apologetically, as though it too wasn't sure it was welcome.
Those who had ventured deeply past the forefront came back changed.
The ones who returned at all.
Their stories were never the same, but they always carried the same undertone…
"Milord, are you certain that you want to do this?" Bradley asked, urging his horse to run alongside Marcus's as the silhouette of the mountain range darkened the horizon ahead of them.
Marcus smiled as he glanced at him from the corner of his eye, thinking that this steward of his was scared of where they were going. "We wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't certain, Bradley."
Bradley was quiet for a moment, carefully picking his next words. "Just to be certain, Sir. You are aware that the number of Beasts inhabiting Daze is more than the number of humans on both the Sal continent and Wu continent, right?"
"Unproven,"
"But not baseless," Bradley said. "In there, there's been no humans brave enough to actively hunt them, so their numbers only grow."
"That would have been the case if there were proper order in Daze, but Beasts do not possess that much intelligence. Who's to say that they've been living peacefully with each other?
"There are many species of Beasts, some more docile than others. Where there are predators, there's bound to be prey."
"But Milord, there's also the possibility of the Beast going on a rampage and leaving Daze to cause a tide of chaos."
"Highly unlikely, Bradley." Marcus shook his head. He refused to believe that there was a central power head or figure that could command and direct the actions of the Beasts in the area.
Moreover, hunting a few Beasts wouldn't cause a Beast Tide.
At most, they would become marked enemies by groups with Alphas.
"Bradley, have you thought about why I'm taking you along?"
"I have, but I haven't been able to come to a conclusion."
"Tell me, how important are you to me?"
"Sir?" Bradley frowned.
"Without you, how smoothly would my plans run? Would my manor run the same way? While I am your liege, I am also aware that many things in my lands function the way they do, is because you always try your best to make sure that they work. If I lose you, it would hurt." Marcus squinted.
He had lost Bradley too in the previous life. However, it was hard to quantify how deeply he was affected due to circumstances and the shock he received.
Bradley was touched to hear all of this, but he couldn't put together what Marcus was trying to say.
"Our enemies are powerful, and although they haven't specifically targeted people from my mansion, it will soon come to pass. If we are to survive this incoming disaster, you are to get stronger. Or at least, be able to run away from danger faster."
A glint of realization flashed across Bradley's forehead as his brows shot up. "Milord… you want me to… awaken Blood Force?"
"What do you think?"
Bradley was stunned and confused; so were the knights listening in on their conversation.
It was common knowledge that there was a short opening for awakening Blood Force.
Once a person had grown past nineteen, the likelihood of death over awakening was high.
And even if one somehow managed to awaken their Blood Force, it would be incomparably weak.
Despite all of this, the young lord was asking Bradley, a man close to his thirties, to awaken his Blood Force.
The steward sighed.
"Milord, while I do appreciate the sentiment and care you have for me, I am already way past the age of awakening. Unless some miracle could happen, I doubt I'll ever live to attain such achievement."
"Well, luck is on your side."
"Huh?" Bradley blinked rapidly.
"What do you think we're hunting Beasts for? I have…" Marcus paused, thinking of how to unsuspiciously reveal this.
"...Just remembered a technique that father taught me when I was younger. One where the blood essence of a Beast is used to awaken Blood Force."
"What!?"
Everyone exclaimed loudly. Some of the knights almost fell off their horses.
"The lord Duke revealed such important information to you?" Bradley asked. He found Marcus's claim hard to believe.
Mainly because he refused to believe that Daemon Sirdi had such a technique in his possession.
If he did, then he would have used it to increase the number of knights under his banner.
Also, such a technique contradicted their common knowledge about Blood Force.
"What, you think father didn't leave me anything?" Marcus lied with a straight face.
Or rather, he left their minds to come to a conclusion of their own.
"This technique is also the reward I promised Lesley and Chase."
The ears of the two knights perked up when they heard their names.
Under their doubtful gaze, a bubbling feeling of excitement erupted.
"Not only can this technique be used to help awaken Blood Force, but it can also be used to advance from one rank to another. The stronger the Beast's blood essence, the better the results."
All the knights around began feeling excited. The thought of being able to increase their strengths again motivated them.
All of them soon left their doubts behind.
Why?
Because Marcus had done something similar before, when he helped them awaken special abilities with the items he purchased for them.
Though some of them still were capable of utilizing this specialty, they knew that it was within them.
"But don't get your hopes too high; there's bound to be a price to pay," Marcus added.