The cold wind blew at his face as Hartley guided his horse to a full trot, moving through the groves of trees flanking both sides of the winding narrow path. The majestic creature's black shiny mane flowed in the swirling blusters, the wind brought flecks of snow down to the earth on what was a grey overcast day.
The black horse that was almost one and a half meters tall, exposed the visible smoke-like condensation of its breaths in the cold air as it trekked through the claustrophobic grove of trees and undergrowth.
It effortlessly strode over the bumpy terrain lightly dusted white with a thin layer of snow.
Loud clopping noises could be heard in the relatively quiet forest, every time its hoofs made contact with the random stones, the sound of metal clashing against rock would echo out.
This was the east forest of Hartley's fief, today he was personally patrolling the area, he had ventured into the forest in hopes of finding and recruiting the runaway commoners who had turned to banditry. He was planning to form a security force for House Hartley.
Commander Genk had left his men posted at the manor and patrolling the area, but they couldn't stay forever, Hartley had to find his own solution eventually.
The heavy winter snows would arrive soon and in desperation for resources, bandit activities were bound to rise.
Instead of having them harassing the citizens of his fief, he might as well recruit them, if they were not willing to be recruited and still insisted on harassing the people, then he had to eradicate them....
Stretching out his awareness to 3 kilometers Hartley made his way into the heart of the green twisting forest towards his targets.
After another fifteen minutes of travel the trees gave way to a plateau carpeted by weeds and shrubbery, there was smoke rising from a settlement of a half dozen crude tents made from fierce beast pelts sitting in the clearing.
People on the plateau were suddenly spooked by the clopping hoofs headed in there direction.
"Stop!" came an order as a man dressed in what can only be described as rags shivered from the cold as he aimed an unsteady old, almost antique crossbow at Hartley.
Movements behind the man flashed into Hartley's vision, the people in the tents began scrambling out frantically to support the lone man stood before Hartley, hearing the confrontation taking place.
"How many people are here?" Hartley asked the scraggy man, unconcerned with what was happening behind him..
The man scowled,
"None of your business, we're not going back. Go back and tell whoever sent you that you din't find us."
Soon the man was joined by a rag tag bunch of pallid under-dressed misfits armed with second-hand weapons ranging from bent spears to rusty swords.
Ignoring them, Hartley's eyes focused on a big tent almost twice the size of the others in the center of the plateau, there had been no movement from within the tent even with all the disturbances, it was strange that no one alighted to check out the situation.
Hartley smoothly dismounted from the black horse.
The scraggy man took a step back looking seriously at the youth before him, the quiver of his hands holding his crossbow betrayed the nervousness that his stern face tried to hide.
With a bright flash, a wave of ice-blue mist spread out blinding the scraggy man and those rushing to his aid, dust and snow swirled in the air sending cold wind against the man's face, forcing him to close his eyes for a split-second.
When the man opened his eyes again, the young man dressed in black was nowhere to be seen.
...
There was a slight ripping sound in the air, a hazy blue mist rotating vertically end over end appeared in the center of the big tent. The floor was covered with worn out straw and two beds made of beast-pelt at each corner.
The swirling lights disappeared with a flash whipping up the dried straw on the ground, leaving a handsome youth standing in the middle of the tent.
Two people gawked as they shuffled back, the sight instantly almost paralyzed them with fear.
A middle age man dressed in a descent robe compared to the others, rushed to his left and stood defensively in front a younger woman.
"Who are you?" the panicked man shouted with his arms outstretched to the sides shielding the brunette woman behind him.
Hartley smiled.
"I'm the new Lord of the western Hills."
...
The man was Fu Qian and the woman was his daughter, they had fled from a noble house because the young lord wanted to have improper relations with his daughter.
He was somewhat of a good fighter, so he had banded together with others who had also fled from the land of nobles, forming a small bandit gang, they made their base deep in the thick forest and used guerilla tactics to stave off the constant harassment of soldiers who came looking for them.
Soon the soldiers stopped coming so often and they were left to survive in the jungle.
Since Fu Qian was the leader and surprisingly in the 1st layer of the xiantian realm, Hartley offered him and the others the job of securing House Hartley for fair pay.
Fu Qian was no fool, commoners who shirked their duties from the noble house they were affiliated to, were not easily hired by other nobles.
That demonstration by the young lord showed him what the alternative might be if he refused.
Days went by with Hartley working behind the scenes to develop his fief, the days soon grew colder with snow fluttering wildly through the air, blanketing the region in white.
A white flag with a black bear stood proudly on its hind legs , flapped vibrantly in the cold winds atop a castle-like three story manor,
there was still a few builders applying the finishing touches to the building.
This was the flag of House Hartley. A reminder of the his first encounter with the black bear in the back-mountains of the Lou Clan.
Commander Genk and Anguo Chen showed up to the manor soon after, they brought with them a request from Prince Jian. Hartley was to accompany the commander to a meeting about an affiliate country under Aidonia's rule.
The affiliate country named Tivoli was a country rich with gemstone mines, the small country was near the region of the barren lands, locked between another affiliate country and the sea called the East Gulf, the country had lacked military strength and had chosen to be an affiliate country under Aidonia's rule a long time ago allying themselves with the young prince.
Behind the scenes representatives from Sasko had stirred up the internal feud between the king of Tivoli and his brother who was married to a noble woman from Sasko.
Backed by experts from Sasko masquerading themselves as citizens of Tivoli.
The king's brother was trying to overthrow the king and change the allegiance of the country, his troops had made a push to capture the capital and was fended off by the loyal troops still at the king's side but with the meddling from Sasko, who knows how long they would hold the capital.
Of course Prince Jian couldn't allow this to happen. The revenues from the affiliate country was a vital part of the prince's income.....
A cold wind blew, ruffling hair, robes and dresses, after alighting from a carriage Hartley stood before a grand castle. Soldiers patrolled with their feet crunching on the ground in unison as they made their rounds around the grand grounds. Not far away, Anguo Chen and Commander Genk stepped from another carriage.
This was the castle of Baron Hongtian situated in the central regions of the capital, as the group entered the grand hall, they were greeted by the twinkling lights from chandeliers mounted in the high ceilings. The lavish hall was already filled with elders representing the two princes and the delegates sent form Sasko.
Hartley made his way to the seats where the group sat with the commander and his subordinates.
.
All parties were at the negotiation table to have peaceful talks as a last resort before turning the country of Tivoli to a war zone for the prominent countries to duke out their differences. Tivoli had become a subtle pawn for those who had controlling interests in the natural resources of the country.
The young prince had put the commander and a few elders in charge of the negotiations and had asked for the commander to bring Hartley along and ease him into the politics of the capital and the three prominent countries.
Present were representatives of the eldest prince as well who had no dog in this fight but were there to throw up roadblocks for the young prince if the opportunity should arise.
What ensued was a passionate discussion about the state of affairs in Tivoli.
The representatives from Sasko insisted that the internal strife should play itself out and then let the winners of the civil war in Tivoli decide who they wanted to pledge their allegiance to after the fall out.
Commander Genk who was opposed to that notion stood up and stated that the country is under the protection of Aidonia and will be protected at all cost, whether they accepted or not..
"It's obvious that people from Sasko have infiltrated the country and are putting pressure on the king." Commander Genk had slammed his hand on the table and blurted out vociferously rebuking those representatives from Sasko.
Baron Hongtian who was representing the eldest prince didn't care either way, though he would never outright betray his country, he was quite alright with putting up as much road blocks as he could for the youngest prince so he stayed neutral throughout.
If the young prince lost the country of Tivoli and the revenue stream that came with it, that would be a damning indictment on his leadership, how could people confidently back him to be the next King of Aidonia in the coming years if he was shown to be incompetent.
Hartley had been bored out of his mind this whole time watching grown men bicker like children, that was when Commander Genk turned and asked for Hartley's opinion.....
"Just go and quell the unlawful rebellion taking take place and let the rightful king decide the future course of his country, the last time I checked which was this morning, the Flag of Aidonia was still flying over the capital. What right have outsiders got to intervene in the affairs of a country under our protection?"
All this was said nonchalantly by the half-interested Hartley as if it was the simplest and most obvious solution in the world.
Commander Genk who had been around petty politics and politicians for so long that he had almost forgotten what honesty looked like, smiled broadly while saying, "good lets go and have a look for ourselves and see what's really going on down there, why not?".
The delegates from Sasko seethed with hatred upon realizing who Hartley was and what he had done, they flashed him looks of hatred, what had happened at the banquet was considered a national shame. Elder Langzu had been severely punished for losing a promising cultivator and losing the face of the entire country in front of all three prominent countries....
The meeting ended and everyone was heading out, some disappointed and some happy. Hartley wasn't sure how to feel, he was only there on the request of Prince Jian.
After leaving the Hall Hartley was making his way back to his carriage with commander Genk a few meters to his left, a young man from the Sasko delegation hurried to catch up to the black haired youth as he walked outside and into the swirling snow.
"One day I will wipe the the shame from our country with your blood," the young man dressed in a green robe scowled at Hartley from behind with malice in his eyes.
Hartley was a true powerhouse now, he had no time for these immature ramblings, he turned, lifted his palm and used gravity attract, the man was pulled to him like he was made of steel and Hartley's palm made of magnet.
The young man had Hartley's strong vice-like hand wrapped around his throat lifting him off his feet and had him struggling for breath before he even knew what was going on.
Hartley put his face right up to within an inch of the young man's face and spoke.
"Show, don't tell, a simple premise most struggle with, go home and molest your maids, this is the real world where strength speaks loudest and don't dare speak until you have enough."
As he dashed the young man aside. He rolled away in a tangled heap of legs and arms through a patch of wet mud, when the now dirty young man came to a stop, he glared at Hartley with an evil scowl with even more hatred, his green robe was stained in mud and looked more like brown.
The guardian of the young man, who was an expert assigned to protect the man from the shadows, flashed forward towards Hartley in a blur, a vicious smile bloomed on the young man's face as he had expected such an event, he had baited the hot-headed youth now killing him could be argued as self-defense. His satisfaction was palpable....then after a blue flash.... Boom!
There was a rain of blood as the mystery guardian transformed into a bloody mist that splashed across the face of young the man, staining him and the snow under him scarlet.
The young man trembled in fright as splatters of blood decorated his face and pieces of flesh clogged his hair, turning his morbid twisted scowl into a look of unimaginable fright and fear.