The Baron – Vick Shrim – breathed heavily and was profusely sweating as he fled away from the village. He rode his horse and made it ran to its fullest. Even though he had reached far away from the village, he could still feel the fear lingering inside him.
He had reached the path flanked by the trees of the forest to his mansion. It was about in the middle of the afternoon so there was no need to worry about entering this path. Besides, there was nothing dangerous in the forest near here, the dangerous forest was on the other side of the village.
"W-Who was that?"
Vick asked himself as the fear still remained within him.
"There's no way someone has that kind of skills."
Of course, there was no way. It was obvious in the encounter that the man used magic. However, what's even more unbelievable was his physical abilities.
"That was absolutely ridiculous. His physical skills alone surpass the elite knights of the kingdom."
The elite knights of the kingdom may be skilled in swordsmanship and in combat, especially the Knight Captain. That said, there was no way one person of the elite knights can go against a large group of trained individuals without having a scratch.
He had never even seen any of the elite knights of the kingdom to dodge attacks like that man in the village. Not only that, he had never seen in his entire life one that can evade attacks in such a smooth and swift motion.
"Curse that man! I will not let him interfere with fulfilling my family's wish!"
It was the longtime wish of his parents; therefore, he won't let a single masked man ruin everything.
"I will return."
It would seem the guards he brought didn't have a single chance, then other soldiers he had won't also have a chance of winning. Then he would just need to wait for the people that was supposed to come the next day. Yes, that was the only option he had left.
He rode fast and never stopped nor did he look back until his mansion was now finally in sight. When he reached the mansion, he unmounted before the gates and shouted for someone to open.
"Open the gates immediately, it is I!"
Even though there was still no response for like a couple of seconds, he had already lost his patience. As he was about to shout again in irritation, someone spoke behind him.
"Are you the Baron Vick Shrim?"
Surprised, Vick immediately turned around to look at the source of the sound.
There he saw a man wearing a magician's robe which appeared to be uniquely designed. Looking behind him, he saw several people wearing the same clothes, the theme color of their robes was blue and white.
Then along with those man in robes appeared to be soldiers. However, their set of armor was not like those of commonly wore by soldiers. It appeared like they were high ranking soldiers in a nation.
"Yes I am, who are you?"
Then the man with black hair and black eyes replied to his answer.
"Ah, we are the ones sent from the Sacred Ternion Kingdom to handle negotiations for the land you offered. I am Ruos Elium."
Vick's eyes widened for a second.
"You? I thought you were supposed to come tomorrow or the day after that."
"Yes, but it seems in the speed of our horses, we reached here earlier than expected."
He looked at the steeds of the group and was surprised at what he saw. At first glance, he didn't notice, but now he did.
The horses looked more muscular than the normal horse. Their hairs were thicker and longer. Their hooves were slightly larger than their feet. Then, there were large horns protruding from their head.
"Those are… Priquirs…"
"It is."
"You have quite a lot of men."
"Of course, we are entering a possible hostile nation. Therefore, it was best to bring armed ready personnel."
"That worries me, you're quite well equipped. I doubt you are mere soldiers sent here."
"Of course not, this is an important negotiation. So we were sent here."
"So? Who really are you?"
The man smiled.
"We are from the Church of Xeus, loyal worshippers of the God of the Heavens. To be precise, we are members of the Heavenly Testament."
Vick's breathed stopped unconsciously and was speechless. Of course, he would be like this especially if someone never expected them to just appear before them.
The Heavenly Testament, most people would know about them, especially if they heard about the Holy Ternion Kingdom. They were one of the three military orders of the aforementioned nation. They – the Heavenly Testament – were under the command of the Church of Xeus, worshippers of the leader of the three gods.
They were renowned to have very excellent soldiers in terms of magic or sword skills. Every nation would be excessively wary when fighting one of the orders in combat. In fact, it was said that the Heavenly Testament could potentially take out thousands of soldiers. Of course, it all depends on the skills of each individual.
Then Vick smiled in happiness. He finally had a way to get rid of that man which humiliated him.
"I see. I trust the kingdom agreed to my terms?"
"Yes."
"Then, it's settled. I will gladly give you my domain."
"It's good to hear that. But shouldn't we talk about this inside your residence?"
"Yes. But trouble had transpired in my land. And I will need your immediate help. Besides, this will also be a trouble for your – no, for our kingdom."
"What do you mean?"
"Let us talk inside my residence and I will tell you everything. This needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."