Since the dungeon visit was now ruined by the fact that the dungeon they've been hoping to visit is now collapsed, the group had no choice but to resume their way towards the shattered lake.
Sen was in no mood to walk for weeks this time, he planned to buy a sturdy carriage to carry them all the way there.
"You want to go to the shattered lake?" Jart was visibly surprised.
"Yes, as soon as possible" Nivera answered, "we need a carriage though, do you know where can we buy one to sustain the trip there?"
"Hmm…" Jart put a hand to his chin and pondered for a while before answering, "Well, normal carriages we use to transport merchandise are not suitable for long-distance travel. You'll need a carriage made out of strong wood, not to mention the craftsmanship has to be meticulous for the product to sustain rain, snow, and mud."
Nivera stared at Jart weirdly for a while. The man sensed her stare before scratching his head chuckling, "my father was a carpenter so I know a thing or two about woodwork."
"Then where can we buy a carriage like that?"
"Not here that's for sure…but you can try the nearby town. An old acquaintance of my father is a carpenter, the best in town. I'm heading there tomorrow morning to deliver some produce, why don't I take you there?"
With that settled, the group of three settled in the children's room while the kids slept with their parents. Sen felt bad for imposing on the family so he offered to pay for the lodging. Art refused but after a push and shove battle with Sen, he finally accepted a few items from his void space such as durable textiles and stuff children could play with.
.
.
.
The next morning, Sen and Nivera helped Jart load bags of produce up his carriage before they followed on foot since there was no place for them to sit.
Although Jart called it a town, it was almost as large as Lavin city with high walls and armed guards. this just goes to show that this kingdom is richer than Grandor.
As they walked along the streets, Sen saw some dotas, mostly elves and dwarfs operating their own shops or working in human owned ones. This was a sight impossible to see in Grandor.
The group of three received a few strange looks, but nothing hostile. All of a sudden, Dust felt a strange gaze settle on his person. He turned around and fixed his eyes on one location, but saw nothing. in the end, he shrugged it off as him being too cautious.
But in a dark alley nearby, a man retreated his head, "that fairy sure is alert"
"Lord, do you want to make a move? I think we have already captured enough slaves to take to that place." A scrawny woman appeared and whispered to the man, she wore elegant, tight-fitting exquisite clothes and had long brown hair. Although she had acceptable facial features, a scar ran down from the corner of her forehead to the top of her mouth, ruining her face.
"No, a fairy…" the man in the dark smirked, "you know how rare it is to see one? The buyer would pay triple the price for the slaves we have now just for one fairy."
The woman looked back at the group consisting of two demons and a fairy before nodding. But the thoughts on her mind are completely different from those of her boss. "Yes my lord…really rare…"
A while later, the group of three bid farewell to Jart before the latter showed them the way to his father's friend's workshop. They managed to find it without trouble after a while.
The owner was an old, short, and muscular man with a thick mustache. He explained to them that the kind of carriage they want is not available in his store or other woodwork stores. The only way for them now is to order a custom made one. Otherwise, they could buy a normal one, but that would not be able to sustain a bumpy journey.
Weighing the pros vs. the cons, the group decided that it would be best in the long run to make a custom carriage. Although it would take almost one week to finish.
Also, since they've decided to make a new carriage, Sen fished out some rare resources he collected back in the Last Realm, fossilized lumber that can preserve temperature and also has magic resisting features; The textile he bought from the auction to make clothes which will now be made into the interior of the carriage; Light crystals; hardened Mana steel to make the frame and some more rare materials.
The old carpenter and his staff almost had a heart attack from looking at what Sen gave them, the old carpenter was especially ecstatic when he realized that he's going to work with these materials. He promised that he shall put in his utmost efforts, he even called his blacksmith and tailor friends to make the work as seamlessly as possible. Though with the new materials, it will take more than a week to finish the carriage.
The group had no objection. Although reaching the congress of magic was a priority, they were unwilling to suffer the pain of walking for three weeks.
The only problem now was to find a steed strong enough to lead the carriage. The old carpenter explained to them that the final product would be too heavy for a normal horse to drag. They probably needed a horse beast and the place where those are right now is the black oak Mountains, the place where the dungeon collapsed and the dungeon monsters now inhabit.
"It will take about ten days to finish the carriage, let's pay a visit to that place, get the horse and fight some monsters, it's been a while and I want to try some new moves," Nivera said.
Over the past three weeks, they did not spend time only walking and fighting monsters that came their way.
Nivera started learning how to better master her new takeover magic by talking with Grot in her dreams. Now she is able to stay in Grot form for five minutes before her Mana gets depleted. Dust assured her that if this congress of magic was really the best at Mana and magic-related studies, then they'll be able to help her enhance her power.
Dust spent all day meditating, trying to organize and connect with his memories but sadly, nothing about his identity or the people he was related to in the past surfaced.
On the other hand, Sen, who was now seven parts mage and three parts warrior, made use of that time to practice his hellfire and true ice art. Although, under Shieda's advice, he decided that it is better to show only one of his ancient magic arts since the congress of magic would definitely pay him extra attention should they find out he has two ancient magic.
In fact, since both he and Nivera had ancient magic, they would definitely be on the congress of magic's radar, so Shieda helped them craft a cover story to be used when they reach that place.
"Alright" Sen nodded before asking in his fragmented speech, "how - get - horse?"
"Well, normally we'll need a beast tamer. Someone who can make a connection with a beast to make it docile. Beast tamer is just like translators, Mana surgeons, and gourmet chefs. They have the ability to tame beasts and monsters"
"You don't have to worry about that," Dust interjected.
Nivera and Sen turned to look at him at the same time.
"You have - way?" Sen asked.
Dust nodded, "yes, this does not apply to fairies, only pixy elves, but we are natural-born beast tamers."
"That's cool. Like this, our job is cut short, all we need to do is find a good beast horse. I do hope we find some beasts halfway to the world rank. Those we fought before were too weak to push me to the max," Nivera said excitedly. It is fair to say that she is much more pumped up to gain experience than Sen.
They wasted no time and after ironing a few last details with the old carpenter, the three of them met up with Jart and explained the situation before making their way towards the black oak Mountains.
Only, they had no idea that the peace of this country was unstable. They came here at this time with a stroke of luck and when they return to fetch their carriage, all that they'll find is a gory massacre.