Right now they were going down a road paved with slabs of stone, and although it had become weathered, it was still flat, which showed off the dwarves superb craftsmanship. This road was used by the dwarves to move a large number of iron ore, along with a wide variety of iron products, to be sold to the whole Continent. But since all the iron ore were mined, and no more adventurers had tried to conquer the carrion swamp, no one uses this road anymore. If not for the fact that grass didn't grow here, there would simply be no road at all.
Three days later, Ash finally saw the outer perimeter of the Black Waste. In the distance, he could see something green, which made his spirit rise.
Ash was very relieved. These days he was forced to learn martial arts. Everyday Green trained Ash for almost 8 to 9 hours. Ash really hates this kind of training. To Ash the training was more of a torture.
Green was also relieved. To be honest, he would like a change of scenery. Seeing the endless black soil was a kind of a torture.
Then imagine what would happen when their eyes suddenly spotted something green. Even if it was just a little bit, it had a huge impact.
Ash shouted, like he wanted to run off. Green chuckled. "Master, this is the outer perimeter. Over there is the Purcell Duchy. If we go any further, we will be leaving the Anderson clan's territory."
From what Green said, Ash nodded and turned around to look at all that black land. The land was his, but it didn't bring him a happy mood. Seeing the endless land that couldn't be planted made it look like his ideas weren't feasible.
Slowly, they saw more and more patches of green. Ash then spotted mountains that were bigger, and with a lot more trees, than the iron mountain near his castle. He was shocked when he saw these steep mountains, which made the iron mountain look gentle.
Green noted the look on Ash's face, and smiled. "I guess Master didn't expect that the mountains here would be so high and steep?"
Ash nodded, then Green continued. "In fact, this is not surprising. Even if it's not the highest place, it is definitely not the shortest. Comparatively speaking, they are higher than the one near our castle."
They then saw a valley, hundreds of meters wide, in the distance. It was the only way out of the Black Waste. As long as they go through there, they would enter the territory of the Purcell Duchy.
Green pointed to the valley. "That place was once called the Iron Stream Valley. All the iron flows out through there. But ever since there was no more iron coming out, people slowly forgot about the name of this place, and it eventually became known as the Forgotten Valley. In the Forgotten Valley, there's a fortress called Montenegro. It was designed to prevent any massive outbreaks of spirit beasts from going through the Forgotten Valley and into the Purcell Duchy. Strange to say, those spirit beasts had never come out of the Black Waste. So the fortress slowly turned into a paradise for adventurers. They were risk takers, and although the carrion swamp was too risky, they could still hunt spirit beasts around here."
Ash nodded. "Then how do we get past it without getting found out?"
Green smiled slightly. "Master doesn't need to worry. Later, we will go straight into the mountains of Forgotten Valley, and then I will go into Montenegro and buy some clothing for you. Since you can use these undead, you'll have to dress like a black mage."
Black mages were actually general terms for those who learned dark magic, poison magic, blood magic, and other attributes that were related to darkness. But even if this world was repulsed by black mages, it still respected power. As long as you had strength, regardless of what abilities, you will be accepted.
The black mages were people that no one wanted to provoke, probably because they might have learned that type of magic for a very dark reason, and their characters were somewhat gloomy. If you mess with them, they might not attack you on the spot, but they will definitely make you pay one day.
If you were asked who had the highest position in this world, some might answer that it was the nobles or the royalty, but it was undeniable that the status of mages was certainly not low. A powerful mage will find courtesy in any empire.
There might have no longer been a Anderson clan if they didn't have a powerful mage such as Eva.
However, even if no one wished to offend a black mage, no one wanted to welcome them. Most people did not wish to get into contact with a black mage. Green wanted to make Ash look like a black mage as an added protection, since they would stop people from finding out Ash's identity.
Ash's understanding of this world was too small, so he didn't argue with Green, and just nodded his head. "You arrange it, Grandpa Green. I've rarely walked outside, so I don't know what to do. I'll listen to you."
Green nodded. What they were doing was related to the survival of the Anderson clan. No one could find out their identity while they were selling the radishes, otherwise the Anderson clan would be in big trouble.
The Anderson clan was hated by the Purple Star Empire, who would deliver a merciless blow if they found out about this transaction. It was precisely because of this that Green had to be more careful. Even if he didn't know that the previous Ash was replaced by another Ash, he would do everything he can to not let Ash be killed.
Since Ash was going to rule the entire Anderson clan, Green wanted him to better understand the world. Green was actually paving the way for Ash. He knew that his Master was young, but he still hoped that he would grow up. The day that Ash would become a person that could support the Anderson clan, he will be able to feel at ease.