Jordan lifted his head, he chanted one simple incomprehensible verse and three magic circles appeared from below, above, and in front of him. It gave off a vibrant white-blue glow with intense heat and solar flares enveloping his body slightly.
"What an intense way of contacting Headquarters" Anna shakes her head in frustration.
| Song of tribute | [C] grade skill (special)
A skill granted by the guardian deity of [ Avalon ] to the founding emperor, this has different grades depending on one's position and contribution to the empire. It is commonly used as an important communication tool, but as the grade increases, more functions of the said skill will be available.
"This is an important case that takes top priority, this skill is not only fast but it prevents eavesdropping due to it being encrypted. The only way for it to be leaked is by having more power than our guardian deity [Manon]." Jordan boasted.
Still, Anna believed that her old man was overreacting. She then continued to make her way toward their "House". And suddenly, she became more annoyed as she came closer.
"How many times do I have to reinforce my closet? I just bought these dresses a week ago." Anna truly wondered if she deserved this, nevertheless, she loved her brothers.
"Hey sis, did you check under your bed?" Arim suddenly interjected as he continued to bring the meat to the kitchen to roast.
"Huh?" With a hint of confusion, Anna looked under the bed. With a pleasant surprise, Anna exclaimed, "Arin how did you know I wanted this bracelet?"
"Although it isn't the one from Lagoon, I still did my best to craft this bracelet with Leon mostly doing all the tinkering, we hoped you like it."
Anna holds a complex multi-thread patterned silver alloy bracelet resembling a flood dragon.
"This one is way better than the one on display." Anna shyly appreciated the Gift.
The bracelet suddenly vibrated and embedded its mark on Anna's wrist, slowly shaping itself into a form of a dragon, without anyone noticing.
Leon's eye suddenly glowed a silver hue, vaguely sensing the subtle change in the surroundings but chose to be silent while being deep into thought.
"Good news, the headquarters is interested in your invention, the papers are on their way." Jordan held his buckle with a proud smile.
Leon laughed heartily "I guess it's the turning point in our lives—"
But Arin interjected "Before that, let's eat." while serving the roasted meat he "hunted" earlier.
Jordan ate while the trio wolfed down the food like there was no tomorrow. After some time, another group of city guards arrived. A total of 5 platoons emerged. [Titan], [Mist], [Ent], [Luna], and [Wind] rushed to Jordan.
"Looks like for once these good-for-nothings have a little bit of contribution, now hand it over. With my name, you can at least apply for civil service and work for a decent amount of money." Peno said with mockery and disdain.
Jordan's fist tightened and his sword radiated with steamy aura. "Looks like Mist's envoy is bold enough to question his majesty's authority." As he was about to beat this punk to a pulp.
An arrow infused with a blue tip went past Peno's head and exploded with a radius of 3 meters, the recoil felt like a hand grenade. Due to the sound, Peno's knees shivered. It was Anna who fired the shot
"Oops, I was testing the bowstrings and it suddenly malfunctioned." she apologized sarcastically.
Jordan had a smug look on his face while retracting his aura. "I never felt so good before, the weather must be nice today HA HA HA" laughing heartily.
"You will regret putting on airs in front of Mist, this is an act of challenging our authority," Peno said, as he swiftly ran away while sweating profusely.
"Now that's out of the way, may I ask why all of you are here? I only called the outpost and not the main headquarters itself." Jordan asked.
"Greetings, knight captain it seems that the commotion of your recommendation made its way to the main H.Q.. We apologize for the sudden visit but we are interested in these blue capsules." Stella, the vice-captain of Ent calmly said.
She wore common clothing but her aura exuded a hint of nobleness,' this young lady seems unordinary' Leon's eye shone like gold bars.
Jordan sucked a cold breath "Stella you don't need to be formal, this isn't an official meeting."
Stella still kept a professional face and argued "I believe this matter is important and needs to be addressed appropriately." Shutting down Jordan's suggestion.
He can only resign his thought with a stiff look on his face 'This young lady is still as stubborn as ever'. "Miss Stella, the blue capsules are still being processed for verification, I believe the negotiation rights are reserved after the process is done. Until then, I hope everyone can wait." Jordan said with a stern look.
'Shameless—too shameless' everyone silently lampooned this bastard's ability to be this thick-skinned.
"However, since everyone made their way to this remote location. It would only be fitting to allow you guys to have the first rights to negotiate after the verification process" Jordan said in all seriousness "Unfortunately, since this concerns his majesty's interest; it would be very difficult for me to have a say after the verification process and can only give the limited slot of negotiation rights." He said with a slight sadness
'Is this person a captain or an infamous con artist?!' the vice-captain's mouth faomed from Jordan's blatant extortion.
Stella's mouth twitched "I guess we have to bid for it. I can o—"
"I'm not forcing anyone okay? I don't want you guys to feel exploited" Jordan righteously interrupted.
"Not at all! we all consented to bid!" everyone said while inwardly rolling their eyes. 'my savings', 'My captain will surely kill me this time' '...' Everyone had varying thoughts, silently crying over this demon in human skin.
Jordan winked at the trio. The trio was out cold from Jordan's expertise in "negotiation". No one knows where they get their habits from, one could only speculate...
The bidding started.
"I offer 100 Gold" Gallin, Wind's vice captain exclaimed.
"You should go home and hunt some more orcs, I bid 150 Gold" Fang, Luna's envoy teased.
"Haaa? you lookin' for a fight!?" Gallin burst into rage forgetting his formalities.
"Anytime." Fang didn't hold back as well, it seems like these two have a long-lasting feud. A dagger suddenly appeared in his hand. Gallin's bow is fully pulled back with an arrow tip that seems to be infused with swirling green wind energy. As they were about to duke it out.
"I bid 1000 Gold" Daemo, Titan's secretary said nonchalantly.
Everyone sucked cold air. 'That's only for negotiating rights' Arin's mouth watered with the huge amount of wealth Titan possesses.
"1000 Gold, going once, going twice, so—" Jordan
said but was suddenly cut by Stella.
"I offer 1500 Gold, I hope everyone can give me a face this time," she said while smiling.
"I don't think we need it urgently." Fang wryly backed off and so, one after another, everyone else followed.
Jordan visibly clicked his tongue. "I never knew Miss Stella would use her prestige this way." with a hint of sarcasm.
"I don't understand what you meant by that Sir Jordan." Stella kept her composure. In the end, she won the negotiation rights for the capsules.
Everyone exchanged pleasantries and eventually went their separate ways. After a long day, Jordan went to converse with the trio.
"Congratulations on earning a huge amount of sum, Leon you outdone yourself this time, and I have an important announcement to make." Jordan's face became brighter. "Arin and Leon will be enrolling in the academy, your papers are already passed on to the school, and starting next week you will be living in the academy's dormitory."
"What about our essentials? We'll become the main target for being country bumkins, only nobles and talents attend Yuel Academy. There's no way we stand a chance there." Arin profusely refused. Praying to all Gods he could think of to avoid this adversity
"Stop overthinking, Yuel Academy focuses on hard work over aristocracy," Anna argued. "You and Leon will be training in Vapor's 5th training ground at [Loomia]." While pointing to a nearby twin mountain with a majestic waterfall in between. It would take 2 days on foot to reach that place.
"We will be using Rexoras in traveling to Loomia." Jordan blew his whistle and it produced no sound but suddenly two large birdlike creatures the size of a communal bus landed on a nearby grass plain. One was yawning and the other was overly serious but it kept wagging its tail to Jordan.
"I can never get used to this form of transportation, can I walk instead?" Leon said as he was about to get motion sickness. The birds truly looked intimidating with their razor-sharp claws that could easily cut reinforced steel.
Coco the yawning one rolled his eyes at Leon and started to gently walk, relieving the dramatic bastard's motion sickness. Arin was visibly shaking but still tried to act cool trying to figure out how to escape his predicament 'No way I'm going to Yuel, I will surely die! I might as well say goodbye to my lax and lavish life.' cursing at his inevitable fate.
Anna is meditating in the sun, transparent heat emits from her body causing a minuscule distortion in the air. Arin followed suit using his | Guidance of the Stars | it had a strange effect, even though it's not a lot compared to when he's using it with more stars visible, the energy he gains felt concentrated and purer.
Leon seemingly bored, jumped out and suggested testing their invention by hunting the nearby monsters. "By the way, this bad boy is still nameless, what should we call it?" Leon asked the party. "Ooh I know, name it Arin and Co's Divine Light", "That's too thick-skinned I prefer Leon's Masterpiece number 02", Anna being fed up lashed out "Why are the both of you always so narcissistic?".
"Calm down, everyone. I think we name it | Morning Star | to celebrate our first welcome to the new dawn of fate for us, it signifies the bright future to everyone." ⸻chuckling. "including our enemies."
Everyone eventually agreed to name it | Morning Star | after a not-so-few arguments and tantrums. Then they decided to camp in a nearby flat mound. When suddenly Kiki the stern-looking Rexoras became agitated. Her eyes fiercely stared at a certain location, Coco quickly followed Kiki's gaze and became serious. A menacing gaze was discovered in the forest.