The inner part of the carriage is tense, the royals look at me with hate, there's killing intent in their eyes. Although, I'm not really interested in their glares, I still reflect back on what Alexander said. 'If this mission is considered dangerous, why would they even bring royals? Perhaps they have faith in Alexander to protect us if things go haywire".
I didn't really consider Alexander's rank, nor did he ever tell me about it. But I believed him to be somewhere in the third rank of the cultivation journey. No being human realm would serve as a mere captain for a middle size sect. Alexander interrupts my thoughts with his next line." So, here's a little bit too tense, so let's go over the basics of our mission ", he says as we cross the gates signaling the beginning of our mission. "Our mission is to safely deliver these goods to the market in Jejun village. These roads are said to have recent cases of abductions, kidnapping and theft. You all are here to protect the carriage and the goods that follow with it". Alexander continues, he doesn't seem to have the slightest bit of fear. I'm sure he also believes in his own strength. I've not really seen his ability either so I'm curious about what he can do.
The main thing on my mind is what I have to do to awaken this damn dantian. I expected it to awaken when I was fighting the royals. It also hasn't awakened since I developed the mental world. There's a faint trace of energy in the lower left part of my stomach, I sense that where the dantian is supposed to form, but I think it needs something to jump start it's functioning. I wonder if I will even have the same element as before. In my past life, it was fire so I wonder if it will change or probably remain the same. Though in my past life, awakening my dantian seemed easier than as of now.
Our journey was mostly filled silence. The royals didn't seem like they wanted to talk to me at all. Not that it bothered, I just found the constant glaring annoying.
" Hey, I know it's hard to accept someone who's more goodlooking than you guys without the need for accessories and maids, but I'd like to think properly without so much hostility". I say with a child like smile, the one Alexander uses. However, the royals grit their teeth and one of them attempts to throw a punch at me but I catch his fist and it's frozen in place. "Better luck next time", I say throwing the royals hand away. The rest of them eventually give up on glaring and start discussing about the mission. I only feel relieved that I don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back, literally, I look out the window trying to see of there's anywhere I recognized from my previous life.
Obviously, there's a huge change. The old stone roads and bridges in my past life were now replaced with stone bricked roads with large railings to divide it. One path for incoming carriages, the other for the outgoing ones. The sides of the roads are beautified with pink and purple flowers which curl themselves around the well polished silver railings.
As we approach closer to the boarder of Jejun village, there's seems to be larger areas of habitation. Vast lands with houses and other structures appear in sight as we continue our destination. They're masons handling their works and covered with the usual sand and cement. Wielders spend their time sharpening tools and other materials which happens to be corroded but they don't seem to mind. There are also larger farmlands in view with farmers harvesting their various crops and cows and other livestock grazing on the weeds nearby.
Other carriages seem to be behind us, while most are before us. They don't have any emblems that signify royal status, infact, ours seems to be the only one possessing an emblem. The carriages carry other goods ranging from weaponry to crops to cheap clothing and fabrics. They seem quite suspicious, but the other royals are to busy gloating or playing with the weapons they can't use efficiently, the three other guards that escorted us happily snooze away on the carriage as they would have had sleepless night in the process of betting and getting drunk. Only Alexander seems to be quite on his toes, he wears a hood masking his facial features leaving only but his lips uncovered. From my mind, I can tell that he's moving his eyes in almost all directions. He's also very suspicious of our surroundings but he does not intend on making any significant approach.
The journey grows even more tiring and I start to question how Alexander felt going on countless missions like this. I continue my training with the mental scroll. My mind continues to enlarge as my eyes remain on the scroll, the innate pressure and splitting headache I felt while training with the scroll seems to vanish. From experience, I can tell I'm nearing the limit of the the first rank of the mental sphere. I'm not filled with joy as most individuals would expect. From wielding unchallenging power to being reduced to a mere insect. From the highest level in the food chain to the absolute bottom. The thought continued to hurt my pride, honestly, Kirin will suffer for having to repeat a millennia of cultivation. Although, progressing through the cultivation journey would be much more easier due to my vast knowledge which didn't fade after my reincarnation. As the few hours pass, my mental sphere finally stops enlarging and a satisfying sigh exits my mouth signalling the end of my training with the mental scroll. I close my eyes only to open them to reveal the bright red glow in my eyes. As always, the only thing missing is the satisfying feel of Qi around a sphere at my torso. The royals hurriedly wield their weapons thinking I'm planning some sort of coup against them, Alexander just smiles under his hood showing his satisfaction at my quick growth. The other royals just grunt realizing that I'm improving faster than they are. They also open their scrolls to enlarge their mental sphere but most of them close it after nothing but twenty minutes. Only Sebastian seems resolved enough to continue although he's also sweating. These weaklings always find ways to amaze me.
From the rear view mirror, I see a couple a particular carriage that's two carriages behind us. They're all wearing hoods and one of the men seem to point at us, there's a flash of light within the carriage, but it disappears quickly. It comes again, but this time I realize it's flying towards our carriage. A barrage of wind seems to cover the rear of our carriage and I turn to see an already armed Alexander behind me. I didn't even sense when he left his seat, neither when he revealed his knife or even when he cast his spell. His golden eyes shone beneath the hood revealing a deadly glare under it. Alexander still grins though as he looks back at me. He definitely expected something like this to happen and from the looks of it, I can tell it serves as an extension of my training. The royals quiver in fear as they would've never felt a threat of such magnitude I'm their life, however, I smile under Alexander's piercing gaze as I would like to test the limits of my completed mind on a group of petty thugs. The other few carriages seem to divert from the road showing that they were also part of the plan. Two other assassin's run from the thick forest towards the sides of the carriage before throwing whips made of water around the wheels of the carriage making us divert from the road and crash on a short tree. The other guards wake up but stumble on the ground while the royals and the carriage as a whole goes into panic. Only Alexander and I seem to be cool about the whole situation, for the fact Alexander is here, I believe enough in his strength to take on the more than twenty hooded assassin's that head towards our carriage. I get my blades ready as I prepare for the upcoming battle, but I freeze when I realize that all of them possess spells which they have mastered.
Different colors dance around the group signalling their readiness to take on an attack from a soldier of a royal family.
I sigh looking at our situation. The royals are still quivering, and the guards are shaking but try to remain firm in their stance as they try to fulfill their role in the mission. They must protect the royals or it could cost them their lives. Alexander's smile remains, " This'll be fun", he says before charging forward.