As Rapt and Sorc were speaking about him, Petra was already on the move towards them. Seeking to gain more power he the migration to recruit or kill the strong beast as he led his tribe towards Rapt. Whether they were already in a tribe or not, didn't matter those that opposed his wants would have their Tribes subjugated. The weaker members would be killed and eaten by Petra's forces, while the strong would be given the choice of joining or dying alongside the rest of their Tribe. Petra was using his victims to boost the strength in his Tribe.
Being sent to the northern quadrant close to the center of the Halyard territory had saved Rapt from being killed after the furyan assassination attempt failed. Those closer to the middle were more reserved since they all guard against the Furyans living close by. This was lifesaving as the beast living around the kingdom had the duty of being the first line of defense against the furyans. The halyard Territory was divided into 5 zones.
The first was the neutral zone, this zone was the most unique and was pinnacle in defending against outside forces. The most unique quality of this zone was the community the defended it. Beast and Furyans lived amongst each other in harmony. The furyans in this zone tended to be former prisoners that were given a pardon by the King for their service at the border. The leaders of these Furyans were the Former leaders of the top 4 families. The Beast in this were handpicked by elder beast as well and only answered to them.
The next two zones started right after the neutral zone. These were the lesser and greater dead zones. These zones were dangerous for two reasons the first being the one rule that these areas had. That rule was that tier 4 beast and hight could only hunt in the greater dead zone. This left tier 3 beast and lower to the lesser zone. The second reason was the enforcers of this rule, the elder beasts. They were ruthless towards rule breakers wiping out entire tribes sometimes due to one ignorant beast's decision.
The last two were the inner defensive zone and the lands of the Halyard Kingdom. The inner defensive zone consist of 10 Tribes that have stood guard against the army of the Halyard kingdom since the times of the first blessed beast. This zone was where Rapt had landed on the northern side of the side of the Halyard Kingdom.
The largest of the five zones were the lesser and greater dead zones, being 120 kilometers and 60 kilometers respectively. Next was the Halyard kingdom, leaving the neutral and inner defensive zones as the smallest in terms of width. The neutral zone being 30 kilometers with the inner defensive zones being slightly smaller at around 25 kilometers. The kingdom itself was 45 kilometers and slowly expanding.
While various tribes lived throughout the lands most of the beast population was lone beasts as most were too prideful to submit to another beast. Most of them would rather kill or be killed before submitting to another beast. Only those deemed truly capable or show the potential to be great could sway some of the most prideful beasts to submit and join them.
The Beasts in the lesser dead zone territory started to see a shift as the weaker Eastern tribes fled from the destruction that was rained down by Petra's tribe. Those that weren't fast enough faced his wrath. The ones that were caused mayhem that disrupted the balance in the greater zone and the inner zone as they pushed to escape from certain death. Using his ability to fly Petra and the other Beasts capable of flight would scout out the land before them to search for strong and worthy beasts. His Tribe was collectively 1 month away from the location where the blessed had last been seen. Even once they arrived finding him would still take time.
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Back with Rapt and Sorc, they sparred Frequently as they waited for the system to finish. In between their sparring sessions Rapt would gradually explore the area with Sorc. During this exploration, while Sorc was teaching Rapt about the different zones of the lands, he noticed how they had not seen any other beast that would usually patrol the area. At first, he waved it off as just slightly missing the patrol, but now he started to worry. Even after 8 hours passed and walking 10 kilometers in every direction, no beasts came near them. That things felt unnatural that even after sparring off and on, not a soul had been seen. This led to Sorc suggesting that they see what is going on.
"This is strange Rapt; we haven't seen or heard any other beast in the nearby area or is it just me? I think we should check this out as something doesn't seem right."
Rapt thought about the past hours and came to think it was strange also. "I think that's a good idea, plus I haven't explored much of the area. Which way should we check first since I'm not familiar with the area?"
"My old tribe is in the southern part of the inner zone, about a 12-hour run since we have to go around the kingdoms land. Going to meet my father would give us the best chance of obtaining answers."
"Okay, led the way Sorc. I think we should gather information as quick as possible." Rapt said as his interest was piqued. Checking his update screen, he thought about how the walk would help kill the time needed.
37 hours, 30 minutes, 57 second
With their plan mapped out, they begin to move southwest towards Sorc old Tribe. After walking for 30 minutes Rapt and Sorc saw the first beast they had seen in a while. Sorc decided to try and talk to the Beast that he recognized as a part of the winged Turtle species. But as the beast noticed the two and recognized who Rapt was it suddenly took flight heading towards the east. 'weird' they both thought as the beast seemed to be avoiding them or more precisely Rapt.
This trend continued to happen when they saw the occasional beast. Most of the beasts capable of flight that they met along the way would actively avoid the two whenever they saw Rapt before flying east. This made the two feel increasingly worried that they were missing some crucial information. This spurred them to push forward faster towards their destination and hopeful find out said information. While running Sorc noticed that even after Sparring multiple times earlier, Rapt still seemed to have plenty of energy left. 'How much stamina does he have?' Sorc thought. They had been running for about 1 hours and thirty minutes now and he was now feeling drained as they had covered more ground during the run.
35 hours, 58 minutes, 38 seconds
"We're almost halfway there and I think we should have a rest. So, we can recover some of our energy and I can tell you about my former leader, Gol." Sorc suggested, as he didn't want to be tired when they met with his old tribal leader. "Gol is one of my species, we're called legged snakes. Like other snake species, we are born without limbs as we grow older and stronger, we gain our first pair of legs. Gol is well on the way to be a Grade 4 beast and is a strong wind user.
"So, he's stronger than both of us combined?" Rapt asked.
"Yes, he is."
"We should be on guard then since this weird situation seems to be regarding me. Will you be able to fight against him should he attack us?"
"He won't attack us as he's, my father."
This caused Rapt to raise his head to look at Sorc. "He's your father?"
"Yes, that's why the chances of us being harmed is low since my father is a pretty unusual beast as he still cares for his children even after they have become able to fend for themselves." Sorc said as he continued to rest.
31 Hours, 57 minutes, 01 seconds.
After Resting for an hour the two resumed their travel. They eventual entered the edges of the Droc Tribes territory. Sorc looked around and noticed that the territories guards were missing. Along with Rapt he rushed to the in part of the territory where his father and his tribe resided. Upon arrival, he saw that there seemed to be more beasts than usual. When he left there was only thirty members in the tribe and now in front of him there was at least 40 extra beasts. He could see that his father was in the middle of the crowd of beasts with another Tribal Leader. They were in the middle of combat with his father battling a tri-horned bull, which had short red fur with black stripes down its side and three black horns on its head.
"What is going on? Rapt asked
"My Father and another Tribal Leader are fighting for status. The winner absorbs the other Tribe."
"What happens to the loser?"
"Their killed and eaten by the winner" Sorc said as he made his way toward the crowd watching the fight. Rapt followed after Sorc as he watched the fight between the two beasts. As they walked through the crowd the other beasts were too focused on the fight to notice their arrival.
Suddenly, a shout was heard," That's the Blessed beast". All the beasts turned towards the two and the two leaders even stopped fighting as they all focus on Rapt. Rapt started to prepare for a fight, but Sorc steps forwards and called out to his father and the other tribal leader. The two Leaders still wounded and wary of each other walked in front of Rapt and Sorc.
"What are you doing here with the Blessed beast son? War is coming for the Blessed. The strong are being subjugated and the weak killed and eaten" Gol said.