As the carriage went through the city, Will was looking out the window. All around him were people walking around, with shops and houses as far as the eye could see. The shops were selling anything you could imagine, from weapons to food and even techniques and cultivation manuals. However, the highest grade of manual or technique would be at the low or medium foundational grade.
However, this was only the outskirts of the kingdom that was the poorest area. Even so, these people were in better situations than Will was in when he was a slave. Everyone here had good food and proper manuals. This went to show just how much better of a kingdom it was than where he grew up.
However, this was reasonable as the place where he was raised was run by an evil dictator. The whole kingdom was made of cruel people who knew nothing but the cruelty of their leader, leading them to be cruel on their own.
As the carriage went through the city, Will could only think about how much he wished that he could have been raised here instead of where he was raised. The people here seemed to be much better and they weren't cruel. He grew up being beaten almost to death every day, only getting crappy food, and going home to being yelled at because he couldn't cultivate properly because he had no talent, only to go and do it all again the next day. However, despite this, he still managed to keep hope until the very moment he would have died.
Hope was the most powerful thing in this universe. Nothing could be without it. And now, hope was Will's weapon. The thing he refused to give up as a child would be the thing that he used to rise to the top of the world.
*****************
Two weeks later, the carriage had reached the center of the city, the castle.
Around the castle was another great wall, built of sturdy granite blocks that made it seem as if no one would ever be able to get through it.
As the carriage approached the gates, a guard approached the group and asked to search the carriage. This time, however, Old Man Dai simply opened the door and showed the guard his face, after which the guard said, "Apologies, Advisor Dai," after which he signaled the other guards to let them through.
"Haha, the perks of being advisor to the king," laughed Old Man Dai as he put a look of joy on his face.
They then quickly made their way towards the castle. However, they stopped after only a couple minutes, and the soldiers left the carriage, going into a tavern.
After this, the carriage continued on its way with only Old Man Dai and Will inside it, going towards the castle.
As they approached the castle, Will felt an distinct sadness and despair, which only grew stronger as they continued closer. Once they were right outside the castle, Will felt that the sadness was so strong that it was almost tangible, as if it could materialize at any moment.
As they arrived at the castle, Old Man Dai stepped out of the carriage and gestured for Will to follow, which he did. They soon went into the castle and started heading towards the source of the sadness.
With each step, Will could feel the sadness getting stronger, getting to the point where he could no longer bear it.
At this moment, Will stopped and fell to his knees, seemingly in pain. His face was getting red, with his body heating up.
As soon as he saw it, Old Man Dai stopped too, and asked in a worried voice, "Are you alright," seeing that Will could go no further.
"I'm fine, but I'm extremely sensitive to emotion. I can't go further than this," he said with a clearly strained voice.
Old Man Dai found this confusing, since he found nothing wrong and he could not sense anything. However, when he thought about who Will was and how mysterious he was, he figured that Will could probably sense the king's sadness and it was overwhelming his senses.
With this in mind, Old Man Dai found a chair, and said, "Wait here for a moment, the king is nearby. I'll get him to calm down."
After that, he departed.
Soon after, the sadness that was overwhelming Will calmed slightly, then soon disappeared and was replaced with a faint hope.
With this, Will stood up. He was no longer overwhelmed by the intense sadness, so there was no reason for him to continue sitting.
A few minutes later, Old Man Dai returned, followed by a tall and muscular man, with a noble aura. Will could sense that the faint feeling of hope was coming from him, so he assumed that this man was the king. This was supported by the fact that Will could feel absolutely no aura from the man, as if he simply didn't exist.
This man wore bright red robes with flames depicted on them. However, other than these robes, he wore nothing that would distinguish him as a king, so Will figured that it would be better not to assume that he was the king.
"Boy, you are the one that might be able to save my daughter?" said the man. This confirmed to Will that he was the king. Will and Old Man Dai had spoken in the carriage about this. Will might be able to save the princess using the same method he used to heal that soldier that he burned.
"Yes I am."