Arslan finished his barely cooked piece of meat and stabbed the ground in anger with the bone left from it. The paving cracked due to the strength he used. After that, he headed towards the Outer Gates to accomplish the order he just received. As he approached the Gates, the guards standing there blocked his road,
"Hey, disciple, where are you going? Don't you know it is prohibited to go outside before weekends without the elders' approval?" One of the two guards protecting the Gates said. They were both wearing steel armor that covered them entirely, except for the joints of their body, to allow them to move freely. It was impossible to see their faces, due to the helmet on their heads.
'Ahhh... every time they tell me the same thing. I hope at least they are not always the same guards, otherwise, I would worry for their mental sanity.' Arslan thought as he sighed, closing his eyes,
"It's me, Arslan, I have to pick up herbs for Elder Oak in the nearby forest as always," He said looking at the crossed spears blocking his path, "Am I allowed to pass now?"
"I see, if it is Elder Oak's order then you can go." The same guard said as both of them freed his path from their spears.
As Arslan made some steps away from them,
"Who is he?" The other guard whispered to the first one.
"Ah, right, you are new here. He is the son of Argo Crimson."
"What? The son of the Pillar of the Empire? I thought there weren't survivors back then... even though I was still only a child, so I'm not so informed."
"It is told that his sister and he were saved by the River family, but I'm not sure about the sister..."
"What do you mean?"
"She has never come out from their Residence, so she might not even exist, as far as I know."
"Well... I kind of pity him... It must be bad not to have parents in this Empire."
"..."
The two guards watched Arslan as he got further away.
'I can hear you...' Arslan thought as his ability allowed his senses to be way sharper than normal humans.
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Some minutes later he arrived at the border of the forest. At that moment he looked back at the Academy, whose walls were still visible from that place,
"Sure it is comfortable to have such a forest exactly outside the Academy's border."
The First Emperor, when he decided to found the Imperial Academy to allow the most talented youngsters of the Empire to serve their country in the best conditions possible, gifted the entire nearby forest to the Academy itself. In this way, the elders could supply themselves with everything they needed to help the disciples grow stronger. That forest was indeed the richest of herbs and beasts of the whole Celestial Empire. This was obviously the reason why the forest became also the best training ground for all of the Academy's cultivators.
"Luckily there are no dangerous wild beasts in the part near the Academy." Arslan said as he walked in. When he started following Elder Oak's orders, Arslan was given a map by him, showing where the herbs he needed would have been. Thus, Arslan knew where to go and, in those 2 years, he came to know every detail of that same part of the forest.
"Compared to the little forest near my dwelling, this is on another level. Such beautiful trees and animals... the only good reason for coming here." He said while hearing the wind moving the leaves, smelling the fresh air, which was a bit humid due to the dense vegetation, and looking at the little birds and other animals around him.
'I wonder what use Elder Oak has for all these herbs.' Arslan thought as he came closer to the place the dragon tail herb should have been.
'They should be nearby already. I will start searching them from here.' He thought as he began looking around himself.
"Ah! I found them!" He said as he felt relieved for not wasting more time than what was needed.
'They really were of my eyes' color by the way.' He thought while he was picking five of them up. Their form was similar to what the name told, so they were easily recognizable.
"Finally, I can go back-" Arslan suddenly stopped all of his movements as he realized something was wrong,
'I'm being followed by 3 people! Why?' He thought with his eyes widened and nervousness invading his body,
'They are getting closer, I must hide the herbs first!' He thought as he hid them inside a bush near the tree's base he found the herbs on,
'They are here.' He thought as he looked in the direction where he came from.
"Here you are... finally you came out of that Academy..." The voice of one of the 3 figures spoke. Arslan squinted his eyes to understand if he knew the people chasing him.
"Who are you?" Arslan said as he took a defensive position.
"Don't you remember me?" The same person asked as he got closer. Arslan was now able to see him clearly.
"Y-You?! What do you want now?" Arslan asked as he understood who his opponent was.
"So, you remember me. YOU, PIECE OF SH*T, SHATTERED MY ARM'S BONES IN A THOUSAND PIECES!!! I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO USE IT AGAIN!!!!!" The guy said fully angered, while the other two cultivators that were with him waited for instruction.
"Walter, it was you who challenged me in the Martial Competition. You brought this to yourself." Arslan said as he tried to calm him down, but calming people wasn't one of his abilities, due to his straightforward way to speak. Walter's arm didn't improve much from the last time Arslan saw it and Walter was still visibly unable to move it as it was attached to his chest by a cloth band.
"I DON'T CARE!!! I won't ever be able to become a strong cultivator with an arm in these conditions... So, now you will pay the price for this!" Walter said as he got closer to Arslan, while the other two were preparing for battle.