The next day Alisha and Zeno both applied for one week's leave for their journey to the mountain of beasts.
"Sis, so tonight will be going on our journey so can I ask you something?"
"What? Go on, im in a good mood."
"When will father come back...?"
"Huh, what does it have to do with us going on the trip?"
"I know... But can you tell me when will he be coming back?"
"A week before your birthday."
"Oh, so he will be there on my birthday. I'm happy!"
"Huh, he's going to sell you off... What are you happy about?"
"No, he won't I will definitely learn a new ability, and then I will always stay with you all."
'What a weirdo... We treat him worse than a slave and he still wants to be with us... He must be out of his mind.' Alisha always thought his brother was a weirdo, but this time she has confirmed it.
Both of them informed their fight club about their absence and went straight back to their home, where grandfather was waiting for their arrival.
"Both of you, go fill yourselves up, we will begin our journey at 10:00 pm. So go and take some rest." He greeted and asked them to take some rest.
"Ok grandpa."
"Yup grandpa."
Both of them went in and enjoyed their bowl full of special poh, and some grilled pork.
"Food was delicious... Enjoyed such good food after a pretty long time."
"Haha, sister you sure filled yourself up."
"Yeah... It was soo tasty... Come in my room, help me pack my bag."
"Roger."
Alisha and Zeno went into her room, and started packing their bags.
"You packed sleeping bags?"
"Yup!"
"Water?"
"Hmm."
"Snacks?"
"Yeah."
"Knife?"
"Yeah I packed one for you, it was kept in your drawer. I didn't take one for me, is it fine?"
"Even if you had a knife, you wouldn't even kill an ant with it... Just keep it just in case we throw you in the village of beasts."
"Hey sister! Stop it, im packing it why are you teasing me..." Zeno sighed in an annoyed tone.
"Hehe, I love teasing my bitch, say do you mind?"
"O... Of course, I don't mind..."
"Good bitch, now packed a mosquito repellent?"
"Huh? Why in the world would we need that?"
"What if mosquitoes eat me? You can regenerate but I can't, go on pack it dummy."
"Ohk."
"So who will wear red dragons claw?" Alisha asked Zeno after double-checking her checklist.
"I think grandpa... Or you can wear it yourself."
"Hmm, sounds good."
Alisha and Zeno walked down their palace and noticed a group of guards guarding a majestic and beautiful figure.
"Oh my, Alisha dear, please be safe and use the teleport stone when you get into any trouble. I will miss you a lot sweet heart." Christine gently hugged her daughter Alisha.
"Will miss you too mom." Alisha hugged her back, and walked to her grandpa.
On the other hand, Zeno tried getting through the guards and meeting his mother, but he failed and got thrown out of the palace where his grandpa and his sister were waiting for him.
"What's wrong with you... Even a fool would stop trying if they know something is impossible to achieve." His grandpa sighed. And Alisha nodded in agreement.
"Sorry... I got carried away..."
Zeno, Alisha and their Grandpa decided to travel through their horses because any vehicle wouldn't stand a chance in one of the unscaled mountains.
"How long will it take to reach your master home?" Alisha was the first one to break the silence.
"Approximately one day, if we travel all day without a rest."
"Great! Sounds good, so will we face any beasts on our way?" Alisha asked another question.
"Haha, you bet, let me explain about these beasts to you."
Grandpa took a breath and continued, "These beasts can read Auras, they will find out who's the weakest one in just one look. The mountain of beasts is always covered in mist, except its centre which is always clear. Myths say that the pond of tears absorbs all emotions in it."
"The beasts in the first layer of the mountain are smaller than us in size and not that strong. Even Zeno can defeat them. In the second layer the mist thickness increases, the beasts over there often caught and sold off in auctions, these are strong beasts and Alisha can defeat them. In the third layer the mist thickness increases by every step, at certain point the mist would become so thick that you won't be able to look at your horse. Luckily these horses are trained for these conditions."
"In the third layer, the smallest beast would be taller than me, and the strongest ones can be eight feets tall, and can use mana. I can defeat them but it won't be easy at all."
"In the centre where there is no mist, the beasts are stronger than all of our combined strength our only way of surviving it would be finding our master before the beasts find us."
"Though most of the beasts in centre are tamed by my master, they still posses the power of red dragon, one of the strongest beast found in our northern continent."
"So the red dragons claw produces a certain odour, which only these beasts can sense, it is strong enough to make the beasts at the centre run for their life."
"Wow... You sure know a lot about this place..." Zeno was astonished to know about his grandpa's knowledge about these mountains.
"The thing is... I was trained in these mountains, and trust me I have escaped death more than hundred times, and most of the time it was in these mountains."
"Grandpa... You sure we would reach to the centre, all of us?" Zeno now doubted their chances of reaching the centre of the mountain.
"Yeah, don't worry, I will protect you with my life."
"Thanks for your sweet words... But im not buying it." Zeno was not at all convinced from his words.
"I agree Zeno this time..." Even Alisha agreed to him this time.
"Sniff, my grand children don't trust me... I feel bad... Why do you both treat an old man like this..."