Walking to the carriage, Kai saw the two coachmen talking with the father of the family.
"We'll reach Mongla City in two days." The younger of the two coachmen said.
'Only two days till I can start leveling up in the dungeons!' Not only did Kai want to help Nightmare City, but now has to deal with the Starla family because of the aged Vampire.
Both things involved tier:3 opponents; Kai needed to level up fast as he was only a tier:1.
The rest of the family was behind them, and the little girl's tail danced in the air as she looked around the new environment.
'{Inspect}!'
Kai didn't want to take any more chances; looking at everyone; he ensured it was safe.
'Fernot? Never heard of them.'
The family had the last name of Fernot, while the father's name was Edwin, the mother was Nari. And the little girl's name was Suzo.
The older of the two coachmen was named Allen, and the younger one was Leroy.
The highest level was Allen at tier:0 Level-13, which was low, but Kai figured going into the dungeons wasn't for everyone. If he wasn't forced into a dungeon, Kai didn't think he would ever step inside one, so it was understandable why people don't go inside them.
By this time, the coachmen noticed Kai's presence.
Waving his hand, Kai called out, "Everything's safe now, and the villagers are throwing a feast tonight."
"Well, ok. We'll be sleeping inside the carriages unless you can stay in a building. Just make sure you get back here early in the morning if you do!" Leroy warned.
'Sure do hope they were invited too, if not. Well, guess I'll see what happens.'
He had no plans of staying in some stranger's home, and Kai doubted there was an inn, so it was just best to sleep together as a group. If anything bad was to happen, Kai was confident Atar would help him.
Considering it was late, he wasn't sure exactly when the feast would be done, and he had nothing to do, so he headed back toward Dreams Walkers and Atar.
Although he wanted to try and learn fire magic from the fire magic stone, he didn't want to attract any attention. It would be best to do it inside a dungeon or in secret; both Kai couldn't do at the moment.
He also didn't want to be disturbed during it, so waiting till later was for the best.
'What's this smell?'
Upon arriving back to where the Fire Cat was slayed, a fragrance so appealing, so extraordinary, that it made Kai's mouth water. The smell was so familiar, yet he couldn't figure out why. The smell of spices mixed with the fresh meat seemed to have awoken a deep desire inside him—a desire to devour.
As he approached the group of Dream Walkers and Atar, the smell grew stronger.
Turning around, Atar grinned, looking at him, "You feel it don't you?" He said but judging by how the Dream Walkers didn't react in the slightest; Kai figured he was the only one to hear it.
Kai didn't have such an ability, so he nodded, not to alert the others.
'How exactly does he know?' He narrowed his eyes.
Atar ignored Kai's expression and continued, "It seems you're developing Werewolf characteristics already." Atar nodded approvingly.
This only made Kai even more suspicious of Atar's connection to Werewolves.
"Ah, Kai, you're back!"
Rathal noticed Kai and greeted him.
"Yeah, I told the others about the feast; I'm not sure if they'll come."
"The coachmen might, but I doubt the family will." Roman replied.
Everyone else had now turned around, and like Kai, they too were affected by the aroma. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Lorgug couldn't hide the look in his eyes.
"I have to say; a magical archer is quite rare. Is that your class? Or is it a preferred way of using magic?" Edea asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I got lucky and got this bow from a boss. But I do hope to get a magical archer class next time."
"Wow! That's cool; I hope you get it!" She replied with a smile.
Before he could say anything, the sound of footsteps came, "Travelers, the feast is prepared!" The old lady appeared, waving her hands, signaling for them to follow.
"Finally!" Lorgug and Hycis quickly went toward the lady while Kai was behind them. The three of them had priorities, while the others slowly followed behind.
Following, the old lady brought the group behind some buildings into an open area with a large stone table, long enough to fit the entire village population of 200 and some. Kids running and playing. Adults talking and laughing. Almost like the Fire Cat never existed in the first place.
Upon the stone tables were 'mountains' of food, long white pieces of meat, different colors of berries, green leaves, and bowls of different colored liquids.
Kai's eyes widened upon looking at the meat. It was familiar, and so was the smell.
'It couldn't be!'
"Please, help yo-"
Before she could continue, Lorgug, Hycis, and Kai had made their way to open spots and dived straight in.
Grabbing a piece of meat, Kai had to make sure it was real.
'Green King Caterpillar!?'
With shaky hands, Kai ate the piece of white meat.
"Ahhh"
"Delicious!"
Beside him, Hycis and Lorgug started to enjoy the meal.
"Mhmmm" The flavor, the taste, was familiar yet foreign.
'Damn, I thought it was the Green King Caterpillar.'
Kai had to admit it was good, very good. It just couldn't live up to the Green King Caterpillars.
Along the stone, table were clay plates and cups set up. Taking the clay cup, he dipped it in a blue-colored liquid. Bracing himself for whatever it may be, he brought the cup to his lips, taking a sip.
The flavor was sweet, with a hint of sour. Overall it was far better than what Kai's had before.
"Ahhh"
"I see you're enjoying our food, haha." The village head walked up to the three with a big smile seeing the people who saved his village enjoying their food.
"Haha, this is some great food!" Lorgug greeted back with an even bigger smile.
"It's a Blue Queen Caterpillar; we caught them recently."
'So that's why it's familiar.'
"Well, it's damn good!"
Lorgug and the village head continued to talk while Kai ate his full, satisfying his urge to devour.
The other four settled down on the other side of the table, enjoying the meal.
Throughout the night, Kai couldn't see any sign of the family or the coachmen, so he figured they stayed in the carriage.
It was only after two hours of eating and making small talk to the people around him did Kai finally go back to the carriages to sleep.
Making his way toward the carriage, he saw many villagers passed out on the steps to their houses.
'This village must be very close to be able to get away with that.'
Anywhere else, Kai was sure someone would rob you or maybe even do other things to you.
Stepping into the carriage, Kai saw the family sleeping together, with the father on one end and the mother on the other, with the little girl in between them.
'Two days till I can start conquering dungeons.' With these thoughts, Kai rested on the bench, closing his eyes.
"We're off!"
Snapping awake, Kai felt the carriage start to move, looking around. Everyone else was awake. The family was talking in low whispers, and Atar was looking at something in front of him, yet Kai couldn't see it.
'He must be looking at his system; I wonder what kind of stats he has.'
Just imagining himself with ten thousand in any stat put a grin on his face.
"What're you smiling about, brat?"
Atar noticed Kai's expression and wasted no time commenting on it.
"Nothing, nothing at all."
Turning away from the Vampire, Kai watched as the landscape changed from a thick full forest to the plains, where only grass was seen. Time ticked by, and in a flash, it was only night again when Kai could see structures in the distance.
Wooden towers, like watchtowers, and behind them were more buildings. Some were made of wood, while others were stone. In front of the carriage was a gate with the words "Welcome to Azbal".
'Just one more day.'
Without waiting for the coachmen to say anything, Kai laid down, appearing to be sleeping.
Instead of sleeping, Kai decided to go to his magical garden to check on his ice plant's growth.
Appearing on his island, he noticed the ice plant was now 2 feet tall, with three leaves sprouting from the stem. Along the leaves were many little icicles. A blue pod waiting to bloom was at the top of the plant. It was a slightly lighter blue than the rest of the plant.
On the ground, ice covered a small radius around the plant. The ice started to creep onto the plant; if it continued like it was, soon enough, the blue plant would be covered in ice.
Sitting down next to the plant, Kai noticed the air around the plant was much colder than before. Focusing on ice, Kai started to meditate, hoping to increase his ice magic, even if by a small amount.
And like that, Kai meditated for a few hours before deciding to sleep. His plant grew a few inches, and another leaf started to sprout. His understanding and connection to ice increased, yet something was blocking him from advancing in a tier.
"Ahhhh"
Waking up, he noticed the carriage was already in motion.
Looking up, he saw Atar staring at him, "Did you enjoy your beauty sleep?"
"Yes, yes, I did."
Atar rolled his eyes, looking away.
"How far are we from Mongla City?" Kai asked.
"Look outside." A short answer from the Vampire made Kai question how long he had been sleeping.
Looking out, he saw a massive, impressive-looking stone gate frame. Looking at the top of the gate frame, Kai thought he saw a big 'M' carved into the stone.
The stone gate frame had an equally impressive wooden gate that was pushed open, allowing people to leave and come as they pleased.
Connected to the gate, stone walls were carried on in the distance, enclosing the entire city behind the walls.
There was a long line waiting to enter, but Kai could still see a guard; he wore metal armor with an 'S' where the heart is. A metal sword was attached to his back. The guard had a long, curly, brown mustache and a bald head. He was tall with some muscles showing on his arms where there wasn't armor. His brown eyes scanned the long line in front of him.
'Mongla City, this should be fun!'