The town that the disciples stopped at to rest was called Slawraw. It was a small town surrounded by bushland with hardly any beasts in the surrounding area due to the lack of prey. It was also an area that the disciples of the Cloud Haven Sect often have to pass through when doing missions.
The town had a measly population of around 5 000 people, but it was a striving community with its main source of income coming from the hotel industry.
Only a few cultivators lived in the city, with the majority of the population being normal people, because of this, they dealt in gold coins instead of Mana Stones. Fortunately, the Cloud Haven Sect had enough gold coins to fill a large beach. Chelsea had paid for everyone's hotel room in the best hotel in the city, and after their mounts had a good rest and were expertly groomed by the locals, they continued on their journey.
Currently, Otis was following behind the red and yellow tiger. Vasari was laying on his back while playing with a small ball of fire, a ball of water, a ball of earth and a ball of wind between his fingers. His head was resting on Kurumi's lap while she softly massaged his scalp.
The cubs were running closely behind Otis. Their coats were shining after getting a nice bath from one of the locals from Slawraw town. Mo was a little dissatisfied that they trimmed his proud mohawk, but he forgave them after receiving plenty of treats.
"I still haven't got your name yet. This must be your first mission after graduating from the Cloud school, right?"
Vasari heard Chelsea speak to him, and without sitting up or pausing the movements of his fingers, he answered her.
"Yes, this is my first mission since graduating, and my name is Vasari."
"I'm surprised you would bring servants on a mission and even have them ride one of your mounts. Are you not worried that they would escape?"
"They're not servants. She is my woman," Vasari said while pointing at Hiromi riding on the thunderbird, "and she is my sister-in-law, and she's my mother-in-law." Vasari said while pointing at Kurumi behind him and Hozumi sitting next to Hiromi.
"You bring your woman with you on a potentially dangerous mission?"
"Well, she's a cultivator too, not just a trophy for me to occasionally show off."
Chelsea looked at Vasari with approval. She liked his answer and agreed with him one hundred percent.
"I like you. When we get back to the sect, I'll recommend you to the faction leader." Truthfully, Chelsea knew who Vasari was since she first laid eyes on him. Nearly 2 years ago, there were pictures on nearly every ManaSite of a blind man with divine-like looks. They gave him the nickname 'God of Handsomeness'.
Thousands of fan clubs formed where they talked about him or sent rare pictures to one another. Chelsea would be too embarrassed to admit it, but she was also in a God of Handsomeness fan club 2 years ago. If one looked at her screen saver, it would be a picture of Vasari walking through the streets of Outer Haven.
Kurumi turned her eyes to Chelsea, more specifically, the two badges on her shoulder. She saw a dark red cloud with the number 13 slightly below it. Kurumi had been learning more and more about the sect as she spent more time with the girls, and she knew that the badge was the symbol for the Crimson Cloud faction, which was a Top 20 faction.
"Thanks for the offer, but I have no intention of joining any faction."
"I see…what a pity."
"Can I ask you a question?" Vasari suddenly asked.
"Sure."
"I think it's safe to assume that you're part of a faction, so how are you able to do a mission like this by yourself? I thought factions barred their members from doing missions other than the ones they pick?"
Chelsea looked at Vasari in confusion before she suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, you must have friends that recently joined a faction and they have a restriction on them, correct?" Seeing him nod, Chelsea continued. "That restriction only applies for the first 5 years. After that, you're free to do whatever mission you like, but you still have to give a portion of your earnings to the faction."
Vasari made a sound of acknowledgement before nodding and thanking her for the information. When the conversation ended, Vasari's ever-confident smile widened as he enjoyed the scalp massage and the warmth of the sun washing over his face.
While they were conversing on the ground, another conversation was happening in the air.
Hiromi and her mother were leisurely chatting about when Dontrall Morton sitting on his mount, a peak beta-stage Cloud Pegasus, flew side by side next to Zephyr.
"Hello ladies, I couldn't help but overhear you talking about how to comprehend Bow Will. It just so happens that I have comprehended an Advanced Bow Will."
"Wow, really? That's amazing, I've been using a bow for over six years now, and I only recently comprehended it to the Basic Will level." Hiromi praised him while also lamenting her lack of talent. She's never met another bow user before, so she was excited to potentially learn something new.
Dontrall had a genuine look of surprise when she mentioned how long it took her to comprehend Basic Bow Will because it took him eight years to comprehend the bow to that level and another ten years to get it to the level of an Advanced Will.
Of course, he wouldn't admit his inferiority to a girl he is trying to court.
"I can let you in on well kept secret. The easiest way to upgrade your Basic Bow Will to the advanced level is by learning a martial technique that focuses on the bow."
"Really?"
"Yeah, in a few hours, we'll reach another town. If you come to my room, I can show you some of my bow cultivation techniques."
Hozumi who watched the conversation play out from behind Hiromi, couldn't help but softly giggle after Dontralls invitation. She remembered Jaxon's words from earlier and it was easy to see what he was trying to do. Unfortunately for Dontrall, he was barking up the wrong tree if he was trying to steal that man's woman.
Hiromi frowned, and soon a look of disgust covered her face when she saw Dontrall's cocky smile as if he expected her to jump at his proposal.
Feeling her master's anger, Zephyr flapped her wings once with all her strength.
*BO-BOOM!*
Two loud explosions occurred one after the other, frightening all the cultivators and mounts alike.
"Fuck me! Control your mount, I nearly got a heart attack." Dontrall shouted while regaining his control over his shooketh Cloud Pegasus.
Zephyr cackled after seeing their reactions and getting a 'good job' rub from Hiromi.
"Sorry, Mister Dontrall, but I'm going to have to decline your offer. I already have a bow cultivation technique."
Dontrall face was neutral and understanding, but he was inwardly irritated. He didn't think a mere servant would have a bow cultivation technique that's even remotely comparable to his.
'She probably has some common grade bow technique you can buy at any random cultivation store. Ignorant woman. When she sees the power of my technique, she'll be running into my lap.'
Ignoring Hiromi and Kurumi and pretending to be uninterested in them, Dontrall ordered his mount to fly to the front of the group. For no reason in particular, he looked at the ground below him. On the Black Cloud Pegasus, he saw Vasari 'looking' up at him with a mocking smile that seemed to grow wider when their 'eyes' met.
Dontrall scoffed before looking away, no longer willing to pay attention to these nobodies.
–––––
4 days and thousands upon thousands of kilometres travelled later, the group of 22 disciples and 3 servants arrived at their desired destination, Grimdale.
True to its name, the atmosphere of the town was pretty dull and gloomy. The town was mostly surrounded by open grassland, but to the East was a large forest.
Grimdale was larger than the other 3 towns with a population of over 50 000 people. Of those 50 000 people, around 1/4 was a cultivator; of that 1/4, only around 1/10 were above the Mortal Ascension Realm.
Less than 10 cultivators were living in this town that was currently in the Nebula Realm, so when a potential threat of a beast tide with over 100 beta-stage beasts and 1 000 adult-stage beasts, their only hope was to ask for help.
However, even after requesting help, they knew that it was not guaranteed that help would arrive.
The Town Head of every town had access to a private Manasite where they could ask for assistance from the major powerhouses.
The powerhouse would then turn it into a mission for its disciples. If the situation were urgent, the town would normally ask for assistance from the powerhouse closest to them. If it wasn't, then they had the luxury of asking any of the powerhouses for assistance and thus, conflicts between the disciples of different powerhouses ensued.
Landing outside the town's entrance, the guards on the wall instantly recognised them as Cloud Haven Disciples and let them in. Leading at the front, Chelsea and Dontrall walked up to the Town Head and the Head of the Grimdale defence team.
The Town Head was a well-built, good-looking, middle-aged man with a thick beard and a simple side-part haircut. His eyes were bright green and his hair dark brown.
The Head of the Grimdale defence team was slightly smaller in stature compared to the Town Head, but the air around him wasn't any less impressive. He had short blonde hair and a clean-shaven face with ocean-blue eyes. He wore clean, black leather armour and a sword sheathed around his waist.
"We welcome the esteemed disciples of the Cloud Haven Sect to our little town." The Town Head said out loud as Chelsea and Dontrall, followed by their mounts and the rest of the disciples, walked through the town gates.
"You must be Mister Sunri, the Town Head of Grimdale?"
"Yes, that's me."
Chelsea nodded before introducing herself and Dontrall as the leaders of the group. She then gave the group of disciples time to roam around the city while Dontrall, Mister Sunri, the Head of the Grimdale defence team, and she discussed the beast tide and their plan to defend the town.