As the week passed many people were on edge. Some worried about passing the test while others were cautiously looking at each other with gazes that screamed paranoid.
After both kidnappers had been killed the people under them also on the test felt insecure. If the righteous factions wanted to get rid of them before they grow to much in the academy this was the moment.
Many of them watched each others backs but others didn't care that their superiors died. If anything they were happy that they were gone.
These individuals seemed to all think the same thing.
'More spots have opened now!'
The sins factions seemed to always be competing with each other. There was no true loyalty.
If anything these noble households are only high class in name. Instead of acting like normal nobles they were like bandits raising a large group of backstabbers and thieves for their own profit.
There were even smaller factions under the noble households that fought with others over their own opinions and philosophies.
Two of these groups had been on this expedition. 1 lead by a green haired boy similar in age to Ryder if not a year older.
The other ran by a young women with blue hair. She led a group exclusively composed of women each with their own charms and differences.
Yet none of that mattered to Ryder, he had seen their conflicts as well as the arguments between the righteous factions and the sins but he never interfered.
Any time he would be close by each group made sure to at least keep one eye on him at all times.
Many had heard about what he had done, now no one wanted to let him leave their sight.
Not a moment went by that he wasn't being monitored besides when he had to relieve himself or bathe.
Kaylee on the other hand seemed to not care for their stares as she skipped ahead of her group towards her private carriage.
"Ryder! Come on! I want to get home and comfortable! Staying out here is so tiring!"
Like always she was so full of energy no matter what time it was. On his way there he had passed a green haired boy standing next to one of the carriages.
At first he thought nothing of the people around him but that was until he heard a whisper as the green haired boy started talking to one of the people next to him.
"Would you look at that? The pup is wagging his tail so happily as he follows his owner. How disgusting, I bet she is a freak as well! Otherwise how could she still be so happy after seeing what he did! Haha!"
Though it looked like a he was trying to secretly talk to the guy next to him it was obvious this was an attempt to get on Ryder's bad side.
At first he didn't mind being called names, things soon changed when they slowly started to change the conversation to insult Kaylee however.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY!?"
He could feel the rage building up, the headache soon came back as it tried to suppress his emotions only for him to push through grabbing the boy by the collar as he slammed his back against the carriage.
"SAY THAT AGAIN! THIS TIME SAY IT LOUD ENOUGH SO I CAN CLEARLY HEAR YOU!!"
Ryder was breathing heavier then before, the pain put large amounts of strain on his mind yet he tried his best to ignore it. He couldn't give in at this moment, his rage was pushing him to continue.
Yet all the boy did was smile at him as he brought a hand up grabbing onto Ryder's wrist. Though the boy couldn't remove his hand he could still forcibly loosen the grip giving him some more room to breath.
"What are you talking about? I was just talking with my friend here about what we learned during this t-"
"DON'T LIE TO ME! SAY WHAT YOU JUST WHISPERED OUT LOUD FOR EVERYONE TO HEAR OR ILL BEAT IT OUT OF YOU!"
Quickly a couple teachers got involved, up until now they were fine with the students fighting. Especially since most of the teachers left over are from the righteous faction.
However they couldn't let this fight continue, they still had to make it back to the city. This conflict was only slowing them down.
Once a very familiar red headed women walked up she gently placed her hand on Ryder's as she looked at him.
"Please, Ryder calm down. This outburst is only taking us longer to get back home, challenge him to a fight once we get back to the academy. For now go to your carriage"
She had a neutral tone to her voice at the moment. She didn't want to protect one of the sins people but staying here any longer wasn't something any of the teachers want.
Especially the higher ranked individuals who may be missing out on a war between the different factions after being informed about their actions towards Kaylee.
When Ryder looked over at her he noticed that all the people behind her and those in the carriages was watching the situation.
Almost if not all of the individuals looked at Ryder with hesitation, they had heard he bit a man's head off. That wasn't a common occurrence especially the students had never expected a situation like that would ever happen to them.
Many of them were scared he was going to bite of the boys head! They also had looks of disdain on their faces. It was obvious these people had made up their mind about Ryder due to his out burst and the rumors.
At this moment everything became clear to him, this boy wasn't whispering to his friend at the wrong moment when Ryder passed. No, this was planned! The boy was actively trying to make Ryder seem like a horrible person and it had worked.
With the only people around that heard the boy clearly the first time being the same ones inside his group.
'This bastard dares make plans to drag me and Kaylee's name through the mud!? If it was just me that would be fine but he actually wants to bring down a royals reputation!'
His teeth were grinding against each other in anger! He wanted nothing more then to beat some sense into this boy yet he was being held back by the teachers.
His grasp was starting to loosen even more as the pain got to him only to have Kaylee run over and jump on him!
She didn't understand why Ryder was so upset yet she knew the situation needed to stop so she threw herself at Ryder making him drop his anger just to take a few steps back making sure she doesn't fall.
"Yay! Looks like you are learning! You caught me without even having me yell out for you!"
She began to giggle as she changed positions forcing him to carry her like a princess.
"Now then! Let's head home shall we!"
She pointed forward as she looked into Ryder's eyes. His anger melted away almost immediately as he looked into her understanding and enchanting gaze.
It took him a couple seconds but after looking back at the boy for a second with a look that screamed "this isn't over" he began to walk back towards the carriage where Daki and Jacob had been waiting for them.
———
Far away in a distant kingdom in the far north a massive area covered in green surrounded a massive city with all kinds of races going up and down its streets.
This city had once been a massive fortress with massive walls bigger then the jungle like trees surrounding them!
Though there was no central building there were many large stone buildings bigger then the residential ones that had clearly been decorated by the kingdoms flags and symbols!
The flag was pure green with a massive dead tree in the center. Surrounding it was a golden circle with white runes painted onto it.
The only object that could truly be said to be at the center of the kingdom was a massive dead tree. It's branches covered thousands of kilometers making it the largest known plant to have ever existed.
It was truly astonishing to see the size of the tree, if one was to imagine how the kingdom was before one would most likely come to the conclusion that the lush green forest had once been nothing but plains.
This one tree created a massive canopy only allowing water and some light through. Yet if one was to ask someone from those times how they grew food or lived one would get a weird look.
"What do you mean grow food? The elder wood tree provides us with many fruits! Why would we need to grow anything else?"
The kingdom is called The Jade Root Forest! It's territory shared boarders with both the Sanctus Kingdom and the Cosmos Dynasty.
However this part of the continent was filled with nothing but large forests made with different elements yet there biggest resource and trade is their [Empyreon Jade Spirit Root] it is a valuable material used in many objects.
To the other kingdoms and dynasties dismay these roots had been getting more and more expensive recently with the export of these materials drying up as more time passes.
"WHAT IS TAKING YOU GUYS SO LONG! GET THAT SHIT OUT OF HERE ALREADY YOU LAZY FUCKS!"
A large 6'5 man stood on the upper floor of a massive warehouse watching the workers below carrying out large amounts of boxes yet none of them had been labeled by merchant factions signaling that these materials aren't to be shipped out of the forest kingdom.
After a few minutes the man walked into a private office close by. In his hand a communication crystal had appeared as he flipped a switch activating a isolation barrier before talking into the crystal.
"How long do I got to sit here watching these dumbasses work? Just seeing their weak bodies is making me want to tear them apart!"
The man's eyes changed from a once hazel brown to a deep red with the rest of his eyes turning black as if he had injected ink directly into his sclera.
"Watch your tone boy. It seems you have forgotten your place! Don't think that just because you were blessed by the prince himself that you are hot shit! You are still nothing you newborn!"
This shut the man up immediately, he had a look of terror on his face as he stayed quiet waiting for his superior to start talking again.
"I will tell you when you can leave that filthy place, for now start spreading your blessing to the workers that you can trust. Let them experience the power you can give them and soon the rest will follow. Don't fuck this up or I will go there personally to snuff out your existence"
With that the call was cut short leaving the large man looking at the wall in a daze.
The only thing the man did for the next couple seconds was swallow his fear with a large gulp.
'Why am I such an idiot…'
He sighed before heading back out to the workers ready to continue with his job.