"These fools thought I had given up", Louis thought as he continued to wade in the waters against the flow.
River Oseta was one of the major rivers in the Continent, it separated Samton Earldom from the Kingdom which made the Earl had the final say as orders from the kingdom can't reach them. It is believed to lead straight into the ocean so Louis had to try his best to make sure he was not carried away by the river or all the previous efforts will be put to waste.
"Hahaha, Hahahaha", all the bandits laughed as they saw Louis struggling in the river. Even the bandit chief, Row who wanted to shoot his arrow at him returned the arrow to the quiver and joined his subordinates in the roaring laughter.
"I can't give up, I won't be tired, I will not be weary", Louis motivated himself as he was quickly losing strength.
The laughter continued as they can see him slowly drifting away.
"This current is too high. According to my memory, no one had ever gone and come back. Let me try my luck and conserve strength", Louis thought as he surrendered to the current.
"At least they will think I am dead and no one will look for me again. I only pity the father of this body, I hope he was not killed by grief".
All the bandits looked at Louis and they saw him been carried away by the river until he vanished into a thin dot afar off. The bandits rode their horses as they returned to their respective bases. The eyeliner placed to monitor them and take action when necessary came out and ensured that he was really gone.
"Young Master's plan is almost completed", he said as he ran back into the wild to report to Nicho.
The News reached Nicho in no time who transmitted the information of Louis's 'death' to Milox and ordered the wrapping up of the whole plan.
*** You might be wandering why Nicho could control his elder sister...
Samton, an hereditary Earl loved beautiful women a lot and that could be his only weakness, so he married all the women he liked. In their clan, inheritance is not by order of birth, it is rather by exploits. This means that all his children were entitled to the TITLE. Time will not permit me to talk of all the wives but Nichole, Nicho and Milox's mother was a daughter of another Earl married out to form an alliance with the Samton Clan.
Out of all her children, Nicho was the only male and the only talented child in cultivation so all the sisters married out under the coercion and benefits promised swore allegiance to him so that he would have a better chance of being the next Earl.
You now understand ***
The dead and all forgotten Louis was still drifting in the river. He had almost fainted if not for the will power of Louis who hoped to find an island. He has been in the river since morning and it is already evening, the sun is setting and even the birds were returning to their nests. Luckily, he had not encountered any wild or ranked aquatic animal (not like he could fight if he saw one).
All of a sudden, the speed of the current increased so did the stress, he was passing through. It was like he was half dead. The roaring of the waves were heard ahead and he could catch a glimpse of the deep blue sea ahead. A wave crashed on a rock and luckily for Louis he was going in that direction.
All Louis saw was the rock not knowing it was the horn of a ranked beast, A Rank One Peak Iron Back Tortoise. Louis hugged the the 'rock' before he felt warmness.
The Iron Back Tortoise surfaced and Louis fell directly on her back.
"Such a big tortoise, definitely a new specie", this was Louis' thought as he lost consciousness.
"You are lucky you met me first lad", the tortoise thought as a ranked tortoise already had the intelligence of a ten year old child. She left the little part of her shell where Louis slept on and she dived back into the water...
It is another morning as Louis woke up, opening his eyes slightly. "Where am I? How am I on the solid ground? Am I not supposed to be drowned by now?", Louis thought as he opened his eyes fully and tried to recollect what happened before he fainted.
"Ohh I saw a big tortoise. I guess I am on it's back", Louis thought.
The Iron Back Tortoise who felt vibration surfaced again. Louis opened his mouth and marveled as he could see the whole body of the tortoise. "If I could get a sample of this beast's blood on Earth, I could have escaped as this tortoise shell is super hard", Louis murmured as he marched around the tortoise's shell.
The tortoise winced in pain which mad Louis to notice an injury on her hind left limb. Louis moved closer and behold, he saw a claw inserted deep into the tortoise's flesh.
"What kind of bird can injure this huge beast", Louis wondered as he walked towards the wound and removed it with all his strength. Louis who had removed the claw kept it on the tortoise shell. He fell down again hungry and extremely tired as it had been a little bit more than twenty four hours that he had eaten.
The tortoise who felt relieved, inserted his right hind limb into the sea an forked out a strange looking fish, he flicked the limb and the fish fell on the shell.
"I just ate this raw", Louis thought as he had finished the fish before he came back to his right senses. He looked up and behold, the wound had closed though not fully healed.
The tortoise out of gratitude turned towards the deep blue sea and swam. "Why is it swimming towards the sea?", Louis wondered.
"This lucky lad, I am taking you to where I swallowed the white bright small stones which made me big and powerful", the tortoise thought as he wished it could communicate with Louis so that she will not be misunderstood.
The journey continued as Louis sat on the shell facing front. The tortoise was getting faster and faster as the wound healed rapidly. The sun was already overhead when Louis noticed, a dark dot so far from him. The tortoise could already see the island but not so well as she had already cultivated.
The tortoise increased her speed when she noticed Louis's agitation and she swam for few more hours. It was already evening when they got so close as the tiny dot had already been enlarged. Louis could see the island clearly when he suddenly looked back and saw a giant eagle flying towards them.
"This guy is back again", The Iron Back Tortoise thought as she suddenly sank.
Before Louis could balance to swim to the island, POOSH one of the limbs of the tortoise hit his buttocks as he was thrown into air, moving towards the island.
"I hope this little boy land on the right place".