One month had passed since the other 'Heroes' came to this world.
One thing was certain.
They were incredibly talented.
Especially Kai...
Bayezid sat on his desk analysing the papers on each one's progress...
Suddenly...
*Bang*
The door was forcibly opened and that too with great force.
Bayezid frowned at the intrusion but his expression stabilised in less than a second when he saw the person responsible for it.
The person without any explanation came and sat down across Bayezid.
Their expression indiscernible.
"Wha..."
Before Bayezid could speak he was cut off.
"I was away for only a month..."
The person spoke with a lost look on his eyes.
"Don't worry everything is under control.
The captain, Kane...Ellis... and not to mention them.
All of them put it under control."
But the person didn't buy it.
While the tracks could be covered and deception could be made to some extent...
Hiding the origin of forty people was something difficult.
Simply they didn't have the influence to that extent.
"Did you see them while coming here?" Bayezid asked.
"No"
Bayezid stood up.
"Lets see them first before talking about the other important stuffs."
Jass compiled.
They two went to the training grounds.
Just as they took a step on the grounds , they could notice a change.
There were more auras emitting from the ground.
That meant more people...
Mages and knights were seen teaching some people.
Some were duelling.
The palace knights were now retreated to another corner where they trained with each other.
The training grounds was huge and well contained.
Everyone had space to train in.
"That kid..."
Jass couldn't help but exclaim.
Bayezid just laughed.
"Can't believe it right?
His aura already exceeds a middle level low tier."
Even though Jass was shocked , he still asked a question that bugged him.
"But his powers... they don't seem normal?"
To this there was silence for some time.
Both of them walked near and observed more closely.
All of them saw the two of them and showed their respects , immediately going back to their training.
Of course , the forty didn't even show him the slightest respects.
Not because of hatred or something like that.
They didn't see a point in that.
They came from the modern era where respect was mostly forgotten.
Not to mention, it was just one month they came to this world.
Their priority was different as well.
Many of them had different options and thoughts.
But the majority had curiosity in them.
Just the way Bayezid felt as days went on in this world.
Excitement about the new world. The adventures.
Just as Jass was engrossed in observing them Bayezid decided to drop the bomb.
"Kai practises cultivation."
It was done.
Jass had lost his wits and was now finding it hard to even stand upright.
Arcane arts and movements arts were the divisions popular in the continent Drake and some other continents in vicinity of it and maybe even beyond that.
But as said Aurelius was a world so vast that even infinite couldn't define it.
While all ways of arts could be classified under the two , the way they were refined and trained was different.
Energiya was the main source of power.
But it was in different states.
The energiya that was absorbed to be used in the arts was the one in 'free state' and had its own unique properties and such.
The way to train the arts using this state of energiya was called the common way.
Now on the other hand came cultivation.
It also involved training in the arts but involved a completely different state of Energiya.
Spiritual Energiya.
The one that controlled the sun , moon , the weather , the celestial and one of the most pristine and powerful states of Energiya.
While there were records of powerful people outside Golden rock using this...
He knew none from Golden rock who could wield this energiya except for some heretics and monks who predicted future , fortunes , misfortunes and such...
Jass just asked one question.
There was no denying that Kai followed cultivation , a completely different system.
The concentration of spiritual energiya around him couldn't be more apparent.
The other heroes.
They were monsters as well.
"Do you think they could be allies?"
"No."
Jass heart sank at that.
He knew the answer beforehand, just that he wanted to hear something different...
How Erlands would ascend to greatness...
"They are mostly likely to go along their own path.
But we will try to least retain some of them.
Especially Kai, Anastasia, and few others.
Enticing Kai would basically make majority of the students stay as most of them follow him.
Anastasia, the head girl could prove useful as well because of her high talent and most of the girls following her."
Jass nodded his head.
Bayezid mentioned "we" but he knew that it was only him , Jass who would do the majority of the work.
More work but something that might be worthwhile.
After some time of observing , suddenly Jass became serious and so did Bayezid.
They both then went to the office they came from earlier.
This time around , Kane was also there.
"We must go" Jass said.
Jass then proceeded to take out a map from his spatial ring and put it on the table.
It was a map of the kingdom of Trimbiole's southern lands , the lands near the Border of Erland's north.
"The two years of the scout didn't go to waste.
I have also surveyed the surrounding areas , the villages near it and have formed a plan."
He then took out another map.
This one was smaller in size but was more detailed.
Bayezid immediately took the map into his hands and surveyed it.
"It assume it must take atleast six months to navigate inside the temple?"
"Yes , it would."
"Don't you think people would get suspicious if we were away for atleast 6 months?"
"The reasoning we would give if someone asks would be related to your training, that we have gone away to train in dungeons.
Six months is not a huge time.
If someone tries to connect us with the incidents happening in Trimbiole...
We will have to trust in Ellis and her subordinates for containing it...
She thinks for the good of the crown anyway...."
Ellis now did most of the tasks of the crown. She was reliable.
Jass then signalled Kane , who took out a mask.
Bayezid wasn't surprised by the mask.
It was the mask he had requested to be done.
It was made up of steel and was very durable.
It had some carvings in it , but nothing stood out.
This mask was akin to the mask wore by the actor that played King Baldwin IV in the movie Kingdom of Heaven.
Why did he want this mask?
For one it looked cool and second he really admired King Baldwin.
While there was no records in real life that indicated him using a mask but still the fact remained that he suffered from leprosy and still fought for his faith and people.
He as a character was an inspiration.
Aside from the symbolic properties , it also came with an attribute.
Attribute was akin to an ability but was attached to an item.
It could be passive or an active attribute.
In the case of the mask , it allowed him to conceal his appearance by changing his magic signature.
Magic signature was a very important concept.
The way one controlled Energiya differed and was unique to each other.
The processes they use the energiya for might be different from each other , a movements arts technique or an arcane arts technique or cultivation technique but still the way they handled the energiya to do the process remained the same.
Basically it defined oneself, how they communicated with energiya , the essence of the world.
Their identity in this world.
While the mask was only a two star item and would be effectively useless when faced with a powerful entity still for their mission it would suffice.
It was not like they were raiding the capital of the kingdom...
The southern province of the kingdom of Trimbiole was barren and had barely any arable land.
There were only hills and mountains and the population of the people didn't exceed over 500k.
But the area of the southern province was massive and was almost 20k km squared.
That was twice the surface area of Erlands...
Not to mention the denizens were not humans at all.
It inhabited bunch of tribes that belonged to the beastmen race.
Foxkin, lionkin, tigerkin, catkin.
Bayezid and Jass then went on to talk for almost two hours discussing the plans and their next courses of actions.
In between Jass took some breaks as he was still exhausted from the month excursion.
Actually he might have not returned before another month but the news of almost forty otherworlders arriving in the palace didn't let him stay.
But Jass didn't consider himself incompetent at all by just taking a month to just analyse the map and survey it on spot.
Even the scout who was trained to these stuffs took almost two years to finish the job.
Yeah, he was supposed to find the place and survey the place from scratch but still it wasn't like he was completely helpless.
In the first place he was only able to even find the place because of the rudimentary map found in the treasury.
Like that a week passed.
Bayezid was preparing to leave the palace.
He would only return after six months.
"I think that should do"
He said while looking at a suitcase.
The suitcase was a one star item that could contain more items that it seemed to be able to hold.
When opened , they would see more depth in it and basically it looked like a dug out well.
It wasn't overly filled with items as they were going to... raid people to get those stuffs.
It included only the necessary things required and some miscellaneous items that couldn't be found with common villagers.
Some dress , makeover tents , buckets and so on.
On the other hand , the outfit he was wearing was eye catchy though.
A red full plate armour that was even able to withstand the hits of a third tier practitioner.
Although he would paint it in a different colour once he started carrying out the mission.
On his left side of his waist hung a sword tightly bound.
On the right side of his waist lay a storage pouch which stored some talismans and so on.
On his finger was a storage ring that included the most important stuffs like healing potions , magical bandages and so on.
Satisfactorily nodding his head , he took the suitcase in his hands and made for the walls of the palace.
The only one waiting for him was Jass and two horses.
The horses themselves were ordinary and brown coloured.
It wasn't those white horses that were eye catchy.
The white horses were an extremely rare breed and cost good amount of money to raise and breed.
Jass gave him a weird look.
Only when Bayezid came near him did he open the mouth.
"Um... are you planning to carry the suitcase?"
He asked white tilting his head.
Bayezid was confused.
What did he mean if he was going to carry the suitcase?
Wasn't it meant to be carried?
"Yeah?"
It was a common sense that you were supposed to carry a suitcase.
"Um... actually you could put the suitcase in your spatial ring you know?
Did you forgot the rune of eclipse spell I taught you?"
Jass had a disappointing look on his face.
Rune of Eclipse. A two star ability, a spell that allowed the users to store two star storage items and below in the same range of storage items.
It was a very long spell and included many runes , the language of Aurelius but nevertheless as they repeated themselves a lot , it was easy to memorise and remember.
Suddenly when Bayezid remembered it , he was embarrassed.
It wasn't like he forgot the spell or something but he was overtaken by the ways of his old world.
He wasn't still used to the magical way of this world completely.
After chanting the spell and putting away the suitcase in his spatial ring, the two then rode their horses and went past the gates of the palace.
From a corner of the palace , a woman could be seen looking at the scene with a blank look.
She was going to be the sovereign of Erlands for who knew how much time.
Well in the first place , wasn't she doing the same exact job for over two months now?
That despicable man had pushed all his responsibilities on her.
What would he have done if she was an enemy of the crown?
Even he didn't convey the news of his departure.
Jass was the one who told her the information and their purpose of their leave.
In this palace , he was the only one who acted somewhat appreciable to her.
He wasn't overly kind or anything as still her mother was a bitter enemy of him.
But nevertheless it wasn't like she wanted Bayezid to tell her of his departure.
She hated him to the core and despised him!
She couldn't understand how could one like someone to a great extent and then feel great disgust at the very next moment...
Sighing she went back to her work.
After finishing reading and signing some documents, she was supposed to train and then observe the forty new arrivals.
Jass had assigned a very important task to her.
If she could do it,
Then Erlands might even rule over golden rock in the next century.
----
A day later---
Two men were seen riding on their horses.
They were going relatively in normal speed.
They seemed to be not in a rush.
One of the men decided to comment.
"I have never seen farmlands that stretch this far and wide."
The man who spoke was Bayezid and he was quite shocked by the sight in front of him.
He wore a black armour that was originally a red armour but painted.
"Kingdom of Zeneb is quite a powerful country and their lands stretch far and wide."
The other man spoke up. His voice was neutral but if one probed deeper they could see some emotions connected to it.
He was Jass.
Bayezid didn't fail to notice this.
"Do you have some kind of memories in this place?" he asked what came in his mind.
Jass looked at Bayezid and then on the road ahead.
Truly the farmlands were beautiful.
Green and green everywhere.
People working here and there and those further away looking like dots.
Squatting down to plant the crops , putting manures on the ground or just looking after the crops.
Paddy, wheat, cotton , everything could be seen growing.
Along with different types of crops , different types of soils to accommodate the crops.
People when they saw the two men riding on horses would always give them a warm smile.
"Do you know the nickname for Kingdom of Zeneb?" Jass asked.
"Wasn't it supposed to be Kingdom of peace?"
"Hmm... thats right and the incredible thing is that it actually stays true to its name."
What Jass said came right from his heart.
How could it not?
He had spent a lot of his time in this place.
He had done his education in this beautiful kingdom.
He made many good friends in this kingdom, which also indirectly made it possible for him to maintain a good relation with this kingdom.
Not to mention... he had met his wife in this very kingdom.
Although his wife wasn't alive anymore , still he had his kids that he got through her.
The children were exactly like her.
Her intelligence , her confidence , her charisma , her personality , everything.
The children were an integral part of his life.
Reminiscing the good times , he began explaining to Bayezid why he felt that way.
From his own story and also the praises of the kingdom.
Kingdom of Zeneb was a kingdom that stood for morality and peace.
They were the richest kingdom in the entire Mortal's valley and were almost twenty times the size of Erlands!
If they wanted to they could have untied many of the small nations like Erlands , Sillands and so on and even became bigger.
But since their founding they had not went to any wars or such or even had a slightest thoughts of disrupting another nation's affairs.
Whenever there was a conference between the nations in the mortal's valley , they always stood at the forefront of economic regimes, peace regimes , immigration regimes and so on.
Even when war broke out between Erlands and Silliands , they had completely stopped trading military equipments with both the states completely.
But how could a kingdom that had existed for almost 100k years be like this?
That was because of the royal family that existed in this kingdom.
While they were a cadet branch of clan Athreya during the time of Zaizhong the Pacifist , once the nation gained independence due to their strong members they established themselves as the ruling family of the kingdom.
The royal family had always endorsed peace and emphased on economy , education , research , wellbeing and so on instead of war and such.
But that didn't mean they had a measly military.
Whenever a nation or a party of mercenaries invaded them , they all had been dealt with ruthlessly.
The nations which invaded them saw their entire system changing and crumbling and they could not get back from the blow before a few centuries.
But nevertheless the nation wasn't without problems.
Sometimes either someone from the royal family or a person who rose to influence would often misinterpret the notions of its ancestors.
But all of them no matter how powerful never lasted a year.
The civil war their nation would be plunged to would be solved swiftly.
Of course a nation as powerful as them would have some people protecting its sanctity from the shadows whenever it was being blemished.
All in all Kingdom zeneb could be described as beautiful , noble , peace loving and the nation of dreams.