Caesar and Ahri walked through the now desolate streets back to their carriages, the sun was going down and the town was being enveloped in darkness.They walked for about 5 more minutes before finally, the sight of Joe and Edward standing in front of the Inn doors appeared in their line of sight.
Once both Joe and Edward caught sight of Caesar their anxious expressions disappeared and were instead replaced by relief.
"What took Y"all so long" Joe hollered and marched towards Caesar.
"We were looking around town and while we were dawdling about we decided to get something to eat" Caesar replied honestly.
"Hmm, well let"s get a move on…" Joe said with a slightly annoyed tone.
Caesar nodded his head and walked towards the carriage, Edward had already gotten the horses out of the stable and prepared the reigns.
Caesar stepped on the carriage and put his right hand out to help lift Ahri up, Ahri took his hand and they both got inside the carriage.
Joe followed soon after and sat opposite of both Ahri and Caesar… seeing this, Caesar couldn"t help but let out a soft chuckle and turn towards Ahri with a sly grin.
"I guess we won"t have another chance to "spar" for a while," Caesar said with a hint of laughter still apparent in his voice.
Ahri rolled her eyes and glared at him slightly. Joe looked towards the both of them confused, "why would you want to spar this monster?" he asked towards Ahri.
"Sometimes the bigger the monster you "spar" the more satisfied you are after the fight haha" Caesar laughed playfully and explained to Joe.
Joe stroked his chin in thought, "I guess that does make some sense" Joe said after being stuck in thought for a few seconds.
Ahir punched Caesar on the shoulder but the laughter hidden in her eyes didn"t fool anyone, Caesar stopped teasing Joe and crossed his legs.
"What did you do with the other carriage?" Caesar changed the subject and asked curiously.
"We sold it to that Inn owner, we just gave her the stuff that was inside of it as well haha" Joe scratched his head and laughed innocently.
"How much money did she give you for it?" Caesar asked a different question wit ha slight frown on his face.
"Err, about 10 silver coins" Joe answered honestly with a foolish grin on his face.
A vein popped out on Caesar"s forehead, "just the clothes inside that carriage cost more than 10 silver coins" Caesar said quietly.
"Hehe, she is a beauty though… She needs a discount right?" Joe said and turned his head to show off his left cheek.
A kiss mark was clearly discernable on his cheek… Another vein popped out on Caesar"s forehead as he looked down at Joe as if he was an insect.
"Each horse costs at the very least 1 gold coin… there were six of them, that carriage itself would cost around 5 gold coins and you sold all of it for 10 silvers?" Caesar"s killing intent was clearly permeating out from his body.
Sweat started trickling down Joe"s face, "haha, it"s okay right? We don"t need the money right?" Joe asked with hollow laughter.
"It can"t be helped I suppose, I should have known you would"ve been an easy target for seduction," Caesar said with exasperation.
Caesar didn"t pay much more heed to the idiotic joe and looked out of the carriage window with his cheek resting on his hand.
The carriage moved through the night in silence, only the sound of the carriage wheels. .h.i.tting rocks and the horses hooves. .h.i.tting the ground could be heard.
"Ahri, tell me more about your clan" Caesar suddenly asked.
Ahri turned her head towards Caesar, "why, are you curious about my family?" She asked with a curious expression.
"Indeed, I want to know more about my wife"s family and of course, how to help them"
Ahri slowly nodded her head and put on a nostalgic look, Joe also sat up and looked at Ahri intrigued.
"The fox-kin clan are descendants from the past nine-tailed-fox clan… because of this, our clan treasures those with stronger bloodlines. Whenever a new fox-kin is born, their talent is tested by a clan elder. Those with higher talent hold a higher place in the clan… The entire fox-kin hierarchy is built upon strength… hence why they are angry my grandfather is sick and becoming weak"
"I"m confused about the bloodline part, why is it that your clan specifically cares about bloodlines in particular?" Caesar asked curiously.
"Each fox-kin has a chance to awaken the nine-tailed fox bloodline, the fox-kin clan"s main aspiration is to reawaken the nine-tailed fox clan to their former glory… that is why the issue about my marriage is such a huge deal"
"I see, do you have any kin besides your grandfather still alive" Caesar had wondered about this question for a while.
"I was an only child, my mother and father had both fallen in battle with the trolls when I was a very young child. My grandfather has taken care of me my entire life" Ahri calmly explained.
"You had said there were many in your clan that were trying to take your father"s place as the clan-head.
"In my clan, there are 9 different divisions, each division has a different specialization… 7 of those divisions are currently trying to gain power and usurp my grandfather…"
"Hmm, it sounds like your clan is in a worse condition than I thought" Caesar voiced his opinion audibly.
Ahri looked down towards the ground sadly, "if my father didn"t die and took the position of clan head none of this would"ve happened…"
Caesar squinted his eyes, "it would appear to me that your father died at too good a time for the others in the clan… with you being born with the nine-tailed fox bloodline and your grandfather being the current head of the clan, he held to much power"
Ahri nodded her head, "when my father and mother were out hunting the troll head and hundred of other elites ambushed them, the only way for them to have known their location was if there was a mole… My grandfather had looked far and wide to find who the mole was but to no avail"
Caesar looked out of the carriage window in silence. "This could be harder than I initially had thought" Caesar quietly thought to himself.
They carriage once again moved in silence for the rest of the night, the sound of Joe"s loud and obnoxious snoring echoed throughout the night.
Ahri was resting her head on Caesar"s lap, she was sleeping with a slight frown on her face… presumably from a nightmare.
Caesar looked at Joe"s sleeping body and squinted his eyes, Ahri had pointed out a change within his eyes but he couldn"t feel anything different, in fact, he felt perfectly normal.
Caesar concentrated on his eyes while staring down on Joe"s figure.
"H-huh?" Joe abruptly woke up and looked around the carriage warily, he noticed Caesar peering down on him and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, it"s just you…" Joe muttered.
Caesar looked at Joe inquiringly "what spooked you?" he asked curiously.
"Heh, I told you that dwarves are sensitive to magic… I felt a predator looking down on me, like it was about to cut my throat, now that I think about it were you just thinking about killing me?" Joe stood up and looked at Caesar wide-eyed.
"Haha, I would never," Caesar said quietly and chuckled softly, he didn"t want to wake Ahri up.
Joe looked at Caesar with doubt and sat back down, Caesar suddenly saw a small reddish dot appear on Joe"s right shoulder.
"Hey, what is that?" Caesar asked and pointed his right hand at Joe"s shoulder.
Joe tilted his head and confusion and looked at his shoulder, "what are you talking about, there"s nothing there?" Joe asked in confusion.
Caesar leaned forward and poked the red dot on Joe"s shoulder.
"Ow-Ow-Ow, what the h.e.l.l man, that"s my bad shoulder" Joe held himself back from screaming out in pain because he feared to wake Ahri up.
"What"s wrong with it?"
"I used to be a great blacksmith until some b.a.s.t.a.r.ds crippled my shoulder… and you just poked me in its sore spot" Joe complained
Caesar examined Joe"s body once again and noticed many more dots all around his body, some were brighter than others. Caesar felt as though he knew the best course of action if they were to battle.
"H-hey man, why are you looking at me like that?" Joe asked warily and broke Caesar out of his trance.
Caesar leaned back and contemplated this new discovery, "weakness? Or perhaps efficiency? This power needs more testing… I also doubt that I gained this power without a set back of some sort" he silently thought to himself while Joe just stared at him curiously.
"Oi, I"m going back to bed mate… but, now that we"re alone I was wondering if we could search some mountains for the crystals needed to make magic accessories" Joe changed the subject and asked Caesar with a pleading look.
"Do you want to make a magic accessory?" Caesar asked inquiringly.
"Yes! I have been aching to make one and I guarantee that it will help us on this journey" Joe said excitedly.
"As long as it doesn"t delay us by to much I don"t mind, however, it will be a while until we encounter any mountains anyway" Caesar explained calmly.
"Hehe That"s fine, I have waited at least 20 years, what"s 1 more month?" Joe said with a happy grin on his face and laid back down.
Caesar just shook his head wryly and also closed his eyes, he decided to test this new power tomorrow.