The Sun started to rise in the east, the sky resembled like golden covering above the earth. Don gazed up at the sky, while there were thousands of needle-like sun rays seeped through the thick forests in the gapes of trees and glowed like candles.Most of the elves were tired after what had occurred at their tribe and the long walk, setting up their camps, they were exhausted both psychologically and physically and even Amaryll and Arwen were sleeping soundly.
"You need a good rest, we don"t know what"s waiting for us here," Knight whispered to Don.
"No, the elves need good rest. What I need is to make sure there are no threats around here" his voice showed calmness but his eyes betrayed his feelings there was something troubling him.
"I already scanned the area, there are no magical beasts or any other living beings apart from us even the Druid creatures aren"t nearby"
"That"s what bothers me Knight, this is the border of the druid region and any intelligent being would not neglect their boundary unguarded. This place should have been crawling with Druid sentries"
Knight also thought about this but he didn"t want Don or the elves to worry about, after all, he was an intelligent beast.
"What do you think that happened to the Druids?" they both were looking at the direction of the druid territory. In front of them were hundreds of big monstrous trees that covered land before them. There was not enough sunlight coming through their branches and even in a morning like this, it felt like a dark smoky night with a cold breeze.
"I don"t know for sure but it has to be something to do with that mysterious magi. Even though elven slaves are demand in the market" Don turned to see the elves with the difficult expression on his face but he finally let out a sigh and turned away
"the bandits would not risk a venture into that far. The elves should have been safer there, also master level magi"s do more simple and profitable jobs rather than capturing few elves and sell them to the slave market "
Don was still looking faraway while his eyes were seeking something as even with the cold wind breezing through his face, he didn"t bat an eye.
"Do you think that we are still in danger?" an alarmed voice asked as Don turned to see Arwen"s troubled face, his body tensed while he was clutching his fist so tightly. It was obvious that he still didn"t overcome last night"s trauma.
"Not for a while but we better find a safer and secure hiding place "
Arwen slowly nodded his head in agreement and his mouth was twitching like he was searching for words. After what had happened at the tribe, he would be safer than sorry but before he could do or say anything, he received another shock from Don.
"I need to pay a visit to Minister Brian" Don said facing Arwen while Arwen could see there"s a cold intent in Don"s eyes.
"What? Why? Don"t you think it"s risky to travel there?"Arwen almost shouted immediately when he heard Don"s plan.
"I want to know what"s his a.s.sociation with the mysterious magi"
"I understand but is this the right time for you to leave" Arwen couldn"t help but ask.
Don didn"t show any emotion on his face as he said
"I will return soon and Knight will be here so you can be at ease"
Knight showed his disagreement by squinting his eyes and grumbled in a low voice when he heard Don.
"You know you will attract more attention towards us Knight, we still don"t know if there is any of your kind in this world" Knight was still in disappointment because he couldn"t go on an adventure but he reluctantly nodded and agreed anyway.
There was a heavy stillness among the trio for a while before Arwen sighed and said
"If that"s what you want, at least take Uncle Dior with you. He knows the way around outer lands better than anyone, he can shorten your journey and it"s more helpful to have someone familiar with the land"
Hearing Arwen"s suggestion, Don thought about it for a while "hmm Arwen is right it"s not smart to travel alone in an unknown domain and I could learn more about this place from him, and also it will put the elves at ease"
"Alright I"ll take him with me, we should depart after everyone had their breakfast"
"Wait here, I"ll go wake uncle Dior and bring him"
And they both started to walk towards their camp. Knight stood in the middle still watching the Druids territory and slowly turned away and walked behind Don.
After taking a few steps, Don came to his campsite. The camp that he made looked like a small hut but completely made with mud as it had a rectangular shape with some holes here and there to allow light and wind to come. Don went inside and sat on the ground in a meditation posture.
His eyes were closed, his spine was straightened up and stacked his hands in the lap with palms facing up as right hand on top of his left hand with thumbs gently touching. He was slowly inhaling and exhaling as he proceeded to do so there was a small layer of light started to s.h.i.+mmer around his figure. That light was the battle Energy circulating through his body.
Don recalled the things that occurred since he returned to the mortal realm aka this world. While he was in deep meditation, Knight entered his hut and sat on the ground like a lazy king and started to clean himself by licking his paws and legs just when he noticed a familiar light emitting from Don.
And when Knight saw the light, his eyes sparkled with excitement as he continued to stare at Don and he couldn"t wait for Don to open his eyes.
After a while, Don gently opened his eyes and glanced at Knight, the light he was emitting had slowly begun to fade away.
"Can you still cultivate battle energy since we are in a different world?" Knight inquired and his voice had an urgency for Don"s answer.
"Yes, it"s not as much as we used to but this world has battle energy. Even though it cannot be compared to the magical energy around us" a slight relieved feeling surfaced on his face and his mouth was slightly, just slightly formed a curve that looked like a smile.
"Ha Ha Ha, so our cultivation won"t be hindered here, that"s what I like to hear" Knight let out a laugh as his golden furred wings were opened and fluttered lightly and happiness, the excitement was written all over his face.
Don very rarely showed his emotions but even he gently smiled when he confirmed that they could cultivate battle energy in this world.
While they were in a happy mood, Arwen brought uncle Dior to Don"s hut and stood outside as Don sensed Arwen and stood up and went outside.
Stepping outside of his tent, Don saw Arwen and Amaryll as well as another man. Don guessed he was the uncle Dior Arwen told him about. Uncle Dior wore a light golden robe and also had silver hair like Arwen but Don could see that it"s not as pure silver as Arwen. There was a hint of blackness in his hair, similar to other elves; he had green eyes but unlike the elves, his ears were not as pointy as Arwen or Amaryll, his skin tone was paler and there was a resemblance to humans in his face.
Don knew that uncle Dior must be a Half-elf and like the name implies, they were offspring of a human father and an elf mother or vice versa.
Half-elves looked like elves to humans and like humans to elves, hence their elven description as "half-human".
"Don, this is uncle Dior he can accompany you in your travel" uncle Dior nodded in consent while Don did the same.
"We should depart in the afternoon that way we can reach Slave city in the earliest"
Uncle Dior declared firmly, his voice was more mature than Arwen and there was a roughness to his voice and Don could sense there was also a hint of anger or disappointment within his tone. Don didn"t know why but he knew that Uncle Dior had something to say.