SPIRIT SOUL

After spending some time at the ThunderGod shop and looking through the displayed goods, Kyle left it without purchasing anything.

The chubby merchant was still alive, unscathed, and his eyes glued to the masked man, following every single move of his.

Only after a few seconds had passed did he turn towards his attendant before ordering,

"Tell me what they questioned you, what you answered, and if something was off, now!"

His voice was harsh and had a commanding tone, leaving the young man no choice but to repeat every single question that he had been asked by the small group followed by the answers he had provided.

In the following few minutes, the chubby merchant nodded his head a few times before licking his lips, as his eyes searched for the young man.

'Something is wrong, I'm sure about that! Their questions were not exactly weird, but why do I feel so odd?'

Unsure about what he was missing out on, the chubby merchant could only sigh deeply.

He felt that there was no need to think a lot about the masked man.

From the looks of it he would follow the Lohar soldiers to their kingdom, and they would never meet again.

Thus, bothering about the weird sensation he felt after conversing with the masked man, was not exactly what the chubby merchant should do.

"Alright, go back to work. Today's sales don't meet the prince's requirements. I don't want to explain to him how we cannot meet the requirements and failed to have a massive spike in sales after everything I went through to procure the goods!"

Clasping his hands together, he ended his talk with the young attendant before turning back to the store, which he entered.

Left behind alone, the man could only sigh deeply before grumbling to himself.

"So you mean I should try to lure in some people while you do who knows what…"

Meanwhile, as the attendant was grumbling, a big discussion or debate had started on Kyle's side.

Beatrice and Yasmine had begun to come up with all kind of answers on why the Fifth prince would want to wage war against the other two kingdoms.

And that happened even before the mutation of the Licara flower occurred.

"If the chubby merchant is the fifth prince's subordinate, it is only obvious that the prince wants to wage a war in order to strengthen his own powers by weakening the might of his father!"

Yasmine remarked, confident that her words were correct, and that they was no way anything else than what she suggested might be true.

However, Beatrice felt that it was not that simple.

She shook her head vigorously, countering Yasmine by stating what she predicted to be the truth!

"First of all, I believe that the Fifth prince wants to build up his own wealth and army by exploiting others such as rogues of the Nasga race, and the few Lohars that lived in the Sadorla forest until recently.

Producing the Kidran blood orbs by sacrificing the innocent beings, the Fifth prince can sell them for a lower price than anyone else in the market as the resources he used to create them are likely to be mostly blood essences and cheap ingredients.

I wasn't able to perceive anything special from the Kidran blood orbs, after all.

As such, by selling the orbs, the Fifth prince's profits would be ginormous. On the other hand, the Thunderclaw kingdom will also profit by purchasing the orbs, as they receive taxes from the profits!

By using the kidran blood orbs, they can tame and nourish their mounts which then can be used for war purposes.

So in my opinion, the Fifth prince is likely to indirectly nurture the Thunderclaw kingdom, in order to gain the king's recognition and favor.

I guess he wants to become the crown prince, but wouldn't hesitate to take over the kingdom in case his father is too stubborn.

He should be building up a hidden army with the fortune he makes from selling the Kidran blood orbs if he were to fight his father and forcefully take the crown!"

Kyle simply listened to the discussion of the two women, while thinking about the answer himself.

Maybe the Fifth prince had multiple plans he was pursuing at the same time, and pick the ones that were unsuitable while replacing them with the better ones once the time was ripe.

This was what Kyle believed to be the case.

He agreed to the opinion of both Yasmine and Beatrice as they pointed out the same final result; the Fifth prince's ambition to become the next king.

If he was really the master of the chubby merchant, which was something the three of them were almost certain of, then it was obvious that the Fifth prince didn't plan to strengthen the kingdom and let someone else taste the fruits of his hard work.

This was unlikely to be the case after everything Kyle had witnessed, and what he had told the two women that were by his side.

They knew nearly everything about the chubby merchant by now and clearly hated him to the core.

While Kyle had been speaking with him, he had sensed Yasmine's intent to tear the chubby merchant into shreds.

Fortunately, she was able to hold back and act as if nothing was wrong.

Kyle understood that Yasmine cared about him, even if they had known each other for a short period of time.

It made him smile lightly as he believed to have met a very good and valuable friend, someone he shouldn't lose if possible.

When he had first met the halfling, Kyle was sure that she would leave them soon.

He thought that the only reason Yasmine had decided to join them was that she was bored in her life, and trying to find something that attracted her curiosity.

Little did he know that she would turn into a permanent member of his team.

This was something Kyle truly had not expected, and it made him smile thinking about the way he had met the two of them.

When he was separated from Selene, he met Beatrice in the Razkadan castle, and the young-looking, yet old Beatrice of an unknown heritage was now bound to him with a blood pact.

They had not figured out what exactly would happen if she wouldn't drink his blood for several weeks as there had never been a situation forcing them to experience that.

However, that was also not something he looked forward to ever figuring out if he were, to be honest.

'I should really start preparing more blood reserves for her…If possible for a few months, or even years. Otherwise, I will never be able to enter seclusion to fully focus on cultivating!'

Kyle didn't plan to enter seclusion anytime soon. For that, he had too many things to do.

But in the future, cultivating for years was certainly feasible for him, and Kyle would have to do this too if he wanted to advance faster!

With that in mind, Kyle figured that amassing a stockpile of blood reserves would be best as long as he found a way to preserve them without them going bad or a significant decrease in their efficiency.

'If she takes my blood every time she needs it, and I store a little bit more, this should work… I guess'

He tried to come up with a good plan that also utilized the blood draining effects Beatrice's bite caused to him.

Even if it didn't look all that special on some occasions, Kyle knew that her bite was special and something he should make use of.

Thus, he hoped that she would drink his blood directly from his body, providing both benefits.

It was a true win-win situation, which they had to exploit by all means.

He would receive an increase in his circulation speed of energy when she would bite him and she would receive his blood that would energize him.

While Bella and Yasmine continued their discussion, Kyle led them through the marketplace.

He was trying to find the Blazing Legion, which didn't take too long.

Sven's hues were already imprinted in his mind, allowing the Lohar soldiers and Kyle's group to reunite in a matter of ten minutes.

"The new term starts in a few weeks, so we should depart to the Glory Knight academy. I guess the Blazing Legion will accompany us, right?

After all, you are currently in possession of the mutated Licara flower seed, and the Queen will probably want you to give it to her as quickly as possible."

Kyle quickly summarized what he had comprehended about the current situation, and Sven nodded in response.

"We can travel together if you want.

Once we approach the borders of the Lahin kingdom, mounts will be waiting for us. Till that time, you guys can focus on cultivating, or something else, while we journey to the Capital to meet the Queen."

A sense of pride could be heard in Sven's voice.

He was happy about encountering the Queen as it was an honorable fact to receive an audience from the Queen, something that ordinary citizens wouldn't be able to do in their entire life.

As such, Kyle didn't say anything to dampen the Captain's spirits.

He simply returned the nod to Sven before adding,

"In that case, glad to have you by our side for a few more weeks!"

Smiling faintly, he held out his hand.

Sven returned Kyle's smile before tightly grasping his outstretched hand.

"Let's have a great trip without any trouble!"

Saying so, the group that consisted of the Blazing Legion, Kyle, Yasmine, and Beatrice left the dome once again.

However, this time, they didn't return and left the Sadorla Forest for good.

Kyle never planned to return to the small forest, where his journey had started.

It was the place he had chosen to be reincarnated, but even then, Kyle had never felt connected to the Sadorla forest.

However, he couldn't help but feel a little bit melancholic as he received many benefits from choosing the seemingly inconspicuous place out of all the magnificent places he could have chosen to reincarnate in.

Shima was vast, to the extent that even thousands of years wouldn't be enough to visit every country, civilization, and to get to know every culture.

As such, it might have been the best decision of his life so far.

After all, he had met many precious people that were completely different and much more welcoming than the Aldra citizens had ever been to him.

Thinking about his past, and comparing it to the present, Kyle was sure that the current era was far more violent.

However, at the same time, he valued the time with Shima far more than had been the case before.

While thinking about everything, Kyle didn't even realize that his past self and his current self were slowly merging together.

His past and present self which had been at odds began to accept one another without showing any signs of clashing again.

Killing and death were a part and parcel of a cultivator's life, but at the very same time, he promised himself to act in a way that allowed him to never regret the decisions he had taken.

Kyle was fully aware that this wouldn't be easy, but following his principles was far more important.

And this was only obvious as the dangers that came forth with the specific principles he had could lead him to hell, or allow him to ascend without regrets, and with unbending powers to greater heights!

"Let's go to the Lahin kingdom!!'