We left the snow covered terrain before and despite the fact that we crossed the extreme north of the dwarven territory; we didn’t find problems along the way. It seemed that our luck was finally turning around… or mine. I didn’t know if Roswald was as unlucky as me when it comes to enemies getting in my way.

  “Well, isn’t this a nice place?”

  Felyndor stretched before us as a full of life green expanse, though it was far from a dense forest. The area was surprisingly open, with only a scattering of trees breaking the horizon. The grass itself was short and even, lending the land a sense of calm simplicity. It felt peaceful, almost suspicious, yet distinctly alive. Despite the lack of towering trees or tangled vegetation, there was an unmistakable beauty to its open, unobstructed surroundings.

  As we crossed the border into Felyndor, the lack of guards or defensive structures struck me as peculiar. No one stood to greet or stop us, and the boundary seemed unprotected. However, the beastkin were known for their extraordinary senses, their sharp ears and keen noses far surpassed human senses. Perhaps they didn’t need visible patrols or checkpoints to secure their territory. It was possible their heightened senses allowed them to maintain a level of vigilance unseen by outsiders, granting them the confidence to leave the borders unguarded without fear of attacks.

  “Their territory isn’t that far south and it is so much warmer than ours. I am almost jealous.”

  “Do they have a good relationship with the dwarves for their border to be like this?”

  “I don’t think so. The dwarves don’t care about anything else aside from mining, after all. So, they don’t care about making allies in other lands.”

  Roswald moved his hood for the first time that I had seen him and I furrowed my eyebrows. His features were pretty ordinary. I already knew that he was pretty lean, but I didn’t think that he would have fur and an overall appearance that would make me recall a Siberian husky. It was weird since he didn’t have the same eyes, only the fur.

  “Does it remind you of Nimira that much? My appearance, I mean.”

  “It has been a while since I had seen him, four years, so I can’t be sure.”

  “You still think that she was a boy?”

  “You are the one obsessed with proving me wrong, if by chance if we find him, don’t ask him to show us his dick.”

  “You are simply absurd…”

  This kind of environment seemed peaceful enough for Alissandra to grow… while I heard that the labyrinths weren’t that well-guarded and anyone could enter them, it didn’t mean that monsters had the chance to roam around freely.

  Perhaps no one would complain if I built a home near one of the deepest labyrinths and slowly conquered it over the years, also giving Alissandra and Glacien the chance to gain some experience along the way.

  “Can you find a map of this place? If you can, I can give you a ride to one of the towns or cities here.”

  “I think that Vincent can give you that, given how much you have helped him.”

  “Not from him, also, don’t say to anyone that I am here. If you speak about it, I will know.”

  “Didn’t I already tell you that you need allies? Running away from them like you are running away from your enemies won’t help you that much.”

  “Don’t care, you have been warned.”

  Roswald let out a tired sigh. Since he never had to keep a low profile for years like me, he didn’t know how important it was to be careful with information. Telling one person where I would no longer be would be a secret. It would be a piece of information that can be shared by people that don’t have my sense or urgency. I wasn’t going to hide my appearance anymore, but that didn’t mean that I was planning to announce my footsteps.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Let’s see, since I am half-beastkin, perhaps I can buy a map before finding Vincent, but we will have to head to the biggest city in this territory. It is where the Council of the Wilds is located.”

  I considered that… it would be perfect if I could avoid all signs of civilization, as unrealistic as that appeared to be. Regardless, the council of the wilds was a council formed by representatives from each species. Their goal was unity, peace, and cooperation among all beastkin. They seek harmony with nature and the importance of maintaining balance in their realm. Vincent apparently was the underling of one of the members of the council… or maybe he was one. I couldn’t remember that well.

  I considered the merits and demerits… it was a bit risky, but heading to this town would make me save a lot of time. I had no idea how vast Felyndor was, so I could end up walking around aimlessly for quite a while.

  “I would recommend you to obtain the map and learn where some of the factions of the country operate in order to avoid them. The orcs, goblins and ogres are also here for a while, so they should have their own territory.”

  “You have a point… Glacien. Follow his directions to this city.”

  “I guess you don’t want to let people know that this vehicle can almost move by itself.”

  “Yep, you are getting smart. There is hope for you yet.”

  Roswald explained that there were two other known factions in Felyndor that I had to be mindful of. The first was the Wild Hunt. A warrior faction made up of elite hunters and guardians of Felyndor. They essentially defend the realm from external threats. According to him, they weren’t bad people, but too prideful. They were a huge pain in the ass…

  There was the shadow clan. A secretive faction of rogue beastkin who thrives in the darker aspects of Felyndor. Most people don’t know what they do, but I am aware that they sold Vincent and other beastkin as battle slaves for the empire when they became a nuisance to other people.

  Both of those factions had the potential to become serious problems for me, and that meant I needed to tread carefully. Handling them required a delicate balance, ensuring that I addressed any issues before they had the chance to escalate. This wasn’t just about protecting myself anymore; there were others whose safety I had to consider, and that responsibility weighed heavily on every decision I made.

  I couldn’t afford to make careless moves or let my guard down. At the same time, I couldn’t allow myself to appear weak or indecisive. Maintaining a strong front was just as important as being cautious, as showing vulnerability might only invite further complications. Finding that balance between caution and confidence was key to managing these factions without losing control of the situation, or myself.

  Roswald was right… I needed allies, but with my trust issues, it would be difficult to find people that I could trust to watch my back.

  ‘Once I am done with my new bow, I need to work on the automatic defenses for the wagon… perhaps working on taming a new creature as well and training it to become as fearsome as Glacien.’

  I would need to make my mana regeneration reach astronomic levels if I wanted an army of beasts like them under my leadership… Perhaps I should change my approach a bit. What other options do I have?

  An army of automatons would be useful… they wouldn’t fear death, getting hurt wouldn’t slow them down either. Still, my knowledge of that aspect was minimal. Perhaps taming more beast was a better option, but for that to indeed work, I would need a Mana Conservation parameter. It was one of the most difficult to get as well.

  ‘I guess I should start by making Beast’s Fury finally reach level ten… this should have happened a long time ago if I used her to fight in the labyrinth.’

  It would be interesting to make Glacien’s stamina regeneration reach a point where that skill could be activated all the time… it would exhaust her, though. Even if her stamina never decreases.

  In any case, using that skill made her move faster a few times, and eventually that finally happened. Perhaps I should focus on leveling up some skills to gain those easy experience points.

  I activated the skill and confirmed that my mana was used instead of Glacien’s. That much was fine given my mana regeneration. Now we could fight together better and cause more damage. Still, I would be the one who has to look after Alissandra while that happens… so I need to upgrade my hand crossbow as well to make it fire arrows with a single arm.

  ‘It feels like no matter what I do, I will always have to do something else to improve my capabilities…’