Ten Rare ranked beasts, yet not a single one felt even a bit stronger than me. All of that could be judged from the quantity of the Qi I could send within their bodies.

  It was there, but it didn’t match the levels that I held, and it surely didn’t match the levels of the boys.

  I’m sure a torrent of black flames will ensure we move past them quickly.

  Or at least that’s what my intention was until Frian spoke.

  “Patriarch. Can my brother and I handle this?”

  His guard was still raised as he watched the approaching wolves so he didn’t look at me as he asked but I could hear the nervousness in his voice.

  Even Lirian, who was focused on the wolves as well, stole a rather surprised glance at his brother.

  I didn’t blame him since I was a little surprised as well.

  The boys never asked for anything.

  Never.

  It’s a significant amount of time with them now and neither of them has ever asked for much.

  And apart from conversations that I initiated or delivering reports about various things, they barely spoke at all.

  So, this was a first.

  A first that I thought was a long time coming. I understand both of them are trying to play a certain role in an effort to become a part of my Clan and receive the Eternal Flame, but they needed to loosen up a bit, I think.

  They were still just 13 years old, and I really don’t think the version of them I see is their real personality. But despite that…I don’t actually plan on forcing them at all. Just like what just happened, they’ll eventually come around.

  “Go ahead. Be quick.”

  The ‘be quick’ wasn’t necessary, but I think they’d like the extra motivation.

  And that they did.

  Very quickly a few flying blades of Qi were sent out in quick succession one after the other.

  Some of the wolves managed to dodge completely, while a couple others lost either a limb or their heads entirely.

  The snowy landscape was quickly painted red as blood splattered around the area.

  Loud pain filled growls and screeches filled the surrounding forest.

  Qi began to gather within the bodies of all the remaining wolves.

  I knew the boys were aware, but I still ensured my spear was ready and my flames primed as well.

  It only took a second or two for the wolves to complete whatever it was they were doing.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  WOOSH!!

  SHING!!

  There was a loud explosion of wind around each remaining wolf and very quickly hundreds of small, yet clearly sharp almost transparent shards of ice flew out from the wolves with the intention of skewering us many times over.

  I was ready to block them myself of course, but the boys and their spears coated in Qi didn’t give me a chance to.

  Both of them spun their spears in a circular motion at blistering speeds and every last shard was blocked.

  From there a very efficient dismantling of the remaining wolves took place and before long, materials and cores had been harvested from their bodies, and we were on our way again.

  This type of fighting continued to feature multiple times over the course of our journey towards the mountain.

  The variety of beasts was interesting.

  Wolves of course, but there was also a moose-like creature whose fur was light brown with streaks of white and its antlers were quite literally ice.

  Even when one of the boys broke them off it used Qi to regrow them quickly before lowering its head and charging after us repeatedly.

  It took a combined strike from Lirian and Frian to decapitate it. They were both tired from the battle since the theme of doing it themselves continued throughout the journey.

  Five days had to pass for us to run into a beast of that stature.

  In terms of how much Qi it held, it might’ve surpassed even the boys. The Ice Moose, as I’ve dubbed it, was likely something at the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm.

  Part of me wanted to go further…to push our limits and go until we simply couldn’t anymore, but I think it would be fine for us to go back for now.

  We were still quite some distance away from the mountain, and no matter how much power I could generate I knew it would be a match for anything above Qi Refinement.

  Which was fine, we learned a lot so far.

  Only Qi Refinement or Rare ranked beasts were in the direction of the mountain, and they indeed did get progressively stronger.

  Of course, it only made me wonder about the true strength of whatever it was that scanned us.

  At first, I was pretty confident it was likely something in the Core Formation Realm, but now I’m not so sure.

  Since I think the next stage of beasts, we ran into would likely be that level, so that had to mean whatever was on the mountain was stronger than it right?

  We’ll find out eventually.

  It took another five days for us to make it back to the clearing we eventually found ourselves in.

  It was empty save for one thing.

  A few large strokes, likely made with a sword that read “Left”.

  Me and the boys promptly left as well.

  …

  “And welcome back. Glad to see all three of you were fine.”

  It was Irene who welcomed us out, and one quick glance showed that everyone was present.

  I didn’t see any wounds or anything out of place, so things were good.

  As we made our way back to the City, Carlos gave me a report of everything they discovered.

  It was quite a few things.

  Apparently, the beasts in the area weren’t strong at all. Maybe just one or two odd ones at early Rare. Well, better to say they weren’t strong for us. For anyone below Body Tempering they would likely die if they wandered around in the woods aimlessly.

  They also didn’t find any sort of barrier, and the forest looked as if it stretched on for miles more.

  But none of that compared to the main thing they discovered.

  Fruit.

  They found fruit.

  A few of the trees in the forest had this all-white pear shaped fruit growing from them. Only a few with each tree, and they genuinely looked delicious. Even now, hours after picking them, each one was still cold to the touch.

  Of course, they hadn’t tried one, just picked a few to bring back to the City. Hopefully Greja or even the folks from the Mavelia Merchant Union recognized them.

  They looked good, but what if they were actually severely poisonous or something? I’m glad they were smart enough to not try one.

  Especially since there’s a good chance I might’ve…

  Anyway.

  It took roughly a week to make it back to the City.

  Ten days in the Dungeon and just about two weeks of travel time total.

  That’s how long we were gone.

  I didn’t have any doubts that the City itself would still be perfectly fine, and it was, but I guess I should’ve expected a few surprises after being gone for so long.

  It barely took thirty minutes of walking through the North Gate for Richard to quickly come to find and let me know there are few envoys from a few different factions here to visit me. And all of them had been waiting patiently for a few days already.

  Time for politics, I guess.