“Are we all ready to go?” After directing Elena to the same carriage he would be traveling in, he approached the soldiers from the Empire of Light that had switched over to his side.
“We are ready.” Eric spoke on behalf of all of them.
“Good. We will be leaving at once.” Leon turned around and walked to the front of the caravan. He was going to meet with a few traders that were part of their caravan. He had bought their whole stock and asked them to accompany him back home. It had taken a bit of a bribe to get them to come to such dangerous lands, but their fears had been somewhat allayed when they heard that there would be a hundred warriors and mages accompanying them.
“Sir Leon,” The biggest merchant who had personally chosen to escort Leon rather than sending a representative greeted Leon when he approached him. “Where exactly do you plan to head to? There are a few villages around the Desolate Lands, but you don’t seem to be heading to any of them…” The burly man who went by the name, Balder, expressed his concerns.
Balder was one of the people who knew Leon’s identity. It was not hard to put two and two together. Although he knew Leon was an Undead Necromancer, he was not scared. Instead, he was intrigued. Who was this being that took the world by storm? The well built merchant had already heard of the waves that had been set off by Leon through his channels since Divinity’s Bout was still ongoing.
“Leon sat beside the man and spread open a map he had purchased earlier. He then pointed to a certain area on the edge of the brown map that was shaded in gray.
“This is…!” Balder was shocked and looked at Leon.
The spot Leon was pointing at was close to the edge of the Central Continent. It had been a town that was affected by a battle on the shore of the continent that was closest to the island that was claimed by the Demons.
“Why the hell are you going all the way down there? Who knows if those damn Demons have already started making plans to spread from there?” Balder asked. He was suddenly starting to regret his decision to tag along. Perhaps Leon was from the Demon Continent and had acted as their forerunner?
“No need to be worried. That is simply where I was born, in that forsaken town.” Leon understood his worries and quickly spoke up to smooth things out and prevent a misunderstanding.
p “If you say so…” Balder nodded hesitantly and stood up. “We can set off immediately if you like.”
“That would be good.” Leon nodded and stood up too, then Balder left to rally the rest of the traders. Soon, the caravan consisted in two dozen carriages and wagons set of. It would take an entire week of constant travel to reach the Desolate Lands, and a few more days to reach the specific town.
Leon rode in a spacy carriage with Nedra, Elena and Eric. Eric had been chosen to be the head of the new subordinates under Leon, and Leon felt it would be better to keep him close for the time being. If Eric could help him deal with administrative issues, it would be great, because he had no experience at all.
“So, Leon. If we are to work well together, then I believe myself and the others need to know more about you. If you do not mind, I would appreciate if you could tell me a bit more of yourself.” Eric cleared his throat and spoke up.
“Oh? Well, what do you want to know?” Leon asked. He did not really have any secrets that were worth mentioning, except that he came from another world, but there was absolutely no way that a topic related to Earth could come up.
“If I may ask, where do you truly come from?” In an instant, Leon’s breath caught in his throat. What a two sided question that was. But he quickly regained his composure.
“What do you mean?” He asked, leaning forward. He brushed his dark bangs out of his face and peered at Eric intently.
“I mean that someone like you could not have popped up out of nowhere without some prior news. The Undead of the Demon Continent are very much happy to flaunt their most talented warriors. Someone like you appearing so suddenly should not make sense at all.” Eric explained.
His concerns were pretty much valid. The term ‘talent’ was very important in this world.
A person with poor talent would always have problems leveling up their skills. For example, if someone with poor talent was paired with someone with high talent, and then those two were given the same skills to practice and level up, it would be very easy to see the disparities in the speed of their individual growth. While the person with high talent might have their skill in mid-range of Intermediate level, the person with poor talent would have the same skill at the beginning of Apprentice level, even though they had spent the exact same time on that skill!
It was because of this that although there were plenty people who were already middle aged or of older ages, they were not all that powerful when compared to some of the younger generations. Their talent was simply too lacking to take them far.
Thus, Leon’s appearance was raising suspicions everywhere. Where did this Undead appear from without any notice? Had he been raised in secret by a high ranking being from the Demon Continent? Or had he been hidden away, growing his strength all this while before deciding to step into the limelight?
The questions were in abundance, but there were no answers. Anyone who was relatively bothered by his appearance had no way to find out the relevant information.
And now, Eric wanted to know.