Epic Of The Demonic Sage

Lucius and Gellor's team headed down towards the eastern path.

It was a place that Lucius checked beforehand on the map and it was something he considered being the best route to Bergan's Band base as to not draw any attention.

He hadn't really expected that he'd meet with a team coming from Bergan's band, but there was an additional benefit to it.

'Hmm, so that's the pace that they're going. Based on our current route, their team will probably reach Cutlass city before we arrive there.' Lucius thought.

Every now and then, the Bore Shrew sent him updates on how Gellor's mercenary friends and the secret members of the Bergan's Band.

Meanwhile, Lucius and Kiana mostly stayed in the back as the others talked about the groups that they encountered.

"Man, Harold always gets on my nerves." Ariana said. "Don't mean anything rude to you, since he's your friend, Gellor…"

"I never said we were friends." Gellor said.

"Hah! He'd be quite sad to hear that." Albus shook his head. "I mean he's not too bad, Ariana."

"You're not the one who's experiencing him ogle at you out in the open." Ariana grumbled.

"It's even worse when you know that he has a wife." Finch rolled her eyes. "You have to remind him about it. A bad marriage doesn't mean you get to pretend that you're free. I don't know how his teammates deal with him."

"What he does isn't really anyone's business as long as he gets the work done." Barty said. "What people do in their private time is up to them."

"Fine. As long as he doesn't try to put an arm around me. I'll let it slide." Ariana said. "Or else he'll get the fangs."

"Or the fire." Finch said.

"If we're really talking about problematic people, Carnus and his folks are kinda weird. It's like they're not actually a team for some reason. They all act formal with one another." Albus said. "Isn't that right, Barty? They're weirder than even him."

"There's a kind of distance between each other. Though we can't really expect all of the mercenary groups to be like us." Barty said.

"Well, it's way more effective to be close to one another. I think that's how things are. But yeah, they do seem to be weird. Even weirder than Harold for some reason, but I guess it's expected that he'd get in touch with other people like that." Ariana said.

"They were interrogative too. I'm not sure why they were being too focused on Lord Asher too. People join mercenary groups from time to time." Finch said with a frown. "We apologize that we haven't been able to draw their attention too much. They were strangely persistent."

"Do not worry about it. You and everyone had done as much as they could." Lucius replied. "You have my gratitude."

"We… we actually didn't know that you had a Fire Gift, Lord Asher. Or was that an artifact that we didn't see? Do you have something like gloves that shoot out fireballs?" Albus asked.

"Lord Asher wasn't wearing any gloves." Barty coughed. "And I haven't actually seen gloves that were artifacts before."

"You can make almost anything into an artifact. I think Lord Asher knows about it more than we do though." Finch said.

It was clear to Lucius that everyone was interested in how he was able to perform the fireball spell without trying to expose him at that point he did it.

Whether he'd tell them the truth was another thing entirely, though.

"Lord Asher here has his own methods." Kiana interrupted with a careful look at Gellor and the others.

"That's why Lord Asher is quite incredible really." Gellor said.

Lucius finally remembered that Kiana hadn't seen him perform that spell before, but fortunately for him, Kiana believed that his gift was extraordinary and unlike anything before, so there was a fair chance that she'd just accept it as it was.

"But ah, we're going to be quite a bit late to get to Cutlass city, aren't we? I feel like the others we'll get there first based on the pace that we're going on." Albus said, finally deciding to change the subject.

It was clear to them that they wouldn't get answers about Lord Asher's fireball, but they were mostly happy as long as they were on the young lord's good side.

"Well, it's not us who will be engaging with them. I don't think Harold is involved with the Bergan's Band, he likes being an independent mercenary group." Gellor said.

"But things might have changed. We don't know since we haven't seen him in a few years." Finch said with a frown.

"Let's hope not, but if he is, then he's made his decision." Gellor seriously said.

It was clear to them that the Bergan's Band had earned the ire of Lord Asher due to the attempted assassination, and though they didn't know the extent of Lord Asher's plans against the Bergan's Band, they knew that the mercenary company was going to pay for things.

'Bergan's Band is extremely strong because of how many Epic Rank gift users they have, but with Lord Asher's ability to upgrade gifts, there's no doubt that he'll be able to match them in time.' Finch silently thought.

'The Masked Legion was frightening, according to the ones who told me about it. Who knows what will happen after we get ourselves elevated to Epic Rank too? Bergan's Band will be facing a particular challenge in the near future… but there's a chance that something might also happen now. We wouldn't come here for nothing, and it's got to do with the Plow Worm.' Gellor thought. He put all the facts that he gathered from observing and made the conclusion for himself.

Soon enough, Lucius and everyone passed through some hills, and it was at this point that the Bore Shrew that tailed the Bergan's Band updated him on their whereabouts.

'Ah, they've finally arrived in Cutlass city.' Lucius realized.

It would take a bit more time, but soon enough, Cutlass city was visible in the distance.