(Author Note: From here on out, when John is thinking, I will use ', and " when he is talking. This is to clear things up and make the story flow smoother).
Early in the morning, Duke Trommel was listening to a report from one of his guards. The guard was actually the one who was in charge of watching over the Duke's son, and was the one John had run into several days ago.
"Sir, I've done as you've instructed and contacted the Guild regarding last night's invasion. They said they will take the task and complete it within three day."
"Good, good" responded the Duke with weary eyes. The previous night's events had taken quite the toll on the Duke, and he had gotten no sleep at all. He thought for a moment before asking the guard a question.
"Have you found the young Fenix Clan boy yet? Although last night's matter is of utmost importance, we can't ignore that matter either."
"Yes, while I was out in the city last night, I asked around and found out that the boy is staying at the Orchard Inn. It's unfortunate that I was not around to defend you and the family heirloom last night however" stated the guard, sincere regret evident in his eyes.
"It's alright. Even if you were here, I doubt the situation would have changed much. Since the matter of the heirloom will be resolved soon anyways, let's depart and amend things with the Fenix Clan boy" responded the Duke. The Duke and the guard hopped in a carriage and proceeded towards the Orchard Inn.
Knock! Knock!
"Huh?"
John woke up from the knocks and took several seconds to come to. He wearily rubbed his eyes before getting off the bed and walking over to the door. John opened the door and raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.
"Hello Mr. Guard, it's been a few days."
The guard coughed awkwardly. "Yes, it has. I sincerely apologize for those events. This here is Duke Trommel himself."
John looked towards the Duke and narrowed his eyes slightly. When John had been leaving with the group last night, he turned back and noticed that the Duke was watching them from his bedroom window.
'Hopefully he doesn't recognize me, although I'm pretty sure that would be impossible.'
The Duke stepped forward and bowed his head slightly.
"Young Fenix Clan master, I have come here in person to sincerely apologize for my son's actions. Please rest assured that he has been severely punished, and I can guarantee that he will never do such a thing again."
John smiled towards the Duke but said nothing. His silence caused the Duke to cough awkwardly before he continued, "I was initially going to give you our family heirloom as a gift to show my sincere apologies. Unfortunately…"
The Duke paused for a moment before speaking up once more, "Unfortunately, my family estate was attacked last night, and our heirloom was stolen. As such, I can only offer you this meager gift. I hope it will suffice."
A large chest appeared in the guards hands, at which point he set it at John's feet and opened it up for him to see the contents. Inside the chest was a wealth of gold coins and jewels.
'There must be at least a thousand gold coins, as well as other various gems and jewels. Seems like the Duke is taking this matter quite seriously.'
Although John had already helped himself to part of the Duke's money reserves last night, he felt no reason to decline this generous offer.
John nodded his head in acceptance and stored the chest away in his spatial area. The Duke winced slightly as John accepted but said nothing. Although not all his money was stolen last night, around thirty percent of it was taken. With this gift as well, the Duke had lost almost half his family's wealth in less than a day, wealth that had been built up over generations.
"It's fine. With this, we can consider the matter settled" said John with a happy smile on his face. The Duke breathed a sigh of relief. With this matter settled and the heirloom soon to be retrieved, the Duke was finally at ease once more.
"Great. I knew a young master of the Fenix Clan would be someone of great wisdom and understanding. Now that this matter is settled, I shall leave. I bid you a good day" The Duke before nodded slightly before walking off.
John watched the Duke and the guard walk off before he closed his door, barely containing his laughter.
"Hahaha, that was quite refreshing. Getting paid after I've already helped myself to his money. The Duke is too kind."
John took out all his money and started counting it.
'With this latest gift, I have over three thousand gold coins, not to mention various jewels and gems. I'm rich.'
John composed himself once more before leaving his bedroom and walking to a nearby restaurant. John ordered lunch while he thought about what to do next.
'I have this escort mission coming up, at which point I'll be out of things to do. I suppose I'll figure out my next step after this mission.'
After eating his meal, John walked back to his Inn and focused on cultivating. He mainly focused on studying the second form of the Myriad Annihilation Scythe and third step of the Five Step Movement Technique, as these were the aspects that would improve his power the most in the shortest amount of time.
Night soon arrived as John opened his eyes. He left the Inn and proceeded towards the meeting spot, and after walking for a long time, John finally arrived.
'All six are here it seems.'
"John, you're here" called out Austin with a smile on his face.
The mustachioed man was waiting along with the rest of the group. He opened his eyes at John's arrival and said to the group "Now that we're all here, we can head out. We will be traveling the entire way through the Skycleave Forest."
John and the group turned off the road and started heading towards the Skycleave Forest treeline. As the group was about to step into the treeline, John felt something and turned around. His eyes scanned the land behind him but saw nothing.
'I must have imagined it.'
John stared for a few seconds before he turned around and rejoined the group.
As the group walked into the Skycleave Forest, a dozen pairs of eyes were seen staring at the group from far away. One of the men was holding a small disk in his hands, the disk showing a small dot traveling further and further away from the center.
