With the team now on horseback, traveling through the forest became effortless. Additionally, the horseriding experience was relatively pleasant since the Obsidian Criollos welcomed their company.
The only fault worth mentioning was that remaining stable required the riders to have a decent amount of Strength, Control, and Endurance.
For this reason, Kieran offered Alice some support when he found her struggling to keep steady atop the Obsidian Criollo's back. "The secret is anticipating the jolt of the horse's every movement and finding the right amount of bounce to counteract it."
"I-I understand… but that's a little difficult," Alice muttered while looking down slightly.
Kieran cluelessly followed her gaze before coughing and looking elsewhere. The source of her struggle was her decent-sized chest, which Kieran didn't possess. No matter how much she tried to control it, the extra bounce was inevitable given her natural endowment.
A light shade of red, contrary to her usual attitude, appeared on Alice's supple cheeks when she felt Kieran's eyes on her. She didn't scold Kieran because she knew this resulted from her action. Still, it was a reaction innate to most innocent girls.
Nemean looked over and could only grumble at their unfair situations. This grumble eventually escalated into a look of disgust. "You enjoy yourself over because I swear I'll dish out some payback-! Hey! Stop grinding up against me, dammit!"
"Oh, you think I enjoy smacking against all this damn metal?" Altair scoffed. "This is not the idea that ran through my mind when people called it buns of steel."
"Damn you-! I've had enough; let me off of this thing. I can't take it! He's joking about my ass right now!" Nemean released an aghast howl directed toward Kieran and Altair.
However, Nemean didn't see that Kieran and Altair winked at each other. They were enjoying this ordeal far too much. Even Bastion couldn't help but join in.
"Ah haha, he's taking your treats! I mean cheeks. Ehehehe," Bastion laughed so hard it turned into a fit of gagging coughs.
Meanwhile, Head Merchant Penni looked at these so-called guards with incredulity. 'What a merry and lighthearted bunch. How can they laugh and chortle in the face of looming danger?'
Although Head Merchant Penni had his concerns, he couldn't voice them given the results Kieran had already produced. He could only bury his voice and hope that Kieran and his band of probable misfits continued to protect them with no casualties.
"I apologize if I overstepped and made you feel uncomfortable," Kieran whispered. He wasn't dense, so he could sense when a person felt different from their usual self.
"No need to be so sorry, Aatrox. It's not like you did anything outlandish. It was only a glance, and sometimes eyes happen to roam," Alice said. She turned her head toward Kieran with a slight smile that soon vanished, overcome by her usual demeanor.
Nevertheless, Kieran couldn't ignore the signs of his entire party warming up to him. 'Is this what becoming friends feels like?'
Kieran looked around quietly, taking in everyone's interaction, even the rambunctious exchange between Altair and Nemean. It was subtle, but Kieran could feel it—a resonance in team chemistry.
"Just make sure to voice when you feel uncomfortable. I may be able to convey your emotion to our ride here," Kieran said while brushing the Obsidian Criollo's mane again.
Alice didn't verbalize her thoughts, but she did give a succinct nod, indicating she'd consider his suggestion.
Afterward, the ride through the forest was both uneventful and long despite the speed of the horses. It was soon brought to everyone's attention that the trade routes weren't established in a straight line. They were made while avoiding areas dense with monsters. As a result, the merchants' path was like the erratic curvature of some of the earth's rivers rather than a straight line from point A to B.
They didn't reach the end of the forested area until three hours later. But, the entire party was alerted after stepping foot outside of this zone.
〈System: You have returned to the «Barren Mountain Range»!〉
The Barren Mountain Range didn't just encompass the small area Kieran traveled to reach the Forest of Marshullum and the Underground Labyrinth.
The leveling zone spanned tens of thousands of kilometers in every direction. So while Kieran ventured to the southern parts during his last excursion with Luna and the rest, he was now in the western territories, which were more deserted than the other regions Kieran traveled.
"Careful… I'm sure you recall those brigands calling themselves the Desertborn Brigands. An area like this is an oasis for them. Their ability to manipulate sand will be heightened in a setting like this," Kieran warned while pulling back on the horse's reigns. The horse gradually slowed until a deliberate trot, allowing Kieran to scan his surroundings.
"We'll move cautiously from here on out. Our earlier pace is no longer viable without proper cover. It's possible to walk right into an ambush if we aren't prepared. Is that understood?" Kieran exclaimed.
"Understood!" Altair responded.
"Roger that boss," Bastion answered back.
The caravans similarly slowed down and listened as Kieran guided them into two columns of three. Kieran and Alice remained on their horse while guarding the left side as Bastion took the front and Altair addressed the right.
The rear remained exposed in this situation, but the lack of coverage would also hinder attacks. Any attempts to attack the rear would be noticed without anything to shelter the prior signs of ambush.
"How far until the next checkpoint?" Kieran questioned.
"U-uh… we have entered the Barren Mountain Range, but we must cross the entire Desert of Crumbling Sands to reach the next checkpoint. But, the journey becomes easy after doing that because the Desertborn Brigands no longer have the means to act. We'll be in the Aubrililes Kingdom's territory then," Head Merchant Penni answered.
However, his answer made Kieran skeptical. 'These brigands don't attack caravans after entering the Aubrililes Kingdom's territory? Are they more scared of Aubrililes than they are of Aeredale? How so? They have the same general strength as far as I'm aware.'
The Aubrililes Kingdom operated with a structure similar to Aeredale. The Mayor's Office maintained the capital city while the royal family only tended to more critical situations, such as meetings between other royal families or important events.
So, the fact the Desertborn Brigands ostensibly feared the Aubrililes Kingdom but not the Aeredale Kingdom mystified Kieran, leading him to believe something was amiss.
'Maybe I should pay a visit to the Aubrililes Kingdom to see if these two kingdoms truly began in the same shape. Even if it turns out that I was incorrect, Aeredale Kingdom will remain my focus because it's what I'm most familiar with,' Kieran mused.
Kieran soon returned his attention to the journey after pondering his potential future actions. Throughout the trip, Kieran enhanced his vision and hearing by sacrificing negligible amounts of Mana.
Eventually, he bellowed for everyone to stop while jumping off the horse he rode.
"Show yourself," Kieran said to seemingly nothing. The only thing surrounding them was a gust of sands apparent at all parts of their journey.
However, that was only true on the surface. Unlike the start of the journey, Kieran could sense Mana guiding these subtle gusts of sand, and it was Mana remarkably similar to the one present during his fight with the Desertborn Brigands.
Despite his bellow, there was no reason from anywhere.
"Aatrox… are you sure someone is here? I do not doubt your senses; it's just… it's has been quite some time without a reaction," Nemean said after also surveilling his surroundings.
"That's precisely what they want you to think," Kieran said.
Blood Mania activated without the slightest delay as he lifted his hands and narrowed his eyes. The blood marking on his right palm radiated a brilliant crimson color before crimson veins appeared throughout Kieran's arm.
'So this is the proper way to release Blood Wave. My clueless application of this skill against Zirgirak's Phantom truly displays my inferiority right now. I should have thought of this before being guided by the system,' Kieran thought.
The deeper the crimson color of the blood marking grew, the broader the veins became. Eventually, a large blood sphere appeared before Kieran's palm and began rotating. A second later, he released the attack allowing it to carry out its natural course.
The sphere elongated as it traveled through the air until it adopted the shape of a 15-meter long wave. The attack collided against the ground creating a mess of clumped sand.
However, the attack served its purpose as eight figures distanced themselves from the onslaught of Kieran's attacks. Five of them bore an aura that Kieran and the others were familiar with, but the rest were much stronger than Kieran estimated, especially a brown-skinned female with her waist and upper chest exposed despite the heat and sand present.
It was as if the sand avoided her as it flowed within her vicinity.
「 Lv.39 Deserea, Desertborn Manipulator (Rare NPC)
Class: Sand Controller
Health: 600,000/600,000 (100%)
Affiliations: Desertborn Brigands 」
「 Lv.37 Desertborn Leader (Rare NPC)
Class: Sand Dancer
Health: 490,000/490,000
Affiliations: Desertborn Brigands 」
"How lucky of us… she hasn't crossed the threshold into a new set of attributes," Kieran scoffed as he viewed the information on this batch of Desertborn Brigands assailants.
Unlike the henchmen, the two Desertborn Leaders wielded chakram-type weapons that seemed to deviate depending on the orientation of the user's body. Although the grip remained stable, the chakram's 360-degree shifted frequently.
Kieran didn't need to battle with them to understand that allowing the Desertborn Leaders to remain near Deserea was a mistake. Her aubergine-colored hair swayed with the wind as her black lipstick-covered lips curved slightly.
"Go!" Deserea ordered. The two Desertborn Leaders dashed toward Kieran and Altair with shifting movements while the four Desertborn Henchmen targeted Bastion and Nemean.
Deserea then continued to speak after issuing her command. "I don't know how you made it past the first set of forces I sent, but that mistake won't happen again. I'll see to it that your belongings become ours amidst your demise."
Although her voice was cold, a cruel yet charming smile surfaced on her face as she licked and caressed the long dagger in her grasp. However, this wasn't an innocuous motion. The sand seemed to react to her alluring movement as its formed a violently expanding sandstorm.
Kieran's eyes immediately narrowed once he realized Deserea's ability to control the sand in the surrounding eclipsed the earlier Desertborn Captain.
Deserea's deep blue eyes fixated on Kieran as she noticed the brimming power rippling from his body. "You're responsible for that earlier attack, no? Mmn, quite handsome—it's a shame you have to perish because I feel you're the reason my subordinates have yet to return."
A sudden change occurred, robbing Kieran of the chance to react as two sand twisters form against the sandstorm's walls.
Snap!
Deserea snapped her fingers which caused the two twisters to merge and collapse on Kieran.
Kieran responded by shielding Alice while a crimson light flashed from Crimson Ashrune. The attack was strong, but Deserea was careful not to involve the
"I can't have my precious cargo suffering damage now~ But you pesky people can surely perish," Deserea chuckled. Sadly, her smile was short-lived as it grew into a frown.
The ground rumbled softly at first but it soon grew into frightening tremors as geyser of blood erupted from within the sand. Two figure emerged from within, one male the other female.
Naturally this was Kieran and Alice.
As for the move responsible for his exit without suffering the slightest damage, that was thanks to Wrath Eruption.
