***************
Somewhere in the Azure empire…
In a mountain range, a large compound was situated in the depth of it.
Inside a study room in the compound…
“Lord, they are ready”
A man stood in front of a refined-looking man who sat on the chair behind the desk, reading a book. There was a desk at the side of the study room and books could be seen arranged in an orderly fashion on a book rack.
The man who was reading shifted his attention to the man standing. This was the butler of the compound, he hadn’t stayed with the family for too long though.
“Hmm, okay. Have you given them the map?”
The butler nodded,
“Yes lord, they should have no problem with locating it this time”
The man replied,
“Good. Make sure to remind them there is no room for failure, you should know how long it took us to create that map, and how many lives were lost because of it”
The butler was aware of this since he had stayed with the family for some time now.
“Yes my lord, they know acquiring it is their main objective. They have promised to return with it, but we still don’t know if there might be any unforeseen events yet”
The man replied before shifting his gaze back to the book he was reading.
“As long as they are careful, they should be able to acquire it”
The butler was about to leave when he suddenly paused, after gathering the courage, he said,
“My lord”
The man continued reading his book when he answered,
“Speak”
The butler asked with a shaky voice,
“What is this thing they’re going to acquire anyway”
The man looked at the butler while squinting his eyes. The butler immediately regretted his decision and quickly knelt on the ground,
Thud!
“Forgive me for intruding my lord”
The man seemed satisfied with the butler’s reaction, after some thoughts, he said,
“Don’t worry it’s okay, you’ve been with me for over ten years, and I’m very pleased with your work so far. I don’t think there’s any use hiding it from you, and besides, I trust you”
“The truth is, I don’t know what they will acquire, but according to my ancestor, it’s a great treasure in the land of trial that can increase our strength drastically. He found a record in a room which said a great treasure is located in a specific region. He searched for it throughout the time he was in the place but couldn’t find it due to how vast the place was”
“He made a map of the place he had explored, and every time the place opens, he would send someone inside to continue the search from where he ended. The map is modified after every opening since the people who go in, explores new places”
“Even I have entered, but we’ve still not been able to find it. But from the map, we have been able to search most of the region said in the records. The place left is all they have to explore, and they will most likely find it. With it, we will be able to get back what my family lost for so long, the throne. I will not only rule the Azure empire, but I will unite the entire continent as well and be the only ruler”
The man said with eyes sparkling. He truly was a man with big dreams. His gaze then went cold,
“If those bastards didn’t betray us and claimed the throne, our family would have been the one ruling the Qilin empire. There would have been only two empires and not four, because of the Gale’s family betrayal, those other old folks who refused to die took the opportunity to create their empires as well. The Gale family will pay for what they did”
The butler looked at the man in shock, although he had been in the family for a while now, he didn’t know much about the history. He couldn’t help but ask,
“My lord, I thought it was Constantine Gale who led the rebellion?”
The man scoffed, before saying through gritted teeth,
“That fool, what could he do, it was my ancestor who made the plan for everything. He was even the one who started the fight at the castle, but who would have thought Constantine would backstab him at the end. And those stupid families also joined hands with him”
The butler was startled by this discovery, this was the first time he heard the story of the great rebellion differently. Usually, it was Constantine Gale who would get all the praise, but now, there seems to be some hidden information about the entire issue. If it was as his lord said, then Constantine Gale was not the hero.
The butler suddenly asked a question puzzling him,
“My lord, what if there is a chance others have already acquired the treasure?”
“It’s impossible, only we have the method of getting it. Others might have gone to the place, but they will not be able to open it”
The man said confidently.
The butler left after clearing this up.
The man stood up from his seat and walked towards the book rack, he pushed a book, and a secret door opened up in the study room, he quickly disappeared into the stairway before the secret door closed shut.
**************
The border of the Magical Beasts Forest
Two days later…
The group from the Qilin empire just got to the borders of the Magical Beasts Forest where they met up with some experts from the empire who were already there waiting for them. This was Grey’s first time coming to this place, and he was awed by it, the view while they were still in the sky was simply breathtaking. All he saw was a never-ending view of trees, and when he got to the ground, the trees towered into the sky like they wanted to peek into the heavens.
There were different camps already set up in the place, they were taken to the camp which was designated for the Qilin empire. On their way to the camp,
“Hmph! You people are always late”
A cold voice rang out from the camp nearby.