The Record of Unusual Creature

Becky was foaming at her mouth, telling stories about the female marshal. Hao Ren however was not that interested; for one, she was not related to their mission, and also, he did not think that he was going to have anything to do with this otherworldly hero.

Anyhow, he had heard enough of this legendary Marshal Ophra.

When speaking about the marshal, it was necessary to look into something they called, “the Ancients”. It was a new term Hao Ren had encountered. He was lacking an excuse to openly ask about it. Becky’s narrative was the only source by which he could find out about the race. The Ancients were an almost human-like, unique race. Most of the time, they mingled with humans. Their population was small, scattered all over the world, without their own cultural identity. They totally assimilated and co-existed with humans. The Ancients were different from humans in that they lived much longer and were far more stronger. They were better in every single aspect from their physical to mental states. Many of the Ancients were remembered as heroes in history. Ophra was one of them. She had been the most renowned for the last several hundred years.

Other than that, Hao Ren was totally clueless regarding the origins of the term “Ancients”, and as to how they acquired such extraordinary qualities.

Marshal Ophra had been the most active descendent of the Ancients for the last several hundred years. Back then, King Geddon III, the Iron Fist helmed the throne of the Kingdom of Holletta. At the time of Geddon III’s coronation, the Kingdom of Holletta was experiencing severe changes and turmoil. This oldest kingdom on the continent had seen the rise of the art of alchemy and new academics. Emerging civilian R&D alchemy factories and production models challenged the old Royal Academy of Magic. More and more advanced technologies were being invented by the civilians instead of being under the control of the Royal Academy of Magic. This caused a rift between the elites and the civilian class; at the same time, a faction within the elites opposed the conservatives—an inevitable fate as a result of the feudal dynasty becoming too old and bloated, and also from the massive achievement of social progress. At that time, newly emerging countries around the Kingdom of Holletta were adopting new technologies and social ideologies with tremendous pace. Within a short period of time, these kingdoms had left the arrogant and old kingdom in the dust—at least, in terms of technology.

The Kingdom of Holletta back then was not as moderate as it was in the present—there were no more radicals now on the outside. They were a superpower and, had a dominant spirit, so they found themselves quite a lot of enemies as a result. Because of that, during the reign of Geddon III, the Kingdom faced a multitude of crisis: factionalism of the ruling class, royalty losing grip on social order, and old-fashioned royal advisers struggling to handle new social problems. At the same time, there were at least dozens of newly emerging, technologically-advanced, smaller countries, planning to invade his kingdom.

That was when Ophra came into being.

There were many versions to the legend about how the new king and the Ancient met, and how they had become comrades in arms. The stories became much talked about topics among historians and playwrights alike. As a retarded fan of Marshal Ophra, and a typical gossiper, Becky was a proponent of the dramatist’s narrative: the young Geddon III was touring the Kingdom in search of solutions to the problems in his kingdom. When he arrived in the east of the Kingdom, he was ambushed by his enemies.

At that critical juncture, Marshal Ophra, who was then an adventurer—there was no differentiation between an adventurer and a mercenary back then—came to his rescue. They fought their way out, and the fate of the Kingdom as well as their own were sealed from that moment.

The ambitious young king and the skilful knight began their fateful relationship. Together, they suppressed the revolts within the Kingdom. Subsequently, Geddon III, against all dissenting views from the old elites, declared the knight a new elite, and placed the Kingdom’s military in the hands of his confidante. The talented, bold, young king and the battle savvy, female fighter put an end to all the internal rebellions, and rebuilt a new ruling order. Not only that, they suppressed external enemies.

From that day onwards, the famous Iron General became the protector of the Kingdom of Holletta for the next 435 years.

Any qualified dramatist would have noticed something else: Geddon III and Ophra were trying to work out their relationship since the very first chapter but still nothing had come to fruition after 40 over chapters. At the end of the day, Geddon III lay on his deathbed, holding Ophra’s hand and saying his last wishes, “My reign will soon end in two days. You must make sure my son succeeds my throne…”

Becky’s eyes lit up when she told the story. But, Hao Ren felt that the ending of the story was probably a sham made up by some motherf*cker, then widely circulated among mercenaries, who were spinsters. If you dared to discuss this in the Royal Court, they would have killed you first and asked questions later.

Much was learned about the glorious past of Marshal Ophra. Hao Ren now knew she was the most legendary figure in the Kingdom. Ophra, a descendent of the Ancients, had been the Kingdom’s marshal for over 400 years, witnessing dozens of royal successions. And, she remained the top fighter and sword instructor for all the kings of Holletta. It was incredible, Hao Ren thought. He had a hard time imagining why someone as powerful as her was willing to serve a dynasty and remained loyal for four centuries. In addition, the Holletta Royalty still trusted Ophra despite going through dozens of royal successions. Perhaps, something really did happen between the hero and King Geddon III, the Iron Fist.

They had witnessed an argument between the marshal and bishop that day. It seemed, the two had differing views on matters regarding the Orb incident, and religious interpretations. Unfortunately, Hao Ren had no idea where to begin investigations on the reasons behind the argument.

The group spent the night in Leyton before they set off on the road to Beinz Blood Lake the next morning.

The lockdown was still enforced in the town. The stored energy beneath the church and its stationed mage regiment seemed enough to sustain the shield above the town. However, there was no telling how long the lockdown would last. What bothered Hao Ren the most was the tough rock monsters. He was not sure if the local knights were able to handle them, but the bishop appeared to be pretty confident. Perhaps, the bishop had already informed his superior about the situation and soon, a massive mobilisation of the Kingdom’s machinery and the Church’s power would begin. He chose to believe that these VIPs had what it took to handle the situation.

They left the rented horses behind in the town as horses could easily be affected by the magic near Beinz Blood Lake and become frightened as well as agitated. There was a handover point specially for mercenaries in the town, the horses would be in good hands. They left the town on foot through the western exit onto the highway. It was not a long journey.

“That’s the Gnarled Grove.” Leading the group, Becky pointed to a vast area of fuchsia far ahead. “Keep your eyes open. Once we’re in there, don’t use magic. If there’s an encounter, end it quickly. Most of the monsters inside are very sensitive, they can smell magic and come in groups.”

“Copy that,” Hao Ren acknowledged. Lily and Vivian had transformed since they left town. The danger zone not far ahead was infested with monsters, so they could never be too cautious. Vivian sent her squad of bats flying a hundred metres in the air, monitoring the road ahead. Meanwhile, Lily sniffed around for any suspicious smells. Nangong Wuye looked at Becky, who was still leading in the front, recalling what she had seen on the way out of town. Two groups of mercenaries were returning from the grove, injured and bloody. “Actually, you don’t need to do this. Your job ended when you brought us to Leyton.”

“Are you trying to say that going forward’s too dangerous?” Becky could read Nangong Wuyue’s mind as she too had seen the returning mercenaries. “From what I was told, they were beaten by some average monsters. The situation around Beinz Blood Lake isn’t as bad as what the bishop tried to paint. I’ll keep my word and bring you lot right to the edge of the lake. Furthermore, I’d like to try my luck and see if I can find some treasure.”

Hao Ren smiled. He decided to bring a tablet for this frank maiden the next time he returned. After all, it was at the expense of Raven 12345.

Once they entered the Gnarled Grove, Hao Ren instantly felt that the atmosphere was totally unlike the outside.