267 Exhausting journey
“I don’t know. The sky wing clan is almost a day away by flying and the trip can be quite difficult for us. I don’t know how long it will be before we take a break during the trip, but it can be tiring for the most weak.” Another fellow beastmen spoke while flapping its wings heavily.
The beastmen was carrying two huge suitcases full of runesmithing tools and weapons he had created himself, so he knew he would get tired quickly.
‘That it!’ Ash thought as his eyes widened and he realized the trick behind the gait. ‘They are testing us now, especially our travel stamina.’
‘Flying type beastmen can travel great distances thanks to our wings and all clans are proud of that, but most people never leave the place where they are born and don’t know how difficult the journey can be.’ Ash contemplated and looked down at his own luggage.
He was carrying his sword at his waist and besides the full armor, there was only a suitcase with clothes and personal belongings.
‘Luckily, I’m not very attached to things and I’m a minimalist man, so I’m not taking anything beyond the essentials.’ Ash looked around at the beastmen, noting that many of them were carrying nearly three suitcases full of assorted items.
Ash thought for a second about warning them about the test, but thought better of it and decided to stay silent. An amused smile began to grow on his face, much like his father and other guards around the youngsters.
He couldn’t wait to see the panicked and tired expressions on the black hawks when they realized their mistake when they were halfway there.
“All of you, get ready to accelerate! We need to reach the sky wing clan before midnight, so let’s fly at full speed for the entire trip!” The clan master shouted, his voice amplified by wind magic to reach all the beastmen.
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“Wait a second, clan master! It’s impossible to reach the sky wing clan today, no matter how fast we travel. We’ll end up getting tired faster if we speed up and we’ll need to take more breaks during the journey.” A young beastwoman who was next to the master nervously exclaimed, but the latter just laughed.
“And who said we are going to take a break? This is a military march and I am ordering you to accelerate, so you will accelerate without complaining. You are no longer young warriors in training, but soldiers of the clan and you must act as such.” The master spoke in a stern tone of voice, reminding the youths that their circumstances had changed.
“Even so, it’s true that we can’t reach the sky wing clan until midnight. We weren’t prepared for such a long journey and some are still tired from the party the day before.” Other beasmen started to voice their opinions, but quickly fell silent.
All the beastmen who up until a second ago were complaining froze in midair and started dropping like flies. The clan master had released his aura to strike them down, but kept it focused only on those who complained.
“I said, obey my orders and speed up the flight. Any complaint will be seen as an act of insubordination and will be treated as such.” The clan master warned and the guards around the youths dove in to rescue those who fainted before they reached the ground.
The young beastmen finally realized that the soldiers around them weren’t protecting them, but watching them so they wouldn’t run away.
The clan master didn’t care about the confusion that ensued and accelerated more and more, leaving everyone behind.
Many of the youths were confused and hesitated to continue following, but the smartest among them accelerated to keep up with the clan master’s speed, even flowing mana onto the wings to accelerate further.
Ash was ahead of them all, having been the first to realize the trick and was just waiting for his father to start accelerating to keep up with him.
Those left behind began to panic when they saw the guards who had swooped in to save the youths and taken them back to the clan’s.
Everyone knew the stories of people who returned to the clan before they had completed their mandatory service as tributes, and the stories were not pleasant.
Soldiers who were taken back could not join the army and for a warrior clan, it was a disgrace and would make it difficult to get jobs through the clan, even if they had the advantage of using mana.
This type of tradition was created to discourage quitting, but it made life very difficult for those who were caught unprepared.
“Wait!” One of the beastmen who stayed behind screamed at the top of his lungs and flew after the faster youths. As if on cue, everyone else desperately flew to catch up with them, but the clan master kept accelerating faster and faster and the distance between them only increased with time.
‘Damn, how much does he plan to accelerate until he’s satisfied? It’s impossible to keep up with him if he flies at high speed and everyone will be left behind!’ Ash thought in frustration as he struggled to keep up with his father.
He was using wind magic to fly faster, but he was struggling to keep up with the clan master’s pace. Luckily for the youngsters, the clan master stopped accelerating and just maintained the speed he considered enough to reach the sky wing clan headquarters by midnight.
‘Even if he stopped, it’s impossible for any of us to follow him for more than 12 hours at that speed. We’ll be exhausted and out of mana before we reach the halfway point. Ash thought in frustration, trying to figure out a way to overcome the situation.
‘There has to be a way to maintain our current speed and keep pace with dad. He wouldn’t purposely make everyone fail, so there must be a trick, I just don’t see it.’ Ash thought as he looked around to try to figure something out.
The young warriors were flapping their wings as hard as they could to keep up with Ash and the clan master, but they were slowly being left behind.
The guards who were watching them, on the other hand, were keeping pace with such ease that it surprised Ash. Using mana vision, he realized that they were all at the fifth layer and it shouldn’t be easy for any of them to keep up with the speed they were at.
‘Even if they are above me in layers of life, my core must have almost as much energy as theirs, if not more. They seem to be using wind magic to make their flight easier, but they won’t last much longer than me and they know it.’ Ash looked questioningly at them, his eyes narrowing as he took in the guards in even greater detail.
Thanks to his black hawk blood, Ash’s eyesight was much better than an ordinary human’s and he could make out details of other beastmen despite the distance that separated them.
He noticed that the guards flying around were flying in groups, and those at the front cast a blade of wind in front of them to cut the air, while those at the back just used the vacuum generated by the blade to fly faster.
‘Understood! The guards at the back aren’t consuming much energy because they’re using the vacuum conjured up by the wind mages. That way most of them will still have energy to spare when the mage runs out of mana or they can take turns taking the lead and lowering the air resistance for those right behind.’ Ash realized the secret to being able to maintain speed without becoming exhausted.
‘How do i get these idiots to cooperate with me? They still despise me because of my color, so they’ll just dismiss my words as bullshit or use my idea among themselves without including me.’ Ash racked his brains as he thought of a way to make the arrogant youths listen to him.
‘Wants to know? Fuck them. If they don’t want to cooperate even after I explain how to solve the problem, then that’s their loss. I can slow down a bit to save energy and keep pace with those who are left behind.’ Ash thought and flew towards the beastmen closest to him.
“What are you doing, tarnished?” The group of beastmen looked vigilantly at Ash as he approached, even pulling back slightly to ensure they had time to react in case it was a trap.
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