268 Sky wing clan
“Don’t panic, I came in peace. I think you’ve already noticed, but if we continue at this pace, we’ll be exhausted before halfway through. I believe that father- I mean, clan master is testing our ability to work together, so we need to cooperate if we are to keep up and not fall behind and have our careers ruined.” Ash tried to sound as polite as possible, but his words fell on deaf ears.
“And why the hell would you tell us that? We’re not friends and we don’t work together, so why would we trust anything you say? It could very well be another one of your tricks to eliminate the competition, just like you did to beat Loke in the duel.” The only beastman in the group capable of using wind magic responded on behalf of the group, making his suspicion against Ash obvious.
After losing bets against the clan master, many of the leading figures in the army hated the master and Ash for making them lose their bets, so they spread slurs about him in petty revenge.
Among these lies, they said that Ash had won the battle against Loke using tricks and the only reason the truth didn’t come out was because the master himself was in cahoots.
It was a groundless lie and anyone who knew the clan master would immediately know it was a hoax, but the young men who would leave as tribute had never interacted with the clan master and already openly hated Ash, so they swallowed the lies without thinking deeply.
“That’s an obvious lie and you would realize it if you stopped to think about it for a second, but every second matters and we don’t have time to argue right now. Do you want to work together to pass the test or lose everything at once??” Ash yelled impatiently, barely containing his rage.
He was used to being insulted and had learned to deal with it from an early age, but he became enraged when someone insulted his father and it took sheer willpower not to attack the beastmen in front of him.
The beastmen looked at each other unsure what to do and a beastwoman flew to the front of the group before the others could insult Ash again and make him give up sharing information with them. “What do you know?”
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Are you really going to trust this guy?” The surrounding beastmen questioned him in confusion.
.....
“Shut up! I don’t care about your useless disputes, I just want to finish the march and not lose my position as a tribute.” The beastwoman answered back and turned to Ash. “Keep talking.”
‘At least someone here has a brain.’ Ash thought with relief and flew closer to the young woman to explain his theory.
“Makes sense, but there’s a catch.” The young woman spoke thoughtfully after hearing Ash’s theory. “Most of us are not capable of using magic and those capable of using wind magic are even less so. It is impossible for us to employ the same strategy as them.”
“Don’t worry, I know how to overcome this without using magic. We just fly in formation to make use of the vacuum to save energy. The one at the forefront will get tired faster, but we can replace the person front at any time.” Ash continued talking and a light of understanding sparked in the young man’s eyes.
The young woman passed the idea on to her group and soon they changed positions, assuming a V formation with Ash in front. He was the strongest and had the best stamina, so naturally he was at the forefront.
‘I just hope these idiots don’t change their minds and leave me behind when it’s their turn at the forefront.’ Ash thought cautiously as he looked back, but none of the beastmen following him seemed to have any intention of attacking him, only doubt and fear towards him.
The other groups noticed Ash’s group’s formation change and how they were flying in a way that relieved pressure from the others and decided to do the same.
‘Well done son, I knew you would understand the trick easily, but I hope you manage to keep the pace until we reach the destination.’ The clan master spoke as he looked back and noticed his son’s group following close behind him.
They spent the next few hours flying without rest and although the beastmen’s V formation alleviated some of the wind resistance and lessened the effort of flying, many groups were still exhausted after the halfway point and had to land on the ground to rest.
Even replacing the beastman at the forefront, the weakest among them couldn’t withstand the long journey while wearing heavy armor and carrying heavy bags.
Some fought until the last second to try to reach the finish, while others gave up when they started to get exhausted. A guard stayed behind with the exhausted beastmen, to guide them once they recovered enough.
They also encountered monsters along the way, but the Clan Master dealt with them all easily without even slowing down, making Ash and the others wonder how strong the Clan Master really was.
Ash’s group and only a few others managed to keep pace and keep up with the clan master’s flight speed, which remained at a constant speed without breaking a sweat the entire way.
“Hold on just a little longer! It’s almost midnight, so the clan headquarters should be visible soon!” Ash called out to his temporary companions, although he himself was exhausted and could hardly bear to continue flapping his wings.
All the beastmen had already switched positions and taken the vanguard job and Ash was on his second shift. Everyone was exhausted and barely had the strength to go on, but they refused to give up so close to the goal.
“Hey, I’m getting to see the sky wing clan headquarters!” The beastwoman who spoke to Ash initially squealed excitedly, seeing a mountain starting to appear on the horizon.
All bird-type beastmen liked to fly and live in high places, so the mountains scattered across the kingdom were the territory of the bird beastmen, while the plains and forests were occupied by the canine and reptile clans, respectively.
“We’re almost there, so resist a little longer and you’ll make it.” The clan master spoke using wind magic to convey his message to all beastmen.
He accelerated further, leaving the exhausted youths behind. Now that they were so close to the clan, he no longer needed to hold back to guide the youths and he flew at full speed, leaving everyone behind.
Ash and the other beastmen still took almost twenty minutes to reach the mountain as they flew exhausted. They slowed down the moment the clan master walked away, too tired to continue flying at high speed now that they no longer needed to follow their master.
They landed on top of the mountain in a large open area where the clan master had landed and several beastmen from the sky wing clan were waiting for them.
The beastmen of the sky wing clan were Tempest Eagle, having golden feathers and they get lighter and lighter until they become white at the tips. Unlike the black feather Clan who could release flames capable of devouring energy, the Tempest Eagles were able to absorb electricity and store it in their feathers.
Tempest eagles were capable of releasing electricity as a form of attack or able to flow through their bodies to absurdly increase their agility, or flow through spells cast to accelerate them without having to sacrifice destructive power.
Ash and the other black hawks collapsed as soon as they hit the ground, their wings burning with pain and refusing to move. They fell to their knees as they gasped for air desperately.
“Are those the only ones who made it through the trip?” One of the Tempest Eagle beastmen stepped forward and asked the Black Feathers Clan Master curiously, looking at each of the fallen youths and narrowing his eyes as he looked at Ash.
The man was nearly seven feet tall, with straight shoulder-length platinum hair and no beard. He appeared to be in his 30s by human standards, but his actual age was close to 90, thanks to his monster blood plus years of training making his appearance more youthful.
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