"The School of Eternal Knowledge...that sounds pretty good. Then it's final. The School of Eternal Knowledge will officially begin today!"
"With the first student being the noble scholar Evi Rocks! Congratulations on becoming part of a legendary journey that will shock the world!" Yoze smiled as he felt all his hard work was worth it.
"Mmmmh!"
Suddenly, the sound of the fat merchants mumbling through their ropes interrupted the warming and excited atmosphere. When Yoze and Evi noticed the excited looks of the merchants who were jumping up and down, they were no longer in the mood to celebrate.
Even with their mouths covered, it was obvious to Yoze that they were inspired by his speech and wanted to join his sect.
"I'm sorry, but the School of Eternal Knowledge is currently full. Please try registering at a later date, like in a few years."
"Mmmmha!" A sad collective sigh came from the fat merchants as they knew that they would never be able to join after making such a bad first impression.
They could only hope that Yoze and Evi didn't forget about them and took them along when they left the forest.
"Yoze, as the Sect Master, what should we do first?" Evi raised a good question that made Yoze think for a few seconds before answering.
"Though I want to start your training as soon as possible, the best thing for you and me is getting to the closest town first. That way, we can ditch these merchants and focus on your training while heading to New Swamp Town before going to our final destination of New Swampscott City."
"That sounds like a good plan, but why are we heading to New Swamp Town? I looked at the map, and we can travel to New Swampscott's southern gate and enter the City that way."
"You might not know this since the rules for White Crimson City and Jade City are very different from New Swampscott City. But for anyone to enter New Swampscott City, they must show proof that they had visited New Swamp Town beforehand."
"Since you have just entered the region, I don't think you have any proof unless White Crimson City gave you a pass that allows you to ignore this rule." Yoze calmly stated as he explained the City's situation.
"Ah! I see. I didn't get a special pass to enter the City, but I did get a special pass to bypass the security search for entering the City Hall. Thank god you mentioned this, or I would have had to extend my journey by a week." Evi breathed out a sigh.
"Don't mention it. I also have another reason for going to New Swamp Town before going to New Swampscott City. My father and his two kids are waiting for me there." Yoze hastily mentioned it with worried eyes.
Noticing that Yoze looked troubled by something, Evi frowned as he reached out to pat Yoze's shoulders.
"Yoze, I understand that it might be strange to find out that your father has other children. But I am sure your father doesn't love them any more than he loves you."
"What?" Yoze asked, confused about why Evi would suddenly say that.
"I had read a lot of books and stories that were similar to your situation. Where a young man or woman finds out that their father has a secret family living aboard."
"This is a tough pill to swallow, but I know that Mr. Drew Thunder is a man who can spread love equally among everyone. So even if he has a secret life, I am sure he would hate to see that this is eating you up from the inside."
"You are as much as his family as his biological children are. Even though you are adopted." Evi said with complete seriousness in his eyes.
Yoze felt his eyes twitching as he knew that Evi had misunderstood why he looked troubled. But before he could say anything to clarify, he saw that the fat merchant's eyes were filled with tears as they looked at him with pity.
"Do you want a hug?" Evi finally said after seeing that Yoze was stunned into silence.
"No! I am not troubled or worried that my father doesn't love me. I am worried because their army had left to fight a powerful anomaly the last time I left the town." Unable to take it any longer, Yoze just explained everything.
After Evi and the tied-up fat merchants heard what Yoze was worried about, their eyes became as wide as a dinner plate from shock.
They couldn't believe it. How terrible was their luck!? They just happened to enter the region when a powerful anomaly had taken action. It could even infect hundreds of crows and kill them all from a huge distance away. It was terrifying!
Even if they didn't get caught by the Icy Vein Bandits, they might have been killed by the anomaly before they ever reached New Swampscott City.
"Ah, Lady Luck, why have you cursed us? What have we done to you to deserve this treatment!?"
As the fat merchants cursed their bad luck, Evi calmed down and smiled as he felt his luck must have been great. To have encountered Yoze just as they arrived and were caught by bandits was extremely lucky.
After witnessing Yoze's strength, it was clear he was powerful enough to protect him during his journey to New Swampscott City.
"Thank you, Lady Luck, for allowing me to see my best friend again after so many years." Evi thought to himself before coughing to clear up his misunderstanding.
"Sorry about that, Yoze; I didn't mean anything I said before. But from what you said, your family should still be inside New Swamp Town, so it makes sense that you want to take them with us."
"With your family possibly endangered, we shouldn't dilly-dally and need to meet up with them as soon as possible."
"You're right. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it will become for us to travel around. Who knows how far this anomaly can stretch its claws?" Yoze said in agreement with Evi.
Just as he was about to ask Evi to follow his lead, he suddenly remembered that he had nearly forgotten something important.
"I almost forgot..."
"Mmmmmha!" Seeing that Yoze hadn't forgotten about them, the fat merchants felt their rapidly beating hearts slow down and felt more relaxed.
Unfortunately, before they could get their hopes up, they suddenly heard Yoze say something strange.
"You can come out now!"
"Who is coming out?" Evi and the fat merchants thought all at the same time as they turned to the direction looking toward.
Before they could prepare themselves for what was about to appear, Evi and the fat merchants felt a soft draft of warm air slam into their faces as twenty different colored eyeballs popped out of the bushes. Each eyeball was twice the size of a human's eyeball and showed a high level of intelligence mixed with curiosity.
"Thud, thud, thud, thud..."
The strange but horrifying scene was simply too much for the fat merchants' hearts to handle, so they fainted. As for Evi, even though his heart clenched with fear as he instinctively felt a dangerous threat coming from these eyeballs, he was able to calm himself swiftly.
"These must be what Yoze was calling out to, so they shouldn't be dangerous. Plus, they also have the same faint sparkles in their eyes as Yoze, so they must be friendly, right?" Evi thought to himself as he forced himself not to run away.
"Hahaha, Evi, you really are the best!" Seeing that all the fat merchants had fainted, Yoze laughed heartily before giving Evi a sincere compliment.
"Sorry about that; I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to let you meet some of the pets I had tamed. I just didn't think they would show themselves in such a horrible way." Yoze sincerely apologized after scaring Evi.
"It's alright. I got scared, but not enough to cause me to faint or lose control of my bowls. In any case, what kind of pets did you tame that look so strange?" Evi immediately sighed with relief after knowing these strange floating eyeballs belonged to Yoze's pets.
"These little guys are Slug demons."
"They are what?"
"Slug demons," Yoze repeated with a smile on his face.
Evi stared at Yoze for a few minutes, hoping he would see any sign that Yoze was joking, but his jaw dropped after seeing that he was completely serious. His brain nearly fried when he fully shook his head and tried his best to forget what he had heard.
"Okay... You said earlier that these are only some of your pets. Your other pets are not also demons, right?" Evi asked cautiously.
"Of course not," Yoze shook his head to dispel Evi's assumption that he was some demon collector.
"Caw!"
"Caw!"
"Caw!"
"If you look above your head, you will see giant Three-Eyed Crows. They are also my pets." Hearing that Scar, Simba, and Mufasa were getting rowdy, Yoze also decided to introduce them.
"Yoze, I don't know what to say except you are a crazy man that needs to be locked up."
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