Travel - 702

After a while, he sent Skymender home to get some rest before their long journey. Skymender returned home and told Melly about his trip. Although she was sad to see him go, she knew that he had to. 

Skymender did not immediately go to sleep, but instead stayed awake. During the night, he left his house and walked towards the commoner district. There, he entered a warehouse. Inside were all of his poison supplies. Although it had been a while since he had created any poison, he had never stopped studying. Since he had left most of his poison reserves with Li Youcai, he needed to make some more. He always carried some with him, including the deprivation poison, but he did not know if it would be enough.

Skymender worked for a few hours, rapidly creating his poisons. After around three hours, he returned home with a bag full of poisons.

After getting a good amount of sleep, Skymender made his way to the Imperial Palace. Inside, the Imperial Scholar led him to a floor near the bottom. There, he saw a garage with many different carriages. He also saw his sister there waiting for him. 

He took his bags and put them on the carriage that the Imperial Scholar had pointed out. In his bags were normal travel items such as clothes, shoes, and some medicine. In his other bags, he had poisons, a bow, a bunch of arrows, and a sword. 

They would not be making this journey with a single carriage, but with three. One of them was filled to the brim with preserved food. Another carried their other items, among which was Skymender's bags.

The final one, as well as the largest, would be for the three people taking this journey. Skymender, Skybelle, and the Imperial Scholar.

When Skybelle saw Skymender she greeted him. Skymender greeted her as well. Skymender's feelings towards her were not complicated, and he viewed her as he always had, his sister.

Skybelle, on the other hand, was clearly not the same. She had complicated feelings. The good ones were familial love and admiration. However, after seeing him kill someone, essentially proving himself as Skygod but legally being clear, she didn't know what to think.

She had always been on the just side of things since she was born, yet her brother seemed to be the opposite. In fact, deep in her heart was a bit of fear. As a Sword Master, she should have none, but the completely indifferent look on Skymender's face as he had killed the detective gave her such a feeling.

But now, regardless of what she thought, she had to put it behind her. She was one of the few people that knew that Skymender was the next Imperial Scholar. In addition, this was an important trip, and she did not want to affect it with her personal feelings.

After everything was double checked, the Imperial Scholar announced their leave. Through a secret underground road, they left the Imperial Capital.

"We can't let any potential assassins know when we are leaving." The Imperial Scholar had said. 

Skymender understood his reasoning. As soon as they exited the vicinity of the Imperial Capital, they moved above ground, where the animals leading the three carriages began to run.

Although there were three carriages, all were connected, and only the one in the front had animals attached to it.

Skymender sat next to the Imperial Scholar, while the Imperial Scholar controlled the animals to run. He hummed a tune, as if he was happy to be on the road. Skybelle sat on top of the carriage. Since they were outside, she had to be as well. 

With this, their long journey began. 

The carriage was extremely fast, even faster than the noble carriages. Skymender estimated that they were around twice as fast.

"Remember, Skymender. If the people have access to some form of incredible technology or weaponry, then the rulers have access to technology and weaponry a level above it."

Skymender nodded. He had seen a bit of the Empire's advanced technology. It was quite powerful, though nothing incredibly above what was available to nobles. 

They rode for around eight hours before the Imperial Scholar handed the reins to Skymender and headed inside to rest. 

Skymender quickly learned how to control the animals and continued on for another eight hours.

Then, he heard the Imperial Scholar's voice. "The animals need to rest, we should stop now."

Skymender stopped the animals from moving any further.

He hopped down, as did Skybelle. The Imperial Scholar walked out from inside the carriage.

"We should set up camp and cook some food. I'm starving."

Saying this, the Imperial Scholar headed to the carriage carrying food, before going to the carriage carrying everything else.

When he finished, he had a pot, some wood, and some meat.

He quickly started a fire and began to cook it. 

"Don't just stand around. Get to setting up camp."

Skymender nodded and did just that. They had tents prepared, as well as thin mattresses that could be folded up.

He and Skybelle set them up, three tents in total. Not long after they finished, the Imperial Scholar had finished cooking the food. 

They had a surprisingly good tasting meal before heading to sleep. The next day, they woke up and continued to move. 

Not long later, the clouds above began to gray. 

"Looks like rain is imminent. Luckily, as long as it isn't too bad, we should be able to continue." The Imperial Scholar said.

Skymender nodded, and as light rain began to drizzle, Skymender pulled the retractable roof over his head.

The Imperial Scholar headed inside. "I'm going to perform some weather calculations. I'll teach you this eventually."

As time passed, rain fell even harder, and Skybelle got off from the top of the roof and sat underneath the retractable roof with Skymender. However, the rain neither lightened nor stopped.

Finally, as wind picked up and even the retractable roof was useless, the Imperial Scholar spoke.