Chapter 22: The Journey (2)

Caleb and his party continued their journey the next day. Unlike the day before, Caleb decided to join Sean on a horse. His sister was kept company by her escorts.

"Aside from the strange attacks by the monsters, are there any other dangers on the road?" Caleb posed the question to Sean.

"Yeah...Travellers occasionally encounter bandits and on rare occasions, monsters; not like what we have now. However, the travellers are mostly merchants instead of normal people. While they can afford teleportation, not all of them are that capable.

"Sometimes due to the nature of their merchandise, they avoid the teleportation guilds." 

Caleb did not need to be a genius to understand the implications of Sean's words. This world was not all rainbows and sunshine.

'Illegal merchandise, huh.' Caleb thought silently. The black market was a place of gathering of dangerous characters and stolen merchandise. He had not been exposed to the dark side of this world yet since his arrival and thus knew very little. But he plans on correcting that.

Ideally, Caleb and his party would have used the teleportation guild for their travel, but due to the mission he was to undertake, the duke decided they utilize the path to the border city.

This would give him the chance to explore and witness what was happening. The frequency of the beast and monster attacks was almost systematic if one paid close attention. This was one of the reasons that prompted an investigation.

The caravan gradually covered thousands of metres as they drew closer to their destination. 

"We should be getting close to the region of the attacks by tomorrow. For now, let's set up camp here." Sean informed Caleb and directed the party to come to a halt at the location he pointed out.

"Our scouts have found nothing unusual so far. They should be returning soon." Sean said to Caleb who stood close by as he directed the soldiers on what to do.

Caleb nodded and went ahead to perform his own areal scan. Unleashing his domain, he observed the fauna and flora around the vicinity. This time, however, he spotted another group of people about 10 km away from the group.

[Forty-seven humanoid lifeforms detected]

"Sean, was there any report about another group making their way to the border city or leaving?" He asked while looking in the direction of the spotted group.

"Not that I am aware of. Did you find something?"

"There's a group of 47 men 10 km away from us in that direction." Caleb responded while pointing to the direction ahead of them leading to the city.

"10 km! You can sense that far?" Sean exclaimed in surprise. He has been with the new Caleb for some time and knew he was exceptional, but even he didn't think it would be that much. The new Caleb and the old were like two different people. Sometimes he wonders if someone had taken over his mind. But that thought was outrageous; even for him.

"Yeah...Did I not mention that?" Caleb said with an amused smile. "My perception increased to a level where it changed into a new ability called a domain. It allows me to spread my senses far and wide in all directions." He explained calmly.

"Impressive..." Sean was in awe of the young lord's abilities. "In any case, I'm sure it's just another group travelling."

"Yeah...maybe. But I still want to take a look." Caleb said and then moved to his sister's location in the carriage. He knocked slightly and waited for her to show her face.

"Caleb, what is it?" Elina asked, looking out the window. "I'm going to check something out real quick." He said to her while assuring her of his safety.

He slowly lifted off the ground and soared toward the group he spotted. Elina looked at his departing figure with pride. She always knew her brother was amazing but even she was surprised by the new things he achieved recently.

Caleb slowly glided into the sky and within a few minutes approached their location and landed on a tree nearby. He completely erased his presence and enhanced sight and hearing. Caleb had augmented his sight, smell and hearing. Seeing at night was no longer a challenge and he could even use thermal vision. His sense of smell and hearing had also been elevated.

Although he may have been grasping at straws, he decided to be his own judge of character. The recent strange behaviours of the beasts had made travelling much more challenging for normal people; even for adventurers. And to find a group of men here was strange to him.

'They don't look like trouble though.' He analyzed the images from his display. The men were seated around a campfire that was not lighted yet as the sun had yet to settle. A little bit away from them were their horses and carriage. He discarded his wandering thoughts and focused on what they were saying.

"...they will be appearing soon. All we have to do is wait at the designated location." Said one of the men. From what Caleb could tell, the man was probably the group's leader. 'And based on his energy levels, he is as strong as Sean.'

The man had dark hair, the build of an athlete, and the demeanour of a warrior. From the little he just heard, Caleb deduced they were waiting for someone or people.

'Maybe an ambush or a secret meet-up?' That was the most likely reason for their presence in these parts. 

"Ben and James should be returning soon. We can then go over the plan." The man continued. "For now, you can have your dinner."

'Looks like two of them are out scouting.' From his position on the tree, he observed some more. As the sun started disappearing from the horizon, two horses were heard approaching from the distance.

"Boss, we spotted some scouts. Looks like they are on track." One of the riders said as he dismounted his horse.

"Did you see the emblem on their armour?" The man called 'Boss' inquired just as quickly. The other men had already finished their meals and were just waiting for their return.

"Yes, it is as the intel said; a shield emblem engulfed in flames, set against a bold blue and black background."

"..."

Caleb squinted his eyes when he heard the description of the emblem the man gave. 'Wait, were they planning to ambush us?' He realised what the group were planning. ''Well, what do you know? These morons are actually planning on attacking our caravan. They don't look like bandits either." Caleb muttered.

From his deductions, he could tell that someone had put them to it. But the question was who and why? Caleb and his party did not carry anything of value anyone might want; at least from his point of view. But it seemed some people did not fear anything.

A small smile slowly formed on his lips as he made a decision. 'I guess it's time to finally flex my muscles a bit.'