Thus, for the couple of days that Reinhardt and the Temple of Light travelled through the jungle, howls and growls of monsters in pain continuously echoed from the area.
On the fifth day of their travel, Reinhardt and the members of the orders prepared a camp near a small brook. Camps were pitched, and a huge campfire was set up in the middle.
Skewers of meat were placed near, and their tantalising aroma filled their air. Reinhardt sat on a stone with Karina near him, munching on a skewer of meat. All around him were holy and high ranking knights. They sat observing the battle of the newbies in the distance.
"Would you look at them go?"…
"Haha, it's good to see that they are all improving"…
Having tasted the fruits of their training, the newbies and even some older recruits were hard at practice, going against the pitiful monsters.
"Many of them have already grasped the basics of two rudimentary techniques to use the [Radiant Ascension] skill. Some geniuses have already started using it"…
"You are right, we can't fall behind"…
As of now, all the holly knights could use the [Radiant Ascension] skill. However, their mastery was pitiful at best. Many times it would not even activate or would blow up in the sky.
Control was something that did not come easily. Though thanks to Reinhardt's guidance and training, even they who had reached the limit of their growth, could feel themselves growing stronger.
"Huff… huff.. once more" Gwen huffed, she gripped her sword and asked for guidance from her opponent once again.
The high ranking knight shook his head "No, this should be enough for today. Your body can't handle any more stress. You are indeed extremely talented, more so than any of us. I'm sure given time, you will easily learn these skills. For now, eat some food and take rest".
Gwen, although unwilling initially, nodded her head and left for her tent.
.
.
The next few days were the same; the knights and trainees improved their skills fighting monsters.
On the seventh day, the order finally got out of the jungle and took the main road. From there was it was just a straight path to the Toto village that lay in a valley between two cliffs.
"So that is our destination!!"
Reinhardt muttered to himself. This was his first time coming to his village. The previous Reinhardt had never come to the Toto village and, as such, had no recollection of it.
"Maintain your formation and stay alert. We are near the borderlands."
Toto village might be a land under the kingdom, but it was only in words. There was no guarantee that the demi humans there would not be hostile to them.
The order marched in a neat, practiced formation, hoisting Solaris and the Temple of Light's flag.
Just as they approached near the border, multiple men and women could be seen standing in front of the gate, blocking their path. Some of them had tall, lean bodies with long pointy ears, others had cat like ears with a tail sprouting from their back.
There were also short statured men with wide builds and thick bushy beards, beings with wings behind their backs, and such.
There was no need for Reinhardt and others to even ask, they instinctively knew the identity of the people… demi humans.
Standing before them were none other than elves, beast people, dwarves and even winged people. They were all equipped with various weapons and were asserting a hostile aura towards them.
At a glance, there were only fifteen or twenty of them. However, Reinhardt and other high ranking knights could tell that there were many more warriors and rangers hiding in the shadows, locking their aim at them.
For a village like Toto village to still stand even though it was in the middle of all the conflict, showed that the inhabitants of the place weren't weak. In fact, you could roam the whole village and still not find even a single weakling.
The whole village was filled with warriors who had to fight to survive and fend for themselves since the moment they were born. From children to the old, they were raised in an environment of survival of the fittest.
That is to say, if a fight does break out, number wise even one of the seven great knight orders, like the Temple of Light would find it difficult to fend them off. Not to mention, there were many new recruits on their side while the Toto village was filled with fierce warriors.
A wrong step and the loss on their side would be far greater. That is, of course, without counting the transcendent factor that was Reinhardt.
The latter looked at the crowd blocking their way. As expected, they were not getting any hospitality from this village. No, far from it, it did not even look like they would be able to enter inside the village.
Reinhardt's eyes shifted towards the most aged looking and high levelled person among the lot.
A tall elf with aging hair who looked to be around his thirties but was actually hundreds of years old. The latter matched Reinhardt's eyes and stepped forward, introducing himself.
"I am one of the chiefs of this Village, Elmond Torbanise Rhistel. You are..?"…
"I am the commander of one of the Seven Great Knight Orders of Solaris, Reinhardt Arcknight. I come bearing the royal decree of the crown, to resolve the issues of the Toto village"…
"Resolve our problem? Haha, another foreigner comes thinking that he can solve our issue."
A rude laughter interrupted, and a dwarf warrior stepped forward "Listen well human, there is nothing you can do to help us. We don't need your pity or what you call help. You can take your soldier and go away".
Saying that, the dwarf turned around and started walking off to the village, muttering to himself.
"Tch, I bet you are also like those humans coveting our manpower"…