"Have we made it already?" A lucid voice without contamination sounded in his ears.
"Yes, young master. It appeared the phenomenon drew much attention than we thought. There are large number of cultivators and merchants who placed tents outside the forest. I reckon there would be many others in the forest, especially from the sects." said the coachman with utmost respect.
It was already evening when they arrived and it was the first day after the occurrence.
The ride they used was the Earth-glaze horse which was in the peak of the Iron realm.
"Ohh. We arrived late." said the same voice.
"Not exactly, no one has better eyes for treasures than you, young master. We only gave them a chance to compete. They are surely no match for you even if we let them play a little longer, you'd still get the most out of this the instant we begin our search." the coachman man said in the best of tone he could muster.
On hearing this, Balin calmed a little.
Angering this master of theirs wasn't good by any means, he remembered what happened to the previous coachmen...
"There's no need to worry. Even if all the treasures were to be taken there are always other ways to gain them back, isn't there?" a smile appeared on his face that could irk a nation.
"Haa! Absolutely!" the coachman readily agreed.
They could always 'collect' resources from others if need arises. Needs always arise anyway. His master always outshines everyone he came across, and he always believe he was second to none.
"Open." the voice said after a moment of quietness.
The coachman quickly opened the door and a dark-skinned young man in silver robes exited who became wide-mouthed the moment he saw the camp in sight before he laid his eyes back on the coachman.
"Go find an inn. We set out at dawn."
"Yes, young master."
Yes! It was Balin of the alchemy clan.
Shiva drew closer from the rear of the carriages to Balin and stopped a meter from him, "Sir Balin, how should we proceed."
"The coachman went to find some room. You should rest and recuperate to your peak. We leave by dawn." his smile became wild as he added, "You can also occupy the room adjacent mine."
"Harumph!"
"Not happening. My job is to guard and protect, if you will excuse me." Shiva snarled coldly, she wasn't tempted in the least bit as she stormed the ground and left.
Balin could only smile bitterly. She appeared to be putting much front.
The coachman came after some time and reported, "Young master, we've got a situation. We were able to secure four rooms but someone occupying the fifth room wouldn't back down." he said while panting.
He purposely came by himself instead of a guard.
"Who dares to drag on matters regarding this young master." Balin said in a loud voice which seem to carry a sense of order within and continued,
"Didn't you tell who seeks the room?"
"I did. However, it turns out that it was master Simley of the blacksmith clan. In the ruffle, his men took hold of two rooms that we secured and stationed guards to watch the place, leaving us with two rooms and threatened he'd take the remaining two if the place is not in ultimate quietness." the coachman said hurriedly and quickly added,
"We were no match for them, so we retreated."
Balin was genuinely baffled and angered with the set up. After taking charge of four rooms 'seeking' the fifth some stupid Simley abruptly decreased it to two. It seemed he was being looked down upon.
Ultimate quietness?
It seemed his name and deeds hadn't gotten to this place and hence, his influence held no power here. If he did nothing, wouldn't it be a slap on his face with evident splatter to his clan.
He will surely lose his hard-earned reputation in the clan.
"I'm clearly not a wicked person. People just have to force my hand." Balin said to which Shiva snarled with an evil smile.
"I'm not entitled to help you with skirmishes, such as this." said Shiva.
"Who is asking for your hand. What do you take me for." Balin scoffed and darted his gazed at the carriage in the middle. There were three carriages in total.
"Hamizz." he shouted and immediately the door parted and a burly man stepped out, soon followed by four men, all clad in black attire.
"You and your men should go deal with the freak." he commanded.
Balin knew Shiva wouldn't follow his every command and so he hired some mercenaries whose hearts where so dark that they'd do anything for cystals or the like.
The man called Hamizz and his henchmen immediately left with hurried footsteps, if only they could add more legs to theirs.
"He declares absolute quietness, huh. I'd like you to show him how the Shaffa clan defines quietness." Balin shouted, his real purpose was to draw others attention.
It seemed it worked as the people directed their attention to the inn named; King-sea inn.
______
In a particular room inside the King-sea inn…
Bhahahahahaaa
Sounds of laughter echoed across the room as the people enjoyed the liquor and food presented, already forgot about the previous incidence as if it was a cockroach out of the picture.
Six people sat across each other with a long and thick material which cut across their center. At the head of the mat was seated a single man whose attire screamed luxurious in all respect with five to seven or so women going about his hard body as if it was a rare treasure that anyone would kill for.
There were two men who stood at the exit inside the room with their weapons sheathed.
The man who sat first to the right of the head seemed to laugh the hardest and was the only one without a.. plaything.
"The Sharp-hind Grass will be ours in no time. The Thundering Sword Sect were no match." he said with obvious excitement. Lusting after the plant they saw by chance and damning the opponents they'd dealt with prior.
"They thought we were easy fellows because we are blacksmiths and could be easily pushed around. It suits them well." another scowled with large teeth.
"That's the only result they'd get the instant they underestimated their opponents, especially in the jungle." said the woman sitting in the very back of the row by the right.
Her eyes were dark and she seem to hold some influence among those seated.
It happened that both groups came upon an herb that could be used for alchemy and could also be employed in other fields called, the Sharp-hind Grass.
However, this grass alone wasn't enough for the opposing group to go on a killing spree. It tuned out that the Sharp-hide grass was emitting the fluctuation of a peak grade-3 plant. Not only that, but it seemed the aura was approaching the fourth grade progressively.
A grade 3 herb could already earn anyone a large sum. How about one in the fourth grade. Herbs above grade 2 are mostly nonexistent in the whole city and many have only heard words of it. Only alchemist would have more chances of encountering them…
A grade 4 herb couldn't be left just like that and so the escalated altercation.
"Miss Carly, I heard one got away. I hope he won't be a problem in the future." said the man who was seated as the head of the group.
"Not to worry young master Simley. The injuries inflicted were grave considering every attack was blended with low grade-2 poison. He won't reach anywhere before he collapses and rot." said the lady called Miss Carly. Her tone was extremely odious.
"Is that so. Then, that leaves me reassured. The location of the Sharp-hind Grass can't be shared with others." his voice suddenly changed and a hint of cruelty could be perceived.
He didn't care about her attitude in the least bit.
The others nodded heavily. They dare not disobey especially when their master turned serious.
They could have harvested the herb but that would make the herb regress to peak grade 3 and lose all of its pushing constitute.
They could wait a few more days so that it could advance to become a grade-4 plant.
BAM...
The sound of something heavy suddenly caught their attention.