Chapter 497: The Twelve Ancient Guilds

Lian checked the distance.

Even with One’s speed, it was not a short journey, and some parts of the road were so rough that they could not move at full speed the entire time.

"It’ll take two, maybe three days just to reach the last area that the people from the base have recorded."

"So?" Kain raised his head.

He looked at him, but before he could say anything, Kain continued.

"We’re not going to have a boring journey with this creature. Besides, discovering a new area is much more interesting than going somewhere that a hundred people have already mapped before us and even know where the monsters sleep."

Lian thought for a few seconds, a new area meant a chance for the title of Pioneer of Forgotten Realms to activate again.

Maybe a treasure, maybe new ruins, or creatures that no one had any information about yet.

In any case, he had no special reason to refuse, it was not like he had anything else to do, he had a full month of free time.

Only after that did he have to go to the Pendragon Family.

"It’s fine."

"Finally."

The young Vorhelm marked the route on World Memory and One changed its direction.

And they moved toward the last known point on the map.

The first hour passed mostly in silence.

After the base and most of the hunting groups disappeared behind them, Lian finally asked about something he had wanted to know since Kain returned.

"How is Base #3? Did anything special happen during this time?"

Kain thought for a moment.

"It depends on what you mean by special. New rankings were released, both for students and other Awakeneds. Groups have moved further forward, several new routes have become safe, and some hunting grounds have almost been completely emptied."

He shrugged.

"But if you’re looking for another disaster or strange attack, like during the siege, then no."

"Are Kael and his group still there?" The question of why the President had paid for his armor was still in his mind.

And no matter how he thought about it, he felt that it was connected to Kael.

"His group, yes." Kain gave him a short look.

"His group?" Lian noticed the pause.

"They are still active in Base #3. Actually, they are now one of the most well-known groups there, but Kael is no longer there."

"Where did he go?"

"From what I heard, he joined one of the Twelve Ancient Guilds."

This time, the young Vorhelm said nothing for a few seconds.

The Twelve Ancient Guilds.

It was not a name that Awakeneds were unaware of, they were not simply twelve large and wealthy Guilds.

Some normal Guilds had more members, and some companies even had more financial resources.

But the Twelve Ancient Guilds were different, each of them had a legacy that had been preserved for generations.

Their own training methods, resources that could not easily be found in the market, and information that was not always even available to governments.

They had existed since the first Ruined Realm, and it could be said that they were the first Guilds to be established.

Their position, influence, and power were almost higher than those of all modern Guilds, organizations, and governments.

And most importantly, joining them was not just signing a work contract.

Someone who truly entered the main level of one of those Guilds was basically entering a structure that had its own methods, rules, and legacy for raising its Awakeneds.

That was also why their member selection was very limited, talent was necessary, but it was not always enough.

Lian had once encountered someone from that environment directly.

When he had returned to the Vorhelm Family for his sister’s birthday, he had met one of the geniuses connected to one of those Twelve Guilds.

He did not expect Kael to eventually enter one of them as well.

"How did he get in? Is there any information about it?" He asked after some time.

Kain shrugged.

"I don’t know, I only heard that he left. No one explained the details to me."

Lian became silent again.

Kael was talented, that part was not strange, from the short time he had worked with his group, he had understood that Kael was not a thoughtless leader and his power was not low either.

But another question remained, why had he left his own group?

Or maybe he had not left it at all, it was possible that joining the new Guild had only caused him to stay away from Base #3 for some time.

And that old guess still existed.

That Kael might really be the President’s son, although he was quite sure about it, it was still unclear.

Lian had no definite proof, but if it was true, joining one of the Twelve Ancient Guilds could have a greater meaning.

Or maybe it had nothing to do with it, for now, he had too little information and he let the matter go.

Some time later, the old road entered a large plain.

One continued forward over the cracked stones without slowing down.

"One more thing, I heard that encounters with the natives of the Realm have increased during these months." Lian looked at the horizon.

Kain became a little more serious.

"They have. But most of what I know is just what I heard. I didn’t see them much around the routes where I hunted."

"What did you hear?"

He thought for a few moments to organize the information.

"There have been conflicts several times around routes and territories, sometimes they only saw each other and pulled back, sometimes it turned into a fight, and it is said that several Awakeneds have also gone missing."

"Gone missing?" Lian slightly turned his head.

"Yeah. It’s not clear if they died or not. One rumor says that some of them were captured alive, some people say they may have been taken to one of the Seven Regions for questioning, but it has not been confirmed. For now, it’s more hunter talk than an official report."

The Seven Regions.

The remaining civilizations of this world were not something the Federation could ignore forever.

Just as they could not ignore the presence of thousands of new humans from another world.

Both sides had reacted to each other’s presence, and it was not clear how long they could tolerate each other, and unfortunately, the relationship between the two sides was not good at all.

Both sides were strongly hostile toward each other, and it did not seem like either side had any interest in talking or becoming friends.

"Is it clear how the Federation wants to deal with this?"

Kain slightly pressed his lips together.

"No. At least, it isn’t clear from the news. It’s obvious that they are looking for information and probably don’t want to start a large war for no reason, but it’s also unclear what the other side thinks about us."

He was silent for a moment and then continued.

"It’s not like the Federation has little pressure either, right? They have this place. The rifts in the earth have also increased. And according to what is being shown in the news, it seems that the situation in the Heavenly Realm isn’t good either."

This time, Lian said nothing, the Heavenly Realm was still a very distant goal for him, he would only have the chance to enter it after reaching Level sixty.

He was only Level twenty-six himself.

Because of that, he did not have much reason or opportunity to follow all the news about that Realm.

But if things were also getting worse there, it was different.

Gareth’s words returned to his mind, the increasing number of rifts and the greater pressure on different areas of the earth.

Events that once seemed unrelated were now slowly coming together.

The Ruined Realm.

The Heavenly Realm.

The rifts.

The Calamities.

If the pressure on all these fronts increased at the same time, even a world with many powerful Awakeneds could not divide its resources endlessly.

He looked at the sky above them for a moment, he did not know why but he felt as if the pressure on their world was quickly reaching the highest known level.

"Anyway, how do we know? Maybe we’ll also run into the natives." Kain said after several minutes of silence.

"With our luck?" Lian gave him a short look.

"Then it’s confirmed." Kain laughed.

The first day of the journey passed without any major event.

The farther they moved from the base, the more signs of the old civilization appeared and the fewer Awakeneds they saw.

In the afternoon, they passed under a huge aqueduct whose stone arches stretched for hundreds of meters along the valley.

It had probably once carried water from the mountains to a distant city, now the upper channel was completely dry.

Black roots had come out of cracks in the stones and hung down from under the arches.

On one of the smaller bridges, a rotten carriage was still left in its place.

Beside it lay the bones of a large animal that had four legs, but its long skull and curved horns looked nothing like the horses of Earth.

Kain went down for a few minutes to examine it, but he found nothing valuable.

That night, they stopped in the upper part of the aqueduct.

During that first stop, he tested Ashen Thunder Step for the first time.

The movement began.

Boom!

His body moved forward several dozen meters with thunder, and at the end of the path, instead of stopping, his body turned into ash for a moment.

The flow of the movement broke and he formed again three meters to the right.

Lian immediately had to take one extra step to keep his balance.

He looked at the place where he intended to appear and the place where he had actually appeared for a few seconds.

The distance was less than half a meter, but the structure worked, his body simply had to get used to changing direction during the same movement.

On the second day, the land completely changed.

They entered an area of terraced gardens.