Chapter 326: The Heart Of The Aslan Tribe

"I already heard of it when we were traveling, but it feels unreal now that I see it myself," Brent said as he looked at the spread of food on the table.

There were so many types of bread served to them for breakfast. There were hard ones, soft ones, and even breads that had meat fillings called sandwiches.

They also had this special sauce that made it taste many times better.

"This is really delicious," Brent couldn’t help but comment after taking a bite.

"You’ll get used to it." Ivan chuckled at his words. "We had the exact same reaction as you when we first came here."

"Leone was shocked too, you know?" Malik smiled wryly. "He says everyone in the Kingdom of Britannia eats bread almost every day. Even the poor ones. Yet, for us, eating bread is a luxury because we mostly just eat meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables."

The only crop they could grow in the Borderlands was potato.

They couldn’t grow wheat or other grains since they easily attracted trouble. Some of it was caused by monsters, while others were caused by other tribes.

Though, if anything, it was because the barbarians didn’t have the right cultivation techniques to grow them successfully.

This was also why Brent was surprised. How could the Aslan Tribe have wheat flour? They must be growing wheat.

But where?

"Do they have some kind of plantation inside the mountain?" Brent asked.

"Maybe." Ivan shrugged. "They don’t let anyone enter the mountain. The security is very tight. The only ones who can go in and out are the Aslan Tribe, the Ravage Tribe, and the Kobolds from the Red-Scale Tribe."

Suddenly, they heard loud roars above their heads.

At the moment, the two Dread Wyverns that accompanied Brent and his people were flying away while they were being chased by the Raptor Sovereign, Boris.

If they could only understand monster language, they would understand the meaning behind those roars.

"Don’t run!" Boris roared. "I am your friend!"

"F*ck off!" one of the Wyverns roared back. "Stay away from us!"

"Go play with that Gryphon instead!" the other Wyvern screeched. "Stop bothering us, you bastard!"

"Oh! Are we playing a game of catch?" Boris asked. "This is fun! Let’s play!"

"Damn it! This bastard is not listening!"

"Help! Someone help!"

Of course, the pitiful cries of the two Wyverns were perfectly understood by Leone. However, he made no move to stop Boris.

Astravor had been nagging at him for the past few days, asking him to do something about the Raptor Sovereign, who was being too clingy as of late.

Now that the Dread Wyverns had appeared, Astravor was finally able to have some private time to itself, which was a good thing.

"Well then. Have you decided what mount to get?" Malik asked as he dipped his bread into the hot beverage Leone called coffee. He really liked its taste, so he had already asked Leone if he could purchase a bag of coffee beans from him.

"I’m still undecided," Brent replied honestly. "Leone said he will let me ride a Pteranodon later to see if I can handle flying in the sky."

When Brent arrived, he was surprised to see many monsters roaming around the city. At first, he and his tribesmen thought that these monsters were going to attack them.

Though it didn’t take long for them to understand that these monsters were friendly.

Too friendly!

One of the Drakes had even played with the children of the Bonegnash Tribe as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

At first, they were very afraid of it.

But when they saw Runa riding on Porkchop’s back, the children became very curious.

Naturally, Runa told them that they could do it as well, prompting them to ask one of the wandering Drakes to come closer.

When one of the children decided to give it a try, they finally realized that the monsters didn’t want to eat them.

Soon, the children of the Bonegnash Tribe stopped being afraid of the Drakes and began to see them as big, gentle monsters they could play with.

Naturally, the adults were still scared. Unlike the innocent children, they already had their fair share of seeing monsters in the wild.

However, after being assured by the Aslanians that the monsters in their domain were very friendly, they eventually settled down.

Still, they imposed one rule.

"Never offend an Orc. They are scarier than the Drakes."

Unlike the monsters that belonged to the Aslan Tribe, the Orcs were a different breed. They were a warrior race, just like the barbarians. If someone were to offend them, then they would not hesitate to duke it out with that person.

Fortunately, the Bonegnash Tribe didn’t need to be told twice.

It wasn’t hard. Orcs were one of their natural enemies in the Borderlands, after all.

In fact, they were truly shocked when they realized that these Orcs were allied with the Aslan Tribe.

Suddenly, a Pteranodon landed gracefully on the grand balcony where Brent, Ivan, and Malik were having breakfast.

Riding on its back was none other than Elias, who had decided to join them for breakfast.

"Good morning. Can I join you guys?" Elias asked with a smile.

"Sure," Malik replied. "You seem to be at home here in the Aslan Tribe."

"I don’t want to admit it, but I’m having more fun here than back home," Elias admitted.

His father had asked him to pay more attention to the Aslan Tribe and uncover their secrets if possible.

This mission was very important to their tribe, so Elias wanted to accomplish it. Unfortunately, reality was different.

He couldn’t even infiltrate the underground cities since he was not allowed to enter the cave that led to it.

In the end, he busied himself by exploring the surrounding terrain.

However, the real shock came when he woke up yesterday. When he looked down the mountain, he saw a magnificent city that had not been there the previous day.

Even his guards, who were on guard duty, had no idea when a city had appeared in the middle of the night. Just like him, they only found out when morning came.

"Is it true that this city was built overnight?" Brent asked Elias, who had been staying in the Aslan Tribe ever since everyone left to return to their domains.

"Yes," Elias replied. "It appeared the same day you arrived at the Aslan Tribe. You have no idea how shocked I was when I saw it for the first time."

"But why did he build something so big, though?" Brent asked. "From the looks of it, this city can easily hold tens of thousands of people."

"I asked Leone the same question, and he told me that he is just preparing for the future," Elias answered. "He said that after their resounding victory, the barbarians might think that living with them would be a good thing."

Of course, this was just an excuse Leone had come up with to cover up the real reason why he had built a city overnight.

While it was true that he was hoping the middle-ranked tribes would start living with them, he also had a Plan B.

And that was to invite the other monster races to stay in the Aslan Tribe and live together with them.

It was a grand undertaking.

Something that no one, not even Elias, saw coming.

"I heard that Leone plans to give you a monster as a mount," Elias said. "Have you decided yet? If I were you, I’d take a Pteranodon. Flying in the sky is so liberating. It makes you feel so free."

"I will give it a try later," Brent replied. "Leone did say I can take my time. Anyways, Elias. What do you think about the Aslan Tribe? I want to know your honest opinion about them."

Elias didn’t answer right away. After living with the Aslan Tribe for over two weeks, his opinion of them had changed drastically compared to the first time he arrived here.

"I’m envious of them," Elias admitted. "They care a lot about each other. Their bonds are also very strong. Though, most importantly, they respect their chieftain very much."

"I can’t believe they are composed of four low-ranking tribes that have merged together." Brent sighed in response. "How did an exile from Britannia manage to do this?"

"Well, Leone is easy to like," Elias answered. "He may not be the strongest of warriors, but he is serving as the pillar of this tribe. If he were to fall... then the Aslan Tribe would definitely fall with him."

Ivan nodded in agreement, while Malik sighed in his heart.

After all, what Elias said was the truth.

Indeed, Leone was the heart of the Aslan Tribe. As long as he was alive, it would continue to beat.

With that said, if someone wished to take down the tribe, all they needed to do was eliminate Leone.

Of course, this was something that was easier said than done.