Richard on the other hand was walking with Leone after finishing their training. None of them were aware what danger was approaching them but, they could see there was something wrong as the Hunters were not training and looked prepared for war.

Nonetheless, the villagers trusted Charles and went about things normally. Leone and most of the trainees weren’t scared either, they were excited by the prospect of combat.

Moving on from the serious situation, Leone was once again impressed by how things were going for Richard.

“You are definitely one of the chosen.”

“You said that ten times already, when you are going snap out of it. I am leaving if you continue to repeat it.” Richard shook his head in annoyance, as he truly disliked people repeating things too many times when once were enough.

“Sorry, sorry, so what are your plans? Are you going to take over and make the Harrison House rise above the clouds?” His expectations were clear in his tone. Leone truly wanted to experience such an exciting life.

“You have been listening to the old man for too long. I don’t have such goals. I want to get stronger and just give my family a good life.”

“Hmmmmmmmmmmm, that’s just the same thing that I said. How strong do you want to get?” Leone walked beside him as he was starting to feel that Richard’s adventures would begin soon.

“I want to get to the top.”

Leone whistled at those words as he could see that Richard was serious about it, “That’s more than what I expected. Do you intend to take over the world as well?”

“I have no interest in ruling others, but I will make the world a better place…Are you prepared for such a goal?” Richard asked as he wanted Leone to follow him. He was someone that had gone through life and understood that you couldn’t accomplish anything alone.

Many factors were involved and in the field of combat, being alone was just asking to get murdered. The world was extremely dangerous and at this point, it would be extremely risky to venture out alone.

He needed trustworthy individuals on his side and Leone was just that.

While talking, they had reached his house and both entered.

“I am always ready. When are we leaving for our grand adventure?”

“Calm your fire, as we still need to get stronger first. Our first goal is to achieve a foundation and then we will leave.”

“What about the marriage and other things?” Leone remembered when he saw Lala cooking.

“I will handle it.” Richard muttered as he walked inside and greeted his mother. He definitely didn’t like leaving his parent’s alone in the dangerous world but he wouldn’t grow without moving around and fighting.

He was confident that Charles and Noah would allow it by that time.

Leone was satisfied by the answer and he always wanted to see Richard in a confident position. His trust in Richard was very high, so he was sure that the younger boy was a chosen one.

The chosen one label wasn’t a fable. It was a reality. Immortals were a real thing and they roamed these lands.

These immortal beings were truly beyond the imagination of the mortals. They could rip out mountains and turn the seas with utter ease.

There were multiple pantheons and the world was decided among then. Varog Kingdom was the territory of the Olympians that resided on Mount Olympus under the rule of The Sky King, Zeus.

There were temples to worship these beings all around the Kingdom and Charles was a follower of Athena, so her temple was present in the village. Athena was a woman of great beauty that transcended mortals, she represented wisdom and war.

Most people would never see the immortals but there were lucky individuals that were blessed by an immortal and given a quest.

These individuals were granted powers that were extremely rare and potent, allowing them to rise above the rest.

Other than the chosen ones, there were also Demi’s. These beings were children of the immortals with other species, so they had advantage over others.

Demi’s visibly roamed the world as the Immortals would rarely take them in. Fortunately, these beings rarely lived to a long age as monsters were attracted to them and even other intelligent beings would love to kill them for their blood.

With that all in mind, Richard being a chosen was easy for Leone to believe. It could even be Athena herself that was guiding him, since she was the smart type immortal.

"Good afternoon, aunty." Leone greeted Lala as both boys sat down under the tree.

Lala smiled at the sight of Leone and Richard together. It made things feel normal as Leone would always hang around Richard for his uniqueness.

"You boys clean up, and I will have the food ready." Lala looked happy as she went about things. It seems she was satisfied with Richard's performance.

She was a stalwart woman that had gone through much in life, so she was managing by thinking positive and Richard's positive nature helped those thoughts bloom.

Looking at her working, Richard wanted to stop her and have her sit down. He wanted a servant to do the job and let his mother relax.

He wanted her to have a better dress and jewellery. Her skin was rough and heavily tanned because of the work.

He wouldn't care of it was someone else, but his parent's were a different issue.

Regardless, he couldn't stop her as Lala liked working on these things and just sitting around would make people question their purpose.

'Just wait for some time and I will make your lives better.' Richard promised once again as he went to wash his hands with Leone.

While waiting for the food, Richard talked to Leone about his powers and confirmed things.

Leone was thirteen years old and at the Ki refining stage for six months.

He had learned body strengthening, sharp eyes and powerful shout.

He didn't know his element nor did he know any more techniques at the moment.

His understanding was lacking, making it difficult for him to actually learn these skills. It was also the result of the adults lacking in true understanding on the subject, so progress was slow even on such simple skills.

As such, Richard decided to teach him some basic knowledge about the body and referenced it to the three skills he knew.

Leone was new to such knowledge so his comprehension of the topic was slow.

He didn't understand it but still strengthened the skills and made them easier to perform by following Richard's instructions.

Within just few minutes, Leone had leveled up.

But, Richard wanted him to actually understand these topics so that he could learn new skills and modify them on his own.

Of course that was a long process, so he didn't get frustrated from Leone's lack of understanding.

"Richard, you can continue later. The food is about to get cold." Lala reminded them as both boys were engaged in the lesson. Richard had that habit while Leone was fully focused on the topic as well, because of its usefulness and Richard's tone.

With that reminder, both boys remembered that they were starving.

Once again it was a meat dish along with potatoes and Okra.

There were also fruits for dessert.

The variety was limited for warriors because they needed heavy dose of energy for their training. Ki required it or it would suck out the back up energy, causing real damage to the body.

The food was devoured with impunity and Lala was praised for the good taste.

On the other hand, Noah walked alone once the meeting finished. His task wasn't too risky but death could still happen.

It was the reason he didn't go back home and talk to Lala. He was afraid that she might make him reconsider and hesitate.

He was worried that she would fear for his life and cry.

As such, he took the job without informing others about it. He was confident that nothing would happen and it was pointless worrying others.

It wasn't his life being in danger that was worrisome. It was the low possibility of success that troubled him.

He had no reference to follow. He was worried that the beasts might sit out and let them get weakened.

Arriving in the woods within few minutes, Noah decided to find the Earth Bear since the Jaguar was too difficult to find.

Walking towards the bear's territory, Noah had his eagle look for clues of any Intruders. He didn't expect anything but he certainly hoped for a small clue at least.

The bear's territory was on the left where the trees weren't so densely packed.

It lived near the river and was surrounded by other bears that were following it, and its children.

The Earth Bear was a gigantic beast the size of an Elephant with a powerful physique that could cause the land to shake with a blow.

It was Brown in color with green eyes. Its claws were grey in color and there were silver crystals on the fur.

The creature specialized in earth type abilities and had very high strength stats.

With just one proper hit, Noah would get killed.

Fortunately, it wasn't really aggressive and lived peacefully.

It was very old and had been in the forest when Noah's father was still a young man.

Noah didn't try to hide from the beast as it could easily sense him. Its sense of smell was very powerful and it could hear footsteps through its connection to the ground under it.

Walking towards such a majestic and terrifying beast, Noah felt the pressure. His body demanded retreat as the beasts stood up and eyed him.

"I am not here for a fight. I want to talk to you. Please, this is important for both of us." Noah called out to the Earth Bear while showing that he was not preparing an attack by showing his empty hands.

The bear didn't respond while the other bears got closer and made him walk back.

Some of them ended up pushing him into the water, but Noah didn't resist.

He needed their help, so this wasn't beyond his threshold.

"Not bad, kid. You made the right approach." Noah didn't know what to expect but he was definitely shocked by the talking Jaguar that walked out of his shadow.

He didn't know they could speak and that they were so close.

"So, are you here to talk about the insects in my territory?"

The Shadow Jaguar asked as its pure black eyes stared at him with amusement.

It was a powerful creature that represented speed and stealth.

It was smaller than the bear and was similar size of a normal bear.

Its body was pure black with white patterns instead of the yellow and black colors of the normal Jaguar.

It was a old beast and unlike the bear, it was very aggressive and sadistic.

"Yes, I think they are a problem for all of us. So, we should work together to handle them without taking any losses." Noah replied without backing down, to avoid showing weakness. It was a terrifying experience but it wasn't his first time staring at death.

The Jaguar smirked at those words as it was truly an interesting situation.

"Why don't you humans handle it? There are enough of your people for the battle."

"We don't want to lose anyone. And, if we delay it then you won't survive either." Noah knee it was dangerous but he still reminded them that it was a threat to them as well.

The beast didn't like the sound of those words and pushed him down. Putting its paw on Noah's abdomen it warned him to speak carefully.

"Your species is untrustworthy. Why would we support you?"

"We have all lived in harmony till now. That is proof enough that we don't want you to die. It will be damaging to us if some new beasts settled into these woods. You should know that my Lord can take you down, if he is persistent with his pursuit." Noah ignored the pain from the pressure applied to his body and reminded them of their reality.

"Jack, he is right. Don't harm him." The Earth Bear spoke up in a lazy tone.

"I wasn't about to kill him, Max. I was just playing with kid." Jack backed away and let Noah relax.

Both creatures were intelligent and taken names to identify themselves.

Noah hadn't expected that he was being played around like a chew toy.

That was humiliating and terrifying as he was unable to understand their thought process.

It was clear that they were very intelligent.

"We agree that it is a dangerous situation. But, it is mostly damaging to your people. You can't hunt us down now and will need to combat the insects. You won't have the energy after the hunt." Max spoke to Noah as he continued lay under the sun.

Noah shook his head, "If you don't help us, none of you will survive. There is a trap for my Lord and if he dies here, what do you think will happen?

So, I believe it is best for us to all work together. We are even willing to adhere to a request. You can ask for a reward for your contribution."

Jack growled at those words and wanted to rip apart Noah. He hated being controlled by others and here he was being treated as a pawn.

Max frowned and stopped Jack from acting out his desire.

The situation was more complex than what they had assumed.

"I see. What can you actually provide us?" Max asked to see their bottom line.

"Skills and armor" Noah could only think of those things.

"What skills can you give us? Do you even have armor for us? Or, do you expect us to fight first?" Jack asked coldly as he calculated their gains from the deal.

They had to work together, but they will get something from it.

"We have the C Rank Earth skill called Earth Golem and C Rank Dark skill called Shadow puppetry. The Earth Golem skill allows the user to form soldiers made from Earth to fight for the user and you can control their shape.

The Shadow puppetry allows the user to control the enemy through their shadow. Is this good enough for you?" Noah presented the offer that Charles had given. These were the C Rank skills that Charles was collecting for his important pieces.

He had at least one C rank for each element. These were expensive and very hard to get, but he managed it with some difficulty.

The offer was very attractive to the beasts because they could also learn them. Unlike humans, the beasts would naturally gain some innate skills as they grew stronger.

But, they were limited in numbers and they would love to learn more. It wasn't easy for them to get such powerful skills.

Humans could learn powerful skills by killing the beasts and taking copying the symbols inside their bodies that represented the skills gained.

When a beast learnt some skill, the signs would get carved inside their body.

This made them a Target but also made it easier for them to use and made the ski extra powerful.

Humans could also negotiate with the beasts to learn their skills for something.

The other way of learning was obviously through experimentation with the elemental symbols.

Beasts also experimented but they were scattered and didn't always belong to big group that would have such knowledge.

These two were just lone beasts in a weak forest. They would need to find a powerful group and submit under a beast King for that privilege.

Regardless, it was a dangerous venture. Giving these beasts such powerful skills would increase their threat level.

But, all costs had been calculated and it was worth it. The beasts had no need to cause damage to the village.

The offer stunned the beasts and Jack laughed.

"I like it. You can tell Charles that I am impressed with his approach. Deliver the skill books to us and bring along your son, and Charles child.

We need to be sure that nothing goes wrong, so bring them to us and we will return them once everything is over." Jack smiled and his voice was filled with schadenfreude from the worry he would cause those two individuals. He truly had some bad habits of bullying others.

Noah glared at the beasts and wanted to curse them for this nonsense.

"Can you insure their safety when you will be fighting at the front lines?" Noah had no choice but to go along with it for now. This was too important to break off and these beasts couldn't afford killing the children, so he just needed to know how they were going to do it.

"Don't worry about the children, I will have my followers keep them safe and Jack will have a shadow clone watch over them." Max replied in a calm tone.

Noah felt more trust towards the bear as he could see that the Jaguar had bad tendencies.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Fine, I will discuss with my Lord and you will hear the result before night." Noah said after a few minutes as they allowed him to consider.

"Don't take too long, the insects have already infected many beasts and taken them under their control." Jack reminded him, increasing his worries.

Noah thanked them for their time and started sprinting towards the Village. There was urgency in his steps as they still needed to talk with the other beasts as well.

"I thought you were leaving the forest." Jack asked as Noah left. He walked towards his long time friend and rival.

"I care about my children, Jack. I can't leave with such a threat around them.” Max responded while looking at his little kids that were bigger than normal bears.

One of the children was Jack's mate, making his child a hybrid beast.

"I see. Don't worry, we will get through it without any problem. If there is any danger, we can always escape."

Max nodded and Jack left to find his mischievous child.