CHAPTER 46: TO THE MOUNTAINS

After all his efforts, Luke managed to find some free time and, five days later, set off with Callum and Cain to the military zone to see Zoey.

Even before entering the military zone, Luke could hear the clanging of swords.

The deep sound of metal clashing amid the falling snow:

"Ching!!!"

With every step, the sounds grew louder, the shouts of hundreds of soldiers reaching Luke’s and the others’ ears.

When Luke finally entered the military base, the sound of armour moving and soldiers saluting began one by one as some of the guards on duty saw him.

Finally, Luke reached the centre of the military base, the training ground.

Three thousand soldiers were clashing their swords. Each of them was repeating the same movements simultaneously, as if to deafen the ears.

Luke had spotted Zoey standing on the podium in the training area in a short while. The young woman was wearing her armour, her hair tied back, and both swords hanging from either side of her waist, standing proudly.

Luke approached the podium, reached out to Zoey, took her hand, and said, "It’s been five days." Of course, the two had missed each other.

Shortly thereafter, the training was halted, and Zoey granted permission to the thousands of soldiers present that day. In other words, the soldiers could continue with their duties, which, of course, were to ensure the city’s security.

For this, they would learn from Callum.

Callum didn’t want to bother teaching ordinary soldiers. Rather, the people he taught were those who, even if they weren’t experienced, could be very powerful and support Luke Ibn Alphonsine Hiera.

In short, they were stronger than humans.

Elves, half-humans, half-demons, and many others.

This amounted to a group of nearly two hundred people, even though there were many of them.

Callum had reluctantly assigned three thousand soldiers and managed to spread them throughout the city with different shift schedules.

Of course, he wouldn’t bother training them.

Cain had gone with Callum and, to learn something beyond what Kevin had taught him, had begun to look around with wide eyes, committing everything he could see to memory.

Luke and Zoey had finally managed to be alone together.

Zoey, who hadn’t been able to take a shower for a while, finally managed to return to Luke’s side after taking a shower in the ’Commander-in-Chief’ room at the military headquarters.

Zoey sat down next to Luke, hugged him, stayed there, and then said, "I saw the flag you made, it is beautiful."

Of course, a copy of the flag had been sent to the military base and hung to flutter atop the base’s summit, above the commander-in-chief’s office.

"I’ll head southeast, behind the mansion," Luke said suddenly, explaining the reason for his visit.

When Zoey heard these words, she lifted her head from Luke’s chest and said, "It will be very dangerous..." The young woman was, of course, filled with anxiety.

"I am a Hiera, Zoey. Even if dragons or phoenixes attack me, I am sure I can stop them," Luke replied.

He was strong. Even if he couldn’t kill a dragon, he was strong enough to repel it. Still, he knew. The prophecy he had seen filled his heart with great courage.

Even if he didn’t live his life as the prophecy had foretold, he knew that everything would be all right.

"I trust you... Still..." Zoey had said, of course, she was worried. Zoey herself was aware that Luke was a Hiera, and a blessed one at that. It was obvious he wouldn’t just go and kill himself, but... How could a wife not worry about her husband?

Especially when her husband wanted to go dragon taming.

Of course, these thoughts wouldn’t stop Luke.

After spending what could be described as a rather passionate night together, Zoey and Luke parted ways, knowing they wouldn’t see each other for a while.

Luke had left Zoey in the first command and Kevin and Callum in the second.

He had made Theodas the leader of nearly two thousand elves in the city and had managed to get everything the elves did back on track.

He had stocked his inventory with supplies and had even prepared dragon food, which the Hiera used to feed their dragons when they owned them.

Then, in the southeast, he passed through the walls that opened onto the lake where the mermaids and mermen lived from the garden of his mansion, walked along the path he had built, and then arrived at the area where the fisherman’s hut was located.

After warming himself one last time, Luke began to walk slowly across the long bridge. After greeting Mateo, the king of the mermen and mermaids, he crossed the bridge and began to head towards the mountains in the southeast.

The place he was heading towards was where he thought the stones had ’come’ when he suddenly managed to cover the walls with mythril and Tholien stones.

He still did not know whether his gift was to create or to receive.

He was heading towards the northernmost part of the empire, now known as the Great City, the region at the farthest edge of Selene’s borders, the area beyond ’One Mountain.’

In short, Luke was heading towards the Tholien Mountains.

What Luke had to do was cross the small region known as the "Ice River," then traverse the "Frost Plains," and then navigate the dangerous path over the Tholien Mountains to reach the vast plain said to exist beyond, and finally reach One Mountain.

It would be a long journey. Especially considering he was travelling on foot, it might take him a month to cover the distance.

Still, he was fast and could set up a warm shelter whenever he wanted. After all, he just needed to buy a map and then place it wherever he wanted to rest.

That’s exactly what he did.

Whenever he started to feel too cold, he either warmed himself with one of the three fire-coloured items he possessed or chose to rest by using one of the maps he had purchased.

Thus, exactly thirteen days had passed.

Nearly half of the thirty-day journey Luke had estimated was complete, and Luke had begun to enter snow-covered terrain so deep that he could barely take a step.