Valerian, The Legendary

186 Hunter.

Libra asked Valerian to give the names of the people he wanted on his team, and he said, “Commander Quies, Apprentice Warrior Ryker, One Shadow, and a loyal official from Prime Minister Alm’s camp.”

His words surprised the court, they could not understand why he was asking for such a team, Alms understood this and asked, “Your highness, can you clarify why you need such a team?”

Valerian nodded and stated, “Commander Quies is a grandmaster, and his strength will help us deal with the eyes of the enemies swiftly and with his experience on the front, we will be able to get past the obstacles with ease.

The purpose of Warrior Ryker is to portray the image of a couple of disciples out to gain experience with the old sir, this will be our cover and help us maintain a low profile. We can state that we belong to the imperial academy and were recruited there a long time ago after our families suffered a misfortunate incident.

The purpose of the shadow is well justified, gather information and help us with covering tracks and eliminating the eyes of the enemy.

A loyal official will be a commoner, I will have him play the role of a helper, and being a diplomat, he will be able to help us enter the city with ease. Now that you all know the purpose of my team, I hope that these details are kept within the courtiers only. If there is any mole among us, you all are wise about how to handle them.”

His voice turned cold in the last sentence and the people shivered, the edge of the fourth prince had surfaced once again, and this time he was out for blood. The people nodded and Libra said, “You can rest assured about the secrecy of this matter, also when do you plan to leave?”

Valerian said, “We will leave tonight only, the longer we wait the higher the danger will get. I do not plan to waste time.”

The emperor nodded and said, “Alm, pass the edict, have the people Valerian asked for prepare and leave with him.”

.....

The prime minister nodded and the people were informed quickly. They all met Valerian in the garden in the western wing. The prince had dyed his hair black and was carrying a sword on his back, this sword was a magical weapon, but unlike his daggers, it could only use two elements. He did not mind that as his daggers were also tied to his thighs.

Valerian nodded to the people and asked, “Do you all know about the situation?”

The four people nodded and the price asked, “Anyone with any hesitation can step back and leave the group right now.”

The four people heard him but they stood in their alert position. Valerian waited for a few seconds and nodded, then he looked at the woman in the dark clothes and said, “You can leave and stay ahead of us, if you find any danger then you can inform us.”

The shadow nodded and then she vanished from the spot. Then Valerian began to discuss the plan with the other three and they worked together. Soon, everyone knew what their role was and what they had to do during the operation. The three people also put forward a few suggestions they had, and Valerian improvised his plan based on those suggestions.

The fourth prince was sharp but he did diss others for being in a lower position them him. Valerian was aware that he was inexperienced and not omnipotent. Thus he took this opportunity to learn from the people around him.

Quies was the greatest teacher in the scene, and he improvised the plan significantly. After they were done planning, the sunset and they all left the palace. Valerian had the three people ride on the back of Linea, who would play the partial role of their identity cards as the sapientian flying beast.

Fortuna was sitting on the head of the bird with her eyes closed. Valerian was the same, he was meditating, and this was something that he learned from the grandmaster in the academy. Meditation will help them calm down and collect their thoughts and this way they will be able to channel their energy better.

Valerian was open to methods that could allow him to optimize his potential. It took the team an entire night to reach the borders of the Stellan Nation, and they crossed it like how they did in the past. They moved across the mountain range where he made Linea submit to him, and also to the place where Fragrantia was hiding.

The city was called, Mandala, this place was said to be the abode of the monks who decided to channel pure mana through their bodies to temper it. However, that was in the past, now the city was ruled by the leader of the Sapientian people.

Valerian and the rest landed in a derelict forest and they were going to hunt a few magical beasts to project the roles of students who came out of the academy to gain power, and after they killed some beasts they decided to sell it inside the city.

This was the idea that Quies had suggested. Valerian and Ryker began to search for a beast, while the commoner was left to stay beside Linea, in a safe environment, and the old man was just watching them hunt from the side. The two people were adept in their tasks and they hunted down five magical beasts in the night.

These five were enough to be sold in the city market to implement their cover. Valerian and the rest left the forest with Linea and landed closer to the city. The flying beast was asked to stay outside the city and approach them if Valerian casts a magical spell to signal them off. The sun had just come up in the sky when the four of them approached the city gate.

What greeted them was a guard check post, this was as they expected, however, the checking was really thorough and all the people had to present valid identity proof. Or they were not allowed to enter the city.

Valerian and Ryker approached the city gate and the guard said, “Stop.”

The two came to a halt and the guard said, “Please cooperate with the security check and also provide us with an identification document.”

Valerian nodded and then took out his student token. Apprentice Ryker was also the academy, but he was just a grade four warrior. The check-up was complete and the guard nodded, he then focused on the old man and a feeble commoner next to him, sampling shyly.

The young man moved forward and said, “Greetings sire, do you need to check even a grandmaster?”

These words made the soldier’s eyes open wide and he asked, “Who Again?”

The young servant boy tilted his head and pointed at Quies who stood with a cold gaze locked at the guards. He radiated his aura and the guards shivered. The guard captain came forward and said, “Pardon us, sire, we did not wish to offend you, however, the city is currently martial law, so anyone and everyone is needed to show identification proof.”

Quies asked, “Why is that so? Did something happen in the city?”

Time for gathering information. Quies did not hesitate, he asked as he took out a fake identification plaque and the guard captain nodded. He did not wish to offend this big guy and said in a hushed tone, “It is suspected that the Empress of Lumen is hiding in the city and is poisoned. She might not live long and the young duke is searching for her.”

Quies nodded, and did not push his luck, the guard asked, “Sire, you all are here for?”

The commoner replied, “Master is taking the young sires to learn about combat. So this city happened to be near the forest they decided to train.”

The guard captain nodded, and said, “Very well, please enter the city. If you find anything suspicious, do relay it to the city guard.”

The four people nodded and they entered the city, they had confirmed that the person they were looking for was inside the city and what was, even more, they now knew some information about her actual condition as well.

Valerian was controlling his anger and his eyes were gazing at the ground to calm down his killing intent. After a few minutes, they entered the city and found a restaurant to grab a meal, and assess the situation even better. They were all quick and the commoner with them, Amile, gathered information with great finesse.

They found out the areas where the city guards were focused and also the places that were relatively calm. Valerian and the rest did not react much to this and simply went to an auction house to list their beast hides and parts for sale.

The shadow had infiltrated the city already and was searching for clues, she will contact them as soon as she finds anything relative. The hunt has begun, now what had to be determined was whom did the role of the hunter belonged to, the young duke of the Stella Nation, or the young prince of the Lumen Empire.