"Can your family communicate with eagles?"
"That's pretty difficult. We can communicate with parrots."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Greyhound scolded his son. Fang, Neil, and Landen had gotten along well during the hunt, and they enjoyed joking around with one another. But Greyhound knew that a lord must always be treated with respect. A lord's supposed friendliness was merely a tool.
"Lord Landen, our family records say that those with the greatest talent for speaking with beasts really can communicate with eagles, falcons, or hawks. But that sort of communication is more like a conversation, not sharing their vision. Based on our ancestors' experience over the years, the Barbarian priests' ability to share vision with eagles and other birds is different from the Elves' Eagle Eye Technique and the Human Mages' summoning spells. Neither Elves nor Mages can easily cast spells on the Gallop Plains, but Barbarians can share vision with birds. I suspect it must be a Bloodline or spell bestowed by some Magic Beast God."
After Greyhound had finished recounting his family's glorious history, Fang pulled Landen aside and mentioned that Patch was so young yet already able to communicate with beasts, which suggested his Mana-Wielder Bloodline should be easier to awaken. Landen understood, of course, that Fang had brought Patch along to train the little tagalong. He promised that if Patch did well, he could have a larger share of the Magic Beast Meat.
Neil and Greyhound set out ahead with their teams to scout and search, while Landen led the Knights forward at a leisurely pace. Patch rode on the same horse as Raul.
In Landen's imagination, sharing vision with an eagle in the sky was like getting a drone for reconnaissance. The aerial view was useful, but it couldn't see everything, and an eagle following a target for too long would inevitably give itself away by the way it flew.
If the eagle overhead kept watching their group for too long, the Eagle Priest might notice it.
Afraid the eagles overhead would spot them, the whole group could only proceed slowly. They had been on the road for over two hours, and Landen had kept his eyes fixed on the sky until they were nearly watering.
His mind wandered as he made idle conversation with Patch.
"Lord Neil really likes a horse named Blaze," Patch said when they started talking about the animals he cared for every day.
"Oh, the one with the red markings?"
"They're not really red markings. They just look red in the sun."
"Oh, Neil likes that one? Can he talk to it?"
"No. None of us can understand horses or pack animals."
The two of them chatted on and off until a black speck came darting toward them from far away. It was a black puppy with a yellow tail—Yellow Tail.
"Yellow Tail's back!" Patch called, then quickly dismounted to meet him.
Patch and Yellow Tail whispered to each other for a moment, then Patch carried him over to Landen.
"My lord, Lord Neil says they covered about forty kilometers. They didn't find the Eagle Tribe, and the Redsand scouts we sent out haven't found them either."
Redsand's range was about five kilometers greater than Neil and Fang's. The Grassland was fairly open, so if they hadn't spotted a large encampment within their line of sight, it was safe to assume the area was clear.
With their safety assured, it was time to launch another attack. Yellow Tail carried Landen's orders to Neil, and an hour later, Neil found a medium-sized Barbarian encampment.
Given the strength Landen had at his disposal now, he could charge straight into a medium-sized encampment and take it without hesitation.
By the time Landen reached the entrance of the tribe's camp with the eleven Junior Knights he had gathered over the past month, twenty-one Mana-Wielders, and forty-five Barbarian Cavalrymen, the medium-sized tribe was already in a state of utter shock. Tribal clashes were common in winter, but most were over food or horses. Almost no one came to declare war outright, as Landen had.
Landen didn't bother with any courtesies. At the camp entrance, he demanded that they either submit to him or be slaughtered as he stormed in. Since the Eagle Tribe might discover them, Landen didn't want to risk any information leaking out.
The tribal chief hastily rallied the Barbarians in the camp to fight back, but Landen and his men charged in and crushed them without suspense.
Landen led the charge and kept unleashing techniques as he fought with Battle Qi, replenishing it with Krypton Crystals. By the time he completed his fourth charge and cut down his fifth Barbarian with Battle Qi, he had just used up his fifth Magic Crystal.
The battle was finally over. Raul and the others each set about sorting and gathering the spoils, while Greyhound ran back to the camp to organize the migration.
"Come here, Patch." Landen called to Patch, who had entered the camp with Raul. Patch had grown up in a Barbarian camp and had seen his share of bloodshed as a child, but after joining Landen and the others in their attack, his face still looked a little pale.
Landen knew his assault had been too bloody for a boy like Patch, who was only a little over ten years old. So he went to the camp's main tent and casually called Patch over to stay with him.
Once Patch was inside the tent, Landen placed both hands on his shoulders.
"Patch, I know what happened just now may have made you uncomfortable. You're grown up now, and who knows, you might awaken your Bloodline one day and become a Knight in my family. I want you to remember today's battle..." Landen noticed something was wrong with Patch. "You? What's wrong?"
"My lord," Patch said hesitantly, "your armor seems to be... glowing?"
"Glowing?" Landen looked at his armor. It was the Magic Pattern Armor from the Wandering Badger Tribe, and it looked no different from usual, except...
"My Magic Pattern Armor activated before the fight," Landen thought. "Could this kid sense mana?"
"Tell me where my armor is glowing. If you describe it well, I'll reward you with some meat!"
"Yes, my lord. Right here." Patch pointed at the core of the Magic Array on Landen's armor. He hesitated, and Landen couldn't tell whether it was because the Magic Crystal powering the array was about to run out or because Patch couldn't truly "see" the Magic Pattern's flow.
But Patch had clearly pointed out the positions of several arrays. Landen didn't think the boy had any reason to lie, so he decided to test him again when he got the chance.
The spoils from this camp were much like those from the previous medium-sized camp: five Human Race Mana-Wielders had been rescued, along with some livestock and money. In the main tent, Landen also dug up a medium-sized Magic-Sealing Box. Inside were over a dozen Magic Crystals and a Magic Pattern Saber. Landen gave it a few swings and found it fit his hand well.
"My lord! Chief!" A Barbarian Cavalryman approached. "That Yellow Tail is back at the camp."
"My lord?" Patch quickly asked Landen when he heard that. "Shall I go take a look?"
"Go ahead."
Patch hurried outside, then came back a moment later carrying Yellow Tail. "My lord, Lord Neil says there's another similar camp a short distance to the north. He wants to know what you'd like to do."
"What do you think? Tell him we're coming!" Landen said with a laugh, then turned to Patch.
"Raul, get everyone together. Leave five people here, and have everyone else bring some food and come with me. We've got another fight ahead!"