An Unexpected Discovery

"Can your family communicate with eagles?"

"That's quite difficult. We can communicate with parrots."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Greyhound scolded his son. During their hunts, Fang, Neil, and Landen had grown quite close, and the men enjoyed joking with one another. However, Greyhound knew that one must always maintain respect for a lord; the so-called approachability of lords was merely a tool.

"Lord Landen, there are records in our family that those with the highest talent for beast-speech can indeed communicate with eagles, falcons, or hawks. But that is a form of dialogue, not a shared field of vision. According to our ancestors' years of experience, the way Barbarian Priests share vision with eagles and birds is different from the Eagle Eye technique of the Elves or the summoning spells of Human Mages. Whether it is Elves or Mages, it is difficult to cast spells on the Gallop Plains. The fact that the barbarians can share vision with birds is likely a bloodline or spell gifted by some Magic Beast God."

After Greyhound finished recounting his family's glorious history, Fang mentioned to Landen privately that since Patch could communicate with wild beasts at such a young age, it suggested his mana-wielder bloodline would be easier to awaken. Landen, of course, understood that Fang brought Patch along to cultivate the little sidekick, and Landen promised that if Patch did well, he could have an extra portion of magic beast meat.

Neil and Greyhound led the team out to scout and search ahead, while Landen moved slowly with his knights, Patch riding on the same horse as Raul.

In Landen's imagination, sharing vision with an eagle in the sky was like having a drone for reconnaissance. While the aerial view was excellent, it was not omniscient; if one wanted to track a target for a long time, there would always be flight patterns.

If that eagle in the sky stared at his team for too long, they might have already been discovered by an Eagle Priest.

Fearing that the team would be spotted by the eagle's eyes above, the entire group could only advance slowly. After about two hours, Landen had been staring at the sky until his eyes were watering.

His mind wandered, and he chatted idly with Patch.

"Lord Neil really likes the horse named Blaze," Patch said when they talked about the animals he had to care for every day.

"Oh, the one with the red markings?"

"They aren't really red markings; they just look red under the sun."

"Oh, Neil likes that one? Can he talk to that horse?"

"No, none of us can understand the words of horses or pack beasts."

As the two chatted, they saw a black dot darting over from the distance. It was a small black dog with a yellow tail—it was Yellow Tail.

"Yellow Tail is back!" Patch called out, then quickly dismounted to find the dog.

Patch and Yellow Tail whispered to each other for a moment, then Patch carried the dog over to find Landen.

"My Lord, Lord Neil says they ran for about 40 kilometers and didn't find the Eagle Tribe. The Redsand he sent out didn't find anything either."

Redsand's patrol range was about 5 kilometers further than Neil and Fang's. The grasslands were quite open; if they hadn't seen a large encampment within visual range, it meant they were safe.

Since their safety was guaranteed, it was time to begin the next attack. Little Yellow Tail relayed Landen's orders to Neil, and an hour later, Neil located a medium-sized barbarian camp.

Given the strength Landen possessed now, he could charge in and take a medium-sized camp without hesitation.

When Landen arrived at the gate of the target tribe with the 11 Junior Knights, 21 mana-wielders, and 45 Barbarian Cavalry he had accumulated over the past month, the medium-sized tribe was already plunged into deep shock. Although tribal conflicts were common in winter, most were over food or horses; it was rare for someone to come directly to wage war like Landen.

Landen did not stand on ceremony. Upon reaching the camp gate, he demanded they either submit to him or be slaughtered. Because they might be spotted by eagles, Landen did not want to risk any information leaking out.

The tribal leader hurriedly organized the barbarians to fight back, but Landen led his men in, charging through without a shred of suspense.

After Landen charged in at the forefront, he continuously unleashed techniques, fighting with Battle Qi and consuming crystals to replenish it. By the time he completed his fourth charge and struck down the fifth barbarian with his Battle Qi, Landen had just consumed his fifth magic crystal.

The battle finally ended. Raul and the others performed their duties, organizing and gathering the spoils of war, while Greyhound ran back to the main camp to organize the migration.

"Come here, Patch," Landen called to the boy who had entered the camp with Raul. As a child born in a barbarian camp, Patch had seen his share of bloodshed, but after attacking with Landen and the others, he still looked a bit pale.

Landen knew his assault was a bit too bloody for a ten-year-old like Patch, so he found the camp's main tent and casually told Patch to stay with him.

After Patch followed him into the tent, Landen placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Patch, I know you might be feeling uncomfortable about what just happened. You are growing up now, and perhaps one day you will awaken your bloodline and become a knight in my family. I want you to remember today's battle..." Landen noticed something was off with Patch. "You? What's wrong?"

"My Lord," Patch said hesitantly, "your armor... it seems to be... glowing?"

"Glowing?" Landen looked at his armor. It was the magic-patterned armor from the Wandering Badger Tribe, no different from usual, except...

My magic-patterned armor activated before the fight started, Landen thought. Could this kid actually sense mana?

"Tell me, where is my armor glowing? If you describe it well, I'll reward you with meat!"

"Yes, My Lord, right here." Patch pointed to the magic array core on Landen's armor. His movements were hesitant; Landen didn't know if it was because the magic crystal supporting the array was running low, or because Patch couldn't truly "see" the operation of the magic patterns.

However, Patch had clearly pointed out the locations of several arrays. Landen felt the boy had no reason to lie, so he decided to test him again when the opportunity arose.

The harvest from this camp was similar to the previous medium-sized one. Five human mana-wielders were rescued, along with some livestock and money. In the main tent, Landen pried open a medium-sized Magic-Sealing Box, which contained a dozen magic crystals and a Magic Pattern Saber. Landen swung the blade and found it quite well-balanced.

"My Lord, Chief," a Barbarian Cavalryman approached. "That Yellow Tail has returned to the camp."

"My Lord?" Hearing this, Patch quickly asked Landen, "Shall I go check?"

"Go."

Patch ran out and returned a moment later, holding Yellow Tail. "My Lord, Lord Neil says there is another similar camp not far to the north. He wants to know what you want to do."

"What else can we do? Tell him we're coming!" Landen laughed and said to Patch.

"Raul, call everyone to assemble! Leave five men here, and have the others bring some food and follow me. We have another battle to fight!"