For one month, they continued their journey, passing through scorching deserts, humid forests, and finally reached this place that seemingly stood in the middle of nowhere.
But within this desolate place, they saw a crowded town filled with people possessing such high spirit power. This made Emery and the others very surprised.
As they wandered inside the town, they could see many people in different clothes, a sure sign they did not come from the same place. Some wore luxurious flowing silks from head to toe, while others were covered in furs.
With her experience as the ruler of Egypt, Klea could recognize them as travelers from different regions.
Emery saw another particular group of people walk past them. They wore black garbs, with their faces covered until only their eyes could be seen, all of them carried a long sword on their back. Those with keen eyes would see that their feet hovered slightly above the ground.
They were led by a person wearing a silver mask who looked at the four curiously before leaving to lead his group again.
With his spirit reading ability, Emery could tell those people in black garbs were all great fighters, especially the one wearing a silver mask.
This was definitely an odd situation and they quickly became cautious.
Emery glanced at Klea and asked, "How is this possible? Did I read it wrong?"
Klea shook her head. "No, I can feel it too. There are more than a hundred of them with unusual spirit force and, there are stronger ones on top of that hill"
Klea aimed towards the hill and from afar the group could see multiple stone structures that rose tall to the sky.
"That must be the holy temple they mention."
At the same time, the sun had started to set and they quickly decided to stop at one of the nice-looking taverns to get some food, a place to stay and most importantly information.
When they entered the inn, to their surprise, even the tavern servant appeared to be a fighter, no less strong than a silver knight back in Briton.
The group became even more cautious, as they walked into one of the tables and seats.
A moment later, a brown-skinned man dressed in formal clothes welcomed them. He looked at them from top to bottom and said,
"Welcome, welcome, you came for the Holy Harvest Ritual, didn't you? We rarely see any Latin people joining. You are most welcome."
"Holy Harvest Ritual?" Julian piped up, and Emery followed by asking the man about the significance of said ritual.
Surprisingly the answer of the man was not as they expected.
"You all come from Latin, so far from this town, but don't know about this ritual? That's strange... Who are you guys?" The tavern owner suddenly turned a little suspicious towards them.
The sudden change in behavior quickly made Emery and the others realize something was odd. Knowing what was about to happen, Klea quickly casted her enchantment spell and the man's expression turned calm and turn compliance.
Again, he was ready to answer any questions they might have.
As if nothing happened, the man gladly explained about how the emissaries from neighboring kingdoms and nations would come to join the "Holy Harvest Ritual" that would be held every decade in the temple. This event was supposed to be invitations-only and the fact that none of them knew about it made him very suspicious.
"What kind of Ritual is it? What kind of people joined?"
The ritual has been held for a few hundred years; it was to celebrate the time when the sacred tree that stood over the temple would bear holy fruits. A fruit that was known to be able to cure any illness, increase one's strength tremendously, or even increase someone's lifespan. However, there were many people, regardless of them being good or bad, that were interested in the fruits, so the event was made invitation-only and each invitation would be sent in secret.
Hearing this Klea narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
"How come Egypt doesn't get invited?"
The man surprisingly knew exactly about Egypt and said that ten years ago a certain Egyptian priest did come and join the event.
"Huh! That must be Imoteph! That priest dares keeps secrets from the King!"
Considering how the man emphasized the effects of the fruit and how the people they encountered possessed high spirit power, the four of them quickly concluded that there would be a competition of sorts to determine who got to receive the fruits and the enchanted tavern man confirmed their thought.
These quickly give a nice breeze to the group after such a long journey. Just the thought of stretching their muscle made Julian and even the wounded Thrax wanted to participate.
As for Emery, he pondered that it must not be a coincidence for Gaia to tell him to come here right in the middle of this particular event.
With Emery expressing his interest to join, Klea followed suit. They missed the feeling of having an interesting fight in this journey, but when they asked about how to get the invitation, the man explained the invitations were very limited, and even if someone was willing to sell it, they would be lucky to only pay a full cart of gold.
Everyone sighed hearing about it while Klea was irritated, as she didnt bring much gold with her.
While everyone was mulling over how to solve this problem, Emery suddenly stood up as his spirit reading once more find some kind of disturbance. There was a distinct feeling of someone strong was closing in on their direction, but his eyes had not caught sight of anything yet.
He was sure the person was probing at them and this person was not weaker than any of them
"Guys, get ready!" Right as Emery spoke, everyone wore a serious expression on their faces. They quickly realized something was going on.
They all stood up and walked outside and their hand darted to the handle of their weapons, ready to strike at whoever was coming their way.
"There!" Emery pointed at the shadows in one of the alleys. "Who are you?! Come out and show yourself!"
From behind the cover of darkness, a guy with black hair and simple clothes leisurely walked out. Each of his steps made them tense, but when the light of the torches finally illuminated his face, all four were quickly surprised.
The person gave the four of them a wry smile before laughing.
"Goodness, you guys… you all forget about me already?"