Cadell led the way up the mountain while riding on an Angorian War Ibex. He turned his head to look at the stragglers who were walking behind their group and sneered in his heart.
He thought that William and the others would beg him to give them some mounts to help climb the mountain, but they didn't do it. Instead, they just walked as if they were tourists doing some sight-seeing.
"We are increasing the pace," Cadell announced. He then urged his partner to run and the rest of his retainers followed behind him.
Jerkins turned to look at William, and the latter only nodded his head. They had already talked about this. If Cadell decided to leave them behind, Jerkins was to follow him closely.
William assured the Ambassador that they would be fine. He insisted that Jerkins should just focus on keeping up with Cadell's group, instead of worrying about them.
With a wave of his hand, Jerkins urged his mount to run after the War Ibexes in the distance.
"They're already gone," Brutus commented. "Are you sure we're going to be fine, Commander?"
William smiled and nodded his head. 'Gate Open.'
Suddenly, Six War Ibexes appeared behind William. The Half-Elf hugged all of them and patted their heads affectionately.
"Let me introduce you to my friends that will help us reach the Third Peak of the Kyrintor Mountains," William said. "This is Chronos, Aslan, Baldur, Echo, Keith, and Jed. Don't worry, they are very friendly. As long as you don't do anything to hurt them, they will not do anything to any of you."
Ironically, the War Ibexes were wearing custom made saddles that allowed everyone to mount them easily.
William helped Wendy mount Ella's back because the two of them would be riding together. After making sure that the beauty in front of him was properly seated, he glanced at his subordinates to check if they were having any problems.
Fortunately, all of William's members had plenty of practice riding different beasts, so they easily adapted to their new traveling partners.
"Let's go," William ordered and Ella led the sprint up the mountain.
The other goats ran behind their leader in a uniformed manner without having their riders order them on what to do.
Five minutes later, Cadell's party appeared in their vision. The Mayor of Northwell heard hoofbeats coming from behind their entourage and turned his head to look.
He almost fell from his mount when he saw William's group catching up to them. What shocked him the most was that all of them were riding Angorian War Ibexes!
The War Ibexes held a special status among the Northern Tribes and only warriors were allowed to ride them.
Even in Cadell's own entourage, only three people had War Ibexes and the rest were riding Llamas. This just proved how hard it was to have a War Ibex as a mount within the Northern Regions of Kyrintor.
William maintained a gap of fifty meters between his group and Cadell's. He knew that if he got closer to Cadell's group, the latter would question him about how he got the War Ibexes.
What William didn't know was that each War Ibex in the Northern Region had a special rune stamped on them that proved that they belonged to the Northern Tribes.
Of course, these runes were not present on the goats in William's herd because they were not raised in the Kyrintor Mountains. This meant that they didn't belong to the Tribe and the latter couldn't force William to surrender these goats to them.
Although he still had doubts in his mind, Cadell didn't stop his mount from climbing the mountain. He could ask his questions later. What mattered right now was to get to the Third Peak as soon as he could.
The travel towards the peak usually took two days from the base of the Mountain. Only the beasts raised by the Northern Tribe would be able to climb without being attacked by wild beasts because of the runes embedded on their body. These runes signified that they belonged to the Divine Oracle, and no beasts that resided within the mountain were allowed to attack them.
When the sun was about to set, Cadell called for a halt and his group started to set up camp.
William didn't join Cadell's camp, but set up his own. Although there was no snow in their location, the temperature was very cold. Fortunately, they had prepared adequately for their mission, and there was no danger of suffering from frostbite.
Just as William expected, Cadell wasn't able to resist his curiosity and walked towards their camp. He looked at the War Ibexes that were resting on the ground with a fierce gaze. It was as if he was looking at a woman who had the beauty to bring down nations.
As an veteran warrior, he was also an expert when it came to appraising beasts. With a glance, he could tell that the War Ibexes were of the highest grade. These kinds of goats could only be ridden by the elite warriors of the Great Chieftain, who went by the name "Garm".
They were the Elite Defenders of the Kyrintor Mountains that prevented the Kings of the Hellan Kingdom from conquering their domain.
"Boy, where did you get these goats?" Cadell asked without even looking at William. He was so focused on admiring the goats that he found it beneath him to even glance at the Half-Elf, whom he treated as one of Jerkin's attendants.
William ignored him and started to throw some vegetables into the pot in front of him. He was planning to make some vegetable soup that would warm them up for their long night in the mountains.
Cadell frowned because he didn't hear William's reply. He then finally turned his head to look at the boy who was busy stoking the campfire to cook their dinner.
"Boy, didn't you hear what I said?" Cadell asked. This time, he made sure to increase the volume of his voice.
"Oh, them?" William scratched his head. "I saw them wandering around at the base of the mountain. Maybe they got so attracted to my handsome face that they decided to help us climb the mountains. Isn't that right?"
William faced the goats as he asked them this question.
""Meeeeeeh!""
"See?" William smiled as he looked back at Cadell. "It's not my fault I was born handsome."
Cadell's lips twitched as he did his best to stop himself from slapping the boy silly. There was no way that these goats would follow someone just because they were handsome. He had never heard such a b*llsh*t excuse in his entire life!
"Boy, I asked you a serious question." Cadell glared. "Don't forget that, without my approval, you and your group would be barred from entering the Third Peak."
"And who told you that I needed your approval?" William asked back. The system had already informed him of the rules of the Kyrintor Mountains. No one was allowed to attack anyone that was being accompanied by an Angorian War Ibex.
Doing so was tantamount to attacking the dignity of their Guardian Deity. No Tribe would dare to commit such a nefarious act, not even Cadell who had just remembered this age-old-rule.
In the Kyrintor Mountains, there was a Myriad Beast that was close to becoming a Demi-God. They said that the Myriad Beast was a Celestial Goat that could see everything that happens inside its domain.
For as long as the tribes of the North followed its rule, its protection would remain intact. This was the reason why none of the former Kings of the Hellan Kingdom were able to invade the Northern Region.
When they found out what kind of being lived in this domain, they decided to scrap their plans of expansion. Only stupid people would dare to poke a hornet's nest and face the wrath of a Pseudo-Demigod.
"Go back to your camp," William ordered. "You have no power here."
William closed the lid of the pot as he waited for it to boil. He didn't say anything when he was still in the town of Northwell because the system was busy collecting data at that time. One of its functions was to unearth the recorded history of a location. The only condition was that William had to be in that location as well.
When the System discovered this rule, it immediately informed William which allowed the Half-Elf to use it to its advantage.
'Fool. The moment I learned this rule was the moment you lost your authority over me,' William sneered. 'Still, this is a very convenient loophole. System, do you think I could tame that Pseudo-Demigod? Maybe I can bribe it to join my herd. Should I attempt to tame it?'
The system wanted to say no, but then it remembered the goat that was currently resting beside William. If something like THAT was willing to follow William then taming a Pseudo-Demigod was nothing!
Of course, the system couldn't say that out loud, so it decided to compromise.
< ...There's a very, very, very, small probability that you can tame it, Host. >
William sighed and remembered the Titanic Green-Scaled Trollhound that he failed to tame last time. If he wasn't able to add a Class S Beast to his herd then he shouldn't even think about adding a Myriad Beast that was a step away from the Calamity Class.
That would just be kicking an iron plate without boots on and it might even cause the Northern Tribes to hunt him to the ends of the world.
While William was pondering about these things, Cadell returned to his camp with a grim expression on his face. He had a feeling that he had unintentionally brought a troublemaker into their territory.
The Mayor of Northwell glanced at William who was brushing Ella's head. In his eyes, William was a wolf in sheep's clothing. A wolf that had snuck inside the goat pen, and the boy had been bold enough to do it right under his nose!