When the king ordered him to head to the frontier it was both an act of mercy and cold logic for this way both he and his family would remain safe, but at the same time, the man allowed him to strip every ounce of worth that was inside his old home.

Now whoever inherited his family's lands would have to do their best and keep them as fertile as his men did...his men.

How many of the people in those groups had been apar of the groups that had been attacked, what horrors did they see? he asked himself quietly, though he never said it out loud lest he add to his family's pain.

As his family and the servants ate, he thought about the knights that were stationed near his new home, on a horse the trip to the fortress took less than three hours.

Fortunately several of his men can cast a spell whose name ha can't recall at the moment, regardless he knew what it did.

The men would chant a short spell and nearly all of the weight that was on the horses left the animals so they could run faster than they should.

Meaning that a journey that should have taken three hours was reduced to thirty minutes.

The first to finish their meals are the servants and they immediately excused themselves, next was his wife, then his daughter until only he remained.

He watched as both his wife and his daughter left to prepare themselves for the journey, he didn't have to change considering that he had been forced to change as soon as he arrived.

The armor he wore was given to him by his father and just like both his father's and grandfather's armor it was carefully polished so that anyone looking at it could see their reflections.

The chainmail underneath it as well as the extra padded clothing underneath that served to add extra layers of protection.

Up until recently, his family's armors' only purpose was to serve as clothes for him to wear during special ceremonies.

The armor covered him from head to toe when he wore his helmet, he walked to the front of his new home and waited for his wife and daughter to finish changing.

Unlike his men and himself, they had remained inside the fortress and helped the servants prepare their new home so it was pleasing to their eyes.

He watched as both his wife and daughter exited their new home and for a moment his breath left him, both women wore gray armor that had their edges painted gold, to emphasize the women's curves.

Unlike himself, neither of them wore a helmet because it would ruin their hair.

Judging by how his men had their collective tungs hanging both women are a sight to be seen, one that he was certain would remain in his men's minds during their time alone.

The moment his men cast their spell they made on their way towards the fortress, thankfully nothing decided that they were a perfect meal, or decided that they were weak enough to attack.

He did his best to ignore all of the oddities around him that increased the closer that he got to the fortress, some trees had faces and their eyes turned to look at him and his men when they rode past them.

Packs of wolves that seemed to e made out of the very trees around them, the fur covering their bodies were something like grass or moss, while their bodies were made of collected branches or tree trunks, while their faces and paws seemed to look like a wolf's, they were an unusually pale color.

A strange ape-like creature watched them as they approached the fortress and to his surprise, he found what looked like a town in the process of being born.

He felt his blood burn as he looked at the children listening to their instructors, as both the men and women taught them mathematics and the basics of swordsmanship.

Forgeborn worked alongside, his mind stopped working, there's a blue dragon carrying materials around like a trained mule.

A single dragon could easily turn the tide of a battle, but the beasts are temperamental so their loyalty isn't ever guaranteed, for if a soldier were to accidentally insult the dragon, it would turn on its allies and kill them without hesitation.

Yet here was an admittedly young blue dragon, happily helping the knights who are repairing the fortress.

Like the rest of the nobility, he was surprised to know that the kingdom had knights stationed in the frontier, it made sense after all, but considering their lack of success in preventing the destruction of the various farming towns and villages.

If hewer, to be honest, none of the nobility nor himself for that matter believed in the men's skill.

When he heard about their existence, his first thought as well the thoughts of many nobles around him, was that the knights must be those that failed to become knights or are trouble makers that were sent away for one reason or another.

People that were just like him, people who were discarded by everyone they knew.

He took a deep breath and spoke loudly

"I am the High Lord appointed to these lands and I wish to speak to whoever is in charge!" he said and he watched as everyone turned to look at him for a moment and then went back to what they were doing.

Such disrespect, he thought to himself.

The moment he dismounted his horse and walked towards a nearby woman carrying a crate filled with raw iron, he found that he felt dozens of predatory eyes n him.

"I wish" he began

'I know, I heard you. If you want to talk to the guild leaders they're inside, but you came at a bad time" the woman said to him as she pointed at the entrance of the fortress.

"I'll need an escort," he said to her

'"just walk inside, someone will guide you, look around I can just leave," she said to him

She was right, the fortress was being repaired and it looked as if its repair would take a few months perhaps even years, it was clear to him that the girl just wanted him to leave her alone.

He smirked, fine if she wanted to play it this way, he would play with her and waste both his and her time.

"You said this was a bad time, I am the High Lord and I must keep these lands secure and working as best as they can"

"Tell me what's going on," he said to her

The girl looked at him ads closed her eyes.

'The guild leaders are gone, they left to take care of some things, they don't just do that"

'The guild leaders are some of our strongest people, we have a couple of people that are just as strong as them, but it hurts when we lose just one, but a whole group just left" she said to him with a grim voice.

"Their second in commands are in charge now... somethings happening, it might not happen fr a while, but its coming," she said to him

His lie detection didn't activate, this meant that everything the girl had just said to him was true, but if the guild leaders are as strong as the girl implied and judging by the creatures under the knights, they were, then he needed to know whatever is happening.

"My wife and daughter are accompanying me and my men, can I trust you to find someone to guide them and keep them from accidentally hurting themselves while I'm here," he said to her, the girl looked past him

He watched as the girl lifted her hand and without chanting, she made a window that was made of blue light appear in front of her.

He watched as the girl pressed something and soon a forgeborn walked up to them.

"Take this home, I need to help the High Lords family," she said to the creature who nodded at the girl's words