"I know. My mother was a slave who my father bought with his coins. I understand that's the reason I was always ostracized by my family. After all, I was a bastard child and, even worse, the son of a slave."
Atticus remained silent as he looked at Asher's solemn countenance.
After a short while, he exhaled.
"And you're better Ashbourne than he was. The hope of the family is on your shoulders, not his, and I think your talent is greater than our hereditary one. Although it is a good talent, it doesn't have half the advantage your talent has."
Atticus looked at the horizon.
"With your talent, you can take synergy to a whole new level. Our first ancestor was only able to control lightning; Toras could control fire; my mother could wield the wind; I could wield water, and through your talent, you can tap into our synergies."
He took a glance at Asher.
"You don't understand what this means. Only mages can bend elements to their wills, conjure things through spells and do even greater but warriors have a restricted use of the elements. Even at the peak, it is still restricted compared to the mages, but synergy allows us, Ashbournes, to wield elements in their raw forms."
Asher took a deep breath.
"That's the reason you can summon the rain?"
"I did not summon the rain. I just needed water so I called it forth. The downpour happens around my radius, so it's not actually raining."
"What about your mother?"
"Her synergy allowed her to control the wind. At a certain stage, she was able to fly for a short period of time."
Asher's eyes went wide. All these sounded like things of the old to him. Such power was long gone, but before him was a channel to access them once again.
"Enough talking. You need to master the art of meditation because that's the only way to open your mind. Through meditation, you can achieve synergy and gain a deeper understanding of the 'Shura Blade Battle Force Art'. Only meditate after training and one more thing. Intensify your training, your swordsmanship is weak."
Asher opened his eyes and sat up.
Just then, Cynthia walked into the tent with a tray floating before her. "Your meal is ready, Your Lordship."
Asher looked at her. "I'm not hungry—"
His stomach rumbled, causing him to raise both eyebrows while Cynthia smiled. She was getting worried that Asher was refusing his meals.
"I prepared soup with the meat of a crystal-horned deer."
Asher took the bowl and looked at the soup. "Where did you get a crystal-horned deer?"
"Miss Eritrea hunted it. She said the crystal-horned deer is a delicacy, and you would certainly love it."
"Did you confirm it?"
"It's as good as she claimed."
Asher took a spoonful, and his expression lightened. "It's good."
After saying that, he continued eating until the bowl was cleaned up before he gave it back to Cynthia, who stood there the entire time watching him with an excited heart. Nothing pleased her more than her Lord dining on her meal voraciously.
Some time later, when the sun had risen, Asher sat atop a horse moving northward with the rest of his army. They moved at moderate speed because of the logistic department and the infantry.
On their way, Asher kept asking Katarina questions, and he figured out that the Bashan clan was going through an internal war!
The chief that she wanted him to meet was at war with the head chief of the tribe. The Bashan clan has one large clan, three medium clans, and ten villages. Katarina was the head of a village under Chief Adam, who led the war against the head chief Beowulf.
Asher saw this as a great opportunity. Since Eritrea reminded him on time that weapons were the best items for exchange in the desolatelands, he had gathered enough weapons from his blacksmiths and it would come in handy during this war.
According to Katarina, Adam would be in dire need of weapons since he was going against the large clan, the two other medium clans, and 4 villages.
What excited Asher the most was that the Bashan clan had quite the population.
And so, after two weeks of journeying through the Bashan basin, the famous and fabled desolatelands, they finally stepped foot in the Bashan clan outskirts.
Asher sat on horseback, staring at the vast plains. From this high spot, he could see the clans littered across the plain. Grasses were already growing, and the snow had vanished from the face of the earth.
Beside him were Katarina and Eritrea. His vanguards were also on their horses but were spread out.
"You'll both go with me to see Chief Adam."
"Yes, Your Lordship." They both responded.
Two weeks was enough for Asher to make Katarina his subordinate. Funny enough, Katarina had a strange yet high-graded talent.
[Talent description: Dreamer is an active talent that grants the individual the ability to be a dreamer of dreams, meaning the individual can have dreams about the future or past.]
"Did you have any dreams?"
Katarina looked at him with wide eyes.
"How did you know about my dreams?"
"I see. Let's go see Chief Adam then."
The sun was high in the sky.
Upon seeing Asher and his entourage coming from afar, the barbarian soldiers clad in beast-fur attire yelled.
Before Asher crossed the three hundred-yard mark, riders came out of the clan's gate heading toward them. Seeing the imposing statures of the centraks, the vanguards began to see their horses as weaklings.
They wouldn't stand a chance against those mighty centraks!
At the forefront of the barbarian riders was a big man wearing a beast skull that covered half of his head, and a bear skin ran down from his head to his back like a thick cloak.
His thick cleaver dangled beside this mighty centrak horse, and when he sighted Katarina, the woman they took as their soothsayer beside Asher, his eyes narrowed.