Ning walked along the road with Emma sitting on top of Umbra who walked slowly. They had left the Trobble city and had come out of the Northern forest to make their way east toward the Ulharis City.

Lory sat on top of Ning’s head, curiously looking around the entire surroundings, while Lyra was staring at Emma who was training.

The surrounding at the moment was a sparse forest that was transitioning into grassland. The road itself was wide and flat, but it was still a dirt road. There were houses in the distance, mostly at the foot of a mountain far away. Close to the road, there weren’t any houses at all.

People feared the consequences of having a house close to the road, especially with banditry being quite prevalent this far out in the Empire.

Carriages rolled past Ning’s group, who were obviously very slow as they were just walking. However, they weren’t alone in walking. Many others walked there as well.

Not everyone was rich enough to afford a carriage in the Empire, but everyone wanted to go to the Star Beast Institute. As a result, they walked.

Emma focused her energy on creating a tiny amulet that had a large space in it. After Ning asked her to try and make it one last time, she had done it successfully after a few tries.

However, that required his help. Now, she was supposed to make it all on her own.

“This is hard,” she said. “I need the Essense again.”

“Sure,” Ning said and placed his hand in front of his daughter as his Essence core switched. The lightning Essence Core turned to that of a Space Essence core and Space Essence flowed out of his hand.

Emma tried to understand the Space Essence and tried again. She tried for a while and frowned. “I can’t do it,” she said, dropping her arms as she gave up. “Can’t I just make normal ones? Storage items with Essence is hard. I can do it in a snap with Qi or Mana.”

“Nope, you have to use Space Essence,” Ning said. “This is practice. There are times when it will be hard. You can’t just give up.”

“I know…” Emma said. “But… this one is particularly time-consuming, and I can’t even concentrate with all the carriages going past us. Why did we not take a carriage too?”

“You want Umbra to pull the carriage?” Ning asked.

Emma looked toward Umbra and shook her head. “No, she’s already doing enough carrying me,” she said.

Umbra chuckled a little. “I couldn’t pull the carriage if you wanted me to. I’m strong enough that it doesn’t matter to me. And I’m not so prideful that I won’t help pull my friends’ carriage.”

“No, you don’t have to,” Emma said quickly. “We’re friends, not masters and servants.”

Umbra simply smiled and did not say anything.

“What servants?” Lyra asked.

“You’ll learn once you’re big enough,” Emma said. “Let me focus on this, okay?”

Lyra nodded and continued watching. Emma tried her best for the next 2 hours.

At that time, their group reached a small town that needed to be passed through on the way to Ulharis City. The town had a local market that everyone stopped around to buy from and go on their way to the other bigger cities.

Ning noticed a couple of people walking around with glowing Fire and Wind spears that surprised him. “Soldiers?” he spoke to himself softly.

The men wore bright red and orange uniforms with a symbol on their chest of crowns made of fire.

The insignia of the Brightfire Empire.

“Soldiers this far out in the Empire, the bandit problem must be getting worse and worse,” Ning said softly.

“Humans killing humans,” Umbra said softly. “No different than a beast.”

Ning nodded.

“Papa!” Emma said excitedly. “Look!” She handed him the item she had just finished making.

Ning took the item, an amulet that hung around a thick string that didn’t feel like it would easily rip. The amulet looked simple, for the most part with a thin golden frame around a large deep blue gem in the center.

The blue gem was what gave the amulet its spatial storage.

“Not bad,” Ning said. “See? I told you you could do it.”

Emma smiled back. “Well, I made it, but I don’t know if I can make it anymore,” she said.

“Hmm? Why not?” Ning asked.

“I barely have enough energy for 2 more of those,” she said. “After that, I would have to go back to Earth and I would miss the registration.”

“You don’t have to go back,” Ning said. “You can stick around without the energy. That’s alright.”

“I don’t feel alright sticking around without my energy,” she said. “I won’t be making any more of this.”

“I had hoped to let you be a normal girl without any power before sending you to the institute, but if you want to keep your energy, then you’re free to do so,” Ning said. “This is your adventure, do whatever you wish.”

Emma grinned. “Thank you!”

After buying a few snacks in the small town, Ning and the rest headed back onto the road and continued their journey toward the East where Ulharis City lay.

Even as night fell and they came across another large forest, they continued walking. With their strength, they had no need to sleep at all. Only Lory and Lyra slept and Umbra kept them on her underside, tied with Shadow Essence.

Emma walked at this point, passing the many people who sat on the side. Most of them were resting in the night, with a few staying up to keep watch.

The chance of bandits coming this far into the road with so many humans and beasts was a low possibility, but they still didn’t want to leave it up to chance.

Ning and the rest continued on for a while longer before they suddenly stopped. Far away, they could hear something.

Screams.