Walking out of the gate, Paul noticed that only eight of his ladies were waiting for him.
-Where is the rest?
He asked, hoping that they were waiting upstairs, but knew deep down that they were sent to another city.
-If I'm not mistaken, they are about three hundred kilometers west of here.
Wei Lan said.
Paul focused and confirmed it, thanks to the trackers all his ladies had on them.
-Well, it's not like we can't meet them later.
He sighed.
They all had some money to restock their supplies, and the ladies were anything but weak.
On top of that, the ice twins were with the other group, so he wasn't worried about them too much.
Besides, right now they had some matters to attend to, like buying supplies, arrows, new weapons, and battle gear, not to mention the books and some new techniques for everyone.
Paul also needed to find out where they were, where the capital was, and most importantly, where the elves were.
Luckily, the lady at the front desk had all the information he needed and was more than happy to share it with him.
-So what's the plan?
Lia asked as soon as they left the gate building.
-First of all, we need a place to stay for the night, and go shopping the first thing in the morning.
After that, we will go to find the rest of the ladies, and then we need to go to the capital to meet with the others and inform the emperor about the blue lotus city.
Lastly, we will accompany Elaina to the elves' territories, so she can accomplish the task she has and take another step on her path of Eldars.
Paul explained their plans for the near future.
-After that, I think we will go back to the ascension realm, since there is no apparent reason to stay down here, unless we want to do some sightseeing or earn some more money.
-Yeah, this whole deal with the blue lotus city really put a wrench in our plans to explore the beginning realm.
Irine said while shaking her head.
-On the other hand, Paul made it to the next stage in record time, and we got ourselves hundreds of sisters.
Wei Lan said with a slight smile.
As much as she liked having so many sisters, she never wanted to experience anything like what they went through for the last few months.
-Well, we can always go and explore the ascension realm instead.
Paul smiled slightly.
As much as he wanted to explore the second realm, he didn't want to waste any more time than necessary to do so.
If he were not in a hurry to go find Fei Fei, he would not care and stay down here for a year or two.
-Alright, let's get a move on and find an inn, or we will be sleeping on the streets tonight.
Xiao Su butted into their conversation.
The rest of the group agreed, and soon they occupied a whole floor of an inn, which was recommended to them by a guard patrol they met and asked about a good place to stay the night.
Paul knew from experience that the guards always knew the best spots and were usually getting paid by innkeepers to advertise their business to potential clients.
Their inn was nothing luxurious, but the rooms were clean, the food was good, and it even had a bathing area.
Additionally, it was quite cheap, since they only paid five silvers for their rooms.
The next morning, after breakfast, they left the inn and started a little shopping spree.
Beginning with getting new bows and a few hundred arrows for each of them, through new armor, weapons, pills, potions, clothes, food ingredients, and ending with books.
Altogether, they spent more than twenty thousand gold coins, but they were once again ready to move out.
Which they did once they got everything they needed.
-So are we using transport spells or are we walking?
Irine asked once they left the city.
-We're going to walk.
Paul decided.
-It's been a while since we traveled, so this is a good opportunity for us to get used to it again.
He added.
The ladies didn't protest, as it was the truth, and they needed to get used to it once again after being cooped up in the Blue Lotus City for months.
However, it didn't stop them from complaining once they walked for a few kilometers.
Their first destination was the city that the rest of the ladies were sent to, and it would take them a few days to reach it.
Luckily, the other ladies seemed to have the same idea, so it didn't look like they would need to go the whole distance.
This was a good thing since the city was in the opposite direction to the capital, and it would save them a lot of time if they met halfway.
-I'm starting to miss the mortal realm a bit.
Irine said when they were sitting around the bonfire after the whole day of marching and fighting.
-Down there, we didn't need to fight a beast every kilometer or two.
She added.
-That was only thanks to the beast tide; in a few years, the beasts will replenish their populations, and it will be no different than what we have here.
Paul grinned, seeing her miserable expression.
As good as she was with her spear, Irine was not a big fan of combat.
Unfortunately for her, there were dozens of beasts that they had to take on during the day, and it seemed that the next few days would not be any better.
-The bright side is that we will most likely earn ourselves a small fortune for selling these beasts, the next time we are in a city.
Wei Lan said with a smile.
-And don't forget that we also found quite a few herbs while we were at it.
Xiao Su chimed in, with a happy grin plastered on her face.
Under the tutelage of Lady Peacock, Su truly embraced the alchemy and made significant progress in her studies.
Paul, on the other hand, was not as talented in this department, so even if he didn't drop his studies of alchemy, he spent more time on his studies of medicine, with the help of Lord Sei.
The next two days were no different from the first one, with many beasts attacking their group, which was a bit strange for Paul, as these beasts were supposed to be somewhat intelligent, yet they were attacking their nine-person team on sight.
-It's not that they are not intelligent enough to see the danger; it's just that they are extremely territorial.
Lord Sei explained it to everyone when Paul asked if he knew what was going on.
-Also, there is a limit to the intelligence the beasts can gain with their levels.
Lastly, some beasts never learn anything and rely on their strength alone.
The reincarnation soul explained.
This made a lot of sense, since if the beasts could gain intelligence with every level, then the higher realms would be full of beasts as intelligent as humans, if not even more.