397 It's Still Too Early For Them To Get In My Way
Tiona kept on nudging Thirteen's cheek as her way of letting her Master know that she was upset.
After the teenage boy was done eating breakfast, he immediately went back to his room to check on Tiona's condition.
Having known that it might take him a while to finish his experiment, he had prepared plenty of food and water so that she wouldn't go hungry or thirsty while he was away.
"Don't be mad, Tiona," Thirteen tried to pacify the Black Snake, who was clearly upset because it had been five days since they last saw each other. Tiona hissed and pouted. The teenage boy only shook his head helplessly, seeing his Beast Companion on strike.
Since he knew that it would take a while for Tiona to calm down, he went on his rounds and visited his Battalion and the Valkyries, who were training together.
While Thirteen was away, Marion took the 69th Battalion to Evuvug's Domain and practiced their maneuvers for the upcoming expedition to liberate the Northern Regions of the continent.
Although Thirteen and the 69th Battalion had only spent a few months in the Rigel Continent, they had already gotten the hang of fighting against Hordes of Monsters safely.
The only times they felt truly helpless was when they faced the Bird Man and his horde of flying monsters.
That was a very scary and tough battle for them, for it had been their first time facing such overwhelming numbers of enemiesânot to mention that they were also unprepared for it.
When they raided Evuvug's Territory, although the flying beetles that rose up to face them numbered in the tens of thousands, the 69th Battalion's fear was drastically lower during that battle. The reason? They realized that no matter what the flying insects did, they would not be able to catch up to the Rank 3 Gyrfalcons that Thirteen had acquired for them.
This allowed them to safely and effectively attack their enemies from a distance, killing them before they could even come close to them.
With repeated practice, their confidence grew, but Thirteen made it a point to make them understand that overconfidence was a slow and insidious poison.
Although he had been reluctant to do it, he reminded them of what happened to the Valkyries who thought that they had everything under control.
That incident had been firmly etched in their memories, so it helped them stay grounded, preventing them from thinking that they could easily escape whenever they wanted to escape.
"The Gyrfalcons are fast, but there are flying monsters that are faster than them," Thirteen stated after everyone had gathered after their flight training. "One example is Cristopher's Roc, who could easily outfly any Monster below Rank 6 Sovereign.
"If you have forgotten, there are still Rocs in the Rigel Continent, and we will be facing those Rocs when we start our conquest of the North."
The faces of the 69th Battalion turned pale after hearing their Commander's words. They had been so used to outmaneuvering and outflying their enemies that they had forgotten about their mounts being merely Rank 3 Monsters.
Seeing their reactions, Thirteen couldn't help but smileâthis was the exact result he was aiming for.
Half a minute later, two Projections appeared from Renz's communicator, showing two middle-aged men who were looking at Thirteen with narrow eyes.
"Arthur Leventis, it seems that your grandson doesn't appreciate the olive branch we have extended to the Dvalinn Federation," Scott Ashford stated.
"Just a little foal who gained a bit of fame dares to talk back to his Elders," Tyler Stallard commented. "It seems that the Leventis Family doesn't know how to properly educate their young."
Arthur was about to retort, but someone else beat him to it.
"Hey, it seems that the two of you are having a big misunderstanding here," Thirteen said, making everyone in the room look in his direction. "We don't need cowards. If you don't want to die, then don't bother coming here."
"You ungrateful brat, it seems that you really don't understand who you're dealing with," Scott Ashford said icily. "Of course, I don't know who I am dealing with," Thirteen replied with a smirk. "Since when did I know the name of nobodies? You know me, but I don't know youâwe're not on the same level, okay?"
"Hahaha! This brat indeed has guts," Tyler Stallard grinned. "Very well. Since you don't want our help, then we won't send you any."
"Sure. Bye bye." Thirteen waved his hand and then made a gesture for Renz to cut the connection, which left Benedict looking at Thirteen as if he was seeing him for the first time.
"Are you mad?" Benedict asked. "Those are the Patriarchs of the two Monarch Clans."
"I'm not," Thirteen replied as he tinkered with his communicator. 'But, after this expedition is over, they would have no choice but to reach out to me.'
Thirteen didn't want the Ashford and Stallard Clan to join the alliance because it would just complicate things.
These two Clans were known for using strong-arm methods in order to get the bigger share of the pie when it came to resources.
The teenage boy planned to monopolize all the resources in the Rigel Continent in order to build his own personal army.
He was fine with the Dvalinn Federation and the Central Government getting some shares.
But, he didn't want the Ashford Clan, and Stallard Clan to dabble in his business.
'It's still too early for them to get in my way,' Thirteen thought. 'I still need to do a few things before I can contend with these two forces.'
Thirteen had already laid out his plans, but it would take time for them to grow.
For the time being, he was careful in selecting his allies, which was why he had extended an olive branch to Renz because he believed that he would be the perfect accomplice, in the things that Thirteen planned to do in the Rigel Continent.