Chapter 222 - Big Budget.

In the meanwhile, back at Crutal Kingdom King Xakro ill.u.s.tratio lll is making some final preparations to send Guard Commander Chan back on a quest! He successfully brought back the Ghost Branch even though it took him a lot longer than the King expected. Infact, he made his way towards Crutal Kingdom a bit before the third month started!

The King wasn't proud of such a delay even though him waiting a bit more doesn't really have bad consequences! He completely blamed Chan about the whole thing even though it is the King who was fooled by simple scouts.

Eitherway, the Ghost branch is here along with the Calidum Lutum's heart. All they need now is a Frozen Toe from the Giant ill.u.s.tratio all the way back to the edge of the Continent, all the way back near Frozen Toe Kingdom in Orientis Ignis. Practically snow Elf territory but it is still crawling with ill.u.s.tratios, there isn't even a single Snow Ignite to be found in Domains there.

As for the scouts who managed to fool Xakro ill.u.s.tratio lll, they will soon get what's coming to them. He didn't find them yet and certainly didn't enjoy the fact that Chan was the one pointing out his deficiency on this task. If Chan was a bit more miss informed, he would die! But the King doesn't really care about that particular fact.

"You have called for me King Xakro!" Calmly spoke Guard Commander Chan as he walked in the Throne room. Since he arrived at Crutal Kingdom just a few days ago, the shivers didn't yet leave his body. Not to mention he still feels tired! "I'm guessing we will start the new task!"

King Xakro however, is not in a good mood. That isn't really a surprise since he hasn't been in an actual good mood ever since the start of the series, but this time it is  a bit over done even for him! "Stop talking!" He shouted from the top of his lungs! Certainly pissed off because of the Scouts primarily and yet screaming at Chan about it as if it was his fault.

Even though he was told to stop talking, he tried to just let out one word of agreement. "Alri..." But was interrupted by King Xakro, yelling out once more.

"I told you to stop... talking you piece of... shit!" Yelling however, has sure decreased his breathing capacity. He kept stopping mid sentence to catch his breath and still continued to yell. Afterwards taking a while to catch his breath, he explained without screaming for once. "You need to go... and find Bear Claw!"

Not speaking a word since he was told to stop talking just a moment ago, he just waited for a further explanation. Until, King Xakro shouted once more. "This is where... you should start talking... you Buffon." Chan has sure become tired of this behaviour. Unnecessary yelling, cursing, sending Chan for a race to oblivion! He could have died twice and barely said anything about it yet King Xakro's attitude is only becoming worse!

"Eh... where exactly can I find him?" That's where Chan made another mistake! He was told to speak yes, but he made a small grammatical mistake which would indeed gain a negative reaction. It is still just his memorizing capability to be blamed, or the fact that he tunes out King Xakro half of the times.

"It is a she... you howling Buffon!" He shouted once more but this time instead of breaking the arm support of his very Throne, he became a bit more hostile. Towards Guard Commander Chan that is!

He shot a small Fireball in front of Chan's feet, if he wasn't quick enough to step back with all of his capabilities, he would be shot down for good. But yet again he could survive since King Xakro has healing powers, maybe that's why he took such a risk or it could be that he is a mentally unstable power crazed man. We can't be sure.

"Right." Swiftly answered Chan once he dodged the Fireball and saw a hole bursted through the wooden plank flooring! Luckily King Xakro was quick enough to reduce the Fire caught on the planks into smoke. Last thing they need right now is a Castle room Fire! The small Fireball dug a foot deep even though under the polished wood plank flooring there is nothing less than solid carved rock! If this small  Fireball was to hit him, it would split him in two. Healing Powers might not be able to reverse that.

"Go find her at... Red Clay Kingdom. The residents know her... there." With breathing becoming harder by the passing day and moment, he took nearly half a minute to recover before he finally spoke. "Tell her that I sent you or... she will fry you like a... Fishstick."

Struggling to remember as much as he can, but still tremendously failing. He had the decency to ask. "Ugh... Does she practice Cannibalism?" He just barely remembers anything about her even though he and King Xakro had a deep specific talk about her abilities. Maybe the traumas from the two tasks did its part, furthermore this topic was spoken off months ago.

Surprisingly enough, King Xakro didn't yell this time even though he had a slight reason to do so! With his pace, slight equals to tremendously big. Instead, he just spoke. "Do you want to... Die?"

"Definitely not." Answered Chan once he realized that he slowly became a pain in the ass throughout this conversation. "Please explain them to me now and if possible have someone write them down for me. My memory is terrible."

"I'm way ahead of... you." Answered King Xakro, afterwards his personal assistant walked in carrying a parchment. Once opened, it contained detailed step by step information designed for Chan to follow. The most important part about it, for Chan at least. Is the fact that he can't have his resources limited this time. 

He glanced at the Budget for this task written right on top of the Parchment and he started punching his own chest to relieve his shock, his heart tightened as if he finally found his soulmate! King Xakro is providing 30,000 Gold Coins for this task, furthermore he can tag along 10 Guards with him at max, however they won't be of Elite Level(4). 

Waiting for Chan to read through the Parchment, he finally added. "Failure is not... an option. You have enough resources... for the trip. You won't have... to worry about the blistering... cold either. You will sleep... in one of the three Wagons." Perhaps King Xakro is capable of a little sympathy, perhaps between all of that rage rising since he was fooled by simple scouts, stands a bit of understanding. Or he could simply be aware of the fact that the cold bizzare mountains are even more dangerous than the freezing cold here in the lowlands throughout the Winter. On the mountains, there is only one season and it isn't a warm one. Hence the fact, Snow Ignite territory.

"I appreciate the provided Resources Sire." Calmly expressed Chan and tried to assure. "I promise not to fail you."

"Good. You may... go now." Ordered the King, dismissing both of them actually since it is Aaron's responsibility to orientate Guard Commander Chan towards the Wagons. As for the King, he doesn't look so good!

Well, it is hard to tell since his face is burned into a black shade, he is missing an eye and his nose is cut. He always doesn't look good or healthy, but this time it appears a bit different. Perhaps age might be doing its effects? He became 46 years old in 17 November, but still that is still not enough to explain the change over the months. He is really struggling to breathe.

While making their way down to the main gate, Aaron broke the silence with a little compliment on Chan's progress. "How did you fare with the task? The King told me that you had the opportunity to speak with the unliving?" Although it does sound exciting, speaking with the members of the Dense Forest Kin wasn't as interesting compared to meeting the being that represented his father.

So his expression towards that portion of the Adventure was pale, he didn't even tell King Zar about what he experienced with who he thinks is his father. "It was fun, but the ass freezing cold and the Wild Boar attack didn't really let me focus on the Ghosts."

Giving out a loud laugh echoing across the Houses around them, he grabbed Chan's shoulder and expressed once calming down. "I feel bad that you have to go through "ass freezing cold" once more, but at least you will go well prepared and in style." Thinking about the scouts that fooled King Xakro, he was direct with his wordplay. "This time you won't need a map, the residents will point you right towards the little hill the Giant ill.u.s.tratio takes shelter at."

"Yes hopefully." Joked around Chan and added with a lot of relief. "At least I have a budget to rely on this time."

"This will be a breeze compared to the past two Quests. Be back in one piece and we will celebrate with some fine Ale aye??"