Chapter 64: Journey
The travel centre was situated near the academy and was the organisation that owned the beast rides that Damian and his mother had taken to get to the academy.
For all sectors, there were a few organisations or families that held a monopoly over it and had complete control over it and the travel centre was the largest organisation in the Gobe Country when it came to travel.
It was owned by the royal family and no matter how many times Akegria Academy attempted to enter the travel sector, they were flushed out and couldn't compete with the royal family in that particular field.
They rented out all kinds of beast rides and carriages and they could be rented for personal use or with a driver.
The mission that Damian chose provided a carriage for two that was led by a single beast and had a driver.
It was the most simple form of travel and also one of the cheapest ways to get around the Gobe Country.
After reaching the travel centre that had many beasts and forms of travel, Damian who was scared last time, was quite confident and wasn't scared of the tamed beasts, while Milo hid behind Damian like Damian previously did with his mother.
They had a ticket with the mission and gave it to the front reception, then were told to wait.
Within a few minutes, a carriage driven by a young man halted before them and they got inside.
The ticket rented out the carriage for maximum 8 hours and with it, they were expected to reach the village, defeat the beast, then return to the academy using the same carriage within the time limit.
Damian informed the driver of their destination and the experienced driver knew where it was and how to get there and even if he didn't, Damian made sure to memorise a rough map of Aria city, that he found in the library and matched it with the one in the mission hall.
Damian couldn't help but think about what life was like for the young man who was driving their carriage, who would do the same thing every day to earn money without ever progressing or travelling the world.
It was such a boring and ordinary life, which was exactly what Damian didn't want for himself and those around him.
But at the same time, the young man seemed satisfied and happy with his job and the stage he was at, and Damian came to realise that not everyone had wild ambitions like himself, and most couldn't because of their lack of talent in cultivation.
Sat within the carriage, Damian initially wanted to cultivate and use the time he had within the carriage to increase his strength or learn more of the Golden Flame Method, but after seeing Milo, he decided against it.
Milo couldn't cultivate yet and would be bored alone, so Damian decided he would talk to him and not leave him bored and alone while he cultivated.
Damian was yet to reach rank 2 and was stuck at the peak of rank 1, so was quite nervous to face the boar beast that was estimated to have strength equal to that of a rank 2 beast or maybe even a rank 3 beast.
However, at the same time, Damian was excited and was confident in his skill and ability that had also been enhanced by the Golden Flame Method.
Usually, when fighting against a beast of the same cultivation level, humans would need higher numbers to be able to defeat them.
Beasts have much more powerful bodies than humans, even if they are External Cultivators, and humans would have to rely on numbers most of the time.
Beasts also had berserker states, that they may enter when they are on the verge of death, backed into a corner and or were extremely angry.
The berserker state would either severely injure them, lower their cultivation or even kill them, but beasts could enter the state if they had no other choice.
It would grant them great power by burning their beast core, that held most of their body's energy, and they would enter an enraged state where they would no longer feel pain or fear.
This state would not only make it hard for people to kill the beasts, but it would also ruin their beast core and the longer they are in that state for, the less energy would be within the beast core or it may even be destroyed before it is retrieved.
The berserker state was the biggest advantage that beasts had, and was the reason why it was recommended to defeat beasts quickly with a group.
However, not all beasts could enter that state and many beasts with slight intelligent would be unwilling to sacrifice their strength or even their life in that state, unless they were forced to.
But in the same way that beasts had advantages with their stronger bodies and berserker state, humans also had advantages with their higher intelligence and wider range of skills and abilities between them.
With that, it all depended on the strength of the human and the beast, because even if they're at the same rank, it doesn't mean their strength is equal.
Damian had learnt a lot of this and was also being taught by Utsusu, who had copied large amounts of useful knowledge from the library, was informing Milo of all the basics and important information about beasts.
After Damian gave Milo a lecture about beasts, Milo was becoming worried and guessed that their mission had something to do with defeating a beast.
"Damian what is the mission," asked Milo who could no longer suppress his curiosity.
"Oh yeah, I forgot I haven't told you what the mission is yet. Well, the mission is to kill a rank 1 boar beast that has an estimated strength that can rival a rank 2 cultivator or maybe even a rank 3 cultivator" answered Damian nonchalantly.
"What are you serious" exclaimed Milo in shock.
He knew of Damian's strength that he showed in the competition, but he knew that it was impossible for him to already be a rank 2 or 3.
Turning to Damian and seeing his confident and calm expression, Milo didn't argue with him or attempt to persuade him against it as they continued chatting until they reached their destination.