I have Nine Lives

Lindo was both happy and flustered as he saw his father entering through the gates.

Happy because he didn't get to see his dad very often due to his job, and flustered because his dad disapproved of his relationship with Manitola.

It was mostly because his father wanted him to marry a female lion instead of someone from a different tribe.

It wasn't that he was against such type of practices but he wanted healthy descendants, he wanted to be a grandfather and it was unknown if the hybrid between a fox and a lion could even survive.

Of course, as the people on the continents evolved and gained a human form interbreeding was possible but mostly besides tribes that were similar between them as the dog and wolf tribes.

Some of the cat-like tribes could also interbreed but hybrids were mostly weaker than pure-blooded beings, it was because the DNA chains of the tribes have evolved into unique patterns, in this situation every person living on this planet was unique in its own way, because of this uniqueness it was harder for different DNA chains to fuse creating a new life.

Diorno took a few steps forward and looked at Lindo:

"Son... and you."

He glanced at Manitola but didn't say anything to her as his gaze made her take a few steps backward, but Lindo stepped in front of her and shielded her with his back.

Manitola felt a little bit better as she grasped Lindo's hand while he confronted his father:

"Father I don't think this is the time for us to talk... our current circumstances aren't the greatest."

Diorno looked at Lindo and said:

"No, actually this is the best time, there is still a bit of time left before the first batch of troops will leave so we have enough time to talk!"

Lindo really didn't want to have that talk with his father, he liked Manitola and he didn't want to see anyone else.

Seeing how defiantly Lindo looked at him made Diorno sigh, he couldn't really force his son to do anything in this situation, but he still wanted to talk with him.

Felix and Landers looked from the side while the troops had already scattered through the village.

Now they were only awaiting the orders of Siracha.

Catro had already distanced himself from the drama as he had better things to do as the main logistics person, all the main calculations would end up being done by him.

Diorno and Lindo were in confrontation as Manitola twiddled her thumbs behind Lindo, she wanted to say something as well, and seemingly as if he felt that she wanted to talk Lindo gave her a reassuring smile as he dragged her forward letting her stay shoulder to shoulder with him as he hugged her with one arm.

Lindo's actions made Diorno shake his head as he said:

"Son have you ever thought about leaving descendants behind?"

This question stumped Lindo... of course, he wanted to have a few children of his one day and as he looked at Manitola lovingly he wanted her to be the mother but Diorno's words hit him in the chest like a sledgehammer:

"Don't get me wrong, I see that you like this fox woman really much but she won't be able to bear your children."

Lindo shook his head as he asked:

"How would you even know that?"

"Oh, you thought that I was said she was infertile?"

"No no, you got me wrong again, a Fox and Lion can't mate because of the racial differences Lindo, if you want to stay with her you will lead a childless life."

Children were very important in the current society, they were the future of the tribes and they were greatly taken care of, especially the ones that show potential.

In Lindo's situation, his children would surely be rather talented regardless of who the mother was, even though his full potential hadn't been unlocked yet his pedigree didn't lie.

It was a father's pride to see his son/daughter become someone great and Diorno wanted his son to turn out great, having his own talented children could be called an achievement already and he also wanted to hold his grandson/granddaughter in his hands atleast once in this lifetime.

Lindo thought for a short while before he said:

"Is there no way?"

Diorno shook his head as he said:

"I would have supported you unconditionally no matter how weak or untalented your wife would have been as long as it was one from our tribe, I cannot give you any advice regarding interspecies breeding."

Lindo scratched his head but then said:

"It's ok I will figure it all on my own."

He gave Manitola a love-filled look before bowing to his father and saying:

"I'm sorry father but I cannot leave Manitola nor can I love anyone else, I hope you understand."

Diorno sighed before he took out a flask of alcohol from inside his armor and took a big swig.

"Go, get out of my face."

Lindo sighed as he left Diorno who was making his way towards Landers.

"I heard something about a traitor?"

Diorno took another swig from his flask while Landers said:

"Yeah old man's Madgar son, it seems he didn't like how his father had been treated after his discharge so that was his way of getting back at us..."

Diorno frowned but didn't say anything, he knew that the way they treated the old male folk wasn't good at all compared to the other tribes but this wasn't one of the main problems of the tribe, however, he decided to talk with his father about this later as there were chances that what happened today could happen some other day as well but on a larger scale.

Diorno nodded towards Felix who was just observing him before deciding to take a rest, he was the base's first defender and he would only leave it as a reinforcement only in cases where his heavy-hands were needed.

"I'll see you later Landers, Felix."

Landers looked at him leave before sighing as a new communication stone started to vibrate inside his armor's chest pocket.

He took it out before sending out a transmission using his voice enhanced by hex energy:

"150,000 troop members are required to come to the entrance of the village, it's time for another expedition!"

Now that the reinforcements had arrived they could split up and continue their conquering attempts without worrying about any future invasions as their stronghold was protected by a general level expert.

Landers waved his hand at Felix indicating that he was supposed to come with them and also Manitola and Lindo, they were all experienced people that were superior to average lieutenants even inching towards captains in power level, they were powerful people that the army couldn't do without in their conquest expedition.

After all of the troops were arranged at the entrance they started to march outside the village with Landers at the head, Lindo, Manitola, and Felix just a little behind him.

Fortunately, they had an expert with them that could lead them to the villages around the continent, Landers looked at Manitola and waited, his expression told her everything she needed to know.

She broke a branch from a nearby tree and used it to draw a map on the ground in front of them:

"We are here."

She pointed to the forested area that she drew along with a small village that she pointed at:

"This is our village."

Then she pointed towards another forested area:contemporary romance

"There is a bunch of scattered villages in that forest but we will need to cross a few ravines and bridges to get there and our number of people is quite high so it will take some time, there is also a high chance we will meet the people from the Haron and Balton alliance and they must have realized by now that we have broken contact with them."

Landers nodded:

"What tribes are inhabiting those villages?"

"Well, there is the snail tribe and the woodpecker tribe, that's mostly their territory."

"I see..."

Landers did some hand signals indicating for the troops to follow him just as before.

They started traveling in a pack as they left the forested area only to find a gigantic ravine stretching in front of them for 20 meters. There was a bridge linking the two forest areas but it was rather narrow and only 2 people could walk on it at a time and considering they had 150,000 people it would take a lot of time to cross it.

Landers frowned, they did have the time but he didn't want to wait for it!

While they crossed this bridge the alliance of the Haron and Balton continents would be able to capture villages and resources!

The stationed troops back at the village were already cutting down trees and harvesting herbs.

They couldn't wait for such a long time, Landers couldn't even calculate how many hours it would take for the whole 150,000 troops to cross the 20 meters long bridge.

He looked towards Manitola.

Manitola sighed as she brainstormed a way to move all of the troops from one area to the other without using the bridge, having to use her knowledge about her surroundings and the continent as a whole.

done.co