The eagle seemed to realize that it could no longer support its flight. For whatever reason, it did not decide to fly away, which was something everyone had feared. That outcome would have been extremely troublesome because it had only been two weeks since the expansion stopped, and people continued to discover new secret realms every day. Quite a few factions still had not reached their assigned realms because they were located far from their cities or separated by natural barriers such as rivers, mountains, cliffs, and lakes. If the eagle had decided to relocate to one of those unprotected realms, it could have seriously disrupted an entire region's redevelopment efforts.
Because of that, the family was quite pleased when the creature chose a different course of action. Rather than fleeing, it decided to dive toward the archer who had annoyed it the most during its five days trapped in the sky. The creature seemed determined to take at least one person down with it before it died. More specifically, it wanted the person who had frustrated it the most. Even among corrupted creatures, spite apparently existed.
"You have to give it to the creature, it is determined to be the biggest annoyance," said Arin as he watched the eagle fly directly toward him. For some reason, he found the situation rather convenient. Unlike before, he was now certain he could not miss. The eagle had effectively chosen to become an easy target. That confidence caused a small grin to appear on his face.
"Let's see if we can hit the jackpot," Arin muttered.
Drawing the bowstring back, Arin carefully aimed along the creature's flight path. The eagle was descending rapidly, closing the distance at an alarming speed. Unlike earlier, there was no need to calculate impossible trajectories or guess at extreme ranges. The target was coming directly toward him. All he needed to do was place the arrow where the creature would be.
When the eagle descended to roughly one hundred meters above the ground, Arin released his first arrow. The projectile flew true and struck the creature directly in the head. Before the eagle could even react properly, a second arrow left his bowstring. This one buried itself in the creature's eye, causing it to falter in midair.
Even then, the eagle refused to die. It was still a stage one creature, and those beasts possessed incredible vitality. Instead of falling, it desperately altered course and dove lower. The creature rapidly descended toward fifty meters in altitude in an attempt to escape further attacks. Unfortunately for it, Arin was already preparing another shot.
The third arrow arrived moments later. It struck with deadly precision and finally overwhelmed the creature's remaining strength. The eagle collapsed into a cloud of black smoke before it could complete its dive. As the smoke dispersed, cheers erupted across the clearing. After five frustrating days, the flying menace had finally been dealt with.
Relief spread quickly among the archers. The eagle had forced them to remain vigilant every second of every day. No one had been able to relax while it remained overhead. Every movement in the open had carried an element of danger. Now, that burden had finally been lifted.
Almost immediately, a massive cleanup operation began. Thousands of arrows were scattered across the clearing and surrounding forest. Many shafts had been crushed underfoot, while numerous fletchings had become unusable after prolonged exposure to the elements. Even so, the elders were determined to recover as much material as possible.
They had no intention of repeating the strategy Tom had used earlier. Sending people into the open as bait had worked, but it was not something they wanted to rely on again. Fortunately, many of the arrowheads remained intact despite the damaged shafts. Those tips could be collected and melted down for future use. While it would be a hassle, it was still better than wasting valuable materials.
"Right, let's wait for the next one now that we can stop diverting our attention," said Arin as he returned his focus to the portal.
"Hey Arin, do you know why the secret realm in Brussels is being operated by a company?" asked Bertho with visible curiosity. "As far as I know, all portals within two hundred kilometers should belong to the government." The question had been bothering him for quite some time. There was obviously more going on than what appeared on the surface. Since Arin was the patriarch's grandson, he was likely to know more than the rest of them.
"Oh, that one," Arin replied. "I don't know why, but Grandpa has been way more liberal with information lately, which is weird, but I know about that case." He seemed almost excited to finally possess knowledge that others did not. At the same time, he could not shake the feeling that Karl's recent openness was somehow going to cause him trouble in the future. Still, that was a problem for another day.
"You know those great houses?" Arin continued. "They wanted to study the dangers of the secret realms without risking their own organizations. So they used private channels and had certain secret realms designated as experimental zones." Through that arrangement, one company legally obtained control over a secret realm. Technically, everything had been done within the boundaries of the law.
"Of course, they never would have secured that contract if they weren't powerful," Arin added. "And they definitely wouldn't have been allowed to keep all the profits either."
"That's quite something," Tom said excitedly. "So they basically robbed the government legally."
"Not exactly," Arin replied with a shake of his head. "The government made a killing from the information gathered there." Since recordings could not be made outside cities and mana veins, any reliable data was incredibly valuable. Research findings, monster information, and resource reports all generated enormous returns. Both sides ended up benefiting from the arrangement.
"The real problem is that those houses have far too much political power for the government to push them around," Arin continued. He still remembered the day he had been introduced to the scope of their influence. It had honestly frightened him. The great houses rarely involved themselves directly in politics because the returns were not attractive enough.
Instead, they focused on less visible areas. They placed people throughout civil service branches and administrative institutions that were never decided through public elections. From those positions, they could influence policy without attracting attention. Combined with the vast physical assets they controlled, their influence was honestly terrifying. It was power that most people never even realized existed.
"Hey, by the way, why has there been no movement at the portal?" Bill suddenly asked.
His question immediately drew everyone's attention. While the others had been talking, Bill had continued monitoring the portal entrance. So far, absolutely nothing had emerged from it. That was unusual enough to raise alarm bells. The regular spawning pattern seemed to have stopped entirely.
"That is strange," Arin said as he stopped joking around. "It should have spawned by now."
He looked up at the sun and estimated the time based on its position in the sky. The delay was becoming increasingly noticeable. Normally, the creatures emerged with remarkable consistency. Deviations from established patterns tended to mean trouble. Nobody present liked that possibility.
"Let's wait another half hour," Arin said. "If nothing happens by then, we'll investigate."
With that decided, Arin settled himself comfortably on the branch and became completely still. He began practicing one of the final fundamental skills of their family. Ironically, it was also considered one of the hardest skills to master. The exercise consisted of remaining perfectly motionless while maintaining total concentration.
The difficulty was not physical. The real challenge was boredom. Hours could pass without anything happening at all. Recruits frequently fell asleep during training because of it. Even talented students struggled with the exercise.
Modern attention spans did not help matters. Humanity had spent decades consuming increasingly short forms of entertainment. Remaining focused on a single scene for hours was something many people found almost impossible. Yet for the Sonnenbergs, the ability was absolutely essential. Their profession demanded patience above all else.
They frequently served as scouts and sentries during conflicts. In both roles, movement could mean death. Spotters who shifted unnecessarily risked revealing their positions. Remaining hidden often depended entirely on discipline and self-control. As a result, the family placed enormous emphasis on the skill.
The recruits absolutely hated that portion of their training. They were often forced to sit in a single location for hours while maintaining concentration. During that time, instructors would secretly introduce events into their field of view. Afterwards, the recruits would be questioned about everything they had observed. Missing details was treated as proof that they had not been paying attention.
The punishments for failure were equally infamous. Falling asleep during the exercise was considered especially embarrassing. Those unfortunate enough to do so often found themselves assigned unpleasant chores. Cleaning the dormitory toilets was among the more common punishments. Nobody enjoyed that particular duty.
Even worse were the running penalties. Recruits could be ordered to jog around sections of the newly expanded forest. Since the forest had grown to absurd dimensions after the world's transformation, completing even a single lap was difficult. Most offenders were assigned two laps rather than one. Unsurprisingly, exhaustion usually followed.
To date, nobody had successfully completed a full circuit of the entire forest in one attempt. Most recruits collapsed long before reaching the finish. They would then be carried back, ordered to clean the toilets, and instructed to finish the remaining distance the following day. It was a punishment that everyone remembered and nobody wanted to repeat.