Chapter 24: Escaping the unknown

"The meat might be a little bit spoiled, but I have heard that Nasgas have a strong digestive system which makes them resilient to food poisoning!"

Similar to the Yadras race, Nasgas were unlikely to suffer from food poisoning.

It was not impossible, and Kyle knew this, thus he was hopeful that it would allow him to exchange the spoiled meat either for more clothes or two leather flasks!

"Meat? That's great, we can barter things, but we don't have leather flasks...how about two wooden flasks and a set of clothes each for you and your slave?"

Wooden flasks were much easier to produce than leather flasks that required...leather.

Thus, Kyle smiled as he tried to negotiate with the tribe chief.

"I'm always thirsty...maybe, it is better for me to ask for four wooden flasks and the set of clothes we have should be enough as it is!"

Having another set of clothes might be good, but he had already assessed their current situation and knew what would benefit them the most.

Now, he wasn't alone but Selene would accompany him. Thus having more flasks to carry water around would help them if they were to travel for days on end without finding a source of potable water.

Tzc didn't say anything and simply nodded her head in response.

She had heard that some races required more water to drink than others, thus she didn't think that there was anything off about his request.

Rather, Tzc was glad about Kyle's offer!

Clothes took more effort to produce than wooden flasks after all.

Even merchant Zwark gave the Nasga more food in exchange for clothes!

Thus, in a matter of ten minutes, Tzc had brought them to the hut in which the Nasga stored the manufactured goods. The two observed the interior of the hut as Tzc went to a corner to retrieve four wooden flasks before she handed them to Kyle.

As his gaze traveled through the hut with all the goods stored inside, Kyle understood that the entire tribe was earning a livelihood solely through manufacturing goods and trading them in exchange for food or other items.

They didn't even seem to practice weaponry or have produced any weapons at all!

It was strange that a tribe didn't possess weapons but he refrained from commenting on the same and instead, simply handed over the remaining meat to Tzc.

"We will take a look at the small stream and fill the flasks first!"

Saying so, Kyle walked towards the only entrance of the hidden Nasga tribe settlement that he knew of.

He took out the wooden sheet that held the information of two villages and another tribe, other than the one they were currently with.

"If you know the direct path out of the hidden settlement it would be best if you lead the way." He said quietly and Selene nodded her head before she asked,

"We won't return, right?"

It was only her instinct telling her to confirm this, but when she saw Kyle nod his head in affirmation, she became confused.

"But...why, Master? Is there something wrong with this place? Wouldn't it be better to focus on cultivating for the next three days in which you are allowed to stay in the small hut? Or did I make a mistake in understanding the Nasga girl? Please explain it to me, Master!"

Kyle couldn't help but squint his eyes when Selene called him master yet again, but this time, he let it pass and didn't correct her.

Instead, he explained what made him feel uncomfortable about the Nasga tribe which led her to ask even more questions.

"Master, so am I right to assume that you think it's weird for Tzc to be as trustworthy as she is in our first encounter? That her excessive trust in strangers in a place that should be filled with greed, and selfishness was wrong? That the merchant has slaves while the entire tribe has to face a food shortage….he could have also used other Nasgas to help him transport backpacks from the tribe to the villages...that's true.."

It was evident that Selene was unable to comprehend everything right from the beginning, but Kyle was patient and simply answered,

"Would you give someone who originates from a different race, someone you've never seen before, your unconditional trust and a place to rest inside your well-hidden tribe, without knowing if he might kill everyone? Furthermore, I had several kilograms of meat with me! Why did they not take that from me or ask to trade with me the moment they smelled it? They're facing an acute food shortage after all!"

When Kyle finished his explanation, both of them fell silent. Neither of the two said anything for the next few minutes before Selene finally made sense of things and muttered, "Ohhhhh…"

After that, she turned silent again, while taking the shortest path through the huge maze of bushes.

It took less than an hour before the bright sunlight shone through the thicket, indicating to them that they had finally arrived outside.

During that hour, Kyle asked Selene a few questions about the Sadorla forest, and he was surprised to find out that the young girl knew almost as much as he had comprehended from the information provided on the wooden sheet.

Even better was the fact that she knew the entrances to the villages and the other Nasga tribe, which was something Kyle had yet to figure out from the wooden sheet.

Either the sheet was encrypted, or the information was hastily scribbled in illegible handwriting!

"Does the Lohar race's village have a blacksmith, runemaster, or even better, both?" Kyle suddenly asked when they had emerged out of the thicket.

They were approaching the small stream to fill their wooden flasks when Selene suddenly halted in her tracks.

"I don't know...I have been raised in the slave market inside the Aldra race's village...but I know that they have both a blacksmith and a runemaster!"

This was even better, but he felt a little bit guilty for making Selene recall the past just to answer him.

He patted her head as an apology and Selene flinched at his touch out of instinct before giving him a weak smile.

If the Aldra race's village had both a blacksmith and runemaster, it was likely a well-settled tribe. Thinking about the information and the weapons that he could find there, Kyle had no second thoughts of what his next destination should be!

It was fortunate for Kyle that he left the Nasga tribe so early because it was just a day later that something neither he nor Selene had expected happened.

Something ominous from inside the tribe chief's hut was radiating a faint, yet distinct aura that looked like it was enshrouded with traces of blood.

One could only hear an old voice that was noticeably enraged and filled with frustration.

"Didn't you tell me that the young man from the Aldra race will come back?? He is yet to return and our tribe needs a sacrifice, otherwise, the blood rune's isolation effect will wear off and we will never be able to reap the benefits from it!!

You know how much we suffered to acquire and nurture this rune! If we fail right now, it would mean that we've wasted the efforts of several decades...TZC, I demand an explanation!!!"

If Kyle and Selene had stayed only one more day with the Nasga tribe, they would have been sacrificed to the blood rune, which the Nasga tribe had been nurturing for decades to increase the Primordial Energy in their hidden tribe.

However, what nobody knew was that not even Merchant Zwark believed in the blood rune's effects or potency which he had personally acquired for the Nasga tribe.

The only effect that was proven to work so far was the isolation effect that prevented other beasts from discovering the small tribe.

Similar to Kyle, he had also left the tribe quickly before anything could happen to him. Zwark had considered Kyle to be both dumb and naive but after seeing that he had sensed that something was off, Zwark changed his opinion of the youth, who was destined to be the next sacrifice.

Zwark was not sure how exactly the young man from the Aldra race sensed the Nasga's betrayal or radically transformed the black-furred Lohar slave. The young girl whom he had thrown at the youth had noticeably regained some of her vigor and will to live!

This was not something a quick-witted merchant could overlook, and he was happy to have left the Nasga tribe at that time!

Who knows what would have happened to him otherwise?