章 76: CHAPTER 76: WEST

Night stepped in between the two women just in case Misery tried something ridiculous like an immediate attack on the plainly dressed woman. Misery had been a bit protective of Night after the whole incident with Lili leaving some sort of mark on his soul. Of course, Night was appreciative of the protection.

"Misery, calm down. Remember the sex slave with the mangled face? Well...stuff happened after you passed out....now, she is a Ker like you.....Please be nice and introduce yourself...you can look at her as your younger sister...she will probably need you to teach her a few things," Night said mentally so that only Misery could hear.

Looking between Night and Grief, Misery's facial expressions changed from one of anger to one of happiness....her whole attitude did a complete turn around.

"Hello...my new sister....my name is Misery. You can just call me Big Sister. What would you like me to call you?," she asked Grief with a overly pleasant smile on her face.

"...Big Sister....my name is Grief," came a soft response from the woman next to Night.

Then, Grief moved forward and actually hugged Misery. Night could actually see a little emotion on Grief's face...which was highly unusual for the freakishly calm woman. Misery was taken aback for a second but returned the hug nonetheless.

"What a beautiful name...Grief...I love it," Misery said as she pulled herself out the hug and grabbed Grief by the hand.

"We need to chat about a few things," Misery said to Grief as she was leading the woman away.

Then she turned to look at Night and ordered, "You can just leave us alone for now. Girl stuff you know? We new sisters have a lot to talk about."

The two Keres proceeded to move over to the little piece of land in Night's soul space and enter Misery's cabin...they were chatting the whole time.... It was the weirdest thing...they both completely disregarded Night. Misery had even waved her hand at him to turn him away when he moved to join the two.

'Shit,' Night thought, 'I'd almost rather they fought...these two are very scary like this....hopefully Misery doesn't teach her anything bad....she is a bit too mischievous.'

After being dismissed by the women, Night went back to sorting through his supplies. He had thrown most items in the backpack in a haphazard manner...so he was glad that he got to check through everything and reorganize.

After getting all of his items settled, Night decided that the camp had settled down enough to check out the demon clan. He focused in with his soul perception to see everything going on in the clan. Most of the demons had already settled back down to sleep.

With a slight violation of privacy, Night focused his perception on the Clan Chief's tent. The man had looked at Night oddly several times and Night was worried that something might be wrong.

Most of the conversation between the Chief and his wife seemed to be related to the care of the villagers. Although the pair still had some concerns, they were both very happy that things had worked out so well for them. After talking for a while, the Chief began to discuss Night with his wife.

"I honestly don't know what it is, but I feel that something is different about the man. His story is pretty strange but it is believable. He seems to give me the feeling of both a demon and a human. He has the feel of someone from the Osir Clan that always feels of death....most have never met someone from that clan but I had actually met one once with my father.....but also he feels similar to some of the humans we have fought. Maybe it is because he had lived so long with humans or maybe he might be a half-breed. I really don't know. Do you think I should warn him? Talik told me that he wants to go to the City of Setting Sun. I recall my father mentioning that some half-breeds were not treated kindly in the City."

Listening to his concerns, the Clan Chief's wife spoke up, "My husband, that man Night practically saved our clan with his assistance. From a point of equal exchange, we need to give him something in return. Maybe...your worries can be expressed to him as a sign of our Clan's thanks."

"We'll see tomorrow. I am really tired tonight and I am worried about those damn bandits coming back," the Clan Chief said.

"Okay sweetheart....rest well," the wife said before snuggling up on her husband.

Night quickly pulled his perception back when he realized that he was eavesdropping a bit to much.

After listening to the talk, Night felt grateful inside. These demons seemed to understand the practice of repaying kindness. The thought that there might still be some decent beings in the world.....made Night feel slightly good inside.

After thinking about the conversation, Night had a pretty good understanding of why the Chief kept looking at him funny. The Chief had been trying to make sense of Night. He couldn't tell much about Night from he presence.

At least, Night now knew that the Chief wasn't plotting against him. That knowledge was a bit of a relief. But another threat had been bumped to the top.....how to blend in with the demons?

With his safety concerns of staying in the clan gone, Night decided to scope out the rest of the clan to see how the demons lived. Night could see the watchful guards at the perimeter of the camp. The tent village was quite a peaceful place.

In addition to the clan members, Night could also see a few people out near the limits of his perception.

After a quick investigation, he figured these men were some of the human bandits sent to keep an eye on the demon clan. After observing for some time, Night realized that most of these humans were vile. They really did intend to perform a follow up attack to kill the rest of the demons....or at least kill the men and take the women prisoner. However, Night found out there was one bit of misinformation that the demons had given him. Although the demons had been attacked because they were nearby, the bandits had actually had similar skirmishes with this Demon clan in the distant past. Night didn't know why this wasn't mentioned before, but he was sure the clan was playing him to get him to help....playing the victim.

Regardless, Night developed a plan after watching the bandits plot their massacre. He didn't like these type of people. An epiphany stuck Night all of a sudden.After preparing himself for a minute, he drowned the area in darkness and left the tent camp.

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The next morning in the clan was rather quiet until the Clan Chief came outside his tent and found 10 severed heads sitting outside in the sand. Night was standing nearby with a wicked grin.

Before the Clan Chief could speak, Night interjected, "I removed a problem for you last night, but I have a favor to ask. I need to get to the City of Setting Sun. Do you have any map or guide that can help me on my way?"

The Clan Chief was surprised....not just by the lined up head....but also the question from Night.

"Yes.....sir...Night....We have a map that has been passed down in our clan...it lays out most areas in the western desert. I can not give you the original since it is a clan treasure, but I can allow you to make a copy," Clan Chief Bravic said with a grateful look on his face.

"Night...I need to warn you...," the Chief continued. However, he was quickly cut off by Night.

"No need. I know what you are going to say. I have a particular circumstance, so I should be able to manage once I get to the City. Please do not worry about me," Night said.

The Clan Chief was very thankful. He allowed Night to copy his family's map which clearly showed direction and the general location of the City of Setting Sun. The Chief also gave Night a scorpion mount to ride. The gesture was very nice and Night actually took out two of his heavenly stones to give to the Chief. The Chief was thrilled with the exchange and thanked Night profusely.

After having a long lunch feast with the Chief, Garik and Talik, Night said his goodbyes to the Ammon Demon Clan and restarted his travels. This time he felt prepared with both supplies and direction. The only issue that he needed to resolve how to blend in with the demons in the capital city.

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Following the map given by the Ammon Clan, Night was slowly making his way through the western desert on the back of a scorpion. The ride was relatively nice although riding on the back of a giant insect was a bit weird. These scorpions were called Black Scorpions and were a common domesticated beast for the smaller clans of demons. Their tails could still attack, but were capped by a leather guard to keep them from accidentally turning on their keepers. The beast was a smooth ride....very similar to a car on Earth. Night actually enjoyed the ride immensely and had even fashioned a small canopy from his old satchel to provide him some shade when riding.

Night had been told that his journey in this direction should be relatively safe since it is a common caravan route. The trip should take him around two weeks according to the Ammon Clan Chief. Since beginning his journey, Night hadn't had any real issues except the occasional attack from some wild animal. So far he had been assaulted by a small sand snake and some sort of bird. In previously talking with the demons, Night realized his general lack of knowledge over basic wildlife was something that hurt him a good bit.

With the journey west going smoothly, Night had time to relax. Like he had done many times in the mines, he exerted his soul perception over both the real world and his soul world at the same time. During his lost days in the desert, he had found that this was an excellent way to train his soul. Generally, he could keep his perception focused on the real world indefinitely. However, if he overlapped his soul space, then he could only sustain perception over the full range for around two hours without any detriment.

If he went any longer than that, he could feel his soul strength starting to drain. It wasn't a negligible amount either. After letting it drain down to about half his capacity, Night had noticed that his soul strength was slightly higher when it recharged. It wasn't a large gain in soul strength, but it was a gain nonetheless.

During his travels, he had a chance to chat with Misery. He really seemed to miss his chats with the woman. She was back to her normal self, but both her and Night estimated that she now had the strength of a Level 1 Demigod. Misery's control over her blood body had also increased greatly. She had even used the blood body for a bit to walk with Night...however, she quickly retreated back into Night's soul space once she spent a few hours out in the desert heat. According to Misery, she was getting along with her new sister, Grief. Both women were very eager for Grief to get a new body just like Misery. Night was also eager. Having two full time helpers would be very beneficial.

As Night traveled along one day, he started to notice smoke over the next batch of sand dunes. He rushed forward to put the area within the range of his perception.