"The at 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 at either for more clothes or two leather flasks!
"at? 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 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 so 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 rchant 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 comnting on the sa and instead, simply handed over the remaining at 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 settlent 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 settlent 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 beca confused.
"But...why, Master? Is there sothing 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 , Master!"
Kyle couldn't help but squint his eyes when Selene called him master yet again, but this ti, 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 assu 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 rchant 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 soone who originates from a different race, soone 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 at with ! Why did they not take that from or ask to trade with the mont they slled 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 sothing 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 erged 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 sothing neither he nor Selene had expected happened.
Sothing 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 that the young man from the Aldra race will co 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 an 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 rchant 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 sothing 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 transford the black-furred Lohar slave. The young girl whom he had thrown at the youth had noticeably regained so of her vigor and will to live!
This was not sothing a quick-witted rchant could overlook, and he was happy to have left the Nasga tribe at that ti!
Who knows what would have happened to him otherwise?
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