NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: The Talk and An Anomaly
Seeing their Fathers seriousness from tone and facial feature, both Raathos and Vireladon glanced at one another before posturing themselves straighter. Their aids bowed down their heads while Tharn, behind them, lost her amusement. The chieftain was looking towards the northeast of the forest, following his gaze, all of them noticed the anomaly immediately. Trees bending unnaturally or sometimes falling outright and the startled Iragin was a bigger anomaly than anything else.
Iragin, a beetle the size of a small bird, are known for their calm demeanour and symbiotic relationship with the wildlife. Not a lot of things are able to startle them that much to the extent that a huge swarm of them flew up and scattered in all manners of direction. [The warning from the ancestor…] Tharn hummed to herself, catching the attention of the siblings and their aids.
[Warning?] Vireladon wondered out loud, he faced Tharn directly without care about her authority as a Great Elder. He had defied her before on rare occasions, this was one such occasion that he didn’t care about her position. [What warning do you mean off, Great Elder?] He questioned Tharn directly, Raathos and the aids looking at her with the same questioning look. Tharn let out a deep sight before moving her gaze to Venkix, who was staring at the distance with narrowed eyes and glinting glowing orbs of gold. [Ask your father that question, it is not within my right to answer directly.]
With her deflecting the question completely, all of them now faced the chieftain in silence but growing curiosity. Venkix on the other hand was having a crisis, He had directly opened the Map
and checked the known territories his exploration team managed to add. And just as he feared, a red exclamation mark had appeared towards the direction of the anomaly. A random event that usually happens in random points, but the player base knows such an event as “Hell Quest” from how difficult each event is. From all out battles, to foreign activities like Maze Runs. Each event had made the majority of the player base lose a huge amount of resources. From the complete randomness the event holds, no one can really know how much resources were they gonna lose or how much their military might wane.‘Shit…’ Micheal cursed to himself, if he had his fingers he would’ve bitten his nails to ease his nerves. ‘I didn’t think a Hell Quest could happen in this new reality, but it's also my fault since I didn’t prepare for the possibility of it.’ Taking control once more, He closed the map and turned around, walking away from the ledge. [Vireladon, Raathos, I want both of you to tell the following exploration teams to avoid the northeast.] Stopping right in front of them, with a subtle glance towards Tharn, he continued. [A powerful beast has shown up from that direction and we don't have a chance to beat it. Everyone must prepare for the chaos we might experience with the shift of power amongst the beast of the forest.] Both of them nodded firmly, their aids also doing the same while Tharn raised a brow at him. Venki Let out a sigh and contemplated himself in bullshitting his way like last time.
[The Great Elder and I had a talk with one of our ancestors, a past chieftain. He had warned us about the danger in the forest.] Venkix turning his head to look back in that certain direction, he mentally reminded himself to open the map again and encircle the radius of the Hell Quest as an indicator for a no go area. [I first believed that he was talking about the group I would send to the Spike Backs, but now I see the reason why.] Vireladon huffed loudly before thumping his upper right hand to his chest, his aid doing the same. [Do not worry, Father, I would do my best in ordering my men to avoid the area.] Vireladon tried to ease the worry of his father, as much as he respected him, he also saw his caring nature as a weakness that others may maliciously use. ‘Like Dredlinor.’ He thought to himself, he personally hated that warrior for his brutal and cruel nature that injures his own tribesmen as much as he hurts the enemy.
[It is not only worrying, I feel, but fear for what this means.] Venkix told them, in the worst case scenario, the tribe will have no choice but to escape the mountain and regroup in another place nearby. [If that danger affects the predators, our hunters and exploration teams would suffer losses that I do not want to think about.] He stepped closer to them and proceeded to pat Vireladon’s head while also using his lower left arm to pat Raathos’s head as well. [This danger is beyond us and, at the same time, shows us how important it is that we ally ourselves with the Spike Backs. Their knowledge of the surroundings will help us find more resources and safer paths to trend on.] Venkix was not telling them about this on just a whim, he knows that this danger would need all the help he could get and an advantage by terrain, one advantage he needs. The Game had a limit on how much you could control the army since they are grouped together like a certain war game, but here in this new world was something that surpassed those limits and made the possibility of beating the Hell Quest slightly more possible.
Venkix’s words made all of them ponder in thought, whatever the danger was that even the ancestors warned them, was both exhilarating and worrying. There were rumours that they have heard, rumours about how the ancestors subtly interfered for the benefit of the tribe as a whole. Maybe this rumour was true, or maybe it was not. Vireladon stared at his father, looking at his face, looking for something. Whatever he was trying to find, he didn’t see, this very spot where they stood on was the same spot his mother died. Raathos was still in her egg at that time, and only Vireladon watched how his father, before he was a chieftain, tore through the warriors and hunters before savagely ripping and tearing the body of the former chieftain. The skull of said chieftain now serves as a decoration, placed delicately balanced on a stalagmite right beside his chair.
Thinking about his mother, she was one of the best shamans ever seen and most beautiful Xinzunian. Vireladon still remembers her sleek form, tail always curled delicately like a natural whip, her scales twinkling like gems when even the slightest light bounced on her body. Herbal paste painted on her body like waves, mixing perfectly with her light pink vine pattern spreading around like a Quil’hoth, a herbal plant with poisonous thorns and a vibrant shade of purple petals that clamps on smaller insects. Vireladon inwardly smiled at the memory, always remembering both of their time together and his mothers teachings.
His father now, who led the tribe for 123 full moons, was someone calm and collected. His leadership was unparalleled and was also a formidable warrior. He busies himself ragged and in rare cases visits the spot where mother had died, the times that Vireladon peeked at him was the only time he had seen his father look lost. It was also the day that he swore to the ancestors he will be a pillar for his father and be a better chieftain even as half like he was. [I hear your warning, Father, but still.] Vireladon turned his body and gestured to the entrance to the tribe. [Our people are strong, and whatever this danger is, we would not disappoint the ancestors in showing them how much we tried to survive the coming catastrophe.] Vireladon’s vibrations caught the attention of everyone nearby, even the female guard who was supposed to be far from earshot, one that Venkix glanced towards with interest.
Venkix chose to ignore her for the time being and rubbed the head of his son. [That is not the point, my son, I have no doubt that the tribe will do everything just to survive.] Venkix sent a look at Tharn, his mouth slightly curved into a grin. [We are too stubborn to just die out without a fight.] His words made all of them chuckle, the sound similar to what a sea lion makes only softer and had a slight rumble, still there was still tension in the air. [What I meant to point out is that we lack an advantage. The terrain beyond our usual grounds is foreign to us and the possibility of resources we have missed is much higher.] Venkix proceeded to grab hold of Vireladon by his shoulders. [To be a good chieftain, is to see everything as a piece in the eyes of a warrior, a hunter, a shaman, a craftmaster, a caregiver. To know what will benefit them and in turn benefit the tribe.] Vireladon showed a look that meant he understood what Venkix was saying. Venkix scanned him from head to toe, scrutinising if he really understood. [Fine, I’ll believe in you for now.] Venkix let go of his shoulder before he passed by all of them like a soft breeze of wind. [Great Elder, I thought you had business with the craftmaster competition?] He passingly told her, Tharn replied by letting out a chuckle and followed after him. Amusement on her face along with a relaxed emotion.
Vireladon watched the interaction, somehow feeling that he missed something else. [Brother.] Raathos called out to him, promptly catching his attention and looked towards her with a questioning gaze. [Don’t you feel like Father was a bit sad?] Vireladon’s eyes widened in shock, his mind replying back to the whole interaction with him. With a realisation, he now knew why his father had a worried and apprehensive look. [He’s worried…] He briefly answered her before he glanced to the distance and turned around to return back inside. [We need to get inside, light is piercing the rain.]
Raathos stared at him with a gaze that plainly said she knew he was avoiding explaining more. In turn she just let out a huff before she sped up her stride and passed by him, her aid following close behind. [You always avoid answering, it’s annoying.] She passedly remarked and ignored Vireladon when he tried to reach out to her and asked what she meant by that. Once both siblings entered the tunnel to the caverns, the female Xinzu promptly closed the boulder once more and returned to her post.