Chapter 63: Anti-Federation Organization.
Chapter 63: Anti-Federation Organization.
The Sand Berserk Tribe is one of the biggest tribes in the Red Sand Desert. The tribe once almost managed to unite all the native tribes and create a kingdom. But failed in the last step because of the revolt in the past. Since then they hated the outsider, or, to be precise, the federation, the one that instigated the rebellion.
After that, no one knows who started it, but the natives began to spread a bad rumor about the outsider. Centuries later, the tribe descendants that joined the revolt in the past now believe that the outsider can’t be trusted and is evil. However, it has caused the other kingdoms to look at the native tribes or barbarians unfavorably.
Today there is a guest in the Sand Berserk Tribe; it is an outsider.
"Because of that, I want you to join us at the Anti-Federation Organization as an ally." A man covers his head with a cloth to explain his intention of coming.
Sitting cross-legged on a fur mate is a tan-skinned elderly man. "Please take a rest first; this thing needs to be discussed with other elders."
"Yes, thank you." The man bows his head and leaves the tent. While being escorted by the guard wearing leather armor outside the tent.
A tan-skinned, middle-aged man enters the large tent and kneels in front of the elderly man.
"What is your thought?"
"We should accept the offer and make our ancestor's dream come true."
"Who do you think is suitable to succeed me?"
The middle-aged man was quiet. The king had many children, but there are two that he likes the most: his fourth prince and sixth princess, both of whom come from the same mother. The problem right now is the first prince and the other king's children.
"Now that I am old, I regret becoming a womanizer when I was young."
The middle-aged man doesn’t dare say anything. The king, when young, is a vile man who kills his brothers and sisters. Although there is no record, the king can’t stop the mouth of the people.
"I called all the elders to have a meeting."
Inside another tent, a member of the Anti-Federation is waiting. He is not worried if they refuse to join; he will go to other tribes. The reason he came to the Sand Berserk Tribe first was because they hated the federation.
According to the information he got, the mage nation and warrior alliance refused to join, but it was only a matter of time. Once everything is ready, a new and pure federation will be born.
-
A few days later at night, when the caravan stops to take a rest and sleep, Levi's group stays further from them. The reason is simple: the other creature becomes restless when Ben is near them.
Levi meditates under the starry sky. Fire elements are dense in the desert or volcanic areas. Here, mages that have an affinity for the fire element can advance faster. If they can survive, there is a reason why this place is called the Red Sand Desert. Because of the constant war, the sand is dyed red.
Without anyone noticing the sand was moving, the night watch thought it was just the wind blowing the sand. However, Ben is different; he opens his eyes and roars.
The sleeping people wake up and want to curse the horned bear for making a noise at night. What happens next is that many figures come out of the sand and attack the caravan.
"Enemy attack!" After shouting an alarm, a sword cut off the guard's neck.
The enemy moves fast; some of the people don’t even manage to get hold of their weapons before being killed.
While the caravan is in chaos, Levi's group at the back is calm, but on the sand, there are already several people collapsed to the ground dead. Ben is chewing on one of the corpses. The enemy, seeing their comrade die, decided to target other merchants.
Levi stays without bothering to save the other caravan. He knows what the other merchants are saying behind his back, using an undead sand mouse to listen to their conversation. If there is an attack, his group will be the first to die.
For Peter, if he comes here, he will save him; if not, it’s up to fate.
Speaking of the devil, Peter and his man are running toward him while being chased. If they left their goods behind, the attacker might ignore them, but they bring them along.
Peter, seeing his escort being hard-pressed by the attacker, began to panic and flee in the rich merchant's direction for protection, but his path was blocked by the bandits.
Without a choice, he runs in Levi's direction.
Ben, kill the bandit." Levi growl.
Ben gazes in the direction where Peter is coming from and sprints.
Peter and the other face each other when pale; fortunately, the horn bear target is not them.
Ben moves past them and attacks the bandits. Their sword can’t even injure the monster's hide. While Ben is distracted, a figure bursts from the sand, and his sword, imbued with mana, aims at the monster's neck.
When the attack is coming closer, an earth spike comes out of the sand and impales the man's body. The man's eyes were wide, and blood flowed down the sand.
The other bandits can’t do anything to stop the horned bear.
After a while, there is a loud whistle, and the bandits disappear into the sand and retreat in all directions while stealing the goods.
Although there is chaos, the one that suffers is the weak merchant, while the rich merchants are calm, and their escort is stronger than the bandit. One merchant even committed suicide because he lost most of his goods.
The life of a merchant is hard; if you succeed, you will make a lot of money, and if you fail, you will lose money or go bankrupt.
Peter thanks Levi and Ben for saving him. Without them, he will lose everything.
Levi is interested in the bandit technique of moving in the sand; too bad he can’t capture one of them alive.
There is no more attack after that, and most monsters will avoid the caravan. There is one problem: the caravan needs to resupply their food and water.
However, it’s not a problem for Levi since he had the spatial storage spell and even had a bag to put extra food in. For water, he had magic, and there was still a water element in the air even in the desert.
Fortunately, there are several cities created by the tribes of the Red Sand Desert, and one of them is Veins City. Although they hate outsiders, there is one problem with living in the desert and on dried earth, which is their lack of food. Because of that, they created this city to procure trade with the other kingdoms.
The native tribe traded minerals and goods that could be found in the desert. From afar, they already see the Veins City; rather than calling it a city, it looks like a gathering of numerous large tents, and they don’t even have a wall.
Once Levi enters, he can see that the large tents are organized into different districts. Peter says goodbye to Levi because he needs to resupply before moving on the road again.
After discussing with the others, Clara and the rest will go and find a place to stay while Levi goes to explore the market area.
When Levi enters the market, there are many people and hawkers selling goods. There is even a fruit that looks similar to the opuntia, or prickly pear, cactus on earth. The only difference in the fruit is the size of a papaya. According to the seller, the fruit comes from a large cactus tree belonging to a certain tribe.
"Do all native tribes know the kingdom language?" Levi asked since the seller is a native.
"No, only natives that trade with the kingdom learn the language; the others still speak in their native language." The seller replied.
He buys meat and some fruit at the market. Although he had enough meat for the journey, it was better to be prepared. While walking, he sees a sign in the native tribe's language. Since he had a free language agreement, he quickly understood the language. "Shaman magic shop."
"What do you want?" The wrinkled elderly woman spoke in an annoying tone in her native tongue.
"Can I look around?" Levi asks in the elderly woman's native language.
Hearing that, the elderly woman's expression changes, and she smiles, saying, "Sure, if you want anything, you can call me."
Inside the shop, there are various shaman tools, but Levi doesn’t know what their functions are.
"Do you sell mana stone?"
"No, the tribe kings and elders control the mana stone sale."
"Do you know where I can find it?"
"In the past, it was easy to get mana stones as long as you had the money, but now it is different."
"Why?"
"I don’t know, suddenly they begin to ban and control the sale of mana stones."
"What type of magic book do you sell?"
The elderly woman recommended several books, and he found something interesting. As mages, shamans also had a branch of magic, one of which was related to the soul.
However, this type of soul magic had been abandoned because it was weak. Even its highest-ranking magic can only turn the soul into a ghost that can only walk through a wall. There are also several weaknesses, like the fact that it can’t walk under the sun and the main body can’t die.
In the end, Levi still buys it and hopes to find inspiration to prevent his soul from being destroyed when he dies. He also decided to buy a book about shaman alchemy. However, compared to mages, their way is crude, but since this is just a common book, they might have hidden the advance book about alchemy.
The shop doesn’t have a necromancy book because the native tribe honors the dead.
While Levi was checking the shaman's magic book list, the elderly woman had been observing Levi. She hesitated because he was an outsider, but the fourth prince and sixth princess, time was running out.
"I have a way to get you the mana stone."
"What should I do?" Levi is not naive, thinking that the elderly woman is helping him. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
"Let me close the shop first."