Change of plans

The next day, the sun was still rising at the horizon but the Black Iron Tribe's village was already booming with life. The barbarians were eagerly preparing their equipment for today's hunt.

Leaning against one of the houses, Achi was quietly observing the preparations. Everything was going well but he was quite frustrated. Soon, a man slowly made his way toward Achi, "Chief, everything is ready. What should we do?"

"mmm, these guys are still lurking around there. Do as usual. Send just 10 men you know where and tell Baltra to lead the rest of you in the forest. It's fine even if we are not getting much. Just make sure that everyone keeps their mouth shut," answered Achi.

"No problem chief." The barbarian quickly went back to the hunters and soon, the whole group left the village.

Achi looked at the few men left to guard the village and sighed. Compared to a few days ago, the village seemed empty. In normal circumstances, even as most of the men left the village, the village would still be quite lively as many barbarians would try their hands at blacksmithing. As a result, now that the village was awfully quiet, Achi felt out of place.

"If only they were not so curious..." Achi was internally complaining when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"Hey Brother Achi! Thank you for your hospitality but it is time for us to return to our tribe. We came here to bid farewell!" A tall and muscular barbarian spoke as he continued to pat Achi in a friendly manner.

Behind him, a couple of other barbarians were quietly smiling, waiting for the chief's decision.

"You are leaving already Brother Vans?" said Achi with a surprised expression. He quickly looked at the other barbarians and continued, "it looks like you are all already prepared. I won't delay you much longer, I know that the journey is long."

"Indeed, I know that you are busy too, it was already a lot to ask to stay for these two days. I hope we did not disturb you too much. In the future, our tribes should continue to work together!" answered Vans. Through his thick beard, a smile that looked more like a grimace appeared.

"Don't mention it, you are always welcomed to the Black Iron Tribe!"

"Thank you, brother. We shall take our leave then!"

"Alright, have a safe journey brother Vans, my greetings to lady Milee."

Vans nodded as he quickly returned to the group of barbarians and jumped onto his horse. He waved at Achi before hurriedly leaving with his group.

Achi watched the group slowly leave the village as his warm expression disappeared, "those curious spies are finally gone!" murmured Achi. He waited a few minutes to make sure they were completely gone before quickly making his way toward the Shaman's tent to inform him.

Outside the village, the small group of barbarians quietly made their way to the north toward their own tribes. As soon as they left the village, Vans no longer wore that warm expression; instead, he was now deeply frowning as he thought about what he had seen.

"What do you think, Vans? Are they the reason why those townsmen did not come to our tribe?" asked one of the barbarians. His name was Luka, the leader of the Black Vulture Tribe. As the leader of one of the tribes that were contacted by Blue Lagoon, he was naturally anxious as he saw that the players actually missed their meeting. Dealing with them was a once in a lifetime opportunity that they could not let go that easily.

They waited for the whole day but as they still saw no one coming, Luka ordered his men to investigate the whereabouts of the players and it turned out that their trace disappeared near the Black Iron Tribe.

It was definitely suspicious but as the Black Iron Tribe was as strong as the Black Vulture Tribe, he could not really cause a ruckus there. And so, Luka decided to call his backer which was the Vicious Rhino Tribe. The latter responded by sending Vans, the vice-chieftain, to investigate the matter. They decided to stay for a few days at the Black Iron Tribe to find out any abnormal behavior but unfortunately, they found nothing. They had already stayed for 2 days and could not come up with any more excuses to prolonged their stay; after all, their tribes had never been friendly with each other to begin with. When they stayed there, they could feel the tension growing but still, no suspicious activities were reported.

"It is strange but it does not seem that the Black Iron Tribe has anything to do with those townsmen. They have probably also been contacted by them but did not conduct any trade yet. They are still fully focused on hunting and are preparing for winter. But their behavior is quite strange as if they are hiding something from us. Well, I guess that's normal, we are not really friends and they might just be trying to hide their secrets."

Luka nodded with a pensive expression, "then I guess we can only wait for those townsmen to come back. If they don't come in the next few days, let's send a few men to the nearby town. Since they have already sent a few men here, it should be alright if we send a few people to investigate. What do you think?"

"Sure... It is a good idea, just remember to contact us when those townsmen will arrive. We would also like to make a deal with them!" answered Vans.

"Of course!"

...

"Excuse me, Elder. May I come in?" Achi stood in front of the Shaman's tent as he respectfully asked for the permission to come in.

A few seconds went by and just as Achi was thinking that the Shaman might not be at home, a weak voice came from the tent, "Come in."

'The Shaman is still as straightforward as always' thought Achi as he slowly entered the tent. The inside was quite dim but he quickly noticed the old man sitting on his bed with a tired expression.

"Did I wake you up? I can come back later to discuss if it is inappropriate."

"That is fine, don't worry. From your tone, I guess that we have some good news. What happened?" asked the Shaman. He slowly rubbed his tired eyes with his aged fingers to get rid of his sleepiness.

"Yes. Those curious bastards are finally gone. They just left the village a few minutes ago, I personally checked their tents; they are completely empty," answered Achi. At the same time, he quietly rummaged through the Shaman's pile of items to find some food.

"Really? That's good news but before we do anything else, make sure it is not just one of their stupid tricks to try to stay here for a bit longer."

"Sure but shouldn't we restart sending some men to the dungeon? Those townsmen should be back soon and we don't really have much to trade... It will be quite hard to get them to trade all their items with us..."

"mmm... I understand that but I guess we will just have to change our plans. We'll just let the townsmen trade with the other tribes. They are already suspicious of us and it is better to keep the dungeon a secret or else, the other tribes might very well fight for it. It will be far disastrous than just blocking those merchants."

"I suppose you are right. Still, I think that we should send more men to the dungeon. Sending just ten per day is not making much difference. They only collect some ores but we can't even use the ores since we tried to hide our blacksmiths. If the Rhino and Vulture Tribe really don't come back, I will send more men tomorrow and allowed the blacksmith to exercise," said Achi.

"mmm youngsters these days are really too impatient but I guess it is fine. You know what is right for the village but remember that the safety of the tribesmen come first!"

"Don't worry, I know what I am doing." After searching for a while, Achi finally pulled out a small gourd containing milk. He quickly poured some for the Shaman who seemed to be slowly falling asleep again.

"Elder, please drink some, the day has already started!" said Achi.

"Eh? Right... I still need to sleep... I spent last night preparing the things for Mira. Since we are on the subject, remember to let her sleep in the evening so that she can be ready for the night."

Hearing his daughter's name, Achi became slightly worried, "she will be fine, right? Just don't push her too much, she is still young and is my only child!"

"I know! But she has great potential, it would be a pity to let her talent rot. It is the first time I've seen the elements react so vividly during a Shamanic Test, she will definitely surpass me in no time! But don't worry, I will just push her a little bit... She is still my granddaughter, I will not let her get harmed in any way," answered the Shaman.

Achi was not very satisfied with the arrangement but he knew that it was for the greater good. A few days ago, all the children of the tribe went through a small test to determine who would be the most suitable to inherit the Shaman's skills. As it turned out, Mira was the one selected.

Gaining the status of a Shaman was a great honor that would bring you respect and admiration even when visiting other tribes. However, Achi knew very well how hard it was to actually become one; being talented did not necessarily mean one would successfully become a Shaman. As a parent, he did not want his daughter to suffer the hardships of the training. However, he was a father but also the chief of the tribe, he needed to ensure that the tribe would be under the protection of a suitable Shaman and his daughter was also the best candidate.

"Put that milk away, I will go back to sleep. I need to recover properly for tonight. One last thing though, you see that small vial on the table?" asked the Shaman while pointing at the small table made of clay.

Achi quickly turned to look and effectively saw a tiny purple vial. He quickly grabbed it and presented it to the Shaman.

"This is what I've made from the goo. Since we don't plan on delaying the merchants, we might as well use it for ourselves. Choose a few strong warriors and prepare a hot bath for each one of them. Let the water boil and pour two drops of that liquid. Then just tell them to stay in the bath for at least 5 minutes. The longer the better but if they cannot withstand the pain, it is better for them to stop," said the Shaman.

"A bath? Just what is that purple thing?" asked Achi with a curious expression.

"It's a toxic bath combined with a powerful healing agent. It will destroy the user's skin and muscles but at the same time, it would heal all the user's injuries. It is an endless cycle but the end result should be an overall strengthening of the user. You should use it too. In that vial, there's enough for 6 people. You will need to bring back more goo for me to make more..."

"What? That tiny thing is actually that useful?"

"Yes... Just go and try it, the effect should be instantaneous... Now, if there's nothing else, let me continue my sleep."

"Oh okay, sorry for disturbing you then, have a good rest," politely said Achi. He understood that he was being kicked out but he did not mind. Instead, his attention was focused on the tiny vial; he could not wait to give it a try.