Poda Tribe

On some random village, Alex, who has previously fainted was slowly waking up. His closed eyes, opened wide. His subconscious thought that he was still in the desert, though it wasn't hot enough to scald.

He tried standing up from where he currently lay, but he was too weak to do such a simple task. With a dull thud he fell to the wooden floor.

It looked to have shaken his head by a bit. He was now able to calmly check his surroundings. 'Where am I?' was what he thought.

'What happened? It seems that I have lost consciousness in the desert and someone brought me here, in this hous-'

*Creak*

The creaking sound of wood was heard and was soon followed by a series of footsteps.

Alex tried taking out the dagger that was sheathed on the bracer in his arms, yet his eyes shook in horror as he just found out that his weapons were missing. Even his favorite cape was taken away from him.

'Sh*t!'

Since he was unable to stand up anyway, he just sat on the floor and looked at the door with fearful eyes.

'Calm down, calm down!' every single one of those thuds resonated with his beating heart making him unable to calm down. Cold sweats started forming in his forehead and with a bang, the door opened up.

A big baldie entered the room.

It was a baldie with a menacing tied goatee. Along with his tall and muscular appearance, he was like some kind of right hand man in an underworld gang.

"Are you okay?" with a deep voice, the baldie asked.

"Yeah. I'm just a little weak right now, that's why I fell." his voice that was supposed to be shaky as a sign of fear was calm. Unlike everything that he was feeling inside, he looks normal on the outside.

"I know you want to know where this is. You're in the tribe of Poda."

"And where's that?"

"We're situated at the far west of Sherwood. Let's go and have a meal. I suppose you've already adjusted with your current state and you're able to walk on your own."

'I think I could only follow this baldie for now. Although having a weapon for self defense is a must, I should first assess the situation and hope that they are good people.'

Thinking of this, he slowly followed after the big baldie. Even though he was saved at the desert, he couldn't help but be threatened by how the man looks. It was quite absurd to think that someone helped him for some purposes like slavery or something.

When he got out of the room, a fragrant smell assaulted his nose. It was the scent of food cooked to perfection. Or maybe he was just hungry. Anyways, there he was standing outside the room, staring in front.

At the dining table, he could see a woman and a teen about two years younger than him sitting there, waiting for them.

Although he was weak and famished, Alex slowly walked towards the sink, opened the faucet and washed his hands. After doing so, he sat across the big baldie, with the woman to his right and their son to his left.

It was a happy meal but wasn't really a 'happy meal', but a bucket-full of fried chicken, now that is happy!

It was like any other family during this meal time, parents asking about their son's progress in school. Then they asked Alex where he's from, which he answered truthfully.

'They seem to be good people.' he smiled while answering some of their questions.

Despite being very careful earlier about not trusting people so easily, he wasn't able to lie. It just wasn't him. Since they were good to him then he shall treat them the same.

After they've asked him, he also asked about this place and also how he would be able to go back to Azta.

There were quite a few things he learned about the Poda Tribe, they are farmers. As a farmer, most of them are uneducated; struggling to earn every penny that they could.

One day, a tribesman that was exiled returned and taught everyone some fighting skills either to defend themselves against beasts and bandits or to hunt the beasts.

Ever since that day, the farmers continued to prosper. Not wealthy with money, but with food. Being the farthest tribe in Sherwood, they had trouble buying and selling stuffs. So instead of using swords and spears, they became proficient with their sickles, shovel and even rakes.

Then he knew that his way back home would take a very long time.

"Oh! Then what about magic? Someone should be a mage here right?" after learning of their unique ways, Alex immediately asked about magic.

Since he was here anyway, it wouldn't hurt asking a mage to teach him how to properly use magic. But then he saw a frown on the baldie's face.

"You see. Mages aren't doing well here. They aren't welcomed in Sherwood."