"Mages don't have a good time here in Sherwood."
'What? It was ridiculous! Mages should be treated good by the citizens of this country. How come they are shoved away by them.
Mages are versatile during war, they can fight enemies up close, they can be a support or they can straight-out destroy a huge area.
During this era where demons and beasts are salivating over the humans, shouldn't they get every bit of strength to fight against the invaders?
"Are you serious?" disbelief was etched on Alex's face as he questioned the baldie.
Seeing the face of Alex, the baldie quickly said, "Oh! It seems that you misunderstood. Mages here in Sherwood are sent out either towards the City of Ember or City of Azta."
"But you said that they aren't welcome here."
"I did? They're not welcome here because Sherwood doesn't specialize in magic. Who wouldn't want Mages protecting their city."
"Look at you Reynard, even we would misunderstand you." said Reynard's wife.
"Hahaha. I am still trying to learn how to normally hold a conversation."
Alex's mind was already wandering at this point. He was scared of the thought that maybe the mages here were tied and were burned or stoned to death, like the legends on earth.
"Oh, right! Where did you guys hide my equipments? My weapons?" When he asked, the faces of the baldie and the young man soured.
Unlike what he had expected, the first one to talk was neither the baldie nor the kid, it was the woman on the table.
"What!? Why are there weapons in the house!" she suddenly started shouting while glaring at the big baldie.
The baldie quickly defended, "Uh, well, it looked pretty important to him so I hid it in the cabinet."
"Hmph!" she harrumphed coldly and slowly made her way towards the kitchen sink.
'What?' he didn't expect that such a simple question would lead to this.
Seeing the worry-filled face of Alex, the young man quickly said, "Ahh, don't worry about it. Something happened to mom when she was young which made her somewhat afraid of weapons." He explained it like it was something normal.
"S-still, I should apologize."
"Nah, man. We should let them talk, while I show you around the tribe." then he shouted "Dad! I'm gonna show him around first."
"Alright! But don't be late for dinner."
The duo went past the door when the young man stopped and said, "I'm Rezhul by the way." Rezhul then held out his right hand towards him.
"I'm Alex." he answered as he clasped the other man's hand and shook it. He wasn't really able to introduce himself to the family earlier and instead brought them a bit of a problem.
They then started walking around the village. The tribe seems capable of self-sustaining as Rezhul the facilities in the village. There was a school either for scholars or for warriors.
The school for scholars only lets them learn basic knowledge, so that they can catch up with the rich people in the city of Sherwood. It lets them learn how to act proper amongst people and increases their abilities to think.
While the school for warriors develops the core foundation a warrior or a mage before teaching the warriors the advanced methods and sending out the mages.
All of the tribesmen knows farming so they don't really lack rice, but they do lack meat by a bit. So some of them visits the neighboring tribes or villages that are somewhat abundant in meats to trade.
Even though the tribe was surrounded by forest, animals and beasts doesn't wander around the area.
After asking Rezhul of the weird event about the lack of beasts in the area. The answer that he got was that his tribesmen where hunting the whole area for food, even when they do not lack meat at that time. Greed got into their heads and the intelligent creatures avoided the forest.
'Hmmm. That was unlucky. I thought something precious was forcing the beast out of here.'
"So when do I get to have my equipments back?" Alex suddenly asked.
"If I'm not wrong then you'll get them this evening. Why do you ask?"
"I just don't feel safe without them. I get a bit fidgety inside."
"Yeah, that happened to me once. Oh right, there was also two beast cores near you when you passed out. They were rocks that was the color of fire with a bit of yellow veins on it."
Alex was suprised, he didn't think that he would get something as valuable as a beast core.
'Maybe it was the white rhino that gave me those cores. I'll be sure to repay him someday. Hmmm. I haven't really progressed regarding me, being a mage. I haven't meditated nor used magic aside from when I 'went' to the future.'
He doesn't really know if he's able to absorb the beast cores. He only knew that he could absorb an elemental crystal with wood element. But didn't know if he could absorb beast cores.
'Anyways, lets just leave it for later.'
"Are you a scholar or a warrior?" Alex couldn't help but ask, even though Rezhul almost literally said that he was a warrior, he just wanted a clarification.
"Well, I actually wanted to become a scholar when I was young, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. Me and my friends were actually abducted by thieves who demanded for ransom. We were beaten up so bad that we couldn't walk nor talk. If it wasn't for my dad and the others, I don't know what would happen to everyone."
"That... I'm sorry."
"Yeah, no. It's okay. Hahaha." Rezhul laughed it off as if it didn't matter. But Alex could feel a bit of his emotion; both his anger and sadness.
"What weapons do you actually use?" Alex asked another question to rid themselves of such atmosphere.
"Since you already knew that my tribe's using unique weapons, I am adept at using a sickle and I also practiced throwing knives." Rezhul said proudly, he was confident that if he were to face outsiders like Alex, he thought he wouldn't lose.
They were actually being trained against the weapons of warriors, such as swords and spears. With the advantage of their enemies not familiar with their weapons. They would also tend to underestimate the farm tools that they use.
"Can we have a sparring match? Maybe tomorrow?" Alex asked.
Since Rezhul was using a sickle as a weapon, with its short-range and the throwing knives, Alex thought that he wanted to be an assassin.
Although it would be a bit of a disadvantage when an assassin is fighting head-on, he didn't think much about it. Rezhul had a proper training, while he only knew how to swing his sword.
It isn't bad to learn something from time to time.
"Yeah sure!" Rezhul answered enthusiastically while grinning and he also thought that Alex was underestimating him because of his weapon choice. Then tomorrow he would show him what he's capable of.
When they entered the village, it was already nearing dusk. The sunset was dyeing the village in orange and the people were going from outside the village are returning.
As they entered the house, food was already being served on the dining table. Dinner was the same as lunch, the woman also seemed to calm down and Alex also said his apologies.
After dinner, the big baldie handed Alex his equipments along with the two beast cores. Immediately after his hands touched the beast cores, he heard the familiar ding once more.
*DING!*
*Desert Horse Beast Core detected, would you like to absorb? Y/N?*
Alex's hand trembled and his mind blanked for a second before smiling widely. He quickly thanked the big baldie and ran off towards the room that was given to him.
The notification of the system still lingers in Alex's eyes. He sat cross-legged and thought, 'Yes!'.
And I'm back once more. This was actually supposed to be released on saturday, but I became really lazy and played games.
Okay enough with the reasons, and I hope I could finish another chapter tomorrow, even though it's sunday.
If I was able to write a chapter, then it would prolly be released at around the same time.
Peace Out! :)