Important people

After slaying the demons, the group continued their journey north. They passed the mountains and Kurma lakes, searching for the demon hunters from Artha.

While the warriors walked ahead, Aru and the stone mammoth calf closely followed behind them.

It was a sight to behold.

Usually, stone mammoths were difficult to tame, young or not. And yet, one was willingly following them.

It looked healthy and reinvigorated after receiving spirit energy from Aru.

If someone had seen the sight, they would have been amazed.

Soon, the group traversed kilometres of rough terrain.

As they went further, they could see the signs of destruction along the way. There were dark blood pools on the ground, smashed and destroyed trees, and even shattered rocks. The thin layer of snow that fell the previous day could barely hide these signs.

But there were no carcasses of spirit beasts; it was an odd situation.

The group didn't have to go far to see something man-made. A plume of smoke was rising from the forest nearby.

"I think we found the people from Artha," Nom said while gazing forward.

"No, I think they found us," Tia said as she saw some people emerging from the forest.

Three people were coming directly towards their group. Das and the rest paused. Only once he recognised their faces did he walk forward.

"Hello, we are from the Boulder tribe," he shouted for them to hear.

However, no one replied. They looked at Aru and his group with mistrust and caution.

"We are here to help."

The three people from Artha were standing just a couple of meters in front of Das. But when Das stepped forward, they began to cautiously back away.

"Stop. Don't move," one of them screamed, obviously ignoring Das's words.

Das halted, and along with him, the rest of his group stopped.

'They think we are demons,' Aru instantly realised the reason why the demon hunters were cautious.

An awkward silence permeated as the three people scrutinised Aru and his group. After all, they were an unlikely group of a child, five warriors, and a calf of a stone mammoth.

"You said that you are from the Boulder tribe. So, you must know how to prove you are not demons, right?" a demon hunter inquired.

'Oh, crap! Not again.' Aru scrunched his brows upon hearing their question.

'They seriously need to find a better way to identify demons. Always making a cut and injuring oneself was not the optimal way when you need to be ready for battle at all times.'

"Yes, we know. But do we have to cut ourselves?" Nom stepped up and asked. He was a little angry about being treated like a demon, so his voice contained a hint of hostility.

"If you can't prove you are not a demon, just turn back and return." The demon hunters turned hostile and raised their weapons. They were ready to fight if Aru and his group didn't cooperate.

'System - initiate link with them.'

[Rank 3 Human <Spirit 98 Energy>]

[Rank 3 Human <Spirit 90 Energy>]

[Rank 3 Human <Spirit 95 Energy>]

'Fuck, all three are peak rank 3 warriors. Stop, Nom, you have no chance against them,' Aru screamed in his mind.

"Wait, Wait, Wait. We can prove ourselves. Let me show that I am not a demon first."

Das quickly stepped in to defuse the situation.

Although Nom didn't like it, he decided to follow the intent of their leader.

Immediately, Das, Nom, Vir, Tia, and Moru took out the small knives they had and created a small wound on their arms. Even Aru unwillingly followed their lead and did the same.

As expected, they were not demons. No blood tendrils were emerging from their wounds to heal the injury.

"Now, do you believe that we are not demons?" Nom scoffed. "Your leader was the one that asked for the help of our tribe and yet you treat us like this. Is this how people from Artha behave? Shame on you." 

However, the demon hunter ignored him completely. They turned to gaze at the baby mammoth, determined not to overlook any detail.

"Uh! It's not a demon. We're certain of that," Das commented.

"We require evidence," they insisted.

"We rescued it when it and its mother were attacked by demons. The mother stone mammoth died, and it barely survived. It has been following us ever since. So, you don't need to worry. It's not a demon," Das reassured.

"Without proving that it's not a demon, I cannot permit you to advance any further."

"These damned people." Nom was incensed.

His fuse almost blew and he was about to attack the demon hunter. 

Suddenly, a chilling gust of wind descended from the sky, seizing everyone's attention.

A flock of colossal birds, their feathers as white as snow, hovered above the ground and sitting atop these birds were figures—people!

The bird flapped their wings silently and descended to the ground.

Once the demon hunters saw the bird, they quickly approached it. They eagerly waited for the people on the bird to come down. 

There were eight birds. But a total of 9 people wearing elegant clothing stepped down from the birds. 

The leader of the group was a youthful-looking man, accompanied by a child. An elderly lady was also among them, alongside a group of robust, young warriors.

The demon hunters greeted the leader of the group with pleasant smiles and began to talk with them, ignoring the people from the Boulder tribe. 

It didn't take long for Aru to identify the group of newly arrived people when he heard their conversation. 

'These are people from the Ice Phoenix clan,' Aru concluded.

Before embarking on this mission, he had gathered information from his master. Thus, he understood the concept of a clan and was familiar with the Ice Phoenix clan.

Clans were distinct entities from tribes. Typically, a clan governed a city and maintained close ties with numerous tribes. The Ice Phoenix clan, a northern clan, held dominion over the northern region.

In essence, they functioned as regional rulers.

Even the Boulder tribe relied on the city of the Ice Phoenix clan for its survival.

'They were indeed important people.'