Circle of truth
"The island is flat and not that big... and the clock tower, where the treasure is located, is a thousand-meter long... You can just look and see where the tower is... In fact, you could also answer the second question in the same way as you could already see the cannibals' village..."
The Shaman froze; was this a joke? He was clearly not satisfied with the answer, "How is that possible? Is that even a question that can gauge wisdom? I can't accept this!"
Five understood the shaman's reaction; everyone would be pissed when they realized that the answer was so simple. He quickly nodded to Angela and intervene, "Didn't you make a promise, it is not right to go back now that you have lost the bet. You should know that wisdom is not just a matter of finding the right answer, it is also a matter of finding the simplest answer! What is the use of making a remarkable discovery if you are the only one able to understand it? In a way, Angela's question tested your wisdom and your ability to notice the obvious!"
"But still... This is too silly!" complained the Shaman, he was reluctant to admit defeat.
"Regardless, you gave your word! Are you going to take her as your apprentice or no?" asked Five. Next to him, Angela looked at the Shaman with expectation. She was flushed red after speaking for so long to a stranger but at last, her actions were being rewarded!
The Shaman hesitated, he had been utterly defeated but inside, he was considering his options. Even though he had lost, he could still display his thick skin and go back on his words, after all, the records of the tribe were precious. On the other hand, being shameless now could severely affect the tribe's future as it would without a doubt strain their relationship with the dungeon.
Eventually, he conceded, "Alright... I gave you my word, as from tonight, you shall be my apprentice. Can you bring back Mira? I shall make a Circle of Truth immediately."
Five let out a rare smile and nodded to Angela. The latter quickly departed before returning with Ariel, Alice and Mira.
The Shaman was relieved to see Mira safe and sound; he quickly pulled her to his side and said: "I have all the materials necessary to make a Circle of Truth. Since you are going to be my apprentice, please observe attentively. As the Shaman of a tribe, I do have some knowledge of many professions. What I will be doing now will be useful for you to grow as an Enchanter. Mira, you should also watch carefully!"
After he spoke, the shaman walked a few meters away and took out a pouch. The next second, he loosened the pouch and started pouring its content around him. A thin stream of red powder started to flow out of the pouch and with that, the Shaman started drawing a strange circle around him. It was similar to artistic painting.
Five watched the scene from afar; it was obvious that making a circle of truth was not so simple as the Shaman was following some sort of pattern; he would sometimes pour more powder on some spots and sometimes, he would leave an obvious gap and only fill it up later. Five did not understand the principles behind the shaman's action but he did not bother to ask; it would be up to Angela to understand this.
Soon, the circle was drawn and the Shaman took out another item. This time, it was a gourd made of animal skin containing some sort of blood-like liquid! With the crimson liquid, the shaman continued his drawing and immediately, the effects could be seen. The weird pattern drawn by the Shaman started to glow with a faint red light, giving it a mystical appearance.
"This is the Circle of Truth. It is alright if you did not understand anything, I am just showing you my skills and what you will be able to do in the future. Now, let's begin, please take place in one of the two spots!" said the shaman. He himself took place inside the circle on one of the two empty spots purposedly left for people to stand on.
The three harpies were silent, they were all still examining the circle, trying to understand how the shaman was able to make such a thing. And before they could react, Five already started to move to the second spot. The Shaman blinked his eyes in surprise, he thought that Angela would have been the first one to enter the Circle of Truth to become his apprentice; yet, it turned out that the dungeon master moved in first. He thought that since it was their first meeting, he would definitely send the harpy first to test the water but it turned out that Five was the one who took the risk.
It was not that Five was completely trusting the Shaman but if it turned out that the 'Circle of Truth' was a trap, then at least, if he died, he would be able to revive later on. If Angela went in first and if it turned out to really be a trap, then he would never get to see the silver-haired harpy again.
"Now, as a reminder, we, the barbarians are very close to nature. Just like the beasts and monsters, we value our oaths very highly, especially when sworn before our totems! Inside the Circle of Truth, all lies are futile, if you planned to trick us, you better leave now before suffering," warned the Shaman.
"Don't worry, I was not lying when proposing these terms and also, oaths are very important to me too. As a dungeon master, I guess I can count as a monster too," answered Five.
"That's good, in that case, let's begin!"
...
At the Vicious Rhino Tribe
In one of the tents specially set up for guests, 5 players were holding a secret meeting. Seated in a circle, they were discussing among themselves while drinking some wine.
"Boss, this tribe is really rich! We traded all the food we brought with us but they still have a lot of furs and teeth!" exclaimed one of the players.
Everyone was in a good mood; after traveling for days, they were finally being rewarded. The gains of this journey would amount to at least 1000 gold; if sold correctly, they might make even more profits.
"These barbarians are so stupid! They are selling to us at such a low price. When they brought us to this bigger tribe, I thought they would try to bargain with us but it turned out that they gave us even more items to trade, haha!" said another player.
"Haha, I still can't understand why the traders do not come here? We should quickly seize the monopoly of the area! Just how much will we earn like that?"
"It's because of the past war but since we are not locals, the barbarians do not mind us too much. Also, keep in mind that we have the advantage of having an inventory. It is much safer for us to carry the goods than for the NPCs."
Iron Shark was quietly sitting with the players. While everyone was happily chatting, he was deep in thoughts, completely ignoring the others; even the beautiful woman who was leaning against his left thigh.
"..."
"What is it, Boss? Are you not satisfied with the trade we did? You have been silent for quite a while, is something wrong?" asked one of the underlings.
For the first time, Iron Shark's eyes focused on the player, "I was just a little bit disappointed. Compared to the Black Iron Tribe, it looks like all these tribes are just selling their excess loot. If I am not wrong, after years of not trading with the towns, they have accumulated quite a few items and are now taking the opportunity to get rid of them."
The players immediately frowned as they heard his words, who would be happy at the idea of being sold old stuff? "What do you mean?" asked one of the player.
"Although this tribe, the Vicious Rhino Tribe, look more wealthy than the others and have some weapons and artifact, they are not willing to part with them. Maybe it is just because they first want to get rid of their excess items but it does not seem to be the case... When I think of the Black Iron Tribe, it felt more like they were pushing forward their weapons but these tribes, they are reluctant to and even avoid the subject"
"Maybe we just need to wait for a little bit and see if they will be willing to sell after a few more trades but it feels like that will not be the case!" said Iron Shark.
The players fell into deep thoughts and slowly realized that what Iron Shark was indeed true. Compared to these tribes, it was clear that the Black Iron Tribe was more willing to make trades as they actively displayed new items; it might just be out of despair to obtain more food to survive the winter but this was very unlikely.
The female player coquettishly moved closer to Iron Shark, "Then boss, could it be that the Black Iron Tribe has some secrets? It looks to me that they do have a reliable source of material since they are producing weapons! According to the identifier, the weapons we obtained were recently crafted! It might be wiser to focus our trade there instead of this bigger tribe. Although it is bigger and wealthier, it looks like it is stagnating... For such a big camp, I expected to see dozens of craftsmen but I only saw a handful..."
"Haha, you are right... But it is better to wait a little bit. Maybe once their warehouses will be empty, they will present their rarer items to us. And for now, let's try to get closer to the Black Iron Tribe, the more allies we have, the more beneficial it would be for Blue Lagoon."
Iron Shark slowly caressed the long silky hair of the woman and continued, "Apart from that, did any of you find some information about what happened in the forest last time?"
"According to the different tribes, there have been some strange movements among the beasts of the forests. They suddenly disappeared for a while before reappearing. The tribesmen did mention that the beasts might just be electing new Beast Kings to lead them and we might have just been unlucky to encounter them while they were fighting for the throne of the forest..." reported one of the players.
"Are we that unlucky? What about the items that we dropped?"
"All lost... When we went there, everything was gone. We don't know if they were picked up by someone or if they simply disappeared because we took too long to get there."
"Alright, at least, thanks to the system, we were able to keep the majority of our inventory... Sigh... It is quite late now... You should go back to your own tent!" said Iron Shark, indicating the end of the meeting.
As he spoke, he turned his attention to the woman as his hands continued to play with her hair. The players naturally knew what they were going to do; giving them a knowing glance, the men quickly retreated to their own tents.