Welcome to the Oasis

"I remember you said something last night about the armor I wore saying you had business with the one who created it." Secat stopped rubbing Rose's head as she looked to Polemos with a questioning smile on her face as she continued. "Which sounds like a lie as he said that only he and his master were the only ones who knew about it. Or did they lie to me about it?"

"They definitely lied to you about it. It's called lamellar armor, and not only do I know it, I was the one who gave them the idea for it through my friend. But I gotta say if that was a prototype armor then it seemed passable but it looked."

"Bad, and it was extremely uncomfortable to say the least. That damn asshole, he said it was a complete product and was fit for battle. I'm gonna break his damn leg for lying to me." Secat finished what Polemos was trying to say as she swore.

"I got a better idea instead, does the group have a blacksmith?" Polemos asked as an evil-like smile spread across his face.

"Yes, why-?" Secat responded but then remembered he said he was the one who originally gave them the idea for the armor. As she started to smile evilly also.

"With that, it makes things a lot easier so that way we can easily screw over the blacksmith and his arrogance. I'll provide our blacksmith with the whole production method of the armor as it can be made into the personal specialty of The Burnt Lioness. I was gonna ask the blacksmith to make me a personal armor with the method but, since the prick thinks he can claim it's his without the real method then screw him."

Polemos explained his idea as Secat continued to smile, as even though the armor she wore looked like Lamellar armor it looked more like squares of metal that was welded together instead of being punched and then laced together normally in a horizontal row.

As Polemos explained another idea came to his mind as to better describe what Lamellar should be like he pulled out a journal of his and showed a sketch he made of what it was supposed to look like.

"Even though that, whatever it's called, what they made you had the idea behind it, this is what it should resemble or close to. The piece you had looked like they tried to weld it together and seemed to be restrictive. This style is supposed to be the complete opposite as it's less restrictive."

Secat was drawn to the picture that showed what the armor could look like as she even noticed all the side notes around the picture that seemed to describe all the types of materials they could be used for it. The more she looked and read she couldn't wait to have the group's blacksmith start to make the armor.

'Why haven't I seen anything like this in the oasis's library or our library?' As she read more her mind raced trying to remember if she saw anything like it but couldn't. 'Even the ruins we explored never had armor like this.'

Secat had to pull herself from the journal as she looked at Polemos.

Polemos didn't notice that Secat was no longer looking through the journal as he kept on explaining and showing the usability and versatility of the armor until he heard a question that made him pause.

"Could, could you say that again. I don't think I quite heard you." Polemos asked with a confused and odd look on his face.

"I asked if you're some type of genius." Secat asked again.

After hearing her question Polemos slowly closed the journal as he put it away into his necklace as he laughed and smiled wryly.

"No, Gods no, I'm pretty stupid actually. Just have a good imagination and a lot of ideas but I'm no genius."

"Impossible, this armor idea is something even the oasis hasn't seen. I've read almost every book in its library and even my own and nothing like this armor is described." Secat had a baffled expression on her face as she looked at Polemos.

He could only shake his head as he shrugged as he started to walk over to Rose and jump atop her head as he was surprised when he heard the oasis had a library.

"Like I said, I just have a good imagination. And the oasis has a library, thank Death. I've been dying to know where the hell I'm actually at."

Secat raised her brow in surprise when Polemos said he had no idea where he was at as she asked.

"You're telling me you have no idea where you're at?"

"Yup, no clue. All the books from my tribe talked about plains of grass and seas of trees but nothing of the desert. A little odd if you asked me."

Secat started to rub her temples as they throbbed slightly as she was really baffled by the new information about Polemos.

"Well one, this is the one of the many Knowledge Oasis's. The second of three each established in a Minor Oasis. And the actual desert you're in it's called The Twin Blood Sea Desert. I'll explain what I can as we head to the oasis."

Secat started to jog as she explained everything she could about the history of The Twin Blood Sea Desert. As Polemos had Rose follow beside her.

"The name comes from the constant wars and the blood that's been spilled across the desert. We've known no such thing as a kingdom or empire of any kind, just alliances from some of the biggest oases…"

Secat continued to explain the history of the desert the best she could as they headed to the oasis.

Polemos listened with great attention as he was very interested in the history and information of the desert. She explained that The Twin Blood Sea Desert covered the entire eastern and southern part of The Banished World, while the rest was covered in plains, mountains, and the sea.

'It seems as though The Twin Blood Sea Desert covers most of The Banished World, second only to the sea as she said it covered the majority if not the rest of the world.' Polemos thought as he was digesting all the new information that he was learning.

"I'm pretty sure I missed some things but you'll be able to gather more knowledge or information when you officially join The Burnt Lioness. Our information is only second to the library of the oasis in certain areas. But will never be able to compete with the actual amount that it holds." Secat smiled as she was proud of the information that the group had as it was one of the biggest reasons why they were considered one of the top groups in the oasis.

"Good, because I'll probably be spending quite a while getting as much information as I can. Plus I still have to keep my promise of the spar between us. I don't want to get rusty. Oh, and does the library have anything on spells or anything related to Mana?"

Polemos asked with excitement in his eyes and a smile on his face but the answer Secat gave him made his smile twitch.

"Yes, and also no. Here in The Knowledge Oasis not much is held for spells but, there is a lot of basic information on Mana. If you're looking for spells and higher tier knowledge of Mana, you'd have to join an Academy, we have some spells in our group but not at the level of the academies." Secat spoke with a distant look in her eye when she spoke about the Academy.

"Is it hard to join the Academy?" Polemos asked with a wary look.

"Incredibly. I've tried a few times and each time the tests are different. That and you must be at a certain level of strength and age to be accepted." Secat answered bluntly.

"And that is?"

"Magician stage, and must be under twenty five. But the test always changes for the entry of the academy. Sometimes it's a written test with a battle in the end, a tournament, it's always changing. I should have entered years ago but." Secat sighed then continued. "Some asshole decided it would be funny to buy his way in through my efforts, then have the audacity to ask me to marry him as he takes my place."

Polemos raised his brows in surprise as he was both surprised as well as baffled.

"So some prick not only took your chance of entering the academy, he also thought he could marry you because he had daddy's money. Wow, he must have had some of the biggest pair or he was mental."

"Not anymore, I crushed them when the prick tried to grab my ass. After that happened I was not allowed to join in any of their tests for a few years. I got a few more chances as they recruit a new batch every year. But enough of that." She stopped as she pointed to the gates of the oasis. "We have arrived at The Knowledge Oasis. Home to the Knowledge Library and yours truly, the great leader of The Burnt Lioness."

When Polemos looked in the direction she pointed towards he was surprised by the sea of people and colors. There were many vendors yelling out to gather the people's attention, people in bright and colorful clothes, but what caught Polemos attention was the food stalls and carts that had some very unique foods on display.

That and even though he was sitting on Rose's head no one screamed or ran when they saw Rose. Then when he heard a roar come from behind he smiled as it made sense.

"Since you don't need to meet with that bastard blacksmith let's head on over to the Mercenary Guild to get you all registered and assigned to my group. Then will head on over to the encampment and get you all settled. Oh and I almost forgot." She smiled a lovely smile as she widened her arms. "Welcome to the oasis."