Tribes?

Caspian and Saydie talked for a while, not about any personal matters, only escape. By all standards of measurement, Saydie was a natural beauty. She had auburn hair, big blue eyes, light skin pinned with freckles, and a slim yet fruitful figure. If Caspian were human, he had been lined up with the other males of this world, trying to become her partner. He could tell that she was young and had a naivety about her, making it easy to manipulate her emotions. In any case, Caspian was not here to make friends, he needed to gather Essence and get stronger.

[Congratulations, You Have Reached Level 2]

Name- Caspian Munro, LVL 2

Race- Merrow

Essence- 6,500

HP- 25/ 25

MP- 25/ 25

Strength- 10/ 20

Agility- 10/ 20

Intelligence- 10/ 20

Skills- Venom Spike/ Venom Spike Shot

Status Points- 2

1 Status Point = 3,000 Essence.

After the level up, it seemed that the system had awarded Caspian with two free status points. Caspian put one of them into strength and felt the familiar sensation of his muscles tearing and mending. This time, however, did not feel as bad as before, instead it was more of a dull ache. Caspian deposited the other point into agility and felt even lighter than before, like if he wanted to, he could defy gravity.

Saydie sat watching Caspian, he seemed to be deeply focused on something, perhaps he missed his family or something. Regardless, they needed to get moving soon, and Saydie did not want to spend any more time in this smelly dungeon than she needed to.

"Hey, fish-brain, can you snap out of whatever trance you are in, we have a task to complete, and we are on a tight schedule." Saydie snapped, sounding a little annoyed at the fish boy for losing focus on the plan.

"Right, we should probably wait until this creature eats again and start making our way out immediately after." Caspian said, half of that was because it made sense, while the other half was because he was running low on Essence. He needed a fresh batch before moving on because he did not know how difficult hunting would be once he was back on the outside.

"Wasn't I just eaten, how often does Serpentina need to eat anyway"? Saydie asked.

"You've been here for almost ten hours, and did you say Serpentina? Don't tell me that this thing has a name." Caspian looked at Saydie with shock, he thought he was in the belly of a fairly common creature, but if it had a name, it must be special.

"Wow, I was knocked out for that long huh? That is not too surprising knowing the strength of legendary monsters. I thought that since you are an ocean dweller, your tribe or race or whatever would have known of its existence. Serpentina is what we call a legendary monster, it is immensely powerful. My people have tried many times to kill it, failing every time. We even signed a truce with over five other tribes to defeat it along with the other legendary monsters scatted all over the realm to no avail. Finally, we decided to leave them alone, and things have been quiet for over a century. Recently, the villages in this area have been suffering a fish shortage which is vital to them, so I was summoned to investigate. I never expected to come face to face with a legendary monster, or a new tribe for that matter." Saydie took a deep breath after explaining, she did not mean to dump all of that information onto Caspian, she just wanted to vent for a moment.

This was fine with Caspian, as he needed to buy time for the next meal to arrive anyway, he also wanted to learn more about this world.

"You said there are other tribes?" Caspian asked, genuinely curious.

"Sure there are", Saydie said in a nonchalant tone, "the world is full of different tribes from all over the world, just like you, more are discovered every couple of decades."

"Can you elaborate on a few of them, if you don't mind that is." Caspian asked.

"Well since you are a mere child, I guess it can't hurt to let you into the loop. There are a few tribes that are the main powerhouses of the world of Eradith. First are the regular mages, the weakest of the tribes, they make up for their weaknesses with sheer numbers. Next, are the Elves, they are powerful in terms of magical ability and physical prowess. Coming up next, we have the Orcs, they are not very bright, but the savage nature they demonstrate is terrifying. Then there are the Fairies, while not physically imposing, they alone control a specific magical element that everyone depends on as an energy source. Lastly, the Shadow Dwellers, while not much is known about them, we do know that most, if not all of them become stronger at night and have various transformation abilities. There you have it, the five most prominent tribes of Eradith. I come from the Holy Kingdom of Sunstone."

"So, I am going to guess that you are a mage then?" Caspian asked.

"Yes, I am a mental mage. In the case of mages, we can either be born a physical or mental type. Mental mages can usually make use some type of skill that manifests itself as a force we can control without physically touching anything. Physical type mages on the other hand usually manifest skills that enhance their body or objects around them." Saydie said in a studious voice, as if she had done extensive research on the subject.

"What about you, Caspian, what can you tell me about your tribe?" Saydie asked, narrowing her eyes at Caspian.

"I don't really have a lot of information to give you if I am to be honest. My family was killed on a hunt away from the kingdom at an early age and I haven't managed to find my way back home since." Caspian lied, thinking on his feet for a plausible explanation for him being by himself.

"Alright then, maybe when you find your people, you will have a tale of a great escape to tell them, but for that to happen, we need to survive." Saydie sighed at the lack of information provided to her by Caspian.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Caspian finally heard the sound he had been waiting for, the sound of rushing water overhead.

"Get ready, its almost time to finally get the Hell out of here." Caspian said as two spikes burst from his arms.