417 Refugees part 1

Finding someone in a big city, wasn't that hard. Doing so while trying my best to appear like any other cultivator of their technique, without even a single clue how higher stages of it have worked, was the hard point of this task.

If I were to judge the most inhabitants of the Overlord's island as the low levels, the elder that attempted to kill me and even managed to scratch my face as the medium stage, and someone even stronger as a proper high level… Even without the system upgrade, fighting them wouldn't be that much of a challenge!

\"Well, I told you what I need you to promise if you want me to speak. The one thing I can come up with is giving you a bit of my blood. From what I heard, upon reaching a high enough level, you might be able to acquire some techniques allowing you to detect resonance between bloodlines.\"

Shrugging her arms as if the problem of finding her sister was something I had to tackle by myself instead of asking for a straightforward solution from her, Jeleria looked at me sternly.

\"Do you take the deal or not?\"

Considering how I had to go to that city, either way, there was no reason not to pick up some kind of side quest on the way, especially if it would give me a better understanding of the structure and culture of the city. Additionally, there was quite a lot of matters that puzzled me, forcing me to continuously try to look for the answers by myself. If I could get the chance to answer at least some of them without really straining myself, I would be all for it!

\"Okay then, I swear I will do my very best to find your sister in that city, dead or alive. But the question is, what if she wants to stay in that city?\"

Thinking about it, even if the process of procuring new disciples for the sects in that city - assuming that it worked in a way similar to the cultivation lands that Eve originated from - was rather… unpleasant, it didn't mean that after years of hard work, if she somehow managed to use her talent to its maximum, she would be willing to leave everything she achieved only because Jeleria was worried about her!

\"That's okay with me. I just want you to help her. But simple promise won't do. Swear on your blood!\"

Pulling out a knife from God alone knows where Jeleria passed it to me with an expectant look in her eyes. Accepting the blade with as much reluctance as she had determination in herself, I looked at her with a mute question.

\"Cut your palm, and swear on your blood.\"

\"I, Mike Hectra-Katenari swear upon my blood, that I will use all means possible to find the whereabouts of Jeleria's sister, and give her my helping hand if she will be in a need of it.\"

Throwing the knife lightly to the girl, I allowed the skin on my palm to reconnect and close the wound, before raising my left eyebrow and looking at Jeleria.

\"Is that enough? Can we get to your part of the deal then?\"

I came here with the intention of learning all sorts of stuff about the history of this place, and how the heck could I find my way back to my own island. After a time-consuming process of hearing Jeleria's backstory, request and making this silly oath, she could either start finally spilling the beans or risk me breaking the promise without even a second thought to it!

\"Yeah. But I will start from the very beginning and as such, it might take a while to finish. I hope you are okay with it.\"

Seeing how there was no negative reaction from me, but instead, I moved to a more comfortable position, clearly indicating that I was waiting for her to finally pick up the topic.

\"YOu might wonder why I even mentioned the fact that you are not an islander at all. In simple words, you are not looking like anyone from my tribe, nor like the people from the heavenly city. But since this way of telling it is quite ambiguous, tell me. Back on that Island you apparently came from, was there two tribes vying for domination with the one that arrived on the island more recently, pushing their enemies out?\"

Wait, what? While I knew about this history from Helia, how the heck did Jeleria mention it now? With the bad premonition spreading through my mind I stopped myself from stating the obvious assumption that was born in my mind and decided to follow the girl's narration.

\"Yes. local inhabitants were being driven out by the invading tribe that finally managed to secure a foothold and was constantly spreading its influence over the entire island. Why ask though? Or rather, what do you want to say with that?\"

With a smile of satisfaction surfacing on Jeleria's mouth as soon as she confirmed her guess, she once again spread her arms out and looked at me as if I was the dumbest fuck in the world.

\"Then that tribe being attacked… Has the same ancestors as my tribe does. We are all descendants of the first wave of the refugees that escaped the great continent!\"

Wait, did it mean that all the islands that she implied that are inhabited, were populated by the offshoots from a single group of refugees from that so-called great continent? Well, while it was nice information to have, especially since it pointed out at the origins of the golem's original partner, it was a single word that she uttered that took up most of my attention.

\"You said, you are just the first wave? Does that mean…\"

To put things in order, the tribe that was under the leadership of someone with the system was forced to escape from the continent and ended up settling all the islands around this part of the ocean. Then what? If only a part of their original tribe expected and the second wave were just slaves that somehow managed to free themselves and follow their ancestors' steps in running away, why would there be a conflict between the two groups?

\"Well, it's not that simple. While this is just an assumption of mine from what I heard back when I was held in the camp of the Heavenly City envoys… Instead of the remnants of the original wave, it was the same people that made them run away in the first place, who followed their steps and arrived here in order to oppress them as well! From what I heard, everything they are doing right now is for the sake of amassing enough strength to reclaim their place on the continent!\"