Chapter 17 Tribe

'She can understand me!!'

Kyle was overjoyed that there was no language barrier between him and the Nasga.

This would most likely apply to other races too, and the only difficulty was to understand the dialect the Nasga used.

It could be said to be the crude version of the universal language.

Apparently, the language was called Shimata, which probably originated from the infinitely large planet's name, Shima.

Now that Kyle knew that he could speak with the first intelligent race he had encountered, his joy knew no bounds.

The Nasga noticed Kyle's behavior too and halted in her tracks because of his words.

"A beast at the Vitae stage is nearby? That's not good… but… why do you look so shabby? You belong to the Aldra race, right?"

Apparently, the Nasga, whose voice told him that she was a female if he was correct in his assumption, was talkative. But, he didn't mind that because it was something Kyle had missed dearly.

It made Kyle recall some of his disciples' endless thirst for knowledge that had been impossible for him to quench as they used to bombard him with doubts and questions!

Unfortunately, their timing would always be pretty bad and more often than not, it used to annoy him. Smiling at the memory, Kyle just replied,

"I'm sorry to trouble you. My name is Kyle and I encountered burglars that took away all of my belongings a few weeks ago. Thankfully, I was able to survive and I found a few things. May I follow you to your village? Maybe, we will be able to profit from each other!"

Kyle noticed that his monologue had turned longer than necessary, but the talkative Nasga lifted her hideous-looking hand as she motioned for him to follow her.

"My name is Tzc. Our tribe is small and you won't be able to acquire much by trading with us. But, it's possible for you to find shelter in our tribe for a few days.

Warning me about a beast at the Vitae stage should be more than enough to count as an exchange for now. You saved my life after all, so I would like to return the favor!"

Kyle just nodded his head, eyeing Tzc with squinted eyes for a moment before he quickly followed her.

He had already expected to barter several chunks of meat or the Sra moose's antlers to allow him temporary shelter inside the Nasga race's small tribe.

Finding Tzc had been a lucky encounter and Kyle assumed that it was possible for him to exchange his goods for information instead of shelter as he had planned earlier.

It was unlikely for him to find an enlargement pouch in a tribe of the Nasga race because they were known for their inability to use runes properly.

As such, Kyle had already lost hope of finding an enlargement pouch.

Rather, procuring information about the Aldra race's villages, which was considered the weakest among all human races, was the most important.

Meanwhile, the Lohar race that was said to have inhabited the Sadorla forest were similar to humans, and the only differences they had to humans were their fur-like hairs, the scut, that is, the small tail that grew out of the coccyx, and their rabbit ears!

To put it simply, the Lohar race was a cross between humans and rabbits and one race among many others that were called 'Demi-humans'!

They were known for being peaceful but once enraged, their strength, which was fueled by their wrath, would attain unimaginable heights.

Some time had passed, yet Kyle was not sure how much it was and Tzc had already walked through several different unpaved paths covered with foliage, small bushes, and thick roots jutting out of the wet soil. She was marching ahead with brisk steps and in his haste to keep with her, Kyle lost track of his earlier route.

Due to the uneven landscape, he also couldn't decipher which way they were headed.

He knew that he would never be able to find his way back to his starting point, but his mind was able to stay calm.

? Everything around Kyle was lush and the energy swirling in his surroundings was vibrant, invigorating him, while small droplets of water splattered on his naked skin.

"So beautiful." He muttered, looking at the small, multicolored flowers blooming everywhere around him, while the thick branches and leaves above him obstructed the bright sunlight from peeking through the dense foliage.

Nevertheless, the flowers he saw were gleaming faintly which allowed him to see the path in front of him.

Tzc didn't say anything, thus Kyle remained silent too.

He was not sure why she seemed uninterested in getting to know more about a stranger, and a presumed Aldra, who could very well endanger her entire tribe.

She didn't even try to verify his statement, and simply took his answers at face value.

This was a rare trait, considering that Tzc's life should have been filled with violence, lectures about the importance of staying vigilant of the unknown, and combat training.

After walking through several paths that bore smudged footprints of the Nasga's going back and forth through them, bright sunlight shone on the entry of the well-hidden tribe's village.

He raised his hands to shield his eyes from the sunlight shining on his face and that was when wooden barricades, small huts made of branches, large leaves, mud, and foliage came into his view.

It was only then that Kyle realized that his expectations had been way too high.

From a single glance, he was able to tell that the tribe was not only small sparsely populated with only a few dozen huts, but also that it was less advanced than he expected.

'Will I be able to procure the information I'm looking for?''

He suppressed the doubt while sighing in frustration. Instead of being disappointed, he decided to focus on collecting as much information from his surroundings as possible.

There was not much, to begin with, but it was still an interesting sight.

Meanwhile, Tzc approached the center of the small tribe's village with the basket in her small hands.

As they walked inside, he came across several Nasga of all possible ages and quickly discerned that the number of young and elderly tribesmen was relatively less in number.

This didn't astonish Kyle because the young ones had difficulties surviving their childhood before they would grow strong enough to defend themselves without the need to rely on anyone.

At the same time, it was a rare sight to see many old people living in villages, and small tribes.

This was because everyone was forced to fight against all kinds of dangers in their surroundings! Whether it were beast attacks or diseases, anything could happen and everything could go wrong.

The older one was, the more dangers one had to overcome.

Yet, what caused Kyle to halt in his track for a quarter of a second was the sight of several young and malnourished men and women from the Lohar race.

They carried large backpacks that were both bigger and heavier than both of his backpacks combined together!

Their steps left deep footprints in the loose soil as both of them followed the Nasga that radiated a faint aura of confidence and charisma as if he was used to receiving the surroundings' attention.

Since Kyle was able to sense the energy ripples, he was able to roughly determine the strength of beings around him.

It was not a distinct evaluation, but more than enough for Kyle's needs.

'Is that Nasga a merchant? Or a trafficker?'

It wasn't a shocking revelation for Kyle either and he had known quite a few merchants and some had traded with weak races that had a beautiful appearance.

Slaves were used for all kinds of things, whether it was to fulfill someone's desires, becoming laborers, or meat shields to sacrifice their lives to protect their master.

Kyle had never been actively involved with slaves, thus he didn't really mind them.

As long as nobody intervened in his personal business, that was fine by him.

Nevertheless, the prospect of finding someone who was likely to be a merchant improved Kyle's mood considerably.

Even if the tribe was small and far from developed, finding a merchant meant that there were several villages or other tribes one could trade with!

Otherwise, there was no way a merchant would even bother trading with the small Nasga tribe!

As such, Kyle sensed the opportunity to acquire what he needed the most right now- information!