142 - Ressa, the Desert's Prodigy

First - Previous - Next

“Ressa? Is that you?” the young man stuttered, slightly letting go of his grip over the young woman’s arms. However, he still stood over her, bracing her against the ground.

She was small, much smaller than he was. Unlike the Outsider women, who wore long garb that covered them from the harsh sun, the young woman's outfit was much more revealing. What Qin Yun found strange was that most women's clothes were made of material similar to his, while the men wore mainly animal skin. He wondered where the plants needed for this all came from, but now it seemed he had his answer or at least part of it. This jungle could provide much more than the desert could.

As for the young woman, she wore a sash around her chest, leaving her shoulders and stomach exposed to the outside air, and also a long skirt reaching to her knees with a long slit on one side, allowing for ease of movement. Dangling from her neck was a string with bones attached to it

, yet Qin Yun couldn't help but be impressed, for despite her extreme movements, he had never heard it make a single sound.

“Kerak,” she said after regaining her breath. She looked into the man’s eyes, and her expression softened just enough for him to lose his guard.

“Get off me!” she yelled before shoving him away and rising to her feet in a single leap.

She took out two small obsidian knives from the leather bands wrapped around her wrist before throwing one and rushing after it. Both were headed straight for Qin Yun.

Qin Yun anticipated this, for he had seen the shift in her eyes. It was subtle, yet the disdain contained within as she looked in his direction was hard to hide, as was the killing intent spilling from her. However, now that range wasn't a factor, Qin Yun wasn't concerned.

He effortlessly dodged the first knife and even ensured the almost invisible string attached to its base had been cut. He used but the tiniest bit of sword intent for it, but that was enough to slightly disorient him.

Qin Yun faltered ever so slightly, which Ressa took advantage of. She used her small size and got in close, using both hands to try and drive the small knife upward into his heart. However, Qin Yun's black sword appeared in his hands in the blink of an eye, stopping the knife dead in its tracks. It even broke into smaller pieces from the impact.

“AHHH!” Ressa leapt backwards, clutching her bloody hand.

The peculiar substance in which the knife was coated had broken her skin, assaulting her with immense pain even though only a tiny amount had reached her. From her reaction, the young man couldn't help but wonder how much pain Qin Yun was currently in, as he could clearly see the still-bleeding open wound on Qin Yun's shoulder.

“Kerak? Was that your name?" Qin Yun asked, slightly confused, just as the young man had caught the young girl in his arms. It wasn't clear if he wished to stop her from attacking Qin Yun anymore or if he was protecting her from him.

“That’s right,” Kerak said. “I never told you, but you also never asked. Our names are given to us by the ancestors, and in no way should be given to the Avaads. Them uttering something so sacred is seen as nothing more than blasphemy.”

"My bad, then," Qin Yun shrugged, unconcerned by these people's beliefs. Religions were a dime a dozen, and he had no interest in imposing his views upon them, even if he felt how inconvenient this all was. Still, he saw the purpose of it all.

The bigger the divide between the two people, the more the outsiders will be inclined to fight, thinking of us as usurpers. This rule was made to make interactions as hard as possible. It's quite clever, actually.

“Is hatred of the Avaads so prevalent among the exiles?” Qin Yun asked as he stared back at Ressa.

For her convenience, Qin Yun now spoke the Outsider’s language, yet it only prompted an even more visceral reaction from her. She already had daggers in her eyes, but now, she looked like a rabid dog seeking to rip his throat apart. Seeing such a young girl with so much killing intent was jarring for Qin Yun, as most of the Mainlanders he had interacted with could never compare.

“Our language is also sacred, just as our name is,” Kerak replied, keeping her in check as he tried to extract the shards embedded in her hands. Yet, his efforts were mostly futile as she thrashed within his embrace. “While she would kill you for simply being from the Mainland, as you call it, she wants you dead even more for merely speaking in her.”

“That’s concerning,” Qin Yun sighed. “Will the tribe also show the same reaction?”

“Most definitely,” Kerak replied. “With the way you look now, they’ll kill you before you can even say a single word. Any way you’d be able to turn back?”

"Not likely," Qin Yun shook his head. "Not unless whatever is keeping this dimension stable allows for it. It isn't unlike the Heavenly Dao, enforcing its rules onto this world. Unless one's strength transcends the world, one becomes bound by those rules. A mask would probably be the best option, but my skin and hair will give me away even then."

"Best not to try, then," Kerak sighed. "Trying to deceive them with such a half-assed disguise would only complicate things.

"Deceive us?" Ressa spat, still struggling within Kerak's embrace. "Kerak! Why do you collude with this Avaad? Have you turned your back on the tribes? Shame on your ancestors!"

She then began spouting something Qin Yun couldn't quite translate, but from her expression alone, he judged that this was mostly slurs. He ignored the young girl and returned to address Kerak once again.

"How long has it been since they interacted with the Mainland? Why do they still react with such hatred? I understand this is deeply rooted in tradition, but unless fostered, hatred fades with time."

"And fostered, it was," Kerak replied, putting one hand over the young girl's mouth. "We weren't always the aggressors, trying to break through the Great Barrier. A long time ago, in a time probably forgotten for you, before the desert took hold of our land, there was an invasion from the continent's core. There are no records left of what they were seeking, but in their zeal, they slaughtered most of the tribes. The land was red with blood; if not for our god's advent, we might have completely perished then. This story is deeply ingrained in our culture, and we never forget. While we do seek freedom from this cage, there are many others who simply seek retribution.”

This explains quite a lot, especially the fervour to which they show the corruption, even deifying it. Still, what could those people seek back then to even go so far as to cause genocide? Did they even find it in the end?

However, just as Qin Yun was pondering what he had just heard, the young girl bit down on the flesh covering her mouth, even drawing blood. Kerak yelled, feeling pain rise through his nerves, but instead of letting go, he squeezed harder, cutting off her air supply, as well as the arteries around her neck. In less than a few seconds, she lost consciousness, and her body went limp.

“She has quite the spunk for such a young girl," Qin Yun said, slightly amused as he watched Kerak retrieve his hand from the inside of her mouth. The skin was deeply embedded with teeth marks, and blood even flowed from where her two canines had dug.

“She's a prodigy," Kerak said as he shook his hand with a wince in his eyes. "Women don't usually hunt, much less a child, yet she's always been among the best. She solo-mounted her first worm at barely five years old, you know."

There was pride in his tone. While Qin Yun didn't know the significance of such an achievement, he knew how dangerous an adult sandworm could be. Even for him, mounting one of them was no easy task. And yet, this young girl had done it from a much earlier age.

“How old is she now?” Qin Yun asked. “From what I see, she looks to have just reached adulthood.”

"She's still fourteen, actually. No matter how talented she is, she shouldn't even be here on her own," the man replied, scanning the surroundings for other signs of life, yet Qin Yun had already done so.

He could only feel animalistic gazes on them, probably from the creatures he had scared earlier, but also the same gaze he had felt since he arrived here. It felt more vague and diffused than the other, much farther. In fact, he could feel that gaze coming from many different directions.

At first, he thought the overuse of his intent had led to him misjudging this, but now he was increasingly sure he wasn't imagining it. It felt as if the world itself was looking down on him, somewhat similar to the Heavenly Dao but in a much more subdued fashion. In fact, it felt almost feeble, as if on the verge of death.

“That means her tribe should be nearby, right?” Qin Yun asked, only for the man to nod. “Do you think they’ll listen now that things have come this far?”

“That’s hard to say,” Kerak replied, yet Qin Yun could see from his expression that this quest was most likely for naught as the hostility between the two races was much too deeply entrenched. He had hoped to deceive them by appearing as one of them, but this realm wouldn't let him. Still, he would give up that easily.

“Do you think that might help?”

Qin Yun retrieved the pouch containing Nalia's symbol from his black box, only for it to light up like a beacon. It wasn't some sort of searing light that rose high into the sky, piercing through the veil of leaves, but one much more subdued and dull, but the fact that it lit up at all remained on Qin Yun's mind.

There's no qi here or any other type of energy. What could possibly power this effect?

Qin Yun was at a loss. No matter how he tried to explain this strange phenomenon, he always arrived at the same impossible conclusion. It shouldn't, yet here it was, shining before his eyes.

“Why is it shining?” Kerak asked, eyes wide open.

“So you also do not know... Still, can I use this alone to gain their trust?”

“Doubtful,” the man replied. “You might have more chances with the elders than the young generation, though.”

"Really?" Qin Yun said, slightly surprised. "I'd have expected the elders to be sticklers to traditions and the younger ones to rebel somehow. It's the same almost everywhere else. Are the exiles somehow different in this aspect?"

“Not really, but she has a history with this clan that the young ones aren’t aware of.”

"And somehow, you are?" Qin Yun asked, his voice dripping with skepticism. Not only did that man recognize Nalia's map at first glance, but he was also versed in the knowledge of another clan hidden from them. That man was more than he seemed.

I guess that's what makes her a seer. She arranged all this, knowing he and I would meet. Still, what is she hoping to achieve?

At first, he thought maybe she wanted him to overthrow the current Main Tribe and reinstate the Exiles as the dominating faction. Still, if she could see the future, surely she would know he had no interest in such a thing. The only reason he even went this far with it was merely to delay their subsequent assault on the fortress, and the more time he wasted on this quest, the higher the chances it would all fall apart.

Then, his gaze fell downwards on the young woman currently unconscious on Kerak's lap. A devious idea sprouted in his mind, and if he possessed the slightest hint of a conscience, he might have opposed it. But at this point, his goal took precedence over morals. He couldn't help but smile.

First - Previous - Next