109 Hunting Group
The house was simple, yet comfy. It was way better than staying outside with the mortal cold from the desert nights. Hot during the day, freezing during the night. A hard place to live.
Arthur and Wisa were more comfortable in that environment. Both had somewhat focused on melee combat, so they fit more with the tribe style of living.
Not that the other mages were in a bad spot, absolutely not. They were actually mysterious in the eyes of the tribe members, as they usually only used their tattoo magic, and not the ordinary spells.
Speaking of the tattoos, Arthur figured out more about them while he was there. These tattoos had many levels, just like the tiers from the spells, and you could inscribe them in your body to activate during combat to enhance your body, weapons, and anything you can think of.
Different from the other mages that used mana from their mana core, the tattoos had their own storage of mana, and these tattoos absorbed the mana from the atmosphere to recharge.
They were like enchanted items, but inscribed in their bodies. Arthur saw these tribal people as enchanted warriors or something like that.
A normal mage without proper movement spells would easily perish against such warriors.
Arthur discovered all of that during the first week they spent there. He also learned more about the beasts around the area, about the deadly sandstorms, and the things he should avoid doing during his time there.
After that first week of training, it was finally time for Arthur to go out and hunt with the others. He went alone, as the other students were focused on training inside the tribe, and the teachers wanted to stay with them to help the best they could.
Ahanu, the tribe’s leader, also went with the hunting group. Food was a major problem in the desert, so the hunting group was highly respected inside the tribe. Not only that tribe, but in all tribes.
Arthur noticed how a few of the hunters had magical beasts to help them track their preys. It was the other type of skill Arthur was interested in.
“There’s a ruin not that far from here. It is said to be part of a lost city from thousand of years ago. The beasts use that as shelter, so we usually get tons of food when hunting there.” Ahanu said, explaining the mission.
The idea of a ruin was not that appealing to Arthur. He knew these types of places held many dangers, and seeing how unlucky he was, then maybe things could go horribly wrong.
They left the tribe early in the morning, with the best warriors the tribe had. Most ranged between level 20 to 35, which was not high when compared to Arthur.
After a two hours of constant walking, they arrived at the place Ahanu talked about. It was an enormous hole, and inside of it were lots of tunnels that were part of a mine a long time ago.
If one explored more of that place, would find the ruins of a city that covered a huge part of the desert. Ahanu said that no one had explored the entirety of it yet, and it was still a mystery to all tribes.
“Akhur, we will go down now, so be careful.” Ahanu said.
Akhur was the name they all called Arthur, as they couldn’t say it properly, so they went with another name instead.
Arthur did not mind that at all, and found it funny. The getting down part was the worse. They had to tie a robe to a huge and heavy rock, and get down using that rob.
The only problem was that the hole was deep, and any misstep could lead to an accident.
“Do you need help to get down?” Arthur said to the tribe leader.
He knew Arthur had those strange fire wings and could fly, but getting down using the rope was also a sort of training for them, so he did not accept the help.
Arthur thought if he should use his wings and decided not to. He needed to impress these tribe members to get their respect. It was the best way to learn more about all things, especially their method of creating these magical tattoos.
They all went down using the rope, one by one. Arthur was the last to go, and everything went well. No accidents, nothing.
Once they were all down there, one of the tribe members lit a torch to brighten the place. It did not make a difference to Arthur, but he stayed quiet and followed their command.
The tunnel they were inn was large, and had a trail in the middle, possibly where the miners used the cart when mining. Spider webs were everywhere, and small scorpions walked in the corners of the tunnel.
This place had been abandoned a long time ago. According to Ahanu, it had been thousands of years. If that was the case, then surely this city was extraordinary to last that long.
All the tribe members had a lot of experience, so they kept going forward, and Arthur could tell they knew exactly where they were going, as if they had done that countless times.
Something felt strange about that place, but Arthur couldn’t exactly tell what it was. Soon, they found a few magical beasts that were drinking water that dripped from the celling, forming a small pool.
“Attack with the bow. Use the tattoos and kill the beast instantly.” Ahanu said to his son that had come with him Najek.
Najek was specialized with the bow. He activated one tattoo he had on his body, and his bow and arrow shone in a green light. Then, he shot an arrow that turned into five, each one of them hitting a different beast.
Arthur focused on that move, but when he saw the beast did not die in one attack, he was frustrated.
“Are these tattoos that weak? No, wait.”
The beasts gazed at the tribe members, but before they could do any move, they all died instantly, out of a sudden.
It turned out the arrow had a deadly poison, and Arthur saw these tribe members with a new light.