Nulambart spent the night on the stretcher, completely relaxed, and was able to sleep all the hours that he had not been able to in the past few days.
This time he didn't dream at all, he simply cleared his mind, because although urgent news awaited him the next day, for the first time in a week, he was able to find a truly safe place to clear his mind of so many problems.
At 9 a.m. the next day.
Nulambart opened his eyes as he felt the rays of sunlight filtering through the glass of the dome of the room.
The first thing she saw was that he was dressed in some kind of completely white robe, not the clothes he had worn yesterday, so Nulambart assumed that someone had been sent to change him out of the wet clothes he had slept in.
He saw a set of new clothes on another stretcher, so he assumed it was for him. This consisted of a set of a dark blue t-shirt and pants with silver reflections, light as the wind, but firm as the bark of an ancient tree. When he put it on, he felt how the fabric gently resonated with his energy.
There is no doubt that these garments are of excellent quality. I wonder who made this.
He then immediately smelled the scent of aromatic herbs, and couldn't help but rejoice at finding calm in his heart upon waking up, so he simply stretched out his arms and began to meditate.
He felt how his once fatigued muscles now seemed like new. However, when he examined his inner space in his soul, he realized that his soul had not been able to benefit from the previous treatment with Aggi's mother.
Well, not everything can be perfect. I must be thankful that I can use my arm and wrist again..
Nulambart let out an inward sigh, accepting the good that life had to offer.
The next moment, the large doors of the hall opened, revealing a familiar silhouette to Nulambart, who smiled as two crescents formed in his eyes as his eyes curved upwards.
"The creek worm boy I met is extremely sleepy… Wow… Nulambart, I can't believe you sleep for 100 years every time you do it," Aggi said with a wide smile on his face, trying to make fun of Nulambart.
Nulambart saw her friend as energetic as ever, so she felt happiness in her heart.
"Hahaha, I just slept for a few hours, Aggi… But, I'm glad you're okay," said Nulambart, walking towards her friend, then extending her fist to her.
However, the girl didn't understand Nulambart's friendly gesture and quickly got into a fighting stance. Nulambart could only roll his eyes until he explained that it was a friendly gesture between comrades.
"Hahaha, I already knew that you wouldn't have the courage to fight with your teacher, brat," said the girl mockingly, who feigned a solemn expression, indicating Nulambart with her hand.
"Hahaha, you sound like your father now, Aggi," Nulambart said with a laugh, highlighting the father-daughter resemblance.
"Hahaha, I talked to him a while ago… Oh right, now that I remember, my father wants to talk to you in the throne room," said Aggi, who immediately led Nulambart through the halls towards the room where Nulambart met Aggro for the first time.
Heading straight for the room, they both arrived before the large doors of the hall, so Aggi decided to push them open, revealing the imposing leader of the tribe sitting on the throne, staring at him.
"This will be a rather unpleasant conversation for my poor ears to hear, so I'll wait for you outside. Then we'll go eat," Aggi said honestly, not hesitating in the slightest to make the statement before leaving and closing the door.
This girl never changes. Nulambart couldn't help but let out a sigh before reaching the front of Aggro, who was waiting patiently for him, sitting on his throne.
Then, he tried to kneel to bow, but when he was about to do so, Aggro interrupted him.
"Brat, don't worry about formalities before me. Sit on that chair and let's talk about what I warned you about yesterday," Aggro said calmly, pointing to a chair so that he was a few meters away from the village leader.
Nulambart approached and sat in the chair. However, when he looked at Aggro's face, he could see that despite his calm appearance, there was a slight black color under his eyes, which showed that he had not been able to sleep well the previous night.
Once Nulambart was ready in the chair, the important conversation began.
"Nulambart, I will tell you a small legend left by our ancestors in the sacred books of our tribe," Aggro began to tell a long story solemnly.
"Hundreds of years ago, there were three neighboring cities in the west of the Southgard continent, Virellian, Caelondar, and Talkan... These cities that had the first schools of specialized cultivators by type on the continent, united for the first time in history after years of competition to face a common enemy.", the leader continued explaining.
Nulambart, upon hearing the name of those cities, opened his eyes in surprise, since it was the name of the 3 largest cities that were near his village, according to information from his parents.
"The enemy was an underwater power that emerged from the interior of the oceans, the Stella Kingdom, which, made up of semi-human cultivators, rose above the lands of the continent to conquer the continent, leaving humans as labor for their macabre purposes."
"Those who witnessed the barbarity of those men of the sea and their macabre methods of exploiting their slaves did not want to make any kind of deal with the enemy, since they knew that such evil in the minds of those soldiers was something irreversible to change."
"This is because many said that the Stella Kingdom had the protection of the Abyssar Sea God, who wanted to lead them to conquer every continent in the ancient world."
"However, Abyssar's plan did not work, since the decades passed full of death and destruction, until the humans united by the alliance of the 3 neighboring cities were able to overcome and force the enemy powers to retreat to the depths of the sea," said the man, who attentively looked at Nulambart's expressions.
Nulambart listened to Aggro's every word intently and felt a small pain in his head because the enemy he had in his village looked extremely dangerous at this point, but he continued listening to understand the whole context.
"When the powers of the Stella Kingdom left the lands of the continent, the 3 neighboring cities were practically destroyed, losing almost all of their elites in the battle".
"So they decided that the remaining members would form the new Alliance Village, a village on the shores of the western sea, protecting the human race from invaders in case the demi-humans ever wanted to take revenge," Aggro concluded, seriously telling the story with his arms crossed.
Nulambart, who was attentive to the man's words at all times, simply could not believe what he was hearing.
My weak village was founded by the elite of the 3 cities?
Nulambart felt like the world was spinning, so he stumbled to the side of the chair toward the floor.
However, before he could fall, he felt a dark green aura keeping him afloat, which, although extremely dominant, he felt was simply not dangerous, as it once again helped him regain his senses and sit on the chair.
It was the power of Aggro's soul, who had been aware of Nulambart at all times, since he knew that this information was shocking for a poor boy.
"Don't worry, kid. Although we know from your information that the Stella Kingdom has emerged again, from your face earlier, I can tell that the 3 cities are still standing outside, that's a good sign," Aggro tried to console.
Nulambart thanked Aggi's father for his help, as such a revelation had been truly shocking, where he had even mentioned a god in the process.
Nulambart didn't know if he would have to see his village destroyed by a god in the future. But he also had another question in mind.
Wait... But, what about the Elvareth Tribe and their problem?
Nulambart now had more knowledge of his enemy, as well as how his village was founded. However, the young man had doubts about how the Elvareth Tribe came to this place and why the ancestors knew of the stories that were not found in his village.
"Aggro Leader, so what is the Elvareth Tribe's relationship to this legend?" Nulambart asked, a little calmer.
"In the war against the Stella Kingdom, other cultivators who were not affiliated with any of the three neighboring cities also participated, and when the Alliance Village was formed, they were discriminated against by their comrades in arms over the years," Aggro replied, frowning slightly.
"So, to avoid discrimination, as well as to avoid possible retaliation from the Sea God Abyssar, my ancestors banded together to enter the dangerous Elvareth forest, dying more than half in the process, but finding the Cascade of Redemption and establishing our village confined to the world through the seals that allow us to live within this place protected from the spirit beasts," Aggro finished explaining.
Nulambart nodded and nodded at Aggro, since he now understood everything that was happening in a much clearer way, and the situation around him.
However, he still had doubts in his heart regarding the problem this tribe was having with the seal and why they needed his help, so his mouth opened to try to ask about it.
However, Aggro, who knew what Nulambart was trying to do, interrupted him.
"Boy, don't worry about my tribe's problem for now, I will explain it to you later. Come, let's go eat something because telling so many stories made my stomach growl," said Aggro, interrupting the curious Nulambart, so that the next moment he stood up from his throne and headed to a nearby room, entering.
"Major, I'll go find Aggi, who's waiting for me outside," said Nulambart, who hadn't forgotten her friend.
Aggro simply raised an arm in approval.
Then, Nulambart went to look for her, so that the next moment they both entered through the same door that Aggro had left open.
What Nulambart saw was a large room that had a table probably for 20 people, but he could only see 3 people sitting there, of whom he did not recognize a single figure.
At the corner of the table was Aggar, on his left side was the already seated Aggro, while on his right side was a young man who looked the same age as Nulambart, who had the same complexion as Aggi, who was laughing happily, talking to the leader of the tribe and his wife.
I'm sure that's Aggi's brother. Nulambart could know with certainty that this young man was Aggi's brother.
Aggi's brother was a young man of 15, just like Nulambart, but where the latter was thin and agile, Gus stood out for his solid build and imposing presence. His broad shoulders and powerful hands spoke of a strength inherited from generations of Elvareth's guardians, although his round face and rosy cheeks gave him a jovial air. His hair, divided into two shades of green (dark like the forest and light like the waterfall), was his hallmark, along with his black tunic embroidered in gold, which he wore with pride even though the style was not very well received by popular clamor.
The young man, upon hearing the footsteps coming from Nulambart and Aggi, changed his former smiling expression in a somewhat exaggerated way, while placing his previously slightly arched back in a much straighter position, looking seriously at Nulambart with a frown.
"I see that they brought the foreigner to eat with us… Hmmp… They discriminated against our ancestors, and instead we invited them to eat at our table," said the robust young man, looking at Nulambart.
"Hey, don't say those things to my personal friend Nulambart," Aggi scolded furiously as he ran to squeeze his brother's cheeks.
"Auuuchh… Sister, wait… Let go of me, please," said Aggi's brother, as his complexion turned slightly red.
While the two were fighting, their parents, who probably knew their children's attitudes, simply watched the situation in a cheerful but hidden way.
"Nulambart, I think I mentioned to you earlier that I have a son…" Aggar began to introduce his son.
It will probably be called Aggru or Aggu, or some name similar to them. Nulambart assumed that everyone's name was similar as he listened to the presentation.
"My son's name is Augustus, but everyone here calls him Gus," Aggar calmly introduced his son, pointing to his son.
The next moment, Nulambart let out a small laugh during the presentation, but before he could laugh any more exaggeratedly, he closed his mouth with his hands.
However, everyone could hear it, so Aggi simply laughed together with Nulambart, while Aggi's parents smiled slightly, which made Gus blush, who stopped fighting with his sister.
"I understand your laugh, Nulambart, my brother's name was chosen by him when he grew up, since his birth name is Aggu... Isn't it very funny? Hahaha," said the young woman, laughing at her brother.
"You really are a despicable foreigner, I dare you to…" said the blushing and angry Gus, who had both hands pointing at Nulambart in an extremely conspicuous way. However, before he could finish speaking, Aggar interrupted him.
"We're going to eat right now, so I want everyone to sit down calmly," Aggar said, standing up from his seat in a solemn manner, so much so that Nulambart and the others could feel the aura coming from his body, even though he had used his soul energy to do so.
Even Aggro, who was calmly watching the situation, smiling slightly, had to shift in his seat slightly, improving his posture and putting a serene expression on his face.
Without a doubt, the power of a mother and wife is enormous. Nulambart, watching this scene, couldn't help but remember his mother, who was also the one who commanded everyone in his home.
The next moment, all the young men sat at the table, Gus next to his mother, occasionally looking at Nulambart with a frown, while Aggi sat between his father and Nulambart.
Then a cook brought various dishes that included preparations with the meat of wild beasts, as well as vegetables and fruits of the forest.
Dinner went smoothly, with no big talks. It was just Aggi and his mother asking Nulambart questions about the outside world, while Aggro listened attentively, and even Gus paid some attention to Nulambart despite his angry man facade.
When everyone finished eating, the still-angry Gus, who had been holding back his true intentions throughout the meal, was finally able to speak, with everyone listening.
"Nulambart, I challenge you to a duel in the arena of our village. If I win, you will leave the village immediately," Gus said to Nulambart, who extended his fist just as he had previously done to Aggi in the living room where he spent the night.
Now I understand why Aggi reacted that way. Nulambart looked at Gus angrily, knowing that he could not escape the duel.
Then, before everyone present who was calmly watching the scene, but with anticipation, Nulambart accepted the duel.
"Gus, I have no idea why you want to challenge me to a battle, but since I can't afford to leave here without first helping the tribe, since your sister asked me to, then I will accept and be your rival in the duel," Nulambart responded seriously, bumping Gus' fist.