Tina was desperate, which was why Harry knew that she would be a very good pawn. But at the same time, it was also true that Harry needed her as well. He was stuck in a situation where he needed information. But he was never good at gathering information, he was good at punching or paying the people who could find the information that he needed.
He doesn't know whether dealing with Tina would pay off, but he has to try. It was not like the deal was not giving him any benefits, he had already started receiving the benefits from last night onwards.
Harry was rather curious about why Gremla wanted to kill him. Adui was born out of infidelity, which might have pushed her to try to get rid of him. But the way Harry sees it, there was no reason for it. It was not like this world has the concept of paternity test, alimony, or divorce. If she had let him be, he was truly sure that there was no way anyone could have guessed that he was the son of Groga.
Which meant either she was being blackmailed by someone into killing him, or there is going to be an event in the future that might expose his parenthood.
But what surprised him was the rule for infidelity in the Heks.
Like most normal societies, infidelity was looked upon on Heks as well. Slaves, on the other hand, were the exception. Both males and females of the Heks could go and fuck or torture any slave that they want, unless the slave holds some spcial position in the tribe. But other than that, if found that a man or a woman slept with the better half of some other members of the Heks, the punishment was execution of all the parties involved.
Harry suspected that it was because of the rule did Gremla wanted to kill him. And Groga accepted the do the job as well, but when he replaced Adui, Groga started seeing merit in keeping him alive…
That particular morning, everyone in the tribe woke up early so that they could wish the Divine Messenger and the Aqua Tribe goodbye. It was a long ceremony where most prominent members of the tribe came to every single one of the guests, painted them in powder, while praying to Lord Leh for their safe journey.
After the charade was over, Groga just came to him and ordered, "Grab weapons and meet me to the south of the rock as quickly as you can."
Harry didnt have to be told twice. He grabbed every type of weapon available, and then they started heading deeper into the plains. Groga eventually brought Harry to the same tree, where he had hunted his first prey. There, the man put down food and water that he had brought, "Keep your weapons there. We will get to them in the other half of the day," And Harry just followed the man without question.
Groga told Harry to sit down, while the man started his lecture while walking to and fro, "In order to become a warrior for the Heks, the first step is the weapons. They are taught first. You skipped the step because of your mistake. And then the knowledge of Vita is passed down, which couldnt be done because of your Atonement Hunt." Then Groga stopped and looked him in the eye, "You have a one lunar cycle to learn everything that you can. So pay attention, and you might survive the Festival."
"I thought that Heks' way of living was.. To birth as many Vita wielders as we can. So, how come, for this Festival, people could die?" It was his genuine question. The Heks were so obsessed with getting new Vita Wielders in their ranks that they allowed the breeding with the slaves.
Groga sighed, "Killing fellow Heks is frowned upon. But it could be done. And then some members of Heks don't hesitate to kill. And as they face no consequences, they are free to do whatever they want at the festival."
Harry nodded, "Okay.. So let's start,"
Groga nodded, "Vita is the energy that flows all around us. It is in the air. But do you know why the energy is called Vita?"
He shook his head, so Groga added, "It is because Vita acts as an enhancer for our body. It increases our Vitality, hence the word Vita comes into play." Harry had figured it out already, but still, it felt good that he was learning everything about Vita from a native, from scratch.
"Now with Vita, a wielder's aim should always be to enhance their body." Groga then started gesturing towards the broad shoulder and arms, "Do you see these muscles? These are made…"
And then Groga went on to tell Harry about how Vita helps in the creation of muscles, which are better and much more efficient than a regular human's muscles. Most of the theory that he told him, he had already figured out. What he didnt figure out was something that followed after.
"Vita Wielders when they fight each other, their battles are on another level." He said, "That is because our body is stronger and faster than most humans. But also, we can do this.."
Then Groga put his palm forward. Harry's scans picked up that Vita in Groga's body started flowing towards the palm, and then it started seeping out through Vita's pores. But instead of vapourizing in the air, the Vita started covering the palm, creating a cushion layer.
"Do you see this?" Groga asked. "This technique is called Manifestation."
Harry leaned forward, "How.. Does it help?" He couldnt figure out how this was useful in any way.
Groga smiled and walked up to the tree, while Harry followed his every step without blinking, he didnt want to miss this.
With his Vita enclosed hand on the tree, Groga concentrated. Harry saw that Vita moved suddenly, as if being thrown from the hand, the Vita got converted into a projectile. It penetrated the tree bark, took a chunk with it before it vanished into the air. What surprised Harry even more was the force that the Vita projectile carried with it. It was easily comparable to a primitive firearm.
"Surprised?" Groga asked, clearly enjoying his astonished expression. Harry nodded, so he added further, "To master this technique, you need extensive control over your Vita."
"I think I will be able to manage," Harry murmured, still thinking about what he had witnessed.
Groga passed him a smile, "Sure you would. After all, you are.. Son of Imka," He showed signs of regret, then further added, "This is one way to utilize the Vita. But there is another way,"
Groga then performed the same steps again, and to Harry's surprise, the Vita sort of solidified. Harry tried touching the newly enclosed hand, and his finger was able to apply some force on the cushiony Vita before it solidified.
It is behaving like a non-Newtonian fluid. The more pressure is applied on it, the more it solidifies, he thought while his eyes twinkled with astonishment.
"We call the process Arnament," Groga said.
Harry nodded. "It is so fascinating,"
Groga them smiled, "Dont be surprised now. Because you are Hexer. This would be child's play for you, because the thing that you could do.. It is nowhere near as powerful as the techniques that I have shown you."
Harry raised his eyebrow, "Hexer?"
Groga nodded, "It has something to do with you having another heart." The man smiled, immediately getting full attention of Harry.