Chapter 858: Karah Togg [1]

The sand scattered to reveal humanoid-looking figures.

I immediately tensed, looking at the others. They were all similarly tensed, Aoife and Kiera moving to shield Leon’s recovering body while Anne moved in front of An’as.

’Given my current situation, there’s no way I can put up a proper fight if they’re monsters. Are we going to have to run away again?’

That was my initial thought.

But soon, I realized something.

"They’re humans."

I could see them clearly now.

The orbs floating inside their bodies.

"...There’s no doubt about it, they’re human."

I muttered once again, my eyes narrowing as I focused my attention on the orbs in their bodies. With this, I felt a sense of relief. I was out of mana, but Emotive Magic was different. It used minimal mana. In that sense, I could fight.

"What?"

"What did you say? They’re humans? How...?"

Everyone looked at me, but I didn’t look back at them. Instead, I fixed my eyes on the humans in front of me. While it was true that they were human, their current attire made it hard to tell.

Their entire bodies were covered from top to bottom in strange tatters resembling those of mummies, their sizes varying from one to another. But if there was one thing they all had in common, it was the chains dangling from their arms and ankles.

They looked quite familiar to the ones we found back in the forest.

Surrounding us from all sides, they stared at us cautiously, each holding a different weapon.

They didn’t attack immediately. Instead, they quietly observed us as they released quiet ticks from their mouth.

Tik. Tik.

Were they communicating?

I stood up, pretending to be fine while looking at them.

’This is so weird.’

They were all strong, but not strong enough to pose a threat.

But that wasn’t what was weird.

What was weird to me was how they were able to appear in front of us without me noticing at all. Was it really because they came from the sand?

As the tension in the air rose, Anne suddenly stepped forward.

"Give me a moment."

She looked around, her gaze eventually settling on one of the robed figures. Unlike the rest, his clothes were different, darker in shade. The moment Anne’s lips parted, a strange language flowed from her mouth.

"Arukh... tah liek."

The figures around us paused, their heads slowly turning to look at one another.

But eventually, the dark-clothed figure spoke.

"Salah tah tiem Sain terke."

It replied in a similar tongue to what Anne had used.

But it was clear that while Anne knew the language, she wasn’t very proficient in it, as she took her time forming each sentence before speaking to them.

Honestly, this was fine.

I was fine for as long as she knew how to talk to them.

’Although we have some devices to translate, it doesn’t seem familiar with this language. When we get into the city, I’ll try to see if they have some sort of spell or device to translate for us.’

"Kahl sen rimeni oh arah."

The conversation between Anne and the boss lasted for several minutes before she turned her attention back towards us.

"...I am not very proficient with the language, but I still understand enough to communicate with them. In essence, the people before us should be the Nomin."

Nomin?

"They’re those who have failed to qualify for a rank and are trying to make a living through the scraps that can be found from the monsters. Many of them are slaves, having sold their lives to provide for their families."

"What?"

Anne extended her hand.

"I promised them some food in exchange for the information and guidance towards Karah Togh."

Noticing my confusion, she added, "That’s the city’s name."

"No, I got it."

I took out several bags of food that I had stored inside my ring and handed them to her.

"I just didn’t expect the situation to be resolved with some food."

"You’ll be surprised to see just how valuable food is here."

Anne smirked while taking the bags and handing them to the Nomin. Immediately, the group took the bags and opened them up, their body language noticeably more jolly as they grabbed several of the items inside and shoved them into their mouth.

The moment they began to eat, I caught a glimpse of their faces as they pulled their masks down. It was then that I saw their mutilated features, scars running in every direction, their dark skin also marked with bruises and burns.

That’s...

"Don’t be surprised."

Anne spoke, taking note of my expression.

"This place is quite different from most places that you’ve been. In this place, the only rule that matters is status and strength. If you don’t have strength, you’re nothing to this place."

"And you’re telling me they’re weak?"

I looked at the group ahead of us.

While they weren’t anything noteworthy compared to us, they were still relatively strong, at around the Fourth to Fifth Tier. This was considered good in any place that I had been to. And yet, she was telling me that this wasn’t even enough for them to qualify for a good status?

"The law only protects those who manage to rank. Anyone who doesn’t get a rank is not protected by the laws of this place."

Anne quietly replied while looking at the group as they devoured the food provided to them.

"There are a few other ways for some to gain ’status’, but the most famous way is through obtaining a rank through a ranking battle."

"..."

Looking back at the Nomin, there was more that I wanted to ask, but Anne merely shrugged her shoulders, "This is as far as I’ve managed to learn. Don’t ask me more since it’s really tough. For now, it’s best if we enter the city and get some rest."

Her head turned in Leon’s direction.

"Most importantly, he needs to heal up."

"...You’re right."

I also looked at Leon.

His complexion was still pale, but he was still passed out.

’Unlucky.’

He would’ve normally have lasted a lot longer, but he had gone up against a high-ranked Destroyer Ranked. One that couldn’t be dealt with by physical attacks, either.

It was just the worst match-up for Leon.

"Kahmi soran thel miran usah tel malien teahk."

Suddenly calling out for Anne, the Nomien leader gestured a few things to her. Anne looked confused at first, but immediately understood a moment later as she looked back at us.

"He’s saying that they’re ready to leave. He also said that we need to be careful about the way that we move. The sandworms detect us through sound and vibration. If we stay completely still, the sandworms won’t attack us, and at the same time, if we want to avoid attracting their attention, we should not step on the sand."

"...Ah."

For some reason, the explanation felt so self-explanatory that I felt like smacking my own head.

’Why didn’t I think of that?’

It made sense if I thought about it.

That was also not a hard problem to resolve.

I looked at Aoife.

"You talk half, I take the other half?"

"...Yes, but I’ll need more time."

"Same here."

The idea was simple.

We used Telekenisis and flew over the sand. Although it was going to take a large toll on us, if we recovered enough, and we went at acceptable speeds, we should be able to do it until we reached the city.

’And even if we don’t, we can just take a rest. Either way, I have plenty of food that I can share with them so that they can guide us.’

The plan was clear.

With everything said and done, I relayed the information to Anne, who relayed it back to the Nomin, who paused before looking at each other and shaking their heads.

Anne’s brows furrowed.

"Khelik... samhel dien."

"Ktalen mores umien talien saren son shan nal tiak."

"...Ah."

Anne put on a troubled expression.

Eventually, she nodded and looked back at us.

"They have to leave. There’s no choice for them. They also have a strict quota that they have to meet. If they don’t meet it, their families will be sold as collateral, or they won’t be allowed back into the city."

"Quota? What for?"

"...For monster material and bodies. They’re used for both clothes and food."

"Monster material?"

I had a sudden thought, shifting my attention back in the direction of where we came from. Anne’s eyes lit up as she had the same idea as me. Turning her attention back towards the Nomin, she quickly started to talk with them.

They all exchanged glances. After a brief moment, one of the Nomin’s bodies sank into the sand, fading from our line of sight.

’What sort of ridiculous skill is that?’

I felt the sudden urge to learn the skill. The urge only grew stronger after he came back a few minutes later, communicating with his leader, who looked back at Anne and gave her a nod.

She didn’t need to translate this part.

"That’s a relief."

The other Nomins sank into the sand, all fading from our line of sight as Anne sat down on the sand, closing her eyes to catch up on her stamina. She also looked mentally exhausted from all the translation.

Musn’t have been easy.

I stopped bothering her and similarly closed my eyes, trying my best to recuperate my mana. For the next step, I needed to do so.

About an hour passed like this.

Although I didn’t manage to recover all of my mana, I did manage to recover a significant amount. When I opened up my eyes again, I was surprised to see several large corpses lying in front of me.

When I looked around, I saw the Nomin quick at work as they efficiently cut down the sandworms into pieces.

’From the way they handle the knife, it almost looks like they’re some professional chefs.’

I stood up, walking towards the corpses to get a better look.

The sandworm’s body was very large. Although it wasn’t as big as the Sand Titan, it was still very large. Probably as big as a large ship, with its outer shell being extremely hard. Moving towards one of the corpses, I tapped on the outer shell to feel just how hard it was.

Tak—!

The sound bounced off like I was hitting heavy metal.

’It’s no wonder they want to use for material. With skin so tough, a skilled labourer can probably turn it into fine armor.’

Tapping the outer shell again, I was reminded of something as my movements paused.

Because the amount it helped was almost negligible, I often forgot about it and never paid much attention to it. However, after everything that I had gone through, something clicked inside my mind as I opened my status window.

In the corner, I took note of several notifications.

■| EXP + 0.001%

The numbers were almost negligible. To the point where they felt irrelevant.

But that wasn’t what I was focused on.

I was focused on the idea.

’Right, killing monsters does make me stronger. It makes me gain experience.’

But why?

Why was I gaining experience?

Looking back at the monster’s body, my breathing grew heavier as I placed my hand over its hard shell and closed my eyes.

I didn’t know how long I kept at it.

It felt like an instant to me, but maybe it took longer as a certain voice shook my head out of my thoughts.

"Julien?"

It was Evelyn as she looked at me.

"It’s... Leon. He’s awake."

"I see."

I pulled my hand away from the monster, looking at it. I’d normally be excited about Leon’s recovery, but at this moment, I could hardly think about it.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

All I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat as it pounded loudly inside my head.

’I think I got it.’

I swallowed my saliva.

’...I think I found the secret behind the experience.’