After the girls and Bodidi said their goodbyes to the villagers and the chiefs, they grouped up with Felix in the training ground.
“Supreme Elder, we would like to get teleported near the Mire Marauders.” Felix requested politely.
The distance between the two tribes stretched beyond the horizon…Felix didn’t want to travel on foot with his party as he knew that it would take way too long.
Since he never visited the Mire Marauders’ territory, he couldn’t open a dimensional mirror to it…The same applied to Bodidi as he needed exact coordinates or visited the place once.
“That will cost you a food container for each member.” Elder Strauvis anwsered.
Felix agreed to the payment and beamed the food containers to the side…He had to add another one since Miss Monaka was going with them as well.
Without further ado, Elder Strauvis teleported them a couple of kilometers outside of the Mire Marauders’ Tribe.
The moment Felix and the others opened their eyes, they realized that they were placed within a gloomy vast forest with pitch-black leafless trees.
The sky wasn’t as sunny and welcoming anymore…It was covered completely in gray gloomy clouds, making the atmosphere unpleasant and somewhat harrowing.
“The tribe is in front…Please, follow me.” Miss Monaka requested as she floated deeper into this nightmarish forest.
In a short while, they encountered a huge, ominous swamp, which seemed to have absolutely no end.
The scent of decay was overpoweringly unpleasant, and the earth seemed soft and mushy beneath their feet as if it would give way at any second.
From the murky waters, tall cypress trees with twisted roots grew, creating unsettling shadows on the calm surface. The creepy feeling was heightened by the way that hanging moss swayed in the light air.
The air was filled with a disturbing cacophony of buzzing insects and croaking frogs in addition to creepy unfamiliar noises.
“Be careful.” Felix warned as he noticed a large green alligator with three heads moving stealthily across the water with its eyes fixed on them.
“I will handle it.” Selphie said as she pointed her wand at the alligator.
With a soft audible murmur, the alligator seemed to have been affixed in its place like it was paralyzed. But everyone knew that she had frozen it in time as the water around it was also unmoving.
“Gives me the creeps every time I see it.” Bodidi murmured to himself.
“It will be released after a few minutes.” Selphie shared with a faint smile.
“Good, you take care of anyone in our way.” Felix permitted, knowing that Selphie could handle such situations without leaving a mess.
Before Selphie could reply, a sudden gruff voice resounded in their minds simultaneously.
‘Leave this place while I am still asking nicely…We do not accept guests at the moment.’
Everyone flinched but Miss Monaka and Felix as they already anticipated that the tribe’s chief wouldn’t allow them to walk through his territory unchecked.
Miss Monaka shrugged her shoulders at Felix and his party, seemingly telling them that it wasn’t her problem to convince the chief to accept them.
So, Felix had to take matters into his own hands.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Chief Drogath.” Felix bowed his head politely and said, “I understand that you want us to leave, so I won’t waste your time with useless chatter. I am here to train my poison elemental manipulation and if it means buying or renting a plot of your land to make it happen, I will gladly accept any offer you make.”
Felix didn’t mention the conflict as he wanted to see if he could get what he wanted from the chief without needing to get his hands dirty.
Alas…
‘I’m not interested in your food…Leave.’
‘Tsk, as expected.’ Felix wasn’t dishearted by his response as he knew that it had the highest chance of happening.
Food was an important and desirable resource for Elementals…But that’s only if they had nothing else happening.
In this case, how could the Mire Elementals care about food when they were literally fighting for the survival of their territory and tribe?
If Felix arrived with this offer a century ago, chief Drogath might have accepted it. But not now as their situation was too dire to care about food or anything else.
“Chief Drogath, I have heard that your tribe is being attacked by the Scorchlanders.” Felix requested with a serious tone, “So, if you won’t accept our deal, then please give us a chance to prove our worth as we might be useful in your war.”
Chief Drogath suddenly appeared in front of Felix and his party in the shape of a dark green muddy monster with illuminating eyes.
“Child, you are talking about things you don’t understand at all.” He said expressionlessly.
“All I know is that your tribe is an uninterrupted path towards its damnation and no one is offering you any assistance.” Felix replied with a serious tone, “I am offering my services for nothing but a place to train and hopefully some assistance from you.”<.com>
“I also want to offer my services.” Selphie added.
“Likewise.”
“Me too.”
The rest of the team backed Felix when he needed it, knowing that it would be difficult to refuse free help in a losing war from many individuals.
“You little ones think that you have what it takes to help my tribe?” Chief Drogath scoffed.
Felix knew that Chief Drogath had absolutely no knowledge about them as he didn’t bother to even send someone to trade food when everyone else was doing it.
So, it was normal to be underestimated by him.
“How about a test?” Felix proposed, “We will fight your tribesmen and if we win, you have to take us in. If we loss, we won’t bother you again.”
Chief Drogath went silent at Felix’s proposal, seeming like he was thinking about the upsides and the downsides of it.
“Fine.”
When he realized that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain, Chief Drogath could only agree to the proposal.
“Follow me.” He said calmly as he led the relieved Felix and his party toward the center of the swamp.
After they arrived, they were met with a collection of huts built on stilts, with wooden walkways and bridges connecting them.
The huts were made of wood and thatched roofs, with a few small windows and a single door.
The walkways were slippery and uneven, making travel difficult for anyone unfamiliar with the terrain.
Unlike the Emerland Glen, there were barely twenty Elementals in the village and even then, they seemed wary and unwelcoming with the arrival of Felix’s party.
The atmosphere was similar to the deathly forest as it was silent and creepy as hell, making the girls a bit uncomfortable being near those disgustingly looking Elementals.
‘He just had to have poison as an element…’ Olivia thought to herself as she raised her guards to the limit in this unfriendly atmosphere.
“Eldrid, Willow, Sera, anyone of you, get over here.” Chief Drogath called calmly.
Abruptly, a living, breathing extension of the bog itself emerged from one of the huts.
Its body was a writhing mass of vines, roots, and mud, coiling and twisting in a never-ending dance of life and decay. Its form was constantly shifting and evolving, taking on new shapes and textures as it moved toward Felix and his friends.
The creature’s tendrils reached out in all directions, snaking through the water and wrapping around the trees and underbrush of the swamp.
This sight alone was enough to freak out Bodidi and Olivia as the monster was even scarier than Chief Drogath.
‘You should be wary of him.’ Asna warned with a deep frown, ‘His consciousness prowess is extraordinary.’
Before Felix could reply, Chief Drogath introduced the Elemental, “This is Eldrid, one of my many commanders in this war…He is the consciousness of the southern poisonous swamp. Since most of my tribesmen are at the frontlines, he will be testing you.”
“Mmmmm…”
Just like a lazy stupid walking monster, Eldrid acknowledged his chief’s introduction with an eerie noise.
‘Sh*t, if this thing fought Olivia or even Bodidi, he will definitely crush them with merely his consciousness prowess.’ Felix frowned, knowing the situation was going as planned.
He thought Chief Drogath would pair them with someone near their strength, but he completely forgot that their strength wasn’t unknown to the chief in the first place!
So, he literally picked the first choice to have accepted his call, not caring about the strength difference!
If Felix dared to make excuses about this situation, he might end up getting kicked out immediately.
After all, what’s the point of having them join the war if all they could do was take care of the pawns?
‘I guess there is only one way to pass this test.’
“Any problem?” Chief Drogath asked after seeing Felix’s party’s deadly silence.
“Not at all.” Felix narrowed his eyes at Eldrid and said, “I am going first.”
“Mmmmm…” Eldrid agreed with the same eerie noise.
