Micha squinted his eyes and extended his neck to peek out a bit more. He was an archer and had many eye-techniques that helped him see further, see better at longer distances etc, so he was able to get a much clearer picture than most of the others.
"Is that…them?" he asked skeptically. They were still at least a kilometer away but were moving unusually fast and would reach them in less than 2-3 minutes.
To Micha, the scenes were as clear as day.
The 'caravan' was made up of the natives of this planet. Physically, they all looked more or less the same as normal human beings from the Beast World with some minor differences like a darker skin, sturdier and taller physiques etc.
If brought back to the beast world, none of these people would ever stand out in a crowd with the amount of diversity that was usually found there.
At the front of the caravan was an old man sitting on top of a fat animal that looked to be a mix of Camels and Oxes from earth. It had dark skin, two giant humps on its back between which the old man was sitting patiently with closed eyes and a rather long neck.
All in all, it was about 6 meters in width and 3 meters in height. Its fat legs moved quickly and uniformly with each step being the exact same distance as the last. It was actually quite mesmerizing to look at.
Behind them were many men and women walking on foot with a few carriages being pulled by different beasts. It looked completely ordinary.
"Yes, it's them," Dai Zhi nodded without taking looking up at them. He was tightening up his jacket and pants so they stuck to him like an extra layer of skin.
Still confused, Micha decided to ask again, despite his better judgment.
"But, aren't those just the natives of this world? Are they working with the outer tribe?"
Aer and Nel both smiled upon hearing the question but didn't respond. Dai Zhi didn't answer straight away either. He finished 'prepping up' before looking up at the caravan once again.
"You have only been here for a few hours so you wouldn't know this but, this world and its culture is quite primitive. Men are in charge of everything while women are considered to be weak and in most cases, lesser beings. But look there," he gestured towards the caravan with his chin and Micha looked over.
"Men and women are standing together, with weapons none the less. Look at their bodies, they are well developed and seem to have gone through many battles. Look at how they move, those are seasoned fighters. But how is that possible? It could be that this group is just very progressive but that's highly unlikely."
Micha's brows knit together in confusion, "But still, that doesn't mean-" before he could finish a blue crystal fell into his palm.
"Use this to look at them again," Dai Zhi said with a smile and slumped back down.
Doubtful, Micha raised the crystal in front of his right eye and closed the left one. He looked at the caravan once again and gasped instinctively.
The scene had changed completely. The normal-looking caravan from before had turned into a group of monsters.
The old man at the front now looked like an actual monster. It floated above ground at a height of five meters. It had no legs or if it did, they were covered by a thick carapace that looked like a robe from afar.
Two arms that ended with three digits on each hand. A similar-looking carapace like that of an insect protruded out of its shoulders to create a shoulder cop that went down all way to the front and connected with the 'robe'. The same carapace went up to its head and created what looked like a helmet, but this was a part of its face.
There were no nostrils, only a fanged maw with razor-sharp teeth. The carapace protruded outwards from both sides of the head, creating two combed back horns. There were two vertical openings that went all the way from the front of its face to the back of the head. These openings glowed with a white light, dimming and brightening constantly.
In its right hand was a long bone of some sort of beast from looks of it. there were many characters carved on the bone that glowed every now and then. The top of bone held a crystal sphere that was letting out minute traces of fog that encircled the entire caravan.
Behind this creature were dozens of long-armed roach warriors. They were surrounding a metallic platform that floated above ground and was being dragged by two large roaches.
On this platform were close to 80 humans. Chained and bloody.
Some were laying down lifelessly, whether they were dead or alive was uncertain. While a few others looked around with hateful gazes, forcing themselves to sit up straight. Those young men and woman that had arrived on the planet with such gusto and fervor now looked like prisoners of a lost war.
"What…is that…?!" Micha threw out the words from his parched throat like he was vomiting needles.
With his vision, he was able to see the creature at the front with extreme clarity. Just one look was enough to send cold shivers down his spine. An overwhelming feeling of dread took root in his heart. That is, until he felt a warm hand on his shoulder which forcefully cleared out all those negative feelings.
He turned his head sideways mechanically and saw Dai Zhi smiling back at him.
"Don't worry, I had much of the same reaction the first time I saw a Dark Wizard, its only natural."
