In the camp, all the Demi-humans were gathered, and they were all eyeing a single individual. Adults stared with hate in their eyes while children hid behind them in fear.
Ali was walking through the camp with George's axe resting on his shoulder, beside him Liza, and behind him Lyria with thirty warriors following close behind.
"I really hope they agree," Liza said to him.
"You're that desperate to leave the forest?" Ali said as his eyes scanned the people around while walking forward. 'These people are mentally scarred, I shouldn't waste too much time trying to have them give up their hate towards humans. I'm leaving this world in the end anyway…' Ali thought.
"More than you can know. I want to see the outside world, I want to see a human city, I want to see the beach," Liza said with a smile.
Ali then stopped when his Force sense picked up on something familiar—it was nearly the same signal the axe gave him. So Ali changed direction and started walking towards the crowd, who suddenly stepped back, flustered…
"What is he gonna do?" a warrior shouted from behind.
"Ali, what's wrong?" Liza asked, with Lyria following, her bow drawn and ready to shoot.
Ali didn't respond as he continued walking towards where his Force sense signalled to him. He walked through the crowd, which had parted wide for him, and continued until he reached a large part of the camp where a wide circle in the soil was marked. At the edge of the circle was a wooden fence.
It was a fighting pit where the warriors sparred—but that wasn't what had triggered his Force sense. No, it was behind the pit and high up. Ali's eyes followed a thick wooden pole that stood straight from the ground. At the top of the pole, a rope dangled down a corpse.
A human corpse, to be specific. A large human. It was George, with his thick brown hair, his corpse rotting with deep scars all over and eight spears stabbed into his back. There were still traces of powerful aura all over his body.
Liza froze when she saw Ali looking up at the corpse, while some of the warriors smiled. It had brought great joy to the camp when Brak dragged in the corpse of a powerful knight and paraded it around the camp until Kynari told him to take it away—but he had just left it up there as a trophy for all the warriors to see.
In Ali's mind, he remembered the words George had told him—to protect his family no matter what—while he sacrificed himself for them to escape. 'He was a great man. I only met him for moments, but that was enough to tell. And now look at him, a corpse for weaklings to mock and stare at while his body rotted in the air'. Ali thought, still looking up at him.
'Brak, that fool', Lyria thought. 'Kynari won't be happy if he changes his mind because of this…'.
'Well, I'm sure he doesn't care what happened to his body—no one should. After you die, nothing else really matters. But the people he left behind will. Fiona would die if she saw him like this…' Ali thought. He didn't feel anger, or pity, or anything really. He just knew what others would feel in his stead right now, and what people expected him to feel if he was a normal person with empathy. But he wasn't…
Liza suddenly stepped up to the pole and kicked it, shattering the wood with sheer strength. She then caught George's corpse before it hit the ground. Ali simply stared down at her as the young Demi-human pulled out the spears and closed George's eyes before looking up at Ali's emotionless face.
"Ali, I'm sorry on behalf of my people. They will change, and this will never happen again. Kynari will make sure of it," she said with pleading eyes. If Ali called off the deal, then her hopes of getting out would be crushed.
Ali didn't say anything as he flicked his finger and George's corpse disappeared, before turning around and walking through the thirty warriors who looked at him with glee and mocking eyes. They were getting great joy from what they thought Ali was going through right now—they imagined pain and grief.
Ali's next step between them was different. One second they were enjoying the moment, the next his white coat fluttered up in the air and everything around them suddenly moved really fast…
All thirty of them felt their bodies grow impossibly heavy before their faces cracked into the ground and dug holes in the soil. All thirty warriors were digging their own graves in the earth as their bodies pressed deeper and deeper into the ground unwillingly. Ali was using an enormous amount of Force to push them down as he kept walking without even giving them a look.
Lyria aimed her arrow, shining green, at him, her bowstring under great tension ready to let loose—but she didn't fire as Ali kept walking and Liza then blocked her line of sight. At the same time, the warriors were busy eating dirt and struggling to breathe. They activated their aura, but none of them could resist. Slowly, they felt they were about to die, their lungs unable to take in air under the pressure…
Once Ali was twenty meters away, he let go, and they all gasped hungrily for air. Some even wet themselves from the fear of death. Not a single one of the warriors dared look in Ali's direction with thoughts of revenge or anger. Lyria looked down at them and was embarrassed, while she and Liza followed Ali under the stares of all the Demi-humans who had seen what happened and didn't dare look the human in the eye.
Ali entered the tent expecting an answer from the elders and Kynari—this would decide whether he'd commit a massacre today or not. He was ready to kill everyone in the camp. Everyone…
Kynari stood up and looked at him with her incredible fox eyes. Ali felt he could stare at them for hours—an effect of her natural charm that affected everything, not just beasts.
"We have additional asks if we are to agree," Kynari said, and Ali didn't react, making her breathe in relief. "We ask that all the land from the camp to the edge the forest with with Fortress Stork belong to us to own and sell," Kynari said.
"Sure, but if you sell, I get a commission as your lord and true owner of every piece of land in my territory. That applies to all my commoners—they own the land they pay for, but it'll always belong to me in the end," Ali responded, and the elders nodded in agreement. This was the normal protocol in the Kingdom, after all.
A villager could buy land, but the lord of the land could buy it back at any time—of course, that was if they were fair. Many just took it and killed the villager.
"And lastly, we want martial arts—human martial arts—to be taught to our warriors. And spells. We want access to human spells," Kynari said. She had worry inside her head, as the elders were the ones who pushed her to ask for this. She feared Ali would refuse, as spells and martial arts were extremely precious to the humans and were the tools they used to kill and enslave her people.
Ali didn't answer right away this time. He simply looked at them with his black eyes in silence. 'They're pushing their luck this time, but I expected it. To be honest, every single thing that has happened so far was predicted by Miles in his report on the camp—he even knew the exact relationships and personalities of some of them'… Ali thought.
"Martial arts and spells are an expensive ask, Kynari," Ali said, and her heart nearly plummeted. She thought this deal was great for the camp, but the greed of the elders was about to ruin it. She opened her mouth to take back their ask, but an elder beat her to it and spoke up first.
"What would you ask in return?" the elder asked.
"Something equally expensive, I suppose…" Ali said, his eyes looking down into Kynari's red eyes—but he stared so intently that her face now had a flush too. She couldn't resist Ali's eyes. "I accept if your priestess becomes my concubine," Ali said, shocking everyone in the tent.
'If I'm getting sent to a fantasy world, then I'm going to enjoy everything it offers…', Ali thought, while Miles, who heard what he said through his drones, couldn't understand why he would waste such an opportunity like this.
The elders didn't say anything as they slowly looked at Kynari. Lyria saw that and nearly shot arrows into each of them in anger—they were basically hinting at Kynari to accept.
'These bastards, sacrificing the priestess for the magic of humans. How could they?', she thought, while Liza behind her thought differently. 'He likes big sister Kynari!!!' she thought with her hand covering her mouth.
At the same time, Kynari, the centre of attention now, didn't know what to say. 'He wants me to be his concubine? I would have to… MATE… with him?' Her face was getting more and more red by the second.
'What should I say? If I accept, it would be a great treasure for our people. The humans have very powerful magic, and their martial arts is the only reason they could ever beat our warriors, she thought', trying to take her emotions and feelings out of it—already thinking of sacrificing herself for her people.
But she didn't realise she'd stood frozen for a full two minutes now without speaking—until Ali sighed, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"I'll give you the martial arts right away, but the magic you'll receive only after you've agreed to become my concubine," Ali said, giving Kynari an out, which she appreciated greatly.
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