Contraptions and traps in Elder Joron's house were simply too sofisticated to be made by some moronic tribal people. Harry also noticed that, as most of them were freshly minted, they couldn't be stolen articles from Pale Men's country. They have to be minted in the forge of the Vulcan tribe. He was sure of it.
How do these people even get their hands on schematics of these things, let alone get the knowledge to create this stuff, He thought.
While he was looking around, Joron went inside to fetch something. When the old man came back and saw him checking out the contraptions, "Ah.." Joron slowly exclaimed. He had a new bow in his hands. "Like what you see?" the man asked.
Acting as a curious and stupid child, Harry nodded, "Yes, elder… I have never seen this.. Whatever this is," he said while pointing at a spring-loaded trap.
"You never will as well," Joron said, "This is meant for the protection of Heks and Agora. Not meant for hunting or anything,"
His words confused Harry; from what he could see, these contraptions could easily be used for hunting as well. But he didnt delve deep into the matter, as he wanted to unearth something else, "Protection? From whom?"
Joron smiled, "Oh yeah.. I forgot. Your training had just started," The man gestured for Harry to come sit with him.
As they sat down, Joron added further, "The Heks consists of six tribes. And we all serve and protect the Agora. It is our sacred place and holds immense power as well. But there are these pale men, they always wander in our territory. Killing our people, destroying our tribes. So many years ago, the six tribes came together to form Heks." Then the man gestured towards contraptions, "You see these? They were a gift from our great Lord of scriptures. He showed the first grand priestess how to make them, whose knowledge was later passed down to the Elders of Vulcans. Our tribe,"
"Really?" Harry said with astonishment, not buying the story, but clearly interested in the premise of it.
"Yes." Joron said, "We Vulcans have the blood of Fire in us. In every generation, the best of us is chosen by the tribe, who inherits the teachings of the Grand Priestess. For my generation, it was me. And when I die, that knowledge will then be passed down to someone else."
Joron then smiled, "Who knows, maybe you would be the one who would eventually replace me."
Harry passed the man a smile, "If I am chosen, I would be honoured to carry on your legacy,"
Joron smiled, and then handed him the bow and gestured towards the door, "Go. Karina would be waiting for you downstairs," He nodded, and went outside…
***
A week went by in getting to know the grasslands a little better, along with their diverse flora and fauna. Karina taught Harry everything that he needed to know while maintaining a clear distance from him. He had noticed that since the second day, she had been wary of him for some reason.
But Karina's behaviour didn't bother him at all. He knew that one day, people would start noticing that he was not Adui. And for that reason, her behaviour only fueled his determination to get strong fast.
Ever since his talk with Tina, Harry had been meditating for a few hours daily. But the results remain the same, he was not able to connect with the Vita in his body. Though he could feel something. It was not Vita, but something akin to a thick layer of sorts. This layer that came forward when he was mentally vested in meditating turned into his first hurdle.
He didnt know what this layer was, or its purpose. But he could feel that he was supposed to peel it off to reveal what was on the other side. And with every meditating session, he was slowly carving it away, making some progress every day.
That particular night, as well, Harry was sitting on the top of the rock in a discreet corner, meditating in silence. With his legs crossed, eyes closed, his sole focus was on he layer that he was carving away.
Slowly, and steadily, he was chipping away this invisible layer, piece and piece. And at some moment, he felt it. He was close, very close to chipping away a hole in the layer.
With increased concentration, Harry started chipping away faster and faster. And finally, before he knew, a small hole appeared.
Some hot, yet warm to touch, came flooding from the other side.
Harry opened his eyes, he could feel some pain around his heart. The strange part was, he could now feel the layer even though he was not meditating. And this layer was breaking down fast; whatever was flooding in was taking the pieces of the layer with its flow. And with it, the pain was also increasing.
He realised that something was wrong. Quickly as he could, he started heading towards the forges. He figured that someone would be there, maybe one of the slaves or maybe even Elder Joron.
But his plan was spoiled when, after only staggering for a few steps, Harry fell down in pain. The layer was gone, and something was now flooding inside his body. The pain started around his heart and had now moved along his body. Now every part of his body was aching, and the pain was getting intense with every second.
Before Harry knew it, error messages started showing up on his feed. And with error messages, darkness took over his HUD…