On his way to the Trident mountains, Alex had guessed what the Moon Fox tribe would look like, but even if he could guess for another million years, he would not have guessed correctly. Looking at the Trident mountains, Alex was a little overwhelmed.
Three mountains stood in the middle of the vast forest. That was not the shocking part. In front of the three mountains was a lively town full of people. But most of the people present have some traits of the magic beasts like wolf ears, rabbit ears, wolf tail, fox ears...etc.
Demi-Humans!
Really? Magic beasts and Humans? Then he remembered Varis's mom, Ms. Aretha, with her sharp blue eyes and a long blue dress.
'Well, I guess I could not blame them.' thought Alex.
Alex stood there pondering the situation with eyes wide and mouth agape.
"You look shocked, Mr. Ryder. Never saw the Demi-humans before?" Came the cold voice of Declan from behind.
"Of course, I saw them. Well, I never expected there to be such a lively place in the middle of the forest. I was a little overwhelmed," said Alex, a half-truth.
The team proceeded, and they soon reached the town wall. Alex saw many carriages drawn by blue scaled horses and great wolves going through the main gate. In front of the small gate was a long queue of people in different clothes with different animal traits.
In the middle of the queue, Alex saw a white-tailed roguish demi-human, twice his size, molest a rabbit girl in a pink dress in front of him. The cute rabbit girl broke into tears. Her companions and the surrounding crowd around were outraged.
Alex also felt sympathetic. The angry crowd cursed the shameless rogue. However, the rogue looked unperturbed. Seeing his smug face, a wolf man could not bear it and punched him on his face. The small fight quickly escalated to a scuffle. Now, everyone was beating someone.
Alex and the team quickly stopped at a distance. Alex, with eagle vision, can clearly see the messy fight.
The white-haired demi-human was the one who attracted the most hatred. Many tried to beat the guy up, but his huge stature is not for show.
"Haha, I am gonna squash you guys like a pumpkin." laughed the rogue, as he blocked their attacks with his staff. That only made everyone hate him more.
Suddenly, Alex saw a fair white leg hit the rogue's temple from behind. Crack! The rogue's laughter stopped. His eyes went blank and fell. Behind him was the cute rabbit girl. That did not end there. The rabbit girl walked to the front of the rogue and kicked him in the balls. Crack!
Alex and every other guy who saw this scene immediately flinched and closed their legs. He saw the rogue spasm on the ground. The scuffle quickly came to an end. Alex vowed to never look down on any demi-human. The guards garrisoned at the town wall came down to maintain order.
The team once again proceeded. Instead of standing in the queue, the team directly went to the small gate. The guard who wore steel armor stopped them. He looked at the well-equipped group and did not ask why they cut the queue.
"Identity and entrance fees." said the man with a grumpy tone.
Rose showed a badge of an oak tree and a river. The grumpy man instantly became friendly. He took off his helmet and showed a thin pale face with white fox ears.
"Ah, Ms. Elmore, Welcome. Are you here to meet the tribe chief?" said the fox-man with a flattering smile.
"No, just to rest," said Rose.
"Then we will inform an elder and arrange you a guest villa."
Rose nodded. The team was guided to a waiting room in the garrison. After a few minutes, a beautiful fox woman in a long white dress appeared. Her silver fox eyes glanced at Alex, and he instantly felt an irresistible attraction. Alex's heart rate increased, and his face began to blush. If Alex did not have strong willpower, he might have done something stupid like Simon.
"Ah, Shai, you are as beautiful as the moon. Can I buy you dinner? How about a flying artifact?" asked Simon, while trying to get her attention and wipe off his drool.
She completely ignored Simon and walked towards Rose.
"Miss Rose, It is nice to see you so soon. How was your journey?"
"It went well."
"Good, Let me show you to your villa," said Shai, walking out.
Alex and team walked out of the garrison, and two luxurious carriages drawn by blue scaled horses were waiting for them. Alex, Ms. Shai, Miss Rose, and Tom sat in one carriage.
"Miss Rose, who is your friend here?" said Shai, her beautiful silver eyes staring at Alex. Alex felt his heart race slightly but quickly controlled it.
"His name Is Alex Ryder. A friend of mine," said Miss Rose casually.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ryder. My name is Shai, an elder of the Moon fox tribe," said Shai.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Shai." said Alex, trying to control his emotions.
"Where are you from, Alex?" asked Ms. Shai.
"I came from a very far place, Ms. Shai."
"Ooh, how mysterious," said Ms. Shai smiling cunningly. Alex was crying inside.
If this keeps going, Alex was not sure if he could keep his secrets. If they knew he was from another planet, they might start dissecting him. Something tells him that Declan would be the first in line.
As he was thinking about how to break the conversation. Miss Rose came to the rescue.
"Shai, how are the clan's purchase orders coming along," said Miss Rose.
"Everything is good, Miss Rose. Only yesterday we got..," said Shai.
Alex quickly turned his head and looked outside of the window. The carriage was moving slowly in the market area. The busy street was full of shops and vendors selling all kinds of herbs, leather, weapons, and other goods.
The sidewalk was filled with all kinds of demi-humans. Alex saw many half-beast races on the street: Rabbit, Wolf, Jackal, Tiger races. Except for the ears and tail, they look no different from normal people. They are all shopping in the market.
Soon the carriage came to the foot of the mountain. The area was quiet, far away from the bustling town. Alex saw beautiful gardens and villas everywhere. Soon, the two carriages reached their villa. As they got down from their carriage, Alex saw Simon approach Ms. Shai.
"Ms. Shai, Are you free tonight? How about a dinner to discuss business with our Vulture Mercenaries?" asked Simon. This time he was prepared and was not drooling.
"No. I already made plans for tonight," said Ms. Shai while winking at Alex. Seeing this, Simon was instantly fumed at Alex.
'What did I do?' thought Alex and walked into the villa. The inside of the villa was decorated with fine art and beautiful furniture. After discussing with Tom, Alex got his own room.
As Alex entered his room on the second floor, he saw a large feather bed in the center. Looking at the comfortable bed, Alex felt drowsy. He checked the bathroom, and there was plumbing. Thank God!
[Open the window.] said Varis in his head.
'I almost forgot about that guy.'
As he opened the window, an exotic bluebird flew in and perched on a cabinet. Curious, Alex searched the cabinet and found some clean clothes. He took a white shirt and trousers of his size.
Alex took a hot shower, changed clothes, and laid on the feather bed. He almost forgot how good its to sleep in a proper bed.
Varis already nodded off on the cabinet. As Alex was about to enter the dreamland, he heard a door knock and got up grumpily.
"Miss Rose wants to invite you to dinner," said Gary.
Varis, who was dozing on the cabinet, woke up at the mention of the food.
"Ok. I will be there," said Alex, getting ready for the dinner.