"That's when I found out." Dmitri twirled his thumbs in the air as he wore a prideful expression on his face— as if that meant he was closer to Krimshur compared to everyone else. Such wasn't the case, he was just lucky enough to notice it at that point in time. It may have been a coincidence, but Dmitri was making such a big deal out of it.
Still, Hellspawn asked himself if he ever noticed something different from their Water Elemental Class friend. If what Dmitri said was true, then that means they didn't care enough to notice. Hellspawn couldn't help but ponder about it since he didn't notice. And as for Lev, what Dmitri said came in one ear and out the other. He couldn't remember who this Krimshur guy is so he didn't sweat out the small details.
"So, Krimshur is the avatar?" Lev said his thoughts out loud before he even realized it.
"Avatar? What do you mean?" Dmitri asked as everyone in the ship stared at him with confusion written all over their faces.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that." Lev shook his head, chuckling.
"And now we're about to meet this guy. Be careful though, we still have a lot to learn when it comes to the Alch Tribe so it's best if we approach them as cautiously and as respectfully as possible."
Whirr~
As the Starlight Streamer's engine slowly died down, Dmitri and the others exited, wearing the default spacesuit available within Starlight Streamer's wardrobe. It was plain white, with metallic designs that outlined the major muscle groups. Even if someone fat were to wear this, they would look intimidating and powerful.
"Be careful, first, we greet them with a bow, and then raise our hands to signal that we didn't mean any harm," Dmitri instructed.
As if on cue, someone appeared from the thick lushes of trees that surrounded the wide clearing. The guy had a tall stature, almost six feet tall, and he wore an oriental mask that covered the entirety of his face. His garments were oriental as well, a one-piece cloth that resembled a kimono more than anything else. It had a light blue hue as its color, with its seams embroidered with white designs.
"Just like how we practiced," Dmitri muttered, bowing a perfect ninety-degree angle towards the unknown Elemental Class human.
Lev and the others followed suit, and then they raised their hands as a signal that they aren't holding any weapons.
The masked man then hollered and then did his weird dance before approaching Dmitri. He then knelt forward and kissed Dmitri on the feet. He then proceeded to holler, followed by his weird dance, and then kissed Lev on the feet. He repeated the process to everyone.
"Greeting, this is how we greet everyone in the Alch Tribe." The masked man said.
"Oh, I... I see," Dmitri muttered. This was the first time someone greeted him in that weird way. The man didn't even have to tell him that what he did was a greeting. Nevertheless, he said it, which meant that he was expecting the same thing to be done to him.
'I see, I guess there's only one thing left to do.' Dmitri said in his mind as he proceeded to holler, and then he imitated the weird dance. Dmitri knew he wasn't the best dancer but he managed to go through the dance without making any major mistakes.
Just when he proceeded to kiss the masked man on the feet, he realized that the masked man's feet were barefoot and that they had mud and soil all over them. 'I have to kiss that?!' Dmitri said to himself as he nervously gulped. The masked man didn't hesitate to kiss their feet because he wore a mask, and their spacesuit also covered their feet.
Slowly, Dmitri knelt down and proceeded to kiss the person's feet. One thing that he didn't want was to offend anyone who was part of the Alch Tribe because of how powerful they were as a group. That's why Dmitri had to go through with this greeting no matter what. It's better than being killed in one of the most bountiful and flourishing Star systems in the known universe. It's quite an ironic way to die.
"Wait, you really did that?!" Lev asked in disbelief.
"Shh! He might hear you, just do what I did. We have no choice." Dmitri hissed.
With disgusted expressions on their faces, they went through the same process the way Dmitri did, giving the masked man a kiss on his muddy feet.
Suddenly, the masked man began laughing raucously as if he just had all the fun in the world. He laughed so hard that his stomach began clenching. Gripping his stomach tightly, the masked man removed his mask and showed his face to Dmitri and the others.
"Wha— you!" Dmitri gasped before grabbing the man by the neck and squeezing him. "How dare you do us dirty like that."
"How did it taste? Hahaha~" The man laughed so hard. "Wait, Lev?! Why are you here?! I've been looking everywhere for you for years! Hellspawn and Dmitri over here are easy to locate but you... you were under the radar. Dmitri, how did you find him?"
"I didn't, he found me back at the Council Headquarters." Dmitri briefly explained. "They were being chased by the Ashen Assembly so I had to step in."
"Whoa~ Lev!" The man exclaimed, extending his hands. However, instead of a handshake, he gave Lev a big hug before squeezing him as if he was wringing out all the air out of him.
"Relax, Krimshur, he doesn't remember any of us. Some sort of amnesia, I think." Dmitri continued.
"Wait, you don't remember me?" Krimshur asked with teary eyes. "After everything we've been through... after everything we did together? We were the best of friends, you know." He continued.
"No you weren't, you were always messing up with him." Hellspawn finally revealed. Initially, he decided to hide what type of friendship they had... but that thought flew out the window when Krimshur forced him to kiss his dirty feet like that.