"HAAA! Where am I!?" Xuan Jin woke up with a start. Looking around he found himself laying atop a straw bed within a shabby wooden hut. Attempting to move, the boy found his body aching in pain.
'What happened to me....' Xuan Jin thought before recalling the events that took place before he lost consciousness. 'I must've fallen into the river but what happened after....'
"Creak."
Before he could answer that question the door opened and a young girl entered. She was dressed in plain leather clothes, her hair dark as night while her eyes held an emerald glow.
Upon seeing Xuan Jin awake the girl's eyes widened in shock before she ran out of the wooden hut. ".....Am I so scary." Jin muttered to himself before circulating his Xuan Qi.
While it may be deadly to foreign entities, to himself his Xuan Qi was quite a useful tool for recovery. After a few seconds of circulating his Xuan Qi, Jin noticed he could move his body albeit weakly.
Getting up from the bed as best he could the boy walked towards the door. Just as he did so the girl returned along with a large muscular man. "Little boy, you shouldn't be getting up so soon." The man suggested inspecting the boy.
Rather than heeding this suggestion Jin replied with a multitude of questions. "Where am I? How Long have I been unconscious? And who are you people?"
Hearing this the man chuckled lightly, while the girl seemed worried for Jin's health. "I found you by the river. Why don't you sit first before we explain." The girl said motioning to the bed.
Jin simply nodded before sitting down. 'Father and mother said to always be wary of strangers, but these people don't seem to be evil.....worst comes to worst I'll buy some time to recover before fighting my way out.' The boy analyzed circulating his Xuan Qi.
"I am Little Boar, and this is my little sister Iris. About a day ago she found you floating down the river near our Iron Body Tribe." Little Boar explained much to Jin's shock.
'If he's Little Boar who's Big Boar?' The boy thought before shaking his head. "All right, then I must thank you for saving me. I am Xuan Jin from the Black Blade Pavilion" He introduced himself before bowing his head slightly to show his gratitude. "So are we still in the 10,000 Beast Forest?" Jin continued.
"10,000 Beast Forest? Father said outsiders were weird, but I didn't realise just how weird. Come with me." Little Boar muttered before grabbing Jin and bringing him out of the hut. 'Strong.' Jin noted sensing the man's strength.
Exiting the hut, Jin's pupils constricted as the light hit his eyes. Regaining his vision he realised they were surrounded by mountains. Not only that but he was already on one such mountain.
"Huh!?" Jin was stumped. As far as he knew there were no mountains within the area of the 10,000 Beast Forest. At least none that he could see when he was exploring it, or recorded in the Black Blade Pavilion.
'I am completely lost.....' Jin thought to himself before noticing the other Iron Body tribesmen. "So that brat is finally awake?" One of them asked, his voice booming across.
Little Boar simply nodded. "Yes about 2 minutes ago. His body seems to harbor no vitality and he's most likely from the outside." Little Boar explained before placing Jin on the ground.
"What are we going to do with him? Since he's not a spy we won't kill him, but we're not a charity." A stern looking man with grey hair declared. Hearing the word "kill", Jin's ears immediately perked up and only then did he realise he was missing his blade.
"I agree with Elder Silver Bull. If he's useless and harbors no vitality like you said, we're better off kicking him off the mountain." Another tribesman agreed. Soon the majority of the tribesmen were clamoring for Jin to be removed.
'I was going to leave anyway....it seems that the books didn't exaggerate human nature.' Jin thought to himself before turning to Iris. "Thank you for saving my life. If you could hand me my blade I'll get out of your hair."
Iris' expression looked torn. "Brother, I am sure we don't have to kick him out immediately. Can we ask father?" Iris pleaded clearly feeling somewhat responsible for Jin's situation.
On the other side Elder Silver Bull and the others grew louder, and Little Boar's expression soured. "ENOUGH! My father already decided yesterday, that if the child was a spy he'd be executed, and if he wasn't he'd be thrown into the Forging Altar." Little Boar declared quieting down the masses.
"...Wouldn't it be better to kick him out then to throw him in there. If he has no vitality as you said isn't the Forging Altar a death sentence....." A tribesman noted, Jin's ears naturally picked up on this.
These people kept making decisions about his fate, without taking his opinion into account. It was starting to really irk him. Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do. He was currently not only injured, but missing his blade.
"My father's decision is final. I'll be taking the boy there now if he produces no results in a week we'll toss him off the mountain." Little Boar then grabbed Xuan Jin before walking deeper into the tribe.
Iris tagged along clearly worried about Jin's safety. "I am sorry." She muttered. "Don't worry about it, I am just grateful you saved my life." Jin smiled, causing the girl's expression to brighten.
Soon they arrived at the Forging Altar. It was a circular stone platform, with three large stone pillars surrounding it in a triangular formation. On each pillar there was different blood red runes engraved.
Seeing this Jin's eyes immediately lit up. 'Array Formation! Is there such an expert in this Iron Body Tribe.' Jin thought amazed. He'd tried to dabble in arrays when he was younger, unfortunately his Qi capacity was never enough running out after forming 3 or 4 runes.
"This is the Forging Altar. You might think my father and I are cruel for tossing you in here. But believe me this is your best bet, you wouldn't survive outside. Not as you are right now anyway." Little Boar explained before tossing the boy into the center of the stone platform.
He then quickly hit a specific rune on each pillar, causing them to emit a bright red light. A red barrier then formed around the platform encasing Xuan Jin within it.
"Every 8 hours food will be delivered to you here. I hope you can survive." Little Boar said before turning around, clearly unwilling to watch what would happen next. "Iris lets go." He beckoned his sister.
Giving the boy one last pained glance Iris turned around to follow her brother. 'Hmm this altar doesn't seem all tha-'
"ARGHHHH!"