"I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of unknown creatures up north," Hana said seriously. "No one has gone farther north, and no one has ever managed to map that part of the Barren Wasteland –– no one."
Rain pursed his lips, pondering the implications.
Should I be concerned about this? He thought, the weight of the unknown pressing heavily on his mind.
The Barren Wasteland was barely mapped when Rain first arrived, with only about 2% known. Now, close to 7% had been charted, still a minuscule amount compared to the entire Barren Wasteland. What remained unexplored was the western side and mostly the northern part. The eastern side was bordered by bodies of water, so there was nothing noteworthy to map there.
The Barren Wasteland was mostly isolated from the rest of the Spirit Realm, and no one knew what they would find once they ventured north. For the time being, Rain didn't want to dwell on it. The construction of his village required his immediate attention, and providing a roof over his troops' head was his most pressing problem at the moment.
"I want to return to my tribe," Thraigar said, his deep voice tinged with sadness. "But I fear that I don't know where they are."
Rain shared the map with him, and Thraigar pointed to where he thought his clan was located.
"I think it's way up here."
"You're not sure?" Hana asked, raising an eyebrow.
Thraigar scratched his head with his pinky finger, a gesture that seemed almost childlike. "We don't use maps. We navigate by the stars and the position of the moon."
"Right . . ." Rain replied. You're soo doomed.
"If what you've pointed out is correct, then you're very far from home," Rain said, noting that the area was way up north. "We're right here at the moment," he said, pointing to their location on the map.
To Rain's amusement, Thraigar didn't seem bothered by the distance from his home.
Does he even have a sense of danger? Rain thought, baffled by the Goliath's calm response to his dire situation. Maybe not since he slept in the open field and got himself captured.
Thraigar crossed his arms and took a deep breath. "Hmm . . . this is a problem. Crossing the northern part alone is very dangerous . . . what to do . . ."
"Uhm . . . If you like, you can stay with us for a while. Maybe some of your brethren are looking for you and might stumble upon us here in the south."
Thraigar's smile was wide, revealing his yellow, tattered teeth. "Really? You will let Thraigar stay with you?"
Rain nodded. "We could really use all the help we can get here."
"You're a good guy, Friend. All of you. I will repay this kindness one day. This is a promise from Thraigar, son of Throg." Thraigar made a gesture with his hand that Rain couldn't understand.
"What is he doing?" Rain asked Hana.
Hana was about to explain when Chi interjected, pushing Hana to the side.
~Chi!~
"Oh, it's a sign of promise from the Goliaths. How unique."
"You should be honored," Hana said, smiling despite Chi's glares. "A Goliath's promise is akin to giving their life to fulfill it."
"Egh?!" Rain was surprised and immediately waved his hand to stop Thraigar. "Ah, you don't really have to go that far."
Chi stepped forward and chirped insistently, pointing at Thraigar with her little fingers.
"Ah. Yes. Thraigar will call you my lady from now on," Thraigar affirmed, nodding respectfully at Chi.
Chi nodded and put her hands on her waist, looking very satisfied.
'Good, we have established the hierarchy here,' she seemed to say.
"Alright, now that everyone is ready, let's go to the port town!" Rain announced.
A chorus of affirmations echoed as they prepared to move out.
=======
"You really took care of 30 hobgoblins with just you and five Aasimars?" Hana asked as they walked south.
#4, still clinging to the statue like his life depended on it, and Pup were by Thraigar's hands, enjoying a ride on the giant's palms as their little feet couldn't carry them far.
"We prepared a lot of traps beforehand. Without them, we might not have survived the day," Rain explained. "Though we won, our home was destroyed in the end."
Hana's face turned sad, and Rain quickly changed the topic. "Ah, don't worry about it. We were bound to build a real house anyway. I think it's a good thing that the shelter got destroyed; now we can push ourselves to build a real home. Ahahahahaaaa . . ."
Hana forced a smile. "Don't worry. I will help you find a great builder. The Barren Wasteland Port Town has many different races trading there every day. I'm sure we will find some dwarves or orcs to do the construction."
"That's great," Rain replied, though he thought that the port town's name could really use some work. It sounded like it was just made up on the spot.
"It's just . . ." Hana's face turned worried. "Don't raise your hopes too high."
"Why? Because I'm a player?"
"That and . . ." Hana hesitated before voicing her concerns. "Since you're going to find out anyway, I'll tell you now. Besides the prejudice against players, times are hard because of the new ruler of Port Town, and if anyone agrees to do the construction, they will probably charge you double the price."
". . ." Rain's heart sank. "That's . . ." He counted the Soul Elixirs he had. Good thing that after winning the war with the hobgoblins, he had gained 1L of Soul Elixirs and another 10,000 EP.
Who knew that winning a mini-war would yield so much?
Still, Rain didn't want to experience that kind of danger again, even though he knew it was common here.
"Let's check first and see if it's within my budget," Rain replied, feeling hopeful.
Hana beamed. "Don't worry, I will be with you all the way, and I'll make sure you're not scammed while we're there."
Rain felt dread rising from his stomach. "Scammed?"
Just what kind of place is this Port Town?!