This chapter has been proof-read by: AnthonyL

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I therefore assumed that he was part of the recently arrived group of people. This old man looked very frail, but a definite strength could still be felt coming from him. The warriors instantly placed one of their knees down to the ground at his words while still firmly holding their spears ready to defend themselves.

“Don't make eye contact with it. It might perceive it as a sign of aggression.” Hearing that remark annoyed me a bit. What was I to them? A dangerous animal or something? The old shaman definitely had a lot of authority since even a man who had a tribal chief face-paint followed his order and placed a knee to the ground like the others. Seeing a thousand little humans kneeling in front of me, I couldn't help but feel like some type of king or something similar.

Sensing that it was the perfect opportunity to end this without a fight, I immediately stopped releasing dokari and adopted a relaxed posture. Just like that, the atmosphere surrounding us had changed and even though everyone was still visibly tense, the little people finally showed signs of being able to breathe normally and calmed down a bit.

“Kuyani?!” Wanting to give the medication to Kuyani and leave as fast as possible, I decided to call her name and see if they would bring her to me. “Kuyani?” Repeated the old shaman with an intrigued expression on his face. “Naytuñ!!!” Screamed a high pitched familiar voice from behind the group of unknown people.

She was being helped up by her mother since her leg had yet to recuperate, and was strangely still wearing my t-shirt from the other day. Ignoring everything and everyone around me, I quickly walked up to her and held her in a princess carry before heading inside the village with her.

The warriors surrounding us seemed puzzled by my behaviour but remained silently on their knees and kept avoiding eye contact with me. Once inside the village's palisade, I looked at her and managed to have her guide me to where her bed was by simply using body language.

Following her directions, we eventually arrived to a big wooden house looking a bit like the Native American long houses from back in the days, in which I had to crouch to enter since the top of the door barely reached my shoulders. It was a sturdy looking building at least 20 meters long with many beds built on platforms alongside the walls on each side.

The centre hallway had numerous fire-pits at around 5 meter intervals between each other. The beds were laid with animal pelts, while various plants and blue meat were hung from the ceiling to dry. At the end of the hallway was what looked like a wooden throne with a giant statue carved from a big tree trunk looking a bit like a totem poll.

I had no idea what the creature carved on it was, but it looked more like a caricature of something rather than a realistic depiction. “I knew you would come back for me.” Said the cute little woman while leaning her head against my chest. I carefully laid 'my fiancé ' on her bed and took her medication out of my pocket.

Someone had apparently tended to her wounds, since they were now covered in some weird pasty green stuff which probably was something like a natural herbal medicine. I took a quick look at her leg while failing to notice her blushing face, but was satisfied to see that her stitches had remained intact.

While I was trying to explain to her how to swallow the pills and not chew on them, people began to gather behind us and started talking among themselves about very intriguing topics. “Seem like we were very lucky. This male dragonkin seems to be quite friendly, especially to your daughter Farhun.” Said one of them to Kuyani's father.

“I don't think it's the same dragonkin as the one who's been attacking the Nehobians recently.” He then continued. It was the second time I heard about these 'Nehobians' and I was really annoyed not to be able to ask for more information about them. Who were they? Was my benefactor truly the one attacking them?

“What do you think is going on? It had been many generations since the last dragonkin appeared, but from what we know, there might be two of them walking around as we speak. Could it be related to the unusual monster invasion to the north?” Inquired Kuyani's father to the old shaman.

“It can't only be coincidences. From what we learned from our spies up north, the great Xamryu wall could fall at any time. The onslaught of monsters has apparently been relentless since a few weeks ago and if the wall falls, they might even end up reaching as deep south as here.” Worryingly answered the old shaman.

After hearing them talk about south and north like that, a sudden realization came to my mind. Could it be that the area we were at wasn't an island after all? Did it mean that I could get back home by foot without the need for a boat? Also, from what they were saying, I apparently wasn't the first red blooded human to get transported into this world, but it also seemed like it was a rare occurrence.

“Are you sure it can't understand us?” Asked another tribe chief I had never seen before today. “My daughter told me it couldn't speak our language but seemed highly intelligent. I mean, look at its clothes and equipment, such craftsmanship. Even the Nehobians can't produce something this refined.” Answered Kuyani's father.

Being done with Kuyani, I still wanted to stay there and listen to their conversation, so I simply turned around to face them and calmly sat on the floor. “Eek!* These blue eyes, don't make eyes contact or they will suck up your soul!” Said one of them while quickly turning his gaze down to the ground.

“What's that on its neck? HIIIIiiiiiii! EVERYBODY GET BACK!” Screamed the old shaman which prompted panic in the tent. I could understand if they were scared of dragons, but I had assumed them to be smart enough to know that a simply eye couldn't hurt them.

“W-what is it Urufra?” Asked Kuyani's father to the old shaman who now had cold sweat dripping all over his body. “Its neck decoration... Is made out of crimonite!” GASP!* Everybody in the tent backed away from me as far as they could which left me puzzled. Was red gold called crimonite in this world? Why were they so afraid of it ?

Confused, I remained seated and showed a curious frown while staring at the old shaman. “Crimonite?” I asked. Astonished to hear me repeat a word he had just used, the shaman then decided to try to communicate. “Yes~~ Crimonite.very.dangerous.BOOM!” He said while gesticulating with his arms.

I had perfectly understood what he meant. I had seen the reaction caused by only a minuscule amount of red gold being touched by acid and could only imagine what the reaction would be if a bigger amount was used. It was quite appropriate to call it a potential 'dokari bomb'.

“And.. isn't that a wyvern eye? By the gods, could this dragonkin be a wyvern killer?” Observed the old shaman in awe. Wyvern? Weren't these creatures dragons? Did that mean that four legged dragons also existed in this world? Tossing that aside for now, I then decided to continue with a small joke to lighten the mood. “Crimonite, boom... Boom.. HA! BOOM!!!” I mischievously said before pulling my handgun out, pointing it at the roof and firing a shot. BANG!*

“GUAAaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KYAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!” Screams echoed through the hut as everybody rushed outside, leaving me alone with Kuyani who was now stuck to the wall like a scared spider in the corner of a room. Seeing my little fiance so scared, I couldn't help but let a giggle out.

I put my gun back in its holster and extended my arms forward for her to come, which she slowly did like a scared dog being bribed with a treat. After having calmed her down, I stood up and headed toward the exit. “W-Will you come back to see me tomorrow?” She asked before I left with a timid expression, to which I answered with a simple nod before exiting the hut.

When I exited the tent, hundreds of people were waiting and staring at me as I got out. Many of them were whispering and saying various things I couldn't understand, but I managed to hear many of them wondering what I looked like under my mask, while others wondered if they were safe in my presence or not.

Strangely enough, those who seemed to be the most scared of me also appeared to be the strongest warriors. Maybe because they were the only ones capable of sensing how much dokari my body contained. There were no children around, probably put away in case I turned out to be hostile.

From what I understood so far, these people seemed to be hoping for me to become their ally or something. They had heard about a black masked dragonkin creating chaos up north and had hoped to make me their ally instead of antagonizing me. They didn't seem to know how to act around me and from what I could tell, they also considered me more as a monster than a human.

Since they wanted me as a 'friend' and not as a 'fiend', I concluded that these little humans weren't a threat to me. As I was leaving, I also caught parts of a conversation where the old shaman said that a Nehobian sacrifice should be prepared for me in the days to come. Having no way to tell them that it was unnecessary, I ignored it and disappeared back into the forest I had come from.

Finally back at my cave, I sat next to the fire and grilled a fish I had just caught. By spending only a few minutes with the natives, I had already learned more about this world than I had managed to learn on my own for the past months. I had also learned that this place was maybe not an island after all and that I could possibly 'walk' back home.

I still had to confirm it, but I couldn't help but feel anger while looking at my half finished boat. For some reason, I wanted to set the damned thing on fire. I had wasted so much time because of it. I was considering leaving right away but was torn by the idea of leaving Kuyani before her leg was healed.

“Only a few more days, then I'll leave here and walk down the coast.” I said to myself. If this wasn't an island, following the coast should normally bring me back to the lands I had came from. These people most likely wanted to use me for their own political or territorial agendas and I wanted to avoid that.

I was still not perfectly comfortable with people, especially strangers, so being faced with a thousand strangers all staring at me like what had happened earlier, had given me the creeps for some reasons. I could learn a lot from hanging around with them, but I still felt a lot more comfortable in the solitude of my cave.

I spent the rest of the day gathering firewood, building drying racks and trying to catch as many fish as I could. I then carefully filleted them and placed the meat to be smoked over gentle fires. If I was to walk back home, I needed to make all the necessary preparations.

The place I was currently at felt like a safe haven, where no dangerous animals lived and where food was abundant, but I had no way to know if it would remain that way higher north from here. For that reason, I needed to prepare as well as I could while I still had the opportunity.

The ominous clouds I had spotted earlier that day were now completely covering the sky and blocking the sunlight. After a while, snow even began to fall. Well, I thought it was snow at first but soon realized it was in fact ashes slowly falling from the sky. Maybe a volcano had erupted somewhere north from here, creating smoke clouds in the process.

Ignoring this weird natural phenomenon, I went on ahead and continued with my preparations. While I was still busy cleaning some fish, my sensing ability then caught six life forms heading straight toward me. By the way they felt, I guessed they were six of those little humans from before. They had avoided coming to my cave up till now, so why were they coming here now?