#- River in the Forest -#
It didn't take long, they finally arrived at the river. They happily drank from the river to satisfy their thirst.
Even Preta, as the only water-humanoid, chose to briefly submerge himself in the river's flow.
Water-humanoid is the unofficial term WoW players use to categorize species originating from or requiring water as their habitat, including Jurak.
After they were all satisfied and refreshed, they cut the skålalawraq leaves they found and shaped them into pouches to store water. These pouches functioned as waterskins, though they couldn't be called waterskins, as they only lasted a short while and were vulnerable to damage compared to actual waterskins.
"Alright, I'll start first. Species is Jurak, race is Norigon. Spiritual 10, brain 8, magic 6, aura 3, body 2, and dark energy 1. No game attacks, just manual attacks," Preta said while enjoying the pure river water.
Dens, busy cutting through skålawraq, continued Preta, "Species, Human. Races, Hors. Body 8, brain 7, spiritual 6, magic 5, aura 3, dark energy 1."
Hexon, standing next to Dens, who was also cutting through skålawraq, glanced at Dens and said, "Why did you choose humans instead of araguves like me?"
Dens replied with a smile, "Araguves' body may have higher stats, but according to the lore, Hors is far superior in combat strength, surpassing all species and races."
Zhendra, busy folding and shaping skålawraq leaves to make a pouch, laughed for a moment, "It's true. Hors has a dark history of warfare long before Ibusa, renowned as a nation that never stops fighting. Besides, humans have quite superior brain attributes compared to Araguves."
Hexon nodded as he listened to Zhendra's explanation, "Looks like I made a mistake. Alright, I, Arthorn from Araguf. Dark energy 1, aura 2, spiritual 3, magic 7, brain 5, and body 12."
Natasha glanced at Hexon while continuing to clean the skålawraq that had been cut by Hexon and Dens, "If I'm not mistaken, Araguf has 7 races, I still can't differentiate them."
Hexon paused from his task and turned towards Natasha.
Hexon's body, belonging to the Araguves species and Arthorn race, had a tall and large appearance. Their muscles weren't visible, but their bodies looked sturdy and tense, filled with veins.
At a glance, their physical bodies seemed similar to humans, except for their hands with 7 fingers, two of which resembled human thumbs.
Moreover, they had a distinctive feature in their iris with two contrasting colors, bright color and dark color.
The Araguves skull has its own uniqueness. At first glance, there's no difference from a human skull, except Araguves has two layers of skull. The first layer looks like a human skull but functions to protect the nerves leading to the brain. The second layer functions to fully protect the brain.
Araguves' teeth are also different, they have more fangs than humans. This is because of their habit of preying on animals with tough skin and meat.
Araguves have a faster metabolism than humans, so their bodies often appear reddish, especially when they're eating or just finished.
The red color on their bodies is due to the fast-moving blood and air circulation to aid their body's metabolism. This also makes their bodies feel hotter.
"Arthorn has darker skin compared to the entire Araguf race, also, our eyes are blood-red and sky-blue reflecting calmness and fierceness," said Hexon while still showing off his body to Natasha.
"Okay, I'll try to remember that," Natasha replied with a smile, "Well then, maybe it's my turn. As you know, I'm a high elf. My skin is much whiter and more brighter than other elf races, and-"
"Nat, just go straight to your attributes. We might not have a lot of time," Preta cut off Natasha.
Natasha immediately glanced at Preta with her sulky face. After taking a somewhat deep breath, Natasha continued, "Alright. Body 3, brain 7, spiritual 8, magic 6, aura 5, dark energy 1."
"Okay, who else wants to continue?" Preta asked, just coming out from the river.
Gans raised his hand, "I choose the Vutho race and Vatt species with attributes brain 10, body 6, aura 8, magic 1, spiritual 3, and dark energy 2."
Zhendra glanced at Gans, "Vutho? I thought it was Valenion."
Gans smiled, "I was also torn between the two. But, if I recall correctly, Vutho are the ones living in the Jyutoka mountains, right?"
Zhendra stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Isn't that Valenion?"
"Hmm... maybe, if that's the case, I chose wrong. But Vutho isn't bad either, their vision is excellent," replied Gans.
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Indeed, Vatts are creatures known for their incredibly sharp vision. Vatts come from the Vatoka language, meaning eagle-human, because of their sharp and far-reaching vision.
In appearance, Vatts have a larger chest than humans, useful for accommodating their three lungs, slightly larger than those of humans. This is an adaptation to the low oxygen levels in the mountains, their natural habitat.
The skulls of Vatts are also much larger compared to normal humans. The large Vatts skulls serve not only to accommodate their larger brains compared to humans but also to hold more oxygen for their brains.
Moreover, they have pale and thick-looking skin with more and longer fur than normal humans.
They are also slender with a full muscular mass, especially in their legs and hands. Although their muscles are not excessively noticeable
Vatts also have larger nostrils accompanied by a larger mouth. However, what stands out the most about Vatts is their small and sharp eyes with larger pupils, useful for seeing at a distance. Vatts also have night vision abilities.
"Alright, that's pretty good then. But, Vutho, if I'm not mistaken, was chosen by Vector before, right?" Zhendra asked.
Vector, pouring water from the river into a pouch, glanced at Zhendra. "Yup. But now, I've switched to Hass, more precisely to Ghuoitass."
Preta, helping in filling the pouch with water, asked, "Can you tell us about your attributes?"
"Sure, I have dark energy 1, body 3, spiritual 5, brain 6, aura 7, and magic 8," Vector replied while continuing his task.
"Same as me, all the attributes and species, except I prefer the Assuiss race," said Crocils, walking around to ensure their group was safe from enemy attacks.
Hass has a humanoid appearance with dark brown skin. Additionally, Hass is shorter than humans but not as short as Dwarves, Goblins, or Gnomes.
Hass is full-figured with fat on the shoulders, and there's barely a hint of muscle, in contrast to Dwarves.
Moreover, Hass has dark red hair at the tips and deep blue at the base. Hass's hands are also covered with the same hair, but these hairs are thin.
Hass's eyes can adapt to low-light environments but don't quite possess night vision. However, Hass's eyes have a broader color spectrum than human eyes, enabling them to perceive colors that humans can't. These colors visible to Hass are then referred to as the colors of magic.
The main difference that stands out between Hass and Dwarves is in their mouths. Hass has a larger mouth and two tongues, which is useful for simultaneously reading two spells.
Hass also has outgrowths on its head, especially on its small ears. These outgrowths are Hass's skull, and over time, they will grow in a circular pattern around its ears, serving to protect Hass's large ears from hearing evil spells used to attack it.
Hass also has tiny claws on the palms of its hands, which function as grips when used for climbing.
The differences between the Assuiss and Ghuoitass races in Hass are based on their natural habitats. Assuiss inhabits colder environments, so their fur is denser compared to Ghuoitass, which is either furless or has less fur.
"Cold and hot, polar and tropical. Hopefully, you won't be hostile," Zhendra said, standing up. "Alright, that leaves me. I'm using Soyu from Fsake with body 6, brain 3, spiritual 10, magic 8, aura 2, dark energy 1."
Fsake is a unique species among others. According to Fsake mythology, they originated from Onlan. They have bluish skin, but they are not water-humanoids.
Fsake also has three interphalangeal joints instead of two like humans. This allows them to bend their fingers three times. Additionally, their fingers can also bend in the opposite direction, unlike humans.
Fsake also has its own uniqueness on their faces. Unlike other species, Fsake has a facial feature called 'Winyer,' which is three holes between their two eyes or nasal bridge. These three holes serve three different functions.
Winyer erha or air winyer is the hole in the middle and responsible for expelling dirty air from Fsake's body. This is different from human fart, but it's more about expelling filtered dirty air during breathing.
Winyer quaab or water winyer is the winyer located on the left and responsible for expelling dirty water from the Fsake body. It's different from human pee, instead, it's water from condensed air, ensuring a stable air temperature entering the Fsake body.
Winyer lormi or heat winyer is on the right and responsible for expelling hot air from the Fsake body.
Besides, Fsake bodies are much taller than humans. They can grow up to 4 meters, but typically range from 2 to 3 meters. Their tall bodies aren't matched with muscle mass, making them look skinny and slender. But, even so, Fsake has energy that's almost on par with humans.
Fsake has white hair that turns black as they age, opposite to humans. Another Fsake uniqueness is their blue blood, which poses a danger as it's scarce, and they can't receive blood transfusions from other species.
"Alright, we've gotten to know each other, but you all forgot to mention your attacks. Anyone got game attacks?" Preta asked while stuffing their water pouches onto their horses.
Vector, Crocils, and Zhendra raised their hands, while the rest remained silent.
"It seems only the casters have game attacks. In that case, please explain," said Dens.
Crocils then explained the same information he had told Preta to the other Sun of Lion Knight members who didn't know.
While Crocils explains, the others listen and simultaneously stuff pouches into the storage on their horses.
"Alright, thanks, Crocils. So, the rest is manual, right?" Preta says after Crocils finishes explaining, and they all finish filling their water supplies.
"You're right, I'm manual, and my ammunition is currently only 23," Gans replies.
Preta looks at Dens, "This will be tough. But, we can manage."
"Since this is mostly manual, we need weapons," Dens responds.
"Then we need more looting. What if we just hunt forest bears?" Crocils suggests while riding his horse.
"That won't be effective. Bears are too big and heavy. We might get a lot of money, but it will slow us down and make it difficult when we're attacked. This was already mentioned, right?" Preta rejects Crocils' suggestion.
"Then, what do you want to loot?" Natasha asks, having finished eating lehko fruit growing near the river.
"Zhendra, last night you mentioned another group quite far from our camp. Can you show us the way?" Preta says.
Dens smiles, "Do you want to fight or just steal?"
"Let's see first."
Zhendra looks around, then says, "I know. But they might have already left."
"Let's go there first, and pray it's NPCs."
"Alright, everyone, let's get ready and stay alert," Dens says.
After they finish with water supplies and clean themselves up a bit, they head to the place Zhendra saw last night.