Before talking to anyone, Zalia wandered through the streets of the moving city called Ulzahar. She’d had her aura ability Healing Presence restrained since entering the desert, since she had no idea what kind of effect it would have. Revitalising the entire landscape and returning it to a forest sounded good to her, but it was also unnatural and disturbing to whatever life did live in the desert.
The city itself wasn’t anything like those that were in Endaria. While they were beautifully shaped buildings of stone and wood that looked like it had grown into a house rather than having been built into one, these looked more like sand had built up from storms over time to create a wind-blown structure. They were oddly formed, some with jagged edges and others smoother than she thought possible, as if polished. Each building was different from the others but they all held a similarity in that they were made from sandstone and sandstone alone. No other materials were used in their construction, no wood or normal stone; not even dirt or mud.
The people there were much as the few travelers she had encountered. Wrapped up in cloth, many the same sun-bleached white. There was some variance in that within the more central areas of the city however. It looked like the people there spent the majority of their time within the city, some having stalls that sold pieces of different animals or artifacts. What surprised her the most was the average rank of a person within the city. The people wearing sun-bleached cloth all seemed to be Silver or Gold rank with few exceptions. The stall owners and others wearing more colourful clothing, as well as the younger population, were lower ranked sitting at Bronze for the most part.
It made sense to Zalia, as these people must live in a kill-or-be-killed manner with the environment around them. Being higher ranked, many of the desert dwellers would have anti-aging abilities, as well as potentially needing much less water and food like she did. It was almost a given if you thought about how scarce any resource other than sand was. She also thought they weren’t hunted when reaching too high a rank by the Astar, considering how many high-ranked people were just walking the streets going about their day. There must be Emerald or even Diamond rank people around if these were the norm.
Where the Endarians were numerous, low-ranked and spread across many cities and towns, the people of the desert were longer-lived, lesser in number and much more powerful. It brought up memories of being taught evolution in school back when she was a kid. If a species lived in a hostile environment, they tended towards longer lives with traits that made them much harder to kill. Alternately, if a species lived in a bountiful and safe environment, they tended towards shorter lives and traits that allowed for quicker reproduction.
It was very interesting to her to see evolution displayed so starkly not through the separation of species but through the evolution of their society and magic level.
After an hour of wandering about, getting odd looks from some of the locals and losing herself in the city, Zalia decided it was time to try talking to some people. There were a few specific questions she wanted answered; are there any other cities out here? What is on the other side of the desert? Where is Sazcha? Most importantly, is there any oasis of any kind within the desert?
The desert people were such a small community, maybe a thousand people at the most which is why she wasn’t surprised to find someone who knew Sazcha so quickly. It was also partially thanks to Hunter’s Sight’s Silver rank effect.
Passive 1 - Hunter’s Sight - passive - body enhancement
Tin - The hunter tracks their prey. You can track creatures easier. When tracking you learn very basic information such as number of legs, number of creatures and general size of creatures.
Iron - you now learn how long ago a creature left tracks and may apply a Hunter’s Mark if tracking it for more than an hour.
Bronze - you are now able to discern finer details from tracking your prey. These details include things such as maturity stage, general health and even the individual who left the tracks if they are known to you. Additionally, you gain an innate sense of direction.
Silver - When you know the target you are tracking, you are able to see who or what that target has interacted with in the past seven days even if tracks are not present.
Thinking of Sazcha as her target, many of the people around lit up immediately, along with various doors and roads. She stepped up to a nearby vendor who was glowing to her sight.
“Have you seen Sazcha?
He glanced up at her, looking annoyed that she wasn’t there to buy some of the ancient pieces of pottery he was selling labeled as “Pottery from the ancient civilisation of Yi’thar”.
“And why do you want to know where Sazcha is Endarian?”
“I met her a few years ago and saved her life, I want to see how she’s doing.”
He regarded her strangely, a look of reverence passing over his face at her words.
“What is your name?”
Zalia furrowed her brow.
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“Zalia.”
He nodded, then walked from behind his stall and gestured for her to follow.
“Come, I will show you to her.”
She glanced at his now empty stall, items still laid out on a cloth atop its surface.
“You aren’t worried about…”
He glanced back.
“What, thieves? No, we have honour here.”
She wanted to object, but followed him anyway. Without any other information about the woman, this was her best chance at the moment. She wasn’t trusting him blindly though. Even if the vendor was only Bronze rank, the average rank in this city meant it wouldn’t take much for him to lead her into a trap.
“Where are we going?”
He slowed down a little so she could catch up, then pointed to the city outskirts.
“Sazcha is using one of the rooms on the edge at the moment. You are lucky to have gotten here at the right time, she usually only stays here for a few days before heading off into the deserts again.”
“Oh, you know her personally then? Is that how you know about me saving her?”
He grunted in amusement.
“Of course I know her. Everyone knows everyone here. But no, she didn’t tell me about that personally. We take a life debt very seriously here, with each debt owed by who to who being writ down in the records. Each day, any new debts are shown in the hall. I remember yours since it was a name I had not seen before.”
“And how do you know I am who I say I am?”
The vendor stepped aside for a Gold ranker before replying.
“I don’t, but she will.”
He pointed to a building further down the road; a figure leaning against one of its walls. Sazcha.
“If you’re lying, she’ll kick your ass.”
Sazcha looked up at them as she noticed the vendor pointing. A series of expressions passed over her face starting at surprised, moving through concerned and ending on mildly annoyed.
The vendor left them to it, going back towards the centre of the city. Zalia closed the distance between herself and Sazcha.
"Hey!"
Sazcha looked her up and down.
"Hello. Come to cash in the debt I owe you I see."
Zalia held up a single finger.
"Actually, no, it didn't start that way. I came here to learn about your people and find you again. I happened to learn about this whole debt thing from that vendor back there. If you're willing to help me out with why I came to find you though, I'll consider it repaid."
Sazcha pursed her lips, thinking.
"Alright, I'll bite. I was going to go find the ruins that vendor got his pottery fragments from but it's always best to be rid of your debts when they come calling. What do you want?"
Zalia clapped her hands, rubbing them together with excitement.
"Alright! So, I want to know a few things, then I want to find a place. Which would you prefer to do first?"
"Well, it depends. What kind of place are you looking to find and what kind of things are you hoping to know?"
Zalia tapped her fingers rapidly on her leg.
"Ok so, I've got this... thing I want to set up but I need a relatively nice place out here to do it in. Well, I guess I don't necessarily need a nice place first, but I'd like one. I suppose I'm looking for an oasis or something like that, one that people aren't too attached to. As for the things I want to know, I'd love to know how far the desert goes and what's on the other side. I'm also here to learn about your people but I can do that along the way."
Sazcha eyed her.
"You know, maybe we can both get what we want here. The place I was about to head out to is an old, old temple dedicated to some god that no one remembers, once a part of the great civilisation of Yi'thar, if that vendor is to be believed. People say that the place is haunted, that those who are unwary will be killed entering its premises. Now I know that all sounds pretty bad but it's surrounded by a nice copse of trees and a deep reservoir. What say we go there, I'll tell you what I know about the other side of the desert, split whatever is inside the temple fifty-fifty, then call it a done deal. It'll be safer with two of us."
Zalia watched the woman closely, trying to judge if she was trying to trick her somehow. She hadn't given Zalia any reason to distrust her so far, nor had she last time they had met. Sazcha had been Iron rank then, but now boasted a powerful Silver rank. It seemed life in the desert was just as dangerous as Zalia's normally unusual life was. She wasn't worried about being able to defeat Sazcha in a fight if it came to that, as unlikely as she thought that would be. The only concern was being led into a trap or being taken by surprise. She had to be a little more careful out here alone, without Boreal by her side. Of course, she still had extremely powerful healing, anti-death ability and protective abilities such as Protection of the Wilds.
Active 2 - Protection of the wilds - spell - area - counter execute
Tin - You call upon the protection of the wilds. You and nearby allies are protected by a biome specific shield and are subjected to a moderate heal over time effect. The heal over time heals exponentially more based on how low the target's health is and remains until the shield is broken.
Iron - Protection of the Wilds now has a more ethereal and moving visage. You and Allies within a shield created by this ability may still see and move as normal. Additionally, you may enhance this ability with a single effect replicable by the Iron rank ability of Herbal magic.
Bronze - Upon activating Protection of the Wilds, you and your allies within the shields are not only healed over time, but the healing effect becomes more potent as the shield absorbs damage. The shield's resilience increases with the amount of healing it provides, creating a symbiotic relationship between protection and restoration.
Silver - The shield created by Protection of the Wilds now stores all damage it takes, releasing a single powerful attack focused on who or what broke it. The nature of this attack is based on what type of damage is done to the shield.
Mana - very high mana
Cd - 6 hours
The rank-up effect was representative of her often using the ability not as a tool to heal up from a dangerous wound, but to give her the room to ignore incoming attacks and launch her own carefree.
"Alright, I'm down for it. When do you want to head out?"
Sazcha gave her a broad, almost predatory smile.
"Right away, if you're ready."
Zalia felt that the woman had somehow gained more out of this than she had. She wasn't bothered by that one bit.