Tina recounted how her father made her sit on for hours, with each of her feet placed on the opposite thigh. Her father wanted her to sense Vis using the method. She told him that this is how she and her siblings trained before they were captured by the Aqua Tribe members and then sold as slaves in Agora.
"This works?" He asked, "Sitting with your legs crossed, sensing Vita? That worked for you?"
She nodded, "Yes. People train.. Use this method,"
"People?" He got curious. And asked whether there was some other way to train with Vita.
"There is.. forced awakening.. As well." She said, "Me Father, when I little… said about the method. I dont know how it worked. But know, it's dangerous."
He nodded, and after asking her a few more questions about training with Vita, he asked her questions about her original home, "Tell me about the country of Pale men. What is it like?"
With sadness in her eyes, she started recalling what she knew. According to her, the world of the Pale Men is quite similar to theirs. Just like Heks serve the Agora and the Grand Priestess, her country also has a similar system.
She faced some problems in translating a few words, but Harry understood what she was getting at. The country of Pale Men is a civilized society, with a proper structure, and from the looks of it, has a Monarchy ruling over it. From her words, he understood that her country is pretty advanced, compared with Heks. They seem to have a semblance of writing in their culture, not only that, but Vita Wielders of their country could also perform a lot of feats that people of the tribe could not.
Upon further enquiry, Tina told him that she had some Vita Wielders produce electricity out of their hands. Of course, due to the translation gap, it took Harry some time to decipher what she was trying to say. Harry found most of what she recounted as talks with no backing. But he still made mental notes to verify the facts in the future.
The more she described her world, the more curious he got.
She described ships that sailed the seas with the help of Vita, once again redefining the nature of Vita for him. She also described legends about animals that could wield Vita, and how they are very dangerous. And it is only during their conversation that he heard something strange.
"… I hid.. From the Protection party… Three days I hid. But got caught," Tina said, recounting how she tried running away from the Aqua Tribe before she was sold in Agora.
"Protection Party?" he asked, as he was curious about Aqua Tribe's inner workings.
"Yes," she said casually, "Party.. Responsible for protection.. Of Agora."
He raised his eyebrow, "You mean there is a party in Aqua Tribe, who is responsible for protecting Aqua tribe, right?"
She shook her head. She told him that the Protection Party was responsible for protecting Agora. Then she said, Heks is responsible for protecting Agora.
Whether Tina really knew what she was talking about or not was beyond him. But her words, along with the existence of Agora, did raise a lot of questions in his mind. He still remembers how adults were wary when they left Agora, how no one fought in Agora, and the command and respect that the Grand Priestess had. Now, hearing Tina's words, he understood that there is more to Agora than what meets the eye. After all, that place has somehow bound six tribes under it…
***
As the rays of the sun flooded the green plains, Harry came out of his tent, with Tina still sleeping quaintly inside. He saw smoke and could hear a hammering sound from the forge. It was a fine morning, and it was the second day of his training as a hunter. He was about to go down to freshen up and meet with Karina when he heard some shouting from the forge.
Curious, he decided to check out what was happening.
When Harry got to the forges, he saw that Elder Joron was barking orders at the slave, while a woman was lying on the floor, under his feet. The woman had a scared body, was in her middle age, and was crying under his feet. ".. Start creating the arrow heads. NOW!" Elder yelled, finally dispersing the crowd.
Harry came to an elder, which bloomed a smile on the man's face, "If it isn't my beloved hunter,"
With a fake smile, Harry asked, "What happened, Elder Joron? You seem to be very tense this morning?" he said while glancing at the woman.
"Ah.." Joron exhaled, "This creature came to my tent last night.. The bitch was in heat. I obliged, and gave her what she wanted. But then this morning.. She BROKE THE WATER POT, GIVEN TO ME BY GRAND PRIESTESS HERSELF!"
The woman started whimpering uncontrollably, "Mercy lord," she said in a rather low tone, "Please," she pleaded again, "Mercy.."
"MERCY!" Joron yelled, "You want Mercy after what you did?"
To ease the situation, he chuckled, "Elder Joron, punishing her won't bring back the water pot. But going overboard might result in a bigger loss for the tribe,"
Joron looked confused, so he further added, "She is a woman. She could at least birth some more Vita Wielders to the tribe. But punishing her too severely, and we would have a slave in our hands who could not work properly but also wouldn't be appealing to the rest of the men of the tribe," Harry didnt want to see the woman suffer, on his watch. He could not fully save her from her predicament, but at least could make sure that her suffering is to a minimum.
Joron didn't look convinced at first, but he ultimately relented. "You know what, you are right,"
The woman started whimpering again, but with relief. Seeing this, Joron angrily added, "Before I change my mind, get out of here,." As quickly as her legs could take her, the woman ran without wasting a single second.
Joron looked at Harry and added, "Listen to me, Adui, never show mercy to these people. They obey us, cause they fear us. Not because they love us. Today I let the bitch go, because she already have so much fear in her, that punishing her or not would have the same effect. She would still be pissing herself if I even glared at her," He said with a chuckle.
Harry smiled back, acting amused by his joke. As if remembering something, Joron's eyes lit with fire. "Come with me, boy, I have something that you might find useful."
Joron took Harry to one of the more discreet-looking structures on the rock. Tugged on the back side of the whole place. Harry knew that this was the personal quarters of Elder Joron. But he had never visited the place, this was his first time.
But what he found inside left him baffled.
Harry saw various contraptions, mostly traps that could be laid out in the plains or in the dense forest. But what surprised him was the sophistication of the traps. It was as if they had been made by someone who has a good amount of knowledge of science and math.
There was a trap at the end of the wall. It had three pulley systems, which were all joined by thin ropes interwoven around each other, making a very strong and girthy rope. There were some traps which were spring-loaded, some bigger ones had springs, pulleys, levers, etc. Things in the place didnt look like they were created by anyone in the tribe. But based on how shiny and the smell of newly minted iron, Harry knew that all of this was made here only.
Seeing the inventions and contraptions, Harry couldn't help but be very suspicious of Joron. He wondered whether this person was really a tribal man…