Unihorn Race
“Thank you for saving Wook'ma, revered Powerful One!”
Rather than the young female, two other one-horned beings came forward with their right arm on their chest, doing a strange action.
“May I know the Powerful One’s name?”
Leylin noticed an investigative glint that had been concealed well in their eyes. There were even traces of suspicion, but he had already come up with a plan.
“I am Ley, of the winged people! I am currently travelling to learn more about different cultures, so there is no need to thank me. The great will of lava was the one who orchestrated all this…”
With the memories of that one-horned tribal, Leylin’s speech was just like that of the Lava World’s aboriginals, and his disguise was seamless.
The so-called winged people were a shield Leylin had found for himself.
Through the other party’s memories, he had found that all the different races of Lava World looked totally different from regular Wooks, and only the winged people tribe were somewhat similar. As for the wings? With his skills in magic as a Morning Star, creating two wings was too simple.
“So you are a friend of the winged tribe! Welcome to the Blazing Thorn Land!”
The winged people were a peace-loving minority in the Lava World. They were usually scattered throughout the land, and did not cause any trouble with any large organisations. Hence, these two one-horned beings, even if they didn’t let their guards down completely, lost a lot of their suspicion. They invited Leylin enthusiastically to a city nearby to rest.
Leylin, who had other intentions, naturally rejected them for a while, before going with the situation and agreeing.
Overjoyed, the two clansmen immediately used whatever they had at hand and conducted a banquet in Leylin’s honour.
What surprised Leylin the most was that their meal today was the lava worm. It had to be said that when one repressed the disgust at placing the lava worm’s meat in their mouth, the expected terrible taste did not appear. The meat was actually similar to chicken, and also had a fragrant and sweet juice; it was a rare delicacy.
This was especially true in the Lava World. Food that had high water content was actually one of the rarest ingredients!
“Lord Ley, thank you so much! Also…” Wook'ma thanked Leylin with a tone full of admiration, passing over a large portion of the meat of the worm.
“What is it?” Leylin answered, finding the situation funny.
“May… May I see your… wings? I’ve heard that the wings of the winged people are the most beautiful things in the world!” Wook’ma’s eyes were full of admiration, but that only had Leylin feeling like laughing and crying at the same time.
“The most beautiful? I’m afraid us winged people can’t take that title, but I can fulfill your request.” Leylin nodded, not caring if this was just the pure fantasies of a little girl, or if someone was trying to sound him out.
After he stood up, the clothes on his back tore open, revealing a pair of large, snow-white wings. When spread out, they were a good four or five metres long, and the wings that looked like that of an angel wrapped Leylin within. At the edges of these fine, pure white feathers, there were traces of a golden luster.
‘With this appearance, I could even pretend to be an angel in my previous world…’ Leylin thought with a laugh. At the same time, he saw that behind Wook’ma, who looked full of admiration, the other two one-horned clansmen were surprised.
Based on their previous conversation, Leylin knew that one was called Wook'e, and the other was Wook’bor. They were part of the largest one-horned clan nearby, the Wook Clan.
In the Lava World, matured one-horned clansmen had to hunt for food by themselves, a rite of passage.
However they had been unlucky, or rather been plotted against. That was why they had encountered a lava worm, and an enraged one at that. If not for Leylin acting, these people might all have died here.
“Mister Ley, I heard that you’re a traveller. Can you tell me stories about other places?” Wook’ma’s hands were under her chin as she laid on her stomach in front of Leylin like a curious baby.
Combined with her almost three-metre-tall stature and horn, she gave off an appearance that would scare any regular child into crying in his previous world. The contrast was stark.
“This… Please wait for a while. I still want to discuss something with your uncles!” Leylin smiled. All the information he had obtained had come from the unlucky guy who had died. If he was asked about some other matters, that might expose his identity, and he had hence quickly changed the subject.
“Alright! Wook’ma, go to bed. We still have things to discuss with Mister Ley!”
Wook'e stood up. He sent the pouting Wook’ma away and chuckled, finding this embarrassing, “My apologies, Mister Ley, she’s only a child!”
“Indeed, I don’t blame her,” Leylin shook his head. The glint from his eyes made the two clansmen afraid to look him in the eye. “But… Why did you try to probe me?”
“Nothing gets past Mister!” Wook'e and Wook’bor exchanged a glance and began laughing wryly.
The blazing bonfire gradually died out, and only the red lava river in the distance slowly emitted dark red rays. The flickering flames covered the faces of these beings, giving a feeling of light and darkness being unable to be determined.
Leylin, who was listening to these two speak, also had a grim expression as he nodded or shook his head from time to time, looking to be deep in thought.
……
The next day, Wook'e and Wook'bor announced that Leylin would temporarily join and return with them. This immediately resulted in many cheers, with Wook'ma’s the loudest.
Seeing Wook'e and Wook'bor’s confident expressions, Leylin had the urge to laugh.
Last night, they had told him about some conflict between organisations and some persecution they were facing. Though Leylin had not understood much, nor could he be bothered to, his expression looked like he understood completely. His outward hatred immediately netted a favourable opinion from these two.
From the looks of it, they seemed to think of him as a reliable power. Or rather… as a saviour of sorts?
Leylin found this hilarious, but had to endure it.
“Mister Ley, what are you thinking about…” Wook'ma immediately began to cling to him, and Leylin pressed against his forehead with nothing to say.
Leylin could work independently and find where the large creatures gathered, searching the strongest one’s soul and therefore obtaining more information in a convenient manner. However, this would cause a huge ruckus and arouse needless suspicion, as well as the attention from the world’s will. The cons outweighed the pros.
Even without attention from the world’s will, the Lava World was a world and definitely had someone with a battle might of at least the Morning Star realm. The moment he besieged and enraged large powers, even Leylin could not be certain he would be able to escape safely.
His motive was to save the two Kemoyin Dukes, which was why he had to maintain a low profile until he found them.
Though this method of blending in was slightly troublesome, the advantage was the safety, and there weren’t any loopholes.
What allowed Leylin to feel at ease was that time flowed different in other worlds and in the Magus World. One year might have passed in the Magus World while only a month or even a few days had passed here, which was why he still had plenty of time.
“Since Jupiter’s Lightning set up a trap here, they must have found this world’s coordinates long ago and occupied an area here…”
Leylin’s thoughts began to gain clarity.
“Perhaps even that Radiant Moon Magus has quite a few clones here in charge. They might have set up some traps and are waiting for me to get caught, which is why I can’t make mistakes…”
After following the group for a few days, a silhouette of a black city could be seen in the distance.
That was a giant city of rock. Whether it was the houses or city walls, they were all made of giant black boulders. Though the city wall was low, the men of another race who were standing tall above it were robust and valiant.
“We’re home!” Many single-horned clansmen immediately cheered, but at the thought of their siblings who had died, they could not help but begin to lower their heads and weep.
……
‘This is a place where intelligent beings gather, but my soul force has yet to make any discoveries of them…’ His concealed soul force swept through the place, but Leylin’s expression did not change despite his sighing inside.
In a palace constructed of large black rocks, Leylin saw the leader of the one-horned race’s Wook Clan. These leaders were usually called the “Intellectual One.”
“Revered Intellectual One, please accept the blessings of a guest from far away!” Following custom, Leylin placed a few portions of lava worm meat in front of a wrinkled one-horned being as a gift.
At this moment, only the two of them were in the large palace. Wook'e and the rest had long since hurried back.
“Lava worm? These beings usually like to stay in lava and seldom come out. After being aggravated, they will explode with terrifying lava attacks. It’s all thanks to you that Wook'ma and the rest could return safely!”
The elderly Intellectual One nodded, grabbing at the lava worm and beginning to eat without reservations. Juice splashed everywhere and fell from the corner of its mouth, droplets landing on the straw mat.
This was a tradition of the one-horned race. Enjoying the gift in front of the guest was a sign of respect.
Leylin appeared to be sitting at a side respectfully, though in actuality, his soul force had already covered the surroundings.
“This intellectual being has pretty good abilities, at the strength of a rank 1 or 2 Magus. It’s a pity that it’s still too weak…”
The old one-horned clansman obviously did not notice Leylin’s gaze that held pity, and when it was done with the meal, it touched its lips. “Well then, is there anything I can help you with? Just say the word!”
“Of course! I have a difficult problem that I need your help with…” Leylin smiled slowly while softly stating his request.