Ominous Meeting

Escorted by three elders, Milo's group was soon taken to a cluster of sophisticated tents placed in a designated area in the clearing that was the base of the Zaputa tribe at the moment, while Milo himself didn't stop to get a rest and continued following the three elders towards the woods behind the clearing.

Soon the main canvas of the tribe flapped open again as Milo glanced at an elevated triangular table made with earth elemental magic erected in the middle.

On the three corners of it were placed three chairs, one of which was occupied by the lean warrior covered in strange totems, the leader of the Harita tribe, Fikaro, and another was occupied by a square-headed old man with a crooked nose, the leader of the strongest Rohanic tribe and their representative, Hans.

Milo nodded towards the two lightly as he gazed at the table on which a map of the Forest of Calamity, explored and completed by generations of their ancestors, was drawn.

The tent was illuminated by the light elemental magic of one of the two men standing behind Hans, the Grade-4 light elemental mage, Golver.

The first to open their mouth in this grand meeting of the three tribes that built their base in the perilous forest surprisingly wasn't any of the three leaders, but Danulo, who was also standing beside Hans,

"You are late, Chief Milo."

Instead of being riled up by the questioning tone of someone, not even the Tribal Chief, Milo nodded his head with an apologetic expression as he knew both the elder standing beside Hans had the power to confront him, or perhaps even defeat him if they happened to square off in a one-on-one battle,

"I'm sorry, we happened to face a Dire Snow Wolf on our journey."

"Dire Snow Wolf? Why's there a Grade-4 ice elemental beast roaming around these regions?" Hans pondered out loud.

"I'd like to know the answer as well, Chief Hans. Recently, there has been an increasing number of wild magical beasts being spotted by our hunters. It's as if something is riling them up." Milo commented with a slightly dark expression as his eyes kept darting towards the face of the three to notice a change in their expressions but when they remained impassive, he changed the topic as his lip rose slightly, making him look comical with his thick mustache, "If it weren't for our Sacred Spirit coming together with us, we would've surely left half of our wounded men back there to go back." 

"Chief Milo must be joking, as a Mid-Grade-4 fire elemental mage, I'm sure you would've been enough to incinerate a lone wolf in a few minutes." 

Danulo's comment wiped off any trace of smugness present on the face of Milo as his body stiffened up slightly.

'How did they know!? My breakthrough to Mid-Grade was supposed to be kept secret within our tribe. They... they are establishing dominance by telling me this. Bastards!!'

"Hehe, it was a gruesome battle, Elder Danulo. In fact, I was almost critically wounded." Milo let out an awkward chuckle.

"Well, I'm glad that our esteemed guests were able to arrive safely with their comrades in tow and I thank you both for agreeing to this gathering of the talented youngsters from our three tribes. If they can foster good relationships with other youngsters, our Rohanic tribe would stand a greater chance of encountering troubles from the outside world, and our ability to explore the unexplored regions to the east would skyrocket."

As Hans said this he pointed towards the map of the Forest of Calamity drawn atop the table, the eastern area was already twice the size of the region to the west of their tribe but there were significantly fewer landmarks. This went on to show that it wasn't that they faced troubles that made them stop their exploration, the eastern region was just that huge and desolate.

Their forces would be stretched thin and they would be prone to attacks from the magical beasts and rogue adventures roaming the forest if they were to let their hunters continue to explore the eastern region for prolonged periods.

His use of the term 'our Rohanic tribe' instead of saying 'our three tribes' left warning bells ringing in the mind of Milo, who looked towards Fikaro to gauge his reaction but the man had his head down and eyes slightly closed as if he was merely a spectator listening in.

Before Milo could ask any strategic question to ascertain the position of the Zaputa tribe, Hans spoke again, this time in a seemingly friendly tone,

"What do you two think of Ro-han's legacy?"

"A hoax," Fikaro replied, impassive as usual.

"Ancestor was a wise man, he would surely have a grand plan." Milo gritted his teeth inwardly. 'They are finally revealing their plans'.

"Hmm I've had a lengthy discussion with our Elders and led by Senior Emertius, we've unanimously decided that if a chance were to fall upon our shoulders, we'll gather ancestor's tokens at one place and use the grand legacy that rests upon our weary shoulders to peer through the murky veil that blocks the shining future of our tribe."

His shocking words that regularly hinted at uniting the three tribes were already alarming enough but Hans didn't think much of it as he stood up from his chair and bowed towards the two other chiefs as he spoke in a sincere voice.

"I will need the help of you two for that. I present this offer to you with utter sincerity and devotion. In exchange for the tokens of your two tribes, I'm willing to exchange resources of equivalent cost. Whatever that cost might be, it would be free for you two to calculate."

'These bastards!! They've gone utterly crazy! Asking for our tokens straight away, what gall!' Although Milo released a stream of abuses inside his mind, he still spoke in a reserved voice,

"I'm surely able to feel the sincerity, honesty, and peace-loving and sacrificial heart of Chief Hans. You're definitely a man chosen by Gods, destined for greater things but sadly, I can't make a choice regarding this on my own. I'll get back to Chief Hans as soon as I consult this with my Elders— WHAT!?"

As Milo was flattering Hans and avoiding the topic, for now, two round tokens, with complicated runes carved upon them were thrown on the table like trash. 

He recognized them, these were the tokens that were required to seek the legacy of 'Divine Bandit Ro-han'. 

'Has Fikaro lost all sense of reason? He's paving the way for the destruction of his own tribe.' 

This move of the expressionless leader of the Harita tribe threw all the parties present there off balance. Even Hans was taken aback at first but then he quickly composed himself as he let out a grin and thanked Fikaro 'sincerely'. 

Although, the man remained as impassive as if what he threw out were a couple of stones that got stuck in his shoes.

'Whatever plans these guys might have, I don't have much to worry about now.' This was the simple reason for Hans' confidence - brute strength.

They utterly outclassed the other two tribes at all fronts. 

After another few minutes passed by in the tent with an awkward conversation, Milo and Hans continued guessing each other's intentions, while Fikaro remained half-asleep, the meeting that decided the future of the three tribes ended finally, the biggest winner being not even the Zaputa tribe, just Hans and Danulo.