Chapter 33 - Ruina Kingdom

"Really, I can't thank you enough for this. I'll be sure to repay you in the future if you ever need it."

Shi said to the merchant as she put the map away in her shirt so that it wouldn't get lost.

"I just hope you don't run into any trouble out there. Stay safe, until we meet again!"

The merchant said that then turned and walked off. Shi was surprised by his actions since he just gave them to her and left.

But she could only assume that such extravagant people would be more common from now on.

Before she never left her small village, and even then she rarely interacted with the people of her village because of how they treated her family.

So she never had the chance to really talk to people.

That made it so she didn't interact with anyone that had such a— unique personality.

But that was enough of such thoughts, she was sure that she would meet a lot of different types of personalities from now on. She had to focus on the matter at hand.

Watching the man fade into a blur in the distance, she thought about what he said.

Ruina Kingdom— it was a place she had never heard about before but the name was surely interesting.

The best part was that it was only a day away from here on horseback— and while she didn't have a horse she did have her speed as a vampire.

Even if that speed was greatly weakened as of right now thanks to the sun and lack of blood.

'Two days is all it should take at most. Hopefully.'

She thought to herself as she turned in the direction the man pointed out before.

While she couldn't see the Kingdom yet, she couldn't help but feel excited already at the thought of how close it was— it was the very first Kingdom she was visiting in her entire life.

That might not seem like a lot— but for someone that had lived their entire sixteen years of life in a small village and had always yearned to explore the world.

This was an amazing thing.

She truly couldn't wait to see the Kingdom.

Thoughts of how beautiful it must be filled her mind— and she was lost in her own little fantasy.

Her mind was quickly snapped out of her daydreams when she remembered she should be on her way right now if she hoped to reach it in the timeframe she set for herself.

Focusing on the direction she started to sprint— keeping a moderate speed so as to not tire herself out too quickly.

She had to do this for a while and she had no plan to pass out midway because of overexerting herself.

Sprinting to keep up her stamina, she continued onward through the desert for an entire day without rest— until finally, she decided to stop.

Her stopping came about for multiple reasons— with one of them being her body being too tired to keep going.

But there was also another thing that made her stop.

Peering her eyes to the side she could see what seemed like a young man fighting a large sandworm with nothing but his fist.

Yet the young man wasn't losing in the slightest.

In fact, he seemed to be winning the fight— enjoying it even.

Each of his punches carried such impact that Shi could see the sandworm's body denting upon contact, blood gushing out from many open wounds that the young man had caused.

No doubt he would win if this battle went on much longer.

She stopped to observe the battle, hoping to not only allow herself to rest but to also try and improve herself by seeing someone else battle.

A creature she failed to even stand against was being beaten so easily by a man that seemed to be of her age— it was incredible to her.

But she was also still worried about the creature attacking her as it did before, so she purposefully stayed a good distance away from it— using her enhanced sight to observe the fight.

Since she was watching from far away she could also easily dodge its attacks if it were to try and attack her— which allowed her to enjoy the spectacle.

It didn't take long for the man to defeat the worm, crushing it under his feet and leaving it dead on the ground.

The most amazing part was the fact that the man wasn't even tired— in fact, he looked like he was having fun.

He had a big smile on his face even though his shirt was missing and he was covered in blood.

'I wonder how he has so much energy. Just how powerful is he?'

She thought to herself as she watched him wipe some of the blood and sand from his face, which allowed her to get a good view of the man's face, and features.

It was a somewhat tanned-looking young man with what looked like black lines of tattoos all over his body. His eyes were such a bright gold color that I could see them even from a distance.

His hair was short and straight, dark in color, but she couldn't make out the exact color due to the sunlight.

It was tied up with a red bandana, maybe it was dyed red with blood.

As Shi was observing the man's features he suddenly turned around and glanced in her direction— with a smile on his face.

Yet he didn't do anything or approached her.

Instead, he turned and went on to hunt for other creatures that the desert had to offer, leaving Shi there well rested now.

"I hope I could be able to fight like that one day."

She said to herself as she stretched her body, getting ready to run once more.

She had to keep moving forward if she wanted to reach Ruina Kingdom within the time frame she had planned.

So, after stretching a bit, she got back to sprinting.

She didn't even rest for the night when it got dark— she didn't want to risk a monster encountering her— so she just kept running.

Constantly running.

Until finally, she could see the silhouette of structures in the far distance— the Kingdom was soon getting within sight.

She slowed down a bit now that she could clearly see it, but she was still moving faster than any normal human could do.

Finally, she could see the full view of the Kingdom in all its magnificent glory. It was far bigger than anything she had seen before.

Bigger than her small little village by far.

There were no walls surrounding the village so she could see the buildings inside— buildings that were made out of thick stone materials.

Sandstone she could assume— from the desert itself.

What she found truly interesting, however, was the fact that she could see parts of ruined buildings that were either buried under sand or littered around the kingdom.

'So that's where it got the name from.'

She thought to herself as she slowed down to a stop— finally reaching what she assumed was the main road in.

She assumed so since she could see rows of merchants and people going in and out of the Kingdom.

She could also see guards posted at the sides of the road that was checking anyone that went in or out— but she could only assume that was a formality since it wouldn't actually stop anyone from getting in if they went in any other area.

But then again, it was none of her business, so she focused on the task at hand.

She was finally here and all she had to do was get in.

She knew she could go around any other way— but she wanted to play it safe and go through the way everyone else was using.

Waiting in line didn't take too long— it wasn't like they were checking each and every cart or anything, so when it was her turn to enter the Kingdom they addressed her.

"Identification?"

One of the guards said in a deep and horsed voice— a male in armor.

"What? Identification? I don't have that?"

Shi was confused— she never had an identification.

She never had the need for one in her small village nor did she know she needed one.

"You do not have an official identification?"

Another guard said as he looked over the shoulder of the other guard, glancing at Shi up and down.

This made Shi very nervous.

She had no idea why she would need an identification— it was the first time she had ever heard about such a thing.

She just hoped she wouldn't have to leave because of it— or worse— be arrested.

"I don't, I didn't know I needed one."

"So you're a Rogue, that makes sense."

One of the guards said as he glanced at her tattered clothing, before being shoved in the stomach by the other guard's elbow.

"Ignore my companion's lack of a brain. What he meant to say is that we allow all in this Kingdom with or without an Identification. However, if you do want to get an identification you would need to join one of the Clans."

Said the guard as Shi tried to follow along with what he was saying.

It made sense, she grew up in a village that was neutral and didn't belong to any of the Clans.

So if it was something only the Clans had it made sense she didn't have any.

But she had no idea what the requirements to join a Clan would even entail, or how to join one.

"Oh."

That was all she could manage to say in response to the guard's explanation.

"Thank you for that, can I go in now?"

She asked the guard, before getting a nod in return.

"Yes go right ahead, and I hope you enjoy yourself."

He said, causing her to walk ahead and enter the Kingdom for the first time.