CHAPTER 348: THE SMART CARL IS SMART

"Ugh! Why didn’t you just land in the town? And why do you want to walk to the place? We could just fly there!"

Though Kai landed close to the town, it was still a good walking distance away. He didn’t want to fly to the town because he wanted to expierence walking in the desert. The others did not share the same sentiment.

"No complaining! You guys already took away my chance at climbing the mercenary ranks. So we’re walking to the town!"

"That’s not even remotely the same!" Kyana argued

"Exactly! Walking to the town isn’t as time-consuming as grinding to the max rank, so suck it up."

She wanted to argue, but Kai’s point beat hers, so she just kept quiet.

Karumi squinted, looking off in the distance, spotting someone. "Hey, look! There’s someone out there, and they have a carriage!"

"Oh, cool! A sand sail! Let’s go, guys!" Kai had always wanted to ride in a sand sail.

At the sand sail, the man was setting it up so he could sail away to wherever his destination was, and judging by how frantically he was moving, he seemed like he was in a hurry.

"Fucking crazy bastards! I told them that we should mess with those guys, but they didn’t listen to me. Well, guess what? I’m not sticking around to find out who they are and what they will do to us. I’m out of here."

Carlem felt nothing for leaving his companions behind. He tried to warn them, but since they didn’t listen, he had no obligation to feel bad if they died. He didn’t care if he was labeled a coward.

Dying for being brave was stupid in his opinion. He would live, and if someone called him a loser for that, he would brag in their faces, saying that he was alive and the others weren’t.

"Yo."

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone was taken aback.

"Bro, what the fuck is your problem? All I did was greet you."

"Y-You! How are you here? S-Shouldn’t you be fighting the others? Where are they?"

Kai was confused. "What the hell are you...Ohhh! You’re the guy who ran away. Honestly, I gotta say that you made a smart choice. Tell me, what’s your name?"

"C-Carlem." The guy was shaking and was visibly scared.

"Carlem, huh? I’m just being honest, I hate your name, but I commend you for being smart. Is that your sand sail?"

Carlem nodded.

"Sweet. Do you live in that town?"

He nodded again.

"Great. Do you have a family?"

He nodded yes.

"Cool. Wife?"

Carlem nodded.

"Children?"

Nodded again.

"Sons?"

He shook his head.

"Daughters?"

He nodded yes.

"Are they grown?" This was very important.

He nodded.

"Adults?"

He nodded.

"Psst, Gwen, what’s this interaction?" Karumi asked

"I have no idea. The guy is just nodding and not speaking at all."

Kai asked another question. "So, do you think you can take us back to town? And actually answer. I’m tired of you nodding."

"Y-Yes. I can. B-But..."

"But what?"

"Y-Your clothes. They are weird, and people will look at you funny. You might also get robbed."

"Oh, you don’t have to worry about that." All of them emptied their pockets, and they had nothing. "We don’t even carry anything on us."

"T-That’s good. But I would still suggest you get a wardrobe change."

Kai understood what the guy meant. "I get it." Snapping his fingers, Kai changed everyone’s clothing to match the aesthetic of the people who lived on this continent.

"Wow. You can use witchcraft." Carlem’s whole demeanor changed. "But still, you might want to be wary of the people. We’re going through a rough time, you seven are new faces, and you aren’t used to our ways, assuming you are from another continent, like you said. Plus, your skin tones and accents will make you stand out."

"That’s to be expected. But you don’t have to worry about that. Just take us to town."

Carlem nodded and finished setting up the sand sail. Everyone hopped on, took a seat on the wooden vehicle, which was weird because there weren’t any trees in this area, then glowing tattoos appeared on Carlem’s arm, and he started moving the sand sailer by creating a tornado of sand in front of the sail.

"Those tattoos, are they runes?" Nadya wondered. She was the magic nerd, so the tattoos stood out to her the most compared to the others.

"Runes? No, I have no idea what runes are. These are Glyphs." Carlem responded.

"Glyphs? What are they and what do they do?"

"Uhh, well, we use these to channel our chi."

"Chi?"

"It’s another name for mana," Kai explained. Though there was a lot more to what Chi was, in this context, this was all Nadya needed to know.

"Ahh. So, these Glyphs help you channel your chi. Can you not cast spells without it?" She wondered

"We can, but only fully fledged Wizards or Witches can do that. When we learn witchcraft, we get Glyphs tattooed onto our bodies to help us channel our chi so we can learn faster. It’s more efficient than spending weeks or months just trying to feel the energy in our bodies."

Kai thought that was a great idea, but he could also see how it could make people’s foundation weaker than other places he visited. However, he would assume their mana output would be extremely high compared to the other two continents.

"Can you create Glyphs in the air, like this?" Nadya drew a rune of wind into the air, and it blew the sail even faster than it was already going.

"A-Amazing! You can draw Glyphs in the air?! I knew you people were the real deal. This is why I ran away."

’So Glyphs are runes.’ Kai confirmed.

"Can you do this?" Nadya asked again.

"Oh, um, no. I’m not that skilled. I can draw them on a surface, but to do it on air or water is impossible for my current talent."

"I see."

Eventually, they made it to town and got off the sail. The whole vibe was different here compared to Sarkylla and Eridani.

While there were the typical merchants, establishments, kids running around, and so on, there was a lot of sand everywhere, covering the smooth stone roads, and everything was crafted to prevent sand from entering places.

Kai was already loving the place. He liked the feeling he got from here more than he did on the other two continents. However, there were things that stood out to everyone.

"Why is everyone so...gloomy?" Gwen wondered.

Carlem sighed. "Let me take you to my house first."