Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 597: Broken

Chapter 597: Broken

The journey through the Jahar desert, which took up a shocking fifty-five percent of land in Emet, was no small feat, considering the journey from the beach, otherwise known as Jedidah, to the nearest city ruled by Judah would take a total of seven days.

To reach their destination, the Paragons that had welcomed Sayda at the beach chartered a group of sand sailors, which was a fancy way of calling camel-drawn carriages.

The carriages were large enough to be comparable to a small house with two mutated camels, commonly called Sailors, pulling it along.

In total, there were four sand sailors with Sayda and Douglas having one to themselves while the others made do with the other three.

Douglas sat at a corner of the carriage, his gaze constantly shifting as he took in the unique designs within the structure which was incredibly different from Razan architecture.

Just then, Sayda approached, holding a slab of raw meat.

"I just realized that you haven’t had anything to eat since I captured you. Are you hungry?" She asked softly as she sat beside him.

Douglas met her gaze and then looked down at the meat she was holding in her hand.

Even if he was hungry, the spell she had cast on him ensured that he wouldn’t feel it.

"Come now, eat." She offered as she raised it to his mouth for him to have a bite.

And so, Douglas leaned closer and bit down on the meat, ignoring the fact that it was fresh.

As he chewed, Sayda temporarily lifted the spell, allowing him to feel hunger.

Douglas’ eyes lit up with pain and yet somehow, he seemed excited that he could finally feel something.

He completely ignored Sayda as he took the meat from her hand and devoured it like an animal.

Sayda watched with a slight smile as she leaned closer and whispered into his ear. "I told you, sooner than later... I would break you."

Douglas didn’t react to those words as he continued to wolf down the meat, but at some point, a drop of water from his cheek stained the wooden board below.

***

Alex and the others spent the night at Boars Inn, where they were subjected to tales of how the inn got its name, something about the owner killing a Great boar and using its skin as a family heirloom.

For context in why this was a notable feat, the Great boar was a Mutant and the person that killed it was a human.

Using nothing but his wit and skill with traps, he was able to deal a heavy blow to the creature before slaying it with his cutlass.

Of course, there was no way to verify this fantastical story, considering the hero of the story was already long dead, with his great-grandson being the one spreading the story.

Alex didn’t think too much about it, though, as he retired to his room once he was done eating, while Ana stayed behind to hear more stories, and Ulysses moved about seeking any info about any Nesters.

For the latter, he ended up with mostly nothing and so he was forced to retire to bed.

Late into the night, Alex woke up, his instincts screaming that he was not alone in the room.

Slowly, he aligned his fingers to snap only for an explosion from somewhere in the city to force him out of bed.

Immediately, he made eye contact with the other person in his room.

Thankfully, he wasn’t a threat and instead was just a petty thief but then it left him speechless to know that the petty thief was the same bastard that owned the inn.

Alex’s eyebrows twitched as he stared at the man and the latter stared back in shock.

And so, as a certain part of Pheripolis burned with incandescent yellow flames and the sound of battles rang out, Alex, in the Boars inn, dealt with the thieving owner.

***

"What happened last night?" Ana inquired from Alex as she sent a subtle glance toward the bartender. "I heard a bit of noise from your room."

Both were currently seated at a corner of the bar, which was a part of the inn, while indulging in one of the Pheripoli delicacies, flatbread, along with an opson variant made using fish which was a staple source of protein in the city.

"Nothing. Just a petty thief." Alex brushed it aside since he had already taught the fool a lesson.

Even if he was in another world, he was not about to go easy on criminals.

He made sure the inn’s owner would be incapacitated for at least a few days if he was lucky.

"Oh, I heard about that. Ulysses said that thieves are one of the things you should be wary about here in Henos. He claims that the art is practiced so much that there might as well be a Thieves Guild hidden in the shadows." Ana remarked with Alex shaking his head.

"You should be careful with the coins."

"I will. But have you thought about how we are going to take it with us once we leave the city?... It’s quite difficult to be carrying around a box filled with gold coins."

Alex let out a sigh. "I’ll figure something out later. Speaking of, where is Ulysses?"

As he asked, he looked around, noting that there were fewer patrons in the bar today though that could be attributed to the fact that it was early in the morning.

Ana intoned. "He stepped out earlier. Said something about ensuring that we get a good airship that would be willing to take us to the Boundary. According to him, most airship owners aren’t willing to risk it because of how many airships it has claimed before today. According to some accounts, it’s as high as over a thousand ships."

Alex snorted. "That’s a bit much."

"I agree, but still, it’s quite frightening... and intriguing," Ana said with her eyes gleaming with excitement. "What do you think causes the ships to disappear?"

"Perhaps for the same reason the area behind the Boundary is known as No-man’s-land," Alex replied with a shrug.

"Have you considered me taking us there?... I mean, I think I could do it."

"Apart from the fact that we would be attracting unwanted attention, what else could go wrong?" Alex sarcastically replied, causing Ana to pout.

"No need to be so mean."

"It’s for your own good. This is Henos, not Ra’as. People are not used to seeing a dragon. If even flying over Kastarus would put you in danger, what do you think would happen here in a foreign land?"