The Rise Of A Tribal Deadbeat - Chapter 44

One of which was revealing the fact that just like he could communicate with the Depraved one through the strange letters, Shira too could communicate with him. However, instead of conversing in writing, she could hear the Depraved one talk and according to her, everyone from her tribe could do so as well.

It was a bit peculiar for Zok to hear that because he had always thought the Shamans were the only ones with that kind of power. And then it struck him. Just like Shira’s tribe could communicate with the Depraved one, maybe the shamans had their own god they could talk to who was most likely to be Okun. Also, it could be possible that the reason why Shamanka attacked Shira’s tribe was because the god they served told them to do so.

‘Maybe that god told them to get rid of me as well.’ Zok thought to himself, ‘The question is, why would a god want to get rid of a brat like me? I get why they would want to get rid of a tribe who preached a different god, but what did I ever do to them? I just slept and ate throughout the day without cursing anyone… except that bit.ch of a father of mine.’

The Depraved one… the more Zok got to know about him, the more he felt like a pawn to him. Maybe him coming to the cave and falling into the acidic lake wasn’t a coincidence but the Depraved one’s plan?

Although Zok might never know for sure whether what he was thinking was true or not, it could be possible, to say the least. Judging from the timeline of things, it was probable that the Shamanka destroyed this little girl’s tribe and then came back to the Zukiras to get him too.

Thus it would make perfect sense that this Depraved one or whoever he was, wanted him to obtain the powers he had now and then exact revenge on the Shamanka as a way of godly retribution/justice.

‘It’s not like I would mind being used for a while if I can get my revenge on those all high and mighty bast.ards.’ Zok thought to himself while Shira enjoyed the roasted meat he had given to her, ‘Especially after learning how much of a foul creature those shamans are. Their existence is like a plague and I have to get rid of them as soon as possible or else who knows what they will do to us.’

Looking at Shira furiously eat, Zok realised she was only practising cannibalism because she had nothing else to eat. The cave was the only safe haven for her and although she had a stone knife, it was unlikely she would have been able to hunt down any beasts in the Glades.

Even the smallest of beasts there were twice as strong as a direwolf. Thus it was no wonder that she stuck with whatever she had. While he was thinking all that, both Kaira and Cero rejoined them and sat down beside Zok.

‘Is it done?’ Zok asked them using hivemind.

Both of the beasts nodded and got back to resting. Earlier while Zok was planning to feed Shira some normal food and see if she liked it. In the meantime, he had instructed both of his familiars to bury Shira’s parents somewhere in the cave.

Even though their corpses had been vandalised, it was only proper to try and give them some peace in the end. So Cero did the lifting while Kaira dug a hole big enough for them to rest peacefully for all eternity.

However, that wasn’t the only thing his familiars did. They discovered something else. A second entrance that led somewhere even deeper into the cave. Cero gently nudged Zok with his horn before pointing in the direction where they had found the second entrance.

‘Something’s there?’

Cero nodded and got back to his legs before snorting gently. That was his way to ask Zok to follow him. Which Zok did, leaving Kaira behind to protect Shira. However, Zok wasn’t even surprised when he saw the hidden path.

When Zok had asked her, Shira told him they didn’t come across any beast in the cave. But Zok was sure this was a newly spawned cave thus it had to have some kind of beast hiding inside. Since Shira had not found the beast yet that meant one of two things.

Either the beast had left the cave before they arrived there or the beast was still somewhere inside the cave. The possibility of the former was a bit low because Zok knew these creatures do not leave their domain until and unless they absolutely have to. Thus it was most likely that the beast was still inside the cave and this hidden path was the proof of it.

“As much as I want to go ahead and check it out, it wouldn’t be wise to do so at the night.” Zok mumbled while stretching his neck, “We’ll go inside once there is light. As for tonight… can you keep a watch here so that we don’t get attacked while we are sleeping?”

Cero snorted and sat down there. As Cerotidae had a heightened sense of smell and sound and required a negligible amount of sleep, it was for the best that Cero is the one on the guard.

However, it wasn’t like Zok was going to leave him there just like that. He rushed over to where the rest of them were, grabbed a piece of wood that was aflame, and using that lit another fire to keep Cero company. By the time he returned to eat the rest of the meat, he realised both Kaira and Shira were fast asleep, with Shira being on top of Kaira.

“Didn’t think they would get along so well..” Zok smiled before sinking his teeth into the roasted meat.