Star Forge Titan

I hate the Riddler act!

Just like that, with a head full of question marks, the black-haired boy completely disappeared in the tavern.

"Is it really okay not to tell him those things? It's not just those four rebels who don't want to see the rebirth of the Uranus civilization." The old man in white robe waved his hand in the direction where Ivan disappeared, then looked at the one-eyed old man.

At this moment, except for the round table where the two of them were sitting, the rest of the tavern scenes around them were like notes erased from a blackboard, disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The one-eyed old man did not respond immediately, but silently looked up at the dark universe dotted with countless stars.

The twinkling stars are like countless eyes, gazing at the tiny planet beneath our feet.

"Now...is not the time yet."

Chapter 3: Born King

Wake up again, eh, why do I say again.

He opened his heavy eyelids, and within his field of vision was a piece of pure white cloth embroidered with intricate patterns in fine gold thread.

The dry air was filled with the sweet aroma of burning spices, and the "ground" beneath him swayed rhythmically like a boat sailing in the water.

The tall, black-haired boy sat up in confusion. This movement caused the colorful and finely woven blanket covering him to slide down under the influence of gravity, revealing his upper body with perfectly muscular golden proportions.

Although his mind was still a little confused, Alvin immediately recognized that the blanket had a very typical traditional style of the desert ethnic group.

A hand-woven rug of this size would surely fetch a handsome price in Lind or even more distant Elrond.

Of course, value is not the key. Although the style of the items used in the residence may not be the same as the local characteristics, it is combined with the dry air and the vague memories left when the previous dimension jump stopped.

In other words, he was currently in the vast area occupying the southeastern part of the continent, the largest desert in the world of Palladia, also known as the Silent Desert, the 'Sea of ​​Dust'.

There are many theories about the origin of this name, but the most popular one is that it is related to the size of the desert. That is, because the desert is so vast, even the sound of a fast-moving vehicle cannot cross the endless sand dunes.

In the end, everything will be buried in the vast sea of ​​sand, leaving only the name of silence.

"Lucky guy, it seems you are much stronger than ordinary victims." Suddenly, a hoarse voice with a hint of ridicule sounded not far away.

This surprised Alvin. With his extraordinary perception, he didn't even notice the other party's existence in advance. This usually means that the person who spoke is also an extraordinary person like himself, and is most likely a high-level being with extraordinary strength.

Turning around quickly enough to avoid misunderstanding, the black-haired boy saw a mature woman leaning lazily on the couch.

The strange woman was about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, wearing a desert ethnic style outfit. The upper body was a white sleeveless gauze dress that exposed her waist, and the lower body was a long skirt with the same white piping on the ground.

Although the pure white gauze dress and skirt appear very plain, the pure gold threads, various dark embroidery patterns and thin gemstone chains embellished on them silently reveal a sense of luxury, which is also one of the characteristics of desert ethnic costumes.

However, no matter whether it was the expensive jeweled necklace or the golden thread sparkling in the sun, it all looked extremely dim in front of the woman's skin as white as ice and snow.

The movement of leaning on the soft couch made her slender and soft waist bend into an attractive arc, and at the same time made people inexplicably think of the animal such as snake.

They are not those dangerous poisonous snakes crawling on the ground, but the anacondas with colorful and beautiful scales and slender and powerful bodies that roam among the huge trees in the primeval forest.

A dangerous aura...

Alvin secretly became alert, but he didn't feel nervous. After all, he was in the best condition after experiencing the previous dream.

However, if what just happened was just a dream, then what about the small wooden longboat model in the lepton space?

There was no chance to think about it. At this moment, the two of them were in a spacious tent. When Alvin woke up, he saw that the pure white cloth with golden embroidery was the top of the tent, and the ground, including the area where he was lying, was covered with a very large, soft and smooth silk carpet.

Not caring about the black-haired boy's silence, the woman was now supporting her small and delicate chin with her right hand. Beside her was an ivory staff with a pearl inlaid end, and in front of her was a book with an ancient atmosphere.

The woman who looked like a wizard stretched out her right hand listlessly to flip through the book. She placed her left hand on the silk cushion with tassels hanging from the four corners beside her, and let the cat-like person who stood up beside the soft couch carefully apply the bright flower juice that was close to the color of pomegranate juice, thus dyeing her originally pink nails with a bright color.

Alvin recognized that kind of demi-human, the product of targeted breeding in the City of Thousand Towers to obtain excellent wizard pets. They were artificially bred pets that could use some tools and possessed certain spell-like transformation abilities - follower cats.

By the way, if the City of a Thousand Towers had not yet completed the mass breeding of follower cats at this stage, the value of this little kitten, which was less than half a person's height, would be enough to buy a villa in the suburbs of Lutetia.

Perhaps because she hadn't heard a reply for a long time, the woman put down the book that she was not interested in, slowly raised her head and looked at Ivan with slightly squinted eyes.

This made the latter notice that there was a small tattoo under her eye that looked like a teardrop mole, and her hair color was pure black, which was quite rare in the world of Palladia.

You know, usually this hair color is only common among the barbarian tribes in the northern ice fields, just like Alvin's black hair.

At this moment, the long black hair with a little curl was draped over the woman's shoulders like silk.

"It's truly rare to meet a young man from a northern tribe in the Dust Sea, so far away from the northern ice sheets."

The woman's voice was a little hoarse but not unpleasant, instead it revealed a mature charm.

She looked at Ivan with interest, sweeping over his tall, muscular and uncovered body, but she did not show any shyness like a young girl. Instead, she slightly raised the corners of her lips, revealing a smile that reminded people of hunters like anacondas.

"My name is Hedy, the eldest daughter of Finn the Dragon Hunter, the one who killed the white dragon with a spear—Hedy Lamarr."

The woman said her name, then seemed to think of something and raised her eyebrows.

"So, what tribe are you from? You haven't even gotten a facial tattoo yet... Wait, aren't you underage yet?"

Looking at Ivan's exaggerated height of over two meters, the woman named Heidi couldn't help but show a bit of surprise.

Due to the space transfer, there seemed to be some problems with the diplomat's ring that was originally used to conceal his figure. At this moment, Ivan's image was directly his true appearance after undergoing the secret ritual transformation.

That is, the one with a height of more than two meters, muscles in golden ratio, and a strong and perfect appearance like a marble sculpture of an ancient god that has come to life.

Although the other party looked surprised, her words also surprised Ivan.

In other words, the female mage in front of me is actually a barbarian from a northern tribe? Are you kidding me?

However, analyzing the details, this seems possible.

In the northern tribes, a face tattoo painted by the tribal medicine man personally marks that a person has completed his or her coming-of-age ceremony, which is to capture a wild beast from the ice field independently with bare hands.

Afterwards, witch doctors from different tribes will give the descendants who have successfully completed the coming-of-age ceremony a small tattoo with some characteristics of the tribal totem.

After careful observation, it is not difficult to find that the tattoo at the corner of Heidi's eye that looks like a teardrop mole is actually an abstract cat paw print, and there is only one tribe in the North that uses cats as totems.

Pale Hunters, their tribal totem is the North White Cat, the only cat species living on the North Icefields.

Although they were cats, the cats of the northern glaciers were different from those of other regions. These quiet, snow-white creatures were actually close in size to the lynxes Ivan had seen in the zoo in his previous life.

At the same time, they are also the top hunters on the ice field with the highest hunting efficiency and a success rate of 60%, so they are also known as the White Death.

"interesting."

Heidi stood up from the couch. She was quite tall, much taller than most women. Even when she stepped barefoot on the soft carpet, she was over 1.75 meters tall.

The strange woman who had just given her name walked up to Alvin with her long legs.

Leaning over to look at the silent boy, Heidi smiled slightly and continued:

"Northerners without facial markings are either minors, or the only thing left is the legend on the ice field..."

Having said this, she suddenly paused, and the smile on her face became even brighter.

"The natural born king, Ishtarri's beloved son."

Chapter 4: Boating on the Sand Sea

"You think too much."

Ivan spoke up, breaking the somewhat oppressive silence in the tent.

"I simply haven't completed my coming-of-age ceremony yet."

"Really? It seems that with your strength, this should be easy to do. Or is your tribe's coming-of-age ceremony a little different?"

Heidi kept smiling and didn't dwell on the previous topic. She just walked slowly around Ivan.

The soft carpet made the woman's footsteps lighter and quieter, almost making no sound, just like those pale hunters hunting on the ice field, leaving no footprints in the snow.

"I just... am unlucky." Alvin paused for a moment, his tone sounding quite complicated.

For some reason, his memories of the North became fragmented after the time travel, which made him feel very uncomfortable and he subconsciously didn't want to recall them.

"Oh, that's nothing, because luck doesn't always stay the same. At least you were lucky three quarters of an hour ago. You ran into us before you were completely swallowed by this sea of ​​sand."

Heidi leaned down and patted Ivan's shoulder, then whispered in the boy's ear:

This action caused her long, smooth black hair to fall down like flexible vines, sweeping across the skin of Ivan's neck and back, bringing a fleeting tingling sensation.

"We?" Alvin's expression changed slightly, and then he realized that something seemed to be different from what he had guessed. After all, the ground where ordinary tents were located would not shake rhythmically.

"Yes, we are the Golden Sands Chamber of Commerce. Don't you realize that you are now sitting on a 'Sand Sea Boat'?" Heidi smiled proudly, then raised her hands and clapped them lightly on her head.

Accompanied by crisp applause, an invisible wind blew in the tent, and the curtains hanging around were rolled up, revealing the desert scene outside bathed in the scorching sun.

Moreover, Alvin also noticed that this very spacious tent was actually placed directly on the back of a beast of burden of astonishing size, and the ground that swayed rhythmically like a boat in the water was actually the back of the beast of burden that rose and fell slightly with its steps.

In addition, there is a wicker shed on the top of the pack animal's head, in which is a 'driver' or 'horseman' holding a long whip. Behind it and on both sides of its body, there are large amounts of cargo placed in net bags and on a wooden platform across its back.

From time to time, you can see local employees with wheat-colored skin climbing up and down to carefully check whether the goods are tied up properly.

They also wore traditional costumes of desert ethnic groups. Men mostly wore short skirts, while women wore knee-length skirts and tube tops. However, the material was not soft gauze or expensive fine linen, but relatively cheap and undyed white coarse linen.

"Comidon Beast, the boat that crosses the sea of ​​sand..." Ivan muttered to himself with a look of surprise on his face.

The so-called Komidon is actually a huge wild animal living in the silent desert. They look like a combination of a two-horned rhinoceros and a lizard, but their size is even more exaggerated than that of an elephant.

The average weight of a newborn cub is close to 260 kilograms, and during its subsequent development, it can grow to an astonishing weight measured in tons.

It is difficult for ordinary people to imagine how such a barren natural environment as the desert can support such a huge creature.

In fact, the reason is not complicated. Even in the silent desert also known as the 'Sea of ​​Dust', there is an oasis. Moreover, the Komidon beast has the ability to resist hunger for a long time after a full meal like a camel.

Multiple internal organs in their bodies can store water, and they can drink a lake dry in one breath. When there is enough food, they will convert a large amount of nutrients into fat, so that they can maintain normal activities even without eating for a long time.

Each Komidon is a solitary creature that often occupies an entire oasis as its territory, and only forms a small family temporarily when breeding and raising offspring.

In addition, some extremely large Komidon can even achieve symbiosis with plants. The dust accumulated in the folds of their skin mixed with the very small amount of sweat secreted from their body surface can make the seeds of many plants take root and germinate quickly, and even shorten the time required to grow mature fruits.

Therefore, the Komidon beast is also known as the "Sand Sea Ship", "Mobile Oasis" and so on.

Because their huge size is enough to drive away most carnivores in the desert, these animals are very docile. Therefore, every caravan traveling through the desert will tame one or two Komidon beasts as their main pack animals.

But then again, even as a time traveler, Alvin didn't know much about this land far away from the center of the "plot". His main activities in the game in his previous life were concentrated in the Central Empire Lind and the Northern Demon Kingdom Elrond. He only knew some related knowledge through some forum posts, just like reading a travel brochure or a popular science documentary.

This made the young man feel a little bit of excitement brought by the unknown environment.

"So, what's your name? Even the cubs under six in the tribe know that in exchange for being called by their names, they should tell their own names." Heidi crossed her fair arms and asked in a very strong tone:

After coming to his senses, Alvin looked at the tall woman beside him. He probably understood why she treated him so well.

The Silent Desert is far away from the center of Palladian civilization. The ratio of extraordinary people to ordinary people here is closer to that of the old era, and the trend of change has not yet reached this place.

Therefore, every extraordinary person in the desert has a high price. And without any disguise, Heidi, as a mage, could certainly recognize the clear and violent magic fluctuations from Ivan.

Even so, Alvin was still grateful for the help extended by Heidi and the Golden Sand Chamber of Commerce.

After all, as a normal person who grew up in a peaceful era in the previous life, repaying kindness with kindness is a matter of course. Even if you come to another world, things like world views will not change easily.

What's more, the black-haired young man also has something necessary to refuse to change himself to cater to the objective world - strong strength.

"Evan, my name is Evan Elian, a wanderer who has been cut off from the tribe." Without much hesitation, Evan responded in the way the northerners spoke that he remembered.

"The blessed first son? Boy, it seems your parents have high expectations of you." Heidi raised her eyebrows, raised her hand to find the white magic wand, and chuckled.

"Don't call me that. Although I haven't obtained the facial tattoos, I have actually passed that most innocent period of my life." Alvin waved his hand, feeling a little embarrassed by the other party's joking address.

At the same time, he noticed that he was actually wearing a pair of thin white linen trousers, so he lifted the blanket and stood up to look into the distance.

The crisp sound of camel bells came from my ears, and at the same time, the golden brass bells hanging on the ears of the Komidon beast also rang.

In the distance, the dim sun was falling towards the horizon, foreshadowing the coming of a cold desert night.

"Ms. Heidi, I remember that in the desert, rescued people often give half of their belongings to their benefactors."

Looking at the woman's subtle expression, Alvin took the initiative to mention this unwritten rule similar to the sailor's law.

"That's true, but I'm not short of money, and besides..." Heidi looked at the young man whose only piece of clothing was a gift from the caravan, and couldn't help but reveal a sweet and cunning smile.

"As you can see, it's not very convenient for me to pay the reward now, but at least I still have some confidence in my strength. So..." Alvin shrugged, appearing very open-minded about the fact that he was penniless.

"Are you still hiring?" the young barbarian from the north said this with a clear conscience.

To be honest, excluding the pile of things in the lepton space whose value cannot be measured by money, in a sense he is not lying now.

Therefore, Alvin's initial plan in a short period of time was to accept the Chamber of Commerce's employment, repay the favor, and at the same time find a way to leave the desert.

"Of course, a caravan always welcomes hardworking young people. Moreover, this is the unforgiving sand dunes outside the high walls of the five major city-states. Even a large caravan like the Golden Sands may encounter uninvited guests with malicious intent."

Heidi nodded, and like a northerner, she made no secret of the fact that she had long intended to recruit the young man in front of her.

Of course, she also considered the possibility that the other party might be a spy sent by another faction. However, as a mage who could establish a large caravan in the Silent Desert, Heidi also possessed the confidence and strength to match this achievement.

"You mean...robbers?" This answer surprised Alvin.