Elemental Magnetic Star

Chapter 71 Thoughts of the Tribe

The night deepened, and the crowd finally dispersed. Flicker Shadow felt exhausted, more so than after a whole day of hunting.

"You're still the same, not fond of socializing," White Lightning teased him. "Most of these people were handled by me. You barely spoke a word, why the long face?"

Flicker Shadow was indeed not much for conversation, but he couldn't escape it either. He thought, irritably, that where there were more people, there were more disputes; a cacophony of voices that he couldn't make sense of, and they didn't care about what he answered, they just liked the bustle.

"What about Raina Grace? Has she gone to the Terra Grove tribe?" Flicker Shadow remembered the scene of Raina Grace leaving without looking back, following White Lightning, and he was still upset but couldn't help worrying about her.

White Lightning hesitated before responding, "She should be settled by now. The Terra Grove tribe received her. I can't even get close to the Elemental Ancestor Fruit orchard now. It's become a restricted area, no normal human can approach it."

Flicker Shadow wasn't overly concerned about Raina Grace's safety since WeeStick had gone ahead to report and would be there to meet her. This time, the black panther didn't come to the valley but stayed alone in the Verdant Thistle Forest. It had followed Flicker Shadow since shortly after its birth, when its mother died. Though black panthers are solitary creatures, after so many years together, the two had grown accustomed to each other. Flicker Shadow had struggled to leave WeeStick behind this time, and he was also reluctant at heart.

Returning to the tribe meant everyone was leaving him. Flicker Shadow couldn't help but wonder, what was it all for? On just the first day, he was already missing the days in the hot spring cottage.

"Oh, wrong. There has been one human who went in these past two years," White Lightning sighed, "But he's probably not dead, though not far from it."

"Someone got possessed recently?" Flicker Shadow's attention was piqued, "Was it voluntary or forced?"

"It's unclear if it was possession. He went in willingly. It was Coiled Stone. He volunteered to be a test subject for the Terra Grove tribe, to see if the Elemental Ancestor Fruit could be improved. But who knows what happened, no news came back, and all the freemen are uneasy because of the uncertainty. Wind Voice is a failure as a chief."

White Lightning knew more about why Coiled Stone volunteered to be a test subject, beyond the common knowledge of forcing the old chief to admit to deception and step down. Coiled Stone had sought him out before leaving.

Coiled Stone said, "You're Flicker Shadow's friend. There are some things about Raina Grace that I want you to tell him."

White Lightning originally thought Coiled Stone was just an ordinary freeman, boastful but of average ability. But it turned out he had another side, influenced by the Saintess, concerned about the future of the freemen, willing to sacrifice himself as a test subject.

White Lightning didn't understand or want to understand, but he was interested in what Coiled Stone said last: "Raina Grace is the new Saintess of the freemen, with power even greater than the original Saintess, and she can communicate with the Terra Grove tribe. She truly is the 'Mother of Shielding', the hope of the freemen."

"Flicker Shadow, you," thinking of Coiled Stone's words, White Lightning hesitated before asking Flicker Shadow, "Do you know what the 'Mother of Shielding' is?"

"The Mother of Shielding?" Flicker Shadow found it somewhat familiar but couldn't recall, so he shook his head.

White Lightning reminded him, "Why did you bring Raina Grace from the Surface Domain in the first place? Did you already know she was the 'Mother of Shielding'?"