"Can you understand me?" the tribe's chief asked.
Arthur could not understand a single word, but Sybille went to his side and said, "I can understand, and I will represent my husband in this conversation."
It was strange to hear two people talking yet not understand it, making Arthur feel uneasy, but Sybille quickly said to him, "he asked if we could understand him, and I said I could."
Arthur nodded and waited for the chief's following, or better, questions.
"Who are you? How do you end up on this island? And what do you plan on doing next?"
The chief talked respectfully, as he was the only one in the tribe who could grasp Arthur and his wive's powers. It was not something the tribe could take on.
"We are mages from another continent, and our destination is the demon continent, but our ship died from a beast attack, and we ended up stranded on this island. Our next and only plan is to leave here as soon as possible, but there's a barrier surrounding the island, preventing us from doing it,"
"So we came to explore the island, looking for something to help us, and found your tribe," Sybille explained.
She told almost everything to them, taking out only the part where they met Zeph, who sounded like a crazy person.
The chief went silent after hearing what Sybille said, pondering about it. He could feel she was telling the truth, so he felt pity for them, who were so unlucky to end up in such a place.
"Follow me. We can discuss more things in private," the chief said, walking away toward the most prominent house in the tribe, signing for them to follow him.
Arthur understood the meaning of such actions, so he followed the older man toward his house, his wives with him. The warriors who had their weapons aimed at them turned them down, as they saw their chief did not see those people as enemies.
Even though it was the most prominent house in the tribe, it was still relatively simple, as those people did not have many supplies to build things. So the tribe's chief sat on a mattress, facing Arthur and his wives, ready for a conversation.
The man was silent, so Sybille took the initiative to ask, "do you know something about the barrier? Is there a way for us to leave?"
"First things first, I am Jhenazal, and you?" Jhenazal said.
"I am Sybille; this is Arthur, Wisa, and Jane," Sybille said, pointing at them to make it easier for Jhenazal to differentiate.
"Nice to meet you all. Now, about your question, we have some theories, but it requires some specific things, and we may not be able to do them,"
"Our tribe lived on this island for more than one thousand years, and we discovered some things during this time,"
"The barrier gets slightly weaker during a full moon, but our recordings stated that it gets even weaker during an eclipse,"
"But it seems that strength alone is not all it takes for the barrier to open. One must have lunar power, which no one has had for a long time. The full moon and eclipse part is one hundred percent true, but the rest is only theories."
Even though these people lived there for a long time, they did not have the resources to study the barrier. After all, they were on an island without connection to the outside world.
After Sybille heard everything, she translated what the man said to Arthur, Wisa, and Jane. When Arthur heard about lunar power, the first thing that came to mind was the bluebird hidden inside his body! Ikarus was once the bird that carried moons and was one of the few beings with lunar power.
Ikarus told him that, but Arthur was unsure if the bird had given him some lunar power or if it would wake up to help him. After Ikarus used his power to help Arthur reach rank 3 using the inheritance from the Blood Monarch, it went to slumber.
Years passed since that occasion, yet Ikarus was nowhere. Arthur knew it was alive because he could feel its presence, but that was it. So he would have to wait for an eclipse or a regular full moon and hope he had the power to break the barrier.
Sybille looked at Jhenazal and asked, "do you know when the next eclipse is?"
"You guys arrived at a good time; it's six months from now, but even with the eclipse, there is no way of knowing you will be able to break the barrier."
"I see."
They talked about other things, like where to get food and if there was a place they should avoid on the island. So Jhenazal said they would have to hunt for their food, as all the animals and plantation were for the tribe only, and he had to feed them.
As for a dangerous place on the island, there was none. The island itself and the water inside the barrier was completely safe. It had some animals that could attack them, but no magical beasts.
He said they could leave anywhere, but not inside the tribe. It was not as if he did not like them, but the rest of the tribe would be uneasy, so it was better for all of them if they stayed away.
Jhenazal even mentioned an abandoned wooden cabin near the shore that they could use.
"They don't know about the existence of that Zeph. This generation of humans only? Or he never showed his presence to any of them during all these years." Arthur thought.
They left the tribe afterward, returning to the simple house where Zeph lived. Unexpectedly, he was not there! Where could he be trapped on an island? Arthur even questioned himself if Zeph was real or just a hallucination.
"What should we do next?" Wisa asked.
Now they knew when the barrier got weaker, and Arthur knew someone like Zeph would have noticed such a thing, especially after spending that many years there. So, strength was not the only thing needed to break the barrier!
If Zeph, who was way stronger than Arthur, could not break the weakened barrier, then there was no way he would be able to. So with that in mind, Arthur hoped there was something else to it and that he could crack the barrier.
"First, we must find a place and build ourselves a home. There are six months until the next eclipse, so we need a place to stay and grow food. After that, we must find the secret to break the barrier within six months!" Arthur said.
They agreed to it, and all roamed the island, looking for a place to build a home. The chosen site was on the other side of the island, near the shore, but it still had a small pond of water for them to use.
"We can cast magic to fill this thing with water anytime, and fishing will be fun!"
An island survival challenge would last six months, with their final goal to break the barrier. Should it be an easy task for them to survive? Right? Or it wasn't that simple?
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