Once Nick decided to make his way to the Night Eagle Tribe, he moved forward. Not much time had passed, when he noticed a massive rock forest covering the surroundings.
The rock forest was made up of tall and thin rocks, some of which were tall, thick and grey— the construct very much resembling a labyrinth.
As soon as Nick spotted the Rock Forest, he knew he was in the territory of the Night Eagle Tribe. He was looking ahead, but all of a sudden, he paused his steps, turned his head around, and smiled.
“I see you. Can you please come out? I bring no evil intention.”
“This is impossible!”
A thin, human-like voice shrieked.
Nick noticed three eagle human hybrids showing themselves at this time. They were hiding behind a tall rock, evidence of their excellent sneak ability.
Had it not been for Nick’s Wave Radar, he would not have sensed them at all even with the use of his magic.
These creatures looked like humanoid eagles. They had eagle heads, claws, and pure black feathers covering parts of their agile-looking bodies.
Other than these things, they had human body parts like their upper body, arms, shoulders and they walked on two legs.
Their wing size was about three meters and it seemed that these creatures were capable of flying with considerable ease.
At this time, one of them came forward and started talking.
“Unknown and strange-looking being, how did you ever notice us?”
Nick was amused both with the tone and the question. It was better this way though, compared to them directly attacking him and getting killed in the process. If that happened, he would have made a second enemy tribe in this unfamiliar place.
“I have abilities to sense other living beings. I am keen to speak with your Chieftain; I have come here to trade. I will give precious stones in exchange for information.”
The three Night Eagles looked at each other and then nodded, as they signaled Nick with their heads to follow them.
Once again, Nick was not worried about being attacked by this race and followed the Night Eagles.
More and more Nick noticed that between humans and other intelligent races, a big difference was in the mindset. Even if the beast-humanoid creatures had the intelligence to build tools, create languages and even become mages, they did not have the sneaky psyche of a human being.
While dealing with humans, Nick always felt that their words were filled with hidden meanings, especially if the said human held a high political position or was in power in general.
But these creatures were more direct when socializing with other races or even between each other.
You are either a friend or a foe. State your intentions, be honest with them, and it is all accepted. But if intentions did not match actions, then one would have made an enemy. This was a very simple way of doing things.
Not many things should be overthought. Nick discovered, while understanding these beast races, that perhaps only the Werfurs had evolved when it came to social intelligence, equal to that of human beings.
Nick figured the reason for this was because the Werfur race coexisted with humans for a long time and had several interactions with them in the history of both their races. It evolved towards a comparatively advanced level of social intelligence. If not, they would most likely suffer losses when it came to political discussion or any other agreements with humans.
They would be deceived too easily if they did not adapt their life and way of thinking to that of the human race that was known both for its deviousness and greed.
Nick was wrapping his mind around all this during the 15-minute walk, after which, the group arrived at some kind of a dwelling. They were still inside the Rock Forest, but the place they had come to was slightly different from the ordinary Rock Forest.
Here, the distance between each rock column was more than five to seven meters. Nick also saw rock-carved nests placed on top of each of these columns. He understood from the design that the Night Eagle Tribe lived in these rock cylinder-shaped houses with their families if they had one.
There were more than 100 Night Eagles here, and they looked at Nick with eyes filled with curiosity. However, they did not seem to have any negative or hostile emotions in them.
So far, Nick’s first impression of the Night Eagles was good. They did not give him any unnecessary or unwanted vibes from the very beginning.
A minute later, a Night Eagle showed himself. This Night Eagle was different from his peer. The ordinary Night Eagles were about 190 cm in height and had a wing-span of about three meters. But this Night Eagle was 230 cm tall and had a wing-span of five meters.
‘Night Eagle Humanoid (Chief Night EagleTribe)’
‘Level 5 (Imper Peak Warrior)’
‘Abilities’
‘Claw Mastery (Level 5) (Claws are 30% sharper, 30% more durable and stronger) (When using ‘claws’ to fight, 30% more powerful)’
‘Passive’
‘Deep Agility (Movement Speed 30% faster, Attack Speed 30% higher)’
‘Night Blessing (When in ‘dark environment’ power and sneak ability 30% higher)’
From the available information, the Night Eagle Tribe Chieftain appeared weaker than the Rock Cow Tribe Chieftain. However, this was far from accurate.
Considering the Night Eagle’s flying ability and that it was capable to hide easily, almost being in stealth mode, the power of the Night Eagle Chief was not weaker than the Rock Cow Tribe Chief.
Nick classified these creatures as ‘Eagle Assasins’ in his mind. These eagles were the best when they attacked from a height without their targets even noticing it.
They could ambush their target similar to how ordinary eagles on Earth captured their prey.
Eagles are hunters and probably among the best ambush hunters. It was not surprising that they retained these innate characteristics even if they had human-like bodies, more power, and more intelligence than usual.
It suited them to be dark hunters; not more than owls but still good enough.
The Night Eagle Chief observed Nick for a second and started talking.
“My son told me that you can detect us even if we are hiding. I also heard that you wanted to trade with us. Will you tell me your name? I am Aglior.”
