Chapter 223 223 - The Village

Chapter 223 223 - The Village

When Ryan and Nyx finished their activities, there were two extremely important questions on the boy's mind. Firstly, what was Nyx's mark, and secondly, why was it only now that she was behaving so strangely? It was normal for the girl to behave strangely, but she had never been this direct.

It was as if Nyx was in a trance-like state, hypnotized by a will that not even she could understand. When Ryan stood up in the middle of the island, the girl remained unconscious, sleeping in the middle of the grass. A few seconds later, she disappeared from her physical form, returning only to Ryan's heart.

If he concentrated, he could feel her presence. In a way, this was a relief, now the only thing he could do was let her rest after such an unusual moment. Looking at the horizon, Ryan observed how the clouds were behaving.

It was already around four in the afternoon and the sun was still a long way from falling, but the serene wind, charged with a cold aura, kept Ryan's body at a comfortable temperature. As the breeze increased or decreased in intensity, Ryan's hair was pushed back, revealing his sweaty forehead after the physical exertion.

"What was that...." He said again, as he let the air fully into his lungs. A few seconds later, his attention was drawn by the presence of someone behind him.

The sound of footsteps was evident, even in the wind that swayed the grass and leaves of the trees, "Master Ryan! They're calling you in the center of the village," said one of the maids, who seemed out of breath from running. Her black clothes with white embroidery were marked with bits of leaves and twigs, which only reinforced the idea that she had done everything she could to find him.

Jumping off the island, he landed on his feet in front of the girl, and that brief display of dexterity made the maid widen her eyes in surprise. "Like a cat," she said to herself, thinking that Ryan wouldn't be able to understand what she was saying.

"Did something happen?" Ryan said, his gaze now clenched like that of a tiger. He was prepared to launch himself as quickly as possible towards the village to eliminate any threat.

The girl shook her head in confirmation, "I didn't quite understand, but it seems that some monster grew surprisingly large and was calling for you. I just heard the command to find you".

Clenching his fists, Ryan drew air into his lungs while channeling his mana. That energy passed from the center of his chest to his hands and legs, until he launched himself forward at high speed, creating two explosions of earth beneath his feet.

Activating his Demon Sight, Ryan began to search desperately for monsters. But all he could see were the rivers of energy that flowed between the crystals, with only people and small animals like birds and squirrels.

It didn't even take five seconds for Ryan to reach the center of the village, pulling his sword from his inventory he was prepared for some wind gorilla or even something worse than that. But the mood in the village seemed to be different, Pharah was drinking beer while talking to Brigitte who seemed to be quite excited.

"Master! Your plan worked!" she said as she laughed. Turning his head slightly, Ryan said confusedly, "My plan?".

Aiden put his hand on Ryan's shoulder, "We finished the platforms. After that, we went to check out the islands as you'd asked. The lizard farm is ready and will provide enough meat for the whole island, plus that little thing followed us."

*Pio?

Looking down, Ryan saw the little flint passing its head on his leg. The little bird seemed to be in high spirits, walking around with happy little hops as it hummed through the center of the village.

"He's gotten a bit bigger," Ryan said, as he looked at the little obsidian bird that seemed to be the new attraction in the village. Both the maids and the sand people seemed to be enamored of Flint's cuteness, and it was understandable that this would happen.

Seconds later, Ayumi and Lux appeared next to Ryan. "Flint is going to be huge," said the Kitsune, who crossed her arms around Ryan. Approaching her master's neck, she kissed him, whispering, "I want that kind of treatment too. Just like Nyx got"

Just then he felt the kitsune's hand run down his back, giving him a little shiver that wasn't uncomfortable. With a sideways smile, he nodded. Then Lux grabbed her master's hand, "Can I... May I play with Flint?" she said, with eyes that looked like a child's. Ryan's smile turned into a smile.

Ryan's corner smile turned into a full smile, and nodding, he gave her the signal she needed. Lux flew off at high speed to the little bird, which accepted her caresses quite easily.

"How you've grown!" She said, while running her hand over the bird's head.

Now that the platforms were ready, moving between the islands would be a little easier. Previously, it had simply been impossible to expand between the various flying islands that were almost next to each other.

For a moment, Ryan thought about the possibility of building bridges connecting the places. However, that wasn't the best idea to solve the situation, the chance of the islands moving and breaking the bridge was too great. Floating platforms were a simple way of dealing with this problem, they are reliable and easy to use, both for getting around the island and outside. It was for this and other reasons that the neodrazzil academy used this type of technology.

Ryan was curious how the platforms had turned out, so he opted to walk towards the crystal lizard farm. Now that the plantation was thriving and mining would provide a stable source of income for the village, maintaining that farm was no longer such a lucrative idea.

However, the meat and materials derived from the lizards were still interesting, which made it in Ryan's interest to keep them, even if on a smaller scale. That way, the village of Sunset would be able to produce textiles, artifacts, crystals and iron.

As Ryan walked around the main island, he noticed the small houses and plantations. The former inhabitants of the desert had already adapted easily to the place, and it hadn't even been two weeks since they had moved. The paths made by Toki and Pona were comfortable to walk on and could even support carts, which made walking much more peaceful and prosperous than before.

Around the concrete path there were many flowers, the grass was being carefully pruned to maintain just that lush sea of color.

Ryan took a deep breath, feeling the fresh island air and appreciating the transformation that was taking place on Sunset. He wondered how the inhabitants were coping with the changes and if they were satisfied with the progress.

"I hope they're getting used to it by now..." he said aloud as he lifted his face to look at the sky.

"Sister! Look! It's Master Ryan!" said a little girl, who started waving her arm from side to side as she said hello.

"Master Ryan! Hello!" said the older sister, who was carrying the girl in her arms. The two had chosen a house a little way from the island. It was a small wooden house, one of the furthest away.

There were two fruit trees in front of the house, a small swing and a small garden with some decorations made of rough stone. All this reinforced the effort that the women of the village were making to make the place even more welcoming.

The smiles on their faces at the sight of Ryan warmed his chest a little. The undergrowth grew in length along with the number of flowers, there were trees scattered around the place, and the walk lasted a long time, as Ryan wanted to take the time to think.

Amidst the sound of the leaves moving, the birds singing in tune with the insects, Ryan observed the gigantic stone platform that had been built by Aiden and Brigitte. Resembling a saucer, it stood on top of a square of concrete that rested near the edge of the island. Walking over to it, the moment Ryan stepped onto the platform, his mana began to energize the device.

"In the old days, I couldn't use one of these on my own," he said with an uneasy smile.

>"Your old days are in the past, my master, there's no need to worry about that.

Ayumi's thinking was right, he didn't need to bother with something that had already happened. Seconds later, Ayumi appeared beside him with her arms crossed.

"I thought you were going to stay in the center of the village," he said. nove(lb-In

The kitsune walked slowly up to him with a cheeky grin on her face, "I'd rather stay with my master, that place wasn't as much fun as being by his side," she said.

"Besides, Lux was a bit annoying, she kept screaming thinly while talking in a baby voice to that little bird," she continued.

Ryan laughed at Ayumi's comment, and then the two of them set off for the second island where the crystal lizard farm was.