While Aether was shocked and terrified, he muttered, "Th-This… This being shouldn't even exist."
In front of them stood a Spinosaurus, simply staring at them as if it had just emerged from the deep, vast river. Its gaze seemed to imply it was planning to attack.
Suddenly, Aether heard the leader of the tribal people shouting, but he couldn't understand a word.
He looked at the tribal leader again, and the leader handed him a wooden container filled with a liquid. The leader spoke, but again, Aether couldn't understand anything.
However, Aether noticed that the leader seemed to be telling him to drink it, and he hesitated because the liquid looked violet in color.
But then, he heard the roar of the Spinosaurus, and when he looked back at it, he saw the tribal people working together to fight it.
Startled, Aether quickly drank the liquid. Suddenly, his head hurt intensely, and he held it in pain.
As time passed, he slowly began to understand the voices of the tribal people.
"Attack it from behind!"
"I'll take this side."
"I've already wounded it!"
Aether was shocked to realize he could now understand the tribe's language. He then looked back at the battle.
He saw that the Spinosaurus's neck was tied with an extremely long rope, being pulled by five tribal members trying to bring it down.
He also noticed that a massive amount of mana was surrounding the rope and the bodies of the people pulling it.
Observing further, Aether saw that some tribal members were attacking using mana, channeling it through their fingers like a gun.
Every time their attacks hit the Spinosaurus, it took immediate damage, almost like the tribal people were using pistols.
Seeing this, Aether tried to imitate them, channeling his mana into his finger. When he attempted to attack, the mana came out only as smoke. He realized that his mana had been wasted because he was still tied up.
While the tribal people gradually subdued the Spinosaurus, another Spinosaurus suddenly attacked.
The tribal members pulling the rope were thrown off and heavily injured by the sheer strength of the newcomer's attack. At this point, the leader intervened.
The tribal leader ran toward the Spinosaurus, channeling his mana into his spear. He leapt high onto the Spinosaurus's head, and once on top, he infused his feet with mana to keep from falling.
The leader attacked the top of the Spinosaurus's head with his spear. Aether was shocked to see the speed of the strikes; within about 50 seconds, the leader had unleashed roughly 500 attacks.
The newly arrived Spinosaurus was immediately killed, while the remaining one was subdued by the combined effort of the tribe. They pulled the rope to bring it down.
Aether observed that the tribal women seemed stronger than the men, and they had more mana.
He saw a female tribal member blocking the Spinosaurus's attacks with a wooden shield infused with mana. Once it was down, the tribe attacked consecutively with their mana-infused spears.
Through their cooperation, the tribal people defeated the remaining Spinosaurus.
Aether was stunned, unable to comprehend how the humans could keep up with a creature like the Spinosaurus. He also noticed the two Spinosaurus carcasses.
However, he saw them cutting the Spinosaurus open, which made him ask a tribal member,
"What are you doing? Why are you cutting it open and taking its insides?"
The tribal member looked at him in surprise that Aether could speak their language.
"Ah, what do you think? Most likely for food. See how happy they are because they'll get to eat that animal again."
Aether was puzzled. "Happy? Can you really eat Spinosaurus meat?"
The tribal member laughed. "Ha? What are you talking about? Of course you can. It's delicious. And who's this Spinosaurus you're talking about?"
Aether realized that the tribal people didn't even know the name of the beast before him. He pointed at the Spinosaurus carcass.
"It's called a Spinosaurus… Wait, really? Is the meat actually tasty?"
"Yes, it's delicious! And I love the name you gave it—Spinosaurus, haha."
Aether looked to his right as someone spoke and saw the tribal leader who had been talking to him bow respectfully.
Aether didn't know what to say.
"Ah… Really? So you've gone this long without eating it? Then why don't you hunt Spinosaurus more often?"
The tribal leader laughed. "Haha, if we could, we would have long ago. But the problem is that Spinosaurus is too powerful in the river."
The tribal leader looked at Aether seriously.
"Wait, where are you from? I see your clothing—it's not from a rival tribe. Your skin is smooth and fair, like you've never been in battle. And your appearance… you're very handsome. I've never seen a man like you before, haha."
Aether was flustered.
"Ahahaha… You're flattering me too much. Can we not talk about this?"
He looked up and pointed above.
"I came from a world above this one. There's a new world up there that you probably haven't seen. I don't know how to get back."
The tribal leader's expression turned serious, and he looked up.
"A world above?"
Aether nodded.
"Yes, I come from a world above."
The tribal leader looked at him in shock and seriousness.
"My name is Liyara Sunveil, and I am the princess of the Veylorian tribe. What is your name?"
Aether was surprised. "Ah… I'm Aether. My full name is Arther Silverhart… Haha, I didn't realize you were a princess. I thought you were the tribal leader."
Liyara laughed. "Haha, many people assume that. I'm always at the front during battles with other tribes, and I handle negotiations with them too."
Aether was stunned by how far Liyara's life seemed from his own.
Liyara noticed Aether staring blankly.
"Oh, Aether, why do you look so dazed?"
Aether was startled by her voice.
"Ah… Nothing, I'm just surprised. From your appearance, you look like a princess who always receives special treatment and is well protected by the king."
Hearing this, Liyara laughed. "Haha, why? Am I really that beautiful?"
Suddenly, an attendant approached.
"Princess Liyara, we've gathered all the beast's meat."
Liyara immediately acted.
"Alright, let's continue our walk. You, Aether, follow me. I saw earlier that you tried to use the mana bullet, but you couldn't because your hands were tied."
She untied Aether's hands.
"Don't absorb mana from the tree again; it harms nature."
Aether thought, *Wait… where did you get the name 'mana' and the title 'princess'?* It was impossible for the tribal people to know these, since mana is just a fictional concept in Arkeyd, and the title princess is based on kingdoms.
Liyara noticed Aether's thoughts.
"Oh, I see. Some people from the world above descended to our world, bringing advanced tools that can kill beasts like Spinosaurus instantly. They also taught us about the concept of kingdoms, titles, and much more. They even gave names to the powers we have, calling it 'mana.'"
She looked at Aether.
"And I wouldn't doubt you if you said you were from the world above as well. I can tell from your clothing—it's identical to theirs. The only difference is the language; their language is called English, and it's different from yours. That's why when I first heard you speak, your accent was so different."
Aether was amazed.
"If that's the case, where do they come down to your world?"
Seeing his curious expression, Liyara replied,
"We don't know. They use something that flies and comes here to teach us a new language. People in my tribe are now trying to learn it."
Aether quickly asked,
"So the new language you're learning is English?"
"Yes, that's right, Aether. We use it to trade with them. They also requested that we document our tribal language, and in exchange, they'll give us some of their weapons and technology."
Aether looked at Liyara. She seemed hopeful to acquire weapons from the world above.
"Liyara, the weapons you want… are they called guns?"
She answered immediately,
"Yes. We've seen how powerful they are and how we can use them to defeat our rival tribes."