“This is Lady Alaya, our messiah.” The lizard said. 

“Welcome to Birago travelers, what’s brought you to our land?” Alaya said. 

“We are humble adventurers looking to help those in need.” I told her. 

“Interesting, I haven’t met a group like you in hundreds of years.” She said. 

“Wait, hundreds of years?” I asked. 

“Yes. I am immortal.” Alaya said. 

“No way! How?” I asked. 

“It’s a long story.” She replied. 

“Well, we got plenty of time.” I told her. 

“Well alright then.” She said.

“Long long ago, during the colonial era. Humans took over the jungle and enslaved the lizard people. They mated with their slaves and created us mermaids. What they didn’t know is that these mermaids would be too powerful for them to keep captive. You already know that humans cannot cast magic without a catalyst, this is because they weren’t blessed by the spirits with the ability to use their mana naturally, however, they do have something we call “magical ingenuity.” 

“They learned magic by watching the other races and after discovering how to release their mana through catalysts, they were able to engineer and develop new spells. Half breeds such as myself have a weakened version of our natural abilities, however, we also have humanities magical ingenuity that allows us to learn more about magic and hone our craft and that makes our water magic incredibly powerful.”

“Because this land is abundant with water, most mermaids escaped out to sea, but I wasn’t as lucky. I escaped deep into the jungle and found a secluded place full of fruit trees where I laid deep in meditation for months. During my time alone I learned a lot about magic. I discovered necromancy before humans did, as well as the secrets of immortality and even the apocalypse magic that destroyed the world.”

“Wait, you discovered the magic that destroyed the world?” I asked. 

“Yes, but I didn’t teach it to anyone. I knew how dangerous it was so I sent disciples to each of the 12 kingdoms and warned them about the dangers of necromancy. It was outlawed everywhere, but necromancy still spread through the criminal underworld and someone else was able to discover it on their own.” She replied. 

“Oh, I’m sorry I should’ve known.” I said. 

“It’s alright. After my time in seclusion, I returned and used my knowledge to free my people from humanities colonization.” She said.

“Damn, you must be pretty strong.” I said. 

“Yes, but I was only able to liberate about half the jungle. I wasn’t able to free everyone until Lord Amin I arrived and offered his help in exchange for an alliance. I accepted, then later found out that his military success was due to the fact that the Amin Empire legalized necromancy for military purposes.” She told us.

“So the Amin Empire were the ones that ended the world?” I asked. 

“No. I was told The Capital of the Empire was struck first. I suppose I could’ve received bad information, but regardless, there has to have been another group that discovered apocalypse magic. The Empire wouldn’t attack themselves.”

“I see.” I said.

“I also doubt the Empire would attack their allies. I spent a lot of time setting up a strong enough ward to keep the jungle protected.” She said.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is apocalypse magic? You don’t have to teach me, I just want to know what it is.” I asked. 

“Of course I don’t mind explaining it. Apocalypse magic is a combination of spells mainly necromancy and restoration. The spell uses life absorption as well as mana conversion in order to take the life of anything it touches then converting that energy into mana and feeding itself until it is stopped by a ward or until there is nothing left to absorb.” She said. 

“Wow.” I replied.

“My immortality magic works in a similar way, it uses a little bit of necromancy to absorb life and then I convert it using myself as a catalyst. Even if I tried teaching it to others there are probably very few who could pull it off.” As she said that she touched a flower in the room and it shriveled up and died while leaving the rest of the plants around it unharmed.

“Do you have any other questions for me?” Alaya asked. 

“Hmmm… I don’t think so.” I replied. 

“Alright then, I’m glad you all visited.” She said. 

“Before we go is there anything we can help you with? Anything at all?” I asked. 

Alaya placed her hand on her chin and thought for a moment. 

“There’s nothing specific we need done at the moment. But if you’re that eager to help, then you can visit each of the 9 tribes and if you assist each of them I’ll give you a reward.” She said. 

“What kind of reward?” I asked. 

She leaned in close and whispered, “It’s a ssssseceret.” She said with her long snake-like tongue brushing against my ear. 

“Can you at least give us a hint? I’m not trying to get ripped off.” I said. 

“You said you were heroes, yes? A true hero would help those in need no matter what they got in return. Correct?” She said. 

She’s right, I shouldnt’ve asked. “Of course we’ll do it no matter the reward. I was just curious is all.” I said. 

“Good, return to me with a signed paper from each chief. And before you go, take these and give them to your friends.” 

She handed me three silver rings with inscriptions written on them that I couldn’t read. 

“What are they?” I asked. 

“Enchanted rings that’ll allow them to communicate with the lizard people. It’s been a while since we last used them, I’m glad I still had some lying around.” She said. 

“Thanks.” I handed the rings to the party and we were sent off. 

“The first tribe is settled right next to the temple. They worship the goddess of love and they’re very easy to please.” Alaya said. 

“Alright, we’ll be back soon.” I said. 

“Best of luck to you all.” Alaya replied. 

We walked down the temple steps back into the village. Everyone looked like they were relaxing without a care in the world. The streets were lined with fruit trees and they lived inside hollowed out trees. We approached one of the lizards and asked where the chief is. He brought us to a large tree near the center of the village. 

“He’s in here.” The lizard said. 

“Thanks.” 

We went inside and said hello. 

“Ah, welcome. What brings you here?” He said. 

“We were sent by Alaya to help each of the 9 tribes.” I replied. 

“Oh that’s great of her! She’s always thinking about her people.” The chief said. 

“So, what can we help you with?” I asked. 

“I have a simple task for you, I want you to join us for dinner and try our food.” The chief told us. 

No way that’s it, but these villages are way nicer than anything in the Amin Empire. This is gonna be the easiest questing ever! We joined the locals for dinner and they handed out bowls on pungent purple slop that smelled like rotting food. 

“Umm… what is this stuff?” I asked. 

“It’s our specialty, fermented fruit! It has a delicious sour tang and if you eat enough of it you’ll feel fuzzy inside.” One of the lizards said. 

“This is alcohol!?” I said excitedly. 

Alcohol was the 2nd most thing I missed while in prison, behind p**sy of course. 

“Whenever the other tribes make pilgrimage to worship Lady Alaya, they refuse to eat our food and call it disgusting, but I know you will enjoy it right?” They asked. 

“Sure…” I replied.

I really want to feel a buzz but this actually looks like it might kill me. Oh well, here goes nothing. I took a big spoonful and put it in my mouth. 

“So, how is it?” The lizard asked. 

It tastes so gross my body refuses to swallow it. 

“It’s delicious.” I said. 

“How come you won’t swallow it?” The lizard asked. 

“I’m trying to stay sober, but I like keeping the flavor on my tongue.” I replied. 

“Oh, well I’m glad you enjoy!” The lizard said. 

Killer scarfed his bowl down and asked for seconds. Voyd ate a little bit, but I told her to stop so she doesn’t get drunk. Ro refused to even taste it and said she’d rather starve. 

“I’m sorry about her, she’s a total b***h most of the time.” I told the lizards. 

“It’s alright, I’m glad the rest of you liked it. Now we can tell all our visitors how much the outsiders loved our food. I’ll go get you guys a letter of approval for Lady Alaya.” The chief said. 

The Chief handed us a paper signed by him. We thanked him and stayed the night in the village. The next morning, we joined up with a caravan and started heading to the next tribe.