Last Divinity: The Advent Of Dreams-Chapter 41: Change of Hearts

Warriors came back carrying silver boxes, Samantha and Drago didn’t know what those were until they were opened.

Cold air came out,they looked at them with fascination. " I can’t detect any mana in them, how are they producing ice?"

She asked, Khali shook his head. " It’s not magic." He replied while unloading. The people saw packed food.

They recognised the meat but they didn’t know what the rest were. " Fruits and that’s a vegetable."

He answered their questions with patience. " It’s food." He told them, Samantha grabbed an apple and inspected it.

" Fruits? Which creature are they harvested from?" Khali laughed when she asked that.

" A tree."

She stopped and looked at him with wide eyes. " A..tree? You’re telling me you have a tree?"

He nodded, " Lots of them." Viona answered. Samantha started laughing,

" That’s impossible."

He looked confused, " Why?" He asked and she looked at him like he was crazy.

" Because tress are long extinct."

He had heard that before, he stopped explaining and just told her if she followed them she would see for herself.

They distributed the food to everybody, by head count there were 458 people here not counting Drago and Samantha. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Fortunately they had brought enough food for over 600 people. His people set up pots and started cooking.

The new people watched everything with fascination and excitement. They had never seen so much food in their lives.

After the food was ready they dished up for everybody. " Before we eat I should mention something.

Your bodies adapted to fit a meat diet, you had never in your lives eaten vegetables or fruits so your stomach will experience discomfort.

But believe me it’s good for you, you are still human and require certaint nutrients that can only found in plants.

After a few weeks to months your bodies will adapt to eat plants because they were always meant to, that is all."

Everybody looked at the meat and vegetable soup in their bowls with a bit of apprehension.

Drago and Samantha noticed that as well, they didn’t want their people to disappoint and get in the bad side of these people.

So they took the first spoons. The moment the soup touched their tongues their eyes opened wide.

" Delicious, what is this how is so delicious?" Drago couldn’t help but shout drawing the attention of everybody.

Sebastian laughed, " We used spices and salt to cook the soup plus the meat was tenderised making it softer and easier to chew."

Samantha didn’t say anything, after the first sip she just sat there with a blank look. Then she threw all the grace of a lady out the window.

She devoured the soup like a savage beasts, Khali’s people were already used to eating better than this so they just ate normally.

Viona especially didn’t like the taste, according to her it was too spicy but Khali couldn’t make it less spicier as everybody else preferred it spicy.

He also found it strange that somebody with demonic blood and literally controls flames find this mild food too spicy.

After that meal he realised another issue, water scarcity. This mountain did not have a subterranean world or river.

There was only a small pond at the back of the cave system. With enough water for them to not die of thirst but not enough for anything else.

These people couldn’t even shower so they kind of smelled. With his heightened senses being around them was rough but he sat there pretending it was fine.

Viona as the muscle brain she was, was different though, she immediately stood up and left shouting it stank there and she needed fresh air.

She left the people embarrassed forcing Sebastian to apologize in her behalf. Then they gave them the fruits.

Mostly apples and bananas. Since there were too many people they had to be cut into pieces.

Fruits were the only thing they brought little of. Fruits were valuable even to them, even with the Dryads it still takes months for their trees to produce them.

After all, the Dryads had to use their power in moderation. Fruits and vegetables which are fully sped up by magic lacked nutrients and taste.

So the Dryads could only use their power to skip like a week or two of the growth stage but not fully make them sprout.

When the people ate the fruits, they grew quite. Then everybody saw Samantha crying after biting a piece of an apple.

" Are you okay?" Grago asked while looking up to prevent people from seeing his own tears.

" It’s just.. it’s just so good." Samantha whispered.

" I’ve lived my life in vain, eating rubbish thinking it was enough."

One middle aged man stood up and wiped off his tears then he went on one knee.

" If I could eat more of this, I’m willing to serve you."

He bowed towards Khali who looked at the man without a change in expression. The man grew nervous thinking he was displeased.

Sebastian smiled at him, " While sir Khali certainly appreciate your devotion, it is misplaced.

While he is the leader amongst us, the one we all follow is the great lord, your loyalty and devotion should be there before anybody else."

The man raised his head and looked at them with understanding. " Of course of course sir Khali. I will devote the rest of my short life to the great lord."

After him more and more people stood forward. Close to half joined them but another half, mostly the men were still hesitating.

However he was not worried, he knew how to earn their loyalty. When they first arrived he saw bloody strips of clothing.

They had lost people in the last fight, he figured that was a common situation for them.

Tonight he was going to show them how to fight without losing a single person or even coming close to your opponent.

They spent the rest of the day mingling with the people. They seemed happier than when he first arrived here.

The bleak aura that once shrouded the place was mostly gone and Samantha who was a spirit mage clearly felt that.

She couldn’t help but smile seeing her people smiling so freely for the first time in a very long time.

As an initiate, she had a lifespan of two hundred years. She looked like she was in her early 30’s but she was over 80 years old.

She was the oldest person here besides Drago but unlike her, he was not an original member of this clan.

He was a person she saved and nursed back to health and he decided to stay and protect the people here as payment.

She then gave him the seat of leadership since merchants respected strong looking men more than an occult mage who also happened to be a woman.