Supreme Magus novel Chapter 1931

The Shadow Dragon flew away from the city until they found a secluded area. Then, she used a float spell for her passengers and reverted to her human form before Warping everyone on the ground.

"I'd like to fly straight to our destination, but the time we spend walking is time saved from answering the questions of the local warlords and avoiding job offers." Zoreth said as her body shapeshifted into that of a black-skinned tall man with beady eyes.

Bytra shapeshifted as well, assuming the appearance of a woman of her same height but with dark brown skin, light chestnut eyes, and curly short black hair.

"You can keep your appearance, but those clothes have to go." Zoreth said in a deep baritonal voice with a thick unknown accent.

She handed Lith tanned leather pants and a long-sleeved linen shirt, an attire suited to the savanna surrounding them. The climate was more humid than the Desert, but no less hot.

Grassland covered most of the ground, revealing only a few patches of an unknown red soil that seemed to be fertile. Despite the lack of any visible source of water, there was plenty of pasture for herbivores and lots of trees.

Unlike the forests he was used to, the canopy was open, allowing plenty of sunlight to reach the ground. Most of the plants weren't recorded in the tomes stored inside Soluspedia.

Lith was so taken aback by their transformation and the unknown environment that he looked around like a tourist who had just gotten off his flight.

On top of that, it was the first time that he had seen black-skinned people since he had come to Mogar and he didn't know how to ask the obvious questions that were popping in his mind without sounding ignorant, racist, or both.

'Does racism exist on Mogar?' He thought.

"Judging from your staring, you had no idea what the locals look like, correct?" Zoreth had forgotten that Lith was still very young and had never left Garlen.

She wasn't aware of his trip to Jiera and Lith had never felt the need to share it with her.

"Yes." He nodded with a dumb expression on his face.

"Well, just like the people of the Kingdom are pink and those of the Desert are bronze-skinned, here they have an even darker color." Bytra said. "If you ever go on Jiera, instead, you'll find even people with a kind of yellowish skin."

"Really?" Lith's eyes went wide in surprise.

"Yes. The appearance of humans, just like for beasts, changes based on the climate they grew in, but they are still people. Staring like that is plain rude and betrays the fact that you come from Garlen."

"Do the people of Verendi discriminate against the other continents?" Lith asked crossing his fingers.

"Yes." Zoreth replied.

'Fuck! I had hoped to have left this kind of bullshit on Earth!' Lith inwardly whined.

"They can't stand the people of Garlen because you are their enemies. If it's of any consolation, they discriminate against anyone who isn't from their own country. Your accent betrays you so leave the talking to us." Bytra's accent was just as thick as Zoreth's, making it hard for him to understand some of the words.

Lith shapeshifted his clothes after the gemstone in the Voidwalker armor absorbed them.

"I'm always glad to meet new friends and I'll happily do what I can to help you. My name is Zugu, and I'm a merchant." The man dismounted and offered his hand to Xenagrosh.

"I'm Goro and she is my sister Palea from the Meraka company." She shook it, noticing how the people surrounding the caravan acted casual, but they had positioned themselves so that their rings pointed at her.

Their hands held the reigns, but they would need but a thought to rain magic on the strangers.

"He is my sister's fiancé, Ilyum." Zoreth nodded at Lith. "We were showing him the ropes with a simple food transport when we got attacked. The kid needs to do better if he wants to enter the family."

"Ilyum?" The man was already suspicious of the stranger's features. "What an odd name. Does he belong to the famous riders of the Ghiskan plains? I could use a good horse tamer as well."

"I wish." Zoreth said with a sigh. "He's just a foreigner from Garlen. He had trouble there and was forced to run away. My sister fell in love with him and you know how these things go."

She had noticed Zugu's caution under his amiable fa?ade. Also, Lith's accent would betray his origins the moment he opened his mouth, no matter how good his cover story was.

Claiming that he was a mute would have been too convenient to be believable so the Shadow Dragon had preferred to mix lies and truth.

This way, Lith was free to stare at unfamiliar things and make social blunders without arousing suspicions. The people of Verendi were suckers for love stories and claiming that Lith was a renegade only made him worthy of respect.

"Don't be so harsh on the lad. Young love is the most beautiful thing on Mogar. May the Great Mother bless your union with many magically talented children." Zugu gave the couple a bow before shaking their hands.