Murim Recurve

Once the Rua had left, the Rupak was unable to feel any feeling of fear in Gro Mining Village. Re'Kha had sent it the third time now, intending to keep watch over the place. It then silently flew into one of the houses, landing on the floor before extending its beak to touch the Tikka jewellery of a man.

While using its Wind Qi perception, it was able to perceive a blank space, almost murky. But as it continued to observe, the sharpness of the blank space continued to increase, albeit slowly.

Through the findings, Re'Kha concluded that now that the Rua had left the place, the village was no longer affected by whatever it had put in place. And now, all their Tikka jewellery was beginning to recover, albeit slowly.

Soon, it would have enough power to operate to defend against all supernatural phenomenon to a certain extent. If it wasn't for them, the Rua would have easily been able to place them all under its control overnight.

Only the Tikka jewellery shielded them and caused them to survive for as long as they did under the effects.

'Once a Kalki's Tikka jewellery is destroyed, and their third eye poked out, if they were to consume the flesh of another Kalki, alive, they would turn into a Ras. Are these the only factors needed to birth a Ras?' Re'Kha thought, shuddering once.

Not everyone in their race had a Tikka jewellery. Only those in the Cities and the Settlements had one as they were handed out for free by the Royal Clan. Shortly after a baby is born, someone from the Royal Clan would visit them and place the Tikka jewellery on their foreheads. Its gem would perfectly cover the baby's third eye.

And, the Tikka jewellery would grow in size along with the baby. So, for a member of their race, they wore a Tikka jewellery until their deaths. And, it wasn't possible to remove it in the presence of others or when there was anything in the surroundings that might harm the user.

So, the possibility of a Rua being birthed in the Cities and the Settlements was zero. But in the villages, it wasn't the case. There were only some villages that were recognised. It was because they transacted with either a City or a Settlement.

But there also existed villages or just individual families that lived in the wilds for a myriad of reasons. As for them, when they birthed a baby, the baby wouldn't have a Tikka jewellery. So, it would be susceptible to the supernatural dangers that plagued their lands.

Influenced by external powers, it would eventually commit the taboo and fulfil the conditions one day to become a Rua. And, Re'Kha had personally witnessed that a Rua had laid down two eggs.

So, it meant the Rua were a kind of species that were able to give birth individually. So, even if only one Rua was in the wilds, it would eventually increase their population to become terrifying enough to swallow a city whole.

At least for a Sha, it would only be birthed in places with high population densities. A Sha birthed in a village would hardly have any growth potential. First of all, it would only possess simple abilities. Secondly, there wouldn't be enough people around it to satisfy its needs for growth.

And third, even if it matured, there would be a good chance not even a single Kalki lived within its range. Without anything to sustain itself with, it would just retreat into its shell and live out the rest of its life like that.

And, over time, its shell would experience wear and tear and gradually be destroyed. After all, a Sha's shell didn't possess any extra strengths. It was only as strong as the original material. So, over time, a Sha present in the wilds would eventually die.

As for those in the cities, the Harmonisers would eventually deal with the ones birthed there.

But in the case of the Ras, they wouldn't be birthed in the Cities or Settlements. Even in the bigger villages, they won't be produced, since the villagers would transact enough with the City/Settlement that they too would automatically receive a Tikka jewellery when there was a newborn in their villages.

But for those discrete groups without any external contact, they all proved to be a threat now. Eventually, they could birth a Ras. And, that would cause their numbers to snowball out of control soon after.

"What to do now…?" Re'Kha frowned. Now that the Rua had vanished, she didn't know what else to do. Upon checking the conditions of the villagers in Gro Mining Village, she realised that the conditions of their Tikka jewelleries were beginning to recover. By daybreak, they would have recovered completely.

"It's for the best if I meet with my brothers now." Re'Kha continued to travel on horseback, soon arriving before a village situated next to a forest. The forest was on the foothills of a couple of hills and was a relatively small forest. The villagers survived on the forest produce to live.

They transacted with a Settlement, selling some of the rare fruits they picked from the forest, some insects and herbs that had medicinal value, etc. The mission of Re'Dha was related to this village. And, if her brothers had completed their first mission, the mission of Re'Gra, they would arrive at this village next. 

Upon seeing that there weren't any horses at the village's entrance, it seemed her brothers hadn't arrived yet. So, she decided to wait in the area. Re'Kha surveyed her surroundings using her wind Qi perception, noticing that the villagers were fast asleep.

And, unlike Gro Mining Village, this was a rather large village, with around 80 houses. And as there was plenty of food and water, they didn't have any worries about their growing population. Though, it seemed their population attracted the attention of a couple of beasts as Re'Kha spotted them prowling about in the darkness.