Murim Recurve

Chapter 118 - Shared Borders

The Treka was a race neighbouring their territory in the south. At one point in history, they had been a tremendously powerful race, ruling over the vast lands that formed their country and beyond.

But now, they had been driven out by the Kalki, forcing them to retreat time and again. Before their First Celestial Emperor was born, the Kalki was a race subordinated by the Treka. They led pitiful lives.

They, and the Gaiko, another race that had been subordinated by the Treka revolted and managed to emerge victoriously. During the chaos, one of the Kalki reaped the life of a pinnacle being of the Treka and become a Celestial Emperor.

The Gaiko too reaped the life of another pinnacle being, driving the Treka to the edge. During their height, the Treka had three emperors, a tremendous power that seemed invincible. But now, they only had one emperor while they were losing land to the Kalki slowly but surely with each passing day.

To the south bordered the Treka, the race that always tried to break into the country of Kalki and reclaim the land that was once theirs. To the east was the race of Gaiko, where they had friction constantly as both the races tried to encroach into each other's lands in an effort to expand their power.

To the north was the Bisheen, a massive empire with two emperors. So, the race of Kalki was pretty passive against them in fear they would be annihilated. Finally, to the west lay the Pitruha, the race most detested by the Kalki and waged war constantly.

They had no choice but to do so since they were constantly attacked by the other party. But in this case too, the Kalki had never initiated an attack even once. For, the race of Pitruha was even more powerful, having three emperors.

As they were a massive country, they had more enemies. So, it wasn't as if all their three emperors could just gang up on their Celestial Emperor. In the end, it created an unbalanced harmony that might collapse at any moment when sparked.

That was why Re'Kha was shocked when she heard they had raided the Treka. Even though the Treka were severely weakened now, it was only when compared to their country of the past when they were at their prime.

Their current strength was still enough to overwhelm the army of Kalki. The Bura Fort was one such place where they constantly waged wars with the Treka. And, as Burkurel City was the closest to the Bura Fort, Re'Kha was greatly familiar with the race of Treka.

Her father had always told her stories about the Treka, spurring her curiosity. Though, as she was a woman, Re'Kha had never seen anyone from another race. Their society followed a strict order. The women took care of all internal matters while the men fought against the foreign races.

It was to ensure the foundation of their race—the people—wouldn't be expended. After all, only women were capable of giving birth. With the loss of every woman meant a reduction in their future generation, causing a vicious cycle.

Moreover, it wasn't as if they didn't have any internal problems. Just the Sha alone was a dangerous entity they had to be careful about. There were also the numerous beast groups that threatened to destroy the cities and settlements whenever an opportunity presented itself. 

As they had a lot on their plate, the women weren't allowed to participate in the wars. So, they wouldn't ever see how foreign races looked like, except for paintings that didn't give a realistic portrayal. That was why Re'Kha was interested in the spoils of war from the Treka.

After all, when she transformed into a Bisheen, Re'Kha witnessed the imposing presence and threatening might she oozed wasn't present in the paintings of Bisheen she had seen before. The paintings were without any point of reference, preventing her from understanding just how large or small the physique of a Bisheen was, not to mention the sturdiness of their body, their agility, their endurance, etc.

Only a realistic witness can portray them correctly. Though, she would be lying if she said she had a decisive need to obtain information on the Treka through their items. She was just being spurred on by curiosity.

The two reached the third floor, walking along the open corridor as they browsed through the shops. On their right was a grill; they could see the entirety of the market easily because of this. To their left were the shops, lined next to each other without any gaps.

Each shop was rectangular, occupying a small breadth while their length expanded to at least 10-15 times her height. In contrast, the breadth was only 4-5 times her height. All shops were more or less this size. Some shops sold bigger wares and hence had a larger floor space.

"Let's first choose the bows, shall we?" Re'Kha spoke, watching Ki'Nua nod in excitement. The two of them then entered the first bow shop they came across, noticing hundreds of bows lined across the wall.

Some were just hung in the centre, made to dangle with the wind like decoration. Just their amount made the shop exude a primal feeling.

Re'Kha grabbed hold of a bow, feeling the grip to be lacking for her. She had long hands, so she preferred bows with thicker, and rounded grips. Re'Kha felt around the bows, checking their shape, the rigidity of the arms, the elasticity of the string, its draw length, and the stability of the bow when she drew the string.

"My lady," The shopkeeper made a light bow as he inquired, "Do you want a smaller bow that you can use while riding a horse?"

"You have smaller ones too?" Re'Kha was surprised. The smaller the bow, the weaker it was. Even though everything varied based on the stiffness of the bow, its design, and the string used, it was a general notion that the smaller the bow, the weaker it was. Therefore, they weren't manufactured much.

"Yes, please follow me." The shopkeeper smiled, motioning with a show of his hands, "We recently received this product."