The Musafir
Science Connects Space
[UNEDITED]
WHEN Mantingan met Munding Caraka outside the cave, he immediately hugged her tightly. The buffalo who was casually crumbling in the waterhole could not help his surprise.
“Ongng?”
“Nothing.” Laughing mantles. “Night we will return to Kotaraja, but before that I have to do something.” Mantingan stared straight at the very lush trees, then again said, “Sang Demon must I conquer.”
“Ongng?” Munding Caraka seemed quite surprised by the statement, perhaps thinking that Mantingan would not seek unnecessary trouble with the terrifying demon.
However, unbeknownst to him, Mantingan had a strong enough reason to start trying to conquer the Demon.
After undergoing deep thought, Mantingan began to realize the cause why the Demon killed the warriors who came to Mount Rabbit. The demon wants a killer!
Killing a swordsman will have far more impact on increasing killer appetite than just killing ordinary humans, let alone animals. Therefore, the Demon who may actually be a plant-eater does not eat the bodies of the warriors he has killed.
It was strengthened after it was discovered that the Demon's main weapon was his great killer air, which could even render an expert-level swordsman completely devoid of twitching before him.
The Mantingan was wary of at this moment was the Demon's purpose of his actions. He was worried that one day the demon would attack human settlements, and that nothing could stop it because the killer had been too much to bear.
The mantan felt obliged to stop the savage demon before it could not be resisted again.
The mantle took off the cloth wrapped around the blade of the Savrinadeya Sword and pulled the Kiai Kedai Sword that was sheathed at his waist, before finally darting towards the large rocks scattered around the cave.
In a blink of an eye later, the boulders broke into thousands of pieces after Mantingan snatched his two swords. Fragments of stone flying in the air then a chiseled mantle very quickly, also with both swords!
When the fragments of the stone fell back to the ground, they had changed shape into simple throwing knives. A dozen thousand. Anyone who saw it in person would definitely be stunned!
Manten put both swords just like that on the grass before flashing to collect thousands of flying knives from the stone to be stored in the cave. In order to complete the job, at least the Mantingan needed ten blinks of an eye. It was really a very short time for an ordinary human, but not too fast for the warriors who had gotten used to doing things as quickly as possible.
After all the flying knives of the stone were collected in the cave, Mantingan took the stick of the stripper out of the bag of his coffers. First he took a deep breath, before beginning to carve the characters in the empty air.
The movements made by Mantingan were extremely steady. It was like he was carving a script on a ejection sheet, not empty air. Even something as simple as that looks very beautiful when played by an expert person.
After about as much as a drink of tea passed, the Mantingan stopped carving characters in the empty air. The sweat on his face was quite noticeable. Meanwhile, Munding Caraka looked at him curiously.
“You want to see something pretty great, Munding?” The mantel raised his eyebrows.
Mantingan only need to lift his left arm, then flick it slowly, then dart dozens of flying knives at once from his palm! All of them stuck perfectly on a tree trunk that was too far apart by three spears!
Mantingan pointed to the cave passage right next to him as he said, “I still have plenty there, but that I will use for the Demon.”
“Ongng?”
“Yes. We're going to hunt that demon.” The mantel smiled with determination. Before the demon hunts itself, the Mantang will hunt it first!
***
WANDERING in the wilderness makes Mantingan feel pulled back to the times before he decided to tread the path of salvation.
In the past, crossing the wilderness to cut the path was something that was quite annoying for Mantingan. It must pass through deep mud, thorny shrubs, until the threat of wild animals that really must be watched out if they do not want lives lost.
But this time, after he had become a warrior, with supplies that were always sufficient so that there was no need to cut off the path to cut time, Mantingan really enjoyed his current journey.
The wilderness was completely different from the frenzied and tense kotaraja. Kenara. Here, at least he can relax a bit of vigilance and tension. The possibility that he would be suddenly attacked in this place was very small.
The sun has gone a little west. In a few more rice pens, twilight is coming. Mantingan felt he had to find the Demon as quickly as possible, because however much he had promised Chitra Anggini to return today as well.
“Munding, we must hurry. You look for the demon from above, while I will look for it from below here,” Mantingan said before flashing away; Munding Caraka did not want to waste, immediately soared to fly into the sky.
So that's how the two then sought out the Demon using two different ways. Isn't that so, the chances of them finding the Demon before sunset will be even greater?
But the truth is not that. After more than two penanakan rice time passed, Mantingan has not managed to find the demon. Tired of himself, because all this time he never stopped flashing.
Mantingan bounces to the top of the tree and then gives a sign to Munding to go down. So not long after, the buffalo moved down slowly, scattering the leaves and stalks of dense trees, before finally landing perfectly on the ground. The mantle easily flashed nearby.
“We rest here until tonight,” says Mantingan later. “Let the demon who is looking for us.”
As if he really understood what Mantingan said at once meant, Munding Caraka immediately rushed to graze. Meanwhile, Mantingan built a campfire to cook food. He brought some slices of beef jerky that were smoked to dry, which however did not come from beef or buffalo but fish. Still Mantingan did not want to make Mundingan disappointed in him by eating beef or buffalo.
The pieces of jerky were soaked in water until softened, before finally being pierced with pieces of flat wood to burn. Although the inner energy can be a meal replacement for a swordsman, Mantingan does not want to eat it if it is not really forced. The sense of inner energy is very unpleasant for warriors who are not used to it!
