“Are you okay?” Re’Kha shouted upon noticing the height from which the boy began to fall. Her right hand shone with a blue radiance as she was about to unleash her Hand Projection, intending to grab hold of him before he fell when Re’Gra stopped her, shaking his head.

“He won’t be injured.”

Her eyes widened as Re’Kha noticed a thin thread that had been coiled around the boy’s hips, propping him up as his fall was broken. The boy then spun the lever that was on his hip, slowly landing on the ground.

The moment he landed, an old man rushed forth and smacked him on the back of his head, “Ner, I had forbidden you from running on my roof. Do you really want to trip to your death?”

“It’s fine, uncle.” The boy named Ner laughed, pointing at the thin thread that had saved his life, “I was testing its strength. And, it’s enough to bear my weight.”

“As for your roof…I had kicked it purposely.” Saying his piece, he ran away, tugging his string as his body was lifted up.

“Dammit, come back here, you rascal!” The old man shouted, grumbling as he was unable to catch Ner. He then muttered some angry gibberish, intending to return to his shop when he noticed Re’Kha and her brothers.

Upon looking at their bright blue gem, he turned respectful, bowing a little while complaining about his back as he spoke, “Welcome to Metal Spring Village.”

Just when Re’Gra was about to greet the old man and inquire him about the details of the beats troubling their village, he noticed his sister gazing at the top with a frown. He followed her gaze, noticing a clump of scarp metal placed in a net. Currently, they seemed to have been taken out from some of the houses located at the top of the cave and were being lowered by a mechanical crane.

“What…are those?” Re’Gra asked the old man, “Why is there so much metal in them?”

“My Lord, we have recently created better parts. And, since it has more durability than the older roofing, we have been swapping them out.” The old man said.

“But, why are you throwing out glass?” Re’Gra frowned. For, glass was expensive and was only produced by the Ka (Fire) Clan. So, even if the village was able to afford them, they were expensive enough for the household to treat them with care and not throw them off as scrap material.

“Glass? Our village has never bought any glass…” The old man looked in the direction Re’Gra had been facing, gazing at the net filled with scrap materials that were being lowered with a crane. He then noticed two shiny spherical-lookalikes among the pile that reflected the sunlight.

Upon seeing it, the old man shouted at the top of his lungs, “There are here!”

Re’Gra was startled at the sheer sound of his voice, wondering just how an old man was able to have such a powerful voice like a general. All the three Harmonisers flinched at his shout when the villagers were startled before they grabbed anything near them that could be used as a weapon.

Since their village was littered with metal items, it wasn’t hard to find strong enough items to wield as weapons. As the villagers picked up weapons one after another, numerous creatures sprang out of the numerous heaps of metal scattered across the village.

They quickly began to run over the wires, holding metal pieces in their mouths that they chewed up a bit before spitting out. They were incredibly agile and also seemed to be able to balance their bodies perfectly while sprinting on ropes like it was flat terrain.

Upon seeing them, Re’Kha shouted at her brothers, “Those are the Naipa. We have to hurry or they’ll kill the people.”

The Naipa was a type of beast that loved items with Metal Qi in them. And usually, they dug through the ground to munch up on rocks with a good concentration of Metal Qi. But, that was only in the case they were deep in the wilds.

But in the presence of people, they always targeted them. After all, any Kalki had an affinity to all the elements. It was evident in the gem of their Tikka jewellery, their eye colour, and their hair colour. The colour that was the most on their hair, eyes, and the gem of their Tikka jewellery signified the element they had the highest affinity towards.

No matter who, they had an affinity to all four elements. And, if a material had an affinity to an element, it would possess some of the respective Elemental Qi. So, in the hair and eyes of the Kalki, all four Elements existed.

As for the Naipa, they were lured by the Metal Qi in them. And since it was clearly defined, the hair of everyone was cleanly divided into four segments of blue, red, black, and violet. So, it was easy to aim for the black hair.

And, the greater a person’s affinity to Metal Qi, the more black hair they had. It was the same for their eyes. And, they were the targets of the Naipa. And usually, it was hard for them to eat the hair of a Kalki, since their opponent would retaliate in the meantime.

So, they always killed their foes first before eating up their black hair and parts of their eyes that were black. Moreover, the Pranic Heart of a Kalki was like a tonic to them that faintly increased their strength.

So, the Naipa always targeted the people. Moreover, they were patient hunters, able to remain in wait for even days before they jumped out to hunt. And, since their bodies were covered by a layer of metal, they were able to easily blend in such an environment with parts of metal strewn around everywhere.

Standing at a height equal to a Kalki’s hand and possessing a body length equal to their height, the Naipa was a hunting breed that moved in packs and was hard to target. Among them, a Naipa sprinted over the numerous strings in the place, leaping once as it latched onto a woman, coiling around her as it bit into her neck.

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Author Note: There are 50 chapters for you to read in advance in Privilege. Higher Tier Privilege has greater discounts. Tier 5 Privilege has a 99% discount. Grab them at the start of the month for the greatest benefits. 

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