Shattered super-soldier

Having removed the source of his current distraction, Matthew focused on the new sense that had suddenly appeared in his body, having lived a very, very long life already where he had been accustomed that one misread of his senses or generally not noticing something being out of place would lead to a shift brutal end, all in all Matthew was very in tune with his senses already

Which was exactly why he was thrown for such a loop

‘Where was… How is…’

Matthew’s pupils rapidly contracted and expanded as he felt the world spin around him, now that he had a chance to focus the full force of his new reality hit him all at once.

[Loss of consciousness confirmed, due to hostile actors in the surrounds automated self-preservation have been approved]

-

“OUTRAGEOUS!”

The roar of Matriarch Beste echoed out over the gathering, it was natural for her to be outraged as she had in one fumbled move proved herself a deceiver, killed off her eldest grandson and validated his killer as the true prophet of the sand, however she did no more than shout as in the next moment she stood and turned around before leaving immediately, the rest of her clan followed her in silence as they all quickly left without retrieving the corpse of their fallen

“There they go…”

The old man who had observed Matthew closely muttered when the Baste clan left, it sounded like an afterthought, and that was what it was, the old man didn’t really care either way, now that they had left it was already settled

“...Is it alright to let Matriarch Beste go along with her clan, patriarch?”

The old patriarch stroked his graying beard for a few moments without responding to his oldest son, Demir which quickly took the hint and spoke again

“...I apologize patriarch, it seems I still have a lot to learn”

“It is fine Demir, you don’t have any experience in any situation like this… Think it over slowly, son”

Demir lowered his head in a quiet bow as he began to contemplate his latest lesson, the patriarch addressed the remaining 5 clans which of course included own clan

“It appears we have settled the issue of legitimacy for now”

The patriarch keep a close eye of the face of every elder present along with most of their heirs, so he was the first to notice Matriarch Seyyal’s look of disbelief, he didn’t need to trace her line of sight to know what she was gazing at and spared a glance at the young prophet of the sands

‘…He’s in a trance’

The patriarch didn’t hide his smile, he hadn’t believed the legends when he was young, but with age came wisdom and with his wisdom he found truth in the old tales that shook him to his core, from there he had slowly turned from a skeptic to a staunch believer

And what he saw now validated his beliefs

“Patriarch, the prophet is injured quite badly”

Matriarch Esen’s voice echoed out, she was the youngest elder of the 7 clans due to her inheriting the position at age 12, she had matured much over the 8 years she had held the position, but she was still green in the eyes of the other elders

“It’s fine… His bleeding has already stopped”

Matriarch Seyyal’s voice quickly dispelled Matriarch Esen’s worries, she was the eldest matriarch present and had devoted most of her life to the study of medicine and healing both physical and mental trauma

‘That old crow's voice is shaking slightly, she must be quite shocked’

The patriarch hid his emotions once again and moved the meeting forwards once more

“Well then, shall we move on to the issue of the first host?”

-

Matthew slowly came to, this wasn’t the first time he had passed out standing, so he was able to somewhat estimate the time he had been unconscious by the feeling of strain in his knees

[Loss of consciousness logged to be 11 hours, good morning master]

“Hmm…”

Having just woken up from his daze, Matthew was understandably more than a little dazed still, however that instantly went away when he noticed some approaching him, when he looked at the young man that had approached him, he kneeled down and offered a set of similar white robes to Matthew

“**** **** *** ****”

“Hmm…”

Not being such a big fan of the desert night wind on his taint, Matthew quickly decided to accept the clothes and got dressed, the pants were long but loose around his legs the shirt also felt a little loose on his body, but that felt like it was per design, the large hooded robe was similarly loose fitting but also far lighter than he expected, tying a cloth strip on his waist made it feel a little like a bathing robe not that he had anything against that

[It seems to be designed to help regulate body temperature and avoid sunburn]

Once he got dressed, the young man gestured for Matthew to follow after him, Matthew followed along noting that most of the people that had been present for his duel had disappeared, the corpse of the young warrior he had slain also still laid in the same spot, still very much parted in three

“*** ***** **** ****”

The young man led Matthew to a cloth tent where he called out to the people inside, after a few moments a woman in her early 30’s brushed open the tent entrance and watched the young man bow before he quickly left, then she looked at Matthew and gestured for him to enter the tent

‘How’s the passive scan coming along?’

[Sensors indicate 58 people in the surrounding campsite, 4 inside this tent]

Matthew noted this, if this was when he had first woken in the ruined trading city of Babai he would have been confident in being able to rip all 58 people apart with his bare hands if things went south, but ever since his encounter with the mountain savages and more recent introduction to Wicka had reigned in his confidence

‘... Not to mention, there’s someone in here that reeks of power’

Matthew stepped into the tent, rugs covered the sand and the inside of the tent was covered in elaborate colorful embroidered designs, it was like an entire saga covered the cloth walls of the tent

“*** ***** **** ***”

Matthew stopped gawking at the tent and looked at the person speaking to him, she was sat on the edge of a travel bed dressed in elegant sleepwear, from her position in the center she of the tent and the 3 servant ladies around her, she was the highest ranking person despite her youthful appearance

‘She was present doing the duel too… It looks like she leads her clan despite her age’

“I am afraid I don’t speak your language”

The young Matriarch showed a smile at Matthew’s words she clapped her hands in front of her chest and spoke again

“**** ****** ******* **** ****?”

“...I don’t speak those either”

Matthew could somewhat tell she had switched language or dialect mid-sentence

“*** **** ******* ***** ***** ****?”

“Not any of those either, sorry”

This time it was 3 or more languages, the young Matriarch showed a slight frown as she thought for a few moments, then she spoke again

“****** **** **** ****** *** ****** ****?”

Matthew shook his head as he lowered his center of gravity slightly, the 3 handmaidens had taken position around him seemingly ready to strike, it appeared like he was being tested

‘There’s something strange going on here…’

“**** ***** ****** *** ***** ***** ***** ***** ********* ****** **** ***”

It was clear to hear now, every single word the young Matriarch spoke was different from each other, they were all separate languages and from the look on her face she expected Matthew to understand at least one of them

‘...No that’s wrong… She nearly tricked me’

The young Matriarch’s frown grew deeper, her smile had long disappeared as her eyes had gone cold as she clutched the hilt of a dagger on her lap

“**** ****** ***** *** *** ****?”

Matthew showed an unconcerned smile and asked

“Have I passed the test yet?”

The young Matriarch’s frown broke into a blooming smile as she let go of the dagger hilt and the handmaiden’s took a step back from Matthew, then suddenly a formless wave of pressure erupted from the young Matriarch as the space above her hand violently broke apart, then a moment later the tear in reality disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared leaving behind a metal cube that was covered in an elaborate pattern of clear crystal lines, Matthew’s eyes betrayed his shock for a moment as he laid eyes on the cube, the young Matriarch didn’t miss this and her smile widened before she nonchalantly tossed the cube to him, Matthew caught it and at once Aea confirmed Matthew’s suspicions

[Standard issue BlueArrow Data cube detected, scans reveal a total of 248 complete languages stored in memory, read and imprint data now?]

‘...Sure, start with the language that matches the words of the young man that handed me these clothes’

Matthew closed his eyes for a moment as the clear crystal parts of the Data cube lit up with a soft glow, a few moments later he opened his eyes and spoke

“My name is Matthew Rockwell”

The young Matriarch showed a smile as introduced herself

“My name is Esen, I am the Matriarch of the Burning Embers merchant clan, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Matthew Rockwell, Prophet of the sands”

Behind Esen’s smile, she felt a brief disappointment from not being recognized by her long time acquaintance

‘Looks like the Major’s neural degeneration is worse than I had predicted, Aea’

[Indeed mistress, his Code Arrow 09 also appears quite battered and has yet to identify any of your implants, his body has also only just adjusted to wield Mystic power, I have adjusted the current plans of operation to reflect this]

‘Thanks, you are such a doll, Aea… Maybe I should give him a poke or two to notch him in the right direction…’