I Was Suddenly Transferred To Another Universe But I Will Live My Own Way.

Chapter 32

The Khunaro desert.

A place ravaged by constant sandstorms and dark foggy nights. Entirely devoid of water, the desert was known as one of the harshest environments in the whole continent. Even then, some creatures perfectly adapted to such an atmosphere. Monsters like the sandworms, sand beetles and sand wyverns easily made it their home. They came to dominate the desert and create a hierarchy ruled entirely by strength. These were large creatures and were instantly classified as calamities if they were seen together in a group. There were smaller monsters as well like the sand ants and sand rabbits but, these were the prey, and got viciously hunted down for food. As the years slowly trickled by, the desert perfectly sustained itself and the desert area kept on expanding.

Its name grew from the very first expeditions that mapped the desert. The harsh environment and the fear of the creatures, created alliances between nations that bordered the desert and many safety measures were put in place. The first expeditions also encountered mysterious things that gave rise to stories whispered in the homes of the people living in the continent. The floating lights that you can only see at night and the whispers of a gigantic feral dragon making it their home. But people hardly ever saw them.

The only visible mysterious thing was the famous Atricia tree. It's a shriveled lifeless tree that grew in the Khunaro desert. Its infamy grew after it was discovered that it contained a strong concentration of dark energy. No one knew how they thrived in that environment, but due to it's predominant use in many magical formulas, the demand for it grew quite high. Many researchers theorized about its origin but eventually they attributed it to the ground beneath the desert. If you ask the tribes that had made the edge of desert their home, you could hear the story of a necromancer that was defeated by a hero. And later his miasma creating the trees, that now spread all over the desert. But researchers dismissed those stories as there was no known records of such an encounter in their history books.

The demand for the trees kept on growing  and now, on any given day, you could see many adventurers venturing into the desert to search for these trees.

No nearby countries tried to lay claim to the desert due to its harsh environment, but in spite of being discarded by them, a city still cropped up, at the edge of the desert. Since it created a sort of barrier to the nearby countries, they left it alone, even though there were stories of many atrocities happening in that city.

The City of Krufu was a city of lawlessness, where you could get stabbed for even looking at someone unnaturally. But adventurers and mercenaries alike, flocked to the city to share the bounties of the desert. The lure of easy money from selling the Atricia trees made them journey from all over the continent. Even though the monsters of the desert were tough, adventurers still ventured into the desert to look for the Atricia trees.

Strong adventurers and mercenaries came, and easily defeated those monsters that blocked their way, and their materials began to flood the market. But, these were few and far between. The difficulty of subjugation of those monsters for normal adventurers were quite high so the price of their materials shot up. Strong adventurers grew rich and money began to flow in the city. And naturally, the city of Krufu thrived. A government set up by mercenaries and adventurers eventually took root and now it was ruled by the Reinder clan.

It was a clan of seasoned mercenaries and adventurers who had seen many battles. Once they set their sights on the throne in Krufu, a great war broke out, that almost ripped the city apart. Known for being merciless to their enemies, they killed and massacred the members of the previous clan who ruled the city. After they got a foothold in the city, a complete purge began of the previous clan's families. They didn't differentiate between children, women or elderly and massacred everyone indiscriminately. Even those who were even remotely associated with the previous clan were dragged out of their homes and hanged for everyone to see. Whispers of a vendetta began to circulate in the streets as they established themselves as the iron clad rulers of Krufu.