Chapter 168: Chapter 151 – The Dead Sea

"To swim or just float around in the Dead Sea of the Navata was an activity enjoyed not only by tourists and sightseers, but also by the desert nomads themselves. Amongst tourists, it was an especially popular activity amongst those that cannot swim, as the dense, saline water allowed them to simply float atop of it without any effort." - Alexyev Hassan, desert guide from the Elmaiya Empire

 

When morning comes, after they had a simple breakfast of breads with cold cuts of meats and cheeses, and having ensured that there were no dangerous wildlife both in the vicinity, nor in the dead sea, the party collectively shed their clothes and happily took a plunge into the waters.

 

Unlike the crystal clear oasis from before, the waters of the dead sea were darker , with a bluish-green shade, and somewhat murky, preventing one from seeing too deep into the waters itself. When some of the water accidentally got into their mouths, they instantly spat it out, so salty and brackish it was.

 

As advertised, all of them floated effortlessly on the salty waters, which impressed Cal somewhat. Her slender figure was dense and trained, heavy with muscles, and while she is a good swimmer, she usually had to keep on the move to stay afloat.

 

On the dead sea however, she just laid flat on her back on the waters, as it bobbed and weaved around her, her body floating on it with ease, even if she sank rather deeper into the waters than her nieces did. Their bodies had only sunk halfway into the waters or so, while she was close to fully immersed, yet still floated.

 

To the side she saw Kino, the half therian bard, floating around on her back, with her fluffy tail swishing around in the water and keeping her moving slowly. Her left hand was supporting her head from behind, while her right hand held a book in the air, her fingers deftly turning pages without letting the book go.

 

Leila and Elaina were playing around in the waters a bit further away, not wanting to disturb the ones relaxing. On the other hand, Sidonie and Ying Xiao were swimming around further into the waters. At times they tried to dive deeper, but just ended up shaking their heads as the too buoyant waters repelled them back out.

 

Their guide, Dan, was similarly sprawled out over the water surface, enjoying the cool waters combined with the kaleidoscope of colors in the air that the morning sun caused to form when it struck the mineral outgrowths around.

 

When noon comes it would become too bright - and too hot - to enjoy the sights. It was said that the Navatas were best in the dawn and the dusk hours, and Cal saw the truth to that. This place was one of her late father's favorite places to tell stories of, which was why she remembered it well.

 

It was a peaceful morning, that Cal just spent floating on the waters, relaxing her muscles and seeing if the rumors that bathing in the dead sea had benefits were true or not. It was also a time of contemplation, for her to think of the road ahead.

 

As it was, her little trip to see the world would conclude within another three years, maybe four at most. She had not yet thought about what she would do with her life afterward. Would she settle down? Find other promising youths to teach? The thought honestly appealed to her these days.

 

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If she were to settle down, where also becomes a question. Returning home to Al-Shan was naturally always an option open to her, at least in Xain's lifetime. The many memories there however, the good memories overlapped with the bad ones from the war and the purge that followed made her hesitate to do so.

 

Paradise? That was an option as well. She was fond of the city, and if she were to take the offer to be champion to the deities, it was probably the only place where she could openly live her later years in. Unliving were such a common sight in Paradise that nobody even asked questions if new ones came along, and it was clear to her how many of the current champions simply passed off their longevity as being one.

 

The offer itself nagged at the back of her mind, but Aideen's advice to just take her time seems solid, and Kino also mentioned that she'd tag along and introduce Cal to others when their trip happens to come close to where some of the others lived.

 

It was a reassuring gesture that they took the trouble to introduce her, and so far, the champions she had run across were all pleasant people to be around. Even so, the idea of immortality both appealed, and frightened her. She already had little idea on what to do with her life when it was finite. Whatever would she do if it were infinite?

 

Those thoughts were fortunately one she had time to think about, as she was in no rush at the moment.

 

When the sun had risen some, and the temperature started becoming uncomfortable, the party left the waters, then perused Cal's portable bath to cleanse themselves properly - Dan had mentioned that while the waters supposedly has benefits, leaving it to dry on one's body for too long a time usually resulted in itches and irritation - and before noon they were sequestered inside their tents, taking naps after their lunch while waiting for the brunt of the midday heat to pass by.

 

At dusk they made their dinner by the shores of the lake while appreciating the beauty of nature sprawled before them. The way her nieces and Ying Xiao were in awe of the sight before them amused Cal somewhat. Dan was more nonchalant since he had been to the Navata several times before, while Kino was utterly nonchalant while being appreciative.

 

It makes sense, since Cal figured she had seen far more things in her centuries of unlife.

 

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