Nouma has defeated the Chungus. He meets another Numan there named Rita Freins. He is joined by Rita, who is an aspiring navigator in his journey.

He asks Rita out of curiosity, "Where do you live? I live in the southern region of group 14."

"I live near the border of group 12. Why do you plan to become an explorer?"

An awkward conversation follows.

Nouma excitingly replies, "Is there any reason why I should not become one? We don't know much about the world outside the Groups. We don't even know how we came into existence. There are countless things that are uncovered! Don't you feel that all these questions need to be answered? I want to reveal the answers to as many questions as possible. This question is just like asking me why I eat food!"

So he compares exploration to hunger, that's how important it is!

"What rank are you aiming for?" questions Rita.

"Rank?"

"Wait, don't you know about the Explorer Rank system?"

"Nope. What's that about? Sounds really cool."

My deduction that he is dumb was correct.

"Once you become an explorer, you are given different tasks. Those who finish a certain number of tasks are titled Pro Explorers."

Nouma interrupts, "P-P-Prooooooo? Such a cool title! I want it!"

"The Pro explorers have different ranks. The ranks are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Norcium, Top 5 and Rank 1 in increasing order."

"Why has this suddenly turned into a RPG? Anyways, they are just for popularity right?"

How does he not know about this? Is he just playing around?

Rita continues as Nouma listens attentively, "No. Once you are Platinum rank or above, general services are free of cost. You don't have to pay for food, water, transport etc. Moreover, you can live in any group you desire and no one will interfere with you."

Nouma thinks to himself, "Sounds too convenient to me."

"Wouldn't that cost a lot of money? How are the expenses covered?" asks Nouma.

"The Exploration Federation takes care of all expenses. Those who live in Groups 1-11 have to pay 5% of their earnings as tax. Out of the total amount accumulated through tax, 40% goes to the Explorer Federation."

Who the fuck told her all of this? That's too many numbers to handle at once. My brain's about to explode.

"Woops, I have deviated too far away from the topic yet again!" realizes Rita.

She continues, "Do you atleast know who the current Rank 1 Explorer is?"

I feel like a dumb kid now! That old man did not tell me anything about all of this. He just gave me a history lesson and everything he told me was so irrelevant. All of that lecturing for nothing! This is embarrassing now.

"I don't, Rita."

"The current Rank 1 explorer is Basten. He has been number 1 for 8 years now. He has majorly contributed in pinpointing the location of several groups. He left NorkYew 3 years ago with his team to explore the outside world. He has not returned yet."

"With his team? 3 years ago?"

"Every Pro explorer has a team, if that wasn't obvious to you already! They mainly include an assistant, a navigator, a cartographer and a cook. Besides exploring, the explorer actually needs to survive after all. The explorer decides the set of individuals that he/she wants to accompany him/her."

"I see. I'm starting to understand things now."

"My father Dolt Freins is the navigator of the team. Basten and Dolt together are known as the 'Dynamic Duo'."

"That is wonderful. Your father navigates the world's best Explorer! Your goal makes much more sense now!"

Now that I think about it, it doesn't really make sense.

"That's where I received my motivation to become a navigator. My father left our home town 17 years ago. I was only 2 years old and had just learned to talk. He told me to do whatever my heart wishes. After that day, I did what my heart wished - To find my father."

Is this supposed to be a sad backstory or something? Am I supposed to go comfort her right now? I'll let her finish first I guess.

"I don't have the strength to do it all by myself. But one day, I'll find someone who will trust me and help me."

I am standing right here. Look at me and have your 'Eureka!' moment.

"You surely find the right person if you wholeheartedly want to find that person. That is what I believe." replies Nouma.

"You are dumb most of the times."

"What does she mean? Aren't I one of the smartest? I've trained my brain like no one else. She must be joking. Oh! I get it now, she's jealous by how smart I am!"

"But you do say some encouraging words every now and then."

Nouma doesn't seem to pay attention to her last few words as he is preoccupied by his surroundings, "Oh, it is dark already. We should sleep."

"Did he not listen to a single world I said?"

"It is very beneficial to be accompanied by someone. You don't really get bored."

"I agree. I had fear lurking in my mind before meeting you. It is all gone now. I somehow feel more secure now."

I get it. You don't have to lie so much to convince me!

Both climb adjacent trees to sleep. Just when Nouma is about to close his eyes, he hears a loud blast and an Obunga comes into sight. It appears as if someone has punched the Obunga.

Nouma immediately jumps onto the tree Rita is sleeping on.

This startles Rita, "AAAAAAH! Bastard! Why did you come here all of a sudden?"

"Stay quiet. There is probably another creature around. I am so excited! I think I'll get to watch a duel."

What was that explosion by the way? And what is this crazy man talking about? What if one of them attacks us? Doesn't he feel fear?

"Judging by the smell, the second one is probably the creature I fought yesterday. What was its name again? Chumbus?"

"It was Chungus you idiot!"

The Chungus comes into sight. Obunga takes its fighting stance, readying it's electrifying hands.

Nouma watches their movements closely, "The Chungus will probably charge first."

The Chungus charges towards the Obunga at its maximum speed. Obunga tries to punch the Chungus with it's electrifying fist but the Chungus dodges it.

"Obunga will use an electric shock at any moment now."

Obunga follows up the punch with another punch and strikes Chungus with a shock.

"Oh nice! But the Chungus isn't affected by it at all. It is probably charging up a powerful blow. A full power punch is incoming!"

The Chungus punches Obunga's face, it's fist going right through Obunga's head leaving a hole in it!

"It is a victory for the Chungus. You have earned your meal. Eat well!"

What was this non-energetic commentary? Just how lame can he be? Just when I think it can't get any wierder, he comes up with something even more stupid. But he did predict every move of the fight.

Rita questions, "How did you know what was going to happen? And how did you judge that Chungus would not be affected by the shock?"

"Unlike numans, creatures cannot hide their feelings. Their attacks are reflected in their eyes. Their body language gives it away. Regarding that shock, when Chungus was hit, its eyes were open. If it was feeling pain, it probably would have closed its eyes and that would have given Obunga an opening."

He was able to see all of that from here? Does he have eagle eyes? Or maybe he has implanted binoculars in his eyes? Guess I should not be surprised at this point.

"My Obunga always used the same technique to hunt."

"What do you mean by 'My Obunga'? How can you say it so casually?"

"I had a tamed Obunga in my home town. It took me 4 years to get friendly with it. It took me less time because it was only 2 years old when I started taming it."

"Stop flexing! Where is it now? Obunga has an average lifespan of around 35 years right?"

"I'm impressed you know about that! It was hunted before it could reach its peak. It died 5 months after we started getting along. That incident taught me something I already knew but I had never witnessed - Only the strong survive."

Something brutal must have happened in his childhood for him to know all of this at such a young age.

Nouma continues, "Enough talk. I'm tired. I need to rest to be at my best tomorrow."

It has been 3 days since Nouma has set out to travel. Nouma and Rita will continue their journey the next day. They are expected to reach Eclipso within 2 more days.

TO BE CONTINUED

NOTEARTH GALLERY #2

Nouma Ginoum

NOTEARTH VOCABULARY #4

NORCIUM: A metal on NotEarth that has a diamond-like shine. It exhibits different colours at different times. It exhibits all the colours of a rainbow during sunset.

EXPLORER FEDERATION: A body that consists of all the explorers. They cover most expenses of Explorers above the Platinum level. Only 11 explorers are ranked Platinum and above. The expenses are covered by taxes collected from Groups 1 - 11.

FUN FACTS #3

Pro explorers are categorized as Alive, Missing or Dead. There are only 74 Alive Pro explorers, while 7 are Missing. Basten falls under the Missing category.