Chapter 27: Jax’ulkan

Rayleigh recognized the Mulkan standing before him. It was the same one who had been pulling on his coat, trying to drag him to safety when the beast first attacked.

"You’re not about to pull on my coat again, are you?" Rayleigh asked, mostly out of boredom, eyeing the man’s hands.

The Mulkan raised both hands defensively. "N-no, I wouldn’t. I had no idea you’d been sent by the gods to help us kill the beast."

Rayleigh scoffed internally. ’Here we go again with the gods.’

"If the gods hadn’t sent you, our entire shelter would have been leveled, and we wouldn’t have anywhere left to live, and the rulers would—" The Mulkan cut himself off, dread flooding his eyes.

Rayleigh could tell he was whatever he was about to say had to be terrific enough to shut him up. Unfortunately, Rayleigh wasn’t here to fight his fears. He was here to fight his current fuel situation.

He snapped his fingers in the air. "Focus." He reminded Mulkan of what he’d said earlier, about knowing where to find fuel.

The Mulkan snapped back to himself. "Yes, yes, I know exactly where you can get fuel." Then he crossed his arms. "But before that, I demand to know who, and what you are. The gods sent you, but you certainly don’t look like a god."

Rayleigh exhaled, weighing whether he should actually reveal where he was from. He decided there wasn’t much harm in it. ’If these people believe in gods, they probably believe in aliens too.’

"I’m not a Mulkan," Rayleigh started. "I’m from a planet called Earth, and—"

"Earth?" The Mulkan cut him off abruptly. "Never heard of it. What star system is your planet from?"

Rayleigh opened his mouth to answer, then realized he actually had no idea what his home star system was officially called.

Somehow, this Mulkan had managed to throw Rayleigh headfirst into deep thought over a question he should have had a ready answer for. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have called it a distraction.

He shook off whatever spell the Mulkan seemed to have cast on him.

"Stop asking so many questions," Rayleigh snapped, his patience thinning. "Where’s the fuel?"

"Before I tell you where to find fuel, why do you need some anyway?" The Mulkan asked, agitating Rayleigh even more.

Rayleigh snapped his eyes shut, letting out a long exhale, releasing whatever negative energy was nagging at him to shoot this guy in the head.

"My flight plan was supposed to take me to another star system, but unfortunately, I discovered I was running low on fuel. The nearest star system was this one, so I jumped into it to refuel my ship," Rayleigh explained.

"Hmm..." the Mulkan hummed thoughtfully, running his fingers through his invisible beard. "I see."

Rayleigh believed this was the moment he would finally learn where to get what he needed; he was disillusioned.

"But how did you run low on fuel?" the Mulkan asked suddenly. "If you were going to a different star system, you should have stored enough in your tank for the journey."

"I’m no scientist, but even if you did ran out, I believe there is something called a reserve tank?" the Mulkan added thoughtfully.

Rayleigh was about to speak when he began thinking about it himself. ’He’s not wrong, ships usually have fuel reserves, just in case the main tank gets burned out. Not only did Elias fail to fuel my ship, he also left the reserve empty. That son of a—*

"Wait a second..."

Rayleigh suddenly realized he was doing it again. The Mulkan had once more caused him to zone off, getting lost in his own thoughts.

"What sort of voodoo crap is this?" Rayleigh asked, glaring at the Mulkan.

The Mulkan arched his green brows at Rayleigh. "Voodoo? Is that a drink?"

"Forget it. Now, the fuel." Rayleigh asked. Actually, his tone didn’t sound like he was asking; he was demanding. The Mulkan did not like that.

"Don’t speak to me in such a tone, Earthling. It is not my fault you are deficient in proper planning skill and decision making."

At this point, Rayleigh had had it with the Mulkan. He clenched his jaw, a vein became visible on his left temple, displaying his frustration.

He stepped forward, once, letting the weight of his presence impose on the annoying Mulkan.

The Mulkan instinctively stepped back, his breath shuddering as his body shook with terror.

"Now, you are going to tell me where to get some fuel for my damn ship or I’ll bury your head next to that carcass!" Rayleigh threatened.

Finally, the Mulkan gave in, revealing where the fuel was.

"It’s in the city!" He bellowed in fear.

"And how do an alien like me get to this city?" Rayleigh inquired, adding a warning before the Mulkan could answer. "And choose your next answer wisely, Mulkan, or you’re going to end up as a product of my deficient decision making."

Staring into Rayleigh’s eyes in fear, the Mulkan answered. "The city is a few miles from the settlement. A transport vessel comes here every two days, hop on it and you’ll find yourself in the city."

Rayleigh nodded, stepping away from the scared alien. "That wasn’t so hard now was it?" He asked with a smile. "Now, I’m certain I wouldn’t just go to your city demanding fuel. There must be a price. What is it? What currency do Mulkans use anyway?"

"We have our own currency, but for something as valuable as fuel, you’ll need an even more valuable currency," the Mulkan revealed.

Rayleigh waited for him to reveal what valuable currency he was referring to, but the Mulkan simply stared at him.

"Well? Are you just going to stare all day? What is the currency?"

"Crystals. You need those glowing crystals to be able to purchase fuel in the city. I believe thirty glowing crystals from a weaker beast can get you a full tank and an extra reserve."

’I guess not absorbing that crystal was truly the right call,’ Rayleigh realized.

He glanced at the Mulkan. "How many weaker beast crystals is worth the same as one Intermediate crystal?" Rayleigh asked. He already figured that "weaker beast" was just the Mulkan’s version of Lesser Beast.

"About ten."

"Meaning I’ll have to kill twenty Weaker Beasts to be able to buy fuel from the city?"

"Exactly."

Rayleigh nodded once and turned around. The path was clear, he knew exactly what to do: kill twenty more Lesser Beasts on this planet, and he could be on his merry way.

"Piece of cake." he murmured to himself, but the Mulkan behind him picked it up.

"Cake?" Enthusiasm filled his voice. "Where is the cake?!"

Rayleigh groaned, ignoring the Mulkan, and started walking off.

"Hey! What is your name?" Rayleigh heard the Mulkan ask. Thinking about it for a while, he decided, why not.

"Rayleigh. Ray if you can’t pronounce the whole thing."

"Okay, Ray! My name is Jax’ulkan. Jax if you cannot pronounce the whole thing!"