Green leaks loomed, hidden behind surrounding clouds, dense tall trees covered the ground beneath. Making the damp atmosphere somehow tranquil this dawn.
The group of three was still asleep inside their tents. But a lean figure of a man was lying languidly in one of the trees as if the tent wasn't comfortable enough.
He woke up under the chirping of the birds flitting between the trees. He stirred slightly as if waking up and stretching his back fully in an elegant arc, giving out a huge yawn. But that stretch ended with him losing his balance and falling from the tree.
"Arggh! Bam!
He screamed and fell with a loud bang.
"That is an interesting scene I have had the privilege of witnessing early in the morning," Serena commented with a happy glint in her eyes.
He stood up and rubbed his hips. "That hurt like hell. Luckily for me, everything is intact. He grumbled, his voice still groggy from sleep. Seems like the fall didn't do much in waking him up.
"I saw them from a distance away and said, "Come over for breakfast, and let's continue our journey when the sun rises. ".
We set off after packing our stuff when the sun was just rising.
As we went deeper into the inner reaches, we started seeing different kinds of magical herbs. Jafet was the one to recognize them and know their uses.
"Those are magical herbs that are fused with spirit energy and can help detoxify poisons." He said, pointing at a cluster of purple and yellow herbs.
He shoved a herb he carefully uprooted to get all the roots unharmed into my hand. "This is Regal Purple Clover, hold onto it and keep it safe. It is an herb deemed common but hard to come by when you are really in need of it. "
"Should you not keep it to yourself then? I asked him.
" I told you I owe you for saving my life, and I hate being indebted to someone. So consider it a part of me repaying you. " He replied
"If you say it that way then," I paced it in my sack securely.
We encountered a team of twenty people near the last river we will cross into the city of Lumeris.
The leader was a middle-aged woman. Beside him was a group of both young men and women who looked trained as if they came from the same clan. All were dressed in black robes.
They paused and stared at us, and we also did the same, no one making a move toward the other.
The stalemate continued until a woman dressed in the same black robes as the others, but hers had golden edges, and a staff emblem carved in gold was stuck on her breast pocket.
"Hand over the Regal Purple Clover you just picked. " Her gaze is fierce not like someone who is begging for something from someone, as if she knows she will get it at all costs even if we refuse to hand it over. Her arrogance stemmed from pure insanity if you asked for my opinion.
I stepped out from behind Kevin, who had developed the instinct to stand before me at the slightest hint of danger or disrespect from someone.
I did not hide the contempt in my gaze as I raked my eyes from her head to her toes up and down.
"If you need the herb to detoxify your leader's ailment, won't you have gotten it faster had you asked politely?"I asked her with a casual smirk hanging on my lips.
Their expression hardened upon hearing my words. And their murderous gazes threw endless daggers at me. Only their leader remained calm.
It knew their agenda the very moment. I was staring at them. Their getup literally screamed money, so there was no way they would pause to extort money from us. So it definitely was something else, and I found it. The labored breath of their leader. Although it was faint but my sharp hearing does not spare anything.
The tone of this girl and their judging gaze because we weren't dressed as luxurious as they were. Was what cleared any chance of helping them from my thoughts. I'm not a saint to be providing charity services to those who bow down to money and power.
"Seems like they didn't see that coming." Jafet and Serena said in unison and burst out laughing after a pause, realizing that they said the same thing simultaneously
"You two can be the best of friends with your attitude in sync like that," Kevin commented.
"You are asking for death!" The woman charged forward to attack and was stunned at the next moment when she found her dagger now in my hand pressed firmly against his throat.
Seeing the swift way, I executed the move. The leader's deep voice filled with inspiring awe sounded "Please I implore you to forgive her impudence, she has gotten used to her willful ways of doing things."
"So when used to being willful mean you can indiscriminately judge others and attack them mindlessly without facing the consequences of your actions?" I asked and shot an icy glare at the man.
" To let her go scot-free without properly teaching her a lesson will put your whole group in danger. Because she will offend anyone she meets on your way. And that can cost her, her own life and even yours in addition. I smiled gleefully at him, letting my words hang in the air annoyingly.
The leader's amicable expression quickly faded. He asked in a deep voice, " What do you really want?"
Hearing just the words I wanted to hear, I smiled. "I'm not that demanding, but my friend here would like to have that glittering sword on your waist. I pointed to the sword I have been eyeing from the moment I set my eyes on it. Kevin's sword was unable to fight off the creatures of this forest, and it had been bothering me. But a magical artifact with such strong soul energy delivered itself to my doorstep. Why won't I grab it?
The man's face stiffened, obviously not wanting to part with his treasure. But despite the bleeding of his heart, his face betrayed nothing as he took the sword from his waist belt and handed it to me, albeit reluctantly.
I received it and removed the dagger from the woman's neck.
We turned to go our way when I saw that our business with them was done.
I sensed an arrow filled with a mythical aura heading straight for my heart to strike and take my life in one go, chillingly merciless.
My gaze instantly matched the iciness of the arrow. I somersaulted just in time to avoid the speeding arrow with an agility that amazed the bystanders. Kevin caught the arrow after I dodged it and threw it back into the group, who had failed to stop the girl from shooting earlier.
"Damn it," the girl stamped her feet in frustration, not caring about her companion, who was wounded and bleeding from the arrow she shot. Instead, she proceeded to retrieve another arrow to string into her bow for another shot. I did not give her that chance before raising my hand towards her abdomen and crushing her core swiftly and neatly without dripping any blood.
She fell limp on the ground from the loss of her spirit energy. It all happened fast, not giving the group any chance to intervene. They were stunned into silence and were just looking speechless at the girl who now lay pathetically on the ground whimpering like a wounded animal, nothing like that haughty being from before.
Even their ever composed leader could not hide his shock. According to them, the girl was the strongest in the group second only to their leader.
I glared at their leader and said, "Next time, educate your disciples into having brains to judge a situation and not just dive in relying only on their strength. "
I fluffed my sleeves and left after putting my words across.
Watching the four people leave one behind the other. The niece of the leader said, "Uncle why don't we kill that brat?"
"That man is no ordinary person. I couldn't tell he could use magic till he took that dagger from Reedex. Even with that, I was unable to fully ascertain the power he had. The whole group is strange, " he added tensely. We don't want unnecessary trouble when we come here with an important agenda. So this matter ends here. Don't bring it up again.
"Yes," they shouted, although deeply disgruntled they could do nothing but agree.
The girl whose dentain has been crashed was helped to walk by one of her admirers, her face red with anger and embarrassment.