After leaving his adoptive uncle's residence and waving the guards goodbye, Saluk walked outside into the moonlit night.
His uncle has given him an important task and he will surely accomplish it. He doesn't really have anyone to call friends, or even acquaintances. The only people that he can talk to normally were his adoptive uncle and aunt, a few elders and servants in the Minggud house, and those kids that visits him from time to time when he is in the farm. He doesn't have any attachment to anyone so even if the task that was given to him might take him a few days to accomplish, he is fine with it.
After an hour of walking, He finally reached his destination. It was a big tree that overlooks the whole village. Saluk stretched his arms and legs like he always do, and like a cat, he ran and jumped to the nearest branch. He swung and flipped around the branches until he reached the top. The tree is around fifty meters tall and he reached the highest branch in about 15 seconds.
"I think i finally broke my last record." Saluk smiled to himself. "I wonder if there are taller trees in the forest." This tree is too far from the Minggud house by walking so he can only visit here rarely. Even his adoptive aunt doesn't know that he goes here.
Being around with people who has magic really makes Saluk uncomfortable. Even the servants that works with him in the farm can atleast control the herbs growth to some extent. And all he can do was to work on the soil with a shovel and water the herbs. Thinking about this, Saluk can't help but feel a deeper respect for his adoptive uncle for giving him his mission. His uncle must know that he wants to make a contribution to the family. When he finally accomplish the task that was given to him, he can finally say to himself that he has done something good to the house of Minggud worthy of praise.
Saluk stayed on the top of the big tree for over an hour thinking about his task in the forest before he finally felt the chill of the evening breeze. He stood up and let loose a big yawn. Then stretching his body, he jumped right straight down to the ground.
"I really need to rest now, I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. I need to prepare for my food, extra set of clothes, And maybe a few seed samples." Saluk whispered to himself, counting with his fingers. "I wonder if Tiyo Domam will allow me to carry a knife. Uhmmm, maybe not. That's too dangerous." Looking around, he concluded that he is alone in the area. "Okey, Let's see how fast i can really run." Removing his sandals and holding it in his hands, he stepped into the ground barefoot and felt the cool soil in his feet. Saluk smiled and ran.
-----
Being on the night patrol is one of the most boring job a warrior class Timawa could have. The Timawa are the free commoners. They can choose to be a merchant, a farmer or a warrior to a certain clan or family. it all depends on how their magic vein were developed.
Bonam is a warrior class Timawa. Together with his cousin Wahad, they were among the one hundred additional warriors hired by the Pasimo family to provide security within the village. The Harvest season is just around the corner and people from different places are starting to flood in to this small village. As such, The higher ups in the Lifetree clan assigned the Pasimo family to keep order and security in the whole village. Around forty warriors are deployed on night patrol and they were to roam around the village in pairs.
Bonam and his cousin Wahad were a pair among the forty patrolling warriors. His cousin was already complaining about them walking aimlessly around at this time of the night, and Bonam is starting to get bored too.
"A kilometer more walk and i may just drop dead. We have been walking around all night." Wahad sighed.
"Look cousin, lets just walk towards that big tree up ahead, and then we can return." Bonam said, pointing a big tree ahead.
Wahad eyed the big tree that his cousin was pointing at and nodded. "Alright let's go." He said, fighting back a yawn.
The dou was just a couple of dozen meters away from the tree when they heard a dull thud from its base. It seemed like something heavy just fell down.
They both suddenly stopped dead on their tracks and fell instantly quiet. They quickly controlled their breathing and strain their eyes trying see what just fell down from the tree. The both of them may not be from the elite warrior unit of the clan but they have their own fair share of combat experience.
The base of the tree was so dark, thanks to the thick leaves that block most of the ambient light from the night sky. The dou can't see much until they sensed a movement.
"You think that's a demon? should we engage?" Wahad whispered, fully alert already. All the carefree mood he carried a moment ago vanished in an instant.
"Let's observe it first. It's a good thing that we noticed it first before it noticed us. let's watch for now and not engage it just yet." Bonam whispered back, unsheathing a big saber from his waist silently.
"Right, It might just be a wild beast, but who knows."
"Prepare your weapon. It seemed to be alone. If it really is a demon, killing it is a long shot, but atleast one of us can hold it off for a moment while the other can run and report back." Bonam said grimly.
"I think it is speaking, i will try to get closer and try to listen to what it says." Wahad suddenly said drawing his weapon and slowly inched forward, crouching.
"Wait! stop, that too risk....." Bonam reached his hand out and tried to grab his cousin back when a sudden burst of wind blew past them and almost knocked him back in surprise, the violent rustling of grass and fallen leaves drowned the rest of his words.
"What the hell was that? Did you see it?" Wahad said, his weapons streched out with a cold glint, a big dagger in each hands.
"It just flew just past us. I'm sure it saw us too. It was a demon. A real demon!" Bonam crushed a pill into powder and applied it into his saber. A second later, his saber began to vibrate a little and then emit a reddish glow. "Let's just try to stay alive for now and report back."
"Yes, That demon seemed to be alone. It must be here to scout around the village. It must be captured and killed or else catastrophe will fall on us." Wahad said, his leather armor is also now has a yellowish glow on it. "Let's tread carefully and head back to village hall."
-----
" Oh, Crap! Someone saw me." Saluk just took his first few strides when he passed by 2 guys with their weapons drawn out.
It Happened so fast that he was already almost a kilometer away when his brain finally processed what he just saw. He looked back but all he can see was darkness. Even the big tree that he was on a few minutes ago now looked like a dark shadow in the distance.
"Jeez, i was just spared by my uncle for causing trouble earlier this evening. now i am here again, inviting another one." Saluk sighed helplessly.
'It will really be a big trouble if someone sees me tonight. If that happened, uncle may even ground me for life and spend the remaining days of my life staring at his paintings in the wall.' He grimaced.
Even if he was seen, those guys will never be able to recognize him even if they meet him in the open in broad daylight. Saluk can't even remember the faces of the two guys himself, it just happened too fast and it was too dark. All he know was that those guys were warrior night patrols, the clan crest on their leather uniforms were visible enough for him to recognize. And he will leave for the forest tomorrow for his task so it doesn't matter to him if they can remember his face. He is sure that he will not meet them again. Keeping this in mind, Saluk finally relaxed himself and dashed back home.
Reaching his living quarters, Saluk quickly entered and locked the door. He even evaded the guards that took sentry on the perimeters. He can be stealthy like that.
-----
"Is this intelligence accurate? This is a very serious claim!" A deep voice broke the silence in a rather quiet room.
The man who just spoke has a big, muscular build. He is in his early fifties and his eyes has a clear and cold glint on it as if to state that he can take on any situation thrown at him. A red Bandana is tied around his forehead, keeping most of his hair out of his face. His copper plated leather armor bears a lot of gash and scratches, a glaring testament of how many life and death battle the man had faced.
The exposed parts of his shoulders, arms and legs are riddled with intricate black and crimson ink-printed designs. He is head of Pasimo family. Kuban Pasimo.
"Reporting to family head Pasimo, The claim came from our warrior night patrol and they are now being debriefed at the village hall. They said to have been into close proximity with the demon, I trust their claim." A man kneeling in front of him answered in a clear crisp voice.
"Rise, warrior. Tell me your name." Kuban Pasimo said.
"Reporting to house head Pasimo, i am called Lingmu, i am one of the squad leaders for the Timawa warrior class." The warrior stood erect in full attention.
Lingmu can't believe it himself at first when two of his patrolling warriors broke the news to him. He has never seen a real demon before, and only hear stories about them. Afterall, their village is in the remote eastern part of the town, flanked by the forest on the south, and the sea on the east. The main town can even be called a low tier one, there is nothing much in here that can attract Demons. And it is uncommon for Demons to venture this remote. Of course Lingmu is not aware about the warning of the old Babaylan predicting an imminent demonic attack a few days from now. That information was only exclusive to the Royal family, The Main family of Lubaw that is incharge for local administration, and the Pasimo family that is incharge for security.
"Tell me, warrior Lingmu, How many people knows about this news?" Kuban Pasimo asked.
Lingmu paused for a moment before replying. "Reporting to family head Pasimo. I believe that aside from the two warriors that encountered the demon firsthand, only me and about a dozen more warriors that was deployed on village hall barracks knows about this news. The warriors were within earshot when the news was reported to me."
Lingmu grimaced. He knows the importance of censoring a vital information. It would be a lapse on his side if the news suddenly spread out of control. If any civilian heard about the news before it was publicly announced, it would cause a big problem. A news about a demonic presence it the middle of the night can certainly cause public unrest, specially now on that harvest season is closing in.
Kuban Pasimo was silent for a while, as if thinking about the same thing. A moment later, he called for an elder to come over. Lingmu stood in silence as house Head Kuban Pasimo whisphered some instructions to the elder. After a couple of minutes or so, the elder bowed and left the room.
"Let's go, Take me to the village barracks." Kuban Pasimo stood up from his seat and walked forward.
"Yes, as you command!" Lingmu answered quickly.