The swirling molecules of yellow dust puff into the room as a group of four entries.
"Is this the guy?" One of the visitors asked.
The doctor closed his mouth and smiled. He slightly tilted his head and walked confidently towards the gang. "Well yes. The first time entering the desert yet he managed to beat a Diyeserto Hali by himself. Best of the best won't you say?" He stated with total smugness.
With his manly chin up, his wide chest out, and muscle filled shoulder relaxed on his back, the leader of the group stood with confidence against the doctor. "Not bad Alegre. Too bad even a doctor as great as you can't fix a small pigment discoloration made by the venom."
"Tsk." The doctor pressed down his lips, he carelessly threw Bagani's baggage across the room and sat down. "An annoying little insect as always, aren't you Isiah?"
"My stuff..." Bagani whined.
Isiah quickly targeted his eyes to the injured Asulhero. "So this is the guy huh. Are you sure he can help?"
"Hey, I never agreed to help you. Take the money I still need to find something." Bagani tried to walk with his injured body. He endured the agonizing sting crawling all over him. Bagani picked up his bag from the ground, sheathing his sword and leaving the pouch of his remaining coins over the table. He picked up his sandals from the floor, wore it, and walked towards the door. The group instantly blocked the exit as Bagani got close to it.
"Let me through," Bagani ordered. His fists shook, his jaw clenched, and he gritted his teeth. He looked upon the members, his stare shouted the sight of pure disgrace. "Don't test me."
With utter confidence, Isiah tapped the Asulhero's arm. "I'm afraid we can't let you leave yet. As Alegre told you, it's labor work, my friend."
Extremely irritated, Bagani slapped Isiah's arm off him. His eyes widened, saliva came dripping out of his mouth as an unmeasurable amount of pain surges through him. Bagani fell on his knees. "Damn it!..." He grunted.
Isiah smirked and laughed. "You're in no position to decline here. We can execute you if we wanted to. Got that punk?" He pulled out a peculiar device. A long-barrelled wooden device that reeks of the scent of gunpowder was grabbed from his back. It had a small lever at the bottom that activates the device. He pointed and aimed it on Bagani's head. "Got this bad boy from Magbato a few days ago. It can fire metal pellets that can surprisingly kill anything if you hit them enough on the right spot. Guess people aren't wrong when they say it's the most advanced village." Isiah showed off his new item. "Anyway, I can't just sit here and talk to you all day. So unless you agree to help, I'll have to test this unto you."
Bagani looked up towards Isiah and his Wheellock pistol. His vision waved, he became nauseous, his sight began to slowly blackout, and his whole body became frail and weak. Isiah's words echoed an absurd amount of times in his ears that it became merely impossible to understand. A drop of blood dripped out of his nose. Once again Bagani collapsed and hit his head on the floor.
Alegre sighed. He tapped his leg fastly and looked up as he saw the Asulhero get knocked down once again. "Give him some time. He will do it."
"He better does." A group member guarding the door irritatedly said. She shook her head in frustration and exited the room.
"Hey, wait up!" Another one followed.
The last member approached Isiah. "Are you done staring at him?" He asked.
"He's strong," Isiah stated. "This is not a normal person. Juan, I beg you to keep an eye on him. "
"What are you talking about? Look at this the big man, the big boss, the leader impressed of some random guy who just passed out." Juan chuckled.
Terrified to an extent that one would probably piss himself, Isiah exited the room. "A normal person wouldn't survive 5 minutes after being bitten by a Disyerto Hali. Even if there is a miracle that the person said survives, his body would choose death rather than move a single muscle. If we threatened that guy while he wasn't poisoned, our heads are probably hanging on the ceiling as of right now."
"Those blue marks aren't normal..." Juan thought to himself.
At the roof of the establishment sat a fellow member of the group. She peeled open a banana leaf with her lunch in it. A mix of sticky rice and a hard-boiled egg was chewed upon as she gazes over the unlively desert rayed by the cruel sun. Her crewmate ran over and watched up to her.
"You're fast..." Norberto huffs.
Santos gave him a disgusted look. She munched down her lunch as fast as possible. Using the ledges of the building, she grabbed on and swing to the window below.
"You know there's an easier way," Norberto stated as he used the stairs. "Come on stop avoiding me!"
Santos snaps out and shouted at her comrade. "Or what?! You already asked me to marry you countless times and what did I say?! I'm doing this mission to help my family Norberto. I'm not as selfish as you." She curled her lips, turned around, walked out of his sight.
Bagani opened his eyes. he then once again looked around and noticed he was inside the same room. In front of him stood Juan. With squinted eyes, the Asulhero looked at his with confusion. "You don't have to guard me. I can barely move remember." Bagani slumped and laid his arms on the pillows.
"What are you?" Juan asked.
"What do you mean?" Bagani queried back.
Juan chuckled as he saw the deception in Bagani's eyes. "Let's be honest here. You're not human."
Bagani then laughed back. "Guess you noticed huh." He sighed. "They call my kind an Asulhero. To be frank with you I don't even know why I exist. No society, no same species, no family. I'm also guessing you're the only one who noticed."
Arms over the back of his head, Juan sat crossed legged and relaxed on a chair. "Let's just say out of everyone in the group I have the best intuition." He said. "I'm not going to ask what you're a hurry to look for but you better help us or else your head will get blown up. Plus it's for the betterment of the people."
Bagani raised his brow, he forced himself to slightly get up and looked at Juan. "What do you mean for the people?"
Juan stood up. "Let's just say Isiah is not as bad as he seems to be." He let out a kind smile and exited the room.
The sound of crumbling sand the sound of shoes dragged around. Norberto strolled along the desert as he gave himself some time to think. "Leave me alone." He made fun of Santos in his mind. "Wasn't everything I've done up until now enough? Aren't you supposed to be the one to be with me in every situation may it be dire or pleasant?"
The sun began to fall and darkness filled up the sky. A silhouette of a person walks across the distance. Norberto noticed the frail man and quickly ran towards him. "Hey! It's getting late come over here!"
As he steps closer to the man, his reality became twisted. The stars disappeared, his surroundings became total darkness, unknown monsters appeared from the ground.
Juan slammed the door open. Sweat dripped all over his body even if the desert was cold at night. A sense of panic made his heart beat faster than ever. He went to the middle of the room to alarm everyone.
"Norberto is!..."