They traversed a great distance. So much so that the lush forest turned to wasteland. It was only dried hard dirt as far as the eye could see.
"Damn, it's hot. Did we store enough water?" [Adam]
"Probably." [Felix]
Just before leaving, Felix used his spatial storage on a running river for a good amount of time. It was likely that he had a small lake in his storage.
"Where are we going next?" [Tiffany]
"According to the map, there's only one landmark." [Felix]
"Oh, is that it?" [Adam]
He pointed beyond the horizon, but neither Felix nor Tiffany were able to see anything.
"What are you looking at?" [Felix]
"That big ass pyramid." [Adam]
"Pyramid?" [Felix]
He squinted his eyes in an attempt to see further.
"There's nothing there. Maybe you're hallucinating." [Felix]
"What? No way." [Adam]
"How about we just walk over just to see?" [Tiffany]
"...Wouldn't hurt I guess." [Felix]
They followed Adam for thirty minutes before Felix spoke up.
"How far is this place? Adam, I'm seriously starting to doubt you." [Felix]
"Really? I can see us getting closer." [Adam]
"How much closer?" [Felix]
"Maybe if we walk for two more hours?" [Adam]
"...Fuck it. We're taking a break right now. Adam, make some chairs." [Felix]
"Alright." [Adam]
Using his ability, Adam compressed the nearby earth and shaped it into three chairs. He also took the liberty to make a giant umbrella to shade them from the scorching sun. They repeated the action every thirty minutes to have a water break before continuing. After two hours of traveling, Tiffany and Felix could see a dark spot in the distance.
"Is that it?" [Felix]
"Yeah." [Adam]
"How did you even see that?" [Felix]
"At least we know he wasn't hallucinating." [Tiffany]
They continued to approach the dark spot, revealing it to be a grand pyramid. It was made purely of black and white stone.
"It's… beautiful." [Tiffany]
There was something about its polished and sleek design within a barren wasteland. The pyramid was composed of ridiculously large blocks stacked on each other in a meticulous way. They also had strange carvings in it so they'd connect and keep other blocks secure and in place.
"Hey, what's that?" [Felix]
As they got closer, they found that there were several groups of people arguing. Some were human, some were people with horns added with leathery wings, and some were people with fur like animals accompanied by sharp fangs and claws.
"We were here first, back off!" [Animal Man]
"This place is in our territory, leave!" [Horned Man]
"No, this place historically belongs to us!" [Normal Human]
It appeared that there were three separate factions, each of their own race. They had around forty, maybe fifty people on every side, all armed with their own kind of armor and weapons.
"Swords, spears, metal claws, maces, all the works. It's like they all came prepared for war." [Krino]
"That is usually how it goes. Mortal greed transcends race after all." [Astos]
("What are they even fighting about anyway?") [Adam]
"Most likely territory over the pyramid." [Krino]
"Unlikely. It is what is within the pyramid that they seek. I can sense great power within." [Astos]
("So… loot?") [Adam]
"In summary. Yes." [Astos]
That was all Adam needed to hear.
"Hey, Fe-Fable, Til. Do you guys want to check that place out?" [Adam]
"You mean the place that everyone is fighting over? I don't think that's a good idea." [Felix]
"Why don't you try talking to them? You were able to do that all the way here." [Tiffany]
"I did, but they weren't as hostile. And why do you guys even want to go in there in the first place?" [Felix]
"I can sense loot in there." [Adam]
"How? What are you, a loot goblin?" [Felix]
Adam grabbed Felix by the shoulders and locked eyes with him.
"Trust me. You won't regret what we find." [Adam]
Felix made a complicated expression before giving in.
"Fine… But if things go awry, we book it." [Felix]
"Cool." [Adam]
As Felix began to approach the arguing factions, Adam followed with the elated feeling of success.
"Question. Do you even know what awry means?" [Krino]
("Nope.") [Adam]
"I can't believe you managed to convince him." [Krino]
Once closer, Felix greeted what seemed to be the leaders of each faction.
"Hello there." [Felix]
"Oh, great! What, did you get some more reinforcements, hero? Dragging more people against their will for your cause?" [Horned Man]
("Hero?") [Felix]
"Disgusting cowards!" [Animal Man]
"These are unjust accusations! They're clearly here of their own volition!" [Human]
The normal looking person greeted Felix.
"It's good to see a fellow human come and assist our cause. These vile demons and beastmen keep trying to steal our rightful inheritance!" [Hero]
("Ah, the horned ones must be the demons we heard so much about. And these furry people are… beastmen? Doesn't matter, just get more information.") [Felix]
"Our inheritance?" [Felix]
"Yes, the first hero's tomb! We must preserve it!" [Hero]
"No, we must destroy it! Building this thing is an insult to our race!" [Demon]
"Just leave our territory! Neither of you belong here!" [Beastman]
Then the arguing started back up again.
"Fellows, fellows. Calm down." [Felix]
"Silence, human! We are not of the same standing! I am a Feerae, you are not even a hero!" [Demon]
He flapped his leathery wings threateningly and puffed up his chest with pride.
("Great, someone with a ton of arrogance. This is going to be a pain in the ass.") [Felix]
Felix opened his mouth to reply, but a loud boom was heard. All heads turned to see, only to find Adam standing over a knocked out demon and beastman.
"...What? They were pissing me off." [Adam]
Then all hell broke loose. Swords were drawn, battle cries rang out, and peace was no more.
"God damn it, Adam!" [Felix]
"My name is Astos!" [Adam]
Tiffany's soul weapon immediately summoned itself in her defense while Adam and Felix started to fight for their lives. It was Human vs Demon vs Beastmen where it was difficult to find allies among the sea of clashing metal.
"Men! Rally!" [Hero]
The humans gathered into a circular formation in order to preserve manpower and bolster defense. It was formidable against any beastman who chose to attack, but it was nothing to the demons who could fly.
"Switch to aerial defense! Those with shields take front!" [Hero]
Around half of the humans shifted back into the circle, aiming their spears upwards in an attempt to push back the demons.
"Use magic! Set them ablaze!" [Demon]
The demons conjured up magic circles, allowing them to fire off balls of flame. It wasn't much to the humans who could block it with their shields, but it was deadly to the beastmen. Their fur would catch fire, immediately becoming fatal as they were engulfed by the burning tongues.
"Rip off their wings! We can't let those cowards out of our reach!" [Beastman]
Utilizing their powerful legs, the beastmen would leap into the air and latch onto the nearest demon. From there, they'd use their brute strength to tear off the demon's leathery wings or claw them to death right then and there.
("This… is hell?") [Adam]
The smell of blood, and burnt flesh invaded his nostrils. Cries of help and screams of death entered his ears. Adam thought he had grown used to it from Askyros' memories, yet the reality of being there himself betrayed his expectations.
"In case you haven't noticed, you started this." [Astos]
("...What?") [Adam]
"You started this battle." [Astos]
("All I did was beat up two people! I didn't even kill anyone!") [Adam]
"And yet that was the breaking point. The tension was already at its peak. All they needed was an excuse." [Astos]
Adam had no words.
"Why don't you just stop it?" [Krino]
("Stop it?") [Adam]
"The battle. Stop them from fighting." [Krino]
("How?") [Adam]
"What do you mean "How"? You're just playing innocent at this point. You know what to do." [Krino]
He was right. Adam only solved his problems with brute force. This will be no different. Stretching out one hand upwards, Adam called out.
"Balance the scales, Krino." [Adam]