We followed the trails for quite some time. I took point. Jiwan and the Class Rep followed further behind. I taught them the basics of scouting, especially how not to leave tracks and to not miss any clues.
The tracks were easy to follow. Whoever took the people didn't care about being followed at all or weren't smart enough to do it. I hoped it was the latter. We got close enough for my Qi sense to pick them up. That was about the only good news.
Hiding behind one of the mineral mounts, I sneaked a peek at our targets: a bipedal monster species with jagged metal weapons. They were naked, around one and a half meters tall, arms twice as large as their thin legs, and crooked teeth and nails.
Their rugged skin was a brownish red, with dreadful eyes. They were familiar, but not any species I could recognize even after some thought. The monsters dragged four of the cute-looking species, hands bound, and circled around over a dozen ragged humans bound to some kind of well-made medieval-looking transport cart, full of goods.
The human's clothes led me to believe they were remnants of our world who escaped from either Nova or other cities.
"Shit," I signaled for Jiwan and Class Rep to approach.
"What is it?"
"There's a lot of them, and they have prisoners."
Jiwan sneaked a peek, "I count 12. They don't look like much compared to the demons though."
"Yeah," the Class Rep agreed.
"Sigh. You shouldn't underestimate anything in this world, fool. I can tell they are all warriors. Besides… one of them advanced the Path. His Qi is powerful."
"Damn, really? Those things can also get classes?"
"Jiwan. Listen. In this world, we are not special. We might get stronger, but so is EVERYONE else. Don't underestimate them," There were a lot of dangers involved in challenging an unknown species. "Also, we humans need to open the Path, but most of the residents of other worlds already have skills. Don't forget that."
Jiwan nodded, embarrassed.
"Aren't we going to save them?" He asked me with pleading eyes. His sense of justice came back with his confidence after fighting a few Lopworms and Loplops.
"It's not that easy. Sure, we can save people, and loot some nice things, but…"
"It's risky," the Class Rep added.
"Yeah. We don't know who we are messing with. They are probably going to their hideout or home. So, how many are there? What if there are hundreds of them? What if they come after us? What if they can track us through some ability?" I sighed. "We don't know their abilities. Wounds are still deadly to the two of you. Do you understand now? This is a big decision for us."
We fell silent. I was tempted to follow and locate their base, and then just leave in search of food.
"Look, they stopped," Jiwan said.
One human had collapsed from exhaustion. The others begged for help, but the monsters dragged him away with no hesitation. They discussed something while one of them tried to get the fallen human to get up. An impatient one pushed the other away and then raised his weapon to strike.
One of the cute-looking things opened his small arms, standing in front of the human, getting beaten up instead. He withstood the beating, got up, put the fallen human on his back, and kept walking. The other humans looked thankful, and the group kept moving.
'Shit,' I thought to myself, glancing at my companions. I knew it.
Jiwan clenched his fist and looked pissed off.
"Poor… cute-looking thing…" He looked at me with burning eyes of justice. I drifted my gaze to the Class Rep, hoping to find back up on her rational intellect, but that wasn't the case either.
I gasped. She looked furious. I never saw her like that before. She almost looked like me when the dogs were beaten up back then.
I sighed, knowing what I had to do, "I will move ahead. When there is an opportunity, I will strike first. You two ambush them from behind. Save the prisoners first."
The stupid couple looked happy. What a pair of fools. They were unaware of the true brutality of this world. We might regret this later.
I passed the enemy group stealthily, making sure there was no sight of their base or any reinforcements before hiding myself in a suitable spot to ambush. To be honest, this was the perfect scenario for an ambush. They did not know anyone was after them. The salt-like mineral terrain was uneven and steep, full of cover and hiding spots. I wouldn't have done something this reckless otherwise, even if I had to abandon those people.
I closed my eyes, breathed in, and sensed the flow of Qi. A picture of each of my enemies' locations popped up in my head. As they approached, the strongest one sensed something was wrong, raising his head suspiciously.
[Quick Thought] activated in that split second. Before they reacted, it was time for me to move. I enhanced my body with [Physical Boost], stepping out of hiding, and throwing the Lopworm spear with all the strength I could muster, aiming at the strange creature who advanced the Path.
The spear, enveloped with powerful Qi, flew into an arch. Just before it hit the enemy, a Qi Shield appeared, deflecting away the almost surefire killing strike, and breaking into pieces after.
'Damn, a Qi Shield!'
The monsters shouted a war cry, looking for me.
I lost the element of surprise, my spear, and caused no damage, but discovered one of the enemy's abilities. Wasting no time, I moved in. one Lopworm Tooth Dagger in each hand, still carrying the effects of physical boost.
The enemy cursed at me in an incomprehensible language. I already reached the first one, and he couldn't even raise the jagged weapon to defend as my dagger pierced what I believed to be his throat.
He wanted to counter even with the dagger stuck. I twisted my hand, pulling the dagger out, and pierced his head with the other, kicking him away.
The monster next to him struck, but it was within my expectations. I dived low, slashing his ankle while passing through, before turning around and piercing through his eye with the other dagger.
[Enemy Mo'gar died.]
[Enemy Mo'gar died.]
The system echoed. I finally knew who my enemies were. This happened so quickly Jiwan and the Class Rep didn't even move yet. A smart enemy would shift positions, closing their ranks, but the Mo'gar were not that smart. The remaining ten, including the strongest one, rushed against me.
The strongest Mo'gar came first. Faster and stronger than the others, I could feel danger approaching, jumping back, saving myself from getting hit. The jagged tool hit the ground, breaking apart the hard soil. Before I could counter, the others were already upon me, forcing me to keep dodging.
Jiwan and the Class Rep didn't shout. They rushed in while our opponents were distracted, attacking from the back by surprise, skewering two of them with their Lopworm Spears. Blood gushed out with painful screams of dying Mo'gar.
I thought they would hesitate since it's their first time killing humanoid monsters. I was wrong. They barely flinched. After seeing so many people die, and the corpses of those killed by those monsters, they were both angry.
Battles changed people. Killing changed people. At any other time, I would be sad about it. However, right now, it meant my companions were turning into warriors.
And warriors survived in this world. Most of the time.