After Hunter was out of sight of the town guards, he took off running like the wind back to the waterfall. As he neared the waterfall he could hear the shrieks of children laughing as they played with no care in the world. He smiled to himself as he looked at the little ones running through the field, chasing each other and smiling to their hearts content.
As Hunter emerged from the woods, the younger children stopped playing and came running up to him. "Big brother, you're back!" They clustered around him smiling and shrieking as he tickled a few of them. "When did I become your big brother? Not only am I the same age as some of you, but a few of you are older than me." Hunter smiled contentedly; he had never had such a heart warming greeting before and as he laughed amongst the kids he heard a light crack come from within him.
"The reason they call you big brother is because we told them everything about our past and where we came from." Hunter noticed a man wearing sentinel armor walk up, only realizing that it was Ian after he caught his scent.
"Sick armor elder brother. Where'd ya get it?" Hunter looked Ian up and down before walking alongside him as they returned to the cave.
"I was trying to repair the cart and ended up finding a secret compartment with this armor in it. Figured since you were geared up, that I should gear up as well, incase of an emergency." Ian walked into the cave, which had changed a lot in the few hours Hunter was gone.
Instead of being a wet and dark cave, it now had a slanted ceiling that slanted down the farther you went in. This allowed smoke from a fire to rise up and follow the ceiling so that it could leave the cave at the entrance. In the middle of the main chamber there was a pit which was set up for a fire. Since the sun was beginning to set, Spartacus had already lit the timber on fire, causing a warm yellow and orange glow to appear along the cave walls. Farther in there was two entrances that lead to the gender separated sleeping chambers and bathrooms. Finally lined along the back wall was all the resources they had gained from the cart.
Looking at the fire, Hunter saw Asani and Tarenia cooking a couple of rabbits on skewers. Spartacus and Orion were sitting off to the side discussing, while Sylvia was playing with her sister and a couple of the younger kids. Hunter and Ian sat down next to the boys, drawing the attention of the entire group. The older kids began to hush the younger ones so they could listen to what the leaders were going to talk about.
"Start with any threats or major events that we need to worry about first. Then we can discuss about our location and begin making plans for how to continue forward." Spartacus glanced around the room as he spoke with Hunter.
"Very well eldest brother. The town is a border town called Adenville. It has an average population of four thousand people, but in times of strife it takes in the residents from the surrounding villages. This can lead their population to become at least nine thousand and two hundred some people. Right now the town's militant force is about two hundred and seventy guards, something two of us can easily handle. They also have thirty some adventures who have been arriving in the last few days to come and hunt the Feniri pack. Out of the humans, these adventurers will surely give us some trouble since they've trained in battles of life and death for many years." Hunter took a drink of cold river water that Sylvia brought over for them.
"The bigger threats are Feniri which the adventurers plan to go hunting in a couple days time. I think it would be wise for all four of us to go so we can get more combat experience, however that could leave here in danger so it's your call. The other threat is the goblin horde. A couple of people said that as long as the horde doesn't number more than a thousand, than the town soldiers and adventurers should be able to hold out an invasion. Should the goblins begin an invasion, I think it best that the children are inside the wall safe and sound so we can help fight with no need of holding back." Spartacus nodded before noticing Hunter looking around at the other children, hesitant to say something else.
"What is it?" Spartacus moved closer so that he could whisper into Hunter's ear.
"I've been challenged to a duel that is to take place tomorrow at noon. I get thirty percent of the ticket profits and if I win the duel I get ten percent of the food vendor profits. I would love to bring the others so they can watch and enjoy themselves, but it turns out this empire doesn't take kindly to non-humans." Hunter said glumly while he looked at the smiling children around him.
"We'll hold a vote. Raise your hand if you want to go to town and see Hunter in a duel tomorrow." Spartacus turned to the children who became slightly frightened when they heard about returning to town. That fear quickly dissipated as they realized they would be going to see Hunter fight, which meant they would be safe. Many of the children began raising their hands in excitement, a few of the older ones didn't as worry was still evident on their faces.
"Okay, while Hunter is having his duel, we three will keep you all safe." Orion turned to the group as he gestured to Spartacus, Ian, and himself.
"How much will it cost to spectate?" Ian asked Hunter as he began to ponder on the cost for the tickets and then food vendors.
"Thirteen bronze for children seven to eighteen. Children younger than that will get in for free. I don't know how much the food vendors will cost but since food costs averagely in the bronze and low silver, I think taking a few gold coins should be enough for food and drink. Remember the actual duel is only going to last no longer than five minutes, though I'll have him beat before the first minute mark." Hunter smiled confidently at the others. Spartacus nodded before looking at Hunter again.
"Adenville is located in a kingdom called the Yechen Empire. The noble class excel in dark arts and dark element magic. They also don't take kindly to non-humans, which means if we stay here with the elves and beastkin it will be very dangerous. There's also a high chance that a small army will becoming to investigate all the nobles dying in the fire." The children began to look at each other with worry. "The neighboring kingdom called Siol is considered the wealthiest kingdom in the world as it has the best businessmen and the finest craftsmen in the world. They are also willing to take non-humans as citizens meaning we can survive there."
"Well than we should leave for there as quickly as possible." Orion said, looking at Spartacus.
Shaking his head Spartacus looked around at all the children. "We can't now, it isn't safe enough to travel. There's still that Feniri pack and that goblin horde that we have no clue where it is. Once they are both gone we will leave immediately."
Asani and Tarenia began dishing out the food they had cooked, making sure all the children were stuffed before everyone got ready for bed. Hunter grabbed Ian as he began to head towards the boys sleeping quarters. "What's up?" Ian looked at Hunter quizzically.
"I know Orion's taking first watch and I'll take second so you can get some shut eye, but will you be willing to train with me for a bit? I want to try and improve my combat skills, especially since I'll be going against a professional tomorrow." Ian nodded to Hunter as he went and picked up a sword from the crates before walking out of the cave and onto the field.
After taking off his armor, Ian took his stance about 10 feet away from Hunter. Drawing his long sword, Hunter rushed forward slashing down with all his might. Ian quickly raised the round shield on his left arm to block, taking the brunt of the attack on his left arm while he struck out with his right. Hunter quickly dodged, bring his sword up to direct Ian's sword in a different direction away from his body.
Hunter dashed back, breathing easily and naturally unhindered by the extreme clash of strength between the two. Ian rotated his shoulder, trying to loosen up his left arm after blocking Hunter's attack. "Come on little brother. A frontal attack isn't going to work on me. I'm still stronger than you so I can take the hits unlike you." Ian called out as he lazily swung his sword from side to side.
Hunter smirked as he took a quick glance at his Divinity, realizing that his Divinity now had a little more red to the glow. However not all of it seemed like a dark, bright, and cold red, but a soft, dim, and warm red. As he looked back at Ian, his smirk grew wider as he took a step, disappearing into thin air. He reappeared a couple of yards over, taking another step and disappearing again, only to appear on top of Ian.
Not having enough time to react to Hunter's approach, Ian leaped backwards, barely missing Hunter's sword as it stabbed at where he had been a few seconds ago. "How the hell did you do that?" Ian looked at Hunter who disappeared yet again, reappearing farther away with an appearance that made Ian think that he was nothing more than a mirage.
"It's something like anime's shadow steps, I think. I guess it could be called flash step since I do appear every once and a while when I use it." Hunter stopped to ponder over his new ability, looking like he had gone deep in thought. Ian, taking the chance of Hunter being distracted, rushed forward and lashed out with his sword to stab Hunter in his side. Hunter turned his body, causing the sword to strike open air, while he raised his sword up along side Ian's throat.
"You win little brother." Ian said with a smirk as he lowered his sword before getting it ready to return it to its sheath.
"What are you doing big brother? Can we continue sparring for another half hour? I promise it won't be any longer than that." Ian stopped, looking at Hunter before giving a grin and retaking his position 10 feet away.
As half an hour passed, the clashing of sword on sword or sword on shield could be heard, ringing out through the silent night. Orion stayed vigilant, watching over the entrance of the cave, making sure no threats that could be attracted by the noise could sneak in and harm the younger children.
Finally Ian and Hunter called it quits, Ian grabbed his armor as the two returned to the cave. Hunter switched out with Orion so he could go and sleep and Ian left with him.
Looking into the dark night, Hunter heard another crack as the darkness lit up. Hunter blinked, looking around at the brightened surroundings as he realized he had unlocked both night and thermal vision. He closed his eyes as he looked in towards his Divinity. He looked at the glowing golden line that now had two tints of red located all over, he also noticed very small and very few black spots that also glowed. His face scowled as he looked at his Divinity. [Should I be worried about all these different colors, especially the black?]
Hunter shook his head as he opened his eyes. He breathed out, calming his emotions as he began contemplating what the lights meant. After a couple hours passed Spartacus got up, and took Hunter's place for night watch. As Hunter got up to go to sleep he caught a strange musky scent that had wafted from a very far distance. With the scent came the feelings of pain, grief, and an extreme tint of evil. Hunter scowled as he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep while thinking about what tomorrow would bring and what all the unknowns that he learned today meant, both for him and his family.