The barrier broke, and a surge of energy went thru my brain. I rolled out from under the cart, then jumped on my feet.
- Relax, It's me - said Will, rising both of his hands.
- What took you so long? I waited half of the night for you.
- Questions. Everybody had tons of questions about how it exactly works, so I had to explain and explain again. Hours of boring talks, but some people prised me, for sharing. There was no grand party, but I got a few free beers, and then night got us... and I had to walk here thru the whole night. But I have my own cart, and food supply for a long time.
- You need some rest, or can we get going?
- We can go.
- Let's grab some food first, and then start moving.
- Ok.
He left me for a moment, so I grabbed a bit of bread, a strap of dried meat, and started chewing. He returned soon, pulling his vehicle behind. It was filled with supplies and swords.
- Why so many swords? It's not like you break one every day...
- Just in case. You never know.
- So... How was the city?
- A bit crazy - he answered, grabbing an apple from his cart, then took a big bite. - Everybody seemed eager to start hunting. I bet they are already in the woods, but Hatta got there first. His men headed out with me last night, to set up a camp beside the cave. He picked the strongest, to go after the boss.
- He himself didn't go?
- No. He said he is too weak anyway. I think the real reason though, is different. He is just scared of Blue. Can't blame him. Asshole tried to kill him once already, and now is walking on the streets.
- Yeah.
- Maybe he will give up eventually if we keep holding him back.
- Not a chance, Will. He was willing to play a dangerous gamble to win the position of head of Wuxia. Guys like that don't just give up. He will keep trying, keep digging.
- Yeah, that's the scariest part. Maybe we really should consider putting him down? Fuck the other people, just do what is necessary.
- So it got to you too...
- What?
- This place. Can you imagine yourself a year ago, thinking of killing somebody?
He gave it some thought, munching on an apple. I used the time, to finish my food.
- No. Not really. This place changes us...
- Yeah. Little by little. We are becoming monsters. Maybe soon we will be dropping crystals and turning to smoke.
- You already did. Back then, fighting with rat boss, and again, as I heard, when the crowd surrounded you yesterday. It's a class ability?
- Yeah. I unlocked it after killing the rat boss for the first time. It cost me ten class points. But it's barely useful.
- Why? - he looked genuinely surprised. - To me, it seemed incredible. You just vanish and appear wherever you want.
- Not wherever. There is a limit to how far I can go. Well... I upgraded the skill, so maybe it's a longer distance now, but there is also one other thing.
- What?
- The place where I go after vanishing. It's just a moment, but still... It's like... I can't even describe. The presence of the darkness... It's like a massive wave, that's about to swallow me, and I'm just a bug. It's so damn hungry... It just wants to consume.
- I'm not gonna pretend like I understand, but maybe you shouldn't use it so much...
- Trust me. I don't want to use it at all, but just sometimes had to. It's a great ability... But... You know. Sometimes it's just worth it...
- Yeah. I get it. Just try to limit it as much as possible.
- I'm doing just that.
- Ok. Enough chit-chat. Let's go - he said while throwing what was left of the apple.
That's how our hunt started and continued for the next five days. We kept walking in the orange labyrinth of rocks, letting the sun cook us nicely, and killing as many orcs as possible, to fill both carts to the brim, but there was still a long way to go.
Will clearly improved his skills and was easily able to defeat every orc that charged at him. The hunt became easy, and with our knowledge of safe places around the canyon, we could usually enjoy a full night of rest. A few barriers around were all we needed, just in case.
Then the fifth day came, and I decided to take a peek at the part leading to the harpies. I wanted to try how much harder would be hunting them instead of orcs. As we both were approaching their territory, something completely unexpected happened right before our eyes.
Harpies were in the middle of a fight with four strange-looking creatures. They were humanoidal and larger than us. With wide, cone-shaped bamboo hats, light brown, dirty cloaks, and heavy-looking quarterstaffs decorated by a bunch of rings on the one side.
They were holding their ground in a formation, with backs turned to each other, but harpies just kept coming, and they clearly couldn't kill any of them.
- What the... - started Will.
- I have no idea... Should we help them?
- I... I... I don't know... Should we? - he looked at me with just complete confusion written all over his face. - You know what? Let's fucking help them. If they attack us, we just kill them.
After those words we picked our weapons, and charged, leaving both carts where they stood.
The harpies saw us from afar, and some of them split from the rest of the group, to attack. The first one came at Will, diving from the sky, and in the last moment bit her wings, to stop, and get him with a sharp claw, but he was not just faster, and also stronger. One swing and harpy's leg just fell to the ground. She screamed horribly in pain, but not for long, cause he finished her by stabbing thru the torso.
I had a clear view of the monster. It was just as I imagined it would look. Women covered in feathers, with large wings instead of arms, and strong bird-like legs, ending with claws. They had women's faces, but eyes were black with red pupils, and their mouths filled with sharp teeth, protruding to the outside, so we could clearly see those even with their mouths closed.
The second one got to Will a second later, but he just back swung, cutting her almost in half. More were coming, around a dozen, unhinged by the deaths of their sisters. I joined the fray, as they were diving at my friend. It ended quickly because every single one of them just died from one or two cuts, and at this point, we were just swinging like machines.
Crystals fell from the sky, and we kept pushing further to join the strange humanoids under attack. Harpies probably would grab them, and dropped to their deaths, if they were not so big and probably heavy. From a glance, as I got closer, those beings had between two and three meters in height and were build like hippos, with thick skin in slightly green coloration.
They had big, completely black, and pupilless eyes. Their faces were round, with prominent cheekbones, big flat noses, and thick lips, now covered in foam. It looked like their heads are coming straight from the torso, as they had almost no neck.
Me and will slaughtered the harpies in a couple of seconds, earning few warning screams from those who retreated seeing their sisters fall from our blades. Crystals yet again rained from the skies.
The strange creatures needed few minutes to catch breaths. As they were panting heavily I noticed two thick fingers and one opposable thumb clenched on the quarterstaffs.
One of them stepped in front of the others and greeted us with a strange sound. It was low, and vibrating to the point I could feel it as I was hearing it. For some reason, it reminded me of whales singing underwater, which I heard a couple of times watching some of those nature programs on TV.
Then he slightly changed his tune and kept going.
- I think he is trying to communicate - said Will.
- Yeah, but how the hell we are supposed to understand that?
The creature looked back at others, said something to them.
- I think they just figured the same thing we did. What do you think, Peter?
- Yeah. Hey, we cant understand! Can you understand us?
The creature looked again at me. Said something in his language, but I just couldn't understand. Then he poked at himself, and said something I can only write down as "Oooeee".
- Oooeee? - I repeated.
- Oooeee - he said again, then pointed at me.
- Peter. An this is Will. Will - I said pointing first at myself, then at my friend.
- Eeeeaaaa. Iiiiiaaaa - creature repeated in his strange language.
It was obvious then just can't simply replicate the right sounds. He shook his head, and to my surprise, started drawing on the ground.