Coughing his lungs out, Jake tried to stand up, but his body failed him. His limbs felt weak and his bones cackled when he tried to lift them up.
Jake could feel himself losing consciousness, he was losing sight of the light progressively. The darkness slowly consumed him, until he blacked out.
The same thing happened to the trio.
....
Three minutes later.
Lola was the first to wake up. She wasn't close to the source of the explosion, so she was spared much pain.
Swiftly standing, she searched for her companions.
After a while, she found Jaya who woke up upon hearing Lola's footsteps.
Her head still aching, Jaya asked, "Where are the rest?"
"I don't know. You were the first one I found," replied Lola. Having not seen her brother, she was worried sick.
"Hmm, that's okay," comforted Jaya.
"Nico and Jake were closer to the explosion, so...," stated Jaya, as she tried to calculate the position of Nico and Jake.
"--I found them!" Lola shouted as soon as Jaya pointed at a nearby bush.
Hidden in the bush were two figures, barely noticeable. They were Nico and Jake, with bruises all over them.
"Get them out," told Jaya.
She dug her hand deep in her clothes and brought out a small pouch. Opening it, she took a healing salve, she bought at a shop.
Lola dragged the two boys to Jaya.
"Undress them so I can apply the salve," addressed Jaya with a grim face.
Red heat flushed Lola's face as she heard Jaya. It was one thing to undress her brother. It was another thing to undress another boy.
"O-O-Ok," stammered Lola.
She hastily undressed her brother, showcasing his fit and bulgy body. She moved on to Jake.
Blushing, she took off his clothes brushing her fingers along his newly sculpted body. Every contact felt like electric sparks to her
"Hahaha, Do you have to be so dramatic?" laughed a speechless Jaya.
She looked at Jake's body and nodded at the spectacle. Even when bruised, it still looked good. While Nico's own looked too burly...
She dipped her hand in the sale and applied it on Nico's discolored body. After that, she did the same for Jake.
The salve worked wonders as two minutes after application, Nico and Jake woke up.
'What happened. Where am I?' Jake felt groggy, his eyes still adjusting to the sunlight.
He noticed he was shirtless and saw Lola peeking at him.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" smirked Jake. He wasn't shy at all. Instead, he thought his body should be shown to the world, or else they would be missing out.
His narcissistic self was broken away when memories of before the explosion flooded his mind.
"That bastard!" he clenched his jaws, squinted his eyes as thick breaths escaped in between his teeth.
He jumped at Nico, who just woke up, and curled his lips, "You were only asked to do one thing. One thing! But you just couldn't help yourself, could you?."
Jake pointed at the girls. While they were not as injured as the boys, they didn't escape unscathed.
"You are lucky. Your hesitation could have led to their deaths," whispered Jake into Nico's ears
His echoed in Nico's mind, as he got terrified. He realized the consequences of his hesitation.
"Leave him alone, Jake," requested Lola.
She didn't want her brother to feel guilty.
"Leave him alone? It is easy for you to say that. You weren't the one bombarded by explosive beans."
After retorting to Lola, he focused back on Nico, "Got anything reason why you didn't kill him while you had the chance? The chance we all worked for."
While Jake talked calmly and coldly, there was a fire wanting to burn Nico swirling inside him. He just didn't unleash it as he knew nothing good would come out of it....but at least he wanted an answer to Nico's hesitation.
Nico fell silent for a second. He opened his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words. Ultimately, he couldn't find a justifiable reason.
Upon seeing this, Jake was downright livid. The angrier he got, the calmer his facial expression became. It got to a point where he began to harbor killing intent towards Nico.
Sensing this, Jaya interrupted, "Jake, there is no time for this."
However, she got no reply. She repeated, "Jake."
Slightly increasing her voice, she shouted, "Jake!"
This time, Jaya's voice managed to bring back Jake from the 'zone'.
"What?" hissed Jake.
"Look at the ground," pointed Jaya. She directed his gaze to an object that lay on the forest floor.
'Shit. That bastard,' thought Jake, as his face twitched.
'Still, that was a well-planned move'
Ray, the first-class bastard, had not only escaped under their nose but had also left his ring with them. The ring he desperately tried to offer them. Just by that, he knew the ring was no good news.
He quickly picked it up and was about to throw it far away when he heard Lola's voice.
"Umm, guys? There is a group of people running at us," Lola pitched in.
What she said made Jake pause his movement to look towards the direction….
He saw a group of six heading towards them. They were dressed in light armor and all held weapons that glinted as the sun shined on them. On their faces were scars, making them look more domineering. They had a sharp bearing; one that only belonged to cultivators, who have escaped death once or more.
Sucking his breath, Jake picked up the sword left by Ray. He gripped it tightly as if his life depended on it.
Calming himself, he waited for the group to approach.
"Leader, the compass points in this direction," one of the men said, as they finally reached Jake and co.
The man pointed exactly at the spot where Jake was. He addressed his leader, a bald man with a star tattoo on his head.
The men stopped their pace as they advanced to Jake.
"Kid, were you the one that stole the treasure? The one that deceived us?" The leader asked.
'Is he talking of Ray? In that case….' a sparkle passed through Jake's eyes as he dived into his thoughts.
"No, we were also deceived by the one you talk of," humbly replied Jake. He could not afford to be arrogant, as the moment he laid his eyes on the group of men, his heart palpitated furiously. He felt a pressure far greater than the one Ray had exuded; now he knew why Ray opted to run away from them.
"Don't lie to us. We are not dumb. You think you can just pose as someone else after putting off your mask. When we fought with you, we made sure to get your body size." chided one of the underlings.
Another underling, a rather fat one, supported, "Hehehe, we even made sure to get your dick size, just to be sure."
'....I'm not even close to Ray's body size. Ahhh, he is really dumb,' thought Jake, but he didn't dare say it out.
"Shut up!" black lines creased on the leader's forehead as he shouted at his underlings.
The leader coughed as he gazed straight at Jake, "Ahem. Ahem. You say that but you have the same dick size as the one we previously saw."
"..." Jake was speechless.
He tried to focus on the situation as he asked, "How do you even know my dick size is the same as the one you saw?"
"You can't fool me. I know what you are doing. It's reverse psychology. You even went to great length, stripping yourself, just to increase your chances. Smart. However, I know what I saw," confidently said the leader as he thumped his thick chest.
"What do u mean…..?!" asked Jake.
He looked around and saw Jaya pointing at his lower body, 'Fuck!'
He was naked! Previously, he had thought he was only shirtless, he was actually naked all this while.
He didn't mind being naked, but he also wasn't an exhibitionist. Quickly, he picked his clothes and wore them back.
He shamelessly focused back on the group, "I think you're mistaken. I am not the one you are looking for."
"If that is true, then why are you holding the ring on your hand?" mocked the leader.
"Look, as long as you give us the ring. We can go our separate ways, peacefully," threatened the leader with his underlings behind him occasionally nodding.
"You talk as if you will let us go," Jake coldly sneered at the leader.
He knew that the group would silence them for the sure! Who would let news of a treasure spread?
"You are right. However, by safely giving us. We will spare you the pain of death, " stated the leader as he flashed a broken tooth at Jake.
"Is there no way you can let us go?" intervened Jaya as she saw the situation turning sour.
"No. You know too much."
'...but we don't know anything at all,' bitterly thought Jake and co.
"Well. Well. Well, what do we have here? Trespassers," a deep voice that seemed to bring thunder interrupted the conversation.
Two figures appeared at the group's sight. A good-looking middle-aged man and a familiar youth. It was Gavin, the young master of Elliot's family.