'Umm...Endevil, how did my agility and strength increase?'
[It's how a person builds up muscles through a workout. Thus, the more you use the armour, the deeper the assimilation grows and your strength and agility increase consequently.]
'Ok, noted.'
Adam raised his eyes and saw Aaron and Thalia arguing as to who will become the decoy. Both displayed selflessness and the soldier often interjected with the desire to say that he's got death waiting at his doorstep and he'll do it. But the duo simply scowled at him and shunned his attempt.
"Aaron, what are your strength and agility values?" Adam's voice interrupted their conversation.
"Strength is 78 and agility is 40." The answer came after a brief moment of pause.
At once, the earthling turned to Thalia and probed, to which she replied, "Strength is 69 but agility is 44."
'Seriously?'
The smugness on the elf's face faded the next second as she saw dark lines appearing on Adam's face. "What?" She inquired with a frown.
With a deadpan expression, the earthling summoned his status and displayed it to the doubtful duo.
/◄▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫►\
▹ Name: Adam (26/M)
▹ Race: Zoomorph
▹ Level: 30 [16,072/18,600]
▹ Class: Berserker
▹ Innate Skill: Auto-Healing
▹ HP: 9,627/9,627
▹ MP: 81/81
▹ STR: 103
▹ AGI: 67
▹ INT: 39
▹ A.P: 11
▹ Martial Arts: Unarmed Mastery (D), Spear Mastery (D), Axe Mastery (F).
▹ Magical Arts: ---
\◄▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫►/
"..."
Three pair of baffled eyes stared at the pale blue screen speechlessly.
Doesn't this mean that he's always been more powerful than us?
Wonderment after witnessing such abnormal stat values had flooded their minds and their thought process disappeared behind oblivion. For a moment, the trio was completely clueless as to why they were staring at another man's interface.
"So it goes without saying, I'm the strongest." Adam's voice was like thunderclaps to their ears as they were jolted back to reality. Their widened eyes remained the same and their morale sustained a huge blow!
At once, Thalia realised something. 'If he's stronger than us and is afraid of those beings, even from this distance...'
Beads of sweat began to materialise madly around Aaron's neck as the revelation unfolded. With apprehension and trembling limbs, he derived a statement.
'There's always a bigger fish in the pond.'
"Okay, here's what I'm going to do," Adam spoke and squatted to draw his escape plan on the ground. The loose beneath their feet was a good instrument for illustrations.
The knight commander and the elf no longer had the aura of command above them. Their eyes immediately followed his finger and saw the strategy unveiling.
"We entered the valley through here. On the other side of this narrow passage is another entrance, right here. I'll sneak out through there and run in the opposite direction at full speed. I'll create a ruckus and divert their attention. At that moment all the focus is on me, you three need to dash at the portal. Don't worry about me, I'll curve my trajectory and will eventually join you on the other side."
While giving out instructions, Adam was pointing at several locations in his sketch while simultaneously referring to those in the reality.
The trio's unwavering attention was evident on their faces with unblinking eyes. As soon as he concluded his orders, the trio nodded enthusiastically.
"Questions?" The solemn voice demanded verbalising any lingering uncertainties.
"My condition is not good at the moment. I will only slow them down. Why don't-" Before the soldier completed his request, Adam raised his hand and gestured him to halt his words.
"You may not know, but the most important person that must reach the other side is you.
There are two reasons to justify my statement. One, you fought tarragons alongside us and knew well how tough they were for you, a normal soldier. If you share your experiences with other soldiers, the entire continent might have an option of victory.
Two, you are poisoned and is not doing good. We can't abandon a person just because we assume that they are on the brink of death. Until you're dead for real, there's a chance for curing this affliction. Also, the alchemists and physicians could extract the cause of this bizarre event and might even create an antidote.
To summarise, you are valuable for the continent's wellbeing."
Without bothering to take another glance of the soldier's moist eyes, Adam spoke with his sight skimming over the duo.
"Anything else?" The earthling probed again.
This time, the three shook their heads and indicated that they are ready for the operation.
Adam nodded thoughtfully and stood up. His soundless footsteps swiftly guided him towards the other side of the valley. Peeking out, he confirmed the situation.
"I'll see you all on the other side."
Looking over his shoulder, the berserker spoke in a soft tone and gestured to get ready for the action.
'Ready?'
[Always.]
When the armour's impartial solidarity rang in his ears, Adam took out the helmet. As soon as the gear enveloped his head, he felt his senses sharpened by a bit.
And just as he was about to dash outside to create turmoil, a dull yet intense reverberation swept across them.
[Adam, retreat to the valley and rejoin with the others.]
The timing of the growl and Endevil's sudden alert suggested an ominous turn of events to Adam. Without bothering to question his trustworthy ally, he turned around and dashed at the trio.
"Something isn't right."
As he neared them, Adam saw their perplexed eyes staring at him. Aaron took a step towards the berserker and spoke seriously. He then gestured at Adam to take a look at the portal before waving to come closer.
[Adam, the beasts are returning.]
Before he could peek out and observe the circumstances, Endevil broke the suspense. Thus his eyes weren't as stupefied as the trio staring at the portal with a grimace.
"The beasts seem weakened." The soldier commented in a hushed voice to which Thalia nodded. "As if they lost their vitality." She added.
Adam was absorbed in re-counting the returned number of beasts that he neglected their feeble and trembling physique. After the duo commented, he too noticed the change in their demeanour.
What did the heck happen on the other side that weakened their spirits?
"I think we can skip the decoy part. They are running away from the portal as if escaping from the clutches of death. If we-"
BOOM!
Aaron was about to finish his words when a violent boom emerged from the other side. At once, the squad saw a tombstone falling amidst the trees and shattering the portal into smithereens, like a giant piece of glass.
As the fragmented reality dissipated into thin air, the beasts let out a howl reminiscent of a sigh in relief. Without wasting a moment, they turned around to face the mountain on which the figures stood.
"Dwik sela khamik asooz wki luola..."
A totally indiscernible voice rose into the air. Though the figures stood more than a kilometre away from the survivors, the tone was evidently audible. Not only that, there was a tinge of subtle arrogance and gentle pride embedded in those strange words.
"Now what? The only path to return home is-"
Thalia began to complain but Aaron immediately raised his hand and shushed her. Finding his demeanour scary and serious, she followed his line of sight to see a pair of dragons raising its head from behind the humanoid figure that just talked.
"If my conjecture is correct, then the residents of Stygian Realm did successfully discover a method to corrupt and transform the continent's beasts into their pawns of war." The grimness was evident in Aaron's face. "That also explains why there were so many rifts in the past decades but abnormally fewer casualties." He added.
Thalia seems to have remembered something as her eyes dropped and her fingers rubbed her chin. "Then our mission isn't complete."
Adam and soldier could only stare at one another in wonder what they're talking about. They shrugged at one another incompetently.
This action caught the eyes of Aaron and he turned to them. "Sorry to say this, but we won't be going home anytime soon. Since we don't know about the portal formation procedure, we can only hide and hope that the next portal opens soon."
Adam nodded and replied with a question. "Now what?"
Before the knight commander could respond, Thalia interjected. "The beasts are marching away."
The men poked their heads out and saw the horde of frail and exhausted creatures walking away like a bunch of school students. Their orderly and non-chaotic pacing in a specific direction piqued their attention. Slowly, the beasts began to disappear behind the hill at a distance.
"Let's follow them."
Not bothering to ignite a debate, Thalia, Adam and the poisoned soldier followed Aaron's footsteps. His commanding attitude gave them a breeze of relief and assurance that he's leading them from danger.
Under his guidance, the squad crawled out of the valley. They didn't forget to scout around to detect hostile entities before exiting the passage.