Let alone Keshi, who was on the verge of death a moment ago, even Kilem was struck dumbfounded. No one had envisioned such a swift and definitive attack from the one person who had been little more than dead weight all this time.
From the moment they met Njeru, they had concluded he was but a simpleton. The only reason they kept him along was that they felt he must be more than he presented himself.
His bearing, statue, and body were not something a hermit he seemed to be would have. His whole aura was quite similar to that of the lords that walked the cities. Even though he was lost, he didn't seem that bothered.
However, none of them had thought that this simpleton would wake up at a time like this, much less do what they had failed to do in such a cool and decisive way.
As for Njeru himself didn't know what the others were thinking, just exceedingly happy to have contributed.
During the fight, he had been told to stand back. All that time, he had watched as his teammates were battered by the monster, completely unable to help.
While he had been helpless, he was not idle. The one thing he had proven he was good at was pattern recognition. After observing the beast as it fought, he had realized that it was doing its best to protect the area around its neck.
Every time someone got close, it would dodge and then vehemently counterattack. Time and time again the beast kept itself protected as it attacked, exposing its weakness.
One time, Jamie got close with her daggers, but the beast had intentionally blocked her advance before going to take a bite.
Another thing he had realized was that given the shape and orientation of the scales, where he shot from behind, he could penetrate the scales in between the gaps under the bigger scales.
This was how he found the weak point and was able to stab at the beast, penetrating just between the scales.
What he didn't know was that he was extremely strong, stronger than most humans.
However, their brief moment of pleasure was instantly disrupted by another ear-piercing screech. Something angry was coming for them, probably a relative of the monster they just killed.
"Njeru, we have to rely on you!" Ruitha said in a surprisingly sincere tone.
To this, Njeru let out a confident smile as he strode towards the coming beast. By now, he had mastered the dead beast's movement and attack patterns, so he was confident of taking on the newcomer.
Swish!
The monster's neck glands were pierced through a single swing, the blade drilling deep into the beast's cranium.
It took the group several moments before they could recover from the shock, and a few more to get themselves up and running once more. This time around, they all had a newfound respect for their newcomer, even Ruitha hesitating before calling him, Njeru.
They couldn't stick around in the tunnel for too long given that it was a kill box. They were severely exposed and didn't even have a light.
The group got on their feet once more and made their way deeper into the tunnel. After what seemed like an eternity, they came upon a large carven that extended forward like a large hall.
One look at the hall and one would think that it was man-made, a fact that seemed to shock the team. Njeru had no opinion on the matter either way.
The hall even had lamp-like objects hanging from the ceiling, but sadly, it was still bleakly lit by the torches the group members were using.
"Njeru, lead the way," Chege's voice was a lot softer than usual. Not that he was capitulating, just being smart. You use the big guns first, and so far, Njeru was the team's biggest gun.
Fortunately, all their worries were unfounded. This carven seemed to have been home to the two beasts, and no other beast dared lurk around. They didn't even find rats, assuming the rats wouldn't dare come close to the lair of these beasts.
After searching the carven for a while, they eventually found a metallic box tucked away in some corner. The box looked ancient, as though it had seen several centuries.
"No way! Could the package we are looking for be connected to ancient humans?" Keshi asked excitedly. Even the usually withdrawn Jamie was extremely excited.
While they knew that what they were looking for was valuable, this new piece of information made the package all the more valuable and mysterious.
Anything connected to ancient humans was extremely valuable, even after several millennia had passed. There were still signs of their advancements. There were still ruins that remained of large cities that these humans had created.
Some powerful lords had sort to rebuild these ruins and cities. Everyone knew the story of ancient humans. To some, it was a tale of man's glorious era, to others, a cautionary tale to show how man's greed if left unchecked, could destroy the world.
Of all present, only Amaya remained clueless about the tale and ignorant of who ancient humans were. Despite that, even he could tell from his companion's reaction that this was indeed a valuable treasure.
Chege swung his broadsword down, hacking the box's lock mechanism. However, no matter how much they hacked at it, the little silver box would not break open.
Finally, after several minutes of whacking at the box, it flew open, revealing its contents for all to see.