"That's it, that's all we've risked life and limb for?" Ruitha was the first to break the silence, but he spoke what everyone present was thinking.
"Boss, please tell me there's more," Ruitha went on, hoping to prove for more. In his mind, the thing that had fallen out of the silver case was nothing more than a piece of jewelry made up of glass.
Some green stuff and some wires were running through inside, making the entire thing look beautiful. However, in terms of real value, none could explain what this was. They all assumed it was just another one of those relics that ancient humans left behind.
"Nevermind that, as long as we get paid," Keshi said. Quite frankly, she didn't care about the value of the objects she retrieved, as long as she got paid for her work.
Like most people caught up in this age, the group lived in equal parts awe and hatred. They were in awe of all that the ancient humans had managed to build.
Some reclaimers who had been able to rebuild some of the ancient humans' inventions made top dollar selling their inventions.
The hatred was because they blamed them for destroying the world, and spoiling their inheritance. Not that the people of this age had much to complain about, after most humans were killed, the world was able to reboot, bursting in greenery and teeming with life. It seemed a good cleansing of humans was what was required.
"Let's get out of here," Chege said as he picked up the orb and wrapped it with a piece of cloth. However, just as he was about to store it, Njeru reached out and grabbed it.
"What are you doing!" Shocked, Chege and the rest raised their weapons, but Njeru didn't pay them any heed. He was enamored by the little orb.
Unlike others, he could hear a low faint humming coming from inside the orb. He very much wanted to investigate this humming sound. It did not sound threatening, only welcoming.
The moment he unveiled it, even the others gasped in surprise. The orb was glowing. In Njeru's hands, the orb was glowing.
"What did you do?" Chege demanded as he grabbed the orb from Njeru's hand. The orb stopped glowing, and the green hardware inside the glass could be seen.
"Nothing, I just touched it," Njeru answered innocently.
"What do you know about this thing?" Ruitha.
"Nothing, I just like the sound it produces."
"What sound?"
"You guys hear anything?"
After going round and round with their questioning and realizing that Njeru knew nothing about the stone, or wouldn't tell them a thing, they stopped questioning him. However, they remained very wary of him.
That being said, they were grateful to him for saving their lives. Passing the huge animals, there was no way they would let the monsters go.
It took them a few days to finish skinning the lizard beings off their scales and claws. Each of these hides would be used to make armor and weapons which were extremely valuable.
Given that Njeru was the one who secured the kills, all this should have been his, but since he didn't know the rules, the group was happy to take advantage.
The trek was long, but the group was in much higher spirits. Having completed the mission, they knew they were going to receive a big payday. Many were discussing how they will spend their earnings. The whores were going to have a busy day, it seemed.
As for Njeru, he had gained the respect of the men he was with, so they were not going to sell him off, or do whatever they had planned to do with him when they first met.
Chege was already planning on how he would rope Njeru into his group of adventurers.
After the great war, humanity and the world, in general, struggled to survive the apocalypse that had been brought about by ancient humans.
As the survivors tried to make ends meet, they salvaged whatever they could from the ruins left behind. Sometimes, they would stumble on powerful weapons, other times, they ended up with useless things that looked extremely valuable.
All in all, there were scores of such groups. They couldn't be called prospectors since they weren't going in mines, but in ruins that looked more like dungeons and that housed monsters and deformities, products of the apocalyptic era.
As such, the term adventurers was coined to refer to these groups. Currently, Chege and his group were the Chege Adventurer Team. They were not that great a number, but their cohesion and understanding made them quite good.
Chege had built the team, training them and arming them. He had invested his life savings as well as his training in the army to produce a powerful team. Each of them would be considered elites by now.
Powerful guilds had even tried poaching them, but they remained loyal. The team was on the ascendancy, hence they had received such a generous offer.
However, in this business, one day they were shining bright, the next they were forgotten. They had to remain relevant and keep the meals on their table.
What he needed was another powerful member, and he did not mind nurturing him. Already, he had seen potential in the man, despite the many mysteries surrounding him.
If he could get him to join the team …