"Even if there were only five rings on that target, he would still not have missed a single shot!"
"Here I was thinking we were playing on the same page," Two former competitors were discussing.
Njeru's performance had been so majestic and awe-inspiring that three days after the contest, everyone was still talking about it.
He had not fired a shot beyond below the five-mark ring. Given that they were firing automatic assault rifles, this feat was considerably more amazing.
Nevertheless, the allocation of firearms had been done, now everyone was ready to move out.
Needless to say, Njeru and Warai both got an assault rifle and a handgun. They were both the best performing in the test. Jamie also got a rifle, but Keshi was stuck with a handgun. While her performance had not been up to par with the leaders, she still made the handgun cut.
At the moment, the group was making their way through a forest.
According to the information Chege gave them, they were going to explore some recently discovered ruin.
Newly discovered ruins were the best news for enterprising Guilds and adventurers. It was commonly known that unexplored ruins could hold relics that could be fortuitous to any guild or adventurer.
The problem was, finding an unexplored ruin was always an uphill task. For instance, the ruin that Chege had led his group earlier had been explored then abandoned.
Before their fall and disappearance from the world, ancient humans were great builders and had built grand structures such as bridges, highways and skyscrapers.
When they disappeared, many of these structures remained, giving rise to ruins and relics. In cases where there had been a town or a major city, what remained was referred to as fallen cities.
Such cities retained their structures but had been overridden by monstrosities. In some cases, a warlord would conquer a fallen city and get rid of all the monsters.
Many independent cities such as Rongai city had been built like that. Some of these cities extended to form kingdoms, but that was in faraway lands.
***
Panting, Kola ran as fast as he could, but try as he might, the fiends that were in hot pursuit wouldn't let up.
So far, he was the fastest one in the group. His mates had all dispersed in several directions. He couldn't stop cursing his luck. All four beasts had continued to pursue him.
Creak! Then snap.
The next moment, Kola found himself freefalling down what seemed like a pit. Looking up, Kola was shocked to see the monsters which looked like giant centipedes, three feet tall and about ten meters long, coming down.
The unrelenting beasts would not let their prey run off just like that. Their bodies were quite well suited for this kind of underground activity, so they had quickly followed.
Without any delay, Kola shot up and ran into one of the tunnels leading away from the ruin. Strangely enough, despite it being underground, it was so well lit to a point where it was brighter than the outside.
Of course, Kola did not have time to worry about that for he was busy running for his life. However, the strangest thing happened when he turned back to look at his pursuers.
To his utter shock, the monsters would not pursue him down the hallway he had chosen, only looking at him from a far.
Stunned, Kola stopped to look back, wondering why these seemingly determined monsters had frozen on the spot.
At first, he thought they were incapacitated, but when he got closer, the beasts would growl. Despite all their snarling, they wouldn't take a step closer, as though there was an invisible line that they wouldn't close.
Running out of options, Kola decided to venture deeper into the tunnel. He hoped he could find a way out of the ruins. Deep in his heart, there was a feeling of deep apprehension and dread. Whatever had prevented the monsters from coming in might not take it kindly to his invasion into its territory.
Part of being an adventurer involved taking risks, and no adventurer did not understand that. If he wanted safety, he wouldn't have chosen a life so full of danger.
Kola wouldn't say he was afraid, but a sense of foreshadowing haunted him. He felt as though someone was watching his every move. He feared that an attack could come at any time.
The problem with such hallways was that they had deathly traps. The ancient humans were both smart and suspicious people. Hence, the traps they set were extremely difficult to deal with, some even resulting in the death of an entire team.
While Kola was still deep in his thoughts, he got to a corner that seemed to be at the end of the tunnel. There was only one turn, to the right.
Upon reaching the corner, Kola was apprehensive about making the turn.
The corner led to a doorway that was wide open. However, Kola could not see anything inside since it was pitch black past the door.
It was then that he remembered he was underground and that the light he was using came from the walls of the tunnel. The lights shone brilliantly, and the hallway was especially preserved.
This place did not look like it was underground at all. In fact, if Kola had to be asked, he could guess someone had swept or cleaned the floors that very day.
Since there was only one way, Kola had the option of either moving forward or going back the way he came from. He knew only death awaited him if he went back, so he decided to push forward.
Lighting up a torch that was part of his belongings, Kola decided to enter the ominous door.
The moment he did, the entire room lit up all by itself, exposing the huge hall he found himself in. The space he was in could fit in two football fields placed side by side.
Moreover, this was no cavern, but a space elegantly built. For the life of him, Kola could not tell what this space was for, much less why the ancient humans had bothered to make such a grand place in the middle of nowhere.
Looking around, there was nothing to be found in the entire space, despite it being very well lit. There was not even a layer of dust to be found. Again, this place felt as though it had been properly maintained.