The walk back to the cave area was a long and quiet one. This was so because everyone had one or two things on their minds. And while most of them had different worries, there was essentially two thoughts that weighed somewhat heavily on their minds. The first of which had to do with the spar they just witnessed.
There wasn't much to be said about it other than they were confused. They had all come to the knowing that Erwin was arguably the most powerful amongst them all. But seeing as he had struggled, and came off Short to the stranger which they all had eyes on was hard to digest on their part. There was an air of confidence and mystery surrounding the one they saw beat Erwin. And taking a moment to observe how he walked, they couldn't help but slightly feel bitter about this person.
Luke was about to fall on the ground and beg to be swallowed due to the kind of gaze he was getting. Several times on the walk had he tapped his brother, shaw, secretly but the other had paid no mind to information being passed to him. Shaw was basking in the glory of victory and permitted no one to interrupt him.
And just like Luke had suspected, Shaw had gone all out to make sure he paid Erwin back for the stress of the previous day. Even as he had knowledge that the other wasn't exactly at fault for what had happened, he wouldn't let it go just like that. Erwin on the hand particularly was one of the people that had given them the most problem the previous day. So it made sense that Shaw was satisfied that he had subtly paid back for the stress. Although he would have welcomed the idea of possibly paying them all back, he knew better than that. And opportunities for such kind of things were scarcely seen. More reason why he held on tight to the feeling of satisfaction he derived from the victory.
Erwin on the other hand was just as less concerned as he could have possibly been. This wasn't an intentional act on any sort. By no means did he take the loss lightly. But while he would have been worried and probably furious that he had lost, he had more than enough to distract him.
"I can tell he is stronger than I am. But if the system keeps rewarding me like this, there's no telling how strong I can get. I need to grow stronger faster....I have to" Erwin concluded in his mind. And somehow the once neutral smile on his face slowly disappeared just at the conclusion of that thought. Now all he did was have his eyes fixed on the system screen still looking at his reward and wondering just where he would attach the free stat points he had received as reward.
It didn't take long though and they had arrived just at the entrance of the cave to see Yang standing there. But he wasn't alone though, by his side was Mia who had also recovered. And while the twins would have loved to get some words in with Mia, they had something that threw them off. This was Rodney, who was being held in Yang's arms. Apparently, he was yet to wake up still. And the look on Yang's face didn't say all was well. But they needed not ask as Yang was to beat them to the punch.
"We leave...now" Yang had simply said and began to walk away with Rodney who was still pale as ever in Yang's arms. The walk surprisingly was by no means a slow one. As Yang was in the lead and didn't look like he was growing tired at all. Now they were out of the thick dense forest into a made out path, things got a little interesting so to say.
"Hey, where exactly are we headed?" Blair asked and normally, this question would have been directed to Rodney but the other was asleep. So the second best person he would have asked would be Eiko but even he was wise enough to know that with the look on the latter's face, asking him would lead to a dead end.
Asking Yang for Blair was totally out of the question. Not with the mood the other seemed to be in. Even without the atmosphere being the way it was, he would have found it quite difficult to do in the first place. So oddly enough, the one he had ventured to and surprisingly asked was Luke. The reason was quite simple. Luke was always smiling and looked welcoming compared to the rest.
"Oh, you don't know?. Hmm where did you all come from again?" Luke asked inquisitively.
Blair took a moment to answer but finally did..." To be honest, I don't know" Blair had simply said. Of course this had rub Luke off the wrong way. As that slight moment of hesitation before the answer meant something to him. But he wasn't ready to pursue the truth, no, not like he didn't want to know the truth but simply to put it, he was lazy.
Moreover, Blair wasn't exactly lying by saying he had no idea. Their whole existence in this new world could be somewhat described as a rush. Not much detail was given to them and not much detail did they get to pick along the way. They were all simply just doing what was told and what needed to be done in certain situations that they had completely ignored the obvious questions that should have been asked.
"Well this trail leads to lockwood. It's a medium sized city up ahead" Luke answered.
"Wait, there's a city in this ...this place" Corey couldn't just help but over hear their discussion. And since it didn't appear to be a private one at that, he felt they wouldn't mind him joining in.
"Yeah, same reaction when we founder out. Let me guess, you all thought it was the forest alone that existed huh?" They turned around to a different speaker this time. And this was Shaw, identical twin to Luke. He hadn't been speaking much so they all found it weird that he would talk at the particular moment.
"Well err . yeah, that's been basically the idea the whole time" Johan replied.
"No, not at all. This place is bigger than you can imagine" Luke answered with a smile.
"But how, how are they able to program everything to such detail. I mean it would take hundreds of years to get this level of programming right, wouldn't it?" Blaze joined the conversation.
"That's because this isn't a program" Eiko said and paused his steps.
"Guys, we are in another dimension. A world of its own, just like earth" Eiko ended up saying.
And for a brief moment, they all paused and faced him. Then shortly after they all erupted into a short laughter that ended immediately as it began. One because they noticed Eiko wasn't laughing which meant he was serious about what he had said. And the other because they found out that the two boys who actually seemed to know something about this place weren't laughing as well. The whole thing at that point was now becoming scary and hard for them to take in.
"So if we're in another world as you say, a real one and not just some program, what's the name of this world?" Blair asked.
"Well, the locals refer to this world as NEW DELTA" Luke answered.
"Stop!!!"
"Stop!!!"
And just as these shouts of order was heard, about twenty or so men emerged from strategic locations and had them all surrounded. These men were seemingly wearing uniforms that would look like military wear back on earth. Black long sleeves and pants with brown patterns on it that would help a great deal for camouflage. But oddly, this was ruined with the red stars that went down each sleeve. And they all held weapons on them ranging from long swords to short ones, Maces, and a bunch of other weaponry in their possession.
"May we be of help to you?" Yang finally spoke up to the men.
"We need everyone to cooperate with us and no harm will come to you. This is strictly protocol being carried out here. We request that all items on you be displayed forth for proper search before you can proceed further into the city" one of the men said in a loud voice so he could be clearly heard.
"And may I know on whose authority?" Yang asked again.
"This is the seven star faction. Comply with this protocol swiftly" another man spoke up.
"Hahaha...the seven stars?. If I do remember correctly, wasn't the leader apparently executed for treason?. And how come you are guarding the city so far out?" Yang said. The kids at the back had zero idea of what was happening but they did know what was about to happen as all the men drew their weapons.
"Cast away..." Yang said just loud enough for the kids behind him to hear and wonder what that meant.
"Hold him, I'll deal with this" Yang turned and said passing Rodney to Eiko. And just like that, men came from all sides.