'This isn't working.' Ikaris sighed inside as he felt the panic rising in him.
Or rather, it wasn't nearly as effective as he would have liked. For a few seconds, the deleterious symptoms had subsided, but at the cost of tremendous physical and mental fatigue. It would take him a couple of hours before daring to try a spell of this magnitude again.
By then... his transformation into a Crawling-Thrall would surely have reached a new peak.
'But I can still easily control myself. The problem lies elsewhere.' The boy realized as he opened his eyes again.
Wordlessly, he stood up and headed for the exit of the tent. He had made sure to stop before he passed out this time.
"Where are you going?" Krold barred his way out with his sword.
"Hunting." Ikaris jibed out apathetically.
Right, he was out of food. His Vitality had increased by 5.5 points thanks to the contamination, but it also had a huge downside: He was recovering nearly six times faster than before, but he could feel that his appetite had increased almost as much.
This in turn affected his stamina. He was metabolizing his fats, carbs and proteins more efficiently, but unfortunately he didn't have much weight to lose. At this rate, especially if he was going to practice his new spell as often as possible to suppress the harmful symptoms, he would soon reach his limits.
Ikaris also faced another predicament: He was now a strict carnivore. He knew where to find more Heart Strawberries, but he was getting an overwhelming urge to puke just by remembering the smell of them. He had no doubt that if he tried to eat one he would get a nasty case of indigestion.
"I'll come with you." The warrior imposed with a tone forbidding refusal.
The youth shrugged and left his tent after having equipped his knife, bow and proboscis. With a frown, the barbarian walked after him without ever losing sight of him.
The day's ritual had already passed, but Ikaris and Krold put on ugly faces when they saw that there were only three prisoners. It was the most meager catch since he arrived in this world, and that didn't bode well. The ex-Great Wall soldier alongside him knew full well what the consequences would be and he immediately turned gloomy.
"Tonight, four or five villagers will be selected for blood donation and they will have to take part in the battle tonight alongside the prisoners." Krold whispered near his ear. "Of course, they are entitled to carry weapons and fight, but they are not allowed to light any torches or bonfires for light.
"Why?"
Ikaris shot him an intrigued look to prompt him to continue. He too had realized this matter. Why fight in the dark when lighting a fire would allow the prisoners to see their enemies much more easily? He had thought for a while that it was to hide the Guardians' identity, or to test the prisoners' courage, but there was apparently a deeper reason.
"Because the Crawlers are extremely sensitive to light." Krold revealed darkly. "Some people think they attack at night because they can't stand daylight, but they're wrong. They attack at night because they can see the light of a torch from dozens of kilometers away. Light even one candle in Karragin and all the Crawlers that have crawled up the Great Wall from miles around will swarm the village like a swarm of locusts."
Ikaris shuddered subconsciously as he learned the truth. No wonder Malia and Grallu refused to take such a risk even though it would make it easier for them to fight. It also cemented his conviction to let his Crawling-Thrall transformation succeed rather than reverse it.
The first perk associated with this mutation was Night Vision. Krold hadn't lied when he said that Crawlers were not afraid of light. Now that he was outside, the world seemed bright, too bright, but he didn't feel the need to cover his eyes. In fact, the sun no longer dazzled him either.
When Ikaris and Krold were about to leave the village they came across Toby and his squad who were about to return to the jungle as well. Among them was Oliver, who sneered at him in contempt. Jacob and Bree had also overcome their fear and decided to participate in the morning exploration.
Perhaps thanks to the teenager's warnings, three prisoners had survived the last night. Recognizing the boy, they thanked him from the bottom of their hearts, but that didn't stop them from joining Toby's squad. Gratitude had never helped anyone survive longer.
"Ikaris, you should join a squad if you don't want to be chosen for the ritual." Toby advised him gently.
This former colonel was a hardened, tough thug with his men, but he was surprisingly kind to the kids. Not out of protective instinct, but because they posed no threat to him. In his eyes, the puny teenager was just an insignificant brat, and therefore he felt no danger in his presence.
When Ikaris was about to refuse politely, Krold said coldly,
"He and I are now a new team."
Toby's attitude toward the aborigine took a dramatic turn from his kindness to the boy. Snorting, he retorted crisply,
"In that case, be prepared to offer your blood and life for the village tonight. Your 'team' contributed no prisoners to today's ritual."
Krold's eyes narrowed as he received this thinly veiled threat.
"Are you threatening me?" He growled in a hoarse voice.
Toby grinned broadly in response.
"Only if you want it to be so." He finally retorted with a tinge of ridicule in his voice. "There are only 88 villagers left in the village. Each squad has 8 to 20 members. There are currently seven squads in Karragin. Three squads, including mine, brought back a prisoner today. Yours, whether it's your old squad or this one, did not. That means that the four remaining squads, five with you two, will have to sacrifice a volunteer to fight and die alongside the prisoners tonight. So, do you still think I'm threatening you?"
"Shit!" Krold cursed as he punched the tree closest to him.
This was really some crappy timing. The one day he was leaving his squad it had to be this bad. Now, let alone rely on his companions to bail him out of the ritual, he might lose the respect of his subordinates if he didn't take responsibility.
Ikaris, who had remained silent during their exchange, was focused on something else. When he first arrived in the village, the number of villagers was closer to 100 than 90. If there were only 88 villagers left despite the new additions, then that meant that almost ten men and women had died in a few days.
Only one villager had been accidentally eaten in his tent by a Crawler, which implied that the others had died of starvation or other more or less natural causes. In addition to the Crawlers at night, there were also goblins, kobolds and other human tribes to watch out for during the day.
"If we have to fight we will fight." Ikaris finally declared, marveling at his own detachment as he spoke these words.
With that, he entered the jungle without looking back. As he passed by Oliver, he softly spoke without looking at him, "From now on, you should sleep with one eye open."
Krold was not surprised by the bloodlust glimmering in his eyes, but Toby and the other Otherworlders were unsettled by his shift in disposition.
Oliver, the main one involved, felt his legs wobble with fright and began to wonder if he had made a mistake in stealing the fruit. Then he remembered that he was just a brat and regained his composure.
"It's you who should be more concerned about how you're going to survive tonight's sacrifice. It occurs to me that you've never given your blood." The hairdresser taunted him haughtily, quite happy to have been forced to donate blood the day he was brought here.
It moved his name to the bottom of the list of future sacrifices.
[Transformation 27>28%]
SLAP!
Before anyone could react, a resounding slap rang out from the jungle entrance. As Toby, Krold and the others took in what had just happened, their eyes widened in shock.
Oliver was already lying on the ground spewing blood and several of his teeth, the red imprint of Ikaris' hand all over his swollen cheek. He still had that taunting smile plastered on his face, but his eyes were dazed and confused as if he couldn't process what had just happened.
Who knew a puny kid could slap so hard?
After slapping Oliver, Ikaris immediately regretted his action, internally cursing his transformation's sudden progress. However, rather than apologize insincerely, he ignored the hairdresser and his squad and disappeared into the jungle.
Krold chuckled and gave Toby a defiant sidelong glare, then followed the boy into the jungle. When the village was far behind them, the warrior whispered in a low voice that only he and Ikaris could hear,
"I forgive you for this time, but in the future do not give me a good reason to kill you."