The whole bustling crowd grew silent. The young women and the older girls all turned to face Yargol with piercing gazes. Glasha' face became flushed. Yargol's face was a mix of betrayal and shock, while Mikhail's face was pure shock.
He really did it!
Glasha turned to Yargol. "Did you really?" she said, her voice bashful.
"No wait- I didn't mean to offend you!"
"So you did."
Mog started snickering to himself. Yargol had become so flustered that he couldn't even deny it properly. And now Mikhail looked at Mog like he was a monster. His friend was about to become a social outcast and he was chuckling!
Silence reigned in the crowd. Everyone was waiting for Glasha's judgement.
She then sighed. "It's alright, if it's you… Return it to me when you get the chance so one of the adults doesn't beat your ass. We'll talk more about this in private."
Double gasp! What was this wild ass turn of events?! Mikhail's face shifted once again to pure shock! It looked like Mog's revenge backfired! At least, that's what he thought initially.
When he looked over to Mog, he saw something crazy.
Mog had a knowing smile as he watched the events unfold before his eyes…
The crowd's chatter grew alite due to the recent turn of events. Meanwhile, Mikhail finally tied the leather pouch he had gotten earlier onto his pants. He also gave Mog his armor, and he put it on while narrowing his eyes at Mikhail.
Soon after, the rest of the guys joined the group.
A little while later, the rest of the guys showed up, geared up and ready for the hunt.
"You chose to wield a spear too?" Kegth said as he walked over together with Yatur.
They were carrying weapons on them like everyone else. Yatur had a strange, wavy looking sword made of sharpened bone. Kegth was wielding a spear that looked identical to the one at Mikhail's side.
"Damn straight I did," Mikhail said, raising his spear up with a smirk.
Kegth gave a thumbs up with his free hand, revealing a wide smile.
"Looks like we'll be working together in that case! Man, I hope we find a Kryptodrakon or some other kind of poultry, I'm craving that delicious airborne meat right now…"
"What was that stuff we were eating last night?" Mikhail asked as Mog and Yatur were drawn to another conversation happening nearby.
"Spinosaur meat… We've been stuck eating the damn stuff for the past three weeks because of how big that last bastard was. It's not bad, but fuck am I tired of it already."
Mikhail shrugged his shoulders.
"I wouldn't mind more of it personally, stuff tastes pretty good."
"Give it some time, you just got here. Because trust me dude, you won't be saying that after three weeks," Kegth said with a sigh.
A little while later, the last few people entered the small crowd of hunters. At that point, Glasha finally got off the ground, picking up the battle axe that had been sticking out of the ground at her side.
"Listen up, everyone! We'll be moving further out into the west near the bank of the river! I know a lot of you are sick of Spinosaur meat, but you're going to have to suck it up unless we get lucky and stumble on a Kryptodrakon nest!"
A series of complaints resounded out, but Kegth just sighed.
"Cross your fingers," Mikhail said as he turned to him with a bit of a smirk.
Kegth did so with a raised eyebrow.
"Ok… But why am I doing this?"
Mikhail face palmed. "...It's a symbol of good luck."
Kegth narrowed his eyes as he looked down at his fingers. "If you say so, weirdo."
"Everyone got those complaints out of their system?!"
A series of half hearted confirmations resounded out.
"Alright! Everyone, follow me!"
Glasha moved through the crowd as a path opened up for her, with Mikhail and Kegth allowing her to pass as they stepped to the side. Yatur and Mog walked past them, following close behind her.
"Stay safe, fools!" Mog said as he passed, with Mikhail needing to step back again to avoid getting smacked by the hammer resting on Mog's shoulder.
Pomf.
"What the hell? Who do you think you are!"
Mikhail turned back to look at the person he stumbled into, and his eyes narrowed. Murzol shrunk as that angry gaze focused on him.
"Ah… My apologies…"
Murzol and his posse quickly joined the leaving group, mixing with them and disappearing from Mikhail's sight in a matter of moments.
"What an annoying lot," Mikhail said as he too began walking forward.
"Oh yeah, man. You've got no idea," Kegth said with a sigh.
The two quickly joined up with the group of hunters, carefully holding their spears so that the tip was pointed upwards rather than at anyone in the group.
In seemingly no time at all, the hunters arrived near the river. It was out of sight due to the forest's cover, but they could hear it rushing nearby.
Glasha raised her hand so that everyone in the crowd could see it, three fingers raised from her balled up fist.
Mikhail turned to Kegth with a raised eyebrow.
"Formation three… Bow users at the front, spear users behind them, and the heavy hitters behind us," Kegth answered with the faintest whisper he could muster. Mikhail nodded in response, following Kegth to the second line of attack.
Soon, the formation took shape before they slowly continued their march, careful not to make too much noise. There were around fifty people in the formation, but somehow, the only person making noise was Mikhail.
A twig snap here and there, the occasional crunching of dried out leaves elsewhere…
Mikhail felt his face heat up from annoyance as he got the occasional dirty glare, ones that he didn't hesitate to return in kind.
'Cunts. What, am I supposed to be perfect at this immediately or something?'