Approaching the camp the first thing that Diedrich noticed was that there were defensive structures.
A few trees had been cut down and placed on top of each other in stacks of three, although not majorly helpful it mostly prevented monsters from being able to swarm the camp, and made them have to go in between the structures.
Once he got closer he found someone patrolling the area, looking at the person for a few seconds Diedrich recognized who it was and immediately felt some relief as it was Emma.
Last time when Diedrich had helped survivors reach this area he had also looked around for her and her friend in the group but couldn't find them and thought something might have happened to them, however now seeing her alive he was glad.
As Diedrich approached her, Emma also noticed him at first she couldn't really recognise him due to them only having met for like an hour, and the fact that Diedrich's original coarse clothes were practically gone with only his shirt being semi intact while his pants were replaced with a beast hide, however once she did she smiled.
They both greeted each other and talked about a few things. Diedrich asked how the camp had being. Emma thought nothing about the question and answered thinking Diedrich only just found this camp.
The group had apparently doubled in size; there were now approximately 2,000 people. Emma said she joined on the second day so Diedrich just missed her when he left.
Emma also told Diedrich that they were attacked a few times by goblins, yesterday there was a big battle where a group of 400 goblins had attacked them, luckily due to previous fights they had the foresight to place defenses around the base, and they were able to beat the goblins with everyone working together, they did have 2,000 people so it wasn't too difficult, however a few people still died and got injured which put the group in a small period of mourning.
Although the past five days were hectic it had caused a lot of people to be able to level up, leading to almost half of the people in the camp reaching a star, Emma said that she had two stars which was pretty rare at the camp and only about 50 people had gotten that, so she boasted a little bit about it.
Apparently, the past five days of continuous life and death challenges had made her less shy. Emma also told him that one person had gotten 3 stars and he was the leader of the group, Diedrich was surprised to find out it was George and chuckled a bit.
As Diedrich passed the barricades and entered the camp with Emma, Diedrich was shocked to see that many people were sitting on the ground looking lifeless and sullen, Emma saw Diedrich's weary gaze and immediately added that they had found out that people who didn't have a star were all feeling incredibly hungry, people who only had one star also felt a bit hungry but it was still manageable.
Diedrich was a bit surprised but it answered his question as to why he didn't really feel any hunger over the past five days, as for the reason why only people with a star didn't feel hungry he guessed the trail wanted more people to actively fight.
Although Diedrich did find something peculiar though.
"Has no one tried to eat the goblin meat?"
Emma cringed a bit hearing the question but replied " Someone did try it, however the taste was apparently so awful that the guy who tried it had to puke continuously for 10 minutes, after that people decided they'd rather starve, the trial is only five day's so they wouldn't die of starvation anyway".
At this moment Emma noticed that Diedrich also didn't look like he was starving and wanted to ask him what his star level was, however someone interrupted her.
"Diedrich"
Diedrich looked over and was surprised to see George, George appeared to have come back from some an excursion as he and a group of people were walking back from the forest into the camp while they were covered in blood.
When Emma heard George say Diedrich's name she was able to put two and two together and finally realised that Diedrich was the person who had technically started this group and had brought everyone here. Although she came on the second day she had heard of the story from others who spoke pleasantly about him.
Surprised Emma continued to listen to George and Diedrich speak.
Diedrich asked what they had hunted and George said a bit agitated that they wanted to explore the goblin layer and see if there was any loot down there, so after defeating a lot of goblins to reach the lair they only found a massive goblin who they presumed to be the goblin leader laying dead on the ground and no treasures.
Diedrich felt a bit awkward
"That's my fault, I killed the goblin leader, should have probably said something, ha ha",Diedrich said faking a laugh at the end.
The whole group instantly went quiet, looking at Diedrich in shock.
George quickly asked perturbed "How many stars do you have"
Scratching the back of his head Diedrich answered "4"
This caused another wave of shock to befall the people, as they knew how strong George was while he only had three stars, so Diedrich with four had to be a monster.
Emma felt a bit embarrassed that she had boasted to Diedrich about having 2 stars, as she knew how difficult it was to gain 3, and four was a very terrifying figure.
The group looked at Diedrich with more respect, although they had received help from him before and he wasn't obligated to stay, they thought if he had stayed, the past few days could have gone by easier, however that was just their own selfishness and now they had completely forgotten about it.
While walking further into the camp Diedrich talked to them and Emma, he told the group about what he had been through, while listening they became even more admiring as he had fought several life and death battles where if they were in his place, they would have surely died.
The group also noticed that unlike most of them who held daggers and spears, Diedrich was carrying a stone sword which looked pretty badass.
Diedrich told them about the orcs, and also asked them something he was curious about which was if they had run into the earth wolf which he had not encountered yet, but they said they hadn't, leaving Diedrich's curiosity unsatisfied.
Diedrich decided not to tell them about the cubes as he hadn't found out if they had a purpose, and he thought it also might be important so he only told them that the cubes simply exploded.
After telling his story there was only about 30 minutes of sunlight left, Diedrich looked at Emma and finally noticed that someone was missing and asked "Where is Sophie?".
Emma's mood immediately soured and Diedrich seeing this made him fear the worst however she explained that Sophie had gotten severely injured at the big battle against the goblins, and was only alive because she managed to get a star.
Diedrich felt sorry for her and parted from the group with Emma to see her.
Although Diedrich did not particularly care much for any of them he found the conversation pleasant and was glad that no one he had come in contact with had died.
Once arrived he saw Sophie laying on a bed made off a mix of leaves moss, there were about twenty others also laying on such beds in similar conditions as Sophie.
Sophie was in a bad state having a deep cut on her leg and shoulder through which you could almost see bone.
Although her leg looked to be healing, her shoulder seemed like it wouldn't be able to function anymore without proper medical treatment.
When she saw Diedrich and Emma approaching she was surprised to see Diedrich, she craned her neck up a bit and said hello.
Diedrich, seeing that she was struggling to put her head up told her to take it easy, so she put her neck back down and they started talking, although it was mostly Diedrich and Emma as Sophie didn't seem to have the energy to, and instead pleasantly listened to the both of them sometimes adding short comments or questions.
Diedrich thought he had formed a friendship between himself and these two ladies and was quite happy, as he hadn't made many since moving to England.
They talked until the sun set and then suddenly while in the middle of a conversation everything went dark.
Emma: "So what was your favorite movie"
Diedrich: "Ohhh, definitely Jurassic pa"
Ding "Trail has ended"