"Kazo!"
I turned my head and saw Arga already standing in the distance.
"Arga? What is he doing here?" I muttered in surprise. Because he should be camping with his friends right now. But what I saw was Arga, standing with a surprised and scared face. Not to mention his messy appearance and also the breath that was gasping like he had run a race.
"Arga, why are you..."
"Run!!!"
Arga shouted before I could finish my sentence. I was confused and didn't understand, but what happened next was completely unexpected. I suddenly felt a strange aura around me.
I glanced at the punk girl who had been standing in front of Dad's stall. This happened suddenly, I saw with my own eyes the girl bounce until she fell into the pile of garbage in front of the stall. It was like a strong gust of wind had hit her body.
But before the girl fell she had thrown a sharp object, darting at a speed I couldn't calculate. And if I hadn't ducked immediately, the knife might have been stuck in my head.
What was that? I almost lost my heart. That girl had just attacked me with the knife she had just asked me about. But I didn't have time to think any further and tried to brush off the tremors in my body due to the feeling of fear. I immediately ran around the room to the other exit before the girl got up and attacked with another knife.
I went out and immediately grabbed the bicycle that I had placed beside the stall. Sure enough, the girl had already gotten up with a face that looked angrier than before.
"Kazo, hurry!" Arga shouted. I immediately pedaled the bike towards Arga who looked impatient. With one jump he was already standing on the back saddle while looking at the girl. Meanwhile, I was still trying to master my nervousness. There were so many things I wanted to ask and Arga seemed to know all the answers.
"Who is she, do you know her?" I shouted while continuing to pedal.
"She's an explorer Arya. I don't know why she showed up here either." Arga replied with an ambiguous sentence that made me frown even more.
"Arya's explorer? What do you mean I don't understand?!"
"I told you to read the book, and you'll understand. But wait! Don't tell me you brought the book out!" Arga exclaimed while patting my shoulder.
"What book?"
"Porta Loka!"
Hearing that, I immediately gasped and remembered that the girl had also mentioned the name of the place in the fairy tale book.
"Yes, it's in my pants pocket."
"What? Didn't I tell you not to bring it anywhere? And now they all know where we are." Arga exclaimed angrily.
"So what? I don't understand any of this. The ancient fairy tale book, Porta Loka and that strange girl. What does it mean?" I shouted equally annoyed.
"I told you it's not a fairy tale. That book is a genuine object of Porta Loka, and since no spell can seal it that's why I forbade you to bring it out of Aras. Because Arkala can smell its existence," Arga explained, making me look even more like a fool.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand, where is there such a place in this world?"
"There is, since you were born there too, you idiot! Now let's go back to Aras, quickly!"
"But..."
BOOM!
Before I could finish my sentence, a strange object that looked like a boomerang hit the road in front of us, causing a loud explosion. I braked the bike quickly, lucky it didn't hit us.
"What's this again?"
"Damn, I thought it was just one Arya but it turned out to be three. Turn around Kazo, now!"
Without asking, I immediately turned around and went around another bend in the road. I had caught the shadows of two men standing behind the smoke carrying strange objects like boomerangs and also a large long axe.
Not to mention the appearance of the two people who were as eccentric as the girl at the stall earlier. Their bodies were far from normal human size. One was very tall, probably more than two meters. But the other one was quite normal and had a huge body.
"Are they in the same group as that girl?" I asked as I continued to pedal my bicycle, looking for a way into the Aras settlement. The settlement was very close, but in a panic, I pedaled away from the settlement.
And to my surprise, the place was quite crowded with people. But somehow they were completely unaffected by the chaotic incident that had just happened. It was even as if nothing had happened.
"Yes. It's obvious they're the Arlo."
"Arlo? What else is it, you said they were Aryan explorers?"
"Aryan is the name of their nation. While Arlo is the caste, those who rely on weapons are called Arlo. Faster Kazo, they're getting closer!" Arga patted my shoulder as he kept looking back.
I've been trying to pedal faster to find the nearest road to the Aras settlement.
But again the two men caught up with a running speed that was too fast for ordinary humans. And now the other man managed to swing his axe that easily cut through any object.
Even that thing could easily cut through a concrete fence that was almost twenty centimeters thick. Arga and I tried to avoid it as much as possible.
But the girl at the stall suddenly appeared from the front as I turned the last corner. And this was the last and closest road to the Aras settlement.
"Damn. That girl's here again!" I exclaimed as I put the foot brake on the bike. There was no way out anymore because it was a narrow alley flanked by three-meter-high concrete walls. And the only way was now blocked by the punk-clad girl.
"Forward Kazo!" Arga ordered.
"Are you crazy? Didn't you see the knife that girl was carrying?" I argued while staring at the girl standing at the end of the alley with a large knife in her hand. It wasn't the knife at Dad's stall, but a large, strange-looking knife that almost resembled a sword in length.
"That's a Dagger. One of the powerful weapons of the Arlo whose blade can pierce through concrete as well as iron of any thickness. Because the horrible thing about that weapon is that it can melt anything it touches and can also slash from a distance of more than two hundred meters," said Arga which immediately made my eyes round in surprise.
"Then why are you still sending me forward if you already know the danger of that thing? Do you want to kill yourself?"
"Do you have a choice? Fight back or you die here!"
I was still considering Arga's words, trying to find another solution. But honestly, I couldn't think straight. And now the two men had appeared at the end of the alley behind us. Likewise, the punk girl walked closer with an angry expression on her face.
"Just give up and come with us! If you comply, maybe the King will commute your sentence," she said as she raised her weapon, ready to slash if we resisted.
"Then you think we'll come with you? Go ahead Kazo, leave the rest to me!"
"But what can you do?"
"Trust me and just go forward. Now!"
I stared intently at the girl. The strange aura I felt at the stall earlier is now back and getting stronger. Even though I didn't know if it was real or not, at least I had to start learning to trust. Did Porta Loka exist? I was determined not to die here and would look for that answer later.
Without another thought I pedaled quickly, speeding towards the punk girl who was now ready with her weapon. Sure enough, she immediately slashed her knife, causing a sharp gusting sound that aimed right in front of us.
"Arga!"
"Get down!"
The sound of sharp objects clashing could be heard above my head. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it as Arga tried to block the girl's slash with his bare hands. Or rather with the air element of great power coming out of his bare hands. He blocked the girl's knife slash with balanced and calm movements. Clanking sounds were heard endlessly above me which made my focus become distracted.
"Focus on the road Kazo!" shouted Arga.
"B-but how did you do that?" I asked nervously.
"Don't you forget? I can always play with the air," he said casually. Arga again swung his hand with a faster movement that turned the situation around and overwhelmed the girl. Arga straightened her body and made a position like an archer.
"Yajirushi!"
Then suddenly a huge whirlwind formed right in front of me. I felt amazed and nervous as I watched the vortex grow larger and even devour the surrounding concrete walls. The wind grew larger and blacker until it formed the shadow of a large eagle with outstretched wings destroying the remains of the concrete walls around us.
"Eat her Aquila!" Arga shouted while releasing his archery position which immediately shot with tremendous speed towards the punk girl who seemed to widen her eyes because she didn't have time to prepare a fight.
DUAR
The sound of explosions shattered the street in front of us until the walls around were all shattered and collapsed.
"Oh no!" I shouted as the bike tires hit the potholes caused by Arga's attack. Not to mention the shards of crumbling concrete that hit us right underneath.
"Don't stop Kazo!"
I tried to find my way amidst the smoke and dust that was still rising from the attack. I vaguely saw an opening at the end of the alley, it was the Aras settlement which was located right at the end of this alley.
"We're here. Hold on..."
I lost control when the bike tire hit a hard object right in the middle of the road. Making me and Arga bounce far away and fall on the broken asphalt road with a loud noise.
Continued...