"Is this system nuts?" Harry asked as he stared at Xander's screen.
[Skill: Revive and enslave LV 3 (Active) - Bring back dead creatures back to life with their original strength.
Target must not be six levels above you.
You cannot have more than five undead and you cannot go back and un-enslave them until the skill is ready to evolve.
Undead - (0/5) ]
"And how did the system even harness your arcana?" Harry was now even more confused about how arcana works.
The funny thing was that Xander didn't know much about arcanas except that they grant a human special abilities and powers.
"That's why I concluded that superpowers were involved in making this game become real."
Harry moved away from his friend and began pacing back and forth while he began muttering words that Xander could hear faintly.
"That means I could die in this game. Is the world punishing me for not valuing my family much? I miss them. I've never missed anyone in my life except Xander. I've survived but I always thought that the system was kidding when it said that we'll die and become a sacrifice..."
Xander, seeing his friend become agitated and scared went to wrap his hand around Harry's neck.
"Don't worry. We just have to leave these caves before we use our life stones to get us back to the real world."
Harry saw hope in his friend's words and finally calmed down. And with a subtle smile he nodded.
"The reason I haven't revived any creature is because I want all of them to be powerful and have potential. I don't even know how many times I'll have to upgrade the skill before it evolves." Xander explained.
"Well. We won't find out now."
Just as they were still talking, a seemingly loud roar echoed all around the caves coming from behind them. It sounded scary and a Xander felt a chill as he heard it.
"That sounded... close." Harry said as he looked back into the darkness.
"The minotaur is coming back. We have to move." Xander said and then went back to their temporary camp where Sandra sat and waited for them.
"Did you–?"
"Yes I heard it. We have to move before it finds us again." Sandra said before grabbing the bone torch that was stabbed to the floor and walked towards Xander and Harry.
Harry then brought out the map that was sketched by him and spread it on the floor. Xander and Sandra followed and bent down towards the map.
"We have been through these paths before and there's nothing there except for weird, creepy monsters." Harry said as he traced one of the lines.
Seems like many paths of the cave were all dead ends and Harry and Sandra has already been to many dead ends before.
Xander then noticed that Harry and Sandra was avoiding one path. They didn't even point to it and were looking at other areas.
"Why are you both avoiding this part?" Xander pointed to the part that wasn't completed and had four Xs
Harry and Sandra glanced at each other before both sighed as if calming down.
"He doesn't know. Let's calm down." Harry said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Xander just stared at them with a tired expression. All these time they are wasting they would've talked and left this area and they are using it to breath!
"That area I filled with dangerous monsters of level 10 and above."
Xander didn't still know the reason they didn't want to go there. "Isn't that good? We could kill a lot of monsters and level up and if the minotaur catches up to us we kill it too."
Sandra looked at Xander like as if she just saw a ghost and so did Harry. Both were wondering if Xander has got a few nuts loose in his head.
"Are you crazy? Higher level means much more powerful–"
"Which means much more exp and higher chances of a drop." Xander cut in Sandra's words halfway.
Harry patted Sandra's shoulder with a look that says "I got this."
"Look Xander. We don't want to die in this game. Until we have access to our life stones I will prefer we stay away from monsters." Harry explained.
Xander was now starting to get them. They didn't want to die so they want to stay in hiding, cowering in fear while their enemies laugh at them, inching closer by the day before they get killed, he understood.
"I'm not sure I want to go like that. You guys are just avoiding the inevitable which is to get eaten. If you stand up to your enemies, you would gain more power to survive." Xander said, looking at Harry and Sandra but it looked like both didn't understand what he was saying.
"Look all I'm saying is that. Instead of being hunted, why not become the hunter?"
Both Harry and Sandra raised their brows and Xander smiled, taking that as a sign that they understand what he was saying.
"Why not become the hunter? The reason is simple, death." Sandra retorted hoping to change Xander's mind.
"But if you take the risk you would become stronger and less vulnerable." Xander still persisted.
'Why can't they just think about fighting for once? Or is it me that is acting out of behavior?' Xander thought.
...
"I guess this is goodbye." Xander said as he looked at Sandra who was holding four of the eleven torches and the map that Harry made.
It wasn't easy making an exact copy of the map from animal skin but Harry did it, his drawing skills was off the charts.
"It won't be. I know you both will regret your decisions and come back." Sandra said and then left with one of her torches lighted towards the unexplored region.
Xander only shook his head at the loss of a comrade.
"Bro I still think we should follow where there isn't much danger." Harry's voice came from behind as he put a hand on Xander's shoulder.
As Xander's best friend, Harry naturally followed him as they wouldn't abandon each other.
"What if as she explores she encounters something far worse than what lurks in the place with monsters of level 10 and higher?"
Harry didn't have any answers to that question as he just stared at Sandra as if he just lost a valuable asset.
He didn't just look at her normally, he looked at her as a person who he could probably hit on.
As a teenager who's just coming out of his teenage hood he naturally has this thing in him that makes him attracted to girls.
Not speaking of Xander who doesn't have anything like that. Harry wasn't even sure if Xander was human. He hasn't been sure since Xander almost beat a guy who harassed a girl almost to death.
"Come on bro. Let's get moving." Xander said as he began to head towards the road where high level monsters are.
Xander felt kind of bad for keeping one thing away from his friend. He can't reveal it, no, he can't.
'How do I tell him he can't use his life stones because I touched some strange crystal and triggered a challenge?' He thought as he walked through the dark cave, the sand crunching beneath his feet.
He decided to leave that for now and focus on getting to the said spot to grind their levels there before passing the path completely to see what's further ahead.