It's crazy how adaptable humans are, even in the craziest situations. All you had to do was just bend them and that moment you thought that they were going to break they evolved into something more.
It's surprising because if I heard Paula say something like that, I would ignore it and assume it was just one of her negative thoughts. But look at the situation that I found myself in; something that isn't supposed to even exist at all.
Even though my friends and I have been close to death many times, we somehow managed to avoid perishing each time.
I observed the two of them as we strolled away from the open area and headed toward the path ahead. The path wasn't necessarily a straight clear path devoid of trees.
In fact, we just hoped that we weren't returning to the start of the forest where we had come from. But that was only what we could do; hope.
As usual, Hassan took the lead, and the two of us followed closely behind him at a slow pace.
Although, Sky was slightly by his side.
I watched him and observed something that hadn't come to mind ever since the fight with the mad king of ice bears. His winter cloak was still roughly intact; it was just like the ones that Sky and I wore.
Even his winter hat was still on his head and never left It throughout the fight.
' What a menace ' I thought.
I also wondered how he became so skilled at fighting, especially at such a high level. I knew it had to do with his exclusive skill as a swordsman but then he should be a beginner like me with the exclusive skills that I had.
I wasn't nearly as proficient with any of my skills as Hassan was with his swordsmanship.
" Hey, Hassan" I called out to him. This made him stop in his tracks and turned around. He could still listen while he walked but I didn't bother him about that. I have an important question to ask.
"Did you get any other exclusive skill?"
When I posed the question, a brief, fleeting expression appeared in his eyes, but it was so quick that I wondered if it had ever been there. It seemed like skepticism.
I wondered why he was doubtful. Did he think I might use the knowledge of his skills for something?
"Why do you want to know ?"
'Weird ' I thought.
He had already answered the question but it wasn't fully answered. By answering the question with another one there was no doubt that he had another exclusive skill in his Arsenal.
Exclusive skill or skills... That was what I could not tell.
" Well, I'm just curious. " I said but that wasn't convincing enough to whatever doubt he harbored in his mind.
He turned and started walking forward as though he hadn't been asked any questions.
A wave of anger washed over me. Even though I was close to someone who was an expert at ignoring people that didn't mean I was immune to the anger that it ignited in my mind.
"Hmmm" the sound reverberated in my mouth and I made sure the sarcasm behind the sound was well communicated.
What was so special about exclusive skills?
"What's up with this exclusive skill?" Sky asked as we walked behind Hassan, the abnormally secretive fellow. She was the only one amongst us that didn't have an exclusive skill.
"Nothing. " He said.
"Then why are you making it sound like a big deal?" I asked
"What about you? Did you get any new skills?" Hassan asked me as he turned back to look at me.
"I have two skills. Mind transfer and Telepathic warrior. There's nothing serious about it. " I said as my face showed all the signs of irritation.
Hassan smiled as if he had achieved something.
Then he turned to continue walking "Well, yeah. I did get two more exclusive skills. " When he said this he turned again and gave me a sly smile.
Why was he behaving like that? I couldn't tell what the reason was but somehow it felt like there was something he wanted to say to me.
" I didn't know you were this dramatic," I said to him as I hurriedly walked past him. I made one of the medieval torches materialize into my hand and it guided my path...
I avoided some trees that blocked the way but walked in the direction that he was going.
I didn't want to know what his exclusive skills were again.
"Hey, Jess! I was messing with you" Hassan said from behind.
That wasn't a funny joke.
"I have two new exclusive skills," he said as he picked up his pace to reach me. He chuckled softly, giving his face an unusual look, quite different from his usual indifferent expression.
"Okay. I don't mind if you don't want anyone to know. It's not like I'm going to do anything with your exclusive skills" I said.
Jokes hid truths in them and so I had to make him know that I wasn't an enemy. Besides what could I even do with his exclusive skills?
Did he think I would tell the creatures that he fought so they would know what to expect? What a ridiculous assumption...
"Wait," I interrupted as he was about to speak. I thought I heard a noise in the background, so I tuned into our surroundings, but I didn't hear anything significant.
" What is it?" Sky asked.
" I thought I heard something but there is nothing there," I said then turned to Hassan "I don't know why you're being so suspicious but you know that we are literally in this strange place together. "
"I was just kidding," he said, and there was a trace of regret visible on his face.
All the suspicions I had initially seen on his face had disappeared, replaced by a sensation similar to what you feel when you accidentally say something you shouldn't have.
"I get"
EXCLUSIVE SKILLS:
Swordsman
Essence manipulation
He finally said what they were but I didn't ask what their description was. I didn't even ask him why he said two out of the three skills. He had already made the whole thing such a big deal...
'Hassan, Hassan ' I thought to myself.
What a strange fellow. He reminded me of many individuals I had encountered before—people with deep trust issues who believed others were plotting against them.
To some extent, I was just like them. That's why I hadn't revealed that I possessed some special items.
There wasn't any logical justification for it, apart from my deep-seated distrust of others.
After that, we walked in silence.
When my medieval torch went off I slowed down and waited for Hassan...
That was a significant mistake on my part. Traveling in groups was safer than going alone because it made one a less tempting target...
Soon, I realized that we had become too complacent because we hadn't come across any creatures apart from the mad king of the ice bears.
As we walked I also sincerely hoped that we weren't walking in circles because I had no single experience finding by way in places like this...
And I started to lose hope...
It bore the same look as the expansive snow region we had come out from... Don't get me wrong but the forest was covered with snow to an extent, but not as much as the region outside the forest...
Navigating through that region was extremely exhausting because it felt like we were going nowhere, even though we had no specific destination in mind. However, the forest turned out to be even more challenging.
"Let's rest a bit," Sky said, conveying what I had in mind.
The journey had dragged on for what felt like an endless period, and my limbs were on the verge of giving out as if they might shatter.
When I glanced at Hassan, his expression remained composed, and he didn't appear to be breathing heavily like Sky and me.
"Yes, let us," I said
"Okay," Hassan said almost immediately after I said the three words... The response was too fast ... It sounded like he was trying to not get on my nerves by doing what I wanted to do...
In reality, he hadn't forced us to follow him; we were free to make our own choices. However, he had unofficially become the pillar and leader of the Cohort, so we naturally sought his guidance and relied on his ideas.
"Alright," was all I said as we sought refuge beneath the closest tree.
There were three trees near themselves that they made a small hidden clearing in the middle for people like us to hide... We couldn't be spotted till a few steps away from the tiny clearing that is if our noise didn't give us away.