"You are just finding reasons to hide your laziness," the arrogant soldier sneered.
Asher looked at his face with a cold expression. Then he moved closer to the edge of the cliff, gazing at the river flowing upward as he raised an eyebrow.
"This is easy," he said, clasping his arms behind his back. Everyone looked at him with wide eyes as if they believed his words. A knowing smile appeared on his face.
"Just jump."
His words stunned them for a moment, after which anger filled their eyes. They hadn't thought that he would be lazy even in such an important matter.
"Young boy, arrogance is the reason for the fall of many," the cunning soldier said with a cold voice. Asher felt the killing intent in his eyes, but it disappeared in a second.
The arrogant soldier trembled in anger, and the same went for the thin soldier, though he was calmer.
Asher looked at the expression of the weird soldier. Only he stood there without showing any anger, just as confused as before.
Observing the expressions on all four of their faces, his lips turned upwards. "Heh, fools…"
Upon hearing his words, the arrogant soldier lost his reason. He drew the sword from his waist and became ready to fight. But before the fight could start, he saw Asher jump straight into the river.
"Fools, if water can move upwards to the cave, then can't we also go the same way?" his voice echoed in the air. After a few moments of sluggishness, the four of them snapped out of their daze.
Without waiting, they leaped straight into the river. However, they didn't notice a strange gleam in the eye of the weird soldier.
Asher swam in the river like a fish. Because the direction of the tide was towards the cave, he didn't waste his energy. He pondered everything that had happened since he became this soldier.
Everyone around him seemed to have another goal. They weren't like deserting soldiers. Another thing was that everyone believed others' words easily.
He heard the sounds of objects falling into the water. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the four of them swimming behind him.
This deepened his doubts further. Why did they believe him so easily? Moreover, they didn't have the aura of soldiers.
His doubts subsided when he saw a triangular object floating in the water. When he blinked, he noticed its size increasing.
"No, it's not increasing in size, but moving closer to me." His heart started racing. Now his body was that of a mortal; a small predator could easily kill him.
"What should I do?" he thought. However, he couldn't move backward; that was against the river tide. It would only hasten his death. Some predators liked to hunt their prey.
He took a deep breath, then swam to meet it head-on. This time, everyone behind him also noticed the triangular object. They were also panicked, but upon seeing him approach it like an idiot, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Go and die, you bastard," the arrogant soldier sneered under his breath. The cunning soldier moved closer to him, but observing Asher's actions, the cunning soldier frowned in doubt.
He wasn't a fool to believe that someone would rush straight into a strange object. Without realizing it, his finger brushed against the arm of the arrogant soldier.
"Where are you looking?" the arrogant soldier hissed in anger. The cunning soldier offered an apology and swam past him, maintaining a distance.
This time, Asher reached the vicinity of the triangular object. Upon closer inspection, he discerned its appearance—it was a big orca. The peculiar thing was that its body consisted only of a skeleton.
Only its dorsal fin had any meat. His eyes widened in horror. He stopped breathing, his heart raced, and his hands moved to the hilt of his sword.
But to his surprise, the skeletal orca simply glided past him as if it hadn't noticed him. He ceased his movements.
After sensing that the orca had swum away, he looked back. The four soldiers had also witnessed this event.
"There's nothing to fear," the arrogant soldier smiled, then accelerated his swimming. Unbeknownst to him, the cunning soldier was increasing the distance between them.
The thin soldier picked up on this change and followed suit. Only the weird soldier continued to swim in an erratic manner, already falling behind.
The skeletal orca suddenly stopped for a moment, then changed its direction towards the arrogant soldier, sensing something.
Unfortunately, the arrogant soldier remained oblivious. Only those meticulously observing the orca's actions would have noticed such a subtle change.
Asher, however, observed everything clearly. His gaze shifted to the weird soldier behind him. Slowly, his eyes narrowed.
'Rest in peace.'
"Ahh..." An agonizing cry escaped from the arrogant soldier. Asher didn't look back for a moment; he increased his speed. He knew this unlucky guy would be the first to die.
'Poor guy. But how could that thing eat him?'
Then he heard another cry, this time from the thin soldier. Yet, following the cry, an angry voice sounded.
"What have you done?" The voice was from the weird soldier.
Nonetheless, Asher focused on swimming forward. Yet another cry reached his ears, this time from the cunning soldier.
This time, the smell of blood permeated the air, and the water turned a reddish hue. Asher sensed something trailing behind him, but he refrained from looking back. Instead, a strange smile appeared on his face.
Soon enough, he felt a sharp object grazing his hand. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught sight of the weird soldier, his expression now one of madness.
His countenance had transformed from its previous innocence to one of insanity.
"I will be the one to complete this awakening quest," he laughed like a maniac. Gazing at Asher, his lips curled into a sneer.
"When I first saw the four of you, I was utterly repulsed. But now, I'm elated. You see, without you guys as bait, I wouldn't have achieved my success," he chortled loudly.
"What are you talking about?" Asher felt a chilling sensation from the scratch. He realized he had been poisoned; the weird soldier had used a poisonous trick.
"Fool, only one person can complete the awakening quest. Thus, the other four must die," the deranged soldier said with a smirk.
He no longer cared about concealing the truth; after all, his impending death was inevitable.
"But how did you manage to poison all of us? Are you telling me you poisoned us simply by scratching us?" Asher clutched his throat.
Upon reflection, the weird soldier had maintained a certain distance from the rest. Both the thin and cunning soldiers had kept a specific distance from him as well.
"Hehe..." The weird soldier smirked.
Observing the triumphant expression on the weird soldier's face, Asher couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. This caught the weird soldier off guard, and he regarded Asher with a doubtful gaze.
"Don't you find it strange?" Asher began, his lips curving into a strange smile. His eyes, once filled with panic, had transformed.
"The orca didn't harm me even a bit," he continued. "Because it can't see me."