"My mum said that if anything happened, I should head to Lightharbor." Cherie replied, by now the panic and fear had worn off.
The two young teens were travelling at a slower pace than the terrified sprint they had carried out yesterday.
"Isn't that the complete opposite of a safe place?" David looked over in confusion.
"I know, I know. All the stories from traders and the adults." A long sigh left Cherie's mouth, the idea of going to the port city wasn't a happy one for her either.
"Apparently an old friend of my dad lives there, apparently they'll be happy to help." Cherie bit her lip after she spoke.
The sun had grown hotter, Cherie held her helmet under her arm shielding her head from the sun with a strip of cloth she had torn from her cloak.
Meanwhile, David was unbothered by the heat, not even a hint of sweat on his forehead.
It seemed as though the system's transformation had helped his tolerance to the heat.
"Let's hope we don't get stabbed in the streets while looking for them." Shaking his head, David gave Cherie a dry smile.
"Let's hope."
-----
'Hey, you. Status!'
It had been weeks since David and Cherie had left, the plains had given way to a rocky desert.
Tall cacti loomed in the desert like tall skyscrapers, some with large holes in their side, where magical beasts had made their nests.
With a ding, the blue window had appeared in David's vision. Over the past days he had grown a little more comfortable with the system.
Though he still didn't trust it, he wanted to utilise it to the best of his abilities.
[
Status
Name: David Marigold
Health: 8/8
Mana: 46/47
Abilities: d*,kNruu's Successor, Consume
]
During their journey across the plains, the two of them had battled and fled from Magical Beasts over an over. With many close calls.
However, Cherie had taken the lead in most battles, leaving David with few chances to siphon the mana from defeated beasts.
But David was still more than halfway through the four star coreless stage, skipping months of work.
The journey had taken its toll, David's clothes were filled with holes and the leather breastplate he wore was covered in scratches and tears.
At his side, Cherie wasn't much better off, her armor had its own gouges and scratches, one particularly deep gash across the breastplate showing a close call.
"How much longer?" Cherie asked, even though she had picked the destination, she knew that David's extensive scouting knowledge meant he had the best idea of how long it might take.
"I can't say for sure, but going off of the maps we had at home." David paused for a moment, looking at the rock formations off in the distance.
"We'll make it in a couple of days. Not much longer." Cherie heaved a sigh of relief at David's reply.
"What's it going to be tonight? Rabbit?" There was a cheeky grin on David's face.
"Ughhhh. You know I'm sick of it." Cherie groaned at him, half heartedly swinging at him.
David pretended to strike back, chuckling at her annoyance.
The pair settled back into an easy silence as they walked onward, the sand disappeareing from beneath their feet as more and more dark brown rocks rose out of the ground.
Up ahead, tall spires of rock rose out of the ground, and cast heavy shadows all around.
There was only one clear route forward, with fallen rocks blocking any other possible route.
"Whatever you do. Don't look panicked." David knelt down, pretending as though there was a rock stuck in his boot.
"What is it?" Cherie murmured back, turning to look at David.
"Those rocks couldn't have fallen like that naturally. Someone wants us to go that way." Standing back up, David squinted his eyes, pretending to look at the clouds.
"Right, perfect place for an ambush." Cherie's voice as cold, the two of them had become used to danger over the course of their journey.
"I can see some metal shining up on those rocks, on the east side." David chuckled, patting Cherie on the back.
They had continued walking at their previous pace, so as not alarm their enemies'.
"It's too late to turn around, isn't it." There was a smile on Cherie's face as she asked David.
The pair were already within the first shadows that the towering rocks cast.
"Yep. Don't look at your CoreScanner, but I think we can take these guys." The system's scanner was in range as David saw the three signals appear at the edge of its range.
"What are we working with?" Cherie whispered.
"All coreless, of course."
"Two five stars and one four star." By now, they were only a hundred meters from where David had spotted the sign of them, and his core scanner confirmed that they were indeed there.
Had it been a few weeks ago, Cherie would have question if they had a chance, but she had a new respect from David's abilities.
At first, watching him recklessly diving into attacks had been terrifying, but now she knew that it would take a lot to seriously injure, let alone kill him.
"The usual bait?" Cherie slowly inched in front of David, over their journey, they had come up with their own strategies.
"Let's play it up a bit for these guys. I'm assuming they're intelligent." A chuckle left David's mouth.
"Well, not intelligent enough to come up with a less obvious ambush" Cherie laughed.
"Go, now." David hissed under his breath, they had to start now, otherwise they'd be too close.
"Fuck you! I can't believe you!" Cherie pushed David, sending him stumbling backwards.
"No. Wait!" David called out, hiding his grin, Cherie's acting was perfect.
She sprinted ahead, the distance between them rapidly increasing.
"I didn't know she was your sister!" David called out. He couldn't help himself at this point. This was already enough to confuse whoever was hiding up above.
'Now, they'll panic." David chuckled to himself.
-----
A few minutes earlier, high up amongst a collection of rocks in the desert to the south of Light Harbor.
"Bro! Bro!" A thin tanned man, wearing a clothing made from roughly prepared animal skins, came rushing into a dimly lit tent.
"What is it, Kyle?" Amidst a heap of rusted metal, dull crystals and oddly shaped lumps of plastic, sat a huge man.
"Travelers! Two of em." Kyle waved a crooked telescope in one skinny arm. Two large buckteeth stuck out of his mouth and wiry orange hair stuck out from under a leather helmet.
"I don't care. I've almost got this thing going. Get lost." The huge man grumbled. In one of his enormous hands, he held a device that would be unrecognizable to almost all humans at the time.
"What even is it, Jimbo?" Peering over his brother's shoulder, Jimbo squeaked.
"It's some lost technology from before the Convergence. I believe it's a source of endless energy." In a proud tone, Jimbo responded.
Unfortunately, what he was holding in his hands was a partially melted RC car.
"Ohhhh. Awesome." Kyle smiled, patting his brother on the back.
"Well, anyway, one of them looked like they had some mighty expensive armor on. Never seen a piece like it." His hands in his enormous pockets, Kyle sauntered out of the tent.
"Huh? Wait! I'm coming." Jimbo scrambled to his feet, revealing a face that looked like it had been flattened by a frying pan.
The tent was located in a little hollow in the rock, a series of metal pins had been hammered, leading both up to the top and back down to the ground.
The two brothers climbed up the pins, Jimbo moving with an agility in contrast to his large size. While Kyle both moved and look just like a monkey as he climbed.
"Geh! geh! They's coming right for us. Hehehehehehe." A voice rasped out. Kyle had just reached the top and was helping Jimbo up.
"Good work Groggle. Let me take a look." Jimbo patted the tiny figure sitting on the ground on the head. It was completely covered in a greasy and torn cloak.
They all peered into a gap that was perfectly placed for them to watch the approach to the rocks.
"You're right, that does look expensive." The telescope at his eye, Jimbo sighed in amazement.
"We could trade for all kinds of lost technology with it." There was a hint of excitement in Jimbo's voice.
"And snacks!' Kyle added.
"Of course. And snacks!" With a laugh, Jimbo slapped Kyle on the back.
"And bugs!" Groggle rasped.
"And bugs." Jimbo sighed, patting Groggle on the head again.
"Alright guys, get ready." Jimbo walked over to the ropes that were attached on side, that would allow them to jump down on to the travellers.
"Ready." Kyle replied, a section of metal pipe clutched in one bony fist.
"Readyyy." A hiss escaped from Groggle's mouth.
"Ready." Jimbo added, picking up a makeshift metal mace, the head of it made from a large gear.