As Cliff sat by the fire, having just absorbed the essence of the bats, he was practicing circulating its energy through his body.
The smell of meat roasting on the fire rose to his nose, and he saw a figure approaching him. He relaxed his concentration.
"Are you awake?" Cliff asked the figure.
The young man just nodded.
Cliff held out a piece of meat to him. The young man took it and devoured it without hesitation, the sounds of his jaw chewing echoed throughout the cave. A few seconds later, the noise stopped.
Cough, cough… the young man was choking!
The meat must have gotten stuck in his throat.
Cliff handed him some water, and the young man drank it greedily. Then, he stared at Cliff suspiciously, stepped forward, and knelt down.
"Oh, master of this cave, please forgive me for entering your territory without permission. My name is Rakahn, son of Kerahn, chief of the Orleth clan. Have mercy…"
Rakahn prostrated himself at Cliff's feet, not even giving him room to move.
This guy can't read the room, can he? I fed him, treated his wounds, and he thinks I want to kill him? Cliff thought, amused by the young man's pleadings.
"Well, let's play along, this might be interesting."
Cliff looked at the young man with a stern expression and addressed him.
"You say you're from the Orleth clan. What are you doing here, disturbing my rest?"
Rakahn looked at Cliff with a dark expression. His fists clenched, and his teeth ground together.
Cliff briefly regretted playing with him, but as he listened to Rakahn's story, he managed to piece together some useful information about his current location.
Apparently, the young man's clan was nearby and was embroiled in a territorial war with three other clans. They were unable to continue the war due to the increasing number of monsters in the forest, which made hunting dangerous and nearly impossible. In an attempt to provide for his people, Rakahn had ventured out to find food.
But since he wasn't strong enough, he ended up being prey himself.
"Well... that's a bit dramatic," Cliff scoffed, motioning for him to sit down.
Honestly, Cliff had a lot of questions, but he held back to avoid raising suspicions. After all, he wasn't from this world and didn't know how outsiders like him were treated.
Cliff's eyes wandered toward something attached to Rakahn's belt, something he desperately wanted for his journey. It was one of the reasons he had waited for so long.
"Is that a water bottle attached to your belt?" Cliff asked with a puzzled look.
"Um... yes, cave master. I brought it to collect water from the nearest river," replied Rakahn, his voice trembling.
Cliff thought for a moment, then stood up, took the gourd from Rakahn's hands, and walked toward a crack in the rock where water was flowing. Meanwhile, he ordered Rakahn to gather all the stones he could carry in his bag.
After finishing, Cliff collected his belongings, looked around the cave, and approached Rakahn.
"Hey, you know, I have good news and bad news."
Rakahn looked at Cliff sullenly.
Cliff continued without delay.
"What do you want to hear first?"
"Um... the good one, I guess?" Rakahn stammered, trying to suppress the trembling in his hands. Cold sweat ran down his thin body.
Cliff stared at him for a moment before speaking.
"Well, the good news is that I'm going with you… I'm going to help you bring supplies back for your… people, as they say. The more, the merrier." Cliff chuckled.
Rakahn looked at him in surprise, his eyes wide. He didn't understand Cliff's motives and didn't want to endanger his clan.
Cliff tried to lighten the mood. "Relax, man. Do you think you'd still be alive if I meant you any harm? Oh, right, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Cliff Brown."
Cliff said this with an amused tone, desperately trying to ease the tension, but to no avail.
The young man simply nodded, his eyes fixed on the leftover meat by the fire.
"And… the bad news, Sir Cliff?" Rakahn asked cautiously.
Cliff motioned for him to take some meat and replied, "Maybe you don't remember, you were in a daze at the time."
Cliff paused, eyeing the young man before continuing.
"Outside this cave, there's a bear lurking. Every day, I have to rush back to avoid running into him. That damn bear always wants to steal my prey. Today, while I was sitting at the entrance, it was feasting on the bats I had just killed."
Rakahn stopped chewing and stared at Cliff, his eyes filled with despair.
Cliff smiled, raised his saber, and pointed out of the cave.
"Well, my guy, the bad news is… we have to get past him to reach your home."