Zindi turned his had back to the floor, withdrawing his attention from the direction of the mana suction.
He walked past the brat that had slapped him, not paying the latter any mind. He didn't want to antagonize the noble families of Cago, but his patience was running thin.
The youth who had slapped Zindi, a boy of average height with black hair and brown eyes, saw that Zindi wasn't paying him any attention and became several times more infuriated.
Daphne was, in simple terms, his girlfriend.
Their relationship would be two years old in a week's time, but she died in the unfortunate series of events that occured when night fell in Thorn Forest.
He could only watch as she was torn apart by a devilish monster that he was sure could only enter because Zindi lowered the wall.
With anger clouding his reason, he stomped towards Zindi with sadness and anger painted all over his face.
"You... if you didn't lower that wall, none of this would have happened! You just caused the deaths of fourteen children of the great noble families, do you think you'll be safe after this?!"
Zindi's footsteps didn't stop, he just kept walking as if he didn't hear any of the words the black haired youth said.
The youth was about to speak again when another snappy voice caused him to pause.
"Meji! What are you even talking about?!" Rolan shouted. "We made the decision to lower the walls, even after he told us about the dangers that could cause.
"This isn't his fault, it's our fault!
"Everyone here also lost someone, but do you see us making a fuss out of it?!"
Zindi didn't even stop walking.
"Rolan... I think Meji is right... the old man could have disagreed with us. He's more powerful than all of us combined anyways..."
An incredulous Express appeared on Rolan's face. "Beatrice??"
"Leave her alone, silkpants. Whether the old man is at fault or not, he's definitely toast when we get back to Cago," Moretz said, half snorting.
Rolan's face was painted with shock and disbelief. 'This... the old man just saved our lives, and yet...'
He looked at the remaining five youths, only to find them with cold and indifferent expressions on their faces.
Without speaking to them, it was obvious what their stances were.
He turned his face towards Zindi, and found him meditating in silence. From the start of the argument to the end, the old man hadn't moved once or reacted in any way.
In the end, Rolan could only sigh.
He went to another corner of the cave and sat down in silence, waiting for the day to break.
The other eight youths didn't speak, but it was obvious that everyone had decided to listen to the old man's warning about the night in Thorn Forest.
Zindi opened an eye, observing the nine youths and the bodies that had been burnt at some point in time, then he snorted inwardly.
'Why did I even bother killing that bizarre entity if this is the way those I saved would treat me?
'Tsk tsk. Noble families and their self-righteousness.'
He had argued against being the only protector for over twenty youths, but his worries were dismissed.
Now, he had to go back and face the judgement of the very fools who had insisted on sending him on such a mission.
Inwardly, he felt unhappy, but his face was as calm as a lake.
'In the end, it's all because they want a dog on a leash.'
Zindi closed his open eye and exhaled, focusing on recuperation.
Hours later, he stood up and walked to the mouth of the cave under the gazes of the nine survivors.
He waved his hand, and the wall of earth rumbled before sinking into the ground, revealing a scene of beautiful greenery that contrasted starkly to the foggy scene from the night.
He took on the scene before turning back to face the youths.
"We can either continue our original goal or start returning to Cago. The choice is yours," Zindi said, emphasizing the word "yours" as he eyed the nine of them with a menacing glint in his eyes.
"We'll... continue," Moretz said, not meeting the eye of the old man.
"Okay," Zindi nodded before stepping out. "Let's go."
He walked in front, seemingly uncaring if the youths followed him or not as he reviewed the original goal of their visit to Thorn Forest in his mind.
The task that was given was to get the skin of five beasts of different origins of wolves, boars, snakes, bears and insects.
Beasts were generally weaker than monsters and were found across all levels, unlike monsters of which the weakest usually had the prowess of an orange core mage.
The task was easy enough... but the problem was that there were five other groups with the same task in Thorn Forest.
This meant that one could either complete the goal through the normal means or...
They could snatch prey from each other.
Zindi hadn't wanted to do such a thing, but with the circumstances...
A sigh escaped his lips.
"Where are we going?" A short girl with black hair and hazel eyes asked as she curiously surveyed her surroundings.
"To a temple," Zindi replied simply.
"Temple? In a forest?" Moretz asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ruins to be precise. I spotted it yesterday when I went scouting, and I feel that we may be in for quite the surprise once we reach there.
"Of course, it's just my intuition, nothing else. It could also be a death trap."
The nine youths paused, taking an extra moment to process the sinister implications in his calm and unhurried tone.
Moretz jumped forward to grab Zindi's collar, but the latter sidestepped, making him miss.
Undeterred, Moretz shouted. "You want us to follow you to a place that could potentially be our deaths? Why would we do that?!"
Zindi just shrugged. "I never said you should follow me. You've all decided to throw me to the dogs once we are back in Cago, so why should I care about you lot?
"You're free to move about as you like, and if you run into a monster or a yellow core or higher grade beast, well... your luck."
After saying his piece, Zindi kept walking forward, totally uncaring of the nine pairs of eyes fixed on his back.