The group had decided to stop under a tree.
The rain began to fall harder, turning the ground to mud and reducing visibility due to the relentless downpour.
To avoid ambushes, they surrounded a tree with Guille facing east and the old man watching west.
Ukryo was on the old man's side. He felt he was stronger than Vashina's companion and maybe more than he let on.
He looked down at his arms.
Thunder
The wounded girl had ended up in his arms again. They didn't know her name since no one had asked Cuar.
He had spent the whole day running away. If he had known it would end like this, he wouldn't have come.
No, even if he had known, he would've come anyway.
Sigh
Murmur
The cold and dampness started to wear on the group.
Arlo, on the other hand, seemed indifferent, but the old man had already begun muttering nonsense.
"Hey, stop babbling," said Ukryo.
Casting a sour look at him, the old man stared at Ukryo like he was an annoyance.
"What? Were you expecting a field of flowers or a tea party?"
Sigh
"I was thinking if someone had let me bring my backpack, this wouldn't be happening," said the old man with sarcasm.
"Oh? Are you saying your backpack has a magic wand that could've gotten us out of here?" Ukryo snapped back.
They had decided to leave most of their gear behind since it wasn't meant to be a long mission. But not just Ukryo—everyone had forgotten that unpredictability is a certainty in an adventurer's life.
Thunder
Ukryo noticed movement on the edge of his vision—it was Guille.
"We have to move," he said.
"You think we can move properly in this rain?" asked the old man.
"We must. The tarantulas won't move in this downpour," Arlo chimed in.
Guille nodded and returned to his side.
Ukryo, meanwhile, took his cloak and wrapped it around the wounded girl. He hoisted her onto his shoulder and soon, they were on the move.
With Deiro's group joining them, their formation had changed.
Guille was up front, followed by Ero, Mac, and Tom.
Ukryo was in the middle. On his flanks were Nina and Wapo on the left, and Deiro and Mano on the right.
At the rear, Arlo and the old man closely followed the group.
They moved quickly, as their current position was far from ideal.
Everyone was already caked in mud.
Ukryo was sinking into his thoughts.
As the third son in his family, his eldest brother would inherit from their father, and the second already had a thriving business.
As for him, he had nothing. And he knew it was only a matter of time before he ended up with even less.
That's why he'd come up with the idea of creating a security and transport company—something that now seemed to be falling apart.
His only insurance was the old man, who seemed far stronger than he let on.
Ukryo began to slow down.
Guille and company had stopped, staring at a new problem ahead.
Thunder
"A horde…"
Everyone's expression darkened.
In front of the horde, a wanderer with a grin from ear to ear stared at them with delight. He held a strange, broad sword.
"Mr. Gamba, go. We'll handle this," said Arlo, appearing at his side.
Arlo's gaze was firm—he was ready to fight.
Ukryo didn't know how Fredar trained their adventurers, but he knew they were among the best Fersian had to offer.
"If we survive this, would you work for me?" he asked.
"We'll see, haha," Arlo replied.
Ukryo then stepped back from the group.
Guille and the old man now stood in front of the wanderer.
Guille grew nervous when the wanderer looked his way. He assumed the man was staring at Ukryo, who was supposed to retreat if an irregular wanderer appeared.
Sigh
But to his relief, the man simply stared at him.
Guille already had his sword in hand.
"Aren't you going to draw your sword?"
"Hmm? Oh right, yeah."
Thunder
The rain showed no signs of letting up, and the horde didn't look like it would wait much longer.
"Mac, Arlo, and Tom, go right. Ero, Deiro, Wapo, and Laf to the left."
"Yes!"
"Right."
Everyone nodded and got ready—he was already walking toward them.
Guille was preparing to fight the irregular wanderer when the old man stepped in front of him.
"You all try to survive the horde—I'll take care of him."
He cracked his neck and pointed his sword at the wanderer.
"Just focus on surviving!" the old man said with a smile spreading across his face.
Boom
What happened next was the horde charging straight at the group in a frenzy.
"Hell yeah, baby—it's dying time!"
And the old man had already launched himself at them.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Guille raised his sword and slashed at a wanderer, cutting its neck.
The momentum caused him to crash, knocking him off balance and forcing him to roll back.
When Guille got up, two more charged him. He avoided making the same mistake and turned to evade the impact.
Even though he took them down, three more were already closing in.
No matter how many he cut down, twice as many took their place.
Guille had a four-year-old daughter. He regretted not leaving money for dinner that night. His wife had been upset because he didn't bring her flowers. His father wanted to buy a bottle of wine. He forgot to say goodbye to his mother.
Why? he wondered.
One wanderer bit his boot before he crushed its head. Even though he was armored, Guille felt the pain directly.
Another tore his shirt when it struck him with the pommel.
He remembered the day his brother died working. He never forgot the look on his mother's face when she received her son's body.
Will she cry for me too?
The endless tide of creatures threatened to tear him apart.
As one wanderer swung at his head, Arlo appeared just in time to intervene.
"We can still… we can still make it, look!" Arlo pointed toward the horde.