When Andrew arrived on their branch and John had pointed in a direction, Andrew threw him that way with a barbaric shout before encircling from another route so that he and Jake would take care of both hidden and extra threats who shot arrows or threw Shockwave Bombs that were not deflected by Tumunomi Escaver, John and Jacob while they quickly gained crests, screams and victories.
15 minutes later, they had counted about 150 of their defeated enemies and Tumunomi Escaver pointed to the trees where they immediately ran towards after they had gathered crests.
“With the number of people we fought it can’t be the 6th or 5th batches.”
“Why?” Andrew’s blood was still pumping in his veins.
“Or the 2nd maybe,” Jacob added.
“Their numbers are the lowest, they would not risk losing people.” John caught on.
“Except, if it was absolutely necessary.” Tumunomi Escaver added.
“And it did not feel like that.”
“Yeah.”
They did not know how long they had run for but they were panting by the time they were done.
And considering that the past month had been a lot if training for them, the distance was quite far.
They saw no end to the forest so far.
Trees, vines, branches and leaves was all that filled their sights.
Even he occasional clearing had its skies blocked.
“Is this place an illusion?”
“Maybe we entered a portal.”
Jake’s eyes shone, “cool.”
“Maybe.”
They stood in the prudent shadows of the clearing at the signal of Tumunomi Escaver’s hand.
And after no sign of a disturbance, he then relaxed.
“Let’s catch some rest, we will take shifts.
Those sleeping will not be cooking and those cooking will not be watching.”
He twisted the CavityBracelet on his right hand and a small screen showed some items which had been stored in its storage space.
“Andrew set out a tent and Jake should start the fire with you then make something to eat.
I will stay in the branches, Jacob on the ground and John in the vantage points, high, high up.”
He looked to the last person he had called.
“Look for the height of the trees then tell me what you can see, but come down if in after 10 minutes you find no end to them.
We, the lookouts will also divide our patrol directions into 3rds of a clock’s cardinal directions.”
“After about 3 hours we will make rotations.
2 of the patrols, branch and sky, will rest next and then…”
After orders had been spread, Tumunomi Escaver clapped his hands and then moved into position.
Then, he allowed the questions that had been at the back of his mind to surface.
Was this an illusion?
Were they still in the same underground facility?
Had they gone through a portal?
Tumunomi Escaver twisted the CavityBracelet again, but in a different direction as well as to the end of its length, and an independent pocket of space revealed itself as if there was a curtain mid air.
Tumunomi Escaver stared at the array of things he had placed and then reached for a RestorativeBalm.
It was a Genre 0 Potent Artefact.
Meaning that it could be used by Regulars.
Normally, alcohol or a spirit would do in washing away the bacteria but he needed quick, effective work because they were not exactly at ‘home’.
He pushed the stinging pain that felt as if ants were gnawing at his injuries to the back of his mind as he reminded himself to scan his surroundings and moved in his self assigned patrol range before sitting down on a branch that was blocked by foliage. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
2 hours passed and Tumunomi Escaver was ready to go rest when a hunch told him to scout once more.
He then hopped from branch to branch after careful scouring with the amount of light they had been given in this place.
Eventually, his head snapped to a direction and he began stalking someone who thought they were a predator.
He got the reason for silent steps and the person’s head that constantly kept watch about his/her surroundings as they walked.
But why were they holding a piece of…
Cloth?
Immediately, he returned back to camp in silence and through the trees.
Then when he landed, he saw John reaching down in haste as Jacob showed his face.
They next shared a look between themselves, but instead of alarming Andrew and Jake who were resting, they simply returned to their posts.
Minutes later, someone showed up.
His hung sword on his waist and his uniform that had many pockets for different situations contradicted the flag on his hand which was white.
Waving it dramatically with one hand, his other was up.
But neither of the look outs said anything until the boy with high hair came into 10 meters of proximity to their sleeping members.
A dagger that Batch 7 had borrowed from their previous victims landed where the boy with a white flag was going to plant his next steps.
“I come in peace.”
He raised both hands high and observed his otherwise silent surroundings.
Tumunomi Escaver whispered in Jacob’s then John’s ears before deftly scaling higher and circling their clearing.
“What do you want?”
“Can I speak to the team leader?”
“How do you know you are not speaking to him?”
“I was sent by my team leader to reach an agreement of partnership.”
The boy held out paper in his hands before dropping them on the floor and taking steps back.
Tumunomi Escaver sent signals so that even though John was the one who appeared to take a look at them, Jacob was the one who spoken.
His eyes raised themselves to meet Jacob’s indifferent gaze and he brightened because it felt like progress to him.
“So, you want to work together?”
“Yes, please.” He nodded enthusiastically and hoped to catch the other boy’s attention.
“That’s it.”
John acted like a mute and directly ignored the attempt at communication.
“Why?”
“You reduced a portion of Batch 3’s people and you did so without being tied down.”
“Your point?”
John took the papers and began walking in a direction that was not where Tumunomi Escaver was perched.
The boy wanted to move closer because he was afraid they had lost interest but another dagger planted in close proximity told him to wait or leave.
John reached into the trees and took a long route to keep the kid oblivious to his team leaders location before relaying the message.
He then told John what to say to Jacob before he changed locations to see if this one had been followed.
“Carrot and stick approach?”
“One of many possible probabilities.”
“So who is going to be bait, then?”
“Well, since the lower numbers are on your side, we thought it best be from yours.”
“I don’t really like the sound of that.”
The boy shifted in his feet.
It was already uncomfortable enough that he couldn’t see who was speaking. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“What’s your suggestion?”
“Personally speaking, I would not even consider it at all.”
He let out air, “no suggestions from your side, even?”
“The spoils too…
How are they going to be split?”
“Well, because we have the manpower, we were thinking 70-30.
Also, because of the number disparity.”
Jacob laughed, “the correct answer was ‘based on contribution.”
John had laughed with him.
True to Tumunomi Escaver’s suspicions, there was a group of people crouched in different locations.
He wondered if they had seen him and his lookouts, if they were there for backup in the case where things went south or if they were there to act, regardless.
He sighed then quickly returned to John’s location and then gave them both instructions before returning to where he had seen the group of people.
“How can you suggest that?
If it was 70-30, then the roles would be reversed?”
“We need to have a bit of advantage, because while you have more manpower we carry more risks.”
The boy was about to speak again but Jacob cut him off.
“Forget about that for now.” He turned his head about.
“Were you followed?”
“You guys single handedly took down squads by yourself and you wonder if I brought back up?”
Tumunomi Escaver made a sound from the trees and John shook his head before Jacob contained speaking.
“Thanks for the offer, don’t worry about it.”
The boy’s eyes were in full circle and he had a feeling that Jacob was also there to wake up his sleeping comrades.
He realized these people would not back down from a fight, even if they knew the stakes.
But being ready for something was different from instigating it.
So what was their point?
They saw the numbers, so what was their reason for decline?
He stood there silent for a full minute and then raised his arms in a sign of peace before stepping out of the clearing.
The next time he looked back, Andrew, Jacob and Jake were not on the floor anymore.
For a second, the messenger boy felt scared; was he about to be attacked?
He calmed down his pace and suddenly felt like prey, even though a squad from his batch was all around him.
He could feel gazes trained on him from both sides, and when he maintained eye contact before shaking his head in a certain direction, he knew he was about to be sent out in failure of this phase.
The teammate he was looking at gave orders with his hands but the boy had a feeling that it would end in their demise.
So, he was frantically waving his white flag but 3 Shockwave Bombs were already in the air.
Instantly the boy slammed his knees to the ground, missing a knife over his head.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
When Tumunomi Escaver yanked him and threw him to the side, he caught Jake’s malevolent stare at him as he had apparently missed grabbing the messenger boy, himself.
“Leave him for now,” their team leader told Jake without looking at him.
“Every good story needs survivors.”
Jake laughed.