Hungry and exhausted, Garet finally got his hands on some food: roasted meat and potatoes covered in embers from the fire. Now, he wasn't going to stop.
"Hahaha! Take it easy, the food isn't going anywhere!" Xir laughed as he watched Garet stuff as much food into his mouth as he could.
Garet frowned as he glanced at him. "It's your fault! While everyone else was eating, you made me practice! Damn, you even ate right in front of me! Why couldn't we eat first and then do our training?"
In response, Garet spread his hands.
"Motivation. This method may not work for everyone, but it worked exceptionally well for you. Again, what would you do without a great teacher like me?"
Garet rolled his eyes and continued to eat.
After a while, Garet slowed down as his gaze became more serious.
"Physical strength seems to matter a lot more than I thought, right?"
Xir nodded. "Yeah, kind of. You can defeat a stronger opponent thanks to your abilities, tactics, luck, and decisions during combat. However, that's true up to a certain threshold. If the difference in power is extreme, then none of that matters."
"And? What about you? Can you smash mountains with your fists and run at the speed of sound?"
"Hahaha! Don't make me laugh!" Xir chuckled darkly as he pointed toward the horse. "This is my horse, Oppar. Believe it or not, it would be difficult for me to keep up with him without my abilities, even with a quick start. Over long distances, he would outrun me."
Garet's eyes widened in disbelief. For some reason, he thought Xir could easily overtake anyone, even the fastest horse.
"Damn, I assumed you would beat even a train, let alone a horse."
"You overestimate me, Garet. Although most likely, you don't fully understand what you're talking about. No human, even after decades of training, could outrun Oppar, let alone trains. The faster you get, the harder it is to break the next barrier, and the same goes for strength."
Xir waved his hand before continuing.
"Energy allows you to overcome these limits, but it doesn't make you invincible, especially against other monsters and the Awakened. Remember that and appreciate every step you take on the path to power, no matter how small it may seem."
After a few moments, Garet nodded.
"So... Sleep now?"
Xir shrugged.
"You go ahead, I'll stay up a while longer. Don't linger, dawn will be here in 5-6 hours, you don't have much time."
"Thanks..." Garet gulped and headed for the empty tent.
When he disappeared behind the fabric, Xir pulled a charred potato out of the burning fire and ate half of it in one bite, the crunch echoing from his teeth.
It would be a long night. He knew that.
...
Strangely enough, Garet was the first to wake up. Sometimes that happened when you went to bed later than usual. Instead of sleeping much longer, you woke up even earlier.
'Tsk.' Garet frowned as he rose from the blanket.
He raised his gaze, watching the first rays of sunlight approach, soon to wake everyone else.
'Well, there's no point in going back to sleep now. Damn, today is going to be a tough day.' Garet shook his head before stepping outside.
He didn't know if anyone got up before him, but there was one person in the center of the camp.
In a heartbeat, Garet's eyes widened, filling with terror.
Xir stood in the middle of a dozen monster corpses, his soles immersed in thick, dark blood flowing from their mangled bodies. If every monster, from small to large, were piled up, it would form a mountain.
Step.
Xir turned around as their eyes met. His cold, deprived of mercy gaze quickly disappeared, replaced by a light, warm smile.
"Oh, you're awake already? You're early, hahaha!" Xir laughed and pointed at the monsters. "Come here, I'll need some help. Maybe one of them has something valuable."
Shocked, Garet gulped but finally nodded. He was in no position to refuse.
Gradually, the others woke up.
The people from the Pit were just as frightened as Garet. The girls screamed in terror, not realizing that all the monsters were long dead. The only exceptions were Konrad and Cirka, who remained calm.
Xir's people, in turn, treated it as something usual. This led Garet to one conclusion:
'They knew, they knew that all these monsters would come at night, but they still went to sleep without worrying about anything,' Garet pondered, tying up a bag full of severed fangs.
Unfortunately, none of the monsters turned out to be a Borderline One, so despite dozens of corpses, they didn't get a single Energy Crystal.
However, Xir, Garet, and the guards quickly took everything valuable from the monsters. For some, it was fangs, for others, claws, or even eyes. Each monster was different. They left a few untouched, as there was nothing valuable to sell.
"Mr. Xir, about the monsters..." Garet stammered.
Xir waved his hand. "Just call me by my name. I've heard enough formalities in my life. I've had enough."
"Got it, Xir, I understand that you need to know a lot about monsters to make the hunt profitable. But what about their meat? We ate chicken and potatoes from your supplies, but we're leaving hundreds of kilograms of flesh here, right on the ground, for some vultures and scavengers."
"Yeah, that's a popular question. Hah, you'd know how many times I've been asked that. There are many problems with monster meat. First, some of them can be poisonous, but that's a minor issue. The most important thing is their taste."
Garet blinked several times.
"Is it really that bad?"
Throwing the bag into the carriage, he nodded. "The meat is tough and not tasty, often bitter and foul, and it's also difficult to obtain and cook. Sure, there are exceptions, the most delicious steak I've ever had in my life was from a monster, but that's rare, and for knowledge about that, you'd better go to special chefs."
Garet scratched the back of his head. He hadn't yet figured out how to fully use all his abilities, let alone delve into such nuances.
After a while, everyone was ready to move on when Xir climbed onto his horse and pulled the whip from the belt.
A dangerous gleam flashed in his eyes as he looked at Garet.
"Hey, you wanted to know how fast an Awakened can be, right? How about a morning run?"
Garet's face went pale.
"No, that's not what I meant! I was asking about something else entirely!"
Whistle.
With a whistle, the tip of the whip struck Garet's feet, tearing up the ground.
"Go! We'll train your endurance, weakling!"
"SHIT!" Garet exclaimed and ran forward with all his might.
Xir tapped Oppar as his horse bolted from the spot.
"Hahaha! Faster, or I'll hit you!" Xir laughed, swinging his whip but missing every time.
Konrad and Cirka, walking together with the squad, exchanged glances.
"Do you think everything will be okay?" Cirka asked with slight concern. "Commander Xir isn't holding back at all..."
Konrad scratched the back of his head.
"Hah, don't worry about it. Xir knows what he's doing. Besides, it doesn't look like any of them are having a bad time."
Then, he raised his gaze to watch a raven flying toward the rising sun, carried by the morning breeze.
In the distance, the outlines of a great city loomed, standing like an unyielding shield in the middle of a gorge between two peaks reaching for the sky.
The Iron Gate was close.