'Hot. It's hot. But it also feels… good.'
THUD! WHACK!
A sudden motion shook my entire body and jolt me woke. 'Ugh. What's with this commotion? Is heaven not all about comfort?'
Suddenly a bright light flashed into my eyes and I was pulled down from heaven, back to this cursed land. As I struggled to see, voices kept auditing is my ears. "What in the Emperor's name?"
"A monster child?"
"A dweller!"
"D-Don't yell so loudly!" I covered my ears and squinted my eyes in annoyance.
"Who are you?" A man with a premature beard pointed his sword in my direction.
It has been few hours since I first opened my eyes, any bright light still hurts. Behind me, a group of people are watching my every move. They are purposely letting me walk ahead while discussing among themselves, though I can hear everything.
The girl wearing priestess's attire reaches out to the man with the sword. "Mel, look at the way he walks so effortlessly in darkness. I am telling you by the gods that child is not human."
The swordsman spares a glance to her before looking forward. "Helen, stop worrying. Even if he is a dweller, you cannot deny his ability to navigate through dark."
I sigh inwardly. 'If you are going to use me as a bait, at least be ready to trade me. These are like basics of the military.'
"I second that. It has been 2 hours since we last encountered any alters" A man covered in long dark cloak and a cheap hat shared his thoughts.
"Yes, Tarma is correct. Who knows? Maybe this kid would sell for a month's ration?" Mel, the dual sword wielder said with a chuckle.
"But the church-" The priestess halted her words as the boy walking in front of him paused.
The swordsman drew his sword and the scavenger coldly pulled his knife only to turn his back. Few seconds passed in silence. Mel made eye contact with rest of his party and nodded. He carefully stepped towards the boy and spoke in a low voice. "Hey. What's the matter? Keep walking."
I calmly raised my hand and pointed upwards. "Beasts. A lot of them."
The swordsman looked in the same direction but couldn't see anything but rocks. He glanced at me one more time. 'Is he lying? No… He has no reason to.'
After some thinking, Mel decided to trust the boy and raised his sword in the air. The priestess quickly began chanting, Tarma took out some potions and began drinking them. Sensing the disturbance in mana, few of the Death watchers jumped down, right in front of Mel.
Without a second thought, Mel swung his swords and easily served one of many death watcher's limbs. The alter twitched weirdly before launching itself forward. With a grin on his face, Mel drew his other sword. "Alright! Time to earn some money!"
With this the battle began, many holy spells were launched by priestess Helen which lit up the massive cave. Mel clearly held all the aggro from the Death watchers as Helen supported him from the rear. Meanwhile, Tarma flanked the alters from behind.
Death watchers in nature were very resilient, hard to spot or observe due to their camouflage ability. Though they are small in size, their strength lies in numbers. They are spider-like creature but instead of having eyes, mouth or an abdomen they have a single head like structure attached directly to their 8 other limbs. At least the head has a hard protection shell made of chitinous material.
The best way to kill a Death watcher is to cut its every limb and sell the alive head for a high price. Unfortunately, the Death watchers live in groups or colonies upto 5. Which can extend to hundreds if not thousands when a queen is present. Killing them nicely is a hassle when you are dealing with so many. Still, Tarma was killing them nicely, even if it is slow.
'Hmm. They seem experienced. But…' I calmly assess the situation as my eyes falls on the priestess.
Helen's face is covered in sweat as she chants non stop, her eyes closed. Her posture limp and breathing uneven.
'She can't hold on much longer.'
The battle rages on as Mel is slowly walking through a small group of Death watchers. He is solely focused on the enemy in front of him, leaving his sides open. With shaking hands, Helen summons a golden magic circle and launches what appears to be Spears of light. 3 golden spears materialize in the air, only to pierce 2 Death watchers who were encircling Mel.
'Experience and trust… Third rule.'
Sadly, this was the last of Helen's mana, exhausted she fell on her knees. Her body shaking as she attempts to recast the spell. Mel warrior's sense tells him something's wrong. He turns back yells. "HELEN!!"
Surrounded by enemies, he cannot possibly turn back now and protect her. He sees the strange boy slowly approach Helen. "HEY! DON'T TOUCH HER!"
Three Death watchers leap at Mel, he manages to decapitate one and defend himself using his other sword. The crisp sound of multiple bones shattering left a satisfying sound to my ears. But that filth had 7 other limbs to work with; they stabbed Mel and pinned him to the ground. He struggled to break free but the sharp appendages easily pierced through his armour and tore his flesh apart.
Mel didn't scream.
In fact, he didn't even notice the pain. His eyes were solely focused on Helen. 'N-No. I have to p-protect her! I-I have t-to!' He raised his arm in her direction only to get swarmed by Death watchers.
From the sidelines, Tarma saw his ally get corned but he himself was not in an optimistic position either.
From the start, the party was uneven.
He gritted his teeth and roared in Mel direction. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!"
Suddenly a Death watcher pounced at Tarma knocking him down, the scavenger frantically thrashed his short dagger. "ARAHHHH! YOU PIECE OF TRASH! YOU-"
CLANG!
Tarma's knife hit the hard skull of Death watcher and snapped. Yet, the young lad kept swinging his broken knife while yelling on top of his lungs. "I KILL YOU! I WILL KILL ALL OF YOUUUU!"
A Death watcher pierced and tore both of his arms apart. In the last moments, Tarma regretted his decision of joining this party.
A bright light swept above him, blasting multiple Death watchers away. Soon, multiple holy spells were launched in Tarma's direction. "Huh?"
He could barely move but this soothing feeling along with the slow regeneration told him everything. "Took you long enough, bitch."
Mel who already lost all hope and closed his eyes was jerked by a strong force. "What the-"
When he opened his eyes, he saw Helen covered in blood casting spells. A small but eerie voice grabbed his attention. "I hope you don't need this."
The frail boy was holding Mel's half eaten arm. He had easily crashed the chitinous skull and pulled Mel's entire arm out. "Here."
Shocked, the swordsman could barely catch his own arm as the kid tossed it. Holding one of the dual swords, the kid blurred forward into a swarm of Death watcher.
In the face of many insects, my hand moved instinctively. No flashy moves, no techniques just magic. I simply enchanted my perception using mana to hit first and slashed their skulls half. 'Although bit annoying, this nimble body has its advantages.'
Two Death watchers charged, I quickly grabbed one of their legs and spun them around like a sack of potatoes. While keeping them at bay, I noticed that they were encircling me.
WHOOSH! The priestess shot few magic in my direction. My senses raged and I threw the insectoid forward.
BOOM! BOOM!
Helen's spells cleared most of the Death watchers, the handful remaining went into hiding as I could still their presence lingering.
Mel sluggishly walked into Tarma's eyesight and offered him a hand. Tarma's judgemental gaze was interrupted by Mel's snicker. He was forced to sit up by Mel. "If you are here, then who is killing the rest?"
"Hmm? Oh, the kid is doing it." Mel answered as he grabbed Tarma's waist and picked him up.
"Urgh! The kid? Maybe Helen was right, he is a alterum after all."
Mel patted Tarma's back with a soft smile. "Maybe. Now come here, you need to see this."
With a questioning gaze, Tarma followed Mel.
Ahead, he saw Helen standing. 'Why is she shivering?' He thought.
Besides her, the mysterious boy was crouching, deeply thinking about something. Then, he saw something which broke him into tears.