"Yeah, yeah, just be safe, okay?"
"You, too..."
Sierra went back to her group and told them that Smoke had joined a tournament called Swordsman to Knight. She wondered out loud about the place where Smoke, Laernea, and Gandiva were staying.
Sharur answered Sierra's queries.
"Most likely, Gandiva and Laernea brought him to Madam Dawny's farm. That's where we stayed ourselves when we were there to become Archers."
"Who's Madam Dawny?"
Vijaya answered Sierra's question.
"She's a retired adventurer that looked after the trouble making Lioumereans when they were younger. She brought them to Nanahuatl when they were around eight, Yeah I think they were eight. She was hoping that the village would reform them. Nanahuatl has a miraculous power of reforming deviants, but its limits were tested on those two."
Vijaya, Ichaival, and Sharur all burst out in laughter as soon as soon as the Vijaya finished her sentence. They remembered how much trouble those two caused.
Ichaival carried on and told Sierra about what Madam Dawny did for him.
"Madam Dawny is a really cryptic old lady, and her talent of bringing out your potential is just as mysterious. I came back to her when I got my advance job of a Hunter. I told her that everyone had gotten certain specialty abilities except for me. She asked me to show her my skills with the bow and arrow. I obliged her by hitting the bull's eye squarely."
"And then? What happened next?"
"She told me to keep on hitting the same target until I would run out of arrows. She also said that even if I wasn't given a special ability if I would work hard enough, something good would come of it. I obediently followed her instructions and spent the next week repeating the same thing over and over again."
Vijaya and Sharur nodded in agreement on how Madam Dawny's advice always seemed insane, but eventually gave out great results.
"I noticed that the time it took me to use all of my arrows had gotten shorter as the days passed. Then at the end of that week, Madam Dawny told me to release four arrows at once. I laughed and told her that I couldn't do that without activating some ability. She asked me, why not activate my own ability then. I couldn't come up with an answer. So, I just followed what she told me. This was how I ended up learning my ability 'Phantom Arrows'. Now that our talented leader, Smoke, is under her care, I'm sure he will gain some amazing abilities in the short time that he is with her."
Sierra wondered if Madam Dawny knew her Priestess mentor Nenek. From what they were saying about her, she thought that it was highly likely.
"Madam Dawny sounds really similar to my mentor. I wonder if she could give me any advice on being a Werebear."
This time Sharur gave his opinion on Madam Dawny.
"I think that there's a high chance that she could give you some. I mean she was the one who told me and my brother to get the Siege Ranger job. She said that our natural high strength would be a hindrance if we took on the job of a Hunter. It feels like she can see into your soul and knows how to make your true potential come out."
"Damn it! Looks like Smoke is in for a lot of training under her tutelage. He keeps on giving me this tasks where I can't level up. I'm gonna tell him that I should improve my fighting ability as well. Although, it is understandable that I can't go into Coatl on account of this curse, but still. I can't stagnate at this level."
Vijaya thought to add her impression about this special mission.
"I think that this mission isn't as plain as we think it is. Let's just wait and see. I think that this could be more fun than being stuck in such a strict city like Coatl."
Sierra nodded. Out in the unrestrained wilderness, enjoying the night sky lit by thousands of stars was definitely better. She couldn't think of a better way to end their first day as they searched for the labyrinth's exit.
* * * * * *
Adder and his men were hidden in front of Nisko's main gate. From their obscured location, they observed that the village looked like a ghost town.
"We haven't detected any presence of the Cavalry Knights. I think all of us can safely go inside the village. Does anyone have any objections?"
No one raised their hand. Everyone agreed with Adder's decision. All four of them entered the village.
Nisko was a small farming village. Its total land area was twenty acres, but it was mostly farmlands. The housing of the village were all cooped up in a two acre lot protected by their shoddily built wooden walls.
As they came to the village entrance, all the residents started to run to the safety of their houses. They were afraid that the Brandals have returned to pillage their village once more.
With all their weapons safely tucked away, Adder raised both his shoulders to show that he was a one armed man. He wanted them to know that he was harmless.
One of the villagers came out of his house. He carried a pitch fork and drew closer.
"What do you want? You're not from the Cavalry Knights or from the Brandals."
"My friends and I mean you no harm. We come from Coatl. We're simply here looking for information about the manjur recurve bow."
Slowly, other residents came out of their houses to watch the strangers in their village.
"Hahaha, the manjur recurve bow? People still do believe in that myth? Let me guess, you're another Cuezaltzinian follower aren't you? You people are really funny. You believe in justice and equality when clearly it doesn't exist. All of us here in Nisko have done no wrong. We've paid our taxes regularly. Then a charlatan of a trader offered to pay double the regular price of our harvest, and quickly ran off as soon as we loaded it in their caravan. They ran with our goods without paying a single zec."
Adder was a strong follower of Cuezaltzin. Even though he was born into slavery. He was brought up by the elders of Condortl to believe in what is just and good.
He remembered that before he met Smoke, he was about to give up on being a Cuezaltzinian, but his faith was reinforced and strengthened when his entire village that was enslaved for decades was freed by an outsider.
Adder believed that it was their people's perseverance and persistent prayers to the great god that delivered Smoke to them.
"Please don't blame your misfortune on, great god Cuezaltzin. I was once where you are now, on the edge of my faith, questioning everything that I stand for, but I was saved by our great leader. We were here for a different reason, but I think my friends and I are actually here to stop you from converting to Tlaltezinism. Please continue living your lives as you did before. I know that the spirit of the god in your hearts will enlighten you."
The villager with a pitch fork laughed.
"Everyone did you hear what this one armed preacher was saying? He says that the great god Cuezaltzin has not forsaken us and in fact have brought them to deliver us from this harsh predicament. HAHAHAHA. Talk is cheap, one armed preacher! Now off with you. There is nothing for your kind here."
The villager picked up a stone on the ground and threw it at Adder. The Condortlian did not dodge the villager's pathetic throw. He took the stone directly on his face and looked straight into the villager's eyes.
"We will leave, and we may not return but believe me when I say that your lives will soon get better."
Adder left Nisko and his group followed him towards the exit. Nobody else threw a stone at them. The villagers just watched in silence as Adder and his men left their desolate village.
After the eastern group had finished their investigation on the two villages of Poludnie and Nisko. They swiftly rushed towards Sierra and the rest of their teammates.
* * * * * *
"Adder said that they're gonna meet up with us in Betul. Ichaival, Vijaya, let's follow the same procedure for Silap village, but considering that this is the largest out of all the villages, I think allotting the whole day will barely be enough for you to investigate. But I believe you can still finish in time. Adder and I have checked the map in advance, and we've both decided on our next base camp. Let's meet up at (Latitude: 6°16' S, Longitude: 106°48' E). Adder and his group are already heading there. Let's all meet up at 2200 hours."
Vijaya and Ichaival nodded in concert. They've already packed up their needed gear and headed out to Silap.
Three falcons swoop down from the branches. Thyr perched on his master, while Vij and Aya each took a shoulder on the young Huntress.
Both Sierra and Sharur headed to the opposite direction. The gigantic Werebear and the tall OrkElf towered over the bushes, shrubs, and even some trees in this fledgling forest fragment.
Because Sierra's 'Animal Instinct' ability could detect the presence of danger, she didn't mind that they weren't concealed well by the forest.
The tall duo were the first one to arrive at the meeting spot. They prepared to make a hidden base camp. While building their base, Sierra suddenly stopped.
She felt someone's eyes were on her back, she turned around and found no one, her Animal Instinct ability also gave her no warning.
"Did you feel that?"
"Huh?"
"I think someone's watching us."
Sharur tried to look around.
"Nope, can't sense a thing. That's probably just some strigidae owl. Their eyesight is very far. I think they may want to eat our barbequed blood pheasant."
"You sure? Hmm, I guess that could have been it. Hey, maybe you'll get a strigidae owl. I think Adder said that Jinggu had already killed one."
"What? Are you serious? I have to leave. What direction did you say you felt someone was looking at you?"
"I'm not sure. I think it was somewhere that way."
"Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm sorry I have to run out. I've just finished building the base camp anyway."
"Sure, sure. I hope you finally manage to get one."
Sharur ran in the direction that Sierra pointed to. He sprinted as fast as he could. He knew that if his twin were to win this bet he would never hear the end of it.
Sierra gave a weird Werebear laugh as she saw the OrkElf run. It was funny how his huge ballista would get in his way as he jumped through the bushes. It was the first time that she was alone, ever since she met Smoke.
She thought about going hunting herself but realized that she wanted to try out the dishes that she had learned from Sharur in the real world. Sierra logged off and didn't return until their designated meeting time.
* * * * * *
Adder and his men arrived at the camouflaged base camp. If they didn't know the exact coordinates they would have had a hard time finding the place.
Sharur was on top of a tree in one of the sentinel platforms that they've built. He was keeping a look out and waited for everybody's arrival.
The moment he saw his twin. He immediately grab a rope and slid off the platform.
"HAHAHA, Jinggu! I've got something to show you. I've managed to kill a strigidae owl. Sierra said that she felt something was watching her. It wasn't in the exact location that she pointed to but I still got this monster."
Sharur briskly went inside their base camp and brought out the dead carcass of the elusive monster.
"Ha! I think this is just a really fat blood pheasant."
"What are you talking about? This owl is huge. You can't compare this to any blood pheasant. Unless you mean that... You've managed to kill an even larger strigidae owl?"
Jinggu fell silent and looked to his companions who just arrived with him.
"Alright, I think we should all get some rest. Right, Adder? We need to have energy for our next operation."
"Jinggu! Quit changing the subject. If you don't answer me I'll take that as a no and I'll claim that I've won our bet."
Sierra stepped outside as he heard the twin OrkElves talking.
"Hey! You're all here. Let's just wait for Ichaival and Vijaya they should arrive soon. Umm... What's up with Jinggu and Sharur?"
Jinggu was lying down on the ground while Sharur picked up a stick. He waved it in front of Jinggu and then he threw it far away. Jinggu sprang up and swiftly looked for the thrown stick.
Sharanga was the one who answered Sierra's question.
"Sharur won the bet, and now Jinggu has to be his pet dog for the next forty-eight hours."
"HAHAHAHA, what kind of bet is that? Hmm... But I like it! I think Smoke and I will have a similar bet."
Everyone laughed as they saw Jinggu being toyed with by his brother. Sierra clapped her claws and called for everyone's attention.
