We walked throughout the night. The monsters more capable of seeing in the dark led the way. The objective was to get a sure distance from the town we assaulted. Eventually, they would come across Roman’s farm and identify that he was no longer there, thus knowing he is involved with us. They’ll catch our sent then. The best we can do right now is keep walking and hope they don’t catch up. Taking another merchant route through the mountain range, we walked until the sunrise shined down between the trees. The smell of the trees and bushes as the morning dew forms on them is quite pleasant.

Looking around, the adult monsters all look like they’re pressing themselves to keep walking. The strain of functioning for so long must be getting to them. We can’t keep moving like this. Mange wanders over to me and taps my arm. “Ya talked ta Semarius, didn’t ya?” I nervously nodded my head. Mange exhales. “That boy… he always had a good heart. He chooses life over killin’.” Mange chuckles a little. “Bet he didn’ even say why he was there, did he?” I shake my head. Mange glances over at Lilac. “Jus’ keep an open mind on ya, Laoch.” I put my finger to Mange’s arm, tracing my finger on it to write out “Do you trust her?”

Mange looks forward. “It’s… hard ta fight th’ heart, Laoch. As much as I wanna trust’er, I jus’ can’t see any other reason why Semarius woulda been at a random execution. He ain’t one ta attend those.” Mange grabs the handle of the axe hanging on his back. “If only I had me real axe! My set ain’t complete without it! His level wouldn’t ‘ave mattered then!” I look towards the leader. After playing around with his new Hero panel all night, he still seems pretty interested in looking at everything. I walk over to the cart to see how Gibson and the others are doing. I step next to the cart and tap on the side of it. Roman looks down at me. “Oh! Good morning, skeleton! How are you holding up?” I point towards the others sitting next to him. Roman glances at them, then holds his hand out. “If ya want to talk, I’m sure it would be easier from up here!”

I take his hand as he quickly hoists me up onto the cart. He’s quite strong for an old man! Then again, perhaps I’m just light and don’t even realize it. I sit in front of the three on the front edge of the cart. Gibson smiles as he holds his hand out to me. “HI again, Laoch! Who would have guessed you’d be saving me a second time!” I grab his hand and shake it. I release Gibson’s hand and reach towards Robert. Robert takes my hand, shaking it with an excited demeanor. “Good on ya, skelly boy! Name’s Robert! Neva woulda thought I’d be travelin’ w’ a pack o’ monsters, but ‘ere I am!”

Robert pulls me in close, grabbing my sword from the sheath, and pulling it out. He holds it up above himself as he looks closely at it. “Interestin’ blade ya got ‘ere! Looks ta be a dragon blade! Poorly crafted, but a blade nonetheless!” Robert hands it back to me, which I quickly snatch it from him. “Next time I see a forge, I’ll tune it up for ya!” I put my sword back in the sheath. This guy has a lot of energy and talks with a dialect similar to Mange, but it feels even more relaxed than Mange’s. Such a unique speech style! I look at the girl. Jabari Abdullahi was her name, I believe. She’s watching me with a stern expression. I reach my hand up to shake her hand. She leans away from me in disgust.

“Don’t be thinkin’ I’m gonna be friends wit’ a lowly monsta! I don’t care if ya some kinda Hero or whateva ya are!” Wow. This one is quite rude, but… I’m sure she has her reasons. I raise my hands as I back off. Robert looks over at her. “Now, don’t you think it a bit rude ta talk to yer rescuer like ‘at?” Jabari stands up and points at Robert as she gets frustrated. “Don’t ya be presumin’ ya know me! I hate monstas, and even if he looks like a human skeleton, he still be jus’ anotha monsta!” Robert shouts back. “Ya think yer so-!” He stops talking as I grab his arm. I shake my head and trace on his hand “Toyed with. “ Robert seems to understand and he sits back down. Clearly, he’s still upset at her attitude, but he’s willing to drop it.

Jabari sits back down, looking away from me. I couldn’t imagine what she’s gone through to have such prejudice against us, but as a monster who has spent most of his life in hiding, I can relate to blanketing a hatred over all instead of seeing that there are some good ones amongst the evil masses. I’ll let her open as she feels like it. I stand up and jump over the side of the cart. I miss the landing and stumble, falling onto my face. Everyone chuckles as I scramble back to my feet. I dust myself off and make my way to Lilac. She seems to still be upset by Mange’s reaction. I walk next to her and Fivi.

I tap Lilac on the arm. She looks up at me quickly, as if she was lost in thought. “Oh, Laoch. I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you. Did you need something?” I point at Mange. She glances, then quickly looks away. “I…” Lilac goes silent. I can only imagine what’s going through her head. She seems like she’s being truthful in her interest in Mange, but I know literally nothing of romance or betrayal of such feelings. I can’t relate to this situation at all to even give an input. Fivi walks around Lilac and stands at my other side. “You must forgive her. I can see she is quite interested in Mange, but there seems to be a situation between them that cannot be repaired by simply talking.” Well, at least Fivi seems able to keep up with this situation.

I point to her shoulder at Ire, then gesture as if I’m drinking a potion. She thinks about it for a moment, then quickly looks back at me. “Oh, yes! Sorry! You mean the potion I had Ire rush to you!” I quickly nod. Fivi scratches Ire’s chin gently. “As I watched over the battle, I had seen Mange use his potion. I was not certain if you had used yours, as well, so I sent Ire to give you mine. We were no longer in combat, anyway!” I look up at Fivi’s face as she smiles. She has a caring nature about her that fits what a Hero is pictured as. Such a sweet girl. The leader falls back to us. He still seems quite excited about all of this.

“Laoch! I’m interested in this new power! We must grow levels together and become more powerful!” He smiles as he looks back at Fivi. “Do you not agree?” Fivi looks away with a nervous expression. “Y-yes! It w-would be b-beneficial to get s-stronger!” Fivi always gets jittery when speaking with the leader. She’s so weird! Roman looks down to us. “If the dragon and cat are going to train, would it not make sense to have a name and equipment?” Robert quickly jumps up. “Ya need equipment?! That means we’re stoppin’ somewhere ta get materials, right?!” The Minotaur snorts. “I’ve obtained plenty of materials, human! They’re in the cart!” Robert waves his finger while clicking his tongue.

“Ya can’t find th’ materials I need jus’ anywhere! Gotta have the right tool ta find it!” The leader looks up at Robert. “Alright. If you require this “hard to find” special metal, then where do YOU plan to get it?” Robert leans down from the cart to us. “Well, that’s… a bit of an issue… We gotta make a quick stop by me old shop! Need me book an’ a few of me tools. I can make do w’ any ol’ fire from there.” Mange looks at the leader. The leader seems to be getting irritated. I guess we have been getting sidetracked a lot. The leader exhales. “Alright. What’s one more stop?” He quickly holds his hand up. “BUT if your shop is in a human city, I won’t risk my people for it!”

Robert chuckles. “No worries! Me shop’s on the outskirts! ‘ow ya think I managed ta hide monsters at me place?” The leader holds his hand out. “Feel free to lead the way, then.” Robert hops off the cart and runs to the front of the group. “On we go, then! Ta Marroville!” I look over at Mange to see how he reacts. He doesn’t particularly seem phased, so this must not be some place he has a history with. We continue through the mountain trees until we eventually reach a merchant path. A dirt road snaking its way through the woods. After another 45 minutes or so, we take a right at a crossroad, then another 30 minutes later, we find ourselves exiting the forest again.

The sky begins to shade over as the clouds grow dense. I catch up to Robert and tap his arm. He looks back at me as I point to the sky. Robert looks up, then smiles at me. “Don’ worry none! We’re nearly there!” We continue down the hillside roadway until we catch the sight of a human house in the distance. It seems small, but at least big enough for us to take shelter in from the shifting weather. We speed up a little as we race the rain. Arriving at the house, Robert grabs the handle and cracks the door open before stopping. “Someone’s in me house…” All of us who are capable to fight posture ourselves to prepare for battle!

Robert opens the door slowly. The sound of the door pushing metal across the floor rings out ominously. The house is horrifyingly quiet. I can feel my body shivering as we slowly walk into the house. I hope it’s not a Hero expecting us to return here! We creep around the house. The floor is cluttered with random objects. Tools, materials, even monster body parts! Robert is most definitely one in a crafting profession. The Feline, Fivi, the leader, and I look around the room, keeping Robert guarded while he lights some candles. Mange and Lilac guard the door to prevent the others from getting caught up in anything.

After lighting a few of the candles around the room, Robert notices a suit of armor in the corner of the room. “Strange… I don’t quite remember makin’ this one.” I look back at the armor. It appears very well made. Sleek steel with a rather thin design the slots on the helmet seem to have some kind of black matter behind them. Perhaps the stand holding it in place. Robert turns away from the suit. “Well, guess someone jus’ ransacked th’ place an’ moved on!” I hear a sound from the suit as it shifts slightly! Robert turns to look back as I reach forward, grabbing Robert’s shirt, pulling him away from the armor! In that moment, the armor extends out, contorting into a large set of aggressive teeth with fleshy creases!

All of us in the room focus on the armor, prepared to Slay whatever kind of monster this is! Robert jumps out in front of us! “Hold on, now! Jus’ wait a moment!” He says in defense of the monster! “What do you mean?! That creature just attempted to eat you!” Fivi shouts at Robert! Robert walks over to the armor, placing his hand on its chest. “That you, Milli?” As Robert says that name, the chest of the armor splits open into a large, toothy mouth. A large tongue outstretches from that mouth, licking across Robert’s face. Robert laughs as the armor licks him. “Ha ha ha! Now, now! Down, girl! Ya really put th’ scare in me!”