On another side of the territory—
"Finally they're hiring again!" Another person exclaimed, looking up at the sky with a bright smile.
Crow and the others were currently gathering resources because they didn't want to risk going outside at this time, as they had heard of the dangers.
The three of them happened to have landed level 4 during the beast tide. It was an amazing feeling. Too bad the monsters got so much stronger and none of them were able to revel in his newfound strength… because it was nothing in front of their new enemies.
"Happy, brother?" An innocent voice asked beside them, and the trio looked at their new group member and dormmate, Koo Yu.
He was a few years older than they were, but his mind stayed at a child's age. No matter, this new brother of theirs was adorable no matter what.
Especially Crow who pretty much owed his life to him. Or rather, his late brother.
During the mob, he was surrounded by monsters, so many that the sentries weren't able to deal with some of them. At the time, both Dog and Sunny were taken somewhere else as they fought.
He remembered the brave George joining him in the fight and the two of them fought back to back.
Crow was touched. They seemed to only share a dormitory at most. They barely even talked before.
The two lads defended bravely and they rode on the momentum to kill one with the help of the sentries.
Unfortunately, an accident happened. While they were distracted by a monster, a smaller one appeared next to them. It happened that George was nearer, basically covering him by virtue of his position. The man was pulled by a monster to be mauled.
The only thing Crow could've done for him was try to recover his corpse as intact as it could be.
George definitely saved his life. Sadly, it was at the expense of his.
As he picked resources, his fist tightly clenched what he was holding in the memory.
"Brother Crow… don't hurt yourself…"
His dark eyes softened and he let out a rare non-creepy smile.
He ought to make it up to this brother, who lost his only relative because of him.
"Of course we are happy," Crow said, answering his first question. "Because we'll have a chance to become stronger."
"Like Rowan?" Koo asked, particularly fascinated by fire. It was not a surprise for his simple mind to like the showy element. Fortunately, his affinity was fire, otherwise, his young mind would've been very disappointed.
Crow's lips twitched. His element was wind. "Maybe."
"Can you make fire go pew pew?" He asked, voice habitually nasal. Before he could answer though, a boisterous laugh behind him sounded.
"Aww, Little Koo, he'll have to train a lot harder to be THAT cool," Hubert said in amusement, his blonde hair filled with leaves. He then suavely (or at least he thought so) shook his head, the leaves gracefully falling down his head and shoulders.
Hubert was another life-and-death friend they made during yesterday's battle. He had pulled Dog to the side because he accidentally went to the path of a sentry arrow already released.
If Hubert wasn't there, Dog would've been skewered to death.
Anyway, Koo looked at the blonde in puzzlement, "Really?"
"Yes, but your brother will be joking with the guards soon. When he's become friends with the actual cool guys, maybe he can ask them to make fire for you."
"Really? That's awesome!"
Crow rolled his eyes. Hubert was actually in the exact situation as he was. He had no doubt that this guy would throw a legitimate party if he was accepted for the job.
"Well, I'd definitely join in!" Dog said with a shrug.
"Yeah, but are our contribution points enough to try?"
"It should be! We killed a lot during the beast tide!" Sunny said, giggling, "Let's check the village center for our status later."
Hubert nodded, adding some resources to his basket for selling. Since they were going to the center anyway, might as well maximize the trip.
As he did so, he couldn't help but wonder who got the most contribution points among them. "I wonder who won the rewards?" he asked, making a mental note to check the rankings to feed his curiosity.
The question though made everyone pause, thinking. In the end, a few faces appeared in all their heads.
The people who actually got the most kills were actually just Althea, Oslo, and Rowan. In order to encourage the people though, she rewarded the top 2 non-aborigine that came after them, who were Drake and Hugo.
Both of them were already permanent residents and they decided to sell their winnings for some gold, instead.
The list was not announced, simply because the winner received a question whether to remain anonymous or to announce in the territory, which all of them refused.
It was around here that an old man gathering stones nearby scooted over, eyes filled with gossipy light. "Not counting the Aborigines, then Ms. Althea must have won!"
"Oh?"
"Yes, I heard she pretty much killed most of the level 4 and level 5 monsters attacking the East Gate!"
"Wow! How? Her level is high, but not THAT high, right?"
"She got good equipment."
"Oh, yes, I heard she got a good weapon! From the system gift pack!"
"Well, she did invent a lot of things…"
Hubert sighed dreamily. "Beautiful and capable. Goddess is a goddess," He said, hands on his chest as if keeping his heart there. Poetically, if he didn't, he thought it'd fly to Althea every time he thought of her.
He was one of the people with Ansel at the time they were rescued by Althea. The image could be said to have been imprinted, like on many others.
The old man nodded, smiling proudly at the information he got from a teammate (who happened to be dating a guard). "You may not know… but I heard Ms. Althea threw bombs!!!"
Gasp!
"What?!"
"Seriously?"
No citizen was assigned in the East gate and after the tide they went to rest. This was immediately followed by a busy preparation for the lifting of the protection, so a lot of things hadn't spread widely yet.
"Do you think she'll sell it?"
"Where? The Supermarket?"
The other two rolled their eyes.
"Maybe she'd build a new shop??"
"I heard she also had paralysis and poison bombs! Explosive bombs may not be sold, but those two could be!"
"Someone ask her!"
"Too shy!"
Then a lot of men couldn't help but remember her beauty and were hyped to have an excuse to talk to her.
"I volunteer!"
He was nudged by an arm. "No, I will represent our group. It won't do to spam her!" Hubert said with a confident smirk.
"Why does it have to be you then?"
Hubert grinned, combing back his lustrous blonde hair not too inferior to Oslo's. "Because I'm the most handsome!"
He was then beaten up by his team.
Fortunately, the territory only banned legitimate fighting in the territory (outside the fighting arenas), which was characterized by a motive to hurt and reduced health.
Otherwise, the whole gang would've received a yellow card then and there.
…
On the other hand, there were people who had been preparing to go out when the ban was announced.
They froze when they read the contents, as they were really ready to meet the monsters head-on. They really made a lot of money from the last beast tide.
They came a few days before the beast tide and were inspired by the locals to do more work. Under the protection of sentries and aborigines, they really did earn a lot—strength and monetary-wise.
"Wait! There's an instruction that people below level 5 must come with the guard team!
"I heard the level of monsters outside would spike up after the protection period!"
It was a dark-skinned man with very curly hair, trying to convince his white friend not to be rash.
The man who was looking forward to hunting outside looked around sarcastically. "Monsters? Really? Where?"
"Shhh!! Don't ask for it, are you an idiot?!"
The man rolled his eyes and was about to mock his companion for being a coward when the ground vibrated.
Somewhere above the wall, a guard shouted.
"Attack!!!" He bellowed, "It's a monster attack!!!!"
The dark-skinned man glared at the other man. "You damned crow mouth!!"
"..."
Can he say sorry?