After a few minutes of looting, Bug finally went to meet up with the group of three hunters. When he got up to them, he was relieved when he saw the bombard alive. Though he was still in a complete state of shock, he nevertheless survived an Alter onslaught.
"Hey, is the bombard can move yet? if we walk now we can reach my place in two hours"
The man with a scar on his face frowned "It's too far! The Alters might catch up to us" Clearly, the man was still agitated. Well, it's not that they met in a more normal manner.
Bug just sighed thinking that the man was too inconsiderate. 'i just saved you, you know!' Although he wants to yell that thought, he controlled himself and told them another option.
"The nearest village here is at least 5 hours of walking. If we run now we can reach the village in, probably, 3 hours. Now, let's say that the Alters didn't catch up to us, who's to say that they won't trace us back to the village? Many people will die! We can also run now in the opposite direction of the village where my place is located. If we run now, we can reach it for 1 hour. The only problem is the bombard, can he run?"
The two hunters contemplated their options. The man had a point, if they run to the village now, there is a chance of them getting trace there. On the other hand, a 1-hour run seems more reasonable.
"Alright, we go to your place. I'll carry Michael" The burly man said with a groan as he got up from his seat on top of an overgrown root. He lifted Michael and placed him on his very wide shoulder.
"Good, let's go"
Bug led the three hunters as they traversed the dense forest. No one talked the whole time. Maybe it's because they were too exhausted to talk and run at the same time or they were listening to their surroundings for ambushes or traps. The scar-faced man still didn't trust Bug though.
Less than an hour later, the unknown man stopped running. "Why are we stopping now!?" Scarface man said with a growl as he placed his hand on the unknown man's tiny shoulder. "Look, we can't afford to waste time!"
"Hey, can you remove your hand on me? it's heavy. Don't worry too much, we're here" Bug spread his hand in front of him as if he was presenting something.
The burly man and scar-faced man's face crumpled in anger. What is he talking about? there is nothing here but grasses and tree branches! The scar-faced man gritted his teeth in frustration. He grasps the unknown man's vest as he yelled right in front of his face
"It's not the time for joking around! Do you know what we just did!? we killed 2 Alters! they will be out for our blood! we can't stand here waiting for them!"
The man was right. Since the Alters that they just killed was from a convoy, the others will notice that they have been gone for too long for just dealing with three puny humans. Once they find the bodies, they will hunt the killers no matter what. Especially that the killers are humans, they won't let them get away with this. That defeat will also damage their pride as a superior species. They will feel threatened.
Bug shoved the man's hands with his tiny hands which greatly surprised the man. He's probably wondering, how can this kid exert so much strength with his frail-looking body?
"Okay! relax! like I said we are here. The place I was talking about is underground, so it's much safer here than the village"
Bug yelled back at the scar-faced man with a frown on his face. Bug's getting annoyed. He then proceeded to remove the grasses and branches he placed to hide the door.
The two hunters' eyes widened as they saw the metal door on the ground. They also got curious about the claw marks on the door.
"cascas claw marks?" The burly man mused as he inspected the claw marks. With how thick the metal door was, only cascas can do much damage to it. "you brought us to a cascas' territory!?"
The two hunters quickly readied their weapons already looking out for cascas attack. The unknown man spoke.
"Don't worry, the cascas is already dead" Bug said in a cold voice. He opened the hatch and gestured for them to go first.
The two hunters eased their reactions after they were told the cascas were already dead. Though they won't easily believe that a single hunter can kill a cascas, but the man in front of them just killed two Alters! it's not unacceptable to believe his words.
The two hunters looked at each other and nodded. The burly man went inside first after he ties his companion's body on him using the vines hanging around them. The scar-faced man followed after his companion although, he's still looked vigilant.
Bug went last after he placed the cover for the door. He looked around using his magnify skill to ensure that nobody has seen them.
A few minutes later, they reached the polished floor. The two hunters looked around the narrow path. They were especially curious about the strange glow stone.
Bug chuckled for a bit when he saw the curious gazes of the two. He remembered the first time he found himself here along with his companions.
"My companion said that thing is called a light bulb" Bug said with a smile as he walks past the three.
"Light...bulb? is it another type of glow stone?" The scar-faced man asked like a child.
"No, she said it was made using ancient human's magic called 'technology' and 'science'"
"this companion of yours, where is she? how can she know such things?"
For them, information about ancient humans was almost nonexistent. After the Alters won the war, they enslaved the humans and forced them to be their servants and miners for the kingdom all the while they were destroying everything that was made by humans. Every possible trace of their history vanished. Libraries burned. Buildings shattered. None was left. Even passing on knowledge between humans was prohibited! Anyone who was caught teaching was killed!
"Ah, she's... she's dead, unfortunately," Bug's voice lowered as he talked about his companions "there were three of us when we got here, but when we resurfaced, the cascas was still waiting for us and we were caught off guard. The two of them died" After he said that, Bug recovered from his solemnity "Anyway, she said that her father told it to her"
Obviously, Bug can't tell them that his companions actually died here. It would waste their time if they suddenly back out because of fear. Furthermore, he was sure that the metal people won't come out wherever they were hiding in.
"Ohh, I'm sorry about that" The scar-faced man quickly shut up after he felt the gloomy atmosphere after the unknown man told his sad story.
After a few minutes of walking, they walked inside a cramped space. Bug pressed a button, then, the door of the room closed surprising the two hunters. Bug saw their bewildered expressions. Bug just chuckled inwardly.
Few minutes went by and the door is still close. "What are we waiting for here?" The scar-faced man became impatient as he stood in a cramped space, he doesn't really like cramped spaces. "What is this room anyway?"
"Don't worry, the door will open when we get there." Bug answered his first question with a snort. "All I know is that this place moves upwards and downwards" Bug shrugged.
Moments later, the door finally opened. The two hunters widened their eyes at the scene in front of their eyes. A number of skeletons lying on the floor, broken glasses, and flickering light bulbs. But, the unknown man didn't seem to care about those things. He just walked past them and led the way.
After they traversed the long hallways and corridors, they finally reached their destination. It was a corridor with rooms on each side containing a simple bed. The burly man placed the still emotionless, Michael.
They finally have the time to introduce themselves. "Ah, sorry for the late introduction. My name is Rat..." The scar-faced man said as he reached his hand to Bug to shake hands. "...this is Mud and this is Michael" He then pointed at the burly man which also shook hands with Bug. Rat then pointed at the man lying on the bed.
"I'm Bug" Bug introduced himself with a cold voice while looking at Michael.
That's the first time he heard a name like that. Rat seemed to notice his curiosity, he spoke. "Oh, Michael said his name is an ancient human name. His mother gave it to him" Rat chuckled for a bit when he saw the look on Bug's face.
That's a unique name Bug thought.
When the Alters enslaved humanity and destroyed every last bit of their history, the Alters changed the names of every human in their captivity. Alters hated human names because it's similar to their names. So, the Alters gave humans names that belittled them. It was some type of psychological warfare that instill the inferiority of humans compared to them. Just the utterance of human names got them beaten or even killed!
Three hundred years' worth of forced naming sense by the Alters completely erased the human names in their brains. Even after they gained their freedom from the Alters, the naming sense still stuck and used to this day! It doesn't really mean anything now, though.
"Huh? These ancient human names, I like it" Bug grumbled to himself. "Anyway, why are you even fighting those Alters earlier though?" Bug asked the question he wanted to ask from the start.
The Mud answered him with a groan "We got caught. We were pretty far away from the convoy, but we didn't think that they would widen their scouting perimeter" Mud sighed "we were lucky you helped us, Thank you" Mud smiled warmly at Bug which made him feel glad.
"On behalf of Michael here, thank you so much. You really saved us there" Rat also thanked him earnestly with a bow.
Bug released a chuckle and smiled awkwardly as he scratch his cheeks. "Don't worry about it." Bug waved his hand. "Besides, I can't let any more hunters die," Bug said solemnly.
They moved on. Bug led the two to other parts of the underground place before stopping in the kitchen. Bug prepared his leftover deer meat while Rat started a fire using the firewood Bug previously gathered.
They talked as they ate.
"Bug, I've been meaning to ask you. Don't take this the wrong way, but how can you fight those Alters? you seemed like a new hunter to me and your skinny body...it doesn't make any sense"
Bug choked on his food. He needs to make an excuse quickly. "i...uh. I can't tell you that, sorry" Bug made a pleading look at Rat.
"Alright, Doesn't matter anyway, just curious," Rat said as he ate his meal.
"What about you? where are you from and what were you doing back there?" Bug asked in a serious tone while looking at Rat with a firm gaze.
"Oh, We were from Tagtay Village. About, your other question..." Mud winced as he answered Bug. "...we can't tell you that. It's pretty important. All I can say is we really need to go to Baguio village immediately"
"I'm from Baguio village!" Bug exclaimed unintentionally. "I live there. in fact, I was going back there when I saw you three"
"Are you know? Well, that's good news for us! you can be our escort Haha" Mud said jokingly as he laughs awkwardly.
"So, what's with the convoy? you seemed like you knew there will be one. You said it was a large one too. That never happened before"
Bug was right. For 17 years that he lived there, there was not a single large convoy that happened there. Only merchants used that road.
Rat stopped eating and leaned forward. "Well, since this will not be a secret after a few weeks or so" Rat's face became serious "The Alters, they are preparing for war"