The Tear

Jake woke up the next day. He felt refreshed. The previous days were bothersome. So after a good sleep, he was energized.

He noticed his surroundings, 'Hmm, where am I?'

Looking around, he understood that he was in a tent and most likely still on the field beside the barrier.

Beside him slept the twins and their childhood friend. He could see figures outside of the tent. They were probably the guards watching them.

One of them said, "Should we wake them up?"

He was replied by another, "Not yet. When the young master is ready, he would summon them. Our job is just to make sure they don't escape"

"Okay, but I doubt they can. They are weak. They haven't even started cultivation at their age."

"Hahaha, that's true, but don't underestimate them. Our young master gave us our job for a reason."

After their conversation, they got silent. Jake managed to get a few pieces of information from them.

One, the power they possessed was obtained through cultivation. Jake knew a little about cultivation. His master, M, told him about it, but he wasn't taught it as he didn't need it at the time.

Two, whatever cultivation was, it was meant to be practiced from a young age.

Three, the most important one, Gavin, the young master, was still suspicious of them. He clearly didn't buy their excuse.

He held up his chin and thought, 'What do I do? I can't escape. Even if I managed to escape, I don't know anything about where I am. So, where would I go?'

He got an idea, 'Hmmm. Thinking of it, the situation is not bad at all. I am only detained. I just need to go with the flow. If anything happens, I can come clean, but I would rather not as I have no idea what they would do to me. Yes, the best solution is to go with the flow, that way I can collect information on my location.'

Jake had never thought of the trio. They were just pawns to him, indisposable. He only covered them as they were needed for his excuse. After this, he would leave them.

Stretching his body, he felt comfy. He was wearing clothes. It didn't matter who dressed him. It was probably a blessing to the person; He got to see Jake's beautiful body up close. He should be happy.

Jake examined his clothing. His fairly long-sleeved, furred jacket covered him to just below his knees and was loosely tied with string at the right side. The jacket had a wide v-neck which revealed part of the traditional shirt worn below it and was worn with a big cloth belt, which was held together by a small belt buckle. The cloth belt was purely a functional addition.

His pants were simple and a comfortable fit and reached down to his leather boots. The boots were made from a fairly rare leather but were otherwise an ordinary design.

This dressing style was different from what he preferred. He removed the jacket and suddenly he felt free.

As he was arranging himself, Jake heard a voice outside the tent different from the ones guarding his tent.

"Wake them up. Young master wants to talk to them."

"Copy that."

The two guards went into the tent to call the group.

"Wake up!" One of them shouted. He saw Jake, "Ohh, you are awake. That's good."

The other guard kicked Nico, Lola, and Jaya before they could wake up.

Yawning like he was in his father's palace, Nico asked, "What is it? Is it time? I'm so ti--red."

....

Young master's tent.

After minutes of preparation, the group finally got to the young master's tent.

Gavin greeted them, or rather he nodded at them.

Jaya humbly greeted, "Young master Gavin."

She was followed through by the twins and Jake.

Gavin sat on a chair, "Do you know why I called you here?"

Nico remembered what Gavin said last night, 'Tomorrow, we would talk about your crimes.'

Sweats showered down his forehead, Nico understood that they had committed a crime and the worst part of all was that they didn't know what their crime was!

He glanced at his group, thinking of how screwed they were.

As their assumed leader, Jaya subtlety inquired, "Young master--" She was cut off by Gavin. He said, "Gavin is fine."

Adjusting herself, Jaya continued, "Young master Gavin, we are sorry for being reckless." She knelt down as she sincerely apologized.

What she got wasn't the expected reply. Instead, Gavin ignored her and asked, "Do you know your crime?"

Jaya was tongue-tied. She couldn't give an answer.

It was Jake that replied, "Yes Gavin. Unauthorized entry into the zombie mine."

After a lot of time to think, he noticed that all the men in the camp had tremendous strength, that is to say, they were cultivators. None of them were weak like Jake.

'Why was that?' He asked himself.

After a thorough observation, he understood, 'The standard requirement for the zombie mine's exploration is cultivation. Those that are not cultivators would bear a high risk of death. Yet, non-cultivators still go there, adding to the ranks of the zombies. If things went on, the mine would be overpopulated with zombies. So there was a regulation implemented. Anyone that went into the mine had to be checked. They had to have reached a certain amount of strength, and clearly, Jake and co didn't reach that. This was made to prevent suicide or something like that.'

It was a wide guess to Jake, but it was plausible.

Also, Gavin's question was a trap. Should they have answered no, it would mean that they didn't know? If they answered yes, he would have asked them what their crime was.

...

Lola had been quiet throughout her stays in the zombie mine. Unlike her brother, she was not outspoken, but that didn't mean she was shy. She just preferred not talking. Watching over her foolish brother was the closest thing to peace for her.

She was a simpleton to the core, but looking at the current scene she understood some stuff, 'We are always saved by Jake, but he can't be trusted.'

Her instinct warned her of Jake and Lola trusted her instinct. It had saved her most times.

After her thought, she forgot herself and went back to her daydream.

...

"Yes, that is your crime," Gavin slightly smiled at them. His trap did not work, but he still had others. He was about to dish them out when he was interrupted by one of his family servants, who rushed into the tent.

"Young master. Urgent news! Upon your order, we scouted the mine and discovered a tear on the top of the barrier."

With an immense shock, Gavin said, "A tear? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"That is quite serious. We haven't had a tear in six years. It is a good thing we discovered it early or who knows what would have happened."

Gavin abruptly stood up. He gave out orders, "Gather everyone. We leave for the city now. I have to report this to my father."

As the servant was leaving, Gavin changed his mind, "Wait. Leave ten warriors behind. The rest would go back with me."

The servant left after hearing that.

Gavin began to prepare for his journey back home

Frank, his attendant, who is always with him, asked, "Young master. What should we do with them." He pointed at Jake and co.

"Them? Hmm, let's see. We take them with us," as he had no time to squander, Gavin opted to carry along the group.