Chapter 12: Hope in the Forsaken Lands

It was sand and rocks wherever they looked. With hardly no food left they were left.

"Have any idea which direction to go?''

Asked Lily, as she looked at what vast expanse of sand and rocks.

"These lizards are said to be only found near a water source. But after that incident there should not be any natural water source left."

Ray pondered, looking at the dead lizard. Kyle bent to inspect and decided that it had died quite recently meaning that there was an artificial water body, nearby.

"There must be people nearby. Let's search for any traces. Come on, before the Sun goes down, we can't afford to waste mana recklessly."

They all got to work. It took some while to find anything, but then Matt found a hairpin.

Then as he searched more east, he found more traces of people.

So, the group decided to head towards east. By then the Sun had already set. It was a lot cooler. They walked for a few hours with Ray in the front and Matt in the rear.

Finally, a fence was seen from afar. Everyone was overjoyed as if they had seen the first trace of civilization in years.

The rushed towards, what looked like a village, just as the first rays of the day hit the sand.

As they approached the gate, they were stopped abruptly by two men wearing light armour.

They had short hair, green eyes, and long pointy ears. One of them was lean and tall while the other was more on the thinner side.

Both wore a uniform like outfit with an emblem of a leaf growing out of what looked like a blade of a sword, on their chests.

"State your identities." Said the thin man with a gruff voice that did not fit his stature.

The team searched for their adventurer's badge and showed it to them.

Every adventurer's badge was very precious and a proof of their trusted identity, so, everyone kept it safe.

Looking at their badges, they who were supposed to let them in, still blocked them.

"Even though you show your identity badges, we still can't trust you. Those badges were issued in the centre of the country, while you are currently in the eastern borders. You say that you were trapped in a ruin near in Bani, but you are now here. Moreover, we currently do not have the equipment required to very your ownership of the badges."

"Yes, for the safety of our people we can't let you inside unless you show something more trustworthy."

Seeing the two guards were reluctant, Ray argued.

"An adventurer's badge is accepted throughout the continent. And as you can see, our badges are resonating with our mana. Isn't this enough proof of our identity. If you still wish, you can cross check with the nearest adventurer guild."

"As he says, let us in. You can see that we are all exhausted and injured, can't you?" Kyle also stepped up.

Seeing the state of the group, the guards hesitantly allowed them in.

"What's wrong with them? They just didn't want to let us in."

Lily complained, as they headed to the hospital.

"Just calm down, they still guided us to a hospital."

"Tidlen is right. Let's not worry about that."

"Well, if you say so."

'Hmm… isn't Matt being too quiet? Is he feeling down?'

"Hey Matt, how much did you take from that treasure chamber? Now don't lie."

Matt eyes instantly perked up.

"I haven't yet counted, but it was enough to fill my d-storage. Bet that I can take it easy for a while! That's the first thing to do after we hit the inn, right Ray?"

"Absolutely!"

"No. the first thing we'll do, is to take a bath."

"Yes. yes, of course, Kyle"

At the hospital, Matt was healed and advised to take rest for at least 3 weeks or so, Kyle and Ray who had broken bones, too were to rest for a couple of weeks. Lily was also under treatment. Leaving only Tidlen, who had the least physical injuries.

Returning, they all rented separate rooms for themselves in an inn which gave them only a bucket of water to bathe.

Exhausted, they all fell asleep, only to wake up the next day.

"Good morning, everyone."

Ray who had woken up first, greeted the others as they all came down for breakfast.

At breakfast, the mood was joyful. The thought of having survived and returned from such an experience without anyone of them dying, made them happy.

"So Matt, did you count?"

"Oh, be quiet, you know that I slept the moment I entered my room."

"He just wants to brag that he took the most. Especially that ring."

"Hey. What's wrong with that? Its first come first serve. Haha…. What are smiling to yourself about Kyle?''

"Nothing…just that you seemed to quite a serious guy till now."

Ray's voice immediately calmed down.

"That's because, we were in a ruin."

There was a short silence.

"Guys, it been on my mind. What were those creatures? We could bare distinguish them before but then they suddenly revealed their appearance. And when they did, they looked like…"

The topic soured the mood. As everyone remembered their experience. But still it could not be avoided.

"They looked like… chimeras. Men who had experiments performed on them, making them akin to a beast." Tidlen's voice was sombre.