章 31: Meeting the Squad
"Hey, guys! We got us some fresh blood!" Akeme laughed as he pulled Rao Wu to a small party of roughly thirteen men and women comprised of six fox-hybrids and seven wolf-hybrids. The mercenaries, who were in the middle of arranging their weapons, paused and then turned to survey Rao Wu with interest.
"Hmm? Who's this?" A female wolf-hybrid who looked to be in her late-teens walked over and then crouched in front of Rao Wu. She sported a wild, dangerous grin as he looked him over. "Aren't you a little cutie? What's your name, kid?"
Rao Wu froze, unable to speak for a moment. His animal instincts picked up immense danger and bloodlust behind the seemingly harmless smile. "R-Rao Wu."
"Rao Wu? Weird name. Sounds human."
"Ramy, don't tease the kid like that," scolded Akeme with a light chuckle. "You're gonna make him piss his pants."
"I'm not a baby!" Rao Wu was indignant. Who did they say would piss his pants cause of a little fear?
"Woah, Woah. You pissed off the fiery bugger," a beautiful young man cooed as he approached the strange group. The man, whose disarming smile could enchant nations to war, crouched in front of Rao Wu and ruffled the child's hair. "Been a while since I've seen a gray fox. Nice to meet ya, cousin."
Rao Wu stared at the young man with wonder. This was the first time he saw another fox-hybrid up close. The young man's hair, like most fox-hybrids, was bright orange. In comparison, the gray fox clan was much rarer.
"Uh, Elok, I think you broke him," Ramy joked as she waved her hand in front of Rao Wu's blank face. "Kid, you awake?"
Elok did not seem surprised by Rao Wu's reaction. Instead, he asked with a warm smile, "First time seeing another fox-hybrid?"
Rao Wu meekly nodded.
"Thought as much." Elok chuckled and then guided Rao Wu to meet the other party members. "Get used to it, kid. You'll be meeting many more before the week's over."
Rao Wu nodded and then paid attention as Elok introduced him to each member of the group. Fortunately, aside from Elok, Ramy and Akeme, none of the mercenaries were interested in him. They gave curt greetings and then returned to organizing their weapons and armor. The journey ahead would be long and dangerous. They needed to ensure they completed all the necessary preparations.
When Elok finished the introductions, he took Rao Wu aside and began questioning him on his origins. Fortunately, after Denuchi, Rao Wu was better prepared to allay his doubts.
"At the very least, you don't seem to be a human spy." Elok muttered as he observed Rao Wu. Rao Wu still had one or two suspicious points, but everyone had their secrets. Elok was satisfied with confirming that Rao Wu was not sent by the humans. Then, again, the little boy was too young to be a spy. The humans were yet to get that desperate.
Rao Wu breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "Everyone's been asking me questions since I woke up. Can I ask some of my own?��
Elok's lips curled into a smile as he slung a quiver of arrows over his shoulder. "Well, aren't you a ballsy one?" Despite his words, Elok chuckled and then waved his hand, "Go ahead, kid. I'll answer if I can."
"Thanks." Rao Wu did not forget to express gratitude. Afterward, his brows furrowed as he then asked, "What exactly is a Shaman's Orb? I heard we're going to Lazuli Cave to retrieve it. Is it something important?"
"The Shaman's Orb?" Elok slung a bow over his shoulder and then said, as he inspected the supplies in a bag. "I guess you could say it's important." Elok secured the bag and then looked at Rao Wu. "What do you know about soul artifacts?"
"Soul artifacts?" Rao Wu cocked his head to the side, confusion apparent in his eyes.
Elok nodded as if understanding Rao Wu's confusion. Having completed his preparations, he sat down on a rock outcropping and then gestured for Rao Wu to sit down next to him. "See, soul artifacts are unique items made from soul monsters' cores, crystals, and bodies. One of the most widely known are the soul armors humans wear. Another is the soul armaments used to strengthen the attack and defense of soul pets. You also have special artifacts like the spatial soul ring, which people use to store items."
Rao Wu nodded. He wasn't familiar with soul armaments and soul armors, but he'd owned a soul ring for as long as he could remember. He never knew it was made from soul monsters. Perhaps it was a lesson Uncle Twilight chose to reserve for when Rao Wu would begin coming into contact with these items.
"The Shaman's Orb is an old soul artifact passed down many generations of beastkin tribes." Elok looked at the sand dunes in the distance. "The Shaman's Orb was made from processing the Eternity-Seeking Songbird's left eye."
"I've never heard of that soul monster."
Elok chuckled and then shook his head. "I'd be surprised if you had. The Eternity-Seeking Songbird is extinct. Humans made it a priority to hunt them down when they started their attacks." Seeing Rao Wu's questioning gaze, Elok further explained, "The Eternity-Seeking Songbird had the ability to peer into the future. Despite the humans' higher firepower, the beastkin were able to launch many successful ambushes at the beginning of the war. The Shaman's Orb was crafted by one of the best Soul Teachers by refining a Songbird's Eye. Of course, as you'd expect, the beastkin weren't too thrilled about this. They threw countless bodies at the humans until they seized the Shaman's Orb for themselves. For many years, there was no information on its location, but lucky us," Elok let out a self-deprecating chuckle, "they just had to find it during our generation."
"Do you have any idea what the Shaman Orb does?"
"Legends claim that like the Eternity-Seeking Songbird, it can peer into the future," stated Ramy as she walked up to the duo.
Rao Wu's eyes widened as he admired Ramy's form-fitting metal plate armor and the round shield in her left hand. Appreciating Rao Wu's gaze, Ramy chuckled and knocked on the shied. "This old thing? Someone's got to take the blows for the group. That's my job."
Rao Wu cast a skeptic glance at her skinny frame, prompting a chuckle from Elok.
Fortunately, Elok decided to spare Rao Wu's blushes and quickly warned him, "Don't ever judge a wolf-hybrid by their external appearance. Those buggers got muscles for brains. Their ten-year-olds could probably fold me in two."
"Wow. Really?" Rao Wu immediately viewed Ramy with much greater respect. "Then you must be pretty strong!"
"Second only to Boss Denushi, himself," Akeme clarified as he approached the trio. His toothy grin was as unsettling as always. "Enough chit-chat gang, Boss summons us."
Rao Wu looked from Ramy to Akeme. "Huh? If she's stronger, how come everyone seems to listen to you?" Having been raised by a pack of wolves, Rao Wu was very sensitive to hierarchal structure in groups. He saw how the others reacted to Akeme. Even now, Elok and Ramy instinctively straightened up when Akeme approached them.
Akeme's grin widened, and a twinkle appeared in his eyes. "You're smart, kid. One day you'll learn that what's up here," Akeme tapped his head, and then pointed at his fist, "Is just as, if not more important than what's here."
"Why does it piss me off when you say that?" Elok grumbled. It was shameful that he could not refute a wolf-hybrid's claim to be smarter than him.
"I know what you mean," seconded Ramy. "I want to bash his head in."
Akeme did not appear fazed by their threats. Instead, he chuckled and said, "Yeah, yeah, you guys can get in line. Now, hurry up. I don't want boss yelling at me cause you guys wasted time. You know how he is about punctuality."
"Ugh, you're right." Elok quickly stood up and then patted Rao Wu's shoulder. "Sorry, kid. You're on your own. I don't wanna face boss' scolding." With those words, the young man took off before Rao Wu could get a word in.
Even worse, Rao Wu turned to Ramy, only to find a lingering dust cloud. She had taken off even earlier than Elok. Rao Wu was not dumb. He numbly jumped onto Akeme's back as Akeme turned to run.
"You little—" Akeme screamed.
"You'll get yelled at!"
"Fuck! Conniving fox!" Akeme cursed, but still ran at top speed. On his back, Rao Wu marveled as the wind whistled past. He always thought only monsters could move this fast. Would he also reach this speed one day?
Unfortunately, the ride did not last too long before Akeme came to a stop. "Alright, we're here, kid, get off!"
"Really? That was fast." Rao Wu jumped down, brows furrowed in disappointment. However, he suddenly sensed something wrong when he didn't see a soul around. To make matter worse, they seemed to be standing at the edge of a steep cliff. Rao Wu immediately took a step backward, preparing to summon Ju Tu. "What do you want?"
Akeme admired Rao Wu's defensive stance. "5 points. You took the right action after realizing it was a trap. But, you stupidly followed me to this point. If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead." The man then grinned and shrugged as he said, "But, I don't have time to waste killing you. Boss will yell at me if I'm late. With that," Akeme suddenly jumped off the cliff's edge, "see you at the bottom, kid."
"Wait!" Rao Wu rushed to the cliff's edge and was stunned to see Akeme expertly jumping off narrow rock ledges and outcroppings in the cliff wall until he landed at the bottom.
Rao Wu spotted a small crowd at the bottom. He could vaguely make out Ramy and Elok running from the side to join the group. Rao Wu tracked the direction they ran from and realized that the cliff-face he stood on sloped downward for a few kilometers.
It seemed Akeme deliberately ran up the mountain and then dropped Rao Wu to punish the child for jumping on his back.
In Akeme's mind, Rao Wu would spend at least twenty minutes running down the mountainside and then doubling back to the group. On the ground, Akeme grinned as he looked at the cliff-face. "That'll teach you to toy with me, kid."
"Where's the kid?"
Akeme's hair stood on end as he turned to look at the stone-faced Denuchi. Ah, shit. He forgot Rao Wu was supposed to be his responsibility. Knowing, he was doomed to face Denuchi's wrath, Akeme pointed at the cliff. "Left him up there to teach him a lesson."
Denuchi's gaze grew dark as he crossed his arms. "You didn't think about whose time you'd be wasting, did you?"
Akeme meekly shook his head. His ears drooped as he adopted a pitiful expression, "You know how I get when someone takes advantage of me. I couldn't help it."
Who knew what Denuchi drank that moring. He surprisingly sighed and pointed at the cliff. "Whatever, go get him. We'll talk afterward."
"Really!?" AKeme's ears perked up. Denuchi was the type to either blow off on you immediately, or never bring it up again. Before Denuchi changed his mind, Akeme quickly turned to race up the cliff-side. However, he barely took a step before Denuchi's scary voice rang out.
"Wait."
Trembling, Akeme turned to Denuchi, frightful of what would follow. "Boss?" Denuchi, however, had his full attention on the cliffside, completely ignoring a grateful Akeme. Curios, Akeme followed Denuchi's sightline. "What are you look—That KID!"
To Akeme's horror, Rao Wu was currently in the process of scaling the cliff. Only, unlike Akeme, the youth was like a crab plastered on the cliff, carefully climbing down with slow, deliberate movements.
Akeme could tell from Rao Wu's trembling that the kid was scared out of his mind. 'What the fuck? Did he do that to one-up me?' "Damn it! I don't need some kid's death on my conscience!" Akeme made to run to the cliff, but Denuchi's hand firmly clamped on his shoulder. "Denuchi!"
Denuchi knew that Akeme was frantic. Akeme never called him by his name except when he lost control of his emotions. "Calm down, Akeme. Let's see what the kid's made of. It won't be too late to save him when he calls for help."
Akeme gritted his teeth but eventually stood his ground. Still, he began preparations to summon his soul pet to save Rao Wu at the first sign of trouble.
Rao Wu, meanwhile, regretted his decision, but found himself in the path of no return. As his sore fingers gripped onto a narrow crevice in the cliff wall, the youth wondered whether he had finally bitten off more than he could chew.
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