Chapter 113: What do I have to do?

Chapter 113: What do I have to do? With blood running down his cheeks, Kael took two steps back, not overly surprised. "So there was one guarding the eggs," he muttered, drawing the long sword his mother had given him before she died and covering it with a crimson aura. Around him, several blood-red petals began to fall to the ground, covered in sticky white silk. From the shadows, a giant blue spider of Baron rank emerged, all of its eyes glaring at Kael with fury and hatred for entering its territory. Kael lunged at the beast with speed, stepping on the sticky ground. The spider attacked with its eight legs and tremendous strength, creating several craters in the ground. However, moving fluidly between them, he dodged them, avoiding each of the spider’s attacks, which echoed in the cave as small stones fell from the ceiling. With one clean movement, Kael managed to cut off one of the legs, while petals of blood appeared after the attack. The giant blue spider let out a cry of pain before losing its balance slightly and quickly regaining its composure. Kael looked at the savage beast and attacked again. His feet moved quickly, leaving several crimson petals in his wake, getting closer and closer to the spider, which backed up a few steps. With its seven legs, it attacked with everything it had to kill with a single blow, but none of its strikes connected, leaving craters everywhere and destroying the eggs it was protecting. Sliding slightly, Kael positioned himself beneath the spider and sliced open its body with a long, clean cut. All its organs fell to the ground with a disgusting, sticky sound, amid the floor covered in silk and craters. The giant blue spider’s body fell heavily to the ground, shaking the cave with its weight and destroying most of the eggs that had been scattered on the floor. Kael wiped the blood and organs from his face as he picked up the silk egg, the size of a dog. He stored it in one of his space rune rings. He left the cave. Once outside, Michel glanced back briefly. "So there was a wild beast inside." Kael ignored him. "Come on, there’s still work to be done." Without further ado, they abandoned that area before the arrival of new beasts of much higher rank or several of them. They continued moving through the hot jungle toward other territories: that of the blue liquor ape, where Kael managed to get some wine by killing one of them and collecting its blood. Then they moved on to the territory of the feathered serpent, where they took two of its eggs and escaped. Finally, and most dangerous of all, was the territory that was like a kind of lake, where the air was toxic. Many extremely poisonous snakes hung from the trees; a single bite meant certain death for them, as none of them had an antidote or healing magic. "What are we doing in this death trap?" Michel, his face covered by an old shirt, advanced cautiously, measuring each step through the damp undergrowth. Kael walked ahead, calm. His eyes scanned the surroundings with precision. "Looking for ingredients." "Ingredients? Here? In this place full of poisonous snakes?" Kael did not respond. He simply crouched down when he reached a clearing where the snakes were entangled, breathing in unison as if they shared a poisonous mind. He studied the ground silently, then spoke without looking back: "Move those snakes. Don’t use force. If you disturb them abruptly, they’ll react." Michel frowned. "Why me? The deal was protection. Not getting me into suicide nests." Kael turned away. His gaze was flat, unchanging. The tone of his voice was more icy than annoyed. "Then the deal ends here. Go back where you came from. Try not to die on the way." With that, he turned and began to walk away, with a calmness that only someone who knew the other had more to lose could have. But at that moment, he felt steel against his neck. A blade, made of coins, glinted in the light. Michel held the sword firmly. His blue eyes flashed with contained rage. "What are you doing?" Kael asked without turning around. Not a hint of tension in his voice. As if the blade were a breeze, not a threat. "What do you think? I’m not bound by any contract. I could kill you right now." Kael let out a small laugh. "Then do it. But when you’re done, get ready to die. Tell me, how long do you think you’ll survive without a guide, without food, and surrounded by things that kill you just for breathing?" Silence. Kael lowered his gaze to the floor. "You don’t know what this world is like. You think it’s about power or courage, but in reality... It’s about information and resources. And you have neither." Michel clenched his teeth but slowly lowered his sword. Kael turned around, unhurried. His tone was now more neutral, almost professional. "This is what I propose to you once again. You serve me, and in return, you will live. I will give you food, teach you how to identify prey, enemies, and natural traps. You will learn how to move without being bitten, how to detect poison pits, and how to find shelter in the middle of this jungle." Michel looked at him with narrowed eyes. "And what do I get out of it besides your kindness?" "You’ll become someone worth keeping alive." Kael walked past him and resumed his pace. "You can follow me... or stay here and wait for a snake to kiss your ankle." Michel was unsure, and then sighed, but his eyes flashed with contained rage. He didn’t want to die yet, so he would put up with this servant’s treatment, which he had never experienced in his life, for the time being. "What do I have to do?" he asked, gritting his teeth. Kael said again with the same calmness. "Move those snakes, but don’t do it forcefully. Because if you disturb them, you die." Michel worked carefully, his hands trembling slightly as he tried to untangle the snakes. Their cold, scaly bodies were intertwined, as if they wanted to melt together. With each movement, the snakes curled up more, hissing almost inaudibly, their forked tongues peeking out restlessly. Finally, he managed to move them aside, and between the writhing bodies and the damp earth, something glinted: a small, dark green gem. Kael didn’t say a word. He bent down, picked up the gem as calmly as if he were picking up a stone, and put it away without emotion. Only then did he speak, his voice firm. "Let’s go. We have to get as far as possible before nightfall." ... Time marched on relentlessly. The sun, which had previously reigned supreme in the sky, was now beginning to descend towards the west, casting an orange glow that embraced the horizon. The fluffy, whimsical clouds took on ever-changing shapes, open to the imagination of anyone who dared to look. However, the beauty of the sunset contrasted with the air: the wind still carried a lingering smell of burning. The scars left by the red dragon continued to mark the burning jungle. At certain points, the echoes of battle still resounded, while new territories were born amid the chaos, and beasts of King and Viscount rank emerged, thirsty for domination, expanding their domains and forming ever larger herds. The smoke, though reduced, still rose in scattered columns. Only a few areas continued to burn with low flames, fed by charred logs and dry roots. The giant trees cast shadows on the damp ground, infested with insects. The air vibrated with a myriad of sounds: buzzing, roaring, and crackling. The jungle breathed, alive and deadly, as if every corner hid hungry eyes. Beneath the canopy, two young people moved cautiously, but their steps were quick as they made their way through the tangled vines and tall undergrowth. One of them had long black hair, an ordinary face, eyes as black as a starless night, and wore a black Taoist robe with a long sword on his back. The other had silver hair, an attractive face, blue eyes like cold gems, and also wore a black Taoist robe, holding a coin sword in his hand to clear his way. They were Kael Medici and Michel Abraham. After leaving the area of the poisonous snakes, having obtained the gem that was there, they set off for Mount Dibhu. In addition, during this time, Kael taught Michel basic things, telling him about some plants that were deadly and more. Night was beginning to fall, so they moved quickly to find a good place to spend the night. After finding a place, Kael didn’t take out the pot, but instead quickly built a fire and then took out some pieces of beef and put them on skewers over the fire, sprinkling them with a little salt. While the meat was cooking, night fell, the sun was replaced by the moon, and in the midst of the darkness, they enjoyed the meat. Michel asked, his eyes shining in the moonlight. "How long until we reach Mount Dibhu?" "If we keep going at this pace, we’ll be there in eight days," Kael replied calmly, chewing his piece of meat as if nothing had happened. If the ship they were sailing on had not been attacked, the journey would have been shortened by five days or even less. They continued eating in silence as the night grew deeper and deeper. ... On the charred shore, right at the edge of what remained of the six-legged crocodiles’ territory, a group of figures stopped. The sand beneath their feet was no longer sand: it had been melted by such intense heat that it now glistened like broken glass, reflecting their distorted silhouettes in every fragment. One of them stepped forward, surveying the trail of destruction that stretched out before them. "So... this was the path they took," he murmured in a grave, almost reverent voice.