I quietly laid on the ground, making sure to be hidden from them. I changed my position just enough to see who was coming. Fifty meters ahead, a group was walking through the forest, they were composed of two humans, one Troich and one Adhar. The troich had a green metal skin that shone with a metallic luster; it stood at 3 meters tall. The adhar had blue wings with some electric lights on it, and he also had blue hair and black eyes. I could feel a strong mana from one of the humans, a man with a huge robe and a hood covering his face. The other human was a warrior, he was carrying a big spear, and his body was full with muscles.

I observed them and saw that they were heading toward the cave where my team was. Using my soul force, I felt the fluctuations of their powers and concluded that the team was at the average level of tier 5. Some of them were at the late stage of tier 5, but the mage and the Adhar were at the middle stage of tier 5.

I was confident that our team had enough strength to fight against them in their peak state. However, the ki users were too weak right now, and couldn’t challenge this team. I thought about what to do, and a million thoughts passed through my head…. Were they a threat? I could sneak attack them and probably kill two of them, and worn out the others… But was it truly necessary?

A million thoughts passed through my head, and I finally concluded after analyzing the team. They probably survived because of the Troich ability to mold earth. We could use that to our advantage with we cooperated with their teams.

I took a deep breath and quickly went to the cave, disguised under the shadows. After a few minutes, I arrived in front of it.

“Guys, I have something important to talk with you.” Everyone looked at me, and I began to explain the situation about the team I found in the woods.

Lana pondered for a while and said. “Although we are not in our peak states, we could pose them a huge threat. They will not dare to attack us.” She looked to the forest and said. “I will leave with you to greet them.” She got up and gestured for me to follow her.

This time, I didn’t hide and waited with her some distance from the cave. Although we were not in front of it, the range was good enough so that if a fight began, our teammates could come quickly. After a few minutes, we finally heard the sound of footsteps, and the team soon appeared amidst the forest. They looked at us and stopped in place. There was no need to get into a fighting formation, as they already were walking in one.

Lana stepped forward and said. “Hello fellow divers, my name is Lana, and this one here is Ullach. We are here to talk to you about cooperation.” with a smile on her face. Her voice was mild and calming right now, she was just a great leader, just as she was a fighter.

The Troich stepped forward and said with a metallic voice. “I am Tung. It’s a pleasure to meet such a beautiful human.” I was surprised by the manners of the Troich. I had only met the one from the camp, and I mainly thought they were a brute race and didn’t have the same kind of manners as humans.

“Thank you for the compliment, Tung.” Lana smiled at him. “What about my offer?”

“It’s very tempting; having more people is always better at these difficult times.” He said while nodding. “But this is not your entire team, right? How will I cooperate with them without knowing them.”

“That’s true; let me call them.” Lana decided to call all the team. The Troich looked amiable enough, and he seemed willing to cooperate. Soon, all of my teammates arrived. Beirut came in the front, giving steady steps and showing his big muscles. Silver was just behind him, looking ahead and analyzing the other team with cold eyes. And Lily was in the back, cautiously looking around and trying to find the best place to stay and support the team if a battle started.

Although all of our team was composed of humans, we were a diverse bunch. You could feel and see the different air around each one.

Tung looked at us and analyzed our team. His colleagues and tried to discover the limits of our powers. The person I was the wariest about was the Adhar, if a battle started, staying in the air would give them a significant advantage. “Let me discuss this with my teammates,” Tung said and turned around to talk with the others.

We were also together, and Beirut was in front, in case something happened. The group discussed for a brief moment and soon split apart. Tung took a step forward and arrived before Lana.

“It would be a pleasure to work with you,” Tung said while bowing. Lana gave the gesture back and said. “Please, come with us to our hideout.”

We turned away and guided them back to the cave. The place was big enough to fit all of us. And tung used some abilities to mold earth, to make the ground even. Beirut looked at him, working with attentive eyes. The Troichs were born with the ability to mold earth since birth, and someone that was trying to understand the concept of earth could gain a lot by watching them.

Although warriors mainly relied on their techniques and mutations to fight, if they had a good comprehension of some concept, they would be ahead of their peers.

The group sat around a bonfire and talked a bit. Everyone was still aware of each other. These were dangerous times, and a group could take some action that would only benefit themselves.

The day quickly passed, and I knew the name of their members. The Adhar was named Ravno, the mage Carlin, and the warrior Sam. They demonstrated to be good people, but I still couldn’t fully trust them. They were the first people that I developed a friendship with, and I wouldn’t let anything happen to them.

Night arrived, and we decided that one person from each team would keep guard. Today the chosen were Silver and Sam. I laid on my bed and closed my eyes. I was too worried to sleep, and I didn’t feel the need to anymore. I quietly listened to everything that was happening, but soon gave up and seated to meditate.

I extended my soul force around me and sensed the area. The darkness, the heat from everyone’s body, the coldness of the ground, the leaves falling far away.

It has been a long time since I meditated, my mind was too worried to do that, and I only focused on fighting. I circulated my soul force and cleared my mind and revitalized my body. I cultivated my soul fore, origin energy, and felt the concepts for the rest of the night.

I felt that I was on the verge of breaking through in the darkness concept, but there was something about me that was stopping it. Even the concepts of space and time had advanced pretty well and were approaching the peak stage of the mortal realm.

I tried to use the concepts of space and time in combat. However, they were too hard to use. I still didn’t have enough power to use them. Every time I tried it, the consumption of origin energy was so significant that it was not viable.

Morning arrived, and we continued with the usual routines. I left to search for food with Lily, and the other group sends Tung to help us. It seemed that they were in the same situation, and their supplies were ending. Tung was a Troich, and lived by consuming the natural mana from the earth. However, he could help us with searching for supplies.

I extended my soul field and felt the surroundings, successfully finding some things to eat. We were returning to the cave and felt a tremor on the ground. I turned my eyes toward the horizon and ran to the cave. They were returning! It took them only a week to get rid of the fugitives.

We ran back to the cave and found everyone alert. The warriors were already standing and with weapons in hand. I looked toward the forest and masked the inside of the cave with the concept of darkness, to make sure none of us would be found.

Everyone stayed quiet and waited for the army to arrive. The cave we were in was a bit far away from the route they used to pass the other time, theoretically giving us some breathing space. The thing was, we didn’t know if they were going to go back through the same way, or if they were going to deviate.

The answer soon arrived, they were going back in the same way! The group was relieved by discovering this, and I felt the tight rope around my neck becoming loose. We quietly waited in the cave, and the army slowly passed. The minutes slowly passed and they finally disappeared.

However, there was something we were not counting on this time. Last time, the army was following behind the scouts, which gave us some breathing time, as there were no scouts with the army; however, this time, the scouts were coming back with the army!

One of the scouts stopped in place and looked around. He smelled the air and looked toward the army that was now a bit away. He went toward the army and disappeared.

Everyone in the cave unconsciously released a breath they didn’t know they were holding when the army disappeared. They had done it! They went toward the bonfire and lightened it. They cut the ingredients and began to prepare a soup.

I left the cave and walked toward the entrance. I looked around and saw that everything was normal. The only thing that was different was that I could see the trampled plants and twigs that were trying to grow again.

I felt a chill down my spine. Cold sweat flowed through my forehead, and I looked around. I felt a powerful being was observing me, someone that could quickly kill me. A bad omen made me look up, and I saw the abyssal commander up there, smiling and looking in my direction. I grabbed Purbás that was on my back and shouted toward everyone in the cave.

“WE WERE DISCOVERED! GET OUT OF THERE!”

It took only a moment for everyone to appear. They followed my gaze and saw the enemy. He was quickly coming toward our direction. What scared me the most was that we saw him flying above the army and going away a few minutes earlier. He coming back directly to us meant that someone discovered our presence, and a part of the army should probably be coming back as well.

We entered in a formation, and Beirut raised his shield in front of us. The other team also organized themselves, and Tung was standing in front. The blackbird descended at a ridiculous speed, and the abyssal raised the halberd that was in his hand. Beirut used his mutation, and his body grew in size. The bird aimed for us, and the abyssal used his halberd to attack our group. Beirut quickly jumped to the front and raised his shield to take the attack.

“BOOOOM”

Beirut silhouette was thrown back at a ridiculous speed, and his body hit the wall. leaving numerous cracks on the hill. Beirut slowly got up and came back to the group. Although he was not gravely injured, I could see that he felt the impact. The bird circled in the air and prepared to dive again. “Get read and shoot that bird down!” Lana commanded.

Silver readied his bow, and I let a dark flame in my hand. I concentrated some origin energy on it and waited for the abyssal to attack again. “They are going back to the cave.” I heard Lily’s voice coming from the back of the group. “Tung is probably going to try to escape underground. Good luck to them!” Lana said in a sarcastic voice. Everyone knew that the abyssal armies always had some animals that specialized in discovering traces of underground fugitives. They used tremor-sense to identify any space in the underground and see if there were any big creatures there. They were gambling by doing this, but it was their lives. Following them and trying to escape together was also useless, as the first thing they did after seeing the enemy was fleeing alone. If we tried to go with them, they would probably attack us.

We were used as bait!

Looking at the situation gave me a hopeless sensation. We had a powerful enemy in front of us, and the army was probably coming back. There was a hill in our backs, we could even scale it to try to flee, but the abyssal that was flying wouldn’t let that happen. Our only option was to kill the enemy in front of us as quickly as possible and run!

I took a deep breath and saw that the bird was once again diving from the sky!

I will survive this!