"Hey Leader! Don't just go off on your own like that! Pant..."
Having finally caught up to Julius, Hank and the other members of the party regulated their breaths and surveyed the area.
"Sorry about that, I needed to get here as fast as I could."
Julius replied with his back still turned to them and his eyes fixed on the child in his arms.
"Were you able to save him, Lead?"
Arthur, with his keen vision, was the only one who saw and understood why Julius was in such a rush.
"Save who? The pig?"
Magaret raised her eyebrow in confusion, it was already dark at that point so most of them could barely see anything.
"Stay on guard everyone, the monster that emanated that strange energy might still be around."
Said Igor, his eyes glancing around at the scorched earth which was clearly a result of that vibrant pillar of energy they had seen earlier.
"No, not the pig it's already dead, see?"
Arthur pointed at the lifeless Orc which was sprawled in front of Julius.
"Ergh! Lead, why did you kill it like that?"
Seeing the grotesque remains of the Orc, Margaret couldn't help but grapple with her gag reflex.
"Sigh... It wasn't me who killed it."
Julius spoke in a low voice, and he still did not want to turn around as he had not yet fully grasped the situation.
He didn't understand what a child like Kaelen was doing inside of a Tower of Dread, and so, the mere thought of having to explain it to his party members gave him a slight migraine.
"Dear? Is something the matter?"
Helena walked closer to her husband, sensing that he was troubled.
"Yeah what's wrong? You're acting strange..."
Hank followed her and both of them beckoned him to turn around —
[!!]
"Eh?! Whose kid is that?!"
Hank's eyes widened in bewilderment, prompting the others to quickly gather around Julius.
"I don't understand it either..."
Julius furrowed his brows.
"... He's the one who killed this Orc, he fought quite valiantly."
Julius smirked as though he was proud of this child which he barely even knew.
"Leader, have you considered the possibility that perhaps this child is a monster?"
"This is the Obelisk of Tiamat... Anything is possible."
Igor frantically glanced around, the entire situation seemed like nothing more than a trap to him —one that he had no intention of falling for.
"What are you saying Igor, that the kid is some sort of a shape-shifter? I haven't seen a monster that looks so much like a Human."
Hank chimed in, analyzing the child's features.
"Are you pretending to not know of Vampires, Hank? And there are countless other monsters who closely resemble Humans."
Igor was adamant that they practice caution.
"I understand your concerns Igor, but as I said before... This child is the one who felled this Orc, and he almost died doing so."
Julius replied whilst Magaret lifted the child's upper lip, checking for fangs and if he had a pulse or not.
"Lead is right, Igor. I saw it with my own two eyes, this kid fought desperately against this Orc and he almost died."
Arthur recalled trying to loosen an arrow to save the child, but he moved so fluidly and in an unpredictable manner that he didn't want to risk killing him by mistake.
"Then can anyone explain to me why a Human child would be in this Tower?!"
"Or better yet, have any of you ever heard of a child this young that can defeat an Orc?!"
Igor became extremely frustrated at his member's lack of caution, would they really be fooled by a monster dressed as a Human child?
"That's enough Igor, let's put it to a vote."
"I say we take the child and nurse him back to health. We'll ask him questions when he wakes up."
"All who are in favor, raise your hands."
Julius raised his first, followed by his wife Helena.
"I agree with the Lead..."
Arthur too raised his hand.
"I honestly don't see anything that suggests he's a monster."
Margaret raised hers too.
"Hmm... I'm honestly curious to know who this child is and how he got here."
[Is there a civilization of Humans who gave up on challenging the Tower and just decided to live here?]
Hank felt his brain itch with burning questions of curiosity.
"Fine... But know that this is a foolish decision that will come back to haunt us."
"That thing you are carrying will bring us nothing but calamity, Leader."
Igor frowned and stomped away.
"Wow, what a grumpy old man."
Margaret scoffed.
"Let's go find shelter for the night."
Julius handed the boy over to Helena, and the Adventurer party, Soaring Boar, ventured north of where they stood, deep into the mountains.
The forest where Kaelen's Decadon had set up camp was situated east.
//
The rays of dawn spread out like a blanket, covering the scorched earth that bore the scars of Kaelen's desperate battle against the Orc.
And on this flat, desolate earth that was once a rocky terrain, there rested a murder of crows and a wake of vultures bathing in the warm sunlight with bloated bellies.
In addition to feasting on hundreds of corpses, they had spent the entire night devouring the Orc, all that remained now was bones and skin.
Fwip!
Caw! Caw!
The sudden appearance of a figure scattered the resting scavengers in the wind.
"Chiek..."
The figure adjusted his bow tie and took a deep breath, the long antennae atop his skull scanning the area like twin periscopes, probing the invisible currents of air for the faintest ripple of movement.
"Well this looks rather familiar."
He said as he slowly walked with a straight posture and his hands folded elegantly on his back.
Step...
He stopped and looked down coldly at the scavenger's dinner table —the Orc.
"Not a pang stirs my heart to see you swine perish. However, I am greatly troubled seeing as this bears link to my Lord's missing asset."
The Roach unfolded his arms and slid them into his pockets and continued walking, searching for any traces of Kaelen.
[The others, my Lord's specimens, reported seeing a bright light from this hill.]
[...]
[His Decadon reported that he stayed behind to fight an Orc on his own... How foolish, does he not know how precious he is?]
[Why would he give his life for those who are of a lower value than himself?]
The Roach snapped his mandibles.
[And seeing as these marks are remiscent of those left by Kaelen at the Amphitheater, I have no doubt that he was here.]
[However I do doubt that he would defeat an Orc as he is now, and even if he did achieve that unbelievable feat, he would have lost consciousness.]
[So... Where is he? Who took him?]
The Roach's exoskeleton began to creak as his frustration began to boil-over within him.
"Sigh..."
But he calmed himself and stretched his arms.
[I must find him, otherwise Lord Charymos will have my head...]
Two large magic circles —each having a diameter of about three meters and a secondary circle within them —appeared on either side of him.
These were two-circle summoning magic spells, and they glowed in a bright, dark purple color.
■■ Summon Intrusion: Winged Periplaneta.■■
Approximately thirty large cockroaches about the height of an average human and the lengths of a vehicle, sprung forth from the circle on his left and flooded the skies.
■■ Summon Intrusion: Armored Blatta.■■
The same number of cockroaches with same size crawled out of the magic circle to his right, and these seemed extremely durable given their thick exoskeletons.
"Go, find Kaelen!"
He ordered and they swiftly departed, searching for his scent that was shared to them by the gentlemanly Roach with his feremones.
"..."
"My... I do hope you are alive Kaelen."
"If you are not, Lord Charymos will have initiated a civil war for absolutely nothing."
The Roach anxiously muttered to himself and...
Fwip!
... Continued his desperate search for Kaelen.