“What are you doing?! Stop!!” the leader screamed.
After a while, all of the orbs had been used. They were laying down on the ground all exhausted because they had channeled for around sixty orbs.
“I never thought that these orbs need a lot of mana,” Richard said.
“Take some rest. No one is here anyway.” Grid said.
They completely ignored the leader of this camp.
“What have you done!! I will kill you all!” the leader screamed.
He screamed out of his lung but no one cared.
“Anyway, this dude’s orb was not here. Where does he hide it?” Grid said.
“Right, we need to eliminate him too. Let’s find his orb.” Richard said.
“Why don’t we spare him? Look at him, his will has broken,” Sharon said.
“We could just tie him up here and leave him alone,” Robert said.
Grid raised one of his eyebrows but he didn’t reject Robert’s idea. The others also didn’t reject the idea. They tied up the leader and leave him alone. The leader was screaming like a mad man when they tied him up.
“Let’s leave before someone else come to this place,” Robert said.
They walked away from the empty camp.
“Creek will end up connecting to a river or a lake. Let’s walk along the creek for now.” Robert said.
The others nodded their head. They had complete trust in Robert for this kind of thing. Around seven kilometers after they walked, the creek finally connected to a river. They also saw a small camp nearby. They held their spears in their hands instead of hanging them on their back just in case.
“Should we get closer?” Richard said.
“I don’t think so. Let’s keep following the river. Enter the jungle first so they won’t notice us.” Robert said.
“Why don’t you do your thing again to that camp?” Grid said.
“Not worth the effort. Also, I’m running low on mana. Not only that, but Sharon is also a bit sick right now. We should avoid fighting if possible,” Robert said.
They walked to the jungle sneakily and went around the camp to continue their journey. Unfortunately, someone was watching them from the top of a tree in the jungle. When he saw them, he pulled out his bow and shot an arrow. The arrow landed right in front of Robert and caused Robert to jump back while looking for the archer in the surrounding area. He was too focused on the ground area that he forgot to check above the trees.
“Throw away your weapons and hands up!” the man said.
His bow was ready to shoot anyone in Robert’s group. Robert and the others obeyed his order. There is no choice other than this. They threw their weapons and raised their hands as he wanted.
“Now, walk away from your weapons!”
“Sheesh, look at this guy. He got so many orders” Grid complained.
“Just follow it, for now,” Robert said.
“Alright, alright,” Grid said.
Grid sighed while shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
“Shut your mouth!” the man said.
Robert glanced at Grid and sighed too. After that, his eyes only focused on the man on the tree. The man on the tree was smiling, he looked back at Robert with one eyebrow raised.
“Hah! What a bunch of stupid people. At least you got women with you, hehe,” the man said.
He jumped from the tree while his eyes were staring at the ground looking for a perfect landing. Robert ran to him the moment he jumped. When he landed, he looked back at Robert’s group. Unfortunately, what he saw was not a group of people but Robert’s fist going straight for his face.
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“Kuaagh”
The man landed flat on the ground with rolled eyes.
“That was easy,” Robert said.
“Hahaha, I thought he would put up a fight,” Grid said.
“Let’s loot him,” Richard said.
“Now we become bandits, huh?” Yuna said.
“Well, it is his fault. He could just ignore us.” Grid said.
“Leave him, we don’t have time for this,” Robert said.
They ran away hurriedly while looking at the surroundings.
“They only have one small tent at their camp. Should be three or four people at most.”
“We are enough to take care of them if it comes to that,” Richard said.
They had been running through the jungle for some time but they hadn’t met any other person.
“Strange, there is no way the person we met was the only one,” Robert said.
“Like hell I care, let’s keep going.” Grid said.
“True, let’s go back to the river area. Running through the jungle drains a lot more stamina.”
After a while, they came out from the jungle and followed along the river just like usual. Another three kilometers had been passed. Everyone but Robert was panting heavily.
“Okay, let’s settle here. There is a cave nearby so we don’t need to build tents again.” Robert said.
They stopped and looked at Robert while shaking their heads.
“Robert, your stamina is so high,” Grid said.
He smiled then gave a thumbs up to Robert.
“Waah, so tired,” Yuna said.
“I feel like I’m dying,” Sharon said.
Her face was paler than before. Robert looked at her and clenched his fist.
‘I should have cleared that camp. Now I made her suffer needlessly,’ Robert thought.
They built the camp just like the way they built it the first time except there is no tent now.
“Alright, now we should gather food and have a full day's rest. Everybody was exhausted.” Robert said.
Robert went fishing with Grid while the girls were gathering herbs and fruits. Richard was the only one gathering material to build fences and weapons.
After all the ingredients are ready. They started to build the camp, the girls cook the food while the men built fences. Robert also used his special mana control to create cooking utensils and weapons.
****
“The fences are done!” Richard said
“These simple fences are enough, for now. I have created an ax so we could upgrade our fences into sturdier wood later.” Robert said.
“Wow, you’re amazing as always, Brother. Without you, I bet we won’t have these useful tools.”
“Finally, we can rest!” Yuna said.
They were eating some fish and fruits while chatting and laughing.
“For today’s night watch, Sharon will be excluded,” Robert said.
“Huh? What are you saying? I can help you guys,” Sharon said.
“You are dead tired. I don’t want your condition to get worse.”
“Still…”
“No!”
Robert stared at her fiercely. Seeing Robert’s expression, Sharon was hanging her head while her shoulders drooped.
“It is fine, you should take a rest,” Richard said.
“I will take the night watch with Robert” Grid said.
Looking at the situation. Grid thought that this was the best opportunity to have a private talk with Robert. Robert raised his eyebrows and glanced at Grid. But, he didn’t say anything.
“Then, you will take the night watch with Yuna, Richard,” Robert said.
From across the river, someone was watching Robert’s group. They were lurking from the shadow of the trees, waiting for the best opportunity to strike.
****
Meanwhile, at the same time at a different place.
“It is the second day already. We will release the beasts tomorrow.” a man said.
“It is a day sooner compared to last year's examination.” Professor Matt said.
“There is a reason for that. You know it well, Matt.” the man said.
“I guess the time has come.” Professor Matt said.
****
Back to the camp, it was now the time for Robert’s night watch. Robert was chilling near the river like usual. But, Grid accompanied him this time instead of Sharon.
“Robert, I apologized. My act that time was so stupid.”
Grid was grinding his teeth while hanging his head.
“You’re asking to do the night watch with me just for this?”
Robert glanced at him with no expression.
“I guess that is not enough. You had wasted a lot of time just to save me and my sister.”
Grid clenched his fist.
“I will do anything you want as long as you forgive me, Robert.”
“Anything?”
“Yes!”
“Then you better shut up and chill. Aren’t we friends? I understand your feeling at that time.”
Grid’s eyes opened wide while staring at Robert.
“Why? Do you want a harder request? Are you a masochist?”
“B-But, what about the apologies?”
“Real friends help each other no matter the situation. You don’t need to apologize.”
Grid hugged Robert and shook him around.
“Hey! hey! Hey! I demand you to release me! I’m not into men!” Robert shouted.
Grid released him and they laughed out loud after that.