The next day, Achram and his family went up to the foot of the mountain with their cart and their belongings in tow. Rhita carried Quatro on her back, who was still sleeping soundly. Tres and Dos were both on the cart, groggily waking up from their naps. The only one up was Uno, who was training the sword with his father.
SWISH SWOOP
“Haaaa…I can’t even hit you!” Uno complained. Even when he fought other experienced hunters in school, he was still able to clash swords with them. He was hailed as a genius because of it. But when he fought with his father, he didn’t even use any sword and simply dodged all of his attacks.
“You’re pretty fast. But I can still see everything. You have to be a little bit more unpredictable. I haven’t even used my eye powers but I can still follow your movements.”
“But you’re evolved!” Uno felt that he wasn’t ever going to land a hit on his father unless he evolved like he did.
“Excuses, excuses…”
The two of them continued to spar in the very early morning, with the sky still a deep blue. They only ended once Uno was far too tired and fell on the floor exhausted. He still wanted to go, but Achram wanted him to save his energy for the summit.
Achram and his family could have gone so much earlier up the mountain–they could have gone yesterday, but Achram decided to wait for the villagers to make up their minds.
“I don’t think they’ll come,” Rhita said as she looked back at the silhouette of the village in the distance. “You know how much they respect the Elder. He has too much pull on everyone. They won’t have the courage to pack up and join us.”
It was more than possible that there would be no one who’d join them to trek up the mountain. Even if they believed Achram’s claims about God’s kingdom, migrating to a foreign place was a hard decision to make, especially if they had someone in their ears demanding them to stay.
“They’ll come,” Achram said with confidence. Somehow, he knew that they would come. Just like how he was so desperate to find an answer that he risked his life and climbed the mountain, some villagers would risk their lives to find a better life for their families.
After a while of waiting, Achram and Rhita saw the sky turn warmer and warmer. Just a few minutes later, the first ray of sunshine landed on the trees and created shadows of its crown. It was time for them to depart.
“Let’s go,” Achram said as Uno put all their weapons back on the cart.
And just as everyone thought no one would come, Achram suddenly saw several figures come out of the bushes and show themselves to the family. Dos’ eyes gleamed as soon as she saw a familiar face.
“Seamstress! You came!”
Just like she said yesterday, the seamstress and her two boys wanted to join Achram in God’s kingdom. She was convinced that the life that she always wanted would be at the top of the mountain just like what Achram said. Even though there were doubts in her mind, she was willing to risk it for a better life.
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And they weren’t the only ones.
Twelve more Thalls decided to come with Achram’s family. They noticed that these were the first ones to eat the Meaty Mushroom, and they brought their families.
One was an experienced blacksmith who brought his wife and their two children. The other was a butcher with his wife and family of three. There was also a lone youthful hunter who didn’t have any family. And lastly was an archer and his mother.
The archer walked up to Achram and bowed his head in repentance. “My apologies! I was the one who accidentally fired the arrow on you. If you hadn’t stopped that arrow, I could have killed someone innocent. I hope that you’ll still allow me and my mother to join you in God’s kingdom even after my mistake.”
Achram recognized the youth. He was also young once, and he also knew that mistakes could happen. He didn’t take it to heart that he was shot with an arrow at all. He especially wouldn’t bar him from joining God’s kingdom.
“There’s no need to worry,” Achram patted his back and made him stand straight with his head held up high. “I welcome anyone who wants to see the glory of my God.”
All in all, there were about 15 Thalls who left the village to join this dangerous trek up the mountain. Rhita was surprised because their village only had a population of about 80 Thalls. Being able to persuade 12 people to come with him was not an easy task. She thought he’d only be able to gather about one family or about 5 people.
The families all brought with them small carts that carried their belongings. They even prepared a few bear carcasses with them, ready to be eaten.
The leaders of the families, usually the father, all approached Achram and showed him their things.
“We brought a few dried foods and carcasses for our sacrifice to God. Do you think that it’s enough?”
When they heard about God’s kingdom, it sounded too good to be true. So, they all expected that they would have to pay a heavy price to be able to live in that paradise. They gathered the food they saved up for winter in hopes that it would be enough to sacrifice for a safe passage to the kingdom.
Achram shook his head with a slight smile on his face.
Everyone’s expressions visibly darkened until Achram told them the truth of the matter.
“The God of Icy Rock doesn’t need any sacrifice or tribute. You can live in his kingdom without paying any price. Let go of any notion you had of Gods that the elder told you. He is not an evil god who brings disaster to mortals. Instead, he will shower us with gifts as long as we live peacefully in his kingdom.”
The families murmured amongst themselves. The thought of not bringing any sort of gift for God seemed rude. What if he got angry because of their lack of respect?
Achram saw the uneasiness in their eyes and felt empathetic. He was also like them when he first found out about the kingdom. He wanted to sacrifice everything he wanted to thank God for saving his life, but in the end, He returned them.
The God of Icy Rock wouldn’t accept any food or fur that they prepared. However, there was one thing that he wanted, and that was the black rock!
“If you want to give something to God, then you must give him this!” Achram then took one Kore out of the mounds stored in his cart.
“That black stone?”
“Will he really accept that useless rock?”
Achram nodded. “Yes. When he instructed me to go down the mountain, he had a mission for me to get as many of these rocks as possible! When I gave him this stone the first time, he rewarded me with power, unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It’s the reason why I have evolved!”
They were amazed that God would give such amazing blessings in exchange for this rock. They were all over the ground and ignored by everybody. It was a testament to how generous and gracious the God of Icy Rock was that he was willing to change someone’s life for something as small as a rock.
“So if you want to receive the same gifts that I have, then you better get all the black rocks that you can see.”
After he said that, everybody started to pick up all of the high-quality Kores in their vicinity. They threw out all the useless items in their carts like animal bones, and replaced them with Kores. They filled their carts to the brim.
They must have gathered at least a thousand Kores in just an hour.
After they filled up everything, Achram knew that it was time to go up. The men in the families picked up the carts and dragged them up, using only brute strength.
“How are we carrying all of that up?”
Rhita wondered how they were going to trek the mountain while the men dragged those heavy carts up the slope. Climbing alone without any heavy stuff was already hard enough, but now the men had to carry weights the same as huge boulders.
Not only that, there were also children on their journey. They hadn’t developed all of their body hair yet, making them more susceptible to the cold.
“Don’t worry,” Achram assured everyone. “We’ll have help.”
In the distance, a large bear was walking on all fours and walking towards them. There was a green blob riding on its head and a red flame on top of that green blob.
“Faster, Miss Bear. I want to welcome our new citizens!”