Along the our path I hunted several more monsters, it felt wasteful not to try and use every part of the monster that I killed, but I knew that it wasn’t something that would really be possible for me to do. So I would take some of the more valuable things, like poison sacks, horns and fangs, even the eyeball of a one eyed mole that could apparently see through the ground. Other than that and the occasional fur the only other use the monsters gave me was food.

By hunting we were able to not dip too deeply into our rations, mainly using the spices and such to give the food flavor.

Gero left the killing to me, and with my Uncommon Ethereal Grasp Card I could now hunt bigger prey like the chameleon from before. We still avoided the more deadly monsters like a snake that Gero had spotted that was more than a hundred feet long. That had been an absolutely terrifying experience. We also made sure to avoid the Pillars that dotted the land because usually more powerful monsters were around those.

Then finally we arrived at the SunReaper tribe. As we approached I kept a wary eye out, I was still bothered by the lax way that Gero walked through the Labyrinth.

A whistle, like a deeper birds song echoed down the corridor, I froze and looked to Gero who nodded. This meant that we had been spotted by the tribe and they were waiting for a reply call.

Gero gave it, a similar birds call with more chirps.

A third reply came from whoever had spotted us. I looked around, hoping to see where the person was. It could be a Card that let them detect things from far away, but it also could just be some guy clinging onto a wall.

“Come on,” Gero said, leading the way forward.

We were in a grassy plains, and I had yet to see any real signs of settlements so we must have either been quite a ways away.

Just as the thought occurred it was as though glass had been shattered. About half a mile out was a bustling camp that looked to be a bit bigger than the FallingBird tribe had been. From only a hundred or so meters away was a stone pillar with a woman standing on top of it. She was starting straight at me and Gero, and I assumed she was the one that had done the bird calling.

Gero did a mixture bow and nod to the woman and started walking again. I followed close behind, keeping my eyes on the woman. She looked back at me with suspicion, despite me being a very friendly and kind twelve year old girl that would never hurt a soul.

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As we approached the large encampment a gloom seemed to settle over us. While physically the people of the SunReaper tribe looked just like the people from Lakar dark skin, most of them having curly black hair as well, but a few had more colorful ones like blue or red.

The moment we got into the first steps of the real camp eyes were upon us. The atmosphere was… cold. It reminded me of when someone was busy with something and another person would come up and talk to them for half an hour. You just wanted the person to leave so you could take care of business. Something was definitely off.

‘Well this is a shitty time to come here.’ I signed to Gero.

He nodded, looking around the camp with interest. A few of the people that did notice them perked up and moved to their tents. Probably for things to trade.

It took me a few moments of looking around to notice what else was giving me an odd vibe.

“There’s too many people.”

Gero looked at me with confusion and I realized I had spoken in my native tongue so I signed the word to him.

“Really?”

“Yes… the”

Then because I didn’t know the next words I signed them.

‘The camp is almost full, there should be hunting parties out around this time. Unless there is a festival or celebration tomorrow then I don’t know why then camp would be full in the middle of the day.’

I wanted to turn around and leave, we didn’t need to be here, but Gero instead headed straight for an older man with scars covering half his exposed flesh.

I tried to listen in, but I should have known it was a fruitless endeavor.

They spoke so quickly that I couldn’t make out a single word even with my weeks of non stop studying. Gero seemed to get increasingly annoyed at the man until finally he stormed away rolling his eyes.

“What?” I asked.

‘He told me that he wasn’t allowed to talk to outsiders about it, but we should either leave right now or stay in the camp to be safe.’ Gero replied.

‘Let’s fucking go then. Have you seen that guy? He’s huge and has more scars than I do years alive. If he thinks we should run then we should.’

Gero looked at me with a tilted head.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Fuck fun. I wanna live.”

He started signing again.

‘What about helping our fellow humans in their time of need.’

‘I don’t know a single one of these people.’

‘Lets go.’ Gero signed, then moved further into the encampment.

I looked from Gero then back to the plains in which we had come from. Should I just leave?