Chapter 9: Out of the cave.

Adam’s POV

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"Apologies for interrupting your fine morning, but can I borrow a weapon?" I started to say, gesturing toward the group of six mercenaries. Well, tough-looking until you noticed one dude knocked out cold on the ground, courtesy of some flying debris from our bone horse buddy making an entrance. The twins were frozen in shock, not sure whether to gawk at me or the giant horse. Then there was this skinny guy cosplaying like a necromancer, chomping down on a chicken leg like everything happening around him was not his problem.

The only one standing out were the two people who responded to the immediate threat. one, A mage-like lady with a large witch hat, conjuring a magic staff like it was a party trick. And the other, a macho man who screamed, "Protect the Kid!"

"I ain't no Kid!" I yelled back, but before I could do anything cool, that horse decided to wake up. With Petrifying Strike still on cooldown, I resorted to chucking cobwebs at it to slow it down before jumping back to safety. By now my stone shield duration was also up so I had no defensive ability left.

Out of the blue, vines shot up and wrangled the horse back down. Then, Mr. macho man pulled out a hammer from... somewhere, leaped sky-high, and came down like Thor on a mission, causing the ground to crater and the hammer to throw lightning everywhere.

Woah.

Just when I thought the show was over, Mr. Hammer swung his weapon high, sparks flying everywhere before he brought it down again, turning half of that bony horse into bone dust and squishing the tentacle bits like it was nobody's business.

“Child! Are you alright!?” The mage-lady dashed over to me with her staff disappearing into thin air, she looked genuinely concerned.

Can't blame her, I must've looked like a walking disaster zone, covered head to toe in dirt and blood. And let's not forget my stylish footwear – dirt shoes with a hint of stone.

“I'm not a kid, I'm thirt–” I started to correct her, but then I remembered I'm currently inhabiting a teenage vessel. “Um, scratch that. I'm 14 years old! So, not exactly a child,” I said with a cheeky grin imitating to that of a brat.

After ensuring I wasn't falling apart, the lady went from worried to downright mad. Mr. Hammer went to play nurse for his fallen buddy, and the twins were busy giving the once-over to the skeletal horse. Then she starts in on me: “What in the world possessed you to dive into the Mountain Traverse Cave? Do you even grasp how perilous it is for us Nomads out here!?”

First real chat with another human in ages, and here I am getting chewed out like a kid who just obliterated his mom's favorite vase... Also, what's the deal with these Nomads anyway?

Almost like she read my mind, Nove piped up in my head, “Nomads is an organization of people who don’t belong to any clans and work on all sorts of odd jobs.”

Ah, so they’re just mercenaries.

“Dona,” the hammer-wielding hero called out. Surprisingly, the hammer vanished into thin air, probably back in his inventory. The guy looked like a human tank, all muscles and tan skin, with a short black beard and hair. He had that leader vibe, standing tall above everyone else, definitely over 6 feet tall... and then there's me, barely scraping 5 feet.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Dona, the witchy-looking gal, turned around with a huff. She had that cute, youthful vibe, with plump white skin and just a tad taller than me.

While Dona went to have a chat with the captain and their knocked-out buddy, I snuck over to the twins, who were inspecting every bone fragment like they were hunting for treasure.

“Hey, do you mind if I snag some of these materials?” I interrupted their bone-inspecting party. Both of them let out a surprised yelp, catching the attention of everyone around, except Mr. Foodie over there who was too busy munching away.

“Umm, sorry for startling you?”

“N-No, it’s fine!” said the guy, “But don’t sneak up on us like that, please.” The girl chimed in.

“Alright, cool, duly noted. By the way, can I grab a few bones and a bit of blood if that’s not too much trouble?”

They exchanged a glance, their expressions turning a bit serious. Then, their eyes landed on the dude with the hearty appetite. He actually paused his eating marathon, gave me a curious stare for a second, chuckled, and went back to his food. The twins turned back to me, and the guy spoke up, “We can’t help you. Since our leader killed it, you have to ask him.”

I liked the way they finished each other's sentences, but I quickly made my way toward the leader, all the while eyeing the man who seemed unfazed by the chaos around him. He gave me a bad feeling, and I wasn’t too keen on his vibe.

Regardless, I approached the leader and the witch, overhearing a snippet of their conversation.

“But he’s just a small child,” Dona, the witch, remarked.

“He petrified a shademare. Sure, it's a weaker sub-species of the dreadmares, but they all have massive petrifying resistances. And this kid managed to petrify it, shoot webs at it, and let’s not forget the stone shield that disappeared for no reason. There’s no logical connection between the web and stone abilities. It can only mean he’s tapping into multiple core nodes. We need to be cautious,” the leader responded.

“But he’s just a child,” Dona insisted.

“A child we can’t afford to underestimate,” the leader concluded.

Are they plotting to swipe my core nodes? How do you even steal core nodes nestled deep within your chest or the nexus core area, or whatever it's called?

Besides, I crafted them from dirt and stone; they're not exactly priceless artifacts. You can have a couple if you want.

“What are you two whispering about? Is that guy okay?” I interjected, breaking their hushed conversation.

The tough guy replied first, “He'll be fine; he just needs a moment.”

“But back to the point, what were you doing in that cave?” Dona asked, her expression serious.

“I, uh... Would you believe me if I said I fell into a hole and got lost?” I offered.

They exchanged glances before responding in unison, “That actually makes sense.”

I didn't think they'd buy my story, but they're acting like getting lost in a cave is just another day in the park.

“How long were you stuck in there?” Dona probed further.

I was about to say "half a day" when Nove hit me with a bombshell.

“You've been trapped in that cave for approximately 4 days.”

Four days! No wonder I felt like I could eat a horse... or a bony horse, in this case.

“Um, I guess I was in there for 4 days,” I admitted, trying to play it off like it was no big deal.

They both fell silent, staring at me.

“How did you manage with food and water?” Dona asked.

“Well, water was easy; the cave was practically dripping with it. But for food... let's just say I had to get creative with some muck worms and bats.”

“You…” The Captain dude was about to say something, but the wizard lady immediately pulled me into a hug. Her chest wasn't exactly spacious, but the softness was undeniable.

“Oh, you poor child. You've been through a lot. Rest now, and let us take care of you.” She was spouting words I hadn't heard in my 30 years of living. It felt like a whole new world – me needing protection...

And I kinda liked it. Hit me with more of that care and softness, please.

“Reminding the host that your fiancée will not appreciate any physical touch with other woman.”

Shut up Nove, Let me have this.