The best-laid plans often went awry, let alone plans made with strangers during desperate times. Zachary found this out the next morning when their tree base was rudely invaded by a large group of prisoners. It was bound to happen sooner or later but it still came as a nasty surprise.
Blue was the one that discovered them. The bird acted as his eyes from above and had been on a regular patrol when it came back early. It then proceeded to fly circles around his head and squawk like a dumb chicken. It was difficult trying to communicate with novice rank Ensouled but it was easy enough to infer the situation from its panic and the direction it had come from.
He threw a pair of unripe fruits at Jean-Pierre and Katherine, repaying the former for his kindness from before.
“Get up! We have company!”
The two reacted quickly and jumped down from their perches. Katherine rubbed sleep out of her eyes while Jean-Pierre was fully alert.
“How many?” He asked.
“Don’t know.” Zachary said and pointed into the jungle, “They are coming from that direction. With Blue’s reaction, should be a lot more than us.”
“Tch… damn it.”
“Yeah.”
The three looked at each other in understanding. They weren’t going to fight against unfair odds. They had wanted to stay at this safe place for a few more days to round out their roster of summons but they would have to make do with what they had.
“Leave the traps, let’s retreat for now.”
Instead of completely abandoning their home for the last few days, Zachary led them in the opposite direction until they reached a tall tree a safe distance away. This was one of many fallback positions that he had prepared. He climbed up and could get a somewhat clear view of their tree base through the foliage.
He summoned Boba to scout the immediate surroundings while Blue continued its vigilance from the sky. He didn’t have long to wait as a group of ten or more survivors came into view. At this distance, he could barely overhear their conversations.
“Boss, there’s nobody here.”
“Same, boss.”
The person in the middle whom they called boss was a skinny old man with scars all over his face. He wore no shirt, proudly displaying an array of tattoos all over his body. He emitted a dangerous aura. It wasn’t his soul force or talent as a summoner but probably because of a long life of crime.
“Mmm. They probably left recently. These traps are still fresh.” The boss spoke in a gravelly voice.
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“Boss, should we chase after them?”
“Forget it. They are probably long gone by now. Look at these traps. There's a number of blood stains so this place looks like a good hunting ground. We’ll stay here and build our strength. Luca, Saban, take your teams and go scout the surroundings some more. Boris, set up the camp and take care of the women.”
“Yes, boss!”
As the men started to move, Zachary also got up from his perch. But he paused when he saw something else.
One of the gang members reappeared tugging on a rope made of vines. Behind him were two female survivors. The younger one was probably in her late thirties while the other was slightly older. Their hands and feet were bound by the vines so that they could only make small, shuffling movements.
“Hurry up!” Boris said gruffly, pulling so hard that the woman in front tumbled to her knees, “Useless bitch!”
Zachary didn’t need to see anymore. He silently climbed down and led his group away. He felt conflicted but there wasn’t anything he could do. Saving people had never been his thing. He could barely afford to protect his own life. But those women reminded him of the past and the incident that led to him losing everything. It was hard to get that memory out of his head.
“Good thing we left early,” Jean-Pierre said as they made a path through the jungle.
“Mmm.” Zachary agreed.
“If those dirty men saw our Katherine, they definitely would have chased us to the mountains.” Jean-Pierre laughed at his own joke which earned him silence from the other two.
A somber mood overtook them. They were once again delving into the jungle after several days of reprieve. Having to face the unknown, everyone was on high alert.
However, unlike the first day, they now had some novice rank Ensouled on hand. Zachary finally felt like a summoner again.
---
Over the next few days, Zachary and his group moved deeper into the jungles of Outpost Emerald. The flat and featureless shoreline made way for rocky hills and deep gorges as a series of rushing rivers cut through the land toward the ocean. It was slow going, requiring them to watch out for the difficult terrain as well as potential dangers. The rivers would give them a path further inland but they didn’t take that risk yet. Zachary had a sense that far stronger Ensouled resided further inland and he wasn’t ready for that challenge.
They didn’t run into too many humans. The jungle was endless and had seemingly swallowed the thousand or so prisoners that had survived the swim to shore. They did encounter a small group of four who were hunting novice rank Ensouled. With almost equal numbers, both sides declined to fight and went their separate ways.
They continued to explore the wild jungle for a new hunting ground. At the same time, Zachary was also keeping an eye out for a suitable adept rank Ensouled.
The difference between an adept rank Ensouled and a novice rank one was like a mountain to an anthill. An adept summon would allow an adept summoner to showcase their full strength. This was the most important matter on everyone’s minds. If Jean-Pierre had an adept rank summon, that man would have definitely killed that group of four without even thinking about it. If it was himself, Zachary had to admit that he would probably do the same just to get rid of a few competitors.
Zachary wasn’t just looking for death. He knew the limits of their team. However, constant thoughts about his wounded soul weighed on his mind. He was worried that his two companions would eventually deduce it from his behavior. If that happened, he didn’t care if they chose to abandon him. He was more afraid that Jean-Pierre would simply choose to kill him and move on.
Right now, they were equals so there was a sense of respect and cooperation between them. If they found out he was a crippled summoner, then all bets were off. He had ample experience with the way a human heart could go from warm to cold in an instant. He wasn’t the same naïve young man he was before.
Therefore, as the group looked for a new home, he secretly searched for a solution to his personal problem.