As promised, we arrived at the goblin camp within about twenty minutes of leaving.
"Ahhhhhhh!" a woman screamed.
"What?"
"Huh!"
A few spun around to face the person who was screaming.
"Is it a goblin?!" a man shrieked.
"T-there!"
The initial person who freaked out pointed, and everyone prepared for a fight, following their gaze. Everyone's expectations were somewhat betrayed when the area her finger led to was the small mound of goblin corpses.
"What the hell?!"
Others began to scream at the sight as well.
The people who looked at Zayn and me as idols now seemed to grow a little concerned, as if we weren't right in the head to be able to create this scene. Some cowered at the sight and shivered in disgust and fear.
As for me, I hung my head in dejection. Lucas noticed my reaction.
"Hey Axel, like I said before, who cares if they are handicapped, elderly, or a child. Slaughter them all the same, and do so without an ounce of pity."
Lucas gave cold-blooded advice, which caused me to clench my fist and grit my teeth in annoyance.
I wanted to scream at Lucas: Sure, they're goblins, and you can say that. But if you had to look them in the eyes, you would feel the same as me… But I digressed.
With a smile, Lucas ignored my annoyed reaction and slung an order over his shoulder.
"Quiet down," Lucas said. "We might attract unwanted attention. Question the culprits all you want once we are inside the camp."
We approached the camp and entered. People took witness to the carnage that lay around them. Goblin blood, guts, and bones were strewn across the ground. Nearly everyone's jaw hit the floor when they saw the state of the enclosure. Some vomited, and a few fainted. Lucas temporarily ignored those in that state and spun around to address everyone.
"For now, let's clean this place up. It is starting to stink, and I don't think any of us want to sleep on top of goblin remnants," He barked his order, but I ignored it.
I stood lost in thought as people passed me by to start cleaning.
"Sweet! Look, there is a tent filled with weapons!" a man cheered, sifting through the tent. "Food and water! Hell yeah!"
Their cheers angered me, but I oddly had no desire to act on that anger.
After the goblin guts were cleared, people began feasting on what they could get their hands on and claiming parts of the place as theirs.
Once everyone had settled down, Lucas called everyone in.
"Everyone, since we've accomplished more than I thought in such a short time," Lucas declared as he smiled. "It seems we don't need to go on an expedition for food. So, for the rest of the day, I have two objectives for us. One is getting to know each other. I think establishing friendships and connections will greatly benefit our survival. Two, try different weapons and choose one you'd like to use; They may be crude, but a weapon is a weapon." Lucas dangled a rusty sword in his hand and swung it side to side. "There's no need to be too picky, as we have fifteen daggers, twenty-five swords, seventeen axes, and ten short swords. Once you find one you like, focus on acclimating to it for the rest of the day until nightfall."
Lucas paused for a moment, seemingly to sort his thoughts, then he continued, "Once night falls, we are to all retreat behind these walls and sleep. While sleeping, we should cycle guards to watch the front entrance in case of enemies. If an enemy is spotted, the guards are to do whatever they can to protect the gate while waking all who sleep, even if they only see a single goblin! These guards will be cycled in groups of four, with each serving a two-hour shift. Then, they will wake up those who will guard in their place, and they will be allowed to rest. Once I map the timeframe out in my head, I will inform those who will serve as guards tonight and in what order. Also, if you have to go to the bathroom, don't go too far from camp and take a guard with you. For now, that is all. Make sure you all get adequate sleep," Lucas smiled, then waved, dismissing the gathering.
For the next few hours until nightfall, I did as he said. I went around and introduced myself to everyone and got to know them a little before claiming a sword in fairly decent condition as my weapon.
Night fell and we retreated within the cramped walls where Lucas once again gathered us to discuss the order of the guards. He approached us and assigned the first guards which happened to be my entire team except Claire. It seemed that he was making us guard as some sort of punishment for disobeying, but at least he was magnanimous and gave us the first shift.
Then he told me that after two hours, I would be switching off with someone named Huang Gao. After assigning all guards, he left us with some parting words.
"Tomorrow morning I plan to discuss what strategy we should take in surviving this place, and everyone is free to participate if they wish."
After that, I was sent outside along with Zayn, Connor, and Ryon, and we began our menial task.
"Task."
(Time remaining: 711:05:20 hours)
It seemed like around eight hours had passed since we arrived. From that information, I guessed we had been summoned around noon, using the time the sun dipped below the horizon. But that was unimportant then. What was important was that at 710:00:00 we'd be allowed to sleep.
Outside, we positioned ourselves with two of us on either side of the entrance. I picked the side with Zayn because I wanted to talk to him.
"Hey," I greeted him once we were situated.
"..."
I was graced with silence like usual. I had no idea if he was ignoring me on purpose or if he was just not good at talking. I had met a lot of people who were just awkward at first, but were good and fun once you got to know them. Zayn was probably one of them. I just had to find something he liked to get him talking.
"You're good at fighting. What did you do before this?" I questioned.
"..."
Seriously, man, please don't make this awkward and talk!
Whatever. I kept going. "Even though it may seem off, I did IT. Though I did tell you this before, I thought I'd tell you again in case you forgot. It's not that important, but I think it's good if we know about each other and become friends. I don't play any recreational sports, but I do go to the gym regularly to stay in shape. Though I don't know why I'm so good at fighting goblins. I guess I'm a natural. What about you?"
"Stop," he sternly replied, thoroughly confusing me.
"Um?"
At least he talked, but what was with the rude 'stop'?
"I'd rather not become friends with the people around me because they are going to die. I want to keep my mind clear and not have my thoughts tainted by guilt," he stated.
What the hell, man! So cynical and pessimistic! I decided it was best not to succumb to the small rage that bubbled within me and tried to stay calm. Letting my emotions control me then would have ruined any chance I had of friendship with this guy. I forced myself to smile.
"At least become friends with me! Look, I'm strong. I promise I won't die on you," I jokingly responded while flexing my arm.
He looked away at something in the distance, then responded curtly.
"You will die."
Case and point? What the hell! Don't go writing me off just yet! This guy continued to piss me off. With all my willpower, I maintained a smile.
"Of course, we all die eventually of age," I retorted.
"No... you will die with a sword through your chest," he spoke coldly to me while refusing to even look in my direction... What in the absolute hell was wrong with this man?
"Haha, very funny," I faked a laugh while patting his back.
"I wasn't joking," Zayn replied, whipping his head and pinning me down with an unemotional stare.
That did it. I really wanted to punch this guy. I clenched my fist, barely holding back my rage. We both went silent for a bit, but neither of us walked away. Then I worked up the courage to try again; I'd try a new subject. Maybe fighting wasn't a good subject for him.
"I see you often look at your tattoo. Why are you so obsessed with it? Is it that meaningful to you?" I meant to say it nicely, but my tone came off as passive-aggressive.
"Uh..." He seemed confused, but then he looked at the tattoo for a few seconds and then responded, "It's a vine of some sort with sixteen thorns, representing the people I have to kill… Probably?"
"Um, okay..." I had no response. This guy was weird. At least be certain of yourself when spouting nonsense!
"That was a joke," he spoke with no emotion in his voice, making it really hard to gauge his intentions.
So, that was his version of a joke? I really couldn't tell with this bozo. Wait... was that his attempt to make friends with me? Progress! It probably wasn't, but I'd just trick myself into thinking it was. Though I don't know if I wanted to be friends with such a weird guy. Wait... on second thought, being friends with the weird guy was the best way to guarantee your safety when they lose it and... never mind, I'd stop my thoughts there.
Now that I got him talking, I attempted to ask again, "Will you answer now? How are you so good at fighting goblins?"
"I read a lot of comics," he responded with no change in tone as if his reasoning was obvious.
That explained... nothing!!! Claire was right when she described him! Fine, remain the mysterious anti-hero who acts like he doesn't care, but deep down is really compassionate while guiding the heroes on the right path.
I created a delusion about Zayn. I'd just trick myself into believing it for the sake of staying sane.
Feeling like my mentality would completely crumble if I talked to him for another second, I decided to end our conversation.
"Ah, makes sense," I waved and tilted my head away, unable to think up a proper phrase to end our odd talk.
"Yeah…" He stared at me for a bit before he let his eyes drift back to observing the dark forest around us.
Man, I thought Zayn was a good guy, just quiet. I was wrong. He was a guy with a few loose screws in his head. I felt a lot angrier than when I first talked to him.
When the two awkward hours finally passed, we all headed inside and woke up our successors. Once I woke up Huang Gao, I retrieved a blanket I'd hidden and laid it under me.
From my prone position, I stared up at an overly starry sky which seemed to be absent from the constellations I knew. Not that I was too big on astrology, but I could tell this was not my night sky.
For whatever reason, I reached my left arm to the sky and studied the bloodstained jacket tied to my arm. I stared at it in silence as a few images of my savior flashed through my mind before I finally lowered my arm to remove the jacket and check my wound.
"Huh!" I sat up in surprise with a small scream, startling those around me. "Sorry…" I apologized and lay back down.
What was this wound? How did I get it? It was crude, and under the darkness, it was hard to make out, but it seemed like the word kill was etched into my arm. Under the word kill it seemed like more words were there, however, I could only make out a few letters: T, E, V, L, a crude '&' sign, Z, and N.
My mind raced, but I came up with no answers. Maybe that wasn't an "and" sign. Maybe it was. Were these letters supposed to represent a name? If so, human or what?
Why, all my life I had cursed my perfect memory, but now that this curse may finally have a use, it remained useless. How in the world could I not remember having this carved into me? Maybe this was a random injury from slipping while asleep, then? No, I was no idiot. These letters were too articulate, and I remembered the moment I was summoned. I was biking home when a blue light surrounded me, and then the next thing I knew, I was writhing in pain on the floor of some forest.
There was the possibility that the angelic being did this to me while being summoned, but then… why nobody else?
Wait… had not only my memory of my future self been robbed away, but also some of my current self's memories?! Did someone else do this to me? What the hell! I couldn't even trust my own mind anymore!
Knowing if I fretted over this any longer, I'd never sleep, I tied the bloody jacket back over my arm and forced myself into ignorance.
I fell asleep shoulder to shoulder with strangers, the cold air blowing over me.