Hungry and exhausted, Garet finally got his hands on so food: roasted at and potatoes covered in embers from the fire. Now, he wasn’t going to stop.
"Hahaha! Take it easy, the food isn’t going anywhere!" Xir laughed as he watched Garet stuff as much food into his mouth as he could.
Garet frowned as he glanced at him. "It’s your fault! While everyone else was eating, you made practice! Damn, you even ate right in front of ! Why couldn’t we eat first and then do our training?"
In response, Garet spread his hands.
"Motivation. This thod may not work for everyone, but it worked exceptionally well for you. Again, what would you do without a great teacher like ?"
Garet rolled his eyes and continued to eat.
After a while, Garet slowed down as his gaze beca more serious.
"Physical strength seems to matter a lot more than I thought, right?"
Xir nodded. "Yeah, kind of. You can defeat a stronger opponent thanks to your abilities, tactics, luck, and decisions during combat. However, that’s true up to a certain threshold. If the difference in power is extre, then none of that matters."
"And? What about you? Can you smash mountains with your fists and run at the speed of sound?"
"Hahaha! Don’t make laugh!" Xir chuckled darkly as he pointed toward the horse. "This is my horse, Oppar. Believe it or not, it would be difficult for to keep up with him without my abilities, even with a quick start. Over long distances, he would outrun ."
Garet’s eyes widened in disbelief. For so reason, he thought Xir could easily overtake anyone, even the fastest horse.
"Damn, I assud you would beat even a train, let alone a horse."
"You overestimate , Garet. Although most likely, you don’t fully understand what you’re talking about. No human, even after decades of training, could outrun Oppar, let alone trains. The faster you get, the harder it is to break the next barrier, and the sa goes for strength."
Xir waved his hand before continuing.
"Energy allows you to overco these limits, but it doesn’t make you invincible, especially against other monsters and the Awakened. Rember that and appreciate every step you take on the path to power, no matter how small it may seem."
After a few monts, Garet nodded.
"So... Sleep now?"
Xir shrugged.
"You go ahead, I’ll stay up a while longer. Don’t linger, dawn will be here in 5-6 hours, you don’t have much ti."
"Thanks..." Garet gulped and headed for the empty tent.
When he disappeared behind the fabric, Xir pulled a charred potato out of the burning fire and ate half of it in one bite, the crunch echoing from his teeth.
It would be a long night. He knew that.
...
Strangely enough, Garet was the first to wake up. Sotis that happened when you went to bed later than usual. Instead of sleeping much longer, you woke up even earlier.
’Tsk.’ Garet frowned as he rose from the blanket.
He raised his gaze, watching the first rays of sunlight approach, soon to wake everyone else.
’Well, there’s no point in going back to sleep now. Damn, today is going to be a tough day.’ Garet shook his head before stepping outside.
He didn’t know if anyone got up before him, but there was one person in the center of the camp.
In a heartbeat, Garet’s eyes widened, filling with terror.
Xir stood in the middle of a dozen monster corpses, his soles imrsed in thick, dark blood flowing from their mangled bodies. If every monster, from small to large, were piled up, it would form a mountain.
Step.
Xir turned around as their eyes t. His cold, deprived of rcy gaze quickly disappeared, replaced by a light, warm smile.
"Oh, you’re awake already? You’re early, hahaha!" Xir laughed and pointed at the monsters. "Co here, I’ll need so help. Maybe one of them has sothing valuable."
Shocked, Garet gulped but finally nodded. He was in no position to refuse.
Gradually, the others woke up.
The people from the Pit were just as frightened as Garet. The girls scread in terror, not realizing that all the monsters were long dead. The only exceptions were Konrad and Cirka, who remained calm.
Xir’s people, in turn, treated it as sothing usual. This led Garet to one conclusion:
’They knew, they knew that all these monsters would co at night, but they still went to sleep without worrying about anything,’ Garet pondered, tying up a bag full of severed fangs.
Unfortunately, none of the monsters turned out to be a Borderline One, so despite dozens of corpses, they didn’t get a single Energy Crystal.
However, Xir, Garet, and the guards quickly took everything valuable from the monsters. For so, it was fangs, for others, claws, or even eyes. Each monster was different. They left a few untouched, as there was nothing valuable to sell.
"Mr. Xir, about the monsters..." Garet stamred.
Xir waved his hand. "Just call by my na. I’ve heard enough formalities in my life. I’ve had enough."
"Got it, Xir, I understand that you need to know a lot about monsters to make the hunt profitable. But what about their at? We ate chicken and potatoes from your supplies, but we’re leaving hundreds of kilograms of flesh here, right on the ground, for so vultures and scavengers."
"Yeah, that’s a popular question. Hah, you’d know how many tis I’ve been asked that. There are many problems with monster at. First, so of them can be poisonous, but that’s a minor issue. The most important thing is their taste."
Garet blinked several tis.
"Is it really that bad?"
Throwing the bag into the carriage, he nodded. "The at is tough and not tasty, often bitter and foul, and it’s also difficult to obtain and cook. Sure, there are exceptions, the most delicious steak I’ve ever had in my life was from a monster, but that’s rare, and for knowledge about that, you’d better go to special chefs."
Garet scratched the back of his head. He hadn’t yet figured out how to fully use all his abilities, let alone delve into such nuances.
After a while, everyone was ready to move on when Xir climbed onto his horse and pulled the whip from the belt.
A dangerous gleam flashed in his eyes as he looked at Garet.
"Hey, you wanted to know how fast an Awakened can be, right? How about a morning run?"
Garet’s face went pale.
"No, that’s not what I ant! I was asking about sothing else entirely!"
Whistle.
With a whistle, the tip of the whip struck Garet’s feet, tearing up the ground.
"Go! We’ll train your endurance, weakling!"
"SHIT!" Garet exclaid and ran forward with all his might.
Xir tapped Oppar as his horse bolted from the spot.
"Hahaha! Faster, or I’ll hit you!" Xir laughed, swinging his whip but missing every ti.
Konrad and Cirka, walking together with the squad, exchanged glances.
"Do you think everything will be okay?" Cirka asked with slight concern. "Commander Xir isn’t holding back at all..."
Konrad scratched the back of his head.
"Hah, don’t worry about it. Xir knows what he’s doing. Besides, it doesn’t look like any of them are having a bad ti."
Then, he raised his gaze to watch a raven flying toward the rising sun, carried by the morning breeze.
In the distance, the outlines of a great city lood, standing like an unyielding shield in the middle of a gorge between two peaks reaching for the sky.
The Iron Gate was close.
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