The following day, Tarkan had just finished ransacking the pig hut. To his dismay, he did not find anything of value inside.
Scanning the village one more ti, he was finally ready to set out toward the settlent marked on the map. But as he was leaving, Tarkan suddenly felt soone tailing him, and a look of annoyance imdiately appeared on his face.
"Rose… I was kind enough to give you information and a map to the settlent. Why are you following ?" Tarkan couldn't help but say.
"I want to follow," Rose said in a ek voice.
Tarkan was greatly annoyed by her. He had given her all the information he had, and even the map Aron had gifted him was handed to her yesterday. Yet she still insisted on following him. She'd said she wanted to work under him, but Tarkan had strongly refused. Even so, she had been adamant.
Tarkan wasn't willing to take on any responsibility. When he inquired about her talent, he learned it was a C-rank. At first, he considered giving her a chance, until he found out it was a non-combat talent, the ability to speak and understand any language.
And the worst part was that she had ascended to the Second Dinsion with only her feral points maxed out.
Tarkan had wondered what gave her the courage to step into the Second Dinsion with that kind of preparation. But he wasn't interested in the reason.
Still… he was kind of intrigued by her language talent. The ability to understand any language could co in handy.
With an annoyed look and no desire to argue further, Tarkan simply told her:
"Rose, I don't need a follower, and I'm not looking to find one. But you can co along with to the settlent if you want.
"And be warned, make sure you follow every instruction I give. If we happen to end up in a life-threatening situation, you'd better not rely on . My life is more important than anything."
"If you agree to these conditions, you're free to tag along. But only until we reach the settlent," Tarkan added, his expression impassive.
Rose nodded happily, and in a hurry.
Tarkan brought out the map and followed the route marked by Aron toward the settlent.
--
As they set out from the village, it took them eleven days on foot to reach the settlent. And it wasn't exactly a pleasant journey, it had its own fair share of obstacles.
Tarkan and Rose weren't able to eat anything the entire ti.
Tarkan had tried hunting creatures as they journeyed, and sure enough, just as Aron's map had suggested, the route was safe, but only in the sense that there were no high-tier creatures on it.
At first, Tarkan and Rose were carefully sidestepping the creatures they encountered, avoiding detection to prevent any battles.
But eventually, hunger began to gnaw at them.
Tarkan tried to hunt one of the creatures, hoping to at least get sothing to eat. But to his dismay, the sa sickle that had easily beheaded the pig-human was only able to leave a faint scratch on the creature.
Tarkan was sure they were all feral creatures, just like the pig he'd killed. But Still, even when he targeted weaker-looking ones, he couldn't kill a single one.
And when his bad luck reached its peak, he went after a rabbit-like creature. But the mont he swung his sickle, it didn't even touch the beast. Its speed far exceeded Tarkan's perception with his Rush talent activated. He only felt a sharp pain in his chest.
Panicked, Tarkan scread "Reverse!" in his mind, instantly returning to the mont before his attack.
After that, he didn't dare go after any more creatures.
He was so depressed that he simply endured the hunger. He refused to act again without a proper strategy to take them down, or at least until he reached the settlent to gain more information about Second Dinsion creatures.
Tarkan hadn't brought anything into the dinsion, assuming he wouldn't stay long.
But now, he had already been here for twelve days, which translated to six days in the outside world.
Unlike the First Dinsion, which had a ti ratio of 3:1, the Second Dinsion followed a 2:1 ratio.
Tarkan didn't understand why the difference was so big between the two.
As he was pondering this, he suddenly saw buildings appear in the distance.
He almost shouted in joy.
It had been eleven days since he last cleaned himself. He felt filthy, sick, and exhausted.
But just as he and Rose were about to run toward the settlent, both of them ca to a sudden halt, completely shocked.
In front of them wasn't a human settlent.
What Tarkan could see were ogres, green-skinned beings moving about inside the walls.
At first, Tarkan thought he had been scamd by Aron. But looking closely, he noticed many other races entering and exiting the settlent, so of them ard and clearly heading out to hunt.
His heart finally settled when he saw a group of humans like them, happily chatting and walking out through the settlent gate.
The majority of the settlent's population might be ogres, but it was clearly a functioning, mixed-race city.
After seeing humans walking freely, Tarkan cald down completely. Now he truly understood what the guide ant by any settlent that was considered safe.
Before long, Tarkan reached the tall gate and was about to step inside, but an ogre guard stopped him.
The ogre didn't say a word, he simply pointed toward a nearby area.
Tarkan looked in the direction and saw people lined up.
That's when he realized, a gate fee was required to enter the city.
He and Rose, who was following just behind, quickly joined the line. It wasn't long before it was their turn.
Tarkan stepped forward, ready to speak to the ogre stationed there, but the ogre simply pointed at a wall where strange symbols and words were written.
To Tarkan's surprise, he could understand every word on it.
And when he finished reading what was written there, he was shocked.
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