Scale of Reality

Prism Swamp: Part 3

Muji POV

Mari picked up her shield as she began shaking a bit. I'm sure she was thinking about what happened when we last met adults during this type of thing.

Lapis offed everyone.

"I don't sense any ill intent from them, so it's fine. It's also your call Mari, what'll we do?"

Mari swallowed a nervous gulp.

"L-Let's see what they want."

Everyone stood up and walked over, I stood next to Chris to keep him in check. He seemed like the type of person to act wild whenever he wanted.

"Oh! You guys came to us. Hi, my names Mark, and this is my group."

Mari cleared her throat.

"I'm Mari, leader of this party. May I ask what business do you have with us?"

Mark smiled a bit.

"Well we want to trade. We'll give you information in exchange for food. Ours was taken by some Lizard men, so we have no more rations."

I silently stood there, thinking to myself.

"It depends on what type of information they're giving, but overall we should know everything about the Lizard men. Could there be something we missed?"

"Define information. We studied a lot before coming here."

Mark nodded.

"So did we, but when we actually got here we found out somethings that weren't even in the book."

I looked to Adjest, who nodded.

This was a big deal.

"Shouldn't you report it to your instructor then? Why keep it to yourself?"

"You kids only have a few people so it doesn't matter, but with all these people in our building it's lowering our chances of success. Why not let a few die off so it can boost me up?"

While I did understand his point, that was just evil.

Mari seemed to be thinking about it.

"Let me discuss with my party first."

"By all means, go ahead."

We all stepped back a bit.

"So, what do you guys think?"

Vas shook his head.

"He could be lying. Even if he is, we need our rations to survive. We have just enough to last us the week and we should keep it."

Iris nodded.

"I agree. We won't have the energy to fight if we give away some of our food."

I scratched the back of my head.

"But that information could be crucial. I'm sure you guys remember that Red werewolf. Even Ms Shinmon had no idea it existed."

Adjest nodded.

"I understand Muji's point, but I think it isn't worth it. I'm sure we'll just be able to escape if necessary."

Chris chuckled.

"If we say no they might attack us, so I say we say no."

"Well, it's settled then."

We walked back over as Mari cleared her throat once more.

"Thank you for your offer, but we kindly refuse. We want to have enough food to last us the week."

Mark's smile changed into a frown.

"Really? Well then, we have no choice."

Mark turned around and began to walk, his party following him. As they walked away, I had a feeling that this wasn't over.

"Let's go."

Mari began to walk off, everyone following her. I looked back one last time before heading off myself.

As we walked I could sense a bit of Mana in the air, Adjest noticed it too, and I guess Chris and Iris as well seeing as how they looked at me.

I put a finger up to my lip as they nodded and turned back around. I walked ahead of the group and walked alongside Mari and Vas.

"Mari."

Mari raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Don't panic, there's a source of mana following us."

I could see the nervousness in her eyes.

"W-What?"

"Really?"

Vas seemed afraid as well.

"Yeah, but don't worry. I'll deal with it if something happens, so let's just keep moving."

Mari nodded as we continued to walk.

"Alright...I'm counting on you."

Timeskip

A few hours had passed.

Chris, Adjest, and I were awake keeping watch while the others were asleep.

Usually, it'd only be two people up keeping watch, but with what happened earlier I knew we couldn't afford that.

The mana signature hadn't left us, meaning they were keeping track of our location for some reason. I kept Adjest awake due to her power, but I didn't know if she was willing to kill another human.

Which is why I had Chris here.

Although we don't see eye to eye, I knew he definitely had what it took to take a life without a second thought.

"If anything happens...I'll be counting on you two."

We sat around for about another two hours, waiting for something to happen. As soon as I was about to give up, I felt their presences in the area.

There was ten of them.

"Be ready."

Adjest and Chris nodded as we stayed still, waiting for them to get into sight.

One minute had passed, they were getting closer.

Two minutes had passed, they had surrounded us.

Three minutes had passed, they were moving in.

Four minutes had passed, they were about to arrive.

And on the fifth, someone shot an arrow towards us. I caught the arrow and broke in before standing up and drawing my daggers.

"They're attacking."

Adjest drew her sword as Chris grabbed his mace with a smile. I sensed a group of seven rushing towards us, I clicked my tongue.

"This might be tougher than I thought."