Brothers in Arms: Journey Through the Unknown [ONHOLD]

Chapter 12: Incursion

There was no doubt about it. Mason got a good feeling the group consisted of strange warriors looking straight at him. At the same time, they made a beeline toward their position, giving him little time to react or think of a plan. Whether running away or confronting them here, he did not have much time to think on the spot.

Were these people going to be hostile?

Mason instinctively held the assault rifle tightly in his hands, clenching the pistol grip harder than before and readying his finger around the trigger guard. He also prepared himself by not showing any emotion and kept the usual poker expression.

The viking berserker stopped right in front of Mason, at least the man possessed some manner and respected his personal space. He moved his head up and down while showing a rather punchable smirk. He obviously took his sweet ass time to study the newly arrived people in this town. Maybe to assert some dominance over the strangers and teach the foreigner some of the local welcoming courtesy.

Despite himself being around six foot two, the man standing the opposite was one head above him. Obviously, the viking berserker tried to intimidate him with his over-the-top build, but Mason did not let the size differences get to him. He believed the powered exoskeleton was no slacker when it came to strength. He tested it out himself and lifted a three tons vehicle without breaking a single sweat. Unless he faced what appeared to be a superhuman.

"So you two are the new outsider I heard from the boy? Not from around here, ain't ya?" The viking berserker expressed his concern but it was more like a rhetorical question.

Should he open his mouth? Regardless, Mason did not want to attract any further attention that could jeopardize their mission or his team's well-being.

"I see that word travels fast around here," Mason answered calmly and sneaked a quick look back at Roger who was also on-guard like him. Only on stand-by and waiting for his order. "What do you need of me?"

The viking berserker was a bit astonished by his answer. Probably the strange accent and how he kept his cool in front of the beefy boy.

"I heard you have been stirring up trouble in the plaza despite being new to the city. Got anything to say about it?"

"And why should I answer that question? Are you the one with the authority and in charge of taking care for these poor souls?"

"Not really! But we're adventurers!" The viking berserker buffed out his massive chest and pointed at himself with a confident grin, "I'm the best there is this city has to offer. A gold-rank! These refugees are lucky that my party and I went out of our own way to help them free of charge. That includes protection and providing necessary resources for them to sustain! And you, strangers, are causing trouble."

If he believed every word this guy said, then they were doing a pretty shitty job providing the mentioned accomodation for these refugees. Although by the look of things, these muscleheads sure looked and detected troubles real fast, so at least they got half the story true. In any case, what exactly were adventurers?

Mason had a vague idea since he knew the terms were overused in the fantasy RPG trope. They were usually like mercenaries, using their power to do jobs that normal humans could not do and earned money like hunting for monsters. The only difference between a mercenary and an adventurer was their dedication to protect the people. As much as he hated to admit it, the viking berserker's group did exactly the same thing and they tried to help the refugees despite not getting any money out of it.

That was just his speculation.

"You're misunderstood." The only safe way out of this trouble would be through words. There was no point fighting these people. He waved toward the bunch of refugees sitting around them, "Look around. These people need help and any sane person would not even dare to touch a hair on them. If you think about it, do you want to believe the story of a boy who ganged up on a helpless girl and stole her money? And it was us who gave her the money."