Eldros followed behind them quietly.
Eldros silently observed them when they encountered monsters or beasts and the team quickly killed them.
He quickly discerned that while they weren't Magus, their combat instincts were sharp, their strikes brutal.
Each one of them fought with the determination of someone who had survived long past their expiration date.
With the exception of Jarek, Eldros felt confident he could handle any of them one-on-one. Two would be difficult. Three would overwhelm him.
He reminded himself to tread cautiously and the reason for his confidence was because back on Earth, he could hold his own in a gang fight and now with the first star of the Initiate of the Arcana, he had the strength comparable to a big ape.
As the group neared the boundary of the ruined city, the scavengers gradually relaxed. Laughter returned, and their grim silence eased into banter, except for Jarek, who remained watchful and quiet.
The others clearly respected him, which made Eldros even more curious about her identity, but he wasn't curious enough to ask anything.
He stayed alert, not drawing too close, but close enough to listen.
Eventually, they reached the edge of the city. Eldros felt warmth in the breeze and looked up. It was as if an invisible veil marked the difference between two worlds. Behind them: cold, gloom, and death. Ahead: spring-like warmth, starlight, and a silver moon.
They passed through.
Outside, the forest before the city remained barren, but no longer sinister. Distant animals chirped and rustled. Eldros spotted a rabbit freeze in place as they passed. He watched everything quietly.
The foragers lightened in spirit. One of them chuckled, "I swear, that's my last trip into a ruined city."
"You say that now," another replied. "But if you want to live well, you have to risk your life. One day I'll own property in the Dark Mercury Sanctum."
That name had come up before Eldros had already picked up bits and pieces about Dark Mercury Sanctum. Some kind of powerful group. Another name mentioned frequently was the West wilds.
"You? In Dark Mercury Sanctum? You couldn't even last three days."
"Better than crossing the ocean to the Sole Land. That's where humans came from, right?"
The name struck Eldros. He remembered seeing it in his host body memory and his eyes sharpened.
"If I was strong enough to handle what's in the sky and elevated sea," another joked, "I'd already be on that Sole Land."
The discussion turned argumentative until Jarek interrupted.
"There are ways to reach the Sole Land," she said, voice steady. "First, reach Adept of the Weave by age fourteen and be given a 'Title.' Second, pay 300,000 gold coins to the Dark Mercury Sanctum, West Wild, or the Chaos Order. Third, make major contributions in essence extraction. Fourth, be chosen as a disciple by someone powerful. And fifth…" She paused. "Become a named artifact."
Everyone fell silent. Eldros noted the sudden shift in their expressions.
"Named artifact?" he asked.
Jarek regarded him for a beat. "People fused with artifact. Their bodies absorb the corruption, allowing others to use the artifacts easily. They die just as quickly."
Eldros heart sank. He remembered how children—from his host memory—from the slums were sometimes taken away, leaving the rest envious.
Now he knew what they'd become, luckily that he didn't wake up in such host.
The atmosphere turned somber. Nobody spoke again until they reached a plain some distance from the ruined city. There, they set up camp.
Eldros sat by himself, chewing jerky. He watched as the others roasted their meals. After a moment, Jarek approached and handed him three flat breads.
Eldros's stomach growled, but he held back his hunger, quietly saying, "Thank you."
Jarek simply returned to the fire without replying.
One of the foragers asked, "Why help the brat, Jarek?"
"We're all wretchs," she replied. "Fate brought him to us. Why not lend a hand?"
Eldros stared at the buns. He sniffed them, watched the others eat theirs, then cautiously bit into one without swallowing. Poison was one of the easiest way to kill in the gang.
When he felt no strange reaction, he finally ate. He devoured the second bread then saved the last one, treating it like treasure.
That night, the foragers retired to their tents. Jarek handed Eldros a sleeping bag.
"Keep it," she said.
Eldros blinked. "Why?"
Jarek shrugged. "A few bread and a bag aren't worth much. Maybe one day you can pay me back."
"What do you like to eat?" Eldros asked quietly.
"Things with a little venom," Jarek grinned, her teeth gleaming. "Can't get enough of them."
With that, she vanished into his tent..
Eldros shivered. And there was a reason for that. When he attacked the bulky man, he had added venom to the flat of the disc that corroded the body from the inside. The man had died earlier in the afternoon.
And none of the foragers had bat an eye, they simply fell on his loot and shared it.
Eldros looked at Jarek's tent for a long time then he went to his own, laid down, closed his eyes, and began silently practicing the Arcana art.
The cold that came with the art made his body shiver, but he didn't stop. He thought about what Jarek said—Adept of the Weave before fourteen.
'..I'm thirteen already..' Eldros thought. '..I have a lot of work to do..'
Five days passed just like that.
They crossed a mountain, traversed a deep forest, and Eldros gradually grew used to their company. Along the way, some of the foragers parted ways.
As Eldros had suspected, the team was a temporary alliance.
On the eighth day, only he and Jarek remained.
That night, beneath the stars, they set up camp at the foot of a mountain. Eldros nibbled on a half bread. The rest, as always, went into his sack.
Eldros watched him for a while. "We'll reach our destination tomorrow," he said. "It's where I live. One of the main foragers outposts around here."
Eldros said nothing.
"Basecamps like these are built near ruined cities as naturally, wilderness and Dungeons would soon sprout," She continued. "The one you came from is new. The one near the outpost been around a long time. It's worse. The corruption is strong. Normal folk can't last more than a day. Even couldn't last two week."
Eldros's eyes narrowed.
"But inside that zone grows a plant, a key to making white a pill, used to purge Noxium. Very useful to Magus."
Jarek looked him in the eye. "You see what I'm saying?"
Eldros mulled it over, then responded, "Foragers are like bandits who'll do anything for money."
Jarek chuckled. "Exactly. And in that outpost, strength matters more than anything else. You want to live there if you pass the test. It's the rule."
She stood, glancing toward the distant mountain.
"If you pass, and you want to, you can stay with me."
Eldros didn't respond. But he stared long into the night, the sleeping bag warm at his side.