Mike stepped into the camp and was almost crushed by a powerful aura. It was so strong that not even the legendary giant spider or the ten thousand ant queens had ever felt like this. When he sensed this aura, he started to doubt that those ten thousand ant queens had really been that hard to beat, because this felt completely different, much stronger.
In the middle stood a golden knight. His helmet was a simple knight's helm and his armor was just as plain. The aura was coming from him. Mike saw the other knights immediately drop to the ground and bow.
Mike wondered if he should bow too, and when Ice did, he followed her example. But an angelic voice stopped him. It was the knight. His voice sounded young, almost younger than Mike.
"No, please rise."
Mike did not need to hear that twice and straightened up again. He took one step closer to the golden knight, but suddenly three swords were at his throat. It was the gray knights. This was probably their king or something like that, because who else would be guarded like this?
Mike was surprised they would do something so risky. What if he had been a strong person who could kill them all with a single blow? Carefully he stepped back, because he was not that kind of person.
The golden knight now stood in front of Mike and lowered the swords of the other knights. He had already taken them all from their hands.
"H what, that fast he took them all away?"
The golden knight apologized for this and took off his helmet. His golden blond hair was blown back by the wind. Mike could not stand him, this noble aura and this personality, as if he was better than everyone else. No, Mike did not like that at all.
"All right, so my friend and I" he exhaled loudly "just arrived here in the jungle. How long have you all been here?"
The golden knight placed his helmet on a wooden bench and came very close, almost too close, then suddenly spoke very fast, as if he had been waiting for this question.
"Oh, you want to hear the backstory of the Silent Knights, you should have said so right away. So, on the night of the black rats we protected the village and slowly started to come together, then…"
Mike breathed out quietly in boredom and thought, (Who cares about that I just wanted to know how long you have been here.)
But he did not want to start an argument, so he kept listening and focused again.
"Right, then we all cleared the dungeon and became very very strong. We all arrived here as one group and grew very quickly as the Silent Knights. Only I, the golden leader, am allowed to speak. Now, everyone rise again."
The armor clinked as they stood up, and the swords rattled softly as they slid back into their leather sheaths, perfectly fitted for their weapons.
When Mike saw this, he immediately thought of a blacksmith or something like that. Where had all these identical swords come from He decided he would ask when the golden knight finished talking.
"Then we explored the jungle a bit, and there are many hostile animals here. So we looked for a place where we could set up a kind of camp, and here we are. What do you think?"
Mike forced a small smile.
"Yeah yeah, whatever. So you are a guild."
The golden knight only nodded with humble pride and turned his gaze away from Mike, straight toward the frightened Ice. He walked over to her and took her hand.
"Do not worry, lady. I am here now, everything is really fine."
Mike rolled his eyes.
"Seriously now?"
As he muttered those words under his breath, the knights glared at him. They were so loyal that it bothered them to hear their leader being talked down. Mike put the forced smile back on his face and gave a thumbs up.
He walked over to Ice and stood in front of her as well. Mike looked at the two of them and said,
"So, can we join you for now?"
He simply asked and waited for a good answer, but what he got instead annoyed him.
"Oh yes, of course. For such a beautiful face I would do anything," the golden knight said as he looked at Ice.
Mike only looked into Ice's eyes and knew she did not feel anything at all from those words.
(Phew, good… Wait, why does that even matter to me I mean, she is a friend, yes, but…)
Mike liked Ice a bit more than he had thought.
Suddenly Mike was torn from his thoughts again. A new group of shadow tigers had tracked them down and charged into the camp. There were exactly six of them, all with huge horns. When Mike saw the horns, he remembered his wound, but it had already healed. He had probably gained faster regeneration with the admin rank.
Mike felt his armor immediately harden and grow stronger. It changed from a light red to a deep blood red.
He watched the creatures charge into the camp with a bloodthirsty look on their faces. Those horns were really much bigger compared to the ones that had been in his stomach.
It was a painful feeling, so Mike wanted to avoid having horns stuck in his stomach again, and now the important thing was to protect Ice, so...
Mike moved into a fighting stance, but the golden knight was already standing in a purple pool of blood and said with a grin,
"It is all good."
Mike could not help but be amazed. How had he killed all of them so fast Mike had struggled with just one, and this guy had blown them away like a grain of sand.
Mike could not stand him, but he did respect him. So the golden knight spoke again.
"So, what is next?"
Mike wanted to say that they would move on now and could not stay in the camp, but that would have been a lie. And in a way, it was actually good to have such strong allies. So Mike thought twice about what he should say next.