Living in a well (1)

"What…what do you want from me?" Nuvia asked in trepidation. There had to be a reason for her to be spared. The boy in front of her had to have some use for her or else she would be thrown in with the rest. That much she was sure off.

"I like smart people," said Erick calmly. He truly appreciated people who could understand things without needing a lot of explanation.

Nuvia's eyes lit up when she heard the sentence. If she could save her life she would be willing to be his minion. Why fight against things she couldn't change.

"I-I…just let me know what I have to do," she said firmly. She was determined to show her strength to her new boss.

"All you have to do is hold on as long as you can," Erick replied as he started to erect an altar with the materials he had brought with him. Under the confused gazes of Nuvia and Themen, Erick finished all the preparations. Neither could make sense of the things they were witnessing.

'What does he mean with that? Where should I hold onto? Is this some ritual to induct to me his group? Is it very painful?' Nuvia racked her brain but failed to understand what she was required to do. Her new boss was very stingy with words it would seem.

Themen's mind was in even greater turmoil. He had notified the warbeast as he was instructed to do. He had expected Erick to go away. As far as the warbeast was concerned it didn't matter if one person was missing. Their real targets were the females in the group. The male ones just served as food.

Thump! Thump!

The ground started to vibrate as a loud thumping sound reached them. Something big and heavy was underway to their spot. Themen rushed towards the group of unconscious people and awaited the arrival of what was sure to be a warbeast.

Gradually the sound turned louder and louder as suddenly with a loud crash a warbeast appeared in front of him. The vibrations due to the crash caused even Themen to stumble and fall. A few nearby trees snapped too due to the shock.

"Ha…ha…ha…Themen…you…are…weak…as…always," said the beast slowly. Its glazed eyes were filled with mockery as it looked at Themen. After each word it licked the slime dripping from its face.

"You are just too strong, sir Wart," replied Themen humbly. He was more than familiar with the beast in front of him. Originally a normal frog who due to lucky encounters evolved to be a warbeast. It was not as strong or fast as most of the generals under Tenor but it was certainly one of the most vicious ones.

"Keekee!"

A group of apes appeared behind Wart. Without waiting for any instructions they started to collect the humans. It was obviously not their first time performing such tasks, Wart didn't even need to say anything.

The apes split into two teams, one was in charge of the female humans and the other were escorting the males. It was obvious that they were gentler with the female members and the male ones were wrapped into giant leaves.

Just as they were about to wrap one of the last males, a tongue appeared and pulled it out of the leaf. The ape in charge stumbled and screeched but jumped away as soon as it saw who it was.

Crunch!

Wart was marveling as it chewed and bit by bit swallowed the savory meat.

"Ah, although I enjoy the lovely insects of the Bile Swamp, the meat of humans is still something unique."

Themen swallowed as he tried to avoid looking at the blood dripping from the frog's mouth. Chunks of meat flew around as Wart was praising the quality of the meat. There was no shortage of people Themen had killed in his life but seeing a fellow human being eaten was still something he found unbearable.

"Move it. Make sure the goods are delivered as instructed!" Wart spat at the apes. The apes screeched and started to move with the humans they were tasked with.

"Sir Wart, I have completed my part of the work. I should return to the castle now," Themen said as he started to walk backwards.

"Hold up!" Wart said as it turned towards Themen. Its sinister gaze landed on Themen while it licked the blood plastered on its face.

"Y-yes sir Wart?" probed Themen nervously. Was the beast going to swallow him also?

'I-I don't think it will risk jeopardizing the partnership of our lords by doing so, especially seeing that this transaction was to appease Lord Tenor. It would be quite foolish to attack me now, which would be akin to disrespecting the peace offered by my lord.'

"We were told that the humans would be spread in small groups, so why…why were they all piled up here? Although I am happy that the others will return empty handed, I am not fond of such surprises."

Wart continued to look at Themen as it talked. As a beast that climbed its way towards the top of the forest, it was not stupid. Nothing changed without rhyme or reason. The only question it was interested in was whether the reason was acceptable or not.

"Y-you see, what happened…," Themen was fidgeting and trying hard to come up with an answer when suddenly he heard the leaves crunching as someone stepped on them.

Without looking he knew who it was.

"You could pick up everyone here because I wished to meet you." Erick walked calmly towards Themen and Wart as he spoke. He didn't appear to mind having a warbeast in front of him.

Wart looked at the human appearing in front of it. It was neither shocked nor enraged. Whether there was one or two insects, it didn't impact anything as far as Wart was concerned.

"And why would you wish to meet me?" Wart asked curiously. Was the human in front of him stupid, brave or someone with a hidden ability. No matter what, Wart was interested to see whether it would be fun or not.

"Exp!" Answered Erick with a bright smile.