The Signs of Incursion (3)

Everyone was mummed after the members of the hunting group told them what happened. Only the sound of the crickets, the bellowing croaks of the frogs and the sloshing sound of water from the nearby waterfall reigned.

The individuals who stayed in their homes are silent. Their thoughts that are lingering in their minds are, 'Will this happen if they are with them?'.

"How could that be? Nereen is a two-star warrior of wind power!"

Nereen is a family for them and among the first moon elves who formed this group of outcasts, the guy is their brother whom they grew up with.

"We are severely out numbered. And they are all moving swiftly in the darkness so we can barely see them." Manulus explained downcast.

Luis, who is listening from a distance, is also gloomy. A few days after his rebirth in this world, there is already news of death.

Truthfully speaking, he almost fell from the tree he is standing on as he listen to the witnesses' account.

The moon elf lord tried to feel himself and then he heaved a deep sigh, the dull feeling of pain is still there.

Seems like he will never feel comfortable with death no matter what the time or place he is in.

Luis turned to look at the somber atmosphere of the group. He felt pity for the moon elf that perished. Nereen must be a good individual.

"We tried to get Nereen back but those abominable creatures dragged his body down the tunnel," Sylis, one of Nereen's closest friends said. He is one of the oldest and the first member of the group.

His tone may be firm and his action screams with maturity but it is obvious that there is a loss in the moon elf's eyes.

"Then you should still try to get him!"

"If you can only see how numerous they are. The only thing that you can think of is to flee."

"Those things are giving off dangerous vibes. They are behaving weirdly, that is what my instincts tells me."

"What do you mean by that?"

Cain, their orc comrade answered. "All of the root crawlers retreated after getting Nereen. I tried to run after them and I threw a torch at the hole. What I saw was a clumped-up crowd of root crawlers underneath." The brave orc who has no qualms to fight and hunt single-handedly felt cold in his back after remembering the sight. It was sinister and simply terrible.

"They are biting each other and wailing inside…" he trailed off.

"Just like a starving beast?" Xagrien asked while thinking in a daze.

The hunting group members nodded in confirmation.

Xagrien heaved a sigh. He then looked in Luis' direction, he somehow felt like their gazes met and he proceeded, "While it pains us that we lost Nereen, this incident proves that those creatures lurking inside our tunnel are a threat that could kill us.

"It is not just that, those root crawlers feed on meat and the vitality that they suck from the trees. Letting them stay in great numbers could harm our prey and our other food resources. They can practically kill the entire forest just by existing."

The atmosphere turned darker and heavier after hearing Xagrien say this.

"That is why we need to collapse all the tunnels," Kalux stated in a firmer tone.

Others also expressed their support for this decision. However, Cain voiced a different opinion.

"What if we leave the clans to destroy those monsters?" The group is silent before an argument turned up.

"What? You will shirk our responsibility just because they are hostile towards us?" Sylis asked in a heated tone.

The members of the group know that he is one of the people who tends to be passive when it comes to clans and they find it reasonable. Their group aims to live in peace and not dominate clans.

"Do you think they will leave us if they found out that those tunnels were made by us?"

"We are just 53, one of us died because of those damned root crawlers and six of us are just kids. Even if Xagrien is a four-star warrior, do you think that we can manage to collapse all the tunnels in the entire forest?" Cain reasoned out.

The group is once again silent. Thinking about it this way made them realize the weakness of their current state. This is their reality.

Voices of agreement started to pop up.

"I think he is right, a single clan has at least a thousand warriors. If we leave this to them, they can solve those creatures by themselves."

"Someone already died among us. Facing thousands of those root crawlers are just plain suicide."

"Cain is right. Our situation is not optimistic. We are small in numbers and we are currently hiding our presence. Dealing with thousands of root crawlers by destroying the tunnels will inevitably cause a splash that those clans outside will notice."

Some members are disagreeing and are in favor of killing the root crawlers.

"Them looking at the tunnels that we made is already a statement that we are here."

"Besides, didn't we already meet with moon elves belonging to a clan days ago? Who knows if they already informed other clans and are currently onto us?"

"Why don't we take this as an opportunity to have an amicable relationship with the clans? Let's inform them about the hidden threat."

"Oh, so who will take the initiative to deliver himself to those clan's doors and inform them that the tunnels that we made behind their backs currently cradle thousands of abominable creatures that could kill them and the entire forest? Do I need to remind you that those guys will attack us the moment we appear in their sight!"

With that, the argument turned intense as if they were ready to come after each other's throats.

Sibal, not wanting to sow discord if this goes further, yelled: "Quiet!"

And the heated discussion broke into total silence.

"We need to do something or else, the consequences won't be worse than the great drought that we are hearing from the legends." Sibal stated and he added."And we cannot afford such a thing to happen."

"Besides, we aren't sure if we will be safe here. Who knows if they will come after us? Those things are weak when they are just one but if they come in hordes, we are not even sure if all 52 of us will stay alive if that happens?"

Truthfully speaking, he is nervous about this. He feels that if they do not come up with the right decision, they will die.

"So, what is your take on this, Xagrien? You are the strongest among us, we need to hear your opinion. Should we destroy the tunnels ourselves or should we leave this to the clans near here to deal with it?" Sibal turned to look at Xagrien asking for help.

Their group's priority is their own survival and peace of mind so they need to know the thoughts of their best offensive and defensive power player.

However, the words that came out of the male moon elf's lips stupefy them.

"Total annihilation. We need to kill all of them with our own hands."

This time, silence really descended upon them. Everyone was stunned stupid.

As if to mock the situation, a laughter-like sound of a wild jackal passed by.

Due to them being immersed to their surprise, nobody noticed that Xagrien lightly kicked a pebble in the direction of the sound and a soft thud ended the laughter.

They are just talking about collapsing the tunnels a while ago yet now they moved up to killing them? Annihilate thousands of those tricky abominations?! They will die out first before exterminating half of them!

Luis, who is listening from a distance, almost choke on his saliva. 'Do you think you are the main character or something?'

Xagrien doesn't strike as someone heroic in Luis' opinion. If he will refer to the prior experiences that this damned male god made him, then he will say that Xagrien is a black-hearted villain!

Luis remembered that night when they first met. 'Or maybe he really is a crazy bastard who is naturally bloodthirsty?'. A red flag is indeed a red flag.

It is like the others have the same opinion as the hidden moon elf lord. The crowd burst out with exclamations of disbelief.

"That is crazy!"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Xagrien, we know that you are young and strong but you must have seen how many of those tricky creatures are. They are numerous! Taking down all of them by yourself is just plain suicide." Sylis tried to reason out. Age-wise he is Xagrien's senior so he took the liberty to convince the young moon elf to stop his hasty and dangerous thoughts.

In their group, Xagrien is the youngest at the age of 21. Sylis understood how hot-blooded moon elves are after maturing physically.

"But I have all of you with me right?" However, Xagrien smartly said a counter-argument that left them speechless.

Everyone does not know if they should feel touched or betrayed after hearing the question. Their brows are twitching synchronously like an orchestra.

'Do you want us to die with you now?'

"Are you serious about that, Xagrien?" Ilian asked while having a dumbfounded expression. The chubby fellow's eyes almost popped out of his socket, his mouth that is almost hidden from the cute bulging cheeks, forming a small circle.

He is torn just like everyone else. The situation could be fatal if it is not handled well.

Xagrien is his best friend and it is natural to support him but their lives are at stake so he might…

Xagrien turned and meet Ilian's gaze. The male's eyes are firm and serious, definitely not bullshiting.

Ilian subconsciously gulped his own saliva and reprimanded himself deep inside. Who is he kidding? He will of course join in! Ilian knows that he will obviously bulldoze his way to death if Xagrien decides to do it.

Death or those ugly root-sucking creatures would never even be considered as a hurdle in front of their brotherhood!

"What would be your plan on terminating the root crawlers? You know, it is…" And the faithful best friend rambled on the pros and cons of Xagrien's decision.

The things that he pointed out are the most obvious and reasonable ones that others cannot help but nod. However, after some time as their napes grew tired, they felt the itchy impulse to cover the mouth of their talkative fellow.

This guy could really talk non-stop! They look at the two moon elves who are known to be best of friends.

One is a man of few words, while the other is a chatterbox. It was a mystery how they can be close to each other and like a pair of brothers.

On the other side, Luis is watching the one-man show of this healthy-looking fellow and he is appreciating Ilian's rapid spitting of ideas more and more.

He felt like he met an they are meant to meet each other!

'Is this what they call soulmate?' Luis uttered inwardly as he scrutinized the other. If he were to compare this one to that annoying Xagrien, this fellow would fare better with him.

They will instantly click! Ilian is a better choice than Xagrien who only knows how to frustrate him.

While aesthetically, Ilian is cute and well… cute. He will definitely pass as an actor if this is earth and he can also dig in to cute boys like Ilian.

Suddenly he felt his back turned cold and goosebumps appeared in his arms.

Thinking about it, Luis realized that having Ilian as a friend is better.

Luis has nothing against individuals on the heavier side but there is a nudging feeling in his chest. He's got a feeling that things will not end well if he extends his claws to Xagrien's best friend.

"The tunnel has ten sections and in every section, there are multiple exits that are far from each other. Even if you…" and the chatter goes on…

The audience at this point knows that Ilian has been won over.

They can only sigh.

Ilian's litany stopped after Xagrien quickly interrupted and answered.

"Well, it will be easier to kill all those root crawlers while they are still inside the tunnel. It is the same as doing a killing spree. That would be an effective way of venting while avenging the death of Nereen."

'So you just want to kill.' was the thought that came to their mind. However, they are quick to swallow that insinuation after hearing the last statement of Xagrien.

Xagrien then added another statement that made Sibal's eyes round.

"And we already have someone willing to help us."

Sibal finally remembered the strong presence of a certain someone. Someone who is strong and could serve as a strong backer.

Hearing this made the sole of Luis' feet tingle. Isn't this tantamount to introducing him to his family? Is Xagrien helping him? He looked at Xagrien. Maybe it is just an illusion but it seems like the purple irises of the male are reflecting his figure. He isn't sure.

However, he is certain that the male's lips are raised in one corner.

"Can you please come here and introduce yourself, moon elf lord?"