Ch.18 High rank

The fight happening between the humans and the orcs, oddly enough the humans weren't being completely wiped out.

Orcs were violent creatures by a nature, even when their attack was not working. They were constantly attacking and the humans were losing more stamina in every defense. The situation looked grim by the second.

Nero jumped from the little cliff they were standing on and bit one of the orc's necks. Unexpectedly the orc dropped to the ground easily. Nero himself was almost shocked by how weak this orc was but that didn't stop him as he pounced on the next target.

Val who was defending against the orcs and was barely holding for his life saw this. He and subordinates did not rejoice in joy when a wolf appeared out of nowhere, saving the in the process.The wolf easily killed all the orcs within a minute but Val was on more high alert. The wolf could pounce on them at any given second.

After surviving the assassins. The family was able to avert the dangerous situation momentarily. Val regrouped with the family after making sure the enemy didn't dare to be on their heels anymore.

Using the family item, Val was easily able to locate the other family members and they sent 12 different teams including Vals to hunt food for the family.Esecially for the kids and elders that couldn't hunt for themselves.

Val had the worst feeling in his stomach. The family's luck this year was hitting rock bottom. Getting attacked by groups of orcs wasn't enough but now a wolf was staring at them. His hand immediately tighten on the sword and ready to strike at any moment, the beast attacked.

" Everyone be alert and do not move or run no matter what. The wolf will chase you immediately if you ran" Vall yelled while his eyes never left the wolf.

Instead of the attacking, the wolf looked up. Val followed the wolf's gaze and saw what looked like a purple cloud. The cloud slowly descended , barely floating on the ground.

" No need to be on alert, we have no ill intentions " The cloud spoke, almost stopping Val's heart.

Val knew what it meant when a monster could speak. He must've gone too far from the border. The stronger and more intelligent ones appear in the deepest part of the forest.

Seeing the sun was almost done diving, Moon decided it was time to go back. He had no particular intention to talk with humans, it was time to go back.

" Your honorable lord. I ask, you take me and let my subordinates go" Val suddenly yelled in desperation.

Cloud looked at the guy who was speaking nonsense out of nowhere.

" Why would I do that"?

Moon was genuinely confused but Val took that as why he would let anyone live. Feeling even more desperate , he yelled.

" Please allow me to stay with you"

Moon looked at Val and was even more confused. As he was about to say no, Nero came in front of Moon and said.

" Leader, allow him to come with us. He thinks we want to kill them all. He has admirable character for trying to protect those people"

Didnt he just say they had no intention of harming any of them. How did he think we would still attack them? Looking at the sun that was almost gone, Moon said.

" I think you all need to come with us. I will let them go tomorrow morning but leaving them here,when the sun has gone down is the same as killing them"

Val had to accept they may not return alive to the family,ever again. Even the wolf had the intellectual and he was calling the cloud his leader. To begin with, Val had never heard of a cloud monster. Val didn't believe one bit when the cloud said he will let them go in the morning but it was better to follow now than be killed right here on the spot.

Seeing Val dejected as if he was going to his slaughterhouse. Moon couldn't help but think if he was that untrustworthy. He was just an innocent and pure cloud. The world has gone mad indeed.

It took them quite a while before they arrived on the black wall. Val could see the huge thick black wall that had reflected the moonlight. He could see the wolf step closer and a hole appearing right to fit the wolf.

" You guys need to touch that pillar" Moon pointed out.

Val bravely marched as his heart beat valiantly as ever. After touching the cold pillar, he felt some kind of connection to it. The same size passage as his body appeared, where he could go through but didn't as he waited for others to touch the pillar too.

As everyone was done and as the last person,Val went through too. To what may possibly be his last place to rest eternally. What awaited him was crappy buildings laying around. He didn't see much due to being night time .

" I heard what happened from Nero. Ah, Nero is the wolf. Consider my house as your home. Since it's late already, you guys can take that and that house" The one who spoke was Raiz. Who was for some reason happy to meet human beings finally.

Maybe because he was tired but he felt that the bee was excited while speaking to them. Another intelligent beast Val thought. Ordering everyone to sleep which was odd order from his subordinate perspective.

Bizarrely enough he got the best sleep he had gotten since he left the city and even under a monster's roof. To add more on a building that just had four corners of wood walls. When Vall thought even more about , it was wasn't cold inside this black wall.

" Alright. Are you guys ready? Nero and I will lead you guys back home. Almost forgot to introduce myself, I am Raiz"

Val felt different than yesterday. To be specific after he touched the wall. it was like he wasn't afraid at all. Last night he could see but there were lots of bees flying around and he didn't feel one bit of fear. Has he finally gone insane from all the stress?

Raiz saw the guy stand still for while and asked if he had a question to ask. Val who was not afraid immediately asked if they did something to him. He asked his subordinates if they also felt safe but still had fear lingering for being so close to the beast.

Raiz was also paying attention to what was happening. He looked at the black orb but what caught his attention was Vals' rank. Everyone's rank was citizen except Vals that was even higher than Raiz's.

"Do you see that orb? We are a clan and not just from one race. Each of us has a rank in there. You can only enter if you got no hostility towards us making you rank Civilian" Raiz said

" Indeed. We were tired and only focused on survival rather than caring about attacking " Val nodded

" Now look at your rank. I don't know what you did but you are the second-highest rank currently. It is a surprise but congratulations on joining our clan"

Val had to sit down and slowly swallow all the information. Then he looked around his pockets in hurry ,only to find that the scroll was missing. Seeing they already had the scroll and wasnt feeling wary of them, Val told them honestly.

"I think know why I was ranked so high. To summarize it, our family member found this ancient scroll that was presumed to be powerful and now it isn't with me"

▪︎ Correct, you have contributed to our clan greatly, hence you received your rank▪︎

The black orb spoke, Moon didn't know why but it felt like instead of a just system it was more humane. Putting away those thoughts, Moon was also curious about the scroll.

Vall being a smart man.He saw he was the highest rank, meaning anyone here wouldn't be a threat to him. He knew it instinctly, just like how humans felt safe around families. His family that urgently needed safety ,could come here. Unknowingly he stopped calling them monsters.

Immediately calling for his subordinates to stay here while,he was going to fetch other family members. Even when they had doubts, they couldn't say anything as they trusted him with theyr life.

"I know what you guys think. I can tell you without a doubt you guys are safe with them. I can feel it with every old bones of mine. You guys should be able to feel some too"

After he reassured them, he headed straight to Nero and Raiz. Nero felt a little bit odd seeing, a human out ranking him when he just came yesterday. On the other hand, Raiz didn't care much as he was just happy to see humans.

" So Lord Val. Is there more story to tell about the scroll? Since we have time, why don't you tell us."

Nero finally couldn't take the slow pace and decided to let Val jump on his back. The pace immediately increased and before long they arrived, where humans camped .

Seeing Nero,the humans immediately put their swords up. While they were ready to defend. The children and the elders were in the back being protected. One of the children noticed someone that was familiar. As she squinted her eyes, she saw him and yelled.

" grandpa Val!?"