Chapter 80- The Wall.

"He said that, there were over twenty one-eyed beasts, among which he could sense the residual aura of strength-related ones, fire and acid. He said there might be speed related ones as well from certain signs in the distance. Of course, there were no actual visible prints so, I'm guessing what he saw has something to do with his ability.

Anyway, back to what he said. He said that there was also certain signs of mental waves or something like that. I don't remember his exact words. But he also said something else...." She paused for effect.

"Come on, don't keep us in suspense." Bar pleaded.

"There was a travelling bag and that he could sense very strong residual ice ability aura from it. He said the beast was most likely already dead and because someone was stingy or careless enough to store it in a travelling bag, that must be why the aura leaked and invited the one-eyed beasts to the large group of travellers." The lady mercenary said and everyone sighed and shook their heads.

"So, in short, because someone was stingy with hunting equipment, hundred people died?" Vox asked.

"Seems like it." She answered.

"I can imagine the city government altering certain hunter rules due to this incident."

"Some bastard has just made hunting procedure more stressful for us. I hope he died a terrible death."

"Any survivors?" Vox asked.

"Apart from the hunters, none that we know of." someone answered.

Vox sighed.

"Bar, what's up with him?" The loud hunter asked the barman upon seeing such a rare solemn look on Vox. Vox was never one to look so lifeless.

"Oh, um, chances are high that the childhood friend he was expecting was among those people." Bar explained, glancing at Vox whose head was hanging low.

"Oh? That's bad." a lanky hunter said.

"Relax Vox, if there's anyone who could put up with you through your childhood years and survived, chances are that he escaped." The loud hunter said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The lady mercenary asked.

"Vox himself is a death seeking machine. His friend would have been put in trouble so many times, he has probably developed an ability to sense and escape danger." The loud man said with a shrug.

"Ahahaha.... true, true.." The mercenaries and hunters said and laughed, trying to give Vox some hope.

"Or maybe he was not even there." Another chipped in.

"Spa is ready." Bar said and opened a door beside the bar with the press of a button. Almost instantly, nearly half the men in the bar stood up and hurried in through the doorway with gleeful expressions on their faces.

*************

Wilson dragged his weary body and raised his head to look around. Why does he have such bad luck? He thought to himself. Is it because he left home without his mom's blessings that the universe was teaching him a lesson. Why couldn't they give him a day of respite.

Since, he barely escaped with his life from the midst of the one-eyed beasts, which was an unbelievable feat on its own, the snow had chosen to fall long and hard. His teeth was chattering from the cold and like all the other times since the time he had met with Old man Jenkins, he has had to rely on sheer will power to keep moving and living.

He knew he must not stop to rest or else the snow would cover him up as soon as he shut his eyes for a quick nap, but he was just too tired. His legs felt heavier than lead and every time he took a step, it would sink into in the snow, reaching halfway to his knees. His eyes were threatening to shut close from all the accumulated fatigue.

All of a sudden, he saw hope before his eyes. It appeared so abruptly, he thought he was seeing things. He blinked his eyes and shook his head to ensure he was not seeing things. What did he see? A wall. A tall wall, the height of which he could not ascertain even from the distance. It stretched horizontally in an almost unnoticeable arc as far as his eyes could see. It was mostly covered in snow and the combination of the heavily falling snow and his exhaustion, made the sight fuzzy but he could still make out a few faint stripes on the walls that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

According to Jim, the wall was a sign of civilization and the stripes should be a sign that he had gotten to Tiger City. Now all he had to look for was the gate; the entrance.

Wilson looked from side to side and ultimately picked a side; a direction to walk in. What direction was that? He walked towards his right. For the simple reason that that was his dominant side.

He walked for about an hour, grateful to John for borrowing him the hunter's gear. It was the only thing keeping him from freezing to death. He was still numb from the cold though.

Then, he saw a few people queuing and as he followed the queue down with his eyes, he saw the gate with some men in woolen white uniform with grey stripes, maintaining order and collecting something from the people on the queue. They were fast and efficient. Occasionally, someone would be taken out of the line to a side and asked questions before they are given a black tag and sent to an expansive tent.

Jim had mentioned this to Wilson. He said, since they were both broke, they would have to work for their entrance fees into the city. The duration was usually between four hours to a week, depending on various factors like what job they were doing, their speed and efficiency and if they broke any work equipment and had to pay for those as well.

Wilson looked up and miraculously, the snow stopped. He looked forward and noticed that the snow was barely existent from a certain distance to the queue. That was good news and the good news gave him a new surge of strength. He walked hurriedly out of the snow and quickly jogged to the end of the line and joined them in the distance.

It was Wilson's turn sooner than expected and without being told, he turned and went to the soldiers in charge of broke asses like him. The soldier attending to him was a head taller than him, had a scary scar on his face and a grim look.

"You are new, aren't you?" He asked, his voice sharp yet drawling.

"Yes." Wilson answered.

"Broken arm, deep, frozen cuts, you look like you encountered beasts. Are you a hunter?"

"No!"

"Why are you like this and why are you putting hunter garb on?"

"A hunter lent me this. And I got my injuries from facing a gorilla."

"When was that?"

"About three days ago."

"Did you notice any beasts with a single eye?"

"Yes. The gorilla was one of them."

"And you escaped alive?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"They...."

"Wait!" The soldier said, cutting Wilson off. He stood and walked towards the tent. "Come with me!" He said, less like a request and more like a command.

Wilson had no choice but to follow behind the soldier while wondering why his broken shoulder and all his injuries did not hurt. Was it perhaps the cold that helped numb his injuries? Or maybe he was just too in his own thoughts to worry about something like that.

And just like that, he shrugged it off his mind.