Kadi, sitting in the tree watching the group heading downhill, couldn’t help but laugh.
With just one sentence, just one single outcry, they all believed it was true and ran off in a cloud of dust. (Kadi naturally didn’t realize his cry had sohow mixed with Spirit Power, which gave his outcry a strangely srizing force.) This would give the guy in the cave below freedom to move around, and he wouldn’t be trapped anymore.
Kadi sprung down from the tree and found the battered scarecrow. In a flurry, he removed the ill-fitting vest and jacket wrapped around its sorry body and haphazardly put them on himself.
This way, eting that guy might feel a bit more friendly, hehe.
Kadi felt that, as a monster, it was essential to appear friendly when initiating contact; he had to find common ground. Otherwise, acting as he used to around small creatures would definitely scare the other party. Since he couldn’t change his appearance, he could compensate in other ways; wearing the other’s clothes seed a good choice.
Don’t underestimate this seemingly nonsensical act. Kadi, the monster, wasn’t reckless. Otherwise, his restless little heart would have exposed him long ago, scaring off a bunch of Treasure Hunters at Guru Mountain’s Dawn Peak.
The clothes retained the scent of the guy in the cave. This familiar sll could earn a certain amount of recognition from him, Kadi thought.
Kadi had leisurely studied many things while loitering around Guru Mountain. Scent was one of them. In the process of rummaging through birdhouses and flipping over insect nests on the mountain, Kadi had unconsciously identified many different scents. His sense of sll had also improved significantly, uncovering the secrets of nurous scents. For instance, so ants communicate through scent, determining whether the other ant is a nest mate or a competing enemy. Even the seemingly weak deer would mark their territories with a peculiar scent. The sll of the droppings left by a tiger in the mountain often scared away nearby jackals looking for food...
It was evident that scent was important, especially if it was a familiar one.
Even if the guy in the cave knew nothing about scents, it was okay because these clothes also retained his Spirit Power. Although Kadi didn’t fully understand what this "Spirit Power"—a term Kevin and the old-tirs often ntioned—really was, having heard it spoken of so many tis had instilled in him a certain awe for it.
With the knowledge from two different fields, both familiar (scent) and unfamiliar (Spirit Power), Monster Kadi gained so much-needed confidence in his newly formulated "contact" plan. But even with this added confidence, Kadi wouldn’t act rashly.
He wouldn’t be a fool and march into the cave, shouting, "Hey buddy, let’s have a chat." Doing so would only result in the guy gaping in shock and then running away, or screaming and fainting on the spot.
Such an outco would only get Kadi punished, condemned to a prolonged slumber in the Slumber Room...
"That’s the drawback of being an outcast. I would be startled too if I suddenly saw a talking deer," Kadi murmured to himself. He didn’t want to be punished by being sent to the Slumber Room before his plan could even take place. Patient waiting was the best strategy. Kadi had to appear at the right mont in the right place, presenting himself to the guy in the cave as an object of idolization, or rather, reverence.
For now, Kadi could only continue hiding and observing...
Igor, in the cave, had just experienced a brief parting. The bouncing ball in his chest, while not as frantic as before, still hadn’t quieted. It had rely jumped from a place of dejection and worry over the separation to a new, unsettling one.
This new unease was created by Pita’s statent before parting, "Rember to settle the accounts with us when you co down the mountain." This successfully pushed aside the discomfort brought by the parting and spurred a new battle in Igor’s mind.
He wasn’t sure what "settling the accounts" ant. Did the thirty copper coins not cover the guide fee? Or were they charging separately for the escape plan?
Igor, of course, failed to understand the straightforward aning of Pita’s words. Pita felt that they hadn’t completed their guide’s duty properly and had left Igor halfway down the mountain. That was unacceptable. They had to return the extra copper coins when Igor got down from the mountain. Otherwise, their reputation as guides would be tarnished, and they wouldn’t have a chance at more gold bars in the future...
But Igor, inexperienced as he was, couldn’t grasp the deeper aning behind this statent. He only knew that he was now penniless...
Igor now had to worry about money, a situation he hadn’t anticipated when embarking on his journey. He had left with a large bag of coins, but sohow, along the way, they had all disappeared...
What exactly did he go through on this journey? How am I going to explain myself to Senior Liko and Senior Pita after I get down the mountain? Not only am I left without a single copper coin, but I also can’t find anything on worth exchanging for money! If all else fails, I can resort to physical labor to pay off my debts! I still have my strength.
Absorbed in the war waging in his mind, Igor didn’t notice the noise outside the cave. The sound of a group descending the mountain did not stir the young man from his thoughts...
A familiar rumbling spread from within his body, causing Igor to shudder unconsciously. Indeed, after all the commotion, he was understandably hungry by now.
Igor put aside his chaotic thoughts and sorted through the "bandages."
Dry bread, jerky, fruits, biscuits... His provisions seed sufficient, but only for a day or two. It seed that in the coming days, he would have to scavenge for wild fruits and ga to stave off hunger. It was really unpleasant not to have soone to lead the way...
Stealthily, Igor peeked out of the cave, glanced left and right, then softly called out, "Senior Liko, Senior Pita."
Only when he was sure that there was no one around did he slowly crawl out of the cave, take out a biscuit, and start biting into it.
He walked up the slope following the path. Liko and the others had ntioned that there were no forks in this road, and following it would lead to the top of Dawn Peak.
But why should he climb to the top of Dawn Peak? Could he find the answers to his quest up there? What if he doesn’t encounter any monsters on Guru Mountain?
Old questions remained unanswered while new ones kept sprouting like weeds...
"Well, are you sure you want to embark on your adventure, Igor?" Igor’s thoughts drifted back to a month ago, to just before he had set off. At that ti, the old man’s kind face had been as warm as an early sumr breeze, and every word he spoke had been comforting.
The old man was Russef Hadi, the Great ntor of the Yonder Travel Academy. Igor still rembered his naive response at that ti: "Yes, Teacher Hadi, I want to beco an Adventurer, but before that, I must prove I have the qualifications." Looking back, it seed rather childish.
"Hehe, the world outside is fascinating and diverse, full of colors. Each ti you halt, run, bow, or stand tall, those actions will gradually form your path, Igor." Russef’s reply at the ti had been difficult for the young Igor to understand.
"On the road, you will face embraces, kisses, argunts, robberies, fights, betrayals... Are you prepared for all this, Igor?"
"I...I am very confused, Teacher Hadi." The Igor of that ti had no answer.
"It’s okay, it’s okay. You only need a big bag of coins, Igor. Here, I’ll prepare it for you." At that ti, Teacher Hadi had been truly generous, providing him with a full bag of coins...
Igor’s mind wandered far, not noticing two sleazy figures erging from the roadside.
"Halt... stop..." A short, chubby figure, wielding a knife, blocked the uphill path.
"This...mountain...I’m...in charge... path...is mine...planted... trees are... opened... want...to pass... leave...leave...the...toll." The short, fat man blocking the path spoke with slurred speech.
"Oh dear, you got it all ssed up, dummy!" the other, a slim and weary-looking figure, said. "We’re robbing you!"
This listless declaration of robbery snapped Igor back from his disjointed mories to the anxious present. The scene before his eyes froze him in his tracks, the biscuit in his hand not yet fully consud.
He was being robbed again, and this ti, on Guru Mountain.
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