With an extrely sharp burst of speed, Laden rushed towards the area where he felt his assailant was.
The staff in his hands was ready to strike anything that ca into view instantly.
"Wait, wait," a familiar voice suddenly sounded from deep in the bush.
But it seed too late, as Laden had already swung his staff harshly.
The force of the staff parted the leaves, allowing Laden to see what was actually on the other side of the bush.
"Caleb?" he suddenly said in shock before trying his best to stop the staff from smashing violently into him.
"What are you doing following around like that?" Laden asked.
He had listened attentively for a few minutes for a while to confirm, so he knew Caleb had been following for a while.
"Uhmmm, I am sorry," Caleb said in a low voice while scratching his hand.
"I just wanted to follow so I can be a bit safe; I have heard that the wilderness can be extrely dangerous," he continued while his voice went even lower.
"What makes you think I can protect you, causing you to follow around like so weird stalker," Laden asked.
"Uhmmm... just, just a gut feeling," Caleb stuttered while trying to avoid Laden’s gaze.
Despite appearing like an obnoxious person outwardly, other thoughts were running through Caleb’s mind at that mont, which Laden was oblivious to.
"I can’t let him know for now,"
"I just need to convince him to allow to stay with him."
While Caleb was thinking, Laden was also analyzing his expression and trying to gauge the truthfulness in his words.
But no matter how much he looked, Laden couldn’t notice anything strange or out of the ordinary at all.
"He is such a big guy that talks in such a soft voice that it’s creepy and thinks plants are cool; what harm could he cause?" Laden thought.
"Underestimating others is the biggest mistake you can make," Laden heard Pri say, which confused him greatly.
"But I am not underestimating him; I just think he ans no harm," Laden defended.
"Then do whatever you like, then," Pri said before going quiet.
"So you are telling you followed so I could protect you?" Laden asked.
"Yes, exactly. I don’t know if you noticed, but my summon isn’t really suited for combat," Caleb said while still touching his hair.
"How do you plan on passing the test then?" Laden pressed further.
"I don’t really have anything planned but I will figure it out later," Caleb said light-heartedly.
"But I won’t just be following you for free; I would be healing most of your injuries, and we would be partners then."
"Healing my injuries by first sending flying," Laden joked.
He thought about it for a minute, waiting before nodding his head and opening his mouth to say sothing.
"Alright, partners it is, then," Laden said with a dry smile.
The deal he made with Caleb now made him rember the soldiers he had hired previously to protect him and what they eventually did to him.
"No one will be doing such to anymore," he thought resolutely.
"Now that we are partners, what do we do next," Laden asked.
"Uhmmmm, We hunt Evil beast I think," Caleb responded.
"I don’t know if you noticed but I have been walking for a while but I haven’t seen any Evil beast," Laden asked.
"Uhm, I know a cool plant," Caleb suddenly said.
"A cool plant? How is that supposed to help us now?" Laden asked with a frown.
"I am coming; I think I saw one not too far back," Caleb said while sprinting off in large, gigantic strides, leaving Laden standing alone.
"If he goes, I guess I have to wait then," Laden muttered before proceeding to go sit under a canopied tree.
He had been scared to touch these trees earlier due to his experience in the spirit world, but upon finally touching them and seeing that nothing was wrong, he felt at rest.
Minutes passed and Caleb still wasn’t back, causing Laden to wonder if he had been deserted.
Then suddenly, Laden felt the ground tremble violently at a slightly rhythmic pace.
"He is coming," Laden said.
Soon Caleb arrived in Laden’s line of sight with a weird-looking flower in hand. The flower had its leaves twisted in very weird ways, producing a strange appearance.
"Here’s the flesh-imitating flower," Caleb said while presenting it to Laden.
"Don’t say that it’s his real na," Laden said with a shocked face.
"No, no, no, don’t mind . I never really learned these plants’ real nas; I just gave them a na that fits them," Caleb said while rubbing his head.
"For this flower, we Just need to spread the juice all over; it produces a strange sll that imitates the sll of fresh flesh, thus attracting beasts."
"ohhhh really, that could work," Laden said with a smile.
"Let’s do it then," he agreed.
Following that, the two of them started taking one flower from the bag Caleb was carrying, crushing it and spreading its juices all around the surroundings.
The duo made sure that the juices were spread in such a way that most of the slls would be concentrated on a particular spot while others could travel to attract the beast.
They did this for a while, and when they felt it was ready, the two of them rushed towards a particular side they had intentionally left to hide and wait for beasts to co.
Excitent grew in Laden, Caleb and even Pri’s mind as they waited for their lure to attract bait but little did they know.
Ti went by and the trio were slowly growing impatient as they didn’t hear or see anything approaching.
"Maybe it didn’t work," Laden said while he was about to get up to leave their hiding spot.
"Wait, check the left," Caleb suddenly said while pulling Laden back down.
Laden hurriedly turned to the left where he saw a beast approaching causing excitent to grow in him.
"Ohh shit, Laden we have really ssed up," Caleb suddenly said, shocking Laden greatly.
"What, what’s wrong?" Laden asked.
"They are coming from everywhere," Caleb said in an extrely low voice.
"Shit."
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