Shadow parasite

Gorn analyzed everyone carefully. They wore basic armor, and had simple weapons. Around their necks was a strange collar, and only the leader had that special watch.

Gorn’s silent gaze made everyone very uncomfortable. At this moment, the other girls saw Gorn signaling for them to come out as well. Their arrival shocked the lot even more.

“What’s with these people?” asked Ella, after coming to his side.

“Good question. Let’s find out.”

Turning his eyes towards their leader, Gorn asked: “Who are you people and what are you doing here?”

“We are from the city. A group formed from random people sent out to gather monster cores,” said the man while trying to keep his cool.

“Sent out? Not here on your own volition?”

“Don’t you know what happened to the city?” asked the man, puzzled.

Gorn extended his arm, and using his fire manipulation ability, conjured a big fireball. The temperature in the immediate area increased drastically. “Am I asking the questions here or you?”

The middle-aged man fell on his ass: “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Gorn cancelled the fireball, and looked towards Ella: “See? If you don’t like someone, there is no reason to kill them immediately. Scaring or beating the crap out of them works just as fine.”

Ella looked at him with eyes wide open. “That makes sense…” She then turned her gaze towards Rebeca, staring at her unblinkingly. Rebeca felt a jolt down her spine. Remembering what happened not that long ago made her feel very uncomfortable.

“She is one of us now. No matter what happens, we must stay united. That way, everything will be much better,” said Gorn with great resolution.

Ella nodded, and at the same time came in front of Rebeca, extending her arm. “I’m sorry for trying to kill you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Rebeca was not expecting such an outcome in that state of affairs. All of a sudden, Ella’s face seemed more pleasant to look at. The little girl was rather direct with her feelings. A behavior she deemed as a great quality.

Sensing the honesty in the girl’s words, and looking at her face that showed remorse, Rebeca also extended her arm. “I forgive you. Please forgive me as well for my previous rude behavior.”

“I forgive you as well!” Both of their face turned into beautiful smiles while they shook their hands.

Looking at that scene, Gorn felt exceptionally happy. Such occurrences were quite rare, but very necessary, no matter the people and the place. Elisa was also happy, but at the same time deeply ashamed on how she handled things.

‘Why couldn’t I do the same thing?’ though Elisa to herself. At this point, she acknowledged some of her temperamental behavior. ‘Not abusing power is sure very hard…’

Seeing everything that happened, Nora’s admiration towards Gorn grew significantly. Everyone had the same feeling, but in her case, it was somewhat different. Her relationship with him, was, after all, a little more special after what happened not that long ago. Biting her lower lip, her mind rapidly drifted to certain memories.

‘What is going on with my sister?’ Mara was keeping a close eye on Nora, and her peculiar changes did not go unnoticed. ‘She seems to like Gorn…’ Recalling how she coiled around his body, and how, after that, both of them disappeared for a few hours brought forward all kinds of thoughts. 'Just what in the world happened during those hours? Is it possible that they…' Mara’s heart started to beat extremely hard, while her face turned notably red.

With the arrival of the girls, the watch on the man’s arm displayed additional numbers.

1040; 500; 500; 500; 500; 400

Even though the numbers were smaller, they were still pretty visible. The strangers kept glancing at that watch, as well as to what was going in front of them. The situation seemed very peculiar to them. Everyone on the opposite team was stronger, and had weird expressions on their faces. They did not dare make a sound. After what happened lately to them, humans were even more dangerous than beasts in their eyes.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of harming you. Just want to know some information.” Gorn finally resumed his dialogue with the strangers.

“Please ask away, sir!”

“I see that your watch can show how much power we have. Elaborate on that.” Gorn’s words attracted everyone’s attention towards him yet again.

“This is a special device we received from Norman’s men. It helps us locate other creatures that have at least a power level of one hundred. It works on a distance of a few dozen meters; and if the opponent is closer, we can see their exact power level.”

Such a device was truly remarkable. “What about the collar?” asked Gorn.

At that question, the man, and his group, became increasingly sad. “This… This is also a special device. If we don’t return to the city after a certain time…it will explode, killing us. The same thing happens if we try to remove it forcefully.”

No one heard about such things before. It was a very cruel method of controlling someone. “Not only that, but our families are also in danger if we don’t return…”

Gorn frowned: “I know that the situation inside the city is bad, but I never expected it to be so dire…”

Not being able to control his emotions, the middle-aged man spoke yet again: “Everything turned into pure nightmare. A vast majority of people became no different from slaves. Working eighteen hours a day with minimal conditions. As for the stronger ones, some disappeared, and some were sent to gather monster cores.”

“That’s enough,” said Gorn, coolly. “This is for your trouble. Better times are sure to come, so don’t give up.” Throwing a few monster cores, he then looked towards his girls. “Let’s go.”

The middle-aged man was delighted seeing the monster cores, and quickly went to pick them up. He had no intention on stopping Gorn from leaving. The current situation was the best he could hope for.

Just like that, the two groups separated from each-other. The girls were deeply shaken by what they heard, and saw. ‘If it wasn’t for Gorn, then me and my daughters…’ Elisa’s gratitude towards him grew more and more.

‘Shit…’ thought Rebeca. All of a sudden, living in the wilderness didn’t seem as bad as before.

With each passing second, they got closer and closer to their temporary home. A few more fruits and plants were gathered on their way. Since everyone sunk deeply into thought, words became scarce.

“We are back,” said Gorn, his head facing the gigantic tree which was now in front of him. “Climb higher this time. Somewhere at the middle of the tree would be good. I’ll be right behind you, so don’t worry if you fall.”

With his presence, everyone climbed confidently. The twins weren’t comfortable yet, but they did it anyway. In a short time, they arrived somewhere at the middle of the tree.

“As a home, I thought about carving some caves inside the tree. We need, however, to find a more inconspicuous place.”