Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

Chapter 107: Jake the Archer

The Sun was glaring, yet Davin felt nothing but cold. He walked among the tall trees. The thick canopy of the leaves disrupted the sunlight from hitting the ground directly, while the chilly wind carried away dry leaves. The weather is never getting better. On the contrary, it was getting worse with each day alone.

It had been two since Anton was captured, or gone missing. Davin was running around desperately since then to find his allies, and he was yet to succeed. The search party sent by the Scythe, or even any group of fellows, made it harder for Davin to search freely. 

Today he searched around the place where the emergency signal came on the very first day of the trial, yet his findings were nothing. Whoever called for help Tanya or Wrik had already moved away from there, or something else, his mind refused to think.

He has a way to know the other person's location. All he would have to do was to crush the emergency crystal and it would send him the location of the other one holding the crystal and sending his location. But that was only meant for an emergency. Davin decided he would use it if he could not find anyone, even tomorrow.

Davin coughed as he sat, leaning against a tree. He had caught a cold, and he was not that surprised by it. It was worse in the wilderness at night. Well, it was good that he was in fair shape to move, and fight even though the chilly aura in the surroundings had infected his system by a fair margin.

He closed his eyes as he tried to spurn the cold mana in his system. He could not let it infect him enough to paralyse him. As he was trying his best, closing his vision, he did not notice a few men coming his way. 

When Davin opened his eyes, it's too late. It's too late to move away, but he could still fight. He held the hilt of the sword firmly, gazing at the four men coming his way. He sighed in relief inwardly, noticing these guys were not from Scythe, yet his posture remained rigid.

"We mean no harm," one of the four men said as the four stopped only about ten steps away. 

These four did not look that special, wearing ordinary armour and weapons that lost out to him, but their good health and their posture showed they had some skills. It took quite a few skills to survive here, or they were working together to survive. 

"What do you want?" Davin asked, hands still at the sword. He could take down these four men on his own, but he would like to avoid fighting if it is unnecessary. A bad fight could make his situation way worse than he was now.

"We want to help you," the same man opened his mouth again. Seeing there's no rejection from Davin, the man continued. "So that we can help each other."

Davin frowned. It was the first time some group put it out like that. It was not that he was in desperate need of help, but he might need it in a day or two. He still has to find Tanya, Wrik, and others. Anton told him to find Wrik as soon as possible, he will solve the problems. 

But the question was, how could he trust some men he was seeing for the first time. Davin was initially a good-natured person, who trusted another with a little consideration. He always believed humanity was meant for good. But only five days in the test made him question his view. 'No it is not good or evil,' Davin recalled what Anton said once. 'They are all participants here. Everyone is doing their best. It is not evil, just the necessity of wrongdoing.'

Seeing the uncomfortable expression on his face, the frontman said again. "I guess it will not be easy to gain your trust,' he said, before opening an item from his clock. "Look, can you recognise this?" 

Davin looked carefully at the item in the hand of the man. It was a steel arrowhead.

. . .

Anton woke up as he felt the sweetness on his lips. He spat out the blood in his mouth before struggling to sit up. It had been like this since the Scythe captured him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He clearly stepped into a trap. 

He could have fled away even if he could not free Kevin, but he fell for the trap. If not for the trap spell on the ground that pinned him down on the ground. It was the damning trap spell that got him capture, and those two maniacs. He recalled the two crazy maniacs he met the other day. While one was covered under thick clothes and mask, the other did not hide his madness even a little. 

"Ah, Kevin, are you awake?'' he opened his mouth to look at the cell across his.

"Urg," Kevin made a noise to give a sign.

"Are you ready?" he asked again.

Kevin said nothing. After a while, a grunt came from him.

There's no need to mention what they need to be ready for. After getting captured and made into slaves, their daily routine was to betray their master and get beaten up three times a day. In the morning, evening and at midnight.

Nevertheless, none of the two gave in.

"They will be coming soon," Anton muttered. "Don't worry though, Davin will find Wrik soon enough."

He lifted off his palm in front of his face and saw the middle finger missing. He shook his head as the sound of stepping echoed through the hallway. It was time for the evening beating. 

"Look who's here," a voice laughed as they came in front of the cell. 

Anton did not bother to raise his eyes. The locks of his cell opened first. They never tortured Kevin and him together. Maybe because hearing the agonising cries of your friend was another torture itself. 

A few fellows came into his cell. His instinct told it was four, but today they did not start right up. One of the men came straight in front of his face with a twisted grin on his face.

"What did I tell you?" the man asked. He held an oil lamp in his arm.

In the dim light, Anton found the man was a little red-faced, and familiar, but could not recall when he had seen him. And he did not bother as well. All he got to do was endure the beating, doesn't matter who beat him.

"You gave me such a good offer. Was it two minutes of three minutes do I have to endure?" the man holding the lamp continued. "But I can't be that generous. As you know, I have to follow orders." 

A light bulb clicked in Anton's head as he looked at the red-faced man in particular. "A'dil, are you?" he asked, recalling the one he stole the dress from.

In response, all Anton got was a heavy knee on his nose as the torture started.

.. .

Davin was following the four men for about a couple of hours with a little hope in his heart. The path was just the same cold and rough, yet they moved in a circle to avoid any interaction with other participants. 

The sun was at the horizon as the temperature dropped by a fair margin, like any other day. They were moving against the wind that came from the mountains in the north, made it even chiller.

They said it would not take long. They would arrive by the time of nightfall. After moving about for a while, finally, the group of five stopped.

"Davin, my friend, you look terrible," a voice called as the silhouette of a few men came in front of him. 

The one that opened his mouth was dressed like a nomad, with fur clothing. Only lacking the height and beard. A bow of large size was on his back, with a carrier holding dozens of arrows. A few figures stood behind him like good underlings.

"Jake," Davin sighed in relief, saying that. He had not mistaken recognising the custom marking on the arrows the men showed him. It was the same customisable arrows Jacob bought, and he even helped in combining them. 

Jacob nodded. "It's good that you are here, let's move in." 

Davin responded with a nod too, as they moved again. The place they went held a big camfire making the surrounding more comfortable, while there was about two dozens few in total, counting they ones he came with and the ones with Jacob.

Moreover, it seemed Jacob held quite the authority here. Davin did not know how Jacob did it, but he was glad Jacob did it.

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End of Chpater: Jake the Archer.

Next Chapter: Dairyl's Teaching.

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