"W-Wow!" Hyson turned towards the six around the rift and looked at them with newfound respect.
"Just enjoy the free show," the cat person patted Hyson on the shoulder and walked away. The show he was talking about was the rift itself. Its ever-changing color and shape kept the spectators mesmerized for hours upon hours.
The sun and the moon changed places. The group from Fasauir walked around taking all the settlement had to offer. Rong Li managed to keep himself out of trouble as well, although not for a lack of trying on his part.
He almost started a blood feud with a beastman that had rabbit ears and a lizard tail. He went up to him and asked which one of his parents was a rabbit and which was the lizard.
These people 'mixed' with beast blood didn't take too kindly to such queries and it usually ended in bloodshed. Fortunately, Kramson who was keeping an eye on him stepped in and told the beastman that Rong Li was 'mentally challenged' and he didn't mean it.
Due to the judgmental glares from the surrounding crowd, the beastman had no choice but to forgive and forget.
It was the morning of the next day and everyone was surrounding the rift. Hyson's entire group was near the back as well.
"Hey come on, it has been 3 days already. How long do you expect to keep the rift closed?" a person with skin the same as a rock shouted.
"We came here from millions of miles away just for this, how is that our fault that your own people can't get here on time?!" another one chimed in.
The rift had already been completely open for almost three days yet not a single person other than the 'scouting party' was allowed in. Everyone present was 'unsatisfied' by this treatment to say the least.
The six around the rift seemed like statues and didn't have a single reaction. They simply stood there without moving a muscle, only changing places with their replacements at night.
"Is there gonna be a fight? Are they gonna fight??!" Rong Li couldn't contain his excitement. He was 15 years old but still acted like a kid, complete opposite to Kramson.
"Shut up already," Kramson smacked him on the back of the head but that did nothing to lessen Rong Li's spirits.
"There's not going to be a fight. These people can't afford to fight with a single one of those people, let alone the ones staying in the buildings," Hyson said while looking at the six rift guards.
"See? Now just shut up an-" Kramson's tone turned gentler and he tried to lecture his junior brother, until a loud noise interrupted him.
"FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!" Rong Li was jumping up and down and shouting at the top of his lungs.
Every single person turned around and looked at him with incredulous eyes. They were just taking out some of their frustrations, both sides knew it. Yet this moron took it seriously?
*Woosh*
In an instant, everyone backed off several meters, wanting nothing to do with these troublemakers. It was just Hyson's group standing there with stupified expressions on their faces, while the rest were avoiding them like the plague.
"Hmm?" one of the six guards turned around and looked at them.
Kramson's heart almost jumped out of his chest, he let out a high pitched shriek and stumbled as quickly as his body would allow him to shut Rong Li up when he saw him take in a deep breath to let out another shout.
"…."
"E-Eh, Who are you? I thought you were my senior brother!" the princess turned towards Hyson and shouted in a surprised voice.
"L-Let's go," she said to her guards and distanced herself from the group without any hesitation whatsoever. Even the spectators were convinced that she wasn't with them.
"You…..want to fight…?" one of the guards stepped forward. He was clad in white ceramic-like armor which looked shiny and was extremely eye-catching.
A heavy pressure descended on the entire settlement. Everyone felt it. Some of the weaker ones even fell down to their knees.
"No, no, definitely not, of course not!" Hyson shook his head like a building in an earthquake.
The guard ignored him and looked at Rong Li and then at Kramson who was holding his mouth shut with his hand.
"Ha…haha..sorry, my junior is not 'all there' in the head. He also has Tourettes so he can't control what he says," Kramson blurted out one lie after another while sweating like a pig in mid-summer.
Everyone present was looking at them, some more suspiciously than others.
"Mmm-FIGH-mmm" Rong Li struggled free for a second and shouted again but Kramson managed to stop him.
"See?" he smiled awkwardly as if this was all the proof they needed.
The guard stared at them for a few seconds and then moved back to his position. The pressure vanished as well.
*Bzzt*
The badges of several of the guards vibrated at once.
"He's finally here," one of them mumbled.
He then turned towards the crowd and said in a loud voice, "Move aside!"
Since there was already space around Hyson's group, people distanced themselves even further from them, making them stand out like a sore thumb.
The guard looked at Hyson, "You too."
"Y-Yes," Hyson grabbed Rong Li and dragged him to the side along with the others.
Then the guard looked straight up.
*Tip*Tap*
Raindrops suddenly came down from the cloudy sky. The formation had been opened so there was no more protection against the rain.
"What's going? Why did they open the barrier?" Kramson asked while extending his hand out to catch a few drops.
"For a flying type treasure probably," Hyson mumbled. Everyone followed the guard's gaze and looked up as well.
Even the other five guards were looking up.
Time passed slowly. A minute passed yet there was no change. The rain was pouring down now without stopping. Some people ran towards their tents to make sure their belongings didn't get damaged.
*Whooosh*
A loud noise like that of a helicopter but in bursts came from afar.
"What's that?" someone shouted pointing towards a small shadow in the distance. But before someone could answer, another loud whooshing sound came and the shadow shot forward like a cannonball, appearing above the settlement.
People could finally see what the shadow belonged to. It was a massive four-legged grey beast. Each of its wings blotted out the light from above.
"Holy sh*t, look at that thing!"
The beast looked down and neighed.
"Good job, you can rest now," a voice came from above the beast. As soon as the people heard the voice, the beast vanished into thin air and two silhouettes appeared in its place. Without the beast to stand on, they fell straight down from more than three hundred meters.
*BAAANG*
They crashed into the ground, sending mud and water everywhere.
"Close it," the guard said into his badge and the rain stopped once again.
The crowd stretched their necks trying to see who the new arrivals were.
