119 Visiting The Hopcaper Tribe (1/2)

When they reached the Hopcaper tribe, Nine inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. They didn't look like they'd been hit too hard with all the preparations in place. Luckily for them, Justin and Matthew listened to her, so they weren't feeling the effects of 'Darkness Uprising' too harshly yet.

As she entered the perimeter of the tribe, the gates of the tribe remained closed as they stayed vigilant. There were countless eyes on her and her students as they were scanned. The scores of undead lingering around were not being dealt with quickly, but rather, slowly and steadily, like an artist slowly chipping away at a woodblock.

Nine hovered slightly off the ground as she watched Andrew and Valerie make quick work of the undead desperately clawing at the gates. With their scent unhidden, more and more of the undead turned towards them, mindlessly charging at them.

Without any apparent effort, the couple used a series of Tier Two spells, quickly taking care of the undead in the area. With hardly any time passing, there were none left in the vicinity.

Unlike Cosmos City, the Hopcaper tribe, though large, did not attract that many undead to them. Those that came were within the manageable threshold, allowing them to survive.

In the past two weeks, Nine had been worried that the tribe might not be able to handle the influx of undead upon their tribe, but clearly, the ward stones they left in the area did its job properly, maintaining the light elements in the air. The previously heavy scent of death that lingered in the air of the tribe was completely gone by now.

”They aren't undead,” someone finally confirmed. ”They're human.” Without another sound, the gates opened for their safe passage.

One of the guards took precautions against them though they were clearly human. ”Who are you? Why have you come here?”

Though the voice wasn't shouted, it was clearly projected within their minds. Nine looked up at them, causing a few of those standing guard to gasp at the chilling blue eyes that seemed to pierce into their soul.

”Identify yourselves!”

Nine waited in silence, not bothering to answer. Seeing their Teacher's stance, Andrew and Valerie similarly didn't make a sound.

At the top, Matthew nodded to the guards. ”Let them in,” he said.

A few of the guards frowned, exchanging looks. They were not sure whether or not they should follow that order.

An old, wizened voice was heard from behind them. ”Listen to Matthew. They mean us no harm.”

”Elder Mildred! At once!”

According to Mildred's instructions, an opening barely enough for a single person to fit through was made in the gates, allowing the three of them to dart in. The moment they were in, the gates shut without a sound, as if it had never opened in the first place. The gates shut without a noise – something that they had learnt to do fairly quickly, with how some of the undead seemed to come back around at the loud noise.

Matthew met them at the gates, beaming.

Nine nodded at Matthew before he could say anything, keeping him from saying anything else.

Matthew only gave the briefest of pauses before nodding in understanding. There could always be physical spies around the tribe even though he knew that the surveillance items had been taken care of.

Nine's eyes lingered briefly on Mildred before they left.

The foursome arrived at Matthew's house, which was near the outskirts of the tribe. As the door opened, they were met with a bouncing and clearly excited Justin.

The preteen froze midjump as he spotted Andrew and Valerie behind Nine. With a war cry, he launched a dagger at Valerie with very practiced motions.

Valerie hastily caught the dagger mid-air right before it hit her, flicking her hair behind her. ”Not today, twerp! You're a hundred years too early!”