I woke up first, probably because I really wanted to. I sneaked out of the camp, to not wake anybody up, and went to check on the knife. It was gone. Ki'rei was somewhere around, watching. I couldn't help but smile as I imagined how happy she was about the gift.

With a way better mood I returned back to have breakfast. The very little ruckus I made was enough to wake other people, and we officially started the day. After eating we immediately departed with my shadows pulling the carts. By the cliff Nil bolted, to run down the pathway and clear the orcs, but I was faster.

I just reinforced my body with what I had, and jumped down, sticking the hero landing. It really is bad for the knees.

Then I wiped all of the orcs as Sanders was watching, standing in the middle of the way down. Will laughed him off from the top.

- Looooser! Loooser!

- Fuck you! You didn't even move, so shut up!

Those two had really gotten close. I was sure of that.

Then we slowly moved the carts down. Shadows were useless in that process as their strength was insufficient, so we had to do all the work ourselves.

After we were back on the way. I made some effort to get closer to Will, and get him further from the group, so we could have a word or two without everybody hearing us.

- What? - he asked, as I couldn't be more obvious that I wanted to speak with him.

- Well... I didn't want to at first, but I just really have to ask. What happened between you and Vesa? I thought you were doing good.

He sighed heavily.

- It's my fault. I screwed it... I got drunk and grabbed one girl, got slapped, and Vesa found out and... And she got furious. She can't understand that I'm dying here. Man needs some action.

- Oh... So you deserved it.

- You will not teach your mother how to behave in a relationship. I believe that's one of those commandments.

- Nope. Not even close.

- Well, now it is - and he tried to return, but I grabbed him.

- Not so fast. I didn't have my five seconds to preach yet.

- I fucking know! I was drunk. Give me a break, will ya?

- Ok, ok. No preaching. On the other hand... Any chances of a grand comeback, or are you two done?

He sighed again, then shrugged his shoulders.

- I don't know. She doesn't want to talk to me. You see, Peter... With the things that happened to her, I'm afraid she will never let anybody close enough to touch her. I waited, I waited for a long time. I was patient, but... I can't wait forever. It makes me sad... I'm actually sad for her.

- To be honest, I don't know what to tell you. I just wanted if there is anything I could do to help you guys, but...

- She needs therapy or something. Maybe we all do. If not for people like Hatta we would all collapse.

- I do respect him too.

- That guy doesn't sleep.

- Yeah... Anyway, If you need me, I'm here.

- I know, Peter, I know.

I didn't try to push him anymore, and he didn't really want to talk about it. It made me feel sad because they both deserved something good in their lives. They were hard-working, honest people. It was heartbreaking to see them struggling so much when they could so easily be happy. At least a bit. Or maybe they couldn't, because the situation was way more complex than I thought.

We made it further, clearing with ease the path before us, taking only a few breaks to fill our stomachs. When the night came we aimed for the closest safe spot using my fire magic to lighten up the path.

Then we set up everything. I went a bit further from the camp, to put my usual barriers, but not only for that reason. I also wanted to at least briefly look for Ki'rei. I knew she won't show herself if there were so many people around, but maybe at least I could get slightly better confirmation than just the missing knife. Unfortunately, I didn't. There was no sign of her, so I ended up returning.

Then I grabbed some food and sat down to eat. Boris came closer and took a spot right next to me.historical

- Did you think about how are we gonna do this? - he asked looking at the space in front of him

- You mean how are we gonna take the camp, and then clear the cave?

- Yea. We started to use a formation, and just push our way front to back, but with those stronger orcs that might not work.

- Just do your thing, and I go in the middle and wipe out as many as possible. With me there yous should be able to retreat if you get overwhelmed.

- So no plan then? - he looked at me, raising his eyebrows.

- Do we really need a strategy? I don't know about you, but I feel confident.

- It's not like I don't feel confident, but we need to think in long term. Not everybody is like you, Peter. Some of them are not even on my level. They might find themselves in a tight spot when we go underground.

- Then what do you propose?

- I don't know. If its less space there, then maybe we can block most of them at the front. Except that I think we should go slow and steady. When we know what's there, then maybe we can think of a better approach.

I nodded slowly. It would be really nice to have somebody who could at least create a diversion to allow them to retreat. Midnight and his fire magic would be great, but we lost him.

We finished the rest of the food in silence, and then everybody found a spot for themselves to get some rest.

The day came to an end with 9 695 550 points remaining on my account, and forty-two class points.