- Um... Dad? - Carmelita was the first one to speak.

She turned to look at me, but I noticed she was discreetly peeking at the others. She was embarrassed, for some reason, and you could spot it easily by how she behaved.

- C-could you help us clear t-the rest? - she asked.

Despite speaking to me, she was more focused to keep track of the reaction of the rest of the group. To the point, I barely felt like she was talking to me. It was quite annoying, but her behavior was quite understandable if you knew that the rest didn't really want me to do everything for them.

- I-i think it's a waste to leave now... - she added.

Her voice was becoming quieter and quieter with each word. I wanted to roll my eyes but stopped myself to not upset her in any way. She had enough on her mind by going against something the rest of our group was announced from the start.historical

I was expecting some opposition, so I immediately looked at others, but to my surprise nobody said anything. They were looking at each other, expecting somebody to be the first one to speak.

- I'm out of everything - Celestine was the first one to admit.

- Me too - John said.

- I could go a little longer - Leonel said. - But I can't fight with a few alone. To be truthful, I'm not sure if I could handle more than one. Definitely not without risking some serious injuries.

- I'm not gonna pretend to like this because I'd much rather get the crystals with my own hands, but since we are already here, and only barely scratched what this place has to offer, I guess... - Tihana went silent.

Maybe I was a dick about it. Definitely at least a little bit, but I stared at her, clearly showing her that I wanted her to finish.

- I guess, it would be nice if you helped us! - she said loudly sticking her head out, like closing the distance, even this little bit, between her mouth and my ears would help me hear her better.

I just smiled at her with one of those prideful smiles.

- You want your daddy to help you? - I mocked her.

Celestine was the first to react. She grabbed a pebble and threw it at me.

- Stop it! - she said.

I knew it was wrong. If it was me in her shoes, I would probably also insist on doing everything on my own, but I just couldn't help myself.

- Ok, ok - I backed down. - I'll help you. Just try and follow me.

I took off, flying to the closest camp, that was available, and just obliterated it with my 'Telekinesis' before the tents were able to give birth to the demons. It actually didn't matter if they did, because my ability was strong enough to tear those creatures apart anyway.

I flew around, clearing the perimeter and picking up the crystals because, despite my words, my family stayed in their spot.

"I guess they were more tired than they were willing to admit", I told myself before reuniting with them again.

I dumped the stones in front of them.

- I'm gonna clear the mountain now. You can stay here, or join me. This way you at least will be able to see the boss - I pointed out.

I had to speak louder, as I was hanging in the air, above them.

- I'll join - Celestine said.

The rest just started to pick themselves up, which was a clear indication that they also wished to go.

I'll spare you the description of how I killed everything on my path, all the way to the top, because in the end, it's not that interesting, since those monsters weren't a challenge for me in any shape or form.

I landed on the top of the mountain, in front of the weird, ritualistic construction made out of those massive, quite roughly chiseled slabs of stone. They were put around in a circle. Some formed those massive T's others were placed leaning against one another, making triangles.

It was windy there, and quite dark because of the dark clouds, which only made the place gloomier and more scary.

In the middle, on a dark altar, made of something similar to obsidian, was a book. It was open, and on the yellow pages, one could see red writings, which probably were supposed to make you immediately think of blood.

Among them, one could occasionally see geometrical symbols.

At the base of the altar laid a corpse of a man. He was very much barbarian-looking. Had a naked chest, with an open wound where the heart was supposed to be. The horned helmet was still on his head and the massive sword was in one of his hands.

It was single-edged, with a broad blade.

I didn't go in, just stayed there, watching, and waiting for my family to join me. They did after a few more minutes.

- That's the boss - I informed them, pointing at the corpse as soon as they stopped beside me looking around.

- He looks dead - Leonel pointed out.

- As soon as you step into the circle, he will rise, and transform. I'll probably just blast him out of existence, so as to not waste any time, but since we are already here I could give you some directions about this guy, for the future - I told them

- Sure - John agreed. - Some additional information is always good. I doubt, though, we will be able to get here and fight that thing with any hope of winning anytime soon.

- You are right - I confirmed his words. - But even if you could fight this guy, you could easily end up dead if you didn't know what to expect. This guy is very different from everything else you encountered so far.

- What's so different about him? - Carmelita asked.

She was avoiding directly looking at the body, which was quite cute in my eyes. Her reaction made me smile.

- Oh, let me explain... - I started.