A Guide to Kingdom Building ( Me Reincarnated 365 x)

  Adaloun couldn't really tell how long they were staying inside that rocky shelter where he hid the Orkamuus. He counted under his breath but unfortunately, he lost count. The darkness was fooling with his senses. Moreover, he was too distracted and worried at the Orkamuus who were still violently contorting their bodies.

He really wanted to open up a light for him to see them, but the noise he heard earlier prevented him from doing so. Adaloun was at a disadvantage, if that bang perhaps belong to a swarm of monsters, he will surely lose especially with the others in critical state.

He touched their foreheads one by one and felt their cold clammy skin. He pushed them deeper into the rock shelter to get away from whatever that was in the surface. As he continued to push them deeper into the crevice, the earth slowly shook. He could hear the gigantic footsteps dropping on the ground with every moment's past.

With batted breath, he tried his best to control the Orkamuus' grotesque convulsions as their bodies kept on hitting the stony walls so loud, he was afraid of whatever monster above the surface might find them. The Orkamuus weren't doing him any good.

The footsteps and the ground shook more violently as the hulking monster came closer to where they were. Adaloun pushed the Orkamuus a little bit further to the darker parts of the cave until they already reached the cave's boundary.

He immediately covered them with his body as he waited for the monster to pass them by—or so he wished. The ground ceased to shake but the eerie air was making him uncomfortable.

He could hear the agonizing moans from the Orkamuus. It looked like they had already awakened from that terrible hex placed on them.

"Ugghh…where are we?" Darayus spoke weakly.

"Quiet down, Darayus." Adaloun tried to shush the amputee. "There—"

"Where are Gravil and Corvinus?" The amputee fumbled and patted on the ground hoping to get a touch of his comrades.

Adaloun fumbled and grabbed his hand. "Don't do it something is—"

"Where are my brothers?!" Dayarus raised his voice.

"Sssshhuusshhh…" He covered his mouth. "Keep quiet…" The ground shook once more, but this time it was specifically stronger from where they were.

A terrible sound of rocks crushing against each other, harassed his ears. The ground shook more violently as he felt like the rock above him seemed to have been lifted.

"Darayus—" Adaloun tried his best to quiet him down, but it looked like the poor Orkamuu was too dazed and confused to understand what was going on.

"Brothers! Brothers!" Darayus called the other two but they were still unconscious and couldn't respond to anything.

The ground felt like it lifted as the behemoth yanked out the rock covering them. Adaloun had no choice but to run away—without the noisy Orkamuu. He had no choice. It was either all of them or just Darayus. He had to choose—and his choice was to spare the rest of them.

As the rock was being lifted, he could see the monster's raging eyes glimmer in the dark. The glowing shade of green was both terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. The giant's teeth shimmered as it grotesquely smiled at the prey it was presented with.

Adaloun hastily dragged the two remaining Orkamuus away from the giant's grasp and left the confused Darayus to his fate.

"I am sorry—" Adaloun whispered as he dragged the other men away.

The darkness was preventing him from seeing the full extent of the encounter, but from what he could gather from the sound of crushing bones; it was a quick death.

After the hulking creature had his fill with the Orkamuu, it roared at the top of its lungs until the walls began to tremble and debris began to fall from the ceiling. Adaloun could only hope that the rocks wouldn't hit them as he dragged his remaining comrades to safety.

The ceiling cleared and revealed the veins of shining aetherium with ripples flowing like a river. The glow was enough to cast a dim light that illuminated the ground below. The light was both a blessing and a curse for Adaloun.

A blessing because now, he was able to see the entirety of his surrounding, giving him better access to escape routes and potential shelters. A curse because, it also meant that the monster could also see where they were.

The monster took a glimpse of them, Adaloun had no choice but to carry both unconscious men. He gritted his teeth as he staggered towards safety. He saw a huge stone gate a few steps in front of him. He ran towards the gate but unfortunately, a huge rock was flung into the gate and destroyed the opening. Luckily, he was able to dodge from harm's way.

He stumbled down along with the two Orkamuus. The monster roared in delight. It seemed to be playing with them. The giant's ethereal glowing eyes met with his. The behemoth cracked a smile at him as it rushed towards them.

Adaloun quickly pulled the two Orkamuus behind his back. He fumbled into his satchel and looked for a rune. In his mind he thought that any rune would do; he was getting desperate. The giant was a few steps away from them and he needed something to stop the damned behemoth from crushing them.

His fingers were stiffed in fear. But he was determined to live through it. Not even the charging tusk monster can hinder.

"Fire rune!" He whispered under his breath. "COME HERE UGLY!" He taunted the monster.

The monstered roared as it got closer. Adlaoun activated the rune and the flame spurted right away. The wide pillar of flame welcomed the giant's face. The giant was able to dodge at the last moment. It tripped as he evaded his attack and the giant tumbled to the side breaking its right leg in the process.

The behemoth rolled in agony, slamming his giant hand into the ground. Adaloun took that opportunity for him to run away. He tumbled and rolled as the ground shook but he desperately stood up and dragged the two Orkamuus away from the giant.

"Come on! Come on!" He pleaded.

He saw a small crack at the damaged stone door and decided to go inside. He squeezed inside the hole and dragged the other two inside. He dragged the Orkamuus deeper inside the stone gate until finally his arms gave up and his body collapsed in fatigue.

Adaloun dragged himself up and looked around. Inside the gate was pitch black, darkness ruled once again. He fumbled for a light rune, but then decided to keep it on hold just in case some random monster showed up once again—hopefully not anymore.

He tried to crawl and felt the Orkamuus breath and sighed in relief to know that both of them were still alive. Adaloun felt his satchel once more, there were only a few runes left.. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind as he gathered up his plans.