ALL NOVEL Chapter 72: Traces
"Hey, Tristan…" Cole said while looking at Tristan with dubious eyes. "Are you sure he came this way?"
"Yeah… Ryan asked if I knew something about dungeons," Tristan replied while looking around. "I didn't know anything about them since he was the one who explained about their existence to me. Still, he stopped asking about it when I mentioned a swarm of goblins that appeared around here…"
It took a few days, but Cole's group managed to clear the slime's dungeon and make everyone in the group obtain a class. The group now had fifteen people, thanks to the addition of Tristan and Natalia… Still, maybe it was because Tristan talked about the Flame Arrows Ryan used. The group had ten hunters, five swordsmen, and nothing a single thief. It wasn't wise to lose the chance to obtain information about a class, but given that their survival was on the line, no one wanted to be the sacrificial fodder, and no one couldn't force each other to do so.
Regardless, they cleared the dungeon the previous day, but they only left the dungeon at sunrise of the next day because they didn't know when or if they would find the next dungeon. Fighting against slimes was still scary even for Cole, Carter, and Anna, but they couldn't show that. Just like Ryan, they realized the potential of the classes, so they needed to get more classes and make more humans obtain them as well. Even though they spent the day walking, not a single survivor complained because their leaders weren't showing their doubts, and there were few things more comforting than a confident leader.
"It should be around here… I'm sure of it," Tristan while looking around.
"You shouldn't trust your memories too much," Natalia said. "What you saw happened a week ago, after all. Since many things happened, that memory probably isn't trustworthy anymore."
"Thank you for the encouragement…" Tristan sighed. "Since you are so eager to thank Ryan for helping us, then you can look for his traces since my memories can't be trusted."
"Shut up…" Natalia looked away, a bit embarrassed. "Based on the things I heard of him, it seems he is quite harsh and imprudent… and he didn't hesitate in leaving a group that needed his help. So, I'm not eager to thank him… Still, he kept you alive and even brought something to heal my wounds, so at the very least, he needs to hear my thank you."
"Yes, yes…" Tristan sighed again. "The world is ending, and everyone needs to hear a thank you."
"… I can see something up ahead," Carter said while looking in the distance.
"Hey, isn't that grass weird?" Anna said, pointing to the tall grass on the right side of the road.
"Tristan, Natalia, and Carter," Cole said. "You guys go and check what Carter saw in the middle of the road. We will check the grass around here…"
Everyone readied their weapons, even though Cole's group had to sacrifice a lot of coins, they armed everyone. After all, even with classes, they wouldn't be of much help without weapons. However, they didn't find any monster nearby…
"Ah… Ryan hid my motorcycle here," Cole laughed.
"Are you sure?" Anna frowned.
"Yes… this is definitely the marks of a motorcycle," Cole replied. "Besides, I recognize the marks of tires on the ground. It is barely visible, but those definitely belonged to my motorcycle."
"Then, what Carter saw ahead…" Anna hesitated.
"Ryan probably saw that too and then decided to hide the motorcycle here… Mmm?" Cole frowned. "It is weird, but I can see some marks indicating that the motorcycle left this place more than a few times."
"He isn't here anymore, right?" Anna asked.
"Yeah… the chances of that are quite high," Cole rubbed his chin. "It is a pity, but our goal is to get the next class. We can always look for Ryan later… wait a minute."
Cole also found some weird marks on the ground… the marks that someone had dug a hole there, and soon he regretted digging that hole. The survivors that were around puked when they saw a human arm there… it was already rotting, so the smell was strong and very unpleasant.
"Hey, we found signs of blood… ugh!" Tristan suddenly approached and puked when he saw the arm.
"Shit… why am I so curious," Cole bit his lips in annoyance when he noticed that his actions dropped the morale of the group.
Anna wanted to ask, but it was unnecessary. It was obvious who's that arm belonged to. Still, if only a part of Ryan's arm was there, it meant that he was alive. They didn't know what he fought that made him lose his arm, but it was clear that was something fearsome.
"… What did you guys find?" Cole asked while he covered the arm with dirt again.
"Something got dragged down to East of here," Carter replied. "We found a lot of blood, most likely…"
"Human's blood… "Cole looked around in search of enemies, but he didn't find a single one. "Let's follow the trail. Ryan probably did the same thing to find the dungeon.
Although some survivors didn't like the idea, they didn't complain. As much as Cole, Carter, and Anna were insane for having that idea, they were reliable to sacrifice their coins to help others, and if they wouldn't lose anything by following their leadership… probably.
After walking for half an hour, they finally found the dungeon and what seemed to be a humans' camp. Unfortunately, Cole's group tracking skills sucked, so at the same time, they found that group, they were noticed by the same group. Cole panicked when he saw the people in the distance, grabbing their weapons and preparing for battle. He couldn't let humans kill each other, not when the world was in such a situation, so he left his weapon behind and approached the group with his arms raised. A middle-aged man did the same, and they met each other at the entrance of the camp.