The flying creatures eventually grew closer and closer from the ground as if they were trying to descend. Talon noticed that and looked at Arryn before he approached him with his tired body. At this point, the sole thing keeping him on his feet was the adrenaline rushing through his muscles.
Once things calmed down, Talon was certain that he was going to crash and it wouldn't be pleasant. But, he didn't care at all. This battle wasn't over yet. Looking at the terrified boy, Talon said in a low tone.
"Stay behind me and don't show your face, ok? Cover your head using the hoodie on my jacket."
The boy took a moment to understand what he said before he nodded and quickly covered his face.
"Be careful, Talon. These people... They aren't weak." Acrypha said with a grave tone.
"Yeah, I already felt it. They're quite strong." He murmured. Killing the worms that quickly was a very impressive feat by the standards of earth since each one of them was at least level 40.
Which meant that the people he was dealing with were potentially stronger than him. Though, he can't say for sure without fighting them.
'Did they pass their first gate, I wonder...' He thought to himself.
At the same time, the individuals finally landed a few dozen meters away from Talon and Arryn and for the first time, they could take a closer look at them. There were exactly 2 women and 3 men. Talon noticed another three moving away rather than landing which meant that there were a total of eight people.
They were all wearing some kind of artificial wings stuck to their back over a square metallic compartment that was expelling steam out of a small exhaust. The wings stopped moving as the group finally stopped.
"What do we have here?" One of them, particularly a man, came forward with a curious look on his face. He was strikingly handsome with a thick beard and brown hair that he pushed to the back of his scalp. He had two rather soft eyes and a friendly look. The term 'Gentle Giant' fit his appearance very well.
"Be careful, Emino. They might be hostile." A beautiful blonde woman said as she tapped his shoulder. She had a strikingly athletic body with a tanned skin color, perhaps due to the hot weather.
"Hahaha, look at him, he is barely standing on his feet. Though..." Looking around him, he raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you! Did you kill all these on your own?" He asked.
"..." Talon didn't reply as he stared at them, assessing each individual. 'Should I talk with them? From what I can see... They look very human to me... Are these the humans of this world?'
Even though they had way more beautiful appearances than what he was accustomed to, Talon was certain that these were humans. Which meant that these are the people that Arryn told him about.
Looking over his shoulder secretly, the boy was shaking fearfully as he grabbed into the hem of his shirt. That made Talon purse his lips before he turned around.
"Yes, I killed them. And who are you?" He asked coldly as he clenched his fists, ready for anything to happen.
"Goddamn, man! You killed 7 Sand Eaters with no gear or even a weapon? When was the last time someone did this?" Emino smiled.
The others had astonished looks on their faces. "There is no way he did that, Emino! Even you can't do that." Another man, younger than Emino clearly, said as he facepalmed.
The painful injuries riddling his body started closing at an alarmingly fast rate and his depleted energy was recharging quickly.
'This is insane... How strong is this potion?' He asked himself.
All the potions he consumed so far were good enough to heal most minimal injuries. But, what they lacked was the ability to heal deeper, more dangerous injuries and lacerations. But, this one easily restored 80% of Talon's normal condition almost instantly.
"Thank you so much!" After finishing the bottle, he smiled at Emino. "I really appreciate it, thank you!"
"No problem, my brother. So, where did you come from?"
"We're from down south, a small village. But... We were attacked by Sand Eaters a few weeks ago and we had to run away, me and my brother." He said as he patted Arryn on the head.
'Is this a good enough of a lie? I don't know much about this world so I can't say if they're going to buy this excuse.'
For a second, Talon felt rather nervous as he waited for Emino to reply. Everything relies on what kind of reaction he will have. Even with most of his power back, he still wasn't sure if he can really fight all these strong people on his own.
'It's such a weird feeling... To meet this many people that can actually fight me and have a chance to win. I am really in a different dimension.'
So far, the people Talon met were all weaker than him with no exception. In his world, he was the strongest and no human could rival him in that department. Yet, now that he entered his first gate, he had to start understanding that he wasn't the strongest individual in that world anymore.
He was far from that and these six people are proof of that. From appearance alone, Talon could see that they weren't that special.
Even their demeanor was that of normal people by this world's standards.
'Sigh, I still have a long way to go before I can even be considered very strong.' Shaking his head inwardly, he focused on Emino again.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It's not that uncommon for small, unprotected settlements to get destroyed. I assume yours ran out of Blue Elixir." The man replied with a serious expression.
'What the hell is blue elixir?' Talon frowned inwardly as he nodded his head. "Yeah, it's fine. We were intending to leave sooner or later. This only made us rush it, haha. Me and my brother's lives are better off in a city rather than a small village."
"To be honest, that's the correct decision. Most people live behind walls in fear of Sand Eaters that infest these deserts. Oh, right, I didn't introduce myself yet. You can call me Emino."
"... I'm Talon, and this boy over here is Arryn." He replied.
'Ok, this is going as seamlessly as I wanted.' Talon smiled as he nodded his head. 'We might've found our fast ticket to the city.'
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!