Hearing this made everyone from the hunting group surprised, but their faces brightened. This was one of the discussions of Civ and Kivrah planned for the past few meetings with the Shaman. Since they have a surplus of animal skin, Kivrah wants to reward his people. First will be for the hunting group. Kivrah and the Shaman secretly worked together to make this possible. This should be given right away after the horde defense. But due to Civ and the other two being injured, Kivrah decided to postpone it. Now that there are a daunting task, this is the best time to boost the morale of the hunting group.

  “With the efforts and bravery you showed during the last horde attack. I reward each of you with an animal skin for your coverings!” Kivrah signaled his hand, and the Shaman handed them their clothes.

  Everyone was excited to wear it.

  The design is a simple covering. It just wraps around the private parts of the body. But for the group, this is a huge improvement! The use of leaves and grass as clothes. They usually change it almost every day. Using animal skin, the group will not worry about changing their clothes every day.

  “We humbly accept your reward, Tribe leader.” They thanked their tribe leader and bowed in unison.

  “Well done everyone. Please use it wisely. Now, please have a safe trip. The Sun Goddess will guide you with her warmth.” Kivrah sends off the group.

  The group left with a smile on their faces.

  When they arrive at the entrance, Civ reiterates the plan as a recap.

  “What we will need to do is we need 3 pairs to inspect the tunnel. Who wants to volunteer?” Civ looked around. Aside from Horm and Arsh, Ras and Pil also volunteer.

  “Let us enter the tunnel Civ.” Pil energetically answered.

  But before Civ replied, he quickly poked both ribs of Ras and Pil.

  “OUCH!” Both of them groaned in pain.

  “I will not let you get in there. You both are still recovering. Be on the lookout.” Civ smiled while teasing these two. Civ also wants to have them join. But with their injury still recovering, they need to take it slowly.

  When Civ asked again, the group was set. First that will go in will be Civ and Luk, next will be Safi and Arsh, last will be Horm and Yan.

  The plan will be that they will crawl in the tunnel and every group will be away from then a few feet apart. They will communicate from time to time to check the status of the team ahead of them. Then, if there is no response, they will need to crawl back to the entrance to report the remaining group.

  Civ and Luk go first. After a few minutes, Arsh and Saf, then Horm and Yan.

  They slowly crawled, but as they went deeper, the light was getting dimmer. The smell of moistened earth and grass was everywhere. Civ also noticed that the tunnel was an L zigzag.

  ‘How in the world does that boar think about this?’. Civ wants to revive that boar and kill it again because of that boar's pathing.

  They communicate from time to time and let Safi and Arsh know that everything is fine ahead.

  But when they got further, a putrid smell was seeping into their noses.

  ‘The decaying boar!’ Civ and Luk immediately stopped.

  “Safi, Arsh. Let's stop for a moment.” The group stopped. Then Luk and Civ discuss.

  “Civ, should we go through?” Luk was sweating heavily now.

  “I do not think this is safe for now.” Civ sat down and checked the surroundings.

  They can try to push through. But what he was afraid of was that the smell might be so overwhelming that it might disorient them.

  “Should we try?” Luk asked.

  “Alright, let's do it.” Civ agreed.

  “Let's continue!” He shouted to Arsh and Safi.

  The smell right now is not that strong. But as they crawl, it's getting stronger. If the pattern of this tunnel is consistent, they should be able to crawl away to where the corpse was located. When the smell was too strong, Civ asked Luk.

  “Can you hold your breath?” Civ started having a hard time enduring the smell.

  “Yeah, I can.” Luk was also having issues with it.

  They reported to Safi and Arsh about the smell and continued the travel. The tunnel was getting dimmer. With the help of a little sunlight that penetrated the vines, they were able to navigate.

  After a couple of zigzags, the smell gradually disappeared. Civ reported it back, and Safi and Arsh replied, confirming the report.

  “Let’s take a rest!” Civ and Luk sat. After catching their breath, they continue the travel.

  Other than the dimmer tunnel and the smell that had gone away. The travel went smoothly, and they continued crawling.

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  But they heard Safi.

  “Civ, I heard something!” Hearing what Safi said, both of them paused.

  “What was it?” Civ replied. He felt that his heart was beating faster.

  “I think it was not a step but a different sound! Like a wind!” Safi explained.

  ‘A wind?’ Civ was confused by what Safi said.

  “Alright, we will continue.” Luk and Civ looked at each other and nodded.

  Instead of slowly crawling, they increase their pace. After a couple of steps, the tunnel was getting wider and higher. Getting higher to the point that they can walk by leaning forward.

  Then –

  WWWWHOOOSSSHH

  The sunlight hinders their vision like a flashbang. Then a strong gust of wind stops them from moving.

  “Uhhhhggg.” Civ and Luk raised their hand to block the sunlight. When their vision recovered, a new place welcomed them.

  “What is that?” Luk walked ahead, and Civ followed.

  “Watch out!” Civ stopped Luk. When they looked down, it was a field of greenery. It was not by grasses but by tree leaves!.

  “Oh boy!” When Civ looked at what was in front of them, he understood where they were now.

  They are standing on a cliff.

  ‘A few steps on the cliff!’ When Civ tries to measure how high they are, he feels like it is about 80 to 100 feet high!

  Realizing this, both of them gulped a mouthful of saliva.

  “Thanks Civ,” Luk stared at Civ with beads of sweat running down his face.

  “Be careful next time. Make sure your vision covers your surroundings before moving.” Civ remained Luk with concern.

  Luk nodded.

  Civ walked to the entrance of the tunnel and shouted to Arsh and Safi that it was safe. Civ and Luk waited for the rest. When Horm and Yan exited the tunnel, they took a rest for everyone to eat.

  Everyone sat facing the cliff. Now that Civ has more time to look around, he can’t help but be in awe of the nature of this world. They are in front of two mountain peaks. Below them is a sea of trees. If Civ is correct, the trees are almost 75 to 88 ft tall.

  The cliff where they rested was a slope. The path going up is turning to the right. The path going down was straight for a long distance, and it turned left if you are facing the down slope.

  Civ wants to go down, but with their main purpose for today, the footprints of the boars are leading them to the top.

  The group rested and had their fill.

  “Is everyone ready?” Civ looked at his team. They all answered with a nod.

  From this point, they slowly walk upward. On guard, they hold their spears on their shoulders.

  “I hear footsteps,” Safi whispered.

  Civ and Luk swiftly walked ahead while the rest waited in their position.

  When they reached the top, tall grasses were everywhere. But it was only in the front. Luk pushed aside the grass in front of them.

  They peeked at the slit. Their eyes widened.

  Civ and Luk again gulped their saliva.

  What they saw is a bigger sounder! The number of sows was more than his fingers could count!

  This is not only a sonder. This is more like a colony of boars!

  A colony at their doorstep. Civ felt shivers in his spine seeing this many. Mixed with them are some male boars that are courting some of the sows. But what caught Civ's attention was that these types of male boars had long tusks. It is similar to the ones who attacked them. The only difference was that their body hair was not that long. But they have a mohawk hair in the middle of their head, until the back of the neck. If Civ's guess is right, all of the male boars have these kinds of body features.

  Looking at this raised the question about the horde. ‘Was there a territory battle also last time?’

  The questions keep popping up in his mind as he goes along the possible sequence of events. But one thing is sure right now. They need to be careful not to agitate those boars. Now that they are still recovering from the past attack. They need to not only increase the defense, but to increase the barricades around the camp. Might as well add more types of defenses.

  Luk and Civ wanted to leave for now. Since they do not want to attract more attention. They let the rest of the team go back instead of walking towards their location. Based also on what Safi said about the number of footsteps she is hearing. They understood the situation.

  The number of the boars here is too much for them to handle right now. Especially, they are at the edge of the cliff. It will be hard for them to escape with these limited options. Civ tried to survey the location one last time, but something caught his attention. A leaf that one of the sows grazed. It was a familiar leaf that he usually ate when he was a child living in his rural hometown.

  Civ wants to jump in the middle of the boars and confirm speculation. He takes a deep breath and calms his heart.

  ‘We need to take one step at a time.’ With this, he stopped his urges.

  On the other hand, one of the boars felt something, felt like there was someone was watching. But when the boar looked at where it came from, he only saw a few grass leaves swinging left and right. It grunted softly and returned to courting one of the sows.

  “Whew! That was close.” Luk said as he and the whole group walked back down to the tunnel.

  When he and Civ were going to leave where they stood, Luk had a feeling that someone had noticed them. In the nick of time, Luk grabbed Civ by the shoulder.

  “Sorry Luk.” Civ admitted his shortcomings in that short amount of time. The plant that he saw was too enticing not to look at.

  “It is fine Civ.” Luk was gasping for air as he was nervous at that moment.

  “What did you both see Civ?” Arsh quickly asks, wanting to assess the situation.

  “Remember the horde?” Civ looked at the group.

  “Yes?” Horm replied.

  “It was bigger. Much, much, much bigger compared to the horde.” Civ eyes were intense. A feeling of grave danger.

  Everyone gasped.

  “What should we do next?” Yan asked.

  “Let’s go back to the camp first. I’ll report this to the tribe leader and see what we can do.” This matter is something they need to think about first. They need to collectively discuss this and make sure everyone is on the same boat.

  The group nodded. They started to enter the tunnel. Right now, Horm and Yan went first, and Luk and Civ went last. Civ looked at the vast trees while the wind was blowing.

  ‘Is there any other humans near us?’

  This question stuck in his head the first time they entered this new place.

  “Civ.” Luk called his attention.

  “Let's go.” Civ and Luk went last to the tunnel.

  Aside from the decaying smell, they were able to return safely to the other side.

  When they arrived at the other side.

  They saw Ras and Pil in a mess, clutching their ribs. While Kes was dealing the final blow to the bleeding boar.

  Civ's eyes widened, “What happened here?!”