The Ancient Genes

"Well, this is quite a welcome. Definitely didn't expect it.." Max smiled as he sat on a rough chair facing a man almost twice his size, with a big muscular body. The man had a thick beard, and long hair.

The first thing which came into Max's mind after looking at him was the Viking from fiction.

"Can you let him go?" The man asked in his deep voice as he looked at the unconscious guy which was still being carried by Max's clone who was standing right beside.

"I would love to..but as you can see.." Max forced a smile on his face, and honestly there wasn't a need for him to tell about it. Even the man could see very clearly what Max was talking about.

A group had recently surrounded the table where Max and the Viking-like man, who seemed to be the leader of this settlement, were talking around. And, they were giving looks which was more than enough for Max to know about their overly good intentions towards him.

There was no way in hell that he would let the guy off. That person still held a lot of value to Max, especially when it seemed like they cared for the guy's life.

The Settlement Leader frowned upon seeing that Max refuse his request. But, that frown only lasted for a few seconds once he was done analyzing the person's injuries and determined that there was no problem in delaying his treatment by a little.

"What do you want to know?" The Leader asked as he looked at Max.

"Oh..you are quite quick unlike your subordinates.." Max smiled when the leader instantly seemed to catch on to his intentions.

"It's obvious you are curious about us as well as the place. Besides, there is no reason for us to fight when we know that you are a real person from the outside world.." The leader further spoke.

"So, who are you people?" Max asked as he looked at him.

"We are normal people who arrived at this place almost three months ago to check on the supernatural occurrences that have been happening around here. It also seemed to be affecting the terrain around. We couldn't let it just go unchecked.."

"Is that so?" Max asked, a little suspicious. He and Blinken had roamed around quite a bit after entering the first stage, and had barely come across people. And, they only saw one village at that too.

But, these people seemed to be from different places. After all, there hadn't been any more groups from the Chief's village here.

"What about you?" The man asked as he looked at Max.

"Same reason, we are here to investigate the cause as well.." Max nodded.

"We?" The man frowned.

"Yeah.." Max's face twitched, "Don't tell me you have send more people to kill my people as well.."

"Most probably..don't worry, I will send someone to ease the situation.." The leader assured Max as he signaled a person behind, who then immediately moved out of the place with a nod.

'They wouldn't go down easily, unless it's two on one..' Max muttered inwardly thinking about Blinken and the Village Chief.

"You are stronger than you look.." The man suddenly spoke as he looked at Max with a praiseful look in his eyes. He could see that Max wasn't that old, and the strength was really something hard to see among his age group. It was already hard to find warriors, and the kid was an anomaly at that too.

He was wondering what Max's actual origins were. There was no way that someone like him was a nameless nobody.

"Well, you too are strong. Never seen someone like you around here.." Max spoke with a smile. But, behind that smile was one serious face. This man was really dangerous. But, thankfully his attitude seemed to be nice until now.

"Hahaha..I am just old now.." The man shook his head with a laugh. But, there was certainly a surprise in his eyes when Max said those words. He was sure he had never met Max, and it was very hard to guess someone's strength with just a look, and yet Max seemed to have hit a close mark.

"This place seems so strange, have you guys found anything in here yet. Like anything which might seem to be the cause of this phenomenon.." Max asked as the atmosphere turned a little serious.

"Well, I can't be sure if it is the cause. But, that thing certainly seems to be one or is somehow related to it.." The man spoke with a dark look on his face.

"Thing?" Max asked with raised brows.

"Yes, it's a strange creature. A monster unheard of…" The man spoke as he slowly clenched his fist, and a vein popped out on his forehead.

'If even he is having trouble dealing with it, then it's really not something to mess with…' Max seemed to realize the severity of the situation. And, now he was even more curious about finding out what the creature exactly was.

As Max was planning on pushing for more details. A gigantic explosion seemed to resound in the distance, and a huge mushroom of fire could be seen rising up above in the sky.

The scene immediately made Max frown, and it was the same for everyone else. They knew that it was dangerous. Anyone getting caught in it wasn't coming out unscathed.

And, everyone knew who was out there fighting recently.

…

"Damn it! I am tired.." Blinken cursed as he placed the two people on his shoulders down near a small cave which had a stream passing in front of it. It had been a while since he had ran off from that place, and had definitely covered a large distance.

"But it seems that troubles are never ending.." Blinken muttered with a dark look on his face as he slowly raised his still functioning arm and formed a fist. He really was out of energy now.

"What's with the hostile look? Aren't we on the same side?" A voice sounded from the bushes on the other end of the stream as the figure of a man slowly emerged from the forest.

It was a familiar face, a man covered in tattoos.