Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 273: Night 0

Chapter 273: Night 0

Kazi opened his eyes. His immediate surroundings were dark.

’I’m in a forest,’ he thought. Promptly, he jumped, climbed, and stood on the top of the tree. ’Savanna woodlands,’ he noted. The distance matched. ’These trees...Daniellia oliveri. Senegal, Sudan or Uganda then.’

Looking up, he saw the full moon and the starry night. He was somewhere in a country in the northern hemisphere. He was alone too. He didn’t hear or sense a player. The grass and overall nature of the ground was rough and erratic.

No objective was given. That meant he had to find it.

Kazi closed his eyes and focused. ’Found it. A collection of mana a long distance behind me.’ Turning, he saw smoke rising and a small blip of light. ’Civilization. I should go.’

He leapt off the tree and began running at full speed. His agility wasn’t his greatest stat. With Mastered Flow of Mana, however, it capped out at seven-hundred ninety. He ran and caught up to the smoke, to civilization, in no time.

The civilization in question was a village parked around the base of a pap hill. It was alive with activity, even under the cover of night. The flickering glow of torches illuminated the faces of the people there. Kazi stopped because "people" wasn’t the correct word to describe the inhabitants.

’Are these...Elves...?’

The night was alive by the efforts of two-foot-tall silvery-white creatures called Yumboes. Drums and laughter echoed as the village around the pap hill celebrated. A feast was laid out. Tables on tables with succulent roasted meats, tender and juicy.

Several feet away from the nearest table, Kazi contemplated disappearing and investigating. However, a Yumbo woman with fully lace braids that went down her back ran up to him, smiling. "Hello human! I see you!"

"Hi." Kazi smiled back and kneeled down to her level. "How are you?"

"Not just human but..." The Yumbo looked him up and down. "You must be a foreigner! Come, come." She tugged his arm and he let himself be taken. "We are here to feast."

[ HIDDEN OBJECTIVE FOUND! ]

[ Gate 17 : Pap Village

HIDDEN OBJECTIVE: You have arrived at night zero! Stop the village from being attacked by the Guiafairo!

HIDDEN PRIZE POOL: 500,000 XP, 500,000 PP ]

A hidden objective already? Lucky. ’Yumboes, Guiafoiro...we must be in Senegal. Yumboes are myths from their culture,’ Kazi thought. ’But more importantly, they’re about to be attacked by the Guiafoiro.’

Did they know? Not likely. Screaming at them to run might work if he wanted them safe. However, he did not know the parameters of the gate. Did village include only the people or the structures? It was fifty-fifty on either option, so better to go along with this feast and wait.

The tables were small and long, intended for feasts by miniature humanoids. Yet here he was, seated cross-legged on the side of the table (since he couldn’t sit with his immense weight) and given a plate and a fish to eat. As soon as he began eating, the Yumbo with lace braids handed a Calabash bowl full of water.

"Thank you."

"Eat up, eat up! We appreciate foreigners!" the female Yumbo said. Indeed, the others were staring at him expectantly. The Sardinella appeared well-cooked and added with spices he had never seen before.

He picked it up with his hand and took a bite. Immediately, he found himself falling in love with the flavour. It was thick with oil and balanced with a small amount of spice. It worked. Somehow. As a chef, he didn’t know how. "Wow! Kudos to whoever made it!"

"My uncle did!" said one mini Yumbo. This mini must have been a child.

All of them were short but their heads were proportionally short and angular. Their hair styles were all in some form of braids and silver in shade. Their feast and consequently their diet seemed to consist of corn and fish. Their ears were classically pointy like an elf’s too.

’They’re not weak either. All of them are Level 20.’ Kazi cautiously scanned the area and did a headcount. Focusing hard, he managed to see past what his vision could offer and sense them. ’There’s at least three hundred of them. Ambushing the Yumboes, even for normal players, would be tough if we go purely by levels.’

Right up against the hill were their houses which were large and luxurious. An excellent defensive strategy. Anybody inside could come out and attack anyone in their way. And since the village was set-up in a circle based around the hill, sneaking up on them was next to impossible.

’However, against Guiafairo...’ Kazi closed his eyes while eating. He couldn’t let them know something was up. Not when he was still a stranger to them. The Guiafairo; meaning the "fear that flies by night". If he wanted to find it, then—

’There!’

His vision went black and he nearly hurled. What a nasty smell! It was some ways away but it was zooming toward them—and fast! The villagers feasted and danced without a care in the world. Shit, as a foreigner, how should he warn them—?

"Screeeee!"

The merriment abruptly halted. The piercing cry fluttered and continued for a length minute. One by one, everyone stopped. One by one, panic rippled through the villagers. They knew this thing. They knew its cry. They knew what it could do. The boy in front of him looked to his elders.

No one spoke. No one moved. Dead silence followed. The night seemed to become darker, the fire and moon light flickering in fear.

Kazi leapt to his feet. "The Guiafairo is coming!" he shouted. "Grab your weapons! Those that cannot fight, find a safe place!"

They scrambled to their feet. Everyone listened. Those that could not fight were off toward the hill and the host of homes.

Kazi scanned the sky, searching for any sign of the bat-like creature. In the distance, he spotted a dark shape hurtling in the night sky. If the bat’s mana wasn’t nauseatingly thick and heavy, he wouldn’t have sensed it, much less seen it. His left eye pulsed and his nose wrinkled. ’It’s like oil mixed in with an absurd amount of perfume. It’s giving me a headache.’

Blip.

It was gone. The energy and smell disappeared for all but a moment. Then, in the next second, it returned with twice the strength.

"Screeeee!"

[ Boss in vicinity! ]

Behind him, he heard the bat’s cry and human screams. Table flew up and numerous villagers were smacked away by its massive wings. The Guiafairo was here.