Mara and Pasito stop fighting.
They move forward cautiously, preparing themselves for a possible clash.
Pasito narrows his eyes.
"There are four people ahead…"
Mara replies confidently,
"No problem. We can handle them."
But slowly… sweat begins to form on his forehead.
The figures approaching them step into a faint glow.
As their faces become clear—
Mara is stunned.
Standing ahead is Yunsa… along with three others.
A bulky boy.
A thin boy.
And a girl.
Seeing Yunsa, Mara lets out a small breath.
"So you survived…
otherwise, we might have ended up killing you."
Yunsa gives a slight smile.
Pasito speaks in a calm tone,
"I think we should help each other."
"First, let's introduce ourselves…
and share what kind of energy we've received."
Mara watches them carefully.
Yunsa… he's strong, he thinks.
He managed to gather four people…
But… one is still missing… maybe…
Pasito lets out a laugh.
"Alright, I'll start."
"My name is Pasichain Tokaina…
but people call me Pasito."
He grins proudly.
"And yeah… after a lot of effort, I managed to hunt a monkey."
He turns toward Mara.
"Now it's your turn."
Mara hesitates for a moment.
"I… my name is Mas Raizon…
but people call me Mara."
Pasito smirks.
"Bro, I'm the one who gave you that name."
Mara looks at him, then says,
"I hunted a lion."
Pasito raises an eyebrow.
"A lion? Sounds like luck to me."
Mara's gaze sharpens.
Pasito quickly steps back.
"Hey… I was just joking."
Nearby, the thin boy thinks to himself,
Hunting a lion isn't easy… he must be really skilled.
Mara, on the other hand, thinks,
Good thing I didn't mention its true name…
otherwise, they'd make fun of me.
Then, the thin boy speaks out loud,
"My name is Artha Achari."
"I barely managed to hunt a horse."
Then, a bulky boy steps forward with attitude.
"My name is Vikar Hinura," he says proudly.
"Today, I easily defeated a large hippopotamus."
But in his mind, he mutters,
Easily? That thing made me run across the entire jungle…
Lina speaks next, calm and composed.
"My name is Lina Yuvika.
I trapped a deer today… using a net."
In her thoughts, she sighs,
It took me three hours just to set that trap…
Then, a quiet girl steps forward.
Her voice is low… almost trembling.
"My name is Kaya Vyakta."
"I… along with my brother… managed to catch a large owl."
Her voice begins to break.
"But… I watched my brother die…"
Tears fill her eyes.
Lina gently steps closer, trying to comfort her.
"I'm really sorry to hear that…
but you have to move on… and start again."
Kaya shakes her head, her voice filled with pain.
"How can I forget my own brother…?"
At that moment—
The air suddenly grows heavy.
"What you receive today…
may not be there tomorrow…
and what you miss today… may never return."
"So accept what you have… become one with it…
or the world will reject you."
Mara speaks in a deep, steady voice.
Hearing this, everyone is taken aback.
They all turn toward him, staring in silence.
At that moment, Kaya's tears slowly stop.
Then—
Everyone's attention shifts to Yunsa.
They see him calmly brushing the dust off his sword.
Pasito clears his throat.
"Do you want to say something?"
Yunsa finally speaks.
"My name is Yunsa Rana."
"I defeated a black tiger."
Pasito raises an eyebrow.
"So… are you one of those guys?"
Yunsa looks at him.
"What kind of guy?"
Pasito suddenly goes quiet.
Mara looks at everyone and asks,
"Do you know how souls give us energy?"
Vikar shakes his head.
"No… I don't."
"And the people at the ashram don't tell anyone either."
"They want the test to be more dangerous…
so people push themselves harder to pass."
Mara frowns.
"That's wrong."
Vikar crosses his arms.
"They do it for a reason," he says.
"They want strong… powerful warriors."
"Warriors they can recruit into the kingdom's army."
He pauses, his tone growing sharper.
"But in reality… they just want control."
"They don't truly care if the kingdom grows…
or if the people are free."
Mara narrows his eyes.
"How do you know all this?"
Vikar smirks slightly.
"I have… connections."
Hearing this—
Everyone is left stunned.
Mara thinks to himself,
It wouldn't be right to tell them about the atomic theory…
Just then, Pasito says,
"We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's move toward the fort."
Mara snaps back, slightly irritated,
"Did you forget? We don't even know the way."
Yunsa raises his hand.
"Wait."
He pulls out a small compass from his pocket.
"Now we can find the direction."
Pasito frowns.
"That's the problem."
"We don't need direction… we need the exact path to the fort."
Mara suddenly says,
"Wait… let's send Pasito up a tree first."
Hearing that, Pasito immediately jumps and climbs up a nearby tree.
From the top, he looks around carefully.
But there's nothing much to see…
just a distant mountain.
Mara calls out from below,
"Do you see anything?"
Pasito replies,
"Nothing yet!"
Mara smirks slightly.
"Then come down. This isn't your thing."
Pasito jumps down from the tree
Just then, Kaya speaks up,
"Sir told us… if we ever needed to reach the palace,
we should open the thread we were given and wave it in the air."
"A note would come out of it…
showing the path to the fort."
She pauses, her expression falling.
"But… we don't have it anymore.
We already used ours during the hunt."
Mara suddenly says,
"I didn't use mine."
Pasito's face lights up with excitement.
But then, Mara adds quietly,
"…but I lost the thread."
Pasito immediately glares at him again.
At that moment, his eyes catch something—
A red thread, hanging from Mara's coat.
Without wasting a second, Pasito pulls it out.
Mara's eyes widen.
"Wait… that's it! I found it!"
Pasito smirks and waves the thread in the air.
Suddenly—
A small slip of paper emerges from it.
Pasito picks up the note and opens it.
Written on it are the words:
"Movement + Right = Fort."
Lina immediately says,
"So we found the path… that means we just have to move in the right direction, and we'll reach the fort."
Without wasting a second, Pasito starts running to the right.
Seeing this, everyone else follows, one after another.
As they run, Mara shouts,
"Why give a clue like this?
They could've just written directly that the fort is to the right!"
Then suddenly, his expression changes.
"Wait… what if this is all a setup?"
He narrows his eyes, thinking deeply.
"I've never heard of anything like this paper before…
and how can it even guide us?"
"It already had 'right' written on it…
so what's the point of this clue?"
His voice turns serious.
"Something… doesn't feel right."