Chapter 238: A new batch.

Lee had never been a fan of cockroaches, or any insects for that matter. In fact, while many people fancied them as being delicacies, he never even tried insect dishes or snacks. Same with dog or cat meat.The problem was – the swarm that came out of the jungle weren’t dogs. Those were hundreds of cow-sized insects, very much resembling cockroaches, except of dark green color.

’Ok! I have to find a way to burn down the jungle!’ Was Lee’s only thought when the handful of humans were overrun by the insects.

Of course, the handful was only if one compared the numbers. But dealing with the insects wasn’t that hard. The fifty humans didn’t have hard time – no one even used any elemental skills. The fight was just messy.

The insect carapaces weren’t that hard, and none had sparks. Every well aimed slash cut off an extremity or even a head, killing the thing in one hit. The problem was – every hit that the insects took was accompanied by a splash of stinking green substance, apparently their blood. It wasn’t corrosive or poisonous, just sticky and, well, disgusting.

"The other side has also engaged!" Lee’s pointy-eared acquaintance shouted.

His cry was met with curses that probably worked as battle cries of sorts. Only now Lee noticed that not only men were battling the insects – there were some strong women as well, and their profanities on occasion surpassed their male comrades.

Surprisingly, they also had the yin-yang tattoos. Unlike men, the local ladies weren’t half naked, although their clothing was rather revealing. What caught Lee’s attention wasn’t their curves or sweat covered bodies – it was the countless scars that indicated they had gone though plethora of life and death battles.

The fight didn’t last long – it took around hundred, maybe hundred and fifty breaths for the humans to win. When the last insect began to convulse in agony, every human rushed to the camp without a command or invitation, and Lee followed.

Turns out, everyone hurried to assist the defenders at the second entrance – the one that was facing the beach. The battle there was s bit more challenging – the insects still kept creeping out of the sea, and they were smaller, around the size of a regular cat.

Lee, like the rest of the defenders at the jungle side, was already covered in the green blood, and took this part as an entertainment. After joining the forces, the two groups cheered and began to stomp, hack and slash the dark insects coming from the sea, and continued to do so till the sunset.

When the sun sunk beyond the horizon in the sea, the waves of insects subsided and the battle finally ended. Everyone was out of breath, tired, but judging by the emotionless expressions, Lee guessed this was an everyday occurrence. And so was the next part.

People didn’t return to the settlement, but all waited, chatting about random stuff, until the first droplets of rain began to fall. Few heartbeats later it began to pour, soaking the half-naked people and the ground through and through, but the water was so warm, Lee almost felt like he had fallen into a bathtub.

The rain ended as abruptly as it started, and the inhabitants of the settlement returned inside. Lee accompanied them, curiously observing the primitive living conditions.

There was no actual housing around here – no buildings whatsoever, and Lee refused to consider the shabby bamboo shacks to be houses. The torrential rain had broken at least half of them, and the inhabitants began repairs despite it was getting dark.

Clearly this was not the first time it happened, and no one was bothered with the inconvenience. Some of the people didn’t even intend to spend the night in the shacks. They sat around the simple tables next to a couple of bonfires that had been freshly lit up. The rain had soaked the wood, but a couple of fire skills did the job.

"Where are the rest?" Lee’s thoughts were interrupted. It was the same pointy-ear guy from before.

"I’m Lee." He introduced himself, and more in a form of a question than statement, said, "I came alone?"

"You’re one of those, huh?" The man measured Lee with his eyes, "I’m Elred. Welcome to Skalara."

"Is there anything I need to know about this place?" Lee asked.

"Well. You saw the most." Elred said, "This world is full of life – both plants and beasts. Although I wouldn’t call those damned things beasts, but they produce sparks, so technically they are. But you already know that since you’re here. You’re a spark hunter, right?"

"Mhm." Lee could only nod.

"You should join one of the squads to earn your share – most of the guys would appreciate a young and promising water elemental master." Elred said.

Lee had gone through this trope before and didn’t intend to repeat the past mistake.

He said, "I have a fire spark. But I hope that’s not a problem."

His idea was simple. To pretend he could control the water element was too risky. With how frequent and intense the fights here seemed to be, it was guaranteed he’ll have to heal at some point and he definitely didn’t want that. The earth element was widely considered useless, and he couldn’t do much more than infuse it in his extremities to make punches or kicks harder.

The wind was tricky. He could use it to gain bursts of speed, but it was too easy to overuse it. In addition, he couldn’t use wind for prolonged periods of time – his body simply began to fall apart.

As the result – he decided to pretend to be a fire elemental master. Using any element would physically hurt, but he was used to pain and only had to make sure he didn’t overdo anything.

"Fire?" Elred looked confused, "But you have blue eyes ... wait, you’re an elemental warrior? Is this a joke to you? Did you think you could reap the benefits without putting in any work? No one needs parasites around here! We have enough insects!"

He spoke loudly and tens of people heard his words. Immediately snorts, curses and ridiculing laughter erupted around Lee, who just scratched his head, feeling a little awkward but not too bothered.

Despite the sudden mockery, he wasn’t embarrassed or upset. These people had right to act this way. It was one thing to kill random insects next to the camp, but if there were similar swarms with ones who had ignited sparks, the endeavor was surely deadly. If others couldn’t rely on him, he was going to be liability.

"Why did you come here? It surely had to cost a lot!" Elred said, feeling a tinge of guilt.

Previously he reacted purely on impulse, and while he stood by his words, the newcomer wasn’t exactly a bad person. Upon the arrival he volunteered to help, and actually fought well during the attack.

"I ..." Lee intended to strike a polite conversation while thinking of an excuse, when a loud shout disrupted the settlement again.

New batch! New batch is arriving!

Lee tightened his grip on the hatchet, but Elred only stretched his neck towards the beachside entrance, and so did the rest of inhabitants of the camp.

"Motherfuckers! They always wait until we’re done with the evening attack! Damn pussies!" Lee heard a woman curse nearby, and looked at her in shock, for a split moment thinking that Freeda, his former grandmother was there.

Turns out that the new batch was a crowd of reinforcements that arrived through a larger rift gate. There was around hundred and twenty of them, and despite their numbers, everyone politely greeted the locals.

There was no disorder, no arguing. Lee could tell everyone was armed to the teeth in expectation of fierce battles, but at the same time the newcomers didn’t bring along many supplies. Most stripped off their shirts to blend in, but their lighter skin still set them apart from those who had been here longer. Unsurprisingly, most had similar yin-yang tattoos of different sizes – one guy even had his whole back covered with it.

Unlike the new arrivals, Lee didn’t come as empty handed, though. The pocket of his pants had enough food to last him for half a year and water – for a month. He didn’t intend to ever go to another world without sufficient provisions, and this choice was quickly proven correct.

Newcomers presented few documents which one of the men, probably the leader around here, checked. He announced that the next morning they would hold a meeting to decide on the deployment of the new blood.

The event wasn’t over, though. Newcomers began to befriend their seniors and the local party welcomed the initiative. They also wanted to find out more about the ones who supposedly might have to watch their backs in the future.

Except there was a problem. Only one.

While chatting, everyone roasted their dinner over bonfires – fist-sized, dark brown bugs.

Lee was so disgusted he didn’t even attempt to eat the roast from the castle’s kitchen he brought along, and sat to the side to meditate.