Thirteen slowly made his way to the building where the two teenagers were taken.
He had to be resourceful in doing so, to prevent the Orcs from detecting his presence.
Although not all Orcs had Dark Vision, he made sure to play it safe, and only moved whenever a chance appeared.
With his Movement Technique, Traceless Shadow, he didn’t have to worry about making any sounds as he went deeper into the Orc Stronghold.
After arriving at the building, Thirteen scouted the place to make sure that he wouldn’t be seen by anyone once he entered. He was deep in enemy territory, so he couldn’t be careless with his actions.
To his surprise, there were no Orcs that guarded the building, at least on the outside. This made him wonder what kind of building this was because there were no Orcs standing guard.
‘Maybe there are guards inside,’ Thirteen thought. ‘I better be careful not to alarm anyone.’
Once again, the boy made sure that no Orcs were within the vicinity for the third time before he took the chance to enter through the window.
Going by the front entrance was something he didn’t dare to do, especially in this situation.
The building had two floors, but after inspecting the Second Floor, the boy didn’t find anything interesting, so he went to the First Floor.
Just like the Second Floor, there were no Orcs in the First Floor.
However, he now had a better understanding about what this place was and that it was a warehouse.
Monster meat was preserved on the Second Floor, and he found more Monster meat on the First Floor.
‘Well, at least it isn’t Human meat,’ Thirteen thought as he looked at the remains of an Ogre and a Troll, who were cut up into different parts, and stored in proper containers.
After spending a few minutes exploring the First Floor, he finally found a staircase that led underground, which he believed was where the two teenagers had been taken earlier.
He didn’t descend the stairs right away, and instead, listened to the sounds that were coming from downstairs.
However, no matter how much he strained his ears, he wasn’t able to hear anything.
‘Should I take a look?’ Thirteen thought.
He was hesitating a bit because there was only one path that led downstairs, unlike the First and Second Floors, where he found several good hiding places just in case an Orc suddenly entered the warehouse.
But, going down the basement was a big gamble, which made him think twice.
However, when he thought that his brother, Mikhail, might be down there as well, Thirteen did not hesitate any longer and descended the stairs slowly.
After peeking down the underground hallway from the base of the stairs, he didn’t see or sense any Orcs, which made him a bit bolder.
The boy then walked down the hallway as fast and as silently as possible until he reached a wooden door.
Pressing his ears over it, Thirteen could hear muffled sounds. However, they were too faint for him to decipher.
‘I guess now is a good time to try it,’ Thirteen mused.
Closing his eyes, he opened up the most primal instinct of Human kind.
One of his Hosts was raised in a Tribe inside a forest where dangerous Beasts lurked 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Because of this, all of them had developed something like “Primal Instincts” allowing their body to alert them if there was something dangerous in their surroundings.
Out of curiosity, Thirteen had asked his Host how he developed this ability because, even if he could see the skill in his database, he didn’t understand too much about it.
His Host explained that using Primal Instinct was making your physical, emotional, and mental states vulnerable, so it could be affected by outside factors.
Once trained to the fullest, the person would develop some kind of Sixth Sense, that would immediately trigger once a monster, or beast, stronger than them appeared within their Primal Instinct’s range.
Thirteen didn’t develop this skill because he thought that he wouldn’t need to use it.
However, he now thought that learning this skill was also good because it would give him a similar sixth sense just like his previous Host, alerting him to dangers that he couldn’t see.
Although he was still an amateur, Thirteen knew the basics.
Two minutes later, he opened his eyes and slowly opened the door.
‘The coast is clear.’ Thirteen sighed in relief before pressing his hands over the wooden door.
His senses didn’t detect anything dangerous, but because he was using the skill for the first time he deemed that utmost caution must still be done to prevent mishaps from happening.
The moment he opened the door, the muffled sounds he heard earlier became more pronounced.
The sounds of sobbing and people talking reached his ears.
Taking a peek inside the room, he saw several teenagers that were locked up in cages made up of bone.
Their hands were also tied behind their backs, making them unable to do anything but sit and cry, or talk to their fellow captives, who were the same age as them.
There were many bone cages, and Thirteen couldn’t see everything from where he was, so he decided to enter the room, closing the door firmly behind him.
The moment he appeared, everyone’s gaze landed on his body. However, before any of them could talk, they saw the boy place his finger over his lips, telling them to keep silent.
Thinking that he had come to rescue them, everyone held back what they were going to say, and all looked at him with hope.
Even the girls, who were crying earlier, held back their tears.
But, after observing him for a while, all of them realized that the boy was actually way younger than them, taking them by surprise.
Still, none of them made a sound because even though he was young, he could still free them from the cages that locked them in place.
The seven-year-old breathed a sigh of relief in his heart because everyone seemed to be more sensible than he thought they would be.
So then, he walked towards the other bone cages, and took a look inside them one by one.
He didn’t see anyone whom he was familiar with, but there were still a few more bone cages that he hadn’t inspected yet.
Finally, on the last Bone Cage, Thirteen saw someone familiar, and that person also looked at him in surprise.
“It’s you,” a teenage boy with brown hair, and green eyes, looked at Thirteen in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
Thirteen looked at the teenage boy with a complicated look on his face because he was debating whether he should rescue him or not.
But, in the end, the seven-year-old knew that taking the risk to rescue the captured boy could net him some great benefits if he managed to survive his First Wandering.
Afterall, the person before him was none other than Harry Remington.
He was the only son of Elijah and Vivian Remington, who were also the best friends of his father and mother, and supported their family when Gerald was kicked out of the Levington Main Residence.