There were only two things inside the pouch. A small green gem and a piece of meat that seemed to weigh around half a kilogram.
As soon as she took those things out of the pouch, the pouch simply disappeared in the air.
"What did you find, Ma?"
"Uh? Not much… there was this gem and this meat, which was already cut out. But the pouch itself disappeared."
Ravi was the first one to arrive and look curiously at the loot, but the others also came right behind.
"So, this is how looting works. Are we inside a game or something? The animal dies, and instead of leaving a carcass, it leaves a pouch with its meat already cut and neatly arranged, plus a gem. You take things out of the pouch, and the pouch disappears."
Carlos pointed out what everyone was thinking.
"Yeah. This sounds too gamey. And there's that point we earned when killing the rat. But this doesn't seem like a virtual world. It's too realistic. Like, what would be the processing power necessary to simulate this?"
Henrique's retort was followed by him showing off the back of his hand, then pinching it with the other hand so everyone could see the skin tissue redden and then slowly get back to normal.
Everyone did the same to their own hands and observed the reactions closely.
"Yes, the feelings are too detailed and the color change… this definitely looks like real flesh, not digital simulation. You have a point."
"Though Henrique has a strong point, I don't think that Carlos' idea is totally off track. It looks like someone put us here, in a game-like environment. Which would mean that there is a goal, right?"
Everyone turned towards Ravi with surprise in their faces.
"Wh-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Of course we would need a completely ridiculous situation like this one for one of your ideas to make sense."
Marina's remark made everyone laugh again, which prompted another scolding from Heloisa. After the commotion passed, Marina took the gem and then took a plastic bag where she had stored some bread, took out the bread, and put the meat in it.
"Okay, everyone. Before we proceed, let me draw the map quickly."
She paced around the room quickly to measure its size and direction, then sat down and drew some lines on her map, adding the current room and the corridor that leads to it.
"Now there's an exit to the south, and the water here seems to be flowing into the east there. That's because the blood of the rat that fell on water floated in that direction. So, there's no decision to make; we go south."
Everyone nodded, and Marina took the lead again, with the slingshot ready.
:::
As they walked down the corridor, the sound of the running water became lower and lower. The corridor twisted left and right sometimes but maintained a general southern direction.
((That's weird. These corridors seem to have a sound isolation function. The sound from the water diminished too quickly.))
Marina was a bit lost in her thoughts but focused back again as soon as the end of the corridor appeared in front of her.
She again made the same gesture for her companions to stop, then went forward slowly. She was definitely hearing some rat noises over there.
When she poked her head to take a look at the cave, what she saw baffled her. There were several stalactites and stalagmites, almost like a stone forest. She couldn't see any rat, but there were definitely rat sounds coming from the far side of the cave.
She came back to her friends and whispered to them, explaining the situation.
"Could it be their nest? I think that we should take care of them when we have the opportunity to take the initiative. Otherwise, they could attack us when we're sleeping, and that would be the worst."
"I agree. Let's charge and take them head-on. They're only rats."
Of course Carlos already had a plan, and Henrique agreed to it immediately. Heloisa, however, wasn't that confident.
"We don't have many weapons or fighting ability. What if they are bigger than the one we killed? Also, they could bite some of us. What if they have rabies or something?"
"But Helo, Carlos is right. Now we are at their nest. If we leave them alone, later when we are too tired and have to sleep, they will come at our 'nest' and attack. They need to eat, and we are fresh meat. So we will have the same challenges, but we'll be at a disadvantage."
"Not necessarily, Henrique. They might attack other prey, not us. Their coming to us is just a possibility."
"But a big possibility. Have you seen many other living creatures around here? These caves are so barren. I even wonder how these guys have been living here before."
"I agree with Carlos and Henrique."
"Me too."
Henrique argued with Heloisa, and Marina and Ravi in the end gave their votes to Henrique and Carlos' decision.
"Okay, I was defeated by the vote of the majority. But please, be careful."
"It's okay. I have the slingshot for the first wave, then I switch to my knife and go melee to support Henrique and Ravi."
"Good. Those little guys are fast, but with the three of us, I doubt that they will be much of a threat. Don't you think, Henrique?"
"Yup. I think so as well, Ravi. And if they try to bite you, kick them first. Don't let them get too close."
"Yes. Sadly, Helo and I won't be of much help in this fight. But at least we can kick. My boots are heavy, so I might even stomp some if they try to escape."
Ravi quickly retorted to Carlos.
"With your weight, I'm sure that stomping them would be one hit, one kill."
"Hey, you…"
Nobody laughed, even though they all wanted to. They wouldn't dare to alert the rats in the cave nearby.
Heloisa was at a loss, seeing their resolution.
"You guys are too brave and confident. I can only pray that nothing happens to you. I'll of course treat you if something happens, but I would really prefer that it doesn't."
She tied up her long, pink hair in a messy bun and sighed. There was nothing she could do besides being a moral support.
((If I had at least already began my nursing school, I could help them better…))
Her pretty face was full of worry, making everyone want to hug her.
"Don't worry, silly. They are just some rats. We'll take care of them."
Marina spoke with a soft voice, but her smile matched the shine in her eyes. Heloisa could feel the strength of her determination just from that shine.
"Please, just don't get injured. I can't afford to lose any of you."
"You, silly…"
Marina stepped forward and hug Heloisa, followed by everyone.
After some minutes, they stepped back and looked at each other. The group hug had reinvigorated them all.
"Let's go, everyone. We have a nest of rats to clear."
"Oh, leave the backpacks here. You don't want to fight carrying all that weight, do you?"
The three warriors nodded, took their backpacks off, and walked forward, holding their weapons with faces full of confidence.