The Ancient Genes

"How about you surrender and nicely answer some of my questions?" Max asked with a smile as he looked at the man who stood in front of him with a heavy frown on his face.

'How could he beat him this easily? What kind of Anomaly is this guy?' The man muttered inwardly as he tried to think about his next move.

The people in this era usually trained in strength, and weapons to become warriors. It was all based on physique, but there were certain people with strange sorcerer-like abilities, and they were referred to as Anomaly.

Max sure was seen as one by the middle aged man in front of him.

"Don't think too much, there is no other option. Surrender now or I won't be polite.." Max spoke with a threatening tone as the clone took a step forward.

The man's face sure turned ugly upon seeing that. He knew very well that if his partner was defeated so easily, he too would follow the same path sooner or later. And, it would be even faster if Max joined in.

'Let's calm down for now..that guy is injured too..' The man thought inwardly as he looked at his partner.

"Fine, I will cooperate.." He raised his hands in surrender. "But, can I get my partner first?"

"You don't need to worry about him. He will be safe in my hands as long as you act properly.." Max replied with a smile as the clone picked up the unconscious guy, and kept him over his shoulder.

'This sly kid..' The man cursed internally but still forced a smile on his face.

"Come with me then.." He finally sighed before speaking, and then turned to take the lead.

"Where are you taking me?" Max asked as he slowly followed behind. It was entirely possible that the man was leading him into some kind of trap. But, Max still had his partner under his hands, not to mention he wasn't afraid, more curious to be honest.

"Back to my base, that guy needs some help.." The man replied as he looked at his partner who was being carried on the clone's back.

"Well, It doesn't seem like he is dying anytime soon. He still has enough life force left to live.." Max replied with a casual smile.

"Enough? He almost sucked himself dry, just how much damage he took in that little time to end up like that." The man's face twitched on Max's remark, and he once again shifted his gaze onto the clone, "Just what is this monster of a thing? It's not human for sure.."

"You are supposed to answer, not ask.." Max gave the guy a look before asking a question himself, "Now, what did you mean by illusion, and who are you guys?"

The man looked at Max, and then slowly began to speak, "We are normal people who came here to investigate this place almost 3 months ago.."

'3 months?' Max sighed inwardly. He had a little hope that these people would somehow be related to the Village Chief, but that was not possible now. The Village Chief's father and his group had been gone for a long time. Definitely a year or two.

"As for the illusion..well.." The man stared at Max with a weird look on his face. "We have our fair share of trouble here. We have even lost a few people. And, one of the reasons for that is the illusions. There are often a mirage or illusion of people appearing in this place. They are very life-like existences and are often people we know. Not only that, they seem to even know about us. It's really weird. But, these are just death traps. We have lost a few of our men to these illusions. "

"Is that why you attacked without much of a word?" Max asked.

"Yes, engaging with it in a conservation setting can really throw you off balance. I don't know how it works, but it really seems trippy when these illusions can recite the events from our past encounters.." The man spoke with a frown on his face.

"That's the reason, I had my doubts with you. I definitely have never met you. So, it seemed odd for me to encounter you as an illusion..of course unless you weren't one.." The man forced a smile on his face.

"So, you believe me now?" Max looked at him.

"Yeah.." The guy nodded while forcing a smile on his face. Even if Max wasn't an illusion, he still couldn't be considered less than an enemy to him in the current situation.

"We have reached.." The man suddenly spoke as the two of them entered through a valley, and came into a strange encirclement of huge walls which seemed to be erected naturally there.

There were also deep claw marks on the walls, but it seemed to age quite a bit if one carefully observed the greenery growing over it.

"This sure is one heck of a welcome don't you think.." Max asked with a smile as he casually stood around looking at the giant surrounding rocky walls. There were quite a few people who were standing around. And, it seemed to be around thirty to forty of them.

Quite a number honestly.

'Hmmn..' Suddenly, Max frowned a little when he noticed a really strong presence in one of the temporary mud and straw houses in the distance.

'You gotta be kidding, me..' Max certainly wasn't prepared for this. He really had thought that his clone would be able to protect him, and ensure his escape in any situation. But, this one presence sure seems to make things a little inconvenient for him.

"Let him go.." The man who had been calmly leading Max until now finally turned around, and spoke with a little more confidence in his voice.

But, Max looked at him as if he was an idiot before shaking his head, "You really don't believe me to do that, do you?"

"Why don't you bring that guest over here, Arwin.." A deep voice sounded from one of the mud houses in the distance, and slowly a figure emerged from it looking nothing short of those Vikings in legend.