Approaching the two guards at the entrance, the two men quickly noticed their leader's return and made way for him to pass, impressed by returning with 18 people in less than hour and a half.

  They didn’t miss the fact that one of their fellow guards lost an arm on the short journey, but being happy and tightly followed by the woman and 2 children was a glaring success on his part.

  Deciding to not let it pass and make a lesson out of it he declares, “that’s what happens when you break formation and act like a rebelling teenager throwing cautious to the wind” he send a dirty look at the family guy.

  Lowering his head, the family guy receives a comforting back pet from his wife, her gaze lowered her eyes getting watery. Noticing it, Ethan couldn’t break the guy’s spirit and embarrass him in front of his family, he adds “I am glad you are fine, I am saying this because i care for you all, how easily this could be the neck or main artery, what would've happened then?” This comment earned him a gazes of unease by many, even the one armed family guy managed to raise his head and nod solemnly, taking it in as a learning experience.

  “Quickly send your families with some organizers to put them up to speed, and get some rest, we meet here in 30 minutes, Rob, your place is next” Everyone nods sternly and dismisses themselves.

  “Rob, let's talk with everyone relevant about what to do with the extra survivors we will fetch, also, I think Dana should know of the rag tag group of 11 people that are not a big fan of us and live close by” Ethan starts moving without waiting for his approval.

  Without too much time to spare, Ethan recalls his father, Dana, Leah and Rob somewhere isolated . The rest are working or busy with something else.

  They start to discuss the two elephants in the room, how to deal with external hostile forces, and about the extra people they are bringing along, they are not yet developed enough to just bring along whoever wants in.

  Regarding the external hostile forces, Dana offers “Let us stealthy dispatch of enemies away from the non combatant survivors, keeping them focused on the less disturbing mental consequences a warrior deals with” Her eyes cold and fearless.

  John, on the other hand, went for the more political approach, “to have the option to to act politically, training must be taken, being weak in such world will render such option useless against a truly evil and strong person or group. only by being strong and clear about our will and borders can we demand negotiations and a more polite tone, we need our words to be irrefutable” he concludes with a very important condition for his suggestion to succeed.

  “What if we try to display a pacifistic front? Fighting-monsters-only kind of a group?” Leah tried another train of thoughts, and was soon being answered by Rob, “What will happen when the forces that come here will actively ask for things you are not willing or can't give away? What if they come subtly and wisely, with the intention to trigger a violent event? our people's mentallity will not be suited for the new world”

  “What about a bit of both first options?” As Ethan was about to speak, Jessica joined and added herself to the circle of deeply thinking people, “What about we put a strong front? We shall show power and dominance, we shall fight everyone who comes with ill intentions and accept everyone who wishes to speak and work together with us?”. Jessica speaks up, grasping the gist of the issue being spoken of, "This whole 'playing nice' thing... it's pointless," Jessica scoffed, her voice laced with a newfound edge.

  "The world's gone to hell, and we're supposed to smile and offer tea to anyone who shows up with a weapon? Screw that. We show them we're not to be messed with. Anyone who will come here looking for trouble, they get a taste of their own medicine. Let's make it clear – this is our territory, and we'll defend it with everything we've got. As for the others... Those who want to talk, those who want to work together, they're welcome. But we don't owe anyone anything. We've got our own people to protect, and that's all that matters” The more she speaks her eyes become colder and more calculative the more assertive her grasp on the situation becomes.

  “If we are not recruiting don’t come to our front door with a horde of people looking for refuge, if we ain’t looking for side projects don't come for politics. If you want our food then bring some relevant currency, bills won't help us - bring knowledge, wood, metal. Honestly I am surprised Ethan didn’t just state it to be so" she finished with a laugh.

  Rob was the first to reply, “You did paint a picture of us as a full fledged army hierarchy with ‘No slackers policy to the group of strangers’. A place where death and exile were optional punishments we are not afraid to give away”. The circle turned silent, and a burst of collective laughter could be heard until the second floor below them.

  Even Dana laughed, “we are painting a perfectly painted green wall with some green color”, her comment somewhat rekindled the dying laughter.

  His dad was the first to recover and cut the happy moment short, “So I guess we're going with what Jessica offered”, everyone nods.

  “Know that this will directly create enemies for us in both the long and short terms. I’m talking about fighting to death against other humans. The combatant troops will need to go through more mental and physical trainings” Ethan states the two main issues making the jovial vibes die down.

  “I will be on it, and when we finish the rescue runs, you promised me a training session” Dana states winning the attention for a poorly wording in her sentence, “Damn” she cursed quietly, lowers her head, her cheeks reddens due to the knowing smiles she received.

  Raising the second issue, the atmosphere again, turns grim.

  “Many people need help and shelter, expansion and food source are not completely thought through yet. just by going to pick 5 people, we returned with 18, this is not ideal, reaching 80 people in a single rescue run - there are still more than a dozen requests left, and this is only the close ranged ones, How do you suggest to deal with it?” Ethan states his deduction from the first mission.

  The obvious pro and con was the lack of help one should help fellow human beings in this new world against the calculative and integrity of their fortress society not getting overpopulated - the dilemma was a moral one.

  No one is willing to call the dice, speaking of other people’s lives like they are the people in power irked them badly, Jessica ever the pragmatic and strict speaks, “scout for complex and important cases you deem fit, abused children, suffering woman, pregnant woman left alone, extremely capable men - we are not gods and we can't change or fix the world as we are right now, this is the minimum we can do” a solemn silent of agreement daunts on the group once more.

  Unwilling to get into any deeper meanings, Ethan concludes, “ We shall dispatch myself and the relevant person for the rescue point, locate the missing people and disappear with them in the disguise of family reunion away from larger crowds as we secretly pick up potential helpers and people in need”

  With this, time is up, “Rob, lead the way, your family awaits”, on their way out, Ethan’s hand brushes Dana’s, as they make short eye contact, a grin meets another, the tension is palpable.

  Moving past Jessica he whispers to her, “You are the voice of reason a place like this needs, thank you”, with those words he leaves with Rob.

  At the entrance now six people await them, the family guy stayed to recover, “Six will be enough. We are doing it differently this time, we go in, take the selective people we are looking for, we move out. The rest wait in stand by somewhere close by, are we okay with this? If someone notices a special case, someone you think should join us, tell me about it”.

  The response comes in the form of seven nodding heads. They make their way to the entrance, around them in the communal area, clapping and cheers are being heard from all over, Wishing for their safe return, “I feel like a warrior of old time going to war” Rob chuckles.

  “It does feel like that” Ethan couldn’t describe the situation any better, “may we succeed in finding your family whole”.

  A tear forms in Rob’s eye hearing this regard, he is closer than ever.

  A few minutes later. They are back to the uneven concrete road they came from less than an hour ago, debris of woods, metal and concrete decorating the background, Ethan and Rob take a distance to speak privately.

  “Say, what’s up with, With this guy?” Ethan secretly points at the guy who went for his girlfriend.

  “Oh...quite a drama to be honest, I overheard his girlfriend was caught chummy with one of the young lads who didn't joined us, he speaks of her saying it was because she thought he had died and was afraid of the monster birds” Rob answers in a whispering tone.

  “So we are becoming this kind of a swamp ah?” Ethan chuckled.

  The replay comes very fast, catching him by surprise “Of course it does, Mr. training session”. Ethan stops walking, caught unguard, “Is that what everybody thinks?” Ethan asks, his face red as a cherry. “The guard speaks of how she was impaling someone's throat in your stead cause you looked bothered about killing him” He speaks of the events of the parking lot to a high level of detail, “And what of the other one guy we killed? What do people say about it?” Ethan inquired, resuming his walk. “The guards speak of you acting like a mafia lord with how you worked that guard” Rob bursts laughing, startling the six guards in tow.

  Over hearing the last sentence Ethan notices three heads nodding slightly, “Next project is private rooms!” Ethan shouts out of nowhere making the whole squad burst out laughing.

  Around early noon, they walked for almost half an hour, passing by the road that took them to the last location. The small forest is visible on the horizon. Rob calls Ethan out, “Ethan, walking around I understand the assumptions you shared in the meeting room regarding the world transforming existing elements of itself, but do you know why daytime or nighttime seems the same? More low tech or analog watches that still work show that sunrise and sunset take pretty much the same time, hour and a half more or less but pretty much the same nonetheless”.

  Ethan saw the guards lean in, their curiosity piqued. "Listen," he said, his voice taking on a hint of excitement, "I've got a theory. This isn't just an Earth thing. This whole shift? It probably happened across the solar system, maybe even the galaxy." He paused, letting that sink in.

  He knew most people these days didn't spend their time pondering about the cosmos; everyday life had a way of keeping your focus a little closer to home. In his country, most folks barely knew the difference between a planet and a star, let alone considered the intricate dance of celestial bodies. ‘It’s sad with how all the technological advancement and availability to knowledge the important stuff got shoved to the bottom of the list’ Ethan let out a deep sigh.

  "Think about it," he continued, "the universe, a symphony of planets and moons, each spinning in perfect harmony, defying the chaos of gravity and time. It's always been too precise. Like some cosmic clockwork. My guess? Mana just amplified what was already there. All that order, all that balance... maybe it somehow protected us from completely falling apart. That’s also what kept the day - night cycle almost the same" He let his words hang in the air, watching as the guards absorbed the information.

  Murmurs of agreement rippled through the guards. Clearly, Ethan's grasp of the bigger picture and his ability to connect the dots into a rational assumption impressed his group. It was a welcome shift from the fear and uncertainty that had clouded their minds.

  Interestingly Enough, he got a confirmation for his words soon after from an unexpected source.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  [Ding! Mind increased by 1!]

  ‘This random stats boost should also be researched’ Ethan nods approvingly to the welcome surprise of the system.

  The chit chat continued, as the group of seven kept on walking.

  Whenever they arrived at a place of low visibility and terrain disadvantage, they took formation. With the weird severing wings forest disappearing from sight completely, it took twenty minutes more, along the way they found some improvised hideouts and places of gatherings for humans. They were far more chaotic but manageable, being in the center of the city was a great advantage when it came to finding food and a hideouts.

  “Come to think of it, it’s been a bit more than two days , with that super long evening we are almost hitting 3 days of this shit show” someone from the back lines spoke out loud.

  Hearing this, a realization of how many things he had been through in such a short duration of time, all he wanted was to finish today’s runs around the city and rest for a very long time.

  “By the way, I'm sorry for asking you this just now but how many family members do you have?” Ethan asked, the place is almost in sight.

  “I have my wife, two sons and baby daughter, she just turned 4” Rob answered with pride and picked up the pace he walked at subconsciously, “my two sons are 9 and 10, i can't wait to see them”.

  Nodding politely Ethan concludes “I bet, let’s make a bit of a run, shall we?”

  Using the good visibility of the terrain, they started a slow jogging, and slowed down as they entered a fairly intact neighborhood, with low 3 floors buildings, surrounded by a patch of low to none existent greenery, perfect for long distance scouting. Ethan assumed this place had a giant area of low grass like a running area or neighbourhood park for the residents based on his earth transformation theory.

  No gates or monsters, blood or collapsed buildings were in sight. A ping of hope rose in group members’ hearts, looking at this scene Ethan hyped his people, “This view...this scenery, is what we aim for, keep that in mind! As soon as we could expand and rebuild we shall have a place like this as well”

  As if a calm and ease would come for free, things turned complicated.

  At the entrance and around the neighborhood armed men appeared to patrol, they were armed with knives, and one handgun could be seen holstered in a man’s frontal belt line.

  With Ethan and Rob both having handguns, they hid them and made their presence known.

  Ethan and the group were hoping that they were about to meet a group of nice and reasonable people, trying to survive together, but the first interaction showed that things ain’t going to be like they had hoped for.

  “Stop, right there, you are not allowed through past this point!” one of the three guards drew a knife, His hair was dishevelled, so bruises on his face and right arm, they clearly did not have it easier in the last two days.

  The two on the back stayed wary of the armed group of eight, their hands ready on a knife and the gun, their appearance ain’t any better than the guy who took the lead.

  “My name is Rob, and we come in peace, my family live in that building”, he points at one of the buildings, “I wish to reunite with them!”

  “Cute, ain’t happening. First, this place and everyone around, now belongs to our boss. Secondly, only the boss decides who goes in and who goes out”

  “Then call him!” Rob's patience was deteriorating with every letter the man spoke, “I wish to see the man who regards my family as his property”.

  “Sure, we take fancy knives as payment” The man grin evilly.

  “Ethan, what do we do?” Rob's hands were shaking visibly, inching to his holstered gun on his back by the moment, he just waited for Ethan to command it, but Ethan decided abit more talkative approach.

  "Listen," Ethan said, walking towards the guard with his hands up, "my friend needs to see his family. There are eight of us and three of you, and we're not scared of a few knives. We also don't want to fight, but we can handle ourselves if we have to. So, here's the deal: either you let us through, call your boss, Or, keep messing with us, we might just have to introduce you to this lovely can of bug spray I've got here. This one is extra spicy, guaranteed to make you wish you'd stayed in bed this morning." He grinned, making the aluminum rustle through his fabric making hollow metal thumps. "I fixed the nozzle, It has quite a distance for guys like you who love sharp pieces of metal ,Now, what's it gonna be?"

  Losing all grounds, seeing the wild and unruly behaviour of the group that just came, the scaring tactics and facade broke down, “Aren’t you ballsy?”, clicking his tongue the guard signed to one of the other two behind him to go, most likely get the boss, or reinforcement, time will tell.

  Eventually, it was both, it seems like the power of 8 armed and fearless men had this kind of effect, They also arrived quite fast.

  ‘The boss’, was a young man, not older than Ethan, he was a bit short, his hair bright brown, some might go as far as say dark blonde, and he had bright green eyes.

  He was about to come closer, but suddenly, he his eyes squinted, he drew a gun and aimed at Ethan.

  “Why have you come here?” he asks, his voice shaky.

  Reading their levels they were all about level 2 or 3, the most glaring thing was that although the young lad that was pointing his gun was the less noticeable by danger sense, the danger sense tugged far more deeply from the 14 people behind him.

  “Are you willing to speak things over privately?” Ethan asks the young man.

  “Sure, but the gun stays pointed at you! keep your distance!” he Agrees.

  Walking to the side, the tug from the danger sense from the young boy’s lackeys turned stronger.

  “Listen, mind me asking why are you so afraid of me, you look at me like I'm a ghost” Ethan asks Straightforwardly.

  “How many did you Kill?” The boy asks, his voice meek.

  Confused by the weird question he came to a realization, “Oh! You also figured some tricks, didn't you?” Ethan asks teasingly, “do you perhaps know your way around the genre?”

  The boy's eyes lit up with amusement and doubt, “It happens to be the case, yes, now explain how you reach Level 7?!”

  “Goblins, wolves, rapists, murderers, the usual, listen I need you to keep the gun aimed at me, we need to speak, I assume you know what a skill is?” Ethan asks, receiving a nod as a response.

  “A step backward, The name is Ethan, what's yours?”

  “Danny” he answers skeptically.

  “Okay, so that's the thing, you are nice, and I have a skill that allows me to feel hostile intent towards me. I feel just a bit of it from you, dissipating by the moment, almost as if you are more scared than hostile, your friends on the other hand, all fourteen are Bursting with intense hostility, mind telling me what's up? Are you aware that the guard tried to blackmail us to give him our knives to let us in? Is that a thing you ordered?” Ethan asks the young man in charge.

  With every sentence, his face paints another feeling. soon, confusion, freight, doubt and worry are all there creating an unreadable face, If he had been faced to his so called ‘lackeys’, they would have taken action already.

  “I… What?! No! I have never told no one to act like that. I met those guys, and used my knowledge to make them help me take over this area. They always seemed so kind, I never saw them acting like that. I saw them whispering or acting a bit weird at times but I tried to hold them in place by giving them knowledge of, you know, system and fantasy stuff and they helped me out, they brought down some bad people, and…” Danny's face fell, “I was told they were bad guys, and my guys never gave me no reason to suspect. you words, I can't completely accept them”

  “I'm not asking you for anything. You just felt less determined on killing me then the other so I thought I will do it by talking and not killing for no reason, let me take my friend's family and we will let you play you city tycoon quietly, or whatever you try to build here”

  “Okay, take them and leave!” Danny calls out, his emotions all over the place, he is scared, the danger sense tug disappeared from danny completely.

  “Danny, are you good? Would you like to tell me what you think? I myself have 80 people to keep in line” Ethan offers to try to keep the appearance of himself being under a gun threat, “A moment though, Hey! Rob, go fetch your family, we wait here”

  One of the men stood in Rob's way, “Does your boss now take the shots around here?” He holds his knife high.

  “Let him pass” Danny speaks in an uncharismatic voice makes their level of suspicion.

  “But boss, what if they steal our stuff?” the man started to get flabbergasted, obviously hiding something.

  “Make way, He will Take his family and they leave, all of them” Danny speaks, managing to force some seriousness to his voice.

  ‘He is afraid to speak with them? There is no way those 14 older men follow such a child, his leadership is non-existent, something is off’ Ethan and his group felt the odd power dynamic of the group and couldn't miss the oddities.

  Reluctantly, the man makes way and Rob runs towards his house, looking at which building he ran to and some of the men start to whisper, their faces full of suspense.

  Using the fact that they are still somewhat distanced Ethan speaks, his eyes now cold, “Hear me out, I'm not sure what's up, but something is happening here, Where are your other people? Who are those 14? My senses scream as if they are about to lunge at us at any moment and that’s just by looking at their faces” Ethan urges.

  “I don't know, they offered to help me with the people, I gave them knowledge, they even take care of food rations, because of the situation outside people were instructed to stay home, for safety. Whenever I meet with people, I'm being Treated as if I'm the one taking charge, that's it. We are about 40 survivors. There was a turf war, this team seemed to clean up the competition. As a token of gratitude for their help with the turf war, I gave them some basic knowledge, and they understood I have more to teach them, so that's how it has been for the last day and a half” Danny recap what's happened here in the last two days.

  “And are you certain the guys they killed were the bad guys? Are you certain they haven't fought ‘good’ People? Have you considered them being also ‘bad’ or just using you? Not to be rude, but the more you talk I feel like those guys are using you, and something stinky happening around here. Have you ever seen them interacting with the rest of the survivors?” Ethan rains Danny with a flood of questions.

  “Have you seen them handle work when you are not around?” Ethan inquires further, leaving Danny to stummer dumbly.

  Just as he was about to inquire any farther, Rob shows up, he came back with his family in tow, his family looking at the heated tension between the two groups, and standing behind Rob's back.

  Rob’s sharp enough to not miss it, goes straight to Ethan, Danny still points the gun, as instructed, “Ethan, we have to leave now! Something bad is going on here!”

  ‘Danny Presence and intimidation so weak, almost nonexistent, Rob didn’t even hesitate to come closer with a gun pointed at me’ Ethan solidified his concerns about him being used.

  “Feels like it. Danny, The moment we leave, you should run away, they won't be polite and wait for you to share your knowledge for any longer, if you know what I mean” concluding this by nodding to Rob, “Everyone, we leave now!” Ethan calls.

  Ethan’s cohort, moved past the shuddering gunman, including Rob's family, leaving Ethan and Danny staring at each other.

  ‘This is no good, we have three kids with us, I can't allow a shoot down to take place! Rob must have figured it out. Does he hold back because of his children present?’, locking eyes with Rob Ethan notices, a Pair of eyes packing unbridled fury that he holds in for some reason.

  Danny suddenly speaks, his voice so low, “Please, help me, I don't wanna die…” Tears form in his eyes…

  ‘damn…’ Ethans Eyes darted all over, time is not on his side, any more hold ups and the 14 men will go on the assault, “Tell me beside you, who else has a gun?”