The snake definitely concerned some people. Okay, most people. Seeing a beast sleeping inside a skull after picking the flesh clean from it would scare most. Sebastian would admit to that wholeheartedly.

He kept the snake for a few reasons though, reasons most people understood when he told them. First, it wasn’t at all aggressive towards people so far. Second, it seemed oddly intelligent. Finally, he wanted to test something. So far, Scorn has taken oddly game-like qualities, and in many games you can have pets or mounts. The snake was his test to see if a beast could be turned into either thing, and if beasts could be tamed.

If beasts could be tamed, communicated with, and turned into friends or companions? Fighting strength would increase all around for the group and people who prefer to focus on their professions, assuming that’s ever figured out, could have a beast to fight for them as a form of protection.

Speaking of professions, no one really understood much about them yet. If he had to say who was the closest to getting one, it was probably Rich. The man himself stated he was a blacksmith, he just didn’t have a proper forge with him. Assuming he can get the forge and pack it up into the convoy on the way out of the city, he’d probably be the first to get a profession once he finally crafts an item beyond Inferior Grade.

The question was, though, what profession would Sebastian want? Hell, even classes still haven't been given yet. They didn’t know how either function worked fully. What class would he want? He uses Ice Magic and a Saber, so maybe a battle mage? That sounds so overused though..

At this point though he’d just have to hope Scorn had something good in store for them. Professions though, those were different. He needed to make a choice for something he thought he was good at and could spend time doing and growing in. At that point though, you have to define what a profession is.

Maybe something to do with teaching skills..? Sebastian has been learning faster than anyone else when it comes to Vitality, Mana, and skills. His saber technique was improving steadily too, even if it remained at Inept. The feeling that it would improve soon was there too.

Speaking of skills, he had both active and passive skills so far. Identify was active, Saber Expertise and Ice Affinity were passive. Maybe there were more active skills?

Shaking his head quickly, he removed himself from his thoughts. He kept diving into tangents about how everything worked and while it helped sometimes, it also distracted him when he shouldn’t be. Right now, he should just focus on eating this Vitality rich wolf meat.

A soft smile on his face, the man lurched forward, cut a slice of golden brown meat from the makeshift stove and spit roast with an eager light in his eyes. Biting down into it-

Holy fuck that’s good.

Dallas was not happy. Not even less than happy. His mood was abysmal recently. The convoy was originally going along fine. Then people started getting worried. Thought it would be safer to stay here where the debris had formed and there was food. Have the strong scavenge food and hunt the beasts. Water bottles could be raided from other markets.

The other half vehemently denied the idea. They believed the city was unsafe and that it would be best to leave. Find a source of fresh water, find a small town or another city. They believed it was only death to stay in West Cairn due to the massively failing infrastructure. The sewers alone would create a difficult issue, knowing all sorts of vermin and pests once lived down there.

They could stop by a gardening and landscaping store on their way out of the city for seeds, try to grow food or hunt and forage on the outside. Dallas was caught in between a rock and a hard place. The city was dangerous, yes, but what happens after they leave? The wild had way more animals. The only thing they could do was try to go to a village or town, smaller urban areas with less pests and people, but even then food is finite.

Staying was a bad idea; but leaving might be even worse. Dallas might even want to stay if it wasn’t for the fact that he knew what lurked beneath the ground could ruin them. He could only hope that they left before all hell broke through the earth.

Yelling orders back and forth, trucks were quickly stocked with food and water, even with over two hundred people yelling at the back. He wouldn’t mind leaving people behind if he had to, and it was starting to look like he would. Some people never understood how difficult surviving was even before The Light.

And it only got harder.

Playing around with the water flower seed, Sebastian wasn’t sure what he should do with it. Yeah, maybe tossing it in water would make it taste better, but he doubted it would make the water that good for taste or for vitality. Rolling it around slightly in his palm, he remembered his new buddy.

Sebastian looked over to the snake with a weird expression, seeing it had poked its head out and similarly started looking back at him, it’s gaze focused on the water flower seed in his hand. When he moved to seed around, the little snake’s gaze followed it like a smitten lover. It was honestly a little amusing to see, but he didn’t want to tease the guy too much.

Rolling the seed over, the snake slithered out of its newfound skull home and approached it. Its jaws opened wide and swallowed the object whole. It sluggishly returned to it’s skull, but Sebastian swore he saw a look of content in its eyes. It felt too damn human.

It didn’t even have a name. Should he name it? God only knows he’s not good at naming living things. How about.. Therin? Therin’s a good name, right? Fuck it. The damn snake is named Therin now.

Therin liked the Water Flower Seed, most likely because it was, well, a water flower. The snake was already a water attributed beast, so it’s not surprising that it likes a water flower’s seed. Maybe affinity really did affect taste somewhat? Sebastian found it kinda ridiculous that he liked the wolf meat so much, and this would be the perfect explanation.

He ate the entirety of the wolf meat, something made possible probably due to his Vitality and increased constitution. He felt full, but nowhere near how full he should be after eating almost two whole wolves. His Vitality most likely helped him digest it immensely faster than normal, something he definitely didn’t mind.

Standing up and throwing out the bones, Therin quickly slithered out of it’s skull home and wrapped around his leg to slowly make its way back up to his shoulders. He could have sworn the snake felt slightly longer than before, but he didn’t really care much.

Walking back towards the parking lot after a fulfilling meal, he decided he’d help pack the convoy. The sooner they left, the better in his mind. They needed to find the families of the group members, pick up new people, find Rich’s forge, and a few other things that were much less important but vital to keeping the people happy. None of that could be done here.

The stronger beasts were all animals that didn’t remain in urban areas. Wolves, coyotes, eagles. Things that lived in the park, now the forest area, were all much stronger than any random squirrel even at the same level. For now it was fine, yes, that was a good thing. But it also meant that right now, all the animals there are at a very high level from the constant fighting, reproduction, and bloodshed.

The moment an animal claims ownership and dominance over that forest, the stronger but surviving animals will be pushed out and forced to claim new areas as the forest expands. Sebastian wanted no part of that turf war. It was either leave now, or fight against a horde of beasts way higher than the group is in level.

Which is exactly why Sebastian was adamant on leaving, and he felt it’s why Dallas wanted to as well. The man knew when to fold his hand, and it was a trait Sebastian appreciated. He didn’t try to control him at all either, just tried to include him. The bladesman wasn’t unreasonable, if Dallas made a plan that made sense and helped people, he’d join. He just wouldn’t tolerate being told or forced what to do.

His help didn’t affect the speed much ,but they had been doing this for a couple days now, so it wasn’t long before he had put the last of the supplies into a truck for the convoy to take outside the city. Smiling towards and thanking all the other helpers, he quickly scurried off to go find the boss of the supermarket.

Returning to the Employee’s lounge, he saw Dallas, Ken, and Mariah all huddled around a map. He felt faint wisps of mana flowing around the swordsman, as if they were the winds circling him. The sight gave him a bright smile. He had awakened his affinity too, naturally, by detecting his vitality and controlling it.

“Congratulations!”

Ken smiled in response, though it was obvious he wasn’t in the best of moods based on his expression. Mariah and Dallas looked similar. He assumed Mariah was here because she had also awakened a unique affinity, and it was likely she’d eventually grow to be a powerhouse as well. Once Dallas eventually awakened his affinity, a feat Sebastian had no doubt he would accomplish, the group would have four people with an affinity.

Ken might have also had a unique affinity but he wasn’t sure yet. Either way, his growth was one of the fastest and it could also be assumed he’d be a powerhouse. That left the four of them as those who’d most likely be strongest among the group in the future. No wonder Dallas is making decisions with them. He probably wasn’t invited simply because Dallas understood he’d show up on his own.

“You probably don’t know the situation, Sebastian?”

“Not a fucking clue.”

Dallas sighed softly, probably because this might be the third time he’s explained it.

“Someone I sent to scout the path earlier came back. The way out of the city is almost empty of beasts. The small packs that remain are all Lv. 7 - 9, and they only got half way to the city’s edge.”

“Guessing the issue is why it’s empty, then?”

“Yep, they also found footprints. Big ones. Look like a cat’s if it were the size of a truck. Left scorched earth in its wake. Sound familiar?”

“Scorched earth..? We saw it on the other side of the barricade to the industrial area. Do you think it got through somehow? Last I recall the barricade was untouched.”

“Yes, but it could have just jumped over. With enough strength, I don’t see why not. The point is, whatever scared the fuck out of that rat swarm is now roaming the path out of the city. It might not have discovered a single person, but what do you expect the chances of it ignoring a whole convoy of hundreds of people to be?”

“Fuckin’ zero.”