Jack felt the intangible restriction on him fade, but he continued to stand there, maintaining a combat stance. He had the second shortest range in their impromptu group of four, so retreating or backstepping would be a grave error— he had no idea if this was a random group, or if they knew each other before the apocalypse. The second possibility would make him an unwitting outsider, and that could be very dangerous. So instead, he chose to observe the others calmly.

‘Naive,’ Jack thought to himself, as he watched the archer rooted on the spot, much like himself— scanning the surroundings with unmistakable anxiety reflecting in his eyes, not realizing that all he had to defend himself was a shortbow lacking a drawn arrow. If Jack had hostile intentions towards him, two steps and a flash of his [Qi Blade] skill was all it would take to end his life. The fact that he did not immediately retreat at least ten meters indicated that either he had too much faith in his fellow man, or shock had overwhelmed him— none of those spoke very well for his chances of survival.

The brunette, while also looking fazed, held her spear in front of her chest defensively, taking three quick steps back. Perhaps it was because she was the only woman in the group, but the distrust in her eyes seemed to outweigh even the fear she felt. Though her shifty hands brought Jack no reassurance, for the woman seemed ready to impale the first thing that moved in her direction.

The burly man seemed the most composed of the trio, gauging the others' reactions with caution in his eyes, but Jack could not make out any fear within them. The man seemed to understand an important rule of surviving the unexpected— fear was not a weakness. Displaying it openly was. Jack had not ruled out the possibility of a bad faith actor among them, and if it were the gauntleted man, he would be looking for a target. The ranger who didn’t have the foresight to create distance between himself and three strangers, instead looking around clearly afraid, definitely placed higher up on the list.

Also, the man was the only one among them who didn’t need to rely on [Recovery Pills] to heal.

“Um, hello I guess,” The brunette’s voice rang out cautiously, finally breaking the silence among the group.

That, given the circumstances, was a fair opener.

“Hello,” Jack replied, taking the chance to immediately introduce himself. Group dynamics was a delicate thing, but if he stood out now— seeming calm while the rest of them tried to process their new reality, he would create a strong first impression that projected him as someone who could remain composed under adversity. “I’m Jack. In the old world, I was a gun salesman. What about you guys?” he followed through, specifically using the term ‘old world’ to rouse them from their stupor.

“Do you have one on you?” The burly, gauntleted man interjected, with a mix of caution and, contrastingly, excitement, leaking into his voice.

“A gun? I did. But before that, did you all meet a, well, alien dressed in white robes earlier?” Jack asked, curious how their experiences were different from him.

“Yeah. Some freaky shit, that,” he replied, and the brunette nodded her head alongside him, while the archer’s eyes flashed with a glint of fear.

“Well, they took it from me. And if I understood correctly, we might have been thrown back to the 1400’s. If my small concealed carry handgun is what it considers ‘improper’, then these—,” Jack pointed at his sword with his free left hand, “—are all we have left.”

The gauntleted man’s eyes slightly narrowed, and the expression on his face definitely took a turn for the worse, breaking out into a scowl. “Damn it,” he muttered under his breath, causing Jack to infer that he either owned one or knew where to find one nearby.

“ I’m Andrew. I work as, well, used to work for a trucking company,” He followed through, catching himself mid-sentence.

“Um, I’m Sarah. I worked in IT,” The brunette followed through, slightly more at ease after the group had begun introducing themselves.

“Err, guess it's my turn. I’m James. Used to work in customer service,” The Archer spoke rather sheepishly, the anxiety in his tone palpable.

“Right,” Jack gave the group a curt nod, satisfied with their answers. “So, none of us seem to have any experience with combat situations, is that correct?” he followed through with another question.

The trio nodded in response, though Andrew did so with grunt in slight displeasure.

“It’s a pity, if I had a gun on me I could be a whole lot more useful,” Jack let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh, trying to come across as more relatable to the group.

“Does anyone have any experience with the weapon you’ve selected?” Jack followed through, revealing the real reason he had asked for their professions.

Silence reigned over the group for a few seconds, before the archer decided to speak up.

“I’ve participated in a few archery tournaments, though that was back in high school. Gave it up after, but I should be able to hit a mark quite easily,” James spoke up, some confidence creeping back into his voice, especially since none of the others had responded.

‘Idiot,’ Jack thought to himself, surprised at how easily he’d given up that piece of information. If their partnership ended up failing, or if one of the others decided to turn on him, concealing that key detail could be enough to save his life. Jack’s point of view might come across as cynical, but these were complete strangers: another reason he asked for their profession early on, was to examine if their behavior later turned out to be consistent with their claimed profession. After all there could be criminals among them, the possibility while being low, could not be discounted.

“That’s great! Looks like we have a professional amongst ourselves,” Jack replied with a tone of pleasant surprise, as if he were impressed by the discovery.

“I can throw a punch,” Andrew gave James a scrutinizing look, only lingering on him for a second, but Jack didn’t miss it.

‘And you can heal,’ Jack mentally added, feeling like he had underestimated the pugilist class. While the others were limited to [5 Recovery Pills], Andrew had potentially infinite. And like the man said, his strongman build was certainly conducive to throwing a punch.

Maybe he’d underestimated the class, after all.

“I don’t have any experience, either,” Sarah added, preferring to interpret Andrew’s statement in a manner that was favorable to herself.

“Guess that only leaves me, huh? Well, my store did stock some overpriced swords, so I’ve played around with a few. No real training though, I mean who wastes time learning a sword when you’ve got a gun?” Jack sighed wearily, his tone that of a wronged man— a lifetime of training in the one field, only to realize that his training was worthless, would disappoint anyone.

Note: A Citadel has been detected in the vicinity. Estimated Time of Arrival: Thirty Days. A Citadel is a safe haven where all manners of fighting is strictly forbidden and the safety of a cultivator is assured, but requires Tutorial Tokens to be paid daily as upkeep.

“Do you guys see this as well?” Andrew asked with discomfort in his voice, waving a hand over empty air— though Jack knew he was waving at the system notification in front of him.

“Yes. I guess we know which direction to head in, now.” Jack added for the group to hear, and Sarah immediately sighed in relief. There was some hope of security in this new world, after all.

Andrew looked like he was about to say something, but the violent rustling of bushes coming from behind him made him swallow his words. Immediately turning around, he quickly took two steps backward, which put him shoulder to shoulder with Jack.

“Ready your weapons,” Jack whispered under this breath, as Sarah’s expression turned as white as paper, while Andrew fumbled once in an attempt to pull out an arrow out of his quiver.

Malanike National Park was still very much the same park he was familiar with— dotted by tall Douglas-Fir trees that obscured the skyline, dense patches of shrubbery spread across the expanse, barring the main hiking trail. The rustling grew stronger, and it was accompanied by the rhythmic thumping of a fast moving animal or alien of some sort, still shrouded by the bushes.

The group of four was now standing next to each other, forming a wall of a variety of weapons— on his left was Andrew, while on his right was James, who had finally managed to nock an arrow and was now trying to get a clear shot. Sarah had the good sense to hold her spear in front of her, so at least if the creature was stupid enough to charge directly towards them, it would perhaps impale itself on Sarah’s spear.

It was a poor, makeshift formation, but Jack was honestly surprised that none of them screamed out loud or swore loudly— maybe this group was more than met the eye.

A silhouette burst out from the bushes the next second, and Sarah let out a loud, shrill scream that almost cost Jack a lapse in concentration.