As Alex was walking towards the exit of the store, carrying the still sleeping Jane in his arms, his stomach rumbled with a deep growl. It seemed that for all the inhuman feats Alex was capable of now, surviving without food was not one of them, at least temporarily.

“Damn, in all my excitement after creating the Unity I forgot to stack up on Ashberries.” Alex admonished himself as he stopped to think.

“I’ll just have to raid the food department then. Hopefully, no more surprises for me in there. I should also probably get some basic medical supplies for her.” Alex decided, recalling the store map he saw at the entrance with perfect clarity.

After taking another look at Jane, Alex concluded that her wounds were shallow for the most part, which meant they could be taken care of with some gauze, bandages, and some ointment, at least for the moment.

Following a quick trip to stack up on medical supplies in a remote corner of the shop, turning a corner, Alex made his way towards his soon-to-be late-night snacks.

A short while later, Alex found the food department. Looking in front of him, he could see the shelves absolutely trashed, and almost all their contents missing. Carefully setting Jane down onto the floor, he started a short walk along the aisles of the food department.

“It seems the stragglers that didn’t head for the obelisk made quick work of the store’s supplies,” Alex observed.

As he walked through the aisles, he could see that most of the stuff you could categorize as emergency food was missing. Protein bars, canned meats and vegetables, pasteurized milk, all gone.

After giving the situation a little bit more thought, Alex finally saw something useful as he walked along the empty shelves in the food department.

“Most people took the long-lasting stuff, but they didn’t quite think this would be as useful as canned meat and jerky, huh?” Alex thought as he gazed on shelves of untouched sweets.

“Dark chocolate, toffees, dried fruit, hard candies, and halva bars. This should do for a short while.” Alex recounted what he was seeing, making a list in his mind as he went about grabbing anything he could lay his hands on, and stuffing it in the duffel bag.

Five minutes later, Alex returned to where Jane was lying with a bag beaming full of sweets. Quickly settling the duffel bag over his shoulder, he picked up Jane and finally headed towards the exit of the shop.

Having left the store, Alex had to find someplace to crash, as he wouldn’t exactly be able to hunt Awakened Beasts with Jane being unconscious in his arms, after all. This is why Alex made the most comfortable choice; the construction site was a three-minute walk away from the store, provided cover from any wandering beasts, as well as giving the slight benefit of higher elevation for cultivation purposes.

After arriving at the construction site, Alex took the stone stairs to the faux-roof of the building so he had a clear view of the night sky. He settled Jane against a stone pillar as he got to fixing her wounds as best as he could. Some gauze and bandages around her head wound, ointment, and bandages for the scar on her face and her cut hand.

Half an hour later of awkward movements from Alex, Jane seemed to be decently patched up. Having struggled with the process for a while made Alex appreciate Harry and Michelle’s presence in his time of need, even more, having considered just how hard it could be to take care of someone.

“I don’t even want to think about what would have happened to me if they weren’t there to help me along the way. I should get them something nice when I return.” Alex thought to himself.

As he stood up, he saw Jane trembling slightly from the chilly night wind. Seeing her, he was reminded that he could regulate his own temperature, and so was unaffected by the cold.

“I guess even if it’s summer, the nights can get pretty chilly,” Alex remarked as he took his outer robe and settled it over Jane as a makeshift blanket.

After making sure her wounds were taken care of and she was as comfortable as she could be in this situation, Alex took a step away from her and sat cross-legged.

“I guess I’ve got some time until she wakes up. Wouldn’t want to waste it.” Alex thought as he started cultivating.

The [Intrinsic Unity Art] might have been a complex cultivation method, but the principle behind it was simple. Most cultivation methods Alex knew of focused on strengthening the Body, Mind, and Soul Aspects of a cultivator, which meant that if someone wanted to work on two or more Aspects, they would have to split their attention, resources, and time to make it work. The Unity aimed to circumvent some of the problems related to that. By melding all three Primordial Apertures into the Unity, a cultivator couldn’t not strengthen all three Aspects even if he wanted to; which addressed some problems. Firstly, the practitioner's attention wouldn’t have to be split between three paths. Secondly, the efficiency with which the Unity absorbed the Divine Breath meant that overall, it took a lesser amount of Divine Breath to progress as opposed to focusing on three distinct paths simultaneously. Thirdly, by the same reasoning, it took less overall time to progress in the Art than without it.

Focusing his consciousness, he could feel the Divine Breath suffusing everything around him as well as the stillness with which the Unity was floating inside himself. Remembering the cycling method described in the old manual from the Legion’s Librarium, Alex started moving what meagre amounts of Divine Breath he had throughout his body.

As time passed, Alex opened his eyes in a snap. He finally, painstakingly, completed his first revolution of Divine Breath through his body, after which he noticed that the Unity inside him seemed to get bigger, even if by a microscopic amount. Its shine and outer shell also seemed to look and feel different; better.

The exhilaration that passed through Alex as he could actually feel himself becoming stronger, smarter, more, was so addicting that he wondered if this is how junkies felt if a junkie’s high could be made into something positive and never-ending.

“This is just the beginning of the path, and already I can do what humans dreamt of for millennia in their legends. Maybe the fall of civilization as we knew it was worth it, after all, considering we must have seemed like backward savages to the wider cosmos from this regard.” Alex mused.

Having reined in his excitement, Alex closed his eyes and got back to cycling the breath throughout his body.

As time passed, so did night turn into day as the warm rays of light sent by the flaming lava ball rising on the horizon hit everything in their sight. As Alex was cultivating in peace, he could feel Nova squirming around his neck. Opening his eyes, he looked at Jane, who was seemingly asleep; seemingly.

Looking at her, Alex could see her lying on the concrete roof of the construction building with her eyes closed, tucked away under his outer robe blanket. For anyone else who might be looking at her, she was clearly asleep. Not for Alex though; the moment Jane awoke, the familiar yellow cloud signifying fear and anxiety started churning around her head, giving her away to both his and Nova’s sense.

Making sure he made no sudden movements, Alex took a calm, deep breath before speaking as gently as he could.

“Please don’t panic, I know it might be hard, but I don’t mean you harm. I know you’re awake.” Alex addressed her in a slow, controlled manner.

Having spoken, he immediately saw the yellow cloud burst and multiply before immediately calming down to avoid giving herself away.

“She can rein in her fear when she needs to; amazing,” Alex noted.

“Look, I know we didn’t get off on the right foot, and I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t mean you harm.” Alex addressed her again.

Seeing Jane still feigning ignorance, Alex could feel annoyance start to creep into himself before he made a conscious effort to nip it in its bud.

“Calm down, remember how you felt when in her situation; her brain’s probably running full-speed trying to make sense of what is happening right now.” Alex admonished himself before speaking.

“Okay, look, here is what I will do. I will slowly, slowly, stand up, and walk a couple of meters away from you. If and when you decide to open your eyes, you will find a duffel bag near you. Inside it is some food, medical supplies, and your crowbar along with your bowie knife; you know, the one you tried to stab me with?” Alex said, slowly standing up.

“Oh, and, this might be rude, but I know you’re awake. You could probably fool anyone else though, except me; I know this sounds insane, but I can literally see your emotions flaring up right now.” Alex added as he backed away in the same slow manner.

After backing away for another five meters, Alex stopped and sat down on the concrete in the same cross-legged position he was in previously, content to keep watching Jane in silence.

As Alex sat in absolute silence for another couple of minutes, Jane finally decided to open her eyes. Having opened them, she focused all her attention on Alex, still sitting a good distance away from her while she probed for the duffel bag without breaking eye-contact with Alex, or rather, without breaking eye-mask contact with Alex.

Frantically moving her arm around her, she finally felt the coarse texture of the duffel bag as she dragged it towards herself in one sudden movement. Still keeping her gaze fixed on Alex, she opened the bag and started searching its insides for her weapons. A moment later, she took out the bowie knife and, holding it with both hands, pointed it at Alex as she spoke.

“Stay away! I’m not joking!” Jane spoke in a loud voice.

“It probably won’t do me any good to tell her that knife is useless against me.” Alex thought as he let a small smile take over his masked face.

Raising his hands, as if to show his harmlessness, he answered her.

“I’m not going anywhere, don’t worry,” he spoke.

Taking a moment to take her new situation in, she once again addressed Alex.

“What are you?” she asked.

“What? Well, that’s rude.” Alex thought, as another thought immediately crossed him. “Wait a second; the mask.” Alex quickly concluded that the mask he was wearing might not be helping him in making a good impression.

As the thought crossed his mind, he used his right hand to take the mask off in one swift motion. Lacking his robe, he decided to put the mask nearby, onto the concrete as he answered.

“Well, that’s just rude. I have feelings, you know? My name is Alex, and nice to meet you too, mysterious knife and crowbar woman.” Alex tried a more nonchalant approach in hopes of easing Jane’s worries.

Even though Jane found herself in quite the precarious situation, it seemed that politeness was still deeply ingrained in her character as she answered in a beat.

“Jane, my name is Jane,” she answered with a slight pang of sadness.

“Well, Jane, nice to meet you. How are you feeling? I’m not a doctor by any stretch, but I think I did a pretty good job patching you up.” Alex asked, trying to get Jane to open up.

As Jane took a quick look at herself, she noticed that all her wounds were either bandaged or had ointment applied to them to stem the bleeding. To Alex’s eyes, the moment Jane heard and saw that her wounds were taken care of, the yellow cloud around her seemed to diffuse ever so slightly.

“Progress; small steps, but at least she’s becoming less wary of me.” Alex made a mental note.

Double-checking the state of her wounds, Jane looked back at Alex, and spoke again, this time with slightly less tension in her voice.

“What were you doing in that store?” Jane asked, awaiting Alex’s reply with attention.

Alex simply raised his hand and pointed towards the bag resting in front of Jane.

“I needed a bag, and then I got hungry, which is why you can see a bag chock-full of sweets near you. If you’re hungry you can help yourself.” Alex answered.

“That doesn’t explain why you were exactly at that store though,” Jane added apprehensively.

“It was the closest store, considering I was half a block away when it hit me that I needed a bag,” Alex explained in a patient manner.

Deciding to turn the flow of the conversation, Alex decided that he should start asking some questions.

“What were you doing at the store?” he decided to ask.

As the question left Alex’s mouth, he could see the cloud of yellow return with a vengeance, along with sparks of red and black here and there.

“Calm down, I promise you’re safe here, for what that’s worth. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Alex quickly took to reassuring Jane.

Taking another moment, Jane asked a question of her own.

“You really can see my emotions?” she asked with sadness suffusing her voice.

“Well, not all emotions; only the negative ones. Fear, anger, sadness, that kind of thing,” he explained with an empathic expression.

Hearing Alex’s answer, Jane took a moment to gather herself before speaking.

“Hiding,” she said in a defeated manner.

“Sorry?” Alex didn’t quite understand.

“You asked what I was doing in the store. Hiding, I was hiding.” Jane answered in annoyance at having to explain herself twice.

Seeing the flash of anguish on her face as she spoke, Alex was in doubt of whether to continue his line of questioning when his curiosity got the best of him.

“Could you tell me more?” Alex assumed the most harmless tone he could muster, in hopes of making Jane feel safe and comfortable to share her story with him.

Faced with an earnest-faced Alex, along with the momentary safety Jane seemingly found herself in, coupled with the fact that she was just plain tired to hold on to her anger, apprehension, and wariness, made Jane open up to him.

As time passed, Jane recounted her story to Alex. How she was working the night shift when the obelisks arrived. How she decided to leave in search of help. How she was attacked by an oversized cat mad with bloodlust while making her way towards the nearest police station. How she met her fake saviours.

When she mentioned the two outpost cultivators that saved her from the Awakened Beast, the cloud of negativity returned to Jane in waves. Alex quietly gave her space and a moment as she worked hard calming herself, after which she continued on with her story.

Jane recounted the way the two who saved her won her trust at first, then, after a while, how the two savages quickly changed their tune as they tried to force themselves on her. Her voice was trembling as she told Alex how they used their sabres to threaten her into submission. How she used her knife to wound one of them in the eye when they lost themselves in excitement. How she escaped from them and hid in the darkest corner of the general store she could find, and about how she mistook him for one of them.

After she finished her story, a sombre mood overtook her as she glanced at the floor beneath her with a passive look. It took all of Alex’s willpower not to show visible signs of anger at Jane’s mention of the two degenerates, forcing the searing anger to settle deep within himself as he turned his attention to the problem at hand.

Hoping to distract Jane from her dark thoughts, Alex decided to change the topic as started recounting his story in return. Some parts of his story were similar to Jane’s; the arrival of the obelisks, his journey towards the outpost, the attack of the Awakened Beast pack on the way there. Making sure he had her attention, he started to tell her of the outpost, the factions, and the wonders that awaited any who went there. He omitted some details, like the Nightmare Legion, the invaders, and other information that wouldn’t help with bringing Jane’s spirits up. After he finished, Jane seemed to have calmed down as she spoke.

“I’m sorry, for stabbing you yesterday I mean. Are you alright?” Jane asked.

“You don’t remember?” Alex asked with a worried face.

“I wasn’t in the clearest state of mind, so after I stabbed you most of it is a haze,” she explained.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, and thinking about the best way to answer, Alex spoke.

“I’m fine, the knife didn’t pierce me. It’s me that should be sorry, I didn’t mean to almost strangle you.” Alex said with a slight pang of shame in his voice.

“No, I would do that too if a crazy mad woman rushed me with a crowbar and a knife.” Jane rebutted him, shaking her head as a small laugh escaped her.

Seeing her smile and hearing her bell-like laugh, Alex felt relief as he spoke.

“Okay, then, we let bygones be bygones. Can I approach? I’m getting hungry again.” Alex asked.

“Sure, it’s your food after all,” she answered.

Making slow, controlled steps towards Jane, Alex settled in front of her as he took the bag and took out all the sweets he gathered earlier. Taking an halva bar, he chucked it into his mouth as he spoke with a full mouth.

“Heup youseff.” Alex said with his stuffed mouth, pushing the sweets to Jane.

What followed next was a quiet early morning breakfast consisting fully of sweets. Both Alex and Jane opted to eat in silence, letting the situation settle in their minds. After the two of them were done eating, it was Alex that broke the silence.

“Phew, can you walk?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?” she asked with slight apprehension.

“Well, I could just carry you, but that’s beside the point. Let’s go, I’ll escort you to the outpost, and the Healer’s Guild should patch you up like new.” Alex answered.

As Alex explained his reasoning, a frown covered Jane’s face.

“I’m not going anywhere near that thing,” Jane said in a deadpan tone, mentioning the obelisk.

“Look, I can’t just leave you alone, and trust me, you’re going to want to be in the outpost sooner rather than later.” Alex tried to convince her.

“I’m. Not. Going. I’m not setting foot where those two came from.” she said with a pained expression as she hugged her legs with her hands and settled her head on her knees.

Putting himself in her shoes, he could see her thought-process, even if he knew it didn’t really reflect reality all that well.

“Okay then, what will you do then?” Alex asked, incredulity covering his face.

“I don’t know. Can’t I just stick with you?” she asked hopefully.

“Out of the question. You’re just going to drag me down while I hunt.” Alex answered in a crass manner.

“You’re going to hunt those things?” Jane asked with a raised eyebrow as if questioning Alex’s capabilities.

“Yeah, I have to kill fifty of the things. And I’m on a clock. Considering I have to find that many beasts in the first place, I don’t have the leisure to take you with me. The most I can do is take you to the outpost and get you healed at the Guild before departing.” Alex tried his best to make her reconsider.

“Hmm, so you don’t even know where they are?” Jane asked with a mischievous look.

“That’s right, it’s been three days since the obelisk arrived, and other cultivators cleaned out most of the city centre,” Alex explained.

“And what if I told you I know where you could find all the monsters you wanted, would you be willing to take me with you for that information?” Jane asked with a grin on her face.