After calming down his emotions, Bryan began to scrutinize the uses of the armor.

He discovered that it was only a defensive skill by now, but maybe things would change in the future. The acclimatized to his new attributes and powers by meditating. everytime he got a power-up, he would have to reign in his own body, after all, he could now bend steel and crush rocks to powder with his own hands.

2 hours passed in this faction. He could control his body perfectly again.

Opening his eyes, he saw that everybody else had already stopped cultivating and were waiting for him. He got up, stretched his body and seated beside Jess.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Bryan asked while looking around.

"I think the best solution would be to train for a while and find another way to close the space rift." Samuel said.

"That's right, Samuel! The system said that we should find a way to close the rift, not to defeat an army of orcs. There should be other solutions to this." Jess said.

"Maybe… maybe I know a way out of this situation… we left one thing out of consideration, the orcs were too attentive toward enemies. Maybe there are other races in this world who we can ask for help." I said after considering everything. Even my plan to enter the city through the sewers would not work, as there was a powerful entity guarding the space rift.

"Even if there are other races from which we can ask for help, how will we find them? For miles, there is only desert! And even if we find them, how can we be sure that they will help us? There are too many factors to take in consideration in this situation, we should proceed with caution." Said the mage, Rick.

"You are right! But even if it's dangerous, we should at least try. Many lives are depending on this. Samuel's family is still in the city, we can't too long either!" Jess said after considering everything.

"We rest for today then. tomorrow we depart from this cave to find some help."

After deciding what to do, they talked for a while about their experiences in the tutorial and rested during the rest of the day.

Just before night fell, they heard a noise of the rock on the entrance of the cave being moved.

Everyone readied their weapons and looked at the rock. A shadowy figure appeared. it was wearing black clothes from top to bottom, only his eyes could be seen, and they were black as well.

"Oh, so I was not the only one who escaped that mess." It was the man that had some kind of shadow ability. Bryan briefly looked at him and saw that he was not wounded. "It looks like he ran from the battle as well..." There was a hint of excitement in Bryan's eyes. If the man saw the battle, they would finally know what they were fighting against.

"Close the door after you enter." Bryan said with a cold countenance, not letting the eagerness to know what happened show in his eyes. In his opinion, the man didn't deserve to be alive, not after the wound that he made in Jess.

The man smirked and entered the place. After a few moments, everyone was gathered around him and wanted to ask what happened in the city. The man ignored everyone and seated in a corner of the cave.

The mage got up and wanted to question the man. I put my hand on his shoulder and stopped him. "Let him rest, for now, we can delay our departure for a bit."

The man rested for a bit and came closer to his own volition. "I will tell you everything you want to know, but first, tell me why you want to left this place." The man asked in a neutral tone.

I looked into his eyes and said. "We concluded that other races threaten the orcs, that is why they had their alertness so high around the city. We want to seek help from them."

"Hm… Good idea, at least that is the only way I see to complete the mission that is." He seated in the ground and continued. "We fought an orc in the middle of the city. He was protecting the portal. The portal had a kind of shield surrounding it as well, we tried to damage it, but it didn't even budge. The orc easily massacred us, we were like ants in his way." He said with a frightened look. The creature must have been powerful. thought Bryan.

"Long-range attacks didn't affect him. It was like the mana surrounding him formed an aura, and only if the attack was stronger then his aura, it would damage him. And even when attacks connected, he regenerated quickly." He looked at the ground and said. "I only escaped because of my abilities to hide. If it were not for them, I would be a body by now."

"Now that they know that someone is aiming to destroy the portal, the security will get even higher. The importance of finding allies is even higher now." Jess said with a cold tone in her voice. She transformed into a truly seasoned warrior during these last months, after all, if you don't change, you die.

"You are right. We have to find allies, but first, we have to survive as well. Energy can sustain us for long, but we will begin to feel the hunger and thirsty at some point. We need to find allies, food, and water."

Everyone nodded and agreed with Bryan.

"Will we leave now then?" Asked Rick.

"Yes, let's go." I got up and walked toward the exit.

Everyone followed my example and exited the cave.

After opening the entrance, we saw the strange sky, every direction that you looked at was black. with everyone out, I asked.

"So, does anyone have an idea to which direction we go to?" I asked with my face blushing. Thankfully, it was night and nobody could see my face.

"I suppose we could head in the opposite direction of the city." Said the man in black.

I couldn't hold myself anymore and asked. "What is your name?"

"You can call me Shadow." After saying this, he turned away and began to head in the opposite direction of the city.

***

The road was thought, and the sand was entering everyone in their clothes. It had already been three days since they began to travel in the desert. Unfortunately, they still haven't found any clues, only endless sand. Not even an animal or living tree could be seen, it was truly a landscape of hell.

They were beginning to feel hunger and thirst. although they had strong bodies, depending on energy indefinitely was still out of their reach.

Despair was beginning to take over them, seeing only endless sand without anything more in view was a terrific thing to happen. And there was more, Rick was beginning to have a mental breakdown, he was the verge of madness, and everyone could see it.

"Look, there is something on the horizon!" They could finally a green stop on the horizon, rick the one that first saw it, began to run in the desert-like crazy after the place, as if it would run from him. Everyone picked their pace up and began to run after him.

After 30 minutes, they could finally see the forest. It had some small trees, but at least it meant that there was a river or animals nearby.

Getting closer to it, they realized that the forest was not so big. Although there was still living in it, the forest was struggling to survive in this hazardous environment. The desert was slowly taking the forest all over the horizon.

They felt a refreshing feeling on their skins. the humidity from the trees and the shadow that covered their heads was truly relaxing.

***

The five of them were seated around a bonfire. A strange animal was being prepared, and a river could be heard on the distance. They were eagerly looking at the meat being slowly roasted. They gulped after smelling the meat.

Bryan looked at everyone around him and said. "We have finally found some peace. At least we can survive here."

Jess nodded her head and said. "We can surely survive, but we have to find allies as soon as possible. It has already been two days since the attacks began in the city."

"The city can hold on for a while. However, you're right, we must hasten our pace."

"They will fight with all they have, after all, the system is disrupting the communication between the cities until now. We know that there are other places out there where survivors are living, but, the system does not let us communicate with them." Shadow said while preparing the meat.

"The system is simply unpredictable. In the beginning, it said that it was going to help us survive, but I have only seen the misery that is imposed upon us. It is almost as if it wants us to struggle in the precipice of death." Rick looked better now. He was not so insane like he was earlier. Taking a bath in the river and food being prepared in front of him stabilized his mind.

"I agree with you. It wants us to struggle in every step of survival. Many people died in the fight for the city, and now, the recently established leadership has to fight against an invasion. " Bryan said in agreement with Rick. "But what I worry the most about, what is the system preparing us for?"

There was a sudden silence around the bonfire. Only the sound of the popping wood could be heard. Shadow cut the meat and served everyone. They ate in silence.

After having their bellies filled with food, and their minds rested, they continued their search.

The region near the desert was devoid of animal life, only trees could be found. The more they entered the forest, the more animals and birds they found.

"HEY GUYS! COME HERE."

Bryan looked in the direction where Samuel's voice was calling and went there.

They decided to search in a perimeter for clues, after all, if everyone walked together, the chances to find civilization was harder.

After getting close, he saw that everyone had left their positions and arrived where Samuel was. Bryan looked at the direction where Samuel was pointing at and saw an arrow embedded in a tree.

The feather in the arrow tail was really beautiful and vibrant. It looked different from any kind of bird he had ever seen.

Bryan approached the arrow and took it out of the tree. After putting his hands on it, he could feel a lingering energy surrounding the arrow.

After taking his conclusions, he said. "The person that used this weapon had a high level of control of energy. Even now there are traces of energy in it."

Jess picked the arrow from Bryan's hand and investigated it. "You're right, the person that did this is surely well versed in bow mastery. it's a pity that the hole made by the arrow looks a few days old."

"There's no problem with that." Said Shadow. "I can track the person that released this arrow by the aura surrounding the arrow."

Everyone looked at him with surprise in their eyes, after all, nobody expected that. "That's great, we finally have a solid lead on this, let's go on." Bryan gestured and Jess gave the arrow to Shadow. The man concentrated for a bit and said. "Got it."