"A new beginning, I said." Also smiling. I also could not help but feel that I was getting more and more arrogant just dictating how people should feel or not. However, I thought providing the option and the freedom not to choose was also good.

She nodded as she understood my intentions and after seeing the variety of clothes I brought out she seemed to agree even more. She decided to be the first one and chose several undergarments and what looked like a vest, and a hooded green robe with some avian beasts as engravings.

Jia directly took off the black robe she was wearing and I was shocked to find that there was nothing underneath it, something that I completely neglected before but no one complained about before. The women must have lived in the forest wearing nothing under their robes which must have been very cold for them.

Thanks to my quick reflexes I managed to quickly turn around when the robe reached her tighs, I also had to make it look accidental otherwise a demon beast looking away from a human woman changing her clothes was indeed bizarre, but she did not seem to notice at all.

Knowing that she'd have acted differently if I was human a man right there, I voluntarily acted in order not to take advantage of her ignorance about my identity.

I started patting myself on the back for being such a gentleman and also to cover up my embarrassment.

"What are you looking at?!", I heard Jia yell from behind me which made me jump, she followed my intense serious gaze only to see just an ordinary patch of ground with dirt, branches, and rocks.

"Ah, nothing. I thought I saw a monster, let's go!", I quickly changed the subject and we went back walking with dozens of pieces of clothing on top of my back.

Jia was carrying the table, cups, and wine bottles.

Seeing us coming from afar the women slowly made their way toward us. They encircled me and started browsing through clothes and praising their quality.

This was also the first time I got that close to them and took a good look at them.

Other than Jia and Cai Yi, Meng Delan as she was called was the oldest but not by far she also always had this kind smile on her face with her dark brown hair falling like a stream.

The two others closely resembled each other, they seemed to be siblings since they were always closer, one seemed to be in her mid-twenties and the other a late teen. The older one had short red hair and dark eyes while the younger one was just like her but with longer hair.

The others were a dark gold-haired ponytailed woman, one who seemed to be at the same age as Meng Delan who had long light green hair with bangs, two black women one with short wavy hair and another with long curly hair, the last one was also the youngest who appeared to be around 18 years old she had medium length silver hair and piercing red eyes.

I did not know their names, I may have heard them by accident but I try not to dwell on the things they say and give them some sense of privacy even though it was very difficult with supernatural senses.

I considered telling Jia to ask some of them if they wanted to work with us, but I was afraid some of them were very loyal to their original place of work which would create some issues for me down the line. I also did not want to just recruit anybody I needed to get a general sense of who they are first, but the other women seemed pretty reserved, especially against a monster.

I had the idea of making the first position a temporary job with pay so that whenever I did not like the other person's values or whether they happened to clash with the way I wanted my order or rather organization to operate, then I'd just fire them very lightly without giving them any emotional shock and it'd be already expected since it was a temporary job after all.

It was indeed very difficult to make someone change their lives and commit to your cause only for you to fire them and throw them under the bus. There was always the exception of even people who I deemed fit to become core members changing because after all the only constant thing in the world is just that, change.

However, by then we'd have already crossed many bridges we would either part ways in peace or death.

We went back and sat down by a big tree that had a towering shadow that covered dozens of meters. Though, we did not sit directly beneath its shadow, just at the edge.

We were already tired of darkness.

Thinking up to there, I just noticed that I was indeed weakened in the sunlight. I was not able to pay it any mind earlier due to the plethora of emotions that were going through me.

But now, I could feel it.

I lost my ability of soundless fight and 30% Agility, My presence was no longer very well hidden compared to how it was, I could no longer create Umbra Hands unless there are some shadows or something which increased its difficulty tremendously, and Shadow Dive was also affected since it also required shadows but not by much.

Overall, not a very big setback though a considerable one nonetheless, and every tiny bit helps.

Going forward I'd try to restrict my 'endeavors' to nighttime.

Some women chose colorful clothes of light blue, light green, green, and red and others went for more inconspicuous clothing one of them was Cai Yi.

They also did not care at all about hiding to change their clothes, so I had to create a veil of mana in front of my eyes and wait for them to finish. I could not turn around, because there were several of them and it'd seem suspicious.

Some people find this unnecessary, but I did not. Even if there was no one to hold me accountable, I would.

Not that seeing their naked bodies or lack thereof meant anything for me, but it was just something that they would not have liked knowing what I was.

After they finished dressing, they sat down in a circle drinking wine, eating some biscuits I found which were strangely delicious contrary to their bland appearance, and they seemed to be having a not-so-bad of a time.

Some were telling stories, others were also sharing their own, others were expressing their disbelief and teasing one another, and others simply listened and watched the others interact. Though they might not have it in them, they were very happy to see people who only they could understand what they went through enjoying themselves.

I was also reminded of the importance of taking things slowly and making sure to let go and enjoy yourself from time to time. I had been so caught up in working for the future previously, that I missed the present which was equally if not even more important. Otherwise, you'd start losing sight of your original goal and put a value on things that did not even deserve it.

It was like how when somebody gets angry and does something impulsive due to the intensity of the emotions they were going through. It's only after they calmed down, that could they see directly how they had over-reacted and did things that were uncalled for, to regret when it was way past its time.

There was something just like it but more broadly and subtly.

When people get too caught up in their dreams and aspirations then issues start coming up they begin losing sight of themselves and their original purpose through giving value and overestimating all the wrong things.

When life becomes too fast, just one thing after another, it'd help to take a setback amidst the seemingly endless problems and just take it easy. Go for a walk, paint, write, be bored... It'd help to calm down and look at your previously impossible issues from a new detached perspective perhaps.

I looked at Shams and said something that only the two of us would be able to hear due to the nature of our link.

He immediately hurried along.

As the women were talking, a black gecko fell from the tree branch above them. Of course, all of them could recognize it. But as it stood up it had this stupid goofy look on its face just as there was silence as if they were ashamed about laughing about it. Shams got his tongue out and licked his right eyeball with it, keeping the same clueless look only for some of the women to burst into laughter and others to smile faintly.

As they were talking about him, he started moving around and climbing atop their heads and playing with them. Once he adopted the goofy look he could indeed become very cute, you could not help but want to pet him and make him run along your arms.

Seeing them smile warmed my heart greatly. I was actually pretty satisfied with what I have managed to achieve so far.

Like what the system said when it first spoke to me when you save a dog's life it probably won't change the world, but it'd change that dog's life forever. The fact that they no longer had to bear that tremendous suffering day in and day out against their will with no end in sight but pure torture was everything for me.

The reasons I wanted to grow stronger became more and more the longer I lived in this world. I wanted to make something out of my life, I wanted to enjoy it, I wanted to protect the people close to me, I wanted to grow, but most of all I wanted to come into people's lives at their worst and most vulnerable moment and change everything for them, as much as I could of course.

I remembered some days waking up with no drive to do anything, no confidence to try anything, and no money to change anything. Yet, there was no one who could hold my hands in those moments.

How I wished for a savior, but they never came. A partner, a friend, a benefactor even...

It did make me bitter and cynical for a couple of years about how nobody cared, but I realized it was a weak fallback and it only perpetuated the thing I hated the most, then I realized how hypocritical the whole situation was.

Because I was mad that nobody helped me, I also helped nobody which in turn would make them bitter that nobody cared and it goes on indefinitely.

We were all connected and our fates were intertwined one way or the other. I also understood deeply how the world was merely a projection of the outward state of each and every living creature in it, every single one of them played a role no matter how insignificant, and in changing myself the world cannot help but reflect what I became.

And what I aspired to become was but a smudge of color in a seemingly dreary, bleak black and white painting.

That would be enough for me, just as those smiles were enough for me right now.

-Ding!

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[Title Unlocked: {Colorful Brush}]