After spending the better part of an hour explaining the concepts of 'dungeon crawls' and 'grinding mobs' to the two older councilmen, they went off to discuss their thoughts on the plan. It worked out perfectly because by then Sam had mostly recovered. His steps were still a bit unsteady, but he directed us with an iron fist.

When the sky was splashed with orange and purple he finally released us from our misery. The strain of the day had been so different to the way I usually worked my mana that my Refinement had actually gone up a tic when I checked my Status.

Attributes:

Strength: 1.52

Mobility: 1.42

Perception: 1.63

Refinement: 1.27 > 1.28

Containment: 2.08

Even as worn out as I was, I was tempted to try to speak with the Town Entity again. Whatever it had done to Implant the Big Guns Squad would be invaluable. Not only because finding medical grade titanium that the printer below ground could use would be hard, but because of the time investment.

If I knew Alan, he was probably scheming some mind bending shenanigans relating to Mana none of us had thought of.

While I didn't get to go to the Crystal, I did see a sight for sore eyes. So to speak. Daniela had gone and retrieved Anthony and Blobby. Somehow she'd managed to convince the Councilmen that the creatures were essential to our plan. That plan being my plan to create dungeon farms.

How she knew I'd spoken with them after she'd gone away, or how she'd managed to convince them to possibly endanger their population, I wouldn't know. Regardless, the green-brown jiggly mass of Blobby took me to the ground as I headed towards our assigned house.

The two small Metier Crystals inside its body clinked as it wrapped itself around me. He wasn't squeezing me, but the slime's gelatinous body was not light.

"Blobby that's enough! It's only been two days and I fed you just yesterday," I said while prying the turncoat Tendril off me.

The slime's appendage rose up in the air, pat me on the head twice then rolled away. As if they'd been waiting for it, a group of children dog piled on top of its hip high bulk. I'd never been on a water mattress before, but I figured Blobby was a close comparison. The creature jiggled and wiggled and bobbed under the assault of a dozen kids.

It was a wonder to see younger people than us, especially with the distinct spread of physical features their Attunements provided. The brief encounter with the youths the previous day, the children playing with Blobby and the sheer freedom of being on the surface almost overwhelmed me.

"We can make a difference, for sure," Sam said, slapping me on the shoulder.

"No need to get sappy on us now, rock brain," Danny added with a jab to my arm.

"Ouch! Improved Strength, remember?" I said, mockingly rubbing my arm.

She waved my comment off and rubbed at her stomach. "You think they have any more of that meat? I could certainly do with a few more..." She finally noticed the deadpan stares Sam and I were giving her.

"Danny, these people have been working on rations this whole time. And--don't you even make the argument that so were we-- we can make do with the tomatoes I harvested," Sam said.

The woman grumbled something about being tired of vegetables before she looked away. Amazing how a life of the same subset of foods can be fine until you've tried new things. Our food and companion qualms aside, we spent the rest of the evening discussing the finer details of our plan.

There would need to be another testing phase to figure out how we would approach dungeon runs. The fire ants were the primary target, but with how close those were to the Bunker, I was wary of aggregating them much more for now.

That left the spider den.

Daniela had a pretty good idea of how wide the den extended thanks to her efforts in clearing the road. With the help of a stick she drew a rough outline of our LPS. The freeze framed snapshot of the world denoted the wearer's location as well as updated with each pass through a region.

As the most travelled, Daniela sketched the boundaries of the Wildwood lakes, the general fields around the town and the path we'd taken to get there from the Bunker. Using tufts of grass and some rocks, Daniela finished a pretty amazing rendition of our general area. A reddish clump of clay was smeared over a large swath of land to the northwest for the Fire Ants, while a bundled up shirt marked the boundaries of where the spiders lived just west and north of the town.

"When did you get a chance to go this far north?" I asked, gesturing to the portion of US 301 me and Sam had definitely not traveled.

"What did you think I did all day? Just people watch?" She said, huffing and crossing her arms.

"Well, you did tell us you got information on most of the people here. How would you have had time," Sam said, placating the woman. I was fairly sure I saw a small flare of fire coming from her heat gills.

"Samuel, I am over twice as fast as the average person before the Fall. I move quickly. Plus, there were barely any creatures about except in those areas I highlighted. As soon as I stepped into them?" Daniela splayed her hand out before pouncing on it with the fingers on the other.

"Banana Spiders?" I asked. Making sure the tiny bit of hesitation in my voice didn't leak out was difficult. I'd hoped to set up a dungeon camp near the ants, but with the Tendrils an ambiguous threat somewhere to the west doing so would leave the Bunker more exposed.

"There were a few types. Don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to give you phobias towards the half dozen other species of arachnid I saw too," Danny said with a laugh.

"Do you think we will need the help of the Wild Guard?" I asked, pushing past a shiver and focusing on the planning task.

The sun set by the time we were done with our impromptu planning session. In the end we agreed to wait two days so we could meet the other team with prospects for being Dreg Warriors.

---+---

That night was filled with strange dreams of crystals launching like spaceships from the ground of a foreign landscape before disappearing into the very depth of space. Nothingness swallowing it.

"Ronan, wake up!" Danny said, shaking me by the shoulder. When I came to my senses the sun was spilling in through a crack in the plywood that had been used to cover the windows. "Sarah is here and she brought the other team. They are... Odd."

"Oy! No one said nothing about odd people. I think you are the oddballs!" A voice said from behind our room. It didn't sound close or far, but instead like a whisper right by my ears.

Daniela's mouth clacked and she nearly bit her tongue. She really needs to watch her mouth.

The brunette helped me and Sam to our feet. I could feel the soreness immediately, but Sam was quick to follow with a on me and himself. I needed to talk to Ava, Danny's mom, in the hopes she'd have some insight as to the effects of healing exhaustion. The science side of mana was something that had barely been touched on since coming to the surface.

As I straightened my clothes out and brushed the growing hair out of my face, I looked over my friends. We were due a serious break. Danny's hair was knotted even while in her tight bun. Sam looked like he'd been dragged by the foot through a field, even after rinsing off. While that wasn't too far off from what he did on the daily, I could see the wear on him. I modified the speech I'd prepared for the dungeon farm just a tad.

Standing just outside the house were the Big Guns Squad accompanied by a strange hodgepodge of Fallen. A towering flat faced orc man hovered in the back while a merwoman spoke with him animatedly. Beside them a dwarf and satyr haggled metal coins over something called 'northerner dill'. Standing at the front of the group was a lanky elf individual glowering in our direction while a petite demon woman chatted with Sarah. Her horns and claws were so purple I could have sworn they shone with ultraviolet light.

"Ah here they are. This is Ronan, Daniela and Samuel. They are the Bunker born we mentioned," Sarah said while sweeping a hand out towards each of us.

"It's a pleasure to meet new people. My name is Clara and this is the New Hope Squad," the demoness smiled to reveal fangs as she shook my hand.

"It is always wonderful to meet new--" my introduction was cut off as the elf stepped between Clara and me.

"What do you want, outsiders? We've met a few who claim to be from a Bunker and none of you three look like you would. Too social and well adapted," he crossed his arms.

"What part of 'bunker-born' implies that there were no other people in the bunker with us? Though having our identity questioned on a regular basis is starting to grate on me," I said, keeping as pleasant a smile as I could.

"Not buying it."

"Now Devon there is no need for--" Clara started before the elf cut her off.

"How many times has your willingness to accept others bit us in the rear, C?" he snapped.

"Now that's not fair," the demoness said, a frown pulling on her sharp features.

"No one else may have the guts to stand up to these outsiders, but just because they gave us some food. I won't act meek just to walk into another trap."

The other members of the New Hope looked conflicted on where they stood, while Clara looked ready to smack some sense into the Devon character. However, he'd already proceeded to sour my morning and I wasn't about to roll over for a bully.

Uncle, forgive me for choosing violence, I thought to myself.

"Would you like to fight me, or are you just full of hot air?" I said crossing my arms and puffing my chest. He wanted to posture, well, two could play at that game.

"You wouldn't stand a chance, Geo. All you Bunker fakes try to lean on that for reputation."

"Ronan, you don't have to do this," Sarah said, stepping between me and Devon.

"I'm sorry, but I believe I do. They seem like a decent group, just from how they are reacting to this idiot's words, but if we are going to work together we need to be on the same page," I said, looking straight into her eyes.

She only held them for a second before sighing and backing away. "At least move away so you don't wreck anything," she said. I acquiesced immediately and walked to where the fight with the crows had happened.

"You sure this is a smart idea?" Danny asked through the comm-plant. "Not sure if you've looked at their squad but they are all Quotient Level 4."

Just to appease her, I focused intently on the sneering elf.

If their efforts while caring for the town of Wildwood were to be accounted for, then the New Hope squad would have dealt with many more creatures than my own group. On top of that, I'd never fought an Air Attuned human. I hadn't even fought the humanoid Tendrils that rushed the town. However, regardless of how the fight went, the intent was the true victory. I wasn't out to be the strongest, but to show I wasn't a pushover.

"It'll be alright. Plus, worst case scenario Sam just throws me a heal," I said back.

"That would be Tim. Mine requires touch," the blonde added unhelpfully.

I shook those thoughts off and focused on the fight. I'd never gotten into fights outside of the occasional sparring tests Danny's mom put us through, but after punching some creatures in the face I was at least a bit confident. The fact my skin was partly stone probably helped with that.

"Now, I know you three aren't familiar, but the Wild Guard actually tries to spar together often," Sarah said. "Devon will be strong and while I don't doubt your abilities I would like it for both of you brain dead knuckle draggers to make it through the other side. No weapons. No kill shots. I trust you two have enough control of your magic?"

She'd been facing me, but the elf on the other side responded. His voice carried as it had done before. One of his Skills or his Traits had to be responsible for how easily he could hear things. "You know I know the rules. Now let me walk all over this pretender so we can have a real leader in the mix."

I handed my shield and my pickaxe to Danny. Samuel moved to give me a hug, startling me. As his arms wrapped around my shoulders, I felt the soothing effect of his flush through my body. He gave me a cheeky grin then stepped back. "I hope you know what you are doing."

"When have my decisions ever led to terrible consequences?" I said.

"I'd rather not answer that," the blonde said, stepping back and standing beside Tim. I could overhear him telling the other Life Attuned to be ready for anything. I suppose it should make me happy that they care enough to be ready, but dang it stings on the doubt front.

"Ronan, you are going to spar with Devon for the expressed purpose of being an idiot. Devon, you are going to spar with Ronan for the expressed purpose of being a hard headed fool. Are you both agreed to the terms?" Sarah said deadpan. Apparently she was going to be our 'referee'.

"I just don't intend to be pushed around. I barely know him," I said.

"I'm going to make sure it stays that way. Not sure how you made it past the territories, but you are in for a rude awakening. Wildwood isn't to be messed with," Devon said. The man practically snarled at me.

"Well, whenever you are ready. Start!" she shouted.