At some point, I decided that I should speak to the locals and Mrs Wu some more. I didn’t want to permanently stay here, hell, with the effect the proximity of this many humans had on my sleep I didn’t even want to briefly stay here. If not for the persistent feeling of obligation towards Mrs Wu, I would leave as soon as the sun set. There was no ledger to tally what her training had given me, but I wanted to give her and her people a leg up. And I had three ideas that would likely work.

One idea was that I would give them a brief overview of arcane magic and sorcery. I doubted I would find anyone with elements I could directly teach them about but I could give them an idea of where to start their own journey, maybe even direct them to a higher power, as galling as it felt to me. I remembered that Hecate wasn’t really a god that interfered with mortal affairs, more a silently amused observer, as far as I knew, but one that might help mortals help themselves. Maybe, I wasn’t sure and I wasn’t about to ask, even if she had blessed me.

The second idea was to lend a hand for something more immediate and possibly threatening. The locals had realised the obvious threat and were making sure that no Shattered could get to them, be it night or day, but that didn’t mean they were ready for the stronger Shattered or the Scorched. Drawing one or two of them out, showing a few of the locals how to fight and donating some of my EXP to their cause was something I was willing to do. It would be inefficient, thanks to Lone Traveller, but it would be a minor expense on my part. An expense that might be the difference between their community surviving and getting wiped out.

Lastly, and maybe most important, was to inform them of the sewers and the potential trouble brewing therein. The locals most likely wouldn’t realise just how many animals had been changed, I certainly hadn’t realised that even bugs and spiders had gained levels and would likely rise in power rapidly, simply thanks to their numbers, not until I had cleared the first sewer of them. If a wave of hundreds, if not thousands, of rats or similar vermin swept up from underground, their rooftop posts wouldn’t hold, not for longer than it took the rats to scurry through the buildings. Hell, even before the change, rats could be a serious danger and now, with levels and the system potentially making them even stronger? They would likely go from pest to serious threat that could wipe out nations.

If there were any nations left, something I highly doubted.

Before going out of the room, I cleaned myself and my clothes, making sure that I was as immaculate as possible. Silva, too, was harassed with a cloud of mist, trying to clear her fur and, most importantly, maw of all the traces the various battles had left on her. She wasn’t a happy dog, piteously whining at me while looking as if I was seriously torturing her but she let me work. And at the end of it, she shook her entire body, making me realise that a lot of the Ice that made up my mist had melted against her warm body, turning her into a wet dog and requiring me to clean myself again. And some of the room.

Finally, I could go out, Silva on my heels. The moment she walked out of the room, her previously playful behaviour evaporated, her ears raised and her head swivelling back and forth, taking in our surroundings and making sure there were no threats.

Similarly, I let my secondary process focus on listening to the people around me, taking in as much information as possible. My high Intuition allowed me to hear far more than I should have, given the hushed tones everyone was speaking in. Eavesdropping wasn’t something I was proud of, but given that I wasn’t sitting in the eaves, I felt it was fine. In addition, I was in dire need of information.

I could hear a few of them discuss me, having apparently heard that I had simply shown up early in the morning without a care in the world. Others were discussing the Circle of Elders, apparently, the group who led them, and what they might do in the future. But the vast majority of things I heard were simply gossip, as insipid and mundane as it might have been before the change. Maybe with a little more blood and gore, but I had never really been interested in gossip before, so I couldn’t be sure.

And didn’t really want to know.

My other senses, not just my hearing, were also gathering information and I noticed a few things that were unusual about the people around me. There were dirty faces everywhere and all clothes were stained with unidentifiable substances and torn, cut or otherwise damaged. People were walking around with their shoulders or heads hanging down and more than once, I noticed individuals just sitting there, staring into empty space with deep bags under their eyes. In addition, the entire gym was permeated with a funky smell that was far worse than any lockerroom I had ever been to, worse even than the worst cities I had visited on Mundus, the stench of the unwashed masses, mixed with a faint scent of blood filling the entire area. It was quite sickening but given the resource limitations, there was little that could be done about it.

It took me a bit of time to track down Mrs Wu, partially because I had to make sure to stay away from the sunlight filtering through a few windows but I finally made it. She was talking to a similarly aged man, someone I was relatively sure had been living in the neighbourhood, a convenience store owner if my memory served correctly. Either way, he looked far from the simple, unassuming shopkeeper now and more like a veteran reporting to their superior.

What I could see from their interaction confirmed my earlier supposition, that Mrs Wu was part of the leadership, and what I had heard about the Council of Elders seemed to confirm that. Looking at them, I noticed that their stances were different. Neither of them looked defeated, Mrs Wu looked just as she always had, her stance relaxed, her shoulders pushed back and an air of confidence surrounded her as if nothing would be able to shake her. Similarly, the shopkeeper stood straight, his tone calm and collected. While their faces and clothes weren’t completely clean, it was obvious that they were doing their best, with limited resources available. Clean-shaven, hair combed, they didn’t look like they were running away or had been defeated, they projected an air of confidence.

“Ah, Samantha, good that you could join me,” Mrs Wu greeted me, as I walked up to them, stopping a polite distance away. “I wanted to talk with you more, but you were just too tired earlier. Meet Mr Wong, you might remember him from before, he owns the store across the street,” she introduced her companion who gave me a measuring look, followed by a polite bow and greeting, both of which I returned. I was tempted to use a concealed Observe but given that nobody had Observe’d me here, I didn’t want to start being rude.

“Comes with the territory, I’m afraid. As I’ve told you, I focused my actions on the night, as it gives me some rather major benefits to do so,” I gave her a smile, before continuing, “Earlier, you said you’d tell me about your situation here. While I obviously don’t know the details just yet, I believe there are a few things I would be able to help you with. Given the past training you have given me, I would like to provide you with some aid.”

“Things have been difficult, as you can imagine. We’ve been getting as many people together as possible, seeking strength in numbers. Many of the older people have served in a military and we all stand together to protect ourselves in these trying times,” Mrs Wu paused and my stomach decided to let out a rumble in that brief moment of silence.

“Why don’t we get you something to eat, you sound like you need it. While you eat, I can tell you about the details and you can tell me what you’ve got in mind,” she suggested with an amused smile on her face. When I nodded to her suggestion, she turned to Mr Wong and gave him what could only be described as marching orders. It was clear that they had been discussing things before and she was now making a decision, demonstrating just how far up their chain of command she was.

Once they were done, she guided me back into the sitting room. There, I was offered food but insisted on using my own, not wanting to deplete their resources further. I didn’t plan to stay here and eating their food would be the first step to becoming one of them. I couldn’t afford to idle here, I would soon have to venture out again, searching for more and more power, if I wanted to be more than another survivor.