The trip to their base wasn’t as awkward as I expected. I chalked it up to Noel, he was chattering away at the new faces as if they were old friends. Somehow he was able to create a warm and comfortable atmosphere between us despite the fact that Rosalynn’s group seemed to be wary of us – not that I could blame them, the world had somehow become even more dangerous.


    When we arrived we were absolutely swarmed by the residents of the camp, as they gathered we were pushed further and further from Rosalynn’s group until we stood awkwardly at the edge of the crowd. It was a surprisingly huge and diverse camp, various tents and sheets were propped up throughout the area rustled as people poured out of them to join the group around Rosalynn.


    Kids ran past us screaming excitedly, I looked around at our group and was surprised to see that Theo was here with us instead of with Rosalynn. When our eyes met he looked down at the rocks beneath us, “So, since they seem busy would you be fine with showing us around?” I asked. I decided not to pry, despite how much I didn’t like him I didn’t feel the need to dig into why he was being ostracized.


    He perked up, “Yeah! It’s not much, but I’ll take you around!” For the next hour or so we were drug around by Theo, who gave long and winding explanations of everything we saw along with stories about his experiences there. The thing that stood out the most was that the camp sat on mostly flat rock. I wondered how long they spent carving it out.


    We visited a primitive cooking and dining area. It consisted of a few random pots, pans and cooking utensils that looked to have been taken from the surface. Atop scorched rocks and what I assume were tables and stools made from the rocks around us. Around the edge of the food area were several mats and blankets laid on the ground abandoned, when Reid asked about them Theo told us that the residents traded or set up stalls here throughout the day. I noted to myself that theft might still be an issue there since there were no items on the blankets.


    After that we visited the medical tents, the supplies looked to be lacking from the grimaces that Noel and Reid wore when they saw how the patients were being treated. Finally we saw the “training grounds,” if you could call them that. Honestly it was just an area of the Underhollow that they had killed most of the rats in and wasn’t too uneven to traverse.


    “It’s not bad as a training area, people can see the camp from here and usually they’ll fight a rat or two during the day. They need to learn how to travel here too so it’s fine if they’re not getting much XP. Safety is most important.” Theo mentioned as he saw our doubtful faces.


    They’re all going to die. Aureus’ voice pushed into my mind from a distance. Rosalynn had asked me to keep him away when we were about to arrive since she didn’t want to scare the residents. I had agreed since I wanted to level up asap, I was so close to level 20 and my patience was wearing thin. Just a couple more days and I’d be at nineteen.


    Why would you say that?


    You were thinking it too though Master.


    I rubbed at the bridge of my nose, he wasn’t wrong. Something had felt off recently, especially the comments the gods had been making since I’d gotten into town. At first it was just gods I didn’t recognize sighing and complaining about the structure of camp, but now that we arrived at the “training ground” my more common chatters started adding to the conversation. I had to admit I was also rather disappointed that this was all they had managed to create after all that time.


    [“Playful Cat Hates Yarn” is excited for the challenges on the horizon.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” sighs as he asks if all humans are this naive.]


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” gives him a sad smile and mentions that their intentions are good.]


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” urges you to take your time before returning, suggesting you stay for just a bit longer.]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” rolls their eyes and exclaims that you shouldn’t have to clean up after those you don’t even know.]


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” cries out that “Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” is so heartless and they know -]


    The rest of the window was obscured again. The gods were always hiding things, refusing to answer questions and trying to keep me from noticing, but they had gotten more and more complacent lately. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I thought it was something big.


    You should leave them, they aren’t your responsibility. Aureus was in my mind again.


    I groaned, “Theo.” I struggled to find the words I wanted to say, my mind was already spinning from the messages from the gods and my train of thought was going to all of the worst case scenarios.


    “Yeah?” He looked at me warily.


    “What are the levels like? Is there another party here or is it just Rosalynn’s? I need to know how leveled up your main party is and the average citizens as well.” I asked as I ran my hands through my hair. Anxiety was pooling up in my stomach and it felt like I’d had several shots of espresso. I was getting jittery.


    “Uh… I’m not sure if I can…”


    “Ok. Fine, just tell me your level and if there is another party then.”


    He just stared at me without responding for a few seconds. I glanced back at the GGC, they were still arguing about whether or not I should leave now or stay.


    “What’s going on?” Caro asked, she eyed me knowingly. I glanced around at the group, Caro and Reid looked worried. Noel had apparently disappeared somewhere at some point, and Theo was looking increasingly uncomfortable. I could tell I was putting him on the spot.


    “Nothing good from what I can tell. Theo!”


    He jumped, “I-I’m level eight.”


    “Seriously? That’s it?”


    “Yes?”


    “And is there a secondary party? Do the others go out and level?”


    “No, not really… There are some who are about my level, but they don’t go out often…”


    I leaned my head back and looked up towards the dim red sky above us, Aureus’ shadow flitted by as he circled above us. “Ok... Just… I expected y’all to be higher leveled than this, or more organized or something?”


    “I think we did pretty good…” he muttered.


    “Yeah, I guess you didn’t do badly?” I sighed. “There are a lot of people here that would have died without your group. Yourself included. But I’m more concerned about how little progression has happened since the awakening. And how this could be considered a training ground. I mean do y’all even spar with each other? How about daily exercise or training? How are y’all improving your overall combat power?”


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    “We go out on expeditions pretty regularly and level up so we have been making progress.” He replied meekly.


    “Sure, but what about the civvies? Shouldn’t you be helping them improve their skills and level up? What if something happens when your party isn’t here? What would happen then? What if instead of just you and Rosalynn the whole party got stuck in that labyrinth?” I asked, it was shocking that they hadn’t made proper preparations for something like that. Were they just over confident or just too comfortable after being here for a while?


    “Not to mention the medical tent was egregious.” Reid chimed in.


    “It’s not like it was easy to get proper medical equipment or personnel… Most of the camp members here don’t want to get involved in the fighting, they’re normal people. It''s scary and difficult for them.” He blushed lightly as he defended them, maybe he was one of those ‘normal people’ who were scared.


    I looked back over the area where they trained, it wasn’t like I had a solid idea of how they should train or what they should change, but I felt that the way they were going was dangerous. It relied solely on those who were already strong protecting those who refused to protect themselves.


    “I can’t understand people like that…” I muttered.


    “What do you mean?” Theo asked.


    “Just sitting and waiting for other people to take care of you or keep you safe? You’d be completely at their mercy, fully vulnerable to their whims. What would you do if they disappeared? What would you do if they died?” I asked, people should at least try to take care of themselves. Especially since the world had collapsed the way it had.


    “They aren’t those types of people… They wouldn’t just die, they’re stronger than you think.” He responded.


    “Sure, they might be strong, but what if the enemies become stronger than them? There’s no other alternative? What if they need help, can anyone else offer it?” I challenged.


    He merely frowned, it seemed he was having a hard time refuting what I was saying. I sighed, was it really a good idea to leave my party with them? It would be hard to make the trip back with them, and we needed more people than we had if we wanted a good team. Should I just stay?


    No, Master, we need to go home. We can’t progress here.


    I know, but what if this isn’t a safe place to leave them?


    “Excuse me.”


    They’re strong Master, at least they can try to start a new team maybe? Since there’s basically just the one or they can travel in a larger group. This place isn’t very dangerous anyways.


    “Excuse me.”


    That’s true.


    “Excuse me! Ma’am!” A sharp tug pulled me from my thoughts. A little hand was gripped tightly on my cloak. The kid looked to be about four or five and stared up at me with awe and impatience.


    I lowered myself into a squat so that we had a similar eyeline, “Yes, did you need me for something?” I tried to ask gently. I didn’t have much experience with children.


    “So you, can you do magic?” He asked, pointing at the staff I’d gotten into the habit of holding at all times.


    I gave him a big grin, “Do you wanna see something cool?”


    His eyes lit up, “Yeah!”


    I saw movement behind a tent in the distance, a few more rugrats were trying to spy on us, so I said, “Okay, then I’ll show you something special, but it’s a secret so you can’t tell anyone.”


    He clamped his hands over his mouth and nodded quickly, his excitement was clearly growing along with his anticipation. I pushed down a giggle, he probably expected something cliche like a fireball, oh was he in for a surprise.


    I stood up, “Okay, now stand back a bit.” I said. He released my cloak and took a step back. I lifted my staff with a flourish, and quickly snapped my hood onto my head. He let out a small yelp and his eyes widened, a few gasps resounded from the kids behind the tent and one from Theo to my right.


    “A slime!” He pointed towards me, mouth agape.


    “Yes, I told you it was special didn’t I?” I asked.


    “Woah! Are you a monster?” he asked as he tentatively took a step closer to me, reaching out towards the surface of a slime I couldn’t see, “Huh?” He winced as the surface he was trying to touch wasn’t there and he lost his balance.


    I threw my hood back again as I caught him, “What do you think? Am I a monster?”


    “No-no, I don’t think so!” he replied as he regained his balance.


    “Oh yeah? What about your friends?” I asked and gestured towards the kids hiding.


    “Rosalynn wouldn’t bring back a monster!” A small girl yelled, but popped back behind her cover soon after. The other two agreed with her. I smiled, at least they had managed to maintain an environment where these kids felt safe and comfortable.


    “That’s true, now I’ve got to talk to my party members…” I stopped, I wasn’t sure how to tell the kids to leave. I couldn’t ask them to go back to their parents since they might not have any anymore, and I couldn’t say that they should go home because they must have lost that as well. I settled on, “run along now,” since I couldn’t think of anything better.


    Once they were out of sight I groaned and rubbed at my temples, even if it wasn’t my place I needed to tell them to change how they were running things.Something was clearly going to happen soon if the gods were anything to go by, and the fact that they only had one group was worrying. Not to mention there was no semblance of organization or defenses in the camp at all.


    I really wanted to ignore it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Reid got himself killed because some kid was in danger. Well, also I’d prefer it if the kids didn’t end up in danger at all. If I was going to leave them here, I couldn’t just ignore what they were lacking. I sighed yet again, I felt like that was all I was doing since I arrived, “I think I need to talk to Rosalynn and them now.”


    “I don’t know if now is a good time, she just got back so they’re probably in the middle of a meeting or something.” He scratched at the back of his head as he replied.


    “Still, this is important. I’m not sure how much time we’ve got, or even what’s going to happen.” I was getting impatient. I was expecting things to be easier than this. I mean I knew it would be hard to part from them, but not for this reason. I thought they’d be safe with such a large group. The idea that such a small minority of them would be capable of combat wasn’t something I could have imagined before arriving.


    “You really think something is happening soon? Are the gods reliable?” Noel asked.


    “Yeah, I mean they aren’t exactly forthcoming are they?” Reid added.


    They had a point, it wasn’t like the gods outright said the camp would face catastrophe, it was more of something I assumed based on their behavior. The Painter was usually a goddess that was concerned about any living creature’s wellbeing, so it was hard for me to ignore her desperate pleas for me to stay. It felt like she was doing her best to warn me of something horrible on the horizon. I looked back at the GGC, the debate was in full swing.


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” suggests giving you-]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” complains that the others are being too dramatic.]


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” frowns and says that you shouldn’t leave them behind, not right now.]


    [“Gentle Autumn Breeze” worries for their contractor, but agrees that you have no responsibility to the camp.]


    [“Reflection of an Empty Throne” rolls their eyes at “Abandoned Bloodied Sword”.]


    I frowned, they still weren’t giving me much to go on. “Sure, they aren’t giving me details or anything, but the fact that there is such a large shift in tone is enough to worry me.”


    “Shouldn’t we just leave then?” Caro asked, “I mean we don’t have any responsibility to these people. At the very least we could let the whole camp know what you know and if they want to follow they can, if not they can stay here.”


    “I doubt anyone would follow you though, the vast majority of the camp are people over forty and minors. That’s the main reason we’re lacking fighting power, a lot of younger people died because they were willing to fight.” Theo offered.


    “Either way, I have to talk to them. Even if they disagree or don’t want to listen I should let them know before I leave.” I replied.


    “What?! You’d still leave us here? Seriously? After the comments the gods are making?!” Caroline protested.


    “I trust y’all, but yeah if you want to come you can. I just wasn’t sure if you’d be willing after all I’ve said…” I trailed off as I pointedly made eye contact with Reid. He pressed his lips into a thin line, but didn’t disagree and I knew if he stayed then so would they.


    “I can’t just… leave…” He mumbled. Caroline groaned in response, but didn’t argue with him, we all knew it was futile.


    “So. Theo. Lead the way.”


    He paused and opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead just turned on his heel and led us to a large tent on the outskirts of a group of what I guessed were homes. We pushed our way through the entrance and the voices that could be heard outside came to an abrupt halt. The tension was palpable.