Outside of the warehouse that all of them had been trapped in was a massive forest and a small town. Salem led them all to the forest so he could hide them away from Alec. He intended to either assassinate him or escape. He wasn't foolish enough to try and attack Alec without enough information.
As they went deeper into the forest, the trees got larger and more dense. The foliage let only a few rays of sunlight through, so the forest was almost exclusively lit by these bars of sunlight. Each tree was at least 10 feet in diamiter and over 150 feet high.
As the former slaves walked through the forest behind him, he couldn't help but inwardly remark at their stamina.
'Despite apparent malnourishment and exhaustion, their pace has not slowed. I'm guessing their hope is what is keeping them going. Or maybe fear of me.' That last thought irritated him.
'I set them free right? Why should they fear me?'
His train of thought was interrupted when the trees abruptly dispersed and a clearing materialized in front of them.
Salem glanced at the two elf women who had appointed themselves the temporary leaders. He made an expansive gesture to the clearing.
"I agree. I would not have known this clearing was so convieniently placed unless I had walked right into it." The left elf said.
"I'm a wood elf and this surprised me." the right one replied.
The two then split and walked towards the group, giving them tasks and helping create small lean-tos for the large number of people that would be staying there. Salem carefully felled a few trees in a way that would form a square perimiter. With his suit he was able to take off the roots and leaves, leaving a massive trunk that was buried a quarter into the ground. The result was a massive, three meter high square with one corner open.
Everyone was startled after he felled the first tree, but after that first one, they grew deaf to the trees falling.
After accomplishing all of this, Salem planted a few bugs he could freely check around the perimiter of the trees. The creation of the secure perimiter took no more than two hours. Salem was very pleased with his handiwork and so were the new residents of the new town.
Salem then went scouting around the area in hopes of finding a source of fresh water. If there wasn't a river or springs anywhere near, he'd dig them a well.
After two hours of searching and finding nothing, Salem remembered the notification he'd recieved during his torture of Cole.
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New Passive Acquired: Cold-Blooded
Cold-Blooded (Passive): You are resistant to emotional attacks, and unnafected by your emotions in battle. In addition, you can control your body tempurature to a certain extent.
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'Well...That' also OP.' Dwelling on his odd strokes of luck wouldn't do him much good, so he resumed his search for easily accessible water.
After a few more hours he gave up and returned to where the new town was using his bugs.
Upon entering, the two elf girls (Still covered in blood) formally introduced themselves.
The one that was always on his left started. "I'm Alina. I'm a wood elf, and I specialize in hunting." After Alina introduced herself, it was the other elf's turn.
"I'm Ruby. I'm a blood elf, and as ironic as that is right now, I specialize in combat. What's your name?"
Instead of making a chalk and blackboard, Salem made the letters of his name.
"Salem? I like that name." Alina smiled at him.
"Care to join us at the fire?" Ruby inquired.
Shaking his head, Salem started to construct his own lean-to at the very fringes of the settlement. The two elves saw his behavior and elected to help him. Once they finished, he joined the rest of the people for dinner. It was a wild boar that Alina somehow had managed to kill, despite still being soaked in blood. After they ate, Salem went to his lean-to. It had been a very taxing day. Both emotionally and physically. Recycling his mech, Salem drifted off into an easy sleep.