Stepping onto the concrete road leading to an intersecting highway, the group of kids, The Origin Team, stopped.
Ajax gripped onto his staff that was supposed to enhance his abilities and silently rolled his hand over the side of his underwear. The barefoot Ajax had little trouble stepping onto the floor.
Jordan took the lead and stepped near the edge of the barrier. He stopped and looked back at the eyes of the others.
He studied the emotions of everyone which shifted in between fear, determination, and disgust.
None of them knew what was out there. Very few people expected any safety in a place like this where they watched a man get eaten alive the instant he stepped out of safety.
The young man with green eyes, Ajax, had a sharp gaze that remained full of determination. As Jordan noticed it, he became infected with it in return. His heart pumped with determination as well as he kept a firm gaze over everyone.
He pursed his lips and shouted at the others who were watching from far away and at his team. "Everyone! We've been stuck here for too long and we've waited in patience for far longer. We sat on the sidelines and watched time pass by. The more passive we were, the harder this place hit us. This passive act ends now! We, The Origin Team, will find a way out of here; out of this...hell hole!"
The Origin Team's expression grew complicated as they felt a burden grow on their shoulders. The people near the entrance to the parking lot yelled at them in assurance.
They became worried that they might ruin something and cause the death of their selves or another. After all, once they stepped out of these walls, all of them knew that they were to be prepared for the worst. That's what they brought all those weapons for and that is what they were hyping themselves up for.
Ajax looked behind him and saw a few hundred kids watching them from far away with anticipation. He didn't at all want to get himself into danger if it meant little benefit, but the trust others had in him and the faith of the rest…
Nah, he didn't care about all that. He inwardly reminded himself to use the others as meat shields if the need arises.
The only reason he was going with the others was to look for a way out of here and he sure as hell was not going to let some poor reason such as the trust of others stop him. The trust he formed was just a tool, not an obstacle.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Ajax forgot why he first started talking with Jordan and the others: he was looking for people to help Jean form a way out with him.
So when Jean noticed the commotion and asked around what it was about, she became shocked. Was this what Ajax meant by finding helpers? Did he find them already?
So when she wriggled her way into the front of the crowd, finding Ajax turning his head to the bubble lifelessly grew contrasting emotions in her.
Was Ajax going to tell the others to bring her along or not?
She was somewhat confused as well as happy that someone was going to help her on one of her detective journeys. Her father never allowed any helpers back when she was playing around, and now that it wasn't a game anymore, having helpers was really reassuring.
The problem was that Jean wasn't very confrontational. She only watched ahead, silently hoping Ajax would turn around and call out to her in enlightenment. Hoping that he didn't really forget about her and that he had a sort of plan.
Unfortunately, Ajax never turned back around and when he looked forward, everyone in The Origin Team was ready to leave.
They quickly recalled the plan in each of their heads and the first step was taken.
A few of the kids panicked that everything was developing so quickly and their minds went blank.
Ajax made sure to keep a close eye on these people and whenever he would see them acting strange, he would dispel their fears with his Priest abilities. He would dispel them with "Cleanse" which would wash away any impurities more efficiently than a shower, while also cleaning internal impurities. It wasn't too powerful, but it did work to a certain extent.
Jordan, who was leading, took the step outside of the barrier. He now stood outside and could faintly smell a different scent he was used to inside of the bubble. It was a mix of dust, blood, and excrements.
Jordan stepped forward a few more steps before stopping to wait for the others. He stood there, completely sensitive to the slightest changes in his surroundings like the wind was able to whisper these changes to him. Well, that was actually exactly how he was privy to this information.
Jordan's Job was 'Wind Spirit', which allowed him to control the wind to a certain extent.
As he stood several feet away from the barrier, the others caught up and took in the pungent smell.
One kid who received Ajax's Cleanse felt his nostrils clear up, making him feel reborn, but when he stepped outside, he instantly wished to clog his nose back up. He looked for the change in expression of the others as he remarked, "What the hell? It stinks!"
And it really did stink.
Ajax stood there with a passive expression, not affected by the smell of blood nor the smell of the rotting corpse as he looked for a monster that might come out of hiding.
The tall ruined buildings at the side stood there weakly with large holes in their walls as a cause of weathering over countless years.
As they previously saw a monster jumping from one of these buildings, they became very paranoid just being near them.
The sky above was clean and bright blue. Lush clouds rolled over their heads as sunlight seeped through the cracks in the clouds.
The view before their eyes looked to be what would happen if nature overran the world. Meter thick vines wrapped themselves around large buildings and skyscrapers like a snake, replacing them with trees rich in vibrancy.
The whole view was surreal and had the kids encaptured.
Jordan waved his hand, gesturing for the others to follow him.
They walked to one of the buildings, the one the cannibal human jumped out of, with silent steps.
One of the three kids behind Ajax looked at his determined expression and followed with little confidence. The kid looked back to see those on the other side of the blue bubble. It was difficult to tell expressions from the distance and the blurriness of their figures through the transparency of the bubble, but he could see that they were all looking at him and the team.
He became nervous. His footsteps felt heavy and his shoulders the same. He felt he might collapse any moment with the mountainous burden on his back.
'All of those people in there. They're relying on me. If I mess something up, I could hurt all of these people with me.'
The boy's legs started to shake as his breathing became heavy.
'Out here, I could...I could die any second now. W-what if that zombie monster comes back? If I mess something up, I-'
The loud footsteps and the heavy breathing stood out like a sore thumb and Ajax only cast a side-eye before tapping the boy's head with the stick.
Ajax focused his attention elsewhere: the inside of the building they were to enter. Although the sun illuminated most of the building's inside, he summoned a light ball above the team that illuminated every dark corner.
At this moment, with the constant use of his priest abilities, he felt his thoughts became somewhat groggy and his movements uncoordinated. He became dizzy.
He knew well of the reason why.
After all, when "consuming" his Job, he was given all sorts of information related to the Job.
One of the points that he recalled at that moment reminded him that every human had a sort of spirituality that formed their connection to their physical body. Needless to say, the more spirituality one had, the stronger that connection became.
And when using the abilities he stole from a Priest, he both had to expend spirituality to use the soul and to use the ability, at least 1.25x what an actual Priest would need. For the spell-like abilities that were required to last over a period of time, more spirituality was undoubtedly needed.
And so he used up quite a bit of spirituality after casting Cleansing several times for each of the team members.
Fortunately, Ajax has held quite a bit of spirituality ever since his past life. He even gained quite a preliminary understanding of it to the extent that he could use abilities that he learned on his own, separate from his Job.
Having so much spirituality, Ajax quickly recovered.
One of the kids near Ajax with a large bag on patted Ajax on the back after seeing him stagger. "You okay?"
Past Ajax's eyes flew a crimson red string before disappearing. Nobody else noticed it and Ajax who did, kept a slight grin, covering it with his arm as he lifted it to his head.
He rubbed his right temple with his palm. "Yeah, I'm alright."
One of the kids ahead urged them to catch up with the rest of the group as they thoroughly searched throughout the house.
They couldn't go upstairs since the stairs collapsed just by touching them and the floor they were walking on was the same except for the parts where tree roots were running through.
Fortunately, the small search of the house didn't lead them to any danger as they encountered zero monsters. They also found an old ruby necklace on some corner behind a staircase, which Jordan handed back to one of the two porters near Ajax.
After clearing the house, they walked to each house one by one.
Even though they made such a grand performance, saying that they'll find the truth behind where they are, they had to first take baby steps. They looked for diaries, newspapers, or anything that can signal them to civilization.
After clearing 6 or so houses, a few of the kids requested to take a break after finding nothing. Staying on one's toes for so long was bound to tire one out. They couldn't rely on Ajax to cure their stressed minds since it would just stress him in return.
Many of the people were simply uncomfortable which was understandable for their first expedition, so after that short expedition, The Origin Team decided to return. They turned a corner from a ruined alleyway and went on the road leading to the bubble.
Suddenly they caught sight of something up ahead in the bubble where the other kids were.
Flashes of light and dust clouds covering some of what they saw. What they did see between those clouds were countless kids laying on the floor and their respective blood mixing to form a large pool.