Although he thought that Cecil's words were a little bit over the top, it wasn't like he didn't agree with her statement. He had seen so many Players that seemed to shine, having that 'hero-like' aura and aptitude still end up getting killed along the way.
[Oh, come on! What's with that expression? I'm just trying to help you.]
[Don't waste your time on helping these folks and focus on yourself. They will only slow you down. It's fine to get some comrades in the near future, but let them fight their way out on their own first. If they can't even survive by themselves... they're not worth it.] Cecil commented, clearly looking down at the panicked group of people.
'What is he doing, though?'
By this time, the man had already stood up and helped other people who were extremely sick to recover.
[This kind of people like to play the savior's role, but.. Reality isn't always as pretty as it sounds. Even if he gets recognized as the savior, all he's going to get is a bunch of deadweight that acts as parasites, dragging his progress.. Let's watch him, shall we?]
"Do you know something?! Wait, you seem like you're completely fine! Don't tell me, this whole thing is your doing??!" The robust man from earlier scrambled to stand back up and grabbed the collar of the speaker roughly.
"No, I don't know too! But panicking will do us nothing good. It's just basic common sense! You don't want to be rash, make a mistake, and potentially lose your life, right?! What happened to us clearly isn't normal! I... I was sucked into a portal. When I opened my eyes, I was already here, standing! You can ask those two for proof. They arrived here earlier than me."
"..Tch." Clicking his tongue, he threw him to the side, leaving him to stagger backwards a couple times before regaining his balance.
"Urk... My name is Adel. We all seem to have been thrown here for a reason, right? We should stick together until we know more!" Adel proclaimed bravely, looking at his surroundings to gain support.
"And why should I do that? You guys are like pathetic, brainless monkeys right now. All of you don't even know how to regulate mana.. Except for a few." The elf, who was part of the three who didn't get affected by the warp travel spoke.
Lucas felt the elf's sharp eyes linger on him for a few seconds before being retracted.
[Just like you, he must be scanning for potential talents. He is an elf, which is a race that is born within regions with high mana influences. It's not strange that he's this calm even after the warp. I think he marked you as a 'passing' candidate.]
Lucas stayed silent. He decided to only observe the crowd from a distance to see how things will play out.
"I know, but aren't we all in the same position here? We're helpless until more information gets discovered. I'm saying that until that time comes, we should-"
"No. I'll just waste my time here. I'm going to travel alone." The elf abruptly turned around and left towards the gates, not sparing a single glance back.
[See? That man knows the deal. I think this is a good time for you to part from them too. Your first priority in this case should be to enter Ulya and make your way to Eve after gearing up a bit.] Cecil advised.
Lucas nodded. He also didn't find much importance in this group of guys. The elf was quite special, but he already left.
He was well aware of the rules that worked inside Eve. For example, the rewards for the floors were distributed according to the amount of contribution you put in.
If he was able to obtain enough strength to breeze through the first few floors before anybody could do it, then all the rewards would be his!
"I think that elf's words make sense. You guys can continue to do your thing, I'll mind my own business. and check out the town on my own." Elgin said with a bright smile.
"What..? But!" Adel tried to dissuade Elgin from leaving, but stopped in his tracks. There were clearly more important matters to do for now.
Elgin continued walking into the town without any restraints.
After he was out of their sight, Adel sighed before turning to the others.
"..Alright, let's start our discussion now, shall we?"
He was visibly shaken. He didn't expect that two people would be leaving right away, considering how scary the situation was. He thought that sticking with a lot of people was the best option for survival.
Adel was a man with inborn leadership skills. He controlled the worried crowd very well, and slowly soothed the atmosphere down.
After that, he grouped everyone up and began to take notes of their identity, building solidarity with them.
Before long, Adel, who had an inkling suspicion that since this was a fantasy world, called out the command 'status' to test things out.
Out of the group, he was the first to open his status window. From there, the tutorial screen that showed their mission to raid Eve was exposed. He told the others to follow what he did, and things seemed to be going in a good pace.
They realized that they were all Players with the same mission, which cleared things up even further.
"This is great! We're making progress."
"Yes. We have a clear goal now. Our answer as to why we're here.. must be in this Eve thing. Everyone, let's keep up this momentum and continue!" Adel nodded.
"Umm.. What about the two who left? Are we not going to look for them? Perhaps we should try to convince them to join us.. No?" A woman raised her hand and gave her opinion.
"Hah? They're the one who chose to leave. They acted so high and mighty, but I bet they're gonna die first!"
"Yeah, forget about them! Those two are so arrogant, they probably don't know what is even happening!!"
"Miss, it's their decision, we shouldn't bend our backs just to bring them here."
"Yeah, yeah!"
Sadly, the crowd had already formed their judgement.
The woman sighed and followed their words.
Laughter ensued, and the crowd marched into Ulya in high spirits.
Adel, however, was a bit hesitant.
He didn't know why, but those two who left continued to linger on his mind.
However, he had to cater to the crowd in order to form a cooperation with them.