Dorian followed Dominic into a central tent where a number of people were already waiting. Manli bid him farewell and left to do other things.
"These are the people who assist in the day to day running of this Wanderer Camp. Everyone, meet Dorian. He will be staying with us for some time." Dominic introduced Dorian to the people that were present.
A man walked up to Dorian with a smile on his face. His fair face was covered with wrinkles and his hair had mostly gone white.
"Hello, Dorian. I am Mian, the chief medic in this camp. It is nice to meet you." The man, Mian, held out a hand and Dorian reciprocated. One by one, the people came up to greet him. All of them were nice and polite.
They were Nora, the one in charge of the growth of natural food for the camp. David, Michael and Eunice, the ones in charge of the education of the children in the camp. And last but not least, Mary, Dominic's partner.
.
.
In a distant location far away from Dorian and the Wanderer camp, James Wright sighed as he nursed a bowl of steaming hot broth. He sipped on the hot liquid and let out a sigh as it warmed his insides.
"James." A young lady walked up behind James, a bowl in her hands as well.
"Ah, Martha! What brings you here?" James turned to the young lady and asked. He took in her brown locks that reached her shoulders and her large brown eyes. She had an innocent look to her, but there was no naivety in her gaze, as it had long been washed away by the harshness of the apocalypse.
Martha was a young lady, only twenty eight years old. She had been an office worker when the apocalypse struck, and she had awakened as a rank 2 Gifted. She was able to manipulate Ice and Water. She was in her zone in the current situation, and it was easy for her to display her power with the surrounding weather.
"I was wondering, what do we do after we get to our destination?" Martha asked, taking a seat beside James.
"Well, when we get the item, it should be able to greatly boost our survival chances in this apocalypse. I plan to use it to build a more permanent base for us." James allowed her some insight into his plan.
The item that his group was after was something that could ordinarily not be gotten randomly. It had only appeared during the transformation of the world.
The heart of a Radiant Beast.
The Radiant Beast was a powerful creature, and the one that James had set his sights on was a rank 4 creature. With its heart, he would be able to create the ideal environment where crops would be able to grow and flourish with no issues. People would be able to live well with no sickness. The Gifts of those bestowed with these mystic powers would grow at a more rapid pace, allowing them to grasp the power to fight against stronger threats.
As James began to explain all these things to Martha, the young lady's eyes began to shine brightly.
"That is brilliant, but dangerous! We only have you and Old Mo at rank 4. Don't you think this is too dangerous?" Martha shared her views. She was worried that James would get badly hurt or even die if they fought the rank 4 Radiant Beast.
"It's risky, but it's doable. Don't worry, I have already accounted for the potential dangers." James smiled and patted her shoulder. "You should have met my son. I have a feeling both of you would get along well." James chuckled.
"Your son... You've spoken a bit about him before. Is he..." Martha began but trailed off.
"He is alive and well, don't worry. We have just been separated for some time. We will meet again soon enough." James understood Martha and replied smoothly.
Martha nodded and turned her attention back to her food. She was grateful to James. A couple of years ago, when she was a weak and pathetic rank 2 struggling to survive, he had appeared from nowhere and offered her help and companionship. She had followed him as he assistant ever since. She had witnessed as he helped more and more people, pulling them out of dire straits and providing shelter and assistance to them. Some people stayed while others left after getting their feet under them.