Lucy approached the group of survivors, her senses on high alert as she tried to gauge their intentions. The men eyed her warily, their expressions guarded as they sized her up, only Pete gave her a welcoming nod. Ethan stuck close by her side, his presence a comforting anchor in the midst of uncertainty.
"Hey there Derek," Lucy greeted, her tone friendly but cautious. "Mind if we join you?"
The men exchanged glances before one of them, Derek, a burly man with a scruffy beard, nodded in response. "Sure, the more the merrier," he grunted, gesturing for them to take a seat on the nearby crates.
As Lucy settled onto the crate, she couldn't help but notice the tension in the air. It was palpable, crackling with unspoken fears and anxieties. She cleared her throat, trying to break the ice.
"So, what's the plan?" she asked, her voice steady despite the uncertainty gnawing at her insides.
The men exchanged looks again, their expressions grim. "We're heading back to the city," one of them replied, his voice grave. "It's not safe out here, and we need to regroup with the other survivors. The city's filled with Agents and hunters alike along with a few Fallen, I refuse to believe the city's fallen."
Lucy nodded in agreement, her mind racing with thoughts of Pyrrha and the safety of the city. "Sounds like a plan," she said, trying to inject a note of confidence into her voice. "But how do we get there? The roads are probably swarming with those... things."
The men exchanged glances once more, silent communication passing between them. "We'll have to travel on foot," Derek said finally, his voice low. "It'll be slow going, but it's our best chance at avoiding detection."
Lucy frowned, the reality of their situation sinking in. Such a large group moving towards the city would be perilous, fraught with danger at every turn.
"Alright then," she said, steeling herself. "Let's get moving."
"Wait!" A voice called as another group walked up to them, a dark skinned boy in the lead.
"Ah, it's little Johny." Derek smiled.
John frowned, " it's John not Johny and before we agree on anything, shouldn't we figure out the video game status everyone just got?"
"We can figure out does things later, when we're all safe Johny." Derek answered with a huff.
" But it's paramount to our survival." John yelled.
That seemed to have silenced Derek for a moment and that moment was enough.
"Look at it this way, it's the fucking apocalypse and everyone gets a system which by the way grants each of us a special ability. If we're all going to survive, we need to use everything we have and that includes the system." John explained.
" And how exactly do we use our system." Derek asked, clearly interested in John's proposal.
" I don't know. That's what I want us to find out first. I suggest we check everyone out so we know which of us is suitable for battle." John explained.
Derek glanced at Peter who nodded in agreement.
"Alright then, gather everyone let's see what we can find out. It doesn't even have to be a fighting ability, anything that proves useful." He concluded as the men dispersed and started gathering everyone. The process went smoothly as no one refused the gathering.
Once everyone gathered he began. "Alright everyone, we're in a tight spot and I'm just as confused as the next guy. We've decided to move to the city for the time being, it's probably safe there however the journey probably isn't so we have to understand our resources. I believe the young ones are familiar with this 'system' ?"
There were nods from the teens around.
"Alright then, John you're up." He called.
John then explained what he thought about the various functions of the blue star system.
" I'll go first, my affinity is <
Derek went next. " Ok it says my affinity is <
This continued for a while until people were shared in groups.
The first group were the assault team. They were five men and three women, each of them possessing high stats in the twenties.
The second group were the assault reinforcement, they didn't have high stats like the first group but their starlights allowed them to strengthen themselves for short periods of time hence they were the reinforcement.
The third group led by Mrs Oliver was filled with people whose starlights allowed them to heal and buff their comrades
The fourth group was filled with the rest whose starlights didn't help in the current situation, there were crafters and chefs and other menial jobs.
Lucy found her self in the first group as her were high at average of twenty six ( when the others see it) she decided to join the first group so she could finally practice and get used to her powers and also because she wanted to make sure there were no casualties as she found she was stronger than all of them, meanwhile Ethan was in the fourth group.
"Ok then." She said steeling herself again.
"Let's get moving."