"Julia. What is going on here?"
Among the 7 survivors, I saw that all of them were females, including Julia. There were a few familiar faces, like those from the cheerleaders. But I kind of forgot what their name was.
"Are you sent here by Luke?!!" One of the girls with red hair spoke as she looked at me with pure rage and disgust. I think they were comparatively calmer when they were expecting a monster? Just what happened while I was gone?
"He is not," and Julia spoke as she slowly walked towards me, as a drop of tears appeared in her eyes. I was confused by that for a moment but Julia continued walking before she stopped two meters away from me and spoke,
"I thought I would never get to say thank you."
A relieved smile appeared on her face. She wiped those tears off her eyes as she spoke," Adrian. Thank you for saving me from that monster. I have no excuse for what I have done and I don't mind if you don't forgive me for it. But still, I would like you to know that I owe my life to you. Thank you, Adrian. Thank you for helping me out. Thank you for staying alive."
She bowed deeply as the others were then surprised before they observed my face with a shocked expression. They had questions they wanted to ask, but they waited for Julia and my conversation to end. And after giving a brief thought, I spoke,
"It seems you have told them about what happened on the roof."
Julia flinched a little, while those who were looking at me with slight doubt, were now looking at me with awe a little. A few of them had a mysterious smile as well… Anyways…
"You guys seem hungry. Would you like to have some food?"
I then patted Julia's head, before she looked up and saw me smiling at her. And then taking out a bunch of bread packets that I was saving for later, I passed them towards one of the girls. I also took out a packet of fruits that I was saving and then gave it to Julia who was standing straight.
"So. What is our little hero-wanna-be up to now?" I took out another apple, while the girls just looked at me with a stupefied expression. Taking a bite from it, I looked at Julia who came out of her stupor. And then her eyes turned rageful as she spoke,
"That f*cking bastard is acting like a king asking the rest of us to bow down to him. Ever since he bought that mana blade, he has become unstoppable. And with no one to oppose him, the players had to follow him. Or else, they would become like us who wandered out of the safe zone."
'So he chose that path, huh? Regretful. I hoped he could become a good leader,' I sighed but then there was one more thing that I didn't understand.
"What about Mike and Alice?" I was a little confused. Alice should have been powerful enough to take care of Mike even with his mana sword and stuff.
"Ah! That duo went with the NPCs regarding a quest or something. I think they were dropping them into the forest. Nobody has heard of them ever since," one of the girls with curly purple hair and purple eyes spoke as she ate the bread. She looked like one from the first years of high school. I smiled and then gave her an apple from the inventory.
"What's your name?" I asked and she smiled," Mira."
"Just how much have you stored in there?" The red haired girl from the beginning asked, while I just smiled at her. "I am Flare by the way," she added.
"I am Olivia. You can call me Liv," the girl with silvery white hair spoke.
"Samantha. Call me Sam! I am from the cheerleaders group remember!" An energetic brat with brown tomboyish hair spoke out with one of her hands raised.
"Nom Nom… Tisha.. nom nom…" a black haired glutton.
"I am… Emily," the shy girl with long black hair spoke as she looked at me with slight amazement.
I looked at the two with the cheerleaders group. I remembered there were more of them, which made me wonder what happened to them?
"Emily and Samantha, right? I think I met you back then," I spoke, making them nod at me before they went to eat on their own. Since they were not going to talk about what happened to the rest of their group, I wasn't going to start that topic either.
"All right. I guess, I have a general idea of what happened with Luke, Alice and Mark," I paused as I collected my thoughts before turning to Julia,"so what happened with the tutorial in the last few days? And how did you end up in this situation?"
"??" They were confused with my question but then I spoke," I… found a dungeon. I was trapped in it for the last few days. The rewards were nice, so it was worth it. I hope you can understand."
The confused looks were replaced with shocked and then slight jealousy. But then these girls just sighed before one of them spoke out…
"I'll explain," Olivia spoke out, making me turn at the white hair girl who was sitting on the bed right beside me. She then began explaining everything in detail that happened in the last 4 days that I was sleeping.
Accordingly, the rain continued for the next 2 days without any pause.
On the first day, Luke returned and started getting angry at everyone on how they were weak or not being helpful at all. He then decided to go solo on his own. From what the people told, he had killed 100s of goblins on his own that day.
Alice and Mark also left with the NPCs that day.
On the second day, he came back wounded. Though he was weak, he was smiling like crazy. In his hands was a mana blade that was one of the most costly items in the [Shop]. With that he became almost unstoppable, creating absurd rules of his kingdom and stuff.
Those who would follow him, will get everything they want. And those who won't, must get out of the safe zone. Or else, only death awaits them. This divided the group into two, those who will follow Luke and those who won't.
The rain waiter had reached at least 3 meters above by then, and everyone had bought the boat in the [Shop] for travel purposes. So, we, one of the groups who didn't want to get involved with Luke, tried to travel as far as possible from the safe zone and locate another area where we can safely stay.
The second night and the third day was when the water goblins appeared. They were at least 3-4 times stronger than normal goblins within the water. And they knew better hunting patterns. Hence, traveling by the water was near impossible and we could only stall for time.
By the third night, the blue sky turned red, and well… there was no more distinction of night and day. Just a dull red sky, that coloured the entire world in crimson.
When there were 60 hours left for the tutorial end, those monsters in the sky appeared. They were both strong and had the advantage of the air and a rather fast speed. Hunting them was near futile and staying at the roof only made the players easy targets.
50 hours left for the tutorial to end and we noticed those giant worms appeared in the sky as well. They haven't attacked anyone on the ground, but we can never be sure.
"And now that only 40 hours are left for the tutorial to end, we believe things are only going to turn worse. Some of us believe the safe zone is our only option before everything turns for the worst. But as you know… there is Luke…" Olivia spoke all of it in one breath, while I kept glancing at the red sky.
Well, a lot many things have happened in the last few days, and it seems like things are only going crazier at a faster rate now.
I turned quiet for a few minutes, taking all that information in. There were many things to consider, many to know. But in the end I was only left with two proper choices.
Either I have to look for Mark and Alice. Or I have to go to the safe zone and confront Luke. The former would get me into various troubles and complicated situations, while the latter is a straightforward ticket to the next tutorial.
So the choice was obvious,
"I think I am going to look for Mark and Alice first. What about you guys?"
"We have secured enough points to stay alive until the next tutorial. For now we will stay here, score some more points and then go back to the safe zone when there are about 24 hours left," Olivia answered and the girls nodded.
"You know. You can join us. We fairly divide points between all of us," Samantha looked at Julia and then at me, but I smiled as I spoke,
"Thanks. But my skill set is now based mostly for solo hunts. I will only be a hindrance in your group."
They seemed a little regretful but they nodded at my choice. I then took out a dozen bananas and passed them onto the girls. Since I need to refill my inventory with potions, items and weapons mostly, I was going to throw these anyway.
The girls tried to reject it but I said it was fine. And then looking at Julia, who was finer than the last time I saw her, I smiled and spoke, "good to see you alive too Julia. See you again."
And then I waved at the rest of them before I put on my cloak again, activating stealth and walking away from there.