The sight unfolding before him was gorier than anticipated. Hesitating and behaving like cowardly fools proved far more problematic, especially given the limited strength of the low-ranked Warriors and non-Classers.

Their hesitant slashes harmed the monsters far more than a swift death would have. Worse still, casting [Herald’s Blessing] on them and their weapons did nothing to help. Sure, they gained the strength needed to end the hyenas swiftly, but fewer than a quarter succeeded in killing their target with a single, decisive strike.

And all that hesitation resulted in… problems, to say the least. The monsters were dead. They had been killed by the non-Classers and Warriors who didn’t collapse or leave midway after the first two low-ranked Warriors made a mess of their targets, but that did not mean everything was fine. Quite the opposite, actually.

The only good thing was that almost nobody chose the Warrior class after watching the gory sight. At least they weren’t foolish—or stubborn—enough to think they could handle it when they clearly couldn’t.

The newly inducted Classers had to improve quickly. Precisely, they would have to get used to killing.

Slicing through one’s enemies is harder than shooting a projectile at them, but that doesn’t mean you will be without guilt, David mused to himself, failing to understand how Orhain’s residents could be this foolish, and how they hadn’t gotten used to death and all that encompassed it since the integration had changed the Earthen Union.

But as confusing as the indecisiveness of the townspeople was, so too was the power that wove into his very being.

Did I just grow stronger with everyone who had acquired a Class? David wondered. Even the rank-ups of the low-ranked Warriors seemed to empower him. It was not much, merely a fraction of power in the grand scheme of things, but it was something.

Or was that just a coincidence? That should not be the case, though. First, he felt a trickle of power whenever someone finished ranking up or completed the system induction. Second, David had a hard time understanding how that came to be, but he felt a stronger connection to those he’d supported. That was prevalent with the few dozen townspeople he helped acquire a Class, yet it was similar to the residents who’d received his healing.

As interesting as the connections were, each was different. They were intangible and incredibly hard to perceive. In fact, they were so hard to perceive even for someone like him that David sensed them only when more than a hundred had been established, connecting him to most of Orhain’s residents. And as inconspicuous as they were, they existed nonetheless. They were real.

And they were linked to his heart. He had no idea how that worked, but his heartbeat released power. While it was far from a stream of power—let alone a river—it was a trickle that had been steadily growing since he helped the town, weaving the trickle of power into his very being, strengthening him constantly.

It was already late at night, but the main street was still illuminated. Braziers filled with magical flames gave warmth and light to the few people spending the night awake. However, only a few guards were awake to spot monsters and warn the makeshift barracks of impending danger in times of need. That would hardly be necessary with David’s avian Echos scouting the immediate proximity and the surrounding land, but he wasn’t going to tell them that.

The worst he could do was lower the townspeople’s guard. They shouldn’t grow complacent and used to the protection he could offer. He would not always be there to protect them, after all.

Lilia was still awake as they entered the fortified town through the main gate. They walked the main street in utter silence, their shoulders drooped and their eyes fixed on the ground. David didn’t say anything to the newly inducted and waved them off to take rest and to think about their class and how they wanted to proceed.

“I hope they will sleep tonight,” Lilia muttered, appearing beside David.

“Have they never seen death? Were they hiding in the houses every time the town was attacked?” he asked, not even trying to hide his disappointment.

“Everyone knows what happened. They have also seen death from a distance—some closer, others farther,” Lilia responded calmly, the corner of her lip twitching as her eyes diverted from the newly inducted to David. “This was the first time they killed something. It was not a life-and-death fight, a struggle for survival. This was brutal murder of a defenseless being.”

He cocked an eyebrow, but she only smiled.

“I am not saying that you did something wrong, Your Excellency. All I’m saying is that they need to get used to this if they want to leave the town to help. We… to be honest, we tried very hard to keep the young away from the danger around us, but that may have been a mistake. I don’t know. We just wanted the best for everyone.”

“If you really want to help them, make sure they don’t give up. I’m not good with speeches, nor am I patient enough to coddle them. Sure, I will help them if they want to keep going, but I am not going to play their pillar of emotional support. Though I won’t interfere too much, I will keep them alive,” David said lightly.

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“That is more than enough, Your Excellency. The first kills are the hardest, especially in such circumstances. I believe you understand what I’m talking about, Your Excellency.”

He was inclined to agree but hesitated. Were the first kills truly the hardest? Killing the Infected had been obvious. Even though they had looked human, he’d killed them without an issue. The Kobolds had also been fairly straightforward. They killed the Warrior he’d been with at that time and pounced on him, their claws and blades tearing through him as he struggled to survive. Killing them had been difficult, but that was due to their strength and the durability of their scales rather than a psychological barrier.

Killing had never been all that difficult for him. In fact, quite the contrary. Fighting with his life on the line had been exhilarating.

What was his name again? Was it Sebastian?

Not even two years had passed, yet it felt like the start of the integration had been decades ago.

Lilia looked inquisitively at him, but David only shrugged.

“Do you guys have a proper plan to ensure your survival, or is this more of a ‘we go with the flow’ scenario?”

He doubted the townspeople were planless, but it did not look like they had any grand schemes. If anything, they were struggling to make it through every day.

“We have plans, but we do not have the strength to execute them, Your Excellency. Every time we come up with a new plan, the wilderness forces us to retreat and adapt once again.”

David nodded at that, his lips parting to ask for more when his eyes flicked to several elderly women. Lilia offered him a quick smile and motioned toward them. “They wanted to guide you to your new home, Your Excellency.”

She locked eyes with him as one of the braziers flared up, unraveling a faint blush. Her lips parted slightly, but she closed her mouth after a moment.

“I think we should talk about Orhain’s future tomorrow,” David intercepted while turning to the elderly women. He didn’t depart immediately and added, “For the record, I do not want to take control of Orhain or anything like that. I couldn’t care less about that, but you and your people need to adapt. And you will have to do things you don’t want to do, just like everyone else in town. I won’t force anything upon you or anyone else, but if you ask me for help, you’ll have to accept that things go my way. If you don’t want my help, that’s fine. I can leave.”

He hadn’t been in the town long enough to tell how everything was handled, but he could tell that some townspeople trusted him. Not all, which was fairly obvious, but Lilia and some of those who’d seen him fight trusted him… and wanted to rely on him. That was only logical, but it was not a solution.

If Orhain wanted to survive this as a town, they had to pull on the same strings. They had to work together and get their act together.

Regardless of what they decided to do, they had to make a decision. And whatever it was, David would accept it.

Somehow, he wasn’t quite sure why, but he felt like he owed them that much.

***

David left the cozy house he considered his temporary residence with mixed feelings. On one side, he wanted to grow stronger. His time in the Naughtrealm taught him just how powerful the gods were. The Fallen had remained powerful even after being chained and weakened for an extended period. Worse even, the End, or Fissure as some called it, had been strong enough to trick the Fallen and capture him.

As easy as the Fallen’s escape from the confinements appeared, David doubted it had been all that easy. The god still died, after all.

On the other hand, the Naughtrealm was no more, and only a few months had passed since his departure. His time in the Naughtrealm may have felt like years had passed, but not even two years had passed—if the accounts of Lilia and the others were to be believed—since the integration. The Naughtrealm wouldn’t cause any more problems, and Zachariah could work with Maja to deal with the remaining Voidlings.

Sure, he could seek out Voidlings and hunt them too, but without a Portaligist by his side, it wasn’t worth it. If anything, it would be a waste of time. Consuming monsters in the meantime would provide him with much more Vitae. Then again, David was tired of consuming so many things. Using Vitae to cause death and destruction was something he’d done more than enough in the Naughtrealm. He… wanted to do something else.

Even if it was only for a short while, David wanted to do something different—to be helpful in ways other than brutal combat.

I need some rest.

He’d been working tirelessly for the past 18 months to keep up with Zachariah, to bind the Maelstrom, and to grow powerful enough to deal with the End’s creations. But he was no longer in a rush. At least, it appeared that way. He couldn’t tell how the situation outside Kamia looked, yet the ignorance was oddly blissful. It was enjoyable, even.

If only the System was working.

He grimaced and shook his head. Maybe the System could help him find out why he was growing stronger through his connection with Orhain’s people, or how it was possible for them to affect David’s growth.

He left the house and roamed around. Hunting was also a feasible option, but he was more interested in the people around him. He hadn’t planned to talk to them, but he was drawn to them the moment he realized he could feel their emotions—the emotions of those connected to him.

The connection resembled the bond he had with Electra, but while the Sacred Beast could block him out, the townspeople connected to him were too inexperienced to do so. Or he was simply too strong and crushed their natural mental barriers without even trying. Feeling the emotions of those around him, no matter how faint the sensation, felt strange. However, it wasn’t too bad. It was especially interesting how some people didn’t like him, yet they were still connected to him.

Their respect for his prowess—the immense power he wielded—was apparent, yet they also feared it. They feared him, and that seemed to empower him as much, if not more than, the connections of others.