26: First encounter?

"What is this idiot thinking? Why would he stay hidden? It would be better for him to show himself and gather us all. Is he stupid or what?

Anyway, I'll leave the scavenger on watch."

***

In the morning, I already knew he had left; he's still within my soul perception range, but he seems to have been still in a corner for quite some time now. I wonder what he's up to.

I prepared breakfast some time later while still keeping an eye on his location, but it seems he's already coming back.

"I think today we should head to the next high point, don't you? We'll try to move from one high point to another at least once a day. Any objections?"

Sasha looked at me and protested.

"I think you're exaggerating, Jony. That's a lot, and we don't know if there will be other places to stay if you want to keep moving all the time. You shouldn't rush things."

Ludwin looked at me and said.

"I agree with the girl. You're rushing too much. Don't overestimate yourself. You're strong, I admit, but fighting those things every day to go back and forth is too much. Why do you want to do things so quickly?"

"I have my reasons. I can't tell you now, but if you trust me, I'll get you out of this damn place."

Ludwin looked at me and said mockingly.

"Sure, I'll trust you after a day of knowing each other. And why are you the leader? I'd be better off leading this group."

Sasha spoke before things got ugly.

"Stop, I don't want you to fight at this hour of the morning. And Ludwin, if you're going to join us, you'll have to follow Jonathan. Otherwise, you can go wherever you want. We won't stop you, but I'm willing to trust that he has a reason for what he's doing."

"Thanks, Sasha. But before we continue, I think we have a guest."

They looked at me confused, and Sasha summoned her shield before standing up and following me to the side of the rock.

***

"Damn it, I didn't think making a seaweed garment would be so difficult. It took me like an hour to make this thing that could fall off at any moment.

Anyway, I'll finally be able to show myself without revealing my private parts. There are only about 50 meters left to reach their rock.

Oh, they're there, they're looking at me... How did they know I would arrive now? Was it a coincidence? No, Sasha has her shield and Jony has his daggers. Maybe they thought I was a monster, but how did they know I would arrive from here? Does any of them have an ability to sense presences or some area location ability?

I'll ask about that later, it's better to greet them.

Waving my hand should be enough.

Oh, they're coming down, good, I'll be able to ask them for armor earlier than expected, great.

It took two minutes when we finally met.

"Hello, what a pleasant surprise to find other sleepers here. Can I join you?"

"By the way, it's been a while since I last saw you, Jonathan."

Jonathan looked at me, his eyes scanning every inch of my body, pausing for a few seconds on my face before speaking.

"Yes, it's surprising to see you here, Isac."

I smiled before speaking.

"That's right, but it doesn't seem to surprise you so much, does it?"

"You wouldn't know. Anyway, you must be tired. Come, let's go up before the scavengers find us."

"Sure."

The other two just looked at me without saying anything before following Jony up to the top of the rock.

When I arrived, we sat in the middle and introductions began.

"I'm Isac, I met Jonathan at the police station in the slums, but then at the academy we parted ways for some reasons. Nice to meet you."

The next to speak was Jony.

"That's right, we met at the police station after waking up from my nightmare. Isac, these are Ludwin, he's strong and improves himself with his ability, and she is Sasha, she has an area enhancement ability and you could also say she's our tank."

"Nice to meet you, Ludwin, Sasha. It will be a pleasure to fight alongside you."

"Sure, just don't get in the way."

"Yes, nice to meet another one of Jony's friends."

"Sure, and I guess now it's my turn to tell about my ability."

I thought for a moment and then revealed part of my abilities.

"First, my innate ability makes me less noticeable, you could say it greatly reduces my presence, which helps me avoid scavenger attention. As for my aspect ability, it makes me invisible to all senses of beings within a half-kilometer radius. Of course, it has a limit and can only be used for an hour, more than that and my essence will be completely depleted."

The three sleepers looked at me thoughtfully for a few seconds before Jonathan spoke.

"That's good, you can be very useful in a fight with your invisibility. Also, I'd like to share my innate ability. I didn't say it yesterday for certain reasons, but it allows me to slow down my enemies to some extent, Ludwin has already experienced my ability."

"Oh, yes, I experienced it, but that didn't seem like just 'some extent', you left me almost completely unable to move."

"Sure, the longer I spend in battle, the more I can slow down my enemies. Now, since we're all here, let's discuss the next steps to take again."

I remained silent during this exchange because I really suspected that he hadn't revealed everything about his abilities yesterday, or at least their capabilities.

I suspected this because I witnessed his fight with Ludwin in the academy and noticed how he became stiff as time passed. But I wondered, is that really all about his ability? It was certainly unlikely.

"What do you have in mind? I don't mind doing whatever, but in return, I'd like to ask you a favor."

It was Jony who responded.

"Sure, but it depends on whether I can fulfill your request."

I smiled because I knew they could, I can already feel the warmth that armor will give me.

"I just want you to give me some armor if you happen to get an extra one on the way when we kill the scavengers."

I noticed Sasha give a suspicious look for a second and then return her expression to normal. Does she know that I was watching them? I should have been more discreet. I'll try not to be so direct in the future.

A second later, Ludwin responded.

"I have an extra set of armor, but it won't be free, you'll have to give me something in return. What do you have to offer?"

Damn selfish.

"Oh, as you can see, I'm not from a wealthy family or clan, so I don't have anything right now, but I can give you half of the loot I get in the next week. How does that sound?"

"Fine, but you better kill some scavenger to give me its core, if not, I'll take the armor by force."

His attitude really sucks.

"Sure, don't worry about that, I'm quite capable of killing whatever."

That was a subtle threat to warn him not to cross the line. He seemed to notice it and frowned at me.

"Then it's a deal. Ludwin, you could give him the armor now so we can discuss our next course of action."

"Fine, give me your hand, shorty."

Shorty!? Damn idiot, I'm quite tall for someone from the outskirts, muscle-brained imbecile.

Of course, I didn't say anything out loud because it would only worsen our deal. I extended my hand, and he touched it with a finger. I felt a surge of electricity run through my arm to my chest, the memory had been transferred.

"Runes"

Name: Isac

True Name: Ancient Carrier

Rank: Latent

Core: Inactive

Essence Fragments: [9/1000]

Memories: [Solar Mantle]

I focused on the memories and saw the new one that appeared on my runes.

Name: Solar Mantle

Description: [A fabric that received sunlight for millennia was found by a craftsman who turned it into a beautiful garment for a lovely lady.]

Memory Type: Armor

Memory Class: Latent

Memory Level: II

Enchantments: [Warmth]

It's not a memory with much defense, but its enchantment is very convenient.

I invoked the armor, and my body was surrounded by bright points of light until it turned into a beautiful piece of clothing that fitted my body.

Its appearance was that of a tunic with several layers, white and gold in color, with a white hood adorning my head and fine layers of fabric with golden edges covering the rest of my body. The garment came with a pair of comfortable leather sandals.

"Now you look like an outskirts princess hahaha."

"Shut up, jerk."

The one who spoke was obviously Ludwin.

You'll pay for this, idiot.

"Don't fight, now that you have armor, or at least something to cover your body, we'll head out in a moment to the next elevated area, so prepare whatever you need to prepare," said Jonathan.