Solace was currently the busiest it had ever been, which really wasn't saying much considering that it was a new settlement that had only recently received a huge influx of citizens.
At first there were less than fifty people in Solace, then they rescued those that remained at school, and they quickly passed three hundred people. Now, an equally large number of people had arrived from the city, easily dwarfing their original numbers.
A group of five came out of the dungeon at a hurried pace, each carrying a large amount of supplies.
The crowd that was in front of the dungeon became agitated, some trying to reach over and pry the supplies away, only to be stopped by people from labs, who were currently serving as a security force as they were the ones who had the most equipment.
The group that exited the dungeon went directly to the supply store, which had been relocated, following Stella’s plans.
More people from the crowd tried to reach over as they handed the supplies to those in the store. Those from labs reacted quickly and with as little force as possible, at most slapping some hands, stopped their attempts.
The people were desperate. They hadn’t eaten in days, and even though some were being fed, they felt it wasn’t enough.
A group of three refugees, seeing that people came out with food and water, rushed into the dungeon, and never came out, becoming its first victims.
When Stella heard about what had occurred, her first thought was one of relief. Many people wanted to enter the dungeon, even those that clearly weren’t ready. So, when she heard that people had died, her first thought was that maybe it would serve as a deterrent for those that only thought of the rewards and not the dangers. It was only until Marcus Anna pointed out that people died, with a serious tone, that she realized what she was doing.
Stella understood them, why they were so desperate, and why they needed more than just part of a sandwich or a couple of cookies. But this was the best they could currently do. She and those that were in charge, had even stopped eating so that the little amount of supplies they would’ve gotten, would instead go to the refugees. But even that wasn’t enough. She turned away from the workshop's window, glancing at the “guards” they had outside.
“One of us needs to go to the garden,” she said with a tired voice. “The group we sent is taking too long.”
“It’s only been a few hours,” Alex said, trying to alleviate Stella’s desperation. “Plus, Marcus is with them. If anything happens, he can probably handle it.”
“I don’t think that’s entirely true. Marcus tends to get distracted,” Eric said. “I offer myself up for this task.”
“You just want to leave and not have to deal with this mess,” Stella said, irritation filling her words. “Like it or not, this is your settlement, if you want my help, you’re going to have to cooperate.”
Eric narrowed his eyes at Stella and said nothing.
“She’s just anxious,” Alex said, stepping between the two. “Go and see what’s going on in the garden, but do it quickly.”
Without a word, Eric turned and left, Alex following behind. “I’ll go and see what I can help with,” he said, closing the door.
Seeing them leave, Anna finally spoke. “What was that about?” she asked, confusion evident on her face. It was extremely rare for Eric and Stella to argue, the most they had were small disagreements.
Stella turned and fixed her hair. “I don’t know, I’m uneasy,” she answered, some calm having returned. “I feel like everything’s been too easy. Even this, it feels like we’ll solve it easily. It’s too easy, it’s getting to me.”
The door swung open, and Caleb entered. His eyes took a quick glance at who was inside, both Stella and Anna turned to him and noticed a subtle change in his expression when he finished looking around, then he spoke. “The big one is up,” he said, pointing with his thumb.
Stella brushed off her unease as best she could and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
Both Stella and Anna walked, having forgotten something. Caleb followed behind, searching the crowd, he clicked his tongue and continued.
They quickly arrived at what was once Eric’s cabin, now relocated and repurposed for the use of three people. The three people in question, were those that had been singled out by the refugees when asked who their leader was, especially the woman, many talked with gratitude when talking about her.
Resting with his back against the wall, was the tallest of the three. Both Stella and Anna were sure that if he stood up, he would even make Alex look small.
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“What’s your name?” Stella asked, keeping an impassive face.
The man looked up at her with an exhausted face. If he wanted to convey another emotion, his face was incapable of doing so. “Connor,” he said with a deep voice.
“And the other two?”
“Lydia and Sam,” he answered, barely being able to raise his arm to point at each of them.
“Connor, Lydia, and Sam,” Stella said, pausing to take a good look at each one. “How did you know to come here? Did you get a quest? Or was it just coincidence?”
She waited for a moment before crouching, she put her finger under his nose, feeling his faint breathing, and noticed that he had fallen asleep once more.
“Keep an eye on him. Get me when all three of them are up,” Stella said, getting back up. “Ah! And don’t let them out.”
“Why?” Anna asked, looking at them in their exhausted state, thinking they were harmless.
“We can’t be sure of the type of people they are,” Stella said, giving them one last look and leaving.
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Running at full speed, Eric had no issue reaching the labs building in less than ten minutes. He only had to pause briefly because a lone barghest stood in his path.
Upon arriving at the building, he was a bit surprised at how intact it looked, even on the inside. He didn’t have to enter to see the condition of the engineering part of the building, since its entire front had big glass windows.
Eric entered the building through the engineering side, knowing that Marcus would most likely be in this section of the building.
He searched thoroughly and didn’t find him. He did, however, find traces that he had been in the building. Eric knew what Marcus needed the most: a soldering machine and a generator, and one of each was missing from the places he knew they were supposed to be.
“Dammit Marcus,” he muttered. “Now I also have to look for you. You better be in the garden; I’m done looking through here.”
Eric took one quick and final glance at the various workshop rooms that made up the engineering section of the labs building and headed outside, directly toward the garden.
Inside the computer labs, Marcus jumped up as a shadow passed by the window. “Must be imagining things,” he told himself, and once more got under the desk.
He removed all the cables from behind a PC and carried the tower onto a platform cart he had taken from engineering. “Going to be busy tonight,” he said in a giddy tone.
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It didn’t take Eric long to get to the garden, the original distance between the garden and labs was less than a meter, it was a sidewalk’s width.
The garden that existed in Eric’s memories was nothing more than a small dirt field with a couple of thin plants spread sporadically. If he had to describe it in one word, the word would be “sad,” a sad little garden. However, it was no longer a sad little garden. In fact, it was the opposite of sad, whatever that is, Eric thought.
The garden that Eric once knew as sad was now a lush green wall of thick stalks and verdant leaves. Every color present was vibrant and shone with a luster that indicated the health of the produce, or at least that’s what Eric took it to mean.
He took a few steps forward, eyeing what was in front of him. His eyes landed on a normal looking jalapeño pepper, then he tore it away. He examined it carefully, not noticing much difference from a normal one. Its size, while big, wasn’t really outside the realm of possibility.
“Here goes,” he said to himself as he bit the pepper.
Eric had noticed that his tolerance for spice had gone up quite significantly, to the point that whatever sauce he used, of those that were available, was really only for flavor. He wasn’t sure what exactly had increased his tolerance for spice, but he guessed it was either his skill Pain tolerance or a stat like constitution. He found it amusing and a genuine surprise.
Very few of the web novels he read mentioned little details like how your taste buds were affected; they tended to focus on combat applications.
And that wasn’t his only discovery, he also noticed that his capacity to distinguish the taste of what he ate had increased quite a bit. Before he only knew when something had too much salt or no salt, anything in between was ok, and that applied to everything. But that had changed, he could now enjoy food more than ever, though he still preferred instant noodles, but that was just an Eric thing.
However, none of those wonderous changes that had been brought on by the System mattered right now. Because the very instant that Eric bit the pepper, his mouth went numb with pain.
The amount of saliva he was generating was unnatural. He gulped some of it down and regretted it instantly, as the burning sensation traveled down along with it. He began to cough, making it worse. Some system windows popped up, but he closed them as he frantically searched for anything that could make it better.
He found nothing outside the garden where he was standing, so instead he ventured in, hoping that something other than spices were grown here.
Distracted by the intense pain localized in his mouth, he didn’t notice the unconscious person on the ground and tripped over them. Eric tried to conjure up some force of will here so that he could analyze the situation properly, but it was impossible, he had even forgotten about his skill. He ignored the body, turned around, and continued forward, eventually hitting a tree.
If Eric had been in a much calmer state, he would’ve noticed that the garden and the forest had merged around this area, but he wasn't, so he didn’t.
It wasn’t until he noticed some rustling nearby, that he was able to make a very basic decision: follow the noise.
A couple steps later, and he found three people eating something red. Without thinking about what it was or who the people were, he rushed toward whatever they were eating and bit down.
The sweetest water he had ever tasted entered his mouth, making the pain bearable. He looked down on what he had bitten, and noticed it was a watermelon.
Eric ate the watermelon in a casual manner, as if he hadn’t almost died from a single pepper moments go. “You guys the team Stella sent?” he asked, watermelon still in his mouth.
“Yeah,” one of them answered, mouth full of watermelon.
“What about the guy back there? He still alive?”
“He is, we just didn’t want to drag him through the garden and mess with the ground.”
“That’s a bullshit answer, and you know it, but I’ll take it.” Eric said, spitting out some seeds and letting out a small sigh, signaling his satisfaction. “So, what’s the plan? You have something to take the food with, or have you not thought that far?”
Suddenly a scream could be heard from the direction of labs, it was a familiar scream to Eric, and he could easily guess why they were screaming. He grabbed a piece of watermelon and walked back the way he came from.