With my Speed and Perception, finding that group had not been particularly difficult. Traveling to their oldest base was quick, and from there, I just followed the tracks left by thousands of people.

Even though I had to stop twice on the way to stop a couple of cultist attacks, I wore the golden armor Launara had forged on both occasions. I wanted the survivors to gossip about an incredible knight with great enmity against the cultists.

Hopefully, enough to keep them away from me.

Even with that distraction, finding the group didn't take as much as I had expected. They were camping, barely several miles away from where I had confronted the military. From the looks of it, their camp was already in a semi-permanent state, with a tall wooden palisade wrapping around several fields dedicated to farming … where farmers used their skills to make the plants grow at a visible pace.

An understandable choice. Farming was expensive in terms of Health it consumed and the strain it caused, but not if they were preparing their food exclusively on great beasts.

Also, they were more crowded than I remembered.

I could see a great amount of movement and action in the temporary outpost. People with production capabilities, working hard to replenish the resources they had consumed. A nice operation.

They were performing much better compared to our last encounter. LIke night and day.

Part of it was due to the spearmen that patrolled in front of the walls, easily slaying any beast that rushed forward, alone if they were fighting against the critters, in groups of six against larger beasts, gathering quickly with a signal.

And, among them, Takis was walking, his attention split between raining orders and fighting against the beasts. Surprisingly, he managed to exert some kind of authority on the camp despite his distinct lack of combat stats.

Not a bad performance.

It was interesting just how much of a difference a bunch of advanced skills was able to make. With the advantage they had managed to accumulate, their combatants wouldn't have to fight until they were bedridden due to the side effects of excess food — their destructive energies were no joke for the low-leveled people — and with that, people with critical jobs like blacksmiths didn't have to be pulled from their repair work.

Then, with better weapons, they could fight better and gather more high-quality monster parts for crafting. They could even use the excess for farming.

Of course, that led to a different question. Why people were suffering in a world where everyone had superpowers, even the weakest enough to create miracles? Was it just a result of the distinct class divide and its side effects, or did it have something to do with the gods?

The former was more reasonable. Regardless, I was more willing to believe the latter, even though it made me feel like a conspiracy theorist.

But, that was a question for the future.

I considered wearing the golden armor to the camp, but I decided against it. I had been showing off even more while interrupting the cultist attacks, and if I visited the camp wearing my armor, I would put a spotlight on the camp.

And they were not strong enough to survive under the bright lights of attention.

Luckily, I had another identity I could use to get into the camp and still have a decent conversation without any subterfuge — well, any additional subterfuge.

The steward.

A quick change into peasant clothes, and I slipped into the camp easily, a few curious glances easily dissuaded by Charisma-backed whispers. Admittedly, I felt guilty doing it. It felt too similar to the approach I had just worked hours to dissuade Limenta from, leaning on my stats to get away from hard work, but…

Well, do as I say and not do as I do and all that nonsense.

Soon, I arrived near Takis, but rather than letting him see me, I approached closer, eavesdropping on his discussion with three other spearmen. "… however, you have to be careful about committing the fourth stance prematurely. If you don't pay attention, the skill has a tendency to default to it against charging beasts. It doesn't end well for people without strength."

"Is that how Mutdal shattered his whole arm yesterday?" one of them asked.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yes. He decided that my warnings about the skill were useless, and he chose to ignore them."

"But, how are we going to handle a charging beast if we don't block it with the fourth stance?. Do we use the eleventh stance?"

"No, that's the same thing, but even worse," Takis explained. "If you have someone with decent strength, let him take the initial charge. If not, it's best if one of you retreats using stance six while…"

I listened as he gave a detailed breakdown of how to handle the various situations, with a level of detail that actually impressed me. I could see a strong imprint of the tactics I had explained to him the last time, but I certainly wasn't expecting him to break those down and implement them based on the capabilities of the skill.

Takis had the potential.

I would have assumed that it was the Intelligence stat, but my discussion with Zolast dissuaded me from that conclusion. Based on Zolast's explanation, Intelligence was more of an extra processing power on a computer than anything else. It helped the calculation of complicated wards and other challenging problems, but apparently, it didn't inspire people to come up with novel solutions.

Just like what Takis was displaying.

I finally let Takis see me from a distance. He froze, and I waved at him with a cheeky smile before getting away from the camp. He muttered an excuse and followed me soon after.

"My lord," he said the moment he caught up to me, trying to kneel.

"I told you. I'm just a steward. No kneeling. And no calling me lord."

"As you wish m—, sir," he said as he stood up, barely able to fix his argument. "How can I help you?"

"My lord asked me to check your situation, and give some more help if you're in trouble," I explained, easily blaming my imaginary boss for my presence. It made things much easier. "He hates his efforts being wasted."

"I'm grateful for his magnanimity," Takis answered, feeling proud despite the faint praise since it came from a lord. "Luckily, with the skills my lord had granted, we were able to create a much more efficient operation. We even managed to merge with another group, and currently, we're more than self-sufficient."

"I'm impressed. Continue finding struggling groups and let them join you," I said. "However, don't waste too much time before starting to move," I said.

"Do you have a destination in mind, sir?" he asked.

"Well, considering the general layout of the dungeons, such a path shouldn't be a problem," I said as I drew a quick map on the ground before describing him a pathway. Ideally, I was asking him to go and settle somewhere close enough to Town Yoentia without being direct neighbors.

That way, I could patrol the area regularly, and help them in the case of a true emergency. On the other hand, I should be able to drag them into Town Yoentia or to my hunting outpost if a sudden need occurs.

It wasn't without risk. Dragging them closer meant that there was a risk of someone tracing their connection back to me. Unfortunately, with everything going on, pulling the forces I could manipulate closer was a reasonable tradeoff.

"As you wish, sir. I'll tell the camp and we'll be ready to move in an hour."

"No, not yet," I said.

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"Don't tell the rest that these are orders from my lord. There are people working against him, and the less connection you officially have, the better. You can reveal it to a few, but only if there's no other way to make them move."

He nodded.

"And, there's one more thing. My lord also asked me to test the mettle of your group in case you're more successful than we expected. And, there are rewards if you pass the test."

"As the lord wishes," Takis said, quick to accept.

I couldn't help but sigh. "At least ask what the rewards are first," I said as I tossed him a large bag, one that contained some of the less valuable pieces from our heists. Advanced skills, some Strength and Vitality stat stones — a few rare ones I found, like Perception and Attunement, I wanted to bring them back to Zolast — and, most importantly…

"Is this," he gasped as he unfolded a large leather sheet, covered with silver runes.

"Yes, that's a blocking rune that you can use as you wish. It's not particularly strong, but it should be enough to bring five people to their second promotion every day, enough to make a difference. Keep it a secret at first, and start with leveling people you trust," I said.

It was a gift and test combined, similar to what I had given to Jertann. All that remained was to see how he would perform.

"And, what would be the test to justify such gifts?"

"Trial by fire, of course," I answered. "I have an item with me that could trigger a monster wave. You have ten minutes to go back to your camp and organize a defense. To succeed, you have to resist until I stop the attack with no one dying."

The last word was enough to make him tense, and I could sense him getting ready to argue. "Naturally, I will intervene in such an event, but it would mean you still failed," I said.

"That's more than acceptable, sir," he said, his tenseness gone now that I had promised him to save the lives of his fellow campers. His belief in my capabilities wasn't exactly a shock.

And, not to mention, with the caveat that I was there to protect people, a beast wave was less of a punishment and more of a reward. It meant a lot of experience and materials — and while some of that Experience would never reach them, I chose to believe it to be a service charge.

With that, he left … and ten minutes later, I triggered the beast wave … which they managed to resist for almost three hours, though with a significantly lesser intensity than my outpost.

I barely collected two million Experience points each hour. A limited income, but not only did they not have the numbers to match my outpost, their defensive encampment was nowhere strong enough to compare to a permanent outpost either.

There were only so many impressive tactics and advanced skills that could bridge the gap, especially against the endless waves of mindless monsters. Overwhelming firepower worked far better.

Still, as I dashed back to the camp, I didn't feel like it had been a waste of time. I got some experience and empowered the survival capabilities of the peasants in the wild at the same time, which was certainly a win.

And now, there was the potential capabilities of Takis to think about…