After exiting the hotel, Kade immediately saw why he had noticed nothing from the window. His focus had been on the safe zone’s border. He should have been looking the other way.

Finn’s group was staring down around twenty people who were newcomers. The argument he could hear was from something he hadn’t expected.

“—can’t just say it’s all yours! Do you think words are enough to make everyone bow down to people like you? This is America! We don’t tolerate warlord wannabes here!”

Kade had never heard something so stupid. Sure, America technically still existed, but for all intents and purposes, every man and woman on their own.

There was no city government, state government, or especially no nation to tell anyone what to do. If it somehow existed, he would love to see how anything functioned.

Technologically, they were back to the stone age. Matt said it best when he said getting food delivered to the city would be impossible, since there was no way to contact any farmers. This would be especially true for something nonessential, such as following orders from someone thousands of miles away.

Kade didn’t doubt a [Scholar] would evolve their class into something that could help replace all the technology they lost, but it would take months at a minimum.

He walked up to a kid who looked just out of high school. “What’s going on here?”

“These losers really think we’re going to give up our territory because they’re asking. Can you believe that?”

Kade ignored the argument of nonsense and turned to face the kid fully. Those were confident words. “And which territory is this?”

“Were you hiding under a rock last night? Finn ordered us to take over this part of the safe zone. Better us than letting some lunatics take over. Have you heard about the group that wants to eat people? Crazy stuff. Really crazy stuff.”

Kade blinked in surprise. He couldn’t make himself believe that cannibalism was suddenly in vogue. That was a last resort done from desperation, and plenty of food was still available for now. It was more likely that Finn, or someone in the group, used that as an excuse to justify their actions.

“Amazing,” Kade said dryly. “Does this have anything to do with the Kade guy?”

“Guy?” The kid sounded personally offended and finally turned to look at him. “Kade is not just—Kade!”

He smirked at the high-pitched squeak at the end of his sentence. “Hi there. So, your group is using my name.”

The kid shook his head frantically before immediately passing on the blame. “It’s Finn’s idea!”

Kade patted him on the shoulder, making him flinch with each pat. “I wasn’t singling you out. Anyway, thanks for the info, kid.”

He walked closer to the argument, leaving the kid sputtering behind. It looked like it was about to move past words and into a physical altercation. He already disliked the idea of humans fighting each other when there were far better things to spend energy on, and he especially disliked it when they used his name as a basis for the fight.

“You think this Kade is going to protect you? I don’t see him anywhere. And even if he appears, we have our own as a counter!”

Kade frowned at the girl’s words and paid closer attention to who comprised the opposing group. Nearly all were regular humans who hadn’t gone to a Rift Zone yet. And a few were of the early group that the system sent in as the vanguard.

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There was one that caught his attention. And she had a familiar appearance.

What the hell is Eliza doing with them?

Whoever represented Finn’s group had enough of talk. He had his fists clenched and was telegraphing his next move. A punch that would shatter the girl’s teeth.

Kade flicked his [Soulrend] at the two. They both shrieked in surprise when the spear missed them by inches and buried itself in the ground between them. The shaft separated the two and stopped further confrontation.

“I suggest you both calm your tempers,” Kade said to the two belligerents, but kept his eyes on Eliza as he walked forward. She smiled at him. “You, girl, Eliza’s your counter?”

He already knew the answer, but he asked simply to let the girl understand he knew her group’s ‘trump card.’

“It is not polite to terrify her, Kade.”

Kade hid the unease that ran through his body. In all honesty, he had mostly forgotten Eliza. After what he had gone through in the Class E turned Class S Rift Zone, she didn’t seem important enough to remember.

He also assumed he had gone so far above her level that she was no longer a match. He had been wrong.

Eliza still felt as dangerous as she did when he met her in the middle of nowhere. That meant she had gone to another Rift Zone and gotten stronger.

Plus, her odd, lecture-y tone still gave him the shivers. In what way, he didn’t know.

“That’s true.” Kade brushed away Eliza’s gentle chiding. “If you want me to stop, how about we talk over this privately?”

It seemed to ruffle the feathers of the group Eliza was with. Still, she accepted readily.

Kade motioned for her to follow. He didn’t go far from the crowd. They wanted to gape at them, so he allowed them to.

He stopped just out of earshot before turning to Eliza with a raised brow. “Are you really with those… people?”

“Truthfully?” Eliza glanced at the group she arrived with. “No. They wanted to challenge your group, and I figured it was as good of the time as any to meet you again, so I tagged along.”

Kade stared with doubt. “Why did you want to meet me?”

“You’re starting a faction. And other than Anita, you are the highest-ranked on the continent. It would be irresponsible of me not to meet you.”

He was about to start his spiel about how it was not starting a faction or group, but he gave it a little more thought than usual. This would be inevitable unless he shunned safe zones and lived like a hermit in the wild between jumping into Rift Zones.

Kade liked the idea but didn’t know how successful it would be in practice. If there was a choice, having support would be better than being alone.

His initial impression of Finn had all but disappeared. The man might be morally upright, but his recent actions showed grand ambition for power.

Kade thought nothing was wrong with that, but that also meant he trusted Finn less. He classified the man as someone similar to a politician, and politicians were never to be trusted.

The problem was, did he really want to ask someone like Eliza to join and monitor this newly formed faction?

Kade still thought about the shivers she gave him. It was almost like he was nervous around her.

If he had met Eliza at a bar, he would have known exactly why he felt that way and would have acted on it to get lucky that night. However, now? He did not know.

“Are you interested in joining?” Kade asked, wanting to know if this was something he should even think about.

“I don’t see why I shouldn’t. I think we would get along well, Kade. And I did say I wanted to observe you more closely.”

He took a small step back at the flash of something in her eyes.

That’s why she creeps me the hell out.

Kade gave her a once-over to calm himself. Again, her appearance helped immensely in giving her multiple chances, even though everything in his mind told him to run away.

Eye candy was a virtue... or something.

If she turns out to be some serial killer, I deserve whatever will happen to me.

Kade knew that Eliza joining would almost assuredly make her the de facto leader since he had no intention of playing boss. She could have joined without asking him and he wouldn’t have cared, but since she wanted his permission, he needed to find out if she was worthy.

That only meant one thing, with a clear path to find out.

“I need to know more about you. And the best way is to clear a Rift Zone together. What’s your Arcana Level?”

“Twenty-nine.”

Kade hid his surprise. “Perfect, I’m not that much higher at thirty-two. As soon as I’m healed, let’s head out.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Eliza smiled softly. “I’ll tell the little ducklings the good news. I look forward to seeing what you can do, Kade.”

Kade mouthed ‘ducklings’ to himself. He had no idea someone would unironically say that out loud. Once again, he questioned if this interaction with her was worth continuing.

He watched Eliza speak to her group before shaking his head. He could see Celine heading towards the hotel with several people.

Those must be the [Healers] he told her to get.

Kade saw the situation was under control and returned to the hotel. The faster he healed, the faster he could go to another Rift Zone.