Zachary and the young woman climbed over a series of boulders and arrived at a relatively flat area below the black cliffs. Along the way, he had to help her several times due to her small stature. He still didn’t know her name and it got somewhat awkward the longer it went on.

As the two of them walked along the shore, looking for a way up, they encountered other prisoners. Some were alone while some had also formed small groups. Zachary avoided all of them and kept going. The young woman also was not the talkative type and simply followed him.

They eventually found a collapsed section of the cliffs that seemed climbable. Others also thought the same and several dozen people had gathered at the base. Zachary held his supply bag close to his chest and approached cautiously.

One person started climbing, grabbing onto whatever they could find including jutting rocks and clumps of grass. Another followed right behind, seemingly eager to get to the jungle as quickly as possible.

“Hey!” The one in front shouted, “Get off my ass!”

“Shut up and go faster!” The one behind retorted.

They were both middle-aged men with rough appearances like they had seen more than a few things in their lives.

“Don’t push me or we’ll both fall!”

“Everyone, stay calm!” A loud voice interjected at the bottom, “We can work together!”

The one who spoke was a tall man who somehow looked far less disheveled than the rest. His still-wet prisoner shirt revealed a well-built figure that akin to a soldier or a fighter. A few people looked in his direction but most ignored him. There were only four pardon spots available in a year so everybody was a competitor.

“My name is Aaron White! The New World is dangerous and none of us have any summons at the moment. If anyone wants to team up with me, we’ll have a much better chance of survival!”

These words attracted more attention and someone asked, “We’re all dead sooner or later. What should we team up with you?”

The man named Aaron smiled, “Although I don’t have a summon right now, I am a Six Paths Adept Rank summoner. Is that enough?”

This was met by murmurs of amazement; this Aaron White was strong!

Six Paths Adept Rank summoner, this was the formal way summoners introduced themselves and their attainment in soul cultivation. It was universal throughout human society. It was also used to describe other Ensouled, whether they were wild or summoned.

Adept was the second lowest rank with novice being the lowest. As for paths, all souls had eight paths and this never changed. These eight channels connected their soul to the outside world. When a soul was born, they had no paths and no rank. When the soul was old enough to understand the world and themselves to a certain extent, they would be able to unlock their first soul path and reach the One Path Novice Rank.

With an opened soul path, one could absorb the world’s energy, Eternum, to strengthen their soul and open more paths. For humans, after many years of training, given enough resources and opportunities, they would reach a bottleneck at the Eight Path Novice Rank. They would have to challenge the limits of their soul and achieve a fundamental breakthrough, usually with the help of their summons.

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If successful, one would reach the One Path Adept Rank, with their soul strength improving by leaps and bounds. They would be able to bond with adept rank Ensouled. And the process of soul cultivation would repeat once more, this time with greater difficulty.

“What do you think?” Aaron asked, now the center of attention, “Who wants to join my team?”

“I will!”

“I will!”

Two people jumped at the chance. This convinced others and soon, he had gathered ten or so people around him. The one that had challenged him hid their face and shrank back into the crowd.

Zachary looked on from a distance. He was currently at the One Path Adept Rank. His talent was considered pretty good for his age but nothing compared to Aaron White. However, he was not the following type so he had no interest.

He looked around and then at the young woman. She also didn’t seem interested in Aaron White’s team.

“You should join him. Better than staying with me.” He said.

“No.”

He sighed.

"Hey! How about joining my group?" A slightly familiar voice came from behind.

Zachary and the young woman turned around. He recognized the face. It was Heather… something.

"It's you?" He blurted.

He wasn't sure if he was more surprised about meeting her again or the fact that she survived.

Heather ignored him and turned to the woman beside him, "Hi, I'm Heather. Don't be fooled by his pretty face. I was in the cell next to him. He is a very dangerous person. Leave him and come with me. Us women should stick together and help each other. What do you think?"

The young woman appeared taken aback. She took a few steps back and slightly hid behind Zachary. "Umm... I'm alright."

Heather gave Zachary an accusing glare, “What did you do?”

“Are you crazy?” He seriously asked.

Heather huffed in frustration. But given the situation, it was clear that she wasn't going to achieve her goal. With a defiant flip of her blonde hair, she marched off, probably to recruit other women.

"You should have joined her." He said when that crazy woman was out of earshot.

The young woman shook her head and didn’t elaborate.

He sighed again.

It was eventually their turn and the two started climbing. Zachary in front and the young woman behind. He again had to help her on some parts, not because he wanted to but because she was holding up the line and was cursed at by the people below.

The rocks were unstable and it was slow going. Clumps of grass that had served the first few climbers had been ripped out. After the ordeal of swimming to shore, he was still exhausted and felt himself struggling toward the end.

“My friend! Grab the vine!” A voice came from above.

There was a gnarly vine lying across the path nearby. It was thick and looked strong enough. It also happened to be right at a tricky spot with few secure holds.

Zachary grabbed the vine and pulled himself up. He eventually reached the top and crawled to safety. Tropical trees grew all the way to the edge of the cliff and he was able to get out of the blazing sun. Completely worn out, he sat down in the shade to get some rest.

The young woman followed him to his spot. The two sat together in silence until a youth around Zachary’s age walked up to them.

“Hi,” He said in greeting while also sitting down, “I’m Jean-Pierre.”

Zachary recognized the voice as the one who had called out about the vine. The person had short black hair and a youthful, unassuming face. With a casual smile that gave away little, it made it difficult to judge his intentions. This person could just be friendly or he could secretly be insane, there was no way to tell.

Jean-Pierre offered a hand.

“I’m Zachary.” Zachary said and shook it reluctantly, “Thanks for the vines, really helped towards the end.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jean-Pierre said. He turned towards the young woman and also offered a hand, “And what about you, what’s your name?”

She stared at him for a moment before saying, “Katherine.”

She didn't shake his hand.

Jean-Pierre smiled anyway. “Well, really nice to meet you!”

She wasn’t impressed and stayed by Zachary’s side. Jean-Pierre also showed no intention of leaving. As for Zachary, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with these two people.