The event, and I would challenge anyone to expect otherwise, left the scooby gang speechless. Not even Mario, skilled in the difficult art of lightening the tone, was able to fire off a: "How cool!" despite the fact that it would have been extremely useful for everyone. Having witnessed something that should have only belonged to some low-class anime or franchise-inspired fantasy film could not be accepted by the human brain with ease.

Accompanied by silence, Roberto could not help but walk in the direction of what remained of the brick as if there was nothing more important in the world. Gravity at that point must have been several times sharper than normal, because the boy's legs quickly started to fatigue and shake without him being able to do anything about it; or, maybe, he just felt a lack of strength. The first hypothesis certainly sounds more melodramatic.

"I would say there is no longer any doubt about it..." He then said, placing one knee on the ground with evident fatigue, touching with his hand the broken pieces and dust scattered in front of him. He'd never bothered to study the composition of bricks on the internet, so he didn't know much about how much force it would take to destroy an ordinary building brick, but those things sure were tough and durable. Hell, they made houses with it; they had to be solid, otherwise any building would collapse under its own weight.

"The point of impact... I guess it was here. Yes, in theory it was. It didn't go right through him, but it's thrust was enough to tear him apart. Hmm... Should I consider it on par with a bullet fired from a pistol? Or from a rifle? Yeah, maybe the latter is more likely. Ah... Shit. I should have taken the time to do some research on firearms, that would have been a blessing." He continued meanwhile muttering without moving from there, still on his knees as if in prayer.

Meanwhile, slowly, the rest of the group was recovering from the shock. If there was in fact a drawback of that energy shot compared to a traditional rifle was the lack of noise, flames or smoke, which would have been more than enough to leave them catatonic for several minutes due to their absolute inexperience in the field. Since that wasn't the case, however, even sons of technology like them were able to regain brain function after a brief moment of rebooting.

"Are you... okay? You're okay, right?" Alex then asked after gathering what courage he had left in his body, hiding as best he could the fact that he had nearly put some extra weight on his underwear. As a man, or half of one, he managed to convince himself that his task in that very moment should have been to make sure, to the best of his ability, that the people around him were as healthy as possible.

An honorable thought, especially considering the person who had conceived it. At the very least, I'd say he would have deserved some compliments.

"Y-Yes... I'm fine..." Camilla answered as she stared shocked at her own hand, unable to stop a widespread tremor. She, poor star, had certainly never wanted to wake up with some fancy magical power. In fact, for all she cared, everyday life was going well enough as it was. However, after shooting a 'something' from the tip of her finger... Well, at least thanks to that she recognized that her simple everyday life seemed to have come to a definitive end.

"Oh, well!" Raised his voice Roberto in the process, taking a deep breath and straightening his back with a snap. Then, turning to his companions, he turned his head and said, "I'd say we've had a confirmation. Right now, we're obviously in deep shit, so, and call me an asshole if you want, I propose we look for a store or a place that can be used as a temporary camp base. We have food and water anyway, so we'd better find a place to sleep at least for the night. Right now the temperature is decent, but in a few hours things might change."

The speech in itself also made sense, nothing to say about it, but the general mood was still too agitated to make important decisions or to go back to work. The boy, slightly annoyed by it, allowed himself to sigh when he became aware of it. The expectations he had built up about the other two guys in the company took a slight hit, but at the end of the day the odd one out was him and he knew it well.

Not being able to accept quickly enough the fact that they had been transported into a sort of game (this was his main hypothesis at the moment) in which there was something similar to magic but managed by statistics similar to those of a video game... Well, not even he, with all the annoyance he could pull out of his hat or pocket, had the courage to blame them. And that was saying a lot.

However, after a few seconds of deep spiritual reflection on life, death and the fact that he could do nothing but accept his own destiny, Mario finally pulled out his courage and stood up. Because of his size, those movements managed to attract the stares of the others, even without him saying anything. Then, after a brief glance towards Roberto, the big guy moved towards the crate containing the food and lifted it with relative ease.

"So," he then said turning to Alex, seeking the support of a third ally. "You said earlier that you often watched survival shows, right?" She asked him with a hint of a smile and a friendly, not overly reassuring tone. Only to surprisingly return to a playful expression and a clearly exaggerated wide smile, adding to his words, "I used to watch them sometimes too, you know? For some reason I always ended up falling asleep halfway through, so I don't remember a damn thing about what happened or how they solved the problems. You're an expert though, right? So I can rest assured!"

Alex found himself looking up at him from below, forced to raise his head really high since he was still bent down. Stopped in that uncomfortable position, his brain really struggled to equalize the overwhelming feeling that came from his enormity and the way he exaggerated his tones and manners. In a way, he found him even stranger than Roberto; another mystery of natural evolution as he saw it.

"I'm no expert, but I'll do my best to use what I've learned. Although we're not on a desert island here..." He replied to him with a certain heaviness in his heart, though making an effort to smile to hide it as best he could. Deep inside, he fully understood what the other two were trying to do, and at the end of the day, he himself felt the desire to try to help as much as possible.

Stolen novel; please report.

Thanks to this mixture of thoughts and emotions, in some dignified but rambling way, he suppressed his fears and calmly approached in the direction of the two girls. He still didn't know anything about Sabrina, which is why he couldn't imagine what was going on inside her head, while for Camilla that task turned out to be very straightforward.

"Can you stand up? Would you like a hand?" He said a few moments later to both of them, offering them both arms so that they could use them as a support to get back on their feet. And, surprisingly, the one who answered the call was Sabrina, the same one who had done nothing but cry at the beginning. Alex hadn't expected such a development either, and almost fell forward when she grabbed his arm firmly, pulling hard downward to give herself the push.

"T-Thank you." She murmured, barely opening her lips, not even seeking eye contact. However, that shy and insecure gesture was like a blow below the belt for Alex, who almost lost his balance a second time when Sabrina moved to help Camilla get up from the ground. An action to which the other girl didn't react very well either, creating a rather nice moment of general confusion to watch in the distance.

Oh... Small but spirited, I like it. Roberto thought as he walked towards them, surprised by the sudden change in character. In fact, more than surprised perhaps it would be better to say that he found it amusing.In that moment, in fact, the big weasel who at first had seemed to him a particularly great danger was being supported by a clear imbecile who could not be honest with himself and a nice little squirrel who seemed to have pulled out some attributes. A potential love triangle that wasn't too original, but clearly entertaining for his taste.

Oh, right, speaking of less important things instead. While he had paused to study the effects Camilla's Ability had on the brick, he also discovered that some items and, most importantly, the book containing the Ability [Supergravity] and the knife could be deposited inside the Terminal. A mechanic quite similar to that of the inventory of a video game. At the beginning, in fact, he would have preferred to discuss with the others about that book, not wanting to keep it in his hands out of sheer laziness and not wanting to risk losing it, but having found a solution to both problems he decided to postpone.

"Where should we start?" Mario asked as he looked around, not focusing in any specific direction. From what could be seen at a first glance anyway, most of the area seemed to be covered in rubble.

"Eh... Maybe it would be better to go to the second floor? I've seen that you often look for elevated positions to avoid predators. Also, we'll be closer to the roof during the day. That way we should be able to get more light." Alex replied after thinking about it for a handful of seconds, showing a slight nod of fatigue for another since she was still supporting her friend.

"I like the proposal, I'd say it can go." Roberto added unceremoniously, refusing in the meantime the boy's silent request for help. It didn't matter what kind of desperate eyes he might get, in love triangles he would always be a spectator and never a participant. Plus, helping with Camilla would be exhausting.

"The light comes mainly from the stained glass window above our heads. In fact, I should correct myself, from the hole that's left in its place." He then continued without half regret or remorse, even giving the struggling trio his back. "This place is huge, and even during the day the light coming in from the roof, windows, and anywhere else struggles to illuminate the interior. We try to maximize what we can get without going crazy," he then concluded, eyeing the now non-operational moving stairs in the distance.

Alex agreed with that line of thinking, nodding several times as he listened, then saying in turn, "Yeah... I'd say that's all we can do for now. It would be best to get a flashlight though. If we were to fall because of the low light, I doubt we'd find a hospital or doctor nearby."

"Actually that would be a problem..." Mario commented, biting his lip and rolling his eyes, understanding just how difficult an injury could make life, just as it had happened to him on the field when he had broken the short finger of his right hand and, despite the fact that it wasn't even essential to hold a rugby ball, it forced him to the bench.

Preventing avoidable accidents had to be the priority, to the point that Sabrina also had her own say, but with her head slightly bowed. "Without electricity though... Do you have a battery? Or perhaps it would be better to try and find something useful at the electronics store?"

Another proposal as attractive as a beautiful woman on the beach, too bad that Roberto was not of the same idea and took advantage of the moment of silence following the girl's intervention to declare: "No, that's not necessary. Give me a moment and I'll take care of it," accompanying his words with a spirit and energy that he had never shown before.

Plus, and this too could be considered a little mystery, none of them thought to use the flash of their phone to shine a light. But maybe that could be explained by an unconscious desire not to waste battery power, not knowing when it would be possible to find a working socket.

The change in Roberto's manners, however, was radical enough that the rest of the gang just let him do his thing, watching him helplessly as he entered one of the stores nearby at full speed. From outside they heard a few noises that lasted only a minute or two, before he came out with something in his hand and ran into what was left of the tobacco shop on the other side of the aisle.

From there, a couple of loudly spoken comments reached their ears. One in particular seemed to be something akin to: "Ah! Come to Daddy! Come to Daddy!" But, again, before they could even wonder what he was doing, Roberto came out with a plastic bag overflowing with cigarettes and lighters in one hand and an arm's length piece of wood in the other. The wood was only noticeable on the handle part, while on the rest of it, and especially on the tip, Roberto had tied layers and layers of t-shirts and ruined clothes.

"Ah... Now I can go back to smoking my favorite brand because I don't have to worry about cents on top of the five euro," he said with satisfaction as he violently tore off the top of a pack of light blue cigarettes with a sort of camel print on the front, then used enviable skill to pull out a cigarette with his teeth and light it with a brief flick of the lighter.

Finally, enjoying the taste he had been forced to abandon for the sake of convenience, he threw the packet into the bag and raised the lighter he held with the same hand to chest level, setting fire to a strip of fabric hanging from the piece of wood. A moment later, accompanied by a circus-like blaze of bluish color, his homemade analog flashlight violently came to life.

"Ah! Look how it glows! And with that, we've solved a problem!"