The first few days that Johan spent in the town were spent primarily with Nath and Cal. this was primarily due to both him and Anne being dehydrated and needing a bit of time to recover.

Cal had, indeed, seemed to be a bit out of it, as Nath had mentioned, but was a generally kind man ensuring that the siblings had food and water. So far Johan and Anne were going to be staying with Cal to help out with some of the things the older man was no longer able to do, primarily maintaining his home so as to prevent it from becoming even less of a building than it currently was.

Nath had shown him around town and introduced Johan and Anne to most of the people in town. The first new person they met was Ben, also called Greedy Ben, he was a greasy sort of man, not in the way he was unwashed, that was somewhat normal here, but due to his demeanor. He was very sleazy and seemed like he would do just about anything for money, or material gains, the only noticeable exceptions were the things that would get him into trouble with Nath. Johan decided that he would avoid Ben.

They also met Pat, who did a lot of work on a variety of old and damaged machines. She had taken an immense amount of interest in the car Johan had come into town in. Pat reminded Johan of the stereotypical tomboy from a lot of apocalypse based stories. Shorthair, grease stained face, and a smattering of freckles. overall, she was a cute redhead albeit with some oil stains in her hair.

Johan made a mental note to get back to Pat to see if the car could get up and running again, if it couldn't he would likely sell, or give, it to Pat. He wouldn't be able to do anything with it broken down anyways.

They had met Finch next. Finch was older man who was missing 3 fingers on his left hand, he had hair that was starting to salt and pepper and a few wrinkles in his face. his hands had callouses all over them, marking him as someone who had worked hard in his life. He had been a hunter and bushman for most of his youth and thus had a lot of knowledge on what kind of creatures could be found in the woods and mountains in the country of Menstra and parts of the surrounding regions.

The group then found themselves talking to a petite brown-haired girl named Jen. she looked rather young, but Johan had been warned that she was older than she looked, around his own age, apparently she was the only survivor from a famine that had hit around a decade back which made it so she never really developed properly. Apparently she was also an excellent source of information. She was a pleasant person to talk to, but Johan couldn't help being wary of her for some reason.

They then met with Taeo a man with brown skin that had seen more than one or two fights based on his scars. He was a blacksmith from the island nations in the west. He had come to the continent because he had been interested in blacksmithing, but couldn't find a teacher in his homeland due to the rarity of the trade, then got stuck here after the fall of Menstra, since it had occurred only a few years after his arrival to the mainland.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

They then went to meet the tailor Kirky, but he was out. He was apparently a bit eccentric, but good people, sort of in the same vein as Cal.

"Well... You now know just about everyone in town kids, the important ones anyways. So I guess you're part of it now." Nath had given Johan a shallow smile.

"I suppose so. Though I hope it isn't a permanent thing. No offense." Johan looked at the old man as they approached the home of Cal.

"None taken, you didn't want to be here after all, but since you are, you ought to make the most of it. I'll start teaching you tomorrow, We will also speak to Markus about you receiving physical training from him." The silver haired man chuckled.

"Sounds good, what about Anne?" Johan looked towards his sister who was walking into Cals. "You said she will also learn from Markus, What will that entail?" Johan and Nath stopped now, as Johan stood by the door to the small house.

"I mean, I would guess that Markus will teach her things similar to you, though she will likely be better than you fairly soon, after all she won't need to study magic. Gives her more time to digest useful knowledge"

"Well, you said before that this place is dangerous, and truth be told, I don't think I can be strong enough for us both, It's a good thing she'll be learning to fight for herself, I just hope she doesn't get too hurt." Johan admitted.

"Hm... That's true. Though the town should be safe, you two will likely be having to go and hunt amongst other things later on. Also, you being able to admit that you can't do everything, shows that you know your own strength well enough. That will be of great help when you train your magic. I'm also certain that your sister will be fine, Anne seems a bit feisty, I've seen how she behaves when she thinks no one is around, though she is also a bit out of it at this moment."

"Alright, I'll just have to trust in everyone here again. Well, thank you Nath, I'm going to go and try to get some sleep, tomorrow sounds busy."

"Hah, you're right about that kid. I'm planning to work you to the bone."

"I look forward to it. Goodnight." Johan turned and went inside.

Inside he found Anne already cooking a smaller meal for the two of them. Cal was asleep in his room.

"Hey Anne." Johan spoke.

"Hey..." Anne spoke softly to him.

She still wasn't talking too much, but had gotten slightly more responsive. she now had moved up to making sounds at other people for different things, She had even started to talk a bit with Cal and Nath, It was quite encouraging for Johan to see his younger sister getting better and overcoming whatever had seemingly affected her so.

"Dinner smells nice." Johan smiled as he spoke to his younger sister.

"Yep." She confirmed.

"What is that anyway, egg and porridge?"

"No, it's something else." She clarified that it was not what Johan thought.

"Ah. well it still smells good." Johan laughed a bit.

"It was supposed to be bread." Johan tilted his head at her, she had been trying to make bread? But... What did she do to make it look like that?

"Ah so it's something with bread mixed in. Thank you for telling me." Johan reached over and gave her a hug, which she had struggled from for a moment before deciding it was fine. Johan was quite similar to their father in terms of build, and it reminded her of when she was younger and her dad would hold her. Before she knew it, she began to cry a bit. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened to their father, but she knew it was bad. After all it'd been a few days, but he still hadn't shown up.