Ethan followed the woman down the stairs at the back of the house and entered the basement. She was busy talking to the group while packing their stuff into old, worn bags and backpacks.

“We’re going with him,” she told an older man. “He’s got a group of people he’s looking after, and we’ll be better off together.”

“Can we-” the older man stopped talking as he noticed me.

“Hello,” Ethan said, smiling. “My name is Ethan. You don’t have to be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, let me help you with that.”

Ethan walked over to the filled packs, and with a flex of his will and some Qi, the packs disappeared into his ring.

“I’ve got a storage device,” he explained. “I can carry everything. It’ll make it a lot easier.”

“Uhm,” the group looked at Ethan for a few seconds before they set into motion. Every once in a while, they glanced at him worriedly, but he didn’t do anything except store their stuff.

Once they’d packed everything, they stood near the exit.

“So,” the woman said. “Right, introductions. My name is Laila; this is my mother, Nina and my father, Paul. That’s my brother Nathan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ethan smiled and shook their hands. “As mentioned, I’m Ethan. I’ve got a group of people holed up at a nearby supermarket. I’ll guide you there while avoiding as much danger as possible. Even so, you should stick close to us and listen to what we say. If we say hide, you hide; if we say run, you run. Got it?”

Everyone nodded, and Ethan led the way.

Fortunately, the trip was uneventful. Ethan kept his Spatial Sense going and avoided any monsters by taking detours.

Before long, they arrived at the supermarket, but Ethan frowned at what he saw through his Spatial Sense.

A group of people were standing outside the door.

“Wait here,” he said, looking to Laila. “Keep an eye out. There’s a group of people outside the supermarket. I’ll check it out and get you after it’s handled.”

She nodded and guided her family into a building, where they hunkered down.

Ethan took a breath, and Void Stepped. He appeared behind the group.

“-Or else,” one of the men shouted. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, people.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ethan asked and smirked as the group jumped and scrambled to turn toward him.

“Who the fuck are you?” one of them asked, clutching the metal pipe in his hand.

“My name is Ethan,” he said. “And that supermarket is under my protection.”

“Your protection, huh?” another man snickered. “There’s one of you and several of us. What are you gonna do?”

“Oh, come on,” Ethan grumbled. “That excuse again? You do realise that you’re all mortal, right? I’m a cultivator. What makes you think a few extra people will make a difference? There’s magic now.”

“Oh yeah,” a third guy puffed himself up. “I haven’t seen much magic since that white room. Why should we believe you?”

Ethan sighed and summoned the katana. He then Void Stepped, appeared beside the last man to talk and placed the sword's edge at the man’s throat.

“Believe me now?” Ethan said. The men tensed and looked at him with wide-eyed stares. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you continue on this path. The world has gone to shit, monsters abound through the streets, and you bastards begin preying on your fellow humans. What the fuck, gives you the right?!”

None spoke, but Ethan saw their tension and fear.

“Fuck off!” he said and stowed his sword. “Run off and think long and hard about what you want to happen. Because if I find you acting like thugs and bandits, I will come after you, got it? This is your only warning.”

“Yes, sir,” the man he’d threatened said. “Sorry, sir.”

They all ran off. Ethan stood still, shaking his head. He took a breath and returned to Laila and her family.

“Let’s go,” he said. They followed him, and soon enough, they arrived by the door. Ethan knocked a few times. “It’s me, Ethan.”

He heard someone turning the lock on the inside, and the door opened a crack. Jonathan poked his head out and sighed when he saw Ethan.

“Thank god,” Jonathan said. “They’ve been circling for hours. Who are they?”

He looked at the family behind Ethan, but he shook his head.

“Inside,” Ethan said. “I’ll explain.”

Jonathan nodded and opened the door.

“Let’s get you settled,” Ethan said to the family. “We don’t have much, to be fair, but we’re alive, and we still have food for a while. We’re still working on getting set up and training, so if you’ve got any ideas, please talk to Jonathan. Laila, follow me; we should have a chat.”

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The family nodded at Ethan and followed him inside. Jonathan took the mortals away to introduce them to the rest of the group while Laila followed Ethan into the office.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any chairs,” Ethan half-smiled. Laila smiled back, but it looked strained.

“I thought you’d be more settled and stuff,” she said as she sat on the ground.

“Yeah, well,” Ethan grimaced. “I found the group a few days ago, just shy of a week. A huge Dire Bear had trapped them. After that, it took some time for them to recover. They were nearly starved when I found them.”

“But,” Laila frowned. “What about before that? What did you do?”

“Huh?” Ethan tilted his head and frowned. “What do you mean? I found them a few hours after I returned from the Trials room.”

“Wait,” Laila leaned back. “You returned from there less than a week ago?”

“Yeah,” Ethan said and closed his eyes. “I get the impression that you’ve been back longer.”

“Yeah,” Laila nodded and rubbed her chin. “I’ve been back almost a month.”

“Ah,” Ethan gritted his teeth. “Well, that complicates things. If other groups are better entrenched-. Have you encountered any other cultivators? Any clues to other groups?”

“Yeah,” Laila nodded and thought for a second. “There’s a group nearby that acts like bandits and tries to take everything they can get their hands on. As far as I know, they’re all mortals but unscrupulous. I’ve met some scouts from closer to the city’s centre, and they mentioned other cultivators and setting up a strong core force for protection. Other than that, there have been a few survivors here and there, but they didn’t seem to belong with any groups.”

“I see,” Ethan sighed, but he couldn’t help but smile. “You didn’t meet any of the cultivators from the centre?”

“No,” she shook her head. “But, I considered going to them. As I mentioned, we were running out of supplies back home. I had planned to head toward them in the next few days. Why? Do you think we should go?”

“Maybe,” Ethan nodded. “But, we need to be careful. Looks can be deceiving. That said, I have some hopes that I might find my family there. Mother lived closer to the city’s centre, and my sister lived with her.”

“Alright,” Laila nodded. “Let’s say we approach them. What then? And how do we go about it?”

“Listen to you,” Ethan smirked. “Talking about us, and we.”

“Well,” Laila blushed, looked away and scratched her cheek. “I did agree to join you, didn’t I? And you seem like a decent guy. The group appears to look up to you, at least.”

“Well,” Ethan smiled. “I guess that’s true. I worry about what this power will do to people and how it will affect our society. The fact that there’s already a divide between those who can cultivate and those who can’t is worrisome.”

“Yeah,” Laila sighed and nodded. “I’ve had some sleepless nights thinking about that.”

“Anyway,” Ethan sat straight. “Before I feel secure reaching out to other groups, we should strengthen our position.”

“I agree,” Laila nodded. “What did you have in mind?”

“First,” Ethan rubbed his hands. “What’s your affinity?”

“Oh,” Laila sighed. “Fire. Pretty basic.”

“I see,” Ethan nodded. “Nothing to feel down about. Easy to cultivate, if nothing else. I have a dual affinity for Void and Spatial Qi, which have proven difficult.”

“I see,” Laila frowned as she looked at the ground.

“How has your cultivation been going so far?” Ethan asked.

“Not good,” Laila grimaced. “The only way I’ve found is to start a fire and sit nearby, but that draws attention.”

“Oh,” Ethan frowned. “I see. That makes sense. So, it’s only fire? Not heat or anything like that?”

“Just fire,” Laila nodded. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Well,” Ethan leaned back as he thought. “I’ve got a quest. For my group to survive for a month, and we’re almost a week in now. If I complete that quest, I’ll get an array book. I’m not sure what it really is, but I think it might be a way to enchant or engrave rituals into an area. Maybe there’s something in there that could help.”

“Maybe,” Laila nodded before she frowned. “Wait, quest?”

“Yeah,” Ethan nodded. “I got two of them a few days ago. One was the survival one, and the other was to investigate an area. I just completed the last one, which is why I passed by your house.”

“What did you get?” Laila asked, excited.

“Cultivation stuff,” Ethan smiled. “Specific to my affinities, though. But, since the other quest relates to the entire group, I suspect the rewards will benefit the group as a whole.”

“I see,” Laila frowned. “How did you get the quests?”

“Well,” Ethan shook his head. “I don’t know. I think it was related to a resolution. I resolved to protect the group while searching for ways to cultivate and strengthen myself. I have no idea why or how.”

“Oh,” Laila shook her head.

“In any case,” Ethan said, “I think we should investigate the area. Find things that look out of place, locations with powerful creatures, etc. I’ve read a few cultivation stories before, and while much of this is different, there are enough similarities to make some assumptions. Creatures are drawn to powerful sources of Qi. If we find a creature that is strong with fire, then there is a chance that there’s a Fire-Qi artefact or something nearby.”

“Now that you mention it,” Laila frowned. “There was a huge fire a few weeks ago, but I didn’t dare go near it.”

“Where?” Ethan asked.

“Not that far,” Laila said.

“Alright,” Ethan said. “Once we’ve got you and your family settled, we’ll go investigate.”

Laila nodded, and they got to their feet. Ethan spent some time talking to Jonathan and the rest of the group.

“Looks like they’re doing well,” Ethan thought, satisfied. He took the packs he’d stowed in his ring and placed them in a corner where the family had settled. “They’re training hard and appear to welcome the family. Jonathan’s doing good work managing them, it seems.”

Ethan excused himself and retreated to his office to go over the loot.

He brought out the box containing the gem but put it aside as he looked over the other things in the ring.

“Alright,” Ethan thought as he pored over the objects. “Herbs and pills. I have no idea what they do. There are a bunch of different weapons, but they all appear enchanted if that’s a thing. I noticed my katana drew some of my Qi when I used it, so the mortals can’t use them. I could give my old sword to Jonathan, and Laila could get one of the other weapons. That leaves the books and the crystals. Again, I don’t know what the crystals are or what they do. Maybe there are some clues in the books?”

Ethan summoned the books, and they formed into neat piles on the ground before him. He picked one from the top of a pile.