Newcomer

By the dawn of the third day from whence Alex and the others returned, Gunnar's remains were recovered, and there was a small funeral service held for the fallen slayer. Through fate, the compound survivors were joined together in a quest for survival; as such, even though the people only knew Gunnar for a matter of a few days, it was a solemn occasion of great reflection.

Shockingly, despite being in the Mojave desert, it had rained throughout the procession, though the pyre's flames were unhindered by the unusual weather. Alex had spent a great deal of time thinking about the climate changes of the last few days. Though it was winter, it seldom rained in the Mojave, yet there had been a dramatic increase in precipitation since the fracture.

Alex was not a climate scientist and thus could not really explain the rapid changes in climate that had occurred over the past week. All he understood was that the world had changed in more ways than he could imagine.

While Alex was pondering about the rapid climate change, Brandon and Cassie stood silently with their heads down as the pyre continued to burn. What exactly was going through their minds was something only they would know.

Gunnar was hailed as a hero by Captain Hunter, who made a short eulogy; when Brandon reported what had transpired, he exaggerated quite a bit to save face for his team. As far as everyone else was concerned, Gunnar was a hero who sacrificed himself to create an opening for his team to escape from the mysterious monster. The only people who knew the truth were those that were present during the chaos.

After the funeral procession was over, Captain Hunter approached the three slayers who had been on sentry duty over the last few days. He gazed upon them with an authoritative glance as he gave them their new instructions.

"I have given quite some thought to the current situation of your squad. Initially, I intended to disband it and sort you into the other existing squads."

Alex was about to speak up and protest; however, Captain Hunter raised a hand, signaling he had not finished speaking.

"However, luckily, something good came from the disaster your squad faced on that day."

"One of the survivors you rescued in the park has made great progress these last few days as a sentry. He has raised his level to 3."

The trio looked among themselves with varied expressions. However, none of them chose to speak. A young boy no older than 15 approached the group as they listened to Captain Hunter's words. He was tall for his age and had a lithe figure. An arrogant expression was spread across his youthful face. The boy had short dark hair and a pair of black frame glasses that emphasized his smug look.

Captain Hunter smiled softly as he noticed the boy approach and took the initiative to introduce him.

"Everyone, this is Derek; he will be your new companion. I expect you take great care of him."

Brandon's expression turned sour when he observed the arrogant youth in front of him.

"You want us to babysit this kid?"

Though Brandon was the one to say it, the thought had also crossed Alex's mind. No matter what level this kid may be, he is still just a kid at the end of the day, which will inevitably create issues. Captain Hunter's scowled at Brandon's remark, and Derek glared at him menacingly.

Captain Hunter broke the awkward silence as he gave his decree

"You have your orders; I suggest you all get acquainted with one another. Tomorrow morning You will coordinate with two other teams to eliminate a nearby threat that has manifested. Do I make myself clear?"

Though reluctant, the slayers nodded their heads in agreement without saying another word. A sly smirk spread across Captain Hunter's face as the three slayers bent to his will. Afterward, he withdrew, leaving the newcomer with his new team.

The squad spent their remaining time getting to know one another and their skills, Derek was an arrogant little brat, but he did have some skills. Derek's preferred weapon was a staff he had looted from a Goblin Shaman during an encounter he had while working as a sentry.

The staff itself was slightly imbued with magic, allowing him to cast small fireballs at his opponents without directly using mana. Evidently, this kid desired to become a mage. The kid was probably more experienced than Alex in using the system. Alex played games in his spare time as a kid but did not have much time with them the last few years due to his athletic career.

On the other hand, Derek seemed to be quite experienced with the system as if he were already used to such a life before the fracture even occurred. From the first level, he began to build his stats accustomed to mages in traditional RPGs.

Alex became curious about such a character and decided to use him; he approached the boy in a friendly demeanor while the other slayers avoided contact with the kid.

"Derek, is it? How about you and I spar for a bit? Get to know each other's abilities."

Derek looked at Alex with a smug expression; in his experience, nobody he met until now had truly known how to use their stats and skills appropriately. To him, this would be like a walk in the park; the kid nodded his head and accepted Alex's challenge.

"Show me what you got!"

Alex did not take his time to feel out such an opponent; when dealing with a ranged opponent, it is best to close the distance and attack immediately. As such, he charged towards Derek and swung a fist towards the kid's face.

A conceited smirk spread across the kid's face as he lifted his staff into the air while falling back in an attempt to evade Alex's strike. A fireball the size of a golf ball spread out from his staff and exploded upon Alex's fist, engulfing his figure in flames. Derek chuckled to himself without any concern.

"So naive"

He was complacent in his perceived victory as he looked towards the other slayers with a self-satisfied manner. Cassie merely smiled back at him; only those familiar with her reactions would realize it was a look of pity on her face.

Before the boy had time to reacted, a fist appeared from the flames and landed heavily on his cheek, throwing him back a few feet and onto the ground. Though Alex had lowered the power behind his fist, after all, this was just a sparring session, and he had no intent actually to harm Derek.

Derek rubbed his cheek in awe, looking at the magnificent figure that emerged from the flames unscathed. Aside from his clothing reduced to rags, Alex's entire flesh remained completely unscathed from the fire that he was previously engulfed in.

Derek was dumbstruck; he could not fathom that his fireball did not affect Alex whatsoever. He also began to feel a bit inadequate as he gazed upon Alex's fit appearance; the man before him appeared to have been sculpted out of marble, a true titan of a man. Comparatively, Derek was scrawny and lanky,

A satisfied smile spread across Alex's lips as he reached his hands down to help Derek up off the ground.

"Never assume your enemy is beaten until you can confirm they are no longer fit to fight."

With that said, Derek learned a valuable lesson in humility, one which he would not soon forget. While Derek gazed upon Alex with reverence, Cassie whistled across the yard and hollered at Alex.

"Nice body!"

Only then did Alex realize he was practically naked, as most of his clothes had burned to ash in the fireball. Though internally he was embarrassed, he decided to tease Cassie some more; after all, he still had not gotten his revenge for the shadow step prank. With a wide grin beaming across his face, he propositioned Cassie in an arrogant tone.

"You can touch it if you want."

Cassie's face immediately flushed red with embarrassment. As she looked away, she muttered

"Pervert"

and paid no more attention to the half-naked man in front of her. On the other hand, Alex laughed at her cute expression and decided it would be best to get some new clothes. He walked away from his team and went into the compound, where he found Emily stitching together a set of scaled hides which Alex recognized to be from lizardfolk.

Emily was so engrossed in her work; she didn't notice the poorly dressed Alex approach her; she had a large smile on her face as she finished the tunic and lifted it into the air to gaze upon her craft. Only after she heard a familiar voice did she look up and see Alex standing before her.

"Perfect timing; I'm in desperate need of new apparel,"

Alex said with a smirk on his face. Emily gazed up and down Alex's body as her cheeks became increasingly flushed in embarrassment. This was the first time she had seen this amount of Alex's skin; she turned her face away and threw the garment at Alex

"Put this on and tell me how it fits,"

she said as she peeked through the hands covering her eyes while Alex got dressed into the set of apparel Emily had prepared for him. The apparel was made out of lizardfolk leather, with overlapping scales sewn into it. The jade-like scales were shown in the light of the room and looked quite exquisite.

After Alex had fully dressed, he realized it fit him perfectly, the leather attached snugly to his body, almost like spandex, to the point where his movements were unhindered, the scales provided an extra set of protection to him but did not weigh him down in the slightest. It was apparent that Emily had made the garment just for him.

Alex patted Emily on the head as he thanked her.

"It fits perfectly; I don't know how to thank you."

Emily looked down in embarrassment and muttered in a voice so low Alex almost didn't hear her.

"Just stay safe out there."

Alex continued to pet her head and gave her a thumbs up

"You can count on me!"

The two spent roughly an hour chatting before Alex decided to get some sleep. He had a dangerous mission early in the morning, and he needed to be well-rested for what was to come.