Putting the plan into action

Officially it took the party a day and a half to gather the necessary supplies to undertake their mission, or at least as far as any unwanted observer may be concerned as such, Alex and his party spent that time wandering around C-Gate, pretending to haggle with merchants, and buying things of lesser importance.

As Emily had predicted, the merit system was becoming popular among the merchants who exclusively traded within the confines of the airport's territory. However, the merchants who traded between human settlements had opted out of the fiat currency imposed by the gangs of the airport. At least until a tangible hard currency was created, they would stick with the bartering system, no matter how inefficient it was.

Creating a real currency was difficult to find something with the consistent worth that couldn't be counterfeited and had a large enough supply to act as a stable currency. Gold and silver were out of the question, as it would require an intense amount of effort to scavenge such materials and smelt them down into coins.

Precious stones were even further out of the question; the difficulties that lied in creating a valid currency out of such rare minerals were beyond the technological limitations of this apocalyptic world.

While new plants and minerals were evolving in this world rapidly, their true worth was completely unknown to the fledgling societies that managed to form amidst this unprecedented disaster. Scholars weren't exactly the kind to survive the initial chaos. The ones who managed to endure generally became laborers as their textbook knowledge of the old world continued to dwindle in usefulness. They generally lacked the fighting skills necessary to become a slayer.

The good news was that with each passing day, non-combatants continued to progress to level 10 and advance into the profession system. As such, there were was a significant boost in the growth of human manufacturing post-fracture. The profession system wasn't limited to just artisans, but alchemists, enchanters, runesmiths, and many others started to pop up with each passing day.

As of now, nobody really understood how the Class and Profession systems worked; there had been few experiments with the system. There had been attempts by a few individuals to engage in what they called "dual leveling".

Which was essentially leveling both combat and trades. However, the problem with this method was there was not enough time to level both; the result was that "dual levelers" would abandon one or the other and focus entirely on what they were best at.

Still, this presented options for the future. The slaying was a dangerous job, and it was prevalent for slayers to get themselves maimed or killed. Those who could no longer perform the job had the means to provide for themself with the profession system.

Both Slaying and Trades were necessary for humanity's continued survival, and the initial discrimination of non-combatants by slayers was quickly starting to fade. The higher the slayers progressed, the better equipment they needed, which traders could only provide, traders being the term adopted for those who engaged in professions.

The term "trader" was not to be confused with the term "merchant." Merchants were, more often than not, people who hawked the goods others created and scavenged. Not all traders were excellent salesmen, and as such, some of them would sell their wares to a skilled Merchant who would sell their goods and keep a portion of the profit. Slayers usually preferred to deal directly with the trader if it was possible; that way, they could get custom items and negotiate a better price.

...

After waiting a day and a half, Cassie was positive news had been spread to bastion where they were headed, and they would be able to set up their trap. As such, she mustered the party, and they began to head out. The distance between the airport and bastion was quite far away, but they would still be able to reach the location by mid-day

Alex, as always, would act as the bait; after arriving at the area and setting up the explosives, Alex would make a ruckus with the lizards and draw the attention of Vincent's party, who would most likely be on the lookout for him in the region.

Sure enough, when Alex kicked the lizard's nest and made a scene that could be heard across a distance of a few kilometers, Vincent and his elite slayer corps were not far behind. They quickly spotted Alex, who had escaped from the lizard nest, and chased after him. Things were going exactly according to plan.

Alex continued to taunt his pursuers in an attempt to enrage them so they would not be cautious about their surroundings.

"Oi! you cunts think I'm afraid of you? I'll fuck your mothers!" Alex screamed off into the distance as he ran away from the men and women who continuously closed the distance.

Vincent, who was a large man with a receding hairline and a deep scar across his right eye, howled in laughter as he chased after Alex like a hound that had gained the scent of blood.

"If you're not afraid of us, then why are you running away?"

After just slightly clearing the blast range, Alex stopped and turned around to face his pursuers with a wide grin on his face and a complete lack of fear.

"This is why!"

in his hand was a wire he had picked up from the ground nearby; the wire was connected to an IED nearby. Once the wire was pulled, it would ignite the device, and the explosive blast would consume the other IEDs surrounding the enemies in a chain reaction.

A look of intense terror was quickly spread across Vincent's face as he tried to warn his comrades.

"It's a tr-"

Boom!

Before Vincent could finish his sentence, a massive blast consumed the area, sending fire, smoke, and shrapnel in all directions, completely blocking Alex's vision who had been standing nearby to detonate the device.

With that one action, the beginning of their plan had been put into action; once the smoke had cleared, the survivors of the blast would find themselves engaged in a life or death struggle. Only the strong would survive!