War is Coming

"If you will excuse me, I will go prepare for the portal transfer."

Grant knew Skit was lying through his teeth, skills didn't take preparation. If you had the mana required to activate the skill then you could activate it instantly. He couldn't believe that Skit would run away from a situation that he himself had caused.

After Skit left the room, silence again reigned supreme.

The only noise being made within the room was Ally unwrapping the dirty bandages around Grant's wounds before reapplying fresh ones.

Neither Ally nor Grant said a word the entire time that Ally was dressing his wounds but when Ally turned to leave, Grant finally worked up the courage to say something.

"Ally, I'm sorry if what Skit asked you, made you uncomfortable.."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like you told him to say something. I can't fault people for being curious."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, I don't want you to be upset or uncomfortable because of me. You know, Jerrod asked me the same question yesterday when he came to get us."

Ally looked at Grant with wide eyes. She could accept some alien skeleton's curiosity, but for Jerrod to think they were together, then maybe there was something they were doing that made it appear as if they had feelings for each other.

"What did you tell him?"

Grant immediately started sweating because he felt like that question was a trap. No matter how he answered, their was a chance someone got hurt.

He proceeded very carefully.

"I told him that you just lost your husband and even if it was possible for something to develop in the future, there was nothing currently between us."

Ally immediately turned away and, unbeknownst to Grant, she started to blush.

What he had said was true about losing her husband, and she was still holding his memory close and dear to her heart. But even she had accepted the reality of their new lives, and it was never clear if someone would return home after leaving the relative safety it provided.

So she had let herself move past her husbands death faster than she normally would have before The Path's emergence. The idea that the seemingly strongest person in the world, might actually have feelings for her, made her happy and excited.

Oblivious to all this, Grant continued to sweat, while holding his breathe in anticipation of Ally's response. He couldn't tell if she was crying, upset, angry, or anything else because she had her back to him.

After what felt like an eternity for Grant, but was merely a few seconds, Ally turned around with a small smile on her face, "Thank you, Grant."

Her answer didn't clear up any of Grant's confusion or doubt. Was she happy? Was she being sarcastic?

He had never been good with women or interpreting signals they gave him, so this was an impossible situation for him to decipher.

"You're welcome?" Was all he managed to get out before Skit walked back into the room.

"Ohoho, I am sorry to interrupt. Grant, it appears we have an issue."

Grant knew that something must be going on if even Skit considered it an issue but he just waited for him to explain himself before he assumed the worst.

"I detected the mana signature of a species not native to Earth. It was merely one signature, but we need to move these humans away from here as soon as possible or we run the risk of being discovered by it.

And the longer we wait, the more likely it is to discover our partnership. I do not know which race it is or what planet it is from but I would like to refrain from crossing paths with it if we can.

The only upside is the enemy is not strong. So if the need arises, we can kill it.

If we want to avoid a fight though, we have about an hour or two before it arrives. It is moving at a fairly slow pace."

It seemed like if it wasn't one thing, it was another. Grant felt like he never could catch a break and he lived every day moving from one crisis to the next.

"How large is your detection range?!

And why not just kill it outright and be done with it?"

"It is not that I detected it, do you remember those skeletons that were in the dungeon when you arrived? Well since you took control of the dungeon, they no longer served a purpose, so I sent them outside of the city to investigate.

And I would advise against killing it. Although it has a weak signature, it is still stronger than everyone in this place hold maybe five of you humans.

The only reason for an entity such as that to be traveling alone, is because it is scouting. Which means that it is most likely not alone and that their are more of it's race somewhere around here.

If we kill the scout, then more of their race will appear to investigate.

If the scout finds no one, then he leaves on his own and it is unlikely they return, at least for some time."

"Wait, you said that it was outside of the city, and we need to leave now to avoid it? What about all of the other survivors in the city? We haven't even cleared a 20 square meter radius, there have to be survivors everywhere in this city that we have been unable to reach."

"They will have to pray they do not attract the attention of the scout, and if they do, then pray they are smart enough or strong enough to fend for themselves. Besides, if there are enough survivors, then it is unlikely that they attempt to do anything until a sufficiently strong and numerous group arrives.

We need to move proactively, because if they spot a large group such as the one you have here, it is likely they move an even larger and more powerful force than they would for scattered survivors.

No matter what we do though, war is a possibility for the survivors of this city.

And even if the species is not hostile, they will not be the last to appear on Earth.

You must understand, at this point, war is an inevitability for you humans. The only question is, will it be sooner, or later?"

Grant struggled to get up out of the bed because his body was aching all over and screaming at him in pain.

Seeing him struggling, Ally walked over and put his arm over her shoulder and supported him from under his arm.

"Thank you, Ally. We need to go to the courtyard where everyone is eating and leave now. Skit, please go to the square and be ready to activate your skill at a moments notice."

Skit just shook his head before walking out of the tent. Ally and Grant slowly followed after, but it took them a good 15 minutes to finally reach the square.

Seeing Grant and Ally arrive, Scott who had been giving his instructions for the upcoming move, stopped speaking and looked in their direction.

Grant didn't beat around the bush and immediately spoke to everyone instead of consulting with Scott first.

"Everyone, we will not be waiting to leave, we will be leaving in half an hour. Pack your shit and get ready to leave. If you are not here, then you will be left behind.

I do not have time to answer questions or explain, so if you do not listen and stay here to argue, then you are only wasting your own time.

That is all, go get your stuff."

Of course their was a chorus of protests but Grant simply ignored them all. The wiser members who had seen Grant's strength and knew that he was slowly becoming an advisor of sorts to the leadership of the camp, immediately left to gather their belongings.

While the survivors were scattered doing what they needed to do, Grant walked over to Scott and the rest to explain why he had made such a decision.

Once he was done explaining the situation, everyone except Ally, who had heard the news already, had a pale look on their face.

The idea of having to go to war with a species from another planet was hard to swallow. None of these people thought they would ever be caught up in something like this.

Just a few weeks ago they had been normal people, and then The Path appeared out of thin air and threw their lives into turmoil. Somehow they had managed to gather their courage and fight off monsters and zombies to build a life for themselves in the midst of the chaos.

But now, someone was standing before them, telling them war was but an inevitability at this point.

Seeing the atmosphere, Skit walked forward to speak a few words, for better or worse.

"Ohoho, worry not humans. Grant and I will train you until you fall unconscious, he knows well how effective my training can be."

Grant, standing next to Skit, suddenly looked like he was reliving his worst nightmare and tears started to trickle down his cheeks.

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A/N: Hey guys, so the WPC event is over! I believe we finished either 6th or 7th. Not a 100% sure because the final rankings aren't out yet, but I just wanted to thank everyone for voting with their power stones and supporting the story! 6th or 7th may sound like it's not that big of an achievement but I would be inclined to disagree! For my first story and first attempt at writing one, I am extremely proud of what we have achieved and that's all because of your support! Thank you very much and I hope you'll continue to follow along!