How Old?!

Shaking off the subtle insult by Sherlock, Grant stood up to get ready to leave. As much as he didn't want the responsibility, at least in this part of the world, Grant would have to do his best to protect the people.

Knowing that his reach was limited, Grant decided not to burden himself with the safety of the entire world and focus on what he could protect, which was the city of Phoenix. As his strength grew, his sphere of influence would grow with it.

That would have to be something he concerned himself with in the future though, because worrying about it now would do him no good.

The first step in that direction though, would be to gather as many survivors as he could.

As he was readying himself to leave, Grant realized that Skit and Hettlethorn were still arguing back and forth.

"Listen here you oversized twig, no one wants you here. I don't care what your "leader" told you, you can't stay here."

"Mmm... it is not your decision... I may not... be as.. strong as you.. but.. I will not... back down..."

"Oh yeah? Then I'll just have to chop you up and turn you into fuel for the fires in the dungeon!"

Grant just shook his head at their childish back and forth. Even with war raging on Skit's planet and a war looming for Hettlethorn's Mother Earth, they still had the energy to bicker back and forth like a bunch of first graders.

"Will you two shut it already? We have more important things to worry about. Skit, pretend he's just another tree and ignore his existence. Nettlethorn, if you aren't going to help in protecting the dungeon, then just stay out of the way please.

I do not feel comfortable saying this because you two could smash me into oblivion, but I don't have time to babysit you right now.

I am concerned about the survival of my race and planet.

So either get along, or fuck off. I'm at the end of my rope here..."

The two just glared at each other for a few more minutes before they turned around with a grunt. Skit, returned back to the dungeon to join up with the group of trainee's that he had agreed to oversee and Nettlethorn found a relatively clear area of the park near the lake and seemed to dig into the ground in a way before he stopped moving entirely.

Seeing that peace had returned, at least momentarily, Grant decided it was time to leave.

Before he could begin heading north towards the only possible survivors gathering he knew of, Ethan came walking towards him, "Grant, wait a second!"

Grant paused his footsteps and turned around to face Ethan. He was confused seeing Ethan fully decked out in new gear and carrying what appeared to be a normal backpack full of supplies but his curiosity was cleared once Ethan caught up to him.

"Can I come with you please?

I can't stay here with these people. Every time I see the survivors from my church, I'm just reminded of all the people we lost. And then with the coyote's killing even more people right in front of me, I'm really struggling right now.

I just need to get away from all of this for awhile to clear my mind."

Grant really didn't see an issue with allowing Ethan to come with him, so he decided to relent and allow him to come along. Not without certain expectations laid out for him to accomplish during their travels though.

"I will allow you to come along but you must do two things for me.

Number one: You will fight all of the lower level monster's and zombies so that you continue leveling up. Now more than ever I need people I can trust that are strong and dependable.

Number two: You will not question my decisions when it comes to important matters if and when we find other survivors. You and I are fundamentally different in how we approach situations and unlike you, I am willing to judge people based on their decisions."

Ethan just nodded his head, "I agree to your conditions. Am I allowed to voice my opinion at least?"

"Of course you are. I just don't want any scenario where you try and stop me from doing something because you don't agree.

I am totally fine with you having your own opinions and views based on your religion and upbringing, but I need to know that you will accept the decision I make even if you don't agree."

Ethan could understand what Grant was trying to get at, but he too was having a hard time sticking to his beliefs and morals that he had grown up with. Daily, he questioned whether his faith in God was still worthwhile but he had not abandoned his faith completely, at least not yet.

"I appreciate that and I will do my best to abide by your decisions."

Grant didn't say anything else and instead started walking towards the main road to begin his journey northward.

Ethan didn't saying anything either and after watching Grant take a few steps, he too moved forward, catching up quickly, and walking alongside Grant.

While they were walking, Grant once again focused on his skills to finish the evolution for the skills that had completed their evolution requirements.

{Skill: Terrorize

Skill Type: Vocal

Skill Tier: Normal

Skill Description: Imbuing your words with anger will motivate the target of your words to execute your commands. The skill only effects those who are weak willed or those who are terrified of you. Will not work on anyone above level 25.

Requirements for evolution to Skill Tier: Rare - Force allies or enemies alike to do your bidding (10/10) Would you like to evolve the skill to the next tier?}

[Yes, evolve the skill.]

{Congratulations, Skill: Terrorize has evolved from Skill Tier: Normal to Skill Tier: Rare. Strength of the skill has increased.

Skill: Terrorize

Skill Type: Vocal

Skill Tier: Rare

Skill Description: Imbuing your words with anger will motivate the target of your words to execute your commands. The skill only effects those who have moderate to low willpower or those who are terrified of you. Will not work on anyone above level 30.

Force ally or enemy alike to do your bidding for more than an hour without losing control. (0/50)}

{Skill: Basic Swordsmanship

Skill Type: Passive

Skill Tier: Normal

Skill Description: Allows the users understanding of swordsmanship to increase slightly. While using swords, the users damage is increased by 10%. Percentage of damage increase will increase with each tier.

Requirements for evolution to Skill Tier: Rare - Kill Enemies with any type of sword (100/100) Would you like to evolve the skill to the next tier?}

[Hey Sherlock, do I even need to bother upgrading Basic Swordsmanship since I have Jack of All Trades?]

{Hard to say.

You don't really need too but at the same time since Jack of All Trades only offers Above Average efficiency with weapons, it will not allow you to be a true master. It is merely to lesson the learning curve for new weapons.

If you want to be a true master, then I would recommend that you continue to increase the Basic Swordsmanship skill until it reaches the maximum evolution of the skill.}

[Wait, how do I evolve a skill? Isn't increasing the tier already improving the skill?]

{Yes and no. For example, your Basic Swordsmanship is merely the baseline for Swordsmanship. The skill itself can be evolved up to and beyond Master Swordsmanship. As we talked about earlier, to go beyond the skills of The Path, your personal understanding needs to exceed what The Path determines as the baseline.}

[What the actual fuck? Can this shit get more complicated?! Skill Tiers, skill evolution's, Path Tiers, skill understanding, and on and on...]

{Did you think this was some video game or something where all you had to do was reach a certain standard and your strength would miraculously increase?}

[Well that was the hope! Why doesn't the world just dump a pile of shit on me and call it a favor.. How am I supposed to accomplish all of this in a human's lifespan?! I have barely held a sword for two weeks, no way do I ever reach master tier!]

{What do you mean a human's lifespan? Are you telling me you haven't even considered the fact that you will not age as you had been before The Path's emergence?}

[No... hot damn I'm stupid. As my stats and the tier of my Path increase, the aging of my body decreases, am I right?]

{Precisely. There is a race very similar to humans that joined The Path nearly a thousand years ago and some of the original survivors from that planet are still alive today. Though they have reached Tier 4 and above on their Path which made it possible for them to live this long.}

[Is immortality possible?]

{Their are some very old records that say that it is in fact possible. But there is no concrete proof it has been achieved.}