26 Days (Part 3)

As the group made its way through the entrance of the dungeon, Grant was greeted with the sight of a massive set of armor.

"Couzar. What can I do for you?"

After lifting his massive hammer and resting it on his shoulder, "Bahaha what makes you think I'm here for you?!

Leonard and I are meeting here. I've taken a shine to the little human. I told him I'd take him out hunting today!"

Sure enough, as the two of them were talking, Leonard came trotting out from the dungeon entrance and joined the two.

"I was wondering why I didn't see your name on the list of participants, Leonard. Looks like you've found someone else to hunt monsters with."

Leonard was slightly embarrassed and ashamed when called out so directly, but his reasons were noble so he stood firm.

"I'm sorry Grant but you've already done more for me and my family than I could have ever asked for so I didn't want to burden you any further.

I hope you'll forgive me."

Although a little disappointed that Leonard had found someone else to rely on, he felt guilty for making the kid feel like he had done something wrong.

"It's okay Leonard. I'm just happy you found someone to train with. Don't worry about me. Go get your levels so you can start making things for the people of the town!

Let me know when you're back though, I have a couple items you might have a use for soon enough."

Excited at the prospect of receiving a few items from Grant, Leonard was suddenly motivated to leave as fast as possible.

As the two of them were heading off, Grant stopped Couzar for a moment, "I am relying on you to keep the kid safe. Please don't let anything happen to him."

"Bahaha you worry too much! I said that I would train him and that is what I'll do! How I do that, is up to me! Besides, I've trained Richard for a bit and he's still alive and well so I must be doing something right!"

With that, Couzard turned and led Leonard off in a westward direction disappearing behind a few buildings a few minutes later.

Grant said a quick prayer for Leonard and then turned and began to walk in the opposition direction.

As the large group of nearly 300 people made its way through the surrounding buildings, Grant had the leaders take their respective teams and clear out the surrounding buildings as they progressed. Their were 20 teams of fighters and 100 normal citizens within their large expeditionary force which meant that they could clear large swaths of area quickly.

Especially since most of the buildings had been partially destroyed, reducing the amount of time taken to clear each one.

If they found stronger monsters, the entire team was to work together and take them down. If the monster was low leveled and weak, then the stronger fighters were to adopt a defensive stance and allow the weaker members to train their fighting skills and teamwork.

Once the buildings were cleared, a group of normal people would comb through the building and remove any items that held any value to their new town.

Once the normal folks were burdened with goods and equipment, they would immediately be sent back to the dungeon, escorted by a team of fighters, to unload their items before once again returning.

Due to the fact that the people in charge of transporting the goods and equipment were normal level one humans, Grant realized that it was an extremely inefficient setup.

Momentarily pausing the progress of the group, Grant walked back to where the normal citizens were and offered them a deal.

"We fighters will disable monsters so that you can kill them and gain levels. That being said, that does not mean that you will have to join the fighting in the future.

However, if you take this deal, not only will we be using experience that could otherwise be useful to a fighter, we will be using valuable time as well.

Which means that I expect you to sign a contract once you return to town that says you will work the job for a duration of... lets say 6 months.

If you accept this deal, you will be assigned to a specific team and become tied to them for as long as that group remains intact.

When Jerrod and the rest of the management work out a structure for pay and rewards, you will be entitled to a greater share than you would if you remain a normal transporter. Whether it be some kind of money, benefits, housing or whatever, I do not know. But you will be compensated fairly the risks you are taking.

Would any of you like to take the deal? Raise your hand if you want too take part."

Surprisingly, nearly all of the 100 normal citizens agreed to take part. Only 7 people refrained from taking Grant up on the offer in the end.

Rather than question why these people suddenly had the courage, Grant simply accepted it as their desire to contribute to the greater good.

Since they had 20 teams of fighters, each team was assigned five transporters to level and keep safe.

Obviously their was some dissatisfaction within the teams of fighters at having to hand out precious experience to people who were only responsible for transporting goods, but when Grant explained that the transporters would eventually be responsible for transporting all the teams equipment, they suddenly had a change of attitude and happily accepted them.

Who wouldn't love someone else carrying their stuff around for them all day?

After reorganizing the groups and sending the 7 individuals who didn't want to participate back to the dungeon, the expedition once again pushed forward.

As the first day wore on and all of the newcomers and transporters alike reached level five, the group was joyful at their successes for the day.

Seeing that the sun would be setting before long, Grant decided to call it a day and escorted the group back to the dungeon.

After reaching the dungeon he informed everyone to return at sunrise and dismissed them for the day.

As the group scattered, Grant, Ally, and the kids decided to continue their own hunt.

With Earth's evolution on the horizon, they had no time to waste.

Throughout the night, the four of them managed to clear a far wider area than the expedition had due to the vast difference in combat capabilities.

It was also Grant's first time seeing Ally fight, which turned out to be a site to behold.

Apparently, Ally had been a dancer from the time she was a child up until she entered college. When she began fighting, she had subconsciously utilized aspects of dance in her fighting style which triggered the passive skill {Sword Dance}.

It was similar to how {Basic Swordsmanship} allowed Grant to understand how to use a sword but was even more useful because, according to Sherlock, it was actually a passive skill granted to people who walked the Path of the Dancing Swordsman.

Grant was thoroughly impressed at the fact that Ally had managed to gain a passive for a particular Path well before she had even reached level 25.

Throughout the night, Grant tried to mimic Ally's movements and see if he could gain the passive skill himself, but he was far too rigid in his movements to come close to what Ally was capable of doing.

During the night, the group of four had even managed to hunt down seven Enlightened Tier monsters which greatly increased Ally's level as well as allow Grant and the kids to gain one and two levels respectively.

As the sun rose, Grant left Ally and the kids behind and went to retrieve the expeditionary force.

Surprisingly, even more people had requested to join after the success of the previous day. Many of the newcomers of the day before were now wearing different equipment they had received from their Random Rolls and had an air of confidence about them.

Happy that they had more newcomers and the fact that the group seemed to be gaining confidence, Grant gave a short speech for the newcomers before immediately setting out.

When they reached the area where they had called it a day, everyone prepared to fight again, but Grant informed them that he had in fact cleared at the monsters and they were only responsible for looting the valuables.

He made sure to remind them that monsters could always wander back into the area and to remain alert, but they didn't have to be as cautious as the day before.

As the groups were clearing the area, Ethan once again approached Grant with Aubrey in tow.

Grant greeted his friend briefly, "Ethan."

Ethan could tell that Grant was still annoyed by the scene he had created so he got straight to the point, "I'm sorry about the scene I caused yesterday. I was just scared for Aubrey's safety. After spending the night thinking about it though, I realized that her safety is not your only concern and I shouldn't burden you with my issues.

Thank you for putting us into the same team so that I can look after her. I appreciate that."

Grant shook his head, even more annoyed now than he had been, "You know you're kind of an idiot, right?

Why would you think that I wouldn't do everything in my power to make sure that nothing happens to her when you're a good friend of mine and she is important to you? Did you even ask her why she joined in the first place?" Grant looked in Aubrey's direction before continuing, "Forgive me if I am wrong and overstepping here, but I assume you joined the fighting force because you were worried about Ethan and wanted to be there with him if something went wrong? And if, given enough time, you were able to become strong, you could protect him the way he protects you?"

While looking at the stunned look on Ethan's face, Aubrey smiled and then, for the first time since Grant met her, turned serious. "You are correct Grant. I couldn't stomach the thought of losing the man I have feelings for to a monster far away. Since becoming a fighter was the only way I could be with him always, that is what I did."

Without giving Ethan time to speak, Grant turned towards Ethan once again, "See. You sir, are a dumbass if you thought she was doing it for herself. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have a ton of area to cover today."

Grant immediately turned around and walked away.

He had already gotten more involved with the issue than he wanted.