Town Hall

Grant remained seated for the next few hours. Going through anything and everything in his mind.

His foremost concerns were twofold.

Firstly he needed to meet with Jerrod and the rest of the towns leadership to begin to discuss plans for the next 14 days.

Not even Sherlock or Skit knew what kind of chaos the Earth entering its Path would bring or how long the process would take.

If the process only took a few days, then that would be for the best because they weren't currently equipped to handle prolonged isolation.

Food was already a daily concern for the leaders so if they had to ration it even more then the people of the budding town would begin to cause trouble out of fear and concern.

And that had to be avoided at all costs.

Grant's second concern was to push the boundaries of Tranquil tier as soon as possible. He had no idea what it would take to reach Tranquil tier but he had no doubt it wouldn't be easy.

Although he wanted to spend time with Ally and the kids; especially since he hadn't gotten the chance to see them use their Path's in all their splendor, he knew he just didn't have the time to spare.

Plus, he realized that although he could protect them from most every danger, their was no way that he would be around 24/7 and they would have to grow on their own.

As much as Grant wanted to run off and start fighting monsters, he suppressed the urge. After standing up and dusting himself off, he began to walk towards the Town Hall meeting area in an unhurried fashion.

While Grant made his way towards the Town Hall, Sherlock was silently observing the subtle changes in Grant's body and mind.

Sherlock, at the behest of Maximus, had taken the opportunity presented by Skit's random beatdown to bring to Grant's attention all of his current shortcomings.

Although he had hoped that Grant would listen and take his advice to heart, he hadn't held out much hope that Grant would actually listen.

How could he have expected the current outcome? Grant had always been a hardheaded jackass as far as the guide was considered.

Clearly he had underestimated his current host though.

{You are truly an enigma Grant... if I didn't know any better, I would think you used a stale sense of humor and a selfish attitude to cover up some sort of insecurity...

None of that matters now I guess. I look forward to what you can accomplish in the future.}

Although Sherlock was seemingly talking to himself, Grant never heard a single one of the guide's thoughts and merely took slow and steady footsteps forwards.

Grant had never been very approachable from the beginning, but some of the passerby's got the feeling that if they tried to obstruct his Path at this moment; it would not end well for them.

To his credit though, Grant did his best to greet each individual he passed with at least a curtesy head nod.

But when he saw the expressions they were giving him, he grew concerned.

[Have I really been that unlikeable all this time? I never really cared what these people thought of me but I didn't realize I scared them that much...

I really have been a terrible presence for awhile now...]

Unbeknownst to Grant however, the people of the town actually revered and respected him. It was the aura that he was exuding unconsciously that was making people wary.

When the average person looked at Grant at this moment, they would feel an indescribable fear and pressure weighing down their minds which resulted in the looks that he was currently getting.

Rather than linger at his current pace, Grant began to jog towards his destination with more urgency. He wanted to leave the area as quickly as possible.

It only took Grant a few minutes before he arrived at the Town Hall building. He quickly entered and made his way to the meeting room where Jerrod spent most of his time.

When he reached the door of the room, he did something that he hadn't done in ages: he knocked.

From the other side of the door came the voice of someone Grant didn't recognize, "We're busy! If it's urgent go find Samantha at the front counter and she will direct you to the correct person!"

Grant couldn't help but facepalm. When he had entered the building, sure enough there had been a young girl sitting at what appeared to be a reception desk but he had been so focused that he had completely ignored her greeting and subsequent words as he simply walked past her.

Personal growth took time..

Rather than burst into the room, Grant decided to do things the proper way.

He turned around and headed back towards the entry way, eventually coming to a stop in front of who he presumed to be Samantha.

When Samantha realized someone was standing in front of her desk, she quickly looked up preparing to greet them.

However, the words she was about to speak suddenly got stuck in her throat. She knew exactly who Grant was and had tried desperately to make a good impression when she saw him walk in, since it was her first time seeing him so close, but he had promptly ignored her and walked past.

She had thought that he was busy, but now that he returned and had a rather perplexed look on his face; she was concerned that she had somehow screwed up and she was about to lose her job.

Samantha immediately shot up from her chair and started apologize for her behavior and promised never to let it happen again.

Grant, utterly confused by the young ladies actions, didn't know how to react at first so he simply waited for the young girl to finish her apology for whatever it was that she did wrong. Not that Grant had any idea who she even was or what she could possibly be apologizing for.

When the young lady finished and finally stopped talking, Grant cleared his throat and, "Well.. um.. apology accepted? I'm sorry, I don't normally bother following the set procedures but I'd like to meet with Jerrod and his team. Can you make that happen?"

Samantha was confused by the question. Grant was the leader of this camp and he was basically king in this dungeon. Did he really need to ask for permission if he wanted to meet with his subordinates?

Try to remain professional however, Samantha quickly nodded and had Grant follow her.

When they reached the same door that Grant had just left moments before, Samantha knocked.

The same voice as before was the one who answered the knock with another yell, "I told you we are busy! If you need anything, go see Samantha!"

Samantha's face cramped when she put two and two together and realized that the person speaking must not realize who they were speaking too.

She quickly responded, "Greg, this is Samantha. Grant is here with me and would like to meet with Jerrod. He should be there with you, correct?"

Grant could hear a few rapid footsteps before the door was suddenly swung open and a middle aged man with hair slicked back by no less than a gallon of gel smiled professionally before speaking, "Welcome to the meeting room Grant. Please, do come in. Jerrod and the rest of the team are currently on break for lunch but I would be happy to discuss any issues that you may have."

Since Grant was doing his best to turn over a new leaf, he decided to accept the invitation and walked into the room before sitting down at the head of the table.