Meeting The Team

"Lily, Jenny, Cole, and that's Church." Isaac pointed to the four people gathered beside him, "And you should already know me, but if you don't, I'm Isaac."

The towering man aimed his thumb at himself, grinning from ear to ear.

He sure is hospitable.

The group of girls I arrived with were immediately taken to their own private quarters. Upon assimilation, Isaac had already collected a report on team one's Ability user's and Class holders. As a result, when we arrived, the unawakened folks were escorted to their quarters and given some menial tasks for the betterment of the camp: wood collecting, foraging, cooking, etc.

For the Awakened, however, we were pulled aside by Isaac himself and brought to the center of the pyramid. Besides the large staircase descending into the ground in the center of the pyramid, the rest of the space was hollow.

And as a result, Isaac built tables and bulletin boards, littering the edges of the pyramid with skins and hides recording various amounts of data; the atmosphere, hunting cycles, local beasts and flora. Isaac was interested in it all.

But most of all, he was interested in the Status and the miracles it could create. The Abilities, enhancements, and Traits. Isaac understood this was a new frontier, a drastic change compared to the world he originated from, and it was because of that, that he needed to properly utilize the Status's powers.

So he collected all of the people who possessed something mystical, and that was how I arrived at this point.

Lily is the flower girl – the extraordinarily versatile support I commented on while traveling here.

Cole, too, was someone I recognized. He is the tall and lanky man who chucked rocks into the forest.

Lily, a small white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her hair tied up into two pony-tails.

'Cow-girl' I thought.

Meanwhile, you can consider Cole her exact opposite. Tall and lanky, still white (British), but overwhelmingly broody. The air around the man seemed darker than normal.

A ghoul?

There was Isaac too; the burly man was incredibly built for his age which must have been around the cusp of fifty as white hairs peppered his thick, black mustache. His arms were wide and toned, his chest fueled and exposed, curly black hair bursting forth from his breasts.

All he's missing is a cigar.

Jenny and Church, however, were two new faces.

First, Jenny possessed a darker complexion than myself and the other whites – her skin tone bordered between perfectly golden and some shade of red, a beautiful mix composed her. Her hair is short and jaggedly cut, she probably cut it herself. And her hair is black along with her eyes.

Next, Church appeared to be Isaac's second-in-command. A clean-cut man, like Isaac, but two decades younger and with sandy blonde stubble instead of a black carpet. The two men screamed of a military background, but I wasn't complaining, a sense of order and duty is incredible for team morale.

Perhaps these two are responsible for the productivity of camp?

Apart from Isaac's group, Olive is also present. Sherry too. And the girl who possesses the [Royal Born] Class. Although her Class is a far reach from anything immediately useful, she is someone to invest in and Isaac would rather invest in the already promising ones than the untalented ones.

It was a bit ruthless, but everybody understood their circumstance to be a dire one.

By the way, Miss [Royal Born] is named Elizabeth, but she thankfully goes by Liz. She's average height, exceptionally beautiful, and in her early twenties. With bright green eyes and hazelnut hair, she's irresistibly stunning.

And I, well I'm Olive's dog – so here I am.

"The only direction we've yet to explore is the North." Isaac said, "Logic dictates that whatever we're searching for must be North."

"What is this 'Logic dictates' bullshit?" Olive scoffed, "It could be behind the pyramid or underground in a hidden cave. It could be at the peak of some distant mountain!"

"I mean sure –" Church jumped in, "it could be, but either way the North is the easiest to explore at the moment. It's the closest unexplored region. That alone makes it the obvious next step."

"It's already been eleven days," I interrupted, "considering your plan of two weeks of training and two weeks of exploring, you're gonna have to sack our training. So do you leave us here to greet the next batch of people in your stead, or take us with you, thoroughly understanding the principles behind 'more the merrier'?"

I tossed Isaac an inquisitive glance.

"Sherry and Elizabeth will stay –" Isaac responded instantaneously, locking eyes with me as he spoke, "and you and Olive will accompany us North."

"And why is that?" I questioned.

"I've talked to the other members of your team, Mr. Cain. I am well aware that team one's fighting force consists of you and Olive. And besides, you've scratched my curiosity, Mr. Cain. Not only are you the first summon we've come to witness, but you're by all accounts a regular person labeled a demon. Isn't that bizarre?"

Well at least he's not stupid.

I rolled my eyes hearing Isaac's response.

I didn't know whether to be happy that Isaac was concerned about the right things or bothered by the fact that he was suspicious of me. But either way, Isaac seems well-equipped to be in the leadership position. Not that I could threaten his authority if I deemed him unfit, but I can't help but feel slightly more at ease knowing my life is in the hands of someone with an adequate level of competency.

My life?

Am I even alive anymore?

I guess I'll have to come back to that.

"Church will also stay – he acts as Commander while I'm away." Isaac concluded.

"No qualms here," I released a pent up sigh, "just keeping you on your toes."

"Hmph!" Isaac groaned, "We leave tomorrow at dawn. See you then."

Olive, Sherry, Liz, and I exited the pyramid and returned to the bustling campground. Without the rush of settling in, I finally found a moment to truly take it in.

The most incredible thing, and definitely the largest feat to bat, is the wooden-fence that encases the entirety of the pyramid. Although considering the giant jungle trees that surround us, one tree was probably all it took to build all of the structures here.

Behind the walls, every five-hundred feet or so, wooden towers erected in the air. The towers served as outposts with seven of them surrounding the pyramid, each equipped with a woman holding a bow.

Beyond the archer towers, wooden huts littered the scene. They were square in shape, constructed from long beams of wood. Nailed into the wood, sewn together beast skins acted as the huts' walls and ceiling. But not all could be made from the hides of beasts, some were covered in leaves and vines, others clay and mud.

Isaac and his team probably used whatever they could find.

I guess that's what we'll have to do too.

Luckily, the jungle tree's were ginormous. They pierced the clouds and broke into the sky. If it weren't for the pyramid's massive size creating a clearing between the tree's, I wasn't too sure if we'd be able to see the blue sky at all.

At the front of the pyramid, lined along the edge of the slanted structure, several stalls were set up. Some had fruit, others various clothes and dyes, it was somewhat of a market. I wasn't sure if the people here had actually established a currency or if it was a 'take what you need' type of situation, but it added to the atmosphere nonetheless.

Oh and by the way, team one consisted of six girls plus myself. So of group four, referring to groups that were transported into the jungle – only six participants survived. After meeting Isaac and the members of the other groups, I asked them "how many people were summoned each time?"

They all said it's been increasing by two every time.

Isaac's group had just six people. Meaning they only made it back from the first expedition with three people.

Lily's group had eight people, group number two.

Group three had ten and group four, our group, had twelve.

And half of those twelve were already dead.

Isaac's camp is currently comprised of eighteen people, twenty-four with the addition of team one. Twenty-five including myself.

Of the twenty-five, nine of us possess a quality that labels us 'Awakened.'

Class, Ability, Trait, Passive, whatever – the Status window gave us something!

Why?

Why us?

It's not a terrible percentage to be quite honest, a small minority if anything, but it still causes a hierarchy. And within the Awakened themselves exist a pre-established hierarchy of usefulness.

Just observe the aforementioned Elizabeth.

"Hey." Olive poked my shoulder.

"What?" I asked, perturbed, having been forcibly pulled from my theory-crafting.

"We need to train." She declared then grabbed the sleeve of my shirt.

Speaking of which, unlike the girls of team one who are dressed in white school-girl uniforms, I am, for some reason, dressed in a white, linen shirt. Its short sleeves are curled into ribbons and its collar possesses intricate sewing. It reminds me much of a pirate's garment.

In addition to the adventurous shirt, I am also adorned in black slacks and brown, leather boots. I look the most properly dressed of all my companions, from the original team one at the very least. Isaac's camp dove into the realm of sewing and tempering already – they truly possess the adventurer's get-up!

"Train what?" I asked.

"Combat."

I narrowed my eyes, but before I could refute, the overwhelming nagging at the back of my head returned.

"Alright then," and I walked towards an empty plot of dirt encased in a boundary of rocks. Beside the rocks, crates of wooden swords overflowed. Isaac was robust towards training, afterall.

Olive picked up a wooden sword and swung it through the air a few times. After nodding in affirment at herself, Olive looked over at me and raised her eye-brows.

"Aren't you going to grab a sword?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Okay then."

Then, Olive rushed me. She leaned forward and slightly lowered her center of gravity. She approached fast and arrived below me swiftly.

Without hesitating, she thrust the wooden sword forward, aiming directly into the center of my gut.

But to her surprise, I remained motionless. My two feet sturdily pushed into the dirt, my legs slightly spread as I tightened both my core and my fingers. Moments before the wooden sword struck me, my black hand turned stiff and rigid.

I grabbed the tip of Olive's sword with my stone-like hand and held it in place. Exasperated, Olive grunted in exertion and thrust her might into the hilt of the blade once more.

To no glory, however, as my impenetrable dark skin is similarly equipped with tantalizing strength. . . for the time being.

As heat courses through my veins and strength surges through my bones, I tightened my grip around Olive's wooden sword and snapped it!

Her sword burst into pieces! Splinters scattered in the wind as Olive's balance was thrown off.

I inhaled and focused my attention.

Just beneath the diaphragm.

And I swung.

My temporarily strengthened fist slammed into Olive's gut and, to my surprise, her feet lifted into the air and her rose-like figure flew across the night sky.