After two months of hiding in the community centre, wandering across the fields around town was a strange experience. The paths hadn’t changed all that much, sure, there were far more cracks in the asphalt than before and the vegetation around the roads was trying to reclaim what humans had paved across, but otherwise, it was the same. Only, it didn’t feel like it. The paths had once been safe, allowing people to wander around the area or push their babe around in a stroller, simply getting some fresh air. All those wonderful activities had been possible and safe, with the greatest danger coming from inattentive motorists.

No longer. They could only make their way from the community centre to that promised safety at a farm on the other side of town because they had a group of armed guards, making sure that nothing could kill them. On the way around town!

It was madness and yet, it was reality. A reality they had to adapt to, a lesson that their old friend, Samantha, had tried to teach Chris and Jenn. Neither of them had managed to make a plan for the future, for Jenn, taking care of Sebastian and herself had been the primary responsibility. Similarly, Chris had done his best to gather up enough food for the three of them, and the rest of the people in the centre if possible, but he wasn’t a fighter, something he readily admitted.

Listening to Sam’s lessons hadn’t been easy for him. His former teammate, and youthful crush, had never been quite normal but taking to this insanity they were now inhabiting with the relaxed glee Samantha had shown wasn’t something he could do. Attributes, numerated skills, traits and whatnot were things he knew well, but they were supposed to stay in video games. Not invade their reality, not set things alight in blue fire and certainly not bring the dead back to life as some strange monsters. This wasn’t how life was supposed to go, but sadly, reality wasn’t listening to the wails of a single man. No matter how loud Chris screamed, reality did not change.

Though, even just looking at Sam had been weird. His friend used to be petite, waifish, with a fairly round baby face. None of that was true any longer, while recognising her was still easily possible, she had grown far more than any adult had any right to, her facial features had sharpened as if somebody had taken a chisel to them and her whole demeanour had changed. She always had a quiet competence but now, she was oozing confidence, as if every step was a declaration of dominance. Maybe, once they reached that farm, he could learn what had happened to her, the people guarding them seemed to be a little divided when it came to his friend.

“How could we leave the child with those monsters? And what were those monsters anyway?!” an angry voice demanded to know, as the group moves across a wide-open area. The lack of obstacles allowed the guards to see approaching threats from a distance, giving them some leisure to chat amongst themselves. Or get yelled at, in this case.

“One, none of the people here claim the child, if you noticed. Her father apparently died a few weeks ago, on a supply run. The Pale Lady took the kid in and that’s good enough for me,” another guy, this one carrying a bow, replied, angrily glaring at the partner who asked the question. Not that the question wasn’t partially warranted, but because of the question’s target. Nobody in the know wanted to mess with the Pale Lady, certainly not Kenji who had seen her in action. Not without many more levels under his belt, a prepared escape route and, if things went predictably wrong, an up-to-date will. No, going against the Pale Lady was a foolish idea and provoking her wholly unnecessary. Certainly not because of some orphan kid that the Lady decided to adopt. Hell, even if she decided to eat the damn kid, most people at the farm would look away if at all possible.

The Pale Lady had been scary before she magically grew almost a foot, but somehow, the growth spurt made her feel even more dangerous. Nobody had wanted to mess with her before and that wouldn’t change any time soon.

“And two, what do you suggest to do? You call them monsters and you’ve got no idea how right you are. The one with the blue skin, you know about the wonderful magic that lets people at the farm drink, wash and grow plants? All those things we desperately need to survive?” the archer asked, seemingly in a nonsequitur, “She taught us, gave us lessons and helped us find our potential. Even with just that brief visit we had here, I gained something incredibly valuable, simply because I managed to earn a lesson from her. That’s how important she is, we owe her,” the archer shook his head, before letting out a sigh.

“You’re new, I know. You haven’t seen the things the Pale Lady can do, maybe you didn’t even hear the stories. Believe me, you don’t want to get on her bad side. You call her a monster and quite frankly, you are right. But as long as the monster doesn’t turn her hunger on the farm, nobody will try to fight it, and even if she did, I doubt many would dare, not unless she targets them directly.”

“Think of her as a dragon, living near our town, and we occasionally need to sacrifice a virgin to keep us from getting burned. But at the same time, her presence means that we have a large measure of protection from other monsters, simply because she protects her territory,” the archer was obviously done with his explanation, especially because quite a few people had paid a little too much attention for his peace of mind.

Sadly, his supposed companion wasn’t quite done. Kenji wasn’t certain about that guy’s abilities, he was a magic user of some kind, but not the Arcane magic Jade had taught him and his fellow. But he also hadn’t heard him pray in the morning, as Cassie, still nicknamed Denmother, did. No, the guy just called out some prayers, invoking the name of the Lord and stuff happened, not terribly consistent stuff either. But he had managed to help a group of people survive after things had gone to shit and later joined under the banner of Apple Gate Farm, similarly to the people they were now escorting. Only that these people had made their living with traps, stealth and avoidance, instead of strange magical prayers.

Trying to tune out the incessant complaints, Kenji focused on his job, keeping an eye on the surrounding area, making sure that no creepy critter managed to sneak up on them. He wasn’t scared of the larger beasties, he had gotten quite good with his bow, especially out here, in the open fields.

Luckily, another of his comrades had been attracted by the noise and started talking to Josh, the weird, religious spellcaster. There was a part within Kenji that wondered how the guy’s magic worked, just enough of the curiosity the Pale Lady had spoken about. Sadly, when asking about it on the way to the community centre, Josh hadn’t been the most responsive, only claiming that the Lord provided, without giving any details. How did the Lord provide, what did he provide, all that good stuff? How did the magic work, other than yelling something vaguely biblical and having something happen?

Still, it was fairly amusing to hear the exploits, or in some cases alleged exploits, of the Pale Lady described. Some of the tales were just too fantastical, like the one where she had, somehow, raised a massive Tower from the eternal Ice of a glacier, before unleashing some sort of Ice Dragon? It was an incredible story, one that his fellow magician Kevin had told, but it was just that, a story. Or so Kenji hoped, if only because it would mean that such insanity was possible and if the Pale Lady could do it, who said that others couldn’t do similar things?

At least the Pale Lady hadn’t shown any serious malicious intent towards the people at the Farm, at worst, she was indifferent and most of the time she was actively helping them. Be it by training more spellcasters, or by going out and killing things that nobody else could deal with, before those things started to nibble on the people at the farm. The Pale Lady had done both, and more.

And yet, there were people who disliked her for a variety of reasons. Be it her pale, blue skin, marking her as something other than human, or be it her power, making others look at her with envy. To Kenji, keeping those negative people under control was an incredibly important objective, simply because having a monster on your side was better than having it against you. And there was no doubt in Kenji’s mind that Jade was a monster, even if he wasn’t certain what kind of monster.

Amusingly, the obvious physical alterations she had undergone were the least important changes about her. The council would want to hear about this, though he had no idea what they might do with the knowledge. Hopefully nothing bad, or things might take a sudden turn for the worst.