Turning around, Asan saw familiar faces. This was the strike team, among whom was Laszlo. He was walking on the right side of everyone, holding a cigarette in his teeth, from which leaden smoke rose into the sky. Asan grumbled unhappily at the realization that the smell would not be the best, but said nothing.
"Good morning, sleepyhead" said Laszlo, inhaling the smoke from his cigarette.
"And to you, stinker" replied the guy, covering his nose with his fingers.
Alice was still angrily glancing at Asan, offended by the incident from the previous day, but she nodded her head in greeting nonetheless. Paul also waved his hand and moved towards the Geographer, who was standing next to Asan. Asan noticed that each member of the strike team had a backpack on their back. Suddenly, Paul quickly handed him a similar backpack to the ones everyone else was carrying.
"This one is yours now; it contains the strike team's supplies."
There's also some weapons inside, just in case of run-ins. We didn't know what would suit you, so you'll have to check it out yourself."
Asan nodded, thanking Paul for the backpack. Naturally, he first opened it without any reservations and started examining its contents. Inside was a jar of pickles, a couple of fish cans, two bottles of water, and on top of all that, proudly lying there was a construction hammer. Holding it in his hand, Asan felt the pleasant rubber handle and noted to himself that the hammer was quite good quality.
This weapon suited him well since he had previously used a hammer on more than one occasion, even if not for killing. In ant colonies, you're your own handyman due to constant budget cuts; it was rare for a master to come and fix your stuff. Usually, the orphans themselves repaired all the equipment or furniture. Take the folding couch they slept on with Laszlo, for example.
A smile involuntarily appeared on his face at the memories of how they constantly fixed it.
It's a shame that this can't be returned.
After putting the hammer back in the backpack, Asan quickly slung it over his shoulders. But the gifts didn't end there.
"Here, you'll need these" Laszlo said, handing him a pair of boots.
"It seems like today is my second birthday? So many gifts, I'm going to cry" Asan said sarcastically, nodding in thanks for the footwear.
Since Laszlo knew Asan's shoe size, they fit perfectly. Any kind of footwear was incredibly valuable to everyone in the anthills. Usually, people took shoes that were slightly bigger so they could wear them for longer periods. Putting on the boots, he felt pleasant comfort, and after tapping them symbolically on the ground, he was satisfied. Now Asan was truly ready for any trouble.
He heard two bangs behind him, which made him pay attention to who had done it. It turned out to be Geographer.
"Everyone's attention please!" he shouted, drawing the entire camp's attention to himself.
The old man who had been cooking porridge got up and approached. The men aimlessly wandering around the camp, along with the women sitting by the fire, also came over to the Geographer. Soon, all the camp residents surrounded him and his strike force.
"Today is a special day for each of us. Many of you have lost families, friends, love, and most importantly, hope" Geographer began delivering his sweet speeches.
Asan wasn't exactly eager to listen to them. He didn't need such talks to be motivated for the upcoming expedition, did Geographer?
"I understand that your pain cannot be silenced. Your goal may differ from another's.
Someone might want to go with us, hoping to meet someone from their family, find out how things are in other cities, and see if they've run into anyone familiar. I understand all of this. Today is the day when each of you will set a completely new, difficult, and unbearably long goal: to survive" said Geographer, addressing his dry gaze to each of the camp's inhabitants.
The people looked at him with heavy eyes. Someone muttered something under their breath, others couldn't take their eyes off his bottomless gray hollows, the elders nodded, understanding why he was doing this and supporting him in every way.
"I know that each of you understands better than I do just how difficult this trial will be for all of us. But if we give in to panic, if we don't work together—then not only will you perish, but our entire community will as well.
"In the upcoming journey, we will have to travel 700 kilometers across the ground of ash, encountering hellish monsters capable of killing without hesitation. But we will say no to panic! I will be your guide in this land of demons, and our strike team will become a shield capable of protecting each one of you. But even the strongest shield can break without proper care, so I ask everyone who is not part of the strike team to support them, feed them, help them with every request, and you will live. I do not promise you happiness, but I promise you a path that you will find it yourself" concluded his speech Geographer.
Asan, to put it mildly, was impressed. Yet again, he noticed that the other was very good at talking, so much so that the crowd around him, seemingly enchanted, began clapping with undisguised joy.
What to say, Asan felt a certain thrill in the upcoming journey. After the one-on-one battle with Ronnie, he felt drawn to the sensations he had experienced then. Victory. He wanted to defeat all the creatures that stood in his way to prove his superiority over them. This was a strange, incomprehensible, but at the same time captivating feeling.
"Forward Geographer!" someone among the men standing around shouted.
"We can do it, together with the Geographer!" a woman cried out with a new slogan.
Everyone began chanting his nickname as if reciting a mantra. Asan didn't like this; he felt uncomfortable in such an atmosphere, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Soon the event ended, and preparations for the expedition began. Since he was in the vanguard unit, his main goal was to protect the people.
Of course, the roles within the group were distributed differently than just protecting people.
Five people gathered in a circle, around which supplies were being collected, tents were being set up, and responsibilities for the trip were being assigned.
"So, I will be your captain" said Paul, pointing at himself. No one objected to this.
"Each of us must fulfill our duties in battle. To defeat the enemy, we need the right formation and good coordination in combat. I will act as the speaker, staying at the rear."
Asan slightly tilted his head, not understanding what was meant, but he was interrupted by Laszlo.
"What exactly does that mean?" asked the guy, already on his second cigarette. Where had he found a pack anyway?
"I will observe the battle, giving orders during the fight. If the situation is bad, naturally, I will also join the battle if that's what you're asking about."
"Oh... Alright" - Not significantly answered Laszlo.
"Asan, your type of magic, I still don't know it, could you enlighten me?" - Paul asked him, and Asan was noticed by all four of them.
"Well... I... Darkness. I control darkness." - He replied, slightly embarrassed by the sudden shift of attention onto him.
Everyone was slightly surprised by this answer.
"Do you raise undead like a necromancer?" - Crane raised his eyebrows and asked him.
"No-o-o. Obviously, he manipulates shadows or fights in the dark!" - Alice exclaimed.
"Quiet down, what exactly does your Darkness do?" - Pol silenced the others, wanting to hear the answer.
"Oh, you have no idea how cool it is. It causes more harm to him than to the enemy, heh-heh" - Laszlo joked, earning an angry look from Asan.
"Shut up, stinker, better go brush your teeth, your mouth stinks like shit because of that sigarete. No. My magic, even though it does indeed harm me, is also dangerous. For some reason, the creatures fear it. As I noticed, it has destructive functions and can stun an opponent" Asan explained after barking out his answer to Laszlo.
Paul was silent for a couple of seconds, bringing his finger to his chin as he analyzed Asan's magic functions, and then spoke.
"Well... Then let me tell you about our magic right away. I control speed magic. You don't need to ask, I didn't know myself that something like this could be magic. From the name, it speaks for itself, I can speed up. So far just for a couple of minutes and by a factor of one and a half, but I think I can increase that if I try" Paul explained his abilities.
"I don't have magic, I chose martial arts. That's why I always have a knife, I had a special option for that" Alice said about her abilities.
"I also chose martial arts, mainly they focus on reconnaissance. I can feel if someone is looking at me, and I can be quieter" Crane finished explaining. Now it was clear how exactly they had been discovered in the forest back then. This also explained to Asan why Crane seemed so quiet. Although he didn't support the choice of martial arts, he could understand why they had chosen this path. Perhaps the suggested magic was too terrible or useless for their situation. Since Laszlo had previously demonstrated his magic, there was no need for a demonstration now.
"What about the marks? Where are yours?" Laszlo asked spontaneously.
Surprise appeared in the eyes of the three people.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Laszlo asked in surprise.
"I don't get it… What marks are you talking about?" Paul said uncertainly, looking at Laszlo.
"Seems like they're only here with us, Las" Asan said, not too surprised.
At least now he's special in some way. It would be good if this mark didn't affect him negatively... At least, Asan hoped for that.
"Hmm... Alright. Then we'll proceed as follows. Crane will handle reconnaissance and during combat, he should avoid direct confrontation since his skills are mainly geared towards reconnaissance or stealth attacks. His main role is support and reconnaissance combined. Alice, with your skills, you'll be at the forefront with Asan. If his magic scares off enemies, you two could work well together—he can scare them off while you attack. As for Laszlo, you'll be in the vanguard, or simply put, in the middle. I'll be at the rear, fulfilling my role as the speaker" Paul explained the final formation.
Everyone nodded and dispersed, beginning their preparations for the journey. Asan had nothing to do, so he simply stood by the tree, waiting for everyone to gather. In the end, after half an hour, the entire camp was ready to move out.
"Alright then, let's go!" Geographer said, raising his fist.
"Let's go!" The others raised their fists and followed him.
Without much thought, Asan followed them.