"Is your heart colder than others? I think you made that up for yourself. You just said that all people have feelings." Said Zero. She didn't understand why he was contradicting himself.
"Get over it. I'm being taught about life by some girl. Get out of here." Said Wain.
Zero giggled and jumped off the roof. She was glad she could talk to Wain about something personal to him.
When Zero left, Wain blew out a puff of smoke and, looking at the blue moon, muttered, "Zero...when you stand in an ocean of blood that you yourself created, your heart gradually gets colder..."
...
As dawn broke, Gisle handed out instructions to prepare for the crossing to the northern part of Overion. The main character in that situation was Clovis. He was to build the bridge that would connect the two parts.
Wain reluctantly opened his eyes and stared at the half risen sun. He quickly wiped his eyes and rose sharply to his feet.
"From the blue moon to the beautiful dawn, you can't think of a better mode." Mumbled Wain and headed for the Gisle group.
When he talked to Zero, he wasn't lying. Wain preferred to be alone most of the time, but that didn't mean he couldn't communicate and interact with other people.
Even before the apocalypse, many people all over the world liked to be more alone with themselves. However, that didn't stop these people from having friends, family, and companions.
Whoooosh.
Wain reached Gisle's group in a few long jumps through the buildings.
"Oh, Wain. Good to see you." Said Gisle.
Wain nodded, "How's the operation going?"
Gisle shrugged, "So far, so good, but we're waiting for the wood to be brought to us from the main base. When I was at the Sea Punisher base, I instructed them to move out at dawn. We should have several tons of wood brought to us."
"You think that's enough?" Asked Wain. He doubted that so much wood would be enough to make a bridge long enough to cross the canyon.
"I don't know about construction. When you returned, I discussed my plan with Clovis, and he said it would be enough. I don't think he could have been wrong since I gave him exact figures, and he knows how long the canyon is in that place." Pronounced Gisle.
Gisle decided to camp here for a reason. According to the map, this was the shortest distance between the two parts of the canyon. This meant he would spend less wood, and Clovis could get the job done a little faster.
In fact, Gisle needed to save some wood since the organization's supply was not infinite. Unfortunately, Gisle could not find someone with the soul of a farmer or someone who could speed up the growth of plants and trees.
Gisle understood that a person with such a soul was most likely in the eastern territory, but he was problematic to locate. Many people still had not activated their Soul Altars. They could not conquer their fear of monsters. It was still too little time.
"Hmm, this canyon is huge. I hope it works out for him. By the way, Gisle, I wanted to ask you something." Said Wain.
"I'm listening to you."
"As I understand it, Lea is the only person with the soul of a blacksmith at the moment. Furthermore, there is only one other person with a craft soul besides her, Clovis. I realize that most people haven't activated their Soul Altars yet, but have you considered speeding up the process?" Wain asked.
He understood better than anyone else how important people with craft souls were.
"You mean letting ordinary people without superpowers kill monsters?"
Wain nodded, "Yes. At this point, zombies or some weak insects are not strong opponents for you or your people. Why not capture these monsters and give them to ordinary people to kill them? That way, more people can activate their Soul Altars."
"I understand if I increase the number with people with active Soul Altars, I'll seriously improve the chance of finding someone with a craft soul. However, I've thought about it, but I can't do it yet." Said Gisle.
"You still don't have enough strength and have a lot of unresolved problems?" Asked Wain.
"Yes, I can't waste my time and strength on giving ordinary people an easy way to activate their Soul Altars. I understand that the overall power of the organization would be seriously raised in such a case, but it's not that simple." Said Gisle.
He sighed and continued, "If a man is brought a bound monster and he kills it, that does not make him a warrior, for he has killed a defenseless opponent. In that case, that man will be more trouble than good, for he must first be trained to fight to be useful."
"I see. You will have to spend energy and resources catching monsters and then training these men, even more energy and time. It's too early to do something like that. It's like some kind of monster hunting training school." Proclaimed Wain.
Gisle nodded, "I was planning on doing this after Overion is in my power. Moreover, I have yet to get this city in order. This place must be fit for living. The strong will get everything, and those who are afraid to kill an ordinary zombie will probably stay at the bottom forever."
"Yeah, there's a lot of work to be done," Wain muttered, looking at the ruined buildings around him.
Even given the super abilities of the humans and the presence of a few people with craft souls, it could take several years to rebuild the city.
Of course, everything depended on many factors. But Wain reckoned that it would take a full year to restore all the buildings and build new ones at best.
"Looks like we're all set." Pronounced Gisle was looking at the dozens of people carrying wood behind them.
Unlike Wain, they didn't have a special ring to put a lot of stuff in. Last Light's members had to haul wooden blocks on themselves or in carts. However, given their stats, this was not a difficult task for them.
While Clovis and Gisle were busy distributing wood and tasks, Wain decided to go to the edge of the chasm.
He wanted to see what was at the bottom.
'Hmm, that worm was incredibly huge. I wonder where it came from? Could there be something hidden underneath?' Thought Wain and took a step forward.
He stood on the edge of a precipice, and in front of him was a canyon several hundred meters long.
Wain lowered his gaze down and saw a cleft several kilometers high. You could see sewer pipes, an underground subway, and even a few rooms deep underground from the walls.
All of this was destroyed by a single movement of a monster of colossal size.
Below Wain saw only impenetrable darkness, just as he had expected.
"There doesn't seem to be anything down there, and it's an ordinary crevice only of gigantic proportions. Connecting all parts of the city will be quite difficult. Gisle will need to do a tremendous amount of work." Mumbled Wain and turned around.
By that minute, Clovis had already activated his ability. First, he decided to visualize the bridge's plan, which looked like a huge 3D drawing.
But then, no one noticed that there were flames in the depths of the crevasse, which grew stronger over time.