A group of people sat in a circle. The atmosphere was tense. Not from one of hostility, or conflict, but something else. Perhaps it was relief. It was strange to feel tense from relief but that was exactly what they were feeling.

In a world where order was nonexistent, the fickle nature of humans is more apparent than ever. At one point, one could be numb from despair and the next moment, one could be hypervigilant and anxious about their surroundings.

When the monsters first emerged, humans witnessed the death of many including those close to them and those that are not. In the end, they survived. At the expense of this survival, they became numb to the things that surround them. What is driving forward is not hope and dreams but instinct. The human body does not want to die.

Eventually, hopefully, some sort of drive is rekindled. They are no longer living day to day in fear because of instinct. They are living because there is hope; hope for better days ahead.

The survivors witnessed the powers of Captain Silver whose might was so great it would easily obliterate the monsters that first emerged. These monsters were ones such as goblins, griffins, ghouls, and various other dreamlike creatures. Seeing the might of humans gave them hope. It made them realize that perhaps humans were not falling behind and that maybe, maybe they would be granted a power of their own too.

At what seems like to be the end of the world, any kindle of hope would be one to be desperately grasped. At the moment the hope was in their hand, it was extinguished. No, that was the wrong word. It was the realization that they were so naive to grasp that hope when they didn't know anything.

The dragon appeared to be something akin to a deity. It exceeded their realm of prediction even when the world was changing with monsters appearing out of nowhere. Furthermore, it was a being that could talk. One that could communicate. One that was intelligent.

Silver released his hand that was clutching above his heart. His cold sweat had disappeared and his eyes returned to its former splendor. Surrounded by survivors who had eyes that were dull as a dead fish, he looked to someone he found special.

The youth with green eyes. It was evident that the youth was a foreigner as he possessed no features of a Listian. However, that was a trivial thing in the current circ.u.mstances. Just like him, his eyes were gleaming. They were bright and so was his companion's.

Silver rose up with some swiftness. "Rest up well for the night. We'll set off early tomorrow morning. It was an unexpected circ.u.mstance we faced just now but it's just something we have to get used to in this new world we are living in. Don't worry, we will surely figure something out together. We'll simply proceed with more caution tomorrow."

The man with platinum blonde hair left after saying a few short sentences. It was unknown where he was going when their surrounding was a forest on one side and a ruined city on another side.

Spring-Autumn's gaze never left Silver's departing figure. He was interested in the man. It was not just because the man was an ability user just like him. It was just a hunch he had. From the different actions Silver has done, Spring-Autumn had gained a new understanding.

He was a prideful man who took his responsibilities seriously.

[Initializing… 54%]

The mysterious blue bar remained floating as usual. The only thing that changes about it is the slowly increasing number.

Spring-Autumn had a hunch about what the number entailed and he was sure that others were catching on. It was the progress in which the world was changing.

When the number first appeared, there were only small, weak creatures like goblins and slimes. As the number increased, stranger things appeared. These were things like ghouls that came from corpses and the strange awakening of powers. Although, the circ.u.mstances surrounding his power were strange in that he was already seeing visions into the future before the world even changed.

After the number exceeded 50, they met their first sentient creature, that being the dragon. It was not much of a surprise to him when he heard the creature speak. He could not be blamed for this. After all, if one had the ability to know things ahead of time, very few things would surprise them.

His finger peeled a flower and lifted it into his mouth as he thought. They've found more of the [Food Trees] while traveling.

"Do you want some?" He offered his companion.

Blue took his offer with some hesitation. She was the one who warned him about the possible side effects he first found it after all. Seeing him eat so many happily gave her the urge to smack him. While she was busy cowering in fear from the aftershock, he was busy eating flowers.

She swallowed the flower in a smooth motion. It was a strangely captivating scene watching a pretty flower being swallowed by the sweet lips of Blue.

In truth, Blue was very useful to Spring-Autumn in that she accompanied him. If he had to go around this world alone, he would've gone a little crazy or look like the survivors around them.

At this point, Spring-Autumn didn't really consider the survivors around them humans anymore. They didn't do anything besides walk, eat, and sleep.

They didn't talk and they look lifeless all the time. He dangled a food flower in front of a middle-aged man for fun. Like others, he was so miserable that he didn't blink an eye at Spring-Autumn's obnoxious actions.

"Hey!" Blue slapped his arm in a somewhat playful manner to stop him.

"What?"

"He's had a bad day."

"It's funny though."

Blue could only give a resigned sigh to that response. They had gotten used to each other's personalities.

Spring-Autumn was a childish man. He didn't care much about stuff and he would joke around occasionally. While he didn't really show any kind of seriousness, he was very reliable. He gave Blue a sense of comfort. Without him around, she really wouldn't know what to do.

Blue had a cold personality. At least that was Spring-Autumn's first impressions. As he had gotten to know more sides of her, he concluded that she was a calm, rational person. It was a vague conclusion he came to but it was something he decided on after seeing her girly sides from time to time. He felt like if he had brought anyone else with him, they would've been more of baggage. Blue stays clear of his way and gives remarks occasionally. All in all, it was a harmonious relations.h.i.+p.