My explanation of the events outside helped quell her curiosity, and I could tell her attitude had definitely mellowed a bit after that, but, that's just how things were nowadays. Despite the situation now weighing on her, she bore it well.

---

After nearly an hour since the fight had finished, we finally were ready to leave. The wood had been bundled up with some bungee cords Priscilla happened to have on her. I was about to see if I could rouse Kevin before he managed to wake up himself. Of course, he was likely still in lots of pain, but his health should be just over a hundred now that an hour has passed. His recovery speed was definitely much quicker than mine, and even though he had a limp, he handled it like a champ. I took the moment to look at my status before we headed out.

My attributes had increased quite a bit following the fight, however, after reading the debuff, it was clear that I should refrain from using mana for a while. I could still feel a strange soreness throughout my body, and it was no doubt caused by my overworked mana network. It seemed the strain would take me quite a bit longer to recover from, but it was a small price to pay for a victory in what had surely been a life-threatening fight.

I just had to hope that the trip back would be uneventful. As we began to walk out of the Garden of Remembrance, I paused and turned around. So, there's a dungeon here? I thought. As soon as we deal with the defenses then it may be extremely worthwhile to visit. Dungeons were nice because of the ease of leveling with so many monsters. In addition to that, items were much more likely to spawn in them, and if we wished to grow the power of the community then having a dungeon close by would actually be extremely useful.

The other implication though is the fact that in addition to normal animals mutating into monsters, we also had the issue of dungeons spawning. While I wasn't too worried about things right now, dungeons were largely even mysterious in Holy Arc Online. The one thing I did know is that there would sometimes be Dungeon breaks if the dungeon populations weren't culled. Then there were natural mana disasters on top of that. If a dungeon became oversaturated with mana, the monsters would begin flooding throughout its depths and eventually onto the surface.

So, while being near a dungeon could be lucrative, it could also be incredibly risky. If we decided to stay here, the compounded effects of the leyline and the dungeon would be a massive boon, and I sure as heck wasn't gonna complain about that.

Turning back around, I looked at Kevin. "You doing alright there dude?"

Kevin nodded, "Y-Ya.. Just a bit sore is all. Seriously though, making me distract that damn thing was a low blow dude." he said, "but! I'll accept a simple apology as long as this shield sticks with me." He joked.

I smiled, glad to know he wasn't having too many hard feelings about what had happened. "I'm sorry Kevin, but, we survived, and look on the bright side! We've got all the material Jackson could ever need." I laughed while nodding towards the bundles of [Treant] wood currently attached to the backs of all three of us.

"Eh, still doesn't make up for almost dying," Kevin muttered. "Anyways, let's get back cause I am ready for a damn nap."

With that, the three of us followed the path back out of Prospect Park. Luckily we didn't encounter any more monsters, but we could hear the sounds of the forest had actually picked up since the [Treant] had been defeated. It wasn't entirely surprising considering the amount of pressure it had been exerting over the area. I'd bet the forest will be a hotbed of monster activity soon enough.

As we neared the exit onto the main road adjacent to the Community we began to hear the dull echoes of metal hitting wood. Looks like they're cutting down the trees already!

So, as we exited, I was actually surprised when off in the distance I could see where everyone had begun piling up the wood. In fact, as we made our way closer I saw Alex, my Father, and Dante all in the process of either felling a tree, stripping it of the branches or carrying a log to the pile where Antonio and Alejandro were in the process of measuring each of the logs before sawing it into different sections. I was surprised at how well the logs actually looked. In my mind, I had imagined something very put-together looking, but the two of them were living up to their skills. Each of the logs had been smoothed out around the sides so that they would fit flush together, and then the tops of each segment were sawed into fine points. There were some segments that obviously didn't work, and those had been thrust into an additional pile for use in some future projects I imagine.

The amount of wood already cut was quite staggering, there must have already been a hundred logs already processed and it's only around mid-day.

Alex was the first who saw us approaching. He stopped and waved, before noticing Kevin's condition, "Oh shit, what the hell did you guys tick off this time?" Then he noticed the unfamiliar face, "And uh... Don't tell me you decided to try hitting on the first girl you saw in the forest Kevin?" Alex responded while smirking.

"Oh, eat shit Alex," Kevin responded. "I'll have you know the three of us made out just fine enough, thank you very much. Even got a new shield out of the whole fiasco!" Kevin gloated.

Alex raised his brow, "Now, how the hell did you find a shield in the middle of the forest?"

That's when I cut in, "We can talk about it all tonight Alex, but we should probably let Kevin rest, but for now, let's try and keep everybody away from entering the forest, it's not exactly safe."

Alex took the situation a bit more seriously at that point. "Alright, I get it. We figured something might've happened when you guys didn't come back after a while. Kaitlyn and Rachel should have some of my first aid stuff pulled out from the medicine cabinet, so go see them before you hit the hay, Kevin."

Kevin nodded and I let him go ahead of us to the house, I made sure to have him hand off the wood to Jackson though before he collapsed.

With just myself, Priscilla, and Alex standing there I began the introductions.

"This is Priscilla, Alex." I announced, "and to be frank, without her, I don't know if Kevin and I would've made it back as well as we had."

"That serious, huh?" Alex asked.

I nodded, "Yep, just imagine a small, but superpowered Ent from Lord of the Rings, and you'll have some type of idea what we encountered."

"Wait, what? We have freaking monster trees now Thomas?" Alex responded in disbelief.

"Yep, but, we found something there that might actually be of interest to everybody once I explain it. We can get our little council together tonight though to discuss it." I said and then continued, "but like I said, Priscilla, meet Alex. Alex, meet Priscilla." I motioned.

Alex held out his hand, and she gave him a firm handshake, "Nice to meet ya." Priscilla said. "Thanks for taking me in." She smiled.

Alex only looked back at me in turn, "you've already invited her into the community?" he asked.

"Yep! But don't look at me like that, she basically invited herself in. She's good with a bow though, and quite frankly we can use whoever we can." I said.

Alex was a bit skeptical but just shrugged it off. "Your call then Thomas. We really don't have much room in the house at this point though..."

Priscilla interrupted at that point, and while chuckling she said, "Look, sorry to break up all your plans at all, but I'm fine sleeping outside. I've got a tent and everything. Plus I'm used to it."

Alex just reached behind him and scratched the back of his head. "Okay, now you're making me feel bad... Alright then, here's the plan then. All of us were discussing trying to branch out our living space anyways. The Thompsons used to live literally right next to us. Shared a whole yard and everything. I haven't seen them since this whole thing started though... And the place was cleared last night. So, if nobody objects to it, I can have you guys check the place out later and see if we can get the area situated by tonight." Alex offered.

I agreed though, "that's as good of an idea as any Alex. Though I'll say right now, I'm a bit uncomfortable with spreading the group out right now... You think we should start setting up watches?" I asked him.

Alex shook his head, "Alright, not that I'm not in agreement or anything, but we'll just discuss that tonight when everyone meets up." Alex said as he began to turn around.

"Nice to meet ya Priscilla, but, I'm gonna keep cutting down the damn trees." he waved as he walked away.

"Well then, ready for the grand tour Priscilla?" I asked.

She nodded, "honestly, do whatever the hell you think is best. I'm just throwing my bets with you guys. Seem as good of a group of people as I've ever met anyhow."

"Follow me then!" I motioned.

I gave her the rounds after that. I introduced her to everybody and she took it quite well. Our meeting in the forest, while a bit aggravating, was an isolated incident. She was much more cordial around the others she met. Likely she was still processing everything I've told her. The only person who really raised any questions was actually Rachel. Though, I bet she was more concerned as to why I was walking around with some strange girl, and why Kevin had just come back with several broken bones that had to be set.

I didn't even realize he had broken anything. My opinion of my best friend just went way up. Rachel on the other hand wasn't amused by the situation we had gotten ourselves in. At this point though she stopped trying to make me promise to not do anything dangerous anymore. The look in her eye though did tell me we'd be doing quite a bit of cuddling tonight. So, I just smiled at her, and after the initial introductions Rachel and Priscilla took off quite well. Seems they both found common ground in agreeing over the stupidity of their male counterparts.

I sighed as Priscilla and I continued on the round of introductions. I eventually took her around to meet the other younger kids and teenagers. Maria, Antonio, and Alejandro's younger sister were still struggling a bit. She didn't speak much English after all. To my surprise though, Ariel and Dante's daughter, Daija, had hit it off super well and were practically inseparable even after just a few days of spending time together. I guess I hadn't realized that Ariel, being an only child, had usually been quite bored all the time with nobody around her age to play with. So it was a welcome change for her.

Otherwise, there was Noah and Emma. It was actually kind of funny. Noah had taken to Kevin and me, and as such every day after we finished either scavenging or patrolling the area, he would pester us with different questions about what happened throughout the day. One of his favorite topics though was our 'theory' as we had told him about the comparisons of what was going on and Holy Arc Online. Turned out that Noah had played the game for a bit too. He never got too far into it, but he had played enough where he knew the general idea and comparisons we were making. He was infatuated with our stories.

His girlfriend, Emma on the other hand was much more cynical, and I got the sneaking suspicion she didn't like us at all. I did wonder if perhaps it was more of an issue with her adapting to the situation though. I understood, however, and I wasn't going to push her.

While she was cordial with all of them, she took to our three youngest the most. When she heard their story, it must have struck a chord, because where there had once been a hardy, tomboyish attitude, it was replaced with a motherly overture I hadn't even imagined her being capable of. Seeing things were going well, I left her with the kids and went back to check in on Kevin.

I couldn't help but laugh as soon as I went into one of the guest rooms on the main floor that had been transformed into a pseudo-hospital bed. The man was shirtless and was sprawled along the entire breadth of the bed. Kaitlyn, Rachel, and my Mother had him held down as they were spraying anti-bacterial sprays all across his body, disinfecting the wounds. It was honestly an interesting point. With the advent of the system, how do viruses or the like affect individuals who have superhuman healing abilities? I imagine that it would work similarly to the debuff I currently have with my mana networks. Still, though, it was an interesting thought. Better to be safe than sorry.

Kevin was writhing as they sprayed him though, trying his best to contain his scream. It was this situation I found comical. "Enjoying yourself Kevin?" I announced as I leaned against the door frame.

"Ohhh, you know it!" He yelled out through clenched teeth. "It'll take a lot more than this to do me in!" he laughed.

I shrugged. "How is he?" I asked the three women tending to him.

It was my mom who responded, "I don't know what you boys got yourself into, but we had to set his shoulder back in place. Look at all these bruises though?" She motioned, "It looks like he's getting better right before my eyes, but I'd hate to have seen how he looked after... Whatever happened."

"Ya..." I hesitated. "Honestly, if it wasn't for the system I don't think Kevin would be doing nearly as well as he has."

"No kidding," my mom responded. "Anyways, Rachel hun, I'm sure that Kaitlyn and I can take it from here, go ahead and spend some time with Thomas."

Rachel nodded as she went ahead and sanitized her hands, then looking at me, she walked past me and into the living room.

She sat down without saying anything, so I sat next to her. To my surprise, she immediately grabbed me around my waist and pushed her head into my shoulder.

I've been with her long enough that I knew in moments like these I should probably wait until she was ready to talk. Sure enough, after a few minutes, she did. "I'm sorry... I just got scared." she began. "After helping your mom with Kevin and just seeing how hurt he was I couldn't help but think about what if that was you who came back like that, and... I just don't know if I could take that, you know?"

I nodded. "I understand... We didn't expect that to happen, if we had tried to run we weren't sure whether or not it would have chased us..."

She then looked up and looked into my eyes, "what was it?" she asked.

"It was some sort of monster tree... Regardless though, we took care of it, and we're lucky Priscilla was there with us... If you want, during the meeting I can suggest some new protocols to follow when we go outside. Having two of us there was a struggle, but if there had been a third person from the beginning, maybe we wouldn't have gotten anyone hurt as bad as Kevin did." I said. "I'll think about it and I can make a suggestion during the council with what we can do."

Seemingly satisfied, Rachel resumed her position cuddling up against me. I noticed the tension had been released from the atmosphere, and I was grateful that even for a little bit we could have some respite together. We had just been so distracted over the past few days, it had been difficult. It was a brief moment we both sorely needed.