Around 3 hours later, a shelter reminiscent of a gazebo, albeit very long and wide, had been built. It was meant to serve as a crude shelter. Although it was extremely fragile, due to it being made of dirt that had been moved using (Atomic Manipulation), it would serve as a means of blocking the sun's rays.

That was not all. The security guards had found a pond about 30 ft wide and 30 ft long, and 5 ft deep. It would serve as a good water source for now. Moreover, the food-gatherers, mostly made up of (Biologists), had brought back a sizeable sum, enough for lunch for 1500 people, which was, to say, quite a lot. People began eating, and some began retrieving water from the ponds. The (Biologists) made water flasks out of wood using (Organic Matter Manipulation), which was quite a boon. Rohan decided to make their home in the forest and use the (Biologists) (Organic Matter Manipulation) to build shelters capable of housing people. The crude gazebo they had erected was only enough as a temporary shelter.

Rohan ate his fill, and while everyone was talking about the situation and eating, he left for the forest to begin experimenting with his abilities.

Rohan first used (Organic Matter Manipulation) on a tree, accelerating its growth. Next, he felt mana pour out of his body, and the tree began to hasten its growth, growing at a visible pace. Next, Rohan felt the roots underneath him shift, no doubt growing. Next, he narrowed his ability only to affect one cell at a time and accelerated its growth. Finally, the cell attempted to split to form another cell, but it killed itself due to its lack of nutrients.

'Interesting...' Rohan thought. How he, no, the system, did this was truly an enigma to him. But it was a mystery he had the full intent of uncovering. He would get to the bottom of this.

Rohan decided to experiment on another cell, and when it perished, he was met with yet another message from the mysterious 'System.'

'Hmm? How did that happen? Perhaps it was due to me 'killing' organic life? If this is true, leveling up seems to be directly correlated to the killing of organic life. However, what if one kills a being with fewer cells but is more powerful? Food for thought, I suppose. And feed for experimentation.' Rohan thought. He remembered that there were 'Levels' in his status, but he didn't quite know what they did yet. So he pulled up his status once again, intent on finding the changes.

'Increase by 15 in Mana, increase in Free Points by 15. Going off the name, free points seem to be distributable in another status. Do they do anything to my body on their own? Also, going off the red status points leaving when intelligence surpassed the number of red status points, the red stats must be temporary until the 'regular' stats surpass the red ones.' Rohan thought and documented mentally. Finally, he decided to distribute his Free Points in vitality, as if stats truly affected one's body, more vitality must mean that he was healthier, right?

Rohan distributed his status points and once again pulled up his status screen.

The changes in the status screen confirm Rohan's theory. He dismissed it and moved on, experimenting with his skills.

He decided to save (Subatomic Matter Manipulation) for later, as it could cause harmful gamma radiation to form, which was not, to say the least, healthy for one's skin.

Rohan's skill (Calculation) was much more... passive. It was constantly active, and Rohan could mentally calculate trajectory, speed, and basic math. For example, if it took one 5 seconds to perform a complex equation before Rohan received the skill (Calculation), it now took 1 second. That was one-fifth of the original time, 5 times the original speed. This would, no doubt, be a great boon.

Rohan continued experimenting with his skills, such as (Gas Manipulation) and (Solids Manipulation). When he was satisfied, he once again turned his eyes to the status screen. He once again pulled it up and found a difference.

Utilizing mana caused his current amount of mana to go down? Not a surprise, to say the least. Perhaps when he was injured, his current vitality would go down? Rohan was not intent on finding out.

However, what confused him more was the other two stats: strength and dexterity. Strength would likely increase either muscle size or density, but dexterity, he was unsure of. Going purely off the name, he would have improved control over his ligaments. But to do that, one needed muscle memory and practice, or natural talent. Increasing that would mean changes to the brain and nervous system. By changing the nervous system and brain, there would be other consequences as well. Dexterity would improve his brain and nervous system, making it more efficient and effective? Rohan was uncomfortable that numbers on a blue screen could influence his body, but there was no point reminiscing on it. It was what it was, and until he could figure it out, he would leave it in the back of his mind.

All he needed was a level up and the action of dumping points in dexterity and strength to understand this. After that, mysteries would be solved through experimentation.

An hour later, Rohan emerged from the forest, confident in his newfound abilities. If the system gave any inclination of what reality was like, he was likely one of, if not the most, powerful people in the camp.

Everyone had finished eating, and Ronaldo was waiting for Rohan on the grass mound.

"Ah, Rohan! Finally done with your disappearing act, eh? I missed ya."

"Yep. What's the plan?"

"I think we should move into the forest, near the pond. Close to a water source, and surrounded by wood to create a 100% organic fortress made out of wood."

"We will need a camp if we are to defend against this so-called 'Beast Horde' but is a fortress vital? With walls and such?"

"Walls have always been effective, used since the dawn of time. Well, maybe less effective against the sheer firepower of hot weapons, but they still have their uses, no? And besides, I doubt 'beasts' have hot weapons."

"This is true... However, we don't know what is classified as a beast in the eyes of the system. So we may very well be beasts. But..."

Rohan breathed in.

"Very well. You're the engineer. You use my findings and apply them. I understand how things work. It's not up to me to do your job."

"Well, if you will, let's start moving!"

Rohan chuckled. "Very well."

After the mass exodus to the pond, Rohan and the others began setting up houses by the pond. Each house took about 3 hours to make, and several houses were being constructed at once. It took a lot of mana, and the (Biologists) worked in tandem with the other Science-Tree based classes, such as (Chemists) who used solids manipulation.

Already, Rohan saw the well-honed cooperation abilities of the scientists. After a lifetime of working together to stop climate change, they were able to put their minds together and focus on a new task. Although he had seen it before and would see it again, it always impressed him.

And like that, a day had passed.

9 days remained.