Alex came out of the gate to a changed city. What had once been a wide space for the kids to play in had changed into a makeshift shelter for people. All around them houses were toppled over, and some were even burning.

 

Walking with his team, Alex nodded towards a man bandaging his daughter's arm with a rag. It seemed a piece of wood had hit her, and a steady burst of tears and blood came out from the little girl.

 

The father's hands were shaking, and when Alex put a hand on his shoulder he almost jumped. Alex gave him a smile and dropped down to his knees to properly bandage the girl.

 

"Everyone spread out! Help in treating anyone with injuries. We will hunt monsters later." Alex said to his clones and returned his gaze to the father. "Don't worry mister, my guys and I are experienced in this."

 

The man's eyes were drooping, and the only thing that kept him up were the cries of his daughter. Alex felt something hard through the bandage and when he unfolded it, he saw that several small pieces of wood were still stuck into her flesh. Most of the wood around here was rotten to an extent, and if this was left in the wound it would spell certain infection, following that would be an amputation considering this family was living in the slums and wouldn't be able to afford a doctor.

 

"Calm down girly." Alex softly said. "I am just gonna poke around your hand really quickly ok? It's like I am going to tickle you, ok?"

 

"Is it going to hurt more?" The girl cried out between sobs.

 

"A little bit, but after that it will all go away, do you trust me?" Alex wiped away the tears from her cheeks, and he gave her a pat on the head when she nodded.

 

Alex breathed in and out, the world blurring out around him. The sounds of crying, the smell of blood and fear, the sights of despair and disaster, it all disappeared into the background. All that was left was the wound and the shrapnel inside it.

 

With a steady hand he had acquired from [Marksmanship], Alex gently touched a piece of wood and withdrew it slowly, carefully guiding it between the folds of flesh. The cries of the girl went unnoticed as he grabbed another, and another and another. By the end, he woke up from his stupor wondering where the fuck were all the wood pieces.

 

Alex instantly got bombarded with a cacophony of sounds and smells, he held his head and closed his eyes from the harsh light of early Eve. Shit, [Singular Focus] was too strong, before he could recover pretty easily from it, but now it was overwhelming.

 

He has to train for a way to choose how focused he can get and to lessen the sensation overload.

 

Opening his eyes, Alex saw that the girl had fainted on her father's lap and he had properly bandaged the wound. In his lap were twelve bloody pieces, he threw them aside and walked towards the father.

 

"Thank you young man." The man said.

 

"No need, why are you all here though, why weren't you in your houses?" Alex looked around and saw that this neighborhood's whole population was sitting in this playground.

 

"A priest of the people warned us to exit our homes or we shall suffer great harm." He recited from memory. "The priest had Mercy's favor, and we had no say to refuse the Goddesses' orders."

 

Alex thanked the man for his words, and went about helping an old lady search for her cane. This was good for the people, helping them should be an honor, but he had to actually fight monsters and gain experience.

 

Looking around, he saw that his clones were done with most of the injured and were now helping people to lay out rugs and blankets, and even some tents. A good idea considering that the children and elderly will probably die in the cold of night.

 

Alex put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The sharp sound got the attention of everyone, including his clones. Waving for them to come over, Alex prepared his two rapiers.

 

"Hold on boss, before you say anything, we should make whistling into commands." A clone while hopping in place.

 

"That's a good idea, how about two quick whistles for us to gather up?" Alex nodded but shook his head. "Let us talk about this later, we need to find monsters and fight them. While helping is good, getting strong is better."

 

"How ruthless." A clone whispered.

 

"Look, these people can help themselves, they don't need us. And, every monster we kill means one less monster that can hurt these people." Alex barked at his clone.

 

"Ok calm down, we need to find the dungeon's landing spot. If we can find where it is, we can know where the monsters will spawn and which direction they will come from." A clone butted in. "We also need to find clothes, swords, shields, bows and other supplies for us and for the extra clones you have in reserve."

 

"We can do all that if we just head towards the dungeon, the smiths quarter is on the way and I am sure no one will mind if we take a few clothes from their wrecked house." A clone suggested and got determined nods from all the Alexes.

 

"Good idea, the fucking nobles got too many clothes for their own good." Alex then bit his lip. "And why not just take whatever they left inside their homes."

 

They all gave devious grins, and with a chuckle, Alex whistled once for them to march. He really licked the whistling idea for quick communication, and he might as well invent commands with them on their way to the inner districts.

 

Alex greeted the soldiers and mage that were presiding over the wall in this neighbourhood. The next neighborhood was also ruble and the people thankfully were safe.

 

All along the road to the center of the city, he heard that the priest of the people carrying Mercy's favor had warned them to exit their homes. Alex felt a small bit of childish pride at being sort of friends with the now respected priest.

 

Now he will make himself and his identity famous. 

---

There are currently 7 advanced chapter on my Patreon.

and if you have any critics please send them to me, I would appreciate.

All the love for Mambell, the beta reader for this story.