Two days after they left the Hungarian dungeon, Zayzal was speeding down the highway in Serbia. Now that around two weeks have passed since the beginning of the mana apocalypse, people are starting to adjust. Militaries have taken action and are starting to gain more control over their countries, while more and more people are starting to understand that they may have supernatural powers.

While Zayzal’s group hadn’t stopped much during their travels, they did spend some time in a few of the larger cities that hadn’t been overrun with beasts or bandits. There, they were able to see people using their newly attained abilities freely.

When asked about how they ‘unlocked’ them, the people generally answered that they just started to feel a faint connection to something deeper within themselves. By focusing on that aspect, they were able to realize this new power.

However, for now, none knew that they could become stronger through their talent and were just content about having an added layer of protection. But, Zayzal noticed that people who lived in places with a higher mana density generally had more people ‘awaken’ their powers naturally.

So, he assumed that enough mana had to accumulate to a certain degree before one’s talent would manifest itself.

‘Still, it seemed like most people had fairly mundane talents.’ Zayzal thought as he reminisced over the last few days. He had kept a mental note of the talents that he’d seen.

These were part of the list he had compiled: [Water Control], [Heat Resistance], [Weak Flame Control], [Aroma Generation], [Color Change], [Object Summoning], [Light Emission], [Plant Growth], [Animal Empathy], [Intuition], [Enhanced Flexibility], [Concentration], [Basic Self-Defense], and [Empathy].

Each one was also separated into different color categories, which Zayzal was beginning to understand more from his [Pathfinder] talent.

Blue generally had something to do with typical fantasy elements, like Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, etc. 

Green had something to do with plants. 

Red was related to the body.

Cyan was related to the mind.

Black was martial arts? He hadn’t seen enough of these to conclude that conjecture, but for now, that was the consensus.

Gold… Zayzal wasn’t exactly sure. Sera’s gold talent could produce barriers, but then there were things like [Object Summoning] and [Aroma Generation] that seemed odd compared to barriers. Considering all of those, he figured it must have something to do with materializing or manifesting.

As for Silver, the only thing he had to go off of was [Pathfinder] and [Empathy]. For now, he just denoted it as unknown, but [Empathy] was technically a concept, so perhaps it was related to that.

Lastly, purple. He had absolutely no idea, so he just labeled those as ‘Unknowns’ for now and would try to gather more information about them later. 

To others, all of this information might not be that important, but to him, it helped provide a better understanding of the direction humans will need to take to get stronger. It also confirmed a few things regarding his purple [Adaptability] talent and how its starting growth was somewhat similar to the Blue, Green, and Gold talents.

‘Once I understand it a bit better, I should be able to start getting stronger through both of my talents.’ He speculated, wondering how improving his [Adaptability] would affect his body.

As the truck sped along the Serbian highway, Zayzal's thoughts calmed down. The mana apocalypse, as chaotic as it was, had opened up a whole new dimension of human potential. And Zayzal was looking forward to seeing just how strong they could get.

Sera, sitting in the passenger seat, was flipping through a tattered map. "We're not too far from the Bulgarian border. What sort of environmental changes do you think we’ll face?"

"I don’t know. Hungary was covered in pockets of mist that caused short-term memory loss, and Serbia… I guess there are more aerial monsters flying around. There’s quite a few forests in Bulgaria, so maybe it has something to do with that?” Zayzal replied, but as if to jinx him, a large shadow suddenly loomed over the truck, blotting out the sun. 

Zayzal's eyes shot up to the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of a massive bird-like creature descending rapidly from the sky. Its wings looked sharp and crystalline and shimmered in the sunlight, casting prismatic rays across the landscape.

"Watch out!" Sera yelled, gripping the dashboard as the bird swooped dangerously close, its massive wingspan nearly as wide as the road.

The truck swerved slightly under Zayzal's steady control, but he managed to maintain their course. The bird screeched and soared upward again, circling them like a predator sizing up its prey.

Before they could process the threat fully, a commotion erupted from the roadside. A tall, muscular Spanish man burst through the tall grass, carrying a girl in his arms. They had wounds all over their bodies and were shouting in English as they frantically waved for help.

"Please, stop! Help us!" the man yelled.

Zayzal was torn. The bird overhead was incredibly dangerous, more than they could handle, and stopping could mean putting them all at risk. But the plea in the man's eyes, the evident distress of the girl he carried, struck a chord within him.

"We have to help them," Sera said, reflecting Zayzal's own thoughts.

Nodding, Zayzal eased on the brakes, slowing the truck. But before he could come to a complete stop, the man grunted, and in a burst of adrenaline-fueled strength, he leaped into the back of the truck with the girl. The sudden weight shift caused the truck to swerve, and Zayzal fought to regain control.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, steadying the wheel. "Everyone okay back there?"

"We're fine, but that bird..." Marcus's voice trailed off as they all looked up at the circling creature.

The bird kept circling them, eyeing the truck. It seemed to be reassessing the situation. With its prey now mobile and part of something much larger, it let out a piercing screech and ascended higher into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. 

Zayzal exhaled a sigh of relief and turned his attention to the newcomers. The Spanish man set the girl down gently in the truck bed and gave them a grateful nod. 

"Thank you," he said with a thick Spanish accent. "I'm Leonardo Garcia, or Leo for short, and this is my friend, Jasmine. We had just come back from a dungeon before we were betrayed and followed by a few others who had joined us. As we were escaping, that… thing started chasing us. We thought we were done for. Luckily, we just happened to hear you driving by."

The rest introduced themselves loudly before they got down to business.

“Wait, you guys came from a dungeon?” Zayzal practically yelled since they were sitting in the truck bed.

“Yes! Dungeon diving is becoming more popular now, with people becoming stronger and bringing back treasures!”

“Then, how are you finding them?” Sera asked, but Leo just scoffed. 

“They’re everywhere, man! Monsters almost always hang around dungeons! Just find a few, and with a little bit of searching, you’ll find the entrance.”

“You two must be quite strong, then,” Sera commented as she looked at Leo’s physique up and down. She had a feeling that the man could give her a good fight.

“Eyy~ I wouldn’t say strong.” Leo chuckled. “But we get by.”

“You don’t sound like you’re from around here, Leonardo,” Marcus stated before Leo corrected him.

“Please, call me Leo.”

“...Leonardo. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you all the way out here?”

Leo smiled awkwardly at how formal Marcus was but paid it no mind. “I’m an MMA fighter, so I came to Bulgaria for a competition, but as you know, things went south. Everything went to hell when that light in the sky shone. Luckily, I made it out alive, but none of my crew lived past the initial shock and exploded. Afterward, I tried to make it back to Spain, but there was something wrong with the environment. It was like the trees were moving, preventing anyone from leaving. That’s when I met Jasmine, near the edge of Sofia. With her help, we made it out of the country and continued to creep along the border of Serbia-”

“Okay, I get it.” Marcus interrupted. “We don’t need all the extra details.”

Zayzal and Sera chuckled, not minding his behavior, but the former turned serious when he realized they were heading in opposite directions.

“Well, Leo, we’re not heading to Spain or anywhere in that direction. We’re going to Greece. If you want, we can drop you off at the next town, but I have no plans on turning around.”

Leo turned silent and looked at Jasmine. The woman seemed like she had something to say but was too shy. Leo gave her a nudge, waking her up. Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, she asked, “C-Can… Can you take me with you? My friend… My friend’s not in Greece, but he shouldn’t be far. I need to make sure he’s alright.”

“Sure, but you may have to stay in the truck bed, as the back seat is pretty full,” Zayzal replied, yelling over the sound of the engine. 

Leo still had a lot to consider as he didn’t want to go to Greece or anywhere in that direction. He wanted to go back to Spain and check up on his family. However, with how many times he’s almost died over the last few weeks, he wondered if he could even make it halfway without Jasmine. 

The girl played a significant role in their survival. He didn’t even want to think about trying to face off against one of those crystal birds alone. 

‘I guess all I can do is wait and see. Hopefully, these guys aren’t bad people. If they are, there’s no way I’m allowing Jasmine to join them.’ With that thought in mind, he silently slumped against the back of the truck, his exhaustion and injuries catching up to him. Jasmine wasn’t any different.

Zayzal looked in the rearview mirror and determined that he’d have to look for a place to stop soon.