Chapter Three

"We have a bag big enough to carry most of our necessities. Does anyone have a lighter?" Elaine nodded to me and turned to other two. The oldest one in our small group pulled out a lighter that still looked like it had fresh from the super market. He coughed and turned his sight away from the glaring Elaine.

I guess he's got history with smoking then?

"Keep the lighter Uncle Alvin. Lisa, do you have a bag to carry?" Elaine turned her sights towards the silent one in the group. For a potential human torch Lisa was less fiery than I would have expected and Elaine was also a bit more fierce than what being an ocean master would suggest. So skills didn't just chose your personality then?

Future me has a few things to figure out it seems.

"Not today. I left it with my ex-boyfriend and am sure he took it with him when he left." A sigh left her lips. I narrowed my eyes at that. Was it right to just share that with a stranger? Or did her ex have something with her boarding my bus?

"No problem then. I have a bag as well but it contains all the clothing my little girl would need and some of the milk I just got her earlier today. Am afraid its already filled to the extreme." She spoke with a light apologetic smile on her face. Her child held on her right arm was sleeping. Her light blond hair hiding the rest of her small face.

The girl looked like a miniature version of her mother. A sight that made it clear this woman's genes were strong. I wondered if the next child she had with her husband would look like him as well, actually, pause. Stop. Where's her husband? Wait.. why am I interested in her business..

"I guess that's all we have then." She said after a few short moments of thought and turned towards me. "Eric can you walk with your Barrier or it'll stay behind the moment you use it?"

"I don't know.." I muttered softly, I really didn't. But it wouldn't hurt to try. So, I stood up and focused on activating the skill. The barrier manifested around me pulling the same amount of stamina from me as well. I took a deep breath then stepped forward, frowned then took another step the frown on mu face grow more pronounced with each step taken.

Although it followed me keeping the same radius, the amount of stamina needed to keep it while moving increased exponentially. By the tenth step I felt like all the energy and life had been beaten out of me.

"I think ten steps is the best I can do. Anything further than that is not possible for the current me." Even as the words left my lips I was leaning against the door of the bus with my eyes closed and taking deep measured breaths in a bid to fill my lungs with oxygen. Oxygen that would hopefully work in granting me the energy needed to atleast keep my body from crumbling. 

"I see.. that's fine, I also wanted to know how quickly you can manifest that barrier but we can check on that later as well. For now though, get some rest. We'll set out once you are done." I found myself nodding at her with more respect than I had expected. She was an interesting specimen that was for sure. That wasn't my hormones talking. I was far too old to be controlled by those.

I closed my eyes and let my body do its thing.

I was beginning to realise something that made me frown a little. I was going to have to start training sooner or later but probably sooner since we all didn't know what lay beyond the white expanse.

We could potential use this place as a training hub and train our bodies to the best of our abilities but that brought its own issues. The first being food. If you train you will need food to improve your body. And currently, that doesn't exist in this street in the middle of nowhere.

Not just that but I couldn't help but notice this place was slowly getting smaller with more groups leaving. It looked and felt as if the street was decreasing and the white expanse expanding to cover more ground.

I wasn't sure about it yet hence why I haven't brought it up but I think the being that brought us here didn't want us dying here. Darkness begins creeping around him slowly pulling me into its embrace.

I groan softly feeling half rejuvenated. Sleeping always did wonders for a tired soul. There was just one tiny problem though.

"Why am I on the floor?" My voice echoes and its answered by a rude silence that prompts me to look for my new group. There's nothing comfortable about the cold tar beneath me and I don't like people that play pranks.

I look around me and find my three group mates all staring at the spot behind me with their eyes widened. Even the Immortal Home group is staring behind me as well.

I frown, stand to my feet and turn around then blink and widen my eyes as well. I couldn't help it, theis made no sense no matter how i looked at it. For some unknown reasin the bus was gone. Completely, as if it had been erased with a ghost eraser of some sort.

I couldn't even see the tire marks on the floor and am pretty sure those should be there atleast. To make things worse, the street was now only the side of a pedestrian walk.  The road was gone and something or someone moved me here. I doubt its anyone of the current groups so..

"I guess I don't need to tell you guys then.." I turned to look at my group. Judging by their grim expressions I could guess they came to the same conclusion as I did. The High Schoolers and the Office Group were all gone even those few who picked the path of a loner were gone as well.

"Yeah.. Luckily we took the bag out before the bus was blinked into nonexistence." Lisa's voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter. The Immortal Home's golden oldies began shuffling towards the white expanse without second thought. For a few seconds I wondered If letting them go alone was a good idea.

Seeing your elders walking towards the unknown with their backs hunched and bodies trembling slightly wasn't something you get to see everyday but even if that was the case I couldn't help but find myself overflowing with respect and admiration. 

I wanted to help them somehow and to do that I would need to join them. That meant leaving this group behind but I'll do so if they don't see things the way I do.

"Let's go. We'll join the elders." Elaine spoke before I could. I turned towards her, a light smile tugging at my lips. Without any further words, i picked up my bag threw it over my shoulder and followed behind Uncle Alvin. He had already began walking before Elaine's words left her lips.

That meant he understood her that well or the man didn't care for the group's opinions. I could only hope it wasn't the latter. With Lisa and Elaine walking behind me we stepped into the White expanse.

For a few short seconds bright light flared and I felt energy flood my tired body wiping away all my exhaustion and filling me with boundless energy. Atleast it felt boundless until the light blinked out of existing living me inside a misty forest. Then I was back to being a human with not so tired body.

I blinked. Once. Twice and turned behind me. A sigh escaping my lips seeing Elaine and Lisa right behind me. Her baby was still on her arms so that was a good thing but where was old man Alvin?

"Uncle Alvin?" Elaine tried to whisper his name into the mist not daring to speak too loudly. For a few moments no one answered her before footsteps echoed in the mist. Without second thought I focused on creating a barrier around us.

The skill listened following my intent without lagging behind. A few seconds later a barrier manifested around us looking like a transparent blue turtle shell with dark color edges between each of the hexagons that made up its structure.

"Hmm. That was quick enough to defend us in case something happens." Old man Alvin's voice echoed from within the mist as the man stepped out with his axe in hand. "Relax Eric boy. I was just checking the perimeter and looking for the group of old people as well." A frown spread on his face the moment he said that.

"Did you find them?" Elaine asked forrowing her eyebrows as well while I cut the stamina powering my barrier forcing the skill to wink out of existence.

"No. Its either they were so fast I couldn't even catch their shadow or they were teleported else where and I sincerely doubt an old man could run faster than me." He spoke with a grimace that turned into an amused smile by the end of his sentence.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that. If they were teleported elsewhere then it was possible our locations were chosen at random as a group. I hope the locations werent random and instead well thougtht judging by the people that made up said group. I couldn't imagine the Immortal Home surviving in the middle of nowhere with no enegry nor help.

That is if this world as a dangerous one but then again the White Giant did say it was a dangerous world. I sighed, shook my head and turned to the mist. We would need to begin our journey soon. It was better to move while we were all full of energy and I could only hope my group was ready.

"Did you find a path we could take?" Lisa spoke with her own whisper much like Elaine. At this point I could guess why they were doing it but was it actually helping? I doubt any beast would-

I whipped my head to the right hearing a growl echoe from within the fog. It seems i wasn't the only one who heard it considering how quickly old man Alvin had reached the small group. We all turned towards the location of the sound and waited.

My heart thundered within my chest. Excitement and fear intermingled to form a hodgepodge of adrenaline fuelled emotions that had my eyes widened so much they threatened to pop out of their eye sockets. I stared. Waited. And not for long.

White silver fur was the first thing that my eyes caught followed by an elongated snout. The wolf was as beautiful as it was scary. Its beautiful white silver fur and bright silver eyes did nothing to assuage the fear that bubbled within the group.

It's teeth were sharp and clearly made to tear through both bone and muscle. It's limbs rippled with muscle while its claws were obsidian in color and clearly sharp enough to tear through my human body without resistance. 

I gulped pushing down the fear in my throat. The wolf growled then howled. The child decided to wake up that moment and then all hell broke lose. Her cries tore through the silence and three or four more howls echoed to answer the call of their alpha. 

The wolf leaped swiping it's clawed limbs towards me and Alvin. With Luna, Lisa and Elaine behind us the wolf had decided we were the issue and aimed to get rid of it. I didn't even bother focusing but instead manifested the Barrier.

The familiar circular barrier spawned around us just in time for the wolf's claw to crash against it. The sound of metal clashing against unbreakable glass echoed to my ears along, with it a sudden increase in the stamina used to hold up the barrier.

I grunted feeling the weakness that came with that blow but the wolf didn't care for that. Instead it jumped back the moment old man Alvin lifted his axe. I watched as it clashed against the barrier siphoning even more energy from within me. I grunted and glared at the man.

"Eric.. you'll need to find a way to let us attack it." He spoke, a grim expression on his face. I nodded my head more irritated at this situation than he was.

My skill : Predating Barrier has yet to live up to my expectations. The fact that people inside it can't attack those outside of it irritated me but it also brought a few interesting ideas to my head. I just had to find a way to move it on top of my opponent and manifest it around them.

Then maybe, just maybe it could act as a predators barrier and predate on them.

"Yeah.." for the attacks I'll probably need to find a way to create an opening the moment the wolf clashes against the barrier but that would require timing and precise manipulation of said barrier.

"Difficult.." I muttered softly just in time for the wolf's calws to clash against the barrier once more. I groaned feeling my stamina getting siphoned and willed the barrier to dissapear only where its claw had been. That was an unsucceful attempt but I did manage to create an opening large enough for both men and wolf to fit through. Yeah, half the barrier litteraly dissapeared on me.

Old man Alvin wasted no time rushing through the space and cleaving his axe downward into the wolves leg. Steel met white silver fur and won, splitting it and drawing blood. A few seconds later water droplets whipped past my ears followed by bullets of condensed flames.

The wolf howled as the water tore through its skin and the fire bullets followed soon after. I furrowed my eyebrows seeing the cruel look in the monster's eyes. Old man Alvin was already back in the barrier and focusing on the wolf that was growling in silence.

It holwed and rushed the shield again. This time around it tore through it like paper. Fatigue came upon me like a witches curse and I found myself stumbling but I wasn't the only one, the wolf stumbled into the clearing we stood on and an axe fell upon its head tearing through skin and sinking into its skull. A second later two water droplets pierced through one of its eyes.

The wolf crumbled to the ground a moment later breathing its last. Howls echoed in the distance and I took a deep breath then forced a shield to form around us while I sat down and focused on getting back my lost stamina.