Chương 82: Chapter 82
**- Xenon -**
The turn of events was not one I expected. Sure, I predicted my words would have more influence eventually as I prove time and again that I was right, but this was definitely a welcomed surprise. I didn't say anything when the subject of leadership was mentioned, but I was a bit excited to see where the conversation would go forward. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly *want* to be their leader, I just believe it is going to save me a lot of time that way since I had knowledge about this new reality the others were slowly adapting to. A lot of mistakes can be avoided, not all of them, obviously, but a lot of lives could be spared when guided the right way.
I was already preparing my speech the moment my name was first mentioned, and let's face it, I was the obvious choice. Rick didn't have the time to impose his ways upon the group as he did in the original series, Shane was very temperamental, though he could've been a good choice as well. Dale was the only one who would even want that position among the rest, who weren't interested in it, to begin with. And his delusions and faith in people didn't do him any favors. In fact, he was the main example Rick based his logic on.
< +1 CHA Gained! >
< [Domineering Presence. (Active/Passive)] has leveled up! >
I got two notifications as soon as my performance was over, it seems the system was a bit impressed by my progress and decided to reward me. I won't say no to freebies. I did use [Domineering Presence] on Dale, though I felt significant resistance from him; I am uncertain how successful it was.
I took control of the conversation afterward, nudging everyone in the direction I believed was right for us. We discussed various subjects, namely the construction projects we would pour all our resources in at the moment, guard duty and protocol for dealing with hordes of walkers, expanding the prison to get access to all that unused space. Though I firmly reminded them that we should set up priorities first, otherwise we wouldn't achieve much in the little time we had.
For now, our main priority was still livestock shelter, which still only had a basic structure set up. Right after that came our farming project. The reason why we opted for the latter rather than increasing the defenses of the prison against walkers is that walkers can still be easily dealt with. Their numbers weren't extraordinary to require such an effort, though I'm sure they would be eventually.
**- Narrator -**
"What in the good lord's name are you made of?!" Hershel exclaimed as he checked on Xenon's wound two weeks later. Xenon couldn't blame him, honestly. Just the surface wound should've taken much longer to heal, but he had a broken shoulder... and he assured him that he no longer felt any pain, and could move it naturally.
Hershel was not an ignorant man. He knew without the shadow of a doubt that particular wound was not supposed to be healed by now. What was even more astonishing to him was that it truly felt like it was healed: while he couldn't say he was with absolute certainty, he applied pressure to what is supposed to be a broken shoulder and Xenon felt nothing.
"Young man, you are not supposed to heal that fast. It takes weeks just for the wound to close, and it would still leave traces... but with you... It's almost like you were never shot in the first place." Hershel said with admiration, checking him over and over again.
"Maybe humans are evolving to face the calamity then..." Xenon shrugged it off. "Or maybe the wound was not as bad as we thought it was." Hershel didn't believe that. He saw with his own eyes how terrible that gunshot wound was, and could not see with his own eyes his miraculous recovery. Hershel knew the others won't realize how absurd it was, as he was the only trained medical professional among them. He didn't believe either of Xenon's propositions, but that does not mean he didn't come up with an explanation of his own.
Hershel was a man of God and firmly believed that God has never forgotten about them, even in these extraordinary times. He had faith that the lord was always looking over them, in ways they could never imagine. Sometimes more tangible than one would expect. He was well aware that throughout his religion's history, there were no shortages of miracles... Unknown to Xenon, a new belief was birthed in Hershel's mind... that Xenon was godsent to guide them through these difficult times, and he was certain he would...
**- Xenon -**
[Minor Regeneration Potion] does exactly as the name implies... It took about two weeks for me to come back to full health, a bit earlier than Hershel's visit. But I couldn't start moving recklessly without his green light... He was the expert, after all. I don't particularly care about how suspicious my recovery is. I couldn't afford to care. I had already wasted enough time.
The group was insanely efficient. In the short span of two weeks, we were able to set up a farming field next to the prison, with fences strong enough to prevent walkers from getting in. Not that they would ever have a good motivation to get there, unless people were inside working, in which case another group would take care of disposing of walkers that came nearby. Speaking of disposing of walkers, the corpses were a real hassle to deal with... We can't let them in the fields we intend to use later on, so we gotta put in the extra effort every time.
Right now, we have agreed on different units the group would be divided into, each with its responsibilities. First, there were the guards, whose job is exactly as the name implies: guarding the prison, by killing walkers when needed, standing watch in the towers and at strategic places, deflecting big hordes...
The scouts are a very important unit for our prosperity. They were primarily tasked with finding survivors and inviting them over to us, with exceptions of course. They would have to use their common sense, instincts, and judgment. They operate solo for the most part, which makes their job very dangerous. They were also tasked with locating places of interest, stores to raid, and generally mapping out the area. They may also spot large hordes that we could potentially have to deal with, so perhaps we could prevent disaster before it came to us thanks to them.
Whenever a store or any place requiring a lot of time to loot is located, another larger group of people is sent with enough vehicles to load up everything we'd need, based on the scouts' judgment.
Another unit I prefer to call workers: they are those that do not fall in any of those categories, made of people who usually can't fight. Their role is to help through doing other chores: cooking, taking care of the livestock, making sure the children are okay... Or even help with the building efforts.
Needless to say, those units would be extremely flexible, and according to what we need, we might reassign people wherever we see fit.
I have spoken with Carol, Lori, and Patricia (Otis' wife) about our food schedule. My goal was to have some kind of food that doesn't require a lot of resources to be both healthy and fulfilling, as I had brought the food problem up to everyone else, informing them that we can't survive very long by eating extravagantly, especially when we take into consideration the numbers we would potentially include into our midst. Bread was the only thing we could think about, so we decided that's what we would base our diet on.
I was disabled for most of the two weeks, so apart from planning and managing everything in our tiny community, I spent my time reading and meditating, something I have gotten the hang of recently if my notifications are to be believed.
< Skill Gained! >
[Meditation (Passive)] LVL 1
Clears your thoughts and calms your mind.
Do not let the description deceive you. That's not all that skill is about. I have noticed something very interesting while meditating that made me think otherwise. That energy I feel when using [Empower]... I could manipulate it a lot better. In fact, that was what I have been doing the whole time I had access to the skill that was now sitting at LVL 2. So, I was able to increase [Empower] by two levels that way...
[Empower (Active)] LVL 5
Variable Cost : 8 SP/s - 60 SP/s
Temporarily boosts your body.
( Based on DEX and STR )
<>
I assumed the skill's maximum level was five, like [Empowered Strike] was, but no such indicator was present. This means that it still had a lot of potential to grow further...
- End Chapter -
AN: I am considering making a discord server, not sure if people would be interested or not. I don't know much about them, as I've never used the app that much. I gotta do the proper research first when I have the time. But I will leave my discord account here: xenon.graves#8188
Furthermore, TWD arc is coming to an end, unfortunately. There isn't much to write about it anymore, the walkers make for terrible villains, and I don't appreciate gunfights that much. The Kingdom-Building aspect to it can certainly be interesting, fights between factions which will get repetitive at some point... It will probably end by the 100th chapter, after which I'll move on to the next world.
HOWEVER, he can still come back to it later on, either for quests, training or whatever. Also, I am planning on making an effort to the system, making it more clear in some aspects, especially when it comes to skills and bonuses (Like the sprint skill, it says exactly how much the bonus can go, contrary to every other skill he has). Because levels don't mean that much unless you know what they really do, and I apologize about that. I've been lazy about it for a while now, afraid to shoot myself in the foot. I'll try to make an honest effort this time xD. I might have to re-balance the skills because I tend to make mistakes.
Now there is a little surprise in the next chapter, I don't want to spoil anything, but it involves Xenon. LOL. I know that's not saying much (it's not saying anything at all, really), but you'll find out next chapter!
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