By the time it was his turn to rest Maximilian was sure no beasts were going to attack. He couldn't tell if that was because he was here though he doubted it. His gut told him that the forest was just too big for a large concentration of beasts. His assumption was that the Network could control or at least influence the speed of growth for the beasts. In time the forest would be full but for now they were safe. Or as safe as sitting in a forest could be. "I am going to meditate." He said as his watch replacement arrived. "Take care of each other and wake me if something happens." The two women nodded as he made his way to the middle of the clearing. He could tell he was close to threshold of a breakthrough. The Dao of Static was coming along nicely but he should obtain another if he devoted sometime to it. Of course, he couldn't do that now. He had just noticed it when he cultivated in his chamber but he would release his dao for a moment upon making a breakthrough. Almost as if announcing it to the world. If he did that now he might draw beasts. If he drew the attention of something strong enough to challenge him than he might get the others killed.
He wouldn't risk their lives to speed up his cultivation but it was something to think about. He would need to find out if he could suppress that in the moment. If he could than it wouldn't be a problem later. If not then maybe he could attune himself to the sensation. Either way it was something to worry about later. For now, he needed to regain the energy he had expended. Which meant he needed the Ninefold Lightning Canon. He took a breath to bring his focus to his dantian. When he was ready, he welcomed the spiritual energy into him and found a problem. The energy was worse. By an order of magnitude. At first, he thought the issue was just the environment. That spiritual energy was like air. If he absorbed too much it would reduce what was available and though that was the case, it wasn't the biggest problem. The energy was impure. Which forced his technique to absorb what it could. Spiritual energy was neutral but the energy in the environment had slight impurities. Other daos. It wasn't hard to figure out what the other Daos were. They were almost all nature related. Though some were poisonous or toxic he never could tell the difference between those two.
His technique solved the problem at the cost of reduced speed. At first he was irritated by the development but than he calmed down. It wasn't all bad, at least not for him. His technique provided a 25% boost to his cultivation speed which gave him a net reduction of 25%. What would happen to those who only had a 10% improvement or to people who had no improvement at all? Their speed's would slow to a crawl. The more he thought about it the more turbulent his emotions became. It was great news for him, perhaps even better for his family. If they encountered weaker cultivators the difference in strength might not be too bad. They might be able to hold out until he arrived. The problem was that humanity would be in some trouble. Progression would slow down which would force more people to the battlefields. Those of us who won would get stronger but those who couldn't keep up? Those like the people around him would fall. It irritated him but there was nothing he could do. He needed to find his family and build a settlement. Once that was done he could bring people under his umbrella. He knew that he couldn't protect everyone. There were too many people even those from the other ancestries. He couldn't be at every battlefield, every town, he would run himself ragged trying. He took another breath to calm down and focus on the present. Today he needed to cultivate. Tomorrow would be for worrying.
He opened his eyes just as the sun began to return to the sky. The early dawn light filtered through the trees and created a scene out of a picture book. The leaves were so beautiful that he could've confused them for a hand drawn illustration. Even the morning dew looked like ambrosia. Part of him wanted to sit here and bask in the moment. The beauty but he couldn't. The world wouldn't wait for him and he needed to get these people back. He needed to find his family. He needed to get to the mountain. He had just gotten back and yet it felt like his to do list would drown him if he wasn't careful. "I uh we noticed that you didn't get any sleep. If you need a moment.—" Maximilian held hand up to stop the woman's sentence. He tried to remember her name only to realize he hadn't learned it.
"No, need. I need less sleep now. As soon as your group is ready to, we will set out. I want to pick up the pace today so everyone should prepare themselves." He got to his feet and glanced at the group. Even if the survivors ran at a full sprint they would be far too slow for what he wanted but there was nothing he could do. He would push them just enough to get them going but not enough to cause any harm. Based on their body language the group wasn't thrilled about his declaration. He worked to suppress the slight grin that threatened the edges of his lips. He felt a bit like a drill sergeant. He didn't like that they feared him but in this situation he would take advantage. It wouldn't be that big a deal.
They took off less than ten minutes later. The group was forced to job to keep up with his brisk walk which served to motivate some of them. He wasn't sure if the motivation was because they were afraid. Or if they wanted to impress him or of didn't want to get left behind. He decided not to ask. Their reasons were their own. They had run for an hour before something unexpected happened. "My Constitution attribute increased." A breathless voice called out from a feet behind Maximilian. He guided the group to a stop and then looked at culprit. After a quick lesson on sharing the status screen Maximilian was stunned. He had assumed the only way to raise your attributes was by level or other methods. That wasn't true. You could do it through exercise.
"Everyone check your status screens and let me know if there are any changes." He commanded as his gaze passed over the ten. He wished he could force their screens open so he could review the data himself but that wasn't possible. At least not as far as he could tell. After a few moments and a few scattered confirmations, a picture began to form. A picture that was good for the group but bad for him. You could raise your attributes through exercise but there were requirements. Your current level determined how hard it would be to increase said attribute. Which meant since they were all low-level exercise would work wonders for them. Since neither the Network nor the instructors had mentioned this, he had to assume one of two things. Either the benefits were too poor compared to the efforts or there was a hidden component. He leaned toward the middle path. That it was a mix of both. The former was obvious the survivors had gained at most two points over the last day of travel. If they had devoted that time to working out, they might have increased that by half. That difference would have made little difference. When compared to cultivation nor would they gain enough for the quests.
The thing that convinced of the latter was the first thing the Network gave them. His "Chosen" title. They said the point of the title was make sure they were all ready to go. He assumed it was to give them a boost to make things fair but what if that was wrong? What if the title was there to skip out on the exercise? He doubted that five attributes in everything was the limit of exercise. It could represent them getting to the peak for their bodies. After all, if he were an Olympic athlete. Five more points wouldn't even out with someone who had never worked out. The difference would be the same. He put a pin in that train of thought until he got access to more information. The news wouldn't help him, but it would help the rest of the planet. He had gained several titles so if they played a role in this than he was out of luck. That and whatever the cost would be to boost his hundred plus point attributes up wouldn't be worth the time. Not unless he got access to a bench press powered by the sun.
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The thought made him chuckle. The mental image of himself lifting a literal mountain was hilarious but impractical. It would be better if he focused on other ways to grow stronger. He turned his focus back to the survivors and considered telling them to work out. He stopped himself. They were collapsed on the ground like they had never worked out a day in their lives. Even miles was winded so he relented. "We will rest for thirty minutes and then continue." From there he broke the day into an exercise regimen. That would let get stronger while they reached their destination. They would increase the amount of time they ran by fifteen minutes each day. He also reduced the break by five minutes. Once the break hit zero, they would rest for an hour and reset. They went through the cycle twice before Mama June approached him.
"We should be back at our little slice of heaven in an hour or two if we run all out." For the first time since he had met her older woman looked unsure. Not in her estimation but in what would happen next. Part of him felt bad for pushing someone her age but the results spoke for themselves. The group had gained an average of three points in Constitution. Even the worst among them getting two. He doubted this growth rate would continue. They would at least be able to escape if they encountered a monster. Or run until he could save them.
"Alright, finish your rest from here will sprint the rest of the way. We won't stop until we reach your camp." Once again he had to work to stop from grinning at the discontented murmurs. He was pretty sure they didn't hate him for this. He had caught more than a few with the far away look that indicated their status screen as they rested. Progression like this was almost addicting. It would program the brain with small doses of accomplishment. Like a snowball those small changes would become an avalanche of growth. When the time came for the group to set out. There were no complaints. Even at their top speed it wasn't enough to keep up him speed walking which he hoped would motivate them further. They thundered through the forest while Maximilian kept an eye out for any monsters. There were none. Just like Mama June warned they arrived at their destination about an hour later. Maximilian had to admit it was better than he expected. The group had taken a pair of RVs and a few other cars and formed a sort of wall around a clearing. They had a man with a long gun on top of one wall. Who Maximilian assumed was the guard. The man had his gun raised as they came into view and from what he could see it was better than the one Miles used. Miles' gun was more like the hunting rifle in an Old Western. The other man's looked like an army rifle. His danger sense didn't warn him of the rifle so he pretty sure it couldn't hurt him. At least not before he activated his robes.
"Hold up there. Don't come any closer. We don't want no trouble." A voice boomed from the man who made no attempt to lower his gun. Maximilian was about step forward and explain when Miles beat him to the punch.
"Davis, lower my gaht damn rifle and come help us out. My feet hurt like mother fucka."
Maximilian chuckled but decided to leave it to him. He wasn't sure what their group dynamics were but he didn't want to deal with group dynamics if he could avoid it. With the power imbalance it could get rather messy. It took almost ten minutes before a group of three stepped out from the site and walked toward them. The group was made up of two men and a woman. They were all into middle age from what he could tell. The men were white with military style buzz cuts. With the man on the woman's right moving with the help of a cane. The woman was East Asian and had a handgun on one hip. She wore jeans a simple looking shirt and thick workman's boots. From what he could tell the woman was at level two. She even had a slight aura. It wasn't comparable to his but did prove that she had learned how to level. Which only made the situation odder.
"Its good to see you made it back." The woman started as she looked over the group. "Would you mind explaining why you all were making enough noise to wake the dead? What would happen if you drew the attention of a monster?" The woman's gaze passed over everyone until she got Maximilian. She stared at him for several moment before focusing on Mama June.
"That's thanks to our friend here. Maximilian meet Kim, Kim meet Maximilian. He knows a lot more about what's going on and helped us get out of a jam. Really saved our lives."
Maximilian flashed his best campaign smile and offered his hand. "Nice to meet you. Mama June is being too kind. I did what anyone in my position would do. I am impressed with what you've managed to do." The woman hesitated for a moment and then shook his hand.
"It's nice to meet you. You have our thanks for helping our people though it doesn't explain why you were making so much noise." She added a bit more firmly.
"Ah well we discovered that its possible to boost your attributes through intense exercise. I decided to turn the return trip into a regimen to take advantage of it. As for your concern about the monsters I would have dealt with anything that appeared."
"While we appreciate the confidence." Kim began before she was interrupted by Miles.
"Nah, the one's the real deal. He even helped us get some skills." He held out a hand and activated Severing Disc. When the buzz saw appeared the disbelief became with awe, confusion and curiosity. Maximilian let the group talk about it for a few moments before he interrupted.
"If you don't mind, it would be best for us to talk somewhere more comfortable?" Once everyone was willing to talk, they led him to their meeting area. Which was an area further away from the main wall. There they gathered around a campfire while Maximilian explained what he knew. He decided to be as open with them as he could. The information could result in lives saved. He even shared a pet theory he had about boosting the mental attributes. When he was done the group asked for privacy. He could tell they wanted to discuss things amongst themselves. Which gave him the excuse to go around and search for his parents. Unfortunately, the group was neither large nor densely populated. No one he knew was in the group which made him want to move on. Now that he had seen the group to safety he didn't think he needed to stay. He was also worried about the group dynamic. It was clear that Kim was the one in charge but a mysterious stranger bringing gifts could cause issues. He already had someone ask him privately about buying a skill slip. He ignored it and sat down beneath a tree. He needed to distract himself and what better way to do that then through cultivation? He started up the Nine Lightning Canon and sunk deep into meditation.
He woke up sometime later when he felt a group approach. There was five of them, Mama June, Kim, Miles, Davis and the man with the cane. They each had a complicated expression on their faces which told him it was time to for him to leave. When they were close enough to speak, he got to his feet and gave a respectful nod. "I hope all is well. Based on your expressions I assume you have something to tell me?"
"First let us say thank you for bringing our people back. We appreciate the risk you took. On top of that you provided skills that will help likely help us even more." Kim began. "We asked around to see if anyone had heard from or about your parents and there was nothing." She looked at the others as if offering a chance to interrupt her. He had to resist the urge to narrow his eyes. He didn't think they would hide something from him, but this was starting to get uncomfortable. "One person did have a rumor about a settlement on the other side of the mountain in the distance."
