The last of a group of four just fell on his ass. Ashton had knocked him over pretty easily with just a slight shove. None of the people that he had defeated had gotten any sort of injury beyond some light bruising. For one, because that just meant that the effective combat power of this settlement would go down, and also, because it just seemed more impressive to absolutely overwhelm these people without even having to actually hurt them.

  "Finally giving up?" Ashton asked, leaning against his staff with a slight yawn. He wasn't tired; he was just bored.

  Ashton knew that he was strong. There was never a doubt about that in his mind. Hell, he had fought tooth and nail to become strong and let his mind and heart survive back in Lumia. If he didn't come out of that a little strong, then the entire time he was there was basically wasted.

  The group slowly scuttered away back into the crowd, hiding in at the back of the folk that had been beaten before them.

  "Is anyone else interested in fighting me?" He looked around, trying to figure out the vibe of the people that were left and still hadn't challenged Ashton yet. But it was clear that nobody was interested, or confident enough, to give it a shot.

  Then, Albert stepped forward.

  Ashton chuckled slightly and smiled. "No offense, but..."

  "Oh! Oh, absolutely not! Haha," Albert laughed and shook his head. "I'm just here to ask you... Do you truly believe that we, as a group, cannot beat that Wyvern?"

  There wasn't even a need for him to think about it for a split second. Ashton shook his head.

  "You can't beat that thing. Maybe, maybe, if everyone in the entire city worked together, we could figure something out," Ashton started. "But even then, only with a ton of sacrifices in the process. Losing the amount of people we would lose then, this place would go under immediately."

  Albert averted his gaze, and looked down at the ground for a few moments. "Then we just have to wait to be killed by that thing?"

  "No, of course not. We'll be fine for a while. Listen." Ashton looked around, making sure that everyone was looking at him. "Wyverns need a lot of mana to just survive, and there's just not enough in the air for them right now. It's going to be sleeping a lot at the moment. And just to make it clear, that doesn't mean it's helpless, just that, when given the choice between going out and hunting, or sleeping, it's probably going to choose to sleep. If it's attacked, it will use its full power, and I've already taken that it's weakened right now into account when saying that we can't beat it. However... it's only going to come out every couple of days for the time being. We should be fine if we're careful."

  Even though Ashton said that, it was clear that everyone was still scared. Obviously, they weren't trying to form a group to kill that monster just because they were greedy and hoping to get some good new items and some money out of it. They were doing it because they were scared. Ashton felt it too. The pressure that the Crimson Wyvern gave off was incredible. Beyond the regular fear that one might feel when faced with such a monstrosity, it clearly had a fear-based ability.

  These threads of terror flowed through the entire city at this point, surely. And at the moment, the only tool that people had against that sort of fear was to directly fight against it, so killing the wyvern was the solution that would seem the most natural right now.

  But then, Ashton came and told them not to. He showed them just how little they could do, though it seemed like even then, there some individuals trying to plead to him. Trying to get Ashton to admit that, if they really worked together, if they each just got a little bit stronger, they would be able to take the wyvern down after all.

  "I want to remind you... But I'm not a staff fighter. I'm a summoner." Ashton clicked his finger, and the Backpacker appeared next to him. Most people were startled, since the spirit just appeared out of absolutely nowhere. And then, they gave Ashton a bottle of whiskey. He already stuck the summoning circle to the side of this bottle, so all he had to do was activate it.

  Ashton tossed the glass bottle in the air, as wisps of light came together around it, forming the body of the Drunken Bear. It landed on the ground, with the bottle in hand, and quickly pulled off the cork and took a sip before nodding to Ashton.

  While they were startled by the Backpacker, now, they were scared. What stood in front of them wasn't just a small figure in a dark cloak, but a literal bear that towered far over everyone.

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  Most took to their weapons, not really making the connection that this was one of Ashton's summons.

  "Do you mind?" he asked, and the spirit seemed happy to oblige. Ashton had already pinged an object here on the road that he wanted the Drunken Bear to show off with, and they quickly approached that.

  The crowd parted like the sea as people began to finally understand what this being was supposed to be. There were still one or two people that felt like they should take the initiative and attack, though Ashton immediately swatted their weapons out of their hands with his staff. "Don't be ridiculous," he warned them.

  The Drunken Bear approached the car - the small truck, really - that was standing at the side of this road, and with ridiculous ease that Ashton was nothing but jealous of, simply lifted it up over their head.

  This was about the limit they would have at this point, though. Plus, the Drunken Bear was a pacifist and fully refused to take part in any sort of combat in the first place. Even the Summoner wasn't able to get one to fight all that easily. In the end, they still did, of course. Nobody could hold off against the Summoner for very long.

  But well, the people here didn't know that. They neither knew the bear's limits, nor that it wouldn't fight. They just saw that Ashton called on a massive brown bear that went and easily lifted a car over its head.

  "I promise you all, I'm strong. I know what I'm talking about," Ashton said, looking around the group, watching as the last sparks of fight they had in them was snuffed out.

  "So... it's hopeless?" the sergeant walked up to Ashton. Her voice showed that she was practically begging him to say that it wasn't. It was her lucky day.

  "Of course not. None of this is hopeless in the least," Ashton replied, as he turned and told the Drunken Bear to put the car back down. "You're all going to get stronger. Much, much stronger. If you all keep at it, and keep that thing as your goal, then at some point, we'll be able to take it down. But not during this quest. Maybe not even by the end of the next. But at some point, before it's too late."

  He let out a long sigh, not sure if he should make this promise at this point. But it was his plan, anyway.

  "When the time comes, when I feel like it's right and we can actually actually take the Crimson Wyvern out, I'll be standing at the frontlines," Ashton pushed his staff into the ground. "But if anyone is stupid enough to want to give it a try anyway, feel free. Just don't drag anyone else into it unnecessarily."

  Ashton flipped his staff over his shoulders and turned away. He walked through the crowd, glancing at Albert, as well as the sergeant and constable. He should talk to them privately. There were a few more things to discuss.

  The Drunken Bear took another sip of the whiskey and closed the bottle up, throwing it in the air. Ashton caught it as the bear disappeared back in his vessel.

  He handed the bottle to the Backpacker, and walked over to the grocery store. Though, it barely seemed to hold any resemblance to what it had been just a week ago.

  Instead, it seemed to now really have turned into the 'base of operations' of this entire camp. Not only were there people just sitting around in parts of the place, but in others, they were treating injuries, discussing plans to take out different monsters, and even just sorting through a lot of items that they were seemingly scavenging.

  There was a lot of foot traffic from here to other parts of Market Street, though. One place seemed to have been turned into a 'hospital', and a few places had been turned into gyms for people to train different techniques. A solid amount of the open area was now used to farm, too. But this place had a bit of everything, and the ones in charge seemed to be holed up in here as well.

  Led by Albert, Ashton made his way to the back; the warehouse where all of the goods and important items were stored at the moment. Not just the food, but also the potentially dangerous or important items from other stores.

  This made it easy for Ashton to pick out what he needed. Some toothpaste, bodywash, shampoo, and some of the dry goods that he needed.

  "Wait, you're grabbing that much?" Perry asked, looking back and forth between him and Albert, as if he was trying to check if this was actually right.

  Ashton shrugged. "It's what I'm owed."

  "Oh, come on, you tricked us with that 'as much as I can carry' bullshit! You're counting that little shit that's running around with you the whole time, right?"

  "I didn't trick anyone, and don't call the Backpacker a 'little shit', or we can keep going with our little 'spar'," Ashton replied, looking straight at the constable. However, the sergeant quickly stepped in front of him and smiled, trying to deescalate between them.

  "Why exactly did you want us to join?" she asked, looking up at Ashton.

  "You two seem like you've got a decent grasp of what's happening. Your classes seem pretty unique, and you two did the best during the spars," he explained, looking specifically at Perry for this next part. "Plus, it's clear that folk here seem to listen to you. The combatants, at least."

  Albert slowly nodded. "They're in charge of the fighting forces, yes. I'm quite happy to have the help of the police here, and-"

  "Right, that's exactly what this is about," Ashton sighed. Though the only trace of Perry's police uniform were his boots and trousers, that just seemed flat-out useful, Harriet, the sergeant, had used her uniform as a base in a way that made it clear she was trying to keep up the image of a police officer. "If you were to get orders from a higher-up, who would either of you you side with?"

  "Huh?" the sergeant let out, not quite sure what he was saying.

  "... I'll come right out and say it, then. Laws don't apply the same way they used to. Yes, we're going to need order in the future, but it can't be through the police, at least not the way it existed before all this," Ashton said. "So, when push comes to shove, will you side with the police force? Or with the people?"

  Though the sergeant seemed unsure what to say, Ashton wasn't done yet. He looked back at the constable. "And you... I know your answer to this question anyway. So instead I'll ask, are you siding with us, or that constellation feeding you shit?"