Chapter 90: Chores

The group settled down. Their invaders were forced to back down, bloodied, beaten, and humiliated. They had successfully defended their camp for the first time!

It had caused celebration within the entire group. Abe and Henry started a campfire, while Sierra and the girls gathered any other resources they could find in their camp. They found a few berries and a few herbs, and thankfully, some potatoes.

Using these ingredients, they were able to create a simple meal containing mashed potato added with some greens.

The warmth of the fire had given them the first respite they had since the start of the Second Test.

"What should we do next?" Sierra asked the group as they all sat beside the campfire. "We’ve defended our camp. But... we can’t just stay here forever, can’t we?"

Celeste shook her head. "No, we can’t. The other groups will have finished gathering sunspores by now. They’ll start conquering Territories."

"They have more members," said Abe. "So they’ll be able to cover more ground than us. We will be at an extreme disadvantage."

"But that’s also their disadvantage," Eren muttered. "If their forces are spread thin, they won’t be able to properly defend their Territory."

"What should we do?"

They all turned to look at Eren. He was their leader. And with what he showed earlier, there was no doubt that he had become the authority within the group. They would follow what he wanted to do.

"For now, we make sure that this Territory stays ours," he said. "Make this a real camp. Build our lodging. Start farms. Make facilities."

They all looked at each other.

"But aren’t we wasting precious time?" Abe asked him.

Eren looked at the trees around him. Each one of those had an Array Formation embedded onto it.

"How long do you think those Academic Sector examinees need to solve those Array Formations?"

Celeste calculated for a second. "About three days," she said.

"If it will take them three days to solve something so simple, then they won’t be able to conquer a lot of the Territories in one day," he said with surety. "The Array Formations that they have will be a lot harder to solve, which will take a lot of time."

This Territory only had basic resources to harvest. And because of that, the Array Formations installed here were simple and weren’t hard to simply avoid. As long as people didn’t touch the tree, then they wouldn’t attack.

But he had a feeling that in the other Territories, those Array Formations wouldn’t be as passive as the trees here. And for those puzzles and obstacles, it would take more than a day for them to break through. Eren was sure of that.

After all, he would also need a day to properly assess those Array Formations. If it took him that long, then he was sure that the others would take much longer than him.

It was not a brag, but a simple fact. He knew more about cultivation and Array Formations than any other Awakener here on Earth.

"For now, let’s gather our resources. We need someone to gather our food everyday. Someone to gather wood. Someone to scout. Someone to get sunspores... etc."

Eren laid out the chores that they needed to do as a group. Gathering things like wood and water was easy since it was available here in their camp.

However, if they wanted to eat something more than potatoes everyday, they needed to venture out to other tunnels to hopefully find more resources to harvest.

This required them to go out, which would inevitably make them cross paths with the other groups, potentially making it a dangerous chore.

"Me and you will do it," Celeste said.

He looked at her and looked at their group members. And he couldn’t help but agree with her sentiment.

Sierra and the others weren’t weak, but they certainly weren’t strong. Eren wasn’t confident that they’d be able to protect themselves if they did end up colliding with another group. And if that happened, he’d be down in members. It would make things a lot harder by then.

He was also interested in exploring. Only through venturing out would he be able to see the different groups and leaders that he had to face here in the Second Test.

He had to see his competition. And hopefully, he’d be able to see the different Array Formations in the Territories as well.

He was very interested in that.

On the other hand, staying in camp was also worthwhile. As long as he stayed in camp, he could visit the Battle Record in his Mind Palace and continue his training.

It would do him great to finally master the Middle Proficiency of his Primal Strike. It would even the odds against him and his opponents.

"Alright," he eventually agreed. He could still train during nighttime. He had to be active during the daytime so that he wouldn’t miss out on anything important.

Eventually, everyone had their own responsibilities. Sierra, Sky, and the others were in charge of their resources. Gathering herbs, chopping down trees, etc.

Meanwhile, the guys volunteered to start creating their lodging to sleep in during the night.

Eren first re-activated all of the trees in their camp before he set off outside with Celeste.

"Ready to go?" Celeste asked.

Eren nodded and they walked out of the tunnel they had come from half an hour ago.

As they walked, he opened a sunspore and lit their way forwards.

"So? How did you learn how to meddle with Array Formations? Did you study at Mensa?"

Eren shrugged his shoulders. "I studied somewhere."

"It would make sense as to why you only know the Primal Strike and the Primal Step. You must have spent most of your life studying," Celeste said, trotting next to him.

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

"Why are you so curious about me?" he asked her straight up. "You keep on asking questions about my past."

Celeste looked at him, tilting her head with a smile. "Isn’t it natural to be curious at someone you like?"