Chapter 40 – The Road Back
They didn’t leave immediately.
Not because Jack needed rest—he’d already pushed through worse—but because moving a group like this wasn’t the same as moving alone. People needed time to gather what little they had, to steady themselves, to accept that they were actually leaving.
No one argued.
No one tried to stay.
That told him enough about what the place had been.
By the time they stepped out of Boiling Springs, the air already felt different.
Not cleaner.
Just… not controlled.
Jack walked at the front without thinking about it. The scythe rested easily in his grip, not raised, not hidden. Just there. Hanna moved a little behind him, not quite at his side, but close enough that the space between them felt intentional.
The rest followed.
His mother and sister stayed near the center of the group. Not at the very back, not exposed, but not at the front either. Protected without being separated.
Hanna had arranged that.
He hadn’t needed to say anything.
The road out wasn’t quiet.
It never was anymore.
The system had changed too much for that.
The first group of beasts came less than an hour in.
Four of them, low-level, drawn more by movement than anything else. Jack felt them before he saw them, a faint shift at the edge of his perception, something just slightly out of place.
He raised a hand.
The group slowed immediately.
Good.
They were already learning.
The beasts broke through the brush a moment later.
Lean. Fast. Not particularly strong.
Jack stepped forward.
No buildup.
No tension.
Just movement.
Sanguine Surge activated.
The shift settled into him smoothly, far cleaner than it had before the upgrade. The strain was there, but controlled, like something he could push against instead of something that pushed back.
The first beast lunged.
Jack didn’t meet it head-on. He stepped to the side, the scythe cutting across its body in a clean, controlled motion that didn’t waste effort or movement.
It dropped immediately.
[You have defeated: Forest Beast (Lv.6)]
[Experience Gained]
The others didn’t stop.
They rarely did.
Jack extended his hand.
Sanguine Grasp.
The tendrils snapped out and caught one mid-charge, dragging it just far enough off balance to ruin its momentum. He stepped in and finished it in the same motion, the scythe moving like it already knew where it needed to be.
[You have defeated: Forest Beast (Lv.5)]
[Experience Gained]
The third tried to circle.
Jack didn’t even look at it fully. His perception tracked it automatically now, the movement already accounted for before it happened. He shifted his stance slightly and let it come to him.
Then ended it.
The last one hesitated.
That was a mistake.
When it was done, Jack let Sanguine Surge fade and exhaled slowly. The energy cost was still there, but it didn’t bite the way it used to. Blood Draw had already smoothed out the strain from the fight, the small amount of damage he’d taken feeding right back into him.
Efficient.
Clean.
Behind him, the group was quiet.
Not frozen.
Watching.
Jack turned slightly.
“Keep moving,” he said.
Not loud.
Didn’t need to be.
They moved.
They didn’t run into anything serious after that.
A few more beasts. Smaller ones. Nothing that required him to push beyond the surface of what he could do now. He handled most of it himself, not out of necessity, but because it was faster that way.
Hanna didn’t interfere.
But she watched.
Jack noticed.
After the third encounter, she stepped closer.
“You’re not even trying,” she said.
It wasn’t criticism.
Just observation.
Jack glanced at her briefly.
“I am,” he said.
She looked at him for a second longer, then nodded.
“…Right.”
They walked in silence for a while after that.
Not uncomfortable.
Just… focused.
The group started to change as they moved.
Not physically.
But in how they held themselves.
At the start, they had stayed tight, almost pressed together like distance itself was dangerous. Now there was space between them. Not much, but enough to show they were starting to trust that nothing was going to grab them the moment they looked away.
Hanna had something to do with that.
She moved through them occasionally, not constantly talking, not forcing anything, just… present. Checking on people. Adjusting positions. Keeping things steady without making it obvious she was doing it.
Jack let her.
She was good at it.
By the time the sun started to drop, the land began to shift.
Subtle at first.
Then clearer.
The terrain opened slightly, the density of the trees thinning just enough for the shape of something larger to come into view.
Stone.
Dark.
Structured.
Sanguina.
They slowed without being told.
The sight of it did that.
The Citadel stood at the center, not massive in the way cities used to be, but solid. Intentional. Built for something more than just survival. Around it, the land still looked rough, not shaped, not organized yet.
But controlled.
The automatons were the first thing the group reacted to.
Two of them moved along the outer edge of the territory, their motion steady, deliberate, completely indifferent to the people approaching. They didn’t rush forward. They didn’t hesitate.
They simply adjusted.
Recognized.
Allowed.
Jack felt it.
That moment where the system acknowledged him.
Not with a notification.
With access.
The automatons stepped aside slightly as he approached.
The group behind him noticed.
That mattered.
They entered together.
Inside, the difference was immediate.
Not safer in some abstract way.
Structured.
There was space to move. Space to think. Space that wasn’t controlled by fear.
The Cathedral stood slightly off to one side, its presence quieter than the Citadel but no less important. Jack could feel it the moment they stepped within its range, a subtle shift in his body, like something was easing the strain he hadn’t even fully noticed.
He filed that away.
Useful.
The group slowed again.
This time, it wasn’t fear.
It was uncertainty.
Hanna stepped forward.
“Alright,” she said, turning to face them.
Not loud.
Not commanding.
Just steady.
“This is where we stop.”
No one argued.
She pointed toward an open section near the Citadel.
“Stay together for now. We’ll sort space after.”
Simple.
Clear.
They listened.
Jack watched it for a moment, then turned his attention outward, letting his awareness stretch across the territory again.
It felt… small.
Not physically.
But in potential.
Too much empty space.
Too much unstructured ground.
Too much that could be better.
The system responded.
[System Shop Available: Territory Management]
Jack paused.
Then opened it.
The interface wasn’t complex.
Just direct.
Options.
Costs.
Limits.
He selected terrain shaping.
A section of land near the Citadel highlighted.
[Flatten Terrain — Small Area]
Cost: 12 Gold
Jack stared at it for a moment.
Then let out a quiet breath.
Not free.
Good.
He closed the interface for now.
Behind him, Hanna was already working.
People were sitting.
Talking.
Some still unsure.
Some already settling.
His mother and sister stayed near the center of it, not isolated, not exposed.
Safe.
Jack looked out over Sanguina again.
At what it was.
At what it could be.
Not yet.
But soon.
He’d build it properly.
One piece at a time.