The penultimate branch iteration began. Ronan had two goals in this life. The first was to spend some time exploring the camp that Daniel and Tiffany had told him about. He was curious to see how other people were getting by post-tutorial.

More than that, he wondered if there might be an interesting person whose skill he'd prefer to steal over Lord Rockmore's.

From what he'd experienced of the fake aristocrat, the skill he'd empowered with the conduit ring was likely some form of magical attack. Not that he was turning up his nose at another useful combat skill, but Ronan already had magic strike. He didn't need a second, marginally different copy of it.

That being said, Rockmore's skill was still the number one contender right now. No one would be able to beat out the allure of stealing one of the boss' skills, and Rockmore's had been the least interesting of his original targets.

This time around, when he ran into the friendly challengers, rather than make his way to the matriarch's nest, Ronan accepted their offer to be shown around the 'base.' They seemed glad he hadn't made the suicidal choice of attacking the rat mother.

"You made the right choice, Ronan. I think you'll get on with Alain," Daniel said as they began to walk down the right path of the triple-branched sewer tunnel.

"How come?" Ronan replied, curious about this mysterious leader of theirs.

"You'll see." Daniel laughed as he replied, looking to Tiff who was clearly in on the joke.

Ronan threw up his hands in defeat. "He must be a handsome genius then. No wonder you think we're two peas in a pod."

Tiff snorted, but Daniel didn't find the joke as funny. They went around a few bends in the tunnel, avoided a few darker branches that seemed to dip further down into the ground, and eventually arrived at a makeshift wall made from pallets, shields, and rubble.

As they approached, a man who was standing watch yelled out to them. "Stop there! Who—Oh, it's you guys. Daniel, Tiff, you found another survivor? That's great news, come in, all three of you."

The warmth in his tone surprised Ronan. He had half-expected the survivors to be grim and wary of outsiders, but that clearly wasn't the case.

The guard on duty was called Maxwell. Unfortunately his friendly attitude wasn't mirrored by all of those in the camp. Ronan forgave those who showed him suspicion—surviving the tutorial can't have been easy, and coming back to find… this? Yeah, he understood them.

"Daniel, Tiff, who is this newcomer? You let him inside when you can't see his level or class? Didn't I teach you better than that?" The trio spun on their heels to face the source of the voice.

It was friendly, yet imposing. Sort of like Morgan Freeman. Ronan sized up the owner of the voice. It was as though he was looking in a mirror. A tinted mirror, admittedly, given that the speaker was black to Ronan's white, but the rest of the details were, to a tee, almost the same. Even the ragged suit on the man's back.

"You must be Alain," Ronan said, holding out a hand. "These two told me we'd get along. I see that was their idea of a joke."

Alain laughed, a booming, grandfatherly noise. "Well, we must try to find humour in these dark times. I can't blame them. Ronan, is it? Care to explain why most of your tag is hidden? Is that a skill, or are you… not from around here?"

Ronan frowned. What does he mean by that? Wanting to confirm his suspicions, he chose his next words carefully. "I think it's because of my level. I believe if the gap is big enough, certain details are hidden. Might be some other things that influence it, too. Skills, as you say, might be one. No reason to fear me. I'm just glad to see other people survived that hellhole tutorial. What exactly do you mean by not from around here?"

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While Alain looked him up and down and mulled over his response, Ronan took a good look back. His gaze was first drawn to the man's own tag.

[Alain Romwell - Human Priest Lv.28]

Now that's a class I've not seen before… Even after all my iterations I haven't unlocked it. Some kind of healer variant? Or unrelated? No harm in asking, I suppose. Ronan looked back up to Alain's face right as the man began to speak.

"That makes sense I suppose, though your answer does give rise to even more questions. What level does one have to reach such that even I, as the highest level person among these good people, cannot see it? Even if you aren't one of those… demons… we still have reason to fear you. The lion does not kill the sheep because it is cruel, but rather because it is hungry, and knows no other way of life." A classic priestly response. Ronan had to approve. The man even threw in a parable.

"You're right. You have every reason to fear me. I am strong enough to kill every single person in this camp and walk out with barely a scratch. That's our new reality." A few people stepped back from Ronan when he finished. Some even cursed at him. "However, I can tell you now I have no desire to kill people who haven't wronged me. Unlike a lion, I can think for myself. Unlike a lion, I can cook and find plenty of food that doesn't involve cannibalism."

Alain nodded his head. "You are right, son. I do not fear you, but I cannot force others to change their minds. Still, you may stay here if that is what you wish. We help each other where we can. Defend the camp, hunt, search for other survivors. It is a pale imitation of our old society, but even the great modern era started from humble beginnings."

Ronan was beginning to like Alain. He was satisfied that humanity, at least this portion of it, was in good hands. "You didn't tell me about the demons. Also, your class. Priest. What is that? A healer variant or something?"

Alain chuckled. "I can certainly heal people. I'm not sure how it would compare to the healer class, though, as I have yet to encounter one. I suspect I only unlocked this class due to my former profession. Or, I suppose it's a current profession. I still do my best, but my church is no longer what it was."

That was interesting information for Ronan. He doubted he would ever be able to unlock the class if being an actual priest was a requirement. He'd never been particularly religious. "I see, thanks for clearing it up. And the demons? You seem particularly tight-lipped about them."

"How about we head somewhere more private. People are already worried enough as it is without all this talk. Clear out, everyone. He's staying and I don't want to hear any complaints."

After that, Alain led Ronan to his home. It was more of a shack, but the fact they'd actually built anything was impressive to him. He knew how to beat the crap out of a monster, but construction was beyond him. For now.

When Ronan asked, Alain explained that he didn't really give sermons or anything like that. He wasn't a pushy priest. He only picked the class because faith was a core part of his life, and he had refused to give that up even during the integration. If anything, the man seemed more devout than he apparently had been prior to the tutorial fucking everything up. He didn't force that on the survivors, though, which Ronan respected.

All told, Alain seemed like a stand up guy, and a decent leader. He wasn't sure if they had the capability to survive long-term in this new world, but they'd managed until now and that meant something.

As it turned out, the demons weren't demons at all. They were one of the races from the other planets that had been smashed together with Earth during the terraforming. The reason they'd all been suspicious of Ronan was because this other race were shapeshifters. Apparently there had been an attack soon after they set up the camp, where someone let in who they thought was a member of the group but turned out to be a raider, who killed two and stole a load of resources.

Shapeshifters were worrying. Ronan knew that kind of power could cause fear on a global scale. Betrayal by someone you thought was your friend, or even a family member, would be traumatic.

Thankfully he didn't have to worry about such a thing. If someone betrayed and killed him, he could simply return the favour in his next life. Plus, just because this other race were shapeshifters and some of them were arseholes, didn't mean all of them were. If you judged humanity by its worst individuals, well… The less said about that, the better.

Once he'd learned enough about the camp and talked with a few of the less suspicious people living there, Ronan was satisfied. He hoped that as he pushed further into the future, he might find this group popping up again, having survived all the way.

His exploration done, he bid Alain and the others farewell. He told them he planned to fight the rat matriarch and that after he won, they could follow him and escape to the surface. Alain thanked him for his efforts and said they would discuss it as a group.

If these timelines persisted after his death and reincarnation, Ronan wanted to ensure he gave those he met a better shot at survival.

Satisfied that not all humans were having a shitty time in the new world, Ronan left the camp and made his way towards the matriarch's nest. It was time to steal another skill.

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