Chapter 159 - (159) Marathon

Geth left the squad with orders to scout out the location of the above-ground Dungeon that marked the city. He took the time to explain the different Tiers of Dungeons before they took off.

If they encountered any Tier 4 Dungeons, they would report to Valhalla. Beyond that, he wanted them to take as many as possible.

The group took off quietly, without saying their goodbyes. Geth made his way back to the Dungeon entrance, where a large group had already begun to form. 

An older woman, who Geth recognized as his old English teacher, walked forward from the crowd.

"I'm going by Para, now. I haven't had the chance to speak with you, Geth."

He frowned, "And why would you want to? It isn't like we had developed some close relationship."

Para looked taken aback. Still, it didn't take her long to pull herself back together.

"Where are the others? Even if they disagreed with this, they are still part of this community," She questioned with a bit of an accusatory tone.

He rolled his eyes, "I've sent them on a mission that will be of great importance to Valhalla in the future."

He looked over the short woman's head and found that the large crowd had stopped growing. With a quick count, it seemed that just over 300 had arrived.

"I suppose the rest are going to stay here. That's fine," Geth muttered. He didn't wish for the Dungeons to remain unoccupied, anyway.

"All right! Everyone stand closely together!" He yelled at the crowd of students and the few teachers.

Most of them looked confused by his command but still decided to obey. Geth had to shoo Para back into the crowd.

Once everyone was in position, Geth cast Mass Invocation. The familiar bright light of the spell filled the area.

The Agility and Wisdom of everyone in the crowd skyrocketed. A commotion broke out as the excited students took notice of the effects.

"Quiet!"

Geth bellowed into the crowd. The noise that had just begun to pick up quickly fizzed out.

"All right, we have a long road to travel, and we don't want anyone getting lost. The coordinates for Valhalla have already been marked in your Grimoires."

He looked around as the crowd flipped over to their "Map" page.

"I want everyone to form groups of ten and move individually. Larger crowds have a higher possibility of attracting creatures in the daylight.

Each group needs to have at least one adult present. Other than that, there are no restrictions.

I've also sent coordinates to our first rest area. Everyone will meet up there when the sun starts to fall. Any questions?"

Geth waited and saw that no one was going to speak. Jack's group had already pushed through the crowd with the intent of joining him.

"All right! You have five minutes to form your groups!"

The noise of an excited crowd immediately overtook the silence of the clearing. Jack, Sindri, Peter, and Rift quickly clustered around him.

As time passed, the shuffling began to slow. Only a few singled-out individuals were still walking around.

"Time's up! Any stragglers who didn't manage to find a party will be joining me!"

A younger girl was the first one who joined his group. She was probably only in her early to mid teens.

After that, three boys followed suit. All of them were about the same age. If Geth had to guess, they were first- or second-year students.

"All right, we will make introductions later." He smiled at the nervous teens who were around him.

"Everyone, move out!"

The groups took off with enthusiasm. He could tell that even the adults were hyped by the Agility boost he'd given them.

Geth beckoned his small squad to follow him and took off through the trees. He made sure to run slow and keep his senses on each of his temporary party members.

His speed gradually increased as he noticed the rest getting used to the boost in Agility.

'Wisdom was definitely the correct choice for the secondary Attribute. These kids would have taken all day just to get used to the Agility otherwise.'

Geth chuckled at the ungraceful movements of his followers. Jack and two of the younger boys had already eaten dirt twice.

There were still close to nine hours of daylight left. As long as none of the groups strayed too far, everyone should reach the campsite with an hour to spare.

He was actually a bit worried about losing some potential citizens during this escapade. There were close to forty groups, some not quite having ten members.

'As long as I set up plenty of stops, they should be fine. It may turn the three-day trip into a five or six-day venture, though.'

Sigh

'Well, I've done all I can do to make things proceed smoothly. At least once we get past the halfway mark, the area should be completely clear of mobs.'

"How long do we have to run like this?" Jack asked while struggling to keep his balance.

"We still have another seven hours for today."

Jack tripped over his feet and almost face-planted again. He barely managed to catch himself at the last moment.

"Seven hours?!" Jack groaned.

"Quit being such a big baby!" Sindri laughed at the young man's disposition. "How long will the trip take, Geth? It doesn't seem that far on the map."

"I plan on us taking breaks each evening, so five days if we're lucky. Seven at most."

"I can't wait!" Rift leaped in excitement mid-stride.

Peter huffed, "I... I'm going to... die! Seven days... of this?!"

"Hahaha, looks like you're getting some well-needed exe-!" Jack tried to make fun of his friend but tripped over a root.

Everyone looked back and laughed as they watched his face drag through the mud for the third time. Peter especially got a kick out of it.

"Okay, Captain America, how about you worry about yourself?" Rift called back.

Geth smiled at the young man's joke and slowed enough for Jack to catch back up.. The joking proceeded that way well into the afternoon.