Chapter 352 - 352. Grouped Up

"Well, I was expecting the last group to be here too. But I guess it's just us and you. The rest of my group is building a camp. Didn't take long to convince them to set up in an opening without trees. But since you con voiced most of your group to make camp here we might as well join you." James sent one of the boys he was with to get the others. 

"I didn't think you would make it here either. We are just setting things up. We are trying to figure out what they have planned for us. If we found each other so early, the odds are that we will have the third group soon." Asher was friendly with James but they were both sizing each other up. James had yet to put the pieces together whether as to what the instructor had planned for them. There were many possibilities but all of them were not fun in the least. 

"There could be anything. But I have a feeling that we are all magically safe because they want to make us paranoid first." James had a good point and he smiled a little after he went to meet the group that had just run over to meet everyone. 

"Alright, so it's good that we found the second group, right?" Art had the feeling that the more people the worse off they were. It would be harder to speak to everyone and get on the same page. 

" There are more mouths to feed. It will be very very hard now. To keep everyone full for two days. Plus, we aren't seeing any food anywhere so we will need to go out and find it. We could strip the entire area bare and not have enough food and water." Jackson was already evaluating the amount of food that would be needed. When he had seen James and the rest of James's group com,e he knew that he would need to speak to Asher. 

"I have water solved!" Laura popped out of nowhere again. Luckily, everyone had long gotten used to her speed and ability to seemingly show up from thin air. "There is a stream over that way and there might be the third group with that Bull shifter we saw Cara fight." 

"Nilly is still showing up? I thought he would have been done or went to a different training already. Last year he did some individual training so he could control his anger better. With him and Jackson, we should have firewood and a very stable shelter. He two are probably the  strongest when it comes to strength here." Cara sounded a little too happy to hear that Bill was there. Asher didn't miss Art scrunching his face up in distaste. 

"Alright Laura, go scout more and find that third group. We will get more set up. James!"

Asher shouted over and got James to come on over. He had started to float again since it was faster than his walking. He was also trying to remain on perfect alert for the worst possibilities the instructors could pull. 

"That shout must mean you find food or water. What is it?' The smile on James's face showed that he was enjoying the luck that Asher had. It might be why they had met sooner and also why Ashers' group had been the first here. No matter what anyone could say but Ashers' group was definitely the least equipped in years of experience, however, they were doing the best and leading the pack. 

"We found a stream and also the potential spot for the third group. Laura is going to get them for us. The bu- Billy should be there." Asher caught Cara's stern expression and changed what he was saying immediately. He knew that she would hardcore mess with him if he did not keep himself in good standing with one of her friends. 

There was a sudden thudding of footsteps from the direction that Laura had run. By the time Asher and James focused, they managed to see a tree wobble. The wobbling trees got closer and closer until a large boy will bull horns had forced his way out of the treeline and in to the open. "And that is Billy. He may not be angry now but he definitely used some flashy super powers to make an entrance." It was clear that James was not a huge fan of Billy. 

James always preferred to keep things a little on the quieter side. Billy, as timid as he was, was bound to his own super power. He was loud and large. This made him draw a huge amount of attention when he used his super power or when he was in battle.

"I see what you mean, but he is the picture perfect deterrent. No one should want to start a fight or even break a single small law if he is around." Asher knew the power of intimidation. It did not need to be used in a negative manner. It could be used by the law to keep people from abusing their super powers and going crazy. 

"That is a fair point but at the end of the day the attention could stop the completion of a mission. But that is very dependant. Hence why I want multiple teams. Either they all work together at once or they are hand placed to deal with certain situations. Need help in the water because of a flood? The super powers that manipulate water can be a team. Need to fight fire? Super powers that manipulate and put out fires can be made. Need to capture people? Then super powers that create illusions or traps can be used in a team. They all will have their purposes and best situations." 

The way James was speaking made it sound that he was putting together a sports team or a battle deck of playing cards. It was a little unnerving but Asher just stood by and listened. Even if he didn't fully agree with the method, he could learn something. The better leadership and experience that James had was what put him well above Asher. 

"I still like my group and if Billy ever joins, then we will have a pretty nice new friend. From what I understand he could be great for dealing with animals that need to be rescued. Since he has an animal type shift as his super power he will naturally be closer to animals than most people which means panicking animals of, say, a farmhouse is on fire, could be more easily calmed." Asher was proud of the idea he had come up with. 

Meanwhile, Billy had shifted back to his normal form and was trying to stretch as he walked over. "Hi Billy. Glad you could make it!" Cara was quick to greet him. 

"Cara! I'm glad you were part of the group training. Come on, introduce me to the brother and his friend you have been telling me about." Art managed to hear this part and was over the moon hearing that Cara had been talking about him. 

"Asher, Art. This is Billy. He's an angle when it comes to how nice he is. I want to introduce him to Jackson since they should get along but it seems like Jackson ran off again to do whatever he has been doing." 

"Hello, I saw you in your match. It was really something. You have a lot of power at your beck and call but you walk around looking a lot more peaceful than anyone else." This was a pretty nice compliment for Billy and he was immediately a little shy and silent n response. 

"It's all about training. I have been working on it for years now. So, what can I do to help? My group is on its way. The other of our top students here ran off somewhere and I won't bother to go looking. Plus a lot of my group followed the solo survival idea. I don; 't think it will go so well for them. But I can't force them." 

It was a little less to worry about for Asher, but it was a bummer. The third group was significantly smaller because they had lost most of their members to the foolish ideals that they could survive on their own. "By the way. I was pushing the dead trees back the way I came so we could move them for shelter and fire wood." This was a smart idea and Art committed to going immediate. 

"I can't just let one person do all the work. We will hot the shelter am fire wood job." This was a little way for Art to compete with Nilly but he had the feeling that Billy was not the threat he had felt before. instead, he felt as if he was looking at a lot puppy. 

"Good, problems getting solved. Now we need to find that on board computer." James was looking around knowing that he needed to find it was well.. However, he did not know that Art had already taken it.