Getting up from their tables, it was for everyone to get back to work. This of course included the pair of newly formed friends.
Arriving back at the church, the two went by just as before. Getting the job done without any talking, but once the job was over it was time for some "friend like" activities.
As such although a bit reluctant Ash felt the best place they could go to was his little cave, so with that after being done with everything the two headed to the cave at the edge of town.
Arriving the air was stale, clearly a side effect of the dry wasteland that surrounded the town from all directions. In the distance there could be seen some mountains, or maybe giant sand dunes, it was hard to tell what they were exactly.
The entrance to the cave was just as it was before. Soon the two got in the cave and started chatting, or so they would have.
"It's kinda cramped..."
Will remarked while looking around in the small cave.
"Well...I've always been alone so the size wasn't much of a problem before."
The two looked at each other and after some thinking both left the cave as it was apparent that this size just wasn't comfortable for two people.
Getting out the two sat down under a nearby tree and started talking.
"So...Will what exactly is your thing?"
"Huh...my thing? I guess I like to read."
"Reading, I like that too."
The two started chatting, but as Ash was entirely new to this friends thing his way of talking was naturally a bit awkward at first, but soon the two got into it and were able to converse somewhat normally.
"Umm...Ash are you gonna do the SCC testing?"
Ash was a bit surprised as just a few moments ago they were talking about comics and books, but now the subject suddenly got changed, adjusting quickly he replied.
"I guess, I'll atleast see if I have the aptitude, and if I do then what my ability is, after that...I can just leave all that thinking for after I've passed."
Will nodded in agreement as he shared a somewhat similar sentiment. Getting too overly excited about the prospect of getting some abilities and becoming a User was bound to lead to disappointment, as about 65% of people didn't even have the necesarry amount of soul power to pass the first screening, and even if they did powers like [Night Vision] or [King of Cleaning] could appear. Of course ones core power was just a part of what made someone powerful, still it was a sever setback in most cases if one got weak ones and the company might just reject people with bad prospects.
"Hey...Ash if you could chose, what power would you want?"
Ash thought about it for a bit, but then quickly stopped.
"If I think of specifics, I'm bound to get disappointed even if I get a good skill."
Ash's stance was astute, as it allowed him to avoid disappointment, but Will cared not for such things.
"You know, I want a combat skill..."
Will stood up and started pointing beyond the barrier into the giant seemingly endless wasteland.
"The monsters in desert, I don't want to be scared of them. The fact that we need these giant sanctuaries just to survive the night is... frankly pathetic."
Ash was surprised as the usually cheery Will looked a bit more serious in that moment. He felt even if he didn't want to he had to return the gesture in some way.
"Umm... I guess I'd want a skill that would allow me to be twice as lazy, or something that made things more conventient for me. I guess a combat skill would be good as it would allow me to defend myself if I'm bothered during resting, but also I guess life skills like [King of Cleaning] wouldn't be so bad either, as I would be able to clean up my house quicker so I could rest earlier..."
Hearing Ash's reasoning Will could not hold back his laughter as the answer was exactly what he had expected.
"Hahaha, I guess anything goes so long as it make your life a bit easier, huh? So you really can't get disappointed."
Ash looked at Will and shook his head as a sign of his disagreement.
"No, I heard there are skills with negative side effects, I wouldn't want one of those."
"Then you are definitely getting one of those"
"Shut up asshole."
The two continued with their light hearted conversation till it was around sundown, and it was time to head back.
"Should we go back?"
Ash asked Will, but Will was looking elsewhere, he was looking beyond the barrier into the wasteland. And pointed at something.
"Now that the sun is almost down they are starting to appear."
In the wasteland sand could be seen moving as if something was moving under it. One would guess worms the size of entire towns were dwelling under there, and they wouldn't be wrong.
"This is the most we can see of them, until the sun is fully down they won't come out."
As the two sat there watching the monsters, the sun slowly went down, till it was fully gone. And once the sun was gone, what came was complete darkness, no stars, no moon just endless darkness.
Of course the town itself still had lighting, but beyond the town it was a darkness that actively rejected light. It's not that the moon and the stars disappeared, but that whatever power was out there was rejecting all that could pierce through it.
Understanding that they were long past their curfew the two decided to run back to the orphanage at full speed, and were luckily able to get in without anyone noticing.
"Guess we've avoided punishment, just narrowly."
"Yep, then goodnight."
Ash said a quick goodnight and quickly headed to his room. Much to Will's astonishment who was left there standing alone.
"You didn't even let me say it back."
...
Time passed and in the days prior to the SCC's arrival Ash had gotten himself into the habit of hanging out with Will after his labour for the day was done, sometimes it was cleaning, other times it was helping the locals or just looking after the younger kids in place of the sisters.
Hanging out with Will was surprisingly fun for Ash, he had never known that having a friend could be so entertaining, but still he had his limits so there would be days where the two wouldn't hang out.
And now we found ourself on Sunday, two days before the supposed arrival of the SCC.
The day started as usual Ash got up, had breakfast, and then went ahead to get his job for the day.
"You'll be checking on the cemetary today."
Ash's eyes opened wide open upon hearing this, this was not a job he had ever heard about.
"Wait, the cemetary? Checking on it was a job that we had?"
"Yes, it's just not done often, only once a year, and this time you got lucky, congratulations!"
'Congratulations my ass'
The cemetary though not an appealing sounding place to be, is not something one would expect to be such a terrible place to be. But that could not be further from the truth, as the cemetry was located outside of the barrier, and although it should be safe during the day being out there was still much less safe than inside.
"Who will be coming with me?"
Ash asked the church staff with expectant eyes.
"What are you talking about? You are going alone of course."
'Of course what did I expect?'
After that he got a rundown on what his job there was, and upon hearing it he eased up a little as from what he could understand this job was quick and easy to do.
His job was checking on a warding stone that kept the monsters away from the cemetary and see if it was working properly.
The reason cemetaries had to be kept outside of town was because, the towns weren't equipped to handle the power of the warding stones, but then comes the question: "if these warding stones are for keeping the monsters away why would you even need them in town". Well to that there is a simple answer, they aren't just for keeping the monsters away...they were there to get rid of all the latent energies within the corpses as that energy could easily turn into sources of darkness the same kind of darkness that was outside at night, and the very thing that caused the Cataclysm.
As such the warding stones carried a fragment of divine authority that slowly erased all thing carrying energy in its range, that included both monster, corpses and even living people.
So thanks to this effect of the warding stone Ash's little adventure shouldn't be any longer than an hour or two at most.
In the end after thinking things through Ash's mind changed on the matter and he became kind of excited because this job was so quick and easy, he indeed was lucky.
Who cares if it can kill you it's not like he's staying there to camp or something, and the monsters don't even show up during the day so this assingment should actually be pretty easy.
Having thought all that, it was time for Ash to depart on his small adventure to the cemetary.