Return of the last survivor

"Good! Everyone is here."

Merlin also performed the soul contract with the two subordinates of Max, and made them in charge of the two groups who were initially under max.

Since he was already a Tier 1 being, and one who's soul was incredibly powerful even for a mid-stage Tier 1 being, he didn't even need to move a muscle for the contract. He simply looked at the two and a part of their souls flew out and merged into Merlin's own.

A soul contract would naturally put a little stress on the owner's soul, but it wouldn't even be noticeable in small amounts. Only when the owner made too many soul contracts, would there be visible changes, and the risk of soul erosion could also be possible. Therefore, Merlin did not bother to make soul contracts with every single member of his army, and instead had chosen the leaders, and a few members who had strong potential, like Max, the chief.

"Jack, come down to the ground floor."

Merlin used the level 0 spell that he had used on James earlier, [Whisper] and made sure that his voice reached Jack. He then turned and looked at James and said,

"You will be working under the direct command of Sean as his right hand man. You will also be the one in charge of protecting Alex and his family at all costs. Got it?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Ok, now, the two of you, what are your names?"

"SIR! I am Carl! SIR!"

"SIR! I am Karl SIR!"

"You two are brothers?"

"SIR YES SIR!" they both responded in unison, with vigour in their voices.

Merlin unintentionally nodded his head in approval. These two were in their prime, and had an incredible build. They also had life in their voices even during this time of impending crisis, showing their great resolve.

"Good. You two will be in charge of groups 5 and 6. These two groups will be the ones going out to search for food. But only one group will leave at a time, and the other will always remain at base to protect it."

Merlin then turned around to Sean and said,

"From the four groups initially created, each group will follow on of new groups in scavenging for food and resources. You all will need to decide on a cycle, and a total of 4 groups must remain at camp at all times, including one of the new groups. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir!" replied Sean.

"Alright. Now Max. Prepare your equipment, and enough food to last 4 people a few days. Prepare enough ammunitions for two people. I also want all of this put into a cruiser within 5."

He then turned back to Sean and said,

"I will be gone for a few days. I want at least the entire residential floors of the building cleared, the upper floors securely blocked off. I also don not want a single zombie or dead body within 5 click of this building. Recruit any able-bodies people you find while scouting and scavenging for food. Bring any children, but leave the sick and elderly. I do not want to open a hospital here. Kill them on the spot if the other people insist on bringing along dead weight. And if they still resist or try anything. Kill then without mercy. I do not want a bunch of idiots in my group. Remember this. Also, One more thing. If someone says that they are a player…the only order I will allow is to run. Run as fast and as far away as they can go. Do not go near the person under any circumstances. Naturally, if you find your own, or your troops' family, they are allowed. No one else."

Merlin did not need stragglers in his elite group. At the same time, he didn't want his troops to leave his group because their families were left out. He also didn't need players, who could have varying psychological behaviours. He only wanted soldiers. The very best. If he found a few decent people, he wanted to recruit them. But if they wouldn't join his group, then the only thing he was willing to do was kill them to reduce the threats to his group in the future.

By this time, Jack had arrived on the ground floor.

"Jack! Good you are here. We will be leaving soon. Go eat your fill. Quickly. We leave in 20 mins"

"Ok"

Jack quickly ran to the temporary canteen created to the north side of the ground floor.

Merlin on the other hand sat down cross legged, and closed his eyes. In his mind, he began to recite the Elemental law set used to increase an elementalist's mana. This was the fruit of the hard work and labour during the year long quest with Jack. A method that could increase the mana, soul, and intelligence of the user, along with the mana perception, and understanding of mana.

It was made using the 4 most powerful mage law sets, and could be considered not only the only law set for elementalists, but also the strongest method on the planet Earth.

Naturally, such a law set had restrictions for the currently weak Merlin. He could only use the first of the 12 methods within the law set. Even when he was fighting Zero, he had only been able to use the 8th method of the law set.

Merlin began to recite the 1st method of the law set, and he immediately felt the mana in the surrounding air beginning to converge towards himself, and slowly add to his current mana. The speed of this was incredibly slow, and that was because the first 2 scriptures are not dedicated to increasing mana, but to cleanse the impurities in your mana.

Although the process was slow, it was incredibly painful, since cleaning mana meant that all the impurities from every cell in his body had to be cleaned. If he had conducted this meditation before he became Tier 1, he would have died from the incredible pain.