"I've mostly seen just individuals, or teams who happen to be interested in the same task at once, myself... But I suppose there may be some who ran into each other early on and simply went from there."

Obviously he's doing some exploring on his own, himself. Granted, he could always team up with Ryner any time he wants, but neither of them sees any reason to constantly stick together if they can cover more ground otherwise.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, in any case. You've been in this world a fair time now, correct? I imagine you'd have plenty to potentially offer some of the newcomers in advice and experience, and in turn that could give you someone to train with."