“Since we’ll be fighting together, introductions are in order. I’m Bruce, a wind swordsman,” the youth said. “The expressional skinny guy over there that is talking with the aide is our group’s smoke user scout, Will. Norman here has been an adventurer for over a decade, a veteran defensive fighter with a matching element to boot, ice. There’s Sandra, our mage, careful to critique her cooking cause she will give you a Rock Crush if she doesn't like what she’s hearing.”

“Hey!” Sandra cussed.

The adventurers got separated into smaller groups and sent to areas to defend. Arsène and the rest got a place at the southern beach, near a watchtower. It broke during the recent attack by the merfolks. It was early evening. They received some grub from the fort but it was unfulfilling gruel. They decided to cook their own dinner. Arsène provided the ingredients so the other side offered to be the one that cooked.

Bruce smiled playfully and moved on. “Lastly, our newest member, the wind archer, Irene. Say hi, Irene.”

The brooding and sullen archer didn't change much since Viers saw her last. Unlike the group who was gathering around the fire and cooking, Irene stood a bit apart, looking at the sea with a hard expression. She didn't bother to reply to Bruce's request.

“...Apologies. She’s in a bad mood,” the fair-haired youth said. “She’s a nice person, once you get to know her.”

“Right. She looks like she wants to rip the sea apart with her bare hands,” Arsène said, which didn't invite so much of a twitch from Irene.

She was restless because her target was so close yet so far.

“Anyway, we’re the Rising Fortune adventurer group. Pleased to be your acquaintance,” Bruce gave a friendly smile.

“Likewise. I’m Avel of Javia and the little one beside me is my disciple, Boram Rockboa. No group name. We’re both Level 2. I use water, he uses earth.”

“Boram? Of the Aletro Nine Stars?” Norman, the oldest among them at late twenties, asked. The rest of the group gave the boy an interested look.

“Waow! A celebrity. We’ve just arrived here for a few days and the Book World’s related things are all people in this city are talking about,” the brunette Sandra said.

“Eh? Umm… I-I’m not special. It was just luck,” Boram meekly looked down.

“Sandra, concentrate on the soup. Let’s not give our new companions another one of your bizarre cookings. It would make for a poor first impression,” Will the skinny scout said as he walked closer. He made a bad face as if he recalled eating something unpleasant.

“It’s not that bad!” Sandra complained.

“Hahaha, now now,” Bruce lightly mediated before they could argue.

Arsène thought they were a pretty fun bunch. When Viers robbed them in Marakkus, they were only Level 1s. Not that he would ever tell them about that.

“...Of Javia?”

“Yes?” Arsène asked Irene who unexpectedly initiated the conversation.

“I know a person with a name style similar to yours.”

“Oh really,” Arsène’s face betrayed nothing. Cain of Ur was the name Viers used to interact with Irene in the past. “Is that person from Javia?”

“Of Ur… but no matter. Seems like it was a fake name. And I’ve never heard of this Javia. Where is it?”

“Not from around here,” Arsène replied.

“Hmmm.”

Irene wasn't particularly offended that ‘Avel’ dodged her question and returned to keep an eye on the sea.

Arsène changed the topic. “Speaking of vague recognition. I think I saw you guys in Marakkus.”

“Ah, I too feel that the helmet looks familiar. Seems like you also managed to get out of that shitshow,” Bruce said.

“The Silent Boogeyman and then the Biome trap,” Arsène nodded like a veteran reminiscing of an old war. “Dreadful business.”

“Terrible,” Sandra trailed her words. “Luckly, we didn't enter the Biome at the time the trap was sprung. A hair’s breadth between life and death.”

“Always be prepared for the worst,” Norman sighed. “We were rash back then. The lesson learned has proven beneficial. This is done, please.”

The big-bodied tank passed the plates to the others.

“Smells good,” Boram sniffed.

“Irene, food’s ready,” Bruce called.

“You know, don't you think it is rude to keep your face hidden during a time like this?” Will pointed at Arsène with his spoon.

Unlike the guy in Dark Souls that could drink Estus Flask with a full-face headgear, Arsène could not. To eat or drink, he must take off his knight helmet. Only, below the helmet he still had a face covering, which Will pointed out.

“...You’re right. Apologies. I sometimes forget I have them.”

Arsène slowly took off the bandages on his face and from beneath, emerged a completely ordinary face.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Ah! Master, your face-” Boram was surprised to see the healed face. He’d seen what was before.

“I got some healing in the Book World,” he said.

Little did they know that even now, Arsène’s face was a fake. Not only Avel’s face, his whole existence was a deception of Viers.

“Is this enough for you?” Arsène asked Will.

“I’m sorry about Will,” Bruce apologized as the leader of the band. “He spoke out of turn.”

“What? I just spoke common sense,” Will chowed down the food on his plate.

“No biggie.” With the capability to change faces, both Viers and Arsène were no longer so obsessed with hiding their faces like before.

After half a minute of no conversation, the ice tank tried to de-ice the situation.

“Young Boram. Would you care to share your experience in the Book World with us? We’ve heard stories but nothing beats real witnesses.”

“...I don't know what to say. Even though I got to the final stage, what I accomplished was very little. I might be the weakest among the seventeen finalists. The praises I got ring hollow because I don't deserve it.”

“For one so young, you’re humble. What about the strongest then, Tanael, right? What was he like? Was he as much as the monster in the rumors?”

Sandra chimed in. “I heard he got three heads and six horns. Eyes blazing like red brimstones and he ate the ones he killed. There was a hole in his chest and you could see his beating black heart. Was he truly human?”

Will scoffed. “Do you even hear yourself? Does that sound like a human to you? Obviously it's nonsense. Ask something real, like his three other companions or did he really kill a phoenix.”

“...Tanael is-”

The others perked their heads on what Boram was about to say. The boy himself seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

“-a villain…” Boram sighed. “A really strong villain.”

That’s true.

“Seems about right,” Arsène said. “He would kill you if he didn't like your name.”

“You’ve met Tanael too?” Bruce raised a brow.

“In Stage 3. I gave up without fighting him. Every fiber of my being screamed I should run, so I did.”

“What, not even a blow? Don’t you think you gave up too easily?” Will said it straight.

“There are graves filled with people that wish they did what I did. As simple as that,” Arsène put the food to his mouth in a steady rhythm.

“Enough. This isn't the time or place to tell stories,” Irene interrupted. “We’re in a warzone. I heard the merfolk usually attack in the night. We should eat quickly and prepare while we can.”

“The most reasonable thing I've heard all day,” Bruce said.

“Can't argue with that,” Norman ate a big spoonful and nodded.

“Well, this is still a fortress and there are people keeping watch. We should get some kind of warning if there’s an atta-”

The warning bell’s tolls stopped Sandra from finishing her sentence.

“That’s from the northside. Finish your meal quickly fellas. You’ll need the energy,” Arsène said without an inch of panic.

***

Bruce had underestimated the master-disciple pair.

He and the rest of the group were no naive greenhorns in their first year of adventuring. They had overcome many dangers to come this far. He thought the group was above the average adventurer groups. Their teamwork made them able to overcome stronger monsters and adversities. Since Marakkus, they had been steadily improving and amassing fortunes together. As a result, they all rose to Level 2 without issue. Irene joining was also a boon to their group, they became more versatile.

At Irene’s behest, they went to Regidana city. She had some aim in the city that she refused to share. The archer kept her cards close to the chest, signs of her not really opening up to the group. Bruce hoped that would change with time.

After gathering some information, Will and Sandra were quite disappointed that they missed the opening to some kind of godly trial of fire. It was definitely a place full of opportunities to grow higher as a Pathseeker. If only they arrived here a few days earlier, they would have made it in time.

“Even if we were here, would we get chosen?” Norman voiced his doubt.

Will and Sandra thought they would, confident. Bruce wasn't so sure about all of them getting in but he felt it was a lost opportunity nonetheless.

When the trial takers returned, stories of all kinds of outlandishness were spread in every tavern in the city. Other worlds? Divine weapons? Bloodbath? World Tree? War in the millions? Soul Tyrant? Phoenix?

Outrageous. None could really verify the rumors except for the returners. Rumors were that the trial takers were pretty mediocre and their failure was because of their lack of ability. The stories were made up to water down the bitterness of their failure. It was easier to believe so.

Bruce wondered how much larger-than-life those Nine Stars that managed to survive the stories about the Book World. Turned out he was just an ordinary kid. Well yes, Boram was younger than him by a lot but was already the same Level 2 Pathseeker but it was because he was forcefully awakened. The foundation must be fragile.

The rumors about ‘Avel the Slayer’ were also disfavorable. Will told them about a story from some drunken bloke that kept complaining in the tavern the scout went, that he wasn't chosen by the pillar of light but someone like Avel was; the coward that let his slave fight for him to raise his guild rank. After meeting face to helmet, Avel seemed nice enough but he didn't seem to be an expert fighter.

Bruce didn't blindly believe the rumors and since the seven of them would all be fighting together against the mermen, he hoped they could pull their own weight.

When the attack came, all manners of sea monsters were coming. Each of the seafort served as a shielding station. When they were still standing, the mermen forces couldn't reach Regidana. That meant a buttload of fish were storming the fort like the Commander said earlier.

The attack started at the north side but soon the south side, where they were, also got visited by the sea-dwellers. Hundreds were landing on the beaches with who knew how many else hidden under the waterline. The north was lit up with an orange glow, as if someone had set the sea on fire. Bruce and the others couldn't see it directly because Fort Mercator was in the way, but their sight was taken in by the things happening in front of them.

The sea beasts had been weakened thanks to the magical effect that originated from the fort but there were already more than thirty Rank 2 monsters with Rank 1 being thrice that number.

The Rising Fortune had never fought so many monsters at the same time before so they hesitated.

On the other hand, Avel and Boram acted without hesitation. They became storms of death, wrecking any beasts in their way. One or two blows and something died. No stopping between one death and the next. Artes were not thrown haphazardly but efficiently for maximum effect.

After ten seconds of inaction, the sound of an arrow shot by Irene made Bruce return to reality. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

***

Twenty Pathseekers turned the beach into a butchery in half an hour. Soldiers from the fort came to help five minutes after Rising Fortune and the master-disciple pair started fighting. The smell of blood was sickening. The attacks had stopped for now, not only at their side but as a whole according to the soldiers. The Rising Fortune were panting in exhaustion. Arsène and Boram were too, just not as intensely. Arsène estimated they had defeated more than three hundred monsters.

“What are you thinking, boy?” Arsène asked Boram who silently stood among the bodies of his kill.

“...They’re cute compared to Tanael’s Tyra Xerg.”