Looking in the mirror, Arthur had to admit that Dante was pretty good at sewing…

Well, technically the suit he was currently wearing was armour, the only reason Dante could make it.

While on the outside it was a suit, the inside layer of the suit was partially bullet-proof, and due to it being armour, like all other armours created by a Blacksmith, the suit was auto-fitting.

Meaning that, despite having a physique that didn’t quite allow him to fill out a suit, Arthur dared to think that he actually looked pretty good…

Hearing a knock on his door, Arthur called out that it was open, and in walked his mother and younger siblings.

“Arthur, you look funny!” Arthur gave a small sigh and smile at his sister’s look, the little girl trying to climb his frame, only being incapable of ruffling the suit due to the same auto-fit function that allowed it to always appear pristine.

Arthur’s little brother, Dennis, just laughed at the sight, eventually deciding to run up to Arthur’s legs and ‘roar’ at Angelica…

He hadn’t been sitting with his siblings as much as he used to, which made sense considering Arthur was always running around with his team of Einherjar…

“Aren’t you two supposed to be in school?” Arthur asked aloud, more directing the question to his mother who just smiled.

“I’m keeping them at home today, we’re going to be watching the live coverage of the meeting.” Julia walked over, looking over at Arthur’s hair before straightening out his lighter green tie…

Julia wondered if Arthur was aware that the shade of green was really close to Emilia’s eye colour, and then discontinued that line of thought…

Arthur wasn’t dense, but he had trouble identifying his own emotions.

It was ironic, Julia considered. Her son had the ability to look at people and somehow understand how they felt within minutes of meeting them, and it was difficult to lie to him…

But his ability to understand emotions did not extend to himself, and he had trouble identifying what he was really feeling at times.

Not only that, but occasionally he’d mix up what he was feeling for something else, for example, being incapable of figuring out if what he felt was either love or just admiration.

But he’d figure out eventually, Julia was sure of it.

“Well, way to ruin my feelings today, you know I hate crowds.” Arthur frowned, getting a giggle from his mother, the laughter slowly dying out.

“…You know I wish we were all here today to watch.” Julia added and Arthur felt his frown slip into neutrality as he looked to the sad face his mother had.

“…Right… well, I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now. I’ll be back after the meeting, I’m going to spend the day here.” Arthur said, putting down his giggling siblings after both attempted to see who could get to his shoulders first.

His height made the race a short one in his opinion…

His stats really helped him out here in his opinion, it was laughably easy to carry the two now that he had eight times the strength of a typical grown man.

“Alright, and don’t worry so much Arthur, remember, they want you. You don’t need to do anything to earn their respect when they were the ones to approach you.” Julia said, catching onto how Arthur didn’t want to acknowledge the previous line of questioning.

They all walked out, Arthur’s father was busy playing some FIFA as Arthur got ready to walk out, getting a nod from the man… Arthur was well aware that it would be difficult to get much else from Markus until his game was done.

Arthur and Markus both enjoyed games, though Markus was firmly amongst those who enjoyed sports games.

It was enough for both Arthur and Markus, that nod though… Julie still couldn’t quite understand the relation Arthur and Markus had, but the two of them could.

“I still wish you’d hug your father.” Arthur’s scoff was reflexive at this point.

Just because it was never said, he and his father both knew they loved the other, and would do anything for the other.

It was just something that shouldn’t be questioned truly when it came to families… again though, Arthur and Markus would never tell each other the words ‘I love you’ but they knew it.

They’d never hug it out either… but that was just their thing.

“Drive safely.” Were the last words Julie said before Arthur exited the house, looking outside and seeing some children tossing a baseball between them further up the road.

Smiling at the sight, Arthur manipulated his inventory, depositing his helmet in his hands, as well as his gloves.

How he loved the inventory… granted, it created a feeling similar to walking underwater if too many things were stored, but the higher the Strength stat, the less it mattered.

Getting on his bike, Arthur revved for a moment before pulling out the drive-way… and seeing the children pausing to look at him, he decided to show off a bit, pulling away in a wheelie…

Thank you Dexterity stat… once upon a time that would have been impossible.

Leaving behind impressed children, Arthur moved to the main streets, heading for the U.N building.

After a few minutes, pulling up in the parking lot of the U.N building, he parked his bike next to his friend’s cars, noting his friends waiting.

After taking a suitable moment to just stare at Emilia in a flowing white sundress, and then wondering how suitable that was for such a meeting, Arthur removed his helmet, placing it back into his inventory.

The gloves stayed on… he liked his gloves.

“Surprisingly I’m the last one here…” Arthur said to himself after greeting everyone, John scoffing in response.

“That is pretty bad, you live the closest of all of us… not to mention that Matt and Emilia had to make detours to get us.” John reminded and Arthur rolled his eyes.

“Eh, you’re all early in my opinion. See?” Arthur gestured to his phone, removed from his inventory, showing the time to be 08:27.

“...How does your phone have the correct time when time is frozen inside inventories?” Alice asked, ignoring that they all really were early, and focusing on something that was messing with her.

“Ah, my phone’s GPS is connected to the clock. So depending on where I am on the world, my phone would always have the right time. Of course, in the Dungeon it doesn’t work.” Arthur reminded why they had someone wear a watch inside the Dungeon instead of running around with their phones out all the time.

“Makes sense I guess… here comes Shaun.” Emilia offered as Alice nodded, seeing the Guild Leader walking over, for the first time ever they witnessed the normally lazy alcoholic in a pristine suit (absently Arthur noted that the suit was Armani of all things, Arthur always wanted one… given by the smirk on the Guild Leader’s face, he somehow knew this.)

“Well, hello Einherjar. I see you all got your outfits for the day. Come on inside.” The strongest American soldier motioned for them to follow, which the six did without complaint.

…well, there were no complaints but Arthur sure was staring at the suit in jealousy.

“…It’s tailor made by a Smith that Armani hired. I could wear this into the Dungeon.” Shaun’s smirk was half bragging but Arthur also registered the other important thing Shaun was saying.

“Armani hired an Adventurer to make defensive clothes?” Alice asked, catching onto the important information.

“Yes, and they aren’t the only ones. Many companies are hiring Adventurers with relevant skills to boost their market range, such as people with a skill related to cooking being hired to work at restaurants, and so on.” Shaun added as they stepped into the U.N building entrance, looking around for a moment before following Shaun.

On occasion they’d pass someone wearing a suit, some were clearly foreign dignitaries, others were also just as clearly either Adventurers or Guild Employees…

It was a weird thing that Arthur was beginning to do, feeling the power of other Adventurers at a simple glance, Soul Sight only occasionally activating to verify his suspicions.

Arthur had the strange feeling that what he was doing was kind of important.

“What does that mean exactly, beyond the super-bullet proof suits and amazing food?” Michael asked Shaun as they walked, Arthur keeping his thoughts to himself.

“Basically, certain markets, especially clothing, will eventually be heading into Adventurer territory with their products. Clayton said something about Adventurer-line clothes.”

The words were said half-jokingly but that really was what they were, equipment for Adventurers made by name-brand companies, boosting the revenue of said companies as well as creating jobs for Adventurers with odd non-combative skills.

“I wonder if we’re going to see people wearing greaves by Adidas or something…” John wondered, and unfortunately it wasn’t much of a joke given that Shaun was standing in front of them with a literal suit of armour made by Armani.

“By the way, this suit cost almost thirty thousand, and it’s just a prototype. It’s also a ‘basic’ suit, no diamonds or anything crazy like that.” Arthur felt his soul float away at the idea of spending that much money on a suit, even if it was defensive enough to probably be only slightly damaged by a point fifty calibre bullet.

Granted, the suit didn’t change the fact that such a shot would probably really, really hurt whoever was wearing it at the time, but given it was for Adventurers, at some point the owner would probably be more durable than the suit itself.

“Where the heck do you get the kind of money for that?” Alice asked out of surprise, remembering that even her current Dungeon equipment didn’t cost that much, and she could only afford it because everyone agreed to pool their money together.

“Remember, I’m the Head Guild Leader of America, the same Guild that pays you a large amount of money for stones left behind after killing monsters, which I also do.”

…Right…

An athlete can be rich, but the person signing their cheque was the truly wealthy one… the money wasn’t all Shaun’s, but clearly he made much more than they did…

He probably didn’t even pay for his equipment given the maker was his teammate.

“Okay, despite needing to give you that information, we’ve gone off tangent. Clive, let’s talk about your role in today’s meeting.” Shaun said as they entered a closed room, granting the group privacy.

“Einherjar as a whole just needs to be present, much like any other Adventurer will likely have all their teammates with them. The team leaders on the other hand, will be logged as the strongest Adventurer of the country in question, and given a seat during the conference.” Shaun explained looking over the group.

“Clive, I’m not certain how much you know about the United Nations, but there are essentially five permanent members, the five being China, France, Russia, the UK and our US. These five have the unofficial biggest say in the room, regardless of politics.” Shaun’s words were no snub to the United Nations, but it was the truth.

Many of the smaller countries had citizens who dreamed about going to them, or heard of their might. That’s just how it was.

“That being said, Adventurer-wise the layout is slightly different and more varied. Without a doubt you are the strongest Adventurer, but there are five others near your level.” Shaun warned Arthur, who nodded in understanding.

“One of your rivals is from Russia, the same one who is also their Head Guild Leader… another is from the U.K though her family is apparently from France, making that an internal talk between those two groups to discuss who she represents.” Arthur sighed at the mention of politics…

Stolen story; please report.

Then again, he was in the U.N building. Of course politicking would happen.

“Another is from Japan, their country was quick to adopt the Guild and Adventurer system, most likely due to how quite a few of their media has desensitized them to the strange.” That was putting it lightly, what some of Japan might take as natural, others would be confused.

Arthur shivered at the idea of a hotel which was essentially a large amount of boxes. He did not like enclosed spaces that much, and the thought of not being able to get out would likely drive him insane.

“The Japanese boy is the youngest rival you have by the way, he’s still in the tenth grade.” Not as eye opening as it would seem, as far as Arthur was concerned, as Alice was a member of their team only due to testing out a bit early.

“Then there is a Saudi Arabian Adventurer who refuses to give his name… annoying as that is, we’ll just move on. The last Adventurer of roughly equal level is an African man who is in a team with members from other countries, apparently creating a coalition.” Shaun explained as he placed his hands in his pockets.

“Those five are your rivals as an Adventurer, though I don’t think I need to remind you that there exists others of roughly equal strength.” Shaun’s warning was unneeded.

He was a warning enough about how Adventurer’s weren’t the only people when it came to supernatural strength, Guild members could be strong too.

Anyone with a LEV/Contract could be strong, but not all people who had them were Adventurers, was what Shaun was implying.

“Now there’s obviously a discrepancy between the countries and their adventurers, as Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Japan aren’t as big as the USA, Russia and the UK… and China and France’s adventurers aren’t up to your par.” Shaun took a moment to yawn, stretching a hand for a cup of suspicious coffee…

“It’s a Irish coffee. Mostly coffee though. I just added some whiskey in to make myself talk a bit more.” Shaun’s words got confused looks while Dante stepped into the room.

“Shaun is actually an introvert and hates talking to people he doesn’t know or care about. Drinking apparently helps him ignore his annoyance enough to talk civilly with others...” Dante clearly looked like he believed none of what came out of his own mouth, but nonetheless delivered the message.

“…I didn’t expect that.” Arthur admitted, looking to the Guild Leader with a raised brow. He was under the assumption that Shaun was naturally that calm and casual with others, but apparently that was only under the influence…

Thinking of it like that, Arthur could not recall ever meeting a sober Shaun.

“As I was saying, there’s a bit of annoyance from France and China, who both do not have Adventurer’s equalling you. France might make a deal with the UK about their top Adventurer, but China is apparently facing quality with quantity, as they have the highest amount of Adventurers above level ten in the world.” Arthur nodded at Shaun’s words, understanding the population in China being able to make that possible.

“So considering everything, the main voices in the meeting today would be us, the Russians and the UK, with France, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Japan coming in next after that. Also, apparently the six Adventurer countries have a nickname amongst the others, the Big Six… in Adventuring of course.” Shaun added after a sip of his coffee, looking to the top Adventurer.

“Not much will be decided today though… today is just to introduce each country and their top Adventurer, show who is the strongest, and then arrange for a show of human unity in some way.” Shaun admitted while standing from the table he had seated himself upon.

“There will be more discussions throughout the week, possibly lasting as long as an entire month, but you won’t be needed for those. Discussions like these aren’t so simple as to be concluded in one evening after all.” Shaun scoffed at the idea…

Negotiations might happen as well, regarding sharing of information and the occasional exchange of money for said information…

And with how the participants were all representatives of countries, the negotiations definitely couldn’t be simple.

For the rest of the time leading up to nine, Shaun explained the nuances behind the meetings, having been to one or two, in addition to hearing Clayton complain about them more than once.

By nine, Einherjar all understood how the day would be working as they filed out; moving to the meeting room calmly… entering it was a different matter though.

There were about one hundred and ninety countries in the world, but at this current meeting only about one fifty were represented, the rest all going through their own internal issues preventing their appearance…

Columbia was one such place, what with their president being assassinated, his body found… defiled, in many a manner.

Not only that, but many members of their government were also finding themselves suffering the acute lack of breathing known as death.

No one had stepped forward to claim responsibility for the deaths, but with all the deaths and the sudden uprising of the Columbian cartels, everyone was assuming it was related to them, possibly a Thief-type Adventurer working for them.

This was just one of the countries who were impacted negatively by the advent of LEV’s and their superpower-wielding owners.

Some benefited, others despaired… much like life really.

Thanks to Shaun’s quick lesson on the U.N’s layout, Arthur recognized the man standing in front of everyone to be its current President of the U.N General Assembly.

Apparently powerful countries were not allowed to have that position, of which Japan was included, which made sense considering it was consistently in the top five when it came to economy, exports and military might, despite not being allowed to declare war…

Shaun apparently wanted to move there one day… clearly that plan was axed for many reasons.

Looking at everyone taking their seats, Arthur felt himself getting nervous about the crowd… he’d like to ignore them, but he was one of the people left standing…

The only people standing were Adventurers, the strongest of their country. The Guild Leaders were all seated (though Arthur noted a lack of said position over at the U.K position) and everyone was well aware that the U.S was the country of the ‘Strongest Adventurer’…

Meaning that one of the standing members of Einherjar was the current ‘strongest human’ and thus the stares from the other Adventurers in particular was powerful.

Some opening words were said, things which Arthur tuned out, catching a smile from Clayton who was well aware that Arthur didn’t want to be in his current position.

It was only after all the opening stuff was done that Clayton suddenly spoke after signalling his intent.

With all the silence, as well as the assistance of speakers and a microphone obviously, Clayton was heard very well…

“As you all know, I am Clayton Andrews, President of America. I am an Adventurer.” Clayton’s statement got wide eyes from some, others nodded, and even more others just waited…

But most importantly, his words immediately added weight to his presence in the eyes of Adventurers in the room.

Arthur understood, by making himself a part of their ‘group’ he’d garner more interest from the key members of the assembly taking place today.

“Today we gathered to begin discussions on the Dungeon, Adventurers, and everything associated with those topics… to better do so, we have invited many Adventurers, those who dive into Dungeons, to have a say in this opening meeting… And of course, we all know which Adventurers we brought.” Clayton said, gesturing to the members of Einherjar standing behind him.

Michael, Matt and Emilia seemed to bask in the attention while Alice and Arthur were trying to spontaneously learn Stealth. John only lightly activated it by reflex.

“We representatives have all brought the strongest known Adventurers of our country, a summit of the strong essentially. We have asked the top Adventurers to appear before us to inform you of a program we of the U.N wish to implement.” Clayton said, nodding to Shaun, who sighed.

“By suggestion, we wish to propose an initiative called the Champion program. In essence we wish to create a figure for Adventurers to look up to.” Shaun motioned for Arthur…

Arthur hid his annoyance as much as he could as he stepped forward, away from the anonymity his team offered.

“By creating a ‘Champion’ we create a goal for other Adventurers to achieve, as well as having a representative for the majority of Adventurers in said country. The Champion of the United States of America is this man, Arthur Clive, level thirty two Linked Swordsman.” Shaun’s words resulted in a tiny level of muttering between groups, realizing who Shaun was.

“Mister Clive here is also the first person to slay a Demon Lord.” Oh Shaun, after throwing Arthur under a metaphorical bus, he felt fit to let the bus go over once more, just to be sure.

Immediately a hand was raised from a Japanese youth, and given how his team seemingly gave him space, he was apparently the Japanese Chosen.

“Hello, my name is Ichiro Kazuto, Gust Swordsman, level thirty. I just wanted to ask senior Clive about the fight against the first Demon Lord, as well as the rewards.” Ichiro was being glared at by the Japanese representative, but they all seemingly understood his habits already…

Arthur admired the fact that the boy was willing to put up with the stares long enough to ask that question though… then the stares turned back to him… and clearly they all wanted to know.

Looking to Shaun, Arthur was handed a microphone as he began to think about it.

“The fight against Blade, the Demon Lord, was not… difficult, but it was dangerous.” Arthur started, trying to find a point to explain from.

“Blade, unlike the current iteration inside the Dungeon, had the ability of speech and clear intelligence.” That got surprised looks, though no one spoke, not wanting to interrupt the tale.

“Upon meeting Blade, we spoke. He informed us of the structure of the Dungeon, as well as some background information on both Chronos and the next Demon Lord.” Arthur had asked Shaun about whether or not the other countries knew about this, and apparently they were handed files for this very moment today.

“We fought, Blade’s fighting style was essentially hit and runs combined with high swordplay, according to Blade, he had sacrificed his durability for extreme strength, which explained why he could not remain in combat for a long period of time.” Arthur explained, getting a nod from some of the other Adventurers…

Notably, those Adventurers all felt a bit stronger than other groups…

“After defeating Blade, we received his Soul Stone, the sword he used, and I… one of my Skills, Swordsmanship, evolved into a Unique Skill.” Arthur admitted, not wanting to give away the information, and also internally knowing that Sword Sage was not actually a reward for killing Blade, at least not in the normal sense.

Summoning Soul Flame to show it to the crowd, Arthur paused at the worried looks he was getting…

Ah… he was in a place where weapons were not allowed… right…

Nothing was done as Arthur placed the weapon back into his inventory though.

“Wait, so that means that getting the last hit on the Demon Lord awakens a Unique Skill?” Another man asked, the Russian ‘Guild Leader slash Champion’.

“That… is something I’m not sure on. I happened to gain a Unique Skill after killing Blade, but I also had a relevant Skill beforehand. So it might be a matter of compatibility.” Arthur would not admit the truth to anyone in the room, about that strange scene he saw upon killing Blade.

That was something unnaturally private for Arthur, even if it was short and felt like an out of body experience looking at himself talking to the back of someone whose figure was blurred.

“I see, so if the killer of the Demon Lord possessed a Skill related to the Demon Lord, it might change rank… pardon my late introduction. My name is Albert Ivanov, Vein Magician level thirty one, the Chosen of Russia.” The man, Albert introduced himself and from there they all began to introduce themselves.

Indeed, as Shaun mentioned, there were only five others with levels above thirty, and including Arthur they were:

Arthur Clive, Linked Swordsman, level thirty two, Chosen of the USA.

Ichiro Kazuto, Gale Swordsman, level thirty, Chosen of Japan.

Albert Ivanov, Vein Magician, level thirty one, Chosen of Russia.

Sheikh (real name unkown), Dust Guardian, level thirty, Chosen of Saudi Arabia.

Loyiso Nanda, Shaman Healer, level thirty one, Chosen of South Africa (despite being from Mozambique).

And Jade Ainsworth, Wire Assassin, level thirty, Chosen of the U.K (sharing with France until France gets their own Chosen of equal level).

With these six, Arthur knew that few others would ever reach them…

With the Chosen all introduced and recorded by the other countries, the Adventurers were free to leave, including Einherjar and Arthur, thankfully.

Exiting the building, Arthur found himself face to face with an overly excited Asian teen… in other words, the Japanese Chosen, Ichiro.

“Ah, senior Arthur, I was waiting for you! I wanted to introduce my team, Spicy Chicken.” Arthur just stared at the Japanese teen for his words while the teammates of said Chosen all sighed in unison.

“He chose it before we had any input.” A girl said, clearly the second-in-command much like Michael was for Arthur as she hit Ichiro in the back of the head.

“Well… it’s certainly among the more interesting names I’ve heard. My own team is team Einherjar, named after the Norse warriors who fight in Ragnarok.” Once Arthur explained the origin of the name, Ichiro began to frown.

“Aw, now I wish I came up with that one.” Ichiro said, really casual about everything and Arthur was actually kind of thankful for that, rather than deal with the stuffiness still going on inside the building.

“Still, we’re both Swordsmen right, is yours a Unique or Rare class?” Arthur asked, kind of fishing for information but at the same time genuinely curious.

“Rare, it gave me a Magic Skill for Wind as you can guess… oh, let’s talk shop, is there a Guild nearby?” Ichiro’s smile was neigh infectious as the group of twelve moved to the Guild to talk more.

Arthur and Ichiro found their teams easily capable of communicating, talking about the Dungeon and how both teams were actually on the same floor, and their classes, including how one of Ichiro’s team members was a maker of enchanted objects much like the Adventurer Cards.

The Class of said person was Artificer, and he used a certain amount of Soul Stones to enchant an object with an effect. Depending on the effect and object, the amount of Soul Stones would differ.

‘Strong’ objects such as a sword could hold stronger effects, but would require an equal amount of Soul Stones, and weak objects, such as a piece of paper, could barely hold one weak effect, but cost only one or two Soul Stones to create.

It was fun for Arthur talking to Ichiro’s team, but at some point they had to meet their Dungeon quota for the day, so the two teams bid farewell as Einherjar went inside the Dungeon.

“He’s an interesting guy…” Ichiro said as he and his team left the Guild building, the rest of his teammates nodding.

“He knew a lot about the Dungeon, and he has a higher level, not to mention that despite being a Swordsman he could discuss combat strategies for each of us…” Ichiro’s second in command, Miya Tanabe, noted with a serious tone.

“Yeah… he’s probably like me with RPG’s, researching each possibility and planning to them. It’s kind of scary that he’s using that logic IRL.” Ichiro added, his joviality still there, but his smile wasn’t quite as jolly as before.

“But it’s clearly working… Ichiro, what do you think we should do?” Miya asked her classmate, said classmate turning around and smiling as he placed his hands behind his head.

“Nothing, in fact, let’s accept his advice as it is. We improve ourselves and move forward, until we overtake him. That’s all there is to it… that being said, let’s go get something to eat.” The members of Spicy Chicken sighed as they followed their strange leader.

It was the day after the U.N meeting that Einherjar learnt of the united front plan.

“You’re going to team up with those teams and kill the Demon Lord.” A pin drop could be heard for how quietly Einherjar reacted.

“…A Raid group?” Arthur asked, getting a nod from Shaun…

“Crap.” Arthur’s words were not eloquent, but they summed up the situation where six groups of people who had their own methods had to work together… it was going to be horrible.

Arthur Clive

Level: 32 (D-Rank)

Class: Linked Swordsman- Grants one stat point to Strength and Wisdom per level

Gives Soul Sight (Unique) Skill

Anima

Dagger of Hunger

Cloak of Will

Anima Skills

Dagger- Devour- Increase Soul Gain by 12.5%

Dagger- Rend- Damage to living beings increases by 2%

Dagger- Void- can create a minor gravitational pull, 9 Wisdom per use a day.

Cloak- Defence- lowers damage taken by 2.5%

Cloak- Wise One- Increases Wisdom by 15% (total 130%)

Cloak- Rags to Riches- 4% of enemies drop two times the loot.

Primary Element: Lightning

Personal Skills

Tactician II (64/100) - increases Wisdom by 15% (total 130%)

Sword Sage I (148/200)- Any bladed weapon deals 20% extra damage

Soul Sight II (46/300) - Allows insight beyond mortality

Dual Wielding II (47/100) - Greater use of two weapons

Lightning Elemental II (13/200) - Use supplementary lightning spells

Stats

Strength: 42

Dexterity: 46

Intelligence: 32

Wisdom: 56 (72)

Endurance: 32

Vitality: 42