Samira followed the girl to the lounge area, and the people in the line she just left were surprised; they had just checked her Rank.

They sat down at a couch, with about 4 other people, 3 men and 1 woman sitting around and looking at the both of them. Samira thought ‘I still haven’t bought proper clothes, I’m far too distracted today’ as 2 of the men were trying hard to avoid looking at her breast and buttocks.

One of the women said “Funmi, you didn’t have to disturb her” to the girl that brought Samira, the woman looked to be in her early 30s. Funmi replied “You won’t believe it, she’s new!”

The eyes of the group lit up with surprise which changed to doubt and a man in the group, who looked to be in his twenties said “There’s no way she’s new, you’re so naive”.

Samira said “I am new, I just came this morning” the man’s doubt intensified and he said “There’s no way a Rank 4 is just a new comer, are you trying to say you survived out in the dead zone on your own for 5 months? That’s impossible, even a Rank 5 couldn’t do that”.

Samira explained “I wasn’t on my own, someone took care of me. My name is Mira by the way”. The others realizing they had skipped introductions and jumped into arguments hurriedly introduced themselves.

The girl that brought Samira was Funmi, the man who argued with her for a moment was Rashid, the woman that first spoke was Adura, there was a man in his twenties also whose name was David, he was having the hardest time looking away from Samira and there was his younger brother Theo who was just calm throughout the whole ordeal.

Samira sat down and said “So where do Rank 4s go?” Adura answered “Rank 4s, usually have a team. The team then agrees on whether they will go with a large group of lower Ranks to protect them while they fight, go with other Rank 4s to do a proper fight or go under the Rank 5s to do special missions. So it’s very weird to see a Rank 4 lining up or being independent”

Samira asked “Is there something wrong with a Rank 4 fighting solo?” Adura answer “Everything is wrong with that, because you’re a Rank 4 doesn’t mean you’re omnipotent, you can’t just charge blindly into a horde of undead. You could get surrounded or attacked by a Rank 5 undead, which would end you.

But with a team there is a chance for survival, the undead aren’t like zombies in the movies; they have minds among them that always try to avoid losses. So you can’t just blindly charge into a horde, you need an aim, a plan, a target that once you fulfill you retire, and meeting those targets is always easier with a team”

Samira thought ‘Jade really warped my world view, I’ve just been charging blindly into hordes for the past month... Now that I think about it, when he describes his fights, they are just blind charges and simple massacres, no plan, no target, no aim’

Samira said "Thank you, Adura. I hadn't thought about it that way". Adura looked at Samira with a puzzled expression and said "Have you just been blindly fighting undead all this while? How are you still alive?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Samira said "Someone was taking care of me, when the person trained me I was just made to attack undead without a clear goal. The person usually always interfered before it got too dangerous for me" as she remembered Jade with a sullen expression.

Adura said "You're boyfriend must have been very strong. May he rest in peace". Surprised by her statement Samira loudly retorted "We're not like that, and he's not dead!"

Adura laughed at her retort and said "Then I would love to meet him someday, is he with you?" Samira said "No, he's not. But I'm sure you would hate to meet him, he's a bastard" with a look of disdain.

Adura laughed even more and Rashid curbed her by saying "Stop teasing the girl". Adura finished laughing and Funmi said "Mira, since you're on your own, why don't you join our team, we are part of the campaign that is happening in a week and we are joining this batch of Rank 2s for their raid tomorrow. So what do you say?"

Theo who hadn't reacted the whole time suddenly said "Funmi, you shouldn't reveal our plans so easily to a stranger". Funmi retorted "She's not a stranger, she's our friend now". Samira interrupted the argument that was about to ensue by saying "I would love to join you, if you would have me"

The group members all looked to Adura who nodded and said "Of course you can join, that's what I was hoping for". Funmi smiled and hugged Mira and Mira smiled and hugged back.

Adura said "Let's get a private room; we have to discuss some things as well as tell Mira the details of the group". The 6 of them followed Adura into a private room.

They sat down and Adura began "First Mira, our group name is Pentagon but I don't think we should change it because we're 6 now, what does everyone think?"

Funmi replied "I told you naming us after a shape was a bad idea", Theo replied "It's unnecessary, the Pentagon didn't only have 5 members when it existed", Rashid, Been and Mira agreed.

Adura continued "Ok, I just got some new information and from it we have to get and save as much En-codes as possible within this month. The information states that the science division has made great progress on weapon skills and has created a prototype. Jola is still testing the weapon and because of that, the campaign will be postponed to within a month's time. When those weapons are on the market we have to be able to buy the best of them"

The group was shocked except for Mira. David stopped drooling over Mira and said "How's that possible, they could barely recreate the monsters basic abilities now they're making a prototype?" He had been closely watching the progress of the weapons along with every sensible ranker; they knew that good weapons meant better progress and more safety.

Adura said "I don't know, they covered the information up very well. Even the person I got my information from didn't know the specifics, he just said he had heard something about Jola training with a special weapon and assumed it was a skilled weapon"

Mira thought ‘Was the sword that important? He even postponed this campaign because of it. Jade could probably make a lot of en-code if he sold weapons alone, but now that I think about it, I don’t think 4 million en-codes is worth much to him’.

Adura continued “With Mira on board, we can make more en-code, but the only way to make the most is to work with other Rank 4s. I think when others find out about the postponement they will be available for raids” the group members nodded in agreement.

Mira checked their Ranks; she wanted to know the strength of the people she would be working with, they were all Rank 4, Mira felt at ease. Adura said “Funmi, since you’re so eager to recruit Mira. You can tell her the other details about the group. If there is no other discussion then the meeting is dismissed”