Cole looked at Tamika, who had turned at the mention of her ancestral homeland. Her expression was downcast, reminding Cole of his embarrassing attempt to cover up where he’d come from.

[…Unless you’re an A class monster in disguise…]

Tao nodded grimly as he saw the understanding dawn on Cole’s face.

“And now you know what’s at stake.” With that, the scholar turned back to the front, where Godrick had stepped forward.

“Our adventurers do not have the requisite class attributes to close a Gate this size, especially one undergoing a Surge event. Strike Forces will be mobilised on rotating shifts culling any monsters that could threaten the town on their own. This will take the pressure off the rest of our adventurers who will remain here, protecting Venture from swarming lower ranked monsters. The two of us, along with a select few Strike Forces, will be directly patrolling around the Gate itself, making sure nothing that is ranked higher than D1 takes more than a single breath on this plane.”

Cole nodded to himself, he looked wistfully at Strike Force Talos. It seemed like he would miss out on seeing them in action.

“The elephant in the room is, of course, how we’re going to stop the Surge and close the Gate. Like I said, we cannot, but our Steward is contacting our neighbours as we speak. If you all do your part, he will have enough time to organise a Surgebreaker Unit to be portalled in.”

Godrick stepped back, allowing his brother, the Guild Branch-master, to take the floor.

“All Strike Forces, report to me, we will remain in the mess hall. Combat adventurers should go to Argyle and Thesta, who will organise the defence of the village. Healers and auxiliary support already know who their respective leaders should be.”

Percival clenched his fist, raising it above his head. His arm swung down as he opened his palm, cutting through the air.

“Venture lies in your hands. Meeting dismissed.”

For a second, there was quiet. No one dared break the solemn mood. Then, a flurry of action.

Men and women stood, clapping friends on the back as they left them behind. Cole bid farewell to Strike Force Talos, knowing full well that this could be the last time they would meet. He joined the crowd of people who were following Thesta and Argyle out of the mess hall, and across the town square. Gathered in a loose circle were about sixty people, who were waiting for the briefing from Argyle and Thesta to begin. Cole stood on his tiptoes, straining to peek over the heads of the towering adventurers in front of him. Argyle raised his voice. He wore his customary smile, however it was far more strained than usual.

“Similar to the Strike Forces, we’re going to be working in rotating shifts. We’ll go out of the village in teams, with your aim being to kill as many of the low rank Infernals as you can. Thesta and I will do our best to protect you, but most of our power will be used by our most powerful area of effect abilities, so don’t try anything stupid.”

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Thesta summoned her tome from her wrist pocket dimension, tracing out complex runes extremely quickly. Pages flew out from the book, each person in the group receiving their own. Cole grabbed his out of the air.

“These pages will tell you what area of the town you’ve been assigned to, as well as the name of your team leader. Move to those locations, and you’ll receive further briefing from there.”

Cole folded open his page, apprehensive about where he had been assigned to. The crowd in front of him quickly dispersed into smaller groups, as people moved to defend different parts of palisade that surrounded Venture.

Confusingly, Cole’s page was blank, even on the other side. He looked at Thesta, walking towards her to ask what went wrong. As he approached he noticed the two deep in conversation, turning to look at him.

“What happened with my page? I don’t think I was assigned anywhere.”

“You’re going to stick with Thesta for now. Consider yourself lucky, you’ll be one of the safest people outside the town,” said Argyle, looking slightly ashamed, as if he was afraid to tell Cole something. The huge man shook his head.

“Stay safe kid.”

He blurred, flickering away into a beam of orange light. Cole was left standing with Thesta.

The grey-haired woman fixed him with her customary blank stare. While the vast majority of adventurers wore armour and carried weapons, Thesta wore normal clothes, carrying nothing.

Cole tried to break the ice, “Guess you drew the short straw, huh?”

He was met with a blank stare. “I allocated the teams. You’re here by my choice. Let’s go.” She turned to begin walking out of the square.

‘What?’ Cole thought. “Why would you do that?” he said out loud, refusing to move while he tried to reconcile this new piece of information in his mind. While they were training, Thesta seemed to view him as an embarrassment, and couldn’t have changed her mind overnight.

She turned back, only the barest hint of frustration showing on her face. “It doesn’t matter. Stop wasting time, we only have a few hours until the Infernals reach the village.”

“No.” Cole said, standing resolute. He wasn’t a kid, he could take whatever they were hiding from him.

Thesta sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingertips. She paced back over to Cole, grabbing the collar of his shirt.

The Vestrians have infected this town. We are this close-“ she released his collar, holding her thumb and index finger barely apart. “-to becoming part of Auremon’s domain, and a Surge is the perfect opportunity for the Empire to make a political move.”

“If we can’t locate a Surgebreaker Unit in time to save this town, Percival will have no choice but to allow the Imperials into our territory. This crisis could be averted now, but doing so means bowing to the Emperor.”

Cole nodded, understanding finally dawning. He already knew that the Vestrian Empire had been creeping its way across what used to be Artesia, and Venture was next on the chopping block. He could see the dilemma, Percival needed to put the lives of the people of Venture first, but if he could avoid asking the Imperials for help, it would mean strengthening the towns independence.

On the other hand, if he was forced to ask the Imperials to help, it would be the perfect excuse for them to completely take over, effectively annexing them into the Empire’s territory. But that still didn’t answer his question.

“So why does that mean I’m with you?”

Thesta let out a breath, replying.

“You’re not invisible. People have been asking questions about the kid who suddenly appeared in the middle of a monster wave, and although some people wish it wasn’t so, Auremon has his fingers in everything, even our Guild Headquarters.”

“The Empire wants all the outworlders, I’m sure you know this. But Percival made you a deal with you, and I’m here to make sure it's fulfilled. You'll be safe with me, but we still need your help. ”

Cole stood silent for a moment, taking everything in. Venture had taken him in as a liability to themselves. They didn’t owe him anything, and they were wasting resources protecting him when he should be protecting himself.

He clenched his fist, once more frustrated at his lack of strength, even though he knew it wasn’t his fault. They didn’t have time to waste.

“What do you need me to do.”

“Similar to what I said to the others. Don’t do anything stupid but help as much as you can. If you can’t kill something, you can distract it with your speed. If someone falls, use your strength to carry them back inside the palisade. Above all, stay close.”

“Understood,” said Cole. He was eager to prove himself, eager to actually help for once. For the first time in his life, he had the power to make a difference, and he wasn’t going to waste it.

“Let’s go.”