“Yeah.”

“Let me join for a while then.”

“Should you?”

“It’ll be fine.”

Izo scanned the vampire priest. He was wearing a gray armor mixed with a mail skirt. It looked like a mix of Roman or Greek and medieval footman armor. No bags and pouches since others or his horse carried them for him.

Petro had a rifle slung over his right shoulder and a spear on his left. He had gain weight and looked far more vigorous compared to when Izo first met him. Still, he was slightly melancholic. The brooding aura would never wear off from him it seemed.

Seeing that the man still kept his poker face and didn’t seem too concerned about losing a few spans and future sponsorship.

Others, mostly from the higher in rank, had begun to avoid Izo like a flu. That’s what happens when the customers that give you money gets angry. The product here was themselves and their sponsorships or deals that they could get in the future.

One must not underestimate the power of societal laws. If enough of a population feels some way, others even if they don’t understand the reason why something is taboo will follow blindly to protect themselves.

‘We live in a society. This words actually do apply right now.’

“Wait as sec Petro.”

Izo went to remove one of the drones from its charging plug in the baggage area. The large covered area replaced the huts here and acted as the resting and equipment storage area.

There were people guarding it while eating or chatting even if there was basically little crime in the camp.

Petro watched over Izo as he turned off a Decimator Drone.

“I got four of these on a rotating basis so there’s no down time. Ok, let’s go.”

The two of them entered the dark gate.

[ Draw a map of the local area

0% out of 60% needed to complete arena. ]

One of the rarer and more laid-back arenas. The enemies were sparse and not outright hostile. Candidates have to feed some of them others use plants they find repugnant.

“You give the orders this time Izo.”

“Uhh. Let’s use that as our landmark.”

Izo pointed to a tall smoke stack on top of the larger buildings.

They were currently in an overgrown industrial area. To their North was a large wall with vines overhanging it. Otherwise, it was continuous buildings and hangars.

“I’ll clear the Northern half and you the Southern. Also let me borrow a spirit radio.”

“Understood.”

Petro handed over the most wanted faith artifact that his group owned. It enabled two people to remotely talk in a 100-meter range. Unfortunately, it was only two way and a team needed separate ones to talk to each other in a group. Still, it is a testament to Faith Gathering’s ability and why it was the most popular.

[ Testing. ]

[ Received. ]

The two of them parted their ways. One walking and the other using his steed.

‘I wish I had my own mount.’

It was just too costly. Though a few people had theirs, they didn’t buy it and instead won it through special battles. This meant that most had the steel warrior horse.

‘It was pretty funny when both Nabih and Petro got theirs.’

Neither had experience riding and like adult individuals laid their differences to share what they learned. Two poker faced killers trying hard to communicate at crack of dawn.

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Izo moved along the crates and broken equipment. This arena belonged to humans, he guessed. Writing close to Cyrillic were on the buildings and plastic bags.

‘Maybe the Mendeleyev Family’s Zelmja branch of humans?’

Though the Theocracy was human dominated, their culture was far from Earth’s. A different universe altogether if compared. The Zelmja however were like an alternate version of Earth where it was colder, larger and more hostile.

Izo kept his head on a swivel and hugged the walls. This would minimize the area where he could be seen.

As per the mission requirements, he made sure to count the streets and where they turn, the buildings and the landmarks.

‘A bakery. Small store. Fountain.’

Knowledge of where these areas are, does really help in the field.

‘Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted. Rommel.’

History has thought that those who are prepared wins. Even a small force can multiply its power in the right circumstances.

Soon, Izo reached the large wall without any problems. His heart spiked a bit when rats (larger than Earth’s) came out of a vehicle and scurried to his feet. They were scared away thankfully.

[ Izo. Hostiles. Plant monsters that are red in color. Can’t see or hear but can feel. Don’t touch. ]

[ Roger. ]

[ Sitrep. ]

[ Nothing so far. ]

Izo followed the wall and the road west while minding for these plant monsters.

[ Do you mind if I ask something Izo? ]

[ Not at all. ]

[ How’re you holding up with this apology situation? ]

Damned if he does, a devil if he doesn’t. Izo’s no response stance was taken as a lack of care and morals which made more people hate him.

The current narrative was ‘a warrior must have heart lest he becomes a lawless criminal’. His killing of the orc young somehow foretold his massacre of civilians if he got any more powerful.

A few was requesting Izo to let Jae get the 20,000 award to show his “charity” and “breadth of mind”. Some of Jae’s fans justified it as making the strong, stronger thus benefiting the Nexus as a whole.

The most vocal opposition however was the ShamanTemple of the Dyasty in coordination with the peace organizations. They sent an open letter that got spread in the Nexusnet.

[ All life is sacred. A fundamental fact that Izo Shelley seems to have no knowledge on. This however is pardonable and understandable like a cub lost in the woods, not knowing the rules of society.

Orcs and beast. The sanctity of letting the young and defenseless live on must never die in our hearts. We mustn’t forget that we also once were in their situation and only later did we have the privilege to rise to where we are. Let us live with the propriety of civilized beings.

To all those who read this, we ask that you don’t harass a simple young who has caused a simple mistake. We are all beings liable to wrongs. One needs only to apologize and change.

Izo Shelley, we would invite you to our gardens in the future. There we are doing our best to uncover new dimensions to welcome to the peace of the Nexus.

-Give love to all beings ]

They were subtly hinting that they would ban Izo from their businesses and their exploration missions.

‘I’m not even sure if they’re being serious or doing it to gain publicity.’

Based on what Izo searched and Jane’s information, the Shaman Temple was connected to the Theocracy and Coalition since they advocate reducing the military budget of the Dynasty. They were getting good boy points for condemning Izo thus increasing their political pull in the Dynasty.

Jane who was angry for his behalf didn’t hide anything from Izo. Though nothing would happen to him, people would look at him differently just because of this witch hunt. She however told Izo to simply keep his head down and continue marching.

[ I’m not going to pretend Petro. It’s getting to me a bit. ]

[ Hmm. Why? ]

[ Why. ]

Izo completed the western side while he was musing to himself.

‘Why do I feel bad when I fully believe what I did was correct?’

He was a loner and bullied before. A person who isn’t strong enough would be in a worse state than he was emotionally. Izo was doing ok however.

If he was given a gun and told to shoot another person to save himself, he would. Two people, he would still. It’s only three or more where he would hesitate. Izo felt that this was fair.

‘Let me change the setting.’

Employing the elimination strategy, he imagined himself having in his 16 and forced to shoot a gorilla to save a child. He would do so and would he feel bad with the hate? Izo thought no at that point so he analyzed the difference between now and this hypothetical scenario.

‘It’s these guys huh.’

If it was only him, Izo wouldn’t mind. The potential hurt of those who were close to him however.

‘Guess I’m feeling guilty.’

[ You don’t have to answer Izo but as a priest, I hope you can be aware of the roots of your feelings. My mentor used to tell me ‘You must understand your hurt to kill it’. ]

[ Wise. I’ll ask you something too Petro. How do priest even become good at giving advices? ]

[ I know shows make it seem we are omniscient problem solvers but most are just like you. Some are good and bad at their job. I just happen to know a bit of how you feel. ]

Nabih and some of the camp does hate Petro.

[ If you only know how scared the other orphans were of me back when I first transformed. I’m very glad I wasn’t killed because of it. ]

They talked while completing each of their task. Izo encountered some of the plant monsters when he went east therefore, he had to stop talking for a while. A little bit of patience and maneuver and he wasn’t attacked.

[ Coming back. ]

[ 2 minutes out. ]

Soon, Izo’s was done with his whole area of operation and they rendezvous back to the smoke stack building.

Petro arrived 3 minutes after Izo arrived and they begun writing on a piece of paper they brought. A few notes and ugly drawings of the landmarks and they had a serviceable map.

[ Arena Completed! ]

[ Received 80 points ]

Their exit appeared.

“Solid work Izo.”

“You planned to talk to me, didn’t you? Maybe even waited for us to come out.”

“Humans can be very fragile creatures. Sometimes, we just need someone to care and accompany one in their pain.”