“The path that we need to take…?” Alnea mumbled, a little hesitant of the words he was speaking. It was not just him, even Yuri and Cecilia grew hesitant at Vestia’s words.
“…Are you sure that you want to share such valuable information with us?” Yuri said after a brief pause. “We have not agreed with you joining our team yet.”
“I know,” Vestia said. “This is my sincerity. I really do want to help you. It does not matter whether you let me join your team or not. There are a few things that I think you should know, regardless of your decision. Things that would stop you from making blatant mistakes and expose your weakness for the entire world to see. After all, I do not wish for people as talented as the three of you to have an accident because of your ignorance. But if it makes you feel any better, you can think of the information I am sharing as an investment from my part.”
“…I do not know what you are planning, but I will take you for your words right now,” Yuri said. “So, what is this path that we must take.”
“It is the path to let you enter the inner city,” Vestia said. “Entering the inner city is not easy as you think it is. Especially for False Wanderers like us. Let us begin with the inner city itself. How much exactly do you know about the inner city?”
“…Not much,” Yuri said. “All we know is that we must earn a certain amount of Trial and Arena points before we can earn the qualification to enter the inner city. And that entering the inner city requires going through some extra trials. This is what one of the Wanderers working at the Blood Hall told us. I am sure that this is not the entire truth, but this is all that we know about the inner city, and how to enter it.”
“…Are you sure that you want to admit your weakness in front of me?”
“Since you are showing your sincerity, then it is only right for us to do the same. Besides, only those who can admit their weakness can overcome them.”
“Interesting,” Vestia said, with her lips upturning into a smile once again. “Are you sure that you do not wish to come visit the Erwein Forest with me?”
“…Just stick to what we were talking about.”
“Right, my apologies. I do tend to digress at times… Anyways, as I was saying, entering the inner city is not as easy as you think as it is. Sure, you need to gather enough Trial and Arena points to even qualify to enter the city, but that is just the most basic qualification. After you gain that qualification, you will have to face a separate Trial of the inner city, one which you will have to take with all the other Wanderers who have earned the same qualifications as you.
“Generally, these trials are held within the city itself, but they can also be held in the desert, or even in a separate dimension all together. The most important thing though, is that the city lifts its restriction of not hurting your competitors during the duration of the trials… Besides, to even earn that qualification, you will have complete quite a few Black Desert Trials. Walking into the depths of Black Desert, fighting Oren Beasts, and guarding against other Wanderers…
“Maybe the three of you are strong enough to deal with some Oren Beasts at the peak of their Adolescent Stage. Maybe, you are strong enough to deal with two or three Peak Stage False Wanderers. But dealing with hundreds of Wanderers, and thousands of Oren Beasts, all lurking in silence, trying to catch you off guard… I am sure that you are wise enough to understand what I am trying to say.”
“In the face of hundreds of Wanderers, and thousands of Oren Beasts, increasing our number from three to four would not make much of a difference.”
“But it would be a beginning,” Vestia said. “Like I said, I am just showing you the path that you need to take. How you cross that path is up to you.”
“…It sure is a path convenient for your purposes.”
“Of course,” Vestia said. “Or why else would I tell you about it? After all, everyone is a little selfish, are they not?”
“…Maybe,” Yuri said. “How many people do you think we need to safely complete all the trials and enter the inner city.”
“A conservative estimate would be around seven to ten, but this kind of thing depends on your fate and fortune. I know of a man who once bought all the hundred Wanderers who earned the qualification with him, only for all hundred of them to fail to enter the inner city. In contrast, there has also been cases of lone individuals who were able to successfully enter the inner city.”
“…Since entering the inner city depends entirely on Ilea’s mood, then why should we team up with you?”
“Because your ambition should not stop at just entering the inner city, right?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“There is no need to deny. I can see it in your eyes… the ambition, and self-confidence… Entering the inner city would just be your starting point.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“…It looks like we still have a lot to learn.”
“It is not your fault,” Vestia said, shaking her head. “As a Weina, I have been taught to recognise such things from a young age. The other Wanderers in the city will not be able to guess your true motives. Unless you tell it to them yourself…”
“…The guards…”
“Do not worry about the guards, or the woman in the Warrior Hall. They will not sell you out. They are bound by the rules of the city to not reveal the secret of its trialists. However, the same cannot be said about the Wanderers who overheard your conversations. Fortunately, I found about them in time, and took care of them. But you should remain careful in the future.”
“…By taking care of them, you mean…”
“Made them forget about all they heard, of course. What did you think? That I got them all killed? Please, I am a Weina. Violence is always the last option for me.”
“…So, what does entering the core city have to do with teaming up with you?” Alnea said, trying to bring the crazy woman back to the topic before she could digress. Yet, the woman went on with her ramblings once again.
“Though the number of people who make it through the last trial and enter the inner city may depend on Ilea’s mood, but on average, of the nearly hundred people qualify to enter the inner city every month, only ten to twenty people make through to the end. That’s more than a hundred people in a year, and a thousand people in ten years. Yet, of those thousands of Wanderers, only a little more than fifty people have made it all the way to the core city in the last ten years.
“Fifty out of thousands… that’s quite high odds. Even with the blessings of Ilea, entering the core city seems almost impossible. That is until you dig deeper into the circumstances of the people who managed to enter the core city. For one, almost all of those who entered the core city left the Lost City as soon as they entered the inner city. And as soon as they returned to the city, they went directly to the core city.”
“…That only seems to suggest that those Wanderers had to face some kind of trial outside of the city.”
“…Most importantly, all of those fifty or so Wanderers entered the inner city in a group of seven to ten. Only one or two of their groups managed to enter the core city, but it still does not change the fact that only those who from a group of seven to ten have manage to enter the core city.”
“Is that why you were sure that our elders have asked us to learn how to deal with other Wanderers?” Alnea said, staring curiously at the woman in front of him.
“That’s part of the reason… The other part is mostly because of how ignorantly you have been behaving.”
…How exactly were they behaving for Vestia to figure out so much about them in the span of just a couple of days? Were all other Wanderers just as sharp, or was it just her who was so special?
“…Is the city also testing us on how we cooperate with each other?” Yuri said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Who knows?” Vestia said, shrugging her shoulders. “There is only so much I can guess with the information that I have.”
“…So, if we wish to enter the core city, we must find four more companions at least. And you want to be one of those four Wanderers.”
“All Wanderers who come to the Lost City would dream of entering the inner city at least once during their stay. And I am no different either.”
“…You must have been in the city for quite a long time, right?”
“I would not say that I have been here for a long time. It has been just a little over three months since I came to Rianra, and just about three months since I entered the Lost City.”
“Why have you not formed a group in these three months then?”
“I have been gathering information… And I have my standards. Not everyone is qualified to become my teammate.”
“…What do you think?” Yuri said, while still staring at the blue robed woman.
“Finally willing to talk to me?”
“…I was busy Clearing my Heart.”
“…You know you can shout at me when you get angry.”
“I was not angry.”
“…Right. You can also shout at me when you get jealous.”
“…Why should I be jealous?”
“Who knows?”
“…Just answer my question.”
“…I mean, she does have a point. And she has been nothing but sincere from the very beginning. Not to mention that we do not have any other choice, do we? After all, if the choice is between a neutral Wanderer from another Region, with not much background in the Lost City, and Orthodoxies of our sector who are trying to woo and subdue us, then there is not much we have to think about.”
“…Cecilia would not be happy.”
“…You are talking as if you are happy with the choice,” Alnea said, only for Yuri to ignore his words, and look at Vestia in her eyes.
“…If you do not have a mansion of your own in the city, then you can live with us.”
“…Live with us?”
“…Are you sure, Yuri?”
“You have heard what she said as well. If we wish to enter the core city, we will need her help.”
“…I do not like this.”
“I do not like it either. But that is also one of the reasons why we have to come the Lost City, is it not?”
“I guess…”
“So, what are you going to do?” Yuri said, turning back towards Vestia.
“…You still do not trust me.”
“Like you said, trust is built over time.”
“I guess that’s true,” Vestia said after a while, patting the dark blue pouch hanging by her waist. “Good thing that I brought all my luggage with me.”
“…Good thing indeed,” Yuri said, choosing to reserve her opinion with herself. “Welcome to the team, Vestia Weina.”
“Thank you for having me, Yuri,” Vestia said, dropping the solemn expression on her face for a smile. “You too, Cecilia and Alnea. Thank you for letting me join your team.”
“…Just do not drag us down.”
“Do not worry. I will never let you down.”