Never once had the Nexus hall been such a pleasant place to be in. From the elated and relieved expression both Maria and Phillip showcased, I’d bet that they shared the same sentiment too.

“So I succumbed to the cold…” Phillip said, disheartened, “I’m sorry, should’ve been awake.”

Lifting both my hands to my chest, I waved, “The sole reason that I remained conscious was the torch itself.” I said, “Any one of you could’ve done it.”

Boy, was it a soothing sight when I saw that they were both alright. Yes, I knew that they were alive from the message that was shown to me, but still, watching them well and breathing was a different kind of confirmation that I didn’t know I needed.

Maria, who had been idling on her own, suddenly spoke. “500 points too. Now I had enough for a class... It’s time.” Then, she turned to Phillip, “Do you have enough? I can spare a few hundred.”

Phillip waved his hands, refusing her gentle offer. “I’m good.”

“Oh, I got another reward when I completed the mission, here…” I took out the spell book that dropped as the mission ended. Their eyes went wide as the book appeared out of nowhere, radiating the same misty chill that I was sure we’d rather not remember, but here it was regardless. “It’s a spell book. I don’t have to say its affinity out loud, I’m sure…”

A cold bite bit my fingers when I grabbed onto its covers. Yep. As I expected. Cold affinity.

“A second reward?” Phillip said, avoiding the book like it was Sidwell. He wasn’t a fan of the cold when he had just lost to it. “There’s only one reward listed in the mission...”

“That’s weird, but why are we complaining again?.” Maria parroted, “Maybe it’s a special reward for placing the torch yourself-” Pausing, she stretched, glancing at the book every so often, “-Anyway, I never trained my MIND attributes, so the spell’s kinda lost on me.”

Phillip patted me on the shoulder, smiling. “You earned it, Gray. Keep it to yourself.”

“Well… if you’re both so nice about it…”

Maria stepped away from us, motioning Phillip to follow her. “Phillip, let’s get our classes. Leave this guy alone with his magic.”

And just like that, another mission completed, and I earned another spell-book in my hands. Of course, I’d rather have a death-affinity spell on my hands—with the better synergy and all—but I wasn’t complaining either. A spell is a spell, after all.

The book opened, revealing the empty, icy pages inside. I extended my arms towards the pages, then froze when I sensed the presence of another approaching me.

A presence that, while human, emitted the same kind of chill that this spell book had. A presence that I recognized, and to be precise, it was the iciness I sensed when I met the woman with the white irises last night. Looking away from the book, my hunch was proven right.

Her white hair flowed gently under the breeze, and her eyes were fixated on the book that I carried. It is her.

“I need it.” She asked, reaching for the book. “That book...”

My brows furrowed. What gall did she have to demand this thing from me? Of course, I would never part with this for free. Although, if she wanted to trade, I wouldn’t mind.

But man, if this was a part of her negotiation tactic, then she was horrid at it…

Her bad first impression aside, I didn’t sense any ill intent from her. Perhaps it was her rigid, unchanging expression, or maybe it was her sheer beauty, but it didn’t matter if she was the nicest person on the planet; I just wanted to get the hell away from her, the combined chill from the book resonated with her, decreasing the immediate temperature of my surroundings.

She sensed my annoyance, tipping her head aside, “Sorry… I don’t mean it that way.” Then, she bowed, “My name is Sarah… Winters.”

What’s with the pause? Also… Another one from the top 10?

“I have… another.” she continued, extending one of her arms upwards, revealing another black book; a book I knew very well. “Can we… trade? This was given to me after completing the torch mission on my own.”

On her own… There was a powerful sense of urgency in the way she spoke. She wanted—no, coveted this book, as if her life depended on it—and in return, I’d also get the same book that I needed. Win-win, right?

“I don’t mind… If you started with that, then I won’t feel as stupid as I am now…” scratching my head, I closed the cold spell book, “Sure, let’s trade.”

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She sighed, relieved. “Thank you…” Was it a smile that I saw? “Here…”

We traded, resulting in both of us acquiring a spell that suited us better. I knew very little about her, but my initial impressions of her were wrong, she was just… awkward around others; A trait that I had to admit I carried too.

“Ho, ho… What is this?” Maria’s voice cracked from a distance, “Gray… Are we interrupting something?”

Her cocky smile greeted me when I faced her, “Oh! Don’t tell me… did you find someone to fill our last slot?”

Phillip chuckled. “You found someone interesting, my friend! Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“No- this isn’t-“ my hands waved them to stop, but I struggled to find the right words to say, “We’re just trading stuff; she didn’t come here to join us.”

Sarah’s face didn’t show much of a reaction, all she did was watch our little back-and-forth with zero to no interest. Well, that was what I assumed; Who the hell knew what she was thinking with that face of hers?

And yet, what she said next surprised even me.

“Are you looking for another?” She said, intrigued. “I… could handle one orc on my own, but any more than that…” Her head dipped, “I’ve reached my limit here. Even with this new spell…” raising the blue book in her hand, she looked at it with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Maria and Phillip shared a glance, sensing an opportunity. Yeah, no shit, without a doubt we wanted her to come and join us, if she handled both the goblin mission and the one after alone; that meant she was more than just adequate. But, I couldn’t help but I was relying on others again, and not prevailing due to my own merits.

Again, the party’s interest superseded my insecurities; Our survival mattered more than my sense of pride. If her company would secure our future, why the hell would I refuse her help? No, Who am I to say no in the first place?

“A-Are you… saying you’re joining us?” Maria spoke, perplexed, her face in complete disbelief, “We were just messing around, you know? Uh…“

Her stricken gaze shifted to the side, asking for my help. I, in turn, directed that cry of help to Phillip, whose face showed that he was unaware of what was going on. He caught on to it soon after, smiling from ear to ear and giving a full thumbs up, “Sure!”

Sarah didn’t budge. There was no indication that she was happy, nor were there any signs of her being disappointed. None of us knew what she was thinking, not when her face never once showed any emotions. All she gave us was a nod, then she returned her attention to the book she held. Wait, are we… together now? Or what?

Maria displayed the same confused frown too, followed by Phillip’s shrug.

An icy mist enveloped Sarah’s figure, The spellbook that I gave her floated above her waist, its pages flipped until it found a spell that was suitable for her, and for a tiny moment, both of her eyelids twitched, as if she was looking at something she never expected to get. Was it good? Was it bad? Again, her emotions were impossible to read.

The book vanished, leaving a lingering chill where she stood. The similarities between both her chilly aura and the book’s frigid skin couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

Innate skill. That had to be it.

Finishing her business with the book, Sarah turned her attention to us, her eyes lit like snow, “Are we a party now?”

“Of course! Welcome!” Maria was the first who’d replied, welcoming her with a big warm hug. Then, she recoiled back, “Sheesh, you’re cold!”

I suppose we’d solved our party problem. Sarah Winters was in the top 10 spots, but… I didn’t remember how high up she was on the list. I believed it was…

“She’s number 2, Gray.”

The one who answered my thoughts was none other than Phillip. “That’s what you were wondering of, right? Your eyes looked quite intense there…”

Huh? Whoa, The second best? Granted, it was only during the aptitude test, and I’d bet that the leaderboards would’ve looked different if it was based on our strengths now, but still, she must’ve been crazy good to be just below Bruneheart, whose identity at this point remained unknown.

“Wow… did we… get lucky?” I couldn’t describe what I felt, but damn, it felt reassuring to have her on our side. “I don’t want to jinx it, but this is amazing…”

Yet, my heart ached in a way I couldn’t describe. It wasn’t jealousy or anything of that sort, in fact, I was happy to have her on our side, and yet… I felt so… inferior. Phillip had said it before; he never felt that I was a burden to him, and I was starting to believe it was true.

And now with her addition, what little role I had would diminish. No, stop. All this meant I had to work 10x harder.

I’ll prove myself.

Phillip seemed to have a knack for reading my feelings, somehow; He always read what I was thinking of, what I was worried about. “Don’t show me that look again, man. I told you.”

He sighed, “Look. I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t there with us-“ I watched his eyes return to Maria, who was having a problem maintaining a conversation with Sarah, “The both of you had been instrumental to our survival. And I won’t change this party, ever.”

I hurt him again, didn’t I? “Sorry… I didn’t mean to.” I turned my head up, looking at him in the eyes, “Thank you. I seem to have always disregarded how you feel.”

He smiled. What was I moaning about again? Oh, right, my insecurities. The best thing I could do was support them to the best of my abilities. Sure, My name would never be on that board even if I re-did this trial one million times, but I’d ensure that this party became the best with my support and help.

With Phillip as our tank — Eh… kind of — and Sarah as our… Uh, a second mage? Then my best position would be the second layer of defense, allowing both the archer and the better and more pleasant-looking of us to do her thing. That didn’t mean that I wouldn’t be of any use in terms of the damage aspect, I just had to shift my focus on making sure that they were both uninterrupted with their roles.

Looking up and flicking my will into the spell book, it opened, releasing a putrid bellow from each page that it flipped.

I hope I can get something to help everyone.

[Finding your spell…]

[Added rarity from synergy with your class]

[Added rarity from your innate skill.]

My eyes went wide; Now I knew why Sarah reacted the way that she did.

[Spell found.]

Death’s apparitions

Rarity: Epic | Affinity: Death | Tier : 0 - upgradeable.

Summon the souls of those kept in your compendium. Their attributes are reflected in their respective soul Quality. Upon death, the soul will return to your compendium, unable to be used or to be integrated for the next 24 hours.

Class requirement : Death-related class.

Spell requirement : Death’s compendium.

Cost : (Soul level * 2) mana per cast

Maximum summon limit : 5.

Well. I think I just found my answer.