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“Sis Aurora! You could’ve been a Scion?!” Stole exclaimed.

Aurora gave an uncharacteristic shrug, looking abashed. “Each year, the Vetilius House has their most promising cadets face off in exhibition matches. I was the top of my Cohort and Borealis was the top of his. So naturally, we put on an exhibition match.”

“Who emerged victoriousssss?” Skaris asked.

“If I won, I would have received the Vetilius name in full, as well as all the privileges that came with it.” Aurora said, looking at me.

I got what she talking about immediately. The knowledge of Aura would have been passed down to her, the racial trait for humans that the Turina Empire kept under wraps, allowing only their knights and nobles to use it.

“Regardless, it seems that there are preparations we must make.” Aurora said. “Mr. Lock, did Sir Zenom say how many people will be in the second Advance Party?”

I ignored how quick she was to change the topic. Knowing her personality, the battle could’ve gone either way. Thinking back on it too, Zenom probably had no idea about the latest addition to her Core composition. Considering that a lot none of us had been reassessed by the Adventurer’s Guild since the Fracture, we were likely being underestimated.

I wondered how many other parties were using the same tactic, keeping their true abilities under wraps.

“No. But since there’s five of us, I’m assuming there will be five.” I snapped my fingers. “Scratch that. Six. Zenom willll stick a healer with us. I’m not sure who, there wasn’t a healer in the room with us.”

Aurora shook her head. “Zenom Saintred is not one to send off his most promising adventurers on a mission by themselves. He will accompany you.”

Scion or not, I was glad we had at least one person who had the insider look at Turina Society and the related VIPs. She had all this insider information about the personality of the major players. Information like this could be used to get a step ahead of others when planning.

“Ok, so six. Six slots open for the second party.” I agreed.

“We mussst get onto it.”

“Huh? Why?” Stole was fiddling with her dagger again. She kept look at the door, a sure sign that the girl couldn’t focus. I ignored it for now.

“Treachery.” Skaris stated simply.

“If something happens to the advance party, the secondary party is in charge of rescuing them. Imagine the second party is composed of individuals from one party. They might prioritize their own member versus the others.” Kyrian explained when Stole looked confused.

“I meant backssssstabbing.”

“That is a distinct possibility as well, Mr. Skaris.”

I nodded in agreement. “By creating a party of all the leaders from the different parties, he’s practically guaranteed that the second party can’t be composed of a singular party. And now, everyone’s going to try and get on Zenom’s good side, trying to get on the second party.”

“He mussst have done this on purposssse.” Skaris pointed out.

“How?” Stole was a little confused here.

“He’s created a sort of competition. By having us competing with each other, it weakens us. Lessens the chance that we have a chance to try something behind his back.” Kyrian answered for her benefit this time.

“The Akka Xaluds often employed the same tactics.” Kyrian said, looking at Aurora.

“...Do you think he knows?” I asked Aurora.

Aurora held Kyrian’s stare for just a moment before turning to me. “Yes. I believe so. Zenom Saintred couldn’t have reached his level as a Holy Knight using martial prowess alone. I believe this is sufficient evidence to think that Zenom knows that the parties involved in this mission are not entirely what they seem.”

“But that would have been true for any party he chose. He wouldn’t trust adventurers, that’s not the way of the Chruch.” Kyrian added on. “It’s probably just a cautionary measure, more of a safeguard rather than active plans to work against us.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “Ok. Then let’s work under the assumption that Zenom knows. Any chance he’s lying about this Advance Party mission?”

“Zenom Saintred does not lie.” Aurora said with certainty.

“A Holy Knight would not do that.” Kyrian said at the same time.

Kyrian almost looked offended that she and he had the same thought.

“Zenom Saintred is the type to challenge someone to a duel. I think he’s telling the truth about this side-mission.” Kyrian said finally.

That didn’t make me feel better in the slightest. Now I had to worry about tip-toeing around Zenom and making sure he wouldn’t challenge me to a duel. “Ok. Someone like him, who do you think will choose as the sub party? It looks to me like he’s looking at sheer ability. If he’s looking at sheer ability…”

“He could pray.” Kyrian answered.

“There issss no way to look in the mindssss of men.” Skaris said wisely.

“I did tell him something.” I told them about my brief conversation with the others, my advice to put people that know each other together.

“He won’t do that, Mr. Lock. Not when he could keep us divided.”

I scratched my head. Nothing seemed to be working out the way I wanted. But perhaps there was some sway here.

“Ok then, we need to decide which one of you guys can go on that secondary party.” I declared. “At first light, I can go to Zenom and give a recommendation from one of us.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Of courssse, mysssself.” Skaris said smugly.

“Not so fast, Skaris.” Kyrian said. “We need to think hard about the worst case scenario.” Then he turned to me, “Lock, what’s the worst case scenario you could imagine?”

I didn’t even have to think hard. “The other adventurers stuck an alliance with each other, Arione included-”

“Ass-hole-rione.” Stole mended.

“-And they kill off Zenom. And I’m next. Or the island is just one huge monster stampede waiting to happen. Or it’s the home of a minor field boss. Or it’s island itself is some kind of lock-out dungeon, similar to Fracture and I’m stuck inside with them. Or it’s the base of the Bada Horde and their warchief, or one of their generals is there. Or-”

“Ok,” Kyrian pinched the bridge of his nose. “I did not think there were so many… possibilities.”

Skaris snorted. “Only Sssslaveborn could make ssssomething sssso ssssimple sssssound so deadly.”

I shrugged.

“But judging by the options, it’s clear what you need.” Kyrian nodded to Skaris. “Skaris, it should be you.”

I frowned. “Uh… Skaris?”

“I accsssept.”

“Not that, I meant that from the situations that I just listed, I should be bringing a Shielder with me.” I said in reply.

‘Or atleast Stole or you, Kyrian.’ I thought to myself privately. But Stole was too young and Kyrian wouldn’t be able to break me out of a dangerous situation –not by himself atleast. I needed someone who could shrug off some damage and get me out of there.

“That issss accssseptable.” Skaris answered again.

I ignored him. “Skaris and I would be two bladers. Variety is key here, the fact that I’m trapped means that what we need isn’t fire power. It’s either the durability of a Shielder or the utility of a Pioneer. But Stole’s not there yet. I think Aurora should be the one coming with me.”

Kyrian frowned in obvious discontent.

I’d never seen him really disagree with me before. The young mage was much too good natured for that, he sometimes gave a pained smile and just nodded along though, which guilt-tripped me pretty bad. But this time, he was frowning and outwardly expressing discontent with my decision making. The blonde mage looked at Aurora with a scowl then turned back to me.

Ah, so it was about Aurora. He was worried about her. This was why having romance in the same party wasn’t really a good idea, it swayed our emotions and affected our decision making. Still, now wasn’t the time to address it nor the time to reprimand him for it.

“Don’t worry.” I said to him, trying to get the meaning across. I put a little strength into the words, making sure he’d understand the message. “I’ll be fine.” By that, I meant that I’ll make sure nothing would happen to her.

He looked me in the eyes and relaxed somewhat. “Yes. It should be Aurora.”

Aurora just looked back and forth between us, looking worried.

“Ok then. I think that’s it for the meeting.”

Afterwards, we spoke of silly things. How bad the ship’s food was, what kind of drama was brewing with the other parties Finally, I got up to leave along with Kyrian and Skaris. Stole got up too.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I was going to hang out with Darwin for a bit.”

It wasn’t any of my business who Stole hung out with. But it did seem strange how fixated she seemed on the Priest. Either way, I couldn’t see any wrong coming out of it. I nodded sharply and went to my own room, leaving my party members to their own.

I slept lightly and at first light, headed towards Zenom’s room.

And someone else had the same thought as me.

Arione.

I saw his shadow right before I turned the corner, illuminated by the candles in the early morning darkness. He stalked forward with hurried steps and stopped when we met each other at the intersection. The elf wasn’t wearing his cowl today but when he saw me, hurried to put it back on. For a moment, the two of us stayed like that.

I grunted and walked past him.

I heard his footsteps right behind mine.

We walked for a minute in silence.

“Did you pay it?” I asked.

I sensed the surprise in his voice but the elf answered. “Yes.”

“Good.”

There was no need to define what I was talking about. He had that much sense atleast.

We climbed up the ladder and turned, heading towards the Captain’s quarters.

“...Who are you going to recommend?” Arione asked.

I turned and couldn’t help but sneer at his voice. I opened my mouth, about to say something harsh at him then stopped myself.

The last time I saw Arione, he had been a living engine of fiery death, burning orc civilians by the dozens. He had been a snake-tongued bastard who manipulated Clover into abandoning me. Against Arione, I definitely had the moral grounds and the right to hate him. Or so I thought.

He was a murderer and so was I. Those orc civilians, I didn’t know them well-enough to think they were innocent. They were still the remnants of the dying Samak Horde which had resorted to slavery. They had been my captors and masters, and in a corner of my heart I still couldn’t fully explain why I felt the need to do so much for the survivors. Either way, the point was that I couldn’t judge Arione on being a murderer.

He simply did what he had to survive. Just like I did, in the Scavenger’s Base.

More than that, I could see why Arione hated Players now. He said he had been in this world for roughly ten years, if I remembered correctly. Ten years of dealing with the Player’s Guild? Man… I spent one day in a locked room with Coum and I still shivered at the memory. Just what kind of things had he seen?

Also, Clover didn’t abandon me. That makes it sound like I begged her to stay.

No, she made her choice. And I made mine. It was as simple as that.

I’m not saying that Arione is one of the good guys, but I am saying I’m not sure what a good even is anymore. I sure as hell didn’t feel like a good guy a lot of times. This world was too harsh for that. The concept of justice and what’s right and wrong can be argued over when there’s peace. The delineation between the two becomes a blur in times of war and survival. For adventurers in MSS, what use was good and bad? It didn’t make you coin, nor did it make you stronger.

There’s no bad guys in this world that thinks they’re the bad guy. Hell, our own history tells us that enough. The winners write history, and no one wants something negative about them written down. Rule number one of warfare, demonize the enemy and angelicize yourself. As a general rule, it wasn’t good for adventurers to go around making enemies either. As vast as the world was, the more powerful you got, the smaller your circles got.

One day, I’d be in the same league as Arione and would have to see him time and time again. It wasn’t a satisfactory ending to my grudge with Arione and I don’t think it’s an ending at all. In my mind, it seemed more like a temporary truce.

Again, I’m not saying that I’m going to bring Arione flowers anytime soon.

But I could understand him, just a little, I think.

I still hated his fucking face though and thanked the gods that he wore his cowl.

“I’m going to recommend Aurora. My Shielder. You?” I asked.

“L’teya.”

Damn, that she was a good choice. A elf-barbarian that could double as a Shielder with some Cores? She could single handedly bring more than one person out.

There was also another advantage to getting this information out of Arione. Now, when we went to Zenom recommending two shielders, we could have an explanation ready.

“I could switch to Maria, if-”

“Oh shut it with the submissive puppy act.” I snapped, annoyed already. “Just recommend to Zenom that the back-up party might need two shielders, since their whole role is to bring us out of danger. Besides, L’teya is more of a Bruiser than a shielder anyways.”

He just nodded.

“What the hell have you been doing? She doesn’t even have her main Cores set up yet.” I snapped at him some more, walking. “If she was with me-”

“Clover has been keeping us busy.” He said, sounding like a student giving his teacher an excuse for why he was tardy.

“Oh shut it. Skaris used to be weaker than her, you know? He lost to her in a spar. I bet he could take her now.”

For the first time, his cowl turned sideways and looked directly at me, the elf’s body turning deathly still.

I stopped as well, staring right back at him.

“Lety wouldn’t lose.”

And for the first time, he actually sounded like the leader of a party. There had been pride behind those words, the pride of a Gamer and a Party Leader who was in charge of keeping his party members strong.

But I had my own party too, and I fucking raised Skaris myself. I took care of his Cores from day one. There was no way that a Blader I raised with my own hands was going to lose out to this half-rate mod-user’s build for L’teya. I didn’t care how talented she was in combat, Skaris could match her blade for blade and more. For a few more seconds, the moment simmered between us.

“We’ll see about that.” I answered and turned on my heel, entering Zenom’s quarters.

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By the afternoon, all the parties had been set.

Zenom joined us in the advance party as Aurora predicted.

The back-up party was a potpourri of people. Aurora Vetilian, the Bastard of the Vetilius house stood next to L’teya, the Elf Barbarian from the Delirious jungle. Next to them stood the most unlikely Pathfinder I’d ever seen; Astelion Giantler. He looked more like a Shielder with the huge bulging muscles, dwarfing some of the orcs I remembered. But apparently he was a Pathfinder.

Next to them was a human by the name of Venine Akka Xalan. She had orange hair tied in braided pig-tails, but my eyes were drawn to the black witch’s hat and the black robe. She wore large round-framed glasses and freckles on her face, the typical image of a shy nerdy witch. But she was a Mage, not a Witch. Finally, one of the priests rounded out the party.

I watched the boats being loaded. We would be heading out on one of the auxiliary boats used for logistics. First the boat had been emptied of everything, except the food. Now they were loading ropes and potions, things that we might need on this unplanned expedition.

“We will be sailing for two days, full speed and no rest. We will be taking watches in groups of two, five shifts in total.”

I listened, donning my armor and putting my sword on.

“Why’re you putting your armor on already, Slaveborn?”

L’teya walked over, plopping down.

As greetings went, it was as nonchalant as it could be. But then again, L’teya wasn’t the type to think too much about relationships and the underlying difficulties. Hell, as far as I knew, she might not think too much about being in Arione’s party in the first place. Maybe our friendship meant less to her than I thought. Clover was the sentimental kind, L’teya I couldn’t imagine saying anything except ‘oh well’ after our unplanned farewell.

“It’s the open seas.” I replied. “You saw what happened before. It might look empty, but we’re basically in the middle of a huge dungeon. The water hides all the monsters and a lot of the flying ones have developed cloaking abilities to protect themselves from aquatic monsters that could leap out at them.”

She just nodded eagerly.

As adventures we didn’t really have the luxury of proper decency. A lot of things happened out in the field. It wasn’t weird to see someone naked. Regardless, despite my talk about treating this like a dungeon, I turned around to put on my leggings. I was still from the twenty-first century after all, and that’s the age of decency. I’m a gentleman.

“Your briefs have a hole in them.” Lety pointed out kindly.

…Gentleman my ass and fuck the twenty first century.

“Hark!” One of the Sailors cried out.

As I sailed away on the boat, I looked back seeing my party; Kyrian watching solemnly with his staff. Skaris looking bored and next to him Stole, chatting eagerly with the priest named Darwin.

I turned, pushing my thoughts of them aside.

In front of me were Zenom the fanatic Holy Knight who would execute me at the slightest wrong. Not to mention both him and Borealis were from Turina, they definitely didn’t like the fact that a Slave like me was running around using Aura. Then there was Arione…. And Delas.

Gods, what had I gotten myself into?

Still, I couldn’t help but be excited.

Ahead of me lay an unknown island with unknown monsters. For me, that wasn’t just danger.

It was a chance to get stronger.

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