Isabella’s declaration ended and the volunteers were given free reign to head towards the Vanguard building and socialize with one another. In the span of the walk, Lysa kept Jose steady as he walked. Jose held back from the others and watched clumps of volunteers coagulate into groups, paying attention to the numbers in their party and the airs the people in their party gave. A thin film of soul covered his vision, allowing him to inspect his marks with greater detail.

“Hey, Jose,” His concentration was broken as he saw Carmina run at him with Matteo in tow, “We’re forming a team, right?”

“Give him a minute, Carmina. He’s putting our intel to use.” Lysa gave Jose a thumbs up and he shook his head, going back to paying attention to the crowd. The group he was keen to observe and the easiest to observe by virtue of the target's size, was the farm hand receiving open support from Isabella. They were built like a freighting machine, about the size of the saplings manicured on the green patches within the walkway. He was surrounded by opportunistic inquirers looking to add his prodigious size to their squad. There was one other person around the farmhand that looked to be a companion of sorts and whether they knew each other through Isabella’s endorsement or through other circumstances wasn’t apparent to him yet.

“Alright, I think I’ve gleaned what I can from here. Hey, Carmina, Matteo. How were things on your end?” Jose closed his eyes and rubbed away the faint pain creeping up from prolonged use.

“Not much.” Matteo softly responded.

Carmina added, “Breakin’ bread with this lot’s going to be harder than it was with the two of you. These folk have already started formin’ their groups since before this event so this additional time’s just for sizing up the opposition.”

“Speaking of groups and opposition, Jose and I cut down our list of suspects from twenty six to sixteen.” Lysa pulled out her journal and passed it to Carmina. The woman voraciously consumed the list before handing back the device.

“Should have expected a bunch of Archivists to be good with info gathering. Makes me feel insecure ‘bout my own methods.” Carmina laughed while rubbing the back of her head. “I’ve got a plan in mind for what we do next but I’d like some input from the two of you before we push. We locked eyes, Jose, so I’m sure you’ve got that devilish noggin up to something.”

Jose took a deep breath, the pain behind his eyes subsiding into a dull headache. “We need to recruit a fifth person before we start caring about anything else and we need to establish our roles now. And the person we’re recruiting from should be from within the group of ten that are least likely to be working with Isabella.” Lysa furrowed her brows at his assessment.

“That group of ten’s actually two groups of five so unless you plan to split them apart, I don’t know how you-”

“That’s what Matteo is for. If he’s considered a shoe in, we’re likely to get offers from independent volunteers and we don’t have the time to vet their backgrounds, yeah? Sure, those groups are already formed, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll win against the group with the only Arcanist and a favored winner.” Jose interjected attempting to assuage her fears before they started. Really, what he was asking for was a lot more difficult than he was suggesting considering the shared connection in those groups tying them closer to one another than his band of strangers but the benefits were worth the effort.

One of the rules he was keeping in mind was the condition for victory. Only one group was guaranteed a spot on the boat, meaning the remaining five spots were on offer. It favored Isabella’s band of traitors because even if they lost, they could get someone on the boat through bartering for the remaining five positions. It also meant that they could barter with already safe options to give their allies the remaining seats if they won and vice versa; guarantee spots for themselves if their allies won.

“I see the route of thought you’re travelling through.” Carmina nodded in agreement. “Before we can think of having the elder shove it, we’ve got to get our asses in those seats.”

Before their conversation could continue they arrived at the Vanguard building with all of its splendor. There were fences erected around the entrance to keep away the crowds of citizens looking to touch a volunteer or break their way into the private showing of the third event.

His headache compounded with the closeness of the cheers and the chaos of their messages. Lysa pressed her hand on his shoulder and steadied him.

“Hey, don’t tip over. We still need you for the final stretch.” Lysa gave him a shit eating grin and he couldn’t help but reciprocate. With the guidance of the Vanguard soldiers around the perimeter, the volunteers were led into the atrium of the building.

“Further down is the training grounds where the third event will take place. We will gather you all and enter the grounds as a unit so contain your socialization to this room or outside. Your team formation must be declared before you can enter into the grounds. If you are unfamiliar with team compositions, a pamphlet was created by us Vanguardians to give you the names of common roles in a unit and their expected task. The significance of the role you play in your team will be made apparent when the event begins. If you do not have a team formed by the start of the event, you will be automatically disqualified. Good luck.” A nameless Vanguardian soldier read out the rules in an uninterested manner before walking off.

“Jose!” He turned towards the call and was immediately held tight in the loving embrace of his partner. Emma kept him held for a long slice of time, the two sharing a passionate, if brief, kiss. She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, “I’m so proud of you. It’s been hard to concentrate on my work when you’re out there showing the world you’ve got what it takes.”

His cheeks reddened and the vice around his temple and behind his eyes were softened with the warm love and pride radiating from him. “I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you. Thank you for pushing me as hard as you did.” Jose pulled his head back and kissed her forehead. “I love you so much.”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Carmina cleared her throat. The siblings were a mix of surprised and impatient with the displays of affection. Lysa was too busy reveling in her own bubble of adoration with her wife and kid, passionately swinging around the room like no one else was around.

Emma smiled at Jose before pulling away, turning her attention to Carmina, “I see you’ve been making friends too. Hello,” Emma extended her hand towards the siblings, “My name is Emma. Jose is my husband and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Carmina grabbed her hand firmly and gave it a good shake, “Didn’t think he had it in him to reel such a fine fish but here you are in the flesh. The pleasure is mine, miss.” Carmina gave Emma’s hand a peck and she giggled. Jose didn’t react. It didn’t bother him to be needled about how lucky he was that a woman like her had ended up with a guy like him; he was grateful every day to the dead gods that Emma was in his life in the time that they’d met one another and would always be grateful to that luck. If Carmina was surprised not to see him bristle, she didn’t show it.

“Such a charmer this one,” Emma playfully elbowed Jose’s side, “I’m surprised you two are getting on as well as you are. Jose’s a pretty reserved man and you scream anything but.”

“Well Jose and I are kindred spirits around a similar goal so we’ve set aside our differences and are working together. It helps that he’s such a dependable man.”

Matteo sighed and gave Carmina a look to get on with things.

Jose turned to Emma, “Love, I really appreciate you coming over. Right now we’re doing some team building and are on a time limit so I’ll get back to you when I win this thing?”

“Oh? Okay, well if that’s the case, I’ll have to free Lysa from Nora’s grip. Give me a moment and I’ll leave you to your discussions. Good luck, mi amor.” Emma gave Jose a kiss on the cheek before ripping Nora from Lysa’s hands and dragging her towards another section of the building. Ollie followed her mother who was now cross armed and upset that the time with her wife was cut short.

“What was that for?” Lysa yelled at Jose, punching his shoulder hard enough for him to feel something crack into place.

“Ow! We’re kind of on a time limit you fucking brute.” Jose lashed back as he rubbed the soreness from his shoulder away. He expected Lysa to snap back with a comment of her own but her face paled and her muscles became stiff. “A-are you okay, Lysa? You know I’m just overexaggerating. You didn’t really hurt me or anyth-”

“No, no, you’re fine. It’s fine. You were just trying to be funny. It’s okay.”

Was it something he said?

“Hey, pay attention, you two. Matteo has something to say.” Carmina gathered their attention and left the floor for Matteo to speak.

“We should choose our roles before we go talk to people.” Matteo said. Jose and Lysa waited for further elaboration but his expression suggested he was satisfied with his statement.

“I agree. It’d blow to add someone onto the team that’s just doubling up on a role we already have. Speaking of, have either of you taken a look at the roles at all? Carmina asked.

“No need on my end. My partner works as a soldier for the Vanguard and I’ve taken to reading up on her job from time to time.” The title of the book he was trying to recall evaded him. If they had the time, he’d run off back to his house and pluck it from the shelf but his hands were tied.

“So, how are we splitting ourselves up?” Carmina gave Jose the floor to think of their composition.

“Matteo seems apt for the Bulwark role. I haven’t seen Matteo in action at all but just from his size alone, I think he embodies the defensive necessities the role demands. Lysa is more offensively oriented and would be more comfortable in the Lancer role. She’ll be on the front lines picking off weaker targets so the Bulwark can focus on a target that needs to be reigned in. Carmina, you mentioned earlier when we met that you’re keen to be a Scout and I don’t disagree. So long as you’re capable of acquiring information without being spotted and strong enough to handle your own if you are, I don’t think it’d be a problem to throw you into that role. That leaves me taking up the Sapper role. It’s the position that utilizes the most items and allows me to support the rest of the group without putting myself in harm's way.” Discovering back then that Sapper’s were a role standard in most Vanguard teams alleviated a lot of the discomfort he felt with being a capable adventurer. If he couldn’t depend wholeheartedly on his Soul and the necessary soul techniques, he’d supplement his skills with items and push on.

Carmina smiled, agreeing with his assessment, “Which means the only position that we’re missing for a solid core is a Medic.”

“Yeah…” Jose admitted with reluctance. Going over the list of volunteers in his mind, there were few with a background or skill set matching the role they needed to fill. Those that did have the prerequisites were dominated by a single faction. He looked over to the group that Izirrary governed and saw swarms of other volunteers vying for her skills and the skills of her alchemist team. He noted that Vallejo’s crew and the ragtag group forming around the Damiello were uninterested in throwing their weight around the mess surrounding Izirrary.

“My plan is simple. Everyone marks someone they’d like to pick for the expedition team when we win this thing. Jose is going to go over and sweet talk his way into one of her subordinates and everything should resolve itself by that point.” Carmina gave the group a self-assured smile.

“Why is the team grouch going over to play nice with her and her lot? Shouldn’t we get someone like you to do it?” Lysa pointed out.

“Originally, yeah, I was considering it. But that girl’s been stealing glances of our resident casanova here since the event was announced.” Carmina lightly jabbed her elbow into Jose’s side repeatedly while he shrunk at the embarrassment.

“That’s weird. You two don’t know each other, do you? Lysa asked Jose.

“No. I hate to admit that I’m curious about why she has an eye on me and I can only think of one reason why.” Jose replied, instinctively grabbing the Grimoire on his side.

“So we’re in agreement that you’re gonna go talk to her while the rest of us do some preliminary snoopin’.” Carmina slapped his back in a reassuring manner but all Jose could feel in the pit of his stomach was dread and curiosity.

After discussing how long they’d take to survey the area and agreeing to come back to their corner of the atrium, the rest of his group split off into different directions and mingled with the volunteers.

Jose took a deep breath and made a beeline towards Izirrary and her party. Her lizard familiar hissed at the mass of bodies surrounding its master, creating a space where she could lock eyes with Jose.

She gave him a bemused smile and gestured him forward, “Good afternoon, Archivist. You and I have something to discuss.”