As the last person leaves the room, escorted by Laxreal, we all discuss in depth who should be part of the party.
"There weren't that many mages that were here for this. The only two I saw come in were Gibnic and Oria," Shadow states off-handedly.
"It makes sense that there wouldn't be that many since they know Drake can be a damage dealer and a healer. They wouldn't think that they would be necessary." Draemish responds.
"That doesssn't make it any lesss of a potential for them to be a part of the party."
"Before delving too far into the nitty-gritty of who we should offer a place, why don't we ask Drake what sort of party make-up he wants," Laxreal says as he walks back into the room.
"Thank you, Laxreal. From what we have seen today, I can get a general gauge as to who we will be working with. My ideal party setup would be at least one front liner, another melee fighter, a physical ranged fighter, and a magician."
There are nods of agreement from Laxreal and Draemish but confusion from Vranjaya and Shadow. "Why that setup?" He asks.
"With the option for a ranged physical party member, we would have an option for those fights that ranged magic isn't a final option. Having another mage never hurts; depending on how they advance in their spells, it would make what they develop fascinating. Having one melee fighter outside the front liner gives backup in case something happens to them and they must take the fallout. This can be a pro and a con since the front liner might become incapacitated, and then the melee fighter will have to deal with the damage from what they are attacking."
"What you are describing is a very similar setup we did back in our world," Draemish gestures to Laxreal and herself. "If you proceed down that route, it will give you flexibility in many situations."
"Hearing the well-thought-out answer, Shadow nods in understanding, "Should we be doing something like this for all the parties that leave the settlement then?"
"I don't think that is necessary. Those people leaving the settlement understand the risks of joining a smaller group. The reason we are building a particular party for Drake is because, at this point, he is the only magical healer in the entire settlement. I don't believe we have the people with the skill necessary to enforce something like that." Laxreal says.
"SSSo, ssshall we ssstart to talk about who ssshould be a part of Drake'sss party?"
Everyone else nods, and we start discussing, "I think we should discuss the mage position since only two people came. Gibnic and Oria," Laxreal starts. "It was pretty average what he hoped to do, but I can see why he would be useful. He can deploy several formations during combat and rest periods, thanks to his being a formation master. This gives more credence since he has leveled up his profession to level 10. The only downside is that his mage class has fallen behind, almost like Drake, though it is not as bad with it being level 6. On the other hand, I don't think that Oria was expecting to be picked. From a general understanding, it appears that he was coming to give Drake some backing. So, let's remove him as an option."
There is a round of agreement from everyone in the room before we discuss further about Gibnic.
"With hisss professsion, it could alssso work well with Drake'sss abilitiesss. Also, Gibnic seemsss to be working on hisss mage classs abilitiesss and not the levelsss. There have been timesss that I have ssseen him at the mage tower casssting hisss ssspellsss, and they ssseem to be quite advanccced."
"He has been doing a great job. I can see how he was a successful mage back home." Laxreal agrees.
"My thoughts exactly. Shall we consider the magical ranged spot filled?" I ask.
With a round of agreement about Gibnic joining the party, we move on to the next position. "Next, I think we should focus on the melee positions."
"Should we consider trying to keep the different worlds having at least one representative in the party as well since we don't want to appear to be biased towards one or another?" Shadow asks.
"That was the plan," I answer quickly.
"There will be a slight imbalance with you and one other party member being from the same world, but I think I have a way to get around that since there were only a couple of people that came from your world, to begin with," Draemish says.
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"And what is your thought?" I asked.
"Easy, just let your sister be your frontline. While that means you two have taken the healing and front-line position, there is a familial bond that they know you won't leave your sister behind. With that, there is security in that knowledge," she answers.
"That isss fair in my booksss," Vranjaya agrees.
"Same with me," Shadow nods.
"Ok, who would be best for a melee position?" I ask.
Of the available options are four warriors and two melee-focused hunters. One of the hunters is Strauvana, and the other is a newly summoned individual from Usa'Nov, the same world Gibnic is from. So we can eliminate that one hunter, while the four warriors are a mix from Thelatera, Laxreal, and Draemish's world, and Troberia, Uxa's world.
"I think we should focus on someone more focused on agility than strength for this position," Draemish says.
"While that isss one option, why don't we talk about the warriorsss firssst. There were four of them." Vranjaya interjects.
Looking at Draemish, I see a flicker of discontent. That is when I started to think a bit more about why Draemish would want Strauvana to be a more permanent part of my party. It doesn't take long to remember that both surnames are the same: Void. Trying to figure out why she would want someone from her family involved in the party is almost the same as having my sister be the frontline fighter. It also does help to know that Strauvana was trained to be a tracker and scout.
"There is one question that I have for you, Draemish. What exactly was Strauvana trained in?"
"Well, as part of my family, she was trained in multiple fields of scouting and tracking. However, there are some things that you should know. She is also trained to be more...underhanded if the need arises," she answers in an ambiguous tone.
"Alright, before we choose her as the candidate, let's discuss some others," Shadow interjects before a fight starts between Vranjaya and Draemish since I can see Vranjaya beginning to rear up.
"Thanksss, Ssshadow. From the warriorsss, I would like to remove thosssse lower than level 5."
"That isn't a bad idea," Shadow states flatly.
Trying to remember all those lower than level 5, it takes only a second before I can think of the two individuals who meet those requirements, both of whom are from Troberia. I'm sighing since it removed the people from Thelatera, but I don't let that get to me since I know there are more who were interviewed, and they were mostly hunters.
"Of the two, which one appealed the most to everyone?" Laxreal asks.
We all take a second to think over the two interviewed people. One was a Tengu, like Uxa, while the other was a Naga. Of the two, I felt that the Naga was a better option. Those thoughts are because I know the Tengu had a hard time on the land, while from what I know, the Naga were having a bit of an easier time since they were more focused on the shorelines instead of inland. This led the Naga interviewee to have a higher baseline in combat knowledge with just a little less experience when it comes to combat experience. At the same time, it was reversed for the Tengu.
I started the next part of the conversation without wanting to second-guess myself. "With the two candidates, I think the gentleman Azzar is better in combat theory. While Bokei has combat experience, he is more of a desperate measure fighter due to his experience with the corruption in his land."
"That isss an assstute obssservation, and I would have to agree with you on your judgment. However, I wouldn't dissscount the Tengu of my world. They have quite the experienccce with fighting in inopportune ssscenariosss."
"Both are good options if we are looking for someone with a strength style since the Naga have greater strength than most of the undead, and the Tengu have the advantage of flight. But even after thinking about both options, I still think that having Strauvana as the melee candidate is the best option." Draemish says smugly.
I do not want to start an argument between the two women, so I think it over again. Then it hits me: we can pick from another couple of people for the ranged position. I think this would work better for Vranjaya than trying to get a melee fighter.
"Why don't we do this then, I know Strauvana since she has been with us longer than the other two. What I would like to have for our ranged option is Muiress. That would give us a solid group of people, and they are all people I know as well, other than Gibnic, but for the most part, this is a solid group." I give a compromise for the situation that we are in.
When Vranjaya hears that Muiress is the person I would like to have in the group, she doesn't put up much more of an opposition. Shadow is The only person who isn't fully happy that they don't have anyone related or have some connection other than because they are from the same world.
Vranjaya quickly jumped on the idea, "I agree with what you have sssaid, Drake. Pleassse take Muiress as part of your team!" She is practically bouncing with the knowledge that she might be able to see him more when we have party meetings.
Nodding along with the thought, Draemish add, "That is probably for the best; it gives us a great scout, but also someone that has the enchanting profession with you, so you can talk about it more often and probably progress further in your enchanting."
With an overall promising situation, we all agree with the options that we have picked. Once the selection has been finalized, a notification appears.
- Lord's Party:
Front liner: Xelyphe
Melee Damage: Strauvana
Ranged Physical Damage: Muiress
Ranged Magical Damage: Gibnic
Healer/Support: Drake -
Interesting, I think to myself. This will hopefully be fun.