Arthur sat with Bjorn and Jethro as they ate dinner inside a tent. Bjorn didn't have any words as he ate. Jethro looked like he was exhausted.
A text from Shane came in, Arthur looked at it briefly and continued to eat. Bjorn stood up to leave, but the lord of Camelot held him back.
"Jethro, get some rest. If you can't move in the morning, take the day off and report to Bjorn the next day," commanded Arthur as he watched the pudgy former clerk leaving the tent.
"Bjorn, Shane gave me a list of adventurers and the two labyrinth locations that the GM has reported to have skeletons and zombies. I want your input on the adventurers, I want to weed out undesirables," said the young man as he handed his phone to Bjorn.
Bjorn looked over the list and tapped his remarks into the file so that his leader could review them later.
Bjorn stopped and then looked at one adventurer's name. "Arthur, would you consider folding groups in?"
The young leader looked up, "How many in the group? And why would this group have you suggesting them?"
"The group has ten adventurers, I've raided with them before. All of them are competent and I haven't heard anything bad from them. The group's name is The Templar's Oath."
"Make a list, I'll have Shane do a background check on all of them."
The phone in Bjorn's hand started to make a repetitive sound alert that was similar to an Amber alert but used a different tone. An echo came from Bjorn's phone. Bjorn handed Arthur's phone back and looked at his. It was a GM priority alert.
"This is a priority three emergency. Rank C and higher are required to assist. The mission is an outbreak of the undead. The raid that went into the labyrinth resulted in major casualties. The unliving decided to come out of their lair causing havoc. The GM has already quarantined the nearby settlements and has created a barrier to prevent the spread, but we need all of you to help eradicate the infestation. Those marked with medical leave or otherwise occupied are exempted from roll call. Failure to assist will incur a three-month suspension from GM benefits. Sign in with the GM Registry app within 24 hours. The Mission is timed for 72 hours starting from the beginning of this message."
"Bjorn go out there and confirm how many are ranked C and above among us here. And have someone send Jethro over," ordered Arthur.
"Right away Sir."
Jethro groaned as he returned to the tent.
"Jethro, many of the personnel will need to go on the emergency mission. And since the rest of my infrastructure isn't ready, you are taking over the administration of the camp here. Bjorn gave you the basics. There is a migration of Morlocks led by Danistrae to the labyrinth sometime tonight before the next morning. Hold the fort until the mission is over." Arthur waited as Jethro asked some questions that he needed clarification.
Arthur went out to see people assembling to respond to the call. He was heading there when he stopped and went to the gate statue.
"Not sure if you will respond but I need to know. Are keys found inside the labyrinth?"
The statue's head moved to look at Arthur, "If it has not been found, they will be in the labyrinth. If it has been found, whoever has it will be where the key would be. I understand you are going on a mission against the undead. Do not underestimate them. Skeletons and zombies are foot soldiers. It's the leaders that you should be wary of. Good luck Guardian." The statue becomes inanimate again.
Arthur walked closer and patted the shoulder of the statue, "Thanks, I appreciate that you are willing to respond when you don't need to. Since I don't think you have a name, I'm calling you Rodin unless you tell me otherwise." The leader of Camelot turned around and headed for the assembly. The statue's lips briefly curl up into a smile then back to its emotionless features.
Bjorn waited for Arthur to arrive and reported, "We have 28 people including the two of us that are ranked C and higher. Shane informed me there are another 12 that will be en route to the outbreak. Valkyrie is leading Argent, and Moonglow and will meet us there."
"Listen up, we are untested as a group. We have just started to form our ranks. Because of this mission, people will begin to put their eyes on us. A lot of you are Sentinels and have been used to hiding in the shadows. I have been hiding for most of my adventuring life until the last three weeks or so. When you came under my rule, you can hide your former affiliation and proudly name yourself as part of Camelot. You all represent Camelot. I... we are coming out of the shadows together. Let's go out there and show them what we are made of."
The group cheered at the pep talk and divided up to get into cars.
"I'm leaving my bike here and riding with you," Bjorn said as he picked up a couple of bulging backpacks.
"Sure, I guess arriving in a Ferarri will add more of a spotlight on me," said Arthur as they walked to the car. The leader gazed at the plate, "Who the fuck changed my plate?"
"That would be Valkyrie's orders," smirked the Viking.
Arthur shook his head and got in the car, he started it and peeled off towards the mission location. The custom license plate showed the word CAMELOT.
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One of the gathering areas had already over two hundred adventurers, mostly in groupings of four to ten.
Camelot had a group of forty and that didn't count the friends who were not part of a group.
"Love, I can see that something is bothering you. Don't be surprised, I am talking to you through our headpieces. You can think your response and I'm on your left coming up with Argent and Moonglow."
Arthur looked over to admire Valkyrie's stride and noticed he wasn't the only pair of eyes, "It looks like you have a big fan club. And I was just looking at the makeup of the members, does the GM not register non-humans? Does that mean that only humans can raid a GM-sanctioned labyrinth?"
"Yes the Veiled do not register with the GM, they have their database which differs from ours. You'll need to ask Dani, I haven't looked into it much."
Shane walked up with two assistants carrying heavy backpacks. She bounced over with her signature purple hair hidden by a colorful head scarf. She wore an outfit that looked like a cross between a scuba outfit and textured like a superhero costume. "Hiya boss, I took the liberty to make some potions that I'm handing out to our group. They are healing potions, they can handle minor injuries but major ones will require our healers. This will help them if they get separated from our healers. Take two," she said as she distributed it to the immediate leadership group. "I'll come back before we go in. I intend to be in your group so I can see what you can do... for science." She grinned and winked as she walked off. The assistants hurried after her fast pace.
"My love, I think the scientist might have drank a love potion," whispered Valkyrie huskily into Arthur's ear.
"How so? I don't see any sign."
"We are the first one she distributed to, and a woman knows the look that another woman gives. At the very least she is interested even if she hides it under scientific research," she chuckled.
Arthur checks his electric gear. He needed to remember to use only the skills that were marked in the GM system. "Amy, try to remind me to focus on more electric skills so that I don't reveal what I can do to the GM. I am starting to feel like there is something wrong with the GM system when they don't pull in the help of the non-humans when the threat affects all of us."
"I have been wondering why there were no non-humans listed in the GM database."
"Yeah, and I recall at Roulette that the entries for Dani and the orc didn't have a rank. Just a blurb of what skills they know and some background info," paused Arthur as he stared at his bow.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you may proceed to enter the hunting grounds. If you are seriously injured, you can make your way out of the hunting grounds and the GM has set up a field triage for the wounded. The objective is to clear the area outside of the labyrinth of any sign of the outbreak. A secondary objective is to push them back into the labyrinth and clear as many of them as you can. This is to ensure the GM ritualists can close the labyrinth safely. Happy hunting." came the loudspeaker announcement.
Everyone around Arthur looked over as if waiting for him to give the order. Arthur looked at the people and noticed there were around twenty or so who were not part of the group. He stood up and waved for everyone's attention. "Shane the colorful headscarfed dark skin scientist is walking around handing out potions. When she is done, she will come back to me and we can begin entering. For those of you who don't know our group, this is Camelot. If you follow us, please take our lead. We go in together, we come out together. If you are not part of a group, this would be a good way for you to see how we work. We will consider your application after this mission is over based on how you perform. Remember when we get in, don't go solo. We are stronger together."
The listening people nodded and some excitedly talked to their friends who were already in to ask how to apply.
"Good call love, this will give them incentive to apply and give us a chance to observe them. You are growing in your leadership."
"A step at a time, a memory at a time, an experience at a time," muttered Arthur as he stared into the hunting grounds.
Arthur checked in on Argent and Moonglow. Both of them have been practicing with their new equipment and are happy to announce that they got the hang of the new things that they can do. Argent was acting like a kid about to go to Disneyland. He couldn't wait to defeat the undead. Moonglow was more reserved but exuded a confident smile. She revealed that she found something cool about the necklace that she wanted to try but only when it's dire. She didn't want to waste the chance on a minor issue.
Shane returned and the two assistants carted a big wooden box that was easily taller than the dark-skinned woman. The wooden box was opened and an exoskeleton suit was in the box. Shane grinned and climbed in with the help of her assistants. She powered up the suit and performed a Saturday night live dance move just to show off, a move that made the other members of Camelot laugh.
"Ready?" Shane gave a giant thumbs up.
"Camelot, move out!"
The group began their march into the hunting grounds.
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"Which group is that? The one with a young lad leading that is wearing an ouroboros tabard," asked a hooked-nosed woman in an expensive leather chair.
A guy tapped on a touch screen to select the grouping and the screen flashed the group name on the lower right. "Camelot."
"It appears to be a new group but has gotten a sizable start with ranked C and above members. Did any of the groups decide to merge?"
"The core leadership were individual adventurers and two from Valhalla. The rest of the group appears to have dual group identities. Sentinel members are spotted in Camelot. The remaining are friends of members."
"They have a mech with them, if I am right that is Shane. Keep a close eye on them, and get a few drones to be on them at all times. I need to know what abilities and skills they possess."
The man tapped a few buttons on the screen and several more drones left from the GM area into the hunting grounds.
"Is there anything else you need Councilwoman Helena," asked the man.
"You are dismissed," she tells the man.
The man closed the door and took a breath of relief. He felt uneasy working with Helena for the past two years, before that she was less intense.
Helena glanced at the door before opening a lead-shielded box with her gloved hands. With the lid open, she removed the leather glove to reveal a mummified-looking hand and grasped a fist-sized gray stone. She made a mental note to order more of this rock from the humans. They consider it dangerous and take a lot of precautions to handle it. She didn't need to it gave her sustenance over what she could gain from humans. The body she is wearing wouldn't last as long if she wasn't using Uranium-238. The bone wrapped in skin clenched the rock and she absorbed the energy from it. She noted that the wild mana matrix was weakening.
With the other gloved hand, she punched on the computer and placed a sizable order of the radioactive rock for Project: Umbra. She released the rock and closed the lid. She picked up the leather glove and put it back on her withered hand as she watched the screen her eyes focused on the young leader.
She typed in a message into a chat window. "Release the big surprises."
"How many?" came the reply.
"All of them."