The sheets of rain slowly eased up, but it did little to improve the mood. With one foot in front of the other, the group trooped back across the grassland, barely noticing when their foot sloshed into puddles.

The air above the Order Ducis camp was heavy as their party returned from what should have been a routine Raid Boss clear. They were covered with so much mud that not even the bitter tears and sweat couldn’t wash it away. The rain was finally starting to make a dent in it, but the group moved with a palpable weight that seemed to even turn the persistent rain aside.

For a brief second, Vye held the gaze of Valor. Then they both looked back toward the ground. Vye cradled her throbbing left hand against her chest. With a shrug of his shoulders, Valor heaved his burden across his back so it was easier to bear the weight. Both continued their slow slog forward, with the rest of the Order Ducis’ chosen ones behind them. All of the heads were lowered in failure.

It was supposed to be so easy, Vye thought bleakly. A victory lap. We, the ten that were chosen to be allowed into the Order Ducis. So why-

But another cold rod of pain slid from her hand up her arm and Vye could only press her eyes closed and wait for the agony to pass. She hadn’t meant to rely so much on the physical ritual that had been inscribed to her arm, but it had been reflex. When the accident had happened, Vye’s body reacted before her mind could truly understand what was happening; she had activated her Reject ritual instinctively. And with more power than she had ever felt in the past.

It had still failed, of course. Because she had run up against the one force that could never truly be rejected.

Just avoided.

There was a light drizzle hitting them when they arrived at the edge of the Order Ducis training ground and found Naffur, Ajax, and Madelyn waiting for them. And honestly, Vye might not have noticed that it was still raining if Naffur’s hair hadn’t been plastered to his skull, clearly a result from waiting out in the rain for them to arrive.

He looks so young, Vye thought numbly as she looked at the nominal leader of the Order Ducis while Randidly was away.

Still, Naffur’s face was firm. Even if he was young, he had already held this role for a while. He glanced from Vye and then to Valor, then scanned the other seven faces behind them. “...let me see the body.”

With a grimace on his face, Valor heaved his shoulders and brought the body around. Obviously his Stats made this an easy task, but sometimes weight didn’t come from physical mass. It came from memories of almost ten months working and training together, being pushed to the limits of their Endurance. Sweat and blood mixing, all working toward the common goal.

All to become… heroes. Or to follow the Path of one who they all believed to be a hero.

Vye couldn’t take her eyes away from Valor’s face as he lowered the body to the ground in front of Naffur. And I bet Valor is thinking the same thing as me. After seeing him go like this… that this man was much closer to being a hero than either of us. If either of us had been worthy of that title… we would have saved him.

Which means we are unworthy.

Naffur looked sadly down at the peaceful face of Aldo and could only sigh.

It was supposed to be the final, and largely ceremonial, mission for the ten individuals selected to enter into the Order Ducis. One last clearing of a Raid Bosses base. Everyone involved knew that the Raid Bosses were becoming increasingly unpredictable as the area available to them expanded so rapidly every day, but they had been trained for this. They had all achieved at least Level 50 and condensed a Fate.

It shouldn’t have been a problem to take care of a Raid Boss, no matter what Tier it was. Yet it seemed that Tiers were becoming all but useless to describe the foes they faced out here..

So they went into the cave system that housed the Raid Boss with pride and confidence. The minions were at Level 49, so everyone expected that the Raid Boss and its lieutenants to have crossed the threshold to Level 50. Even when they encountered the initial resistance from the shapeshifting slimes, the fights hadn’t been too hard.

They could freely shift between animal forms, so it was a bit unpredictable. But if it wasn’t at least this challenging, then these applicants wouldn't take so much pride in the work that they did.

Their training in regards to images had really paid off. Everyone’s Fate had made a palpable difference in their ability to fight. They were able to push past the initial forces and made it to a wide cavern where the Raid Boss itself lurked.

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They had even expected the trap that was being laid for them. But when the lieutenants came out at Level 62, and with at least two dozen, it was a bit more than they were equipped to handle. It was simply a numbers game. So many monsters above Level 60 had enough stats that they could overwhelm an average human of the same Level.

We were cocky.

Standing in the rain while Naffur considered the body, Vye could only release a breath that she had held for almost an hour. Even that set her hand to aching. Some part of Vye urged her to stop looking down at Aldo, but instead, she began to cry. Still, the tears mixed so cleanly with the steady drip of rain that it made no difference.

“Does anyone know his last name?” Naffur asked quietly. The nine initiates into the Order Ducis just looked blankly back at Naffur. Then Naffur turned, in turn, to Ajax and Madelyn. Both shook their heads warily.

“...he always urged me to change his last name to Ghosthound when I asked him,” Madelyn finally admitted. The lizard woman shook her head. “But… he would never tell me what his last name was.”

“...the funeral will be held tomorrow.” Naffur’s eyes swept through the tired and cold grouping in front of him. Although the rain was loud, it couldn’t drown out his words. “I’ll make some calls to find out who he was so his family will have the opportunity to pay their respects. The rest of you… the promotion ceremony will happen immediately after the funeral. So take some time to decompress and really face what you are feeling right now.

“The other applicants will be there. If any of you choose to step down, someone will take your place. There is no shame in choosing to go another way. Because make no mistake,” Naffur reached up and pushed his soaked hair away from his eyes. “This is exactly the Path of the Order Ducis. We walk the lonely Paths to fight the hidden horrors of our Earth.”

Naffur turned away but was stopped when Valor spoke. “Didn’t you say there were two Raid Bosses we needed to take care of? We can still-”

“No,” This time, Ajax stepped forward with his arms crossed. “The battlefield is not the place to work through your emotions. Go back to your tents. Head into Kharon proper, get a drink. Heal. Vengeance can wait until you know what you will do next.”

One by one, they drifted away. Vye simply stood, her skin long numbed by the rain. Some part of her brain argued that her Vitality should make such a small temperature difference irrelevant, but Vye felt so very, very cold.

It was only when she saw the form of Garrett move that a hint of life returned to her eyes. Garrett, who had been one of her first friends who had entered into the Order Ducis, whose deep suspicion toward Randidly Ghosthound had driven him to investigate the Order that was based on the Ghosthound’s prestige.

Garrett, who Vye had been able to learn had a history with a woman who dated Randidly before he was the Ghosthound. Her name was Tessa, and it seemed to Vye that Garrett still loved her deeply.

After Garrett had been rather harsh and demanding in their confrontation in an alley, Vye had been much more distant. Their previous friendship had slowly starved itself to nothing. But it seemed that distance had reinvigorated Garrett’s desire to be a part of the Order Ducis. Over the past six months, he had given all of his energy in order to make it into the top ten, making it to the 9th spot in the applicants.

Yet even so, as Garrett stared at the ground, Vye’s heart trembled at the terrible cloak of guilt that hung over him.

Because it had been then, in the depth of the Slime cavern, that Garrett was the weakest of the ten and the one who was slowly pushed back by the high-Level slime lieutenants. To the point that he has sustained a deep blow to his leg and was hobbled. Without mobility, he was forced to endure blows that were far beyond the ability of his Endurance to cope with.

And as the slimes circled like sharks, and as Vye, Valor, and the others could just watch with abject horror, someone had broken out of their encirclement.

Laughing wildly, Aldo had descended like a vengeful god wreathed in golden and green fire. He smashed aside the slime that tried to slow him down and seemed unstoppable as he arrived at Garrett’s side. Perhaps sensing the change, the slimes had shifted into larger forms and tried to simply overwhelm Aldo.

Aldo was not overwhelmed.

The memories parted as Vye found herself face to face with her small tent. Sighing, she walked out of the rain and laid down on her bed without removing her wet clothes. Small drops of water began to slowly run down her sides to congregate on her lower back, causing persistent itches. Yet Vye didn’t move. She could still hear Aldo’s voice.

“To be the heroes worthy of carrying on the Ghosthound’s mantle… none of us can die in a dingy place like this!”

Three slime lieutenants had rushed Aldo. Two had been killed in the furiously fast three seconds of violent clashes that followed. Then, as Aldo had knocked the final one back and he was raising his fists to crush this slime’s desperate final attack… Aldo had slipped.

His barefoot had slipped.

The slime-covered stone beneath his feet caused him to slip. The moment had been burned into Vye’s retinas. They had fought too long and too hard, underneath too harsh of a teacher in Ajax, not to understand what was happening. Aldo probably understood it too, after he slipped. It was almost uncommonly unlucky.

Not just that he slipped, but that he happened to slip just enough that the slime’s desperate attack became deadly.

The slime’s counterattack had hit him directly in the heart, obliterating the organ immediately. As he died, Aldo’s mouth was open and smiling. He didn’t flinch, even without a heart. After a preternatural adjustment of his skewered body, his fist continued forward and smashed through the slime to kill it.

Vye shivered. She had Rejected what had happened immediately, but it had been too late.

Killing the Raid Boss felt hollow. They had paid too dear a price for one monster.