As Lemon and I sat in silence, I looked at the box sized case that sat opened, a rather small mini gun sat in it. It seems if you advance you at least get a spell and a weapon and thinking over what to say carefully I breathed in.

"What happened, Damien?"

Not pushing him to respond, I let him take his time with his thoughts as I remained quiet. After a few minutes he spoke in a rather quiet voice that didn't match his bulky size.

"W-when I woke up I saw I had gained more strength and durability, three times more. But after not seeing the message about being first I looked for help and ran into Melody…" Seeing him shiver for a moment, I avoided laughing as I knew exactly what had happened. "After escaping, I came here and after claiming the reward for advancing I realised I didn't get anything else…"

"Did you get a spell?"

"Y-yes. It's called Ironskin, at the cost of twenty mana initially then five every ten seconds it turns my skin into iron…" Explaining in a rather defeated tone, he looked at his hands. "But that's it. I didn't get any talents, no extra bullets, nothing. I only have two thousand rounds and those will be gone after a short while. I-I've let everyone down…"

I knew that Damien had been an emotional mess since we arrived here. Deven and Brian had been helping Damien through his troubles and he had slowly accepted this reality. Sheep had been filling me in on what the main problems were, and one of the biggest is now rearing its ugly head. Damien feared letting everyone down, he feared we would abandon him if he fell behind.

Drawing in breath, I leaned forward. "Damien, you know as well as I do that I'm no good at dealing with emotional people, so I'm going to be blunt with you." Seeing him nod slowly, I raised a hand and patted his shoulder. "I don't give a fuck if you're weak or strong, nor do I care if you fall behind. So what if you didn't get a talent? So what if you didn't get bonus stuff? I'm not going to abandon you nor toss you aside.

"I know you fear this world and fear us leaving you behind, but I'd be damned if I'm going to forsake a friend just because they didn't get a talent. I need you, we all do, our team isn't complete without you. Didn't get a talent? So what, put your feet down and show everyone you're capable even without one. I damn well know you're capable, Damien, and I won't let anyone tell you otherwise. If you ever fall behind I will absolutely ensure you catch back up to us, regardless of the price. All of us will, you might’ve been the newbie of the team back in our world, but now you're both a friend and comrade of ours.

"We are all in the same boat as you Damien, all of us are terrified of this world, but we are all fighting to get the fuck out of it. Fight with us, show whoever brought us here that you're as strong as I know you are. Stop withdrawing like this everytime something goes wrong, it'll lead you to becoming weak willed. If you need a shoulder to lean on, we are all here for you." Patting him on the shoulder once more, I stopped talking, waiting for a response.

Damien stayed quiet for a lot longer this time, but I noticed the depressed look on his face had faded though he remained a bit teary eyed. Deciding to deliver the final blow, I stood up and grabbed a box of rounds from the case.

"Winter can learn the blueprints for these rounds. While she can't make them just yet, we sure as hell won't just not do it for you." Placing my hands on my hips, I looked at Damien. "Don't give up, keep fighting with us. We won't just abandon you, even if later you decide not to fight we won't leave you on the side of the road."

Watching him, I waited for a response once again before Damien's eyes shifted, no longer depressed. "Thanks, Ruby…" Wiping the tears from his face, he nodded slowly before mumbling. "I'd like some time to myself."

"Mm, that's fine. Bring your mini gun to Winter when you're ready then come find me. I may be hiding from Melody so you might need to look for a bit." Seeing him react to those words, I left without waiting for a response.

I knew I had been a bit harsh on him. The last thing I wanted was to see him withdraw himself, he had gotten over being sent to this world just recently. Finding a suitable hiding place, I kept an eye on Damien with Hawkeye and after about an hour saw him lift up the minigun, staring at it as if seeking answers. Seeing him breathe out then look towards my location, I couldn't help but smile a bit knowing he had been aware I was watching. Seeing him nod towards me, he walked in another direction towards Winter's temporary workshop.

Looking away, I scanned the horizon for a few minutes before hearing footsteps. Looking up, I saw Damien sit down a bit away from me, silent as always. I remained silent as well until he spoke.

"Thanks, Ruby. I'll fight with everyone."

Patting him on the back without saying a word, we sat in silence for a bit as he sighed lightly.

"I miss my family…"

Pulling my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them, I kept looking at the horizon while speaking. "Tell me about them. You never really mentioned your personal life in our world."

"Ah, s-sorry, I always thought you guys wouldn't care much about that stuff. Well, there is my Ma and Pa, they both travelled for work and left me with Ashley and Helen, my older sisters. They're twins, three years older than me, I think you would've made good friends with them now I think about it…" Listening to Damien as he spoke, I made sure to let him speak until he finished before asking him more, probing him a bit to speak more.

Damien and I hadn't exactly been close like I am with Deven and Brian but that mainly came down to how we saw each other. For me he was the newbie to the team and while I had some grievances about how he'd been adjusting to the team I also knew I couldn't overwhelm him so I took my time to talk to him little by little.

To him, I was his boss. While he had confidence to work with me, he didn't think it was a good idea to share too much personal details with me so he usually kept his distance from me and by association Winter. So we had a more professional relationship rather than a friendly one. Listening to him slowly talk to me now made me feel happier to know he's not as withdrawn as before.

Silence fell as he finished talking about an anime he'd been watching prior to being isekai'ed into this world. He got up and stretched before speaking again.

"Thanks again, Ruby. Sorry abo-"

"Don't apologise, Damien. You're not alone in your fears, you're allowed to show them. Just come and speak with us a bit more, okay?"

He ponders in silence for a moment before nodding with a bit more confidence. "Sure." He looks behind him before paling. "Oh no…Melody."

Hearing the footsteps behind me, I reach out and grab Lemon's wrist before he could run. He turns to me, shock in his eyes.

"If I'm going down you're coming with me."

"Ah wait, we just had a moment!"

"I finally found you two!" My stomach sinks as I hear Melody's cheerful voice and turning to her I start to regret my action of staying here. "Why do you two look so terrified? Anyway, that's not important. Dawn is awake and Sheep and Jupiter are back." Giving us a wave, Melody skips away, humming an unfamiliar tune.

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"Midnight?"

"Mm?"

"Would you really have kept me here if she wanted us to 'taste test' again?"

Glancing at Lemon while letting go of his wrist, I stuck my tongue out before walking away, leaving my last words with a hint of cheekiness. "We will never know."

Heading to the main part of Beta, I saw Dawn speaking with Sheep and Jupiter, a massive shield on her back along with a broadsword on her waist. Sheep looks in my direction and gives me a small wave before turning his attention to Dawn. Walking towards them, I overheard what they were talking about.

"I could've sworn someone screamed earlier while Melody shouted. I thought there was a swarm here…"

Keeping a poker face as Dawn spoke, I crossed my arms and turned to Sheep who had been looking at me.

"Mid, did something happen?"

"Hm? No absolutely nothing. When you have time, Sheep you should check in with Melody, she has made progress in Alchemy."

Sheep looks at me with suspicion before nodding. "Alright I'll do that. Jupiter, go advance, once you're awake we will likely go for the dragon."

"Got it." Seeing him off, I watched as Sheep wandered off as I turned to Dawn.

"How'd it go?"

"Good, I got a spell tablet and talent stone, along with the shield and sword you see. The spell is shield slam, mana covers the front of my shield and over time gets stronger the more it's hit. When I slam an enemy with the shield, it'll deal the damage it has stored."

Whistling, I raised a brow. "Sounds strong, does it protect the shield from damage?"

"To a degree, yes. The talent I have increases my natural regeneration, the more health I lose the stronger the regeneration is. I have one thousand health and it can increase upwards of one hundred health per second. It uses mana and my own stamina, which I can't track, but the consumption is low unless I am critically injured."

"That's a relief for a front liner like you. Don't worry, including you, you will have two others on the front line with you so we don't expect you to take the brunt of the attacks."

"I appreciate that. Say, have you seen Silver anywhere?"

"Last I heard he was out looking for ores."

"Got it, I'll go have a gander. See you later, Miss Midnight."

Seeing Dawn wander off, I waited for a moment before a yell reached my ears. "MIDNIGHT!"

Taking that as my queue to wander outside of Beta for a bit, I ran and started to walk down the road leading to the main road by myself. Looking around at the scenery I couldn't help but appreciate it, even though the grass had grown far too high, it still had an odd soothing effect, letting me deal with the stress that had started to slowly accumulate.

After a few hours, I turn around and head back to Beta. Sneaking back in, I quickly made a dash for the building I had been using as a workshop and upon entering it, sat down and looked at the machinery in front of me.

“I really should start another project…” I’d been putting off trying to figure out how to make my own machines. It came down to simply just not knowing, I can imagine the machine I want to build, but going from A to B is extremely difficult, I simply didn’t know how to pull it off. I understood other machines, I knew how to build them that way and why, the System gave me that knowledge, but to build a machine from the ground up into what I want is proving extremely difficult.

“Perhaps I should take Aerith’s advice on board? Start small…” Muttering to myself while picking up a screw, I ponder over what small machine I could make that might prove useful to us. Thinking through everyone’s Jobs and Classes, I sigh and lean my head back as a voice rang out, setting fear into my stomach.

“Oh, stuck on something, Mid? I have the perfect drink here to help you…” Standing up and looking straight at the door, the only exit, I saw Sheep leaning against it, a familiar bottle in hand.

“Ah, wait, Deven. I can explain!”

“Oh? Well why didn’t you say so! I’m all ears, Ruby, to know why you sent me into that devil’s den.”

Backing up slowly, I realised his tone of voice is different than usual and tearing my gaze from the bottle I saw his face. It looked calm, neutral, as if nothing in this world bothered him. A terrifying expression.

“W-well, you see, I-I just got told that t-there had been progress…” Suddenly, my foot hits something and spinning my head I saw nothing there. Slowly moving a hand forward, I stretched it out before hitting an invisible wall. My heart sank as I quickly realised what this is. “A barrier!”

“Oh, yes. Melody’s Barrier technique is quite useful, as it turns out she can adjust the size and can do it from a few metres away.” I turned to face him as realisation dawned on me, my eyes locking onto the bottle as Deven uncorked it. “Oh? I never thought a redhead could pale that much. Don’t be afraid, Ruby. This bottle has been made especially for you, you see. Melody informed me that you quite enjoyed the last one, so I helped her ‘enhance’ the flavour of this one.”

“D-Deven, you d-don’t need to do this.” Trying to figure out a way to escape this situation, my mind spins into action as I try to find the words. “I-I confirmed those healing d-draughts were good! R-really, we d-don’t ne-” Seeing him taking steps forward, I couldn’t help but squeal in fear.

“Oh? Well, it’s good to know they heal, but see Melody is worried about the taste. You’re our leader, right, Midnight? Anything for the team, right?”

“I’m sorry, Deven! Please forgive me!” Giving up, I kneeled on the ground, pleading for what seemed to be my life. “I-I’ll make it up to you! I know, I’ll let you have my portion of snacks and drinks!”

“How very kind. I accept your portion, though I must insist you give this new mixture a test. Here, Ruby, bottoms up!” Deven grabs my lower jaw and tips the healing draught into my mouth. In that moment, I saw the real world, my mother waving to me as I floated away. No, I don’t want to die!

The only thing I remember is the absolutely rancid taste that assaulted my mouth, filling my nose and throat, as if to never leave. Gagging once again, I faced away from Deven and threw up whatever remained in my stomach.

“Oh? A failure. I’ll make sure to write a full detailed report. What did it taste like, Ruby? Perhaps your experience can help further Melody’s research.”

“I-I’m sorry.” Hearing a snicker, I looked up to see Deven’s mouth twitch before he grinned and started to laugh.

“Sorry, Ruby. I just had to pay you back.” Pulling another bottle from his pocket, he handed it to me. Swiping the mouth cleanser from his hands, I quickly rinse my mouth and spit it out.

“Gah, it’s still there.” The taste had been a lot stronger than the last one, it really seems like the pair had gone all out.

“Here, another.” Handing me another bottle, I rinsed once more and this time most of the taste had faded. Sighing in relief, I took Sheep’s hand as he helped me up.

“I deserved that.” Wiping my mouth, I heard Sheep laugh once again.

“Damn right you do. I had thought you were pulling a prank on me, but to think it would be that bad. You know me, Ruby, I do get you back.”

“I know, I know.” I had realised throughout that exchange I had developed a fear towards anything related to Melody’s potions.

“You good? You seem a bit pale…paler than usual I mean.”

“Yea, I’m fine.” Pursing my lips, I look towards Melody, who was walking away from us, unable to contain her laughter.

“Is she really trying to make it taste better?”

“No idea.” The two of us sigh as we walk towards a small group that had formed around the campfire.

“Hi Sheep and Midnight!” Aerith looks up and waves before turning back to the campfire.

“You may be wondering why I’v-”

“We’ve already done that joke, Sheep.”

“You’ve done that joke, at least let me have a turn!”

Plopping myself on Winter’s lap, we all start chatting, mainly to ease our nerves. With Jupiter advancing, we would be heading off to kill a dragon, we were all a bit nervous. As night settles, we part ways, with me going to the campervan, intending to get some sleep while Winter worked into the night.

Very quickly another two days pass by. Between working on my project, which I had decided to be a rotary engine at the suggestion of Aerith, and running away from Melody, Jupiter soon woke up. As it turned out, he did not receive any rewards due to not being the first Fire Magician to advance, but had received a new spell called ‘Incinerate’. It set a target ablaze, doing damage and increasing any other fire spells he used on them by an additional twenty percent.

With a final meeting between Sheep, Jupiter and I, we figured out a plan and after a night of rest, we headed out towards the town, ready to hunt a dragon.