She pushes her hair behind her ear to reveal her face. By doing so, she makes way for us all to see the numerous freckles decorating her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Then, she wraps her arms around her legs and places her chin on top of her knees.

“B-before I proceed, are we sure that the announcer isn’t spying in on us? You guys are okay, but I don’t exactly want to reveal this to hundreds, maybe thousands of people…” Camille says anxiously.

“Oh, on your watch, there’s a ‘mute’ option, if you don’t want what you say to be heard. It has an automatic timer, after an hour it’ll undo itself, just pay attention to that.” Sophia replies.

Camille looks through the options on her watch and she presses the mute button as soon as she finds it. I do the same, this is a private conversation after all.

“Phew, okay I feel better. Then… I-Intense family.” She says.

Curious, I raise my hand, quickly followed by the others.

She waits for a moment, then continues. “U-um, it’s nothing crazy to be honest. It’s just that I was raised as a weapon ever since I was born. All my older siblings and cousins have either joined the war against the Empire or have joined the subjugation faction which deals with the rising numbers of the [Echoed]. We aren’t really allowed to live peaceful lives in the Starforge family. When I graduate from here, I’ll be immediately sent off to either die or become a different person on the frontlines. I find that… sad.”

“That is simply the duty of the [enlightened].” Ugo states, an impassive expression on his face.

She turns to look at him. “Y-yes, I know! I know the country depends on us to defend it! T-that’s why I wish I didn’t become an [enlightened] sometimes… What’s so wrong about wanting to live a quiet life? I-I’d have preferred to be tending to a flower shop, or live the student life striving for my degree to have a good career, or… meet a nice man and settle down somewhere calm. Is that really such a bad thing?” She tightens her embrace around her legs and plunges her face into them, avoiding eye contact.

Ugo speaks again, saying something I’d never thought he’d say. “No. There’s… nothing wrong with that.”

Camille does not reply. Sophia and Ray do not add anything, lacking the words. In this moment of silence, all that can be heard is the blazing campfire eating away at the wood for fuel. In an attempt to resume the conversation, Ray is the next to speak.

“I’ll go next then. Dying clan.”

Four hands are raised, indicating that we want Ray to tell us more.

“Well, as you can see from the markings on my forehead, I belong to a clan, the lightfeather clan. You probably haven’t heard of it. It is, or was, a nomadic clan which walked the lands of Melodica long before it was called that. In recent times, our numbers have dwindled and we’ve been forced to adapt to the changing times.”

He catches his breath.

“Remember when I told you that I worked at an instrument manufacturing facility? Well that’s because the clan has almost no income. The elders don’t, or can’t work, and nearly all of the younger ones have left for bigger and better things. I don’t blame them, but I can’t just leave the rest of the clan behind like that. I never went to any academy for future [enlightened], but when I reached [enlightenment] anyway, I knew I had to take this chance to revive my clan. Generally, DaiKar officials find unaffiliated newly [enlightened] people like me before they are classified as rogues, but I found them first.”

Sophia is the first to break the silence, with a sneer. “You know, if you want, you and I can repopulate your clan together. I might just be a bastard child, but I promise my genes are top tier!” She says with a wink.

Camille blushes and Ugo shakes his head in disappointment. For my part, I contain a chuckle.

“Y-yeah, lady Sophia, I’ll have to think about that one! Plus, I’m sure any man would love to be with a lady like you.” Ray answers with an awkward smile.

Strangely, this time Sophia does not reply despite the compliment, and simply winks at Ray. Camille asks Ray a question immediately after his reply, still curious about his situation.

Something strange happens while the two have a conversation though. Perhaps the facade she was putting up momentarily slips, but Sophia says something under her breath, a slight melancholy in her eyes. She mutters a few words, not meant for anyone to hear, but as I sit right to her, I hear them nonetheless. “... What’s so good about a lady like me?”

Understanding that I was not meant to hear this, I do not comment on her statement and simply hold my tongue. By this point, Camille and Ray’s conversation has ended, and all of our hands have fallen once more. It’s time for the next person to speak.

“So, It’s my turn now, I suppose.” I say.

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“Let’s see… Very heavy responsibilities.”

Hands raise, so I continue, as light-heartedly as I can. “Ahem, so essentially, I’ve got no parents or family to speak of. It’s just been me and my younger siblings for a couple of years now. I’m glad I became an [enlightened], because if I hadn’t, I genuinely don’t know how I would have supported them. To be honest, before now, I was mostly living off of my part time jobs and the money from my mother’s life insurance. Ah, being poor, what a curse!” I say, as I raise my head to look at the stars.

Camille’s face drops. Her eyes become glassy and she speaks to me. “I-I’m sorry for saying that earlier, i-it was insensitive… I didn’t really consider that not everyone is as lucky as I am to be born in an affluent household…”

“Haha, It’s okay, we all have different circumstances, I get that now. I used to dislike great family heirs like you. I thought you all had it so easy, but we all have our troubles don’t we?”

Camille sighs. “Yeah…we do…”

Sophia sneers again, she can’t contain herself. “Out of pure curiosity, are your siblings looking for a sist-”

I interrupt her this time, I won’t let her get to me with her teasing. “Nope, thanks for the offer though.”

She frowns. “You boys are so rude! Am I really that unattractive?” She says, a seemingly serious expression on her face.

I look at her from head to toe for a second. My answer to her question formulates itself rather quickly.

‘No, you’re actually stunning, that’s what makes it even harder to play along with your jokes. Obviously, I won’t say that out loud though.’

Ray stumbles upon his words trying to answer. “N-no, not at all lady Sophia. You’re… charming! It’s just that Alden and I aren’t ready for that… right Alden?”

“R-right!”

“You might be pretty, but It’s because you’re insane that no man wants to give you the time of day.” Ugo tells Sophia with a glare.

“Wait… did you just call me pretty?” Sophia retorts.

“Did you not hear the rest of my-”

She snaps her head in Ugo’s direction and leans in closer to his face. “So you think I’m pretty? I didn’t know you thought of me like that… You know, marriages between main and subsidiary families are totally allowed, right?”

“Get away from me you insane woman!”

She leans away, and runs her fingers through her hair seductively. “Playing hard to get are we? It’s okay, I like a little chase, hehe.”

‘This is how Sophia normally acts, but I feel like she’s doing it intentionally to ease the tension tonight…’

“O-okay, there’s still someone we haven’t heard from.” Ray says, trying to change the subject.

All of our heads turn in Ugo’s direction.

“Don’t look at me, I already told you I hate this game. I’m not doing it.”

“What? But everyone participated! You have to share too!” I exclaim.

He turns to look away. “I don’t have to do anything. You decided to play, and I never agreed.”

“Oh I see, someone’s scared to share. That’s okay, we can’t force you after all. If it’s too much for you, we understand, right guys?” I say.

A vein bulges on the side of his head, but he doesn’t fall for my taunt so easily. “I don’t care what you say… I’m not doing it.”

Sophia chimes in. “I see, a big strong man too afraid to expose his feelings. How typical, but that’s alright, it’s something we can work on together when we’re married my dear.”

He snaps his head back towards us. “We’re not getti- I know what you all are doing, you won’t get to me!”

Camille raises her head, but maintains her eyesight in line with the ground “So Ugo doesn’t want to share… That’s too bad, I was looking forward to hearing from you. I get it though, sometimes it’s hard to talk about things like that…”

“N-not you too, Camille?! You’re really partaking in their foolishness?!”

“I-it’s okay, Ugo. Sometimes I have a hard time speaking my mind too..” She says, burying her face into her knees once more.

“Well, I guess if Ugo doesn’t want to participate, it’s his choice. We should respect it, and move on. It’s not because we were all willing to share that he has to. Not everyone can be like that.” Ray adds.

“Argh, whatever! You are all insufferable! My words are… Only hope! There, happy?!”

We all raise our hands curiously, most of us trying, but not succeeding at hiding the smirk on our faces.

“My family… The Brightscar, haven’t produced an [enlightened] individual in nearly four decades, despite the resources provided by the Thunderblade family. My uncles and aunts have fallen on the frontlines before producing suitable successors, leaving only my father and mother, one second stage and one first stage, as the pillars of the Brightscar family. Since I’ve become [enlightened], the situation isn’t as dire, but if I don’t show any prowess, the Thunderblades will toss us aside, and the Brightscar cannot stand on their own as a great family. We’ll lose our title, our resources, everything. I’m the only hope our family has, are you happy now?”

I want to say something. “Tha-”

A loud beeping noise is emitted from our watches.

[Participants, please take a look at your watches, the first special event has been announced! You will find the details by opening the event section of the interface. Good luck!”]

I’m slightly annoyed that I did not get to ask Ugo, who has finally opened up, more about his situation. However, this comes first, and we all understand that. Hastily, we do as we were instructed. As I find the right section in my watch, I expand the event descriptions and take a good look at it.

Special event: Hide and seek

Description: Mysterious figures have appeared all throughout the perimeter and are waiting for you to find them. You’ll be able to track them by following the now visible indicators marking their location on your scout’s map. With them, they carry an access permit to a vault containing unimaginable riches! Your mission is to locate them and retrieve the access permit in order to increase your wealth. Be careful though, these mysterious figures are elusive and wield enormous power. As such, you will not be able to simply take the access permit from them. Should you come face to face with one of the mysterious figures, you will have to face a challenge to earn their respect and by extension, the access permit!

Time limit: 60 minutes

Participant limit: None

Reward: Treasure vault access permit

Failure penalty: none

Team

Zeta

Purchases

* The Bassline - 70 points

* 4L filtered water container - 5 points

* 2x booster vials with injection apparatus- 10 points

Special events conquered

*

Current zone

Grasslands

Active members

* Sophia Thunderbalde

* Alden Thorne

* Ugo Brightscar

* Camille Starforge

* Ray Burst

Eliminated members

*

Points

270