"Yeah, we probably should," Jay agreed. He gestured across the table for Lester to join him at the pastel tea table.

Lester looked at the small table in disgust. "I'd really prefer to have a conversation at a real table. I was thinking we should head back to guild headquarters."

Jay made a show of considering the question, even though he'd already decided. He was willing to talk but wouldn't give away concessions until he knew if Taylor Lynn had gotten to him. "I'm comfortable here."

Jay gestured at the several skillbooks in front of him, pointing out that he had been busy when the other player arrived. He also had future business with Nora. The merchant didn't know it yet, but Jay planned to buy various different types of bolts, as well as exploration gear, from her. Or at least enlist her help in finding it all.

"Am I being punished for our disagreement about the island?" Lester asked. He seemed genuinely interested in the question, not hostile. Taking a seat made him look absolutely comical in the small tea chair. The gear he was wearing made him look like a gladiator at a tea party.

"Nora and I have some business later," Jay said simply.

He wasn't planning on being a complete jerk if Lester had come to join him on the island. Still, he had learned one thing from being forced to watch endless legal drama with his ex-girlfriend years ago. The first person to speak loses a negotiation.

"Yeah, alright," Lester said. "So, I'm sure you knew Taylor Lynn planned to talk to me. The long and short of it is this: we spent about four hours discussing the issue, gathering information from the brokers, and planning."

"You find out anything about the island from the brokers?" Jay asked. Going to the information brokers was something on his list of activities. It was lower on the list because Jay hoped learning the Survival skill would allow him to glean more information.

"Not so much. They don't have any information on an Island called Mercura," Lester admitted. "In fact, I was even more interested in what we found out. The brokers don't have anything on the island at all."

Lester leaned forward as if he was revealing one of the greatest secrets of Tumultua Online. Jay knew for a fact Tumultua held several more revelatory secrets since he was digging into them. Therefore, he didn't find Lester's disclosure all that interesting.

"I mean, it was a rare item," Jay said, shrugging the whole thing off. "I'm not surprised the local information brokers have nothing on it."

Lester shook his head hard. "No, you don't get it. The information brokers aren't just local. They're an entire network that copies and feeds information throughout Elvish territory. If the information brokers don't have any information on it, it's completely different from being unable to sell information about it."

Jay still didn't look impressed. So, the island was a remote island. It wasn't surprising since the Monster Hunters weren't present in the game. He knew from his conversation with Angela Kitt that the dungeons were in places significant to the Angerine. The first organization of Monster Hunters.

"Jay," Lester finally continued, throwing as much incredulity into the name as he could muster. "The brokers feed and share information with the reigning Elvish Queen. We've stumbled onto something even the level eighty Elite character, the Elvish Queen, doesn't know about. This is huge. This is a minor miracle."

Lester's last words hung in the air after he announced them. Jay could see greed in the other player's eyes. His avaricious grin would have made a dragon jealous.

Jay happened to know the current reigning Elvish Queen was descended from the founders of the Angerine. That wasn't something a lot of players knew. That was important, though, because it meant one of two things. The first possibility was that the secret places of Monster Hunters hadn't been passed down through the family. The second was that the Elvish Queen kept it hidden from everyone, including her information network.

Since Jay still barely knew Angela Kitt, he wasn't sure which option was more likely. He had no idea what her family may have passed down. But both options were very intriguing. He needed an opportunity to talk it over with the Queen at some point, but chances like that wouldn't just appear from thin air.

Finally processing all of Lester's words about the Elvish Queen, Jay leaped back into the conversation. He needed to make sure the Guild Leader would be on his side.

"Can I take it for granted that Taylor Lynn convinced you into trying things my way, then?" Jay asked. "I don't want to fight with you. I'm not sure if you believe that, but I have other goals, so I'd really rather not waste time arguing. If we're going to do this, I don't want you flipping on me again. You need to be in, really in. If you're not, don't bother, I'll figure it out on my own."

Lester's greedy grin returned. "It took some convincing, but Taylor Lynn managed to convince me. When the twins came to your defense with that little risk versus reward argument, I thought they were making things up. I had no idea they'd end up being accidentally right. It's not just about levels or gear or anything of the sort. This is about our legacy as the party of the original Monster Hunter. We can become legends. The whole Red Player's Society can, and I know Tumult is hiding something big on that island."

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The thought occurred to Jay that letting Lester continue to be around these strange Monster Hunter anomalies could eventually bite him. After all, the Guild Leader's brother still worked for Tumult. The game seemed to protect the experiences from non-Monster Hunters, for reasons Jay could only assume.

If that policy by the game continued, the risk would probably be minimal. Tumult's remote viewing couldn't follow him in there, based on his experiences thus far. He just needed to keep his mouth shut.

Jay needed to maintain the support of the guild but also his suspicion.

"Alright, fine. You're magically on my side. I can buy that since Taylor Lynn swore she'd help me. She's resourceful and smart. But I don't understand why we need to have some big conversation, then. You're on my side; let's prepare for the big adventure. Mint the legacy or whatever you said."

He left out the part where Lester's plans for creating a legacy for his guild sounded like a bunch of self-serving crap. Ultimately, they were using each other, but it still didn't sit right with Jay.

"That's exactly right," Lester said, his grin slowly becoming infectious. Being mad at the guy was hard when he was so excited. "It's time for us to get ready. I'm not sure you'll like all of it, but I have some conditions for the support. Some things we need to do to give ourselves the best chance of success."

Now there was the Lester that Jay had grown to know. He had some conditions, probably a bunch of concessions he wanted to hold over Jay's head.

Jay wasn't inclined to hand over any power. He was the one in possession of the item, but it would be much easier with Lester's help. Taylor Lynn was a certainty after his previous manipulative performance. Still, even with Ken and Jenny, that was only a four-person party. Recruitment would be much easier with the guild's help.

That wasn't the only thing Lester could provide. After purchasing the compass, Jay's funds were low. He only had around 800 gold Prints after his latest gear upgrades and that was before purchasing bolts. Lester had funds from the guild backing him. Jay wasn't sure how much, but it was more than enough to drop 100,000 gold Prints on a building for headquarters.

"I'll hear you out," Jay confirmed. "I promise that, but I'm not agreeing to any conditions until I've heard them. I really want your support, but only if it's a reasonable ask."

Lester shrugged, quickly moving forward. "Yeah, sure. I get that. So first, I was thinking about the people we need to bring. We have ten people, which gives us a lot more versatility than a normal party. Our five normal party members, two additional healers, Lurian, Kylar, and your little sister as the second tank."

Jay snapped, slamming his fist into the pastel table and leaving a small crack on the table's edge. "Absolutely not. Sarah's undergoing medical care. She has the least reason to go out of anyone. We don't need to put her care at risk since I'm sure the guild has plenty of other tanks. Characters are one thing, but we're talking about her life. Find another."

"Hear me out—" Lester started to say

Jay cut him off. "Absolutely not. Not hearing you out. Sarah's not coming. And if that's all you have to say, I'll do this alone."

He got out of his chair to prove he was serious, causing the chair to fall backward. It clattered to the floor. Nora glanced sadly at the damage to her tea setting but didn't interject in the tense stand-off. Lester didn't move, lowering his head with a sigh. He looked dejected.

Jay didn't move for the exit like he wanted to, either. He found out that it was quite difficult to remain angry for extended periods. The rush of anger faded away, leaving behind regret. Sarah was an adult. She would make her own decisions, and if she really wanted to go, he wasn't likely to be able to stop her. She'd find some dastardly plan to sneak in.

Besides, the more Jay thought about it, the more he realized they likely couldn't jeopardize her medical care. Suppose her diagnostics called for time inside an immersive experience. In that case, they'd probably create another character if Sarah was killed in Tumultua Online. Or at least they must have some other experience prepared for emergency situations. If their game went down, even briefly, she'd need to be immersed in a different experience.

"Hear what?" Jay said, picking the chair back up and slowly lowering himself back into it.

Without a shred of awkwardness, Lester continued where he had left off. "Her class is one of the best in the game. It's exclusive to humans but somewhat similar to Lucille's Lotus Warden class. Instead of focusing on dodging, they have huge armor and defense bonuses. But Paladins also have a self-healing buff and crazy survivability. I also learned from the information brokers that they have an exclusive ability at level thirty."

Drumming his fingers on the table, Jay sighed. "Alright, fine, tell me about this exclusive ability."

Lester smirked. "They can bestow a temporary buff, like a bubble of healing. If the person inside the bubble is killed with the buff active, it places them in stasis for fifteen seconds. They won't be able to attack, but they won't take any damage either. Not a point, and they emerge at full health."

"That's an insane ability," Jay said blankly as his mind wandered. It occurred to him how similar the ability was to the function of his Maragon's Blossoms. The mechanics were slightly different, but both abilities were absolute tide-turners. His fingers continued to drum.

"What if we say we'll leave it up to Sarah? If she wants to come, I know I can't stop her. But I don't want you forcing her into it, either."

"I figured you'd want something like that," Lester said, shrugging it off. "I don't mind because I'm betting she'll want to join you, anyway. There is one more thing we need to go over, though."

"What's that?" Jay asked. Admittedly, Lester was right about her likelihood of joining. But Jay wanted to maintain some hope that she'd stay out of everything. He had mixed feelings since he did want to spend more time with her, but disrupting her medical care deeply scared him. Even if it was an unlikely outcome.

"I found a way for us to catch up. Take on the island and anything or anyone we might find without worrying about being under-leveled."

Lester summoned an item from his inventory, which cascaded into his hand in a flurry of white sparks. He offered the item to Jay, placing it on the table. Jay could inspect the item information, and his eyes bulged at what he saw.

Turmoil Arena (Beginner Monster Parade): During an extended series of waves against monsters and bosses, parties compete for a chance on the leaderboards. During the event, the most successful players will gain hundreds of thousands of experience points. Happens once a week, and each player may only attempt once. Requirements: Above level twenty, below level thirty at entry. Player Attempts: 1/1.

Underneath the description was a small ticking timer. The timer showed that the next Monster Parade was happening in about three days.

"I have ten passes," Lester said. "One for each person joining the island expedition. It's a rare dungeon drop—they cost me seven thousand gold each."