The five-man team joined in with Cyrus’ party. At first, there was a dispute carried by Duran, the bearded man who preferred taking justice in a bloodier way. But Cyrus’ words were absolute. He was firm and the rest of the men followed without question. The action he did to his own younger brother was enough of a testament that he had justice in mind.

Zach was at the back of the group with his hands tied by a rope, held by another familiar face. Ryden, a knight under his house, and the right-hand man of his eldest brother. A prolific knight famed for his expertise in the lance.

“So you’re the famed inept Gardwin,” Mathias said. Finally recalled the true identity of Zachary Gardwin. He was confused at first seeing how different Zach to the rumors, but like they always said, never trust a rumor without proper facts. Unlike the other three, Mathias decided to stick with Zach.

“Watch your tongue, blondie,” Ryden said. “A Gardwin is still a Gardwin.”

“Feisty,” Mathias said. Glancing at Zach with a grin.

“It’s fine, Ryden,” Zach said. “He’s a friend, and he’s also a Solskjaer. You know, the one who loves visiting the brothels.”

Ryden took another close look at Mathias. He tried to match what he heard in the rumors to what he saw, and for some reason, it was an identical match to what he heard.

“Disappointed, Sir Ryden?” Mathias asked.

“Birds of a feather flock together,” Ryden said. “Just be sure to keep the Gardwin name from your mouth and all will be fine.”

Mathias drew closer to Zach. “Isn’t that a diss to you also?” he asked.

“My reputation in the family had been quite diminished as you know from the rumors,” Zach said. “So there are a few who through subtle ways took a few jabs at me.”

Mathias nodded as if understanding the whole situation. “A pity though,” Mathias said. “People like us don’t particularly care about the opinion of others, right?” he smirked.

Zach smiled. This Solskjaer was definitely one of a kind. Daring enough to even choose the mage class. “You better be careful about your class though,” Zach said. “If other people know about it, it won’t be pretty.”

“I’ve made my bed with it,” Mathias asked. “And since we’re talking about it, how about you part some great wisdom to me in regards to the mage class.”

“A bit of warning, the things I know might be just all fluff,” Zach said.

“After everything that had happened, I doubt it,” Mathias said.

This blondie really did trust him. The time they spent together was short, but the fire of hardship bonded them together. If wasn’t for both of them, none would survive what they went through.

“Take this with a pinch of salt…” Zach explained to Mathias the importance of Intelligence, the core attribute that defined the mage class. The increase in Intelligence would affect the mana points capacity as well as strengthen the casted spell.

For the supplementary attribute which would aid Mathias’ mage build, he recommended the agility attribute. The clear disadvantage in raising the Defense attribute prompted Zach to focus on Agility, turning the built into the so-called Glass Cannon mage. A nimble mage that could dish out massive amounts of damage.

But the long casting time proved to be a hurdle for this build. From the way he saw it, his hunch was leaning toward the system promoting the emphasis on teamwork where every role had its major importance. Their last battle was one of the examples. They shielded Mathias as he cast his spell like a line of tankers protecting the sole damage dealer.

But again, the word mage itself posed a problem. The land of Brittania did not mingle well with anything related to the mage, or the heretic cult of the Sun’s Flesh. In the meantime, for Mathias’ protection, his best bet was going through the Glass Cannon route with a few sprinkles to other attributes as he saw fit.

Unlike in a game, the attributes were a whole lot more useful in real life. Strength could ease one when accomplishing mundane tasks, and vitality, heightened one’s regeneration rate as witnessed by Calrin’s previous condition. Perception too might be another auxiliary attribute that fit Mathias’ build as increasing awareness would no doubt double the possibility of surviving through harrowing situations. In essence, he advised Mathias to emphasize speed while at the same time minding his other attributes to fit his current needs.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Yet the matter of Spirit was hard to ignore. From his shallow understanding, it was either affecting the potency of healing-based spells or it affected one’s defense against the arcane, in short, magic defense. At the moment, he had no clue how Spirit worked in this system, so he told Mathias to keep an eye on the Spirit attribute.

“Are you sure you’re not a Highbrow? You could write a book with all of this,” Mathias said.

“Just don’t tell anyone I told you this,” Zach said.

“So you don’t mind if I take the credit?” Mathias asked.

“You can if you want to,” Zach said.

“Interesting,” Mathias said. “You’re really a weird man, Zachary Gardwin. You pretend to be a lazy ass fool and don’t crave any sort of achievement. But for what purpose exactly?” Curiosity grew in him. Zach’s actions and words did not fit the common mind of an aristocrat.

Zach paid no heed to Mathias as his gaze landed upon the core member of Cyrus’ party. The sole healer, Tobias. A man in his late forties with hair of black and white. As he expected, the flail was the key feature of a healer and one of them snugged in between Tobias’ leather belt. But the most unexpected thing was receiving a message. From what he was told by Cyrus, Tobias saw these subtle arrows in his vision, pointing towards the Land of Safe. For some reason, Zach had his suspicion. Why a healer? And why not other classes?

His gaze turned to the left of Tobias. Teena the archer found her place in his eldest brother’s rank. After knowing the importance of her skill and her keen perception, Cyrus was quick to deploy her for her usefulness. Pragmatic as ever, thought Zach.

Their journey was short and safe. It was not long until their eyes saw a fort at the far end of their sight. The whole party took in the sight of the fort. It was abandoned and old with signs of neglect all over the place. They were cracks on the wall, and dark green moss grew where no light was shone. There was not even a portcullis or a yett for the entrance, making the fort even more vulnerable. And to make things worse, the moment all of them stood in the bailey of the fort, a huge hole in the broken wall greeted them.

Before any of them could utter a word, a message welcomed them.

[Welcome to Safe Zone.]

[34/100]

[Increase Health Point regeneration by 50%]

[Increase Mana Point regeneration by 50%]

[Daytime effect: Impenetrable.]

He was right. The name of a fort like this shouldn’t be as tacky as the Land of Safe. Yet the numbers just below it piqued his interest. It was the exact head count of the whole party including Zach and his allies. For it to have a limit of a hundred sent a rather foreboding vibe. Not to mention the daytime effect made him question what would happen after sunset.

“I hope I’m wrong, but this daytime effect is quite worrying,” Mathias said. He was quick on the uptake as this Solksjaer lad had an innate ability to detect danger. Perhaps there was a reason why he chose mage of all classes. Being protected by tankers was the definition of avoiding being injured.

“Let’s not be hasty,” Zach said.

“You might say so, but those eyes of yours are telling me otherwise,” Mathias said. Indeed, this blondie was sharp.

“Well it might be because I’m a pessimist,” Zach grinned.

“Just don’t forget me when things get out of hand,” Mathias said. He left Zach alone, mingling with the others.

“So are you going to let me go, or are you going to babysit me through all of this?” Zach asked. Glancing at Ryden, his so-called prison warden.

“Your fate lies on Lord Cyrus. So keep still, and wait,” Ryden said. The knight didn’t appear interested in what was happening, including the notion of seeing floating windows in front of him. Ryden appeared strangely calm in all of this, or was it just a facade, thought Zach.

Then his eyes were drawn to Cyrus, who was ascending the stairs. He was followed by Tobias, and judging by how close they were, Zach saw him as Cyrus’ current right-hand man.

“Silence,” Tobias said. His voice was loud and deep, drawing every attention to him. “Lord Cyrus will now address you.” The robe-wearing man took a step back as Cyrus took the stage, standing close to the edge. He looked down at this group of people as it was now his task to lead.

“You all have done well,” Cyrus said. “We . . . Strangers to each other found ourselves in the strangest circumstances. But we succeeded. We succeeded in keeping ourselves alive and finding a place we could call our temporary home. It might not be much, but those words that greeted our sight gave their promise that this is the safest place to be, until we find our way back home again.”

Duran cheered, raising his sword, and taking the lead. Then the rest followed. Their cheers united and echoed within the walls of the fort.

“And as your leader, it is my responsibility to keep all of you safe, and to take justice when it is due,” Cyrus said. His line of sight fell upon his brother, Zachary Gardwin, tied on the wrists. “Even if it is my own blood.”

The cheer turned to silence as their eyes trailed to Zach.

“The old once said an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth . . . An arrow for an arrow,” Cyrus said. “On behalf of injured Renly, my brother, Zachary Gardwin will taste the same pain as his.”

Again, Duran took the lead. Cheering at the top of his lungs, riling the others as they followed suit. The man with the beard chuckled as he was the most excited over Zach’s punishment. At first, he thought the elder brother would let it slide, and truthfully, he was dissatisfied. But this changed his mood for the better.

Zach on the other hand had a dumbfounded look for a while as he then broke into a frown. One thing crossed his mind.

‘That fucking justice freak.’