Chapter 10: It’s Complicated

“You really did all of this?” Claire asked.

“I already told you. Yes, I did…” I was starting to get irritated to their repetitive questions. “When did you wake up?”

“A while ago...” Eric responded. “I heard a ding when I woke up and I got a notification that I levelled up twice. I woke them up because you weren’t in bed…”

“How many zombies did you kill?” Dianne asked.

“I don’t know… I didn’t count.”

“What’s with the outfit?” Melissa asked.

“Mage robes. I got it from the Shop. It boosts my magic and so does this staff.” I raised my staff to show it off to them.

“Can you show us your magic?” Eric asked.

I nodded. I couldn’t help but grin as they followed me to find a practice dummy. As we walk through the streets, their eyes were sparkling with excitement as they saw the streets cleared of zombies.

A few blocks from the PolSci Building, we finally found a horde of zombies. There were at least 20 of them scattered throughout the street. I tapped my staff to a street lamp to grab their attention.

“What the hell is that for?” Eric asked as he readied his spear and shield. The rest of them did the same as the zombies slowly walked towards us.

“Just relax… I got this.” I may have gone too cocky but it was fine. I really got the situation under control.

I raised and pointed my staff to the horde as I casted my signature spell, [Chain Hellfire]. Once I got a flame hovering on the top of my staff, I directed the flame to go towards the nearest zombie. Since I didn’t need to focus on the process of the whole spell, the flames automatically got intensely hot as the air were directly pumped into the flames.

Target is Burning!

The flames made a crisp crackle sound as it melt through the zombie’s flesh. I directed the flame to the next zombie and to the next until the entire horde burned simultaneously. If only the zombies have their voices, we would hear a symphony of fiery agony. I also cast [Tailwind] to blow the smoke away from us.

Target Died

“So what do you think?” I asked without looking at them.

“…”

I turned my head around to see their faces. It was priceless. Their mouths were opened in awe as they stared at the burning horde. They were speechless and didn’t even flinch at the brutality of my spell. Instead, they looked amazed and excited. I felt really proud of myself so I folded my arms together and smirked.

After we looted the ashes of the zombies, we went back to the PolSci Building without delay. Their feet were in rush as we went upstairs to the 4th floor where the Shop was located. I felt excitement too as I wanted to know what skills and items were available to them.

I instructed them how to use the Shop and told them what items were available to me. There were oohhs and aahhs like the Little Green Men in Toy Story as they do some ‘window shopping’. I asked them what items and skills were available to them.

I was bummed out to learn that their items and skills were much better than what was available to me. Well, in my perspective, they were better. Reinforced Iron Armor Set and Steel weapons were available to Eric. The Misc Items were the same for all of us. I informed them that I already have a “Magical Laws and Theories for Dummies” and “Beastiary of Earthland by Finn Mertens” to avoid making redundant purchases.

Reinforced Iron Armor Set costs a total of 6 Gold Coins and 20 Silver Coins compared to Iron Armor Set which costs 5 Gold Coins and 10 Silver Coins. Steel Long Sword was available to Eric and it costs 1 Gold Coin and 50 Silver Coins. Its damage was higher compared to our current weapon Bolo Knife. Claire and I gave our money to Eric so that he could buy two for us. Having a party is truly an advantage. I used [Observe] on my new shiny sword.

Steel Long Sword

Attack Damage [Physical] 18-19

Durability: 55/55

Requirement: 15 STR

A long sword made of steel.

Eric bought a Steel Long Sword and a spear with leaf shaped head made of steel. The head of the spear also had a piece of metal on its end as a cross guard. I used [Observe] on the spear to see more details.

Spontoon

Attack Damage [Physical] 20-23

Durability: 50/50

Requirement: 20 STR

A spear with a leaf-shaped tip designed for stabbing and slashing.

Dianne and Melissa didn’t buy a new bow because their current bows were much better than any bows in the Shop. They too were disappointed about the weapons for sale in the Shop. However, they were glad that there were Steel-tipped Arrows for sale. Arrows cost 5 Silver Coins each which is quite expensive. For me, it made sense because I knew for a fact that creating an arrow is hard. Both of them bought 30 arrows and a quiver.

After that, they started to buy armors. Eric bought a full set of Reinforced Iron Armor Set with Riveted Chainmail. In addition to the heavy armor set, he bought Leather Pants, Leather Gloves and Boots because the armor set doesn’t include gauntlets or boots. He also bought a Reinforced Iron Heater Shield.

Dianne and Melissa bought a full set of leather armor because they don’t have enough STR to wear heavy armor and they will need mobility in order to be effective. They bought a hood, not the mage hood, instead of leather cap because it would protect them from the weather and it has the same protection as the leather cap.

Claire didn’t buy the entire heavy armor set. I suggested to her to buy Reinforced Iron Breastplate, wrist guard, and helm and the rest of her armor will be leather. That way, she will have enough armor without sacrificing too much mobility. She reluctantly agreed but she agreed nonetheless.

After they buy their armors, the girls went to the other room to change and try their armor while Eric and I stayed in the room.

Eric wore the chainmail as the first layer of his armor. Then he wore the gloves, boots, shinguards and wristguards. He wore the breastplate, shoulderguards and helm last.

“Can you help me with this?” Eric asked as he pointed the strap in his sides.

“Sure…”

The thing about real life armors is that a fighter couldn’t wear the armor without help. A full set of heavy armor may protect you but it limits your movement. Obviously, you can’t play a limbo rock if you’re wearing armor.

“How do I look?” He asked.

“Hmmm… Good, I guess?”

I don’t really care about good-looking armors. It’s not about fashion like in RPGs, it’s about function. Anyway, Eric looked like a knight rather than a foot soldier; a knight but not a knight in a shining armor. His armor wasn’t shiny and there were a few flaws in his breastplate. His helmet didn’t look too cool either. It wasn’t a closed helmet; it just a simple round shaped helm designed to protect his skull.

I guess functional armors looked this way. Not too flashy like a horned helm or a spiky armor. It’s funny that people think that horned helms were functional. In fact, if I encounter an enemy with a horned helmet, it would be too easy for me to fight him. I’ll just grab the horn of his helmet and remove it.

After a few minutes, the girls came out of the other room to show us their armor.

“How do I look?” Melissa asked.

“You look good…” Eric responded.

The truth was they looked like bad cosplayers in a renaissance fair while I looked like a weeaboo mage in an anime cosplay.

I was expecting over sexualized looks like in the most MMOs but reality sucks. They looked good nonetheless. Dianne and Melissa’s leather armor were fit and the shapes of their bodies were highlighted with their outfit. While Melissa’s body shape was voluptuous, Dianne’s body shape was slim and petite but still sexy.

Claire, on the other hand, didn’t lose her charm; not for a bit. She’s still looked pretty in her armor. She was wearing a leather shoulderguards, boots and shinguards while wearing an iron breastplate and wristguards. She didn’t buy leather pants because she wanted to be more comfortable. As usual, she was wearing her shorts.

After that, I advised them to check the skill books that were available for them. Since we have limited money, we should be smart at spending and not to be recklessly spending over things that we wouldn’t need.

According to them, here are the skills that were available for sale.

Eric:

[Taunt] – Makes all hostile targets to attack the caster. Consumes SP.

[Bash] – Same as the skill I gained. Consumes SP.

[Rapid Pierce] –A series of light but fast attacks with a spear weapon. Consumes SP.

[Spear Mastery] – Increase proficiency and damage with spear weapons. Passive Skill.

[Shield Mastery] – Increase proficiency, defense and damage with shields. Passive Skill.

[Sword Mastery] - Increase proficiency and damage with swords. Passive Skill.

Melissa:

[Phantom Arrow] – Fires an ethereal arrow at the enemy. Consumes MP and SP.

[Arrow Shower] – An AoE range attack. Consumes 1 arrow per cast. The rest of the arrows that will land on the enemy are phantom arrows. Consumes MP and SP.

[Bow Mastery] – Increase proficiency and damage with bows. Passive Skill.

[Companion: Beast] – Enables user to tame one beast. Each level will increase the companion’s stats. Passive Skill.

Dianne:

[Aimed Shot] – The same as Melissa’s default skill. Consumes SP.

[Bow Mastery] - Increase proficiency and damage with bows. Passive Skill.

[Muffled Steps] – Same as the skill I gained. Passive Skill.

[Knife Mastery] - Increase proficiency and damage with knives. Passive Skill.

[Disruption] – An enemy cannot use any skill for five second duration. Has a 10 seconds cooldown. Consumes MP and SP.

Claire:

[Sword Mastery] - Increase proficiency and damage with swords. Passive Skill.

[Shield Mastery] – Increase proficiency, defense and damage with shields. Passive Skill.

[Lacerating Strike] – Inflicts Bleeding effect to an enemy. Consumes SP.

[Battle Cry] – Increases morale of user and allies. Consumes MP and SP.

[Berserker’s Howl] – Increases Damage of user and allies. Consumes MP and SP.

[Wail of Agony]- Similar to DotA Queen of Pain’s skill. This AoE skill has a chance to stun enemies. Consumes MP and SP.

As I listed all the skills in my notebook, I formulate the best skill combinations that I could think of.

Eric will get [Taunt] as it is the crucial skill for all tankers. [Shield Mastery] and [Spear Mastery] is a no brainer. [Bash] is better than [Rapid Pierce] because it has a stun effect and would be perfect with his [Charge Attack].

Melissa will buy all of the skills since she can afford it. The only problem was her current build. She would need to add INT too. So her new build would be 1 DEX, 1 AGI, 1 INT and 2 VIT. I wouldn’t recommend sacrificing AGI or VIT for INT so it’s better to decrease the stat allocation to DEX. I suggested to put he 10 points to INT immediately so she wouldn't ran out of MP.

Dianne will get [Aimed Shot], [Bow Mastery] and [Muffled Steps] because it synergizes with [Sneak]. She’ll also want to get [Disruption]. In my opinion, this skill is more OP than any skills that I have. Five seconds is too much. She’ll be our anti-mage…

Claire will get [Battle Cry] and [Berserker’s Cry] for group buffs, perfect for support. [Shield Mastery] for better defense and [Wail of Agony] as AoE Crowd Control skill. I wondered why most of Claire’s skills require shouting. Was it because of her haranguing?

After I told them my suggestions, Dianne and Melissa agreed with my opinion. Eric and Claire didn’t look thrilled about my advice especially Claire.

“I don’t want to buy [Taunt]…” Eric said.

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to be the one taking all the damage. I mean, I’ve been hit by an arrow twice and one of the arrows got my head and I got stabbed by a spear once. I can’t even imagine the pain of being hit by a mob all at the same time…”

“That’s why you wear armor.”

“Yeah, I wear armor because I decided that I don’t like pain… and I don’t want to die.”

Well, at least he got a point. This wasn’t some RPG where you couldn’t feel any pain. Your own body is your avatar. I thought he was naïve. I guess there were limits to his naivety.

“Why do I have to be a support?” Claire glared at me as she asked the question.

I didn’t quite understand the question so I returned her glare with a look of confusion.

“I don’t want to be a support!” Claire raised her voice as she stood. She folded her arms while making an irritated look.

Jesus. What an annoying bitch.

Arguing with her is pointless and never ending so I just straight up asked her what she wanted to do. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know. Wreck monsters and win?” My forehead wrinkled at her response.

“Look, I don’t want to be a support! I want to be the one killing the monsters!”

This was one of the things I don’t understand in RPGs. Why does everyone wanted to be a damage dealer? As if being a support doesn’t contribute to the party. That’s why it’s called support. Support means keeping the rest of the party alive. Like me for example, I’m the party’s healer.

“You said it yourself… You and Eric won’t always be there to protect us. I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want to be weak!”

“…”

I didn’t know what to say. She was right that I said that. I only said it to motivate her because it was inevitable to encounter monsters and I didn’t want her to be fidgeting. Perhaps I should explain to her the importance of her role and its importance to us as a group.

“I think you misunderstood. Being a support is…”

“Misunderstand what? I’m tired of you bossing me around telling me what to do.” She blurted.

That’s it. She drew the last straw. I was tired of all her complaints and her bitch attitude towards me.

“Alright. Just do whatever you want!” I stood up and walked away.

“…”

“And go fuck yourselves!” I burst out and slammed the door.

I went downstairs and went to the 2nd floor. As I walked through the corridors, I looked at the other group and it seemed that they were still sleeping. It was still dark and the sun hasn’t risen yet. I continued walking until I found a nice and quiet class room.

I opened a window and dusted the chair with [Wind Manipulation] before I took a seat. I grabbed a half-emptied pack of cigarette I got from George and took a piece. I lit the cigarette by using fire magic as I puffed a smoke.

I’ve never been this angry before. I have an incredible amount of patience and anger management but I guess Claire really pushed my patience to the limit. If I only have a choice, I would be glad to leave them. Alas, I needed them with me. Wants and needs aren’t necessarily the same. I wanted to leave them but I needed them to survive. I was angry and I hated them especially Claire but I’m not stupid to be rash to my decision to leave the party.

As I enjoyed my cigarette, there was a knock on the door. Although the door wasn’t locked, some idiot was knocking. I didn’t answer because I wasn’t in the mood. The door creaked as it slowly opened. My mood was further destroyed when I found that it was Claire. I rolled my eyes as I adjusted my seat and turned my back on her. I faced the open window and continued to smoke.

Not minding the smoke, Claire dragged a chair and took a seat beside me. I ignored her and pretended to not notice her presence.

“I’m sorry about earlier…” She muttered. “I’ve gone too far…”

Claire never apologized to anyone before. I’ve never seen nor heard her say sorry even to professors who scolded her whenever she’s late in class. She’s always acting high and almighty like a perfect goddess that she thought she was. I pretended to hear nothing and continued to ignore her.

“I feel useless to our group… I feel… that I’m not contributing enough…”

I slowly turned my head to Claire. She was looking down while taking quick glances at me. “Why?”

“Uhmm… Well, Melissa cooks our meals and Dianne is our scout. Their contribution in our group is more than enough… Eric makes our gears and you’re the healer and… our leader…”

“And that’s why you’re tired of me bossing you around.”

“No, no… That’s not what I’m saying… My point is… if it wasn’t for you, we’ll never make it this far. But me, I’m useless… All I could do is watch and you’ll probably make it out alive even if I’m gone…”

Oh, I see. She’s insecure about the others especially to me. While it’s true that her contribution in our survival is a bit lacking, she’s not useless. I understood her feelings because I had my insecurities too and I had worse. But unlike her, I’ve been facing my insecurities ever since I was a child and that insecurity became my shield and it could never be used against me; in fact, I’m used to it. She’s probably not used to being insecure since she has nothing to be insecure about herself in the past.

“I felt worthless when you showed off your magic… Because you know, y-you’re…” Claire looked uneasy as she tried her best to keep eye contact.

“You’re… awesome…” She looked away from my gaze and blushed.

I couldn’t help but smile a bit from her words. It’s probably not easy for her to say that. She’s a prideful person and doesn’t like losing. She’s just envious of my display of power and for that, she felt worthless.

Now that I think about it. I noticed that I’ve been more empathetic since I gained that +10 Charisma from the perk [Leadership]. I used to pretend that I care but now, I could see things differently from another person’s perspective. Like when I talked to George and he talked about his wife.

I think stats work differently than I previously thought. Just 10 CHA and I’ve became a sensitive person? If a person with 5 INT is retarded, what would be the effect if he put 1 point in INT? I mean, an average person have more or less 10 INT. I started with 22 INT but I wasn’t as intelligent as Einstein or Newton. Perhaps stats have diminishing returns the more you put points in it.

Anyway, I should find a way for my party to be more loyal to me since they might be the best I got out there. I planned to leave them when I meet a better party but that would be foolish. Trust and teamwork is important and I was getting used working with them.

I admit that I was wrong being a dictator who just gives commands and expected them to do it. I need consider what they have in mind and what they wanted. I should align my interests with their interests. After all, when you have the same interests, you’ll work much better and more efficient towards an objective.

It’s been a few minutes but Claire and I were still silent. It’s getting awkward. We couldn’t even look each other in the eye without blushing like tomatoes.

“…”

Most of you would think that maybe Claire has developed some kind of feelings for me but that’s just wishful thinking. She just felt embarrassed after she admitted her insecurities to me. I better stop this awkwardness right now.

“So what skills did you buy?” I asked.

“[Sword Mastery], [Lacerating Strike], [Berserker’s Howl] and [Wail of Agony]…” She replied.

“Not bad…”

“I’m really sorry… but I’ll consider your advice next time… I promise.”

“No, it’s okay.” I said. “But if you’re going all offense, you should make adjustments with your stats…”

“What should I do?”

“Well, you’re stats are spread too thinly so my advice is that you should add your stats depending on what you think you’re lacking…”

“What do you mean?”

“If you feel you’re too slow, you should add more AGI. If you feel that you’re damage is too low, you should add more STR and if you feel that your HP is too low then add VIT. You should also keep in mind that most of your skills depend on CHA and INT.”

“I see… I think I’ll add 10 points to STR and 15 to AGI. I haven’t distributed my points yesterday…”

I nodded. I also opened my Character Screen to distribute my 10 attribute points. I added 5 points to WIS and 5 points to INT since I needed MP and mana control more than ever. I also checked my Skill Screen to see the overview of my skills.

Name:Miguel ArevaloRace:HumanLevel:16HP:526/526MP:951/951SP:120/120EXP:11.14%STR:18WIS:47AGI:12INT:60VIT:42LUK:13DEX:12CHA:21Satiety:HungryStatusNormalUndistributed Attribute Points:0Title(s):Masochist: +10% Pain Tolerance and HPPerk(s):Leadership: +10 Charisma and increased follower loyaltyTactician: Tactics and Strategies have higher chance of successMana Affinity: Increase in Mana Control and +10% MP

Unique Skill(s):Quick Learner Lvl. 1 Max (100%)Active Skill(s):Fire Manipulation Lvl 1 Intermediate (3.40%)Wind Manipulation Lvl 9 Beginner (91.22%)Earth Manipulation Lvl 6 Beginner (41.68%)Water Manipulation Lvl 4 Beginner (37.01%)Bash Lvl. 8 Beginner (84.01%)Fool's Act Lvl. 1 Beginner (0.00%)Heal Lvl. 4 Intermediate (51.12%)Meditate Lvl. 2 Intermediate (41.78%)Observe Lvl. 9 Beginner (26.44%)Power Kick Lvl. 1 Beginner (0.00%)Passive Skill(s):Auto-Cast Lvl. 7 Beginner (94.27%)Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 9 Beginner (37.84%)Masochism Lvl. 1 Intermediate (82.97%)Muffled Steps Lvl 8 Beginner (12.89%)Sword Mastery Lvl. 6 Beginner (61.21%)

As I stared at my Character Screen, I noticed that Claire still looked uneasy.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I know it’s too much to ask but will you teach me?”

“Teach you what?”

“Arnis… Dianne mentioned to me that you used to join Arnis tournaments in Highschool.”

“I’m not really an expert.” I said. “Plus, I haven’t practice in a year…”

“Good…” She smiled. “If you practice with me, then you’ll get better at Arnis too, right?”

Although I’m a mage now, there’s no disadvantage for me at being good in close quarter combat. If I ran out of mana, it’s good to have a back-up plan. I wasn’t hesitating to teach her but I was wondering if I was ready to teach her.

“Eric told me that you never lost a fight in a tournament…”

“Please don’t patronize me. I’m trying to think…”

“Okay…”

It’s true that I’ve never lost a fight. I’ve been trained by my mother and my grandfather since I was seven years old. The training slowed down when my grandfather died and my mother became busy with her work. The reason why I never lost was because I was more experienced than any of those amateurs and my training was harsh. Not ‘heavy-in-exercise’ harsh but ‘it’s-getting-too-real-and-painful’ harsh.

Now that I think about it, my training was so harsh that it would count as child abuse. My grandfather taught me that baston was sacred and therefore we were expected to hit at the hand or forearm to ‘defang the snake’ instead of hitting each other’s baston. Every sparring session with my grandfather was a torture. My mother is a practitioner of modern arnis so I preferred sparring with her.

“Alright, I’ll teach you…” I said.

“Yes!” Claire was excited by the judge of her looks.

“But, I don’t want to hear any complains and we will do it my way. Sounds good?”

“Okay!” She had no idea what’s coming for her.

“I want you to promise me…”

“I promise that I will never complain and we will do it my way…”

I guess we’re back but I’m not gonna fall for that one. “No, we will do it MY way…”

“I promise that I will never complain and we will do it YOUR way…”

“Good…”

“So when do we start?”

“Start what?” A voice said.

Claire and I turned our heads to the voice. It was Eric, Dianne and Melissa.

“We’ll start tomorrow…” I whispered to Claire.

“I-uhhh…” Eric rubbed the back of his head. “I’m sorry…”

“No, it’s okay…” I said to them.

“Like I said, you should do whatever you think is right. It’s your character and your stats, not mine. You don’t have to follow my advice but you should at least tell me what items or skills you acquire so we can make changes to our tactics if necessary…” They nodded in agreement.

“So what skills did you buy?” I asked.

Dianne followed my advice while Melissa, having no other choice, bought all the skills available in the Shop. I wonder if what kind of companion she could tame using [Companion: Beast]. Eric, on the other hand, also followed my advice but he’s firm to his decision not to be a tanker.

I had an idea on another use of [Taunt]. I told him that he could use it to lure the enemies into a clump and tight formation so our AoE skills would be more effective. Of course, I would protect him with [Earth Wall] so he would be safe.

I wanted Dianne to buy another [Disruption] skill book for me because that would help me fight against another mage. Unfortunately, I learned that we couldn’t buy an extra skill book even if we wanted to. Only one skill book is available for sale for each skill.

We also planned our route. Dianne found a map in the library in PolSci Building. Unfortunately, most books in the library were about history and political theories and etc. We were lucky to obtain a detailed map of Quezon City.

The original plan was to go to Camp Aguinaldo by taking the road to EDSA. By looking at the map, we realized that we actually didn’t have to go to EDSA. Another way was to go to Katipunan Ave. then to Kalayaan Ave. near the city hall. After we pass Aurora Blvd., we will take 15th Avenue. This way, we could save more time.

Although Claire and Eric lived in this city, they’re not that familiar with every corners, streets and avenues of Quezon City. It’s only natural since this city is the largest city in Metro Manila and there wasn’t a need to memorize the whole city in the past. As the meeting ended, everybody went on to their business and I stayed in the room to meditate.

After a few hours, the sun has risen and I was interrupted when I sensed someone entered the room. I turned my head to the door to see who it was.

“Good morning…” George greeted.

“Good morning…”

George took a seat beside me. “So… uh… What’re you gonna do now?”

“We plan to leave today…”

“Where are you off to?”

“Camp Aguinaldo.” I replied.

“Are you sure it’s safe there? I mean, isn’t it better to go to a mall or something?”

“I’m not sure if Camp Aguinaldo is safe but I’m not going to a mall under any circumstances.”

“Why not?”

I let out sigh. “Not only monsters but there will be a lot of survivors out there to loot the mall. I don’t think they’ll be friendly if they knew that we’re going to claim the area. And it’s a bad place to stay, even if we somehow successfully claimed the area, there are too many entrances to defend.”

“I see…”

There was a pause.

“Uhmm… I know it’s too much to ask but… can we go with you?” George asked.

I knew it. This is the reason why I don’t want to meet another group of survivors. Even if they’re good people, they always have something they want from you; food, weapons, or protection. These good people are often weak and helpless. That’s why they’re ‘good’. It’s very tempting to be a hero but there’s no benefit for us or for me. Although I understand their situation, I’m not ready to die for someone I didn’t really know.

“I’ll discuss it with my group…” I answered.

“I see…” George stood up. He looked disappointed with my answer. “I hope you consider… I mean, I have a son and… I just wanted him to be safe.”

“If it were my decision, I’ll let you come with us but the thing is it isn’t just my decision to make. I have to ask the others too.”

He nodded. “Okay…”

Do I abandon them and let them to fend for their selves? I’m sure they wouldn’t survive for long. I’m not sure if I could make these morally gray decisions yet. It’s easy to say that I should just leave them because I don’t even know them but when you’re in my position, I can say that it’s a very hard decision.

If I abandon them, I would be indirectly responsible for their deaths. Can my conscience take that blow? I don’t know. I’ve felt remorse before all of this but what if in the future, I had to kill a person. Or this one where I’m torn between deciding whether they live or die.

[Guys, emergency meeting… Right now!] – Miguel

[What is it about?] – Eric

[I’ll tell you when you get here.] – Miguel

[I’ll be there.] – Dianne

[Can’t it wait? I was about to eat my breakfast…] – Claire

[No, it can’t. You can eat your breakfast here.] - Miguel

[I’ll bring our breakfast there. Just give me five minutes.] – Melissa

After a few minutes, my party gathered for another meeting. Melissa took out five bowls of Arroz Caldo with boiled egg from her inventory for our breakfast. I took my bowl and eat it with gusto. Melissa’s cooking is so good.

“By the way, George mentioned that you and Claire have a title and asked me if you two are in a relationship.” Eric said.

“…”

Claire and I looked at each other. I gulped.

“A title?”

“Yeah, I haven’t noticed it too until now… Use [Observe] and you’ll see… ”

“Sadist and Masochist… What does that mean?” asked Dianne.

“Are you in some kind of S&M relationship? I didn’t know Miguel was submissive.” Melissa said.

“NO!” Claire and I said in unison.

“Fuck no, I’m not a sub!” I denied the allegation like a guilty kid caught red-handed in a cookie jar.

“Since when did you become his girlfriend? Ooohh… Is that why you’re fighting? Is it a lover’s quarrel?” Eric teased.

“Wait, their titles mean that they’re couples?!”

Melissa whispered something that in Dianne's ear.

"Eh?! T-t-they really did that?!" Dianne the innocent was shocked at the revelation.

“No, we’re not in a relationship. Never!” Claire asserted.

“Are you suuure? Isn’t that why you don’t like Miguel bossing you around? Because you wanted to be in control?” Melissa asked.

“No! I told you he’s not my boyfriend! And we’re not in that kind of relationship!”

“Then how did you get the title? By doing some spanking?” Eric winked at me.

These two were like detectives. Actually, they’re more like reporters looking for a juicy gossip from celebrities; vultures feeding on false rumors and hearsays. Claire and I gave up and told them the whole story of what happened between us in the restaurant.

Their smiles died quickly as I told them how Claire had to torture me for hours and slice my body with a kitchen knife a hundred times before getting the title. Dianne looked more concerned than terrified while Eric and Melissa looked bummed and disappointed.

“What’s this meeting about anyway?” Claire asked as she changed the topic.

“George asked me if they could come with us to Camp Aguinaldo.” I said to them.

“You called us for that?” Melissa asked.

“Well, of course. I didn’t know what to say. So I told him I’ll discuss it with you.”

“So we should let them come with us…” Dianne said.

“That’s the problem… If we let them come with us, we’ll be too many. We survived because we avoided mobs of monsters that we couldn’t handle. If we’re too many, we’ll also attract too many monsters in our way.”

“Then we’ll fight those monsters… I mean, we got new skills and we wouldn’t be able to get these skills if not for them.” Eric said.

“I don’t know. I think we’ll eventually get these skills even without their help. I think they’ll just be a burden…”

“That’s what you think? So we just let them die? They won’t survive here!” Melissa stood up and clearly, she’s against my opinion.

“And they won’t survive out there too…” I let out a deep sigh. “We should have a vote… Those who are in favor to letting them come with us, raise your hands…”

The four of them raised their hands. Apparently, I was the only one with a different opinion.

“Alright, we’ll let them come with us…” I said in defeat.

Author's Note: Thanks for all of your suggestions and comments. I really appreciate it. Thanks!