"So, why am I here?"

Gabriel sat in a large hall. An obnoxious aquarium took the north and east walls of the room completely, at its center a chabudai, a short-legged Japanese table. It was enormous, there could easily fit forty people in it. However, only thirteen people were not counting him sitting at the table, and Greta, the only one on his side of it.

A beautiful kyusu, a Japanese teapot with a beautifully chiseled tea set had been placed at the center of the table; it fumed with the calming smell of Japanese green tea. The carving on each cup showed a tree on which crown was a curving sun. As he had understood, that was the symbol of the Yamamoto family.

In fact, as he headed to The Outpost, the message had been changed. It said: 'Come to the Yamamoto manure, we'll all be waiting there.

It took him a while to find the road, but he made it, and as soon as he arrived, he was much cordially escorted inside and offered all that he could.

"It's obviously a great gift that you are offering us with your presence, Herald," said the old man. The man was the family's elder; he had a receding white headline and had tied a top-knot on his air, like samurais used to do.

"That is… too much, anyway. What I care to know is if we are safe from the Seer's listening," Gabriel replied, ignoring the implications in what the man had said.

"You dishonor us in asking that!" Said an agitated fellow, he looked too young to be the elder's son, but this worked life expectancy and old age in Alter.

"Ken." That was the only word the elder needed to shut him up completely.

"By all means, I was not trying to be offensive. I just wanted to be certain that the Seer's eyes and ears are absent from this location," Gabriel replied, keeping inside a sigh.

All the people in the room were Druid; their Spirits were all contained inside of themselves; as Gabriel started to notice. People in power or with power, tried to show their spirits for the least possible time.

He guessed such practice was a play on their Affinity, or maybe fear of being judged by their Spirits' characteristics or manners, cause that was how he had understood it.

"It is, Gabriel Walker. I made sure no one could ever be able to pry inside my house," said a woman, nodding. From her face, Gabriel could judge that she was Sato's mother. The one at her right must have been the father, which made the guy that screamed about dishonor, most probably his uncle from his mother's side.

After a long introduction about their family affairs, Gabriel understood that the Yamamoto family was at the head of this power-group. There were five of them sitting together, the last one being Sato's older sister. At their right sat the Wagner family composed of four people, and finally, at their left, the Jansen family; they too were made by four people. In their cases, Gabriel thought they could only be Fred and Greta's parents, brothers, and sisters. The only older looking man was the elder speaking to him.

"Then let us speak freely," said Gabriel, "What is it that you wish of me?"

"We merely wish your aid; your life will not be in danger at any time," the elder started, "We've conceived a way for you to be returned to Yggdrasil the very moment the exchange is successful."

What looked like Fred's father, a tall Scandinavian man, not as wide and massive as Fred but almost just as imposing, started talking, "You see, our family is mostly a family scouts," he let himself have a smile, "The only one born with the trait of a Tank wa- is my son…" What seemed to be her wife put her hands on his arm, they shared an intimate look, one of those that don't need words, and he had the strength to continued, "Our family has been working on a project; a project to increase the life expectancy of scouts, we've lost… too many already, and couldn't bear to lose more. In the last couple of decades, a division of scientists studying the Lost Continent and its altered physical laws has been working on a device. This device is only a prototype right now, but in the past months, but in the past months it has shown an 85% success rate?." He paused, looking for confirmation from the elder and the Wagner.

"Okay, but what is its purpose?" Gabriel asked.

"It works like the Priests' summoning bindings, but it is temporary," said Greta's mother, the tall German woman he had already seen.

"The what?"

"He doesn't know. He's never fought the Priest, probably never seen one," Greta clarified.

I've seen one; Gabriel thought back to his first meeting with what could else be but Tom, on that fateful day.

"The Priests exchange a lifetime of servitude for two things, Gabriel," she said after nodding to her daughter. "The ability to feed their Spirits to those abominations they define as Angels and Demons, and the ability to be recalled by their superiors when in danger. That's as far as we know, on them. But what interests us right now is their escape protocol. It is game-changing, and the very reason why they can allow themselves such freedom of movement."

Fred's father took the ball back, "The very ability to attack without suffering consequences is the fundamental part of their dangerous aggressions. And our device, though much more limited, offers us a similar escaping method. The only difference being in the presence of the device, its range, and its batteries limitation."

"So it's a space magic trinket?" He thought back to the Hearth.

"It's much more than just a trinket, Gabriel Walker." The elder took the word.

"It's a life-changing device based on the most difficult form of Magic there is. Chaos Magic, you might not know, but Chaos Magic is a superior form of Higher Magic."

"Yes," said the Jansen man, "We needed to work with an even greater form of Magic to make it work in Dungeons as well; the disturbances in its atmosphere throw off most complex Magic devices."

Gabriel nodded, "What I know about Higher Magic, I've come to know yesterday," said Gabriel, "Higher Magic is formed by utilizing two shades from two different Elements, one Hard and one Soft magic and interwoven them to create the desired effects."

"Well, Chaos Magic is created by interweaving four different forms of Higher Magic. We define their class as Divine Magic," the elder explained, sipping its green tea.

Gabriel shook his head, "Then your plan would be that of equipping me with this trinket, make the exchange, then summon me back to you." His head pivoted to Fred's father, "With an eighty-five percent chance of actually working."

"Yes. That is what we are proposing. Naturally, what we offer in exchange is… everything. But a thing which I value more than everything first, my eternal gratitude." The elder put extreme emphasis on that last word.

Gabriel nodded, then he paused a moment to think about the consequences before answering, "We live in a world of magic, so I'm sure your means will work sooner or later. What we lack is instead... time. But, what if the exchange is not completed right away. What if to fight exactly such means their promise will be that of giving a hostage back for each day, week, or month I stay in their care. Would your batteries last then? Would our plan even have a meaning?"

The elder closed his eyes momentarily as if he had received a staggering blow. "We… have thought about such things, but preferred not to. And if that was the case, we would have recalled you right away and stormed the place ourselves. Or abandoned our promising youngsters to their destinies. But we hope it won't come to that. We hope that once you'll be in their hands, they'll be content enough."

"You might convince them," said Sato's mother.

"Gabriel," Greta said, "If you are not comfortable, I will come with you. I could keep you company, share your destiny if worse comes to wear."

"What?" Screamed Greta's mother and father, her two brothers shot up, "What are you talking about?" They asked her each in a different way.

"I will not leave him alone. I already told you. He's part of the team, now."

"What are you even saying, Greta! You've known him for one day!" Said one of her brothers.

"So what? One day, one week, one month. He's saved my life. And if he accepts the proposal, he knows he has the chance of throwing his life away." Greta shot up too, "This is MY- OUR team what we are trying to save here, not yours; not anyone else's. If somebody has to save them, then it'll be us. End of the story."

Gabriel couldn't help but look at her, a little taken aback. His heart beat fast to the reality of having finally encountered someone battling for him, instead that for his title of Herald.

Details about the plan that would take action a couple of weeks from then, because of the last-minute adjustment that had to be applied to the devices and the preparations that had to be taken, unfolded slowly. In reality, two weeks was stretching it extremely thin on the family's part. However, the Dungeon situation had taken a turn for the better.

After sweeping the fields with their Tier 4s, the Druids had not made any sort of contact with the kidnappers or the kidnapped; au contraire, they had found an empty Dungeon, spawning only beasts, with no trace whatsoever of the Bastards-Yggdrasilians.

That same day, early in the morning, an envoy with the Rank of Paragon, a thing that the Druids thought possible only during the summer, was sent to establish contact with them. While they took their time to decide, the Druid stipulated a peace treaty which consisted of nobody entering the Dungeon for an entire month as they considered the previous envoy's proposal; in exchange, the Bastards would have to guarantee the Delvers safety and well being and show proof of them each day.

"That's why the abrupt change of location?" Gabriel asked Greta, it was evening, and he had stopped for lunch at the Yamamoto estate, together with the other families' members.

They had moved to Sato's family garden, and Greta had been recounting to him the reasons for the sudden change as he fumbled about the Yamamoto house kitchen. There was a fleet of servants in the giant manor because the people he had met were only the tip of the iceberg. To the Yamamoto, there was the family and the sub-families; some were not even related by blood, but as it seemed, the whole root once belonged to an important branch of the Yakuza grown into nobility in Alter. They had been invited a couple of centuries before by the then Reevers's house head. They had done nothing but built on their already strong foundations and were now an institution in Yggdrasil. Their family had direct access to the Crown. Few families could boast about such things.

"Partly, yes. However, we should discuss something else, Gabriel. You should be increasing your level right now. Two weeks are not enough, but we might at least get you to the next tier of Perks. Get you a Skill evolution or two. There is even a Dungeon Challenge for you to beat. I could make sure we did it. All our team has done it. We even managed to bring the Boss down, thanks to a little trick. It's a bit of a secret, but you are the Herald. It's weird the Reevers haven't granted you with that."

"What? Wait, you are saying there is a Dungeon Hidden reward that is easily accessible?" He asked.

"Well, easily might not be the best word, but it's in range for a high-end Tier 3 Delver. You could be one; with your stats, you are an all-rounder, and the trick is about survival anyway. So you might as well do it. I'll make sure to buff you as much as possible and have our best buffers in the party when you join the Challenge," she said.

"Wait, but that means beating a Challenge Boss? What Dungeon are we talking about here?"

"Ant Dungeon, of course. Such a trick could work only on such a low-level zone…"

"Wait, Greta. I'm losing myself here. A Dungeon Boss is 2048 times stronger than regular monsters. Even if we're talking about a level 10 Dungeon, that would mean having to deal with, what? A monster with attributes in the thousands and-"

"But with only a couple of Skills," she said, with a smirk.

"What?"

"Ant Dungeon Challenge is level 7. It wasn't even there before it shifted, it's newly born, and it's Boss only develops two Skills; they are always a taunt and a Black Mist Affinity based Skill-

Gabriel remembered the mist he had been subjected to, once trying to be brave and protect Nikki and Bart from the monster at the outskirts of Ant Dungeon.

Great continued, "-which means that as long as we make you immune to the mist and get you flying, we can shave at the Boss' life with Decay potions. There is no level of Attributes that can protect from Decay magic. It affects everything and anything."

"Are we sure about that?"

"Look at me, I'm here, and I've done it. Everybody you know has done it. Fred, Prisha, Sato, Gaia Waterfront, Nastia… The only problem is that it is booked for now, and the Boss spawns once a week, but I believe we have a fix for that too. Right, Yui?" Greta asked, nodding to what Gabriel had understood was Sato's sister.

"You can, of course, have my reservation. My family will handle all the expenses," she said with a convincing nod.

Gabriel slouched on his chair and shrugged, "Alright, it's a deal. When do we do it?"

"In four days, we'll get to you and have everything prepared by then. I'll go inform my father," Yui said. Like Sato, Yui had an always smirking yet very sharp gaze, she was very pretty with her long black hair, and everything about her screamed of the trait of a hunter.

"She's a sharpshooter too, right?" He asked Greta.

"Almost the entire Yamamoto family is. These kinds of things tend to happen when there is a strong family spirit among them. It is a special occasion when in a specialized family, a kid with a different Spirit is born because it helps them expand like how it happened to Fred's family. However, Sato… Sato is special. He is a hunter like the rest of them, but he's one of the most promising youngsters of this generation. He is not a genius at the smug-faced Darte kid level, but that doesn't take away his Skill with people. And I bet my staff that when he reaches Darte's level, he will very much shine brighter than him." Greta seemed truly convinced of what she was saying.

Gabriel took that moment in earnest to leave and go back for his routine day. If he had to spend those two weeks preparing, then it was time he started doing something intelligent like shifting his school regiment to a daily schedule, if Gorgi was okay with it, naturally.

The thing would even arrive exactly on time with the completion of his armor; if that wasn't luck, then he had no idea what it could be.

I just hope it's enough.

Still, his money was running thin, so he took Greta aside and whispered to her.

"I'm looking for a job, and since I can't really face a Dungeon by myself, nor book it. I wanted you to address me to something that pays well. Danger is not really a problem in that regard."

Greta lowered her voice, "Gabriel, there's no need for you to work; our families can sponsor you so-"

"Listen, I'm extremely thankful for having met you, Greta. Really, I think we might build a profound friendship; however, money is off the table, I can't start depending on you. I just needed for you to point me in a direction. There's just too much I don't know about this world. So I wouldn't even know where to start."

Greta snorted, looking at him straight in the eyes, but then she nodded, "Well, what can you do?"

"Cook, a little, serve, keep accounts, and kill monsters. That last one might be our forte," he added as the lizard got closer to him, sensing that they were about to leave. Gabriel had let her free to roam the Japanese styled gardens of house Yamamoto.

"Well… there are hunters that roam the fields of Yggdrasil. Chance of essences is much lower; however, pelts, bones, and such are indeed sold for good money to the right people. You have got your rather fancy Dimensional Bag, so you should not have any problems even hunting by yourself. I can get someone to prepare you a good itinerary with hunting spots and a hunting permit. However, Gabriel. I need you to convince the Reevers to let you out of the city; that is something we can't intercede in."

"Alright, leave that to me," Gabriel said, getting up, "Oh, and, Greta?"

"Yes?"

"Can you play cards?"

"I guess so. Why?"

"Tonight, there's an open spot at my table in the Traveling Hearth. A certain Major did not cut the requirements, but I guess you might fit just perfectly."

If there was something Gabriel had learned while wasting time with the people he worked with, before the service started or when it was done, was that nothing revealed someone's personality like a well-prepared game of cards. And the previous night, Cain had revealed to be precisely what he worried about, the Seer's lackey.