I sat at a rounded table along with the five people I met at the fountain plaza. Despite the tables circular nature, which was intended to place all those seated around it at equal distance from the others, four of those accompanying me had gathered on one side of the table. The Hero sat to my left equal distance between me and the others. Closest to The Hero was the eastern man, who maintained the same smile he'd had the entire time. Next to him was the priestess, who was actively trying to appear small, with her hands in her lap and shoulder slumped a tiny bit. The blond woman was the next in line, She was visibly irritated with the placement of the seat, clearly uncomfortable being so close to the people beside her. At the end of the line was the large man, who merely kept glaring at me. After that, a generous empty section sat between him and me to my right.

"Well, I believe we should start with introductions. As per before, please feel free to call me Mask." I waved my hand to create magical letters for them to read.

Four of them had read my message and visibly chosen to stay silent, either waiting for a cue from someone other than me or not wishing to be the first to speak in general. I couldn't yet tell. The Hero saw the message and stood up to introduce herself. This was purely for my benefit, as I assume that the others present were already familiar with the young woman.

"Well, all of you know I am the hero, but I don't think I actually told you my name during our first meeting Mr. Mask." The Hero lied, or perhaps she had merely forgotten. Telling me her name had been the second thing she'd ever said to me. "My name is Luna." After speaking, The Hero returned to her seat. If the others had picked up on the small lie, they didn't show it, but The Heros actions did loosen the lips of at least one of them.

Standing from her seat as The Hero had, The Priestess introduced herself. "You can call me Emilia, I am to act as the healer in this party." Without any extra pageantry, she retook her seat.

Following The Priestess, the eastern man stood from his seat and spoke in the same lackadaisical tone from before. "My name is Shu-Na, I specialize in scouting, archery, and the disarming of traps. I look forward to working with you, Mask." As he re-took his seat, he seemed to push it towards The Hero, suggesting that his proximity to the others had not been his first choice.

"I suppose that, if I must, I will introduce myself next." Said the blond woman pompously. As she stood for her introduction, she grabbed her seat and moved it to the other side of the large man. While still closer to him than to I, Her change of position had done a great deal to close the physical gap between the group and me. "My name is Roxanne Fairleaf, but you all may call me Roxy. I mostly work with combat magic, but I dabble in the research of magical tools on occasion. I was top of my class at the academy, and I was chosen to work with The Hero because of my brain, but I'll forgive you if you thought it was because of my beauty." She spoke confidently while moving in a way to show off the aforementioned beauty. With her introduction finished, The Mage took her seat to my left and leaned her elbows onto the table.

No longer having people right up against her, The Presitess straightened her back a small amount, taking up just the slightest bit more space than she had previously. Likely her previous stature was an attempt to avoid contact with those around her or grant them more space.

With everyone else having gone before him, the large man had little choice but to open his mouth from what appeared to be a perpetual scowl. "Deven, shieldbearer" Unlike the others, he did not stand from his seat to introduce himself, nor did he show anything but displeasure about working with me.

I quickly produced another message for them all to read. I could worry about finding out why The Shieldbearer held such disdain for me at a later time.

"With introductions out of the way, I must ask. What exactly do you feel your party requires, I would hate to join you and bring nothing to the table, and I see that you have most roles filled." I acted like I hadn't heard the conversation that they'd been having before I approached them. I knew what they needed, and I knew I was more than likely the best individual to fulfill that need. I felt that acting like I knew less about the situation of those gathered would probably be best.

"Not you," mumbled The Shieldbearer. He had spoken softly enough that the only reason I knew what he said was by reading his lips. I doubt that anyone else at the table had seen him open his mouth.

Unaware of the words spoken by The Shieldbearer, The Hero started explaining my role in the party. "You are supposed to be one of our frontline fighters. But that's only part of what we need." The Hero's rather upbeat attitude seemed to stall before she spoke again. "Look, I need someone with experience. No matter how strong any of us are, we don't know what we're doing out in the world. We need someone who understands... THINGS. From how to choose the best route on a map to what wild plants are edible. Can you do that?"

The Hero seemed almost pleading with her final question. I suspect that this wasn't the first time she had attempted to bring someone knowledgable into her party. Likely someone had been trying to leave her in the dark about something. I'd have to spend time finding what it was they'd wanted to hide from her.

"I can do that. I have spent the majority of my life traveling, and I've seen almost everything in the known world. I am confident I can serve as a guide for you. I also have confidence in my combat ability, so I believe I am fit to fulfill both roles."

The Hero seemed to light up at my response. The fear of having to travel the world without knowing anything about had weighed on her, probably for some time now. I'd seen that same fear too many times not to recognize it. Many of those in my past had worn the exact same look at the start of their journey. I hated seeing that look of innocent terror, a look that only those who had been torn away from something better could ever produce.

"That's perfect." She adopted a dazzlingly, bright smile while she spoke. "I look forward to working with you." She put out her hand for me to shake after she finished speaking.

I grabbed just above her wrist instead of taking the extended hand. She seemed slightly shocked by the action but did not pull her arm away instead, similarly grabbing my arm. Like that, we shook to signify the start of our relationship.

"Do you have any particular goal for your journey?" I asked the gathered people. Working around whatever they had planned would be the challenge of this journey, or so I assumed.

"Uhh, not really. I was just told that I should travel the world and help people where I can, I wasn't really given a task." The Hero spoke the ludicrous words like nothing, leaving my mind reeling.