A park situated at the end of the city, bordering the next, was just getting to see the first rays of sunlight of the day. It wasn’t a really large park, but it was an incline steep like a hill so the paths leading through it had stairs at several spots.

At this time one couldn’t expect to see many people around, not even the morning runners, as it wasn’t located near any residences or essential stores. Toushiro, as he walked down another flight of stairs, couldn’t help but stop at every vending machine he saw.

“This is the place.”

On one side of the path was a rather large campsite with warning signs about fires and trash disposal. And there, at the center of the campsite, was a group of people, apparently composed of adults.

“Your license, please.”

“Here.”

A sort of security guard was waiting at the entrance of the campsite, he didn’t have any expression and just confirmed the card he was handed with a card-reader without uttering another word. It was visible that after inserting the card into it, the screen flashed in white twice before he pulled the card out.

“You can pass, Mr. Toushiro.”

“It’s Tou- huh?”

‘How the...’

The guard’s expression didn’t look like he was joking, it was as rigid as a fed-up with his work guard could be. But the fact that a change had occurred was really unexpected, and that was...

Name: Toushiro.

‘...Toushiro?’

On the card he had handed was the identifications of his job, and, of course, his full name was included on it. However, instead of the name that he always stopped Lara from saying when they were outside, was the nickname he always used when introducing himself to others.

“After stopping time, I can’t really be surprised by this.”

Past the guard, he walked towards the center of the group and was greeted by two guys.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Juan, the leader of this team.”

“Toushiro, the healer you request.”

Even during the exchange it was impossible to avoid glancing at the large and curved sheath hanging behind his waist.

“Hm? Ah, this is called a shotel, works wonders with our tanker.”

“Interesting for sure.” ‘The party feature I mean.’

{Juan has joined the party.}

“And this is...”

After introducing him to the guy waiting with arms crossed beside them, he took Toushiro around doing the same with the others and letting him into a few pointers about their strategies. From each one’s “type” to the priorities of support.

And, of course, Toushiro himself was making sure to fill his part list until a limit was shown, which in this case wasn’t any. It was hard to memorize someone’s name after a single meeting so it was also good to have them all listed.

‘Maybe I can even get levels while working.’

“So, Toushiro, I’d like to get going soon if you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all... that backpack is?”

“Well...”

Juan averted his gaze at the question, it seemed to ask for support from his friends but they all signalled for him to do it himself.

“It’s because there’s no porter, right?”

“You catch on fast.”

‘Why are you surprised by that?’

“I don’t mind carrying one or two as long as I get less work during the rest intervals.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s cool.”

He nodded and smiled like a child getting candy, it made him wonder how old Juan was. Until he picked up one large backpack that is.

“What’s inside this?”

“Just what is needed for a long-term blind on anyone with eyes. It’s just as important as our rations.”

“A large flashbang, so the other bag is just for rations?”

“Exactly.”

“Alright, but whose bag is for the materials?”

“That is... huh?”

“Forget it. Let’s just go, I can act as both healer and porter.”

‘This is less tiring like this after all.’

While Juan roused the other members, Toushiro carried the backpacks to the real purpose of this gathering. A metal made, tall and coming as a pair of doors, it was really similar to the entrance of large cathedrals, and it was called by the single word term of “Gates”.

“Hey, no littering, go throw it in the trash can. Uhum, since everyone is ready, and our healer accepted to pose as a porter as well, I say we get started with today’s conquest. Any objections?”

‘Everyone looks so chill, maybe I won’t have much to do in the end.’

Since no complaints arose, Juan took the lead and entered the gates first without any hesitation.

It seemed openable but touching it wouldn’t cause you to push it or anything, so it was impossible to topple it down, but even if it was pushable, it’d be difficult to bring down something that’s both heavy looking and was also floating.

So when it was his turn to go in, Toushiro picked up both bags and advanced into the gates head first. A feeling of diving into a pool spread and coursed across his body before vanishing completely as he found himself in a tunnel.

The tunnel was wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side without a problem, and the walls, flooring and ceilings were completely red, which caused some to feel a bit of dizziness. To be more precise, It was a nauseating feeling that came from losing their sense of direction momentarily.

On the other end of the tunnel, without a single difference in sight, was a second gate. With no reason to stop halfway through the tunnel, they all headed into it and finally arrived at...

“Ouch, is this the sun...?”

“The reflection of the sunlight, maybe.”

“Damn, it’s blinding as heck.”

“Wear this...”

A woman shared blackglasses with a few members. The scenery they described was of a dense forest that surrounded an enormous tree in the distance. The trees were similar to several species, such as oak trees and pine trees, but their characteristics were very unique.

“Golden leaves?”

“Yep, the leaves seem to be a kind of golden mirror that becomes brighter by reflecting the sunlight upwards.”

“But it’s not any problem after you get into the woods.”

A guy wearing a dark cloak approached the group, apparently coming from the forest, and shared his thoughts. From what he gathered, the leaves were dazzling from above but they didn’t seem to affect anyone who looks at them from below. The tree trunks were dark like charcoal, with the smell of carbon being exuded without stop.

Another concern he had was with the grass around each tree, with the exception of bushes and leaves that fell from the branches, because even the slightest touch caused them to dissolve into powder, and that powder’s smell induced a brief loss of depth perception.

“Burned trunks, huh. Most likely a fire-breathing creature.”

“Same thought.”

“As for the grass... maybe wear masks as precaution?”

“That’d work, I had to be very near the powder for it to affect me.”

Toushiro watched from the side, while avoiding getting blinded by the trees, as they discussed how to proceed into the forest.

‘This is fair.’

{The party member, Larissa, has been kicked from the party for stepping past the allowed distance.}

‘This is surely from before I got into the gates, the distance must be at least one city of distance then.’

“Alright, since it’s all decided, then let’s get going.”

This time the one taking the lead was a tall and muscular man with a shield that resembled a metal door in both height and width. The burly man, in both body and attire, gave a very cool first impression and his role in this group was of a “Tanker”, so it was hard to not be mindful of him.

The members who didn’t get sunglasses previously finally got to open their eyes properly as they stepped into the trail that led into the woods.

He noticed that the burnt trees had some claws marks on their lower halves and pointed it out.

“Let’s slow down the pace and get ready to engage then.”

“Let me apply some basic effects then.”

“Sure.”

On the palm of his hands, tidbits of lights started to gather and gather until the shape of a square, or the outline of one, was formed. It was a sequence that happened in the span of some seconds and just had to be pushed onto someone’s body to take effect.

“Here.”

“Thanks, bro.”

“You’re welcome.”

Even after pushing the square outline onto everyone’s body it was still visible from their backs, and with each passing minute a bit of the light would fade.

“I will reapply it every half an hour.”

‘Wait, should I apply it on myself?’

{Your stamina has been raised by 5% for thirty minutes.}

‘That’s not much...’

“They’re coming!”

Along with the shout came the screech from the creatures rolling out from the rows of bushes in the distance.

“Marcelo.”

“Right up.”

Before the leading creature could approach any further it was deflected by the tanker’s shield. And only then could they identify what it looked like.

“That’s new, an armadillo?”

“Tatu? Oh, it does resemble one.”

It was as they said, it had the same characteristics of an armadillo. Since the silver leather shell that stretched and folded over its back like an accordion, the long sharp claws, and the hairy belly were all present. But it was hard to call it part of the same species as them when one paid attention to the longer and thicker legs it has, the wider jaw, and the large body that was comparable to a pig’s.

‘Guess I can place one bag down for now.’

There were few of these monsters charging onto Marcelo’s shield, and behind him, waiting for the right timing, was Juan with his shotel unsheathed. As the sheath already implied, the shotel was a sword that was curved in a half-moon shape from half way up the blade, like a larger version of a sickle.

And it wasn’t as if those two were the only busy ones. Beside Toushiro were two people with crossbows, they loaded arrows made of blue or purple energy and fired towards the ones that weren’t rolling forward. A hit meant that they would be stunned or at least slightly injured, but the duo couldn’t expect to cause much damage because of their shells.

‘That guy, forgot his name, but I will have to heal him. Maybe it can wait...’

Since the four members of the rearguard, not including himself, were safe from getting injured, his eyes ended up on the vanguard, which was composed of Juan, Marcelo and another four members.

The two members with long swords were parrying the rolling monsters and then using their weights on a downward slash, or thrust, to break through the silver shell. While at one side was a dagger user who carried the last strike on those hit by lucky arrow shots, and on the other side was a short sword wielder who had several movements that were hard to follow with his eyes.

Along with two other members of the rearguard, Toushiro watched the battlefield without any obstacles to his view.

“So the two of you keep the rearguard while saving your energy?”

“Yeh, never joined a group with this set-up, right?”

“Our fighting method differs from the ranger-types so we can’t help it, you get it?”

He nodded. It wasn’t wrong to say that everyone had a limit, he could clearly see his own after all. So it was a smart tactic to keep some members ready to switch-in when needed, a smart but not so used one.

‘Anyways, the timer is low already.’

Beneath the minimized party list, on a corner of his vision, was a symbol that resembled a torso with a “+” beside it, which had appeared at the same time as he applied the endurance increase effect on himself.

“I have to reapply the effect.”

“They are gonna finish soon... yeh, you can do it now.”

“Alright.”

Within a few seconds he had already created another pair of white square outlines, now to push them onto someone without being a bother... well, being reserved about this would be worse than not, so he just started with Juan and Marcelo.

Chapter 6 - Time of Effect.