Ok so we all follow this really strange fat knight back into the tower for our little strategy meeting. For some reason Quincy seems to be really fascinated with this Luther guy, however he never told me anything about him so I’ll just have to imply that they have a very close relationship. Maybe Luther is also a history nerd like Quincy, or perhaps there’s some sort of strange dynamic that I would have never seen coming. Either way, we make our way up the tower and head to the room that we threw Hume out of. I see Elisa walk up to the center of the room to begin the debriefing.

“So, summing up the information that the second hero’s party had acquired, we’ve basically got the location of where this meeting between Bartrem and the Ghouls will occur as well as the time they agreed to meet. Also the fact that the rebellion is just the Man of Stone’s way of manipulating the peasants so he can get into the good graces of the demons. The information I have acquired pertains to several combat profiles on Bartrem as well as the leader of the ghouls. I believe we should take this time to assess their strengths and weaknesses,” Elisa suggests.

“Ah I see, strengths and weaknesses. Does this Bartrem fellow happen to wear really tight pants? My powers are quite effective on people who wear skinny jeans,” Manchester claims.

“Yes! I must agree with my friend. I remember that one time you used your pantilicious ability to accentuate the curves of the women in Colonus,” Luther recalls.

I wonder what kind of really weird adventures these two must have had. I feel bad for pretty much everyone in their vicinity whenever Manchester has pants fever.

“No! Why would that even be listed as one of his weaknesses? Anyways let’s begin, Bartrem’s profile lists him as having the ability to manipulate the earth. He has been reported to manipulate the earth in ways that allows him to strike from unexpected positions. Some of his men recall that fighting him can be like trying to move in quicksand while he navigates the earth as if he were moving through a kind of fluid,” Elisa informs.

“So we can expect his warclass to be a thief. That will be troublesome for my group to deal with,” Warren grumbles.

It seems Warren has already decided that he’s taking on this Bartem guy. I don’t know why, but I can sense a kind of hostility from him. This is definitely the kind of guy that isn’t afraid to murder. I hope Quincy hasn’t been influenced by those kinds of antics. If possible I’d like to avoid killing people as much as possible.

“How can we identify him? Does he have any specific characteristics we should take note of?” Warren prods.

“He can be identified by his space black color thief armor and the fact that he only has one arm. As for any notable characteristics, it's said in his profile that he only talks using Military jargon and he is extremely paranoid. The current information suggests that he has ptsd from the days during his war with the elves. He can’t help but think that he’s in a war zone,” Elisa lectures.

“Maybe we can give him a seizure or something by shoving Remi in his face. I know she sure scares me,” I say trying not to look Remi in the eye.

“Come to think of it, I still haven’t beat up you and Nazuko for yesterday's debacle,” Remi says threateningly.

I can feel Remi glaring down on me as I hear her crack her knuckles. God save me, I didn’t do it on purpose.

“As crude of a tactic as that is, perhaps bringing up his ptsd may serve to temporarily shock or incapacitate him. Soldiers with ptsd tend to panic when they hear loud noises or see bright lights,” Scylla notes.

“Loud noises and bright lights huh. I think we can just set Nerva loose and Bartem’s ptsd will flare right up,” Quincy acknowledges.

“That is a fine suggestion my friend. Truly a fitting thought for the one of blackness,” Luther says.

The one of blackness? Oh that’s rich, I’ll have to use that later when I describe Quincy.

“Alright I’ll be sure to scare the hell of of this fucking wimpy Bartem guy!” Nerva yells.

“Heh, I think you guys will find these useful then,” Ryder says as he gives every one of Quincy’s party a flashbang, except Adam who drops his and it goes off in his face so everyone just laughs at him.

“AAAAAHHH MY EYES,” Adam screams in pain as he rolls around on the floor.

“Do not worry young lady, I shall assist you in feeling better. Allow me to give you an embrace,” Luther tells Adam as he walks over and picks him up princess style.

“For once we actually have a scenario in which it's okay to give people flashbangs. I can’t believe it,” Azura says astounded.

“I know it's like the stars have aligned or something,” Lilith states.

“Alright, that's all the information we have on Bartem. Next is the profile for the leader of the ghouls, Richter. He tends to wear a grayish-green cloak and uses a crimson colored bow. He can be seen with a large braided mane of brown hair. It is also reported that one of his eyes tends to be bigger than the other and has an almost sunken in nose,” Elisa informs us.

“An archer huh, well it should be no problem if Ryder tried to take him from long distance. I think his cannon has a much longer range than what a mere bow could achieve,” I note.

“You can count on me, although it’d be best if our attack from a distance is a surprise attack. Once people start to move around frantically it becomes hard to calculate the trajectory needed to get precise and accurate bombings,” Ryder mentions.

“About that, according to his profile Richter can use wind to extend the range of his arrows and even change their direction in midair. If you lose sight of him, it might become difficult to determine which direction the arrows are being shot from,” Elisa says reading off her notes.

“Heh we should just burn down the swamp so these guys have less places to hide,” Nerva suggests.

“That’s a great idea Nerva,” Nazuko says, encouraging her and giving her a high five.

Wow, now that I think of it Nazuko is the only one capable of giving Nerva a high five.

“Maybe we can solve our problems by not burning everything to the ground,” Adam suggests.

“Nah that’s a dumb idea,” Nerva responds.

“Yeah totally boring,” Nazuko agrees.

“Aww,” Adam sighs in a defeated tone.

Oh boy, if the swamp does start to burn I might be adding Eco-Terrorist to my list of titles. Then again I’m not the one responsible sooooo… Not my fault. Yeah.

“So we have a man who can manipulate the earth in order to fight stealthily and a ghoul who can manipulate their attacks to come from any direction. Both are pesky opponents, but they don’t seem to be overwhelming at least,” I say analyzing the two foes.

“Yes indeed, perhaps there is not a need for all of us to conduct this ambush. A larger group would only attract more attention. I have received desperate word from the Western and Southern front. Scylla I implore you to help Anastasia retake the Western front, while Manchester my friend, you shall help establish a strong foothold within the southern front,” Luther orders.

“Understood, I shall make preparations to leave at sunrise,” Scylla answers.

“I see, in that case I shall bring proper pant culture to our allies in the south. When you arrive in the south I will make sure to have properly outfitted all of the peasants. Maybe I will have taken the Southern Front myself if you dilly dally for too long,” Manchester laughs.

“If you do my friend, then we must celebrate by going out amongst the town. I may be able to attain an eighth girlfriend here in Ayana,” Luther jokes or wait, I don’t think he’s joking so never mind.

“So that just leaves me then,” Elisa states.

“Yes my dear, I believe if we are to launch a surprise attack. Then who better to lead us than the legendary ghost knight herself,” Luther applauds.

“You can leave Bartem to us. I have quite a few questions I’d like to ask him,” Warren says menacingly.

Quincy’s party seems keen on taking this Bartrem guy alive, perhaps to obtain some kind of useful information. I think I’ll let them focus on him since his party has little in the way of ranged attacks. Also the face that Warren is making is starting to scare me. In that case I think my party is better suited to taking on the leader of the ghouls.

“Ok I’ll let you guys deal with the guy with ptsd, while my party takes on Mista,” I tell them.

“Who?” Remi asks.

“The ghoul guy with aimbot, I mean the one who can manipulate his arrows in midair. That’s what I’m calling him,”

I’m sad that no one gets my anime reference, so maybe I’ll give my party a rant Quincy style about modern media. I wonder how Ryder would react to Jojo. I bet he’d probably sympathize with the main character of part 3.

I understood that reference. I saw the entire series by going through your memories.

“Yay at least someone other than Quincy can nerd out with me,” I cheer.

Yes I can see how Ryder would fit the description of a JoJo protagonist. He definitely has the physique for it.

“Quincy said the same thing when he first met Ryder, the only thing is that he’s not a stand user,”

Ryder clearly knows the Hamon breathing technique then.

“That’s great, now I have to tell my party about Jojo. Remind me to do that later after Remi beats me up,” I tell Mythril.

“So now that we have a plan, how about we prepare our supplies and board my airship?” I suggest.

“Hmm, I actually wouldn’t suggest going with your ship. If our goal is to launch a stealth attack, then the last thing we should be doing is letting our enemies know about our presence. Does it happen to have the ability to turn invisible?” Elisa asks.

“No, at least I don’t think there is. Is there Azura?” I ask her.

“No, the closest thing we have to a stealth mechanism is when the ship releases a bunch of steam and it becomes hard to fly. I think Lilith and Remi spend too much time in the shower,” Azura complains.

“Hey, I think it's important to stay clean. At least I’m not like Nazuko who tries to avoid soap,” Lilith says.

“Unfortunately I can’t avoid soap due to Will’s orders, but damn that stuff stings when it gets in your eyes,” Nazuko complains.

“Screw soap! Soap is for pussies. Like Adam. I bet he uses soap,” Nerva says accusing Adam of practicing good hygiene.

“Wait, but soap is good for you, it keeps you from getting sick,” Adam argues.

“Bitch I’ve never gotten sick and I rarely use soap now these days,” Nerva responds.

I think there’s a different non-soap related reason that Nerva never gets sick. Also Adam is right, but I don’t want to defend anything he says so I’m just going to maintain silence.

“Steam, huh. Actually that gives me an idea. If we fly above the clouds, we can use them for cover and as we descend we can use wind magic to surround ourselves with clouds to stay hidden,” Elisa decides.

“Yay airship!” I exclaim, throwing my arms up to express joy.

“I was going to suggest that we borrow horses, but this is a much better idea. It will cut the travel time in half and allow us to sneak past any lookout towers on the ground.”

“So now our plan has been decided my friends, I suggest we all prepare ourselves to venture into the Infinite Morass Swamp this Wednesday,” Luther announces.

“Great I’ll prepare by taking a long nap. And no Nazuko you can’t come,” I say shutting her down before she even asks.

“Aww,” she says, all disappointed.

“WHAT BLASPHEMY!” Luther yells.

“Wait what?” I say all confused.

“Oh Will, you’ve triggered Luther, now you shall prepare yourself for a rant,” Quincy tells me.

Man I don’t like where this is going. Whenever someone says the word rant it triggers me.

“First hero, if you are a true gentleman then you wouldn’t shy away from such physical embrace with your girlfriend. In fact you should be inviting all four of your girlfriends to sleep with you!” Luther demands.

“Ok first of all Nazuko isn’t my girlfriend. Secondly people shouldn’t have more than one girlfriend. That’s cheating,” I tell him.

“I must disagree, I have acquired seven girlfriends, and all of them do not seem to have a problem with it,” Luther reveals.

“Did he get another one while he was away on a mission or something?” Quincy mutters under his breath.

“Alright I can’t deal with this idiocy right now. Ryder, initiate plan get me the hell out of here!” I tell him as I jump right into his cannon.

“Ok where to?” Ryder asks.

“Anywhere but here,” I tell him.

“Okay, here we go. BLAST AWAY” Ryder yells as he ignites the cannon and I get launched out the same window we threw Hume out of.

Wow this tower is a lot taller than I thought. If I hadn’t placed a portal where I thought Hume would have landed he might have turned into a pancake or something. As I’m flying over the headquarters of the eastern front I realize just how run down everything is. Many of the buildings look like they are in need of desperate repair and there are quite a few homeless people loitering in the streets. Is this the result of years of famine and rebellion? You’d think in a world full of magic, hunger would be a thing of the past. Perhaps with better management and distribution of resources there could be an improvement with the living conditions in Ayana. However complete government upheaval isn’t the way to do that. I bet the Man of Stone definitely has to be behind the cause of the rebellion. There’s no way that such a large state with plenty of resources would be suffering this badly. I need to put a stop to this rebellion as soon as I can. I land safely in the middle of a plaza by shooting out a ton of wind to cushion my fall. The resulting wind unfortunately destroys a small shack and apple stand nearby.

“NO NOT AGAIN! I THOUGHT ESCAPING COLONUS WOULD FREE ME FROM THIS CURSE,” yells the apple vendor as he sits in despair.

Wait. I think I know this guy. He’s the apple vendor I saw when I first knocked out Nazuko. Ah good times although I feel bad for his stock. I walk up to him and I pin the blame on someone else.

“Just so you know, this wasn’t my fault. If you want to blame someone, blame the one of blackness, Quincy. You know, how about we release some stress and yell together. It will make you feel better,” I say nonchalantly.

“Ok fine, I’ll give it a shot,” the apple vendor says.

“Okay with me on three, we yell something stupid,” I propose.

“Wait what do I yell?” he asks.

“I dunno, just something that makes you feel better. Alright with me, One, Two, Three!”

“CURSE YOU, ONE OF BLACKNESS. I’LL SHOVE AN APPLE UP YOUR ASS,” he yells.

“PRAISE OPPAI” I yell stupidly.

Everyone in the town square just looks at us like we are crazy, but everyone needs to yell something stupid once in a while. Just to get it out of your system.

“So do you feel better now?” I ask him.

“Yeah I do thanks,” he says.

“No problem, here take this book. A certain perverted wizard wanted to spread me to spread the word of a new religion praising women’s boobs while I was in Ayana. Also I have like 29 of these things,” I say as I pull out a doujin like book from my pocket dimension.

I proceed to buy up all of the guy's stock of apples and dump them into the void. I think I’ve just done a good deed. I made a guy feel better and spread the word of an erotic religion. Okay maybe that last thing wasn’t so great, but I need to get rid of these things somehow. I proceed to walk back through the streets to the tower and hopefully avoid getting into more stupid conversations. As I enter the tower I pass by what looks like a storage room and I see Scylla preparing for her journey. Something about her doesn’t sit right with me. Mythril couldn’t analyze her and all I get from the ring is just a bunch of black bars. Normally when it’s something I can’t understand it's in the language of the ancients, but not this. Mythril said it was because she was strong, but she chose to rely on Manchester in the fight with the Sonia rangers. I wonder why. I walk inside and I close the door so no one can hear.

“So preparing to leave for the western front huh,” I say, catching her attention.

“Oh, Will, it’s you. Yes, I will be leaving soon. I just need to pack a few more provisions for the trip. Also, your elf friend is looking for you. Said she needed to inflict some punishment,” Scylla tells me.

“Why did you hide your power during our fight in Sonia,” I say abruptly changing the conversation.

There’s a brief pause before she stops packing and turns to me.

“Hoh, so you could tell. Well let’s just say I wanted to see your strength. I must say, I’m not impressed,” she responds.

Somehow I feel as if the temperature of the room dropped by 20 degrees. Instinct is telling me to leave, but I fight the sensation.

“Who are you? You don’t feel like a knight to me,” I accuse.

“And what makes you say that?”

“Just instinct.”

“Hmph, let’s just say I’m no one of consequence.”

“I doubt that.”

“Maybe I’ll tell you once you get stronger. Someone who’s never killed anyone before doesn’t deserve to know. You know, your black friend has killed. I can smell the stench of death on him, however faint,” she mentions.

Quincy has killed people? I don’t know how to feel about that, but if it was to survive does that make it okay. I’ll have to talk to him about that later.

Either way I’m starting to feel unsettled so my left hand subconsciously is placed on my dagger.

“Oh don’t worry about me. I’m your ally. You can trust me. Good luck on putting down the rebellion, I’m sure we’ll meet again. It will be fun watching you be forced to kill or maybe you’ll do it of your own volition,” she says ominously as she passes me and leaves the room.

That person scares me. I could feel her aura threaten me, as if it could consume me if I let my guard down. Either way, I don’t have time to worry about people like that. Putting down this rebellion comes first. I’ll do it without having to kill anyone. I’m not going to solve my problems with pure bloodshed.