??? PoV

“Master Zoe, are you sure about bringing me?” I asked. “The other members of Cerulean Seas are all betters me.”

“Yes. Hawk specifically requested for a tank.” replied Master Zoe.

Hawk. Although his face wasn’t known, his name was widely known after he defeated Blitz in a Duel. I thought it was a lie at first based on my experience fighting the Crimson Swords, but Master Zoe witnessed the Duel and vouched for him, so I now believed the story. Defeating Blitz meant he was in the upper echelon of Players in Naut City along with Blitz, Master Zoe, and a few others.

Our meeting was at the back end of the slums at 1 in the afternoon. As we arrived at the destination, Master Zoe moved close to the two Players already waiting there.

“Who is this cute girl? Hawk, Parties aren’t for picking up girls you know.” said Master Zoe in a casual manner. Master Zoe acted formally to strangers, but Master Zoe was really friendly to people Master Zoe was close with. It appeared the Hawk was one of them.

Speaking of Hawk, I could not believe he was one of the best Players in Naut City. Although he seemed slightly smart, the rest of his appearance, including his face and clothes, was unremarkably average. Yes, I know unremarkably average was redundant, but I wanted to emphasize his averageness. His deep black hair and eyes led me to believe he was of Asian descent.

Besides Hawk stood another Asian girl, her looks were definitely above average and fell more on the cute side. While Asians generally looked younger that Westerners, her body was childish even with those standards. The girl’s deep black eyes brimmed with motivation, but her face remained calm. While plain, the girl’s clothes, a long-sleeve polo-shirt worn over a plain white t-shirt and shorts, were easy for the eyes. Whenever she smiled, her cuteness multiplied tenfold.

“You’re as annoying as ever, Zoe. She was my classmate in real life. We made a Party.”

“So, who the princess that convinced Hawk make a Party?” asked Master Zoe, facing the girl.

“I am Dove, a Wind Assassin.”

Master Zoe stared at Dove.

“Is something wrong?” asked Dove.

Suddenly, Master Zoe embraced Dove and petted her head. Because of the height difference, Dove’s face was buried in Master Zoe’s chest. Dove resisted and tried to escape Master Zoe’s clutches, but her efforts were futile. Master Zoe said in bliss, “You’re so cute! I want you to be my younger sister.”

“Younger sister? She’s older than me you know, by transitivity, she’s older than you as well.” said Hawk.

“Ehh? Is Mr. Boyfriend being jealous?”

“She’s not my girlfriend…” replied Hawk as he looked away. I could not confirm whether he was annoyed or embarrassed.

After five minutes, Master Zoe finally let go of Dove. Dove took a deep breath immediately. She looked at Master Zoe with annoyance. I readied myself to defend Master Zoe, but she relaxed quite quickly. It seemed she was the type to get annoyed quickly and relax quickly.

“So what do you want? I’m sure you didn’t ask for meeting to show off your cute Party Member.”

“I’ll keep this short. We found a Dungeon in Naut City and arrived at the Boss Room. It held a maximum of four Players allowed. We would like you to help us fight the Boss.”

“My, my, you two found a honeymoon spot but hid it from the public. Since it is Hawk, ‘People who can’t find the Dungeon don’t deserve to reap the rewards’ he probably said something like that.” said Master Zoe, imitating Hawk’s voice.

Dove’s laugh confirmed Master’s Zoe statement. I understood what Hawk meant. As person condemned by most of society, I felt no obligation towards it. While this may be hatred towards society, it was logical. Why should I help people who don’t help me, let alone people who shun me? Of course, I was merely another bad person in society. I was no one important enough to even leave a dent of change in it.

“And you are?” asked Hawk facing me.

“I am Fumes, a Fire Defender serving Master Zoe.” I replied.

When we made eye contact, a shiver was sent down my spine. All my thoughts were laid before Hawk to read. I felt he had seen everything I had to the core and that he completely knew every secret I had.

“Okay. Please confirm the contract.”

We agreed upon the contract’s terms to participate in the Boss Battle of Naut City Sewers.

As we followed the duo, Master Zoe whispered, “You were scanned weren’t you? Scary, right?”

“Yes. It was like I couldn’t lie to him.”

“Don’t worry; it’s not as if he can read your mind. All Hawk does is analyze a person.”

“That isn’t normal; analyzing a person you’ve just met by eye contact.”

“It’s part of what makes him amazing. Of course, his analysis isn’t perfect. When I asked him, he explained he had to adjust his analysis as we learned more about the person although it’s probably mostly correct, just in need of a few adjustments.”

“I wonder what he thought of me…”

“You can ask him later about it, just be sure to not be offended as Hawk can be rude and blunt with his descriptions.”

As we walked towards the Dungeon, the sewer stench grew worse and worse. Finally, we arrived at the manhole leading into the Dungeon.

“If I told the public about this Dungeon, would you mind?” asked Master Zoe.

“Indifferent.” replied Hawk.

“I see. Shall we discuss our strategy?”

“Fumes. What’s your ability?”

“Flame Banner. It hits two feet around me; three continuous at cooldown casts. Lasts 5 seconds on monsters so far. It forces all enemies in the area to attack me.”

“For the Dungeon itself, Fumes, stay in front and focus on defending exclusively. If any of us draw too much aggro, only then do you use your ability. Dove and I will handle the offense. Zoe, just do what you normally do. Dove stay behind Zoe and protect her as your first priority. Only support the front side with your bow if you are sure it is absolutely safe.”

Hawk and Dove then explained how their abilities worked to me.

We entered the Sewers and began to move. I wondered how skilled Hawk and Dove were. While I believed Master Zoe’s claim that Hawk was skilled, checking with my own eyes would be good. Dove didn’t have the appearance of the strong Player as well.

Our first battle with this Party was against 6 Sewer Rats, 2 of which attacked from behind.

“6 Sewer Rats: 4 in front, 2 behind.” Since Master Zoe was a healer, Master Zoe had a lot of idle time when no one needed to be healed or Kindness Drop was on cooldown.

As a tank, I felt it would be safe to observed Dove as well, wanting to see if she could deliver. Considering she was at the back because of her capability of both short and long-ranged attacks, she also held the hardest position.

I was in awe. Dove’s attacked the rats in a neither flashy nor impressive manner. My awe was due to the flow of her movements. She moved with very little unnecessary movement, and all her movements appeared to be one action. She dodged the Sewer Rats’ attack and countered all in one swift movement. There transition between the movements was unbelievably smooth. If she had full Mana, she would activate Fade Walk split seconds before her attack connected to increase its damage. When she did this, there was no stop in her action as well.

“One Sewer Rat down at front, the right one in front is down to half Health, middle at 70, left at almost full. One Sewer Rat down behind.” announced Master Zoe.

Master Zoe rose above all other healers due to Master Zoe’s constant assessment of the current situation of the battle. While it may seem to be something anyone could do, Master Zoe always made her assessments just before the Player themselves were about to check the information themselves. While the difference may be negligible, the time spent checking the information did exist. While results may be invisible now, harder battles in the future will definitely bring to light its great effect.

Speaking of great, Hawk was undeniably amazing. Unlike Dove’s simple movements, Hawk drew attention like a candle in the darkness. He alternated attacks on each Sewer Rat in seemingly random patterns. He evaded before the Rats attacked even without looking at them. He casted Skadi’s Caress without looking as well. His fighting style was undeniably a mess, but in this mess, the results spoke differently. He reached a 12-Hit Chain Gauge combo, which was insane. I had no need to even use Flame Banner since he dodged everything.

We breezed through the Sewers with ease. Throughout the Dungeon, Hawk got hit twice in total despite the number of enemies. Dove never let an enemy reach Master Zoe and was hit only six times despite that handicap.

Lastly was myself, I felt extremely bad; I felt unneeded; I felt these three could clear through this Dungeon without my help. It was unlike Cerulean Seas. Everyone there had to give their full effort and listen to Master Zoe’s commands there to perform well. Here, Hawk and Dove went ham on the monsters, and Master Zoe supported them perfectly.

We arrived at the Safe Zone before the Boss. Before us stood a sphere for exiting the Dungeon and a rusted metal door that led to the Boss Room.

“Well. What should we do for our strategy?” asked Master Zoe.

“No information on the enemy… Sigh…” exclaimed Hawk.

“The weakness of the amazing Hawk.” teased Master Zoe.

“Isn’t this a weakness of everyone?” I asked in a low voice to Master Zoe.

“It’s especially noticeable for him. Relying on instincts and reflexes alone would make him an average Player at best.” whispered Master Zoe back.

“Everyone, just do what you think is best. If you notice anything, say it. If someone orders something, follow it.” said Hawk.

“In summary, trust.” answered Master Zoe with a smile. We waited a few minutes for our Mana to regenerate to full.

The four of us gathered together and cheered… “TO VICTORY!”

[Flame Banner]

Targets will change their attack target to user for a short time. It cannot interrupt abilities that had already been targeted and attacks that are already started.

Range: Multi-target, Near the User

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

[Kindness Drop]

Heals 20% of an ally’s Health.

Range: Single-target, Clear Vision

Cooldown: 10 Seconds