“So you finally broke level ten? Any major changes you noted?” Arthur smiled at his father’s question, even as he scribbled a bit in a notebook about prices.

It was the Thursday after Einherjar’s first encounter with the Squire Lanterns, the sixteenth of January, and indeed they had grown notably… unfortunately, their growth was only because they had moved to floor five, due to the differences between floor three to five being very similar.

Arthur had no doubt they’d slow down with their levelling soon, considering they reached their first milestone, the double digits.

“Well, for one, an extra Skill Slot appeared… unfortunately it was already filled for me.” Arthur noted with annoyance, recalling Michael, Emilia and the others cheerfully selecting a skill.

“Why was that?” His father asked in curiosity. His father was only level three, because he only went Dungeon diving in his free time with a friend or two… yes, he went in with teams of two or three.

“I had a Skill that was being used even before the Skill Slot was opened, so when it did open, it registered be using the Skill before and automatically placed it I guess.” Arthur’s father nodded, following his train of thought easily.

Between Arthur and his father, his father was the actual doctor/scientist, so Arthur was frequently left confused when he was younger.

“I see, so it was like pre-registering for something, but you didn’t know you did that.” Arthur’s father was also pretty good with analogies, which is why Arthur kept trying to use them.

“Yeah… still, the Skill was worth it, it’s Dual-wielding. I can now use a weapon in my off-hand with nearly the same skill as my right hand, and I deal more damage.” Arthur noted and his father hummed in appreciation, despite not being a melee-type, instead being a pure magic type… just because.

Markus Clive was a nerd, he knew it, Arthur knew it, and his father’s collection of Anime and video games proved it… Arthur was really similar to his father, and while some would find that offensive, Arthur just shrugged and said that was to be expected.

“Which weapons do you use like that?” Markus asked his son as Arthur clenched his left fist, his large tooth-like Dagger of Hunger falling into his hands as Markus resisted the sudden instinctual urge to back away.

“Ah, your Anima, Dagger of Hunger right… what does it do, beyond the feeling of I’m going to get eaten?” Markus asked as Arthur flipped the dagger around before letting it fade away.

“It increases how much Soul I can take from an enemy, as long as the Dagger was used in killing it.” Arthur noted that last caveat when he had saw that his Soul gained from fighting was slightly larger than the rest of his group.

Once more, step into Arthur’s theory corner, where he explains this. There is a limit to the amount of Soul that can be taken when killing an enemy, but, his Dagger somehow raises this limit.

This means that he isn’t so much as forcing more for himself, so much as making it easier for his soul to accept the new attachments, with the Dagger being the link between the enemy’s soul and Arthur’s own, widening the original link caused by LEV’s.

Okay, theory corner complete, Arthur noted his father looking to the Dagger with a tilted stare.

“So… it’s a ritual dagger that devours the enemy souls?” Arthur blinked at the outlandish words and nodded, it was basically that really… cutting the enemy or even using it to block an attack from the enemy initiated the ritual, killing the enemy ended it.

“Putting it in simple terms, yes. Other than that, I use a western type sword… it’s not a long-sword, but it’s clearly isn’t a short sword… uh… so yeah, just a sword I guess… they really need a term for that.” Markus chuckled at Arthur’s confusion, understanding how Arthur felt there, he had been in similar situations before, and it was weird that no word existed for something a person wanted to explain.

“Well, okay… oh, you’re one of those people who have more than one Anima right? I have two as well, your mother as well.” Arthur found that really disturbing though…

He hadn’t noticed the first time, and he tried to not look at his soul again, for fear of seeing the… pieces, of his soul, screaming as they attempted to stay together…

It was like he was constantly half dead, and he hadn’t even noticed… so when his father mentioned this, Arthur active his Soul Sight and looked at Markus’ soul…

And it wasn’t… bad. It wasn’t like a normal soul, like Michael, or Emilia… Matt’s soul was oddly stable, it didn’t change as much as the others, and Alice and John’s souls were weird in their own way, in that they didn’t take set shapes, due to their Anima being based on skills most likely.

But Markus’ soul was most certainly not normal, as it looked like a normal soul… but it possessed a crack running through a section of it, running straight through…

A common trait Arthur noticed so far, was that the soul would have at least one crack running through it… he’d need to see his mother’s soul to check what it was though.

Another key difference between Arthur and Markus... was that Markus clearly wasn’t missing a piece of his soul.

Arthur had a missing piece of his soul, and it terrified him, seeing his soul which looked like someone hit a piece of glass with a hammer… it stuck together, the individual pieces grinding against each other and the screech from that grinding sounded like the dying of humans…

And inside that cacophony of pain was a clear section where he was missing a section of his soul.

Obviously, that’s not normal… Arthur got quite a few questions from this realization…

How does a soul crack, and what could cause a piece of the soul to be missing while the rest cracked so extensively… and how was Arthur alive while this was occurring?

It was while Arthur was speaking to Markus about their Animae that the doorbell rang and Arthur went to answer the door, finding Emilia standing there.

“Hi Emilia, come on in.” Arthur greeted in return once Emilia greeted him first, then she walked in and greeted Markus with a smile…

That smile Markus directed to Emilia was notably different from the smile he directed to Arthur, notably in that his eyes narrowed as if saying ‘I know something you don’t’ to Arthur… he was annoyed by that look…

“Ah, Emilia, we were just talking about Anima, want to join in on our discussion?” Markus said easily, despite the fact that Arthur really didn’t like talking about the personal bits of the soul to others, Markus felt no such shyness.

“Oh, sure, what was the topic?” Emilia sat down easily as Arthur got to work on a cup of tea for her, as well as for him and his father.

“Well, we were discussing people having multiple Anima, and how those souls appeared to Arthur, plus their usual forms… of course, we only have Arthur and I here currently for a sample group.” Markus noted as Arthur placed the cups on the table, taking his seat next to Emilia with a roll of his eyes at his father’s words.

“Oh… Yeah, when we asked Arthur about it, he looked like he didn’t want to talk about it though…” Emilia looked to Arthur for confirmation, and Arthur just smiled at Emilia’s questioning glance.

“It’s fine, we can talk about it… it’s disturbing, but it makes sense.” Arthur began, beginning to explain that those with Animae instead of an Anima had a crack running through their soul at the least…

“At the least? What’s the worst?” Emilia asked as Arthur pointedly looked away for a moment.

“…My soul is worse off than my father’s. My soul has much more than one crack in it… and the pieces… they grind against each other, and the sound it makes… like people screaming…” Arthur looked very disturbed even as he said it, and Emilia softened her gaze and placed her hand on his, under Markus’ approving eye.

“Arthur… it’s fine. It sounds horrible… but only because it seems to hurt you.” Emilia said and Arthur looked up in that… and found only truth in her eyes.

Emilia honestly was confused about it, a soul in pieces, the pieces grinding together as if trying to come back together from how Arthur described it…

“Well… that’s not all of it… I’m also missing a piece of my soul.” Arthur said, and Emilia gripped his hand slightly tighter…

“That’s… it sounds bad… but Arthur… it’s still your soul. And that’s enough for it to be okay.” Emilia stated, and Arthur smiled at her reply, though they both blushed when Markus coughed.

“Well, I’ve had my tea for the day, I’m going to work, Arthur, are you and Emilia going to the Dungeon today?” Markus asked as he walked to the coat rack to put on something for the colder weather.

“No, the rest of our team said they’d be busy, so we decided to leave it for tomorrow.” Arthur said as Markus nodded, pleased to hear that… Arthur had been going into the Dungeon every day for eleven days straight, he’d need the break at some point.

“Alright, you two have fun, use protection, bye!” Markus’ words had their intended effect as Arthur and Emilia couldn’t look at the other without thinking a bit as to what Markus had stated…

They were interrupted from their awkwardness by Emilia’s phone ringing, and Arthur smiled when he heard Emilia switch to Russian upon answering.

“Mama, Papa, are you there?” Arthur’s Russian was nowhere near as good as Emilia’s, as she spoke quickly but clearly, it took a moment or two for Arthur to catch it.

“I’m doing well yes; I’m taking a break from going into the Dungeon for today.” Of course… Emilia was unaware that Arthur was learning Russian, as he had wanted to actually be able to speak it passably before he told her… he could understand and read just fine at current though.

“I’m at a friend’s place… no, he is not that kind of friend… yes it’s a he, that doesn’t mean we’re dating!” By Emilia’s flustered tone, her parents were doing the same song and dance that Arthur’s did in their presence.

Really, busy body parenting…

“Papa, you cannot send ex-KGB to his house… no, you can’t have a bomb delivered either, not even as a joke! Mama, talk some sense into Papa!” Another issue was that Arthur heard some really disturbing things when he heard her speaking Russian usually…

“Thank you Mama, really now, why does Papa go so overboard? Just because he’s the head of the family business doesn’t mean he can throw his weight around like that…” Again, what this business was, Arthur didn’t know exactly, but considering there was mention of ex-KGB as well as a delivered bomb…

“Mama! I know that! You do not need to worry about Arthur, he’s kind to me… Mama, you know I would not see him in that way… he is unaware of our family business.” Ah… wait… back up a bit…

“…Well… if he were aware…” Emilia sent Arthur a glance, seeing him sipping his tea as if he weren’t listening into her conversation.

“…Mama… would you accept him? Even if Papa were to try something?” Arthur paused in his sip, wondering if what he was listening to was honestly what was going on.

“…Thank you Mama… then yes, I’d probably be happy. He’s kind, and he doesn’t see me as just my looks, he respects me for me… and he doesn’t know of the family business, which just added to it for me.” Arthur took another sip, hiding his small smile by drinking tea.

“Do you think I should tell him, Mama? Not yet… I guess Mama is right… but when? Alright… I’ll tell him after you get a chance to talk to him… when will you? Ah Mama, that tells me nothing, but very well.” Arthur sat down his cup, internalizing what he had just heard…

From what he had just heard, Arthur subsequently placed that information deep within his mind, knowing from the one part of the discussion he heard, that Emilia actually liked him…

Something which he was fully aware of, but had never acted on, uncertain of why… Arthur wasn’t handsome, in his opinion, though he wasn’t ugly. He was average, he was plain, if slightly shorter than the average guy.

And he finally heard why, from Emilia herself… indirectly, but still… it was enough for him to feel calmer about the idea of dating her, even if he apparently couldn’t just yet.

“Bye Mama, tell Papa I love him.” The phone call ended, and Emilia sighed, turning to Arthur with a surprisingly calm blush on her face.

“Parents again?” Arthur asked, and Emilia nodded, holding out her cup as Arthur prepared to top them off, though he also wandered to go put on some music and get their books, he was working on Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, though he thought the book slightly better than the movie, at least when it came to ‘reality’.

As for Emilia, she had begun reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, after Arthur asked her to, explaining that the man was one of Arthur’s favourite authors for his ability to mix fiction with scientific fact, creating such a blend that one couldn’t tell where the fiction began and the facts ended.

She was quite enjoying it, as the music began to play. The choice for the day, was Glorious, Macklemore…

And yes, the day felt glorious for Arthur and Emilia, even if it was really simple.

Elsewhere, Michael and Alice were sitting around, playing video games, killing zombies…

“Aren’t you supposed to be at school?” Michael asked as Alice rolled her eyes, focusing for a moment as she opened the gun box, hoping for an assault rifle… or the revolver.

“Do I really need to be there though? I finished all my projects, and we’re just doing revision at this point, so I figure I could just be at home and study.” She got a sub-machine gun from the box, and frowned, looking for the bus… Michael didn’t go in it yet.

“Yeah, this isn’t exactly studying… Alice, I should be the last one to talk, but didn’t you have something you wanted to do, before Red Sky Day?” Michael asked, dashing through a few zombies as he took a few headshots, looking in the dinner for the stun knuckles.

“You’re right, you had nothing you were doing before then, so don’t question mine…” Michael kept quiet, giving Alice her silence she seemed to want.

“Chemical engineer. I wanted to do that, but… this seems better.” Alice noted, and Michael noted her choice of words.

“Engineer… Arthur?” Michael asked as Alice rolled her eyes at his words.

“No, Arthur’s a great friend but he didn’t have an effect on my choice. I wanted to do it, and he seemed to want to be a civil engineer.” Alice added, and Michael nodded… he had wondered, about Alice and Arthur, but with Alice’s words, and Arthur’s apparent care for Emilia, it clearly wasn’t happening.

“So you didn’t like him then?” Michael was a straight-forward guy at most times, although occasionally it got him in trouble.

“It… was a bit confusing at one point… he actually told me he liked me at one point, but he seemed uncertain, so…” Alice’s words surprised Michael, having not known of this… but then he remembered, Alice and Arthur were their own people, they didn’t need to tell him everything.

“Anyway, I didn’t like him more than as a friend, I realized that. Wasn’t too awkward afterward, and he was thankful for that.” Alice said, frowning as a zombie reached out and hit her once, though she got away.

“So it was an aborted situation… hey Alice… do you know how you’re going to catch up to the rest of our team?” Michael asked as Alice looked to him as Michael thought for a moment…

“Well, you could go in alone, you and I both know that Slimes and Goblins are weak and you could kill floor one and two alone… three and onwards would be another story.” Michael’s words were indeed true, as from floor three onwards the amount of enemies jumped, making fighting solo impossible…

And according to Arthur, their souls were increasing in size at a large pace, but due to how much material would be needed, they were levelling slower, even though they were fighting more.

“Right… so just go in and beat up some weak monsters, maybe a Squire or two… and then get to level ten like the rest of you?” Alice asked, and Michael shot a zombie sneaking up behind her…

Their stat increases were actually making the game quite easier… normally they’d have died about ten waves ago.

“Yeah, level ten is important, since it grants another Skill, and it increases the abilities of your Anima.” For Michael, his Skill apparently increased the elemental damage of his arrows, but lowered the ‘base’ damage of it in exchange.

Basically, the base damage would be fifty, and the element damage would be another fifty, he could now control the ratio to either be this fifty-fifty, or change it to forty-sixty bias towards the elemental damage.

Michael was quick to understand that it would make his arrows deal more damage to creatures like Slimes, or those that resisted arrow-type damage.

“Well… my Anima is pretty cool, but upgrading it…” Yeah, Arthur was quite vocal in his envy at Alice’s Anima which allowed her to use any weapon with basic skill.

“Well, without a doubt it would be awesome. So, it’s only around ten, are you going to go try?” Michael asked, and Alice thought for a moment, before sighing.

“No, but you have a point… today’s a resting day, but during school days I’ll try to get a bit of extra time in… my school team can only go up to the second floor at this point really, I’m the highest levelled on the team.” It was an annoying thing for Alice, who was the lowest levelled in one place and yet the highest in another.

“Well that’s a good thing. Quite a few people are over level ten, but no one has broken level twenty yet, we should try to be first.” Michael noted as Alice sighed, and pausing the game so the two of them could go get something to eat.

“Michael… be realistic, the government agents have been going into the Dungeons before us, and they are all around level fifteen at the least, that Shaun guy is level eighteen…” Alice stated the facts, they were behind in comparison to government sponsored teams.

“Oh I am realistic… after all, our team has some amazing people on it.” Alice wanted to argue against this, despite her trust of the group, she didn’t trust easily, and she was usually the one questioning things.

“Think about it, we have John as a healer, and those are kind of rare, let alone the fact that he has a third tier element like you.” Alice nodded, accepting that John would technically be an amazing supporter for any group he would be in because of his ability to heal and use illusions… and possibly more, though Arthur was being secretive of his suspicions of Mind magic.

“Speaking of, you’re a Berserker that doesn’t go insane when injured, capable of using any weapon unlike other Berserkers who can only swing something with brute force, you have finesse, and a powerful tier three element.” Alice acknowledged Michael’s compliments…

He wasn’t wrong there either, Alice has the greatest potential for pure physical damage, and when she’d be capable of using her magic freely, she’d be able to use it as a support for herself.

“Not to brag… okay, I’m bragging, but I’m an Archer that can actually imbue my arrows with elements passively, I don’t lose magic when I shoot my arrows, I can shoot much more than others.” Michael’s point was accurate as well, if others could only shoot twenty elemental arrows, Michael could shoot one hundred, due to his Endurance and Strength.

“Then we have Emilia who seems brilliant with knives and mapping, her blades will eventually heal her when she damages others, and she seems to be setting herself up to deal heavy damage using weak points. Practically an immortal assassin at some point.” They stopped in the kitchen at this point as Alice got to work at making coffee, Michael making the bread to go with it.

“Matt is the person in our group with one of the highest potentials, he’s up there with you and our sixth member. He has a second tier element suited for defence, a very high Endurance value for his level, and his skill with the shield is really high. His damage is low, but that will be solved with time.” And their cousin Matt was slowly but surely going on the path of becoming invulnerable.

“And let’s not forget the scariest guy in our team, Arthur… honestly, he has a bit too much on him for me to quantify correctly…” Michael stated as they sat down, but before they’d eat, Alice raised her eyebrow in questioning.

“…We, as in Einherjar… we all know Arthur isn’t normal, he isn’t exactly sane either.” Alice looked away, wanting to refute this, but finding herself incapable of denying it.

Arthur could survive in public and such, he could act normal, but occasionally, without him even noticing it, he’d go quiet, in a scary way… occasionally he’d say things that were disturbing without even blinking an eye, such as his mumbling of wanting to hurt that guy who almost insulted Arthur’s mother.

He was strangely quiet in groups too, though Emilia and Michael knew the reason for that, Alice hadn’t figured it out just yet.

“On top of that, he has more than one Anima, one defensive, the other offensive, and with his understanding of magic he is much more versatile than the rest of us.” This was another point Alice could admit, Arthur was becoming a ‘solve-all’ solution to any problem their group encountered.

Too many enemies? Arthur will distract a few. When Goblins recently began using bows to attack them, with Matt too far to use Bulwark? Arthur created an electromagnetic field powerful enough to stop arrows for a moment.

Arthur was a curious person, and this curiosity was what led to his mastery of many aspects of magic seemingly overnight, even if he clearly didn’t have enough Mana to do certain things for long, like said EMF barrier.

“Speaking of his Anima, his Dagger of Hunger makes him level up faster than the average person, even if it isn’t really noticeable just yet. As for his Cloak, it got upgraded when he reached level ten, and it actually boosts his Wisdom slightly, meaning his Mana regeneration would eventually be really high…” Indeed, Arthur’s Anima were perfectly suited for him in Alice’s opinion, as it showed the duality of Arthur perfectly.

His cloak represented his desire to shield himself from others, yet at the same time he still showed his wisdom and intelligence to help others.

As for his dagger, it represented something, the more sinister side of Arthur that he typically didn’t bother with when it came to his friends, something which Arthur disliked about himself…

After all, Alice thought, Lightning is considered the element of self-dislike or hatred of the self.

Each element represented something integral about a person, a person’s element showed a lot about them actually, and while only Arthur knew all of them, Alice at least knew the meanings of the six in their group.

Lightning was the element of self-negativity

Fire was the element of passion and courage

Water was the element of caring and calmness

Metal was the element of understanding

Mind was the element of uncertainty

And finally Darkness, the element of distrust, betrayed loyalties…

Alice learnt the final bit with trepidation, worrying if it was a sign of her inability to trust most people, and Arthur was quick to explain to their group that the elements all possessed their own good points and bad points, the traits as well.

Self-negativity was required for a person to better understand themselves, it allowed them to be objective, even if slightly biased towards disliking themselves, Arthur understood.

Passion and courage sounded good, and it usually was, but there was also such a thing as blind courage, and passion which was overbearing, such traits needed to be tempered with calmness, which Michael strived to gain.

Likewise, caring and calmness in excess was bad, as it would cause the person to shoulder the problems of others, or treat themselves as viewers to the world around them, Emilia was guilty of the first at times.

Understanding was an important part of living, understanding one’s self, and understanding the people around them, but it could lead to one becoming jaded and abrasive, much like Matt usually appeared to others.

Uncertainty at first appears to be a negative trait, but it wouldn’t always be like that. It means that one is questioning, and finds picking sides difficult, meaning the person would normally be neutral in arguments and objective, much like John could be at times.

And the final bit, the distrust of Darkness which Alice possessed… honestly, Arthur just looked at her, shook his head and told her that he was glad she wasn’t an idiot.

Alice figured it out after he stated that, as she was quite smart despite her lazy act.

Distrust, again, a seemingly negative trait… but it proved that she was much like John in that she questioned, she was always on guard, where others would relax and accept things, she’d be weary and on her guard…

And Arthur stated that while she could trust their group, blind trust without being tested or questioned was simply stupidity in his eyes…

Alice smiled a bit as she sipped her coffee, thinking about how Arthur quickly found her problem and helped her solve her doubt…

For a moment, she wondered… then she shook her head with a chuckle, making Michael confused.

Yeah, Arthur was best as a friend.

While Michael and Alice contemplated the traits of their team, Matt was currently taking a smoke, looking out to the Hudson River while leaning against his car.

It was his off day, no Dungeon, and no races available, much to his dislike as it was one of the few things he really enjoyed.

It was while watching out into the river that a guy walked nearby, stopping for a moment and looking to Matt’s car with wide eyes, walking over, making Matt stiffen slightly on guard.

“Hi there, sorry to bother you man, just wondering where you bought such a sweet car.” Matt looked to the man with curiosity in his eyes, wondering at the strange guy.

The man wore a jacket with a hood, the hood having an insignia of a top hat on it, with jeans and boots…

It was simple attire for those Adventurers who couldn’t afford armour. Blacksmiths were working on solving that issue, but it was slow going, as the Dungeon was beginning to drop items other than Soul Stones, including iron ingots from Lantern Squires, though they wouldn’t drop a sword in that case.

“I got it as a gift, from my dad. I couldn’t tell you where he got it from, sorry.” Matt finished his cigarette, tossing it onto the floor and crushing it, thinking if he should go get some more smokes by Michael, or just buy his own…

He felt like messing with Michael.

“Oh, thanks though… it really is good though, Nissan… is it a three-fifty Z or the three-seventy?” the man asked, his hands still in his pockets as Matt patted his gunmetal paint-job.

“It’s a three-seventy, otherwise known as the Fair-lady Z.” Matt explained as the man nodded with a smile on his face.

“Nice… Well, thanks anyway. I’ve been looking around for a car of my own, tired of running everywhere… thinking of getting an Audi, an R-eight.” Matt widened his eyes, as he couldn’t quite get the image of the guy in front of him with such a car.

“I know, don’t really look like I got the money, do I? Well, the Dungeons are really lucrative, know what I mean?” the guy pointedly looked to Matt’s left wrist, though the LEV tattoo wouldn’t be seen, given that Matt was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

“I do know what you mean… that Audi’s are really good, really safe, but quite expensive… hope you willing to part with quite a bit of money for one.” Matt warned as the guy chuckled, nodding as he walked away with a wave.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Matt asked as the man looked surprised, turning around… and then Matt widened his eyes at the man’s smile, the man’s eyes a strange steel grey and his grin looking like one that came before something very violent.

“Ah… that’s a secret.” The man chuckled, the tone of the laugh going very dark as the man walked away.

It would be a few minutes later that Matt would get in his car, driving to his house rather than visit Michael, still thinking of that man he had met…

When he finally got home, he was surprised to his father there, as his father sat on the couch, looking over to Matt with an unsure look on his face.

“Oh… you’re home.” Matt didn’t quite know how to react to his father and his greeting…

His father had been annoyed with him for the past three years, as he had been in and out of working and colleges uncertain of what to do with himself, his father was getting quite annoyed at this point…

Then Red Sky Day occurred, and Matt had a purpose, to defend his team, to keep them from harm, and he even earned a living from it.

His father noted the change and seemed to be unsure of his son, expecting his son to go cause trouble like normal, even if he usually didn’t get caught, Matt’s father knew his son didn’t always do legal things.

Instead, Matt had actually been pretty quiet lately, and the only things he seemed to really focus on would be his car, hanging out with his cousins, or going to the Dungeon…

Honestly, it was dangerous in the Dungeon, Matt’s father was level four, only going in occasionally, before deciding not to go anymore, not seeing the point when he had a career beyond the Dungeon.

“Yeah… I’m going to go sleep.” Matt inwardly cursed Alice and Arthur for their grammar complaints making him actually speak full words instead of using simpler terms like ‘gonna’.

“Okay… Matt… I’m happy for you son.” Matt paused on his way to his room, not daring to turn around to look at his father, who would have looked uncertain had Matt turned around.

“You’ve always caused trouble, you were always unable to decide on what you wanted from life… but you’re getting there. Red Sky Day was a tragedy… but it seems to have shown how you can be more than what I thought.” Matt walked away after acknowledging his father’s words…

Honestly, he felt slight indignation at those words, but couldn’t find it in himself to get angry, instead glad for the acceptance he could feel from his father, even if the previous disappointment was mostly gone.

Instead, he could only truly focus on his encounter from earlier in the day, worrying about the look Matt had seen as the man’s eyes flashed silvery grey, his grin promising madness before his eyes had changed back to a plain brown…

Matt worried because he had seen that look before, if only for spare instances between long periods of time…

He had seen a similar look in Arthur.

For the final member of Einherjar, John’s day was spent working on artwork he was behind on, including Arthur’s book cover, which featured two boys and a girl standing, looking quite normal, but their shadows all looked different, the girl having what looked like cat or dog ears in her shadow, the boy on the other side having long ears like an elf, and the boy in the middle had his shadow holding its own head.

It was a weird story, featuring a whole lot of obscure supernatural things like an Egyptian Kaa spirit, which was essentially a doppelganger, or a Barghest, a European flame breathing, shape shifting dog, and even some monstrosity called a Nukelavee.

Really, John wondered what mythology Arthur dragged that thing from, it was like a centaur… if the centaur was dreamt up by a demented Lovecraftian author.

And yes, even in the original myths it was like that.

Arthur had admitted that his story wasn’t actually done, and that the Barghest, being the first monster, was only the main opponent for the first book, each book going through one or more new ones, sometimes bringing in enemies from previous books to show character growth in a concrete manner.

As for the characters, there were four main characters, although only three were shown on the book cover, that was because those three weren’t human, and the fourth was.

The main characters were a beast-person of the cat variety, an elf, a human that accidentally became immortal through biblical methods, and a human that has to help them out with information.

The story focused on the story of the immortal though, as the first chapter featured him accidentally becoming immortal through some biblical curse, though the reader wouldn’t be aware of this until the third chapter, where the immortal gets knocked over and has his neck broken… then he stands up.

John honestly enjoyed the book, which somehow had a carefree humour when it came to death, but took it seriously enough to show the problems with such an outlook.

Arthur really outdid himself with it, and John was patiently awaiting the sequel…

But before the sequel could go out, the first book had to be published, and it needed a book cover since Arthur wanted to self-publish.

It was while designing this book cover, that John heard a knock on his door and he paused… he really didn’t expect anyone to visit him today…

He had moved out of his college dorms, seeing as he would no longer be studying designing for a career, he was a healing wizard now.

So he was at this apartment, and few people knew where he lived now, namely his team, and his family. His team were on their holiday, so they wouldn’t disturb him, so that left one other choice… an annoying choice…

He walked over to the door, taking care to keep his LEV hidden as he opened the door, revealing his younger sister.

“Hi John, long time no see.” John sighed at his sisters words, not exactly enjoying her company, though she was family they really couldn’t stand each other unless it was against an external threat… for example, those strange centipede demons from Red Sky Day.

“Pauline, come on in.” John still had his manners, and invited his sister into his house, wondering why the girl who was supposed to be studying for her finals was here instead of at home studying.

“Well, it’s small… but it’s cosy. So brother, what have you been doing since that day?” Pauline was straight and to the point, to an annoying degree for John who was usually a bit round about in things he did.

“I’ve been practicing my art, doing commissions, the usual.” John stated, trying to keep himself from showing any tells… unfortunately, it was usually family who caught those easily.

“Right and I have suddenly become Michelle Obama. Try the other leg, it comes off.” Well, her sass was turned up to eleven for now… guess that meant that John had to be honest.

“I’ve been going into the Dungeons.” John said, continuing to draw, even as Pauline frowned from her seat a bit to his side.

“Oh… you know dad and mom are not going to be happy, right?” John sighed, knowing where she was coming from, as she had also wished to start Adventuring, but was instead refused by their parents, stating it was too dangerous and suicidal.

John’s parents weren’t majorly religious, but they were paranoid enough to not want to rely on LEV’s to fight, or want to go near the Dungeons…

It was actually something John disliked about his parents, because he had begun to do similar things, being passive, and not active… it was why he decided to be an Adventurer when Arthur and Michael approached him on the topic.

He wanted to stop fence sitting, and instead finally do something instead of just watching like the majority of his family.

“I know they aren’t going to be happy… but unlike you, I’m away from home and an adult. They can’t complain or stop me even if they wanted to.” And both of them knew he was right with his words, his parents could do nothing…

Or to be precise, they would do nothing because they were so passive… no wonder John got Mind magic as his element, with parents teaching him to always watch, but never teaching him to act and decide.

He wanted to change, and it was why he became an Adventurer. Even if Arthur and the others were told that it was because he wanted to chill with his friends while fighting, the truth was that he was doing it for himself… not that he had any doubt the rest were the same.

In some way, none of them were majorly changed by Red Sky Day, none of them lost any family. They had no altruistic reasons for fighting, like any other Adventurers…

Their reasons were all selfish. John to change himself, Matt to be with others who actually were as they acted, Alice to find a purpose for herself, Michael to finally fight instead of hoping to, and Emilia to help Arthur… and as for Arthur?

John was pretty sure Arthur simply fought because he had finally been given the excuse he could use for violently killing things, as proven by his occasional brutal handling of Lantern Squires and Goblins…

Really, covering your hand in lightning, grabbing the skull of a Goblin to cook the brain, and then repeatedly slamming it onto the floor until its skull popped was disgusting, and yet Arthur had grinned all while doing it.

John was the person in Einherjar most afraid of Arthur… but it also meant that he trusted Arthur the most when it came to certain things… particularly things pertaining to extremely violent actions.

“Yeah… you’re lucky… I wanted to do that Awakening thing, and go be an Adventurer, but I guess I have to wait until I’m done with high school…” John pointedly did not mention that he had someone in his team that was actually the same age, as it would only make Pauline angrier.

“Well… you can, just not now. And besides, no matter how stronger Adventurer’s get, you can get stronger than others, simply by putting in more time, and fighting more.” John regurgitated the words given to their team by Arthur, their ‘real’ leader… honestly Arthur was the only one who didn’t seem to notice that they took his suggestions a bit too seriously for someone not in the position of leadership.

“Thanks for that… how does it feel, by the way… Awakening I mean?” Pauline asked as John paused in his drawing, placing his pencil down, turning his swivel chair to look to her, his brow narrowing in consideration.

“It’s… different, for everyone. Some claim they never felt happier, others feel it was one of the most traumatic moments in their life… for me, it was… sad.” John tried to explain, but Pauline didn’t quite get it at first.

“I didn’t quite know why, but during Awakening, it feels as if you black out for a moment, and then you’re suddenly awake with feelings you don’t know why you have.” John wouldn’t tell her about Arthur’s claim of hearing a voice questioning his beliefs and such…

John didn’t recall such a thing, but he did have a feeling as if he had realized something about himself that he hadn’t before.

“Oh… so you felt sad? How did the others in your team feel?” Pauline asked, and while John knew it was an insensitive question, she didn’t know that… but she’d realize that eventually.

“Well, our second in command felt afraid, his sister felt slightly happy but in a way that confused her, our shield user felt empty, our leader’s girlfriend who isn’t a girlfriend said she was giddy… and our leader felt…” John didn’t quite comprehend Arthur’s explanation, so he took a moment to consider it.

“He said he felt a few emotions, conflicting, but he felt three most intensely. A sensation of hunger, a sense of happiness… then suddenly it was all replaced by a cold sense of fear.” John said, making Pauline frown as John laced his fingers together.

“Pauline… I know you didn’t quite understand, but you asked a very personal question… I answered it, but in the future, don’t bring up Awakening to anyone who has gone through the process. No matter what a person feels, beyond the happiness and sadness… it feels so wrong.” John emphasized as he turned back to his book.

Pauline would leave a few moments later, lost in thought, and thinking that John deserved his space after that moment.

In the Guild building, within the Guild Master Room, Shaun was sighing, even as he looked at the report placed in front of him.

“What’s the problem boss?” Shaun looked up to his… third in command? Yeah, that position suited the guy very well, Grey Vincent was one of the few Shaun could trust, even if he was a person with a strange past.

“The statistics on Adventurers… it’s been barely two weeks since the Dungeon has opened, so most Adventurers are still around level five or six… but we have a team with all members level ten except one, and that’s because she’s still in high school.” Shaun handed the file to Grey, who looked at it with a raised eyebrow.

“Team Einherjar? Huh…” He opened the file, freezing for a moment, something Shaun caught easily as he raised an eyebrow in questioning.

“Sorry sir… I know these people, at least three of them.” Grey admitted, making Shaun widen his eyes in mild surprise.

“Really? Which three?” Shaun asked as Grey placed down the file, moving three pages out, Arthur Clive, Michael and Alice Grave being the three.

“I used to be best friends with the two guys, and the girl was my friend’s sister.” Grey admitted, still speaking slightly formally despite his usual dislike of it.

“I see… how would you explain the team dynamic, from what you know of these people?” Shaun asked, hoping Grey would be able to answer the question on his mind…

Namely, was Michael Grave really the leader of the team at this point?

From what little he could tell from reports from Dante and his sister, the group dynamic, while at first looking to revolve around Michael, truly seemed to revolve around another.

“I’m a bit surprised at the reports sir… namely that Arthur wasn’t listed as the leader.” And there it was; the semi-confirmation that it was strange.

“I had my own suspicions… but why would Clive be the leader?” Shaun asked as Grey scratched the back of his head, a habit Shaun had been trying to get the man to stop… it was bad for people in their occupation to have tells.

“Well, he has a way of getting people to listen, to follow sir. He’s similar to you actually sir.” Grey noted and Shaun frowned, looking to his own hand, and watching the sparks of electricity fizzle from it.

Lightning users didn’t like themselves usually… so when two lightning users were similar to each other, they normally wouldn’t like each other…

No wonder Shaun and Clive seemed weary around the other, even if the two hadn’t known why.

Instead of contemplating on it a bit more, Shaun’s eyes snapped to Grey’s, and judging by the flinch, Shaun had accidentally activated his Anima once more…

Hunter Eyes, were what they were called currently, but he had been informed that they seemed more animalistic, primal and terrifying to be looked upon with in their sick green colouration.

“Ahem, but yes, Arthur has a way with people, but only sometimes… though I am not surprised he has multiple Animae.” Grey stated, and Shaun frowned at the mention of that horrible trait…

Grey had also possessed multiple Animae, the two made him really suitable for their careers, so he had been fast tracked to work for Shaun, despite his young age.

It was also this that allowed their researchers to try and understand why someone would possess more than one Anima… the results, which mostly tested personality, were common and worrying.

Almost all people who were questioned claimed that they had at one point considered opting out of living. Basically, all of them had suicidal thoughts at some point, meaning that they were all compromised emotionally…

It was therefore insane to allow Grey to join him, but Grey was one of the few who answered honestly that he was fine now, even if he remembered that time with annoyance.

“Right… tell me, is there anything else worrying about Arthur?” Shaun asked as Grey looked away, truly looking reluctant before sighing and snapping his eyes to Shaun, not daring to flinch even as Shaun’s eyes flashed green.

“Yes sir… he is quite violent, though his ability to hold back on such tendencies is admirable.” Grey’s statement worried Shaun even more, before the phone began to ring and Shaun sighed upon looking at the caller ID.

“Thank you for the information, you’re dismissed.” Grey saluted, walking away as Shaun answered, inwardly finding another reason for why Arthur Clive disturbed him.

“What do you want you insane person?” Shaun asked, not even bothering to greet the person on the other side of the phone.

“Aw, is that anyway to treat your one friend in high places?” the voice on the other side of the phone was childish, though Shaun did not let that trick him…

No one became that highly ranked without doing some dangerous things, questionable or not.

“We’re of equal rank, so it’s pointless… and we’re not friends either, Clements.” Shaun growled out towards the end, and he heard the chuckling from the other side of the phone.

“Well, you’re right on the equal ranking part, and no, we’re definitely not friends… in fact, I really think we’re going to probably try and kill each other at some point down the line.” Shaun froze at the words of the other person…

Had it been anyone else to say that, he would have scoffed, as it would have possibly been a joke, and even as a threat, he was amongst the most powerful human beings on the planet.

But the man on the other side of the phone was almost as powerful, and not only that, his words were never lies. A person with his Class wouldn’t need to lie.

“But that’s far off into the future… until then, we can at least be civil, can’t we, you monster?” Indeed, they hated each other, despite the fact that the two of them did indeed need to work together.

“We can, you madman. That being said, why did you call me?” Shaun asked, wondering why the man in Britain was calling him, despite not needing to.

“Well, I have two reasons for calling… well, three actually… give me a moment… ah, here’s the list. Firstly, I wanted an early introduction.” Shaun figured that was the insanity talking.

“Yes, it’s my insanity… or my Anima, same thing. Anyway, the second reason I called was to inform you of the UK vote. We’ve decided on agreeing to the Champion Program.” Shaun scowled, having wished that they had refused…

America had agreed on that program, but Shaun personally was against it… granting that much power to civilians was really stupid in his opinion… but if this guy was agreeing, it likely had to happen.

“Oh, I can practically feel your annoyance with our vote… want to know why we accepted?” Shaun was curious, he could admit, so he nodded, even over the phone the other man would know his reactions… he was terrifying like that.

“Oh that’s a hurtful thought, isn’t it? But let’s get back to it. The UK agreed to the Champion Program because of many reasons, much like America and their ‘Land of the Free’ shtick, we agreed because the Champion Program frees people of our ranking to do other things.” Shaun realized that did make sense… even if he didn’t like it…

“Don’t worry though, we’ve added an addendum to our agreement… people of our rank are to be backups for the Program’s chosen.” Shaun found that acceptable, as at least they weren’t gambling on normal people without a safety net.

“As for the third reason I called… Your country is having a problem, a problem that will spread to others.” Shaun frowned at the words, wondering what the cryptic man meant.

“Honestly you monster, haven’t you caught on yet? Tell me, do you know about Project Pennhurst?” Shaun froze at the question, not out of knowledge on the project, but because he recognized the name at the end.

“No, you wouldn’t I guess… talk to Clayton, he’ll be able to access the files, and only him. Once you check the files, you’ll note the last entry date for reports… that date is one clue. The other clue, would be the prison breaks your country is attempting to cover up.” Shaun remembered once more why he hated talking to this guy…

He knew things… things he shouldn’t know, and yet they could not silence the man, because he wasn’t the only man with such an ability… however he was the most powerful amongst those with such powers, such an Anima… such a Class.

“These two events are connected, monster. In Project Pennhurst, take note… the two best results from that case? One of them is the cause of the problems… the other will eventually be the solution.” Honestly, whatever the British guy was talking about, it sounded like some movie…

Then again, weren’t their lives these days out of some bad movie or something, with Demons, levelling up, fighting Hell, and all sorts of insanity… the guy on the other end of the phone fit in too much though.

“So don’t worry too much about it… but at the same time, you need to learn about this. That’s all from me… Wait for my call in chapter eight!” Shaun rolled his eyes at the weirdness of the other man, wondering how that guy could switch from completely serious to suddenly insane…

“Right… I’d say good bye, but this wasn’t good. I hope to not talk to you again for a long time, George Clements.” Shaun noted, and the chuckle on the other side of the phone irritated him.

“Well, it was good for me, Head Agent Shaun Fife, strongest Secret Agent of America.” Shaun scowled, disliking hearing his full title, even if publicly it was Guild Master, George Clements knew how to annoy him, a fellow Head Agent…

The phone went off, and Shaun slammed the phone down, taking care of his strength, to keep from damaging the phone too much…

Warriors gained more strength than most Classes, and Shaun’s Class was unique even among them, so his power was really outstripping the rest…

He looked back to the file on the table, frowning as he lifted the page on Arthur Clive…

“The Champion Program… I dislike the idea… because if we follow it, this kid would be dragged in… and I don’t trust him.” Shaun sighed… how he wished Dante hadn’t found his stash of Whiskey…

He really needed a drink after that conversation… a knock on the door made him pause as he walked to the door, opening it to find a delivery man.

“Hello, delivery for a… Shaun Fife… your middle name isn’t ‘monster’ is it sir?” the man asked as Shaun’s eyes twitched, taking the package, signing it off as he looked to the box in his hands.

Opening it, he found a bottle of… Glenlivet 50 year old Winchester 1966. Well, it was 54 years old now, but still.

It also happened to cost roughly $44 000 dollars a bottle.

There were also three more inside the box, and a note.

Sorry for giving you a headache, here, have these… I found them lying around my house, figured you could use them more after our conversation.

From: Hokage George Clements.

Before the delivery man left, Shaun’s blank face turned to the man with trepidation.

“When was this sent?” Shaun asked as the man blinked in surprise.

“Oh, well, these were handed to us about two weeks ago, we were told to hand it to you exactly at this moment, today. Anyway, thank you for using our services.” The delivery guy stated, walking away.

Shaun simply closed his door, pulled out a glass, and opened one of the bottles. He poured the still cold whiskey into the glass, nearly filling the entire square shaped glass… then proceeded to down it, ignoring the burning sensation in his throat.

“Fucking Seers and Oracles…” At least Clements was fixing his mistake… maybe?

Across the city, within an alley way, was a man with a leather jacket, brownish blonde hair and pale skin, and a leather jacket and jeans, leaning against a wall, catching his breath.

He had been chased all around the city, and had even used his Anima, which increased his leg strength, to try and jump around and escape his pursuer… unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

“Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie… you really need to stop running… it’s annoying.” The man leaning against the wall paled, looking to the other end of the alley at the man walked over, cracking his neck as he approached the terrified man named Eddie.

“Please, please boss, I, I’ll get the money! I’ll run around the Dungeon, I can pay you back, I swear!” Eddie backed against the wall, terrified of the figure approaching him…

Honestly, no one should look so terrifying, yet the man approaching Eddie, wearing a strange Top Hat with a skull chain wrapped around it, twirling a terrifying knife in his hand, glaring at Eddie with his silver eyes, Eddie felt as if he was being approached by death itself.

“Oh, I know you will, I know you will… because you’re going to be heading in there with me you know? I usually head in alone, but I want to go check out something interesting.” The man in the suit terrified Eddie, and Eddie nodded in fear, incapable of refusing the man.

“Whatever you say boss, whatever you say… just please don’t kill me…” Eddie pleaded, and the man still twirled his knife, a twisted grin from Eddie’s old nightmares appeared.

“Oh I won’t… you’re surprisingly interesting for one of those people with one Anima… but I’m going to have to hurt you… very, very, nicely.” Eddie’s eyes widened in terror, knowing from how the sentence was stated that the man would enjoy this…

Honestly… Eddie wished he didn’t have the bad luck to keep running into people who looked like the man in front of him…

“Come on Eddie… no point in talking here… come along nicely… and quietly… you can get real loud later… I’m sure your screams will make me happy.” Eddie was on the verge of tears, even as he nodded, standing, praying that he did not piss himself.

They soon walked out of the alley, into the streets, looking like two random guys walking with purpose to some random place…

They fit right in with the crowd, Eddie with his casual looks, and the man to his side in his jeans and hoodie, changing in the alley… the hoodie with a Top Hat decaled on it.

Yeah… Eddie wished he was luckier than that… but no, clearly he was the unluckiest person on earth, to have met someone like this twice in his life… rather, he was unlucky enough to always be kept near people like this…

Honestly… living with violent psychotics should give him an award or something.

On a side note, yes, he screamed quite loudly and the burns and cut marks all over his skin hurt so much… and no, his pants were not clean by the time the ‘playing’ was done…

Boss Mourn was scary like that.

Yeah… it was just another messed up Thursday.

Arthur Clive

Level: 10

Class: Linked Swordsman- Grants one stat point to Strength and Wisdom per level

Gives Soul Sight (Unique) Skill

Anima

Dagger of Hunger

Cloak of Will

Anima Skills

Dagger- Devour- Increase Soul Gain by 7.5%

Dagger- Rend- Damage to living beings increases by 1%

Cloak- Defence- lowers damage taken by 1.5%

Cloak- Wise One- Increases Wisdom by 5% (total 115%)

Primary Element: Lightning

Personal Skills

Tactician I (37/50) - increases Wisdom by 10% (total 115%)

Swordsmanship I (40/50) - Increases ease of weapon handling

Soul Sight I (63/200) - Allows insight beyond mortality

Dual Wielding I (15/50) – Allows use of a weapon in each hand

Stats

Strength: 16

Dexterity: 17

Intelligence: 14

Wisdom: 17 (19)

Endurance: 13

Vitality: 16