I leave the restaurant while mulling over everything that happened inside. After my half-baked introductions, the rest of the captains also stated where they were from.

The robed woman's name is Isalda. Her robe is a deep navy with a sea kelp green streak that seems to move when you don't look at it. She has blonde hair permanently stuck in a messy bun held up by seemingly nothing. She is a healer class, specifically a priestess, from the Littlerock Institute, located on an island off the coast of the mainland.

The ocean is a dangerous place to live next to. Sea monsters attack ships at the regular, and pirates raid port towns whenever their guards are down. Because of the harsh conditions, the people have to be strong. It would make sense for more institutes from port towns or islands to be in this group, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

She doesn't eat the barbeque because of her religion. When I asked about it, she said she had to "Hunt it herself." I don't need elaboration. She might be tempted because she keeps biting at her fingernails.

The nudist is, of course, a martial artist named Kosta. He is hairless, and his muscles look like a sculpture that took a chisel to his body. He does wear a loincloth/thong hybrid thing. It might be the type of underwear monks wear.

He is the captain of the Ironworks Martial Academy, which teaches multiple high-level martial arts. He claims that many master martial artists have sponsored the school and can specifically sponsor or train students themselves. He avoided any questions if he had an official master.

He practices the [Path of the Beautiful Body], which sounds weirdly close to my martial arts. He speaks and acts laid back but is involved in every conversation. His nails are clean, smooth, and long. He uses them to pick up hot meat or cook it. He keeps touching my shoulder.

The guy with the little monkey is the only other tamer at the table. It's weird to see a monkey being someone's tamed beast since my 'brother' is a monkey. He refused to introduce his little friend and only said his name, but I wasn't listening because I got distracted by something.

The guy is wearing leather and stays out of all the conversations. I noticed that his monkey kept whispering into his ear, and he would nod or shake his head after. Yeah, he's from Singlebridge Vocational School. I haven't heard of it, but it must be a specialized school.

The goliath of a man wearing full plate armor at the table is named Erhart. Erhart is his family name. He's considered nobility, just like Jerry. But unlike Jerry, his family has power. He focuses on eating rather than talking. He is from the southern border and represents the First Bastion Institute.

Excluding coastal cities, the south is the only place in the prime territories still under constant threat of beast attacks. The south used to be a forest, but the frequent battling has left miles of wasteland where undead and other abominations roam. The south isn't all like that, but it's worse near the First Bastion. That's a historical city where many battles took place that led to the creation of the Prime Territories in the first place.

He doesn't believe in cooking his meat.

Silvervein insititute. The weirdo wouldn't reveal his name or his face. He plays it off as if he's insecure or embarrassed. I don't know what's wrong with this guy. He'd randomly lock eyes with me. Now that I look closer, his eyes are like mine.

The Goldworks Acadamy is represented by a purple-haired man covered with crystals. His clothes, his teeth, his fingernails, even his utensils. He must have brought them from home. He's a magic caster and tried to make the others subscribe to his idealogy that crystals are superior magic and we should stray away from modern alchemy and focus on the power of crystal healing.

He only brought it up once and never acted in that character again. I don't know if that was an ill-timed joke or if he let his true thoughts leak for a moment.

The woman with too many weapons is from Greenville. She wouldn't give any names but instead cringe nicknames like iron maiden or warpath. I ignored her.

The captain of the number one team of students is named John. He introduced himself as a sword user. His goal is to make the world a better place. Out of everyone here, he seems the most normal. John seemed a little uncomfortable and was only here for the ride. He only responds when spoken to and eats neatly and quietly.

I don't get it. John is the top dog of the top school. What makes him tick? What makes him stronger than everyone else here? I want to see him in action to see how a man like him got into this position. Is he just a figurehead for the real captain, selected based on his personality, or am I looking too far into this?

The point of this get-together isn't to make deals or create enemies but to get to know one another. This tournament is once in a lifetime for us, so the top contenders should get to know each other now since we'll all be top dogs one day. Or so the weirdo says. I still don't trust him.

I can tell by the conversations being said that the weirdo was the one who invited them here the first time and generally listened to what he said. They talked about boring things like family business or life back where they're from or how they are holding up in personal events. When the weirdo decided to bring out some games and drinks for us, I bailed.

A sense of foreboding came over me, so I left. This get-together was getting dangerously close to a party, and I didn't want any attention from a particular party god. The others seemed to not mind me leaving at this point.

~

It's the next day and another team event. I handed out potions to my team and steered them to the main stadium.

The cumulation of human engineering has created something being used for a student tournament. Opening personalized fractures. I don't know if that shows the importance of this event or if the government had nothing to spend money on this month.

All 99 teams are standing in the center of the stadium. The stands were packed with cheering audience members clapping for their institute of choice. With my perception, I can point out my parents, master Wang, and even Rain.

The stadium is open air with massive holograms displaying still images of the fracture we are about to enter. A ruined modern city, a forest, a mountain range, a desert, and a flooded landscape create islands that connect. They sure do love their diversity.

The other groups all wear matching gear or uniforms, with our's being one of the few that don't. A man I don't recognize is being flanked by 98 other people. I see dean Palmer as one of those people, so they must be the leaders of the institutes. The man in question is short and bald and wearing an expensive suit. He speaks into a microphone.

"Welcome back, students and spectators. This is the next checkpoint of seeing the most qualified team of students to venture out of our Prime Territories and represent our lands in the elvish capital! Although this is a historic event for our country, we must keep it festive and fun. The next event is based on the popular game mode 'King of the Hill.'"

Oh, that's neat, I guess. I think I have this in the bag. There is a limit of two tamers per team, but that is the only class type being capped. Since magic items are allowed, all my tamed beasts are allowed too. Same with Jerry's. I meant to ask him why he only has two tamed beasts.

"I'll explain the rules of the game. The student teams will be evenly split into five different regions. In the center of each biome is a platform that only one of the teams can occupy at a time. If the point is contested by multiple parties, no points will be earned. Speaking of points, teams will gain points by occupying the hill, being the 'King,' if you will. Hehe. These points are directly added to the team's score! The thing all students have been striving to improve these past few weeks.

After the hour, the three teams with the highest points will be transported to a final stage. There the winner will be selected."

We have ten minutes to prepare.

"Hey, Jerry. Why do you only have two tamed beasts?"

"Oh, what? Sorry, I have a class that restricts the types of beasts I can tame, and my Franky is the only beast of that type I met after Lizzy."

I guess Franky is his fish. I turn to the rest of my team and tell them my plan.

"We need to dominate this event to bounce to the top by the end of the competition. We need to find the stage fast and stay there the entire time. We might be able to split up and get two 'hills' by having us go to another region and mess things up over there."

I look at my team before continuing.

"I'll go with my flying snake to a different region to establish more points for us. I have my means, so let me say how you guys lock down this area."

Val speaks up. "Sorry, I can't let you go on your own."

"I'll be fine."

"I don't care about that! If you fuck up, we will be without a captain again!"

"...then you will come with me. Don't be dead weight, sis."

"..."

"That changes my plan a bit since I was going to entrust Val with the secret of you guy's dominating the stage, Flash Gordon."

"What?"

I look at Arlug, the person who said that.

"You know him. He's well acquainted with your face. The first thing you guys need to do is locate the stage. It shouldn't be hard. Then, Anabel needs to churn out undead like a factory. It'll be Jerry and his beast's job to protect her. You have the mana potions, right?"

"Yeah, thank you for them. By the way, where did you get these high-quality potions? They don't have any store brands on them."

"A friend. She's in the stands, so don't throw up from drinking too many."

"Rai and Rob have the same job since assassin-type classes will have a difficult time with this game mode. If the stage is out in the open, then hiding will be harder. Just use your skills when necessary to pick off targets. Rob, don't steal any bones. I don't know how the elimination system works, so don't cause permanent harm to these students."

Rai nods as Rob looks sad. I don't know how Rob's reassembling trait will work with this. Hopefully, he doesn't get kicked out of the event too early.

"What about me?" Says Arlug.

"What about you? You're the healer! Just heal the team and focus on keeping everybody in the game. If you are worried about being eliminated, stay near the tamed beasts. One thing, however, make sure to keep healing my swarm of sharks whenever you can. You only need to target one, and it should all even out.

I will make Khan go on a feeding frenzy and let him do whatever he wants near the stage. Just don't forget to plant Flash Gordon on the point, and we will win the game."

I hand Flash Gordon to Jerry right before the fracture entrances rip in front of us.