Sol opened his eyes to see the giant man known as Tower crouched down next to him.

“You alright?” Tower asked, concerned for Solomon.

“Yeah,” Sol said as he rubbed his eyes.

“Are you having that dream again?” he asked.

Sol glared up at the man. He didn’t like people to know his business, but he understood that Tower was a caring gentle giant, regardless of his size and strength.

Sol sat up, noticing he still had his mask on and the rest didn’t. He looked up at the mage they had met the night before, and then to the rest of his teammates.

“What did I miss?” he asked.

“We poured our hearts out to each other. We cuddled and cried it all out. Tower was especially emotional,” Spike said mockingly.

Sol smiled under his mask. “Have you sworn to not reveal us?” he asked.

Elora smiled. “Yes, I didn’t catch your name though. Mine’s Elora,” she said.

“Call me Sol,” he replied.

“We are using our aliases,” Tower whispered, looking down.

Sol rolled his eyes. “Fuck sake, well call me Sol anyway,” he said.

Elora looked a little bit shocked but nodded to their arrangement. Sol took his mask off and shook the mage's hand.

“I didn't think a handsome man would be under that mask,” she said.

Spike kissed his teeth and muttered, “Give me a break.”

“Thank you,” Sol said, putting the mages compliment down. He didn’t compliment her back, which Elora found slightly more charming.

“Sharp. Debrief please,” Tower said.

“Yes Sir,” Sharp said, and as he pulled out a tablet, a holographic projection zoomed out in front of them. The man cleared his throat.

“We are approximately an hour's walk from the suspected location. The location is an old fort from Lumina, built upon an abandoned mythril mine after the Great Merge. Any questions so far?” Sharp asked. No one said anything. “The suspect’s name is George Parcher, an ex-member of the Dark Magic College in New London. According to their report, he had supposedly gone mad due to an overload of red miasma in his lungs, when trying to raise a demon. He had killed his colleagues and escaped. An adventurer saw the commotion and tracked him down to this location. The obj-”

“What level was the demon?” Spike interjected.

“79,” Sharp answered quickly. He hated people interrupting him.

Spike whistled. “No shit the guy went mad.”

Tower slapped Spike on the back of his head and his mohawk wobbled slightly. He clutched at it like a pearl necklace and made sure it hadn’t fallen over.

“As I was saying... The objective is to capture George Parcher. The Dark Magic College wants him alive. If the worst befalls us, we do have orders to kill. The man is level 45 and he may have a horde of uncontrolled undead at the location. That is why Lady Elora is here to take care of hordes with her fire magic. Any more questions?” Sharp asked while giving Spike a side eye.

“Do we know how many he can control? If so, what's his skill level?” Sol asked.

Sharp shook his head. “They keep all that information locked away,” he said.

“That will be a problem,” Tower replied. “Remember he can stop controlling them if he wants, but they will go rabid and attack anything living. So expect an army.”

Everyone except mute nodded; she stood there like a statue, her huge longsword attached across her back.

“We will head out now then,” Tower said.

Sharp nodded and fiddled with his own tablet, before letting the raven fly off into the distance.

They set off on foot towards the fort. Cars would struggle in the forest, and anything that could fly would draw too much attention. It was far easier and more covert this way; just how the Unwanted liked it.

Tower sent out party invites so they could see each other's current statuses- no set numbers only percentages.

The group of six set out towards the fort, eyes peeled for any undead enemies. Sharp’s raven fed information back to him, giving him constant coverage of the tree line above them.

Sol brought his stats up to check everything was in order.

Birth Name: Solomon Thorn

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Level 39

Progression: 81%

Titles:

Monster Slayer III

Multi Killer II

Man Slayer I

Fearless

Unbridled Resistor

Class: You do not meet the requirements for any class.

Stats

Status

Regeneration

Constitution:

12

Dexterity:

27

Health:

346/346

HP/Second:

0.6

Strength:

29

Wisdom:

14

Stamina:

980/980

SP/Second:

9.2

Endurance:

32

Intelligence:

11

Mana:

156/156

MP/Second:

o.2

Perception:

15

Luck:

5

Disease: Affinitous (Permanent)

Cursed: Kiss of Death.

Charisma :

23

Piety:

7

Skills

Pain Resistance Intermediate V (P)

Monster Lore Beginner III (P)

Dagger Mastery Intermediate IX (P)

Leadership Beginner I (P)

Stealing Beginner I (P)

Fishing Novice I (P)

Hand Combat Intermediate II (P)

Cooking Novice III (P)

Identify Beginner VIII (P)

Sol was very happy with how strong his individual stats were, but he was always disappointed with his skills. He suffered from a very rare disease called affitinous, which caused him to have no affinity for any types of magic. He couldn’t get any active spells; it was always passive skills he received. He was able to control mana but not transfer it into elements.

Passive skills were permanent increases to the related field. Monster Lore helped him with identifying monsters, whereas to identify intelligent lifeforms you needed a specialized light magic skill. It also helped to protect humans better.

Sol hadn’t been able to get a class ever since he joined the Unwanted. It always said he didn’t meet the requirements. His titles were a strong point of his character sheet, all of them awarded through hard work and dedication.

“So um- Sol was it?” Elora asked.

Sol had noticed her, but he had no desire to speak to the woman; he was not a fan of privilege. He had a very rough childhood after his parents died.

“Yes,” Sol replied.

Elora looked away, but Sol’s perception was high enough to detect blushed cheeks. It was his charisma that seemed to get him attention, as 23 was abnormally high for his level. He hated the fact that his luck was so low, with 15 as the average for his level.

“How long have you been with the Unwanted?” she asked.

“Long enough.”

A pause followed, then Elora decided to break the silence and carry on her own conversation. “I grew up in the Evergrand family. I told everyone last night, but you were fast asleep.”

Sol raised an eyebrow. The Evergrand family was a big deal in Kraos. In all of Gaia actually. They raised the best adventurers and the most powerful mages. They had enormous wealth and members of their family’s influence reached the four corners of Gaia.

“Birthed or bought,” Sol said harshly.

Elora looked flustered again. “Um, b-bought… They adopted me.”

‘Perhaps she’s not that bad,’ Sol thought.

She was pretty- more than pretty. She looked very calm and upright on the surface but Sol could tell there was something slightly different about her.

“Stop!” Sharp shouted.

Everyone stopped on a dime, eyed their surroundings, and then sheathed their weapons.