We moved as an unorganized blob into the depths of the forest. No one knew what we were looking for, simply that we couldn’t miss it. Thirty minutes later we found it: a small building created with earth magic. Our home base.

The Adventurer’s Guild Master had not mentioned a penalty or reward for our performance, but that made people even more uneasy. Those who already knew each other quickly formed cliques: a natural reaction to the nervous atmosphere.

This development of sub-groups was surely something that the Adventurer’s Guild Master had expected to happen, but how would I deal with it? I looked around for any familiar faces. I recognized several people from the Valkyrie guild but they were already in their own group.

I didn’t feel the inclination to reach out to anyone. In fact, I felt more comfortable on my own in this situation. It was a feeling that had grown on me: I was completely fine depending on myself.

Time seemed to pass incredibly slowly. My nervousness only increased as did that of the Adventurers around me; several fights nearly broke out.

“Everyone!” a voice suddenly rang out. “Please hear me out!” I could hear agitated responses under the breaths of those nearby, which reduced to merely mumbles shortly after.

The speaker’s emblem was that of the Tyrant guild, something that despite my terrible dislike of them warranted respect.

“If we continue on like this we will lose. We need to organize and work together immediately.” He wasn’t wrong, I’d give him that.

“Please come over and state your class and specializations. We have perhaps only twenty or thirty minutes left. It’s important we plan our defense and offense as soon as possible,” as he spoke, several other Tyrant members lined up next to him ready to organize everyone.

It probably impressed the others, but to me it didn’t seem that way. The Tyrant guild always left a bad taste in my mouth, and I knew Dominik was not a good guild leader: not a good person. My mind shifted to the thought that they knew exactly what was happening beforehand and that this was all planned.

Cheating to stay ahead was something the Tyrant guild would absolutely do. This little show would increase their image as well: solidify their position as a group of strong leaders. I reluctantly waited at the back of the crowd, intending to avoid the line completely but one of them came and sought me out on his own accord.

“Name, class and specializations?”

“I specialize in attacking.”

“Did you hear me? Name and class.”

“Sorry, don’t want to reveal,” I said bluntly. Speaking like this left a sour taste in my mouth and an uneasy feeling but I felt it necessary. Very few Tyrant members knew what my face looked like. My class, however, was unique, and would instantly identify who I was even if I made up a fake name.

Besides that, I would do better on attacking in this scenario. I wasn’t familiar with these people, and while I could see their soul signatures, a single enemy sneaking in would just blend in with my allies. When on the attack I could consider every single signature an enemy and move accordingly.

“That’s not a decision for you to make,” the Tyrant guild member said sternly. I wasn’t trying to start a fight, but would definitely not shy away from one. I could tell that there was nothing special about the person in front of me. Three attacks – I estimated – was all it would take to get rid of him.

“Do what you will. I’ll be on attack,” I said and turned to leave. If they pursued this then I wouldn’t hold back for the sake of this exercise. There were never any delegated leaders and everyone was free to do what they pleased within the rules.

I walked about two feet before I felt him move behind me. He was coming, and my Mana Pulsing Rod had never left my hand. There was no reason to use Mana Scythe and I never planned to anyway.

Turning, I saw his outstretched hand and just before he was able to grab me, someone grabbed his wrist instead. “Don’t do this.” The Tyrant member’s face contorted in anger, but try as he might, he could not escape the iron grip on his wrist by a melee-type.

The Tyrant member’s struggling just looked pathetic, and while some of the onlookers might not think anything was wrong, I could tell he was completely and utterly overpowered. Even both of his hands wouldn’t be able to unclench that grip. “Right. It’s not a big deal.”

Once the Tyrant member had backed down with these words, the grip of the fighter unclenched.

He fervently rubbed his wrist while moving back to his guild mates. I turned away, only for the guy who had intervened to help me call out, “Brother! Wait up!” It took me a moment to realize who it was. It was one of Vichi’s Misfits guild mates. The quiet one that was with her on the West Abithos expedition.

I couldn’t lie, I was surprised to see him among our team.

“Should you be here?” I asked.

He scratched his head, “Hmm, not really but it’s okay. I’m just a bit stronger than the rest of you. Besides, I’ll be on defense and won’t really be doing anything…” His hand reached towards me, “Zachary.”

“Joseph,” I shook his hand. A firm grip with calloused palms. No wonder his grip was so firm and unrelenting.

“Vichi sent me to tell you to be careful.”

“Just that?” was she worried about me?

“Well… she said to me, ‘You won’t be the only one who doesn’t belong… so it’s fine. Just tell him to be careful.’ That’s what she said, word for word.”

Suddenly, her concern made more sense and pieces started to come together. It seemed there would be others blending in who didn’t quite belong in this group of ‘trainees’. Still, if there was definitely something happening, she would have given me a clear warning. ‘Be careful’ meant she was merely being cautious.

I smiled, “That’s good to know. I’ll be careful. Give her my thanks.”

He nodded nervously and then rushed away to ‘defend’. Weird guy…Seemed he didn’t like speaking with people that much.

My decision to be on attack fitted with operating on my own. It would make me more alert knowing that I had no obligations to teamwork. I could see Tyrant were forming attack parties and defense parties, but I had no intention of joining them.

If something was wrong with this entire situation, it would be very easy to get caught out. My own teammate could backstab me. That wasn’t something I was willing to risk given the circumstances.

I moved to the side and carefully watched the group’s planning. The eyes of the thwarted Tyrant member continuously looked in my direction with malice, but I paid him no heed. Unfortunately, it seemed his constant staring in my direction was also bringing me other unwanted attention.

Perhaps to others it seemed as if I was conceited, but that wasn’t the reality. I was unwilling to put myself in a compromising situation. The dragon egg being stolen showed me very clearly the lowly and despicable acts people would commit even now, when the human race was on the brink of extinction.

I wouldn’t put it past Dominik to do his best to get rid of me here. When I thought like that, the actions of the Tyrant members in taking the lead in forming groups and directing our team became even more suspicious. My decision to go solo on attack was definitely the correct one.

My attention shifted away from any particular person and looked at the group more broadly, taking note of each guild and their respective attitudes. The Tyrant guild was haughty and unrestrained, arrogant to the extreme. They gave respect to no one, and were brash with their way of speaking.

Abyss guild members were the polar opposites of Tyrant. Their members were restrained and withdrawn. They didn’t speak up much, and simply listened to their orders with a calm demeanor. Most of the Abyss members also seemed to be spell casters of some sort. I didn’t see a single one that carried a physical weapon.

POWER had a name befitting their attitude. They were like Tyrant, except not as unruly. There was confidence and a little bit of arrogance ingrained in their bones. They spoke their minds freely and tried to take control, but didn’t step on anyone’s toes.

I could be considered a temporary Valkyrie member, but didn’t really know much about the over-all guild atmosphere. Their emblem was the one that was most familiar to me, but each face was foreign. My own party was against me after all.

Each Valkyrie member had an air of pride and confidence, and yet was extremely likeable. They treated everyone equally and I even saw a few try to break up impending fights. It was commendable.

The other guilds were too small to make any real judgement on them: Perseverance; Disciples; Wrath; Dynasty and a few others I didn’t recognize and had no knowledge of. Their names sounded grand and imposing but their numbers told a different story. They were merely side pieces destined to follow the bigger guilds’ orders.

Time dragged on and I grew impatient for the start of this exercise. We were still putting things into place for offense and defense, even until the last minute. Just as the last defensive group was chosen, a horn blew.

It wasn’t a normal horn, though. The sound gave me goosebumps as the air around me vibrated. The birds in every tree chirped before flying into the sky. The trees shook and the leaves rattled as if every tree had been grabbed by a giant and rocked back and forth. How majestic…

“Don’t forget your assignments!” a Tyrant member yelled out. Those that were selected for offense took off into the forest towards the enemy encampment. The defensive teams still needed time to figure out exactly where they would be stationed.

I waited off to the side and continued to cautiously observe. From an outsider’s perspective it probably seemed as I wasn’t taking things seriously, or maybe that I was just too undisciplined and selfish.

If anyone did have such an opinion, the reality was completely different to that. I carefully observed those who were leaving and those who were staying. If someone was really out to get me, they would be waiting for me to make a move and paying attention to my intentions.

The only problem was that I had already attracted a lot of unwanted attention from before, so if someone was assigned to attempt to assassinate me, they were indistinguishable from several others who were watching me. I decided to take off into the forest as well, hugging the outer edge. I glided through the trees for two minutes, just long enough to be out of view.

Once there, I perched atop a branch and waited. If anyone was looking to follow, I’d no doubt feel them coming. I’d never met anyone who could conceal their soul signature.

While I couldn’t be sure if such a skill existed, outside of being able to circumvent my unique perception, what other reasons would there be to have such ability? My soul sense hadn’t let me down so far and was only growing stronger as I continued to level and absorb souls.

I waited for nearly half an hour with no one coming. The possibility they were being extra cautious crossed my mind. Another possibility as well: assassins with me as their target didn’t exist or were on the opposite team.

No one had come anywhere near me for the entire duration. The possibility also existed they had a unique tracking ability better than mine and were simply watching me from afar even now. Regardless, it became obvious there was nothing to do but move forward.

I changed my focus to the opposite team. The safest bet would be to end this exercise sooner rather than later, and to do that I needed to win. There was also the bubbling excitement of competing against other people.

These people were my peers, else I wouldn’t have been included in this exercise. I wanted to know how I fared against people with my level and experience. I rushed towards the divide between our two sides, eagerly anticipating the coming battles.