We all set around the table waiting for someone to start the conversation. Tension filled the room till finally the king, as everyone hoped he would, stood up and spoke.

“My friends and companions, I have called you here because you are the strongest fighters of the beastmen continent. I am, no better all of the beastmen are in dire need of your strength. Adventurer Guild master Rowen here will tell you about the situation.”(Sam)

He made a sign for the old man to his right to stand up. When he finished he sat down once again and waited for Rowen to make his report.

“As most of you may know me because you have seen or heard of me before I will keep my introduction short. My name is Rowen Milfort and I work as the Adventurer guild master of the beastmen continent. Just for your information so no conflicts will start in the future. I am a demi-human born at the human continent but I am absolutely loyal to the land of the beastmen.”(Rowen)

With that he made a short introduction bow and continued.

“You all probably think that you were the only ones invited because it was mentioned in your invitation. At the beginning that was actually our plan but it changed due to a recent incident. In the centre of all 5 continents a new piece of land has ascended. Whoever gets the land will gain a huge advantage in the power struggles between the races. In order to secure it we would like to request of you to represent our beastmen continent.”(Rowen)

A lot of people whispered to their neighbours. A lot of them probably knew each other. In the end only the king, Rowen, Kylie and I were left out of the conversations. Suddenly one of them hammered on the table. All of the attendants were looking at him.

“You said you gathered the strongest of the beastmen continent for this, right? I have a question to you then. Why did you invite some random children but not the A ranking slice and dice duo?”

He pointed at our direction. I was really displeased at his verbal offense. After his aggressive shout everyone else started to support him. They shouted.

“Yeah. Where are Harry and Dave? Why are there some children? They probably can’t even hold a weapon not to mention kill someone. Where is the famous Draxler duo?”(Random people)

The situation escalated a little bit but the king made a hand sign for all to shut up. Surprisingly everyone did. To my surprise, the king had some strong authority there.

“My friends, please do not offend them any further. You might not expect it but he is the recently most active adventurer. Before you do not stand some random children but the famous A rank adventurer Darkness and his companion.”(Sam)

It made me happy that Sam stood up for us. I smiled but had to keep my laugh in. Kylie was again mentioned as an extra. It was so funny because they probably don’t even know her name. And again a whispering spread through the hall. And again it quieted down when the king made a hand sign for them to shut up again.

“And for why Harry and Dave Draxler are not present, I am very sad to say this but a little bit over 1 and a half year ago they mysteriously vanished and no one has seen them since then. But someone found the slicing sword of Harry Draxler near one of the towns in the south of the continent, so we are investigating at the moment.”(Sam)

I thought about his words for a bit, while the whispering did start again. The south? I got swamped to a coast in the south when I first came here. It has been some time since then. Was it 2 years? I didn’t know anymore. But even then I haven’t heard or seen anything of those two, how was that possible when they should have been somewhere near me?

Did we somehow miss 2 hotshot adventurers? No, certainly not they would have been the talking issue for everyone if they were around. Did we meet any strong beastmen on our journey? There were certainly 2 who were really strong and almost killed us.

After a while I got the answer. And when I did, I looked at Kylie. She just smiled at me and shook her head. I had no idea what she meant with that. Even though I knew that it was me who was the one responsible for their disappearance I kept quiet. In my mind I was kind of proud of myself. I mean I was able to beat 2 of the strongest beastmen. I don’t know how strong the beastmen standard was but I was happy.

“If there is anything else please ask now, otherwise I will start to explain the plan now. The operation will be called “Domination”. We will split you into teams of 4 people and you will be guided to the island separately with the best ships we have. Your mission is to beat or kill all of the other races and secure the island, or at least as much as possible for us. If you can gather some information like the landscape, treasures or dungeons, we will buy the information from you. Your rewards will depend on your contribution in this war. We will depart from the capital tomorrow morning and everyone will get their shipment pass as well as get to know their teammates then. By the way, if you encounter each other on the island, you are free to do whatever you want but please keep in mind that the primary focus is to win over the other races.”(Rowen)

“Can’t we just form our own teams and why do we have to move in groups of 4?”(Random person)

“If everyone moves together we are an easy target for large scale attacks. If you move alone you stand no chance in a fight. In those teams of 4 we have taken your fighting style and strength as well as your contribution to the guild into account. For example a warrior will get a team containing a mage, archer and a priest or support type person.”(Rowen)

They all understood and were silently in thoughts. They looked at the floor seeming slightly depressed. Then the king suddenly stood up.

“My friends, do not worry as I do not think that we will lose this war! We have so many strong fighters on our side so we will come out victorious! For now let’s celebrate our gathering with a toast and feast.”(Sam)

“Yes sir!!!”(A lot of people)

I had to admit that Sam was a really good speaker and his speech came at a perfect timing, as it boosted the moral of everyone present. With that the meeting came to an end and the dinner was finally served. Kylie and I hadn’t eaten anything in the past few hours and we were really hungry.

After we finished eating we all moved to our respective rooms. Kylie and I got a few sceptical glares but we ignored them and as soon as I got to my room I lied down in the bed and fell asleep. I needed to be full of energy from tomorrow onwards. I wouldn’t let any second go to waste.

I wouldn’t let my guard down during operation Domination. That was the case for enemies as well as allies.