The red lights began to flash wildly.

Beep. Beep. Bee. Bee. Be. Be.

Everyone scattered.

Be. Be. BeBeBe..

KABOOM!!

The sounds of scattering fluid.

A grand explosion.

{ANNIHILATED}

{Congratulations. 7SEAS has downed a Behemoth class UAB}

“Yeessss!!!!”

“WEANNER!!”

“That was easier than I thought ahahaha!”

“Lucifer, you pulled in a crazy bastard on our team, who is this guy? He’s not even 20.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Ain, you’re our newest member, Avner right? Wow, you surpassed my expectations.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

The starfish corpse began to fade. Certain parts scattered into particles, others just sort of glitched out of existence.

“Don’t forget to collect the materials. I need to sell them later.”

“On it.”

7SEAS consists of about a dozen or so members. For this excursion however, only 7 were involved.

Ain Riverol. Male. The halberd user. He was the vanguard who took down the freshly created blobs so that they didn’t overcrowd the place.

Abby Hawk. Elf. The detonator. No question, MVP of the day.

Itto Teein. Male. The bastard sword user who was able to tear a rift in space and time.

Raon Levorc. Male. The bayonet user who directed me to the battlefield.

Levi Stew. Elf. The sniper from afar. Also the one who sullenly went to collect the resource without showing any excitement about the fact that we just killed the kaiju.

“Good work everyone.”

“Is this guy an experienced veteran? I thought you said you brought a fledgling to observe the fight?”

Lucifer pointed at my crown.

“Fledgeling. I have the same question too.”

Was there a characteristic to it that makes my status obvious to others? The size of my crown perhaps?

“I still don’t believe it.”

“Hey, are you seriously a fledgling? How did you do all those stunts?”

“Don’t you think there’s something off about him?”

“I feel the same way.”

“Maybe he’s just crazy talented. People like those exist.”

“I don’t believe in talent. There must be some other reason he’s like this. Naturally high attributes?”

“You have a lot of questions to answer when we get back,” Lucifer tapped on my shoulders.

Queries aside, we went to check the material drops. A large pulsing iridescent crystal, a few squishy gel substances and blue jewels scattered everywhere.

“This could be good. Everyone, collect them up and toss them here.”

“Roger that.”

“Will do.”

“There’s so many.. I’m so beat.”

“It’s all money you know?”

Lucifer was the one who engaged the starfish, so she holds the authority to collapse the bubble. Right now we need to help collect these jewels so that she can bring it back to the real world.

Ain was picking up the nearby crystals with me so he asked.

“How much mana do you have anyways? Aren’t you tired? After using your hex so violently.”

“I don’t know. I don’t feel anything, actually.”

“You cheat, man..”

We collected everything in our vicinity and tossed them into the bag.

“There, we’re done, mostly.”

“Anymore over there?”

“All clear.”

“Thank you again for coming despite your busy lives, everyone.”

“Nah, just send us the reward. It’s all good.”

“I’m in need of some money too, so..”

“How about him?”

“Avner, you’ll have to send me your account number when we get back. I’ll transfer the money over. Depending on which digital exchange you use, you might need to download a different one. Do you use GoE?”

“That’s the one I normally use.”

GoE. Pronounced as Go, E. It’s the transaction medium which converts currency into the various NFTs or coins that are used in the exchange of goods. There are others like QuickCash or Exchange. GoE is one of the more prevalent exchange services used in Alska.

“Okay, then just send me the account number.”

“Will do.”

“Anything else before I collapse the space?”

I want to return to eat the dumplings. I feel hungry.

“No.”

“All good.”

“About this guy. But well, we’ll probably hold a meeting in the future so we can discuss it then.”

“Yeah.”

“See you later then.”

“Thanks for today.”

“Avner, you’ve got to fight for the ranking ya? I want to see how high you’ll go.”

“Take care and stay safe everyone.”

“Goodbye~”

“Bye.”

I closed my eyes and felt the world shift around me. The pain of nausea struck me. Soon, the smell of steaming dumplings transmitted to my nose.

Someone poke me from the side.

“Big bro, you’re acting like this again.”

I let loose a breath and opened my eyes. Lia stared at me intently.

“Just thinking about stuff.”

“What are you thinking all the time? That girl Novelle?”

I shrugged. Perhaps I am.

“Can you help arrange the plates? I’ve washed them already.”

“Got it grandoa!”

While Lia went to assist, I drew a 7 in the air.

For a UAB that size, not taking any damage is quite a feat. I think. My erosion value remains a healthy 90.

Honestly.

This is no different from a game.

One where only the chosen are allowed to join. One where you put your life at risk.

I shook the thought out of my head and helped Lia clear up the table. Innis could be seen playing with the steam coming out from the gap of the pot.

The first batch of dumplings were completed. Transferring it to a plate, my grandma started on the second batch.

“Which is mine?”

“This one?”

“Ugh.. it broke.”

Those were either mine or Lia’s.

“It was a good attempt. You’ll get better with practice.”

“How does it taste?”

“You two try it first. Your own hard labour.”

Lia picked up a good dumpling using hirs chopsticks, blew on it a few times before biting into it. A string of cheese stuck between hirs teeth and filling.

“Hot,” xe was blowing steam from hirs mouth.

I grabbed a broken sample and tried it for myself.

“It’s good, really good.”

“We still have some ingredients leftover. We can make dumplings again tomorrow if you want?”

I nodded.

“Yes!” Lia exclaimed.

These were delicious.

Reminds me of when Novelle and I used to make these..

???

Odd. I don’t recall making dumplings together with her though? How did I come to such a thought?