Novaris. Septer - Octus. 905. AGC.

  Nodel. Waning Crescent ??. Days 25-1.

  As the new month began, the people of Wildwood discovered that not all the rumors were fake. On the 1st of the month, ships filled with adventurers started arriving at the port of the city, causing quite a commotion. At first, everyone thought they were there for a different reason, but once the locals began chatting with the arriving adventurers, it quickly became clear they were there for a specific expedition. Naturally, the news of adventurers coming into their city to be sent on an expedition from their city caused quite an uproar among local adventurers. After all, as the inhabitants of the city and island, they expected to be the ones sent out to fight and loot, while also getting paid for the entire thing.

  However, to anyone who had a good enough brain on their shoulders, it was easy to guess why the Adventuring Guild and even the city had brought in outside adventurers. The most obvious reason was that not all adventurers in the city were that great. There were plenty that were fairly good, some that were elites, but many more that were average or below. With this in mind, if the city and Adventuring Guild were going to send adventurers on a very dangerous expedition, then they needed to ensure the ones that went were the best.

  Obviously, the reason they would send the best adventurers was to increase the expedition's chances of success. However, this presented another problem: all the good adventurers would be gone, and with them gone, the city would experience a noticeable loss in security. Naturally, a lack of security would then present a whole new set of problems, this time consisting of a possible retaliatory attack by the Realms. After all, it wasn't the first time that the planet as a whole had experienced a similar event.

  Many times, the Realms staged large incursions, causing huge mobilizations of forces, which left large swathes of land undefended. Only to then mobilize new forces and deal crippling blows to civilization. Knowing this, the city and the Adventuring Guild had made sure that if, for whatever reason, their scouting had missed something and they were met with a counterattack, there would be plenty of adventurers to defend the city.

  As the day passed and the incoming adventurers spread throughout the city in search of accommodations, everyone realized that no one knew exactly when the expedition would set out. In fact, even with the arrival of the adventurers, no one knew what the expedition was truly about. Not even the newly arrived adventurers knew what they were there to do specifically. All they knew was that they were contracted to be either on the defense of a city doing normal adventure work, or we're going to be sent out to stop a possible Realm incursion from the Lush Realm. To that end, they hadn't asked many questions, since all they needed to know was that it was related to Lush Realm. This had allowed them to prepare for travelling through forests, jungles, and swamps while fighting the wide variety of monsters found in the Lush Realm.

  Consequently, the arrival of the adventurers allowed the locals and the adventurers themselves to guess that the expedition would take place soon. Otherwise, they wouldn't have brought them over to Wildwood just to make them wait for months on end. As a result, the local adventurers began discussing when the guild would finally give them notice of the expedition and, more importantly, the requirements local parties would need to meet to join.

  Naturally, some parties quickly lost interest in the expedition as they knew they weren't the best. Meanwhile, others believed they were better than they actually were and would need to be shown otherwise. Finally, there were the parties who knew they could qualify to enter, but even among them, some weren't interested in joining, finding the expedition brought more danger than they wanted. However, some parties knew they could be accepted and were also looking to join the expedition.

  That entire party found themselves yet again in Lili's shop. The day had brought quite the revelations, and they needed to discuss their final feelings about joining the expedition. They had all been keen on joining, but it was crucial to reach a unanimous decision as a group. Normally, this would have been easy, but there was still a reason why they had to agree, and the hope was that a certain set of twins would agree or disagree. Of course, disagreement could lead to a split in the party, and things might shift, all depending on Tesilim.

  That was one thing everyone innately knew. Tesilim was the glue that was holding the party together. Lili would join him regardless; meanwhile, Alyx would be incredibly torn between the elf and the twins, but ultimately, he had a mission to assist the elf. For the twins, Alyx was essential, and if the gnome went with Tesilim, they would face a tough decision. Naturally, Rose would end up joining Jasmine, at least once her contract expired, but until then, she was somewhat bound to Alyx.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  With all of this in mind, the conversation was somewhat tense, as they tiptoed around the situation, hoping to come to an agreement.

  “I think it would be fun,” Tesilim said, throwing a chip into his muncher.

  “I think so too, but Arelion is iffy on it, says the danger might not be worth it,” Jasmine added, snacking on cookies while trying to make it sound as if they didn’t know what the real issue was.

  “I've been on a few before, and they are generally safe; there are a bunch of high rankers going after all,” Lili stated as she tried to steal one of Tesilim’s chips.

  “Yeah, I asked around, and it seems the death rates are low, but you never know with these things,” Alyx told them, then sipped at his cup of tea.

  “I am with Arelion; it does seem dangerous, but I am more worried about the lack of information from the guild,” Rose said, which was odd for her as she was usually bold and unbothered, willing to charge at all issues that could be dealt with a blade. However, they all knew Jasmine was her weakness, and when it came to the half-elf, most things went out the window.

  “To be fair, I am also worried about the lack of information. Babe, is that normal?” Tesilim asked, trying out the Earth’s nickname after Lili had insisted on learning about Earth’s romances.

  “Yeah, it is, usually to prevent any possible spies from learning something too early on. We can also expect some sort of testing to be done, so they can weed out any weaklings.”

  “That makes sense, considering they brought in so many top-tier adventurers; they probably want to make sure everyone is up to par,” the redhead said, taking one of Jasmine’s cookies, which earned her a glare from her friend, but she just smiled.

  “I am going to miss Jolly,” Drex threw in out of nowhere, and hearing the drake, Lili and Tesilim shared a quick look.

  “You will be fine,” Tesilim told the drake after his and Lili’s gazes parted.

  “We will be fine, with the latest advancements you three have recently made, any tests will be passed with flying colors,” Alyx added encouragingly.

  “Will you two be fine? I know we have done some training, but there are those weak periods you deal with,” Lili remarked, surprisingly being the first one to touch that subject.

  “Yeah, we will be fine. I know there are some days that we aren’t available at all, but we are working on it,” Jasmine firmly responded, leaving no room for question, though Lili and Tesilim didn’t miss the gaze that the trio shared.

  “That’s good to hear, but on another note, Alyx, what is going to happen with Ally if we end up going on the expedition?” Tesilim asked, and instantly everyone’s attention fell on Alyx.

  “Not much, I doubt we will be gone more than a month, though afterwards, depending on how serious things get, she might just leave the island with us,” Alyx answered calmly without looking up from his book, killing any possible Tesilim nonsense.

  “Is that actually the plan? After the expedition, are you all thinking of leaving the island?” Jasmine asked, sounding slightly worried for the first time in their conversation.

  “Yup! My idea was to explore it later on anyway, and then leave, I want to see the rest of the world after all!” Tesilim exclaimed happily, and in turn, Jasmine met Lili’s and Alyx’s eyes to see if that was really the plan. The two knew what Jasmine was trying to ask with her eyes, and they nodded, causing the twin to let out a quiet sigh.

  As the conversation continued, the rest of the party chatted about random nonsense, usually led by Tesilim, while Jasmine stayed quiet. It was the first of the month, and she had been keeping a watch on the time, knowing that midnight was around the corner. Of course, during this, she noticed the various gazes thrown at her by her party members, but even then, none of them called out to her. It was clear that they knew she was in deep thought, especially so when she began a one-sided conversation with her brother.

  “We need to do this; our situation is hanging over the party, now more than ever, and I think you know that time is running out. However, if you want to split with them, I won’t fight you on it. We can even agree to separate for the expedition and then resume, but you heard Tesilim—they will leave this island sooner rather than later. Something we will eventually have to do if we want to grow stronger. Also, I am not sure if they will take us back, after all, they would want stable enough party members.”

  Pausing to see if her brother would say anything, Jasmine proceeded since he stayed quiet.

  “Arelion, I know that you know that this might be our best chance at a decent enough life. Maybe not right now, but later on. And if we split with them, we might not get another such chance. Look, I know it's hard for you to trust, but sometimes, you have to extend that hand first. I think Tesilim and Lili are good people, and once they hear our story, they will likely want to help us. So, brother, what do you say?”

  Arelion listened to his sister's words and was touched by them. She would truly give up their possibly greatest chance at eventual and true freedom for him. Of course, he wouldn’t allow that. Sure, he might still not fully agree with letting more people into the secret, contract or not, but at that point, he felt it was the right decision. Arelion’s time with the party had been relatively brief, but he was coming to enjoy their time together. He also knew that as more time passed, his weariness would disperse and he would find that he had made some true companions.

  “Tell them,” Jasmine heard Arelion say, and she sent him the biggest mental hug possible as her face lit with such a bright smile that it stopped Tesilim’s dumb mushroom joke mid-sentence.