“Are you calling me out?”

  Mey smirked, her lips curled, and her eye glowed with mischief. “Now, why would you think that? I do recall someone crying because of his room. What you’re doing now seems to be in line with what that guy wishes.”

  His knee-jerk reaction back then was embarrassing, but he just couldn’t help it.

  Now, he debated whether to ask for what Mey had done before she came here, but the answer might’ve been obvious. So he stayed silent, and let her continue—because he was curious and also for her sake too.

  “Morco did not remember me, well, it's no surprise really. All he knew was that I was one of the best fighters and a scout, no less. So, I work with him. I told myself it was only until the end of the first stage at least. But there’s only one way to get the lava eel up. And that its by sending one person as bait, the eel was smart and only would jump when the distance was in its favor.”

  Mey paused, her eyes long gone—perhaps reminiscing of those days.

  “With the system, we do not need to eat much, I’m sure you realise. But in that place, food is scarce. Getting fish was unreliable; the only good source of meat was the Imp, so we had to eat them. And they’re running out, especially after one night when Morco and some of his close aides celebrate because they got chest from a quest.”

  Eating the imp? His first reaction was that it was disgusting, until he remembered he had eaten Kobolds, too.

  Rita, the goblin girl, had recommended it. And they eat in a camp, with Emily, Rino, Yom, Eve, and Alquin.

  Rue’s lips moved, rechanting each of their name, making sure he did not forget any of them.

  He smiled, and in a brief second, he lost himself in his memory too. Please survive, all of you.

  Mey’s first stage horror is not yet over.

  “Morco, make a general vote. Everyone did it, but it was just for formality; it was obvious the weakest would be offered as bait, while others would try to damage the Eel with long-range weaponry. At first, everyone reluctantly agreed, but then—that night, the camp split into two. Humans fight against humans, and the strong Morco group beat and enslaved the weak group to use them as bait. I did not even think twice before joining Morco’s group; it's like second nature. I think I killed three people, it was only one woman blood jumped to my eyes… Only then do I realise what I’ve done.”

  She tipped her head, pushing her silvery hair against his cheek as they dappled over the chair’s back. Mey stares at him in a sideways glance; she might have a habit of doing that, to check others' reactions, even to the point of making it awkward for the other party.

  “Did it work?”

  “No, by then most archer and mages is part of the enslaved group, and closing in to fight was suicidal. So Morco used torture, but what he did not think was that these people barely met each other, and torturing the mages and archers obviously is not a wise thing to do. The prisoner now realised they had an advantage despite losing a bloody battle, so one of them mocked Morco and kept saying that now he had no choice but to let them go and fight together. And nothing Morco hates more than a traitor. The very next day, he began pushing the prisoner warrior down the lava.”

  “It sounds like a hopeless situation,” Rue muttered. He tried to examine the situation. He believes the tutorial stage has been made to prioritize working together. Maybe Mey’s tutorial was doomed because of how easy it was for this Morco guy to abandon their weak members. If he thinks about it, surely there’s a way to utilize their group and bait the Lava Eel up the volcano…

  But also, Mey had the opportunity to establish herself as a leader, the moment he found the first group of the Imps. And for a while she was the strongest, because she was able to take these imps alone—So there’s plenty of chance.

  Wait, was that why she managed to establish herself as a leader early on during the second stage? Because what she learned on her first.

  Mey continued, “I sense my turn approaching soon enough. So I ran. None of Morco’s underlings can catch me, and besides, others are also running. I made my way to the demon and made the deal. I freed it and got this class. In the process, I destroyed the whole tutorial area. I was transported to a white room… I don’t know if others did too; I did not even want to ask.”

  “Then you’re here,” Rue added.

  “That I am. So? What did you think?” She kicked her legs up and launched herself up, turning and looking down on him.

  “What am I supposed to think of that?” Rue breathed out.

  “It's unfair to make it a question when I started a question first.”

  “If the same situation were to happen here… In the second stage, if—If some gods came to you and gave you that offer, would you take it?” Rue asked, the question almost held in his throat, such a condition is probably not going to happen. But, he needed to know if she was an ally or not.

  “No,” Mey spoke softly, her lips drew thin. Was that sadness? “I took up the leadership position because of what happened. I will die before I let that happen again. That's a promise.”

  “Then I will believe you.”

  “You will?” Mey asked, each word spelled slowly, adding doubt to her own voice. “After I told you that?” Her eyebrow rose, “Is this what they call simpi—”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Do not finish that word,” Rue cut her off, clicking his tongue. “To me, I had no choice, didn’t I? You’re my leader, and what am I supposed to do? Run from this place?”

  Mey’s lips drew thin. “That’s a disappointing reason, Rue.”

  “That's not all. You saved me, so take it as my… token of trust? Will that be enough?”

  “Yes,” Mey smiled. “That will be”

  Suddenly, she clasped her hand.

  “Now! As to why I tried to get you alone here.”

  Rue scowled.

  Of course.

  “I want to make a group… a list of strong people, A coalition called ‘Guild’ across the multiverse, according to those Entram,” She said. Mey took a book, one with a green shining cover, pulsing with magic. She laid it across the coffee table, and inside is… just one page—a single page with some names.

  (Finder Grimoire) (Rare) – To find one another across the whole multiverse is a great challenge; one needs to resort to magic to solve it. Apply any names inside to sense their location, and in turn, they can sense yours when you tap into them. Conditions are that the bound author writes their name over the target name, and the target had to write by themselves on the paper.

  There are perhaps six names there. Rue made out Rafael’s name with Mey’s in the middle of his letter. Elend was there too, along with the Rufus guy.

  “This grimoire was made by Elend’s magic; it took him the entire day to recover from the mind down,” Mey snickered.

  Rue snapped his head up, staring at her.

  “Rufus and Rafael had to carry him all over the place, because back then, we still tried to contest for the leadership position with me as their candidate. We fought all across this entire bloody place—What?”

  “You’re laughing.”

  “I’m not some kind of—” Mey started, before shaking her head. “Anyway, I want you to join.”

  “This is a good idea’ Rue said. “Especially some of us will be away for the strike team.”

  “It is, but that’s not the main purpose.” Mey's face turned serious, her laughing expression wiped out immediately.

  Rue opened his mouth, but no word came out. He thinks he had a guess what Mey was aiming at.

  “This is so we can find each other when we get back. To our old world”

  “You think far,” Rue said, eyeing the pen she put beside the book.

  He took the pen, and when he was about to write his name, he stopped and twiddled it on his fingers. Is this wise? They had not even discussed the benefit yet, and why do this? Maybe it was the obvious thing to do, but something told Rue that what Mey intended to do would be out of the ordinary.

  She kept staring at him, and he stared back. They held a staring contest for a whole minute before Mey's eyes twitched in annoyance.

  “Well?” She asked, not hiding it. “You don’t want to?”

  Rue hummed, biting the edge of the pen.

  “Don't bite it, please.”

  “I’m leaning more toward yes, but what are you planning to do? With this guild”

  “I planned to pacify Badland.”

  “Did I hear pacify?”

  “Yes”

  “The entire continent? Second biggest, only after Penel?”

  Mey leaned in, her inhumane eyes close to him, and stopped when they were a mere five centimeters away. “I heard about guilds' power, how they even influence an entire planet and guide its inhabitants… The Entram told me a lot, and most new guilds will only reach such power if they are established early, before outside forces begin to descend to help the inhabitants to fight the Rift monster. Did you know? To allow outside forces to come to our planet, we need to establish a gateway. Some sort of connection gate so they can cross, the Entram revealed that to me, no doubt they tried to push me to make a guild to lead humanity for it.”

  “Wait!” Rue tried to stand, but Mey pushed both of the chair's handrails, trapping him. He coughed. The offer is great, amazing even. He will be one of the first seven members to establish this guild, and if they indeed succeed, what kind of influence will he have? But something concerned him. “Did the Entram also offer the harvester profession to you?”

  Mey's eyes widen, and she slowly lets the railing go to Rue’s relief.

  “You also got offered? Not even Rafael and Rufus got it…”

  Was it a mistake to reveal that? Mey’ eyes glint with something. Was it murder?

  But no, it's not murder. The answer is eagerness.

  “Rue, you had to join. I want you more and more. Both of us can grant access... We can give people the system; those who don't have access will have to go through this Manda thing to get to the tutorial, but since both of us can grant it... And maybe we could use it for the guild.”

  Does the profession allow them to do that? Ashram certainly did not say anything like that… Is she lying? No, no, why would she…

  “So that is your plan,” Rue muttered. “To get mass behind you, from this profession.”

  “Yes, it is,” She admitted fast.

  “By ‘pacify’ you did not mean doing it by killing, right?”

  “If it is necessary, then yes. By the time we got back, that region will be filled with war, Rue. So I doubt that had to happen. The entire world will be too busy for humans to fight one another.”

  He gulped, in a sense that will make it more convenient for Mey, who wants to unify the entire region—No world survives if monsters were running around, and she and this guild can save the day.

  “That will depend on whether you can arrive among the first, back on our planet.”

  “I fully intend to survive,” Mey answered. “And with me will be humanity”

  “Wait, I get pacifying Badland, but saving humanity?”

  “Someone had to do it, I'm going to break the wheel, so please.” She leaned in again, and for the first time, Mey Skyveth's face quivered with emotion.

  Her eyes are glossy, like she tried her hardest to hold back tears from falling.

  “What’s in it for me?” Rue asked.

  “I will find you and fight with you to make sure your hometown is intact and well. You can bring anyone you like, but after that, come with me to Badland.” Mey reached out, she picked the pen that Rue pinned between his fingers, and she handed it to him again.

  He stared at it.

  His homeland, truth was, some part of him still did not care for it—It was still something he viewed no other than just a place. But there are people he wants to save, those who perhaps have no strong connection with him, and vice versa. But he wanted to forge it, just like the one offered by the women in front of him.

  He took the pen and wrote his name.

  Mey picked up the pen from him, and she wrote—All six letters overlap each other, leaving no space for more.

  “We’re together from here on out, then,” Mey lent her arms to him. “Those who have the system will live longer, especially if they keep levelling up.”

  Rue let out a sigh, doubt still cripple him. But he recognizes the advantage of making a connection to Mey. Besides, he did not know what to expect when he made it back. Better be safe than sorry, and he hopes he won’t regret this decision. “To the first of its kind, then,” He shook her hand. “Let's make it back”.