Chapter 29: Let’s Form A Party: Part Two

“There, now that that’s outta the way. How do you feel about clearing this Dungeon with me?” I ask after sending the pouch and needles to the Item Space.

“Thought you’d never ask.” She replied as she put her hand out. “Let’s form a party. What do you say?” This was no normal handshake. It was a Contract. The moment I take her hand, we’d officially be a party and as such, will receive the same Quest messages and rewards based on the amount of contribution we each had in completing said-Quests. We still won’t be able to see each other’s Status Windows though or the individual rewards we get.

“This is only temporar, right? I’m a greedy man in case you didn’t know.” I said as I shook her hand.

“Oh I figured, I’m not much for sharing either.”

A message then popped up for both of us to see.

[Report. Party Contract confirmed. Party has officially been formed.]

Party Members:

• Peyton Garner

• Raid

[Report. Members are required to provide the recently formed party with a name and a Party Leader.]

As I was about to speak, Peyton quickly shouted. “The Leader with be Raid and the name of the party will be the Raid Party!”

“Oh please no.” My Soul-Piercing Eyes Skill automatically deactivated in my exhaustion.

[Confirmed. Naming of party is successful. Now redesigning overall party info…]

Name: Raid Party

Party Members:

• Raid [Party Leader]

• Peyton Garner

“Why? Just….just why?”

“You got to see me in action. Now it’s my turn, you’re taking on the Dungeon Boss. Alone.”

“Okay, but…’Raid Party’?”

“And you just couldn’t come up with a better name? Plus, you’ve been following me this whole time, didn’t you see enough of my capabilities?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No!” She exclaimed. Caught me off guard a little bit but I refocused as she continued. “I wasn’t comfortable at all! I had to make sure I kept myself expertly hidden so I couldn’t even get a clear vision. My Hide Skill even kept deactivating everytime I lost focus or got surprised by the things you did. Do you know how draining that was!?” She complained.

“Got surprised by the things I did?”

“Is that why I only picked up on you for a sec, just every now and then?”

“Could be. Not to mention I had to pay close attention, so…”

“Makes sense. That’s why she was able to jump me earlier at the Association now that I think about it. It’s easy to miss her if her focus isn’t specifically on me.”

“Fine then, I’ll humour you just this once.”

“Yay! Thank you sir!” She said with a bright smile. “So! What’s the plan Party Leader?!” She asked with enthusiasm while doing a salute.

“Call me that again, and I swear I’ll kill myself.”

“And stop the salute! It’s weird!” I screamed internally.

“….” She paused and smirked.

“Don’t…” I ordered.

“….” The grin then grew more sinister.

“Please don’t.” I begged.

“Fiiiine. So, plan?”

“Yes, there is one. But it’s crazy.”

“Not surprising. Let’s hear it.”

I explained everything. I told her my whole plan and the fact that it wasn’t for specifically clearing the Dungeon, rather for making sure to get the best rewards possible in the process of clearing the Dungeon. The harder the Quest, the greater the rewards from completing it, that was common knowledge. So my plan was to create the hardest Quest we could get in this Dungeon. When I used my Treasure Hunt Skill previously to check the Goblin villages, I found that there were 15 of them, total, including the one the Dungeon Boss was located. 14 now, since I destroyed one. The plan was that we would go to one Goblin village, make sure all the Goblins see us and chase after us as we run to the next nearby village, and do the same thing there going on to the next one. Once all Goblins from every village have been grouped together, we would then lead all of them to where the Dungeon Boss is and take them all down including the Boss in one fell swoop.

“Do you want to die?” Peyton asked.

“No.” I hurriedly answered, off-put by the sudden question but understanding why she’d asked that nonetheless.

“Then you’ll forget about this absurd plan of yours.” She adds. “You said there’s fourteen villages left, right? And there’s what, over six hundred Goblins in each village? You’re talking about fighting an army of eight-thousand plus Goblins with just the two of us. Are you insane?”

“I think we’ve already established that I am. But what Warrior isn’t? We go into Dungeons and risk our lives everyday to protect our world from these “invaders,”. What makes this any different?”

“You just wanna do this so you can get your “sweet” rewards.”

“My “sweet” rewards, make me stronger, insuring me to clear more Dungeons, insuring the safety of my planet from monsters. I don’t get what you’re so worried about, you’re an A-Rank. You said it yourself, didn’t you? Goblins are small fries.”

“Yeah sure, on their own they are but over eight-thousand?! I admit you’re incredibly strong for F-Rank, but…an army of ants can kill an elephant. Calling us outnumbered is an understatement at this point. I don’t even think an S-Rank could-”

“See that’s the thing. You’re telling me what you think, not what you know. Since no one has ever actually tried it before, simply because of how outrageous it sounded, people would readily believe it’s impossible, but that’s just your perspective, and I have my own as well, neither one outweighs the other. But one thing’s for sure, we won’t know until we try.” I declared.

“….you were planning on doing this from the start, weren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged.” I said shrugging my shoulders. “Even before I knew you were following me, this was always the plan. So even if you bail, I won’t back down, but I know you’re not gonna do that.”

“What makes you so sure?” She asked.

“Protect the F-Rank. That’s your mission, right?”

“That only applies to attacks from the Reinhardt Family.”

“I’m not so sure my uncle would be okay with me dying in a Dungeon either.” I joked.

“What does your uncle have to do with any of this?.”

“Nevermind that. Inside joke.”

“Hmm…” She looked confused there for a second. I decided not to dive deep into that specific topic, they’ll be other times to tell her about how her boss might be my father figure’s brother. I still needed to confirm it myself afterall.

She then asked a question, one I never considered before. One whose answer would either make or break this team up.

“Well then, what about the Quest?”

“The what now?”

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